The Pawnbroker Page #3

Synopsis: In a poor neighborhood of New York, the bitter and lonely Jewish pawnbroker Sol Nazerman is a survivor from Auschwitz that has no emotions or feelings. Sol lost his dearest family and friends in the war and his faith in God and belief in mankind. Now he only cares for money and is haunted by daydreams, actually flashbacks from the period of the concentration camp. Sol's assistant is the ambitious Latino Jesus Ortiz, who wants to learn with Sol how to run a business of his own. When Sol realizes that the obscure laundry business he has with the powerful gangster Rodriguez comes also from brothels, Sol recalls the fate of his beloved wife in the concentration camp and has a nervous breakdown. His attitude leads Jesus Ortiz to tragedy and Sol finds a way to cry.
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Sidney Lumet
Production: Republic Pictures Home Video
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.8
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
APPROVED
Year:
1964
116 min
1,028 Views


why you do that?

'Cause you and me, honey,

When that happens,

You and me can't

be nothin' better.

He's asleep.

That man Nazerman...

He knows things.

Baby, I wonder how much it

takes to open a pawnshop.

Hey, do you think 5,000?

Do you think 5,000, baby?

Yeah. Must be.

I can help you get that money.

I can. I can give private sessions

And no splits to the boss.

Honey, I can make us an

extra 100 or 2 a week.

I can go in with you.

I can be a partner to you.

You know?

Yeah. That could be.

That could be, baby.

We'll see.

Is it your play or my play?

Yours.

Mine.

I'll fix the calendar.

No.

Mr. Nazerman, are you all right?

You...

You look... bad.

Don't stand there.

Find something to do.

Go on.

Find something to do.

Hey, uncle, how much you give me

For this radio, huh?

Now, this hot little

old radio, man,

Is worth plenty of rubles, man.

It's got lots of juice.

It's got short wave,

police call, boats.

Late at night, man,

you get outer space.

Come on, uncle, just

make me an offer.

Now, this is a

hundred-dollar radio.

It's got a clear tone.

Boy, that's clear as

a mother's old bell.

Come on, baby.

Show the man your power, baby.

Blast him! Give him

some of that tone!

Oh, man, you radio, you mother!

I'll give you $2.00.

You turn chicken on me, radio, huh?

You always play better than that!

It must be on account

of the heat, you know?

I'll tell you what.

You give me $8.00, huh?

I mean, that's-that's

my mother's radio.

I said I'll give you $2.00

Come on. $5.00, you

blood-sucking cheater!

You money-grabbing kike! 5!

Still live at the same address?

Mm-hmm.

Aw, man, I'll...

I'll take the 2 rubles, man.

You just give me the 2. Take it.

I'm sorry, Mr. Nazerman.

For what?

For what that young

man said to you.

Sell your sorrow somewhere

else, miss Birchfield.

I came here mainly to apologize.

For what?

I was tactless the other day.

I forced myself on you.

I got angry.

It's bothered me

the whole weekend.

I suppose you think

I'm rather silly.

Walking over here though,

I had a sensible

conversation with myself.

Would you like to hear it?

How nice I thought it would be

If you and I had lunch together.

Like wednesday?

Thursday?

I'll bring some sandwiches.

We'll have them in the park.

Certainly you must be

joking, miss Birchfield.

Oh, no, I'm not.

Don't you think it's rather...

No. No. Please, don't say stupid.

Don't demean it.

I came to apologize.

So you came to apologize and...

I accept your apology.

You have to excuse me.

What can I do for you?

Well, what do you want?

My diamond engagement ring.

I want to borrow.

It's glass.

Glass?

He said it was real.

Wednesday or thursday?

What?

Lunch in the park.

Wednesday's better for me.

Wednesday, thursday,

whatever you like.

All right.

I'll see you then.

Fine. Fine.

Teaching time, Mr. Nazerman.

Time to teach.

Now, last time you

taught me gold, right?

What are you going

to teach me tonight?

Tonight I teach you

to save your pennies.

I'm going to do that, Mr. Nazerman.

Yes, sir.

Now, in the meantime,

I'm learning business

from a master, right?

So I got to know one thing,

Something I've been

thinking about.

How come you people come

to business so naturally?

"You people"?

Oh, I see. Yeah.

I see. I see.

You, uh...

You want to learn the secret

Of our success.

Is that right?

All right.

I'll teach you.

First of all, you start off

With a period of

several thousand years

During which you have

nothing to sustain you

But a great bearded legend.

You have no land to call your own,

To grow food on or to hunt.

You have nothing.

You're never in one

place long enough

To have a geography

or army or land myth.

All you have is a little brain.

A little brain and a

great bearded legend

To sustain you and convince you

That you are...

Special...

even in poverty.

But this, uh...

This little brain...

That's the real key, you see.

With this little brain

You go out and buy

a piece of cloth.

Cut that cloth in two.

Sell it for a penny more

than you paid for it.

Buy another cloth.

Cut it into 3 pieces.

Sell it for 3 pennies profit.

But during that time

you must never succumb

To buying an extra piece

of bread for the table

Or a toy for a child.

No!

No, you must immediately run out

And get yourself a still

larger piece of cloth.

So you repeat this

process over and over,

And suddenly you

discover something.

You have no longer any desire,

Any temptation to dig into

the earth to grow food

Or gaze at limitless land

and call it your own.

No, no. You just go on and on,

Repeating this process

over the centuries.

And suddenly you make

a grand discovery.

You have a mercantile heritage.

You are a merchant.

You're known as a usurer,

A man with secret resources,

A witch, a pawnbroker,

A sheeny, a mockie, and a kike!

You're really some

teacher, Mr. Nazerman.

You're really...

Really the greatest.

Jesus?

Yeah?

Como va tu trabajo?

Va bien, mama.

Muy bien.

Si?

Si.

Te gusta tu jefe?

Quien, Nazerman?

Si.

Uh-huh.

Sabe muchas cosas.

Si?

Estoy apprendiendo

muchas cosas por el.

Ay, que bueno.

Algun dia voy a tener

mi propio negocio.

Ay, que bueno.

Uno no va salir del

tapo careo apartamento.

Entonces quiere decir que

de ahora en adelante

Vas hacer buen muchacho.

Of course.

I am a very good boy.

I am a good boy.

Un buen muchacho.

Ok, good boy.

Say good boy.

Pero...

Good boy.

No es lo mismo que decir goodbye?

No, es otra cosa.

Ven aqu. Ven aqu.

Good boy.

Say good boy.

Good.

Good...

Boy.

Right. I am...

I am...

A good-I am.

I am. I am...

I am...

A good...

A good boy.

Nazerman...

I can't even look at him anymore.

I start to blush.

Nazerman of leipzig.

Look, Tessie...

Don't be an hysterical woman.

Neither one of us

has done anything

That we should feel guilty about.

You'd better go and see him.

I was in Auschwitz, too.

I came out alive.

You came out dead.

I'll have some coffee for

you when you come out.

Yeah. Yeah.

Guilt.

And there it is.

Guilt to find yourself alive.

And so you wrap yourself

In a kind of shroud

And feel you share

the dignity of death

With those who really died.

Tell me...

Does blood ever flow

through you, Sol Nazerman?

Can you feel pain?

No.

You are a fake.

You breathe, you eat, you walk.

You make money.

You take a dream and

give a dollar...

And give no hope.

I survive.

Survive?

A coward's survival,

and at what a price!

No love. No passion.

No pity! Dead!

Sol Nazerman, the walking dead!

It's wednesday.

Yeah, so it's wednesday.

We were to have lunch together.

In fact, you set the day yourself.

Had you forgotten?

Yes, I'm afraid I had.

Well, it-it doesn't matter.

Here I am.

Miss Birchfield, I feel I

must be honest with you.

I do not wish to inflict

a failure on you,

But I do not welcome

your interest.

You were in a concentration camp,

Weren't you?

That's no concern of yours.

Would you like to hear

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Morton S. Fine

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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