The Sting Page #12

HOOKER (V.O.)

Naw, he just sat there and listened.

I don't know if he bought it or not.

CUT TO:

INT. THE STORE

Twist in the middle of the room giving a route to the Eirie

Kid. He shows him where to get his drink at the bar, where

to sit and finally how to leap up and throw his racing form

down in disgust.

GONDORFF (V.O.)

That's all right. Once they start

listening, they're in trouble.

Just don't give him more than he

asks for. If you rattle his

imagination a little, he'll come up

with all the right answers himself.

But all he's gotta do is catch you

in one lie and you're dead.

CUT TO:

HOOKER AND GONDORFF IN THE STORE OFFICE AGAIN

They both look tired.

HOOKER:

You think he'll show?

GONDORFF:

Did he say he wouldn't?

HOOKER:

No.

GONDORFF:

(softly)

He'll show.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

THE TALE:

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

WE OPEN ON A WIDE SHOT OF THE ALLEY OUTSIDE THE STORE

At first it appears to be deserted, but we move to reveal a

figure in an upper window of the apartment building which

forms one side of the alley. It's Kid Twist. His eyes roam

the street, for what, we do not yet know.

CUT TO:

INT. AN OLD DRUGSTORE ACROSS FROM THE ALLEY - DAY

Probably prosperous at one time, it has since declined, its

large fountain and eating area bow host to two bums and

Hooker, who sits alone in a rear booth near the telephone.

Dressed in a tuxedo, he nurses a cup of coffee, and anxiously

alternates his glances between the clock and the empty

street outside. It's 12:52.

CUT TO:

INT. THE STORE - DAY

The place is full of people, although we avoid long shot so

as not to give away the room as a whole yet. Instead, we

concentrate on the tense, waiting faces of some of the more

familiar people:

Gondorff and Niles in tuxedos behind a barred cashier's area.

Gondorff mutilates a piece of gum in his mouth. Niles just

stares out into space cracking his knuckles.

GONDORFF:

Eddie, cut that out, will ya.

The boardmarker walking nervously back and forth in front of

his odds board, checking every letter and number. He stops

to cross a T on one of the horses' names. It was already

crossed, but he does it again anyway.

Billie and Singleton, in an area hidden from the rest of the

room, watching the print-out on the ticker machine. The

clicking of the ticker is the only sound we hear in the store.

Curly Jackson in front of a mirror, pasting a fake Van Dyke

on his chin to go with his tweed suit and monocle.

A couple of Billie's girls adjusting their waitress outfits

and primping their hair. Each has a tray full of drinks

beside her.

The Eirie Kid silently retracing his "route" to make sure he

has it down.

Despite the crowd, there is no talking and little movement,

save for the constant swirling of smoke from several cigars

and cigarettes. The group is like a theatre company waiting

to go on opening night.

CUT TO:

THE DRUGSTORE AGAIN

It's 12:
56 and Hooker is worried. He looks up to see two

large men, obviously racket goons, come in the front door,

and take a seat facing him in the next booth. They stare at

him impassively, waving the waitress away when she comes to

take their order. Hooker knows they're Lonnegan's men, but

is somewhat unsettled by the fact that Lonnegan is not with

them. Suddenly, a voice.

VOICE:

Carver?

Hooker turns around to find that Lonnegan is seated in the

booth directly behind him. His bodyguard is in the one

behind that.

LONNEGAN:

You should always look to the back

too, kid.

HOOKER:

(sliding out of his

booth and into Lonnegan's)

I was afraid you weren't gonna come.

We haven't got much time.

LONNEGAN:

(curtly)

Get on with it then.

HOOKER:

(pointing to telephone)

Sometime after 1:00 a guy's gonna

call here and give you the name of

a horse.

(pulling out a wad of bills)

All you do is take this two grand

across the street to Shaw's place

and bet it on that pony. There's

nothin' to it, but don't take too

much time. We only have 3 or 4

minutes after you get the call.

LONNEGAN:

You're not gonna break him with a

$2,000 bet.

HOOKER:

This is just a test. The big one

comes later. Be careful with that

though, it's all I got.

LONNEGAN:

And you were gonna pay me back?

HOOKER:

I am after this race.

Lonnegan says nothing. He's not sure he likes a man who's

stupid enough to bet his last dollar on a horse race.

HOOKER:

I gotta get back before Shaw misses

me. Good luck.

EXT. STREET

Hooker hustles out across the street and into the alley.

INT. DRUGSTORE

Lonnegan watches him through the window and then settles

back in his seat to wait for the phone.

OUTSIDE STORE:

As Hooker descends the stairwell into the store, he gives

Kid Twist the office. Twist turns away from the window and

looks at his watch. 12:58.

CUT TO:

DRUGSTORE:

Lonnegan waiting by the phone, idly pinging a knife on the

salt shaker. It's 1:40. A man enters the store and walks

over to use the phone.

LONNEGAN:

We're waitin' for a call.

The man looks at Lonnegan a second, and then at his four

goons. He decides maybe he'll make the call later.

CUT TO:

INT. THE STORE

Kid Twist again. Billie enters the room with a piece of

paper. Kid Twist looks at it a second and then picks up the

pohne and begins to dial.

INT. DRUGSTORE

Lonnegan again. He's getting impatient now and lights a

cigarette, and then the phone rings. He answers it quickly

and we hear:

TWIST:

Bluenote at 6 to 1 on the nose.

The receiver clicks down at the other end. Lonnegan hangs

up and goes out the door, followed by his entourage.

EXT. STREET

We follow him across the street and into the alley, where he

signals one of the bodyguards to check the place out. Kid

Twist pushes a button on his window sill, and a buzzer goes

off inside the store. The previously inert figures there

spring to life.

Lonnegan's bodyguard descends the stairwell and knocks at

the door, where he is greeted by Hooker in the capacity of

host. He looks the place over and motions an okay to

Lonnegan.

INT. THE STORE

As Lonnegan enters, we see the room for the first time in

its entirety. Overnight it has been transformed into a

swank private club, with bar, cigarette girls, upholstered

furniture and chandeliers.

SINGLETON:

Look at that. He's got four apes

with him.

GONDORFF:

That's what I like about these

guys, J.J... They always got

protection against things we'd

never do to 'em.

Everywhere there is activity. A bank of telephones buzzes

incessantly. Sheet writers scurry from phone to phone,

taking bets of tremendous size from prominent people.

SHEET WRITER:

Yes, Mr. Ruth, 20,000 on Dancing

Cloud.

We reveal that the phones are controlled by a master switch,

which one of the recruited con men operates from behind a

partition.

The boardmaker, wearing headphones suspended from a sliding

wire, hurriedly chalks up races and odds on a huge blackboard.

From the loudspeakers we hear the words "last flash." The

odds on Bluenote settle down to 8 to 1.

Lonnegan makes his way through the throng toward the betting

line. His bodyguards fan out to various positions in the

room. The betting crowd itself (known as the "boost")

consists of close to twenty people, none of whom, of course

are what they're pretending to be. There are brokers with

pasty faces, sportsmen, tanned and casual, and financiers

with goatees and highly tailored clothes. Large amounts of

money are changing hands at the betting window. Boodles are

in sight everywhere.

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