Original subtitles

(Man) Mannix. That's right.

Okay, I'm here. Now what?

I understand you're straight, and the best.

Would you mind turning that off?

I'd still like to know why we're meeting here, Mr. Robinson.

You said it was a matter of life or death.

My name isn't Robinson.

Tom Fortune.

That's right.

Sorry.

I don't do business with the family.

This isn't family business.

What is it?

It's personal, very personal.

Go on.

(SIGH) It's my wife.

She's--

It turns me around to talk about it.

You mean there's another man? Yeah.

And you want me to find out who he is.

I know who he is.

I don't know where they're meeting each other.

That's what I want you to find out.

Why me?

You've got plenty of soldiers that can get the job done.

I don't want anybody on the inside to know about this.

Afraid they might lose their respect for you?

The job pays $5,000.

Sorry. Keyhole-peeping isn't my bag.

10,000! I told you, I want no--

(GUNSHOTS)

♪ (THEME) ♪

at the races with Tom.

I telephoned his father before I left headquarters.

It's funny.

I've been fighting Victor Fortune ever since I was a cop on the beat.

It still tore me up to have to tell him.

Yeah, the heir apparent

just a heartbeat away from owning half the rackets in town.

Now everyone in the family moves up a step.

Or someone outside the family moves in.

Far-out place for you two to have met.

It was his idea. He said it had to be private.

Not private enough. What'd he have in mind?

He thought his wife was playing around.

Did he mention any names?

No, he didn't get around to that.

Too bad. Any hunches?

Unh-unh.

Mr. Fortune, I said I'd call when I established what happened.

It wasn't necessary to come down here.

Tom's my son, Lieutenant. Do you expect me to sit home

and wring my hands like a woman?

No, I don't. But there's nothing you can do here.

I want to see him.

What was my son doing in this place?

He asked me to meet him here.

Who are you?

Joe Mannix. I'm a private detective.

What business would my brother have with a private cop?

He didn't get around to telling me.

You want me to believe that coming here was Tom's idea?

That's the way it was. (Victor) You see the man who shot him?

No. Did he shoot at you, too?

If he did, he missed.

You're a lucky man.

Mr. Mannix is a very lucky man, wouldn't you say, Mark?

Very lucky.

(SNAPS FINGERS)

Mr. Mannix, you couldn't be forgetting anything

that happened here tonight, could you?

No.

And you're quite sure Tom had no time to tell you anything?

That's what I said.

We'll find out.

It may take a little while, but we'll find out.

You'll let me know when I can have my son's body, Lieutenant.

I will, Mr. Fortune.

I hope you didn't make a mistake covering for the wife that way.

Her husband's dead. What difference would it make now?

Could make a lot of difference.

If old man Fortune gets the idea you weren't completely leveling with him,

he might think you were working for someone on the other side.

Like...

Joe, you know there's been an ongoing battle for power

between the Fortunes and Duke Benedict's people.

That's their problem. I'm out of it.

I hope so.

You were my son's wife for how long, Maria, five years?

Almost.

It would have been five years next month.

And you--

you stayed close with him all that time?

Papa, you know I did.

I know what I think, but now I'm asking.

I loved Tom. I loved him well.

But he was a busy man. He had things to do.

You were alone many times.

A woman of your generation,

it wouldn't be strange if you

looked at another man.

I never looked at another man.

Never.

Forgive me. I don't like it, either.

This is your home, Maria.

You are one of us.

Mark!

We'd like a drink, Lee. Would you get some ice?

Yes, sir.

Tom's not yet in his grave, Mark,

but we must talk about who'll take his place.

Tom would understand.

Yeah.

Do you think Lee could handle the job?

He's not part of the family.

He's not even a distant relation.

But he's smart right?

He's tough, knows how to take care of himself.

If that's what the job calls for,

a man who's quick on his feet,

I suppose Lee's your man.

Mark, you're my firstborn. You're next to me always.

Nobody could ever take your place.

But you have too much to do now with the books, the taxes, the lawyers.

Is that what it is, Papa? Don't you think I'm capable of handling an active job?

Ah! What you do for the family is more important.

You use your brains. That's your place, Mark.

You must accept it.

Now I asked you about Lee.

Yes, Papa. He's your man.

The usual, Mr. Fortune? Yeah.

(Lee) Mark.

Well, let's not keep the good news a secret.

Lee.

Yes, sir.

I'm moving you up. You'll take over Tom's duties.

I'm--

I'm honored, Mr. Fortune. I'll give it my best.

Good.

Your first job will be to find out who killed my boy.

Just say the word

and Duke Benedict is a dead man. I'll see to it personally.

No, no, we want to be sure first it was Benedict.

Have you heard anything? Any calls?

No, sir, nothing.

We don't leap then. There's much to be lost by starting a war.

We'll begin by finding out who set Tom up.

Has to be that private cop Mannix.

May I help you?

I'd like to see Mr. Mannix, please.

Mrs. Fortune.

My secretary Peggy Fair.

How do you do? Hello.

I was about to have some coffee. Would you like some?

No, thank you.

Come in.

What can I do for you?

Well, there are some questions I'd like to ask you first, Mr. Mannix,

if you don't mind? No, not at all.

This may seem rather callous to you,

but Tom being dead less than 12 hours,

but I have to know.

Had you ever met him before last night?

No.

I heard you tell his father that the meeting was Tom's idea.

It was.

And that he was killed

before you knew why he had to see you.

Was that the truth?

Why would I lie about it?

To spare my feelings?

Excuse me. Joe.

Thank you, Peggy.

Are you sure that Tom hadn't hired a detective

to spy on an unfaithful wife?

Do you believe that's why he wanted to see me?

Yes.

Why?

Because he was obsessed with the idea that I was having an affair.

Was it an idea, Mrs. Fortune,

or was it a fact?

It wasn't true.

I think it was part of a plot to kill him,

to separate him from the family,

from his bodyguard.

To isolate him in a lonely place

so they could shoot him.

Who are "they"?

I should have said "he."

The man I'm supposed to be having an affair with.

Does he have a name?

Duke Benedict.

I heard he was drunk at a party

and he just happened

to let it slip to one of Tom's friends.

And your husband bought that?

He was insanely jealous.

And what would you like me to do now?

Tell the police,

tell them that Duke Benedict lied about us,

drove Tom out of his mind

and that he walked

into a trap that was set for him.

I don't know how well that'll hold up.

Well, if it doesn't, you'll see I'm right.

Duke Benedict is going to take over this town if he can.

There'll be killing.

Tell the police that.

Mrs. Fortune, why don't you tell the police that?

If the family found out they'd--

All right, Mrs. Fortune.

I'll do what I can.

I don't care what it costs, Mr. Mannix.

Forget it, Mrs. Fortune.

The law requires me to pass this kind of information along to the police.

Thank you.

What was that all about?

I wish I knew.

Ah, Maria, I missed you.

You went out early.

Yes, before 8:00. Did you want me for something, Papa?

No, no, but coffee seemed, well,

not so good without you. Well, nothing is as good anymore.

Yes. Messages keep coming from all over.

Your husband was loved and respected.

Papa, if you don't mind, I think I'll go upstairs.

I've made all the arrangements.

It just occurred to me that you might have been out doing the same thing yourself.

No, I went to Mass.

I wanted to pray for Tom before anything else.

You prayed a long time.

There was a lot to ask for.

I prayed for Tom,

then I asked God to help all of us.

And I begged that there would be no more killing.

All right, you go ahead.

You go on upstairs and get some rest.

What did she give as a reason for seeing Mannix?

She didn't.

She didn't even say she saw him.

What now?

With Tom's body lying cold, nothing.

But I think now it's Mr. Mannix's turn.

I'll leave that to you, Lee.

Suppose we use my car, Mannix.

I'd appreciate it if you'd put your hands on the roof.

You mind telling me what's going on?

I'd mind.

Let's go.

Take the front seat.

All the way to the corner.

Nice view.

It's even better from the ledge.

I'll take your word for it.

Take my word for it, Mannix. I want you up there.

What are my options?

If you're not up there in one second, I'll put a bullet in you

or we'll push you over. Take your pick.

Either way, that's gonna look like murder.

Victor Fortune wouldn't like that. It's bad for the image.

How do you want it, Mannix?

Okay, now what? Who paid you to finger Tom Fortune?

Nobody. I had nothing to do with Tom going to that warehouse.

Come on, Mannix, you can do better than that.

Let's say just so I'll understand the situation,

that I do give you a name.

Well, that's good for a start.

And for a finish, can I jump down off of here?

Maybe.

Or maybe I give you a name and you push me off anyway.

That's a chance you'll have to take, Mannix.

(Man) No, it isn't.

Your gun, Martisse, get rid of it.

(GUN CLATTERS)

You, too, punk.

Not like that.

With your left hand.

Relax, Mannix, come on down.

It's not your time yet.

You just put it all together for me, Braden.

You're Benedict's boy so that means Mannix is too.

Mr. Fortune will be very interested in hearing the news.

Duke doesn't need you to be his messenger, Martisse.

He's got his own ways of communicating.

Now you and your punk

get lost for a while, go have a beer somewhere.

Move!

(WHISTLES)

(Man) Mannix!

Glad you waited for me here.

We're parked on the next level.

♪♪ (CLASSICAL)

The guy here insists on talking to you, Duke.

(TURNS MUSIC OFF)

I'm having a little problem, Mannix.

You seem to be a part of it.

I was going to say the same thing about you, Duke.

(LAUGHS)

You were there when Tom Fortune got hit.

Tell me what happened.

You read the newspaper account, didn't you?

That's the way it was.

Yeah, well,

I had the impression there was more to it.

Like what?

Oh, I don't know. Just a feeling,

a something between the lines

that maybe the man that pulled the trigger

was a friend of mine.

Come on, what kind of a cute game are you playing, Duke?

You started this whole thing in motion deliberately.

You trying to squeeze out now?

Make that clearer, Mannix.

The story about Maria Fortune.

You put the word out that the two of you had something going.

Oh, I did, huh? When?

There was a party. You had a few too many.

What party?

Maybe you were too under the weather to remember.

Mannix, I saw Maria Fortune once in my life at the races with Tom.

We were not introduced. I never saw her again.

I don't go to parties and I never get juiced.

Now why would I make up a dumb story about her?

I'll give you her theory. You knew what a rumor like that would do to Tom.

And that's the way it worked out. He went crazy with jealousy,

called me to the warehouse to meet him.

He went there without his bodyguard because it was such a personal matter

and he walked right into a setup.

Hmm.

Well, even if I was smart enough to figure all that out,

what would it get me?

A better chance to push the Fortune family

right out of the rackets.

The old man,

what does he think about all this?

After tonight, what can he think?

Look, Mannix.

There's no war.

I didn't kill Martisse up there on that roof.

But I could have.

He's right.

If I'd set up the contract on Tom Fortune, I wouldn't have stopped there.

Martisse would have been hit, too.

And any other member of Fortune's outfit who stuck his head out!

Why tell me, Duke?

The man to convince is Victor Fortune.

(SIGHS)

You set it up, Mannix, a meeting.

What? A summit meeting with old man Fortune.

Not a chance. He already thinks I helped kill Tom.

Suicide doesn't appeal to me.

I'm telling you what I want, Mannix.

Forget it, Benedict.

I'm not gonna walk in on old man Fortune. Period.

(LAUGHS) Look at him, huh?

Tough guy, eh?

Tough guy.

Refuses to walk in.

Deliver him.

(HORN HONKS) Move!

Well, what do you know? Someone just delivered a present.

Keep an eye on him. I'll pass the word.

Mr. Martisse, this is the gate.

They just delivered Mannix.

Mannix, you were delivered like a package. Who was the postman?

Duke Benedict.

You should know better than to work for him.

He always treats his people that way.

I've never worked for Duke Benedict or anyone else in his line of business.

We have our merits, some of us.

Benedict snatched you right out of our hands.

Now he returns you. Why?

I guess he figured you'd be in no mood to talk to him.

He's concerned that you think he was behind the death of your son.

He wants to assure you that he wasn't.

So you of all people bring the message and I'm supposed to believe it, huh?

No.

Benedict wants to tell you himself, face to face.

He wants to sit down with you. (KNOCK ON DOOR)

Come. Maria.

Come right in here, Maria.

Darling, you know Mr. Mannix, don't you?

Yes, he was at the warehouse.

Mr. Mannix, I was running this town when Duke Benedict was hustling football cards.

Now he has the gall to think he's king and I'm a fool.

It's just possible that he is sincere

and wants to avoid a war between your outfit and his.

Benedict used this guy to get Tom. Now they're trying to set you up.

What are we doing? Why are we even listening to him?

I'll tell you what I think, Papa.

I think Duke Benedict could be on the level.

You what? The whole thing is too pat,

dumping Mannix here after what happened.

Benedict knew we'd react in one of two ways.

Either we carve up Mannix as a sacrificial lamb or we'd listen to him.

Either way, the message comes out the same--

Duke Benedict wants to avoid trouble.

What are you proposing, Mark?

I say peace is worth the risk. I say we give him a hearing.

But not you, Papa.

I'll go.

It's the sort of job I can handle.

You heard Mannix. It's a sitting-down thing.

No, no, son. If anyone goes, it'll be me as head of the family.

Mannix, what's in this for you outside of saving your skin?

You don't really care if people in our line of business kill each other off, do you?

I care about the others who might get killed, the innocents.

Maria, when my wife was alive,

I used to rely on her judgment, her ability to see through people,

whether they could be trusted or not.

Now I come to you, Maria.

This man Mannix, what do you think of him?

I think you can trust him, Papa.

Why do you have this feeling?

I don't know, Papa, but I know I'd deny the feeling

if I thought it would lead you into danger.

Is that why you went to see Mannix this morning?

I went to see him because I thought he might be holding something back

about the way Tom was killed.

I thought he might tell me more than he told you.

Did he? No.

He only repeated what you heard.

Was anything else discussed, Maria?

There was one more thing, Papa,

something between Tom and me.

Tom thought I was having an affair with Duke Benedict.

I told him it wasn't true, but he didn't believe me.

So Tom is dead and now what, Maria?

You want me to believe? I'd like to, but how?

(Mannix) There's only one way.

Sit down with Duke Benedict and hear what he has to say.

It's a trap, Mr. Fortune.

They're trying to set you up.

Well, they'd better think twice about that.

If anything goes wrong, you'll find out the family has a very long arm.

Mannix, do it, make a meeting.

All right, but let's get one thing clear, Mr. Fortune,

this'll be done my way.

I'll accept that.

The corner of Melrose and Winslow in 20 minutes.

Green convertible.

Okay, Peggy, go. All right, Joe, I'm on my way.

Four Trees Shopping Center.

I'll be on the southwest corner in exactly...

Fifteen minutes.

I'll take your keys.

I'll drive.

You don't trust me? That makes us even, doesn't it?

That's how I managed to survive, trusting nobody.

(ENGINE TURNS OVER)

(HORN HONKS)

You afraid of being followed?

I was supposed to check.

What do you do if you are?

Stay put and not go anywhere.

You can relax.

I didn't bring any troops.

All right, Martisse, out!

What was that all about?

That was your man, as if you didn't know.

My man? Lee Martisse.

He might want this back. I'll keep the clip, if you don't mind.

Believe me. I didn't tell him to follow us.

If he did it, he did it on his own.

All right, let's go. We're switching cars.

What's the matter with this car?

It's safe. It's bulletproof.

It might also be bugged.

I would know if it was bugged.

All right.

That's right. All the interested parties should be here.

Peggy, everything okay? He's in there.

Nobody followed you? As far as I know.

Well, for insurance, we've gotta get this car out of sight.

Pick a spot where you can watch this whole area.

You see anybody or hear any noise inside, call Art Malcolm.

Right. Joe, be careful.

This is it.

I thought Maria Fortune should be here.

How do you do?

I've been hearing about you and Maria.

So have I.

Mannix told me about...

us, Mrs. Fortune.

Now have I ever shaken your hand?

Don't you think it's time I did?

I don't find that amusing.

I don't suppose that satisfies you.

I'd like to make a suggestion.

Why don't you ask Mr. Fortune

to name the person who heard you talking about your relationship with Maria?

All right, I'm asking.

I don't know who heard you.

Let's make it easier. Where did you hear it?

From my son Mark.

Any idea where he heard it?

From his brother Tom.

That's full circle, nowhere to nowhere.

Let's go on then. There's more to talk about.

I had nothing to do with the hit on Tom.

I wouldn't take that chance,

not unless I was ready to go the distance.

Look, if I wanted a war, I wouldn't be here now talking to you.

But I am here

'cause I wanna end this habit we have

of killing each other off.

What's your idea?

Don't bother yourself, old man.

It's not important.

So you didn't want a war, Mr. Benedict.

Over against the wall!

Braden, what are you doing here?

I gave orders that nobody-- That's history.

You don't give me orders anymore.

Move.

So you think you can take over, huh?

Yeah, I've had it in mind

for quite some time now.

Why, you!

Hold it!

I'm not playing games, Duke.

Back there with the others.

Move!

You killed my son.

Yeah. How about that?

You had him set up by telling that lie about Duke and Maria.

You give me too much credit.

That came from the top.

So did the bug in the old man's topcoat.

That's how we traced you here.

Isn't that right, Mark?

Mark.

He's wrong.

Say, it, Mark.

Say it, Mark!

Your own brother, Mark!

You did that?

You set up your own brother.

You killed him so you could take his place!

Did you really expect me to be a family man?

Even with Tom out of the way, you didn't think I was good enough.

You were gonna move up Lee Martisse.

Mark, you told Tom about me

and Duke Benedict.

That's why he believed it. He trusted you!

Like a brother.

He even let me pick out the private detective for him,

set up the meeting.

You know, Tom didn't really have much on the ball mentally.

Yeah, that's right.

(GUNSHOT)

Mannix!

Okay, Braden, you know what to do with them.

Take care of them, all of them.

Wait a minute, Mark.

I just want to say thanks for setting it all up.

I want it all.

Not just a new boss.

And you really made it easy for me.

Mannix!

Hold it, Braden!

(SIRENS WAIL)

Yesterday, I had two sons.

Today...

Come on, Papa, let's go home.