Original subtitles

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♪♪

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With a loss of 340 passengers,

and Penn Anderson, Beverly Hills real estate developer,

the sole survivor.

It's the story of a man miraculously flung clear

at the time of the crash, even more miraculously,

groping his way from deep wilderness

to a trackless expanse of desert,

and living to tell about it.

They should be ready for us now, Mrs. Anderson.

And I can tell you we have every reason to believe

that the surgery's been successful.

- I just want to... - Warn me?

You said it was successful.

Well, not warn you, I just want to remind you

of what I first told you, about the damage

the sun had already done to your husband's face.

You said the restoration might not be entirely...

Well, uh, starting from scratch, as it were...

Oh, but no unpleasant distortion,

of that I can assure you.

You may notice certain, uh, nuances of expression,

that sort of thing, and the voice.

- The voice? - Yes, there'll be a hoarseness.

Well, the larynx suffered rather extensive damage, too.

But we believe that in time

he'll begin to sound quite normal.

Okay?

Okay.

Penn?

Kelly?

Hello, Kelly.

We were sure you'd want your wife here for the unveiling.

Well, I'm not so sure.

It all depends.

Have faith, Mr. Anderson.

Well?

Let me answer.

It's excellent.

Excellent.

I'm really pleased, Mr. Anderson.

Oh, so will you be, Penn.

Really you will.

You want proof?

And every time you look in there,

what you see you're going to like even better.

Now, that's a professional opinion and a known fact.

Are... you pleased?

Oh, of course I am...

A stranger.

But...

if you can get...

used to him...

I suppose...

I can, too.

♪♪

- You did say Mrs. Penn Anderson? - Yes.

- Mr. Mannix is expecting you. - Mrs. Anderson?

We both recognize the name.

That was quite an experience your husband had.

A remarkable feat.

Yes, it was.

Oh, please, come in.

Have a seat, Mrs. Anderson.

How's he doing?

Very well, the doctors say.

He should be leaving the hospital any day now.

I'm glad to hear that.

That's just part of it.

Uh, how do you mean?

He'll be coming home.

Is that a problem?

I don't know how to tell you this,

because I don't think you'll believe me.

I'm not sure I even believe it myself.

But I have to know, Mr. Mannix.

Know what, Mrs. Anderson?

The man in the hospital...

I don't believe he is my husband.

You're from the airline, Mr. Mannix,

- is that what you said? - Well, not exactly.

Uh, the insurance end.

Oh, I see.

Well, I was wondering when I'd be hearing from you fellows.

The usual procedure is, we wait to hear from you.

You will, Mr. Mannix.

That hospital wasn't exactly free, you know.

And those 50 miles of desert...

you'll be paying a lot more than taxicab fare.

See that he's all right.

Just what the hell is the matter with you?!

Oh, mister... oh, God...

if it wasn't for you, I...

My-my accelerator jammed on me as I was making that turn.

- I... - Just what are you doing here?

Oh, I, uh...

I-I was gonna park my car here.

My brother's a... brother's a patient here, see?

I... oh, I...

Look, anyway, we're-we're both very lucky, you know?

Oh, say,

tell that guy over there I'm sure sorry, huh?

Yeah, I'll do that.

Hey... I'm sorry.

Uh-huh. It's all right. I'm fine.

He's all right.

Sorry about that.

As crash landings go,

I'd say that was a breeze.

Right now I'm more concerned about that near miss.

Well, I suppose a man could even get used to that.

Oh, it isn't that I don't appreciate what you did for me.

As far as I'm concerned...

you can knock a couple of bucks off my settlement.

No need for that, Mr. Anderson; the shove is on me.

His license number was what, Joe?

7-2-3-K-Q-B.

All right, I'll have DMV check it out.

But what makes you think he's not for real?

He said he was on his way to visit his brother

in the hospital, and when he headed for the parking lot,

I kept an eye on him.

He drove up and down a couple of aisles,

and then drove out.

So? He changed his mind.

Maybe, or he never had a brother there in the first place.

Now, look, Art, you come up with a name,

and I'll find out soon enough.

Yeah, thanks.

Yes.

Well, yes, I'll tell him.

- Thank you. - Whoever that was, Peggy, I'm out.

I'm on my way to the airlines office.

To check the passenger list of the crashed plane?

Right.

You can save yourself a trip... That was the airline.

Oh, they're gonna send the list over?

I mean they respectfully decline to show it to you at all.

Matter of policy.

Policy is policy, Mr. Mannix.

What's to explain?

Well, one thing is why, to date, there has been

no publication whatsoever of the passengers' names.

That's always withheld until next of kin have been notified.

You mean they don't know by now?

Those people aren't missing in action in Vietnam.

This was a commercial air crash, front page news.

Exactly what is your position in this, Mr. Mannix?

My position, Mr...

By the way, what is your full name?

I want to get it exactly correct.

Oren J. Arthur.

Oren J... Arthur.

Now, my position, Mr. Arthur,

is that of a licensed, bonded representative of the law

who is more than a little puzzled

at your airline's behavior in this matter,

and who thinks that the press might be puzzled, too,

once they've been advised.

We have nothing to hide.

Not even the passenger list?

All right, come with me.

Here you go.

Let's see you make something out of it.

Won't even take long to try... The names are alphabetized.

Hm.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Hmm.

I don't see the name Penn Anderson listed.

Penn Anderson?

The only survivor.

Oh!

Yes.

The survivor.

Uh...

that check mark.

Martin Thompson.

Now, the man who walked away from that crash

has had plenty of publicity as Penn Anderson.

Why wasn't the discrepancy reported?

Mr. Mannix, this was not an overseas flight

requiring passports.

If Mr. Anderson chose to fly as Mr. Thompson,

why, that was his privilege.

Actually, the authorities did learn about that,

and evidently they didn't see any reason

- to make anything out of it. - Mm.

Well, I guess if it's good enough for the authorities,

it's good enough for me.

Thank you, Oren.

Hello, Joe.

I know. You just happened to be in the neighborhood, right?

Oh, I happened to be wondering

what's got your people so interested in that plane crash?

Oh, are we interested?

Well, I got that impression

from one of the airline's junior Napoleons.

The authorities was the way he put it.

Oh, well, that could be anybody

from the Federal Aviation Administration

to the Texas Rangers.

Anyway, whoever "they" are, they haven't chosen

to let me in on it.

I wouldn't mind if you did, though, Joe.

Is there something I ought to know?

Yeah, there's quite a bit I ought to know.

When I find out, I'll pass it along.

Yeah, well, if it's concerning that driver

with the jammed accelerator,

I may be able to advance you a step.

- You identified the car? - Oh yeah.

There's something I'm missing.

It belonged to a 68 year old librarian

who lives in Altadena.

- Stolen? - Yeah.

She reported it two days ago.

We found it abandoned about a mile from the hospital.

Meaning whoever borrowed it,

borrowed it to pull a job.

Which means we've lost him.

Maybe not.

Maybe not what, Art?

We found some fresh fingerprints in that car

that didn't belong to a little old lady from Altadena.

Oh, Mr. Mannix.

Well, I'm pleased to see you again.

It looks like you're coming along just fine.

Well, every day I seem to get stronger and stronger.

Ah, good, good, good.

Now, here you are, Mr. Anderson.

What's this?

Oh, they're the usual insurance forms.

If you would look them over, and fill them out,

it would certainly help speed things up.

Yes.

Oh, yes.

These look like very, very good copies.

Copies?

Copies. They're no more legitimate

than you are an insurance man. Let me buy you a drink?

Yeah, I think I could use one. Scotch on the rocks.

Right.

You know, Mr. Mannix,

my wife has been acting rather strangely since my return.

So the other day...

I had one of my employees follow her.

Where do you suppose she went?

To my office.

Exactly.

How about why she hired me?

Any information on that?

Well, Mr. Mannix,

I think it's safe to say

the sort of thing I went through

doesn't leave a man precisely the way it found him.

Now, that's aside from any changes of contour

of the face or the nose or anything.

However,

it would appear that my wife,

Kelly,

thinks that I have changed

considerably more than somewhat.

I mean...

she is more than merely puzzled.

I suppose the whole experience

of the airplane crash...

the strain that it put on her,

well, it was just very traumatic.

The fact is, Mr. Mannix,

that in the case of my wife,

I feel that she needs

quite another kind of specialist

other than a private investigator.

Are you saying the dramatic change...

is in your wife?

Yes.

That's one way of putting it.

However, in your case, you must agree

that there was some change

in you before the crash...

if in name only.

You were on that plane as Martin Thompson.

Oh, that.

Odd thing to do.

No, no, not at all.

Not if you're in the land development business.

You see, Mr. Mannix,

competitors are constantly snooping around,

trying to get a line on what they think

you are going to be doing next.

Now, in this particular instance,

I was on a very hot deal, so I merely took some precautions,

that's all.

Tell me, Mr. Anderson,

are any of those competitors

rough enough to try and kill you?

What?

Well, let's say, try and run you down

crossing the hospital driveway in a wheelchair?

Now we're competitive,

but we're not savage.

No, Mr. Mannix, I think you're imagining things,

and perhaps, in your case, it is somewhat of a...

occupational habit, I suppose.

Yeah, yeah, well, that could be.

Anyway, thank you very much

for the drink, Mr. Anderson.

Oh, well, thank you. Thank you for the visit.

Listen, you put that bill of mine in the mail

and I'll see to it that it's paid promptly.

Oh, no, no need for you to do that, Mr. Anderson.

Well, no. I mean, it's very generous, but...

Not at all. It isn't yours to pay.

You didn't hire me. Your wife did.

Mr. Mannix...

No, Mrs. Anderson, he didn't exactly come out

and say you thought he was an imposter.

What did he say?

Well, I think a fair translation would be that you were...

suffering delusions,

and needed help.

Do you believe that?

You're my client, Mrs. Anderson.

I'm doing my very best to believe you.

Art, anything on those fingerprints?

Oh yeah. A report came in about an hour ago.

We've been trying to reach you.

Chances are those prints belong to the car thief, all right.

They were fresh enough, and he's hot enough.

Creep named Danny O'Meara.

Anything on him?

Nothing but a bad smell so far.

We think he's connected with a new organization in town.

Any connection with real estate?

Not unless you consider heroin and prostitution real estate.

They're a syndicate, Joe.

We think O'Meara does odd jobs for them.

Okay, Art, since you're such a whiz-bang at fingerprints,

I've got some more for you.

Now those insurance forms have the fingerprints

of the man currently calling himself Penn Anderson.

I think you ought to check them out.

Here are all the letters, Joe.

Ready for your signature.

Thanks, Peggy. I'll see you tomorrow, huh?

Well, Art will be calling anytime now

with that fingerprint report. I don't mind waiting.

Peggy, I can sign the letters by myself.

I can also answer the telephone.

Now, you just pick it up and talk into it, right?

But, Joe, you might need...

Goodnight, Peggy.

Goodnight, Joe.

Mannix. Yeah, Art. What took you so long?

Calm down, Joe, I called you as soon as I could.

And what about Penn Anderson?

Well, I don't know if this is gonna flip you or relax you.

Well, come on, Art, what is it? Let's have it.

Penn Anderson turns out to be...

Penn Anderson.

Are you sure?

Positive. We had his fingerprints checked

against those on his Air Force record.

Joe, are you there?

Yeah, yeah, I'm here, Art.

So Anderson is Penn Anderson.

Then his wife is hallucinating.

But why is he a target for the syndicate?

I mean, what's the connection?

I wouldn't worry about that, Mister.

Hang up now.

Company, Art.

Hey, what's going on in there?

Joe? Joe?

Are you there?

Joe, what's going on?

♪♪

All right, Mannix,

tell us all you know about the job you're doing

for Penn Anderson.

I am not working for Penn Anderson.

How many times do I have to say it?

Now the reason we're here, Mannix,

is so we can find a little peace

while you find out we mean to get the right answers.

Now, how much did Anderson tell you?

About what?

Now don't give us that. We heard you on the phone.

"Syndicate," isn't that what you said?

Yeah, I...

I thought there might be a connection.

Apparently there is.

Who were you talking to? Who was on the phone?

I told you...

the police.

You mean the Feds, don't you?

If you're not working for Anderson,

you must be working for them, right?

I'm not working with anybody.

Make him understand

it's important for him to tell us.

♪♪

Check this place out.

♪♪

Nothing, Lieutenant.

Yeah, well, give me a hand here.

Well?

They slipped us, sir.

What about Mannix?

He'll survive.

They're FBI men, Joe.

I don't know how long they had you under surveillance,

but they were trailing you

and they didn't know how much clout those guys had,

so they shortwaved us to take over.

Well, that answers one of the questions.

What's that?

Who the authorities are, riding the case.

What did they say, uh, about Anderson and the syndicate?

They were about as closemouthed as they could be.

Oh, they, they must have said something.

I got the impression that Anderson was

some kind of a front money man for the mob.

He laundered syndicate funds

through those land deal operations.

Well, the...

What's the FBI waiting for?

Either they have the evidence or they haven't.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Art, uh, you wouldn't be holding out on an old pal, would you?

Believe me, Joe, that's all they told me.

Well, they did say one more thing.

They gave me a message for you.

Yeah?

Get interested in another case.

They don't want to see or hear any more from you.

And they meant it.

Yeah, well, they didn't get hit

on the back of the head with a piece of pipe.

Forget those hoods for now, Joe.

We'll... we'll track 'em down.

Yeah, you make it sound like next year's business.

When?

When the FBI tells me.

How do I know?

Hey, uh...

they had a message for me, too,

for my whole department, and they had my boss deliver it:

Hands off.

You think I like that any more than you do?

Oh, that-that-that's beautiful.

All right, laugh, but I've got my orders

and now you've got yours.

You're off the Anderson case

and you'll stay off because you'll get no more help

from me or from the feds.

You're solo a-against a brand-new roughhouse syndicate.

Now stay alive!

Get some rest.

See that he does, Peggy.

Yeah, Peggy, have we got a phone number on Woody?

Woody?

Yeah, Woody Blaine.

We did him a favor a couple of times and softened a rap.

Maybe he'll return the favor and get us a line

on where Danny O'Meara's holed up.

Joe, for heaven's sake, didn't you hear what Art just said?

Yeah.

He can't help us anymore.

Woody Blaine... See if you can get him.

Joe, he said you're off the Anderson case.

Yeah, so did Anderson...

and I'll tell you what I told him.

My client is Mrs. Anderson.

I don't care what the fingerprint record said.

The man in that house is not my husband.

All right, Mrs. Anderson.

And you can think what you want about me...

That I'm sick, scheming, crazy, or anything.

All I can tell you is that when you've lived with a man

as long as I did with Penn, you know.

That's all I want to talk about, Mrs. Anderson...

When you were living with him... That and nothing more.

I'm sorry, I...

I, uh, made a few inquiries...

Some people who have known you.

I get the idea that lately there had been some problems

between you and your husband.

I guess you could say that.

Did it have anything to do with certain of his associates?

Associates?

Yes, associates you didn't approve of,

members of a... syndicate.

Why are you holding back, Mrs. Anderson?

Better yet, why didn't you tell me this from the start?

I hoped it wouldn't get to that...

and I'd sworn I wouldn't say anything.

About what?

Penn's deal with the FBI.

They promised him immunity

if he'd fly to Washington to testify to what he knew.

Well, that would explain the phony name.

What?

Oh, on the flight he used the name Martin Thompson.

Yes, but there was the crash.

He never got there.

And when he did get back home, he wasn't your husband...

or so you thought.

He is not my husband.

I don't know who he is, but...

he isn't my husband.

Then, why shield him?

I mean, what do you care?

I was... All those people he was dealing with,

I was frightened of them!

I still am!

And you're still a little, uh, confused, aren't you?

Wouldn't you be?

Mrs. Anderson, have you, uh, mentioned

to the man in your house the syndicate

or his trip to Washington?

Oh, yes.

What'd he say?

He said that he had no connection with any syndicate.

He had nothing to confess, no immunity was necessary.

He was on a real estate deal, this is all in my imagination.

Excuse me. Mr. Mannix?

- Yes? - There's a phone call for you.

Excuse me.

It's a Mr. Woody Blaine, I think.

- Thank you. - Uh-huh.

Yeah, Woody?

Okay, Joe...

with a little help from some pals who owe me,

I got Danny O'Meara pinned down for you.

Nice going.

Not so nice. It's trouble, Joe.

- Walk away from this. - Why?

Danny's a bad scene.

You know, he never was what you'd call a stand-up guy,

but well, the word now is he's scared stiff.

That means he'll talk.

Look, it means he could also blow your head off

without thinking once.

Look, Joe, I'm trying to get this over to you.

Woody, I'm short on time.

You asked for it.

Okay, I'll give you the layout.

You know where Danny's trying to stay clean?

Sanitation plant near the airport.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

No, no, Mannix, listen I couldn't help it!

They made me! No, please!

You're rattling in your boots, Danny!

You that scared of me? I don't buy it.

Don't buy it! Buy what you want!

The cops, huh?

No, they put you in that big a spin?

I don't buy that either, Danny. It's your own people, isn't it?

Okay. Okay, they're on my tail... or they will be.

I couldn't help it.

Buy, buy what you want, Mannix.

I couldn't help it. They're on my tail!

I couldn't help it!

Because you blew it for them twice, didn't you, Danny?

Outside the hospital and the other night

when you lost your mask.

Yeah, yeah, you, you saw me. You recognized me.

They found out.

You don't know these guys, Mannix.

You don't know them!

Suppose you tell me!

Are you crazy?!

Now we talk, you get protection.

That's what you want, isn't it?

You think you can give it to me?

Yeah.

You can stay under wraps at my place,

or a cozy little cell in the slammer.

Penn Anderson... Your people found out

about his trip to Washington, didn't they?

Yeah, yeah, they found... they found out all right.

They... they knew that if he sang,

heads would roll, so they had a hit man

all set to knock him off when... when he got there.

But he didn't get there.

The plane went down,

and they thought they were in the clear.

Then what does the chump do?

He comes back to life.

And I do mean chump.

Why is that, Danny?

Well, he s...

He sends them word that he's changed his mind.

He ain't gonna sing after all.

And they say that's fine and dandy, and...

that they forgive and forget,

and he thinks that's fine and dandy.

Do you want to guess what will happen to Anderson

the first time they get him alone?

Yeah, I was coming to that, Danny.

Exactly who are they?

You mean names?

Right.

The... the big brass?

Yeah.

- Running the thing? - Yeah.

And do you think they'd let me know?

If you do, you're as big a chump as Anderson.

No, Mannix.

I'm a bag of bones.

They'll bury me anytime they want to,

and I still won't know who they are.

Mr. Mannix, your secretary did reach you then.

Mm. What's happened, Mrs. Anderson?

Well, Penn took my car keys.

I mean, that man took them sometime this morning.

An extra set that I keep.

He's the only one who could have.

There were no servants around.

What do you make of it?

I mean, there's another car... his.

Why take my car keys?

Are you sure he hasn't left the house since the hospital?

No, I'd swear to it.

So that would make his first unannounced trip out

pretty special, wouldn't it?

I... I suppose so.

Now, maybe he wants your car

because it wouldn't be recognized

as Penn Anderson's car.

In other words, it wouldn't be so readily followed.

He couldn't use it now in any case.

I drove it here.

Told him I had some errands, but he wasn't concerned.

If he was so anxious to keep from being spotted,

he probably won't need your car until well after dark.

Now, that would give you time

to get it back for him, wouldn't it?

You... You mean, you want me to do that?

Must be very important to him.

I want to know why.

Now, if it's all right with you, Mrs. Anderson,

I'd like to put an electronic gadget on your car.

Okay.

Penn!

Glad to see you.

- Harry. - Glad you could make it.

- Sam. - Make it?

Look at him. He could have walked here.

Well, just so long as it wasn't desert.

I've had about enough of that.

You came in your wife's car, eh?

Yup. I did everything you told me.

Hi, Nick.

- I'm sure nobody's following me. - Ah, good.

Scotch on the rocks, right, Penn?

You have a good memory.

Well, in this business, it pays.

Remember everything.

Admit... nothing.

Put a rock in there, will you?

Cheers.

Over here, Penn.

Let's all be comfortable.

How board meetings ought to be, right?

Right.

Although I, uh, must admit,

I never realized I was a member of this board.

Well, now, the job you're doing for us...

The financial work... Certainly entitles you to.

Ah.

You don't know how relieved we were

to hear you were coming back to us.

And you don't know, Harry,

how much pressure those Feds put on me.

But I'll tell you this.

I never had any intention of ever going on that stand.

Not in a million years.

Oh, that's fine, Penn.

And that reminds me of one other thing

that pays off in this business, uh, besides memory.

You know what it is?

Loyalty.

You got a clumsy cat, Nick.

Well, he don't see so good in the dark, either.

No matter what they say in the books.

But he's got loyalty,

believe me, just like, uh, Penn here.

At least up to a point.

What do you mean?

What I mean is...

there comes a time when everything...

Dogs, cats, anybody...

Everything has a breaking point.

Now, wait a minute.

I told you I never had any intention

of going on that stand.

I came to that conclusion on that airplane.

But you were on your way,

weren't you?

What about next time?

What next time?

When they come at you again.

Oh, they're bound to, you know.

Who's to say you're not going to crack wide open

and stay that way?

No.

Oh, come on, Penn.

I said it myself.

A guy's just human.

He can take only so much.

But it's never going to be that way,

because you have my word on it.

But look what would happen if it did, Penn.

Take me, for instance.

Samuel Vincent Imports, Limited.

A nice, new thriving business.

Except they find out it ain't so much Oriental rattan

as it is narcotics.

Now I ask you,

what does that do for me?

I'm not just thinking of myself.

Solar Investment. How about that?

Harry, I told you you were moving too fast.

He's moved all the way out of loan sharking.

We've made a switch lately, Penn.

Nick here is running Solar now.

Harry's taken over the prostitution end.

Offshore Enterprises.

We know you wouldn't want to do anything to wreck any of that,

any more than we'd want you to.

No.

In a way, Penn, you know what it is?

It's a question of your being saved from yourself.

So, you see, we don't seem to have very much choice.

You understand that.

By the way, Penn,

did you ever have a look at, uh, my stables?

I'd like to show them to you.

Freeze!

Hey.

Don't move anyone!

You okay?

Thanks to my insurance agent.

Mannix, you don't think much of orders, do you?

You could have blown this whole case!

Mrs. Anderson.

Yes.

I'd-I'd like you to meet Fred Belford.

He's with the FBI.

Uh, Mrs. Anderson,

I would like you to know how very much I regret

everything I had to put you through.

And I speak for the entire bureau when I say that.

But you see, there was a question

of protecting you, as well as the case.

Oh, it...

It is a relief.

A great one, I suppose, but...

Well, you see, Mrs. Anderson,

when your husband went down with the plane,

the government's case went with him.

They had to try and pick it up and...

with a man that just might substitute as your husband.

I'm sure Mr. Belford could tell you

what kind of machinery that called for.

Well, for openers, we had to put a news blackout

on the actual first sighting of the crash scene

until I could get started on my trek.

Then they had to arrange to cover me all the way...

To say nothing of Washington sending back

the identification of your fingerprints.

Yes, and it worked.

It-It actually worked, Mrs. Anderson.

We've learned everything that your husband would have told us.

I, uh... hope that...

that can be some sort of comfort to you.

I'd like to think that it would have been a comfort to Penn.

That it wasn't just fear or pressures

that sent him on that trip.

He wanted to do the right thing...

to make a clean start.

I'd like to think that.

I'd keep thinking about that, Mrs. Anderson.

I'm sure it's true.