Lulu Belle (1948) - full transcript
Lulu Belle is singing in a cheap dive in Natchez, Mississippi in the early 1900's when she meets rising young attorney George Davis. He gives up his fiancée and career to marry Lulu Bell. When his money runs out, Lulu Belle goes to work in a New Orleans club run by tough gambler Mark Brady. She tries to send George back to Natchez by pretending that she has fallen for prize-fighter Butch Cooper but George, in a fit of jealousy, drives a handful of forks into Butch's face. He is sent to prison and Lulu goes to New York with millionaire Harry Randolph, who makes her the singing sensation of Broadway and asks her to marry him. She refuses when she learns that George has been released from prison, realizing that he is the only man she ever truly loved.
? Sweetie pie
? She's such a sweetie pie
? And when she strolls down
the street the boys say hi
? Then she smiles back
when she walks right by
? And we're the guys
? Her eyes have the power to hypnotize
? Never saw anyone half
as sweet as you are
? Frankly boys very very few are
? What a prize
? We know 'cause we looked the land over
? Landed in clover
? When we found sweetie pie
? Sweetie pie
? You're such a sweetie pie
? It seems I can't get
enough of your sweet kisses
? Kisses that let me know what bliss is
? How did I
? Get by til the day
that I caught your eye
? When we're arm in
arm gee I feel so proud
? You've got more charm
than the law allowed you
? Sweetie pie
? You know I'll be hanging around you
? Glad that I found you
? Wonderful sweetie pie
? Sweetie pie
? The apple of my eye
? You're such a sweetie pie
? Feel like I could fly
? The world is mine every
time we start in hugging
? Hugging in arms I feel so snug in
? I could die
? Those awful years without you
? When I think you might
have walked right on by
? Only took one glance
and I had to love you
? In a trance when I'm thinking of you
? Sweetie pie
? We make a lovely couple
? You know that we're gonna be heading
? Where we heading
? For a big wedding
? Oh and our wedding
? You and I sweetie pie ?
- Evening, Mr. Randolph.
- Evening, Mr. Randolph.
- Oh, just a minute pal.
Just a minute now.
- Hey, just a minute.
- What's the idea?
- I'm sorry, Commissioner.
No one can see them right now.
They're both unconscious.
- What are their chances?
- 50/50.
I'll call you if there's any change.
- You won't have to call me.
I'll be right on your neck.
I've got to talk to one
of them, either one.
Nobody else saw the shooting.
- Yes, sir.
Just a moment, here he is now.
District Attorney's on the phone, sir.
- Oh yes, hello, Tom.
Yes, I know.
I know how important it is,
but they're both in a coma.
We've just got a deathwatch on our hands.
Yes, of course I've got a
suspect, motive and all.
George Davis, an ex-convict.
All right, all right, I'll call you later!
- You were backstage
at the time of the shooting.
- Yes.
- What'd you do there?
- I told you, I was on my
way to her dressing room
when I heard the shots.
- You're lying!
You went there and shot her!
You shot both of them!
- I didn't.
- We have a witness that
saw you pull the trigger!
- I didn't--
- All right, boys, that's enough.
I want to talk to Davis alone.
Kill the lights.
Well, how do you feel, son?
- How do you think I feel?
- It's unfortunate,
but sometimes these methods are necessary.
Personally, I've always found that
by just sitting and chatting
with an intelligent man,
get the best results in the long run.
She's in pretty bad shape,
George, may not live.
You're an ex-convict.
You served three years
for trying to kill a man
in New Orleans.
Wasn't that over Lulu Belle?
- Yes.
- Many a man's been hung
for simply refusing to talk, George.
You ought to know that.
You were a lawyer once yourself.
- I told you everything I know.
- You were
really in love with Lulu Belle,
weren't you?
- Yes.
- How'd you get mixed up
with her in the first place?
- I met her one night
in Natchez, Mississippi.
I'd just started law practice.
I had a client, a woman
who ran a boardinghouse.
Her husband was behind on his alimony,
a bartender down on the waterfront,
in a place called the Blue Catfish.
I was telling Ed
he could save himself
a lot of legal trouble
by sending his wife $5 a week.
I don't think a lawyer ever offered
to give him a break before.
Pretty soon, we shook hands on it.
Then I turned and saw her.
? I can't tell why I love you
? But I do
? The world is full of boys
? The same as you
? But something I can't tell
? Seems to hold me in its spell
? I can't tell why I love you
? But I do
? Do
? Do ?
- The steamboat's at the dock.
- I know, I heard the whistle.
- Think you'll need any help?
- No thanks, darling.
This is a man's job.
Hi, you broken blossom.
- Look here, Lulu Belle,
what's all this about
you giving me the air?
- The rumor you overheard is correct.
- You can't do it to me!
You can't throw me over
like this all of a sudden!
- What do you want, two weeks notice?
- But why?
What have I done?
- You get on my nerves, that's what.
- Good evening.
Would you like a table?
- No thanks.
- Like a drink before
you leave, Mr. Davis?
- Yeah, I think I will, Ed.
- He fixed it up for me, Molly.
Five bucks a week and I'm a free man.
- Five bucks a week?
Well say, you must be quite a lawyer
if you can get alimony
out of him. (laughs)
- Listen, you're my girl.
You're gonna stay my girl, do you hear?
- Anybody would know
you were a ship captain
with that mouth full of steam!
- Lay off, you mugs!
What's the matter with you guys?
One gentleman in the place,
he comes to the rescue
of a lady in distress,
then you rowdies wanna
make trouble for him!
- She's right!
Go on, sit down, all of you!
This gentleman's a friend of mine!
- Garcon, clean up this mess!
Ray, music, loud!
Thanks, mister.
- It's all right.
- I didn't get the name.
- Davis, George Davis.
- Well George, as somebody once said,
to the victor belongs the spoils.
What's the matter, George?
Doesn't your wife ever kiss you that way?
- I'm not married.
- Not married.
Big handsome fellow like you?
- I'm sort of engaged.
- Oh.
What's her name?
- Pearl.
- Well, we certainly wouldn't want you
to take this home to Pearl, would we?
- No, no, I'm afraid that wouldn't do.
- Come on, handsome, the drinks are on me.
- No thanks.
I've gotta get back to the office.
I have some work to do.
- Work?
- I'm a lawyer.
- The way you polished off Ralph,
I'd have thought you were a fighter.
- Well I've done some
of that too, at college.
Nice to have met you, Miss...
- Lulu Belle.
- Lulu Belle, eh?
Well it's been a pleasure.
- Don't stay away too long.
- Honey, you better get
ready for your next number.
- Yep, the next number.
- Come in.
- I declare, I've never been
so warm in my whole life.
I was just out shopping
and I suddenly remembered I
had a little legal business.
You don't mind taking
on a new client, do you?
- No, no, of course not.
Sit down, please.
- Thank you.
- My.
Can't Pearl do any better than this?
Your office needs a woman's touch.
- I like to keep it business-like.
- A woman can be business-like.
- We could go on like this all afternoon,
but it's warm and I have
an awful lot of work to do.
- Well no wonder it's warm
with this sun streaming in like this.
There, that's better.
Now George, you just go ahead
with your work, don't mind me.
I'll watch.
Is this her picture?
- Yes.
- Here George, you fan
me while I look at it.
My, she's handsome.
Say what you will,
sometimes a girl with those
little shoe button eyes
can be wickedly attractive.
There I go keeping you
from your work again.
You go right ahead, George.
Don't mind me.
Whatever case you're working
on, I know you'll win.
My dream book says so.
- Your what?
- My dream book.
A gypsy fortune teller made
it up especially for me.
Would you like to look at it?
- Yes.
- Come on, sit down.
Let's see.
Saturday, July 10th, that's today.
- Yeah.
- A lucky day for you and all
you'll come in contact with.
Encourage new acquaintances.
Transact any and all business.
It will turn out profitably.
- George?
- Pearl!
I'll be right down, honey!
Oh you'd better get out of here.
- But we didn't transact our business.
- Well some other time, please.
- Goodbye, George.
- Goodbye.
Hello, Ed.
- Hello, Mr. Davis.
What'll it be?
- Nothing, thanks.
Just couldn't sleep.
- Something on your mind?
- Second thought, I
think I'll have a beer.
- Come on, Molly, let's get out of here.
Hello, mister.
- Hello.
- Isn't this past your bedtime?
- He couldn't sleep.
- Maybe you could get Pearl
to sing you a lullaby.
- I'm in a little trouble
with Pearl, thanks to you.
- Maybe it's just the opposite.
Maybe you're off the leash.
Would you people kindly
move further down the bar?
I'd like to have a little
private talk with my lawyer.
You would like to be my
lawyer, wouldn't you?
- Frankly, no.
- You mean you didn't come
here to discuss business?
- No.
As a matter of fact, I...
- Don't worry about Pearl, honey.
A great big handsome fellow like you
shouldn't worry about anything.
Hear that song?
He wrote it especially for me.
- Yeah?
- Hey, stop being funny.
- What's being funny about going home
after a hard day's work?
- Looks like they're
closing the store on us.
Staying?
- Yeah, I think I'll finish my beer.
- Well George, since you didn't come here
for anything in particular,
I guess I'd better be getting on.
Goodnight.
- Goodnight.
- Unless you'd care to walk me home.
- I guess I'm going in
your direction anyway.
Three days later, I sold my law practice.
We were married in Hew Orleans.
A whole new world opened up to her,
expensive clothes, finest restaurants,
parties, people.
We went everywhere, saw everything,
and lived in a best hotel.
Then our money began to run out.
- Just drop the bundle right there, Butch.
Oh hello, darling.
- Hello, honey.
- You remember Butch
from Natchez, don't you?
He's a big fighter now.
- Yeah?
- Hi, George.
- Hello, Butch.
- Fine thing, me, the
next heavyweight champ,
carrying packages for a woman.
- Butch gave me a lift home.
- That was very kind.
- Think nothing of it.
Always glad to be of service.
I guess I'll be running along.
Gotta take my beauty nap
for the fight tonight.
- Goodbye, Butch.
You've been an angel.
- So long, George.
So long, gorgeous.
Oh, say, in case you'd like to see me
in a good fight tonight,
here's two for the ringside.
Brady's Sporting Club.
Compliments of Butch Cooper.
- Thank you.
It was such a lovely afternoon.
I just couldn't resist going shopping.
Look at this adorable dress.
But there I go chattering
about a silly old dress
when my poor darling has so many problems.
Did you have any luck today?
- I was offered a job as
a mall clerk, (laughs)
$3 a week.
- I declare, they ought
to be horsewhipped.
People just don't
appreciate your talents yet.
- No.
- But you'll get
something, I know you will.
- Lulu Belle, I've been thinking.
This place is very nice and all that,
but it's kind of expensive.
- Now you haven't been worrying
about our hotel bill again,
have you?
- Of course I've been worrying.
- Then you can just put your mind at ease,
because I paid it this morning.
- Paid it?
- Didn't I tell you?
Butch loaned me the money.
Course I didn't want to accept it,
but he insisted, so what could I do?
- You could've thrown it back in his face!
- Now angel, is that a way to talk?
Butch is really a good friend.
He's gonna help me get
a job singing in a cafe.
- Lulu Belle, I don't
like this whole thing.
I don't like the idea of you seeing him.
- Oh my goodness, George,
you'd better hurry up and get dressed.
We'll just about have
time to get some dinner
if we're gonna see that fight.
- We're not going to any fight.
- Now don't be ridiculous.
Butch knows a lot of
very influential people.
He might be able to help you
get started in something.
You're such a worrier.
Honestly, I've never seen
anybody get so gloomy
about little things.
- I can't help it, honey.
I guess I'm just jealous.
- Of Butch?
Oh darling.
- Honey, I just can't bear to think
of you even talking to another man.
- I know just how you feel, sugar pie.
I feel the same way about my George.
You ought to know that by now.
- Give it to him, Butch!
Come on, give it to him, Butch!
Come on, Butch!
Give it to him!
- One,
two,
three,
four,
five,
six,
seven,
eight,
nine,
ten!
The winner!
- You're wonderful, Butch!
- See you later!
- Lucky again, Brady.
- Here you are, Brady.
Good scene, huh?
- Thank you.
Good work, my boy, good work.
You won me a bundle.
- Bet your money on Butch
Cooper every time, Mr. Brady.
- I'm giving a little victory
party at the Belmont later.
Think you can make it?
- I had a date with a
couple of friends, but--
- Bring them along.
The more the merrier.
- Thanks.
Swell.
- Here's to Butch Cooper,
hoping his next fight will
be for the championship.
- Thank you.
All Duke here has to
do is get me the match.
Little Jasper will take care of the rest.
Are you enjoying yourself, sweets?
- Butch tells me you won a lot of money
on the fight tonight, Mr. Brady.
- 20,000 to be exact,
and it's all right here.
- Is that why you keep those bodyguards
right along with you?
- Exactly, Mrs. Davis.
I'm a betting man.
I carry my business with me.
I retain Charlie and Mac
to keep people from
yielding to temptation.
- Do you ever yield to
temptation, Mr. Brady?
- Depends on what I'm yielding to.
Now, certain things,
I'm considered quite a yielder. (laughs)
- Oh, Mr. Brady. (laughs)
- Are you in business in
New Orleans, Mr. Davis?
- No, George is
trying to get a connection.
- What sort?
- Anything right now.
- I understand you've
done a little fighting.
- Nothing to speak of.
Just amateur stuff.
- You're pretty well put together at that.
Why don't you look me
up at my club tomorrow?
I might be able to introduce
you to a manager who might...
- No thanks.
I'm not interested in a boxing career.
- Now George, how can you say that?
You might make a wonderful fighter,
especially if a man like Mr.
Brady should sponsor you.
- Hey, George don't
rate all the attention.
How about a dance, gorgeous?
- I'd be delighted.
If the gentlemen will excuse me.
- By all means.
- Oh, and George, you just
keep on talking to Mr. Brady.
You can't go wrong with
a smart man like him.
I certainly hope Brady can
do something for George.
- Maybe he won't have to.
- What do you mean?
- I'll tell you later.
- What time will you be at
this club of yours tomorrow,
Mr. Brady?
- I thought you weren't
interested in fighting.
- I'm not, but if I'm
any good at the job...
- All right, boy, Duke here
is looking for a new fighter.
Let's see what you can do.
- All right, boys, time!
- All right, all right.
That's enough!
What do you think?
- Kind of green.
- Well sure he's green.
Needs experience.
I'd start him off with a
fight or two out of town.
All right, son, we'll work out something.
- Thanks, Mr. Brady.
- But I tell you,
Lulu Belle, it's a cinch.
All that cash sitting
right there in his pocket
waiting to be plucked.
- Two big gorillas
ready to carve the gizzard
out of anybody who tries.
- But that's where you come in, gorgeous.
Brady's taken a fancy to you.
All you have to do is
separate him from those two hatchet men.
You can leave the rest to me and the boys.
- Why, Butch Cooper, that's
positively dishonest.
- Oh what of it?
I get in the ring and knock my brains out,
for what?
Brady don't lift a finger and wins 20,000.
Is that fair?
- You got big ideas, handsome.
- Look, I've helped you
out as much as I could,
but I'm scraping bottom.
Here's a chance for both of us to get fat.
Are you interested or not?
- Of course I'm
interested, Butch, darling,
but not for the measly
$1,000 you offered me.
- How much do you want?
- 50/50.
Half for you and half for me.
- Okay, gorgeous, it's a deal.
What a woman.
- Get out of here.
- Now take it easy, George.
- Get out!
- Okay, smart boy, but just remember this.
You're living in a nice hotel.
You wanna keep living in it, don't you?
- Lulu Belle, have you gone crazy?
- Now darling, don't make
a scene over nothing.
- Over nothing?
You call a holdup nothing?
- Butch isn't gonna hurt him.
- Don't tell me you're
going through with this.
This is criminal.
You'll be caught.
They'll arrest you!
- Me?
What for?
All I'm doing is going for a little ride
in Mr. Brady's carriage.
- You don't know what you're doing.
Honey, we don't need money that badly.
- There's only one way to need money.
That's to need it!
- Look, baby, we've got money!
That is, we soon will have.
I worked out for Brady.
He likes me.
He's gonna give me some fights.
It won't be much at first,
but we'll be able to live.
- Who wants to just be able to live?
I've had that.
All of my life I've had nothing else,
cheap clothes, crummy rooms,
never knowing anybody worth knowing.
I've got something else now
and I'm not gonna lose it!
- So it's Butch,
just a cheap bruiser with
a taste for champagne.
Ever since we met up with him,
you've been going from bad to worse.
- I wouldn't talk so much about Butch
if I were you, darling,
not as long as he's paying our hotel bill.
- All right, go to Butch.
It means nothing to me.
You're no good and you
never will be any good!
I'm getting out of here!
That's the way it went,
time after time, a quarrel.
I'd threaten to leave her
and we'd end up in each other's arms.
I don't think Lulu Belle
wanted to be the way she was.
She was just Lulu Belle.
- We picked up the Benson dame, John.
She's in your office if
you wanna talk to her.
- Oh yes, good.
- You sent for me, Commissioner?
- Sent for you?
It took us all day to run you down.
- Well you might've tried the hospital.
I've been there all the time.
- Molly, I want a line on every man
who has come into Lulu Belle's life.
- I guess I,II have to
go back quite a little
if you want everything,
back to New Orleans.
George and Lulu Belle had
been married about six months
and I was visiting the city, see.
I'd come down from Natchez,
and suddenly I remembered Lulu Belle,
so I went over to the
hotel where she lived.
- Who is it?
- It's me, honey, Molly.
- Molly?
Molly!
- Lulu Belle!
- Oh you wonderful creature!
- Oh I'm so glad I found you!
- Let me look at you!
- Don't mind the lines
under my eyes now, honey.
I've aged 10 years since yesterday.
- What happened?
What are you doing here?
- I was going to be married, see.
I came up here with my fiance,
the loveliest gentleman,
and this morning,
that dirty, thieving swine ran
off with my diamond sunburst!
- Oh, Molly.
- What's so funny?
- Nothing, honey.
You just sit down there and don't worry.
You can always go back to good old Ed.
- Oh no, no, good old Ed
has gone back to his wife.
I guess he figured he might just as well
save that five bucks a week.
Now suggest something else.
- Oh don't look so tragic.
We've always managed before, haven't we?
I'll think of something.
In the meantime, you
can stay here with me.
- Yes, yes, George will
love that, won't he?
Say, how is George?
- Oh, George is fine.
He's out of town for a few days.
- Aw, on a law case?
- No, he's become a fighter.
- Oh.
George Davis, a fighter?
- Uh-Huh.
Well I never-
Answer that, will you, Molly?
- Mr. and Mrs. George Davis's suite.
Who?
Brady?
There's a Mr. Brady in the lobby.
- Tell
him I'll be right down.
- Mrs. Davis will be right down.
Brady.
Brady.
Now that name sounds familiar.
Not Mark Brady?
- Why not?
- Well, say.
How does George feel about all this?
- George?
Why should George feel one way or another?
Mr. Brady is just a friend,
a friend to us both.
As a matter of fact, he's
taken George under his wing.
- Oh yes, yes, I can see that. (laughs)
There!
- How do I look?
- Lovely!
And like the kind of a girl
who might listen to reason.
That's the idea, isn't it?
- Don't be ridiculous, darling.
Mr. Brady doesn't
interest me in the least.
This is strictly business.
- Any of my business?
- Not at the moment, darling.
Now you just make yourself at home.
I'll see you later.
- Don't you worry about me.
- I won't be long.
- Goodbye, honey!
- Thank you very much, Mr. Brady.
- Good night.
And now where to?
- Well, you said you were
gonna show me the town.
- Where'd you like to go?
- To the Irish Channel.
There's a place down there
I've just been dying to see.
- What place is that?
- I think it's called
Murphy's or Murray's.
- Murray's?
That's an absinthe joint.
- Uh-Huh.
- You sure you wanna hit that low?
- With anybody else,
I'd be a little scared,
but with you, Mr. Brady,
I'm ready for anything.
- Murray's it is then.
My aim tonight is to make
you very happy, Lulu Belle.
- You could make me a lot happier.
- How?
- I'm not exactly shy, but
I do have certain objections
to people looking over my shoulder
when I'm trying to make a
good impression on a man.
- Huh?
Oh.
Run along home, boys.
I'll take the carriage from here.
- Thank you, Mr. Brady.
You're one of the most
thoughtful men I've ever met.
- There's a reason.
- What's that?
- You're one of the most
exciting women I've ever met.
- They'll be here any second.
Now remember, no rough
stuff unless you have to.
One drink ought to do it.
- Sure, boss.
- We know.
- Two absinthe frappes.
- Yes.
- Goodness, what evil looking characters.
What goes on here besides drinking?
- Robbery, skulduggery,
and a smattering of homicide. (laughs)
- It's sure nice to be with
a man like you, Mr. Brady.
You're so calm and reassuring.
- Any reason why I shouldn't be calm?
- No.
No, of course not,
but you said yourself that
anything could happen here.
My, what a pretty ring.
- It's an early acquisition.
I won it from a man who couldn't
pay off on a horse race.
- I've always wanted
to wear a real diamond.
- I have a hunch you'll
be wearing lots of them
once you've learned how to be smart.
- Smart?
- You're clever, Lulu Belle,
clever and unscrupulous,
but you're not smart.
You don't know the difference
between money in the hand
and money in the bank.
Now this is money in the hand,
but I have a lot of money in the bank.
If someone were to take this from me,
I'd be upset, but far from broke.
- I don't follow you, Mr. Brady.
- Let me put it this way.
I have a building in town
and I'm converting the lower floor
into a club room and casino.
I want to put in some entertainment.
How would you like to be featured?
- Me?
- Your voice has just
the quality that I want.
- Mr. Brady, it would be wonderful,
but why pick on a nobody?
- You won't be a nobody for long.
You've got too much drive for that.
You're going to get just what you want.
I'd like to be around when you get it.
Shall we drink to our association?
Here's to a long and
successful friendship.
May we trust each other
always, implicitly,
just as we do tonight.
What's the matter?
- This place gives me the creeps.
Let's get out of here.
- Just as you wish.
Thank you, boys.
I'm glad you changed your mind, my dear.
I'd have headed for the boys
to mess up Butch Cooper.
He can still make us a lot of money.
- Hello, Brady.
- Good evening.
Good to see you here.
Enjoy yourself.
Well.
- Well, hello.
Nice place, Brady.
- Thank you.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Good evening.
- Hi, Brady.
- Enjoying yourselves?
- Certainly are.
- Good, good.
- Hello, Mr. Brady.
- Good evening, George.
Lulu Belle told me you were back.
I haven't had a chance
to talk with you, kid.
How'd you make out in Mobile?
- Won a couple, lost a couple.
- You can't win all the time.
Make yourself at home.
That's not a good idea to
train on whiskey though.
You really ought to be in bed.
? For there's one thing I know
? I belong ?
- He's right about one thing, George.
You shouldn't drink so much.
- What's the difference, Molly?
At 15 or 20 bucks a fight,
I can't even pay our rent.
- That's almost the end
of her number, George.
I guess I better go.
Excuse me.
I'll tell her you're here.
? For there's one thing I know
? I'd be lost
? If I ever lost you ?
- How was I?
- Wonderful, honey, just wonderful.
George is here.
- Oh?
- Hello, Mark.
- Hello.
- Why didn't you hide in
the closet and jump out?
It's always a bigger laugh.
- I didn't come in for laughs.
- No?
- No, I came in for a
little heart-to-heart talk.
- I can take a hint.
- Fire away.
- I thought you agreed to
keep George out of here.
- What do you want me to do,
lock him up at home in my trunk?
- Lulu Belle, you're going up.
You're getting someplace.
Having him around is bad for you.
It's bad for business.
Anyway, I understood you
were gonna get rid of him.
- You understood wrong.
Maybe I don't wanna get rid of him.
Maybe in my own peculiar way,
I'm still in love with him.
- You, in love with
that second-rate tanker?
Don't make me laugh, honey.
We're going to be together
for a long time, you and I.
Play your cards right and
anything I have can be yours.
Do I make myself clear?
- Too clear.
Get out.
- All right.
All right, I can wait.
Not forever.
Mull that over in your spare time.
- What'd he want?
- Nothing.
- That's a new name for it at least.
Lulu Belle, honey, listen to me.
I've made too many mistakes in my life
to ever be telling
anybody else what to do.
Don't you think you ought
to make up your mind?
- About what?
- About George, mostly.
- You too?
- Yes, but for a different reason.
George has been fighting now for how long?
He hasn't made as much in six
months as you make in a week.
- What are you getting at?
In a little while, he'll
be fighting in main events.
He's going places.
- Oh no he isn't.
No, Lulu Belle, no no no.
Do you remember the first time
George walked into The Catfish
and talked Ed into paying
five bucks a week alimony?
He was well liked in Natchez, that George.
He was a lawyer, and he was
going to be a big lawyer.
He even had an office of his own,
and he was engaged to a nice, dull girl
who'd darn his socks and
cook his supper for him.
He wasn't cut out to be a fighter.
He never was, he never will be one.
Why, in six months or a year,
he'll have cauliflower ears
and a broken nose maybe,
and in another two years,
he won't even be able to read a law book.
- Leave me alone.
George is perfectly happy.
- Oh yes?
Well I just left him.
You go on out there
and take a look at him.
- Why don't people stop
meddling in my personal affairs?
- Hello, Lulu Belle, how about a drink?
- Not now, boys.
- Hello, darling.
- Molly told me you were here.
- You're looking more beautiful than ever.
- My makeup.
- Oh.
Yeah, sure.
The reason I came here, honey,
was we haven't been seeing
much of each other lately,
and I thought after you're through here,
we can have dinner together.
- Oh George, it'll be so late.
- Yeah, I see.
You'd rather I didn't
come here, wouldn't you?
- No, darling.
It isn't that.
It's just that, well, it
must get awful dull for you
to be sitting around here while I--
- Okay, honey.
I'm sorry.
I don't want to bother you.
I'll see you when you get home.
- George, wait.
Sit down.
George, why don't you go back to Natchez?
- What?
- I mean it.
You're just in my way around here.
- You're not serious.
- Dead serious.
After all, you'll be a
lot better off without me,
and I wanna lead my own life,
so let's just call it quits.
That's sensible, isn't it?
- Who is it this time?
Brady?
I said is it Brady?
I knew something like this would
happen if I left you alone.
It is Brady!
Come on, we're going home!
Lulu Belle, I'm gonna
get you away from here
if it's the last thing I do.
- Hi, Butch.
Hi, Butch, thought you were gonna
win that Birmingham fight in one round.
What happened?
- The guy was made of rubber.
Every time I knocked him down,
he'd bounce back up again.
Well, if it isn't the little
night blooming jasmine in person.
Hi, you chump, you still around?
What's the matter?
Am I butting in or something?
- Yes.
- Course not, handsome.
Don't pay any attention to George.
He's just leaving for Natchez.
- Am I?
I'm not going to Natchez or anywhere else.
I'm taking you home.
- Not so fast, chump.
I don't think the lady wants to go home.
- You keep out of this.
- Hey, take it easy!
Take it easy, take it easy,
you got a big fight next week!
- For heaven's sake,
don't act like a fool.
- Okay.
It's sure your lucky day, mister.
- Come on, Butch, let's go.
- Okay.
It's all over, folks.
Champagne for everybody, Mac.
Compliments of Butch Cooper.
Hey, wait a minute,
gorgeous, how about a dance?
- I'll be out in a minute.
- Can't I trust you a second?
- It's not really my fault, Mark.
I just stopped to talk for a minute.
Before I knew it, they were--
- Before you know it,
you almost cost me a quarter
of a million dollars.
I've got a fortune tied up
in Butch's fight next week.
Anything happens to him, I'm sunk.
- Mr. Brady?
- Yes, Charles?
- Mr. Randolph and his party just came in.
- Thank you.
You're out of place here.
I advise you to leave.
- Come on, George.
Sit.
- Well well, Harry Randolph.
- Hello, Mark.
Haven't seen you since
the Culver-Sullivan fight.
You know my wife?
- How do you do?
- Mr. and Mrs. Wilde.
- How do you do?
- We came to hear this new
singer everyone's talking about.
- We hear
she's very beautiful.
- Lulu Belle?
The last show doesn't go on until 11:30.
I'll ask her to do a number.
- Ace in the Hole?
- I'm sure she'll be delighted.
- Hey look, how about that dance?
- Butch, go away and
leave me alone, will you?
I've changed my mind.
- What is this?
First we dance and then we don't dance.
Am I in or am I out?
- You're out.
Some other time, Butch.
You finally got rid of George.
You'll never regret it, I promise you.
Tonight after we close,
we'll talk things over.
We'll celebrate, just the two of us.
Meanwhile, I'd like to ask a favor.
Will you sing an extra
song for an old friend?
That new party on the floor,
that's Harry Randolph.
Big spender.
Owns a couple of railroads
and half of New York.
? This town is full of guys
? Who think they're awful wise
? Just because they know a thing or two
? You'll meet them night and day
? Strolling up and down Broadway
? Telling of the wonders they can do
? The gamblers and the bookies
? Keep looking for the rookies
? Who congregate around the metro pole
? They wear flashy ties and collars
? But the way they get their dollars
? They've all got an ace in the hole
? Some of them send to their
old folks for coin
? That is their ace in the hole
? Others have friends
in the Old Tenderloin
? That is their ace in the hole
? They boast of their jewels
? How they've outsmarted fools
? As if money were life's only goal
? But when they're out of stock
? They go right back and hop
? If they lost that old ace in a hole
? Yes if they lost that
old ace in the hole ?
- Lulu Belle, I'd like you to
meet an old and dear friend,
Harry Randolph.
- We've met.
- You have?
- While I was singing.
- What charming candor.
- It was worth my trip to New Orleans.
Won't you join us for a
moment, Miss Lulu Belle?
- I'd love to.
- May I present my wife?
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
- And Mr. and Mrs. Wilde.
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
- After hearing you tonight,
the Wildes should be coming back often.
- What about you?
- Mrs. Randolph and I
are leaving for New York
tomorrow morning.
- Yes, as much as I hate to put an end
to this very charming evening,
I really think we ought to be going.
We have a lot of packing to do.
- Darling, why don't you run
along with Tom and Alice?
I think I'll hang around,
play a little roulette.
- Haven't forgotten little
Butch, have you, gorgeous?
We never got to have our dance.
- Of course.
A protege of Mr. Brady's.
Butch is going to be the
next heavyweight champion
of the world.
He'll tell you so himself.
- Now that you're getting rid of George,
you'll find out what it's like
to have a real man around.
- You?
- Well, I don't wanna
blow my own horn, but...
- You'll be along later, Harry?
- Yes, I won't be long.
- Butch, honey, these
slippers are just killing me.
Would you mind if I go in and change them?
- Oh sure, okay.
Make it kind of snappy though.
We've got things to talk about.
- You wait for me at the bar.
I'll be right out.
- Have a drink on me, chump.
You'll be leaving town soon, huh?
- Why don't you go fall
down dead or something?
- Hey waiter.
- What happened to your friends?
- They left.
- Miss Randolph too?
- She was tired.
- With a distinguished
looking husband like you,
she certainly doesn't
keep very close tabs.
- My wife and I have an understanding.
She knows I like to gamble.
- Not doing so well, are you, champ?
- Mind a personal question, Lulu Belle?
- Why, not at all.
- What are you doing here?
- I work here.
- Yes I know.
You interest me very much.
- Really?
What a strange coincidence,
because from the moment you came in,
you interested me very much.
Most millionaires are just rich old men.
You're different.
- With your talent, you
should be in New York.
- Why, Mr. Randolph,
what would a little country girl like me
be doing in a big city like New York?
- You'd have the town at your feet.
I'm not exactly without
connections on Broadway.
If the idea interests you at all,
I'm sure that something could be arranged.
- Why Mr. Randolph, I
don't know what to say.
I really don't.
- Come on, champ, let's go
home and get some sleep, huh?
- Go away, pal.
I told you I had a date.
Of course the lady has a boyfriend.
They say he's very tough.
- Lay off, will you, Butch?
- Don't you ever give up?
- You'll be run out of town!
Take it easy, Butch.
You don't get any dough for this.
- This is one fight I
don't have to get paid for.
- Use your head, champ.
- Get those tables back!
Ladies and gentlemen,
this chief ham-and-egger needs a boxing lesson
and I'm gonna give him one free of charge,
with one hand behind my back.
- Get Brady!
- Right away.
- George!
- Not feeling so frisky now, huh, chump?
- You got two hands.
Why don't you use them?
- Okay, chump, maybe I underrated you.
- He's crazy!
Butch will kill him!
We've gotta stop him!
- Nice one, champ.
How do you feel?
- Swell, swell.
Barely got up a sweat.
- George, no!
- Get him out of here quick!
- Come hide in my dressing room!
- It was George Davis!
- Where is he?
Where is he?
- How should I know?
- If it's the last act of
my life, he'll pay for this!
- George was gone.
He disappeared completely.
Lulu Belle did everything
she could to find him.
She looked everywhere.
See, she wanted to help him.
- Yes, I imagine.
- Oh you cops are all alike.
You just don't understand
women, not at all!
- All right, she couldn't find him,
so she came to New York
with Harry Randolph.
- Yes.
- Then Butch Cooper and Brady
and George all showed up?
- Well not all at once.
- I know.
I also know that
Randolph made her the
biggest star on Broadway,
even built a theater for her,
but just when did she start
seeing George Davis again?
- That was only a few days ago.
I think Lulu Belle must've
felt he was in town.
She was so nervous and irritable,
and she just talked
about him all the time.
And then, one night...
- Evening, mademoiselle.
- Good evening, Pierre.
- Monsieur Randolph.
- Goodnight, honey.
- Sleep tight, darling.
- I won't be mysterious.
- Harry!
- You like it?
- Why, I'm overcome!
- You've been working hard all season.
Thought you might like something
to remember the show by.
- It's magnificent, Harry.
I don't know how I can ever thank you.
- There's also something else.
I spent the afternoon at my attorney's.
Mrs. Randolph has finally
consented to giving me a divorce.
- Oh?
- I want you to marry me, Lulu Belle.
We can spend our honeymoon
in France, Italy,
anywhere you like.
I can arrange my affairs so
that we can be gone a year,
or indefinitely, if you want to stay.
You don't appear very excited.
- Of course I'm excited, Harry.
I'm not only excited.
I'm very flattered, but
there are so many things to think about.
- For instance?
- Well, the show.
- That's all taken care of.
Get someone for your part.
From now on, your career will
be as Mrs. Harry Randolph.
You do wanna marry me, don't you?
- Well of course I do, Harry, but...
- But what?
- Well, I...
- Oh.
I guess I failed to take one
thing into consideration.
- What's that?
- I didn't realize that
becoming Mrs. Harry Randolph
would take such an effort on your part.
- Oh it isn't that.
- Could all this have any
connection with the fact
that George Davis is in town?
- George?
- Yeah.
Your ex-husband, remember?
- Don't be ridiculous.
George doesn't mean anything
to me, no matter where he is.
Oh Harry, don't badger me.
- Tired, aren't you?
- Yes, I am tired.
- You get a good night's rest.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Perhaps we can have lunch together.
I'll call you.
- No.
I'll call you.
- Very well.
- Harry.
Thanks for everything.
You're very sweet.
Goodnight.
- Goodnight.
- Molly!
Molly!
- What happened?
Where's Mr. Big?
Mm-mm, ain't that something!
Simply blinding!
- Oh yes.
- Golly, must've cost a fortune!
- Molly, we've got to find George.
- Oh now wait a minute, wait a minute.
Honey, it's very late.
- I know, I know.
Get me the telephone book.
We'll call every hotel in town.
- Don't you think you ought to
let bygones be bygones?
- Molly, I must see him!
I've got to see him!
- Oh well all right, here, here, let me.
Dear.
Sometimes I wonder if you
know when you are well off.
- Good evening, Mr. Davis.
- Hello, Henry.
- We made those train
reservations for you.
- Thanks.
- Hello, George.
I thought you'd never come.
- What are you doing here?
- I wanna talk to you.
Come on, sit down.
- Look, I've gotta get packed.
- You're not leaving?
- Yes.
- When?
Where to?
- I'm going home to Natchez
first thing in the morning.
- But George, you can't go without...
- There's someone I've
got to meet and I'm late.
- You're bitter.
I can see you are.
- Bitter?
No, I'm not bitter.
Two years running away from the police,
three years in prison.
- I'm so terribly sorry, George,
but that's all in the past.
I wanna help you.
Won't you let me?
- You've helped me plenty already,
by getting a divorce.
- I know I've done a lot of things wrong,
terribly wrong.
That's why I'm here.
I've only an hour before the show,
but I must talk to you.
- I told you, I have an engagement.
- Tonight then, after the show.
Just a half an hour?
Come to my apartment at The Park Plaza.
Please, George.
Please say you'll come.
- All right, I'll be there.
- You won't forget, The Park Plaza?
- I said I'd be there.
- You're
handsomer, George.
That touch of qray gives
you a distinguished look.
- Thanks.
I'll send you the first
ones that fall out.
- Molly, I waited five
years for just one man
and I didn't realize it until now.
- Well, I don't like it.
I just got a feeling.
You know what that dream book said.
- That thing.
Funny how I used to fall for this.
Thursday, March 15, make
no plans on this day.
See only old friends.
George is an old friend, isn't he?
- What is it?
What's it say?
- Imagine this.
Friday, March 16th, that's tomorrow,
your unlucky day.
Tragedy stalks for you in these hours.
- Oh Lulu Belle, I wish
you wouldn't see him.
I just got a feeling.
- Bottle your feelings, Molly.
I've waited a long time for this.
You run along now and don't worry.
Only nice things are
gonna happen from here on.
- Well, I sure hope you're right.
- Will that be all, mademoiselle?
- Yes, Pierre.
Oh Pierre, would you put
the lights out please?
- Oui, mademoiselle.
- And Pierre,
you may take the night off.
I'll manage.
- Merci, mademoiselle.
- Hello, gorgeous.
- Where did you come from?
- Friend of yours sent me.
George Davis.
Don't worry about the clothes.
I'm getting a whole new outfit tomorrow.
Heart of gold George has.
- What do you want?
- That's no way to talk
to an old pal, gorgeous.
Well, I see you're in the chips, as usual.
Mind if I pour a drink?
Real McCoy, yeah?
Well, here we are again,
just like old times.
- Butch, I'll have to ask you to leave.
- Don't rush me, gorgeous.
George said you'd be glad to see me.
- Well I am, but come
to the theater tomorrow.
- You used to call me handsome.
- All right.
Good night, handsome.
- That's more like it.
I knew there was a soft spot
in your heart for old Butch.
- Dirty, filthy--
- You can't do that to me.
Nobody can do that to me.
- You better leave before the police come!
Molly!
Molly!
Get this tramp out of here!
- I'll kill her.
- Take it easy, bud, or
I'll have to call the cops.
We've been watching you
ever since you came in here.
- I'll kill her.
I'll kill her.
- Cigarette?
- No thank you.
I never smoke.
But if you should happen to have just a...
It's been a trying ordeal.
Thank you, sir.
- And what about Mark Brady?
- Well isn't it odd now that
you should mention Mr. Brady.
I saw him just recently.
My how that man has changed.
He used to be quite a
figure back in New Orleans,
yes, quite a spender.
- I'm afraid I'm not interested
in that broken down club of yours.
- But you told me to go ahead.
- I'm not planning on doing anything
for at least six months, maybe longer.
I'm going away.
- You promised me.
I went ahead and made
plans on your promise.
I redecorated the place, signed people.
- All right, get your money back.
I've changed my mind.
- Lulu Belle, I wouldn't be
here if it weren't urgent.
I need your help, desperately.
Every penny I have in the
world is tied up in the place.
If I don't open, I'm sunk.
Sign this contract.
Your name on it is
enough to keep me going.
I can get the backing
I need and stay open.
- What am I supposed to do,
cry over every tin-horn
gambler who steps out of line?
You don't even belong in New York.
- But you owe it to me.
- I don't owe anybody anything.
- As a favor, then.
I gave you your start.
Do you remember that?
Sign it and we're quits.
- All right, Mark.
Leave it.
Come back after the show.
- I've gotta have it tonight.
- I told you I'd think it over!
- Don't fail me.
- Didn't I tell
you to keep him out of here?
- Well, I...
- Oh Molly, I'm so sorry.
I'm just all mixed up.
I know I've lost him.
- I wouldn't be too sure about that.
I just saw him out front buying a ticket.
- George?
- Mm-Hmm.
- 15 minutes, Miss Lulu Belle.
? I can't tell why
? I love you
? But I do
? The world is full of boys
? The same as you
? But something I can't tell
? Seems to hold me in its spell
? I can't tell why
? I love you
? But I do ?
- Honey, they want you
now, go on go on go on.
- He was sitting right down in front.
- Go on, take your bow.
- George!
Why did you do it, George?
Why did you send Butch last night?
- I thought you might like
to meet an old acquaintance.
- You said you'd come yourself.
You promised you would.
Let's not stand out here
where people can stare at us.
Let's go into my dressing room.
Please.
George.
Please, George, don't go away
now that we've found each other again.
There's never been anyone else for me.
There never will be.
- Look, Lulu Belle, what could
you possibly want with me?
You've got your career, plenty of money.
As a matter of fact,
you've got everything you've ever wanted.
Now what's the catch?
- Catch?
- Yeah.
If I know my Lulu Belle,
there's always an angle
in that scheming little head of hers.
What is it this time?
First there was Butch,
then Brady, then Randolph.
I can't give you anything like this
or this.
Lulu Belle, I've got nothing to offer you.
What do you expect of me?
- George, it's taken me all these years
to find out how wrong I've been.
I know now that it's you I want.
I love you, George.
- What about Randolph?
- I don't love him.
I never have.
Let's go back to Natchez together.
Let's go anywhere together.
We can leave tonight after the show.
Hold me, darling, close.
Just pack a couple things
for the trip, Molly.
You can send the rest down to me later.
- Dear me, someday I'll figure
out how to keep up with you.
One day you're going to Paris,
the next you're going to the other--
- All right, now hurry up.
Just pack a couple of
dresses and some shoes.
I'll leave a note for Harry.
- Going somewhere?
- Harry.
- I have an aversion
to notes being left me.
Do you mind telling me
in your own simple words
just what's happening?
- I'm going away with George.
I'm awfully sorry, Harry.
I'm terribly grateful to you, and I'll--
- I know.
You'll always be fond of me.
My dear, I've devoted a number
of years of my life to you.
You mean more to me than
anything in the world.
I'm divorcing my wife for you.
If you're leaving with anyone,
you're leaving with me.
- I'm not one of your railroads, Harry.
You don't own me.
I'm leaving,
and I don't see that there's
anything you can do about it.
- I know he's young and tall and handsome,
but think twice.
Lulu Belle in Natchez in a cottage.
I'm afraid, my dear,
that that gingham dress won't
take the place of ermine,
not anymore,
and you'll miss the chauffeurs
and the limousines and the diamonds.
Just too late to go back.
So you'll not leave with George Davis.
Remember that.
I'll be waiting for you
at the theater, as usual.
- But Lulu Belle.
- Please, Mark, I have a show to do.
- I had to see you now.
I've got to know.
- I'm sorry, Mark, but
there isn't a chance.
- But you can't refuse me.
- The answer is no.
Please, Mark, don't bother me.
- Just a minute.
Honey, I've got George
on the phone for you.
- Hello?
Oh George, I'm so glad I
caught you before you left.
Don't come to the theater for me.
I'll tell you later.
Oh no, darling, I haven't changed my mind.
I'll meet you at your hotel.
- I see.
Randolph, huh?
- Don't be silly.
It's just that I don't want
any unpleasantness or embarrassment.
Please do as I ask, just this once.
- All right.
Goodbye.
Take care of those bags for a while,
and call me a taxi.
- Yes, sir.
? Only took one glance
and I had to love you
? In a trance when I'm thinking of you
? Sweetie pie
? We'd make a lovely couple
? You know that we're gonna be heading
? Where we heading
? For a big wedding
? Oh, what a wedding
? You and I sweetie pie ?
- Evening, Mr. Randolph.
- Evening, Mr. Randolph.
- Hello, Harry.
- Oh, just a minute pal.
Just a minute, pal.
- Hey, just a minute!
- What's the idea?
- I don't know, who is the guy?
- Darling, I've come to ask
you to change your mind.
- Oh Harry, I wish you
wouldn't make it all so grim.
After all, men have had
this happen to them before.
Can't we just part friends?
- There's no friendliness in me.
Nothing but a lot of emotion
that you wouldn't understand.
I can't let you go, Lulu Belle.
- Oh Harry, must we go through this again?
- Can't you understand,
darling, I love you!
- How about Randolph?
- Sorry, Commissioner.
The man's had two transfusions.
He's slipping very fast.
- Any news?
- We were lucky.
We grabbed Butch Cooper and Brady.
- Give me one minute,
doctor, even half a minute.
I won't even ask him to talk.
All he has to do is identify one person.
Where are they?
- Waiting outside.
- Randolph is the only one who knows,
the only one.
- Well--
- Bring them in.
- All right, Commissioner.
- Mr. Randolph.
Mr. Randolph.
- Why can't you leave him alone?
- I'm sorry, Mrs. Randolph.
We will be as brief as we can.
- It's against all decency,
torturing a dying man like this.
- Try to concentrate, Mr. Randolph.
The party who shot you last
night is here in this room,
here beside your bed.
I want to know who it was.
Was it Mark Brady,
Molly Benson,
Butch Cooper?
Was it George Davis?
Who was it, Mr. Randolph?
Who shot you?
- What did he say?
What did he say?
I'm his wife.
I have a right to know what he said.
- Where were you last
night, Mrs. Randolph?
I said, where were you last night?
- Why, I was at home.
- You were not at home, Mrs. Randolph.
The hospital tried to
reach you three times.
Your maid said you left
the house at 10:00.
You didn't return until after 1:00.
Where were you?
- I told you, I was at home.
- You were in the theater
last night, Mrs. Randolph,
weren't you?
- He said that I did it, didn't he?
He said that, didn't he?
Harry.
- Well, Mrs. Randolph, didn't you?
- All right, I did it.
But I didn't mean to kill him.
I loved him.
- Let's go, Mrs. Randolph.
Well, George, looks
like you're a free man.
- Thanks.
- That's her room.
She's been calling for you.
You can go in if you like.
- Is she going to be all right?
- Lulu Belle?
Yeah, sure, she's gonna be all right.
Good luck.
- Thanks, Commissioner.
- You're a free man, George.
You're a free man, George.
You're a free man, George.
? She's such a sweetie pie
? And when she strolls down
the street the boys say hi
? Then she smiles back
when she walks right by
? And we're the guys
? Her eyes have the power to hypnotize
? Never saw anyone half
as sweet as you are
? Frankly boys very very few are
? What a prize
? We know 'cause we looked the land over
? Landed in clover
? When we found sweetie pie
? Sweetie pie
? You're such a sweetie pie
? It seems I can't get
enough of your sweet kisses
? Kisses that let me know what bliss is
? How did I
? Get by til the day
that I caught your eye
? When we're arm in
arm gee I feel so proud
? You've got more charm
than the law allowed you
? Sweetie pie
? You know I'll be hanging around you
? Glad that I found you
? Wonderful sweetie pie
? Sweetie pie
? The apple of my eye
? You're such a sweetie pie
? Feel like I could fly
? The world is mine every
time we start in hugging
? Hugging in arms I feel so snug in
? I could die
? Those awful years without you
? When I think you might
have walked right on by
? Only took one glance
and I had to love you
? In a trance when I'm thinking of you
? Sweetie pie
? We make a lovely couple
? You know that we're gonna be heading
? Where we heading
? For a big wedding
? Oh and our wedding
? You and I sweetie pie ?
- Evening, Mr. Randolph.
- Evening, Mr. Randolph.
- Oh, just a minute pal.
Just a minute now.
- Hey, just a minute.
- What's the idea?
- I'm sorry, Commissioner.
No one can see them right now.
They're both unconscious.
- What are their chances?
- 50/50.
I'll call you if there's any change.
- You won't have to call me.
I'll be right on your neck.
I've got to talk to one
of them, either one.
Nobody else saw the shooting.
- Yes, sir.
Just a moment, here he is now.
District Attorney's on the phone, sir.
- Oh yes, hello, Tom.
Yes, I know.
I know how important it is,
but they're both in a coma.
We've just got a deathwatch on our hands.
Yes, of course I've got a
suspect, motive and all.
George Davis, an ex-convict.
All right, all right, I'll call you later!
- You were backstage
at the time of the shooting.
- Yes.
- What'd you do there?
- I told you, I was on my
way to her dressing room
when I heard the shots.
- You're lying!
You went there and shot her!
You shot both of them!
- I didn't.
- We have a witness that
saw you pull the trigger!
- I didn't--
- All right, boys, that's enough.
I want to talk to Davis alone.
Kill the lights.
Well, how do you feel, son?
- How do you think I feel?
- It's unfortunate,
but sometimes these methods are necessary.
Personally, I've always found that
by just sitting and chatting
with an intelligent man,
get the best results in the long run.
She's in pretty bad shape,
George, may not live.
You're an ex-convict.
You served three years
for trying to kill a man
in New Orleans.
Wasn't that over Lulu Belle?
- Yes.
- Many a man's been hung
for simply refusing to talk, George.
You ought to know that.
You were a lawyer once yourself.
- I told you everything I know.
- You were
really in love with Lulu Belle,
weren't you?
- Yes.
- How'd you get mixed up
with her in the first place?
- I met her one night
in Natchez, Mississippi.
I'd just started law practice.
I had a client, a woman
who ran a boardinghouse.
Her husband was behind on his alimony,
a bartender down on the waterfront,
in a place called the Blue Catfish.
I was telling Ed
he could save himself
a lot of legal trouble
by sending his wife $5 a week.
I don't think a lawyer ever offered
to give him a break before.
Pretty soon, we shook hands on it.
Then I turned and saw her.
? I can't tell why I love you
? But I do
? The world is full of boys
? The same as you
? But something I can't tell
? Seems to hold me in its spell
? I can't tell why I love you
? But I do
? Do
? Do ?
- The steamboat's at the dock.
- I know, I heard the whistle.
- Think you'll need any help?
- No thanks, darling.
This is a man's job.
Hi, you broken blossom.
- Look here, Lulu Belle,
what's all this about
you giving me the air?
- The rumor you overheard is correct.
- You can't do it to me!
You can't throw me over
like this all of a sudden!
- What do you want, two weeks notice?
- But why?
What have I done?
- You get on my nerves, that's what.
- Good evening.
Would you like a table?
- No thanks.
- Like a drink before
you leave, Mr. Davis?
- Yeah, I think I will, Ed.
- He fixed it up for me, Molly.
Five bucks a week and I'm a free man.
- Five bucks a week?
Well say, you must be quite a lawyer
if you can get alimony
out of him. (laughs)
- Listen, you're my girl.
You're gonna stay my girl, do you hear?
- Anybody would know
you were a ship captain
with that mouth full of steam!
- Lay off, you mugs!
What's the matter with you guys?
One gentleman in the place,
he comes to the rescue
of a lady in distress,
then you rowdies wanna
make trouble for him!
- She's right!
Go on, sit down, all of you!
This gentleman's a friend of mine!
- Garcon, clean up this mess!
Ray, music, loud!
Thanks, mister.
- It's all right.
- I didn't get the name.
- Davis, George Davis.
- Well George, as somebody once said,
to the victor belongs the spoils.
What's the matter, George?
Doesn't your wife ever kiss you that way?
- I'm not married.
- Not married.
Big handsome fellow like you?
- I'm sort of engaged.
- Oh.
What's her name?
- Pearl.
- Well, we certainly wouldn't want you
to take this home to Pearl, would we?
- No, no, I'm afraid that wouldn't do.
- Come on, handsome, the drinks are on me.
- No thanks.
I've gotta get back to the office.
I have some work to do.
- Work?
- I'm a lawyer.
- The way you polished off Ralph,
I'd have thought you were a fighter.
- Well I've done some
of that too, at college.
Nice to have met you, Miss...
- Lulu Belle.
- Lulu Belle, eh?
Well it's been a pleasure.
- Don't stay away too long.
- Honey, you better get
ready for your next number.
- Yep, the next number.
- Come in.
- I declare, I've never been
so warm in my whole life.
I was just out shopping
and I suddenly remembered I
had a little legal business.
You don't mind taking
on a new client, do you?
- No, no, of course not.
Sit down, please.
- Thank you.
- My.
Can't Pearl do any better than this?
Your office needs a woman's touch.
- I like to keep it business-like.
- A woman can be business-like.
- We could go on like this all afternoon,
but it's warm and I have
an awful lot of work to do.
- Well no wonder it's warm
with this sun streaming in like this.
There, that's better.
Now George, you just go ahead
with your work, don't mind me.
I'll watch.
Is this her picture?
- Yes.
- Here George, you fan
me while I look at it.
My, she's handsome.
Say what you will,
sometimes a girl with those
little shoe button eyes
can be wickedly attractive.
There I go keeping you
from your work again.
You go right ahead, George.
Don't mind me.
Whatever case you're working
on, I know you'll win.
My dream book says so.
- Your what?
- My dream book.
A gypsy fortune teller made
it up especially for me.
Would you like to look at it?
- Yes.
- Come on, sit down.
Let's see.
Saturday, July 10th, that's today.
- Yeah.
- A lucky day for you and all
you'll come in contact with.
Encourage new acquaintances.
Transact any and all business.
It will turn out profitably.
- George?
- Pearl!
I'll be right down, honey!
Oh you'd better get out of here.
- But we didn't transact our business.
- Well some other time, please.
- Goodbye, George.
- Goodbye.
Hello, Ed.
- Hello, Mr. Davis.
What'll it be?
- Nothing, thanks.
Just couldn't sleep.
- Something on your mind?
- Second thought, I
think I'll have a beer.
- Come on, Molly, let's get out of here.
Hello, mister.
- Hello.
- Isn't this past your bedtime?
- He couldn't sleep.
- Maybe you could get Pearl
to sing you a lullaby.
- I'm in a little trouble
with Pearl, thanks to you.
- Maybe it's just the opposite.
Maybe you're off the leash.
Would you people kindly
move further down the bar?
I'd like to have a little
private talk with my lawyer.
You would like to be my
lawyer, wouldn't you?
- Frankly, no.
- You mean you didn't come
here to discuss business?
- No.
As a matter of fact, I...
- Don't worry about Pearl, honey.
A great big handsome fellow like you
shouldn't worry about anything.
Hear that song?
He wrote it especially for me.
- Yeah?
- Hey, stop being funny.
- What's being funny about going home
after a hard day's work?
- Looks like they're
closing the store on us.
Staying?
- Yeah, I think I'll finish my beer.
- Well George, since you didn't come here
for anything in particular,
I guess I'd better be getting on.
Goodnight.
- Goodnight.
- Unless you'd care to walk me home.
- I guess I'm going in
your direction anyway.
Three days later, I sold my law practice.
We were married in Hew Orleans.
A whole new world opened up to her,
expensive clothes, finest restaurants,
parties, people.
We went everywhere, saw everything,
and lived in a best hotel.
Then our money began to run out.
- Just drop the bundle right there, Butch.
Oh hello, darling.
- Hello, honey.
- You remember Butch
from Natchez, don't you?
He's a big fighter now.
- Yeah?
- Hi, George.
- Hello, Butch.
- Fine thing, me, the
next heavyweight champ,
carrying packages for a woman.
- Butch gave me a lift home.
- That was very kind.
- Think nothing of it.
Always glad to be of service.
I guess I'll be running along.
Gotta take my beauty nap
for the fight tonight.
- Goodbye, Butch.
You've been an angel.
- So long, George.
So long, gorgeous.
Oh, say, in case you'd like to see me
in a good fight tonight,
here's two for the ringside.
Brady's Sporting Club.
Compliments of Butch Cooper.
- Thank you.
It was such a lovely afternoon.
I just couldn't resist going shopping.
Look at this adorable dress.
But there I go chattering
about a silly old dress
when my poor darling has so many problems.
Did you have any luck today?
- I was offered a job as
a mall clerk, (laughs)
$3 a week.
- I declare, they ought
to be horsewhipped.
People just don't
appreciate your talents yet.
- No.
- But you'll get
something, I know you will.
- Lulu Belle, I've been thinking.
This place is very nice and all that,
but it's kind of expensive.
- Now you haven't been worrying
about our hotel bill again,
have you?
- Of course I've been worrying.
- Then you can just put your mind at ease,
because I paid it this morning.
- Paid it?
- Didn't I tell you?
Butch loaned me the money.
Course I didn't want to accept it,
but he insisted, so what could I do?
- You could've thrown it back in his face!
- Now angel, is that a way to talk?
Butch is really a good friend.
He's gonna help me get
a job singing in a cafe.
- Lulu Belle, I don't
like this whole thing.
I don't like the idea of you seeing him.
- Oh my goodness, George,
you'd better hurry up and get dressed.
We'll just about have
time to get some dinner
if we're gonna see that fight.
- We're not going to any fight.
- Now don't be ridiculous.
Butch knows a lot of
very influential people.
He might be able to help you
get started in something.
You're such a worrier.
Honestly, I've never seen
anybody get so gloomy
about little things.
- I can't help it, honey.
I guess I'm just jealous.
- Of Butch?
Oh darling.
- Honey, I just can't bear to think
of you even talking to another man.
- I know just how you feel, sugar pie.
I feel the same way about my George.
You ought to know that by now.
- Give it to him, Butch!
Come on, give it to him, Butch!
Come on, Butch!
Give it to him!
- One,
two,
three,
four,
five,
six,
seven,
eight,
nine,
ten!
The winner!
- You're wonderful, Butch!
- See you later!
- Lucky again, Brady.
- Here you are, Brady.
Good scene, huh?
- Thank you.
Good work, my boy, good work.
You won me a bundle.
- Bet your money on Butch
Cooper every time, Mr. Brady.
- I'm giving a little victory
party at the Belmont later.
Think you can make it?
- I had a date with a
couple of friends, but--
- Bring them along.
The more the merrier.
- Thanks.
Swell.
- Here's to Butch Cooper,
hoping his next fight will
be for the championship.
- Thank you.
All Duke here has to
do is get me the match.
Little Jasper will take care of the rest.
Are you enjoying yourself, sweets?
- Butch tells me you won a lot of money
on the fight tonight, Mr. Brady.
- 20,000 to be exact,
and it's all right here.
- Is that why you keep those bodyguards
right along with you?
- Exactly, Mrs. Davis.
I'm a betting man.
I carry my business with me.
I retain Charlie and Mac
to keep people from
yielding to temptation.
- Do you ever yield to
temptation, Mr. Brady?
- Depends on what I'm yielding to.
Now, certain things,
I'm considered quite a yielder. (laughs)
- Oh, Mr. Brady. (laughs)
- Are you in business in
New Orleans, Mr. Davis?
- No, George is
trying to get a connection.
- What sort?
- Anything right now.
- I understand you've
done a little fighting.
- Nothing to speak of.
Just amateur stuff.
- You're pretty well put together at that.
Why don't you look me
up at my club tomorrow?
I might be able to introduce
you to a manager who might...
- No thanks.
I'm not interested in a boxing career.
- Now George, how can you say that?
You might make a wonderful fighter,
especially if a man like Mr.
Brady should sponsor you.
- Hey, George don't
rate all the attention.
How about a dance, gorgeous?
- I'd be delighted.
If the gentlemen will excuse me.
- By all means.
- Oh, and George, you just
keep on talking to Mr. Brady.
You can't go wrong with
a smart man like him.
I certainly hope Brady can
do something for George.
- Maybe he won't have to.
- What do you mean?
- I'll tell you later.
- What time will you be at
this club of yours tomorrow,
Mr. Brady?
- I thought you weren't
interested in fighting.
- I'm not, but if I'm
any good at the job...
- All right, boy, Duke here
is looking for a new fighter.
Let's see what you can do.
- All right, boys, time!
- All right, all right.
That's enough!
What do you think?
- Kind of green.
- Well sure he's green.
Needs experience.
I'd start him off with a
fight or two out of town.
All right, son, we'll work out something.
- Thanks, Mr. Brady.
- But I tell you,
Lulu Belle, it's a cinch.
All that cash sitting
right there in his pocket
waiting to be plucked.
- Two big gorillas
ready to carve the gizzard
out of anybody who tries.
- But that's where you come in, gorgeous.
Brady's taken a fancy to you.
All you have to do is
separate him from those two hatchet men.
You can leave the rest to me and the boys.
- Why, Butch Cooper, that's
positively dishonest.
- Oh what of it?
I get in the ring and knock my brains out,
for what?
Brady don't lift a finger and wins 20,000.
Is that fair?
- You got big ideas, handsome.
- Look, I've helped you
out as much as I could,
but I'm scraping bottom.
Here's a chance for both of us to get fat.
Are you interested or not?
- Of course I'm
interested, Butch, darling,
but not for the measly
$1,000 you offered me.
- How much do you want?
- 50/50.
Half for you and half for me.
- Okay, gorgeous, it's a deal.
What a woman.
- Get out of here.
- Now take it easy, George.
- Get out!
- Okay, smart boy, but just remember this.
You're living in a nice hotel.
You wanna keep living in it, don't you?
- Lulu Belle, have you gone crazy?
- Now darling, don't make
a scene over nothing.
- Over nothing?
You call a holdup nothing?
- Butch isn't gonna hurt him.
- Don't tell me you're
going through with this.
This is criminal.
You'll be caught.
They'll arrest you!
- Me?
What for?
All I'm doing is going for a little ride
in Mr. Brady's carriage.
- You don't know what you're doing.
Honey, we don't need money that badly.
- There's only one way to need money.
That's to need it!
- Look, baby, we've got money!
That is, we soon will have.
I worked out for Brady.
He likes me.
He's gonna give me some fights.
It won't be much at first,
but we'll be able to live.
- Who wants to just be able to live?
I've had that.
All of my life I've had nothing else,
cheap clothes, crummy rooms,
never knowing anybody worth knowing.
I've got something else now
and I'm not gonna lose it!
- So it's Butch,
just a cheap bruiser with
a taste for champagne.
Ever since we met up with him,
you've been going from bad to worse.
- I wouldn't talk so much about Butch
if I were you, darling,
not as long as he's paying our hotel bill.
- All right, go to Butch.
It means nothing to me.
You're no good and you
never will be any good!
I'm getting out of here!
That's the way it went,
time after time, a quarrel.
I'd threaten to leave her
and we'd end up in each other's arms.
I don't think Lulu Belle
wanted to be the way she was.
She was just Lulu Belle.
- We picked up the Benson dame, John.
She's in your office if
you wanna talk to her.
- Oh yes, good.
- You sent for me, Commissioner?
- Sent for you?
It took us all day to run you down.
- Well you might've tried the hospital.
I've been there all the time.
- Molly, I want a line on every man
who has come into Lulu Belle's life.
- I guess I,II have to
go back quite a little
if you want everything,
back to New Orleans.
George and Lulu Belle had
been married about six months
and I was visiting the city, see.
I'd come down from Natchez,
and suddenly I remembered Lulu Belle,
so I went over to the
hotel where she lived.
- Who is it?
- It's me, honey, Molly.
- Molly?
Molly!
- Lulu Belle!
- Oh you wonderful creature!
- Oh I'm so glad I found you!
- Let me look at you!
- Don't mind the lines
under my eyes now, honey.
I've aged 10 years since yesterday.
- What happened?
What are you doing here?
- I was going to be married, see.
I came up here with my fiance,
the loveliest gentleman,
and this morning,
that dirty, thieving swine ran
off with my diamond sunburst!
- Oh, Molly.
- What's so funny?
- Nothing, honey.
You just sit down there and don't worry.
You can always go back to good old Ed.
- Oh no, no, good old Ed
has gone back to his wife.
I guess he figured he might just as well
save that five bucks a week.
Now suggest something else.
- Oh don't look so tragic.
We've always managed before, haven't we?
I'll think of something.
In the meantime, you
can stay here with me.
- Yes, yes, George will
love that, won't he?
Say, how is George?
- Oh, George is fine.
He's out of town for a few days.
- Aw, on a law case?
- No, he's become a fighter.
- Oh.
George Davis, a fighter?
- Uh-Huh.
Well I never-
Answer that, will you, Molly?
- Mr. and Mrs. George Davis's suite.
Who?
Brady?
There's a Mr. Brady in the lobby.
- Tell
him I'll be right down.
- Mrs. Davis will be right down.
Brady.
Brady.
Now that name sounds familiar.
Not Mark Brady?
- Why not?
- Well, say.
How does George feel about all this?
- George?
Why should George feel one way or another?
Mr. Brady is just a friend,
a friend to us both.
As a matter of fact, he's
taken George under his wing.
- Oh yes, yes, I can see that. (laughs)
There!
- How do I look?
- Lovely!
And like the kind of a girl
who might listen to reason.
That's the idea, isn't it?
- Don't be ridiculous, darling.
Mr. Brady doesn't
interest me in the least.
This is strictly business.
- Any of my business?
- Not at the moment, darling.
Now you just make yourself at home.
I'll see you later.
- Don't you worry about me.
- I won't be long.
- Goodbye, honey!
- Thank you very much, Mr. Brady.
- Good night.
And now where to?
- Well, you said you were
gonna show me the town.
- Where'd you like to go?
- To the Irish Channel.
There's a place down there
I've just been dying to see.
- What place is that?
- I think it's called
Murphy's or Murray's.
- Murray's?
That's an absinthe joint.
- Uh-Huh.
- You sure you wanna hit that low?
- With anybody else,
I'd be a little scared,
but with you, Mr. Brady,
I'm ready for anything.
- Murray's it is then.
My aim tonight is to make
you very happy, Lulu Belle.
- You could make me a lot happier.
- How?
- I'm not exactly shy, but
I do have certain objections
to people looking over my shoulder
when I'm trying to make a
good impression on a man.
- Huh?
Oh.
Run along home, boys.
I'll take the carriage from here.
- Thank you, Mr. Brady.
You're one of the most
thoughtful men I've ever met.
- There's a reason.
- What's that?
- You're one of the most
exciting women I've ever met.
- They'll be here any second.
Now remember, no rough
stuff unless you have to.
One drink ought to do it.
- Sure, boss.
- We know.
- Two absinthe frappes.
- Yes.
- Goodness, what evil looking characters.
What goes on here besides drinking?
- Robbery, skulduggery,
and a smattering of homicide. (laughs)
- It's sure nice to be with
a man like you, Mr. Brady.
You're so calm and reassuring.
- Any reason why I shouldn't be calm?
- No.
No, of course not,
but you said yourself that
anything could happen here.
My, what a pretty ring.
- It's an early acquisition.
I won it from a man who couldn't
pay off on a horse race.
- I've always wanted
to wear a real diamond.
- I have a hunch you'll
be wearing lots of them
once you've learned how to be smart.
- Smart?
- You're clever, Lulu Belle,
clever and unscrupulous,
but you're not smart.
You don't know the difference
between money in the hand
and money in the bank.
Now this is money in the hand,
but I have a lot of money in the bank.
If someone were to take this from me,
I'd be upset, but far from broke.
- I don't follow you, Mr. Brady.
- Let me put it this way.
I have a building in town
and I'm converting the lower floor
into a club room and casino.
I want to put in some entertainment.
How would you like to be featured?
- Me?
- Your voice has just
the quality that I want.
- Mr. Brady, it would be wonderful,
but why pick on a nobody?
- You won't be a nobody for long.
You've got too much drive for that.
You're going to get just what you want.
I'd like to be around when you get it.
Shall we drink to our association?
Here's to a long and
successful friendship.
May we trust each other
always, implicitly,
just as we do tonight.
What's the matter?
- This place gives me the creeps.
Let's get out of here.
- Just as you wish.
Thank you, boys.
I'm glad you changed your mind, my dear.
I'd have headed for the boys
to mess up Butch Cooper.
He can still make us a lot of money.
- Hello, Brady.
- Good evening.
Good to see you here.
Enjoy yourself.
Well.
- Well, hello.
Nice place, Brady.
- Thank you.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Good evening.
- Hi, Brady.
- Enjoying yourselves?
- Certainly are.
- Good, good.
- Hello, Mr. Brady.
- Good evening, George.
Lulu Belle told me you were back.
I haven't had a chance
to talk with you, kid.
How'd you make out in Mobile?
- Won a couple, lost a couple.
- You can't win all the time.
Make yourself at home.
That's not a good idea to
train on whiskey though.
You really ought to be in bed.
? For there's one thing I know
? I belong ?
- He's right about one thing, George.
You shouldn't drink so much.
- What's the difference, Molly?
At 15 or 20 bucks a fight,
I can't even pay our rent.
- That's almost the end
of her number, George.
I guess I better go.
Excuse me.
I'll tell her you're here.
? For there's one thing I know
? I'd be lost
? If I ever lost you ?
- How was I?
- Wonderful, honey, just wonderful.
George is here.
- Oh?
- Hello, Mark.
- Hello.
- Why didn't you hide in
the closet and jump out?
It's always a bigger laugh.
- I didn't come in for laughs.
- No?
- No, I came in for a
little heart-to-heart talk.
- I can take a hint.
- Fire away.
- I thought you agreed to
keep George out of here.
- What do you want me to do,
lock him up at home in my trunk?
- Lulu Belle, you're going up.
You're getting someplace.
Having him around is bad for you.
It's bad for business.
Anyway, I understood you
were gonna get rid of him.
- You understood wrong.
Maybe I don't wanna get rid of him.
Maybe in my own peculiar way,
I'm still in love with him.
- You, in love with
that second-rate tanker?
Don't make me laugh, honey.
We're going to be together
for a long time, you and I.
Play your cards right and
anything I have can be yours.
Do I make myself clear?
- Too clear.
Get out.
- All right.
All right, I can wait.
Not forever.
Mull that over in your spare time.
- What'd he want?
- Nothing.
- That's a new name for it at least.
Lulu Belle, honey, listen to me.
I've made too many mistakes in my life
to ever be telling
anybody else what to do.
Don't you think you ought
to make up your mind?
- About what?
- About George, mostly.
- You too?
- Yes, but for a different reason.
George has been fighting now for how long?
He hasn't made as much in six
months as you make in a week.
- What are you getting at?
In a little while, he'll
be fighting in main events.
He's going places.
- Oh no he isn't.
No, Lulu Belle, no no no.
Do you remember the first time
George walked into The Catfish
and talked Ed into paying
five bucks a week alimony?
He was well liked in Natchez, that George.
He was a lawyer, and he was
going to be a big lawyer.
He even had an office of his own,
and he was engaged to a nice, dull girl
who'd darn his socks and
cook his supper for him.
He wasn't cut out to be a fighter.
He never was, he never will be one.
Why, in six months or a year,
he'll have cauliflower ears
and a broken nose maybe,
and in another two years,
he won't even be able to read a law book.
- Leave me alone.
George is perfectly happy.
- Oh yes?
Well I just left him.
You go on out there
and take a look at him.
- Why don't people stop
meddling in my personal affairs?
- Hello, Lulu Belle, how about a drink?
- Not now, boys.
- Hello, darling.
- Molly told me you were here.
- You're looking more beautiful than ever.
- My makeup.
- Oh.
Yeah, sure.
The reason I came here, honey,
was we haven't been seeing
much of each other lately,
and I thought after you're through here,
we can have dinner together.
- Oh George, it'll be so late.
- Yeah, I see.
You'd rather I didn't
come here, wouldn't you?
- No, darling.
It isn't that.
It's just that, well, it
must get awful dull for you
to be sitting around here while I--
- Okay, honey.
I'm sorry.
I don't want to bother you.
I'll see you when you get home.
- George, wait.
Sit down.
George, why don't you go back to Natchez?
- What?
- I mean it.
You're just in my way around here.
- You're not serious.
- Dead serious.
After all, you'll be a
lot better off without me,
and I wanna lead my own life,
so let's just call it quits.
That's sensible, isn't it?
- Who is it this time?
Brady?
I said is it Brady?
I knew something like this would
happen if I left you alone.
It is Brady!
Come on, we're going home!
Lulu Belle, I'm gonna
get you away from here
if it's the last thing I do.
- Hi, Butch.
Hi, Butch, thought you were gonna
win that Birmingham fight in one round.
What happened?
- The guy was made of rubber.
Every time I knocked him down,
he'd bounce back up again.
Well, if it isn't the little
night blooming jasmine in person.
Hi, you chump, you still around?
What's the matter?
Am I butting in or something?
- Yes.
- Course not, handsome.
Don't pay any attention to George.
He's just leaving for Natchez.
- Am I?
I'm not going to Natchez or anywhere else.
I'm taking you home.
- Not so fast, chump.
I don't think the lady wants to go home.
- You keep out of this.
- Hey, take it easy!
Take it easy, take it easy,
you got a big fight next week!
- For heaven's sake,
don't act like a fool.
- Okay.
It's sure your lucky day, mister.
- Come on, Butch, let's go.
- Okay.
It's all over, folks.
Champagne for everybody, Mac.
Compliments of Butch Cooper.
Hey, wait a minute,
gorgeous, how about a dance?
- I'll be out in a minute.
- Can't I trust you a second?
- It's not really my fault, Mark.
I just stopped to talk for a minute.
Before I knew it, they were--
- Before you know it,
you almost cost me a quarter
of a million dollars.
I've got a fortune tied up
in Butch's fight next week.
Anything happens to him, I'm sunk.
- Mr. Brady?
- Yes, Charles?
- Mr. Randolph and his party just came in.
- Thank you.
You're out of place here.
I advise you to leave.
- Come on, George.
Sit.
- Well well, Harry Randolph.
- Hello, Mark.
Haven't seen you since
the Culver-Sullivan fight.
You know my wife?
- How do you do?
- Mr. and Mrs. Wilde.
- How do you do?
- We came to hear this new
singer everyone's talking about.
- We hear
she's very beautiful.
- Lulu Belle?
The last show doesn't go on until 11:30.
I'll ask her to do a number.
- Ace in the Hole?
- I'm sure she'll be delighted.
- Hey look, how about that dance?
- Butch, go away and
leave me alone, will you?
I've changed my mind.
- What is this?
First we dance and then we don't dance.
Am I in or am I out?
- You're out.
Some other time, Butch.
You finally got rid of George.
You'll never regret it, I promise you.
Tonight after we close,
we'll talk things over.
We'll celebrate, just the two of us.
Meanwhile, I'd like to ask a favor.
Will you sing an extra
song for an old friend?
That new party on the floor,
that's Harry Randolph.
Big spender.
Owns a couple of railroads
and half of New York.
? This town is full of guys
? Who think they're awful wise
? Just because they know a thing or two
? You'll meet them night and day
? Strolling up and down Broadway
? Telling of the wonders they can do
? The gamblers and the bookies
? Keep looking for the rookies
? Who congregate around the metro pole
? They wear flashy ties and collars
? But the way they get their dollars
? They've all got an ace in the hole
? Some of them send to their
old folks for coin
? That is their ace in the hole
? Others have friends
in the Old Tenderloin
? That is their ace in the hole
? They boast of their jewels
? How they've outsmarted fools
? As if money were life's only goal
? But when they're out of stock
? They go right back and hop
? If they lost that old ace in a hole
? Yes if they lost that
old ace in the hole ?
- Lulu Belle, I'd like you to
meet an old and dear friend,
Harry Randolph.
- We've met.
- You have?
- While I was singing.
- What charming candor.
- It was worth my trip to New Orleans.
Won't you join us for a
moment, Miss Lulu Belle?
- I'd love to.
- May I present my wife?
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
- And Mr. and Mrs. Wilde.
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
- After hearing you tonight,
the Wildes should be coming back often.
- What about you?
- Mrs. Randolph and I
are leaving for New York
tomorrow morning.
- Yes, as much as I hate to put an end
to this very charming evening,
I really think we ought to be going.
We have a lot of packing to do.
- Darling, why don't you run
along with Tom and Alice?
I think I'll hang around,
play a little roulette.
- Haven't forgotten little
Butch, have you, gorgeous?
We never got to have our dance.
- Of course.
A protege of Mr. Brady's.
Butch is going to be the
next heavyweight champion
of the world.
He'll tell you so himself.
- Now that you're getting rid of George,
you'll find out what it's like
to have a real man around.
- You?
- Well, I don't wanna
blow my own horn, but...
- You'll be along later, Harry?
- Yes, I won't be long.
- Butch, honey, these
slippers are just killing me.
Would you mind if I go in and change them?
- Oh sure, okay.
Make it kind of snappy though.
We've got things to talk about.
- You wait for me at the bar.
I'll be right out.
- Have a drink on me, chump.
You'll be leaving town soon, huh?
- Why don't you go fall
down dead or something?
- Hey waiter.
- What happened to your friends?
- They left.
- Miss Randolph too?
- She was tired.
- With a distinguished
looking husband like you,
she certainly doesn't
keep very close tabs.
- My wife and I have an understanding.
She knows I like to gamble.
- Not doing so well, are you, champ?
- Mind a personal question, Lulu Belle?
- Why, not at all.
- What are you doing here?
- I work here.
- Yes I know.
You interest me very much.
- Really?
What a strange coincidence,
because from the moment you came in,
you interested me very much.
Most millionaires are just rich old men.
You're different.
- With your talent, you
should be in New York.
- Why, Mr. Randolph,
what would a little country girl like me
be doing in a big city like New York?
- You'd have the town at your feet.
I'm not exactly without
connections on Broadway.
If the idea interests you at all,
I'm sure that something could be arranged.
- Why Mr. Randolph, I
don't know what to say.
I really don't.
- Come on, champ, let's go
home and get some sleep, huh?
- Go away, pal.
I told you I had a date.
Of course the lady has a boyfriend.
They say he's very tough.
- Lay off, will you, Butch?
- Don't you ever give up?
- You'll be run out of town!
Take it easy, Butch.
You don't get any dough for this.
- This is one fight I
don't have to get paid for.
- Use your head, champ.
- Get those tables back!
Ladies and gentlemen,
this chief ham-and-egger needs a boxing lesson
and I'm gonna give him one free of charge,
with one hand behind my back.
- Get Brady!
- Right away.
- George!
- Not feeling so frisky now, huh, chump?
- You got two hands.
Why don't you use them?
- Okay, chump, maybe I underrated you.
- He's crazy!
Butch will kill him!
We've gotta stop him!
- Nice one, champ.
How do you feel?
- Swell, swell.
Barely got up a sweat.
- George, no!
- Get him out of here quick!
- Come hide in my dressing room!
- It was George Davis!
- Where is he?
Where is he?
- How should I know?
- If it's the last act of
my life, he'll pay for this!
- George was gone.
He disappeared completely.
Lulu Belle did everything
she could to find him.
She looked everywhere.
See, she wanted to help him.
- Yes, I imagine.
- Oh you cops are all alike.
You just don't understand
women, not at all!
- All right, she couldn't find him,
so she came to New York
with Harry Randolph.
- Yes.
- Then Butch Cooper and Brady
and George all showed up?
- Well not all at once.
- I know.
I also know that
Randolph made her the
biggest star on Broadway,
even built a theater for her,
but just when did she start
seeing George Davis again?
- That was only a few days ago.
I think Lulu Belle must've
felt he was in town.
She was so nervous and irritable,
and she just talked
about him all the time.
And then, one night...
- Evening, mademoiselle.
- Good evening, Pierre.
- Monsieur Randolph.
- Goodnight, honey.
- Sleep tight, darling.
- I won't be mysterious.
- Harry!
- You like it?
- Why, I'm overcome!
- You've been working hard all season.
Thought you might like something
to remember the show by.
- It's magnificent, Harry.
I don't know how I can ever thank you.
- There's also something else.
I spent the afternoon at my attorney's.
Mrs. Randolph has finally
consented to giving me a divorce.
- Oh?
- I want you to marry me, Lulu Belle.
We can spend our honeymoon
in France, Italy,
anywhere you like.
I can arrange my affairs so
that we can be gone a year,
or indefinitely, if you want to stay.
You don't appear very excited.
- Of course I'm excited, Harry.
I'm not only excited.
I'm very flattered, but
there are so many things to think about.
- For instance?
- Well, the show.
- That's all taken care of.
Get someone for your part.
From now on, your career will
be as Mrs. Harry Randolph.
You do wanna marry me, don't you?
- Well of course I do, Harry, but...
- But what?
- Well, I...
- Oh.
I guess I failed to take one
thing into consideration.
- What's that?
- I didn't realize that
becoming Mrs. Harry Randolph
would take such an effort on your part.
- Oh it isn't that.
- Could all this have any
connection with the fact
that George Davis is in town?
- George?
- Yeah.
Your ex-husband, remember?
- Don't be ridiculous.
George doesn't mean anything
to me, no matter where he is.
Oh Harry, don't badger me.
- Tired, aren't you?
- Yes, I am tired.
- You get a good night's rest.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Perhaps we can have lunch together.
I'll call you.
- No.
I'll call you.
- Very well.
- Harry.
Thanks for everything.
You're very sweet.
Goodnight.
- Goodnight.
- Molly!
Molly!
- What happened?
Where's Mr. Big?
Mm-mm, ain't that something!
Simply blinding!
- Oh yes.
- Golly, must've cost a fortune!
- Molly, we've got to find George.
- Oh now wait a minute, wait a minute.
Honey, it's very late.
- I know, I know.
Get me the telephone book.
We'll call every hotel in town.
- Don't you think you ought to
let bygones be bygones?
- Molly, I must see him!
I've got to see him!
- Oh well all right, here, here, let me.
Dear.
Sometimes I wonder if you
know when you are well off.
- Good evening, Mr. Davis.
- Hello, Henry.
- We made those train
reservations for you.
- Thanks.
- Hello, George.
I thought you'd never come.
- What are you doing here?
- I wanna talk to you.
Come on, sit down.
- Look, I've gotta get packed.
- You're not leaving?
- Yes.
- When?
Where to?
- I'm going home to Natchez
first thing in the morning.
- But George, you can't go without...
- There's someone I've
got to meet and I'm late.
- You're bitter.
I can see you are.
- Bitter?
No, I'm not bitter.
Two years running away from the police,
three years in prison.
- I'm so terribly sorry, George,
but that's all in the past.
I wanna help you.
Won't you let me?
- You've helped me plenty already,
by getting a divorce.
- I know I've done a lot of things wrong,
terribly wrong.
That's why I'm here.
I've only an hour before the show,
but I must talk to you.
- I told you, I have an engagement.
- Tonight then, after the show.
Just a half an hour?
Come to my apartment at The Park Plaza.
Please, George.
Please say you'll come.
- All right, I'll be there.
- You won't forget, The Park Plaza?
- I said I'd be there.
- You're
handsomer, George.
That touch of qray gives
you a distinguished look.
- Thanks.
I'll send you the first
ones that fall out.
- Molly, I waited five
years for just one man
and I didn't realize it until now.
- Well, I don't like it.
I just got a feeling.
You know what that dream book said.
- That thing.
Funny how I used to fall for this.
Thursday, March 15, make
no plans on this day.
See only old friends.
George is an old friend, isn't he?
- What is it?
What's it say?
- Imagine this.
Friday, March 16th, that's tomorrow,
your unlucky day.
Tragedy stalks for you in these hours.
- Oh Lulu Belle, I wish
you wouldn't see him.
I just got a feeling.
- Bottle your feelings, Molly.
I've waited a long time for this.
You run along now and don't worry.
Only nice things are
gonna happen from here on.
- Well, I sure hope you're right.
- Will that be all, mademoiselle?
- Yes, Pierre.
Oh Pierre, would you put
the lights out please?
- Oui, mademoiselle.
- And Pierre,
you may take the night off.
I'll manage.
- Merci, mademoiselle.
- Hello, gorgeous.
- Where did you come from?
- Friend of yours sent me.
George Davis.
Don't worry about the clothes.
I'm getting a whole new outfit tomorrow.
Heart of gold George has.
- What do you want?
- That's no way to talk
to an old pal, gorgeous.
Well, I see you're in the chips, as usual.
Mind if I pour a drink?
Real McCoy, yeah?
Well, here we are again,
just like old times.
- Butch, I'll have to ask you to leave.
- Don't rush me, gorgeous.
George said you'd be glad to see me.
- Well I am, but come
to the theater tomorrow.
- You used to call me handsome.
- All right.
Good night, handsome.
- That's more like it.
I knew there was a soft spot
in your heart for old Butch.
- Dirty, filthy--
- You can't do that to me.
Nobody can do that to me.
- You better leave before the police come!
Molly!
Molly!
Get this tramp out of here!
- I'll kill her.
- Take it easy, bud, or
I'll have to call the cops.
We've been watching you
ever since you came in here.
- I'll kill her.
I'll kill her.
- Cigarette?
- No thank you.
I never smoke.
But if you should happen to have just a...
It's been a trying ordeal.
Thank you, sir.
- And what about Mark Brady?
- Well isn't it odd now that
you should mention Mr. Brady.
I saw him just recently.
My how that man has changed.
He used to be quite a
figure back in New Orleans,
yes, quite a spender.
- I'm afraid I'm not interested
in that broken down club of yours.
- But you told me to go ahead.
- I'm not planning on doing anything
for at least six months, maybe longer.
I'm going away.
- You promised me.
I went ahead and made
plans on your promise.
I redecorated the place, signed people.
- All right, get your money back.
I've changed my mind.
- Lulu Belle, I wouldn't be
here if it weren't urgent.
I need your help, desperately.
Every penny I have in the
world is tied up in the place.
If I don't open, I'm sunk.
Sign this contract.
Your name on it is
enough to keep me going.
I can get the backing
I need and stay open.
- What am I supposed to do,
cry over every tin-horn
gambler who steps out of line?
You don't even belong in New York.
- But you owe it to me.
- I don't owe anybody anything.
- As a favor, then.
I gave you your start.
Do you remember that?
Sign it and we're quits.
- All right, Mark.
Leave it.
Come back after the show.
- I've gotta have it tonight.
- I told you I'd think it over!
- Don't fail me.
- Didn't I tell
you to keep him out of here?
- Well, I...
- Oh Molly, I'm so sorry.
I'm just all mixed up.
I know I've lost him.
- I wouldn't be too sure about that.
I just saw him out front buying a ticket.
- George?
- Mm-Hmm.
- 15 minutes, Miss Lulu Belle.
? I can't tell why
? I love you
? But I do
? The world is full of boys
? The same as you
? But something I can't tell
? Seems to hold me in its spell
? I can't tell why
? I love you
? But I do ?
- Honey, they want you
now, go on go on go on.
- He was sitting right down in front.
- Go on, take your bow.
- George!
Why did you do it, George?
Why did you send Butch last night?
- I thought you might like
to meet an old acquaintance.
- You said you'd come yourself.
You promised you would.
Let's not stand out here
where people can stare at us.
Let's go into my dressing room.
Please.
George.
Please, George, don't go away
now that we've found each other again.
There's never been anyone else for me.
There never will be.
- Look, Lulu Belle, what could
you possibly want with me?
You've got your career, plenty of money.
As a matter of fact,
you've got everything you've ever wanted.
Now what's the catch?
- Catch?
- Yeah.
If I know my Lulu Belle,
there's always an angle
in that scheming little head of hers.
What is it this time?
First there was Butch,
then Brady, then Randolph.
I can't give you anything like this
or this.
Lulu Belle, I've got nothing to offer you.
What do you expect of me?
- George, it's taken me all these years
to find out how wrong I've been.
I know now that it's you I want.
I love you, George.
- What about Randolph?
- I don't love him.
I never have.
Let's go back to Natchez together.
Let's go anywhere together.
We can leave tonight after the show.
Hold me, darling, close.
Just pack a couple things
for the trip, Molly.
You can send the rest down to me later.
- Dear me, someday I'll figure
out how to keep up with you.
One day you're going to Paris,
the next you're going to the other--
- All right, now hurry up.
Just pack a couple of
dresses and some shoes.
I'll leave a note for Harry.
- Going somewhere?
- Harry.
- I have an aversion
to notes being left me.
Do you mind telling me
in your own simple words
just what's happening?
- I'm going away with George.
I'm awfully sorry, Harry.
I'm terribly grateful to you, and I'll--
- I know.
You'll always be fond of me.
My dear, I've devoted a number
of years of my life to you.
You mean more to me than
anything in the world.
I'm divorcing my wife for you.
If you're leaving with anyone,
you're leaving with me.
- I'm not one of your railroads, Harry.
You don't own me.
I'm leaving,
and I don't see that there's
anything you can do about it.
- I know he's young and tall and handsome,
but think twice.
Lulu Belle in Natchez in a cottage.
I'm afraid, my dear,
that that gingham dress won't
take the place of ermine,
not anymore,
and you'll miss the chauffeurs
and the limousines and the diamonds.
Just too late to go back.
So you'll not leave with George Davis.
Remember that.
I'll be waiting for you
at the theater, as usual.
- But Lulu Belle.
- Please, Mark, I have a show to do.
- I had to see you now.
I've got to know.
- I'm sorry, Mark, but
there isn't a chance.
- But you can't refuse me.
- The answer is no.
Please, Mark, don't bother me.
- Just a minute.
Honey, I've got George
on the phone for you.
- Hello?
Oh George, I'm so glad I
caught you before you left.
Don't come to the theater for me.
I'll tell you later.
Oh no, darling, I haven't changed my mind.
I'll meet you at your hotel.
- I see.
Randolph, huh?
- Don't be silly.
It's just that I don't want
any unpleasantness or embarrassment.
Please do as I ask, just this once.
- All right.
Goodbye.
Take care of those bags for a while,
and call me a taxi.
- Yes, sir.
? Only took one glance
and I had to love you
? In a trance when I'm thinking of you
? Sweetie pie
? We'd make a lovely couple
? You know that we're gonna be heading
? Where we heading
? For a big wedding
? Oh, what a wedding
? You and I sweetie pie ?
- Evening, Mr. Randolph.
- Evening, Mr. Randolph.
- Hello, Harry.
- Oh, just a minute pal.
Just a minute, pal.
- Hey, just a minute!
- What's the idea?
- I don't know, who is the guy?
- Darling, I've come to ask
you to change your mind.
- Oh Harry, I wish you
wouldn't make it all so grim.
After all, men have had
this happen to them before.
Can't we just part friends?
- There's no friendliness in me.
Nothing but a lot of emotion
that you wouldn't understand.
I can't let you go, Lulu Belle.
- Oh Harry, must we go through this again?
- Can't you understand,
darling, I love you!
- How about Randolph?
- Sorry, Commissioner.
The man's had two transfusions.
He's slipping very fast.
- Any news?
- We were lucky.
We grabbed Butch Cooper and Brady.
- Give me one minute,
doctor, even half a minute.
I won't even ask him to talk.
All he has to do is identify one person.
Where are they?
- Waiting outside.
- Randolph is the only one who knows,
the only one.
- Well--
- Bring them in.
- All right, Commissioner.
- Mr. Randolph.
Mr. Randolph.
- Why can't you leave him alone?
- I'm sorry, Mrs. Randolph.
We will be as brief as we can.
- It's against all decency,
torturing a dying man like this.
- Try to concentrate, Mr. Randolph.
The party who shot you last
night is here in this room,
here beside your bed.
I want to know who it was.
Was it Mark Brady,
Molly Benson,
Butch Cooper?
Was it George Davis?
Who was it, Mr. Randolph?
Who shot you?
- What did he say?
What did he say?
I'm his wife.
I have a right to know what he said.
- Where were you last
night, Mrs. Randolph?
I said, where were you last night?
- Why, I was at home.
- You were not at home, Mrs. Randolph.
The hospital tried to
reach you three times.
Your maid said you left
the house at 10:00.
You didn't return until after 1:00.
Where were you?
- I told you, I was at home.
- You were in the theater
last night, Mrs. Randolph,
weren't you?
- He said that I did it, didn't he?
He said that, didn't he?
Harry.
- Well, Mrs. Randolph, didn't you?
- All right, I did it.
But I didn't mean to kill him.
I loved him.
- Let's go, Mrs. Randolph.
Well, George, looks
like you're a free man.
- Thanks.
- That's her room.
She's been calling for you.
You can go in if you like.
- Is she going to be all right?
- Lulu Belle?
Yeah, sure, she's gonna be all right.
Good luck.
- Thanks, Commissioner.
- You're a free man, George.
You're a free man, George.
You're a free man, George.