The Man Who Cheated Himself

Synopsis: A veteran homicide detective who has witnessed his socialite girlfriend kill her husband sees his inexperienced brother assigned to the case.
Director(s): Felix E. Feist
Production: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
 
IMDB:
6.8
Year:
1950
81 min
316 Views


1

[KNOCKING]

WOMAN:
Howard?

Yes?

WOMAN:
Let me in.

Just a minute.

WOMAN:
Have you been

going through my desk?

Your desk?

I never go through

your desk, darling.

Why is that door locked?

I wasn't expecting the

pleasure of a visit.

Howard, I'm not used to being...

Locked out in your own home.

I know.

Your house, your roof, your

bedroom... I just sleep here.

My apologies.

You're an ingrate, Howard.

And weak.

I'll pity you after

I get my divorce.

And when, may I

ask, will that be?

I'm signing it next week.

[INAUDIBLE]

Why a fire on an

afternoon like this?

What were you burning?

Old love letters.

Charlotte?

Helen?

They're too smart to write.

Incidentally, thanks for not

stopping my bank account.

At least I could buy a

plane ticket to Seattle.

That's why I left it.

Of course.

Gives your new boyfriend

much more latitude.

Who is he, by the way?

When did you pick him up?

Three years of misery too late.

Good bye, Angel.

And don't forget to

change your will.

You'd hate yourself on

your little pink cloud

If you accidentally

left anything to me.

MAN:
Police department.

Lieutenant Cullen,

homicide division.

[PHONE RINGING]

Homicide.

Detective Cullen.

LOIS:
Is this Cullen?

No, no.

Lieutenant Cullen's

busy right now.

This is his brother.

Who's calling?

[CLICK]

What'd the chief say?

Well?

Go on.

I'm saddled with you.

Maybe you shouldn't

have sold him

On taking me off Market Street.

I've got you as of now.

That's your desk

you're sitting on.

You've got one week till your

honeymoon, starting Tuesday.

[CHUCKLING]

The chief hopes I can teach

you something, but I doubt it.

So do I. At least

we'll be figuring

A case from two

different angles.

Here.

For me?

Open it.

One of mine?

Janet wanted one of your

baby shoes like Mom had.

We'll put them

both on the mantle.

Thanks, Ed.

There's a lot of Market

Street mileage on these.

I'm gonna rest my

dogs for a year.

Rest them on your honeymoon.

You got plenty of legwork

when you get back.

Oh, a gal called

you a minute ago.

Who?

I don't know.

She hung up.

What'd she say?

Nothing.

Wouldn't be the one, would it?

What one?

The one that's been under

your skin the past few months.

Look, Ed, I know it's

none of my business.

You've always played your

women pretty close to the vest.

But why don't you find a

girl that's good for you,

Like Janet is for

me, settle down?

Reforming me?

Fat chance.

This one's good for me.

She's no good, but

that's the way it is.

All right.

You don't have to

tell me her name.

See you later.

Right.

[PHONE RINGING]

Hello?

ED (ON PHONE):
Hello?

Oh, Ed, I've been

trying to reach you.

You know you're not

supposed to call me here.

Ed, I've got to see you.

Come right over.

Hurry.

Why, to have a drink

with your husband?

Oh, no no no.

He's gone to the airport.

He's flying to Seattle.

Listen to me.

He bought a gun.

He's planning to kill me.

I know it.

There can't be any other reason.

Wait a minute.

You don't make sense.

He's gone to Seattle, but

he's going to kill you?

He is.

He's never had anything

to do with guns before.

I can't find it, but

there was an inspection

Slip on the floor in his room.

He must've burned the wrappings.

He had the door locked.

Please, Ed.

Please.

OK, I'll be over

as soon as I can.

Hey!

You with the blue coupe.

Hi, Janet.

What happened?

You got a week,

starting Tuesday.

Wonderful!

What would Andy and

I do without you?

You'll find out.

See ya.

Ed, stop ducking every

time we try to thank you.

With that new salary, now

we can have an apartment.

What were you gonna

do with the mug

Before, bed him

down in your studio?

Keep him in the closet.

Come on, celebrate with me.

Ham and eggs.

Sorry.

I got some business.

Blonde or brunette?

ANDY:
Hiya, beautiful.

What's that?

Have you been playing

Santa Claus again?

Something for the living room.

You can put flowers in it.

See ya, Ed!

Hi.

How's my working gal?

Happy.

I like Ed.

Well, you're marrying

into a mighty fine family.

Part of the plan.

If anything happens to

you, I'll have a spare.

[CHUCKLING]

[DOORBELL]

Ed, you took so long.

The servants are out.

I'm alone.

I've been so frightened, Ed.

Stop shaking.

You're all right.

I found the gun.

I'll show it to you.

Maybe he bought it for me.

And that's not all I found.

See this?

There was a letter from

my lawyer about a will.

I know he's seen

it, because he put

It back in a different place.

He's planning something.

What am I going to do?

First, pour yourself

a drink and calm down.

Calm down?

Is it a nice, calm

feeling knowing

That someone's

plotting to kill you?

Oh... it turns my

stomach when once I

Believed that he loved me.

Oh, what a fool I am.

He was in love, all right,

with money... my money.

He wished for it.

He adored it.

He loved it so much he was

ready to murder to keep it.

It's murder, don't you see?

That's what it is, murder.

You're a big girl now.

Cut out the tantrums.

You're the only one.

Now, where's that gun?

I'll get it.

Mix us a drink, will you?

There's brandy on the table.

Here it is.

No, Howard.

It isn't there.

I found it.

Lois, give me that gun.

You did come back to kill me!

[GUNFIRE]

Have you gone crazy?

I didn't know what I was doing.

I didn't mean it.

Hospital.

Get him to the hospital.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Seton I. Miller

Seton Ingersoll Miller (May 3, 1902 – March 29, 1974) was an American screenwriter and producer. During his career, he worked with many notable film directors such as Howard Hawks and Michael Curtiz. Miller received two Oscar nominations and won once for Best Screenplay for fantasy romantic comedy film Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) along with Sidney Buchman. more…

All Seton I. Miller scripts | Seton I. Miller Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Man Who Cheated Himself" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_man_who_cheated_himself_20797>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.