The Hustler

EDDIE: Huh?

BARTENDER: It's open... What'll you have?

EDDIE: Give me a bottle of beer.

BARTENDER: Right.

EDDIE: Hey, another one for me and another one for the lady.

BARTENDER: Check!

EDDIE: You look different... More relaxed.

EDDIE: Give me some bourbon. J. T. S. Brown.

BARTENDER: You want a chaser?

EDDIE: No.

BARTENDER: About sixty, seventy bucks.

EDDIE: Next game, ten bucks.

BARTENDER: Thanks. Sure is a hot day for driving. Late afternoon is better. You guys have plenty of time. Make Pittsburgh in two, maybe three hours.

EDDIE: Hey, he's right! Whaddya say, Charlie, huh? Play a little pool? Wait out the heat?

BARTENDER: Boys just passing through?

EDDIE: Yep.

BARTENDER: Pittsburgh?

EDDIE: Mm hmm.

BARTENDER: Comin' in or goin' out?

EDDIE: Goin' in. We got a sales convention. Gotta be there tomorrow.

BARTENDER: What do you guys sell?

SARAH: Put it on the bed. That's the way it's done, isn't it?

BERT: That's the way it's done.

SARAH: And the way you're looking at me, is that the way you look at a man you've just beaten? As if you'd just taken his money, and now all you want is... his pride?

BERT: All I want's the money.

SARAH: Sure, sure, just the money, and the aristocratic pleasure of seeing him fall apart. You're a Roman, Bert. You have to win them all.

SARAH: In a little while. That's what you want, isn't it?

BERT: It's what Eddie wants. He, uh, told me to give you some money.

BERT: Are you ready for another?

SARAH: Thank you.

BERT: I'll make it up to you.

SARAH: How?

BERT: You tell me.

SARAH: You bastard.

BERT: Listen, Miss Ladybird, you're here on a rain check and I know it. You're hanging on by your nails. You let that glory whistle blow loud and clear for Eddie and you're a wreck on a railroad track. You're a horse that finished last. So don't make trouble, Miss Ladybird. Live and let live. While you can.

BERT: I want to talk to you.

SARAH: Do we need words?

BERT: Yeah, I think we do. We could try to cut each other up. But that would be bad for everybody. Bad for me, bad for you. And worst of all, be bad for Eddie.

SARAH: You know what's good for him?

BERT: To win.

SARAH: For whom and for what?

BERT: For what makes the world go round. For money, and for glory.

SARAH: You didn't answer my first question. For whom?

BERT: All right. Today for me, tomorrow for himself.

SARAH: No, there's no tomorrow. Not with you. You own all the tomorrows because you buy them today, and you buy cheap.

BERT: Well, nobody has to sell.

BERT: Oh, wait a minute, Miss Packard.

SARAH: We're neighbors now. You can call me Sarah.

SARAH: It's all right, Eddie. I'm sure Mr. Gordon meant no offense. It was a figure of speech.

BERT: That's right, Miss Packard.

SARAH: And a fact is a fact.

BERT: She's a smart girl, Eddie.

SARAH: Doesn't your lighter work, Mr. Gordon?

BERT: Oh, I forgot all about it. How's the hands?

SARAH: What makes you know so much? How do you know what Eddie was thinking?

BERT: I know. Been there myself. We've all been there, haven't we, Miss Packard?

SARAH: I'm ready.

BERT: Soon as I finish my coffee.

BERT: You sure you going to be comfortable enough there, Miss... ah... ?

SARAH: Packard. Sarah Packard.

BERT: It always takes me a little while to get a name fixed in my mind. Are you sure you don't want anything?

SARAH: No, I'm fine.

BERT: You, uh, you ever been to Louisville during Derby week, Miss, ah, Packard?

SARAH: I've never been to Louisville.

BERT: Lots of action. Lots of money. Lots of class. You'll see some of the best-dressed and most beautiful women in the world at the races. Knock your eye out.

FINDLEY: Will you take a check, Bert?

BERT: Cash.

FINDLEY: How much do I owe you?

BERT: Twelve thousand.

FINDLEY: That seems a shame. The night is young.

BERT: The night is two thousand dollars old.

FINDLEY: Have you noticed, Bert? This fellow here bears a striking resemblance to you. It seems as though you might have modeled for the artist.

BERT: It's possible.

BERT: How much?

FINDLEY: Oh, about five hundred.

BERT: Do you really think you can beat him?

FINDLEY: Of course he thinks he can beat me, Bert. He wouldn't be playing me if he didn't. Right, Felson?

BERT: I didn't ask him can he beat you. I already know he can beat you. I asked him will he? With Eddie, that's two different things.

FINDLEY: I'm sure Mr. Felson knows what he's doing. Certainly you can afford a hundred dollars to find out.

BERT: Deal the cards.

FINDLEY: Oh, we'll start small... a hundred dollars a game.

BERT: You ever played billiards before?

BERT: We'll be there.

FINDLEY: Good, good.

BERT: Could be.

FINDLEY: Well, Mr. Felson, maybe you could come out to my place some evening. We could play a few games of billiards.

EDDIE: So you figure you're still my manager, huh?

BERT: I'm a businessman, kid.

EDDIE: Well, you got a lot of games lined up for me?

BERT: Yeah, we're gonna make a lotta money together, from now on.

EDDIE: Fifty per cent?

BERT: No, it don't have to be fifty. It can be thirty... twenty-five.

EDDIE: We really stuck the knife in her, didn't we, Bert?

BERT: Aaaahhhh!

EDDIE: Boy, we really gave it to her good.

BERT: If it didn't happen in Louisville, it'd happened someplace else. If it didn't happen now, it'd happen six months from now. That's the kinda dame she was.

EDDIE: And we twisted it, didn't we, Bert? Course, maybe that doesn't stick in your throat cause you spit it out just like you spit out everything else. But it sticks in mine. I loved her, Bert. I traded her in on a pool game. But that wouldn't mean anything to you. Because who did you ever care about? Just win, win, you said, win, that's the important thing. You don't know what winnin' is, Bert. You're a loser. 'Cause you're dead inside, and you can't live unless you make everything else dead around ya.

BERT: Eddie?... YOU OWE ME MONEY!

EDDIE: And just how do you figure that, Bert? What do you figure I owe you?

BERT: Half.

EDDIE: In Louisville it was seventy-five per cent.

BERT: Well, here it's half.

EDDIE: What if I don't pay ya, Bert?

BERT: You don't pay me? You gonna get your thumbs broken. And your fingers. And if I want them to, your right arm in three or four places.

EDDIE: I wanna walk.

BERT: It's a long walk.

EDDIE: I got time, Bert.

BERT: You want me to tell her for you?

EDDIE: Tell her what?

BERT: You gotta be hard, Eddie.

EDDIE: Please don't get off me now.

BERT: I know when to quit. You don't. Win or lose, you don't know when to quit.

EDDIE: What do you want me to do, huh? What do you want me to do? Just say it and you got it but PLEASE don't get off me now.

EDDIE: I can beat him, Bert. Now he suckered me 'cause he knows how to hustle. I didn't think he did. But I can outplay him. I can beat him.

BERT: I don't believe you, Eddie. I think you're still a loser.

EDDIE: All right, then. I'll play him with my own money.

EDDIE: Hey, Bert. Wait a minute!

BERT: I said we're leavin'.

EDDIE: I'll beat him the next game.

BERT: How're the hands?

EDDIE: They're fine.

BERT: Well, rack up your cue. We're leavin'.

EDDIE: I can beat him.

BERT: All right. Five hundred.

EDDIE: How do we stand?

BERT: 'Bout even.

EDDIE: When do I raise the bet?

BERT: I don't know.

EDDIE: Bert, if that's his best game, I can beat him.

BERT: Level with me, Eddie. You ever play billiards before?

EDDIE: What's the difference? You got a pool cue, balls on the table. All you gotta do is get the feel of it.

EDDIE: Sure.

BERT: You hustlin' me?

BERT: Well, we won't.

EDDIE: C'mon, Bert. Let me play him.

BERT: How much?

EDDIE: What's the matter? What happened?

BERT: It's all right. She had a little too much to drink, that's all. Forget it. Go upstairs and sleep it off.

BERT: So does Eddie.

EDDIE: Well, I win sometimes.

EDDIE: Aren't you gonna go over and talk to him?

BERT: Nah. Sit tight. He'll be over here.

BERT: Hey, Findley's here.

EDDIE: Where?

BERT: Over there by the bar.

EDDIE: You know, that's real sweet music in there. You can almost smell the action and the money. You know, I can feel it right down in the bottom of my shoes.

BERT: Come on, let's go...

EDDIE: Fine.

BERT: Good. I'd hate to think I was putting my money on a cripple.

EDDIE: Hey, whaddya say something like that for?

BERT: Fats knew the game was in the clutch, knew he had to do something to stop ya. He played it smart.

EDDIE: I played that game, Bert. In my head I played it a thousand times.

BERT: Play it again. Learn something. Fats went in the john, see? Washed his face, cleaned his fingernails, made his mind a blank, combed his hair, came back all ready to go. You were through. You saw him, you saw how he looked. Clean, all set to start all over again. Hold tight and push hard. You know what you were doing? You were waitin' to get beat. Flattened out on your butt, swimmin' around in glory. And whisky. Probably deciding how you could lose.

EDDIE: Here, I got it.

BERT: No, no. When you play for me, I pick up all the tabs.

EDDIE: You must have a lot of confidence in me.

BERT: I don't. But I got confidence in Findley.

EDDIE: What's that supposed to mean?

BERT: Means I got confidence that he's a loser. All the way a loser. You happen to be about only one-half loser -- the other half, winner. I'm finished.

BERT: James Findley is a very rich man. Grandfather left him twenty per cent of a tobacco company.

EDDIE: What? And he -- he hustles pool?

BERT: He's a gentleman. Gentleman gambler. He gets his kicks playing with hustlers. He's got an old Southern mansion with a pool table in the basement, drinks eight-year-old bourbon, smokes cork-tipped cigarettes.

EDDIE: How good is he?

BERT: I don't know. Never saw him play. They say he's one of the best.

EDDIE: Sarah Packard... Bert Gordon.

BERT: Miss Packard. How do you do?

BERT: Hello, Eddie.

EDDIE: Hi. How's business?

BERT: Ahh, slow... Why the open hand bridge? Something wrong with your hand?

EDDIE: Yeah. Had a little accident. A place called Arthur's.

BERT: Oh. You seem to do all right that way.

EDDIE: I'd say my game is about twenty per cent off. Maybe more.

BERT: What happened? Somebody step on your hands?

EDDIE: Yeah. Big creep. Broke my thumbs.

BERT: Man named Turk Baker?

EDDIE: You know everybody, don't you?

BERT: Everybody who can hurt me, everybody who can help me. It pays.

EDDIE: Maybe you oughta give me lessons.

BERT: Sign up.

EDDIE: Where do I sign?

BERT: The first match I got in mind for you is in Louisville, Kentucky.

EDDIE: You name the place, boss. I'll be there.

BERT: What happened to you anyway?

EDDIE: Like I told ya. My thumbs.

BERT: No, I don't mean the thumbs. You already told me about the thumbs.

EDDIE: I been thinking.

BERT: Thinking about what?

EDDIE: Maybe I'm not such a high-class piece of property right now. And a twenty- five per cent slice of something big is better than a hundred per cent slice of nothin'.

BERT: Hey, get us a couple of drinks here, will ya? J. T. S. Brown.

BERT: Hey, wait. What are you gonna do about the money?

EDDIE: There are places. I'll scuffle around.

BERT: Word's out on you, Eddie. You walk in the wrong kind of place and they'll eat you alive.

EDDIE: Now, when did you adopt me?

BERT: I don't know when it was.

BERT: Eddie, is it all right if I get personal?

EDDIE: Whaddya been so far?

BERT: Eddie, you're a born loser.

EDDIE: What's that supposed to mean?

BERT: First time in ten years I ever saw Minnesota Fats hooked, really hooked. But you let him off.

EDDIE: I told you. I got drunk.

BERT: Sure, you got drunk. That's the best excuse in the world for losing. No trouble losing when you got a good excuse. And winning! That can be heavy on your back too. Like a monkey. You drop that load too when you got an excuse. All you gotta do is learn to feel sorry for yourself. It's one of the best indoor sports: feeling sorry for yourself -- a sport enjoyed by all, especially the born losers.

EDDIE: Thanks for the drink.

BERT: Wait a minute. Maybe I can help you.

EDDIE: To do what?

BERT: Get the three thousand. Play Minnesota Fats again.

EDDIE: Why?

BERT: Ten reasons. Maybe fifteen. And also there's something in it for me.

EDDIE: Oh yeah, I figured that. How much?

BERT: Seventy-five per cent.

EDDIE: For who?

BERT: For me.

EDDIE: That's a -- that's a pretty big slice. Who do you think you are, General Motors?

BERT: How much you think you're worth these days? I'm puttin' up the money, I'm puttin' up the time. For that I get seventy-five per cent return on my money -- if you win.

EDDIE: You think I can lose?

BERT: I never saw you do anything else.

EDDIE: You saw me beat Minnesota Fats for eighteen thousand dollars.

BERT: Look, you wanna hustle pool, don't you? This game isn't like football. Nobody pays you for yardage. When you hustle you keep score real simple. The end of the game you count up your money. That's how you find out who's best. That's the only way.

EDDIE: Why back me then? Why not back yourself? Go find yourself a big fat poker game and get rich. You know all the angles.

BERT: I'm already rich. But I like action. That's one thing I think you're good for is action. Besides, like I say... you got talent.

EDDIE: Yeah, you already told me that. You cut that slice down to bite-size and maybe we can talk.

BERT: No, we don't talk. I don't make bad bets. Seventy-five, twenty-five. That's it.

EDDIE: Kiss off.

BERT: Maybe by that time you'll die of old age. How much do you think you'll, uh, need?

EDDIE: A thousand.

BERT: No, three thousand at least. He'll start you off at five hundred a game -- he'll beat the pants off you. That's the way he plays when he comes up against a man who knows the way the game is. He'll beat you flat four or five games -- maybe more, depending on how, uh... steady your nerves are. But he might -- he just might be a little scared of you, and that could change things. But I wouldn't count on it.

EDDIE: How do you know? Huh? When nobody knows that much?

BERT: See that big car parked out by the fireplug on the way in? Well, that's mine. I like that car. But I get a new one every year because I make it my business to know what guys like you and Minnesota Fats are gonna do. I made enough off of you the other night to pay for it twice over.

EDDIE: In that case, you owe me another drink.

BERT: I'm buyin'.

EDDIE: Thought you only drank milk.

BERT: Only when I work.

EDDIE: Yeah? Why?

BERT: I like it. It's good for you. Besides, you start drinking whisky gambling and it gives you an excuse for losing. That's something you don't need -- an excuse for losing. How did you make out in the poker game?

EDDIE: I lost twenty bucks.

BERT: Poker's not your game.

EDDIE: What is?

BERT: Pool.

EDDIE: You being cute?

BERT: I don't think there's a pool player alive shoots better pool than I saw you shoot the other night at Ames. You got talent.

EDDIE: So I got talent. So what beat me?

BERT: Character.

EDDIE: Yeah. Sure, sure.

BERT: You're damned right I'm sure. Everybody's got talent. I got talent. You think you can play big-money straight pool, or poker, for forty straight hours on nothing but talent? You think they call Minnesota Fats the best in the country just 'cause he's got talent? Nah. Minnesota Fats's got more character in one finger than you got in your whole skinny body.

EDDIE: I got drunk.

BERT: He drank as much whisky as you did.

EDDIE: Maybe he knows how to drink.

BERT: You bet he knows how. You think that's a talent too, huh? Knowin' how to drink whisky? You think Minnesota Fats was born knowin' how to drink?

EDDIE: Okay, okay... What do I do now, lie down on the floor and, uh, bow from the ankles? What do I do, go home?

BERT: That's your problem.

EDDIE: So I stay. Stay until I hustle up enough to play Fats again. Maybe by that time I'll develop myself some character.

EDDIE: Bourbon. J. T. S. Brown.

BERT: Two.

EDDIE: Make it twenty.

BERT: Cut.

EDDIE: Deal.

EDDIE: Okay?

BERT: Sit down.

BERT: Stay with this kid. He's a loser.

EDDIE: What did he say?

EDDIE: Hey, mister.

BERT: The name's Gordon. Bert Gordon.

EDDIE: Mister. You been sittin' in that spot for hours. Would you mind moving? It bothers me.

EDDIE: You got that wrong, mister. I am.

BIG JOHN: Okay, I told you what I wanted about Minnesota Fats. You just go ahead and play him, friend.

EDDIE: Just tell me where I can find him, friend.

BIG JOHN: Comes right in this poolroom every night, eight o'clock on the nose. Just stay where you are. He'll find you.

EDDIE: He's my partner.

BIG JOHN: You well-heeled, partner?

EDDIE: Maybe. You want to play?

BIG JOHN: No. Hell, no! You Eddie Felson?

EDDIE: Who's he?

BIG JOHN: What's your game? What do you shoot?

EDDIE: You name it, we shoot it.

BIG JOHN: Look, friend, I'm not trying to hustle. I don't never hustle people that walk into poolrooms with leather satchels. Don't try to hustle me.

EDDIE: Okay, I'm Eddie Felson. I shoot straight pool. You got any straight pool shooters in this here poolroom?

BIG JOHN: What kind of straight pool game you like?

EDDIE: The expensive kind.

BIG JOHN: Come up here to play straight pool with Minnesota Fats?

EDDIE: Yeah, that's right.

BIG JOHN: Want some free advice?

CHARLIE: Just like that?

EDDIE: Yeah. Just like that.

EDDIE: HOW MUCH?!

CHARLIE: My twenty-five per cent. Approximately fifteen hundred bucks.

EDDIE: Oh, you crumb. With that fifteen hundred I coulda beat him. That's all I needed, Charlie.

CHARLIE: Aw, Eddie.

EDDIE: C'mon, c'mon, just give me the money.

CHARLIE: What for? To play Fats again?

EDDIE: Yeah, to play Fats again.

CHARLIE: You wanna come back on the road with me, okay, the money's yours. But if you wanna give it to Minnesota Fats... nothing doing. What do you say?

EDDIE: You still don't see it, do you, Charlie? You are nothing but a small- time Charlie. You'd love to keep me hustling for you, huh? Wouldn't ya? I mean, a couple more years with me, scuffling around them little towns and those back alleys. You might make yourself enough to get a little poolroom back in Oakland. Six tables and a handbook on the side. Is that when you say goodbye to me, Charlie?

CHARLIE: Is that what you think?

EDDIE: Yeah, that's what I think.

CHARLIE: All right. That's what I want. Poolroom with a little handbook on the side. Getting old.

EDDIE: Lay down and die by yourself. Don't take me with you.

EDDIE: With what?

CHARLIE: Don't worry about it. I'll raise the money.

EDDIE: Oh yeah? Where?

CHARLIE: What's the difference where? I'll raise it. Is it all right if I have another drink?

CHARLIE: You walked out on me like that. No goodbye, no nothing. Like a thief in the dark. We were partners. We were more than partners. He was like a... like --

EDDIE: A son.

CHARLIE: Yeah, yeah, like a son. I've known this boy since he was sixteen. The first time I saw him, back in Oakland, I said, "This is a talented boy. This is a smart boy."

EDDIE: Talk to me, Charlie.

CHARLIE: I want you to come back on the road with me.

EDDIE: Aah! I've got no stomach for that any more. I've had that kind of life.

CHARLIE: What kind of life have you got here? Scufflin' around the small rooms, picking up eight, ten bucks a day?

EDDIE: I'll connect. I'll get you your money back.

CHARLIE: Are you figuring on going back to Ames to play Minnesota Fats again? Is that what's on your mind?

EDDIE: Never been out of it. I'm gonna beat that fat man... with that curly hair, and those diamond rings, and that carnation.

CHARLIE: This boy's crazy. They wiped the floor with him. They beat his brains out and he wants to go back. What for? To take another beating?

EDDIE: I told you you'd get your money back.

CHARLIE: He thinks I care about the money. I care about you. Do you care about me, Eddie? We're together a long time, night and day. So how do you say goodbye? You gimme the car and a hundred bucks. You think I care about the dough, the car? I care about you. This boy is the greatest pool hustler you ever saw. A real high-class con man. He can charm anybody into anything. Did he ever tell you how well we were doing on the road? We had everything: we ate good, we slept late, we had money to burn. Whisky, dames... Excuse me... I'll tell you what -- take her along.

CHARLIE: Oh, I don't want to be no bother to nobody.

EDDIE: Oh, don't play it small, Charlie. It don't look good on you.

CHARLIE: How do you want me to play it? I'm broke.

EDDIE: So am I... Sit down. Would you get us a couple of drinks?

EDDIE: Hello, Charlie... C'mon in... That's my girl.

CHARLIE: Hello, Eddie's girl... I looked all over for you.

EDDIE: Oh yeah? How'd you find me?

CHARLIE: I asked around.

EDDIE: Is this all we got left?

CHARLIE: If that's all you got, that's all we got left.

CHARLIE: What are you trying to do, Eddie? You beat him. You beat him bad. You wanna kill yourself?

EDDIE: What are ya, chicken, Charlie?

CHARLIE: Well, maybe that's it. I'm chicken.

EDDIE: Go on home. Just leave me the money.

CHARLIE: Go to hell.

EDDIE: Charlie, boy, you better give me that money. C'mon now, give it to me. It's mine.

CHARLIE: Okay, here... Be a damn fool.

CHARLIE: Twenty-five hours, Eddie. Twenty- five hours you been playin' straight.

EDDIE: Give me a drink, will ya?

CHARLIE: You don't need a drink.

EDDIE: Will you shut up... Just give me a drink.

EDDIE: How much we got?

CHARLIE: Eleven thousand four hundred, cash. Here in my pocket.

EDDIE: Preacher, go on down and get me some breakfast, will ya? Egg sandwich and a cup of coffee. You want something, Charlie?

CHARLIE: Now wait a minute. You're coming with me. You're gonna eat breakfast at the hotel. Pool game is over.

EDDIE: No, it isn't, Charlie.

CHARLIE: Eddie...

EDDIE: The pool game is over when Fats says it's over.

CHARLIE: You wanted ten thousand? You got ten thousand.

EDDIE: Ah, get with it, will ya, Charlie?

CHARLIE: Get with what?

EDDIE: You can't see it, can you, Charlie? I mean, you've never been able to see it. I came after him. And I'm gonna get him. I'm goin' with him all the way. The pool game is not over until Minnesota Fats says it's over. Is it over, Fats?

EDDIE: Hey, how much are we ahead?

CHARLIE: Approximately? One thousand bucks.

EDDIE: Fats, let's you and I shoot a game of pool for a thousand dollars a game.

CHARLIE: Quit. He's too good.

EDDIE: Charlie, I'm gonna take him.

CHARLIE: How do you feel?

EDDIE: Fast and loose, man.

CHARLIE: In the gut, I mean.

EDDIE: I feel tight -- but good.

EDDIE: Ten grand. I'm gonna win ten grand in one night. ...Well, who's gonna beat me? C'mon, Charlie, who's gonna beat me?

CHARLIE: Okay... Okay. Nobody can beat you.

EDDIE: Ten grand! I mean, what other poolroom is there in the country where a guy can walk out with ten grand in one night? Jeez, you know, I can remember hustling an old man for a dime a game.

CHARLIE: It's quiet.

EDDIE: Yeah, like a church. Church of the Good Hustler.

CHARLIE: Looks more like a morgue to me. Those pool tables are the slabs they lay the stiffs on.

EDDIE: I'll be alive when I get out, Charlie.

EDDIE: Well... well, now.

CHARLIE: Don't be a chump. Don't bet any more money on that damn fool shot.

EDDIE: Well, now... I mean, you figure I'm a little drunk, and I'm loaded on the hip, and you just want in, real friendly, while the money's still floating, huh? Okay... Go ahead. Set 'em up.

EDDIE: Set 'em up again... C'mon, set 'em up again.

CHARLIE: You're drunk, boy. I'm not gonna bet ya any more.

EDDIE: Whaddya mean?

CHARLIE: Let's get back on the road. You gotta be at that convention in the morning.

EDDIE: Up the flagpole with the convention. C'mon, Charlie. You're into me now. I got my money on the table.

CHARLIE: I don't want it.

CHARLIE: You ought to take up crap shooting. Talk about luck!

EDDIE: Luck! Whaddya mean, luck?

CHARLIE: You know what I mean. You couldn't make that shot again in a million years.

EDDIE: I couldn't, huh? Okay. Go ahead. Set 'em up the way they were before.

CHARLIE: Why?

EDDIE: Go ahead. Set 'em up the way they were before. Bet ya twenty bucks. Make that shot just the way I made it before.

CHARLIE: Nobody can make that shot and you know it. Not even a lucky lush.

CHARLIE: It's gonna cost ya money. It always does.

EDDIE: Oh, come on, stop stalling. Grab yourself a cue.

CHARLIE: Druggist supplies. Buster here is gonna get an award. No, he sold seventeen thousand bucks' worth of stuff last month. Fastest boy in the territory.

EDDIE: Yep. Fastest and the bestest... Hey, give us another round, will ya? One for him, one for yourself.

FINDLEY: Here. Been an interestin' evening.

EDDIE: Yeah, sure has.

FINDLEY: Charles, will you call a cab for these gentlemen, please. I'd show you to the door, but I...

EDDIE: Oh yeah, yeah. You're tired. And beat.

FINDLEY: Yeah. You must come again.

EDDIE: Yeah. Sure.

EDDIE: There it is. I'm broke.

FINDLEY: Ah, that's unfortunate, Mr. Felson.

EDDIE: For who, Mr. Findley? ...Bert, he only beat me by one point. Now, you can't get off me now.

FINDLEY: Like to raise the stakes, Mr. Felson?

EDDIE: Okay?

FINDLEY: Beautiful shot, Felson. Beautiful. You've played billiards before, Mr. Felson. Ah, you gentlemen sure you don't care for a drink?

EDDIE: Oh no, nothing for me.

EDDIE: I thought we came here to play pool.

FINDLEY: I don't play pool, Mr. Felson. I play billiards. My house, my game. You don't have to play if you don't want to.

FINDLEY: You gentlemen care for a drink?

EDDIE: No, none for me. Come on, let's play.

FINDLEY: By all means.

EDDIE: When?

FINDLEY: You're very direct, Mr. Felson.

EDDIE: That's right. When?

FINDLEY: Would you like to come out tonight?

EDDIE: What time?

FINDLEY: I'm having some people over for drinks right after the races. Why don't you all come over? Then about nine, ten o'clock we can play.

FINDLEY: I'll bet you do, Mr. Felson. I'll just bet you do.

EDDIE: How much?

FINDLEY: Bert, I believe Mr. Felson's making a proposition.

FINDLEY: Findley.

EDDIE: Glad to meet you.

FINDLEY: And I you. I think I've heard about you, Mr. Felson. You play pocket billiards, don't you?

EDDIE: Now and then. Why, do you?

FINDLEY: A little, although I'm afraid I generally lose.

EDDIE: No, no more for me.

FINDLEY: Well, hello. Haven't seen you in a long time.

EDDIE: What's the limit?

PLAYER: Half and a dollar.

EDDIE: Gimme ten bucks.

PLAYER: Ten dollars.

EDDIE: Hey, uh, mister? Hey, okay if I grab a cue?

PLAYER: Hey, you're Eddie Felson, aren't you?

EDDIE: Who's he?

PLAYER: Now, look, fella, I saw you playing at Ames the other night.

EDDIE: Hey, I'll tell you what -- I'll play you jack-up pool -- just keep one hand in my pocket.

PLAYER: Oh man, you're way out of our league.

EDDIE: You quittin', friend?

YOUNG MAN: Yeah, I'm quittin'.

YOUNG MAN: You better not miss, friend.

EDDIE: I don't rattle, kid. But just for that I'm gonna beat you flat.

YOUNG MAN: You sure you don't want to quit, friend?

EDDIE: Let's cut out the small stuff, huh? Hundred dollar freeze-out. Ten games, ten bucks a game, winner take all. And then we'll see who quits.

YOUNG MAN: Okay, friend. You're on.

EDDIE: Call it.

YOUNG MAN: Heads.

YOUNG MAN: You quittin' too?

EDDIE: You're a pretty good player.

YOUNG MAN: How much are you ahead?

EDDIE: Couple of bucks.

YOUNG MAN: I guess it's just you and me, huh?

EDDIE: Yeah, I guess it is, boy. Just you and me.

YOUNG MAN: You wanna raise the bet? Two on the five, five on the nine?

EDDIE: You know what, kid? I think maybe you're a hustler.

YOUNG MAN: Try me.

EDDIE: Shoot.

YOUNG MAN: Okay.

EDDIE: How much you playin' for?

YOUNG MAN: A dollar on the five, two on the nine.

EDDIE: Yeah, I'll play you a couple. Just for kicks.

YOUNG MAN: Okay, friend.

EDDIE: Hi.

YOUNG MAN: Hi.

SARAH: Don't wear a mask, Eddie. You don't have to. That's Turk, Eddie, the man who broke your thumbs. Only he's not going to break your thumbs. He'll break your heart, your guts. And for the same reason -- 'cause he hates you, 'cause of what you are. 'Cause of what you have and he hasn't.

EDDIE: Would you get off my back, Sarah? Once and for all, will you get out, will you GET OFF MY BACK?!

EDDIE: Go on back to the hotel.

SARAH: Please, Eddie, don't beg him.

EDDIE: Would you go on back to the hotel? Take a cab, go on back to the hotel.

SARAH: Doesn't all of this come through to you, Eddie? Doesn't any of this mean anything to you? That man, this place, the people. They wear masks, Eddie. And underneath the masks they're perverted, twisted, crippled.

EDDIE: Shut up.

SARAH: If you don't mind I think I'll stay at the hotel.

EDDIE: Well, what's the matter?

SARAH: I'm a little tired.

EDDIE: Where's Bert?

SARAH: He went off someplace.

EDDIE: Well, that old lovin' horse paid twenty-two forty. Let's see... two hundred I won from the jockey last night. And today at the track... I got five hundred and forty bucks. Here, you hold it.

SARAH: Why?

EDDIE: Just for luck.

SARAH: Fifty-seven.

EDDIE: I'll be up later.

EDDIE: Don't you want to know where I'm going?

SARAH: No. Yes, I want to know what for. But I don't want to ask.

EDDIE: I'm going to Kentucky. To Louisville. With a friend. Try to make some money. I need it, the money. I'll be leaving early in the morning.

SARAH: Leave now.

EDDIE: Oh, grow up.

SARAH: Why should I?

EDDIE: Sarah, I'm going to Kentucky to play pool, with a guy by the name of Findley. Now, I need the action and I need the money. I told you I'd be back.

SARAH: If you were going to come back you wouldn't have taken me out tonight. You wouldn't have bought this dress. You're hustling me, Eddie. You've never stopped hustling me.

EDDIE: Now, I never hustled you. Even when I thought I was. You know it.

SARAH: What do you want me to do? Just sit here and wait? Faithful little Sarah. Pull the shades down and sit. When you feel like coming back, you'll come back. And you'll love me. And then you'll go away again. Is that your idea of love?

EDDIE: I got no idea of love. And neither have you. I mean, neither one of us would know what it was if we saw it coming down the street.

SARAH: I'd know it, Eddie. I'd know. For God's sakes, what are you trying to do to me? I love you.

EDDIE: Well, what's your idea of love? Chains?

SARAH: No. I made you up, didn't I, Eddie? You weren't real. I made you up, like everything else. There was no car crash, Eddie. When I was five, I had polio. I was never an actress. The rich old man is my father. He walked out on us when I was seven. He sends me a check every month. That's how he buys his way out of my life. The men I've known... after they left, I'd say they weren't real, I made them up. But you, Eddie. I wanted you to be real.

SARAH: No, I want to walk.

EDDIE: Come here. Come on, now.

SARAH: What is it, Eddie?

EDDIE: Nothin'. Want another drink?

SARAH: What do you want to tell me?

EDDIE: Well, I, uh, I'll be leaving town for a little while.

SARAH: For how long?

EDDIE: Oh, I don't know.

SARAH: A week? A year?

EDDIE: More like a week. Look, I'll be back.

SARAH: Sure. Let's go home.

EDDIE: Well, what's so funny?

SARAH: Your tie. I never saw you wear one before.

EDDIE: First time for everything.

SARAH: Sherry. Very old, very dry.

EDDIE: Two. Sherry?... Nice joint. You look very pretty.

SARAH: I feel pretty.

EDDIE: You glad?

SARAH: Yes, I'm glad.

EDDIE: You know, someday, Sarah, you're gonna settle down. You're gonna marry a college professor, and you're gonna write a great book. Maybe about me, huh? Fast Eddie Felson, hustler.

SARAH: I love you.

EDDIE: You need the words?

SARAH: Yes, I need them very much. And if you ever say them I'll never let you take them back.

EDDIE: Sarah, do you think I'm a loser?

SARAH: A loser?

EDDIE: Yeah. I met this guy -- Gordon, Bert Gordon. He said I was. Born loser.

SARAH: Would he know?

EDDIE: He knows. A lot.

SARAH: Why did he tell you?

EDDIE: I don't know. I'm not sure. He said there are people who want to lose, who are always looking for an excuse to lose.

SARAH: What does he do, this Bert Gordon?

EDDIE: He's a gambler.

SARAH: Is he a winner?

EDDIE: Well, he owns things.

SARAH: Is that what makes a winner?

EDDIE: Well, what else does?

SARAH: Does it bother you? What he said?

EDDIE: Yeah. Yeah. It bothers me a lot. 'Cause, you see, twice, Sarah -- once at Ames with Minnesota Fats and then again at Arthur's... ...in that cheap, crummy poolroom... Now, why'd I do it, Sarah? Why'd I do it? I coulda beat that guy, I coulda beat him cold. He never woulda known. But I just had to show 'em, I just had to show those creeps and those punks what the game is like when it's great, when it's really great. You know, like anything can be great -- anything can be great... I don't care, bricklaying can be great. If a guy knows. If he knows what he's doing and why, and if he can make it come off. I mean, when I'm goin' -- when I'm really goin' -- I feel like... ...like a jockey must feel. He's sittin' on his horse, he's got all that speed and that power underneath him, he's comin' into the stretch, the pressure's on him -- and he knows -- just feels -- when to let it go, and how much. 'Cause he's got everything workin' for him -- timing, touch. It's a great feeling, boy, it's a real great feeling when you're right, and you know you're right. It's like all of a sudden I got oil in my arm. Pool cue's part of me. You know, it's a -- pool cue's got nerves in it. It's a piece of wood -- it's got nerves in it. You feel the roll of those balls. You don't have to look. You just know. Ya make shots that nobody's ever made before. And you play that game the way nobody's ever played it before.

SARAH: You're not a loser, Eddie. You're a winner. Some men never get to feel that way about anything. I love you, Eddie.

SARAH: You can read it, if you want to. You want to go out for a while? To a movie?

EDDIE: You wanna drink?

SARAH: No. You?

EDDIE: What's it so hot in here for?

SARAH: What happened?

EDDIE: I got beat up. They... They broke my thumbs.

SARAH: Who is it?

EDDIE: Me. It's Eddie.

SARAH: You told Charlie to lay down and die. Will you say that to me too? What happens, Eddie?

EDDIE: You'll find yourself another rich old lover.

SARAH: That's right! And I'm sure you'll help me.

SARAH: Give it to me.

EDDIE: What's this supposed to mean?

SARAH: Give it back to me.

EDDIE: What's this supposed to mean: "We have a contract of depravity. All we have to do is pull the blinds down."

EDDIE: What are you writing?

SARAH: Oh, it's a story. A story I'm making up.

SARAH: You going out?

EDDIE: Yeah. For a little while.

SARAH: Do you want me to go?

EDDIE: No, stick around. Can I get you something? Drink? Coffee?

SARAH: Eddie, what's in that case?

EDDIE: Haven't you opened it?

SARAH: No, why should I? It's yours.

EDDIE: It's a machine gun. This guy told me when I came to the big city I'd have to have a machine gun, so I bought one. Where do you get the money? To pay for all this? I mean the liquor, and the groceries, and the rent?

SARAH: From a rich old man who used to be my lover.

SARAH: Oh, cut my finger.

EDDIE: I've got something in my bag.

SARAH: Oh, it's not bad.

EDDIE: I'm hungry.

SARAH: Take your choice. I've got enough so we won't have to go out of the house till Tuesday.

EDDIE: What did all this stuff cost you?

SARAH: When you've got money, you'll pay.

EDDIE: No, c'mon, I wanna know. I wanna keep score.

SARAH: The bills are right here. You didn't say what you wanted.

EDDIE: Don't you ever cook anything?

SARAH: Eggs. How do you like them?

EDDIE: Raw.

EDDIE: Well, I believe you when you say you go to school.

SARAH: You want to go with me?

EDDIE: What, are you kidding? See that book? I've been trying to get through that book ever since I first got here. I haven't finished the first chapter. Did you read all them books?

SARAH: Mm hmm.

EDDIE: You got it all in your head?

SARAH: When I'm sober. They get a little mixed up when I'm drunk. Most of the time they're mixed up.

EDDIE: Oh, stop talking about yourself like you're a lush or something. I don't like it. Maybe you ought to go to a clinic, get some treatments.

SARAH: I'm getting treatments right here.

SARAH: You know, I've been living here for almost three years. Now in three days it seems as if I know everybody. When I pass people on the street I want to stop and say, "Listen, I got a fella."

EDDIE: Thanks.

SARAH: Eddie, where do you go when you go out?

EDDIE: Museums... art galleries... concerts.

SARAH: You were asleep when I left. I didn't want to wake you. Did you go out?

EDDIE: Yeah, I went out for a couple of hours.

EDDIE: Where you been all day?

SARAH: At school. It's Thursday.

EDDIE: Oh, I forgot.

EDDIE: I got my things over at the hotel. I'll bring them over later... Come here.

SARAH: I'm not sure... I don't know.

EDDIE: Well, what do you want to know? And why?

SARAH: Oh, you need a shave. You mustn't go looking like that. There's a razor and shaving cream in the bathroom. Compliments of the house.

EDDIE: What did you say that for, Sarah?

SARAH: How did you know my name was Sarah?

EDDIE: You told me.

SARAH: I lied. When I'm drunk I lie.

EDDIE: Okay. So what's your name today?

SARAH: Sarah. Eddie, look. I've got troubles, and I think maybe you've got troubles. Maybe it'd be better if we just leave each other alone.

SARAH: What time is it?

EDDIE: Eleven o'clock... I'll be back later.

SARAH: Why?

EDDIE: Come here.

SARAH: Why did you do that?

EDDIE: I wanted to see what kind of a day it is.

SARAH: A day like any other. People come, people go.

EDDIE: Give me a drag.

EDDIE: You talk kind of funny, but I like it.

SARAH: I used to be an actress.

EDDIE: Yeah? What do you do now?

SARAH: I'm a college girl. Two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to college.

EDDIE: You don't look like a college girl.

SARAH: I'm the emancipated type. Real emancipated.

EDDIE: No, I didn't mean that -- whatever that means. I mean, you just don't look young enough.

SARAH: I'm not.

EDDIE: So why go to college?

SARAH: I've got nothing else to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

EDDIE: What do you do on the other days?

SARAH: I drink.

EDDIE: Hey!

SARAH: No. No more. I'm getting sleepy. Thank you very much, Mr...?

EDDIE: Eddie. The name is Eddie.

SARAH: The name should be Eddie. What should my name be?

EDDIE: I don't know. Whatever you like it to be.

SARAH: I like it to be what it is. It's Sarah. That's a biblical name. You want to know its meaning?

EDDIE: I could always get us a bottle.

SARAH: No.

EDDIE: Fifth of scotch?

SARAH: What do you want me to do, just step out in the alley? Is that it?

EDDIE: No. I'll take you home.

SARAH: It's the lights. And the scotch.

EDDIE: How come you didn't catch your bus?

SARAH: I wasn't waiting for a bus.

EDDIE: Then why go to the bus station?

SARAH: Same reason you went: at that hour of the morning you haven't much choice. Besides, I only live three blocks from there. Where do you live?

EDDIE: Around.

SARAH: I know where you live: in a locker, in a bus station. What's it like living in a locker?

EDDIE: Cramped. You always drink like this, so early in the morning?

SARAH: Do you always ask so many questions?

EDDIE: No, not always.

SARAH: Sometimes I wake up and I can't sleep, not without a drink. The bars don't open until eight. Mack over there has faith in me. When I'm broke, he trusts me. Don't you trust me, Mack?

EDDIE: Have a nice trip?

SARAH: Fair.

EDDIE: Can I sit down?

SARAH: Why not? We already know each other's secrets.

EDDIE: Thanks for the, uh, for the breakfast.

SARAH: Two ships that pass in the night should always buy each other breakfast.

EDDIE: Can I buy you another drink?

EDDIE: Have a nice trip.

SARAH: Thanks. I will.

SARAH: That wouldn't give us much time, would it?

EDDIE: Well, you're right. I guess it wouldn't.

EDDIE: What time does the bus leave?

SARAH: What bus?

EDDIE: Yours.

SARAH: Eight o'clock.

EDDIE: Just a cup of black coffee, please... Hey, ma'am! Wait a minute! Would you, uh, like another cup?

SARAH: Fine, thanks.

EDDIE: How long you been waiting?

SARAH: What?

EDDIE: How long have you been waiting?

SARAH: Since four.

EDDIE: Long wait for a bus?

SARAH: Yes.

EDDIE: ...you shoot a great game of pool.

FATS: So do you, Fast Eddie.

FATS: I quit, Eddie. I can't beat you. Willie, give him the stakes. You got yourself a pool player.

EDDIE: Preacher, gimme my coat, will ya?

FATS: Shoot pool, Fast Eddie.

EDDIE: I'm shootin' pool, Fats. When I miss you can shoot.

EDDIE: I came to play pool, Fats.

FATS: That's good, Eddie. For how much?

EDDIE: You name it.

FATS: Thousand dollars a game.

EDDIE: Let's make it three thousand dollars a game, Fats. C'mon, three thousand dollars. That's my bankroll, my life's savings. What's the matter, Fats? All you gotta do is beat me the first game and I'm on my way back to Oakland.

FATS: Let's go.

EDDIE: Fats, I got about two hundred dollars here.

FATS: Game's over, Eddie.

EDDIE: Fats, look, I got about two hundred dollars here. You can't run out on me.

FATS: You watch me.

FATS: Preach! Go down and get me some White Tavern whisky, a glass, and some ice.

EDDIE: Preacher! Go on down and get me some bourbon. J. T. S. Brown. No ice, no glass.

FATS: Preach... get it at Johnny's. You got a bet.

FATS: Very good shot.

EDDIE: You know I gotta hunch, fat man. I gotta hunch it's me from here on in... One ball, corner pocket. I mean, that ever happen to you? When all of a sudden you feel like you can't miss? I dreamed about this game, fat man. I dreamed about this game every night on the road... five ball... You know, this is my table, man. I own it.

FATS: Your shot.

EDDIE: You miss? Well, you don't leave much when you miss, do you, fat man?

FATS: That's what the game's all about.

EDDIE: Mm hm... Two ball, side pocket.

EDDIE: And them fingers, them chubby fingers. And that stroke. It's like he's, uh, like he's playing a violin or something.

FATS: Nine ball. Three ball.

EDDIE: Boy, he is great! Jeez, that old fat man. Look at the way he moves. Like a dancer.

FATS: Twelve. Cross side.

FATS: Do you like to gamble, Eddie? Gamble money on pool games?

EDDIE: Fats, let's you and I shoot a game of straight pool.

FATS: Hundred dollars?

EDDIE: Well, you shoot big-time pool, Fats. I mean, that's what everybody says, you shoot big-time pool. Let's make it two hundred dollars a game.

FATS: Now I know why they call you Fast Eddie. Eddie, you talk my kind of talk... Sausage! Rack 'em up!

FATS: Now and then. You know how it is.

EDDIE: You're, uh, you're Minnesota Fats, aren't you? You know, uh, they say Minnesota Fats is the best in the country out where I come from.

FATS: Is that a fact?

EDDIE: Yes sir, boy, they, heh, they say that old Fats just shoots the eyes right off them balls.

FATS: Where do you come from?

EDDIE: California. Oakland.

FATS: California? Is your name Felson? Eddie Felson?

EDDIE: That's right.

FATS: I hear you've been looking for me.

EDDIE: Yeah. That's right, too.

FATS: Big John! You think this boy is a hustler?