Knock on Any Door

Halt!

Who shot the cop?

Same guy that stuck up the bar.

Grab every hood with a police record.

This guy we're gonna get.

Wait a minute! Wait a minute!

Every time some jerk gets knocked off, I get picked up.

You can't hold me here.

72 hours on an open charge.

Man: You killed that officer in the alley.

You're trying to frame me.

Don't give us that. You know you killed him.

Let me alone. I want my lawyer.

You're gonna need one, Romano.

Did you pick up the witnesses? Yeah.

Let me call Morton -- Andrew Morton.

Let me call him. I got a right.

Uh-huh.

Oh, sure. Yeah.

No, no. No, I'm sorry.

No, get yourself another lawyer.

I'm through.

I'm off that merry-go-round for keeps.

I don't owe him a thing. Done everything I can do.

Well, don't look at me like that.

That guy's a hoodlum --

a hoodlum who doesn't want to be anything else.

Well, come on. Where'd you move?

Hmm.

This time he really fixed himself.

Killed a cop. Got himself a murder rap.

Oh, sure, sure.

I know -- there must be some mistake.

And poor Nick is innocent,

and what a heel I am to be sitting here playing chess

when he needs me.

Well, you're wrong, honey.

If he's innocent, this is the first time.

It's your move.

Ah.

All right. You win.

I'll go talk to him.

But I won't promise you anything.

I'll just go talk to him -- that's all.

Anything to keep you quiet.

You know, you sit there and deliberately lie to me,

and I'm through before I start.

Mr. Morton -- Andy, please, don't walk out on me.

I swear it by my mother --

may she drop dead, may I drop dead --

if the cops ain't framed me.

Look up Butch and Sunshine. Ask 'em.

I was with 'em the whole time.

You're asking me to believe this is the same old setup --

a man with a bad police record's

charged with a crime he didn't commit.

So help me.

You know, if you're lying in a setup like this,

you're like a man cheating himself at solitaire.

Don't you think I don't know that?

I... Well...

Everything you told me better be right in the groove

because, baby, if ever a guy was in a tough spot,

you're it.

Here.

Hey, junior!

Huh. Andrew.

What are you doing slumming?

How's it, junior?

Ah, you look just about the same.

A little older, a little more tired.

A little more confused.

Well, get yourself some chow

instead of that embalming fluid you drink.

Your conscience must hurt,

or you wouldn't give me all this.

What do you want to know, Andrew?

Where can I find a couple of characters

named, uh, Butch and Sunshine?

Up and down this street

until the meat wagon comes and carts us all off.

Inside here, when it opens.

A few of the smart ones like you, Andrew,

get off and stay off.

I remember when you sold papers

on the corner of Mills and Dehaven.

My advice is, don't take any truck with us.

Remember that.

Yeah, I'll remember that.

And you stay away from the squirrels.

In my day, a comedian had style.

See you around, junior.

Refill.

Hiya, Butch.

Hey, fingers, grab a cue, huh?

You're not lying to me, are you, Sunshine?

No, I ain't, mister. I was with Nick.

I wouldn't twist you.

He didn't kill nobody. Honest, he didn't kill nobody.

You know what perjury is?

We're giving you the straight goods, mister.

You're a pretty good friend of his, aren't you?

He was good to me.

Do a lot for him, huh?

I don't need to.

He was with Butch and me the whole night,

till maybe after midnight.

We drunk a lot of beer.

Squint: Hey, rack!

Comin'!

It's level, mister.

We're giving it to you very level.

You know, if you guys are lying to me,

you're pushing Nick straight into the electric chair.

What about that bartender at the 380?

You know.

Punchy -- he's been punchy for years.

You ought to take a look at him.

What do you say about the bartender at the 380?

He identified Nick right out of the lineup.

He's a meat head.

Thanks.

Try the combination, 3 ball in the corner pocket.

Who asked ya?

Hey, didn't you have a holdup here recently?

So what do I get for it? A hangover and the day shift.

That's gratitude -- no tips.

Cop was killed, wasn't he?

Killed?

He was granulated, right down the alley --

the same guy that held me up.

Are you sure?

Am I sure of what?

That it was the same guy that held you up?

Do I know my own name?

Uh...

Swanson -- Carl.

I'm gonna retire.

Where's Arabia?

I don't know. I haven't got my atlas.

Atlas.

There's a guy could wrestle.

Yeah. Fill her up.

Uh...

Red wine.

Oh, I'm awfully sorry.

Ah, forget it.

Is there anything I can do about it?

Happens all the time with them drunks coming in here.

Okay.

A little service here, my dear fellow.

I'm in the chips.

What you need most is some sleep and a shave.

Sure. Let's take this up tomorrow.

Come on, I'll drive you over to the club.

Look, gentlemen, I've got a tough decision to make --

not tomorrow, now.

Give me an opinion.

Would I be a fool to take this case?

Andy, a law firm like ours lives on confidence and dignity.

This kind of a case is sure to be dragged

through the newspapers --

sensational tabloid stuff.

It's -- it's impossible.

Farm it out to Stevens or O'Connor.

You've been tied up to property in the state practice too long

to go back to a criminal case.

Sure, I've been concentrating on documents,

not human beings.

But no other lawyer could know this kid like I do.

Andy, for a long time

we've been thinking of adding a name to this firm.

"Purcell, Corey, and Morton."

A full partnership.

You know what that would mean to you

financially, professionally?

Heh.

From night law school to Purcell, Corey, and Morton.

That's quite a transition.

One you won't make, Andy,

if you take this Romano case.

Oh.

Oh, so it's like that?

Give us another minute, will you, George?

Well, here goes.

Nick, you've got to get rid of that hangdog look.

You're our exhibit "a," the most important evidence we have.

I'm expecting a lot of help from you.

I want you confident, I want you smiling.

I knocked myself out getting seven women on that jury.

I want you to sit there facing them.

Turn on that baby-face stare.

Come on, let's see it.

How's this?

That's perfect.

This jailbird with a felony conviction behind him,

this moocher to whom the police lineup is weekly routine,