Angel Heart

Johnny.

Johnny.

Johnny.

Harry!

How are you?

Hello?

Yes, this is Harold Angel.

Yep, middle initial 'R', just like in the phone book.

Excuse me? Winesap.

Herman Winesap, of Winesap and Mackintosh?

Hold on a second.

Okay, Winesap... of Winesap and Mackintosh.

Okay, I got it.

Of course I know what an attorney is.

Yeah, it's like a lawyer, only the bills are bigger.

Sure, I'll hold. Asshole.

Hello.

Mr. Winesap, yeah, Harold Angel.

Well, yeah, I could be free.

Would this be with your firm?

Okay, give me that again.

Louis.

How do you spell that?

Cyphre. Okay. What is it, foreign?

A foreigner? Is your client a foreign gentleman?

Okay.

Well, Mr. Winesap, could you give me a few more details?

Okay. No, I know the place.

It's a long way up, but I can be there.

Hallelujah!

Permit me to be transmittable, hallelujah.

Permit me to be reincarnatable, hallelujah.

Permit me to be reproducible, hallelujah.

For His kingdom is yours, today, right now.

Hallelujah. Follow me. Follow me through his paths.

Hallelujah. I want you to show right now how much you love God.

I want you to show as your tithe.

I want you to open up your hearts and open up your wallets.

And open up your purses. And open up your pockets.

And give it up. Praise the Lord.

Somebody's been talkin' about me, about I've been riding around in a Cadillac.

If you love me, and you wanna give to me...

then I should be in a Rolls Royce.

Let's hear it, Brother. Let's go. Yes!

Hey! Hey! Come on.

- Mr. Angel? - Yeah.

Herman Winesap.

Would you come with me, please?

An unfortunate husband...

of one of Pastor John's flock took a gun to his head.

Most unpleasant.

Mr. Angel? Please?

Mr. Angel.

Allow me to introduce my client, Monsieur Louis Cyphre.

Hiya. Harry Angel.

Pleased to meet you, Mr. Angel.

I don't want to appear rude or impolite, but do you have any I.D., before we begin?

Sure. Yeah. Here.

Let me see what I got here.

How's that?

Nothing personal, it's just that I'm a little overcautious.

- You know how these things are. - Oh, I know, I know, it's...

So, uh, how did you, uh, hear about me?

I guess you guys just looked in the phone book, huh?

Usually that's what happens.

Because my name is Angel. It's under 'A's.

People- you know, people are lazy.

They flick through. They see the first name in the book, and...

Johnny Favorite.

Excuse me?

Do you by chance remember the name Johnny Favorite?

Remember the name Johnny? No, I don't think so.

- You never knew him? - Am I supposed to know him?

He was a crooner before the war. Quite famous in his way.

Well, I'll tell ya, Mr. 'Cyphre', you know, I-

Mr. Cyphre.

I'm sorry, beg- I'm sorry.

Mr. Cyphres. I usually don't get involved in anything really heavy.

I usually handle small-time stuff:

insurance jobs, divorces, things of that nature.

I get lucky, sometimes I handle people.

But I don't know no, you know, crooners...

or anybody famous, you know?

- His real name was Liebling. - I don't-

I don't know any Liebling either.

So what is it you guys want from me?

- Does this man owe you money? - Not quite.

I gave Johnny some help at the beginning of his career.

So were you, like, his agent?

No, no, no. Nothing so -

Monsieur Cyphre has a contract.

Certain collateral was involved, to be forfeited in the event of his death.

You're losin' me a little bit. Are we talkin' about a guy who's dead?

No, he was drafted in '43. North Africa.

Special Entertainment Services. There was an attack.

He was badly injured about the head and face.

- He had- - Amnesia, I think you call it.

- Shell shock? - Shell shock. Yes.

- I know how that feels. - Why? Were you in the services?

Yes, I was in for a short period of time.

But I got a little fucked up real quick. Excuse my language.

And they shipped me back home...

and I sort of missed the whole shebang.

You know, the war, the medals, the whole nine yards.

And I guess you could say I was lucky.

Johnny wasn't so lucky. He returned home a virtual zombie.

Favorite's friends had him transferred to a private hospital upstate.

There was some sort of radical psychiatric treatment involved.

Favorite's lawyers had the power of attorney to-

Pay the bills, things like that. But you know how these things are.

He remained a vegetable, and my contract was never honored.

I see.

I don't want to sound mercenary or anything, but you must understand...

that my interest in Johnny is only in finding out if he's alive...

or if he's dead.

Each year my office receives a signed affidavit confirming...

that Johnny Liebling is indeed among the living.

Until this last weekend, when quite by chance...

Monsieur Cyphre and I were in the vicinity of the hospital just outside Poughkeepsie.

We decided to check for ourselves but were given misleading information.

- Yeah, the runaround. - Yes. I didn't want to cause a scene.

I hate to have any sort of a fuss.

So I thought perhaps you could...

subtly, in a more quiet manner-

- You want me to check it out. - Check it out.

Okay. Yeah.

It's funny. I have a feeling I've met you before.

I don't know. I don't think so.

Do you by chance remember the name Johnny Favorite?

His real name was Liebling.

My interest in Johnny is only in finding out if he's alive or if he's dead.

- May I help you? - Yes.

My name is Harry Conroy, and I'm with the National Institute of Health.

Is there anyone in particular you'd like to see, Mr. Conroy?

The Institute is conducting a survey of incurable trauma cases...

and I understand you have a patient here fitting that description.

I'm afraid we can't let you see anyone without an appointment, sir.

Oh, sure. I appreciate that. But maybe, you know...

you could check the files and make sure I'm on the right track.

I don't want to bother anybody unnecessarily.

Okay? Thank you.

- What's the name of the patient? - Liebling. Jonathan Liebling.

One moment please. I will check.

So, was you workin' here last weekend?

No. Day off.

- Did you do anything nice? - My sister's wedding.

We did have a Mr. Liebling...

but it says here he was transferred.

- Are you sure? - Yeah, that's what it says here.

- When was that? - Years ago. December '43.

May I take a look at this? Thank you.

- Is this recent? - It's an old file.

It's in ballpoint. You know, they weren't too big on ballpoint in '43.

- Is that ballpoint? - Yeah.

Well, I'll be. They didn't have ballpoints back then?

This here Dr. Fowler...

does he still work here?

Just part-time. He's old.

Thank you.

About time for your evening fix?

Who are you? How'd you get in here?

Through the mail slot. I'm a private detective.

Breaking and entering is a serious crime, whoever or whatever you are.

Hey, man, call the police.

Which you won't do in case they discover your little opium den...

you got in the icebox there.

I'm a doctor. I'm perfectly entitled to keep pharmaceuticals at home.

Hey, look, Doc, tell it to somebody else, all right?

We're not talkin' about a band-aid and a tube of unguentine.

- How long you been hooked? - What do you want of me?

Information about Johnny Liebling.

I vaguely remember treating a patient of that name many years ago.

Hey, look, Doc, I'm not foolin' around here.

Either you start giving me some straight answers,

or I'll call the police myself.

I've seen the works cookin' upstairs, pal, and it ain't Mr. Salk's vaccine.

I remember. He was in detainer during the war. Neuro case.

No chance of recovery.

So we transferred him to a V.A. hospital in Albany.

Hey, Doc, I hate to shake you up, but I checked with Albany.

He's not there. You faked the transfer.

I did that quickly because he had a visitor recently.

In 12 years, he hadn't had a visitor.

Popular guy, huh?

- Where is he now? - I honestly don't know.

Look. Come here.

I haven't seen him since he was a patient in the war.

Look, Doc, you're in a cold sweat. Look at you.

You can't wait for me to leave here so you can raid the goodies in the icebox.

Now, the sooner you get out with it...

the sooner you can shoot yourself to Palookaville, okay?

I'm gonna ask you again.

- Where is he? - I don't know.

Some people came one night many years ago.

He got in the car with him and drove away. I never saw him again.

He got into a car? I thought this guy was a vegetable.

When he first came here, he was in a coma, but he soon recovered.

But he still suffered from acute amnesia.

The friends? Who were the friends?

The gentleman's name was Kelly. Edward Kelly.