http://www.filmlocationhunter.co.uk/show/the-sting
Now, how
interesting, I didn’t know that famous Carousel scene was filmed at Santa Monica
Pier. And that moment, when Hooker finished his talk with Gondorff, walked out
of the room. That was the most memorable moment … (see the Right Upper picture)
We follow him past the Carousel which is now full of giggling
prostitutes in various stages
of undress. Their childish
frolicking is charming from a
group usually so jaded, but
it's lost on Hooker tonight.
INT. GONDORFF'S ROOM - NIGHT
Gondorff
and Hooker are playing gin rummy and drinking.
Gondorff
makes little comments as he plays, but Hooker is
quiet
and withdrawn. The carousel is not in
operation and a
heavy
silence hangs over the place.
GONDORFF
What's
the matter, kid? You're not
sayin'
much.
HOOKER
Just
a little nervous, that's all.
GONDORFF
Luther
always told me to bite my
toenails
when I get nervous. You
see
yourself doin' that and you
realize
it ain't worth it.
Hooker
smiles feebly.
Billie
appears at the door.
BILLIE
Things
are a little slow tonight,
Henry. I wanna open the round for
the
girls.
Gondorff
takes out a set of keys and tosses them to her.
She
leaves to go start the merry-go-round.
Gondorff settles
back
into the game.
GONDORFF
Take
it easy, you won't lose him
now. We had him 10 years ago when
he
decided to be somebody. Believe
me,
I've seen enough to know.
HOOKER
(softly)
How
many guys you conned in your
life,
Henry?
GONDORFF
Two
or three hundred I guess.
Sometimes
played two a day when I
was
in Shea's mob. We had it down
to
a business.
(pause)
'Course
Chicago was a right town
then.
The fix was in. The dicks
took
their end without a beef. All
the
Wall Street boys wanted to make
investments
for us. Even had marks
looking
us up, thinkin' they could
beat
the game.
(pause)
Yeh,
kid, it really stunk. No
sense in bein' a grifter if it's
the
same as bein' a citizen.
Gondorff
chucks his cards on the table. He's
through for
the
night.
GONDORFF
I
better do some packin'. I'm
gonna
be a hot number again after
tomorrow.
HOOKER
Then
why you doin' it?
GONDORFF
Seems
worthwhile, doesn't it?
Maybe
it's just for the cave-in on
Lonnegan's
face when we put in the
sting.
That's
good enough. Hooker gets up to leave.
HOOKER
Henry.
HOOKER
Yeh.
HOOKER
(apologetically)
I
appreciate your stickin' your
neck
out. I wouldn't have asked ya
if
it weren't for Luther.
GONDORFF
Ain't
nothin' gonna make up for
Luther,
kid.
(pause)
Revenge
is for suckers. I been
griftin'
30 years and never got any.
Hooker
just nods and walks out the door.
INT.
CAROUSEL
We
follow him past the Carousel which is now full of giggling
prostitutes
in various stages of undress. Their
childish
frolicking
is charming from a group usually so jaded, but
it's
lost on Hooker tonight.
CUT
TO:
EXT.
A CITY STREET - NIGHT
It's
late now and the street is deserted save for an
occasional
derelict or streetwalker on her way home from a
night's
work. We pick up Hooker coming down the
street
toward
his apartment building. He walks slowly,
almost
reluctantly,
as if he didn't care whether he ever got there
or
not.
As
he nears his building, he notices Loretta coming out of
the
diner across the street. He stops and
watches as she
looks
up and disappears into an adjacent building that
advertises
rooms for rent. After a few seconds, we
see a
light
come on in one of its second story windows.
Hooker
just stands there a second, debating with himself,
trying
to figure out a reason for doing what he's going to
do
anyway. We follow him across the street
to Loretta's
building
and:
INT.
LORRETA'S
He
goes up the stairs to the room where the light came on.
He
passes a couple of derelicts on the way.
He knocks twice
and
Loretta answers in her bathrobe. She is
more than a
little
startled to see him.
LORETTA
Looks
like he missed ya.
HOOKER
Yeh,
this time anyway.
Loretta
notices an old busybody peeping out at them from her
room
across the hall.
LORETTA
Good
night, Mrs. Hillard.
Mrs.
Hillard quickly closes her door.
HOOKER
(shuffling
a little)
I,
ah...thought you might wanna
come
out for a while. Maybe have a
drink
or somethin'.
LORETTA
You
move right along, don't ya.
HOOKER
(with
more innocence
than
confidence)
I
don't mean nothin' by it. I just
don't
know many regular girls,
that's
all.
LORETTA
And
you expect me to come over,
just
like that.
HOOKER
If
I expected somethin', I wouldn't
be
still standin' out here in the
hall.
Loretta
looks at him carefully. She knows it's
not a line.
LORETTA
(with
less resistance now)
I
don't even know you.
HOOKER
(slowly)
You
know me. I'm just like you...
It's
two in the morning and I don't
know
nobody.
The
two just stand there in silence a second.
There's
nothing
more to say. She stands back and lets
him in.
CUT
TO: