Daily Dialogue — December 16, 2014
SPADE: Alright, I’ve got another suggestion. It may not be as good as the first one, but it’s better than nothing. You want to hear it?
GUTMAN: Most assuredly.
SPADE: Give them Cairo.
GUTMAN: (Chuckles) Well, by gad, sir…
CAIRO: And suppose we give them you or Miss O’Shaughnessy? How about that, huh?
SPADE: You want the Falcon. I’ve got it. A fall-guy is part of the price I’m asking. As for Miss O’Shaughnessy, if you think she can be rigged for the part, I’m perfectly willing to discuss it with you.
CAIRO: You seem to forget you’re not in a position at all to insist upon anything.
GUTMAN: Now, come, gentlemen, let’s keep our discussion on a friendly basis. There certainly is something in what Mister Cairo said.
SPADE: If you kill me, how are you gonna get the bird? And if I know you can’t afford to kill me, how are you going to scare me into giving it to you?
GUTMAN: Well, sir, there are other means of persuasion besides killing and threatening to kill.
SPADE: Yes, that’s…that’s true. But they’re none of them any good unless the threat of death is behind them. You see what I mean? If you start something I’ll make it a matter of your having to kill me or call it off.
GUTMAN: (Chuckles) That’s an attitude, sir, that calls for the most delicate judgment on both sides — because, as you know, sir, in the heat of action men are likely to forget where their best interests lie and let their emotions carry them away.
SPADE: Then the trick from my angle is to make my play strong enough to tie you up, but not make you mad enough to bump me off — against your better judgment.
GUTMAN: By Gad, sir, you are a character!
Cairo whispers to Gutman.
SPADE: (Looking at Wilmer) Six-two and even they’re selling you out, sonny. (To Gutman) I hope you’re not letting yourself be influenced by the guns these pocket edition desperados are waving around, because I’ve practiced taking guns away from these boys before so we’ll have no trouble there. Wilmer here is…
WILMER: All right!
GUTMAN: Wilmer. Wilmer. WILMER!
Spade decks Wilmer. O’Shaughnessy grabs Wilmer’s gun but Spade takes it away. Spade and Cairo carry Wilmer to the couch. Spade collects Cairo’s and Wilmer’s remaining guns, then returns to Gutman.
SPADE: There’s our fall guy. Now, either you’ll say yes right now or I’ll turn the Falcon and the whole lot of you in.
GUTMAN: Don’t like that, sir.
SPADE: You won’t like it. Well?
GUTMAN: (Looks at Wilmer, then sighs.) You can have him.
— The Maltese Falcon (1941), screenplay by John Huston, novel by Dashiell Hammett
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Negotiation. Today’s suggestion by Will King.
Trivia: Gutman and Wilmer are referred to as “Fat Man” and “Little Boy”. These are the names used for the two atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima respectively.
Dialogue On Dialogue: One key to a good negotiation scene: Give the participating characters a shared goal. If they all want something, but only one of them has it, then you have conflict. And conflict primes the pump of negotiation.
If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please post in comments.