Hal Seagrave: Well, Mr. Mannix, I take it you're what we used to call a gumshoe.
Joe Mannix: Bogey would be proud of me.
Hal Seagrave: Mm. If you're here for the lowdown on the Labor Day party in Malibu, it'll all be in next week's issue. Should be good for a couple of divorces, which I guess, means some quick money for you chaps.
Joe Mannix: I don't handle divorce cases, Mr. Seagrave.
Hal Seagrave: Aw. You quite obviously haven't got a healthy interest in dirt.
Joe Mannix: I find it tough enough living with smog.
Hal Seagrave: I assume that, uh, you're here on someone's behalf.
Joe Mannix: Mm, someone who's interested in the golden days of Hollywood.
Hal Seagrave: Mm... Nostalgia time. Mm! Gable and Tracy fighting over Myrna Loy. Lombard and Harlow... Ty Power and Flynn. All the beautiful, magical people.
Joe Mannix: Including, of course, Victoria Page.
Hal Seagrave: That name somehow falls short of stimulating me. Is she your client?
Joe Mannix: Yes.
Hal Seagrave: Why come to me? Surely not for help. The last time I saw Miss Page was in court, 15 years ago, when she sued me for libel. Fat chance.
Joe Mannix: Meaning, uh, she lost the case.
Hal Seagrave: She lost.
Joe Mannix: But the melody lingers on.
[Seagrave nods]
Joe Mannix: Obviously, you still hold a grudge.
Hal Seagrave: One that I shall cherish to the end of my days.
Joe Mannix: Why?
Hal Seagrave: Mark Baxter used to be top of the heap. He was number one director in Hollywood. Then he found this mousy, undernourished fugitive from a repertory company in, of all places, Long Beach. He taught her how to... how to talk, how to wear clothes. He gave her a presence, a posture, an incandescent glow. Then he put together a movie package to launch her as a ready-made star. And how did our lady thank him? Halfway through, she walked out on him and the picture. That, uh... that finished Mark Baxter in Hollywood.
Joe Mannix: That's what you hold against her?
Hal Seagrave: I couldn't care less about their love life. But I ponied up $50,000 of my own money to get The Deadly Madonna rolling. And then when it ground to a halt, thanks to dear Vicki, I was out every nickel.
Joe Mannix: You once let it be known that you had a work print on The Deadly Madonna.
Hal Seagrave: Yeah. I kept it in a closet, gathering dust, to remind me that show business is for fools.
[sighs]
Hal Seagrave: Then, a few years ago, I got a tip that...
[sighs]
Hal Seagrave: ... that Mark Baxter was holed up in some mission for drunks downtown. So I, uh, I sent it to him. I figured he needed it more than I did to cheer up his declining years.
Joe Mannix: Do you, uh, remember where you sent it?
Hal Seagrave: Some dump on Los Angeles Street.
Joe Mannix: Well... thanks for your help, Mr. Seagrave.
Hal Seagrave: Mr. Mannix... I'm sorry I couldn't be more specific, but, uh, Skid Row is not exactly my beat.
Joe Mannix: Some drunks have all the luck.