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Jamey enjoys gambling
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The Plot
After having lost more money at the blackjack tables, entertainer Jamey Burke wants to have his gambling credit extended at the Las Vegas hotel where he's headlining.
He tells his manager Martin Raymond to ask bossJake Wexler to arrange this, but Raymond insists that the hotel manager will only turn him down. Jamey declares that Raymond is acting like an old man, and will need to be replaced.
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Paul says he wouldn't know anything about management
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When Jamey is introduced to Paul a few minutes later, after learning that his new acquaintance is a lawyer, Jamey tells Paul about the fact that he's unhappy with his manager, and then asks Paul to take the job.
Declaring that he wouldn't know the first thing about the position, Paul asks Jamey if he just picked him at random from the people in the room.
Jamey replies that he's simply a creature of impulse, so confessing that he is too, Paul says he'll do the job for 48 hours, and then continue for another 48 if he likes it.
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Jamey drives his car at high speed
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They drive out to the airport together in Jamey's super-fast car to pick up his wife, and he lets out the machine to 120 mph before making a sharp turn, then fast stop to avoid another vehicle.
Paul offers some advice on handling the car more soundly, and Jamey wants to know where Paul picked up the knowledge, so he tells Jamey that he's a racing driver.
Jamey is sceptical, and doesn't believe that a lawyer could also be a race driver.
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Paul drives Jamey's car over 140 mph
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Challenging Paul to prove it then and there by giving a demonstration. Jamey is treated to a ride in his car at 140 mph as Paul displays his driving talents, even negotiating a turn at maximum speed.
Jamey is impressed, and refers to Paul as his racing-driver lawyer manager. Paul says that was a joke, but Jamey insists he wants Paul to stay around.
The private plane arrives at the airport shortly after the car, and Jamey introduces Paul to his wife Diana and pilot Chico.
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Jamey insists that Diana attend his show
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When they arrive at the hotel, Jamey asks Paul to escort Diana to his show that evening, but his wife says that she's too tired.
There is a tense moment, and with an insistent look, Jamey changes her mind, and tells her to wear lots of the expensive jewelery he keeps buying her. After asking Chico to see Diana to their apartment upstairs, Jamey and Paul have a drink.
Paul, who acknowledges being a fighter pilot, expresses surprise that Jamey allows Chico to fly his plane.
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Paul asks if Wexler wants his arm broken
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Before leaving to go on stage, Jamey asks Paul to get Jake Wexler to furnish the entertainer with an additional $20,000 in gambling credit. Accordingly, Paul delivers the message, and Wexler turns the request down flat. Then he tells Paul to inform Jamey that a certain young lady is off limits. Paul replies that he's not Wexler's errand boy, and the manager grabs Paul by the arm.
“You want that arm broken?” asks Paul, and Wexler backs off, saying that he's not a tough guy, as all the tough guys he knows are in jail.
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Diana tells Paul about Jamey's desperation to stay young
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Paul escorts Diana to Jamey's show, and she walks out after two numbers. He follows her, and offers to listen if there's something she wants to talk about to a total stranger. Diana says that Jamey thinks he's Peter Pan, but the worst part is that he wants her to be Wendy. Diana explains that they married when she was 18 and he was 28, but though she's now over 30, Jamey is doing everything he can to appear young, believing that he'll lose all his adulation if he loses the Peter Pan image.
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Paul becomes agressive when accused
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After his show Jamey comes into the coffee shop, and his first words imply some kind of liaison between Paul and his wife. Then he asks whether the message was delivered to Wexler, and is critical that Paul didn't do better. But he saves his real anger for Diana, attacking her for walking out of his show.
He even appeals to other patrons in the coffee shop, saying that nobody leaves until his show is over, aggressively asking for their confirmation.
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Before witnesses Jamey threatens to break Diana's neck
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Paul points out that he's just lost a couple dozen fans, but Jamey says there's many of them and only one of him.
Then he shouts at Diana, and tells her, if she ever walks out on him again, he'd break her neck.
He departs, and Diana asks Paul to go after him. Paul suggests that it might be better to leave him alone, but she says that would be the worst thing they could do. She tells Paul that she thinks Jamey likes and respects him, then begs him to find her husband, and help him if he can.
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Paul says that Jamey has fouled up his life
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Paul finds Jamey softly singing “I'll Remember April” at the piano, and suggests that it would be nice in the act, but Jamey says his audiences only want raucous numbers.
He says that Diana is divorcing him, and Paul comments, “you really have fouled up your life, haven't you?” Jamey counters by pointing out what a success his career has been and continues to be.
“Does that sound like a fouled-up life to you?” he challenges.
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Jamey shouts angrily at Paul as he leaves
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“Not if you measure it in money,” Paul answers, but Jamey goes into a long dissertation about why he's popular, how he doesn't conform, how he stays “in” because he stays young, and makes a lot of money, because money is what separates the phony from the real things in life.
“I see you haven't thought about it,” responds Paul succinctly, and offers his hand in farewell. Jamey refuses it, and shouts angrily at Paul as he leaves, then makes up a song about how he fired two lousy managers in the same night.
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Paul tries to find out what's wrong
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Paul is asleep when Jamey rings, urgently asking him to come up to his apartment.
When he gets there, Jamey doesn't answer his knock nor call when he enters the darkened room. Eventually, a shivering Jamey walks up to him and says that Diana is dead - killed for her jewels.
Paul runs into the bedroom, but after checking, isn't quite sure whether Diana is dead or not, and rings for a doctor to come up.
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Jamey suddenly suspects Paul of the murder
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Jamey sobs how much he loved his wife, and how she never knew how deeply. He says that he gave her such a bad time and is lost without her, repeating that neither knew how much he loved her. He asks why they couldn't just take the jewels, why they had to kill her, then, suddenly, Jamey rises and asks, “who are you?”
Paul is confused, but Jamey points out that he knows nothing about him, and that Paul was the last person he saw Diana with. He pulls a gun from his pocket, and waves it at Paul.
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If race driver and jet pilot, why not thief?
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“What do I know about you?” he asks.
“You're just someone I picked up in a bar.”
Saying that Paul is supposed to be a race driver, lawyer and jet pilot, Jamey proposes he might be a thief and murderer too.
Paul manages to grab the gun from Jamey, and says that he should start thinking who really killed his wife - because her husband is going to be the first suspect - the man who'd just threatened to break her neck in a room full of witnesses.
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Jamey admits Paul was right - his life is fouled up
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From aggressive and accusing, Jamey turns helpless once more, and asks Paul appealingly if his new friend believes he committed the murder.
Paul thinks a moment, and says that he doesn't, and Jamey starts to sob again, and declares that Paul was right, that his life is fouled up.
“Fouled up for good now,” he adds, then a moan is heard from the bedroom. Paul tells Jamey to ring for an ambulance, and runs in the room to Diana as the doctor knocks.
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Paul catches the thief and attempted murderer
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Paul then comes out of the bedroom and grabs the keys to Jamey's car, and races out. He gets into Jamey's souped-up sports car, and tears off for the glider field at highest speed, arriving just as Jamey's plane is about to take off, and driving the vehicle into the aircraft's path.
Chico jumps out, asking if Paul was trying to kill them both. They struggle, and finally Paul gets Chico to the ground, asking why he did it. Chico says that he didn't want to kill Diana, but she tried to stop him taking her jewels. The police then drive up and take Chico away.
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