Miller's Crossing

{i1}[Clattering Sound]{ }
{i1}I'm talkin' about friendship.{ }
{i1}I'm talkin' about character.{ }
{i1}I'm talkin' about--
Hell, Leo, I ain't embarrassed
to use the word.{ }
I'm talkin' about ethics.
You know I'm a sportin' man.
I like to lay the occasional bet.
But I ain't {i1}that{ } sportin'.
When I fix a fight--
Say I pay a three to one favorite...
to throw a goddamned fight.
I figure I got the right
to expect that fight
to go off at three to one.
But every time I lay in bed
with this son of a bitch
Bernie Bernbaum,
before I know it,
the odds is even up.

Or worse, I'm bettin'
on the short money.
The sheeny knows
I like sure things.
He's sellin' the information
I fixed the fight.
Out of town money
comes pouring in.
The odds go straight to hell.
I don't know who
he's sellin' to-- maybe
the Los Angeles combine.
{i1}I don't know. The point is,{ }
{i1}Bernie ain't satisfied
with the honest dollar
he can make off the vig.{ }
He ain't satisfied with
the business I do on his book.
He is sellin' tips on how I bet.
And that means part
of the payoff that should
be riding on my hip...
is riding on someone else's.
So, back we go
to these questions--
friendship, character,
ethics.
So, it's clear what I'm saying?
As mud.
It's gettin' so a businessman
can't expect no return
from a fixed fight.