Robert Altman

Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit, like hers, was fueled by alcohol and flirted with despair.

Paris, Fashion Week 1994. All kind of models, designers, reporters, fashion editors... join together to present next year's trends. Kitty Potter (Kim Basinger) is an American reporter from Atlanta, Georgia who is in search of big news. Sergio (Marcello Mastroianni), an Italian expedite living in Moscow, Russia, arrives in Paris and sends an identical Christian Dior neck tie to the president of the French Association of Fashion, Olivier de la Fontaine (Jean-Pierre Cassel) and meets with him in high secrecy. He disregards his wife Isabella de la Fontaine (Sophia Loren), who is mad at him and tries to avoid Kitty in the airport, but she sees him so he has to give the interview. They have a sandwich and then Sergio and Olivier leave the airport. Sergio doesn't realize that he is carrying Joe Flynn's (Tim Robbins) suitcase. Nearby, scruffy American journalist Anne Eisenhower (Julia Roberts) has lost her suitcase and she can't understand or speak any French, so she takes Sergio's luggage by mistake. While Sergio and Olivier are together in a limo, the president dies while they are stuck in a traffic jam and Sergio runs away. When the chauffeur realizes that his passenger is dead, he cries for help, and Sergio jumps from a bridge so that a police officer doesn't catch him. Cy Bianco (Forest Whitaker) is an eccentric fashion designer who is always changing his mind about his designs. Milo O'Brannigan (Stephen Rea) is a photo journalist from Ireland covering Fashion Week. He is established as is a lazy, I-can't-be-bothered rock-'n'-roller who takes a photo of all the designers together, including Sonya Rykel (herself), and Jean-Paul Gualtier (himself). Meanwhile, Isabella goes to the Richard Lacroix fashion show as if nothing had happened. After the show, where Christy Turlington (herself), Tatjana Patitz (herself), Naomi Campbell (herself), Helena Christensen (herself) and other models strut their stuff, Kitty will interview Gianfranco Ferré (himself), at the time head designer for haute couture house Christian Dior (himself). At the hotel, Anne tries to contact people in the world of fashion without much success. As she and Joe share a luxurious hotel room, and she can't stand drinking, they end up making love. The next morning, she gets angry because he jumped to the occasion, leaving it as a one-night stand when she mentions it. Watching the televised Issey Miyake show, Sergio sees Joe wearing his jacket. Kitty interviews Miyake (himself) as well. Investigating Olivier's death, Paris Metro Police Inspector Tantpis (Jean Rochefort) and Inspector Forget (Michel Blanc) say that it's going to be easy to find who killed Olivier, as everybody hated him. Meanwhile, Sergio moves from one fashion show to the other. He is always among the crowd, always in search of Isabella. When he finally approaches her, Isabella faints, with Kitty crying, "She's not dead! She's not dead!" again and again. Fiona Ulrich (Lili Taylor) is an American photojournalist who interviews various designers. Regina Krumm (Linda Hunt) is the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine who wants to sign Milo. He asks her to go to her knees and beg. When she complies, he photographs her, so she dismisses him while calling him names. He laughs all the way. Later, as a freelance photographer, Milo makes an editorial advertisement for LO footwear, with Linda Evangelista (herself), Carla Bruni (herself), Kristen Fick (herself), Adriana Karembeu (herself), and Greta Cavazzoni (herself). Milo will do the same trick, this time photographing American reporter Sissy Wanamaker (Sally Kellerman) who offered him sex and also wants him to sign for an important position. Nina Scant (Tracey Ullman) is a reporter from the British Vogue who falls victim to Milo in the same way as she is promised sex in exchange for a cover story. Sergio, aka Sergei, finally finds Isabella at a dinner party where Kitty is interviewing Cher (herself). It is revealed here that Sergei and Isabella were lovers when they were younger back in Italy, but as they belonged to a Communist party, he left after their wedding night. He is saying that he still loves her, when they are interrupted by somebody offering her sympathies as a recently widow. They will meet the following day at 16:00 hours at Le Pensevr's statue. Although he is married to a woman, Cy has a gay lover and they share a joint outside at night. At the hotel, Sergio gets Joe Flynn's copy key, posing as Flynn. Cy does his fashion show on an underground Paris Metro train. Two models fight. Pilar (Rossy de Palma) works for famous French designer Simone Lowenthal (Anouk Aimée), who has problems with Jack Lowenthal (Rupert Everett) because they and the company are bankrupt. Slim Chrysler (Lauren Bacall) is another American designer who is on the payroll of Clint Lammeraux (Lyle Lovett), a Texan investor who worries about his own future. Cy and his lover meet their partners, who are also cheating on one another. While they are about to fight, Kitty appears and interviews them. Major Hamilton (Danny Aiello) and his wife Louise (Teri Garr) are an American couple on vacation in Paris who decide to attend the fashion shows, while Louise takes her free time to shop in the various expensive shops. She purchases a large quantity of lingerie, for both herself... and her husband who is later revealed to be a cross-dresser. When Nina, Sissy, and Regina all learn from each other that they were victims of Milo's scam, they turns the tables on their tormentor by stealing his camera and offer to negotiate the return of his incriminating camera in exchange for him telling him his story. Isabella and Sergio go to bed, but after her striptease, he falls sleep, so she leaves in frustration. Simone makes the last preparations for her fashion show, wherein the models, including Yvette Horner (herself) wear cowboy boots... and nothing else. Simone for LO presents a catwalk of nude models to the music of The Cranberries' Pretty. First confused and then fed up, Kitty leaves, giving her microphone to her long-suffering French assistant Sophie Choiset (Chiara Mastroianni), who gladly takes the position in front of the camera. The inspectors say that Olivier died because of the ham sandwich he ate, which got stuck in his esophagus, so he choked to death. Anne and Joe say goodbye as they both prepare to return to the USA, both better dressed this time and they agree to keep their several night stand a secret between the two of them. Over the end credits, Olivier's funeral is held. We see some naked children playing, following the new fashion of Simone, the trend of appreciating the human body and showing it without ornaments. Sergio has fallen asleep again, so he's not in time to talk to Isabella, who dresses in black. The film ends with images of several catwalks.

This is an anthology film featuring 10 different segments told entirely in the song of opera. "Un ballo in maschera" A fictionalized account of a 1931 assassination attempt on King Zog of Albania (Theresa Russell) in Vienna, Austria during his visit to an opera house. It is notable for his shooting back at his three would-be assassins and surviving. Directed by Nicolas Roeg (14 minutes) "La vergine degli angeli" from La forza del destino (Filmed in black and white) Three London teenagers named Marie (Nicola Swain), Travis (Jackson Kyle), and Kate (Marianne McLaughlin) skip school and steal a car. They go for a joyride around North London until the police give chase. They wreck the car and flee on foot after setting it on fire and get away with no one the wiser. Directed by Charles Sturridge (5 minutes) "Armide" Two cleaning women (Marion Peterson and Valérie Allain) try to attract the attention of oblivious bodybuilders at a local gym in Paris. But the bodybuilders are too focused on their workouts then pay attention to the two young women... even when they strip off all of their clothes and pose completely naked. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard (11 minutes) "Rigoletto" A hilarious bedroom farce set in San Luis Obispo's famous Madonna Inn, in which a Hollywood movie producer named Preston (Buck Henry) cheats on his wife Phoebe (Anita Morris) with a fashion model Gilda (Beverly D'Angelo), unaware that Phoebe, too, is there with a clandestine lover of her own named Jake (Gary Kasper). Despite never running into each other, Preston and Phoebe return home and watch a lovemaking tape of their adventure, only to discover that the motel valet switched tapes with them by accident and Preston and Phoebe's infidelity is exposed. (This is one of the few segments with actual dialogue.) Directed by Julien Temple (14 minutes) "Glück, das mir verblieb" from Die tote Stadt" A look at the seemingly-dead city of Bruges, Belgium. Scenic footage of the empty streets and cemeteries is inter-cut with a opera duet of two lovers, as a beautiful virgin named Mariette (Elizabeth Hurley) is stripped naked by her lover Paul (Peter Birch) and, after she expresses her affection for him, she loses her virginity to him. Directed by Bruce Beresford (5 minutes) "Les Boréades" A re-creation of opening night at Paris's Théâtre Le Ranelagh in 1734. The audience is filled with a raffish assortment of inmates from an insane asylum. Featuring Julie Hagerty, Geneviève Page, Sandrine Dumas, and Chris Campion as some of the inmates. Directed by Robert Altman (7 minutes) "Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde Two young teenage lovers (Bridget Fonda and James Mathers) arrive in Las Vegas. After driving down Fremont Street, they check into a hotel room where they have very hot and passionate sex. Afterwords, while taking a bath, they both kill themselves in a suicide pact by slashing their wrists and die holding one another in the bathtub. Directed by Franc Roddam (7 minutes) "Nessun dorma" from Turandot After a car crash, a lovely young woman (Linzi Drew) has a near-death experience where she imagines her body is being adorned by jewels mirroring her injuries, in a tribal ritual parallel to the procedures of the surgical team treating her, until she wakes up in the operating room after resuscitation. Directed by Ken Russell (7 minutes) "Depuis le jour" from Louise A veteran opera singer (Amy Johnson) gives her final performance, inter-cut by 8mm home movies of an early love affair between her younger self (Tila Swinton) and a guy (Spencer Leigh). Directed by Derek Jarman (6 minutes) "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci A has-been actor (John Hurt) remembers his happier days while arriving at an opera house, visiting the dressing room to put on his clown makeup, and performing the aria for his audience of one; a young woman (Sophie Ward) who sits in the only occupied box in the theater. (This story provides a vague framing narrative to link together the other segments.) Directed by Bill Bryden (4 minutes)

A grumpy semi-retired private investigator partners with a quirky female client to catch the people who murdered his partner. Ira Wells is an aged retired Los Angeles, California based private investigator who comes out of retirement when his former partner, Harry Regan, shows up on his doorstep with a bullet wound to the gut and dies. Ira determines to find out who killed Harry and is then contacted by another long-time acquaintance, Charlie Hatter (a down-on-his luck Hollywood hack/bartender) about Harry's last case. Harry's client was Margo Sterling, a former client of Charlie's who is a flaky, penniless new-age actress, agent, and dress maker. She hired Harry to retrieve her missing cat, Winston, who is being held ransom by an acquaintance named Brian Hemphill who stole Winston because Margo was late on paying back a loan. Amidst all this, Ira has to figure out what would be the reason for someone to kill Harry. —Huggo / Hans Delbruck

The overarching plot takes place over five days leading up to a political rally for Replacement Party candidate Hal Phillip Walker, who is never seen throughout the entire movie. The story follows 24 characters roaming around Nashville, in search of some sort of goal through their own (often overlapping) story arcs. Day One The film opens with a campaign van for presidential candidate Hal Phillip Walker driving around Nashville as an external loudspeaker blares Walker's folksy political aphorisms and vaguely anti-establishment populism. This is juxtaposed with country superstar Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson) recording an overblown patriotic song ("200 Years") intended to commemorate the upcoming Bicentennial, and growing irritated with the accompanying musicians in the studio. A young Englishwoman named Opal (Geraldine Chaplin), who claims to be working on a radio documentary for the BBC, appears in the studio but is told to leave by Haven. Down the hall from Haven's session is Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin), a white gospel singer recording a song with a black choir. Later that day, the beloved country singer Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley) is returning to Nashville, having recovered from a burn accident, and the elite of Nashville's music scene, including Haven Hamilton and his companion Lady Pearl (Barbara Baxley), have converged on Berry Field to greet her plane as it arrives. Also present are Pfc. Glenn Kelly (Scott Glenn) and the folk/rock trio "Bill, Mary, and Tom" whose catchy hit song "It Don't Worry Me" seems to be on everybody's lips. They are in town to record their second album. Bill (Allan F. Nicholls) and Mary (Cristina Raines) are married, but largely unhappy, partly due to the fact that Mary is in love with womanizing Tom (Keith Carradine). Meanwhile, Mr. Green (Keenan Wynn) arrives at the airport to pick up his niece, Martha (Shelley Duvall), who has renamed herself "L.A. Joan", a teenage groupie who has come to Nashville ostensibly to visit her aunt Esther Green who is sick in the hospital. However, Martha repeatedly puts off visiting her aunt in favor of chasing after musicians or pretty much any male she comes across, including the oddball motorcyclist known as "Tricycle Man," (Jeff Goldblum). Working at the airport restaurant are African-American cook Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), and his pretty waitress friend, Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), an aspiring country singer who refuses to recognize that she can't carry a tune. After greeting the crowds on the tarmac, Barbara Jean faints due to the heat, and her handlers, headed by her domineering husband-manager Barnett (Allen Garfield), rush her to the hospital. Barbara Jean's appearance having been cut short, those in attendance depart the airport in a rush, and wind up stranded on the highway after a pile-up occurs. During the commotion, Winifred (Barbara Harris), an aspiring country singer who has chosen the stage name "Albuquerque," runs away from her husband, Star (Bert Remsen), after he refuses to take her to the Grand Ole Opry. Star gives a ride to Kenny Frasier (David Hayward), a nondescript, bespectacled young man who has just arrived in town carrying a violin case. Opal takes advantage of the traffic jam to interview first Linnea and then Tommy Brown (Timothy Brown), an African-American country singer who is performing at the Opry. Tommy and his entourage later go to Lady Pearl's nightclub, but Wade, who is drinking and trying to pick up white girls at the bar, insults Tommy for acting too "white" and starts a fight. Linnea's husband, Del Reese (Ned Beatty) is working with political organizer John Triplette (Michael Murphy) to plan a small fundraiser and a large outdoor concert gala for the Walker campaign. Sueleen appears at a local club's open mike night in a provocative outfit, and despite her lack of singing ability, club manager Trout (Merle Kilgore) recommends her to Triplette for the fundraiser based on her appearance. Winifred shows up at Trout's club trying to recruit musicians to record a demo with her, but Star sees her and chases her out. Del invites Triplette for a family dinner with Linnea and their two deaf children. Linnea and Del are having communications problems and she focuses on the children rather than on him. In the middle of dinner, Tom calls trying to make a date with Linnea, but she puts him off, so he takes Opal back to his room instead. Pfc. Kelly sneaks into Barbara Jean's hospital room and sits in the chair by her bed all night, watching her sleep. Day Two Tom calls Linnea again but, with Del listening on the other line, Linnea yells at Tom and tells him not to call her any more. Kenny rents a room from Mr. Green. Haven Hamilton throws a pre-show party at his house before the evening's Grand Ole Opry performance. At the party, Opal talks to Haven's son Bud (Dave Peel) who tells her, unconvincingly, that he is happy to act as his father's business manager and has no musical ambitions of his own. Under Opal's prodding, Bud starts to sing her a song he wrote, a tender love ballad, but Opal departs in a rush when she spots a movie star among the guests. Lady Pearl talks about her love for John and Bobby Kennedy, the only politicians she ever admired. Triplette tries to persuade Haven to perform at the Walker gala by telling him that if Walker is elected, Walker would back Haven for Governor of Tennessee. Haven says he'll give Triplette his decision after the Opry show that night. At Opryland USA, the Grand Ole Opry broadcast begins with Tommy Brown ("Bluebird") and Haven Hamilton ("For the Sake of the Children", "Keep a-Goin"). Haven then introduces Connie White (Karen Black) as a substitute for the hospitalized Barbara Jean. Connie sings "Memphis" and "I Don't Know If I Found It in You" while Barbara Jean and Barnett listen morosely on the radio in her hospital room. Winifred tries unsuccessfully to get backstage. Barbara Jean and Barnett have an argument because he is going to the after-show gathering to thank Connie for substituting at the last minute. Barbara Jean doesn't want him to go, and he suggests in an accusatory tone that she may be headed for another nervous breakdown. Barnett finally calms down Barbara Jean and goes to the after-party at a nightclub, but Connie doesn't seem happy to see him. Connie takes the stage ("Rolling Stone") but the disgruntled Barnett criticizes her performance. Lady Pearl regales Opal with stories about the Kennedy brothers, rendering Opal for once speechless. Haven tells Triplette that Barbara Jean and Connie never appear on the same stage, and that he (Haven) will appear anyplace Barbara Jean also appears. Bill gets upset when his wife Mary doesn't show up all evening, and he confesses to chauffeur Norman (David Arkin), that he suspects her of having an affair. Mary, in bed with Tom, keeps whispering "I Love You," but Tom doesn't respond. Day Three It is Sunday morning and the characters are shown attending various local church services. A Roman Catholic service includes Lady Pearl, Wade and Sueleen; Haven Hamilton sings in the choir at a Protestant service; and Linnea is seen in the choir at a black Protestant church as a baptism is taking place, with Tommy Brown in the pews. At the hospital chapel, Barbara Jean sings a hymn from her wheelchair while Mr. Green and Pfc. Kelly, among others, watch. Mr. Green tells Kelly how he and his wife lost their son in WWII. Opal wanders alone through a huge auto scrap yard making free-form poetic speeches about the cars into her tape recorder. Haven, Tommy Brown and their families attend the stock car races, where Winifred attempts to sing on a small stage but cannot be heard over the cars. Bill and Mary argue in their hotel room and are interrupted by Triplette, who wants to recruit them for the Walker concert gala. Tom tries to get Norman to score him some pills. Day Four Opal walks alone through a large school bus parking lot trying to spin a commentary linking the buses to racism in the South, but has trouble hitting the right note. Barbara Jean is discharged from the hospital at the same time Mr. Green shows up to visit his sick wife. Barbara Jean asks after Mrs. Green and sends her regards. After Barbara Jean and her entourage have left, a nurse tells Mr. Green his wife died earlier that morning. Pfc. Kelly tells Mr. Green why he has been following Barbara Jean around; his mother saved Barbara Jean's life in the fire and loved her more than anything. She asked her son to go see Barbara Jean on his leave from Vietnam service. Back at Mr. Green's house, Kenny gets upset when Martha tries to look at his violin case. Barbara Jean performs a matinee at Opryland USA. Triplette and Del attend and try to convince Barnett to have Barbara Jean play the Walker concert gala at the Parthenon the next day, but he refuses. Kenny and Pfc. Kelly are both in the audience and watch raptly as Barbara Jean sings, although Opal annoyingly tries to interview Kelly about Vietnam during a song. Barbara Jean gets through the first couple of songs ("Tapedeck in his Tractor", "Dues") all right, but then begins to tell rambling stories about her childhood instead of starting the next song. After several false starts, Barnett escorts her from the stage and tells the disappointed audience that they can come to the Parthenon tomorrow and see Barbara Jean perform for free, thus committing her to the Walker concert. Tom calls Linnea and invites her to meet him that night at a club called the Exit Inn. Linnea arrives but sits by herself because Martha is trying to pick up Tom. Mary and Bill are also there, and Opal sits with them and mentions that she slept with Tom, causing Mary to look away in humiliation. Wade tries unsuccessfully to pick up Linnea, while Norman tries equally unsuccessfully to pick up Opal. Tom is introduced as a surprise guest artist. He casually mentions that he "used to be in a trio," but then invites Bill and Mary up to the stage, where the three perform an uncomfortable rendition of "Since You're Gone". Again alone on the stage, Tom introduces his new solo number, "I'm Easy," which he dedicates to someone special in the audience. Mary, Opal, and Martha all hope that they are the one, but Tom only has eyes for Linnea. She goes to his room where they make love. When Linnea says she has to go, Tom begs her to stay another hour, and is visibly miffed when she refuses. Without even waiting for her to get dressed and leave, Tom grabs the phone and calls a girlfriend in New York, inviting her to fly down and join him. Sueleen appears at the all-male Walker fundraiser, but is booed off the stage when she sings poorly and doesn't take off her clothes. Del and Triplette explain to her that the men expect her to strip and that if she does so, they will let her sing the next day at the Parthenon with Barbara Jean. Sueleen is humiliated, but strips anyway. Winifred shows up at the fundraiser hoping to get a chance to sing, but after she sees what is going on, she stays hidden behind a curtain. Del drives Sueleen home and drunkenly comes on to her, but she is rescued by Wade. After he hears what happened, Wade tells Sueleen the truth, that she can't sing, and asks her to go back to Detroit with him the next day. Sueleen refuses because she is determined to sing at the Parthenon with Barbara Jean. Day Five The performers, audience and Walker and his entourage arrive for the Parthenon concert; Walker will wait in his limousine until his speech after the musical performances. In the performing lineup are Haven, Barbara Jean, Linnea and her choir, Bill, Mary and Tom, and Sueleen. Winifred has shown up again hoping for a chance to sing. Barnett gets upset because Barbara Jean will have to perform in front of a large Walker advertisement, but has to go along with it because his wife's career will be harmed if he pulls her out of another show. Mr. Green and Kenny attend Esther Green's burial service and Mr. Green leaves angrily, vowing to find Martha (who is not at the service) and make her show some respect to her aunt. Mr. Green and Kenny go to the Parthenon to look for Martha. The Walker gala starts and Haven and Barbara Jean perform a song together ("One, I Love You"), then Barbara Jean sings a very personal solo song about her childhood ("My Idaho Home"). As the song ends, gunshots are heard. Kenny has pulled a gun from his violin case and fired at the performers, grazing Haven and seriously wounding Barbara Jean. Pfc. Kelly disarms Kenny as chaos breaks out. Barbara Jean is carried bleeding and unconscious from the stage. Haven tries to calm the crowd by exhorting them to sing, asserting that "This isn't Dallas, this is Nashville" in reference to the JFK assassination. As he is led from the stage for treatment of his wounds, Haven hands the microphone off to Winifred, who tentatively begins to sing "It Don't Worry Me." As she is joined by Linnea's gospel choir, Winifred's confidence grows until all eyes are upon her. The film ends with the audience clapping and dancing as Winifred belts out the chorus, "You may say that I'm not free, but it don't worry me." She has finally gotten her big break.

When casual gambler Bill Denny befriends professional gambler Charlie Walters, Bill begins to mirror Charlie's life, sinking deeper and deeper into the sleazy world of gambling, where the stakes keep getting bigger. A down on his luck gambler (George Segal as Bill) links up with free spirit Elliot Gould (Elliott Gould as Charlie) at first to have some fun, but then gets into debt when Gould takes an unscheduled trip to Tijuana. As a final act of desperation, he pawns most of his possessions and goes to Reno for the poker game of a lifetime. A film set mainly in casinos and races, as the two win and lose (but mainly win), get robbed, and get blind drunk. —David B-2 Bill Denny (George Segal) and Charlie Waters (Elliot Gould) meet when they are both on the same end of a fellow gambler's wrath at a Southern California gambling club. Bill is a casual gambler who has a full-time job as a magazine writer; whereas Charlie is a small-time career gambler, with the moxie to match his need to portray himself as the winner, specifically to those at his poker table. As Bill and Charlie spend more time together, Bill begins to want to emulate Charlie's life, including hanging out with Charlie's prostitute friends, Barbara Miller (Ann Prentiss), but most specifically Susan Peters (Gwen Welles). Bill even goes into debt to his loan shark as he gambles more. Regardless, Bill and Charlie try to raise enough cash to take a trip to Reno with the goal for Bill to win some money at among others a high-stakes poker game, but more importantly to get the gambler's fix associated with winning big. —Huggo

Private eye Philip Marlowe (Elliot Gould) wakes up in the middle of the night when his pet cat wakes him up, wanting to be fed. He goes out to an all-night supermarket somewhere in west Los Angeles, but can only buy a brand his cat hates. His cat runs out on him. Marlowe's friend Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton) comes by and gets Marlowe to drive him to Tijuana. In the morning, the L.A. police arrest Marlow for helping Terry escape. They tell Marlowe that Terry is a fugitive who beat up and killed his wife Sylvia. Marlowe doesn't believe his friend is capable of such a crime. Another day later, Marlowe is freed from jail and the case has been closed. According to Mexican newspapers, Terry Lennox committed suicide. Marlowe is hired by Terry's ex-neighbor, Eileen Wade (Nina van Pallandt) to find her husband, author Roger Wade (Sterling Hayden). Marlowe tracks Wade to sanatorium where he is being treated for alcoholism by Dr. Verringer (Henry Gibson), a money-hungry quack. Marlowe brings Wade home and observes that the Wades are at odds with each other. Eileen has a bruise on her face to prove that she is being abused by her husband. Wade is full of self-pity and haw writer's block. Marlow wonders if Wade, a big, powerful, violent, depressed man, might have known Sylvia Lennox. Gangster Marty Augustine (Mark Rydell) threatens Marlowe, telling him to return the money that Terry was running for him but took to Mexico. Marlowe says that he knows nothing about any money, but Marty tells him to go find it. Suspicious, Marlowe follows Marty's car to the Wades' house. The next day, Wade tells Marlowe that Marty owes him a lot of money. A day or two later, the Wades throw a party where Dr. Verringer shows up and demands that Wade pay him the money they he owes. When Wade refuses, Verringer slaps Wade greatly embarrassing him. As a result the party ends. Eileen makes dinner for Marlowe where she tell him that she doesn't believe Terry was violent enough to have killed Sylvia. Wade walks into the ocean and commits suicide by drowning. Afterwords, the tearful Eileen tells Marlow that Wade and Sylvia were having an affair and that she thinks that he killed her and set up Terry as the fall guy. Marty's men pick up Marlowe. Marty threatens to beat him up for failing to find the money that Terry stole. But when the money Terry owned turns up, they let Marlowe go. Marlowe is accidentally run down by a car while following Eileen's car on foot. When he gets out of the hospital, he discovers that Eileen has moved. Marlowe takes $5,000 he received in the mail from Terry on the day Terry went to Mexico and goes back to Mexico himself. There, he bribes the local coroner and learns that Terry's death and funeral was all fake. Terry really is still alive. Terry is not surprised to see Marlowe. He admits that he really did kill his wife because she was going to squeal on him for running money for Marty. "No one cares," Terry says. But Marlowe says that he cares. Upset that Terry would brutally kill his wife and that Terry would play him for a fool, Marlowe pulls a gun out and shoots Terry dead. In the final scene, Marlowe dances back up the road for the USA, passing Eileen, who has been living with Terry, her new lover.