Chapter 3

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                     Johnny Clay  is a veteran criminal planning one last heist before settling down and marrying Fay . He plans to steal $2 million from the money-counting room of a racetrack during a featured race. He assembles a team consisting of a corrupt cop , a betting window teller  to gain access to the backroom, a sharpshooter to shoot the favorite horse during the race to distract the crowd, a wrestler  to provide another distraction by provoking a fight at the track bar, and a track bartender.

George Peatty, the teller, tells his wife Sherry  about the impending robbery. Sherry is bitter at George for not delivering on the promises of wealth he once made her, so George hopes telling her about the robbery will placate and impress her. Sherry does not believe him at first but, after learning that the robbery is real, enlists her lover Val Cannon to steal the money from George and his associates.

The heist is successful, although the sharpshooter is shot and killed by the police. The conspirators gather at the apartment where they are to meet Johnny and divide the money. Before Johnny arrives, Val appears and holds them up. A shootout ensues and a badly wounded George is the sole survivor. He goes home and shoots Sherry before dying.

Johnny, on his way to the apartment, sees George staggering in the street and knows that something is wrong. He buys the biggest suitcase he can find to put the money in (and struggles to lock it properly). At the airport Johnny and Fay aren't allowed to take the suitcase along as hand luggage because of its size, and instead must check it in as regular luggage. Johnny reluctantly complies. While waiting to board their plane they watch as the suitcase falls off a cart onto the runway, breaks open, and the loose banknotes are swept away by the backdraft from the plane's propellers.

Fay and Johnny leave the airport but are unable to hail a cab before officers are alerted to them. Fay urges Johnny to flee but he refuses, calmly accepting the futility of trying to escape, and utters the tagline for the movie: "What's the difference?". The film ends with two officers approaching to arrest him.

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⏰ Last updated: Aug 30, 2016 ⏰

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