Taxi Driver

Harry, answer that.

So, what do you wanna hack for, Bickle?

I can't sleep nights.

-There's porno theatres for that. -Yeah, I know. I tried that.

So, what do you do now?

Now? Ride around nights mostly. Subways, buses.

Figure l'm gonna do that, I might as well get paid for it.

You wanna work uptown? South Bronx, Harlem?

I'll work anytime, anywhere.

Will you work Jewish holidays?

Anytime, anywhere.

All right. Let me see your chauffeur's licence.

-How's your driving record? -lt's clean.

It's real clean, like my conscience.

You gonna break my chops? l got enough trouble with guys like you.

If you're gonna break my chops, you can take it on the arches.

Sorry, sir, I didn't mean that.

-Physical? -Clean.

-Age? -Twenty-six.

Education?

Some.

Here, there, you know.

Military record?

Honourable discharge.

May 1 973.

-Were you in the Army? -Marines.

I was in the Marines too.

So, what is it?

You need an extra job?

Are you moonlighting?

Well, l-- I just wanna work long hours.

What's moonlighting?

Look, just fill out these forms and check back tomorrow...

...when the shift breaks.

O'Brien, please step up.

Take the car out through 58th Street, please.

Because it's crowded on 57th.

Hey, Rodriguez!

All right, all right, I'm coming down there.

May 1 0th.

Thank God for the rain, which has washed away...

...the garbage and the trash off the sidewalks.

I'm working long hours now.

Six in the afternoon to 6 in the morning, sometimes even 8 in the morning.

Six days a week, sometimes seven days a week.

It's a long hustle, but it keeps me real busy.

I can take in $300, $350 a week.

Sometimes even more when l do it off the meter.

All the animals come out at night.

Whores, skunk-pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies.

Sick, venal.

Someday a real rain'll come and wash all this scum off the streets.

I go all over. l take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn. l take them to Harlem.

I don't care. Don't make no difference to me.

It does to some. Some won't even take spooks.

Don't make no difference to me.

Driver, 48th and 6th, please.

Man, you are gorgeous! Beautiful little girl.

I can't afford to get stopped anywhere.

Oh, no. We wouldn't want that to happen.

There'll be a big tip in it for you, you do the right things.

You got a way.

Yeah. Now you're talking!

Driver, hurry up, will you?

Each night when l return the cab...

...I have to clean the come off the back seat.

Some nights, l clean off the blood.

Can l help you?

Yeah, what's your name?

My name is Travis.

That's nice. What can I do for you?

I'd like to know what your name is. What's your name?

Give me a break.

Look, you can tell me what your name is. l'm not gonna do anything.

-Do you want me to call the manager? -You don't have to call the manager.

-Troy! -All right. Okay, l mean....

Okay. Can l have a Chuckles there?

And do you have any Jujubes? They last longer. I'd like to get some Jujubes.

What you see is what we got.

A Clark.

I'll take these.

Coca-Cola.

We don't have Coca-Cola. Royal Crown Cola is all we got.

A dollar eighty-five.

Twelve hours of work and l still can't sleep.

Damn.

The days go on and on. And they don't end.

All my life needed was a sense of some place to go.

I don't believe that one should devote his life to morbid self-attention.

I believe that someone should become a person like other people.

I first saw her at Palantine campaign headquarters at 63rd and Broadway.

She was wearing a white dress.

She appeared like an angel...

...out of this filthy mass.

She is alone.

They...

...cannot...

...touch...

...her.

Yes. Well, you delivered two boxes.

I think it's a total of 5000 campaign buttons.

Now, all the ones we had before and our slogan is:

"We are the people," and "are" is underlined.

These new buttons have "we" underlined.

That reads, "We are the people." Well, l think there's a difference.

"We are the people" is not the same as "We are the people."

Let's not fight.

Look, we'll make it real simple.

We don't pay for the buttons.

-We throw the buttons away, all right? -Tom, come here a minute.

What?

What is it?

If Andy okays this canvass report, send a copy to all headquarters.

I gotta get that New York Times article xeroxed.

-Don't forget the new photos. -l didn't forget.

We have to emphasise mandatory welfare. That's the issue to push.

First push the man, then the issue.

Senator Palantine is a dynamic man.

An intelligent, interesting, fresh, fascinating man.

You forgot sexy.

I did not forget sexy.

Listen to you. You sound like you're selling mouthwash.

We are selling mouthwash.

-Are we authorized to do that? -Very funny.

You can get in trouble selling pharmaceuticals in a campaign office.

My uncle's in jail because of that.

It's not really jail. Of course, living with his wife, anything would be jail.

Look over there.

I love you.

Notice anything?

-No. -Well, put your glasses on.

Okay, just a minute. All right.

That taxi driver's been staring at us.

What taxi driver?

That one, the one that's sitting there.

-How long has he been there? -l don't know. It feels like a long time.

-Does he bother you? -No.

You mean yes, and you're being sarcastic.

Oh, you're quick. You're really quick.

Well, l try to be real quick.

I'll play the male in this relationship--

Good luck.

--and tell him to move. And l don't need good luck. Thank you.

Oh, yes, you do. You just think you don't.

Say, you're blocking our doorway. You think you might move your cab?

You know, eye shadow, mascara...

...lipstick, rouge.

Not rouge. Blush-on, they call it.

-The kind with the brush. -Yeah, it's Blush-on.

Travis.

-Hey, Wiz. -That's Blush-on. My wife uses it.

Ask Travis. He's a ladies' man.

A cup of coffee, please.

Anyway, whatever the fuck it is, she uses a lot of it.

And then perfume. The spray kind.

Get this. ln the middle of the Triborough Bridge--

And this woman is beautiful. --she changes her pantyhose.

-No. -Oh, yeah.

-What'd you do? -l throw the meter, you know...

...and l jump in the back seat and whip it out. l said, "You know what this is?"

She says, "lt's love." I'm gonna fuck her brains out.

She goes wild and she said:

"That's the greatest single experience of my life."

Then she gave me a $200 tip and her phone number in Acapulco.

Travis, you know Doughboy, Charlie T.?

Hey, Travis. Got change for a nickel?

Doughboy'll do anything for a buck.

So how's it hanging?

What's that?

I turn on the radio. Some fleet driver from Bell just got all cut up.

Stickup?

No, he got cut up by some crazy fucker. Cut half his ear off.

-Where? -lt was at 122nd Street.

Fucking Mau Mau land.

You run all over town, don't you, Travis?

Travis?

Travis.

-You run all over town, don't you? -Yeah.

You handle some pretty rough customers, huh?

Yeah, l have.

-You carry a piece? -No.

-You need one? -No.

I know a fella who can get you a real nice deal.

There's lots of shit around.

I never use mine. I'm conservative, you know.

But it's a good thing to have just as a threat.

I'm gonna go dig my dirt.

Travis.

Look.

Piece of Errol Flynn's bathtub.

Dig the symbols.

F-4-0-5-4-3-4.

And the watermark.

There's one person...

...there's two persons...

...and there's three persons.

I got this at his estate, The Pines.

Why don't you take it, and if you can sell it...

-...you give me half of what you got. -l don't want to.

Hey, I'm gonna get in my cab and boogie.