single someone out
Me? Why pick on me?Double Indemnity · 1944 — 第 12 / 21 章 · 4'19" · C1
Keyes Offers Neff the Claims Job, Explained：shaking like a leaf
Keyes tries to recruit Neff as a claims investigator, selling the desk as an operating table and the work as "the hottest job in the business." Neff refuses. Then the phone rings—someone with urgent news about a man leaving on a train—and the offer slips away.
あらすじ
Keyes walks into Neff's office to report the sales records: Neff is high man for the second time. But Keyes has an ulterior motive. He wants Neff to leave the sales floor and become a claims investigator, arguing the job is the best in the business. Neff turns him down—until a phone call interrupts them.
注目の表現
a backslappertoo good to be a salesmanan operating tablecall you back
00:00 / 04:19Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
shaking like a leaf
trembling with fear
At the end of the call Margie admits she is shaking like a leaf, and the fear under the plan shows.
Before the results came out I was shaking like a leaf.
このシーンの他の表現
- a backslapper
a back-slapping type
- too good to be a salesman
too good for the salesman's lot, said as a dig
- an operating table
the desk recast as an operating table
- call you back
phone you later
- make it snappy
hurry it up
このシーンのメモ一覧
90 行のセリフに 31 件のメモ
too good for a role
You're too good to be a salesman.nonsense, bah — an old-fashioned snort of dismissal, now mostly playful
Nobody's too good to be a salesman. Phooey!hand out, deliver
All you guys do is just ring doorbells and dish out a smooth line of monkey talk.the most sought-after job around
It's the hottest job in the business.stuck behind a desk
I don't want to be nailed to a desk. Desk job?in my view
Well, that's not the way I look at it, Walter.full of, loaded with
They're alive. They're packed with drama...warped ambitions
with twisted hopes and crooked dreams.the police, a policeman — informal for a police officer; formal writing says police
A claims man is a doctor and a bloodhound and a cop and a judge and a jury...rolled into one
and a father confessor, all in one.prepositional phrase: With marks the tool or faculty you work by, so with your brains means by using your mind.
You don't want to work with your brains?a woman, a gal — dated slang for a woman; dismissive, so avoid it today
for a few bucks more a week. There's a dame on your phone.dollars — casual US slang for dollars; fine among friends
for a few bucks more a week. There's a dame on your phone.phone you later
With Keyes standing right there, Walter asks to call Margie back later and get the call out of the room.
Yes, I am. Can't I call you back, Margie?cannot be delayed
No, you can't. I've only got a minute. It can't wait.Stress falls on can't here, which is what makes it cannot wait.
No, you can't. I've only got a minute. It can't wait.hurry it up
Margie rushes the coded instructions over the phone and tells Walter to make it snappy.
Only, make it snappy, will you? He's on crutches.The t in make it is often dropped, so it sounds like may-kit.
Only, make it snappy, will you? He's on crutches.if-clause: If sets the condition the doctor attaches to letting him travel.
The doctor says he can go if he's careful. The change will do him good.the same dim street
It's still the same dark street, isn't it?three beeps as a signal
And the signal is three honks on the horn. Okay. Anything else?Honks on links as honk-son, so the words run together.
And the signal is three honks on the horn. Okay. Anything else?trembling with fear
At the end of the call Margie admits she is shaking like a leaf, and the fear under the plan shows.
This is it, Walter. I'm shaking like a leaf.no turning back
But it's straight down the line for both of us.put down roots
Why don't you settle down and get married, Walter?his gut instinct
And then suddenly that little man in here started working on me.on the maternal side
There was a manic depressive in her family, on her mother's side.the remaining ones
but because I thought you were a shade less dumb than the rest of the outfit.just a bit less foolish
When Walter turns the job down, Keyes tells him he was picked for being a shade less dumb than the rest.
but because I thought you were a shade less dumb than the rest of the outfit.comparative clause: The comparative plus than compares him with the whole outfit and softens the insult.
but because I thought you were a shade less dumb than the rest of the outfit.「Keyes Offers Neff the Claims Job」を読み解く
What's really going on
The claims job is Keyes's attempt to claim Neff for himself, and his pitch is a small masterpiece of flattery and needling. He calls the desk a surgeon's operating table and the papers "alive... packed with drama, with twisted hopes and crooked dreams," then undercuts Neff's pride in selling—"You're too good to be a salesman." When Neff resists, Keyes turns the compliment into a dig: he picked Neff not because he was smart but because he seemed "a shade less dumb than the rest of the outfit." The phone call splits the scene in two. While Keyes talks about a life of careful investigation, the person on the line is setting up the crime Neff will investigate from the inside. Neff refuses the desk job and keeps the dangerous one.
Theme
AmbitionKeyes dangles the best job in the business, and Neff weighs a safe career against the crime he's already entering.
DutyKeyes describes claims work as a calling—doctor, judge, father confessor—while Neff walks away from it.
このチャプターで学べること
- A backslapper works the room with his hands.
- Make it snappy is hurry up with an edge.
- Shaking like a leaf turns fear into a picture.
- Straight down the line means no turning back.
発音のポイント
- can't wait — Stress falls on can't here, which is what makes it cannot wait.
- make it — The t in make it is often dropped, so it sounds like may-kit.
- honks on — Honks on links as honk-son, so the words run together.
This is it, Walter. I'm shaking like a leaf.The caller's line as the plan goes live: fear and excitement at once, the body shaking before the act.
A claims man is a doctor and a bloodhound and a cop and a judge and a jury...Keyes's whole case for the job in one breath: the claims man is detective, judge, and priest rolled together, judging other people's disasters.
But it's straight down the line for both of us.The pact's closing note: whatever happens, they are committed together, with no way back.
All you guys do is just ring doorbells and dish out a smooth line of monkey talk.Keyes's insult at salesmen: all they do is ring bells and spin smooth talk, which is exactly the pride Neff defends.
このシーンについての質問
Why does Keyes want Neff for the claims job?
Neff just topped the sales records for the second straight time, but Keyes is after something else. He says he chose Neff because he thought he was a shade less dumb than the rest, and because the work needs brains and integrity.
Why does Neff turn down the job?
He doesn't want to be nailed to a desk. To Keyes the desk is an operating table, but to Neff it's just papers to shuffle and pencils to sharpen. He'd rather stay a salesman than trade the street for paperwork.
Who is the woman on the phone?
Neff calls her Margie and hides the call from Keyes, but the news she gives—about a man leaving on the train, on crutches—is about the Dietrichson case. She is the woman Neff is secretly involved with, and the call sets the crime in motion.
What does Keyes's last line mean?
After Neff refuses, Keyes says he isn't smarter than the others—just a little taller. It's a joke that lands as a rebuke: the height was never the point, and Keyes is letting him know he misjudged him.
深夜の告白 · 全 21 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 13 章back inWalter Builds His Alibi
第 1 章for my moneyWalter Meets Phyllis
第 2 章a honey of aNeff Flirts With Phyllis
第 3 章tie knots in one's stomachKeyes Busts Garlopis's Fake Claim
第 4 章worried sickPhyllis Pitches Accident Insurance
第 5 章knock someone offPhyllis Proposes Killing Her Husband
第 6 章a red-hot pokerPhyllis Returns in the Rain
第 7 章get ideasPhyllis Tells Walter Her Story
第 8 章crook the houseNeff's Roulette Wheel Speech
第 9 章at a crackNeff Fools Dietrichson Into Signing
第 10 章take it or leave itWalter Drives Lola to Nino
第 11 章accidentally on purposeWalter Meets Phyllis at the Market
再生中 · 第 12 章shaking like a leafKeyes Offers Neff the Claims Job
第 13 章back inWalter Builds His Alibi
第 14 章got the ballNorton Says It Wasn't an Accident
第 15 章a leg to stand onNorton Questions the Widow
第 16 章through the wringerKeyes Suspects the Beneficiary
第 17 章gets his teeth intoLola Tells Neff About the Nurse
第 18 章like a hawkKeyes Explains the Dietrichson Murder
第 19 章come apart at the seamsKeyes Exposes the Impersonation
第 20 章hang on to your hatKeyes Blames the Wrong Man
第 21 章brushed offWalter Confronts Phyllis第 12 / 21 章 · 残り約 32 分