D.O.A. (1988)

Daniel Stern: Hal Petersham

Photos 

Quotes 

• Hal Petersham : [after being called by Dex, Hal steps into his office, after Dex trashes it]  Dex? Hey, Dex?

  [Dex doesn't respond, so Hal walks closer toward him] 

  Hal Petersham : Dex?

  [Dex turns towards Hal] 

  Hal Petersham : Hey. Hey, buddy. You don't look so good.

  Dexter Cornell : Well, I feel good. I'm alive. Hell, you know, you're, uh... never more alive than when you're on the edge of death. Can't you feel it, Hal?

  Hal Petersham : I don't feel anything.

  Dexter Cornell : [picks up his blue mug]  One for the road? Merry Christmas.

  [turns it over to show Hal what's inside] 

  Hal Petersham : [surprised]  No.

  Dexter Cornell : Why?

  Hal Petersham : Why what?

  Dexter Cornell : Why did you kill me?

  Hal Petersham : What are you talkin' about?

  Dexter Cornell : [gets up and slaps Hal in the face]  Where did you get the poison?

  Hal Petersham : [turns his head around]  I stole it from the Med Center the night I was there with Elaine. Planned a little 'hi-ho silver.' She had an emergency call. She left the keys.

  Dexter Cornell : Why, goddamn it?

  Hal Petersham : Out of Whack.

  Dexter Cornell : What?

  Hal Petersham : One minute after I give you the damn scotch, you tell me you didn't read it.

  Dexter Cornell : Read what?

  Hal Petersham : 'Out of Whack.' Nick Lang's novel? Well, I'm gonna pass it off as my own. I have to, man. It's fuckin' brilliant. In my book...

  [chuckles] 

  Hal Petersham : ... my book... Well, everything about it that was good you helped me with. I was in here last week trying to work on it. I see Nick Lang's book sittin' on your desk. So, I pick it up, figure I'd get a few laughs about how full of shit this kid is. I guess I knew what I was gonna do before I even got to the last page.

  [Dex starts laughing] 

  Hal Petersham : What's so funny?

  [Dex continues laughing] 

  Hal Petersham : What's so funny?

  Dexter Cornell : That's what all this is about? Some kid's lousy homework?

  Hal Petersham : No, I just finished telling you. It's not lousy. It's one of the best damn books I ever read. That's why I had to do it. Not that I was sure I could. I mean, Lang was easy. Smug little shit, light as a feather. Just up and over and bon voyage. But you, in the john the other day, I wasn't worried about any damn promotion.

  Dexter Cornell : Why Gail? She had nothing to do with this. Why did you have to kill her?

  Hal Petersham : No. That-That was your fault. That was your fault. I got all the copies out of Lang's apartment. I put your copy in the damn garbage. You picked it up, you put it in your damn briefcase.

  Dexter Cornell : And left it at Gail's.

  Hal Petersham : I guess so. I saw it there when Elaine and I took her home the other night.

  Dexter Cornell : So, you burn it. She tried to stop you. You bludgeoned her, freshened up, then went out for a night on the theater with a nail gun.

  Hal Petersham : I thought she found something out. Don't you see? I had to make sure that nobody knew so that it can be mine. So that everybody knows that that book is mine!

  Dexter Cornell : That was worth somebody's life?

  Hal Petersham : Yeah. My life. Why should that kid have all the breaks and not me? Jesus, Dex. He was fuckin' your wife, for Christ sakes. You should be glad that I killed him.

  Dexter Cornell : So, who you gonna kill for your second novel?

  Hal Petersham : All I need is just that one bullshit break. After this book comes out, I can publish any damn thing I want, and you can bet that I'm not gonna rest on my laurels like you did.

  Dexter Cornell : Well, at least they were my laurels.

  Hal Petersham : Why does it come so easy to guys like you? Big Dex, you just cruise in here and help out poor little Hal on his outline, and then you waltz out of here. You don't have a fuckin' clue how hard it is for me, how much I struggled! I'm gonna have my shot! I'm gonna know what it feels like!

  Dexter Cornell : No, you'll never know. That feeling doesn't come from money. It doesn't come from fame. It comes from doing the work, Hal. From realizing a vision. You think you can steal somebody else's passion? All you got was paper and ink.

  Hal Petersham : Passion? Man, where do you get off lecturing me about passion? You lost it!

  Dexter Cornell : No, I got it back these last two days. I had it.

  Hal Petersham : You had it, all right. You had it, and you pissed it away. Man, Dex, you had a talent. You had a talent others would...

  Dexter Cornell : [pulls out a gun]  Kill for?

  Hal Petersham : Yeah, that's right. Kill for. Isn't that what it's all about? Publish or perish?

  Dexter Cornell : [Hal knocks the gun out of Dex's hand and a brief fight breaks out between the two. Some kicks and punches are thrown; Hal tries to force Dex's head into a fan, but Dex kicks him away. Hal then picks up a typewriter just as Dex picks up and loads the gun]  Perish.

  [shoots Hal and falls out of his office window] 

• Dexter Cornell : So, who are you going to kill for your next novel?

  Hal Petersham : All I need is this one break; after that, I can write anything I want. And you can bet that I won't sit on my laurels like you did!

  Dexter Cornell : Well, at least they *were* my laurels.

• Hal Petersham : You had it... You had it... and you pissed it away... goddamit Dex... you had a talent... You had a talent that other people...

  Dexter Cornell : [pulls a gun on Hal]  ... kill for?

  [last lines] 

  Hal Petersham : Yeah that's right kill for... isn't that what it's all about? Publish or Perish?

  Dexter Cornell : [as he fires his gun]  Perish