'A passover of narcotics goes wrong. A migrant couple run into a hundred thousand dollars worth of trouble. What's money to God. Anyway?' [sic]
Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).
The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):
'MARIO FABRIZZI: Italian. Mid thirties. Or late thirties. Similar type to Tony (accent not essential but mannerisms yes.), but looking different. He was a Flamenco dancer and busted his gut one day when he got carried away with the stomping. Since then he has occasional brick-laying jobs, but even that stopped because he claims the crowbar is too heavy for his hernia. A bit of a bludger. A charmer. A good Catholic.
'ANGELA FABRIZZI: Italian. A bit younger than Mario. A Saint. Patient and understanding and loving, no matter what. Also a good Catholic, but keeps her feet on the ground. When we first find them, they're in a desperate situation. No job, no money for a long time. This should show in their attitude, expression, clothes. Accent not essential, but mannerisms, yes.
'FRED JONES: Little, inoffensive, likeable man, in suit and tie. Looking like any nine to five civil service man. An "honest" crook. A specialist. Late fifties. This would be his last job "because he can't cope any more. He's getting old."
'McNAMARA: McNamara has two images: one, when he's doing his part-time work (big scale pusher), then he looks like a "family man doing his weekend shopping while the wife minds the kids". The other image is an impeccable, smart, classy, businessman. Big, honest business. And dressed accordingly. Subdued class, a nice soft pleasant voice. Always like that. Never ironic or sarcastic but for real. A lot of violence under his cool, polite grin. McNamara is violent to inanimate objects (as well as people), and this sort of cruelty is as terrifying as the ordinary basher, or maybe more. Thirties or forties.
'JIM: About thirty. A tough crook since he was ten. A lot of latent danger in Jim's forced co-operation.
'STEVE: Another young crook. Man of many talents - Car lifter, fizz and many more. Anything for a quick buck. Must be reasonably tall and strong for contrast with little skinny old Fred.
'EDDIE: Late forties. Smartly dressed in a suit about four sizes too big. Flogs fake gold watches without a licence. Not enough guts to steal openly. Not bad as an informer and this is his main source of income.
'CHARLIE: Fifties. Friendly taxi driver who acts as an informer (only for Ryan, not a regular).
'ABDUL: Preferably Oriental or olive-skinned, but not essential. Flashy, almost distinguished man. Smokes gold-tipped cigarettes. Wears big rings. If we could we would smell a strong, incense-cinammon scented after-shave on Abdul. Thirties.
'TWO C.I. MEN:
'UNIFORMED COP'.
