Film Noir Catfight

Vivien North, a sultry, 35-year old brunette femme fatale, is at a remote hideaway, about to escape with a fortune in stolen jewels. She's the mistress of a notorious crime boss, has a lengthy rap sheet, and outstanding warrants for blackmail, theft, and accessory to murder - the latter a consequence of her involvement with her lover's organized crime empire.

Realizing the net is closing in, and that it's a life sentence if she's arrested, she's decided to get out for good. She's plotted it meticulously, having created a watertight fake identity under a different name, and is set to get away to her new life of riches and luxury.

40-year-old Jane Nelson is a tenacious blonde private detective, currently employed by a high-end jewelry store that's been the victim of some robberies where it looked like the criminals had inside information. The owner had become frustrated with the police's lack of progress, and had hired the feisty PI.

Jane had quizzed the store's employees and soon became suspicious of Vivien, who worked as a secretary in the store's office. Further investigations uncovered the fact that her resume was forged. Jane had been secretly following Vivien and discovered that she'd given her notice and was about to leave town for good, her final destination unknown.

Jane called the detectives working the case, but they were skeptical, as they'd wrongly convinced themselves that the owner was behind the robberies, for insurance purposes. The cops finally agree to check out Jane's story, but tell her to wait, as they won't be able to get to Vivien's remote location for another hour.

But the determined, independent-minded blonde isn't taking any chances that her quarry will slip away, and because she's much closer, she goes to Vivien's remote house herself - just in time, it turns out: the brunette bad girl has the front door open and her car is in the driveway, engine running and door open. She's in the front room, about to close the casket of stolen jewels, on the point of slipping away for good.

Jane rushes through the open door. Startled by her sudden, last-moment arrival, and recognizing the interfering blonde private investigator from her earlier snooping, the panicking brunette crook fumbles in her purse and pulls out her automatic pistol. With her record and warrants, she knows that she'll be facing life in prison with no chance of parole if she's arrested.

Reacting to the danger, the feisty blonde PI rushes forward and grabs Vivien's wrist, forcing her arm up as she fires, shots hitting the ceiling. The two women struggle desperately for possession of the gun, Vivien still firing, but the shots hitting the walls and ceiling, going wide as Jane keeps Vivien's wrist held hard and tight in her hand, the brunette femme fatale screaming in rage, panic and frustration.

As they stagger unsteadily around the room in their high-heeled shoes, struggling over the gun, their legs tangle and they fall heavily, Vivien losing her grip on the gun, which slides away across the wood floor.

The two women fight furiously and desperately, Jane fighting for her life, Vivien knowing it's a life of riches and luxury if she gets away, a life sentence in a brutal women's prison if she can't escape.

They roll over and over on the wood floor, hitting, slapping, scratching, kicking, spitting, biting and pulling hair. Vivien makes another desperate lunge for her gun, but Jane grabs her from behind, pulling the screaming girl crook back at the very last moment, just as Vivien's hand was closing on her gun, fingertips brushing the weapon.

As the two women roll over and over on the floor, their shapely legs tangle and kick, stockings hissing and swishing as they roll. Each woman loses a high heeled shoe as they continue to roll over and over.

They struggle wildly, gasping with effort, alongside the casket of stolen jewels, which has fallen to the floor and opened, spilling its priceless contents beside the struggling women. The foul-mouthed bad girl screams abuse at her blonde opponent and the two women claw at each other wildly, raking each other with their nails, leaving scratch marks on exposed flesh.

Vivien catches Jane with a hard blow, stunning her momentarily. Sobbing with rage, her face a mask of hate, she crawls towards her gun, her hand closing on it. But stupidly and greedily, Vivien pauses to scoop up a priceless pearl necklace that snapped earlier, as the two women rolled over it.

Realizing the danger, but seeing Vivien pause for a moment to grab the necklace, Jane throws herself desperately at the girl crook, powering into her, tackling her down onto her back, and scrambling astride her, straddling her and pinning her down.

Vivien bucks and kicks wildly, her shapely stockinged legs waving and kicking helplessly, her yellow slip dress hiked up round her waist. Her other high heeled shoe flies off as she kicks. Her eyes are wide in panic but she still has the gun in her left hand and raises it, determined to shoot Jane at point blank range.

Jane reacts instinctively: she grabs Vivien's wrist and twists savagely, causing the screaming girl crook to lose her grip on the weapon, which falls to the floor. Vivien kicks her legs, stockinged feet slipping uselessly on the wood floor, her eyes wide in panic, but Jane has drawn back her other arm and balled her fist, and even as Vivien raises her head off the floor, Jane unleashes a savage punch.

Vivien's head snaps back sharply and her eyes roll back, as she's knocked out, flat on her back, out cold, her limp body pinned under the exhausted-but-triumphant blonde PI.

Too exhausted to get up, and fearing she'd collapse across her unconscious foe if she tried, the victorious blonde PI continues to sit astride the defeated brunette thief, breathing hard, heart pounding from the mix of exertion and adrenaline, knowing she came within seconds of death at the hands of the evil brunette.

Her black slip dress is torn and one of the shoulder straps has slipped off, partially exposing one of her breasts. One of her high heeled shoes is still on, but the other is on the floor, alongside Vivien's. Jane pins Vivien's wrists hard and tight in her hands for good measure, on the floor above the bad girl's head, even though Vivien is still out cold and clearly not going anywhere.

Jane continues to keep Vivien firmly straddled and pinned, staring down at her defeated and unconscious foe, her facial expression a mix of contempt and triumph. After a few minutes, she hears the siren of a police car in the distance, getting louder as it approaches, then stopping as the police arrive.

A few moments later, two cops burst in, looking with astonishment at the scene in front of them: the feisty blonde PI has the wanted brunette crook straddled and pinned under her, utterly defeated, still out cold.

All around them, scattered on the floor, is the evidence of the desperate life-or-death struggle: overturned furniture, Vivien's gun, the overturned casket and the fortune in jewels, and three high heeled shoes - two on their side, one upside down.

Jane calmly explains the situation to the astonished cops and tells them that if Vivien's scheme had gone according to plan, she'd be long gone, with a fortune in stolen jewels. But thanks to Jane, instead of heading off for a life of riches and luxury, Vivien is flat on her back on the wood floor, out cold, straddled and pinned, her wrists pinned on the floor above her head, sweaty, scratched, bruised, hair and make-up ruined, her slip dress torn, her high heeled shoes on the floor halfway across the room.

After taking her statement for several minutes, the cops finally tell Jane she can get off Vivien, and she gets up slowly, unsteady on her feet, stumbling, kicking off her remaining high heeled shoe and then placing a stockinged foot on the defeated brunette's stomach to steady herself, before stepping away.

One of the cops hauls the unconscious brunette roughly to her feet but she's still out cold, eyes rolled back, so he contemptuously slings her over his shoulder. Vivien's limp body is light in his strong grip, her ass in the air, her head down, arms swinging limply. He has one arm wrapped around her thighs, her slip dress round her waist, stocking tops on display.

Vivien slowly regains consciousness as she's carried out of the house and toward the police car, helpless over the cop's shoulder. Dazed and confused at first, the memories of her desperate catfight with Jane suddenly come flooding back, and her expression is a look of utter despair.

As she's carried towards the car, she looks back and sees Jane in the doorway of the house, smiling and laughing with the other cop. As the now semi-conscious Vivien is carried to the car, the cop reads her her rights, puts her down roughly and handcuffs her hands behind her back, the cold metal digging into her slender wrists, making her wince in pain. She's bundled into the back of the car, sobbing hysterically with rage and humiliation.

In a final humiliation, after the two cops get in the front, Jane gets in the back and sits beside the defeated Vivien, whose body is shaking with sobs of rage and frustration at having been caught by the interfering blonde PI just seconds before she was about to leave for good.

Despite having had the gun, Jane had disarmed, overpowered, pinned and KOed her. Vivien is sobbing her heart out, head down, utterly defeated. Jane turns to her slowly, looks her in the eyes and smiles.

"Gotcha," the blonde PI says triumphantly, as they drive away.

Sobbing hysterically, Vivien knows Jane hasn't just defeated her, she's destroyed her.

Unable to meet the blonde's stare, Vivien looks away and down, her body shaking with sobs, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realizes her life of Champagne, caviar, cocktails and rich boyfriends is gone forever, and the brutality of a women's prison is the only thing ahead of her.