A family disembarked (later identified as the Hammens, with son Joey) at the curb.A taxi driver, later identified as Ted Striker (Robert Hays), haphazardly pulled onto the terminal""s curb and ran into the building, as he told his next passenger fare (Howard Jarvis, known in California politics for limiting spending - specifically, lowering California""s property taxes by supporting the notorious Proposition 13) who sat in the taxi""s back seat: "I""ll be back in a minute" - the meter was set to run as he abandoned his cab.The urban-jazzy, sometimes discordant score by Elmer Bernstein (and Chico Hamilton""s jazz Quintet) enhances the swanky, pungent underworld maelstrom of nightclubs and restaurants (the 21, the Elysian, Toots Shor""s), the theatre district, brutish cops, cheap offices, crowded sidewalks, and dead-end alleys.A black cat enters and interrupts the attempt on Poelzig""s life, paralyzing cat-phobic Werdegast with fear a second time.Musical excerpts from three of Italian composer Pietro Mascagni""s melancholic operas intensify the surrealistic images.