Who fires up awful tight, boy?

Question

From the dialogue of an old movie.Context:1948, New York, the death corridor of the Sing Sing Penitentiary. The priest is speaking with Tom, one of the prisoners. Soon they both begin to pray. Tom is going to be executed in fifteen minutes in the electric chair. The convict who is in the cell next to Tom's says "who fires up awful tight, boy?" seemingly talking to himself. Nobody answers him. The guards come and take Tom to the execution room.What does he mean? Is it good grammar? At first I thought he meant something like "who wouldn't lose his temper completely, boy?" but I am not sure of it. Notice that this convict is uneducated and uses a lot of N Y slang.

GPY · Accepted Answer

Please post a clip if you can. I think a good few of these questions have eventually been resolved as misheard dialogue.

Gamboler · Answer

Thanks, GPY. You are right.
This is the audio you asked for:
jumpshare.com/v/OfQOEtNkwi07JjcVl2hl (please, add https:// before)

Anonymous · Answer

In the context of an electric chair, the verb "fire" would typically refer to the lethal jolt of electricity that it delivers to a condemned man.  The sentence doesn't seem to make complete sense, but this is prison talk, much of it often incomprehensible, especially by prisoners on death row (not "death corridor").  The speaker will be getting his own "fire" in the near future.  Maybe he's saying something like:  "Who fires up awful tight [that is, "real strong"], boy?  Why, our beloved electric chair does, heh heh."

GPY · Answer

gambolerThanks, GPY. You are right.This is the audio you asked for:jumpshare.com/v/OfQOEtNkwi07JjcVl2hl (please, add https:// before)

I'm afraid I can't be sure what he says. It could be what you wrote, in which case I don't really understand what it means, or it could be something slightly different.

SoSaysSunny · Answer

I agree with GPY -- I have no idea what the sentence means.

After your story description, awful tight made me think of the tension the prisoner must be feeling. I'm just guessing.

Gamboler · Answer

Thaks GPY and SoSaysSunny.

For more context, I paste here the previous dialogue:

Priest; You sent for me, Tom?
Tom: Yeah, yes, it's about time, father.
Priest: Sit down, Tom.
Tom: I guess seeing you seems make it all not so scared.
Priest: Take my hand, Tom. Repeat after me.The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
Tom: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
Priest: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.
Tom: He leadeth me beside the still waters...
Inmate #4: [............] (this is the sentence that we can't make out)
Guard #1: Okay, Tom, Come with us.
Cut

NOTE: This one is the only sentence that Inmate #4 says in all the movie.

SoSaysSunny · Answer

I've listened to the clip over and over. I have no idea what it says.

Honestly, almost every movie I see has a line that is garbled and indecipherable -- and I'm a native speaker.

If you are absolutely determined to find the answer:

1) Search for the movie on IMDb. (Internet Movie Database, imdb.com )

Each movie has a discussion board. Maybe someone had the same question and found an answer.

2) Search for the script online. (Google?)

Some movie scripts are available.

SoSaysSunny · Answer

If I hadn't heard the clip I would have guessed:

**** fires up high, boy? (fear of **** increasing)

Gamboler · Answer

Thanks SoSaysSunny. I have the book on which the movie is based. It doesn't contain this dialogue.(Cornell Woolrich's "I wouldn't be in your shoes")
The script, as far as I know, is not available. You know that hundreds of them are lost, The movie doesn't have closed captions in any language.
I recently put a short question on the Imdb message board. No answers till now.

Who fires up awful tight, boy?

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