Original subtitles

(plane humming)

(gentle instrumental music)

(people murmuring) (gentle instrumental music)

(children murmuring) (birds chirping)

(traffic humming) (birds chirping)

(woman speaks in foreign language)

(traffic humming) (birds chirping)

(gentle instrumental music) (people murmuring)

(man speaks in foreign language)

(bell ringing)

(man speaks in foreign language)

(people murmuring)

- Yaki!

- Dear girl!

What?

What are you doing here?

- What are you doing on a bicycle?

- Oh.

Well, I'm working, dear girl.

I'm doing my bit.

Well.

Uh, may I? - Yes, please do.

Here.

It's a bit cold.

- What news from Bucharest?

- The Germans have taken over, and Guy's still there.

- Ah.

Now, you mustn't fret, dear girl,

your old Yak'll find out what's what.

Yes, well, I'm working for the British Information Bureau.

Every day, they put out these news sheets

positively bulging with truth.

- Is there anything about Bucharest?

- Oh, I never read the stuff, I just deliver them.

Don't worry, dear girl,

Old Yak'll find out what he can.

- Yaki,

I never thought-- - Oh, I know.

You never thought you'd be pleased to see me.

(thudding)

(thudding) - Hmm?

(thudding)

(thudding)

- Yaki.

It's five o'clock in the morning.

(birds chirping)

(dramatic music)

Oh!

Guy.

Guy!

Guy!

(dramatic music)

Any news of Sasha?

- No.

Right.

- Where are you going?

- Report to the organization, let them know I'm here.

Find myself a job.

- I was hoping we could go to the Parthenon.

- [Guy] Look, the Parthenon's been there for 2,000 years.

It can wait until tomorrow or the day after.

- [Harriet] So could your job.

- [Guy] Now, the Director is a chap called Gracey.

- [Harriet] We might find him

behind the door marked "Director."

- [Guy] Ah, splendid.

- Good God!

Guy.

Harriet.

What are you doing here, you...

You wonderful people?

- Uh, an orderly retreat in the face of the advancing Hun.

- Oh. (bell ringing)

Well, come in!

Come in! (bell ringing)

- In there?

- Certainly.

Why not?

(bell ringing)

(people murmuring)

Look who's here!

(people murmuring)

- When can I see Mr. Gracey?

- [Toby] He's off sick.

Done something to his back.

- So, who's in control of the organization?

- Oh.

I suppose we are.

- [Guy] And how long have you been here?

- More or less since we came from Bucharest.

Mr. Gracey's two assistants let him down,

left him in the lurch, leaving us--

- [Harriet] A couple of useful vacancies?

- He was delighted to have us.

- He engaged the two of you,

and then he did something to his back?

- Well, regardless of the state of Mr. Gracey's back,

is there work for me here?

- Hmm.

- And did you have a look at Dubedat's mouth?

- Certainly not, he isn't a horse.

- [Harriet] He's had his teeth seen to.

And he's wearing a suit and a shirt and a tie.

- [Guy] Well, I thought you'd approve of that.

Good solid middle class values, like shirts and ties.

- That man has stolen your job.

- Yes, well, that proves he's become middle class,

doesn't it?

- What are we doing here?

- We're looking for Yakimov, he works here.

(man speaks in foreign language)

- Yes.

(both speak in foreign language)

- Yakimov? - This way.

Yes, darling.

Ah, Yaki.

- Oh!

Dear Pringles.

The mighty propaganda machine

of the British government at work.

- And what's the news?

- Well, the Italians are threatening

to declare war on Greece.

- Is that true?

- Afraid so.

Pity.

I like the Italians.

I like the Greeks.

- Well, if the Italians do invade,

how long can the Greeks last?

- Well, in there, they say about 10 days.

- 10 days?

- Apparently, the Greek army is equipped

with German and Italian rifles.

So, once the bullets are all used up,

there's a feeling the Germans

and the Italians won't want to sell them any more.

Bit tricky for the army.

- Hmm.

Now, Yaki, you told me your boss knows everybody

in Athens, yes?

- Oh, yes, my director, fountainhead

of wisdom and knowledge.

In there.

Come on.

- [Alan] Come in.

(dog whines)

- Oh, Diocletian.

Alan, this is Guy Pringle and Harriet Pringle,

my beloved friends and samaritans from Bucharest.

Alan Frewen, my honored

and respected employer. - How do you do?

- [Alan] Prince Yakimov's told me a great deal about you.

- Well, I must return to my machine.

- [Alan] Oh, please, sit down.

Well, as best you can.

- Darling. - Thank you.

- [Alan] Now, how can I help you?

- I need to speak to a man called Gracey.

- Our head of the English school?

- [Guy] Oh, you know him?

- He's a near neighbor of mine.

- How's his back?

- Oh, I see.

This time it's his back.

(dog barking)

(fly buzzing)

- This is beautiful.

- Yes.

I couldn't leave.

- What if the Italians march in?

- Well, I'll do the same as the Greek army.

I'll take to the hills.

Mr. Gracey's palace.

(birds chirping)

- Thank you, Orestes.

Would you ask cook to delay luncheon for 20 minutes?

- Yes, sir.

(servant speaks in foreign language)

- Oh, it's so nice to meet you, young people.

You must tell me all about your escape from Bucharest.

- Um, I flew out in an airplane and, a few days later,

Guy flew out in an airplane.

- Intrepid.

And you worked with Inchcape?

- Yes, when the war started, he ran the Information Bureau

and I took over the English department.

- Ah.

What precise part did Mr. Dubedat

and Mr. Lush play in all this?

- Dubedat was one of my assistants,

and Lush did a little part-time teaching.

- [Gracey] Why did you let them go?

- They let themselves go.

- Pringle, there is no hint of criticism

in what I am going to say, but it was reported to me

that there was a lack of seriousness

in your approach to your work in Bucharest.

- That's nonsense.

- Wasn't it a tiny, a very tiny bit frivolous

to mount a production of Troilus and Cressida

when the Germans were marching on Paris?

- I think the Germans would have continued

to march on Paris whatever I did.

- Hmm.

Well, at any rate, if you want work here,

I, as you can see, am totally incapacitated.

Be nice to Dubedat, that's your best plan.

- Oh, Mr. Gracey, there is no hint of criticism

in what I'm about to say,

but I do think you have a slightly distorted view

of what happened in Bucharest, and I wonder, with respect,

who reported to you about this?

Was it Dubedat?

- Of course not.

- I'm sorry, I didn't know you had company.

Pringle.

Mrs. Pringle.

- You know Professor Pinkrose?

He's staying with me.

(military band music)

- Ah.

(cheerful military band music) (crowd cheering)

They look like young Greek gods.

- [Guy] Well, young gods or old lads,

they're all cannon fodder, come on.

- You in a hurry?

- When Toby Lush invites us to lunch at Zonars,

promptness is a good policy.

It might never happen again.

- [Harriet] See, you can do it when you try.

(people murmuring)

- You, um...

You went to see Mr Gracey?

- Yes.

- What did you tell him about us?

- About you and Dubedat? - Yes.

- Um, simply that you'd both worked for me in Bucharest.

- You didn't go into any sort of detail about,

say, qualifications and so on?

- No. - Right.

- Perhaps you could explain what's worrying you

in case we see Mr. Gracey again?

We need to know what kind of detail we mustn't go into.

- Well, when we arrived here, we needed work.

- We know the feeling.

- We went to Gracey, told him what we'd done in Bucharest,

and we probably laid it on a bit thick.

- In what way?

- For example, we didn't actually say

we'd been to Cambridge, but we didn't actually deny it.

- [Harriet] Where did you go, Mr. Lush?

- Dubedat went to Reading, I think.

I didn't really go anywhere.

But suppose Mr. Gracey asks you directly?

- Well, I shall simply tell him

that I do not discuss my friends' affairs.

- You're a gentleman, sir.

And you didn't tell him we'd done a bolt from Bucharest?

- No, certainly not.

So, let's just drink up and forget all this nonsense.

- Oh, yeah.

(people murmuring)

(intense instrumental music)

- Judas trees.

You must see them in the spring.

- Is that when they flower?

- They flower for Easter.

- Where will we all be by next Easter?

- Well, I'll be here.

(birds chirping)

- [Harriet] I saw the troops in the street.

They looked like young gods.

- [Alan] Ah, yes.

"They are daring beyond their power.

"They risk beyond reason.

"And they never lose hope in suffering."

(dog barking)

- [Harriet] One of your translations?

- [Alan] Thucydides.

He wrote that 2,400 years ago.

- Yaki told me your office was short-staffed.

- That's because he hates working the duplicator.

He gets ink on his fingers.

- I don't mind ink on my fingers.

- Wonderful to have you aboard the ship, dear girl.

Lightens my darkness.

- Well, there's no shortage of darkness.

Greek army's almost used up all its bullets.

- Oh, dear me.

- [Harriet] Mm.

- I want you to be independent.

What I didn't like was

that you went behind my back to do it.

You didn't even tell me of your intentions.

- I tried.

You were in Holy Communion with Coleridge at the time.

(Greek traditional music)

(Harriet sighs)

I had to do something.

We were running up an enormous bill--

- And I am unable to maintain my wife

in the middle-class manner to which she's accustomed, yes.

(whistle blowing)

(sirens blaring)

- Anyway, you'll be all right soon.

(whistle blowing) You've got shows to organize.

A few hundred people around you.

(sirens blaring)

Your own empire.

- Yes, that's true enough.

And then the money will be regular again,

and you'll be able to give up your job.

- Give it up?

Whatever for?

- Well, I shall be working 24 hours a day.

I shall need you to look after me.

- You don't need a wife, you need a nanny.

(sirens blaring)

(typewriter rattling)

- There you go, miss.

- [Harriet] Thank you.

(typewriter rattling)

- Good morning, Patrick.

This way.

Harriet, Yakimov, I'd like you to meet Professor Pinkrose.

He's starting work here as Director of Propaganda

with the British government.

- We both know Professor Pinkrose.

- [Yakimov] Good to know you're doing your bit.

- Huh.

Huh.

Do you mean to say that this is the information office?

- Uh, yes.

- But it's a billiard room.

- It's a jolly good table, that one, too.

- We're not here to play billiards, we're here to wage war.

- And this is Charles Warden from army HQ.

- [Charles] Liaison officer.

- Prince Yakimov, Harriet Pringle.

- How do you do?

- Delighted to meet you both.

- Is there a telephone?

I need to complain.

- Yes, um, this way.

Um, if you'll excuse us.

(Harriet sighs)

- Oh, my God, are we going to have

to work with that silly old tit?

- Have you been to Athens before?

- In peacetime, yes.

I hope to find time to pay my respects to the Parthenon.

(intense instrumental music)

(gentle instrumental music) (birds chirping)

- Why is it so cheap?

- It belongs to some friends of Alan Frewen's

that are going back to England, running away.

- Yeah.

Everybody seems to think Athens will be

in enemy hands by Easter.

- We'd have a home of our own, three months, anyway.

- Yeah.

Dobson told me a rather amusing thing

about our flat in Bucharest.

Apparently, soon after I left,

it was destroyed by an earthquake.

- It was our first home.

- Yes, we were happy there.

Now it's a heap of dust.

A poet could work wonders with that.

I think this is absolutely splendid, darling.

I should check with the estate agent

about the incidence of earth tremors,

and then sign the lease.

- Don't you want to sign the lease?

- Oh, you're so much better at that sort of thing.

- I have a job, you know.

- You have a job, I have work.

(gentle piano music)

(Yakimov hums)

(typewriter rattling) (gentle piano music)

- What's happened?

- Oh, uh, we've been reorganized by Professor Pinkrose.

- Who are they?

- Hmm?

Oh, them.

They're both called Miss Twocurry.

One's Gladys and the other one's Mabel.

No one's quite sure which is which.

Friends of Pinkrose.

- Been thrown out of your office?

- Pinkrose insisted he needed a room of his own.

- Hmm.

Is he in there now?

- He's preparing a lecture on Byron.

(Harriet and Yakimov chuckle)

- He was supposed to give that lecture in Bucharest,

and everybody forgot about him. (chuckles)

- My personal view is that the Pinkrose lecture

will never be given by popular demand.

Self-centered, pompous old tit!

- Professor Pinkrose is a gentleman and a scholar.

(Harriet laughs)

- He can still be a pompous old tit.

It's practically a qualification, dear girl.

- Mrs. Pringle?

Will you have lunch with me?

- I'm not sure that's a good idea.

- I was hoping we might plan a visit to the Parthenon.

(gentle instrumental music)

- Still, please, still.

(camera clicking)

(Charles and Harriet laugh)

(gentle instrumental music)

- These are Judas trees.

They flower in time for Easter.

- You're well-informed.

- Alan Frewen told me.

(birds chirping)

Everywhere I go, I rely on the locals to tell me where I am.

- You married a stranger,

and ever since you've lived among strangers.

- Well, you're living among strangers.

- I know Athens very well.

I was reading classics when the war started.

- I've never studied anything.

But I can quote Thucydides.

"They are daring beyond their power

"and they risk beyond reason,

"and they never lose hope in suffering."

- It's a point of view.

- Not yours?

- A point of view is a luxury.

I simply do as I'm told.

(sirens blaring)

(man speaking in foreign language)

- Like everybody else.

(people speaking in foreign language)

- [Harriet] Do you think it's safe?

- [Charles] It's been here 2,500 years,

and I'm banking on it lasting a few more.

(people speaking in foreign language)

(cannons firing) (people murmuring)

- Are those bombs?

- Anti-aircraft guns.

(baby crying) (people murmuring)

(cannons firing)

(people murmuring) (cannons firing)

What's the matter?

(cannons firing)

- [Harriet] How are rehearsals?

- Yakimov is brilliant.

- [Harriet] Any chance we could invite some people over

for lunch one Sunday?

Show off our new home before it's bombed?

- Yes.

You invite anyone you like, darling.

- [Harriet] I need to know your movements.

- Oh, I see.

What, you'd like me to be here?

(Harriet sighs)

- This is our home, we're a married couple.

It's an ancient tradition.

- Yes.

Uh, the thing is, darling, I mean,

the show is in incredible demand.

I mean, everyone's demanding an encore

before we've even begun: the RAF, the Navy, the Australians.

Alan Frewen's helping me with a Greek version.

(sirens blaring)

- Ah.

(sirens blaring)

Aren't you frightened of dying?

- I'd be very angry if I died.

I've got all these shows to put on.

So I don't really think about it.

(cannons firing)

(truck engine whirring)

(man groans)

(people murmuring)

- I saw them when they first left.

They looked like young Greek gods.

- We all look like gods when we march into battle.

And we all look like that when we return.

I suppose the ones that return are the lucky ones.

(man groans)

(traffic humming)

We don't have much time, Harriet.

(whistle blowing)

(dog barking)

- Thank you.

Do you think I could persuade Professor Pinkrose

to recite Sam, Sam, Pick Up Thy Musket?

- No.

- No, neither do I.

(he chuckles)

I suppose you want to have an affair with Charles Warden?

- Don't be absurd.

- It might be the best thing to do.

- It isn't about that.

- What is it about?

- It's about being lonely.

- But you know lots of people.

- I want to know you.

(sirens blaring)

(cannons firing)

Leave us alone.

(dramatic music)

Everybody tells me what a wonderful person Guy is.

- Is he?

- I've never been able to find out.

He spends his life rehearsing.

- So I'm really quite convenient.

- [Harriet] No.

- [Charles] Inconvenient?

- [Harriet] Sometimes you're highly inconvenient.

- [Charles] But still, someone to keep you amused

while Guy's busy.

- More than that.

A friend.

(gentle instrumental music)

- A friend.

(gentle instrumental music)

- A particular friend.

A companion.

You know how it is, I have to think of Guy.

- To hell with Guy.

(dramatic music)

(gentle instrumental music)

I've had my orders.

- [Harriet] Are you going to disappear?

- [Charles] Yes.

- Are you allowed to tell me when?

- No, but tomorrow's our last day.

- I see.

- Come and have lunch at my hotel.

- Is there food at your hotel?

- No, but my room's at the hotel.

(typewriter rattling)

(Lord Pinkrose murmurs)

- What the devil are you doing with those swastikas?

- Well, I'm mounting them on the map

to illustrate the political situation.

For the benefit of our readers.

- Where does the Union Jack go?

- Well, here,

in Athens.

- [Lord Pinkrose] Do you draw any conclusions

from what you see?

- I'd say we're in a bit of a pickle.

(Harriet chuckles)

- Should we be telling our readers this?

- Well, that depends on how you feel

about telling the truth.

- [Harriet] We believe in it, don't we?

- Yeah, I'm hanging on to the old bicycle.

Pedal all the way to Cairo when the balloon goes up.

- I will not have defeatist talk in this office.

I trust arrangements are going ahead for my Byron lecture?

- Slowly but steadily.

(Harriet chuckles)

- Oh, have you done anything about his Byron lecture?

- I'm booking the Olympic Stadium.

(all laugh)

- It's none of my business,

but you should treat Lord Pinkrose with more respect.

- He's scared out of his wits.

- Chap's a quivering coward.

Spot him a mile off.

- You two should be ashamed of yourselves.

- Should we?

- A drunkard and an adulteress!

(dramatic music)

- Yes, well, I plead guilty, dear lady,

but there are extenuating circumstances.

Over-privileged childhood.

Can't speak for Harriet.

- Not guilty.

But probably insane.

Which reminds me...

(dramatic music)

- [Soldier] Left, left, left, right, left!

Left, left, left, right, left!

(gentle instrumental music)

- Sasha.

Sasha!

- What?

- It's Harriet.

- I know.

- Charles, this is Sasha.

Sasha Drucker, I told you about him.

Charles Warden.

Let's all go and have tea,

then we can catch up with our lives.

- The two of you must have a lot to talk about.

And I must get on with my packing.

Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Drucker.

(people murmuring)

- Thank you.

Were you ill-treated?

- No.

They made me sign a paper.

For the Swiss bank.

They said if I signed it, they'd let me go.

- You signed your money away?

And they let you go?

- Not immediately.

One day they came and let me out,

and took me over the border in a car.

My uncle was waiting.

He'd paid a lot of money for my release.

- Did you learn anything about your father?

- They said he was dead.

- I'm afraid that could be true.

- I hope it's true.

- When they questioned you,

did they say anything about me and Guy?

- They said, "Look what your English friends

"have done to you."

(dramatic music)

- You don't think we betrayed you?

- I no longer know what to think about anybody.

(dramatic music)

- [Soldier] Thank you, sir.

- German

troops

advancing

into

Salonika.

(motorbike engine roaring)

- [Harriet] Charles.

- Thank you, Sergeant.

- [Harriet] You're going?

- Obviously.

- But I may not see you again.

- It's too late, Harriet.

(engines roaring)

(cannons firing)

- Charles is gone.

- I'm sorry.

- Why should you be sorry?

- Because it makes you unhappy.

(dramatic music)

- I didn't mean to desert you.

- I know.

- You see,

Charles loved me.

(dramatic music)

- I love you.

- You love everyone.

- That doesn't mean I love you less.

- I think it does.

(cannons firing)

- I hate the war.

(dramatic music)

(cannons firing)

- Report

on

Guy

Pringle.

- What's that?

- In

our

opin...

- "Unsuited for organization work because he has dangerous,

"left-wing tendencies."

- How dare you touch that!

That's a confidential report!

- It's a pack of lies.

Did Pinkrose give you this?

- [Lord Pinkrose] Good morning, everybody.

- I've arranged a date for your lecture on Byron.

- What lecture on Byron?

- Yours.

- I can't possibly give a lecture on Byron

when the Germans are likely to march

into the city any minute.

- Could be a formidable last line of defense.

- I want to know what plans you've made for my evacuation.

- Well, the truth is none at all.

I haven't been asked.

- And I would like to know what right you have

to tell lies about my husband.

- Those are confidential notes.

- The organization does not permit confidential reports.

If you write a report on Guy's work,

you're required to show it to him,

he's supposed to sign it!

- Required?

Required, I am the director!

I'm not required to do anything!

- I'm taking these for Guy to read.

- I insist you return those notes to me.

- [Harriet] No!

- Do you defy me? - Yes!

- Sauce!

- Well-played, dear girl.

- [Lord Pinkrose] Consider yourself dismissed, Mrs. Pringle.

- So, uh, do I take it, Professor Pinkrose,

that you don't intend to give a lecture on Byron?

- No one has a greater love and admiration

for the works of Lord Byron than I, but--

- If you love him so much,

why don't you go to Missolonghi and die?!

(phone ringing)

- [Man] Telephone is ringing, sir.

- Right, I'll take it.

(phone ringing)

Hello?

Ah, Guy, you got my message, yes.

It's Corinthian Hotel, one suitcase each.

What?

I've no idea what happens next.

Bye.

(people murmuring)

Ah.

Have you seen Mr. and Mrs. Pringle?

- Over there.

Prince Yakimov found the bar.

- Thank you.

Dobson of the Legation. - Yes, sir.

(people murmuring)

- [Yakimov] Oh, what news from the battlefield, dear boy?

- [Dobson] We've been ordered to leave within 24 hours.

- [Guy] So where do we go and how?

- They're trying to find the ship

that hasn't been destroyed.

(sirens blaring)

Thank you.

(sirens blaring)

- I, uh...

I might, uh, get a lift to India.

Very dear friend of mine, India,

Maharajah, as a matter of fact.

He once suggested I should go out there

and look after his elephants.

(cannons firing)

- I hate the blackout.

(cannons firing)

- Alone in the darkness with the sounds of battle.

- I once camped overnight on the battlefield at Marathon,

and I was woken up by the sounds of battle.

Swords striking against shields.

- Where's your suitcase?

(cannons firing)

- I told you, I shall take to the hills.

- More to the point, where are Pinkrose, Lush and Dubedat?

- Probably been wafted to Cairo

on a current of their own hot air.

(all laugh)

- Ah.

I think I'll take a turn on the terrace.

- [Alan] There's an air raid on.

- Oh, dear boy, do I look like a military objective?

(cannons firing)

(people murmuring) (cannons firing)

(Alan sighs)

Do you...

Do you hear it?

The sound of swords and shields?

(cannons firing)

- I hear it all the time.

(cannons firing)

(soldier speaks in foreign language)

- What's troubling the poor fellow?

- Put the light out. - What?

(soldier speaks in foreign language)

- What?

- [Alan] Put it out or he'll fire.

- A chap's entitled to a smoke.

(gun firing)

God.

(cannons firing)

Dear boy.

(people murmuring)

- I think he's dead.

(dramatic music)

Is he wearing his coat?

- Yes, he's wearing his coat.

- Thank you.

(dramatic music)

- [Soldier] Right, left!

(Priest speaking in foreign language)

(birds chirping)

- [Dobson] That's it.

Shall we go?

- [Guy] What is this?

- [Dobson] It's a fish lorry.

- Another of your friends?

- Yes.

- Ugh.

(fly buzzing)

- Did we order fish?

(all laugh)

(cannons firing)

(soldiers shouting) (cannons firing)

(planes humming) (bombs exploding)

(soldier shouts)

- [Soldier] Left, right, left, right, left, right,

left, right, left, right.

(engines whirring)

- [Man] You're going the wrong bloody way!

(Harriet screams)

(people shouting)

(ship horn blares)

(man speaks in foreign language)

(dramatic music)

(water purling)

- Why is everyone so quiet?

- Submarine.

(water purling)

- What are you reading?

- John Donne.

(water purling)

- You're wonderful.

- Everybody's wonderful.

"Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

"Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

"For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

"Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

"From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

"Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

"And soonest our best men with thee do go,

"Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

"Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

"And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

"And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

"And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

"One short sleep past, we wake eternally

"And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die."

(birds chirping)

(water purling)

(ship horn blares)

(dramatic instrumental music)