All language subtitles for Life Story (1987)

[Ominous music]

♪♪

[birds cawing]

[Crickets chirping]

♪♪

[juicy ripping]

How'd you like your only brother
to be famous?

Famous for what?
Does it matter?

Okay.

Then you have to be nice
to Maurice Wilkins.

Who's Maurice Wilkins?

(Jim)
Funny hat, white arms.

Guy with the glasses.
Got him? Hmm?

(Elizabeth)
Hmm.

English.
Working on DNA.

So I'm nice
to Maurice Wilkins.

Then what?
He gets to like you.

He gets to like me.
I get to work on DNA.

I get to be famous.

I'll hang out
with all his rich friends.

You marry one of them.

I can't wait.

Listen.

You look like Mom,
kind of.

Your children, right,
are gonna look like you.

Has to be something
that knows,

something that doesn't die
when you die,

your piece
of immortality, right?

It has to be
in every living cell.

It has to be proteins,
or it has to be nucleic acids.

I say it's the acids.
I say it's the DNA.

Well, how come no one else
knows this if it's so important?

No one knows anything.

This is off the map.
Somebody has to guess right.

Chapter one, page one.

Once upon a time,
life reproduced life.

How?

The secret of creation,
worth a Nobel Prize.

Hmm?

Okay, Jim.

I'll go and be nice
to Maurice Wilkins.

[Majestic orchestral music]

♪♪

(Maurice)
It wasn't at all suitable

at the time these experiments
were carried out,

good enough for single crystals
but not really for DNA fibers.

Our work on DNA began
with our discovery of a way

to draw out thin fibers

in which the molecules
are lined up parallel.

This X-ray
diffraction photograph

was taken using bundles
of DNA fibers

from materials supplied
by a Professor Signer of Bern.

As you can see,
it is a crystalline pattern,

which would suggest
that genetic material

has a precise
structural regularity,

which would suggest

that it is not
an impossible task

to determine the structure
of the gene itself.

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

(Elizabeth) Jim's got this idea
that there's money in genes.

(Maurice)
Money?

(Elizabeth)
You know what I mean.

Fame. Glory.

Ah.

How much can you see
without your glasses?

Practically nothing.

It's better
that way sometimes.

What is
your brother's field?

I'm afraid
I have no idea.

Bacteriophages.

Right now I'm with Kalckar
at Copenhagen.

Jim Watson.

But I'm kind of interested
in genes, Dr. Wilkins.

What you said
in the conference talk,

that kind of excited me.

I'd really like to—
I mean,

that's where the action is...
going to be, no question.

I don't fully understand.

Are you doing work?

Not work exactly.
A few ideas.

I'm one of the believers.

Blessed are they who believe
before there was any evidence,

right?

Evidence for what?

That DNA holds

the genetic secret.

Ah.

What Jim's trying to say
is that he'd like to come

and work with you.

Ah.

I can't really say.

That sort of thing is up
to the director at the lab.

It was very nice meeting you,
Dr. Wilkins.

What was that all about?

Forget it, Jim.
You don't want to know.

I have to get away
from Copenhagen.

Kalckar's boring
my smock off.

Isn't there some other place
you can go to be famous?

[Cheerful music]

[Man whistling a tune]

[Singing] ♪ Et je m'en vais
clopin-clopant ♪

♪ dans le soleil
et dans le vent. ♪

♪ De temps en temps ♪

♪ le coeur chancelle... ♪

(woman)
Maurice Wilkins.

[Tries with a French accent]
Maurice Wilkins.

[Speaking French]

[Man speaking French]

(woman)

(Vittorio)

[Rosalind chuckling]

[Gentle string music]

♪♪

[people chatting in French]

(Rosalind)

(man)

(Rosalind)

(man)

(Rosalind)

[Laughs heartily]

(Vittorio)

[Giggles]

[All laughing]

[Train rumbling]

[Whistle blows]

[Foreboding music]

♪♪

[rain pattering]

[Men laughing and shouting]

(Rosalind) I have an appointment
with Professor Randall.

Dr. Rosalind Franklin.

Not like Paris,
I imagine,

Miss Franklin.

No, Professor Randall.
Not like Paris.

I think you'll find
we're much more informal here.

I'm giving you
a research student,

Raymond Gosling.

He's been working
with Maurice Wilkins up to now.

What will Maurice Wilkins
be doing?

Oh, Maurice has plenty of irons
in the fire.

You can sort that
out between you

when he gets back.

No hard-and-fast lines
at King's, Miss Franklin.

[Angelic choral music]

♪♪

(Jim)
Do people live here?

I mean, mere mortals?

Indeed, they do.

Some of them,
I regret to say,

very mere, indeed.

(Jim) You people are being
very good to me.

(Max)
You come recommended

by Salvador Luria
and Max Delbruck.

Such references
we take seriously.

Also, forgive me,

but you are paid for
by an American grant.

To us, you are free.

[Bike bell chiming]

That's right.
I'm free.

(man) I'm told
you're a bird-watcher.

(Jim)
Yes, sir.

When I was young, I was aiming
to be curator of birds

at the Museum
of Natural History.

When you were young?

How old are you now?
23.

And a PhD to your name?

Perutz,

we must introduce
this young man to Crick.

Who's Crick?

Crick is the bright hope
of the Cavendish.

A bright hope
shared by us all is that—

how shall I put it?

He'll fulfill his early promise
before it gets late.

[Men chuckling]

Welcome to the Cavendish,
Dr. Watson.

I know it doesn't look
very likely, but I, too,

was young once.

(man) Francis, this is Jim Watson,
the bacteriophage man.

We thought we'd give him
the desk in here with you.

Ah, the boy wonder.

And the bright hope?

Bragg, he's rather hoping
Watson's precocious achievements

might shame you
into action.

Knock on my door if you need me,
next room along.

Thank you.

You've entered the land
of irony, Jim Watson.

Right, I know back
where you come from,

the director of the lab
would bang on the table

and say,
"Shape up or ship out"

or "Haul your ass"

or something vivid
and descriptive like that.

Here, it's "How's the Great Work
coming along, Crick?

"Am I to hear

you're being considered
for a Nobel, Crick?"

And it puts iron into Bragg's
soul to know that I'm 35

and don't yet have a PhD.

I wouldn't be too happy about it
if it was me.

Well, I mustn't
overstate my case.

I don't claim

to be happy about it,

but what's a fellow to do?

I'm sure oxygenated hemoglobin
has its due place

in the scheme of things,

but it can hardly
be said to be fun.

I mean, what's the point
of science if it isn't fun?

So what's fun?

Oh, the big questions.

The bigger, the better.

What is man?

What is life?

How do we come to be
the way we are?

Big questions, all right.

Yeah, big questions
get big answers.

We can blow ourselves up,

but we still don't know
how we reproduce ourselves.

You're interested
in genes?

Certainly.
All yours.

Where would you look
for a gene,

if you were looking?

Excuse me.

My hunch is the nucleic acid.

I mean, you ask me what's fun;

right now, I'd say DNA.

Me too.

I'm sorry,
is it Francis?

[Chuckling]
Yeah.

Jim.

Hello.

Hello.

Getting under way,
then.

Hello, Maurice.
Raymond.

It will be
a little while yet.

Oh, there's no rush.

Let me know
when you get going.

Why?

Well, we like
to keep in touch...

Just as you wish.

Keep me posted.

Oh, see you
in Finch's later, Raymond?

Will do, Maurice.

[Gurgling]

(Maurice) I can't make her out.
Can you make her out?

(Raymond)
She knows what she's doing.

Well, she must do,

or Randall
wouldn't have hired her.

No, I mean as a person.

You mean as a woman.

After all, Raymond and I
did start this work on DNA.

She seems to think

that what she does
is none of my business.

I think the way
she sees it,

she's been taken on to set up
an X-ray diffraction unit

to work on DNA.

And as far as that goes,
she's in charge.

Is that what
Randall told her?

I don't know.
Ask her.

Sort it out.

Man to man.

Cheers, Bill.

(Francis) There are two facts
you should know

about our esteemed director,
Sir Lawrence Bragg.

I appoint myself
your native guide,

you understand.

The first is that he's
the youngest person ever

to win a Nobel Prize.

How young was he?
25.

Come here.

The second fact is
that everybody thinks

the great work
was done by his father.

Bragg was just
too damn young

to be winning
Nobel Prizes.

What's it to be,
Jim?

Francis and I
have already fixed that.

We're going after DNA.

[Laughs] He'll have a beer, John.
Me too.

(Max)
The structure of DNA—

that's the work
of a lifetime.

Max has been puzzling over
the structure of hemoglobin

for—what is it, Max,
15 years?

Come on, Jim.
Max?

(Max) I think just an orange squash.
Thank you, John.

I don't see why DNA
should take a lifetime.

Maurice Wilkins says it has
a crystalline structure.

You know Maurice?
Kind of.

We were at this conference
at Naples.

Oh, I've known Maurice
since the war.

That's how we do it.

Here.

Ah, the mighty Linus Pauling.

He didn't take a lifetime.

One brilliant guess
and zappo,

he discovers
the alpha-helix.

One brilliant guess,
plus a lifetime's knowledge.

Plus, he's a genius.

Bragg was hopping mad
over missing that.

Hopping.
Cheers.

That's how we get DNA.
We build a model.

Then I think
you should consider

obtaining
some data first.

No bricks
without straw.

Maurice Wilkins
has data on DNA.

Does he
build models?

Oh, not Maurice's style.
Too showy.

Then he won't mind

if we have a go,
will he?

We're having a go,
are we?

Why not?
Why not?

Just don't anybody
tell Pauling.

[Chuckles]

Cheers.
Cheers.

How long were you in Paris?

Four years.

[Bells chiming]

[Pigeons cooing]

I expect you miss it.

Yes.

You've lived abroad,
have you?

America.

Do you miss it?

It was a strange time...

the war.

Some things
didn't work out for me.

Then you come home and...

(Francis) I don't know about you,
but from my point of view,

the less data,
the better.

My point is
that a wrong fact

looks as hard
as a right fact.

So we do it without evidence.
That's right.

We listen,
but we don't obey.

You know,
like rumors, gossip.

There might be something in it;
there might not.

What gossip
do you listen to on DNA?

Well, there's
Astbury's work at Leeds.

He suggested
a structure for DNA.

Ugly.
You don't like ugly?

It doesn't deserve
to be true.

Truth is pretty.

[Laughs]

[Lively instrumental music]

Odile.

(Odile)
Yes.

I brought home an American.

His name's Jim Watson.
Say hello.

(Odile)
Hello, Jim Watson.

What happened to your hair?

(Francis)
Oh, all Americans are bald.

It goes with conquering
the world.

You can't dominate
and have long hair.

Jim, this is Odile.

It's not the style here,
I guess, huh?

Can you feed him?
I told you so. Come on in.

So, what?
Do I look strange or...

Just different.

Nothing wrong
with that.

(Jim) I think where all
the trouble is,

it grows real slow,
and I can't wait that long.

Wait for what?

Well, uh—

I have to get a girl.

(Odile)
Ah, yes.

You did these paintings?

(Odile)
That's right.

Know any girls?

Some.

Au pairs.

Cambridge is full of them.
What?

(Francis)
Foreign girls

come here to learn English.

Live with a family,
look after the children.

Nothing to do with science?

(Francis)
Nothing at all.

I don't want a scientist.
I want a girl.

(man)
Is she married?

(Raymond)
I don't think so.

(man)
Boyfriend?

(Raymond)
I don't know.

(man) Ten to one,
there's no boyfriend.

She is attractive...
in a way.

(man #2) Doesn't want to be.
She's not trying.

(man) Your type,
is she, Maurice?

My type?

Frightens you,
does she?

Mind you, some men
like it that way.

The kiss of the whip.

[Men chuckling]

No. No, but you get
girls like that.

They don't want
to be treated like girls.

Well, what do they want?

(Raymond) I think Rosalind would like
to be treated like—

well, like a woman.

Maurice, go
and make eyes at her.

What do you mean,
Raymond?

Oh, I don't know.
Give her flowers.

Flowers?

Well, I want to work with her.
I don't want to marry her.

Is she coming
to the party?

I told her
about it,

and she asked me
what sort of party it was.

(man #2)
Just a party.

(Raymond)
That's what I told her.

Ah, but if she comes,
Maurice,

oh, if she comes,

bring a smile
to those rosy lips,

the rosy lips
of Rosie Franklin.

[Laughter]

(woman) You know, I never want to go
to parties.

Then when I'm there,
I'm glad I went.

Then men are so different.
You wouldn't believe it.

Talk about
wandering hands.

I don't think
it's quite my...

Sometimes you have to make
an effort, don't you?

I mean, a girl
has to show willing.

Click!

[Orchestral music]

♪♪

Why DNA?

Because it's there...

[together]
Doing nothing.

In every single
living cell.

Whereas so far, the gene
is an entirely imaginary entity,

a function
without a substance.

DNA's a substance
without a function;

they're made for
each other.

Quite.

Now, what's it
made of?

Okay, we know that:

The phosphates
and the four bases.

What shape is it?

I mean, in all probability,
a helix.

I buy helix.

If it's a helix,
how many chains?

It has to be
more than one.

The density measurements
tell us that.

Yeah, but two,
three... four?

How do the pieces
fit together?

Phosphates on the inside,
bases on the inside?

What's the glue?

I mean, why doesn't it
fall apart?

[Scoffs]

So what's the score?

Scientific fact: One.
Enlightened guesswork: One.

Brute ignorance: Three.

(Jim) At least we know it's got
a regular structure,

if Maurice Wilkins
is right.

(Francis)
Oh, you can trust Maurice.

He's new to biochemistry,

hasn't got attached
to the old ideas.

What's Maurice Wilkins'
background?

Oh, he was
in the Manhattan Project.

A lot of that crowd got out
of physics after the war,

from the science of death
to the science of life.

Is he good?
Oh, he's good.

He's done some
of the best work on DNA

in the last couple of years.

Is he fast?
Oh, not fast. Steady.

In this race, steady loses
too many runners.

Well, Maurice doesn't see it
as a race,

more a brotherhood
of science.

Great.

Well, even so,

we should tell them
at King's what we're doing.

I wonder where they live.

(Francis)
Oh, the foreign girls?

Well, with the families
that employ them

or in boarding houses.

Boarding houses,
that sounds promising.

[Couple giggling]

[Ominous music]

♪♪

Shall we tell them?

They'll find out.

Thud!
Oh!

[Solemn string music]

♪♪

Do you know what I like
about our kind of work?

You can be happy
or unhappy.

It makes no difference.

It doesn't matter whether you
like what you find or hate it.

You look at it and say,
"So that's how it is."

It doesn't sound much
when I say it.

It sounds like
it's much to you.

Sometimes I feel like
an archaeologist

breaking into a sealed tomb.

I don't want
to touch anything.

I just want to look.

(woman) Da-da-dum.
There we are.

(Maurice) These are very good, Raymond.
Very good.

I'm impressed with the amount
of detail you're getting.

What's the humidity range?

70% to 80%
for the crystalline state.

She's using concentrated
salt solutions

to control the humidity.

The different forms are
showing up much more clearly.

She's calling them
A and B forms.

Look at that, Raymond.

Wouldn't you say
that was a helix?

I said all along
it would turn out

to have
a helical structure.

(Rosalind) I wonder why we bother
to do experiments.

What? Rosalind.

I must congratulate you.

What you have here
is surely—

it could be helical,
couldn't it?

So what do you conclude
from that?

Because it's possible,
it must exist?

Well, I was just—I'm just
throwing out ideas.

Guesses.

Well, informed guesses,
I hope.

Look, you may be guessing right,
and you may not.

We won't know
until we've done the work.

When we've done the work,
we won't need the guesses,

because we'll
know the answer.

So what's the point
of the guesses?

Being able to say later
you were right all along?

No, I didn't think
that at all.

I really would appreciate it
if you'd restrict your guesses

to your own
experimental work.

Very well,
I'll be on my way, Raymond.

Raymond,

I am not Maurice Wilkins'
research assistant.

If there's anything he wants
to know about our work,

please tell him to ask me.

(Maurice) Well, I know I wasn't here
when she came.

But my understanding was
that she was taken on

to work in my unit.

I mean to say, in all fairness,
DNA is my province.

Yes, Maurice. Yes.

But also in a way, no.

Rosalind Franklin
is a specialist.

She may well come up
with results of value to us all.

I want you to find a way
of working with her, Maurice.

Well...

Yes, of course.

But how?

Be flexible.

Flexible?

You know me.

I don't like
formal structures,

hierarchies,
lines of demarcation.

I like flow.

Don't be the seawall, Maurice;
be the sea.

Ebb and flow.

[Men yelling]

[Laughing]

Thanks, Leo.

[Cheerful music playing]

♪♪

[bells chiming]

[Women speaking French]

Excuse me. Hello.

Do you speak English?

Well, I speak a little.

Do you?

I'm American,

and my sister is coming
to visit me here in Cambridge.

Do you know of a suitable
boarding house for young women?

Well, I know only the house
where I rest.

Where do you rest?

Oh.

Number 8
Scroope Terrace.

(Francis) I didn't know your sister
was visiting here.

She will one day.

It's run by a Frenchwoman
called Mrs. Camille Prior.

Oh, Pop.
I know Pop Prior.

Everyone knows Pop.
Pop?

Yeah, she's always
been called Pop.

Of course.
Why didn't I think of it?

She goes about in a sort of
a haze of French girls,

ever changing and ever the same,
like underwear.

I must say,

you're very determined,
Jim.

Goal-oriented.

Well, if you haven't found

the girl of your dreams
by Sunday, come to lunch.

Maurice Wilkins
will be there.

Bearing copies
of all his latest work?

Piano, Jim.

Softly, softly,

catchy monkey.

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

[doorbell rings]

Allo?
Oui?

Do you give French lessons?

[Baby coos]

[Upbeat music playing]

Here she is.
Here's our little princess.

Hello, princess.

There, you sit
with Maurice.

What's this princess
business?

Well, when Prince Charles
is 25, she'll be 22,

so I thought
they could be married.

Gonna marry
Prince Charles?

Hello, Jim.

Hi, Jim.
This is Maurice.

Jim Watson.

Hi, we met at Naples.

Did we?

Sit down. Sit down.

Maurice has a cuckoo
in his nest.

He's been telling me
all about it.

Well, in all fairness
to Rosalind,

she is doing
what she was asked to do.

We just don't seem

to have got off
on the right foot.

Maybe I'm just bad with women.
I don't know.

Well, Gabrielle
is a woman.

She's happy
with you.

But she is rather small,
isn't she,

for a woman?

You know how I work, Francis.

Anyone can come to my lab
any time they'd like.

Science is a communal activity.

I have always
said that.

Now, I gave Rosie
the best DNA,

I gave her
the best X-ray apparatus,

and in return,
she tells me nothing.

Is that the way
science should be done?

Well, she's gonna have to tell
somebody some day, this Rosie.

You mustn't
call her Rosie.

That's just a private joke.
She wouldn't like it at all.

Did I call her Rosie?

Rosalind.

(Jim) Well, Rosalind's gonna have
to tell somebody someday.

Yes, next Wednesday.

Next Wednesday?

(Maurice) We're holding
a small colloquium at King's,

a report on progress
and so on.

Sounds interesting, Maurice.

I doubt it.
I've got nothing new to offer.

Is it open to outsiders,
by any chance?

Yes, of course.
Really?

I'd be kind of
interested.

Are you working
on DNA?

Not what you'd call working,
no experimental work.

I like to keep up.

I guess everybody dreams
of being the one

who finds
the buried treasure.

What buried
treasure?

The secret of the gene.

I'd never really
thought of it that way.

Jim and I
are playing around

with a few structural
theories for DNA.

You don't mind,
do you, Maurice?

Should I?

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

Can I help?

Yeah, I'm looking
for Rosalind Franklin.

Oh, you won't find her here.
This is men only.

Why?

I'm sorry?

Why is it men only?

What do you do here?
What, is there a toilet or...

You'll most likely
find Miss Franklin

in her room
in the basement.

Thank you.

Was that him,

do you think?

Who?

A tall dark stranger.

Rosie finds romance.

[Chuckles]

Did you want me?

(Jim)
Dr. Franklin?

Yes.

Jim Watson.
I'm a friend of Maurice Wilkins.

I'm working with John Kendrew
at the Cavendish.

Yes?

Maurice says you've been
doing some good work.

Yes?

I guess that's it.
Um...

I'll get on
with my work then.

(Rosalind) Our best crystalline
fiber diagram has been obtained

in a humidity range
of 70% to 80%.

At higher humidities, during
a change crystalline to wet,

a considerable increase in
the length of the fibers occurs.

In effect, this wet state
is a different form,

which I call the B form.

This is the A form,
the drier crystalline state.

It yields by far
the more detailed diagram

and therefore can supply us
with a greater amount of...

of information.

Astbury's density measurement,

together with our own water
content measurements indicate

24 nucleotides
per primitive unit cell

and 8 molecules of water

associated with
each asymmetric unit.

The 27-angstrom layer line
spacing is very strong,

as you can see.

The results so far suggest
a closely packed structure

containing two, three,

or four coaxial
nucleic acid chains per unit.

What do you make
of her?

She knows her stuff.

It doesn't seem
to have got her much further

than Raymond and I got.

I didn't hear anything
very startling, did you?

She sure isn't a hurry
to commit herself—

two-chain or three-chain
or four-chain.

Raymond Gosling says
he watches her sometimes

when she's working.

And she's so still, he says,
it's like someone praying.

He thinks
she's beautiful.

Do you think
she's beautiful?

Mm, not my type.

(Maurice)
What is your type?

Large breasts.
Oh.

You're very honest.

Honest Jim.

Did I tell you I got a letter
from Linus Pauling?

He wants copies
of our DNA photos.

He said we have
the best data.

I wrote back saying

we were still
evaluating them.

Rosie would never agree anyway.

(Jim)
I nearly had a heart attack.

So Pauling's
getting interested in DNA.

It was only a matter of time.

Well, he still hasn't seen
the King's results yet.

We could still
beat him to it.

Maurice has no idea
what he's sitting on.

This Rosie of his
is digging up gold.

Enough gold for a model?

[Train horn blares]

[Dramatic music]

(Jim) 27-angstrom
layer line spacing,

two, three, or four chains,

24 nucleotides
per unit cell.

Any other dimensions?

Not that I remember.

Didn't you take notes?

No.
God.

Did she talk about
the structure of the molecule?

Did it look like a helix?

What would a helix
look like?

The reflections
form a cross.

No.
[Sighs]

So a helix,

still unproven.

We still don't know
how many chains.

We don't know
how the parts fit together.

Did she mention water?

Yes, 8 molecules
of water per unit cell.

Eight per cell?

That's practically nothing.

That's very interesting.

If there's no water,

virtually no water,

there are far fewer ways
the molecules can pack together,

which gives us a chance.

If we knew what stops
the whole thing

from falling apart...

Yes.

Electrostatic attraction?

It's obvious, but so what?

It's the strongest glue
we've got.

What, phosphates
bonding to phosphates?

Yes, sure.

Phosphates are
negatively charged.

They'd repel each other.
Oh, oh.

Unless...

What?

Well, Jim,
you could be right.

I mean, if it's this dry,

maybe it bonds like
an inorganic crystal.

(man)
Ticket.

To tell you the truth,

I'm a bit hazy
on inorganic ions.

(Jim)
That's Linus Pauling's field,

but he's published.

(Francis) The Nature of the Chemical Bond
by Linus Pauling.

That's P for pretty,

A for adventure,

U for...

♪ for love makes
the world go round.

(Jim)
Got it.

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

(Francis) We have to improvise
with these.

[Model pieces clattering]

Can someone tell me what Crick
and Watson are up to?

(Max) They're building
a model of DNA.

How do they know anything
about DNA?

I think it's one
of Crick's hunches.

I don't like it.

Crick should be getting on
with his thesis.

No harm in letting them
have a go,

though maybe we should tell
Randall's crowd what's going on.

No question about that.

I want everything open
and above board.

We play with a straight bat
at the Cavendish.

Give Maurice Wilkins a ring,
will you, Kendrew?

(John)
Yes, of course.

Ah, Rosalind?

Yes, Maurice.

Bring this up a little,
Freda, can you?

As much definition
as you can give me.

I've had a phone call
from Kendrew at the Cavendish.

It seems Watson and Crick
are building a model of DNA.

A model?

Based on what?

How can they build
a model?

Apparently
they can.

Oh, here too.
Can you do anything with that?

I know there's not a lot
to go on.

Yes, I'm sure
I can do something.

Bruce and Bill and I
are going to Cambridge to see it

when it is done.

Do you and Raymond
want to come?

[Sighs]

We didn't have time
to get the proper parts

made by the machine shop.

We cannibalized
protein models.

Where's the water?

The water?

Well, we were working

to eight molecules of water
per unit cell.

I understood those
were your figures.

Eight molecules of water

per nucleotide.

With 24 nucleotides
per unit cell,

that's 192 molecules

of water.

And you have 8.

Even on
its own terms,

this model
makes no sense.

You have phosphate,
sodium, phosphate bonds.

Well, charged sodium ions
attract water.

It could never be this dry.

So we got it 2,400% wrong.
Anybody can make a mistake.

Huh, Mother of God,
but I enjoyed that.

[Chuckling] The look
on Crick's face.

It won't do him
any good with Bragg.

Ah, serves him right.
Cocky bugger.

I don't mind wild ideas,

I don't mind
trying and failing,

but science
is like a sport, you see.

You have to play
by the rules of the game.

Perhaps that sounds
old-fashioned to you.

I wouldn't know.

But I've never gone fishing
in other people's ponds,

and I don't like being made
to look as if I'm starting now.

Crick, please go back
to hemoglobin.

Please finish
your thesis.

Watson, you have to satisfy
your fellowship trustees,

not me,

but I would to think
that by the time you leave here,

the Cavendish will have reason
to be proud of you.

[People chattering]

[Chuckling]

[Francis's laughter]

[Rosalind speaking French]

[Sighs]

(Vittorio)

(Rosalind)

(Vittorio)

Qu'est-ce que
tu racontes?

[Bell tolling]

(Jim) I'm telling you this thing
is gonna take off.

(John) You know the arrangement, Jim.
DNA belongs to Randall.

(Francis) Problems don't belong
to people.

(John) I just don't see
how you can go on with it.

There's always
tobacco mosaic virus.

I could look
at the nucleic acids in TMV.

It's not DNA,
but it's the nearest I'll get.

I might even learn some
X-ray diffraction technique.

You want to learn
X-ray diffraction photography?

Sure, why not?

You mean do it,
with your own hands?

It wouldn't hurt to pick up
the basics,

and Francis can explain

his helical diffraction
theory to me.

Ah, now,
that was good work.

That's helped you
with Bragg, Francis.

Well, the helical
diffraction theory came out

of the excitement
over DNA.

That's what science
is like.

It's not all cold reason.
There has to be excitement.

It's like love.

You can't be told,
"Love this woman.

Don't love
that woman."

You follow
your heart.

Even is she's
another man's wife?

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

Something wrong?

Is Watson actually working?
In a lab?

[Bubbles gurgling]

[Freda whistling]

(Rosalind) My Uncle Hugh attacked
Churchill with a dog whip.

Our Churchill?
Winston?

Mm.

Why ever would he do
a thing like that?

Churchill was against
votes for women.

I never knew that.

I voted for him
this time.

Oh, it was
a long time ago: 1910.

So it's in
your blood, then?

What is?

Being fierce.

Am I fierce?

You can be.

I don't mean to be.
I really don't.

You have to be careful
with the men.

I've noticed that.

Yes, I've noticed that.

Would you like
to be married?

Sometimes.

I was engaged.

He didn't make it
through the war.

There'll be others, Freda.
You're not fierce.

Have you ever
been asked?

Plenty of time.

No, I'd rather do
one thing well

than two things badly.

(Jim)
Le roi est mort.

Merci.

Le roi, uh...

[slurping]

You know, with the...

George... six.

Um, un, deux, trois...

Six?
Ah, oui. Six.

Mort.

Six more?

No, no.
Mort.

You know...

Qu'est-ce que c'est?

(Pop Prior)
Qu'est-ce que c'est, Jim?

I'm telling her
the king is dead.

Oh, that was our topic

three Thursdays ago,
Jim.

This Thursday, my girls
have prepared conversation

on Mr. Butler's budget.

Great.

Do you eat bread?

Now it is more
by one penny and half.

Do you drink tea?

I think it is,
for one pound,

eight more pennies
and half.

(Jim)
It's not natural.

It's not fair.

I'm being deprived.

You mean missing DNA.

Missing L-O-V-E.

You're in too much
of a hurry, Jim.

Girls over here need time.

Yeah, time.
Everything has to be given time.

You give your time,
and you know what you get?

Old.

Francis, come and see
what I've got.

I took that
with a vertical axis.

It's a helix, right?

It could be.

Get me a sharper pattern,
and I'll tell you.

Tell me now.

You want the benefit
of my years of toil

involving the
helical diffraction theory?

You did it all in one afternoon.
You got a headache.

You went home, got bored,
and worked the whole thing out.

Not so loud.
My lifetime's achievement.

Now...

with a helical structure,

the X-rays diffract
like this.

Like a cross.

Mm?
Mm.

Further out, the reflections
come back again,

forming a sort of
an open diamond.

Now, what tells you it's a helix
is what's here in the middle,

which is nothing.

With other structures,
you get spots.

With a helix, it's black.

How do you read the dimensions
of the helix from the pattern?

Well, this...

tells you the pitch.

Count the layer lines...

to here,

and you've got the repeat.

That's what we need, Jim,

one of these
on DNA.

(Raymond)
Number 51.

It's very good.

(Rosalind)
Yes, it is good.

That's the best
we've got yet of the B form.

Yes.

One thing at a time, Raymond.

The A form gives us far
the most details,

so first we do the Patterson
on the A form.

We'll get to the B form
all in good time.

There's no hurry.

[Typewriter clacking]

(Francis)
Want to hear the news, Jim?

Well, there's good,
and there's bad.

Bad first.

Linus Pauling
has been invited to London

for The Royal Society
meeting.

No!
He's written to Maurice.

No! Oh, holy cow.

Brotherhood of science,
remember?

You show me yours,
I'll show you mine.

If Linus sees just one
of those X-ray pictures—

Ah-ah,
now for the good news.

The state department
has withdrawn his passport.

[Laughs]
He can't come.

They did that? What?
Yeah.

Well, you know Linus
has been sounding off

about the atom bomb.

Apparently,
to your average American,

that means
he's in the pay of the KGB.

Holy cow.
God bless America.

(Rosemary Clooney) ♪ Come on-a my house,
my house. ♪

♪ I'm gonna give-a you candy. ♪

♪ Come on-a my house,
my house. ♪

♪ I'm gonna give-a you ♪

♪ apple-a, plum,
and apricot-a too, eh. ♪

♪ Come on-a my house,
my house-a, come on. ♪

♪ Come on-a my house,
my house-a, come on. ♪

♪ Come on-a my house,
my house. ♪

♪ I'm gonna give you ♪

♪ figs and dates
and grapes and cakes, eh. ♪

I say, Jim,
you do look the part.

[Laughs]

♪♪

I heard you've been told
to lay off DNA.

No harm in pushing
a few ideas around.

♪ Come on-a my house,
my house. ♪

♪ I'm gonna
give you everything. ♪

Excuse me.

Will you settle a bet
for us?

Yes, sure.

Are you a real vicar?

Am I...
no.

Oh, sugar!

(Jim)
Sorry about that.

(Francis)
John, the point is,

the genetic information
has to be carried

by varying the order
of the four bases,

adenine, thymine,
guanine, cytosine, right?

Right.

So I was thinking,
what if it's the bases

that hold the chains together,
adenine to adenine—

ah, excuse me—
guanine to guanine.

They could come in in any order,
any amount of variation.

What's the glue?
Hydrogen bonds?

No, I was thinking
the electrical charges.

Your field,

the sort of thing
you could work out,

how the pairs could bond.

Hmm, interesting problem.

I don't like to give orders.

I like solutions to evolve.

Everyone's different,
different ways of working.

No harm in that.

I appreciate that, J.T.

I have no objection
to the way Rosalind is working,

but what I had not anticipated
was that Rosalind's work would—

well, how should I say—

would have such an effect
on my own work.

I don't read you,
Maurice.

What effect has it had
on your own work?

Well, to put it bluntly,

you could say as far
as DNA goes, in one sense,

I've not done any work at all
since Rosalind.

Of course, there is
the plant cell division work—

Are you saying this is because of me?
Up to a point.

I was brought in here to do
X-ray crystallography on DNA.

That's what I'm doing.

I really don't see why
it should limit your work.

I appreciate that Rosalind has
the right technical background

for the work
on the crystalline—

What exactly is it you're
concentrating on at present,

Miss Franklin?

The Patterson projection
of the A form.

And the B form?
We've put it aside.

If I may suggest—
For the present.

If I may suggest,
if Rosalind continues to work

with the Signer DNA
on the A form,

then perhaps I could see
what I could do with the B form.

I could try the sample
that we got from New York.

Independent work,
you mean?

Yes, I like it.

Separate approaches
keep us all on our toes, hmm?

Does that present you

with any undue difficulties,
Miss Franklin?

Good.
That's settled then.

There's always a way around
these little problems

in the end.

[Steam hissing]

(man) Oh, Francis, I had a go
at your base pairs.

Oh, you don't waste
much time,

I must say.

Nothing solid,
just a first look.

Any conclusions?

It's not like attracts like,
the way you were thinking.

It looks more
like adenine attracts thymine,

guanine attracts cytosine.

Well, that could work.

They don't have
to be the same

so long as they carry
the pattern for each other.

A always makes B.
B always makes A.

Negatives to positives.
Yes, it's perfectly okay.

That could do the trick.

What trick?

Replication.

The passing on
of the genetic message.

What the birds
and the bees do, remember?

(Jim) Adenine to thymine,
guanine to cytosine.

That sounds
kind of familiar.

Sorry, Francis, I've read
so many goddamned papers on DNA,

I can't remember
which is which.

That way the attraction
between the bases

holds the structure together

and gives us a method
for gene replication.

Erwin Chargaff.
That's who it was.

Chargaff figured out
the ratios of the bases.

John.

You know Erwin Chargaff,
don't you?

Are you two still on DNA?

Well, Jim thinks that Chargaff
has figures on base ratios.

I wouldn't be surprised.

Chargaff regards himself
as Mr. Nucleic Acids.

You know he's going
to be over here soon?

Want to meet him?

Can you fix it?

Just don't tell Bragg
it was me, all right?

(Raymond) There's not much
you can do with that.

(Maurice)
No, there isn't, is there?

I'm afraid the new DNA is
not what I hoped it would be.

Rosalind's taken
some good B form patterns,

really very good.

She's got the good DNA,
hasn't she?

How am I supposed to work
without any decent samples?

And what does she do
with the B form?

Nothing.

Just on and on and on
with the endless Patterson.

Sorry about this,
Maurice.

Oh, it's not your fault.

If it's any consolation,

Rosalind's not finding
the going easy either.

Well, I can't feel sorry
for her, Raymond.

What I mean is,
she might leave.

She told you that?

No, it's just
a feeling I get.

What went wrong,

Raymond?

Well, let me know
if anything... changes.

[Loud clacking]

Do you think it will turn out
to be a helix?

Not you too, Raymond.

[Groans]

You read detective stories?

Yes.

Well, you don't read
the ending first

to see who did it.

It spoils the book.

Satisfaction doesn't come
from knowing the solution.

It comes from knowing why
it's the solution.

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

(Chargaff) Linus Pauling has
an exaggerated notion

of the role
of the scientist.

I am not defending
the state department act.

It's an absurdity.

But if you fellows are saved
the spectacle of Linus Pauling

preaching peace on earth,
you should be duly grateful.

(man) Is Linus Pauling working
on DNA now?

(Chargaff)
Not that I am aware of.

Not what
I would call working.

He may throw out a theory
or two on the subject.

It has become
the regular campus sport.

Whenever students gather,

first they solve the problems
of world disarmament.

Then they discover
the structure of DNA.

A couple of our men have been
taking a look at DNA.

You surprise me.

Francis Crick
and Jim Watson.

Jim's from the States.

Where in the States?

Chicago.

Ah, Chicago.

Windy, I hear.

[Bell tolling]

(Francis)
Well, the idea

we've been playing with is
that the structure

is held together by attraction
between the bases.

I thought at first it would be
like pairing with like,

but one of our colleagues
has done some calculations

on the electrostatic charges,

and it looks as though

it could be purines
pairing with pyrimidines—

adenine to guanine,
thymine to—

Adenine and guanine
are both purines.

Well, adenine and thymine,
and the principle's the same.

It intrigues me
that you gentlemen think

that you can establish
a structure for DNA

when you don't
trouble yourselves

about the differences
between the bases.

There are four of them,
of course.

I grant that's a lot to hold
in the mind all at once.

Dr. Chargaff,
I've read one of your papers.

Don't your results show

a consistent ratio
between the bases

in all the types of DNA
you examined?

Yes.

Don't your results
point to a pairing

of pyrimidines
and purines?

No.

I shall say this slowly,

because it involves
some long words.

My results show
a rough equivalence

between adenine and thymine

and between guanine
and cytosine.

It took me two years

just to discover
the technique that produced

those results, which we call
paper chromatography,

by the way.

So I wish you well
with your hobby.

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

Listen, John—

Listen, John,
I need your help.

You know those calculations
you did for me?

I forgot to make a note
of the order of the bases.

(John)
For God's sake, Francis!

Just give them to me
one more time, will you?

(John) Adenine to thymine.
Guanine to cytosine.

Ah.

Thanks, old man.

What's the use of getting
a structure for the gene

if it doesn't tell us
how genes reproduce?

I mean, that's the beauty
of pairing the bases.

Easy, Francis.

Getting a few figures to fit
is dangerous.

Never trust evidence,
remember?

Now, I'm not saying the bases
have to work in pairs.

I'm just saying that
if I was DNA,

that's the way I'd do it.

If you were DNA, your bases
would all be different sizes,

and they'd come in
all different sequences.

If you're gonna fit together
in pairs,

they've got to be made
of bubblegum.

Oh, true, true,
there is that little problem.

Gentlemen, I give myself
the pleasure

of being the first
to tell the news.

Pauling is coming to work
at the Cavendish.

What?

I believe he's to be given
a desk in this very room.

Linus Pauling coming
to the Cavendish?

Linus Pauling?

No, no, I don't believe
I said Linus Pauling, did I?

It's his son, Peter.

I understand
he's a research student.

Peter Pauling.

That's great.
Peter Pauling's okay.

I've met
Peter Pauling.

Max, you did that
on purpose.

My report
was accurate, Francis.

It was just not complete,
but, you see,

you had
a preexisting theory—

Oh, spare me, Max.

The news is good.

Peter will tell us
what his old man's up to.

(Rosalind)
Raymond?

Here.

Look.

Do you see the left
and right quadrants?

Different intensities.

(Raymond)
In the A form.

[Sighs]

One thing's clear.

If it's not symmetrical,
it's not a helix.

Maurice will be sad
to hear that.

Maurice thinks
I don't share enough

with him, doesn't he?

Sometimes.

It's not because
I want it all for myself.

I just like to know
what I'm talking about,

which means getting
the work done first.

But if Maurice wants
to share...

let's share.

(man)
Parry one-two.

Hay!
Good. And again.

Good, excellent, Maurice.

Lunge. Good.

Advance now.

Good. Salute.

And rest.
Well done, Maurice.

Thank you, Leo.
Thank you.

A curious sport:
Stab, stab, stab,

but no penetration.

Harder than it looks.

Apparently.

Have you seen this?
Hmm?

Bill Penney's
been knighted.

Just think: If you'd stayed
in the bomb business,

you'd be Sir Maurice today,
honored by a grateful nation.

At least I wouldn't have
to work with Rosie.

Is it that bad?

I'll show you something
she's just sent me.

(Francis) "It is with great regret
that we have to announce

the death
of DNA Helix (crystalline)."

[Chuckles]

"A memorial service
will be held.

"It is hoped that Dr. Wilkins
will speak in memory

of the late helix."

This from Rosie?
Yes.

Well, at least
she's got a sense of humor.

It's not a joke.

She says her Patterson
calculations

show an asymmetrical
structure.

That's impossible.
Why?

It's ugly.
Well, who says DNA is beautiful?

Yeah, there's another reason.

If DNA isn't helical,

we haven't got a hope in hell
of working it out.

I thought Bragg
had taken you off DNA.

Well, you know
how it is, Maurice.

Jim and I can't help
kicking ideas around.

Well, I envy you that.

Rosie and I...

There is a rumor

she might leave.

Where would she go?

To Birkbeck, maybe.

What would happen
to her DNA work if she left?

I supposed
I'd inherit it.

Well, you don't sound
very pleased about it.

This business with Rosie
has killed it for me.

That death notice—
she's right.

Like someone
I once knew has died.

[Whistle sounds]

[Cheerful music]

♪♪

[horn honking]

Hi, I'm Peter Pauling.

Anybody know what's
to be done with me?

(Jim) Just don't think of it
as beer.

Oh, I've drunk bitter
before.

What do you think?

It's good.
Could be cooler.

Well, people here
don't have refrigerators.

Where do they keep
the milk?

On the doorstep.

You look around,
milk on all the doorsteps.

[Francis chuckles]

How's Linus, Peter?

Oh, what do you want to know
about the old phony?

What's he working on
at present?

Mm, Dad works on everything
at once.

It depends
on what excites him.

Is he doing anything
on DNA?

I guess so.

Along with everything else,

or a big push?

I don't know.

A little push,
maybe.

Round about when I left,

he was getting
pretty interested in genes.

Why?

Is that what you guys

are working on?

[Chuckles]
Oh.

Hey, what's this?

[Solemn string music]

♪♪

Voilà.

[Speaking French]

C'est pas mal.

[Rosalind sighs]

[Door slams]

Voici.

Regarde.

Good morning.

Quoi?

[Speaking French]

(Rosalind)

(Vittorio)

Oui.

[Laughing]

(Rosalind)

[Raymond knocking]
Maurice.

(Jim)
Hi, kid.

Jim, what happened
to your hair?

Oh, I don't want
to hear it.

I'm very sensitive
about my personal appearance.

I fixed you up
a room in town.

Nice place.
You'll love it.

What's with this
brotherly concern, Jim?

How's your French?

[Gentle piano music]

♪♪

Jouez-vous tennis?

Tennis?

Hey, you want
to see Jim jump?

That,
I would like.

Tell him my father's
built a model.

That'll make him jump?

Yeah, just try it.

Jim.

Oui? Sorry.

This young man says
that his father's built a model.

What?
[Piano clinks]

(Francis)
What?

Maurice never sent him
any prints, did he?

No, no, I'm sure he didn't.
So he's working blind.

Yeah, as far as we know.

Except if anyone can see
in the dark, it's Linus Pauling.

I know, it makes me weep
and tear my hair out.

There's Maurice
and Rosie

with all
those beautiful photographs,

and Maurice is sulking,

and Rosie's doing
a Patterson projection.

It's like asking a team of
monkeys to type out Shakespeare.

It'll take centuries.

Isn't there some way
we can see their stuff?

Well, Maurice will show us
if Rosie leaves, maybe.

We're just gonna have
to get Peter Pauling

to write to Linus,
"Dear Dad,

"Please delay breakthrough
of the century

"by a couple of months.

"You're famous already.

And give the little guys
a break."

[Rain pattering]

(Randall) You've done
the MRC report, of course.

Of course.

I can't say I'm happy
about how this has worked out,

but if it's what you want.

About my work on DNA,

I would like to be able
to see it through.

Go as far with it as you can,
by all means.

So there'd be no objection

to my retaining an interest
in the subject

after I've left King's?

Ah, I see
what you mean:

The same work going on here
and at Birkbeck.

I don't need to tell you
how things are, Miss Franklin.

Nonscientists think of science
as universal, celestial even.

Science is terrestrial,
territorial,

political.

Would it be fair
on Maurice?

[Ominous music]

♪♪

[upbeat music]

♪♪

Sorry, boys.

Can't head the old man off
at the pass.

He's been and gone—
the structure for DNA.

No.

Oh, I don't suppose
you two guys

would be interested
in taking a look.

He's got three chains.

Nucleotides spaced
at 3.4 angstroms.

Phosphates in the center.

He left the hydrogens on.
Why would he do that?

He's trying to hydrogen-bond
the phosphates.

Wouldn't the phosphates
be ionized?

Yes, they would.
So they'd repel each other.

Yes, at neutral pH,
they would.

This thing
could never hold together.

Never.
It would blow itself apart.

He's screwed up,
hasn't he?

Clink!

To Linus Pauling.

Linus.

A humiliated Linus
is a dangerous Linus.

The Linus cheated
of his prey.

[Both chuckle]

Francis.

We just ran out of time.

In the words
of Isaac Newton,

"If the apple won't fall,
let's go shake the tree."

Newton said that?

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

Linus Pauling's
structure for DNA.

Look at this.
We knew this would happen.

We knew Linus
would get onto DNA.

Look at that.
Hydrogens. Hydrogens!

Look at that. Look at that.
Look at that.

It doesn't make sense.

That's right.
It doesn't.

Well, what data
has he been working with?

Pre-war Astbury and Bell,
lousy data.

This is the point.

He'll go at it
all the harder now.

He'll get it,
I'm telling you.

That's the kind of guy he is.
Well, so?

So we have
to pool our resources.

We have to move fast.

And what resources
do you have to pool?

You know how it goes.

All those hours,
all those experiments,

you can get
too close to it.

Oh, you think
you can do better?

A fresh eye.

You think this is some sort
of game, don't you?

What do you mean?

You think this is a playground,

and I've got the ball.

"Go and tell the teacher

that bad girl won't let us
play with her ball."

But there is no teacher.

This isn't a game.

Little boys.

You're all just little boys!

Go and play with
your little boys.

I am not a little boy.

I don't like your game,

and I won't play.

Slam!

Oh, wow.
Hello, Jim.

What did I say?

Oh, that's our Rosie.

That's not a woman;

that's a Sherman tank.

[Sobbing]

(Jim)
Well, I had no idea.

What is it
that gets into her?

I don't know.
I wish I knew.

How long
before she leaves?

Oh, a few more weeks.

Maurice, we don't have
that kind of time. Look.

Pauling is going after DNA.

This is his first shot,
and he's missed.

Look.
Look, look.

So he's going
to be coming back.

He'll rupture himself to protect
his reputation, Maurice.

Well, this doesn't
make sense.

Somebody has to do something.

Somebody has to do what?

Crack DNA soon.

Somebody?

What exactly is it
you want, Jim?

I want us—
any of us, all of us—

to keep ahead of Pauling.

Tell me you're onto it,
Maurice.

That's okay,
but you have to move fast.

I can't do anything
until Rosie leaves.

When we have all
the data together,

then we can do it
properly.

Also, I have not had
a close look yet

at her evidence

against the helix.

Hey, hey,
of course it's a helix.

Even Linus has a helix.

Oh, yes. It's a helix.
Look at this.

One of Rosie's best.

Now, that is a helix.

There's no two ways
about it.

How long have you had this?

A few days.

Maurice, you have
to get moving.

I have been patient so far.

I can be patient
a little longer.

But, Maurice—
No, Jim.

She'll be gone soon,

then it's all hands
to the pumps.

(Jim)
I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was just sitting there,
yelling out information

like a speak-your-weight
machine.

All right, Jim.
Just be very calm.

Tell me only
what you're sure you saw.

A double diamond pattern,
empty in the middle.

Helix, no doubt about that.

There was a big reflection
just here.

Tenth layer line?
Definitely the tenth.

That would give us a pitch
of about 34 angstroms.

Just tell me one more time
you're sure about this.

I'm sure.

What do you say?

(Max) You know the situation
at King's.

Nothing will happen there
until Rosalind Franklin leaves.

Mm.

Crick and Watson tell me
they have a new approach.

They want to try again.

Do you believe them, Perutz?

Perhaps I think more highly
of Crick than you.

His helical diffraction paper
was very fine.

I grant you that.

And then there's the matter
of Linus Pauling.

I suppose I find it hard
to believe

that Crick and Watson can
succeed when Pauling has failed.

Though I can't pretend

I would not be very agreeable
were they to do so.

They want to build
another model, I suppose.

They want permission

to instruct the machine shop
to make the proper parts.

They didn't have
the proper parts last time.

All right, Perutz.

Tell them to go ahead,

but no public showings

until our people
have checked it.

We had three chains last time.
It's two!

No, you just said
two's prettier.

Two's natural—two eyes,
two hands, two breasts.

No, three wise men,

three dimensions,
three musketeers.

Two's company;
three's a crowd.

[Laughs]

The phosphates
are still too close.

They'll push each other apart.

Well, maybe the phosphates
shouldn't be on the inside.

Why not try them
on the outside?

That would be too easy.

Then why not do it?

Francis, if we put
the backbones on the outside,

how do we make the bases
fit together on the inside?

How are we ever
gonna do that?

I don't know.

We'll take care
of the bases later.

Just try it.

That is the whole idea
of building models.

Fine.

(Maurice) She leaves
on March the 13th.

(Francis)
What's she doing till then?

Writing up her work.

She's done most of it
for the MRC report.

The MRC report.

That's right.
You're MRC-funded too.

That's why Bragg
took us off DNA.

Not that you two rogues
paid the slightest attention.

Oh, be fair, Maurice.
We only make guesses.

It's the kind of thing
you can't help puzzling away at.

I know, Francis.
I don't mean to sound grouchy.

You know how I dislike
the dog-in-the-manger attitude.

That's how Rosie is.

I come through the door,
she fights me.

No, you're right,
Maurice.

There has to be
a free flow of ideas.

Which is just what
we haven't got.

But it's not your fault,
Maurice.

You've never had
a dog-in-the-manger attitude

towards DNA.

No, I haven't,
have I?

Now, you wouldn't mind
if Jim and I

had a go at another model,
would you?

Another model?

We thought we'd slip one in
before Linus makes his comeback.

You never know—I mean,
get a few more free ideas

to throw into the pool.

Does Bragg know?

Bragg doesn't mind.

He doesn't take our DNA
enthusiasm very seriously,

to be honest,
not after last time.

But, of course,
if you mind, Maurice...

No, I don't really mind.

How can I?

Ooh, she's good.

She's very good.

She's got the phosphates
on the outside.

She's got all the dimensions
of the unit cell.

Look at this.

Jesus, Francis,
if we'd had this before—

Shut up.
Shut up, shut up.

It's right here.

It's right here, Jim,

but she hasn't seen it.

What?

Well, the space group C2.

It's just like hemoglobin.

God forgive me for cursing
my thesis all these months.

What does C2 mean?
It's a dyad,

the fibers symmetrical
end over end.

A dyad?
Two chains?

Yes, two chains but running
in opposite directions,

so the structure's symmetrical
end over end.

Hmm?
Ah!

That's where
we've been going wrong.

One goes up.
One goes down.

We've only been building
half the structure.

If both chains run
in the same direction,

the structure's repeating itself
by the time we get to here.

Whereas if the chains run
in opposite directions,

we have to take
a complete turn

of both chains
to get to the point

where the structure's
repeating itself.

Gah!

We'll have to double
all the angles.

I'll do it. I'll build it.
Then you'll see.

And you really think
she hasn't spotted this, Rosie?

Not yet.

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

Get ready!

[Jim grunting]

Slow down, Jim.

So this chain runs up,
and this one runs down.

Okay.

So we have a helix.

We have two chains.

We have the dimensions.

We have the phosphates
on the outside.

Which leaves the bases...

Which have to fit
on the inside...

Which they don't.
Yet.

[Solemn string music]

♪♪

Four bases,
all different shapes,

free to come
in any order

to carry
the genetic information.

[Francis sighs]

It's like filling
a Christmas stocking.

It's gonna be bulgy.

Can't be bulgy.
Got to be pretty.

Remember Chargaff's ratios.

Complementary pairing?

Still doesn't
make them fit.

Irregular pieces,

a variable order,
an irregular structure.

This thing's either
a monster of complexity

or it's so simple
we're missing it.

Go wild, Jim.

Have as many as you want.
What?

Sweet rationing's ended.
Greed is back.

This is driving me crazy.

There's got to be a way
to fit these things together,

only there isn't.

Hey, you've got
the enol form.

So?

So you know,
this is Jerry's field, Jim:

Tautomeric forms.

You should listen to him.

I'm listening.

You've got the enol form
from Davidson?

(Jim)
All the textbooks.

They're all wrong.
Take it from me.

It's one of those guesses
that's been repeated so often

it's got the status
of fact.

Wait a minute, you're telling me
I should try the keto form?

I'm 100% sure of it.

Try it like that.

See what you get.

(Jim)
Hmm.

[Dramatic music]

♪♪

[bell tolling continuously]

[Hammering]

[Sighing and chewing gum]

[Muttering]
A plus T, A plus T.

A plus T, G plus C.

A plus...

Hmm...

A plus T.

G plus C.
G plus C.

Oh... G plus C.

[Muttering]

G plus C.

[Angelic choral music]

♪♪

Francis?

[Triumphant organ music]

♪♪

We've done it!
We've done it.

[Sighs]

Secret of life.

[Upbeat music]

♪♪

The secret of life.

[Loud, indistinct chatter]

Cheers, everybody.

(Francis)
That's it, isn't it?

(Jim)
That's it.

That surely is it.

I feel like Pygmalion.

You build something beautiful,
and it comes to life.

All we wanted was the body,
and we've got the soul.

That's how it is, Jim.

Isn't that how it is?
That's how it is.

The secret of life itself.

Peel the chains apart,

and each chain reproduces
the other.

One becomes two,
two becomes one,

generation on generation,

all the way from Adam and Eve
to you and me.

It never dies, Jim.
It never dies.

One simple shape:
The womb of humanity,

endlessly,
effortlessly fertile,

dividing, reforming itself

from the beginning
to the end of the world.

[Gasps]

It's the closest we'll ever get
to immortality, Jim.

I knew it would be pretty.

[Paper rustling]

Hmm.

"Dear Francis, I think
you'll be interested to know

"that our dark lady
leaves us next week.

"At last,
the decks are clear,

"and we can put all hands
to the pumps.

Maurice."

Rosie.

[Ominous music]

♪♪

[majestic orchestral music]

♪♪

[footsteps clacking]

[Men laughing and shouting]

[Bells tolling]

You're very quiet, Jim.

Am I?

Isn't this the big time?

That's what
you keep telling me.

When you want something,
you want it so bad it hurts,

and then you get it...

[sighs]

(Maurice)
It's beautiful, Francis.

Very... simple,

very true.

It's yours, too,
Maurice,

if you want it.

You began it all.

You...

No.

This beautiful model...

not mine.

We'll publish separately

for the record.

This is all yours.

You see, I didn't know you...

I just didn't know, did I?

[Clacking]

We have been stimulated

by a knowledge...

I don't see why
this can't wait till Monday.

Of the unpublished
experimental results and ideas.

Why me?

'Cause you can type.

"Results and ideas."

Of Dr. M.H.F. Wilkins
and Dr. R.E. Franklin.

[Solemn string music]

♪♪

Dr. Franklin, is it?

Yes.

It looks as if
they've got it right.

Yes.

I've given my life
to crystallography.

I never thought
I'd live to see this.

It's your work too.

And yours.

And mine.

I know how you must feel.

I'm sorry.

I might have seen it,
but I didn't.

I see it now.

This race,
this winning and losing,

it's not the way
I was taught to do science.

It doesn't matter.

This...

is what matters.

Life is the shape it is
for a purpose.

When you see how things
really are,

all the hurt and the waste
falls away.

What's left is the beauty.

[Regal music]

♪♪