Original subtitles

BELL TOLLS

BABY CRYING IN DISTANCE

THEY WHISPER TO EACH OTHER

AGONISED GROANING IN DISTANCE

COUGHING

MAN SPEAKS GERMAN

HE SPEAKS GERMAN

Next.

Next.

Sickness? Take a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly.

Next, please.

The child has a raised temperature and can't keep food down.

Queue three, examination room two, non-urgent.

Next, please.

To Dr Ingrams for stitching.

Next.

May I, please?

Dr Meredith in Hackney High Street will see you for a shilling.

I may appear presentable. My husband has just left me.

I have no money, so I can't go to Dr Meredith in Hackney High Street.

Apart from that, what is your problem?

He hit me in my stomach.

I'm bleeding.

Probationer, take this patient to Dr Culpin.

I am very grateful. Thank you.

Name, please?

WOMAN CRIES

...you'd have won the bloody Ashes by now.

Sister wants to know when you'll be free.

Tell Sister Russell we're talking cricket.

She wants to know if Dr Ingrams can work examination room two.

We're in danger of falling behind.

Nurse Bennett, take over from Dr Ingrams, would you?

-We could do with some brute strength. -Right.

BENNETT:Lie down, dear.

SHE SPEAKS YIDDISH

HE SPEAKS YIDDISH

THEY ARGUE IN YIDDISH

He'll behave from now on.

Excuse me...

Something about sugar?

Meshuga. Mad.

Meshuga.

Oh...

Meshuga.

Um, Mrs Gold said that if Mr Fischoff insults her cooking again,

she'll do something regrettable.

SHE CHUCKLES

What is your name, please?

His name is Modinski, my name is Landau.

-He's the patient? -He is sick, yes. He cannot use his legs.

His first name? HE SPEAKS YIDDISH

Issy. Call him Issy.

Issy Modinski.

He cannot eat either.

Porter!

I'll see if there's a bed on one of the Hebrew wards.

We've been sent up here by Dr Culpin.

Did they give you a ticket?

I'm not to leave him.

His parents speak no English. They've been here for one week.

Come with me, please.

HE SPEAKS YIDDISH

HE HUMS CHEERFULLY

BANGING

What...what?

Ah, Mr Head.

-Mr Holland said you wouldn't mind. -Wouldn't mind what?

Giving up your temporary laboratory for the new hospital appeal office.

Ah, no, no...

We haven't touched any of your papers, sir. We were waiting for your say-so.

Where's my new temporary laboratory to be sited?

Mr Holland didn't specify.

Truth is...I don't think he knows.

Dr Head, how are you today?

I'm busy moving my laboratory.

Where to?

Into a set of suitcases.

More suffering rags of humanity. Anything interesting?

Well, it's not for me to say what's interesting, but...

Bed one.

Oh!

Now, make a big "Aaaaaah".

Aaaah. That's it.

That's it.

I need a parent here.

He was brought in by a neighbour.

-Were we told how long he's had a fever? -About five days.

-And loss of mobility in the legs? -That happened yesterday.

And the parents arrived only recently in England?

Uh...one week.

I suspect this child may be suffering from an endemic viral disease.

There have been outbreaks recently in various parts of Europe.

Vienna is one, I believe.

Du kommst nicht aus Wien, oder?

I asked him if he came from Vienna. Clearly not.

What's the infection?

Poliomyelitis. We don't have it in this country

and there won't have been time for the virus to spread,

so...I think we're safe.

Ja, wir sind von Wien.

Ti bi ponyal, shto burzhuarziny demokratii nikogda

ne delayut nichego protiv ikh klassovim interesam.

THEY ARGUE IN RUSSIAN

Stop this at once!

Ha! Very funny!

I said stop it!

Come with me, please.

MAN SHOUTS IN RUSSIAN

-You can wait out here. -Like a tradesman.

You were causing a commotion.

There's always a commotion around Ritzkof.

You're not family. You shouldn't be on the ward.

I was told to come by the doctor.

You said this boy is from Lithuania.

Posvol. His family are from my family's village.

That's why they sent for me.

-What language did you speak with them? -Yiddish.

The boy speaks German.

The family said they were from Lithuania

because they didn't want anyone to know they were from Vienna.

Why would they do that?

Where are you from?

That doesn't matter.

It seems to matter, doesn't it?

It seems to matter a good deal.

-Are you going to wait out here quietly? -If you wait with me.

I have duties.

Then I'll wait quietly till you've done them.

We're moving the boy to the isolation block.

After he's gone, strip down his bed and take the usual precautions.

-What does he have? -Poliomyelitis.

I have only heard terrible things about you.

Then you bring that little boy in here.

What? I have fangs?

I hear terrible things.

Then choose who you listen to more carefully.

-Rebbe Schneed. -He has a loud voice.

He's a rabbi.That explains it, then.

HE GRUNTS DISMISSIVELY

-That was quick. -You're needed.

How I have longed to hear someone say that.

What's your name?

Saul.

Your full name.

Saul...Nathaniel...Landau.

Age?

-Why? -The doctor needs to see you.

Could you turn for me, please?

Why are we doing this?

When did you last have a medical examination?

I've never had a medical examination.

Breathe deeply, please.

-We need to take a history. -You want to talk about history?

-Take a history. -History is something I can talk about.

I mean your medical history.

I don't have a medical history. I have many other kinds of history.

I'm sure, but they're not our concerns.

Well then, I'll come back another time and we can talk about history or take history.

We'd like you to stay here.

Why?

You've been in contact with a contagious disease.

Only for a few hours.

All the same.

Dr Head, if you suspect Mr Landau has poliomyelitis...

I didn't think it possible he had, but I was obliged to examine him.

After all, there'd already been some deceit about where the boy came from.

-Then Mr Landau can leave? -No, he can't.

-Why? -He's interesting.

I'm still making up my mind exactly why.

I just found out who Dr Ingrams' father is.

Good morning, Chairman, Matron.

New doctor. Dr Ingrams.

I want to see how he's getting on.

Ah!

Dr Ingrams.

Mr Holland!

-I came to see how you're settling in. -Fine, thank you.

Good, good.

I appreciate that we've thrown you in at the deep end.

What's going on, Sister?

Mr Holland's come to see how Dr Ingrams is getting on.

Oh! And will he be coming to see how I'm getting on?

-Good luck. -Thank you.

Apparently not.

Must have just found out who his father is.

I want you helping the probationers out here, Nurse Bennett,

unless Dr Culpin orDr Ingrams asks you.

Of course, Sister.

What are you doing? Or need Iask?

I was assisting Dr Culpin.

Ethel, I am Receiving Room sister now - things have changed.

We've been told to speed up,

-we're under review. -I realise...

-Don't put me in a difficult position. -I promise!

This is not possible.

I cannot stay here.

What's the matter?

Mr Landau doesn't want to be here because he says he's not ill.

I'm not ill, but that's not the reason.

Go after him.

Mr Landau?

Doctor!

What's going on?

They're shouting about anomnibus.

Clear the examination rooms! Probationers, one to a stretcher!

Splints and dressings! How many are there?

Move your arms, and your legs. That's good, good.

A deep laceration to the lateral aspect of the forehead.

Clean and stitch the wound, please, Nurse. Dr Ingrams! Whenever you're ready!

No obvious displacement.

Ulna and radius appear to be intact.

Scaphoid...appears to be broken.

VOICES ECHO

HE BREATHES WITH DIFFICULTY

Would you help over there?

Sit over there with me.

Have you been seen?

Did you come in with the accident?

I came here this morning.

You've not been waiting all this time?

I saw you...

You spoke to me.

I'm sorry, I don't...

He came in this morning with a young boy.

Of course.

I'm Matron Luckes. Is there a difficulty?

No difficulty, Miss Luckes.

I told him to wait. Dr Head wants to admit him,

but he doesn't want to be admitted.

You are what we call a request patient.

But it isn't his request. He doesn't want to be admitted.

Fresh air.

Steward!

Mr Landau...

Your condition has nothing to do with the boy you brought in today.

How long have you had attacks like the one you suffered in the Receiving Room?

Overwork. I don't eat properly.

How long?

Two years perhaps.

Mr Landau, it's possible that your condition is quite serious,

blighted by neglect.

I want you to do everything that you're told to do, and not to leave your bed.

Do you understand?

It was a trick, just to get her attention.

See he does as he's told.

-You've to stay in bed and rest. -We're together at last.

That's nonsense!

Am I delirious?

Why don't the other patients want you in here?

They're small-minded.

It's politics.

Nurse Goodley?

I need you to take this note to the Steward's Office.

Is this Mr Landau?

Sorry, Sister.

I've sent the usual note to the Steward

and asked him to send a messenger.

It seems Mr Landau has no family, so far as I can tell.

He talks very oddly at times.

Landau's an anarchist.

I did some asking around.

He's one of a group that works around the Jewish areas.

He does seem to cause some sort of tension with the other patients.

Procedures for putting a patient on the Dangerous List include contacting

a minister if you can't contact any next of kin.

I think it's going to be very interesting

-if you send for a Rabbi for Mr Landau. -I'm obliged to.

Dangerous List?

Sister Spencer says could you send a messenger, please?

Landau?

Not Saul Landau?

I wish I could stay, see if my diagnosis has cured his atheism.

It's been known to happen.

I need your instructions for the Night Sister.

Not dead yet.

Help me sit up.

Has anyone been to see you?

Did you have someone in mind?

Well, family?

My family has disowned me.

I can't believe that. Why would they do that?

Because of beliefs.

Do you know that all men are the same,

except that the different things they believe separate and distinguish them?

Like having Hebrew wards in a hospital.

The Jewish patients want separate wards.

They eat different food.

They do indeed want to be different.

Is that wrong? To have beliefs?

I have beliefs.

I hold them as strongly as any of these people,

only mine aren't about what kind of meat I eat

or whether there's a blemish in an egg

or whether my clothes mix linen and cotton.

And what are these beliefs?

That men will rise up from their servitude and achieve universal justice .

That's why my family disowned me.

I need to get a male attendant to help me wash you.

Laura?

Is something wrong?

Laura?

Has something affected you?

Is it the little boy?

I shall have to ask Dr Culpin what he knows about polio tomorrow.

In this place, we have to have open hearts,

but also close something of ourselves off at the same time.

It's the hardest thing in the world.

Isn't it?

What are you doing here?

They sent a messenger.

I repeat...

..what are you doing here?

Saul Landau has no family.

So the messenger came to me.

I'm not ill.

I want you to know that you're not alone.

I've never been alone.

You know what I'm talking about.

I've never known what you were talking about.

That's the problem.

Is there anyone you want me to see?

Tell Belstein I'll have his article ready in time.

Are you prepared to listen to me?

No.

Any more than you're prepared to listen to me.

Saul, you're a charismatic man.

At least promise me you won't practise your skills in here.

My dark arts, you mean?

HE SIGHS

Quite often, we get people waiting on the step for the doors to open.

Sometimes they wait quite a long time.

The trustees are addressing that.

It would be ideal if we never closed the Receiving Room.

We don't often get them waiting all night.

HE SPEAKS YIDDISH

HE CONTINUES IN YIDDISH

HE SPEAKS YIDDISH

Excuse me. Sit down, please.

A dank.

Send to the synagogue on Fieldgate Street and say we need the shammes.

That's the sexton. He'll translate Yiddish. Use my name.

SHOUTING

Well, I've been here 30 years.

You'll become accustomed to it.

Oh, excuse me. Form a queue here, please.

Good morning, Nurse Goodley.

Good morning, Mr Knopf. I trust you had a comfortable night.

As it happens, Nurse, oh, I did not.

All through the night - 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock,

an insistent banging in my head.

-Doctor Ingrams? -Mr Holland.

I was lucky to bump into you.

I wonder if you could spare me five minutes?

Of course.

Ich kenne die Krankenschwester und sie kennt mich...

HE CONTINUES

They left their son here yesterday. A younger man brought him in.

He volunteered to help them for a mitzvah, a good deed.

What's their names?

Modinski.

THEY SPEAK IN GERMAN

The boy couldn't swallow, and all of a sudden

he couldn't use his legs, which is a tzorus.

-A what? -A very bad thing.

The boy is in the isolation block.

This is serious?

-He has an illness others could catch. -And it's called?

It's called poliomyelitis.

All these diseases, they all sound Yiddish.

But I don't know how to explain it.

Their boy will get better.

Right, good.

And the young fellow who brought the son in for them?

He's seriously unwell, I'm sorry to say.

I won't tell them that. They weren't friends anyhow.

Prayers in 15 minutes.

Tell the Luckes that the shammes was glad to be of service.

HE SPEAKS YIDDISH

I wondered where you'd got to.

How are you feeling?

-I feel tired. -That's to be expected.

I need something.

What do you need?

I need some time.

You have lots of time.

Then tell that doctor it's time he spoke to me.

CLOCK CHIMES

The thing is, I was wondering if you'd have a word with your father.

You speak regularly with your father, I assume?

Most evenings.

Excellent.

What is it that you want me to say?

The London needs support in high places.

I understood that Their Majesties are very supportive.

Hmm...I was thinking more of, er...

the Prime Minister. Isn't your father also attending Mr Asquith?

Er...you don't have to answer that,

but were the Prime Minister to be able to share the same confidence

as that of Their Majesties, to the effect that Mr Ingrams' son

is getting along very well, very well indeed, at The London,

then that could be very, very helpful.

And this conversation never happened.

Thank you so much for your time.

Not at all.

How are you getting along with Dr Culpin?

-Fine. -Good.

-Thank you. -Thank you.

HE WHEEZES AND COUGHS

Mr Pincus is having some difficulties.

-What kind of difficulties? -Paralysis of his left side.

And there's no connection with the boy we admitted yesterday.

What's Dr Head's diagnosis of Mr Landau?

I want you to understand, there is no epidemic of infection on this ward.

I understand that.

Dr Head thinks Mr Landau might have Addison's disease.

He's not certain.

What he is certain about is the weakness of his heart.

I need to talk to you.

You told me about your special relationship with Dr Culpin.

-No-one's to know about that. -I know.

I need you to ask him a question. Don't say it's from me.

A patient with Addison's disease and a weak heart...

Yes?

Can he live?

What's this about, really?

BELL CHIMES

I know who you are.

I came to a meeting.

I heard what you said.

If you're looking for an argument, this isn't the time.

I'm an old man.

I may not get out of here. It's now or never.

For a little while, you almost had me.

But then you went too far.

When a man's close to dying, like me, maybe,

he can look back on universal justice in the world,

very nice.

But he also wants to look forward,

and what can he look forward to if he's rejected his faith?

Have you been to a funeral?

Have I been to a funeral? Are you crazy?

-What did the Rabbi have to say? -About what?

He stood there. He said what a respected man so and so was,

he went to shul, kept kosher, and then he led the Kaddish

and talked about the man's reputation?

Yes.

And...? Anything else?

-Such as? -Heaven?

-Hell? -Oh, that's for the goyim.

They can't get over it.

For them, it's like buying a house.

"Will they get a nice neighbourhood and an inside toilet?"

And...?

Look, you say there's no heaven for Jews.

Well, what about the Promised Land?

Now who's buying a house in a good neighbourhood with an inside toilet?

You know what bothers me about people like you? You give Jews a bad name.

Fine, stay on your knees, and see where the Promised Land gets you.

Some day, Jews can be happy.

So they can be.

We agree on something, then.

I doubt it.

Look at you, a young man,

your life in front of you.

A patient died last night.

I've heard.

Mr Pincus passed away last night.

He seemed to be making a good recovery.

His wound was healing, the signs were positive.

I'm very sorry.

I want you to make a parcel of his belongings.

The funeral will be this afternoon.

This afternoon?

Jewish funerals have to be held within 24 hours.

Oh.

My Lords, ladies and gentlemen...

Oh.

It requires greater courage...to make yet another speech before you...

..on behalf of the hospitals of this great city...

..than you probably suspect.

I've been making speeches in this cause...

I've been making speeches in this cause for over...

..19, 20 years...

..and when I recall their number, I become dejected...

No.

"Oppressed", yes.

I must have already said everything there is to be said.

I have already said everything there is to be said.

Where's Ingrams?

I don't know.

Did you think about my question?

Look, this business of medical education, it has a lot to do with priorities.

Now, I've been trying to show you the basics.

Yes? Not get into all the fine print.

Addison's disease.

Addison's disease. A patient suffering from Addison's disease

isn't producing enough of certain key hormones.

The glands are damaged. You'll see it mostly as a consequence of TB.

-Treatment? -Well, not much.

You're asking about heart disease.

If it's gone undiagnosed or been neglected by the patient

to the point where the heart's damaged, then...

not much chance.

Nurse.

I've got something here.

I got my brother-in-law to bring it in.

To show what kind of man he is.

Landau.

He...he wrote this.

You know what he thinks you are?

What does he think I am?

A lackey of the capitalist system.

Anyone who isn't working to overthrow the system is helping to support it.

In his new paradise, there'd be no illness. Disease would be...

Oh, you know.

Just read what it says.

No, it's for you.

Do you need a bedpan, Mr Fischoff?

No, thank you.

And have you moved your bowels recently?

Yes.

Thank you very much for asking.

My Lords, ladies and gentlemen...

..it requires greater courage to make yet another speech before you

on behalf of the hospitals of this great city than you probably suspect.

Oh...

It is quite easy...

It is quite an easy...

It's quite an easy thing to go down to Limehouse or to Bow

to inflame the passions of the workless and unemployed.

And that passion may one day sweep law and order before it...

That passion may one day sweep law and order before it

in a wild tumult of lawless riot and fury.

But I plead with you

to leave the voluntarily supported hospitals as your olive branch of peace.

"No God, no master...

LANDAU:"The anarchist type of social structure is the industrial type.

"And for it, the true industrialist, the working man, should stand..."

Not all the political speeches in the world can silence our message -

"I am the rich man's sympathy with you in your suffering.

"These beds are rich women's love to your children,

"that they may be comforted of their hurts..."

"That offers the worker only permanent inferiority and enslavement,

"and against that, he should revolt.

"Man is by the very essence of his being too fine to be treated as an inferior.

"These injustices that blight the face of society...

"..are passed off as a mere misfortune, like a passing skin infection."

Take a seat. The doctor will be with you shortly.

Fainted in the queue, Sister. Is there anyone with her?

Looks like marasmus - starvation.

"Some kind nurse will put cream on the outbreak, and all will be well.

"In this matter of the crippling of the working class...

LANDAU:"...the nurse who means nothing but well is as much the cause of death

"as the capitalist masters of profit from the so-called civilised countries."

APPLAUSE

SHE SOBS

LANDAU:Do you know that all men are the same,

except that the different things they believe separate and distinguish them?

Oh, I have beliefs.

Men will rise up from their servitude and achieve universal justice.

SHOUTING IN YIDDISH

Order, please. Can I see your tickets?

Tickets?

Just a bit of order.

Kommen, kommen.

Bitte, bitte.

Kommen, kommen.

Can I help you?

Saul Landau?

Come with me.

THEY SPEAK GERMAN

They're afraid I caught what their son has.

I told them no. They want to know if he is going to get better.

I'm sure he will.

HE TRANSLATES

They have your word for it now.

The lad speaks no English.

He presented with spreading paralysis and fever.

My diagnosis is that he has been infected with the poliomyelitis virus,

which is endemic but fortunately not epidemic.

Fortunately, polio is very rare, and you're unlikely to see much of it, if any.

DOCTOR SPEAKS GERMAN

Fortunately, my German is good enough to have permitted me

to explain to the patient that he has done medical education a service.

MEN SPEAK YIDDISH

THEY SPEAK YIDDISH

I don't want any optimism.

I have things to do.

I need to know if I'm going to die.

Your heart is damaged. -And?

It's very serious.

I'm going to die?

You're not dying. You suffered what we term an Addisonian crisis.

But I could suffer another one at any moment?

Yes.

And...

..this time I might not survive it?

You may not.

Thank you.

My family has disowned me.

I have some friends, but bringing them here might cause difficulties

with your other patients.

I understand.

I have a favour to ask.

Yes?

Could you, er...?

Mr Landau wants to dictate his last will and testament to you.

Apparently, the appearance of any of his political colleagues on the Hebrew Wards

-could cause unrest. -I see.

Why he has chosen you, I cannot say.

It seems an imposition, I must say,

but if one takes a somewhat liberal view,

it is in line with nursing duties.

I understand.

It would mean giving you special permission

to return to the ward in your off-duty hours.

You are a good and capable nurse,

and in asking you to do this, I'm placing my confidence in you.

But you are free to refuse.

I wouldn't consider refusing.

That's very good of you.

There is something else...

..which has caused me a very great deal of thought.

What?

Mr Landau wants you to visit him as a visitor.

In other words, out of uniform, a clear breach of regulations.

I don't know why he's asked this.

Do you?

No.

LUCKES: Very well.

Under the circumstances, I believe this is one occasion,

and the only occasion,

when other rules may apply.

And so I have agreed.

I thought you'd never come.

There's every chance you'll be out of bed soon.

Are you ready?

All my life, I have watched the masses of the world

suffering from that same disease

for which the cure is readily available to them, but they cannot see it.

You mean the disease is poverty?

We were all born to take an equal share of the abundance of this Earth.

One day soon, there'll be tremendous change.

-Wait, I can't keep up. -I'm talking to you.

A tremendous change.

You only have to open your eyes to open your mind.

The rabbi will insist on burying me.

Well, that's no way to talk or think.

I can't sleep.

Why were you back so late? Miss Luckes gave me an extra duty.

I think one more extra duty, and I'd leave the London on the spot.

It's no wonder you're exhausted.

There's this massive swell of poverty and deprivation in the city,

and it's allowed to just blow in at the feet

of one nursing sister, and that's you, and it's not right. Well, it's the truth.

One can speak the truth, can't one? They didn't blind us

and cut out our tongues when we finished training, did they?

Here, drink your milk. It'll help.

SHE SOBS

-He's dead. -Oh, Laura.

We're just discussing a request patient for Raphael.

Over there.

NURSE: Dr Culpin wants Mr Dean to see him for a strangulated hernia.

Doctor says I can go home.

KNOCK AT THE DOOR

Dr Ingrams? Do come in.

Um, I had a conversation, as you asked,

and I passed on a copy of the speech you gave to me.

My father raised the matter with me over dinner last evening.

He spoke to Mr Asquith?

My father didn't say who he'd spoken to or what he'd spoken about.

-Indeed, indeed. -And had he tried to raise it,

then the Prime Minister would be in grave difficulty

to let his true opinion be known.

Even in private?

-Even in private. -Oh.

My father asked me to bring a small donation.

That's very generous, not at all what I was soliciting.

Tell your father I'm very obliged to him, as indeed we all are.

Thank you.

Oh, I see. It's not from your father.

-No. -It's from...

-Yes -...the Prime Minister.

I should get to my post.

Yes.

HE SAYS PRAYERS IN YIDDISH

Amen.

What shall we say of this man,

of his name and of his reputation?

Of the things he has done in his life,

and of the things he has left undone?

In our prayers, we asked the Almighty to take back the soul he created.

Saul Isaac Landau was a man of strong beliefs...

MURMURS OF ASSENT

..and deep passions.

Often, I have debated with him...in the early days.

He wrote down some words before he died, and he wanted them for his testament.

No doubt they will be printed in the newspaper he edited.

All the same,

I shall read this.

"The beauty of life is only apparent...

LANDAU:"...when it is cloaked in the radiance of freedom,

"when men and women have voices without fear,

"and our children face a future that is not a gamble

"with the darkest forces of chance and prejudice."

When Saul Landau first read those lines to me,

I told him this is what all Jews pray for...

..and that I should be here to pray for him, too.

HE PRAYS IN YIDDISH

For he will instruct his angels on your behalf,

to guard you in all your ways.

You have very good handwriting.

Normally, the family sit on these low chairs.

Friends and relations bring food

to sustain them through the mourning period.

They wear torn clothes to indicate their grief.

Who will tell his family?

I know the rabbis in Vilnius.

Something will be done.

Minister, esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen,

it requires greater courage to make yet another speech before you

on behalf of the hospitals of this great city than you probably suspect.

LANDAU:One day soon, there'll be tremendous change.

-Wait, I can't keep up. -I'm talking to you.

Tremendous change.

You only have to open your eyes to open your mind.