Original subtitles

Catalina, California.

One of the greatest crowds in the West gathers to witness the launching of a

liberty ship.

There is something about this crowd, as there is about this ship, that is

different from any other.

Something you cannot see, yet something that all who are assembled here can

feel. The presence of an unseen, yet vital personality.

For the name of this ship is Jack London.

Never was a liberty ship more fittingly named.

The fearless spirit and purpose of the man lives again in every member of its

crew and invests the ship itself with true significance.

For Jack London was more than a great author.

He was a real American.

He lived and wrote that others might be free.

Free to read the truth.

Free to right a wrong.

Free to raise their voices.

On behalf of the welfare of their fellow men.

Was it bad?

It was awful.

She just sits there and falls asleep.

And the next thing you know, she's into it.

And the machine smashes her hand.

Get back to work.

Hey, London.

You too.

Come on, get back to work or you won't have a job.

Could have been my fingers just as easy as that girl's.

Lots of times I've almost dozed off and just caught myself in time.

Just the rotten air and the noise that never stops.

Twelve hours a day beating in your brain.

For ten cents.

Ten cents an hour.

Oh, I know, honey, but things are bad all over.

It isn't that, Manny Jenny. It's just that people like us, poor people, have

to work in filthy holes just to exist.

And that other people, rich people, can have everything they want.

Fine clothes and carriages and not only things, but time.

Time to live and time to think and time to learn.

That's what I want, Mammy Jenny.

Time.

I guess you're right, Jack.

Mammy Jenny, have you got any money?

Well, I've got some.

Some I've been saving.

Don't you lend it to me?

What for?

I want to get myself a boat.

I can make money, lots of them, fast.

Jack London?

What are you thinking about?

Oyster hauling.

Oyster hauling?

Oyster pirating, you mean?

I wouldn't stay at it long, Mammy Jenny. Just a few hauls and I'd have enough

money to last me three months. A whole year, maybe.

Then I'd be free to get some schooling.

Don't you let me hear you talk like that.

I have to bring you in this world.

And I want to see you grow up right so you'll mount to something.

I ain't going to help you get in no trouble.

I don't want to get into trouble. I'm trying to get out.

Is it wrong to want to fight your way out?

I'd pay you back every cent, more even.

Oh, it ain't that money, darling. You can have all I've got, but...

But I couldn't sleep nights worrying over you.

Oh, Jenny.

If anything would happen to you, I'd never forgive myself.

Never mind, Jenny.

Forget about it.

170.

180.

200.

220.

Five makes 225. And you get bargain, my dear.

I tell you straight, I hate to give her up, but I got a chance to buy a bigger

boat.

I've had my eye on her for a long time.

I've been a food worker in those jute mills and canning factories.

Well, come on, let's wet down the deal. Hurry!

Oh, Mamie, get your stuff off that boat.

Meet me on the reindeer No,

you don't like that

What are you doing here?

Fell asleep alone.

You going in with French Frank?

What's that got to do with you?

Nothing.

Only there's an awful lot to learn about oyster pirating.

Who caught you?

My brother.

He was the best of them.

Until he got a bullet in him.

You're sort of young. You couldn't be getting a bullet in you.

Well, that's the chance you take.

Hey, you shouldn't go out tonight.

Why not?

With the moon up.

I'm not going out for races.

Just like to try her out, huh?

That's right.

When you get a boat of your own, it sort of makes a man out of you, don't it?

Sure does.

We got some sail patching to do.

A rat must have got at this one.

It is Scratch Nelson.

Hi, Scratch.

Hello, Jack.

Hi, Mamie. How have you been? I haven't seen you around lately.

Hey, what happened to you?

Oh, I had a run-in with French Frank over the split.

Well, a new dress.

You everything, you know.

Yes, sir. Mamie, the queen of the oyster pirates.

Come on, let's sit down, huh? Yeah.

I was just wondering.

How's about me coming in with you? Why, sure, Scratch.

We make enough for a three-way split. Be glad to have you.

Only you better talk to my skipper here.

Well, what do you say, Mamie?

Sure. Why not?

Then I'd have somebody to chew the fat with when Shakespeare is writing one of

them yawns of his.

Hey, Curly.

Double drinks all around for my new partner.

Coming up, Jack.

We'll have a real blowout after our first big halt.

We've been first again, Scrunch. We ain't been second yet.

Here comes Frankie.

Coming in on a drag, ain't he?

What are you thinking?

I'm thinking that one of these days it's going to be me laid out there on a

slant, like a hulk, a dead fish, or worse, a ten-year prison stretch, like

me.

Let's go someplace, huh?

I can't.

What are you going to do?

I'm through with this rocking business.

Oh, don't talk like that, honey. You're just downhearted, honey. I don't know

what's happening.

And losing your boat.

Isn't that I'm through?

What about me?

You gotta choose for yourself.

You bet your life I'll choose if that's the way you are.

I'm sorry, but I got to.

You're yellow.

That's what you are.

Quitter! Dirty, stinking quitter!

There's all the mussel pounds. I'm here to make you mine.

$30 a month in pounds. Sign here and make your order.

$30 a month in pounds. Sign here.

Well, Tom.

Old 48.

I thought you were back on that farm.

I didn't make it.

I'll make it this time, though, you bet.

How long is this cruise?

About seven months. It's a very easy.

Well, that ain't so long.

That's right, Tom.

That's right.

$30 a month in pounds.

Sign your name.

$30 a month and found. Sign here and make your mark.

$30 a month and found. Sign here.

Name? Jack Linden.

Experience? Not very much, sir, but I'm a good sailor.

What are you signing on for?

Able-bodied seaman.

All right.

$30 a month and found. Sign here and make your mark.

He writes fine, just like a girl.

$30 a month and found.

Sign here and make your mark.

$30 a month and found. Sign here and make your mark.

How soon do we sail, Captain?

Oh, you're anxious to sail, eh? Sure am.

You just can't wait to tangle with them seals, huh?

Down the focus.

Help yourself, mate.

Everybody for yourself.

You're going

to like this old boat.

I'm glad to be on it.

That's my bunk and my things within it.

Those are my things in there now. Listen.

I always want to bunk by the ladder.

I'll match you to it.

Go ahead.

You move.

Maybe I'll bunk by the ladder next trip.

Oh, shut up.

How is it found?

What's that, a Bible?

Elder, I got a Bible if you want one. What's this about, James?

No, it's about men.

Darwin's origin of species.

For heaven's sake!

Hey, mate!

We got a...

That's a reward.

Give me that book. You ain't got to be stubborn with your learning, are you?

Give me that book. Hey, Victor!

That's something you won't get out of books.

Why don't you leave the boy alone?

Let's finish the game.

You seem like killing these poor innocent thieves.

Only to get a fur coat for some dame.

Yeah, who's doing it for dames? We're doing it for dough.

You mean we're doing it for dough to put fur on, James.

Well, I got one down in New Orleans, and I'm going to marry you right after this

trip. We're going to have plenty of kids.

That's right, Victor.

Yeah, the trouble is you'll never get past the fur saloon. Not this trip. Oh,

I'm going to save every cent I make this time.

Yeah, like old Tom.

He is always going to buy a farm.

You mind your own business.

Shut your big mouth.

Yeah, why don't you leave the old man alone?

Hey, Vic, come here.

Oh, Landlubber.

Greenhorn.

What'd you do with that wet stone?

I left it there.

Well, get it, will you? This knife of mine wants paper seals, I'll add.

I'm going to put the thing on Jack's bumper. Don't nobody say nothing.

We're going to have a rip-roaring time.

Where are you going with that?

He's got a date tonight, Bill. Nobody say nothing.

Pretty soon this dirty stealing business will be

finished. Then we'll be heading for Yokohama.

You ain't never been there, have you, Jack?

What's it like?

Just imagine who is here. A flock of geisha girls swarming all around.

Geisha girls, that's...

Just like any other girl, only better in some respects.

That sure sounds great.

I wish it would happen soon.

It'll be soon enough.

You'll get an experience coming that you'll never forget.

Never. Sure sounds wonderful.

It's like the kids turned the tables on you. The joke is on you.

Jack!

Better get out of here.

Why don't you turn in and get some sleep?

I just want to set something down.

Not a man, but a beast.

A wolf.

A sea wolf.

And that's what we are.

But it's the sea that makes us that way, son.

Cooped up here like a lot of animals, doing the same thing day after day,

thinking the same thing night after night.

No wife, no kids.

Nothing.

Just dreams.

Pretty soon we'll be back where we started from.

And then you'll see.

The big pay will go in a night.

And the dreams will go in a night, too.

Then we'll sign on again and it'll be the same thing all over.

Not me.

I'm gonna be a writer.

What are you going to write about?

About all this, I guess.

Only sometimes I worry about words.

I don't know enough about words.

Well, keep digging, kid.

They'll come to you.

And when they do, weed them.

Make every one count.

I don't know anything about writing stories, but it seems to me it ought to

be something like...

Well, like making a good net.

Make every spring and every knot mean something.

When you've got them together, make them hold.

Make them strong.

I hardly ever went to school.

There's so much I want to learn.

Well, keep after it, kid.

Just steer a straight course.

Keep that flashlight burning.

I spent a pleasant evening going over your short story compositions.

As usual, I have selected examples from the submissions.

And as usual, the authors shall remain anonymous.

So if the shoe fits, you can hide your consternation behind a poker face.

The two stories I have selected represent the extremes in writing.

One is fraud, an attempt at whimsy that evaporates into thin air.

The other is raw.

almost brutal to the point of unbelief.

In other words, one of you will tickle the cloud with a feather and the other

has battered good taste with a sledgehammer.

I shall read from the feather.

Penelope nibbled at her bonbon. Her thoughts skipped from nothing to

nothing. She was in a pink-blue haze.

Her mama wafted in and blended with the nothingness.

She seemed desperately worried.

Penelope, she breathed, have you seen my pimple?

This made a profound impression on me.

I immediately stopped reading and went back to my police gazette.

I now come to the sledgehammer.

Go on, he advised her, pull the trigger and kill a man.

Spatter his brains on the floor and slap a hole in them the size of your fist.

That's what killing a man means.

Excuse me, Professor Hilliard, but since you've made me a horrible example, would

you mind discussing my story a little bit? Not at all, London. Not at all.

Well, sir, Jeff, what is it that's so wrong with my writing?

Well, boiled down, I should say, too much imagination.

Too much exaggeration.

After all, you know, London, slap a hole in him the size of a man's fist is... I

saw it happen in a joint in Singapore.

You saw it happen?

Well... Perhaps I shouldn't have brought it up.

You see, Professor Hilliard, I've only written about what I saw.

It seems to me there's nothing wrong in writing about life and truth.

But do you think you will get very far writing about poverty, cruelty,

brutality?

It's my experience that they exist, sir.

And if I could put them down on paper so people would think about them and try to

destroy them, then I'm doing something.

Ah, now we're coming to it.

Do you want to be a writer?

Or a crusader.

Well, I don't know if I'm capable of being either.

I knew when I came here that I was different from the rest of you, but that

didn't stop me.

Your entrance exams almost did, but I crammed myself with what I needed to get

by. I knew that I had to dig harder than the next fellow because I'm rough and

barren ground.

But, sir, I've watched the Chinese cut terraces into a rocky hillside and

patiently wait for the rain to wash down silk so things could be planted and made

to grow.

And the way I felt that I was like that, that with a little help, I could make

the things grow that are inside of me.

I learned that a strong back wouldn't take me half as far as a good head, if I

could develop one.

That's why I came here.

But, Professor Hilliard, if my great fault lies in writing about what I know

and what I've seen, then I'm afraid it's a fault that can't be corrected here.

I'm sure you didn't intend to ridicule me, sir.

Perhaps a trick of yours to make me think.

Well, sir, the trick is what?

Thanks. You

have

just witnessed an unusual display.

Unusual in that we so seldom meet with it today.

The uncommon thing...

I would suggest that the rest of you do not try to emulate him.

It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude.

For which Mr.

London undoubtedly has another word.

What's wrong?

You in trouble?

No, Mammy Jenny. I sent for you to help me pack and store something.

Pack and store?

What are you talking about?

I'm going away, Mammy Jenny. I don't know when I'll be back.

Oh, quit being foolish.

What about your schooling?

What about your writing?

There goes most of it.

You mean you burned all them stories you done wrote?

And rewrote, Mammy Jenny.

Not all of them, though. I'm saving some.

And one of these days when I'm successful, I'll...

Dig them up out of this trunk and dust them off and send them to the same

editors who are turning them down now.

They'll buy them when I'm famous and write to tell me how good they are.

But, Jack, you got me all mixed up.

First you sweat and you grub and you work yourself sick so as you can go to

school and learn to write.

And plus it. Just like that.

And say you're going away.

Where are you going?

To the Yukon, Mammy Jenny.

Yukon? Where is that?

Up north, in Alaska.

What are you going up there for?

To get some money, Mammy Jenny.

It's been a gold strike.

And with a little luck, I can hit it.

Then I won't have to worry.

I can sit tight and study and read and write what I want to write.

Not what a lot of editors and professors expect me to write. But how do you know

you can do better up there than you can do here? And how are you so sure you

ain't fighting off more than you can chew?

I got as much chance as the next fellow.

You don't understand me, Jenny. I just can't stay around here and be cramped

between the jaws of a vice.

I've got to get out. I've got to get away.

Oh, I just wish I could be sure you wasn't jumping yourself out of a frying

pan into the fire.

It's so easy to do, Jenny.

But there's very few people that can jump out of the fire back in the pan

again.

Nothing could be as bad as the fire that's burning inside of me now.

They're trying to burn through.

They've got to.

Someday, Manny, Jenny, maybe you'll know what I mean.

Someday, maybe a lot of people will know what I mean.

Make it 50 more.

And 100.

That's not too much.

Recall. 200 more.

All right.

Come in, Charlie.

How are you, stranger?

Fine, how are you?

Finding hope for your best gal?

No, just counting down an idea.

There's a sourdough over there bedding a spool head off.

It's all wrapped up in rabbit's feet.

That's not Luke Lannigan.

That's the end of the poker game, boys.

Now get back to the bar and I'll buy it for all of you. Give me anything you

want, Al.

Hey,

read it.

Read it.

I didn't want to claim worth a million bucks.

Imagine that cyborg trying to bluff me out of a pair of boots.

Come on, baby, I'll buy you the joint. Oh, I'm busy. Can't you see? Well, don't

give me that now.

Look, rabbits.

You promised me if ever I wanted... Oh, let me go. You heard what she said,

didn't you? Some other time.

What happened? What's the matter?

Oh,

it's a good thing I blocked that.

Oh, what's the difference? Come on, I just made a million bucks.

Everybody's a bar.

Quite a character.

Say, where are you from?

California.

You from Spain?

Uh-uh. I'm Greek.

Oh.

The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece.

The burning Sappho loved Spain.

You know your virus.

Say, what's the name?

Frida Madu.

Frida from there.

Frida, do you remember these famous lines?

Oh, maid of Athens, dare we part?

Give, oh, give me back my heart.

Why don't you stay here for a while?

You'll worse up.

We could have a great time together with Byron and Kelly.

Well, maybe I will.

Hello. You got a minute?

Where have you been all day?

Well, I got an idea last night from what you were telling me about that masked

bull... Excuse me.

I got an idea last night from what you were telling me about that masked bull,

and I wrote a story about it. Of course, it's still rough, but I think I caught

something of you in it.

I'm going to call it The Squirmer of Women.

Hey, that doesn't sound bad.

Well, here goes.

Frida was a Greek girl.

At least, she purported to be Greek.

Her furs were the most magnificent from Chilkoot to St. Michael. Oh, that's

overdoing it a bit, isn't it?

And her jewels were the envy of every woman.

Ready, Miss Bilou.

All right.

Are you going to come and hear my number?

Sure. I want to fix this first.

Take a mile from here.

and a gold strike 80 miles north of here.

Oh, but you're not going, are you? Well, sure I am.

Oh, listen to me, T'Chako.

You haven't got a chance out there.

I know this you can gain.

You'll muck in the grassroots till your heart breaks, till you rot of scurvy on

the trail.

I know, but... Believe me.

In the end, the winner is the loser.

All the money comes here.

It stays here.

Right here, my daughter.

Thanks, Frida.

I don't think I'm cut out for this stuff.

Oh, ideals.

Listen, I gave up a million bucks for you last night. Doesn't that mean

anything to you? Everything, beautiful.

I'm thinking you're on a trail, Friedman.

Byron and Shelly are the stars.

Buck, where does all that snow come from?

And why?

Does it snow a man in all winters?

Heaten from his purpose?

Frozen hands.

See, there's an idea for you.

A man commits a crime, evades the police, and escapes to the Yukon. He

gets snowed in.

Spends the whole winter in solitary confinement.

Oh, don't like it. Not good.

Well, let's light the lamp and spend a cozy evening working.

Now, if you're a good fellow, I'll let you in on the last two chapters I wrote.

Remember where we left off last night?

Right in the middle of the big fight.

Now, listen to this.

In vain, Buck strode to sink his teeth in the neck of the big white dog.

Fang clashed fang, and lips were cut and bleeding.

But Buck could not penetrate his enemy's guard.

Time and time again, he tried for the snow-white throat, where light bubbled

near to the surface.

Where light bubbled near to the surface?

Not a bad phrase, then. What do you say?

Hey, you!

Buck!

Wake up!

Aren't you even interested in hearing about yourself?

Thank you, little lady dog.

Hey, where did you get that terrible stuff?

That must have ripped you wide open.

I wonder what you must have left behind.

If you could only speak, what story would you tell me?

For the collaborator, you see.

Thank you, Mr. Preston.

There's only one little point. Well,

I'm not awfully keen about it. Oh?

What's that?

The title you've drawn.

The Call of the Wild?

Why, that's a wonderful title.

The whole idea of the story, sir. I wouldn't change it for the world.

A dog reverting to the primitive, just as a human being under hardship and

brutality reverts to the wild.

Well, it's your baby.

I'm only the godfather.

I'd like to change it for you, Mr. Britt, but that's its name. It was born

that way.

All right, then.

Thank you, sir.

Well, shall we go?

Sometime you must tell me how it was born.

Writing like that doesn't come out of nowhere.

It came out of the Yukon. Unless I miss my guess, it's going to mark a milestone

in American letters.

A story about a dog?

A dog, huh?

Here you are, Mr. Baird. Thank you, Jenny.

That's what it's about, sir. It's about life. You said so yourself.

It wouldn't surprise me if the critics hailed you as the rugged Kip thing of

this country. Kip?

He's always been my idol.

He was mine, too, until, well, quite recently.

Hello, Mr. Brant. Well, you two must know each other, of course.

I'm afraid not.

Let me introduce you. Charmian Kittredge and my favorite author, Mr. Jack London.

How do you do, Miss Kittredge?

Oh.

How do you do?

I'll see you later, Mr. Brant.

Well.

I beg your pardon. Did you wish to see someone?

You must excuse me for trailing you here, but I had to ask you an important

question. I just couldn't wait.

I can imagine why you're really here.

I want to apologize to you, Mr. London.

Apologize? Yes.

I... I was in such a hurry to... to... I'm afraid I

was a little abrupt on the street just now.

Abrupt?

I'm glad you didn't notice it.

I have to get to work.

But I'm happy you gave me the chance to explain that I didn't snub you

purposely.

Of course you didn't.

Why did you snub me?

Purposely? But I assure you, I didn't. You snubbed me.

Purposely. Believe me, Mr. London, I didn't. Purposely. But everyone says

you're going to be a gold miner to the frame. I wouldn't dare snub you. What

would Mr. Peck say?

Purposely. Mr. London, if you're not going to believe me... Pardon me, Miss

Kiffrey.

Mr. Brett wants to see you right away.

And may I offer a couple of words of advice?

What? Don't go.

No, no, you stay here. Let me go. I'll explain to him and tell him it's all

right as far as I'm concerned. Thank you, Mr. London, but I happen to be

quite capable of taking care of my own affairs.

Well, do you usually read what you find on other people's desks?

I have no compunction about reading my own manuscripts.

But I do wish you'd consult me before making additions.

Additions? Yes, for instance.

Once in 10,000 times a manuscript appears from an unknown author which is

a masterpiece.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London makes a reader's life worth living at

last.

Thank you.

P.S.

Unless you want to lose your favorite reader, never introduce me to Mr.

London.

If he's anything like his book, my heart will stand still when I meet him.

I... I wish you'd go.

Did Mr.

Brett rake you over the cold?

No, it... No, it isn't Mr. Brett.

It isn't you.

Maybe it's myself. I don't think that he...

To know what I'm saying, do I? I guess I'm babbling.

Mr. London, I assure you I'm not this sort of person at all.

I don't know what kind of a person you are, Miss Kittredge.

I don't think that horse likes me.

He doesn't like the way you ride him.

Well, I don't like the way he rides me.

You know, I don't get it.

When I was poor, I rode the rod because I had to.

Now I ride a horse and I don't have to.

Is that book being improved?

Well, Jack, it wouldn't matter if you were rich or poor, obscure or famous.

You'll always be riding somewhere.

You see, you just wrote the books. I read them.

I think I know more about you than you know about yourself.

You're not like other men.

That's not true.

You should read the works of Jack London sometime and find out about yourself.

Now, ordinary man is content to stay put, but you've got something in you

that won't let you rest.

Well, it's just that I hate traps.

When I was young, I thought poverty was the only trap and I swore I'd get out of

it. Now I find that money can be just as much of a trap.

Words can be a trap, too.

Have you ever thought of all the people who have been caught in hell by words

like honor, duty, and love?

You mean that you think love is a trap, too?

No, I didn't mean that. I mean that... I understand.

You're afraid for me, aren't you?

You're afraid that I'll be the one to be fooled, Trent.

Oh, don't be foolish. I thought you understood about women.

Don't you remember, Frodo?

Your own heroine and daughter of the snows.

A girl who makes her own way, daring, courageous, loyal, and understanding.

She loved a man without that terrible possession.

You're like that.

I'd like to be.

Charmian, when a man and woman meet who are meant for each other, it's like a

ship, new launched, rushing to the sea. The sliding waves rebel, but neither sea

nor ship hear them as they rush into each other's lives.

A special Happy New Year for you, ma'am. Oh, thank you, Captain Allen. Thank you.

But ain't you a little mixed up with Christmas? Oh, this is a different kind

of Happy New Year, Mary Jimmy. It comes only once every hundred years.

Happy New Century, you mean. That's right, yes.

Oh, I can't wait to see what I got.

Oh, that's beautiful, Captain Allen.

Just beautiful.

Now, if you're good, I'll be back with a maid to that.

In a hundred years.

Oh, no, sir, Captain Allen. In a hundred years, we both gonna be wearing golden

slippers. I hope.

But gentlemen, there's never been a century like it. When you think of the

progress we've made in culture, in industry, the comforts we enjoy,

electric lights, the telephone.

And don't forget those hopeless carriages.

A friend of mine has one. One younger.

And I swear, we must have been whizzing along at 20 miles an hour at least.

No doubt about it, Jack.

Civilization's darn near reached the apex.

The millennium, huh? Not far from it.

Well, the way I see it, we've only got one foot out of the Dark Ages.

Machines are great, sure.

But they only make more things more quickly.

There's nothing spiritual about them. You can't change what's in a man's mind

or in his heart.

You can brag all you want about culture and progress, but what bucks big in a

man's mind today is materialism. Money.

Money out of machines and money out of everything.

That's what rules this world today. Greed and selfishness. In people and in

nations. And before we get through, instead of a millennium, we'll be

ringing in a century of tyrants.

Good evening, Madam Jenny. Good evening, Mr. Grant.

Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you.

How do you do, Mr. Brett? Glad you could come. Hello, Jack.

Jack, I took the privilege of bringing a friend of mine, Mr. Kerwin Maxwell.

How do you do, Mr. Maxwell? London, I've been wanting very much to meet you.

Oh, thank you, sir. Oh, I'll take those memories, Jenny. Now you can go back to

your decorations.

You're having quite a shindig, aren't you? Yes, why don't you go in? You know

everyone. Jack, Mr. Maxwell would like a word with you privately.

Something rather interesting.

Oh?

If you'll forgive my barging in on your party like this. That's quite all right,

sir. Glad you could come. Sit down.

Well? No, thank you, sir. I'll stick to these.

What I want to talk to you about won't wait. Huh?

What is it?

How would you like to cover the Boer War from my paper?

The Boer War?

Yes. Okay.

There's nothing I'd rather do, but I've never done any newspaper reporting, much

less war reporting.

Very modest, Mr. London, but I've read your stories.

You have the gift of setting down what you see.

That, in my opinion, is the quintessence of good reporting.

Oh, thanks.

Thanks very much.

You'll have to leave immediately for London. From there, you go to South

Africa. What will you say?

I'd like to, but... Excuse me a moment.

What is it, dearie?

It's quite a surprise.

I hardly know how to tell you.

Mr. Maxwell of the Globe had just made me a very flattering offer. Well, that's

wonderful.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

See, he wants me to leave right away for South Africa to... to cover the Boer

War.

What did you tell him? I... I didn't tell him anything.

But you want to go, don't you?

It's out of the question. Of course, we've been postponing all our plans.

We'll have all our lives.

This will be great adventure for you.

But...

Happy New

Year.

Thank you, sir.

Oh, Mr. Harvey!

Mr. Harvey, here's a letter from Mr. Jack. Return address, port said.

Please, ma'am.

Mark

at

96232.

Good night, Lyme. Could you please tell me what time does the Cambria get in?

Why, the Cambria's out two hours ago.

Thank you.

I would have time to change, ma'am and Jenny. The boat's out two hours... It

was a girl. For goodness sake. Just give me my cape.

Yes, ma'am. And my gloves.

Yes, ma'am. Oh, and then again, don't forget my purse.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

You're as

lovely

as I knew you'd be.

Jack!

Oh, Jack.

Oh, Jack.

Beautiful. I got that at a bazaar in Benari.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't going to buy it, but you put up such an awful

fuss. I?

Everywhere I went, you were right with me.

Now you really mean it.

It is.

Nothing will ever take me away from you again.

Nothing, darling.

Do you still want to marry me?

I

just

said a batch of that only yesterday to that outlandish place you were there.

Good. Then I won't have to answer them.

Mr. Jack, here's a telegram.

A telegram? Yes, I just told you about an hour ago.

Do you want these, Mr. Jack? No, thanks, Annie.

I won't do it.

I won't do it. I tell you, I won't go, Mammy Jenny. I won't go.

But this has got to be the last.

The past closing time.

You want to have me lose me license?

But, Mike, we've got to settle this first.

There's only one way to settle it.

I've been telling you all evening.

Get married and raise a house for the kids.

Well, how can I do that with a war breaking out?

It ain't our war. We ain't even did it.

But I'm in.

They want me to leave in the morning for Japan.

A lot of correspondents are going.

Jimmy Hare, Fred Palmer, and Richard Harding Davis.

Well, I've never seen a war, Mike.

You can live your whole life and never see a war.

Sure. But what beats me is, if you're brave enough to face a war, why can't

you face her and tell her you're going?

Mike, in a war, you've got a chance.

But with a woman?

Yeah, I know.

You look before you start.

But I gave her my word of honor.

And if you go, you lose her.

And if you don't go, you lose the war.

That's right.

That's what I've been telling you all evening.

Then we're right back where we started.

Good night, Mike.

Thanks.

You've been a big help.

Better stay home, Jack, and raise them kids.

Now don't start that again.

This is a fine way to keep our first date in three weeks.

Oh, darling, please don't.

Push. I was detained.

How? Where?

Well, I received a telegram from Mr.

Maxwell and I had to go see him.

Can you imagine?

He wants me to leave for Japan in the morning.

Japan? This is a war breaking out with Russia.

What did you tell him? Well, I... I told him no, of course.

And did it take you until 2 o'clock in the morning to say no?

Well, Maxwell's a funny fellow. He can't take no like an ordinary person. He kept

insisting that this was the chance of my lifetime.

Wars are getting scarcer and scarcer.

And marriages are getting commoner and commoner.

Well, you can go.

Perfectly obvious I mean nothing to you. Nothing whatsoever.

You mean everything.

No use, Jack.

If you think I'm going to ruin my life for a man who's blown here and there by

every wind of adventure, you're very much mistaken.

I won't let you do it.

Even if I was a little tempted by Maxwell's offer, which I don't admit...

I'll never think of leaving you again.

You're back,

Mr. Jack.

All packed and ready to go.

Of course you're going, darling.

Mr. Maxwell tried to get you at my house. I knew all about it.

They're suddenly bringing their necks to make us comfortable.

You can have it, caches and all.

What I'd give for a steamed beer and a corned beef sandwich. Looks like you're

going to have it. They're concluding peace negotiations right now.

7,000 miles to Tokyo and nothing to show for it but a nice hot belly for washing

rice down with sake.

You can't tell as long as those skirmishes on the Korean border keep up.

They don't mean a thing, Dick.

Just save a ratling to scare the Tsar into conceding some point or other.

Maybe. Well, I'll string along with Davis.

Russia doesn't want war. That's a cinch.

And if these boys want peace, why are they sending troops into Korea?

Who said they are?

I said they are.

I was down at the waterfront this morning...

You

understand it?

I'll break it out.

You know what he's talking about, Dick? No, I don't get it.

Say,

just a minute.

What's all the excitement, sir?

I have the pleasure to report that our honorable Navy has just sent the Russian

fleet at Port Arthur.

I believe they're all here.

I deeply regret that I cannot grant your minister's request that you be allowed

to go to the stand at this time.

Personally, I have no objection.

But unfortunately, that permission must come from a higher official than I have

the honor to be.

However, I will use my humble persuasion in an effort to make your desires

possible.

We shall arrange a banquet where perhaps you will meet the official who can grant

permission for you to go to Korea.

A banquet won't bring us any closer to the front.

We're all accredited correspondents, Mr. Hiroshi.

All we want to do is get the news and get it back to our paper so the world

will know what's going on.

Sometimes it is not practical that the world know what is going on.

If, for instance, the Russians would have known what was going on, there

would have been no Port Arthur.

We could not have dealt what you call in your country the first punch.

You're a little mixed up, aren't you?

You mean sneak punch.

The idioms of your country are so quaint, young man.

I'm sorry.

There's nothing I can do at the moment.

Who is that young man?

One of our new writers.

Very brilliant and very popular.

Yes. It will be very interesting to follow his career.

Dick, what are they going to do about this?

Well, there's no use of arguing about it.

We're in the same predicament as the girl who was told she could go swimming,

but not to go near the water.

Well, I'm going near the water. I don't care what that little sawed-off runt

says. Permission or no permission, I'm going to Korea.

Jack, that's being plain bullheaded. I've been in the game too long. You

can't get out of Tokyo without official protection.

Dick, I'll bet you $100 I can get to the front.

I'll bet you $100 you won't.

Get around.

Hey, Jack.

Jack!

Good luck, Jack.

Good luck, Jack.

Here,

take a lot of money. I want to go on the boat.

Hey, you take a lot of money, see? Money, money.

Money, money.

Money, money.

You have the money, yeah? Money, money. Money, money.

What? What?

What? What?

Come on, come on.

Where are they?

They're right there. Yes, sir. Busy, busy.

Go. Go.

Come on, come on.

Busy. Busy.

Busy. Busy.

Look, I'd like to get passage on one of those sandpans across the Yellow Sea. No

can do.

I'll pay. Twenty money.

Then, then, no go.

One,

two, three, four.

Let me see that, please.

I'm an American war correspondent.

Yes, but this is a forbidden zone.

And pictures sometimes fall into the wrong hands.

Wonderful.

Very fast lens, I imagine.

Let me congratulate you.

Let me congratulate you on your knowledge of my language.

You must have spent some time in America.

Yes, although I learned my English at Oxford.

I am Captain Tanaka.

Glad to know you, Captain. My name is Jack London.

Oh, I've read some of your books.

Very good, too.

Well, thank you very much.

Now you know I'm not a spy.

Where are you going?

To the front, if I can persuade someone to give me permission.

Perhaps I can arrange it.

Meanwhile, it will be a great honor to have you as my guest.

Some enough.

Better try some of this excellent tapioca.

It will do much for your appetite.

Oh, thank you.

Fine.

This is a nice, cozy place you have here, Captain.

I believe in comfort, Mr. London.

Especially when our enemies are precious enough to possess good taste.

As we go deeper toward Russia, I expect to add to my collection.

Is this part of your collection?

No, Mr. London.

This is a game we've devised, which has become very popular in my kingdom.

We call it Sinonde.

Sinonde? Literally, that means patience.

But you might even call it destiny.

Now, this little contrivance here, I call Jungenscha, the

process, since it foreshadows coming events.

Interesting, is it not?

Yes, very interesting, Captain.

You see, Mr. London, This is not only the rising sun.

It is also a wheel.

The center, or hub of which, is Japan.

That's a very unusual map you have there, Captain Tanaka.

Yes. Our eventual sphere of influence.

Here, I shall show you.

You will note that the spokes radiate in all directions from the hub from which

they naturally emit, and to which, of course, they must convert.

Now, if you will be good enough to watch the map, I shall explain more fully.

Here is the theater of our present operations.

But tomorrow, as you shall see, we will have crossed...

The Yellow River.

And soon we'll have all of Korea.

A stepping stone to Manchuria.

Manchuria? And then... Mongolia.

A land of milk and honey.

200 million tons of timber.

A billion tons of iron.

Two billion tons of coal.

Enough to last Japan for 70 years.

We'll be stronger then.

Able to move both east and west.

You're out to gobble up all Asia.

Oh, yes.

Though not at once.

First, we must conquer China.

It sounds a little bit incredible.

But entirely logical, I assure you.

Oh, won't you be seated, Mr. Landers? Thank you.

You see, a policy of peace is quite impossible for Japan.

England can afford to pursue peace and develop trade relations because she has

India and Australia who supply her with foodstuff.

So can America because of South America and Canada.

But in Japan, our food supply decreases in proportion to our

population, you understand.

If we merely hope to develop trade, we shall be defeated by England and

America. In the end, we will get nothing.

That is a mathematical certainty.

We've got to control China.

But in order to control China, we will have to crush your country and

England.

That may take many years, of course.

Fifty, a hundred, perhaps.

But it has all been carefully planned.

Scientifically.

The rising sun has a destiny.

Her expansion is inevitable.

This, the taking of Korea, is only the first step, the first act of the drama.

But the play is on. The curtain is off.

And it will ring down, you'll see, upon a Japanese world.

Why are you telling me all this?

Why not?

You'll not believe it.

He spooked the whole world.

No other newspaper has it. Not even the European paper.

How did he do it? Wait a minute, wait a minute, boys. If you want to hear some

good reporting, listen to this.

I knew he'd do it. I knew it.

Isn't it wonderful?

Read it, Mr. Branson.

He jumped the gun at us. Now, he said he'd do it.

Just a cub reporter in silence.

You know what I suggest, David? Yes?

That we draw up a petition to the Japanese government.

Protesting.

Demanding. That London be ordered back from the front.

Or else, that we be granted instant permission to leave.

I second that idea.

We'll all sign it. You write it out, David.

I'm as mortified as the rest of you celebrated war correspondents.

Being scooped by a novice.

As a matter of fact, I should feel worse having lost $100 to boot.

We all had the same chance to get to Korea, at the risk of our lives.

To my mind, we should draw up a commendation to a very courageous

newspaper man.

I suppose you're right, if you look at it from that point of view.

I propose a toast. As a matter of fact, I read it in one of London's books.

Here's to the man on the trail this night.

May his growth hold out.

May his matches never miss mine.

Okay.

What for?

Tactic.

They gave.

Press on. Yes, sir.

Take off the hat.

Oh, sorry.

In here.

How did you get to Korea?

By Santa, across the Yellow Sea.

How did you get past Chimopo? Through the courtesy of

Captain Tanaka.

Tanaka? Tanaka?

Also you.

Do not believe you. Well, why don't you ask Captain Tanaka?

Why did you take pictures in Naki Saki?

Hmm? Why did you take pictures in Naki Saki?

I was never in Naki Saki.

Japanese costume different from American.

Therefore, you must not tell any lies.

General,

it's all true.

Good, good.

You stay in the jail.

Why don't you give it to him?

Them? No.

You?

your excellency. Any news?

Always news.

Very good news.

Oh, about that writer's friend of yours, Jack London.

Yes? No wonder he was so anxious to get to the front. Why?

He's in jail, in Pyongyang.

He turned out to be a Russian spy.

Table blank, please.

The Japanese ambassador, Mr. Takahiro.

You wish to see me, Mr. President?

Kindly inform your macabre that I demand the immediate release of Mr. Jack

London.

I'll convey your suggestion, Mr. President.

General Fujii say he very sorry.

His most honorable ancestor very sorry.

Me very sorry too.

Sorry you have been detained.

He say, he find out you very truthful young man.

He say, our most honorable country

and your most honorable country always a most honorable friend.

Well, that's just dandy. Now tell General Fuji to give me my honorable

camera.

Nashi, Hogenashi, Kato.

Japanese peril.

The brown beast.

Asiatic dream.

Great writing, Jack, great.

Heavens, man, you don't expect me to publish these things.

Why not?

Because you're known for good common sense, for hard facts, for the truth.

Now, who do you suppose is going to swallow this stuff?

A big truth is more difficult to swallow than a big lie. But it doesn't make it

any the less the truth.

I didn't write these articles for fame or money, Mr. Maxwell.

I wrote them because I felt it was my patriotic duty.

And it's your duty as a publisher to print them. I'm sorry, Jack, but I

can't. For two reasons. First, you've nothing to substantiate the charges you

make against Japan. But I saw it with my own eyes.

Japanese treachery, Japanese barbarism. I've told you the hours I spent

listening to Tanaka.

An army captain, a madman most likely.

Genghis Khan was a madman most likely. So was every conqueror down through

history. And second and most important, Japan and this country are friends.

Japan is one of this country's best customers. We'd do billions of dollars

worth of business with her, and you insult her at every turn. Well, look.

You say here the Japanese race has embarked on a course of conquest, the

goal of which no man knows. That's right.

And here again, the headmen of Japan are dreaming ambitiously in the Puleonic

dream. I say more.

What happened at Port Arthur will happen again someday. Will happen here to us.

When the Japs beat the Russians, they conquered the white men for the first

time in history. And they mean to go on conquering them.

Someday the white man's dream bubble of peace with Japan will be punctured. But

one country at least won't be surprised.

That country will be Russia.

She was waking from her dream. We're still dreaming.

Jack, you're a coot. Don't sort off little rumps from their paper mache

island. We could lick them with one hand tied behind us. Mr. Maxwell, if Jack

feels so strong... Don't argue with him, Charmian.

I'll get this stuff published. I'll yell it from the rooftops. Come along, Jack.

All right, you old firebrand.

But nobody will believe you.

No reason.

It's not the truth he's worried about. I told that to him. It's money.

Two billion dollars worth of business. Sure, sure. Lull yourself to sleep and

your little brown customer sneaks up and slits your throat. And he says they

won't believe me.

Maybe they won't believe me.

Poor self-belief.

Darling, everything you write, everything you say, really is the truth.

It's real and honest.

It's you.

It's the spirit of Jack London.

You're that part of me.

I knew it when I first met you.

You know what I told you.

About a ship in the sea?

I'll always remember.

When a man and woman are meant for each other, like the ship new launched, they

rush to the sea.

The sliding waves rebel, but neither seam or ship hither.

As they rush into each other's life.