All language subtitles for The.Crystal.Trench.1959

Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.

Ithought I would
cut this rope,

since it seems to be
obstructing my path.

I can't seem to
find my partner.

He was here
a moment ago,

then let out a cry
and disappeared.

(CLATTERING)

(LOUD THUDDING)

My. "W-

I seem to have
made a faux pas.

My friend was on the
other end ofthat rope.

Rotten luck.

He was also
my business partner.

But the show must go on.

Tonight, we are presenting
a chilly little tale entitled,

"The Crystal Trench."

It follows at a
respectful distance.

MARK: Ihad come from London that
Wednesday on my first visit to the Alps.

Strange, after so many years,

Ishould remember
it was a Wednesday.

A Wednesday
in September, 1907.

Icame up the valley by train.

Dark canopies of clouds
obscured the Schwarzhorn,

but I could make out the broad,
icy spread of the nearby glacier.

It had a sort ofmajesty.

At least, Ithoughtso then.

With its solid depths of ice and
its silent, relentless flow

as it crept along
its inevitable course.

Now, 40 years later, I know the
glacier for something else.

Something I had better
never have known.

I was to meet my guides, the
Blauers, at the Bowed House Hotel.

I had climbed easier peaks
in Austria with the Blauers,

preparing myself
for Sch warzhorn.

Oh, hello.
How are you?

Welcome, welcome,
welcome. Here.

Please, sign there.
Everything's arranged.

How's your mother?
Fine. Fine.

MARK: Ihad scarcely
entered the lobby,

when I discovered both Frederic and
Hans Blauer engaged, as usual,

in an argument
with another man.

Hans! Frederic!

(MARK CHUCKLING)

You arejust in time
to settle an argument.

It seems to me
you were arguing

when I left you
last year in Torino.

Neverwith each other,
Mr. Cavendidge.

Only with those who
insult our intelligence.

I don't care!
I saw what I saw!

Impossible!

They were right
at the top.

(CLEARS THROAT)

MAN: Maybe you can
still see them.

What should I
look for?

MAN: Two men on top
ofthe Schwarzhorn.

Now? At 4:00
in the afternoon?

Iwas looking through
this, you understand?

And suddenlythe clouds
seemed to draw apart,

and there it was,
the Schwarzhorn.

Then two men
climbed into my view.

They were near the
very top ofthe peak.

Which direction
did they come from?

The south.

You see?

That's not possible.

Ifthey came
bythe south,

they would have had to have
come bythe LernerAscent.

At least I know which is
north and which is south!

Even a child
knows that!

One ofthe climbers, the one in
front, was moving very slowly.

He seemed weak.

The second man
was stronger,

I saw him lift the
rope between them.

It was slack. He
shookthe snow off it...

The rope was slack?

And then?

MAN: Then the clouds
closed in again,

and I could not
see them anymore.

Ifwhat you say is true,
it could be very serious.

That's what we have been telling him, Mr.
Cavendidge.

He can'tjust go around
inventing stories like that.

I saw it, ltell you!

It'sjust possible, of course,
just, you understand.

On a fine day, a party
coming bythat route

might find themselves
on top ofthe Schwarzhorn

at 4:00 in the afternoon.

But on a day like this,
no man in his senses

would be on any ridge
ofthat mountain,

I can only hope
you're mistaken.

Come and help me unpack. Good!

I'll show you some boots
I bought in London.

CONCIERGE: Mr. Cavendidge?

I have bad news.

There has been
an accident.

On the Schwarzhorn?

How could you know?

Ranks hasjust sent word
from the Vern hut.

Ranks? What has he
got to do with it?

He was with him.
It is terrible!

They were so young...
Boys!

Countrymen of yours,
that's why I have come to you.

Now, ifyou'll tell me
what's happened?

They arrived here
last week.

They were not
experienced climbers,

but they had no respect for our
guides or for our mountains.

They would not listen
to what anybody said.

If only Herr Ranks had
not come from Austria.

Do you know him?

No, but the Blauers
told me about him.

They say he'll
climb with anyone.

As soon as he met
these two young men,

he suggested the
LernerAscent to them.

(EXCLAIMING IN GERMAN)

They went up
to the Vern hut,

slept the night there,

and started up
the Schwarzhorn

with provisions
forthree days.

That was four days ago!

And Ranks has
come back alone?

CONCIERGE: No. One ofthe
boys is with him.

George Liston.

They're moving him down to
the clinic at Brig, tonight,

hoping to save his hands and feet
which are badly frostbitten.

No, it is the other boy,
Michael Ballister.

He died when he almost
reached the top.

Ranks says that
he and Liston

were too exhausted
to bring him down,

so they left him up there.

We'll have to go
and fetch him

as soon as
the weather clears.

Is that what you wanted
to ask me about?

No, there is
something else.

His wife...

Ballister's wife
is here in the hotel.

Someone must tell her.

You expect me to?

CONCIERGE: Who else is there?

But why me?

Like you, she's English.

And it is better
if she hears it

from one of her
own countrymen.

They've only been
married six months.

All day long she has
been trying to hide

that she was
anxious about him.

Where is she now?

Inthe dining room.

(CLEARING THROAT)
We'd bettertell her now.

(WALTZ PLAYING)

Mrs. Ballister,
I do not believe

you have met
Mr. Cavendidge.

He's just come
today from London.

STELLA: Good evening.
Good evening.

Ifyou'll excuse me.

May l'_>

Oh, of course,
please do.

It's so good to hear
English spoken again.

I never quite get used
to all these accents.

This is one of
my favorite tunes.

Do you dance,
Mr. Cavendidge?

Well, l...

Funny, in London,
it would seem

quite improper
for me to ask you.

But here it seems
all right, doesn't it?

I imagine you're a rather
courageous person.

Oh, why do you say that?

I'm hoping... No,
praying that you are.

What do you mean?

Mrs. Ballister,

I have been nominated a committee
of one to tell you something,

which is something, I'm afraid,
no matter how gently I try,

can only...

Ordinarily, they tell people
to sit down at atime likethis.

I think you're a woman who
might prefer to be standing.

I don't know what you're
trying to tell me,

but whatever it is,
please say it.

Mrs. Ballister,
your husband is dead.

His body is up
on the Schwarzhorn.

STELLA: It's not true.

It can't be true!

How did it happen?
Did he fall?

MARK: Apparently he died of
exhaustion and exposure.

STELLA: Isn't there a chance
that... That he's still alive?

MARK: No.

STELLA: We'd hardly begun.

(CRYING)
Michael and l, we...

We'd hardly begun.

MARK: I'll take a
party up in the morning

and try and bring him down.

But he said he was only
going to the mountain.

He promised me
he'd be all right.

He said I wasn't
to worry.

MARK: Mrs. Ballister,

the Schwarzhorn is one ofthe most
dangerous ascents in the world.

Many experienced climbers have
lost their lives up there.

You will find him,
won't you?

You will bring him
back to me?

I'll do my best.

Oh, please.

I don't know
ifl can bear it,

not to look at him
once more,

not to see him,

to touch him again.

(WIND HOWLING)

MARK: We crossed the mountain
by the eastern aréte,

descending
on the south side...

Found Ballister.

It was then,

the grimmest episode of
that terrible day occurred.

With infinite care,
we began to untie

the frozen ropes
which bound him.

A gust ofsnow blinded us for
a moment, throwing us back

and in thatsecond, the
body slipped away from us.

We watched hopelessly,

as it gathered speed and
disappeared into a crevasse.

He's fallen
into the glacier.

MARK: Icould notshake off the feeling
that somehow Ihad betrayed a trust.

Ihad discovered that
she was an only child

and both her parents
were dead.

She seemed so
friendless, so alone.

(THANKING IN GERMAN)

Thank you.

Could I have
my bill too, please.

Well, there's no need foryou to
leave just because I'm leaving.

It's all right. I'm quite
able to take care of myself.

I really don't want
to stay on here.

When must you
be in London?

Not for a couple
of weeks.

Could you come
to Brig with me?

Brig?

Yes, George Liston's
in the clinicthere.

Iwant to talkto him
and that man, Herr Ranks.

And since you know about mountains
and climbing and things,

I... I thought perhaps
you could come with me.

Iwant to find out if
he's telling the truth.

The truth?
About the accident?

But why shouldn't he?

Michael was strong. He'd never
have just stopped breathing.

Something else
must have happened.

I've got to find out.

Will you come?

Yes. I'll come.

Thank you, Mr. Cavendidge.

MARK: In thatsecond Iknew I
wanted to hear her call me Mark.

Not Mr. Cavendidge, but Mark.
"Mark, my dear."

"Mark, my darling."

In thatsecond I knew
Ihad begun to love her.

Hello, Herr Ranks.

And this is Mrs. Ballister.
I'm a friend of hers.

I'm sorry
about your husband.

And I'm sorry
that I wasn't there

the day you came
to the hotel

and persuaded him
to go with you.

Perhaps, ifl had been,
he wouldn't have gone.

I know how you must feel.

You blame me,
and you are right.

Iam partly
responsible.

What do you mean,
you are responsible?

Well, we left
with too little food

and that was bad
planning on my part.

And I should have considered
the youth of my companions.

You see, young men can
neverclimb so well.

They don't have the lungs
for it orthe legs.

No, I should never
have led them up.

And I should have controlled
your husband more, madam.

He was an
inexperienced climber.

Itried to warn him
not to go so fast,

but, he being young,
believed there was

nothing he could not conquer,
not even the Schwarzhorn.

Finally, he collapsed
altogether.

His heart gave out.

I swear to you we stayed
with him until he died.

Although the wind was
quite dangerous for us

and he was evidently dying.

We stayed with him
until it was all over.

Why do you make such a point
about staying with him?

Because it was at a
great risk to us.

Liston and myself.

How can I be sure that
you did stay with him?

How can I be sure
that you didn't go off

and leave him to die
alone on the ridge?

RANKS: Because
I have told you so

and Liston will tell
you the same thing.

We were with him
until he died.

Up there in the cold and the
darkness, the utter loneliness...

While I waited in the hotel with
a fire and the sound of music!

You left him up there to die!
I know it!

No! Please!

(CRYING) No!
You did it! I know!

I have said
it is my fault.

What more does she
expect from me?

(WHIMPERS)

(DOOR CLOSING)

Forgive me,
Mr. Cavendidge.

I'm ashamed
ofthe way I behaved.

It's all right.

You've gone to so
much trouble for me.

Thank you.

Well, there's no point
in our staying here.

What about
George Liston?

Don't you want
to talkto him?

What more can
he tell me except...

No, that won't
bring Michael back.

Nothing will
bring him back.

Onlyl.

You?

Michael and l, we had what
very few people have,

a perfect marriage.

This may sound
fanciful to you,

but somehow
it was ordained,

predestined that
we should meet,

that we should
love each other.

Six months...
Such a little time,

but we had more than most people
have in all their lifetime.

Far more!

And that's how I'll
bring Michael back.

By remembering.

By taking each moment
of our time together

and expanding it into a month
or ayear of remembering.

Do you understand? That way, if...
lfl live to be 80,

I shall never live long enough
to recapture all of it.

Stella...

It's wrong to live
in the past.

No matter
how hard we try,

we can't make
time stand still

any more than we can preserve
the roses of last summer.

Oh, but you can.
Don't you see?

You can!

Particularly ifthe roses
are packed in ice.

That waythey might last forever...
Mightn't they?

MARK: Ireturned
to London with Stella.

In the weeks that followed,
Isaw her whenever she'd Iet me.

Once I took her to a concert,
twice to the theater.

But it was not until Christmas
of that first year,

I had any encouragement
from her.

A note inviting me
to have tea with her

in her house in Mayfair.

On the strength
of this summons,

Istopped that morning
at the jewelers

and picked up the ring
I had ordered weeks before,

a ring I knew
I would never place

on the finger ofany woman
other than Stella.

STELLA: Mark, it's
so good to see you.

It's charming, Stella.

But, of course,
it would be.

Please.

I'm so grateful that you
were able to be free today.

This is a very
important day.

I rather
thought so, too.

Stella, I...

I neverthought the time was
right before, but now...

This says it better
than I can.

Ifl could everwear
anyone's ring again, Mark,

it would be yours.

I'm sorry.

Stella, please
think it over.

I... I love you

and you... You need
someone, someone...

Mark, I can't.

Where I'm taking you
this afternoon

and what we're
going to do,

will explain to you
why I can't.

Well, Mrs. Ballister,
I shan't bore you

with the science ofthese computations.
I imagine you simply...

This doesn't bore me,
Professor,

ljust want to be sure,
that is all.

Mmm-hmm.

The question here was,

how far and how fast does
the glacier move each year?

Well, the rate of flow
differs from year to year,

depending on the balance
between the melting line

and the accumulation area at
the upper end ofthe glacier.

The melting line, of course,
is at the lower end.

The ablation
orwastage area.

Now, the flow ofthe
glacier actually starts

within the ice itself at least
200 feet beneath the surface.

There we get the basal slip
along the bed ofthe valley,

caused mostly by gravity.

But the ice also moves by crystals
pushing each other out of shape.

Uh, we call this
plastic flow.

By measuring the grains and the
direction ofthe ice crystals,

by readings
on a micro altimeter,

by checking our gravity meterto tell
us what the rock floor is like,

we can calculate the rate
of flow rather precisely.

On the 21st ofJuly, Mrs.
Ballister, in the year 1947,

more likely in the morning, rather
than in the afternoon, I should say,

your husband will come out ofthe
ice at the foot ofthe glacier.

You see, Mark?

I shall have Michael
back after all.

MARK: Irealized then that
Stella had made her choice.

That for the next 40 years she
intended to wait for Michael,

just as I knew
Imust wait for Stella.

The years slipped away, each one
faster than the one before.

And now once more
I came up the valley.

It was a cloudy day, just as it had
been that Wednesday 40 years ago.

And again Isaw the broad,
icy spread of the glacier.

I knew it now
for what it was.

A tombstone.

A vast crystal trench
which had enveloped us,

molded and shaped us,

Stella and me,
for this day...

This 21st day ofJuly, 1947.

MARK: I think you should
go back to the hotel.

I'll come and get you
when it's time.

STELLA: But the Professor said,
"More likely in the morning

"than in the afternoon."

Don't you remember,
Mark?

MARK: Yes, I remember,
but all the same.

STELLA:
He couldn't be wrong!

MARK: No, of course
not, but still,

I think you should
wait at the hotel.

STELLA: No, Mark,
I want to stay.

Mr. Cavendidge!
Look!

MARK: The glacier had used
Michael Ballister tenderly.

The years had taken
no toll ofhim.

Seeing Stella with him,

Icould see what the
years had done to her.

Iknew what they
had done to me.

Your locket was still
around his neck, Stella.

MARK: The girl
who stared out at me

was not Stella,
but someone strange.

A pretty face,
but cheap.

It's a...

It's a miniature of you. Not
avery good likeness, but...

Thank you, Mark,

but he had no locket
with a portrait of me.

So much for our version
of The Iceman Cometh.

I shall return for a
final word in a moment.

First, we have come to one
ofthose treacherous crevices

that riddle the glacier
oftelevision.

Ithink I should
begin my descent

before I become the
source ofa legend

about an abdominal snowman.

Next week, I shall
once again return

with another story, spliced
together by commercials.

Until then, goodnight.

(LOUD CRASHING)