Original subtitles

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in 1978

italy's aldo morrow was kidnapped and

subsequently murdered

in 1986 sweden's olaf palmei

was assassinated and the romanian

dissident

marin groza will be the next

it's much too dangerous we'll be putting

everything we have

in jeopardy huh is there an alternative

if this ever came to light

it would destroy us eh that's nonsense

we'd be heroes it's those who refuse to

take action who'd be destroyed

there must be another way there is no

other way

in the past five years the world has

seen the deaths of

anwar sadat and indira gandhi

and an attempted assassination on the

pope

our accomplishments are pretty

impressive i'm i'm sure you'll agree

we are unified by one purpose the

destruction of detente

and we will accomplish that goal by any

means necessary

the plan will go forward

as you inform the controller of our

decision

i remind you to observe the usual

precautions upon leaving

thank you

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so

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so

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so

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oh i'm coming coming

bye no hello i'm doing surgery in half

an hour i love you

promise me no more birthday parties well

not for at least a year

that champagne done me in you look

beautiful

and you were beautiful last night

see bye kids

morning morning morning mom is that the

new cereal you got for me

yeah you'll love it no she doesn't i

told you i can't eat that stuff it's

full of chemicals it's delicious what's

this i hear about a dna

figure that's supposed to be a joke how

do you think it looks for a college

professor to have a son who's failing

math

hey it's okay you don't keep your mouth

mom this bread is full of preservatives

i'm not gonna let the food industry ruin

my health

you haven't even either i might play i

gotta go wait do you have your lunch

money

got it your books what about

county agricultural commissioner chris

gorock on the national news front this

morning

stanton rogers the president's foreign

affairs advisor has returned from his

10-day european trip in his meeting with

the president

to report on his discussions with

foreign leaders president ellison's

speech on foreign policy will be carried

live by this station at 10 am this

morning

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so

good morning

i intend to inaugurate a new policy of

cooperation

of trade of friendship

with each and every iron curtain country

for the problems that we share are

greater than the problems that divide us

david what would you say is romania's

current position with the soviet union

i'd say it's much stronger now it's been

a lot closer ever since unesco took over

what about afghanistan when the russians

invaded afghanistan romania was the most

severe critic

i'd like you all to keep in mind that

romania's position on

anything depends on its total control

their leader ionescu is the government

he runs the country with an iron fist

which is not unusual for an iron curtain

country

but he has survived for much longer than

most dictators and for some very

interesting reasons

don't forget to bring your essays on the

warsaw pack countries

mrs ashley is it true you were born in

romania no

right here in good old kansas my parents

were born in bucharest

i was disinterested thank you david

thank you

look forward to seeing your essay on

monday

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our controller has decided to acquire

the services of someone we've never used

before

an argentinian who goes by the name of

angel

angel that's rather ironic

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he has impressive credentials the

kalistan assassination in india

the murder of the puppet koang in

cambodia

apparently it was him who masterminded

the assassination of those six army

officers in israel

the israelis have put a million dollars

on his head how do we reach him

all contacts are handled through his

mistress

woman by the name of munoz she's got an

apartment in the spanish part of

miami florida who makes the arrangements

harry lance lance

he's familiar with the miami area the

controller's already talked to him

it's quite odd really i make your pardon

the controller we don't know who he is

and yet he

masterminds our little organization

brilliantly

come on and we're down 700 points

already come on

oh i'm sorry i just can't concentrate on

obviously

something bothering you flo i'm not

supposed to tell

i promised that i wouldn't you promised

too two federal agents from washington

they came to the house this morning

asking all kinds of questions about you

what kind of questions well i don't know

uh

was she a loyal american was she a good

wife and mother

was she uh on drugs what drugs

now why the heck would they be asking

questions like that

oh wait a minute i think i know it's

about my tenure

what well i'm up for tenure the

university does some sensitive

government research on campus and i

well i i suppose they have to check out

everyone pretty thoroughly

daniel that's great now i can retire

forgive me dean hunter if i'm speaking

out of turn but

was there any word on my tenure no

nothing yet mary they won't be

investigating your tenure till the end

of summer no one's been looking into it

no you'll excuse me

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is

hey it's an emergency

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are you luisa

maybe

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harry lance

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so you got a friend named

angel you're gonna buy me wrong

it's your thing hey

give us a rum here

look uh i'd like to meet

with angel oh and

nobody meets with that

only sweet now you listen to me

this is real mucho de nero we're

discussing here

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and i told you nobody talks to him

how the hell does he

if i can't talk to him how can i do

business with him

you tell me i tell anna

anna say see i say

and i'll say no i say no

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tell him tell him it's a contract

contract on who

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marion grosser the romanian dissident

must die

comprendo hi

game nearly over you want to join us not

today come on

lunch is almost done bye tim

oh daddy are you okay ah yeah are you

sure yeah

seriously mom no one eats meat anymore i

mean civilized people just don't eat a

alive animals

beth it's so revolting get yourself some

sex hey why don't you just go crazy in

the field

tim eat your lunch i am eating look

oh you're disgusting why don't you leave

the table then why do you just eat like

a normal human being

i am both of them both today

now well that's a terrific idea i just

don't know who'd buy them i'm saying

that i guess we need them i kind of like

the father

i'm crazy about their mother i'll get it

don't go there i'll get it

always hello

is this professor ashley yes this is

mary ashley hold for the president who

i said would you hold the line please

for president ellison who is it

i don't know somebody's playing a joke

it's probably oh mrs ashley

am i interrupting anything my god it is

it's the president i can tell by his

voice i've been reading your series of

articles in foreign affairs magazine

and your book last fall on eastern

european politics and i think i agree

with just about everything you proposed

i'm especially interested in your plans

to take the four major world economic

facts and combine them

he's read my book

you may be aware mrs ashley that in line

with my new plan

we have approached president ionescu of

romania

to re-establish diplomatic relations yes

sir

yes i am the reason i'm calling mrs

ashley

is that i would like to place you in

nomination as my first ambassador to

romania

oh i know of course this is a very big

decision for you

and you'll want to uh talk it over with

your family but

i hope you take this request very

seriously

i do oh yes i do sir

thank you mrs ashley and uh i hope

you'll accept

i look forward to hearing from you

goodbye for now

goodbye mr president

well was it really the president he said

he would like

to nominate me as his ambassador to

romania

you ambassador to romania

oh

oh hell i don't blame them nobody knows

more about the eastern bloc countries

than you do

i'm sure they know exactly what they're

doing

but what well we just

we just have to think about it very

carefully that's all and what would

what it would do to us all four of us

absolutely absolutely

well maybe there's some way we could

work it so you could go over with the

children and

i could join you later no no way edward

i can't just leave my practice and walk

out of my patients

of course not i know that the hospital

would be look the fact is it just

wouldn't work

no no i wouldn't even want it to work

still i no stills i

i think it's fantastic my being asked

i'll

i'll never forget it but no we'll talk

more about it later nope my mind's made

up

i just don't make a hasty decision

edward

my mind is made up

some discouraging news paul mrs ashley

has declined the nomination

we gather there's a problem being

separated from her husband

so i guess he'll have to look to the

state department career diplomats every

one of them hide bound by tradition no

this has to be a different approach to

diplomacy we

i want this to be a pilot program for

all the other iron current countries

and for that you would send a relative

amateur it's a risk i know but it's a

risk well worth taking she is exactly

what we need and right now paul i hate

to mention this but you and i

both know that a lot of very powerful

people in the world would love to see

your program fail

in any case i'm afraid you've lost mrs

ashley we're not giving up on mary

ashley yet

no we'll think of something

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all right you bring me angel

bring him here tomorrow and i'll

i'll give him a name okay

no okay you want to know the name

all right

now you think you can remember that name

tell him i don't know i'm not wasting

his time

i love it when you whisper in my ear i

do mm-hmm

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do you like me sure i like you

you want to go to bed now yeah

it's a great idea

hey morning i fixed you nice box and i'm

making breakfast

great i

make omelette fantastico and now teach

me how

yeah mm-hmm tell me more about ang hill

like

like when do i get to meet him well i

caught him this morning he'll be over

soon

yeah see hey that's great come on get in

the bath make you feel good

right

i got a present for you

what i i can't hear you with that thing

blowing

i got a present for you from an head

oh that's nice what

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these

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you don't like the man you said too nosy

yeah sure he tell me you do it all right

hold on now man i gotta write it down

uh-huh

and i don't need no advance

nobody cheats on her

sure my job is finished send money state

bank

zurich account number j three

four nine six seven seven

you got that going on

oh just turn on the radio mrs ashley i

guess now you

al flandon and eisenhower are kansas

only political big shots

i'm a teacher mr hacker not a politician

and right now i was just wondering if

you could get these spots out of best

genes

oh i'll see what i can do for her i

guess she's a real grown-up teenager now

beth was born a teenager mr hat how's

tim

a lot like bear

okay what is it oh

i don't know i guess i'm feeling a

little guilty

why because she didn't take the

appointment

well he'll sort of respond look what if

i'd been offered an opportunity like

that i've jumped

at it i'm talking about your male

chauvinist stuff

take her somewhere you guys never go

anywhere go to

london go to paris for a couple weeks or

something

you know doug you might just have

something there hell i might even take

it to romania

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huh

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hmm

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um

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can i hold the hope that that's your

homework in front of you it's a goodbye

letter to arnold

goodbye i thought you liked him he

wanted to fool around

oh i hate that

i really hate that i mean

i don't mind being in love but i'm never

gonna have sex

well sweetheart you're only 14 years old

things do change never i'm never gonna

feel differently about that

you sure absolutely

okay that's your decision

mom yes honey what'd the president say

when we turned him down

oh well i don't know his exact words but

i

i hear he was very brave about it

you're my best arnold

all right professor ashley lights out

you can always tell when you've had a

rough day

oh yeah that's the spot oh

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well oh some different fort riley

getting close to losing him

then this afternoon i treated a 13 year

old girl with genital herpes

thanks for worrying about beth you don't

have to

she's planning to die a virgin

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it's nice that's delicious

any regrets today um

i love you mary ashley

i'm about to make you an offer you can't

reviews

what's the matter bloody limousines this

place is closed on monday

never mind

the distant marin groza has been

terminated by the assassin known as

angel

has mary ashley accepted the appointment

the ashley woman has declined the post

as ambassador to romania

although i am led to believe that the

situation can be rectified

is she really that essential to us the

controller can think of no one else who

would suit our purpose so well

handsome this is hide white mi5 i'd like

you to tell him what you told me

well so the castle were closed see and i

hear all these limousines

i counted seven of them they come and

went zip

zip zip zip god only knows what was

going on

what were you doing there oh wilson my

girl annie and i we were under a tree

and we were having a picnic and

did you get the license number oh yes

sir i got two of them

all right constable thank you very much

thank you sir

as it happens inspector the occasion was

nothing more sinister than a royal

function being planned without the press

being aware of it

a good man that however i'm going to see

if he can be transferred to a better

position

thank you for everything thank you

hello yeah yes he's here

wait just a minute it's a friend of pete

grimes he says

he's having a heart attack because he's

in a lot of pain pretending when it's

his damos are acting up again

dr ashley uh-huh

yeah okay i'm on my way my car's

blocking yours yeah i'll take that

so

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um

hello

i'm sorry i don't

what

i wouldn't do that please

what happened

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i'm afraid he ran a stop sign

you see this army truck was coming by

and

well it looks like he tried to to avoid

him

but your husband just pulled right out

in front

no my husband

was a careful driver he you're never

never

i'm awfully sorry man but we have

witnesses

of colonel jenkins who happened to be

passing by and

well of course the army truck driver

sergeant lee from

fort riley and

well they both say the same thing that

that your husband ran the stop sign

i guess i'll have you take him back home

now man

what's the name of your family doctor

edward ashley

edward ashley is my family doctor

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kids wait kids wait just wait

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i know

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oh

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so

so

how you doing

i've never been sailing what

when we met he said do you like to sail

so we went to the lake that morning a

week later we were married

you know why i married you lady you

laughed a lot

you passed the test and you didn't fall

overboard

beats me beats the hell out of me jake

now what's that john it's 10 48 on the

ashley accident

the guy had no accident record he the

only ticket he ever got was the illegal

parking

so well the tire marks they they bother

me jake they

they just don't add up well i thought

they were witnesses yeah well we had the

guy that was driving the truck but he

could have been covering for himself

what about the other one uh

the colonel yeah the more i thought

about him the more i wonder what the

hell he was doing out there at 3 30 in

the morning

so i called the army cid investigator to

talk to that colonel

they transferred him overseas some big

promotion

what about the truck driver well they

found him in the barracks yesterday

afternoon

fatal heart attack they said the guy was

only 29 years old

john what are you thinking

making a difference what i'm thinking

jake this case is closed

rose to his left fires the football it's

complete at the 50-yard line

eric mack is to the 45 to the 43.

ten kansas state the tackle was by billy

wilson the cornerback

but eric right over the middle

i guess you didn't hear me getting the

first down oh

john cadillac likes that figure that's

great first down i i need to

meet you and the kids i thought you

might enjoy it to the right side split

in left

wild and witherspoon now in the game

here's dickey on the reverse to

witherspoon he'll come to the left side

he's screaming no that way you don't

have to cook tonight or anything

first and goal kansas state

i'll just leave it in the kitchen

we'll send a split end why to the left

side and kevin pierce to the right is

ruben echoes he'll be picked up

by jim she hardly knew i was there she

was concentrating on that game so much

it was spooky well mary hates football i

know that don't you think i know that

well it was edward who watched all the

games doug i know that

i'm sorry

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yes mrs ashley i'm stanton rogers

yes i i know may i speak with you a

moment please

please come in

forgive me for intruding upon your

privacy but

the president asked me to visit you

personally

i was very kind of him to send the

flowers

we were deeply distressed when he heard

what had happened

i'll tell you quite frankly mrs ashley

the president is hoping that you might

reconsider his offer oh mr rogers i

hear me out please

you see initially i was against your

appointment

that is a very sensitive post i told the

president as much

but the more i learned about you the

more i think

his initial instinct was absolutely

right but i'm

not a politician some of our finest

ambassadors were never politicians

in fact one of them galbraith was a

professor like yourself as you surely

know

i'm well aware of that many of them were

political amateurs

but they all had intelligence

a love of their country and a reservoir

of goodwill toward the country in which

they were to serve

you have just the kind of image the

president wants to project in iron

curtain countries

mr rogers i still have my children to

think about there is a remarkably fine

school in bucharest for diplomats

children

they could learn things about the world

that they would never learn at a school

here

well please do think about it

i regret to say that we have to have an

answer by this weekend

you see the president hoped that if i

appeal to you personally

that's why i'm here hello

i'll think about it

more pie tim nothing

i thought peach was your favorite no

thank you

just as well it'll make you fat i don't

think tim will ever be fat

right honey come sit down

don't sit there

i had a visit today from a very

important man

he's the president's foreign affairs

advisor

he wanted to know if i might reconsider

accepting the nomination for ambassador

what'd you tell him i

told him i'd give it some thought

what do you think i want to go

can we go mom please i don't want to

stay here anymore

well what about little league i don't

care about little league

how do you feel beth at school in a

foreign country

a country where we don't speak the

language

well it's really what you want to do

i wouldn't mind not now

i really wouldn't

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tell me what to do

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i i think that's just about everything

wouldn't you know i forgot to give this

to the milkman would you do that

of course i will

this morning i got this terrible feeling

that

we'd never come back here oh come on

it's a two-year lease

you think i'm doing what he would have

wanted me to do i know it

stuck with the kids

i'll be on a minute

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um

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goodbye my darling

mrs ashley how do you do my name is john

burns from the state department

nice to know you my daughter beth and my

son tim hi tim

let me have those bags uh we have a car

waiting for you right over here

mr rogers wanted me to meet you and your

family and make sure that i got you to

your lodging safely

we found it a nice home for you out in

falls church virginia i think you'll be

comfortable there

i'm sure we will have you been to

washington before no

no we haven't i hope you enjoy your stay

if you have your baggage plane tags i'll

take care of your luggage i've got them

thank you sir welcome

excuse me i'll be right back

mom yes do you think i could sit up

front

but mr burns yeah

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mom it's lincoln it's lincoln

oh wow mom look it's humongous

and candy i'm gonna go look around okay

me too well i hope you find everything

satisfactory mrs ashley

thank you mr fern and if you don't need

anything more for the moment

i'll be running along oh everything's

fine great thank you bye

who is it who is it

hello

i am the bearer of good news mrs ashley

we have had some private discussions

with the romanian government and they

have no objection to your appointment

so all we need now is confirmation by

the senate

is everything here to your liking

it's wonderful if i can afford it how

much does an ambassador get paid

65 000 a year plus housing allowance now

you'd better get yourself some rest you

have a big day tomorrow

can you make yourself available at nine

in the morning yes what for

the president mrs ashley the president

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at last i feel as though i already know

you

ah mr president i have

forgive me i'm standing here in the oval

office i'm

i'm just a little overwhelmed at the

moment i know exactly how you feel

i haven't been here very long myself

thank you stanton oh

thank you mr rogers please be seated

hope mr rogers conveyed my condolences

to you

yes he did uh mrs ashley we have a

problem

uh a great many people outside this

office more than i would like to admit

simply don't think that my program can

work

but we're going to fool them i'll do my

best to live up to your expectations

if we can make this work in romania we

can make it work in other communist

countries

and by heavens we are going to do that

right

yes sir don't let them intimidate you

i beg your pardon the senate foreign

relations committee

they'll badger the devil out of you but

you smile sweetly

and tell them without any modesty

whatsoever

just how wonderful you are mrs ashley

you've been teaching uh political

science at the university of kansas for

several years is that correct

yes sir you're a native of kansas yes

sir

and your parents were romanian yes sir

i refer to a series of articles that you

wrote for foreign affairs magazine

could you uh tell this committee the

basic premise of those articles

they are based upon the fact that

several regional economic pacts

currently exist in the world and because

they are mutually exclusive they serve

to divide our world into

antagonistic and competitive blocks

instead of uniting it

now europe has the common market the

eastern bloc has com cone

and then there's oecd i'd like to see

our government form a common market

with allies and adversaries alike

countries that engage in a profitable

partnership do not kill one another any

more than individuals would

mrs ashley i happen to know something

about

romania myself indeed ever since they

turned communists in 46

do you honestly believe that you can

deal with these people

if you'll permit me senator i i think

you'll find that romania wasn't actually

under russian communist control until

1947 when king michael gave up the

throne

and the communist constitution wasn't

actually adopted until 1952

answer the question please the answer is

yes

i believe we can deal with them i

believe we must i suppose mrs ashley

you've done a good deal of traveling

no sir been to europe no sir

just where have you been mrs ashley i've

given lectures at the university of

chicago

and a series of talks in denver atlanta

and san francisco that's it

yes sir and you expect to represent

these united states in a sensitive

iron curtain country when your entire

knowledge of it comes from living in

junction city

kansas is that true no sir

no my knowledge comes from earning a phd

in political science

i've had seven years of teaching that

subject with an emphasis on the iron

curtain countries

it's true i haven't had diplomatic

experience in dealing with foreign

countries

but may i point out that one-third of

our country's ambassadors are also

people without previous experience

some people might find that very

unfortunate i know the current problems

of the romanian people i know what they

think of the united states and why

but all they know about us is what their

propaganda machines tell them

i want to convince them that the united

states is not an arrogant patronizing

war-hungry country

i'd like to show them what a typical

american family is really like

after all what's so terribly wrong in

seeing us for what we really are

if i'm confirmed senator i promise you

i'll let that be known

who knows they might even like us

could i get an interview with you later

right this way

nice try man i do solemnly swear

i will support and defend the

constitution of the united states

against all enemies foreign and domestic

i will bear true faith and allegiance to

the same

without any mental reservation or

purpose of evasion

i will well and faithfully discharge the

duties of the office on which i'm about

to enter

so help me god mrs ashley i am happy to

say that you are now

the new ambassador to the socialist

republic of romania

it's crazy what something really weird

going on in this town

i don't know what you're talking about

mary ashley who

the new ambassador to romania she's made

the cover of magazines

newspapers she hasn't even started yet

ben

i don't like to bring this up but i'm on

a schedule here you know

i'm booked for another party tonight

somebody

somebody i don't know why but somebody's

giving her the movie star build-up

so who cares you got any ice cream

ice cream i love ice cream

sometimes on a plate sometimes in a cone

you like ice cream

i love ice cream

this could never happen in england they

never use rank amateurs especially for a

post like this one i'm furious

i don't blame you we need a diplomat and

they send us the wizard of oz that's

washington for you

this is ashley why don't you come in

i imagine you're very anxious to get

started yes fairy

you must be aware of course what a very

sensitive

very difficult post this is yes i am

acutely aware the president would be

damned upset if you

anyway we're gonna have to make an

instant expert out of you our time's

limited you've already been marked as an

easy target

i have a single woman a woman alone

they're gonna take advantage of that

loneliness mrs ashley you can be assured

of that let's get to work

good morning ah excellent you give it a

very

cosmopolitan accent from my parents

actually new intellect

nuenselec it means i don't understand

i think that's one expression that's

going to come in very happy

you're going to do very well

you will all have diplomatic immunity at

your new post

you cannot be arrested for speeding

drunk driving

burning down a home or even murder when

you die

no one can touch your body or examine

any note you may have left

you don't have to pay your bills the

stores can't sue you

excuse me go right ahead

thank you

hi

hi what in the world are you doing

mike slade nice to meet you i don't

think that answers the question

i work here i'm your neighbor i just

thought i'd drop by and say hello

nothing like making yourself comfortable

mr slade they haven't furnished you with

a desk of your own

oh yes ma'am i have

but you prefer snooping at mine

i always heard that you tanzanians were

real friendly folk

tell you what mr slade i'll give you two

seconds to leave my office before i call

the guard

guess i heard wrong and if you really

work in this department you might even

consider shaving

i used to have a wife that talked like

that i don't have her anymore

lucky lady goodbye mr slade my friends

call me mike

goodbye mr slade

oh

um but are you enjoying washington madam

ambassador yes

very much thank you uh i'm afraid i'm

neglecting my children

well at least you've succeeded in

escaping kansas for a while

escaping i'm not too familiar with

middle america

but it must be quite tiresome on a

permanent basis

all that corn and wheat and soybeans

yes yes i i suppose we are unfortunate

in being able to help feed the world

the way i look at it is that automobiles

run on gasoline

but i wouldn't want to live in the oil

fields to be quite honest there's not

really that much to do is there

well i i guess if you don't count the

ballet the symphonies and the theater

which we enjoy all year there

there's always the softball tournaments

and the county fairs and

my husband always loved the fishing at

clear lake you'd have to say we raise

more than crops i think

we raise honest to goodness human beings

if you'll excuse me

what you don't seem to understand yet

mrs ashley is that this town takes its

rules

very seriously a lot of them are stupid

i admit

but we have to live by them what did i

do last evening you broke rule number

one

no one but no one leaves a party before

the guest of honor which in this case

was the brazilian ambassador

you see my children there are no

children in washington

mrs ashley only voters

you also insulted mrs hart brisbane

sitting next to you at dinner

oh not enough mr stuffley not nearly

enough good morning

i shaved put on a new tie you like it

you two have met

not really i found mr slade at my desk

mike he's your new chief of staff mike's

on the eastern european desk usually

works out of washington but has been

decided to assign him to romania as your

deputy chief

i promise to shave every day

i thought an ambassador was permitted to

choose her own deputy chief of staff

that is correct however in this case

then i'm unchoosing mr slade

i don't want him under ordinary

circumstances mrs ashley you'd be

perfectly within your rights

but in this case the order comes from

the white house cheer up madam

ambassador

i have a way of growing on people mike

the new ambassador to romania is taking

washington by storm

her winning ways have charmed senators

and socialites alike

in a town that does not treat newcomers

kindly

and in the process she is personally

demolishing opposition

how does someone like mary ashley

dominate the evening news

don't ask me it looks as if mary ashley

is going to be a political and public

relations success

which is exactly you're in charge of

press relations with the state

department aren't you foreign

what gives i mean what's behind the

build-up that's beyond any normal

procedure i can't help you that's state

department of business

i'm just a hired hand you might write

them a letter

they'll tell me very diplomatically to

go jump in the lake

some promises to help steve i'm gonna

have to find out a few things for myself

like what upset who's like the first

round

what happened to make her change her

mind about the nomination

yeah this should keep you out of trouble

tonight don't you ever knock

here this should keep you out of trouble

tonight the most irritating aggravating

person i've ever met why do i get this

constant feeling that you dislike me

maybe it's your arrogance mr slade

that's redundant don't make fun of me

do you ever wonder what people are

saying about you in washington i don't

really care what they're saying well you

should

you see what they're saying is what

right do you have to be sitting behind

an ambassador's desk

i was in romania for four years madame

ambassador and i can tell you that it's

a stick of dynamite ready to explode

so what does the government do send us

some amateur from the sticks to play

with the fuse

you are an amateur mrs ashley if someone

were gonna pay you off they should have

made you ambassador to iceland

never stuck for an answer huh

[Music]

george morning mr chairman

what a beautiful day sir george thank

you

yes it's lovely couldn't be better

you are you have further news of mrs

ashley i gather

she leaves for bucharest on saturday i

trust this doesn't mean she'll change

her mind again

not now no not with the husband gone as

a matter of fact however

someone's been making inquiries into his

death oh

washington reporter you're gonna be a

problem

no not at this point we're watching it

closely

why you know you would tell me lastly

good job

charming woman

[Music]

hey ben it's not

what what are you talking about this

cinderella comes out of kansas and all

of a sudden they're making her into

jacqueline onassis and princes die all

rolled up into one

every time she gives an interview the

reporters go crazy it's like a feeding

frenzy

so so i've been doing a little checking

it seems mary ashley first refused the

post because her husband

couldn't leave his medical practice

[Music]

so so voila

all of a sudden he gets killed in a very

convenient automobile accident

ben you're not suggesting that something

yeah i'm suggesting

and what do you know about the patriots

i never bet on football games

the patriots of freedom there's a group

that surfaced in the late

70s when the taunt was going strong

both right-wingers left-wing is from

several different countries

i never heard them well i got a rumor

that they might still be around

when you say right wing and left i mean

as far right as you can get

both here and in europe working with a

dozen key communists

but together joining forces for a common

cause

what cause to kill the president's new

program

to stop any cooperation with the warsaw

pac countries

but why the commies think it's a

plot to destroy the eastern bloc the

right-wingers think it spells disaster

for the west

ben ben i know how tough it is for you

guys to dig up a story but

i really think this is off the wall you

got connections

ian how about checking this one out for

me

i'll see what i can do now

[Music]

now

[Music]

connors oh ian villar's pete

one of you might look up something for

me in the cie computer

it's a long shot probably nothing there

but um

i promised a friend i'd try yeah well

what do you want to know

have you got something on an

organization called the

patriots of freedom uh

no no it doesn't ring any bells with me

my patriots of freedom

no no it doesn't bring any belts uh

tell me who wants the information oh

it's ben cohn

you know the reporter for the post oh

yeah yeah yeah i know yeah i know

he is yeah well look uh ian i'll tell

you let uh let me see what i can do okay

and i'll get back to you

okay thanks

this is a message from the controller

for angel at 10 15 am monday

please contact immediately

this is an urgent message from

controller at 2 am monday

contact at once

angel this is controller regarding

contract respond immediately

yeah it's ben cohen mrs ashley

washington post

i have some very interesting information

for you uh

could we have a little talk yeah i could

meet you tomorrow morning at the

foreign services institute

say 9 30. yeah

right right yes i'll be there thank you

very much

[Applause]

all right

here can you get this thanks

oh hi mr rogers hi guys i'll be right

out

okay mom there's plenty of time your

flight doesn't leave until five o'clock

stan i can't thank you enough you've

been so kind to me

well i'm just glad to be of some help

now this is your diplomatic passport

black instead of the usual blue and

these are your credentials you should

read those through carefully you'll find

that every united states government

employee in romania is subject to your

authority

does that include mike slade well you

still feel the same way about him

i just don't trust that man why i don't

know it's just a feeling he has an

excellent record

excellent he's a genuine troubleshooter

tribal period

well if you have any problems with

anyone

you just let me know always available to

help

thank you i truly appreciate that it has

been

a real pleasure yes and now

godspeed mrs mary ashley

[Music]

madam ambassador welcome to romania my

name is bill mckinney i'm here with

military antagonia hello my daughter

beth and my son tim

just come right this way mike slade

wanted to be here but he had some

important business to take care of

this is florian he'll be your chauffeur

welcome

to my country i i look forward

to serve you mucha mess dom nule

cup

very good honey

bucharest is as stately as any european

capital but behind the facade ianescu

runs this country with an iron hand

i see what's that building

the ivan steli imprisoned that's where

they put anyone who disagrees with

ionescu's government

[Music]

that ambassador you're residents tam tim

tim that's not a good idea

that's an emergency switch to see if

there's any trouble if anyone should

attack you in the car

it activates a radio transmitter that's

monitored at the embassy that little red

light goes off

and we're able to triangulate your

position within seconds but don't worry

there's very little chance of that

happening did you hear that tim

yes mom

your resident staff madam ambassador ah

abu naziwa mutual mask nouverse

we speak english here madam all

of us we are looking forward to serving

you

thank you thank you

i got this one

i get the bigger one

oh you can just put those down there

thank you

[Music]

so

[Music]

well here we go my darling

[Music]

madam ambassador i'm gunnery sergeant

use they call me gunny hello

sergeant if you just follow me please

now the archway directly ahead leads to

our commissary in the basement

and right over here is our ballroom

this is where all the embassy parties

are held

and actually if you'll just take a look

right over here madame ambassador right

up here at the ceiling i'll show you

what we call our ambassador's folly

it's too hot to keep open in the summer

and too cold in winter

so ambassador had it installed years ago

but no one seems to use it much anymore

well now i'll show you the conference

room

well i see that you got here safely

these are the people who will be your

department heads please

be seated

starting on your right here is james

hatfield your economic advisor

lucas janklow administrative eddie mars

political

hi there ted thompson agriculture david

victor commerce

colonel mckinney of course you know

dorothy stone here will be your personal

secretary

you'll have plenty of time to get to

know everyone we are here of course

to serve you at your discretion you can

replace any of us

at any time

thank you mr slade

i just want you all to know that i'm

looking forward to working with you

and that i'm going to do everything

possible to make

our country and romania the closest of

allies

you realize i'm certain that i'm i'm

going to need all the help i can get

are there any questions any of you would

like to ask me

thank you that's all

[Applause]

i know you haven't had a chance to see

anything yet there's a commissary in the

basement

a pharmacy on the main floor of course

if anyone in the embassy gets seriously

or we fly them to frankfurt

why no member of the embassy is allowed

to go to a local hospital

in an iron curtain country i see

which one of the employees here is with

a c.i.a

i think that you better come with me

ambassador ashley gentlemen this is the

bubble room

it's the only room in the building that

can't be bugged these marine guards

are on duty 24 hours a day and each one

of them have been screened carefully we

don't want to repeat of what happened in

moscow

excuse us

[Applause]

just keep in mind you are an enemy

territory

how do you handle that not being able to

talk freely well we do an electronic

sweep of the building every morning we

find their bugs we pull them out

it only lasts a few hours uh then they

replace them and we pull those out

seems like a great waste of time it is

but it's their playground we play by

their rules or we blow the game

who is the cia man on the staff

edward maltz your political counselor is

he the only cia man

right why i like to know these things

i like to know everything

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

your excellency

may i present madam ambassador ashley

from the united states

my great country is honored by your

presence

thank you your excellency this is my

daughter beth

and my son tim

so

so you have something for me oh yes of

course

here you are

i accept this letter of credence from

your president

and i announce that you're now

officially the american ambassador to my

country

thank you your excellency i have

arranged

a reception for you next week

we have a saying here an ambassador

arrives in tears

because he knows he will be spending

years in a foreign place

away from his friends but when he leaves

he lives in tears because he must leave

his new friends

in a country has grown fond of

i hope he will grow to love our country

madam ambassador

i'm sure we will good day your

excellency

what do you think of mike slade he's the

best

is that what you wanted to know no

i wanted to talk to you because i feel

the morale of the embassy is rather low

i wanted to know whether it's because of

me or whether it's always been that way

do you want an honest answer please

you're a political appointee in an

embassy of career diplomats that's first

and foremost

go on and you're a woman

male career officers don't like taking

orders from a woman the romanians are a

lot worse

i see and i've never seen so much

publicity about a new ambassador before

it's made them against you before you

ever got here

them and i suppose that include yourself

thank you i appreciate your honesty

but i'll tell you this dorothy and you

may certainly repeat it if you wish

i am here to stay no matter how anyone

in this embassy might feel about me i am

not leaving until i've done what i've

been appointed to do

is that clear yes

now is there anything you want to say

i believe you the agricultural the

economic

and the commerce consulates would like

to see you what's all this

three new surveys and the wireless files

on u.s developments

it's gonna take me a week to get through

all of this i hope not

your entire agricultural program is a

disaster

my advice has no more helping hand

so if they don't buy pharmacists they

buy them from south america we can't let

that happen can we

absolutely right

come in hi how you doing

great how are you okay

it's really beginning to look like home

around here well it's not home but

it's real interesting i like it here

do you really honey yeah i do

ah i'm so glad

so glad i'll see you downstairs in a few

minutes

okay mom

yes i'm really proud of you

thank you

makes me feel so good

you better go talk to tim why

i don't know he's been upset all day

thank you for telling me

what's the matter you can tell me

it's spooky

not spooky this place i don't like it oh

honey

you've only been here a few days wait

until you get started at school and

and you make some little friends i don't

want to make any friends

[Music]

damn you don't mean that it's too far

far i don't understand for a man

from dad it's like i forget him here and

how he

was i don't want to do that

[Music]

honey how could we ever do that i mean

even if we lived on the moon we could

we could never ever forget daddy

do you miss him still

[Music]

every morning when i wake up

i i still reach out for him

i want him back i miss

[Music]

i'm him

[Music]

americans have never understood my

people

are descendants of both the ancient

nations and the romans

going back to the year 105 a.d

dormant we have been europe's dormers

for centuries

the hands the slavs the mongols have

wiped their feet on us

but you've managed to survive your

excellency

and do you know why because of the

spirit

and the fire of the romanian people they

trust me

i ruled them well strong firm leadership

oh nico

have you met my son i've been looking

forward to it it's my great pleasure

madam ambassador

i've heard many nice things about you

that's very kind of you to say that niko

i think you have a future diplomat here

your excellency

a diplomat nico

never i have other plans for my son

will be the next president i'm going to

[Music]

remedy

[Music]

what are you doing here i thought she

might give me a lift

you don't have a car i let my shelfer go

home

why i thought we might have a talk

about what

[Music]

be careful of being asked the charm is

surface don't believe him don't trust

him people have a way of just

disappearing here

you may think that because a man is

charming i'm going to believe every word

he says

you're mistaken mr slade i know my job

repeats sake lady oh it's been a

wonderful talk

by the way i made arrangements for the

children to attend the american school

the kids come from all over the teachers

are excellent when it comes to my

children i'll make the arrangements

i do thank you for your concern

good night madam ambassador good night

mr slade

[Music]

your assignment is to ensure that mary

actually goes ahead with the fourth of

july party as planned we've

hired an expert in order to give that

person any help necessary

and make sure the children are there

this should be a

a festive occasion i believe that uh

fireworks are traditional on the fourth

of july

mary ashley and her children will be

killed

[Applause]

there is someone here right here in this

embassy who's trying to kill me

i tell you what i do mrs ashley i go

home

right now now you believe in what you're

doing and you must not let anyone

frighten you away

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

you