Original subtitles

(ALL THANKING PAT)

-What do you think? -Fine.

Okay, let's try it.

Scramble.

How do you do? I'm Tim Downing.

Phil Carrington.

DOWNING: There's a spare bunk up here.

(EXHALING)

GRANT: Carrington?

The SPO said you wanted to talk to me.

I'm Pat Grant, the Escape Officer.

Bad luck.

-You've had a rough stretch of solitary. -Never mind that now.

Well, you'll feel odd for a while.

Take you a few days just to adjust physically to other people being around.

-Get all the exercise you can. -Look,

I'm not asking you for medical advice.

I want to talk to you about escaping.

It works.

CARTER: Yeah, magic.

So you will put my plan to the Escape Committee?

All right.

When? How long before I get an answer?

Well, it's April the second now.

I should be able to get back to you by beginning of june.

-june? -Look, there's quite a waiting list.

At the moment there are 1 7 separate plans

waiting to be considered and discussed with other nationals

so there's no duplication. No one fouling anyone else up.

-I can't wait until june... -I know, I know.

It's a natural reaction to solitary confinement.

It's got nothing to do with solitary confinement.

Quiet!

(WHISTLING)

I'm sorry. I'm wanted in the yard.

We'll have another talk in a week.

I'll try and get you on the list somewhere.

You should be out of here within six months, with luck.

A lot of luck and careful planning.

(ALL CLAMOURING)

It's time, isn't it?

Isn't it?

Three minutes.

You said that 1 0 minutes ago.

I said 1 3 minutes 1 0 minutes ago.

Right!

(EXHALES) Funny how slowly time passes when you're waiting for something.

Yeah, well, it depends what you're waiting for.

How do you mean?

When my wife and I were married I'd just got out of training school.

I was waiting to be posted to a squadron.

What about that?

I was just thinking how quickly the time passed then. That's all.

You should try not to think about it so much.

I know.

I can't help it.

It's just that, looking back,

we don't seem to have had any time together at all.

Thank God I'm not married.

I'm sorry.

I told you yesterday. You've got to be patient.

I know what you told me yesterday. And now I'm going to tell you something.

Oh, come on, Dick, one minute's not going to make that much difference

-one way or the other. -Do you want to wind up in Sardinia?

-No. -(DOG BARKING)

Now.

CARTER: Get out of the sun, will you?

Go ahead and play.

Oh, for God's sake, Yank.

Keep it still, will you?

Black.

Thanks for your help, Yank.

My name's Carrington, limey.

Did you hear that, Dick? He called me a limey.

You called him a Yank.

You see that punching bag there?

Why don't you go and hit it?

Hit it as hard as you can.

We all get like this sometimes.

Another tactical British withdrawal.

MAN: March the 28th, 38.2.

March the 30th, 38.1 .

-CARTER: What happened to the 29th? -Rain.

March the 31 st, 38.2.

-No, no, that's a mistake. -You kept joggling the conker.

-Yeah. And what's next? -April the first, today.

37.7.

(SIGHS) We're going to need at least another week's readings

before we can begin to make accurate tables.

# Over there, over there #

Oh, not again, Simon. That's enough. That's enough, Simon!

Come on, pack it in, Simon.

# They'll be over when it's over over there #

I hope I didn't sing anything to offend you.

Oh, I don't blame you.

I'd feel the same.

At least I've got a country I can go home to one day,

without the Germans there ahead of me.

-Years since I saw a German in England. -CARTER: Would you mind explaining that?

Maybe you haven't heard.

The British Army is bogged down in Greece,

there's going to be another Dunkirk.

Only this time, the Germans are ready to cross the Channel.

DOWNING: Where did you get that from?

CARRINGTON: I was on the run for a couple of months

before I got caught and sent here.

Well, Hitler's given up the idea of invading England. It's too late.

I remember them saying that about France.

Wasn't it dear Mr Chamberlain who said ''Hitler's missed the bus''?

And then six weeks later, the Germans were in Paris. You remember that?

GRANT: There's no comparison.

The French were all divided against themselves.

No politics, please.

War is only an extension of politics.

When you abandoned Czechoslovakia for political reasons,

that was your last chance to win the war.

I grant you, at the moment, Carrington,

it's pretty difficult to see how we're going to win this war.

But we'll never lose it.

MAN: Hear, hear! CARTER: You said it.

I'll give you six months after the fall of Greece.

DOWNING: I thought we might liberate the occupied countries first

-before we give in? -That's an idea.

That's a very good idea.

Why don't you liberate India?

There's an occupied country. Liberate India.

No, I'll tell you what, we'll swap India for Hawaii and the Philippines.

-(ALL LAUGH) -And Lana Turner.

-And joan Bennett. -And Deanna Durbin.

Deanna Durbin's Canadian.

I do wish you'd stop talking about women.

Can you think of a better subject?

DOWNING: No gentleman talks about women behind their backs.

MAN: Certainly not.

-I'm glad you think it's funny. -You don't, do you?

You're serious. Do you really think we're beaten?

-Yes, I do. -MAN 1 : Then why did you join the RAF?

-To observe. -MAN 2: But you're a pilot.

To observe what's going on.

It's a pity you didn't join the Luftwaffe.

I might have done that if I'd have been in Berlin instead of London at the time.

That doesn't mean that I want the Nazis to win.

One of your English writers said, ''I am a camera.

''Cameras don't take sides.''

If I hadn't been shot down,

I might have been one of the few Americans

to record the decline and fall of the British Empire.

At first hand.

Is that what that's all about?

More or less.

(GRUNTING) Do you think he meant all that?

Yes, he meant it, all right.

What do we know about him?

Well, anyone could say they were American.

-Carrington's an American, all right. -Really? How do you know?

Jimmy Corbett knew him in Spain.

-Yeah, which side was he on? -He was a journalist.

-DOWNING: For the Berliner Zeitung? -For the Berliner Zeitung?

We'll keep an eye on him.

Shine, damn you, shine.

The German Ministry of Propaganda ensures us a warm, dry spring.

Yeah, but it's the third day in a row.

We've got to get one more reading this week.

There'll be plenty of sun on the Med this time of the year anyway.

What's it like there in peacetime?

All dress whites and cocktails.

The French used to make a big fuss over us.

It was rather chic to have a British Naval officer at their parties.

That's where I met these friends at Saint-Tropez.

We used to go sailing.

My wife and I were planning to go to Cannes on our honeymoon.

-I've been thinking. -I had a week's leave...

It's about time we went over our whole scheme again with Pat,

so he can put it up to the other Allied escape officers.

Oh.

No conkers today?

Not quite the weather for it.

Why are you so interested?

I have a theory that the British suffer from arrested development. That's why.

Yeah, we have a theory about you, too.

-Steady on, Simon. -Let him finish.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time the Germans had planted a stooge.

(GRUNTS)

Oh, Simon, steady on! Steady on!

(DOGS BARKING)

Steady, Simon. Come on!

Steady!

Are officers allowed to fight among themselves in the Royal Air Force?

-No, sir. -Nor in the Wehrmacht.

It is also against the rules in Colditz.

The penalty for disturbing the peace, as you English put it,

is seven days solitary confinement. Dismissed.

(DOOR OPENS)

You provoked the assault?

You went right up to Flight Lieutenant Carter

and hit him, for no reason?

I had a reason.

It seemed like a pretty good way of getting 1 5 days in a cell.

Please, no joking.

No, it would suit me fine.

Besides, it would give me time to finish.

Finish what?

I want permission to speak to the Kommandant.

Why do you wish to be sent to solitary confinement?

I'm writing a book.

I want privacy, time to finish it.

You'll have plenty of time in Colditz, Lieutenant.

Perhaps years.

Not for this one.

My publisher in the United States wants it as soon as possible.

All written material addressed to the United States

must be submitted to the Central Bureau of Censorship in Berlin.

They'll pass it.

-What is the subject of the book? -Germany.

Germany in the war.

(EXHALES)

You must have seen a great deal of the country in the...

How many days was it before you were recaptured and sent here?

6 3.

In nine weeks you became such an expert on Germany

that you decided to write a book?

You will also see that I was a foreign correspondent

for the United Press in Spain.

That I worked for The Herald Tribune in France, Holland and Denmark.

That I covered the Blitz in London.

I've seen a good deal of the Germans during this war.

From the Allied side.

The losing side.

Leave us.

-(DOOR CLOSES) -Mmm, stand easy.

Why are you in such a hurry to finish the book?

Roosevelt has already repealed the Neutrality Act.

I would imagine that he's going to push Lend-Lease through Congress.

As a German Army officer and no doubt a student of the last World War,

what would you think his next move would be?

Germany has no quarrel with the United States government.

There is no reason why our two countries should go to war.

I think that, too. I believe that.

Roosevelt's been able to do what he wants

because he's had public opinion behind him.

And you think one book will change it?

No, I don't. But I think it'll at least show the other side of the argument.

Germany's been getting some pretty bad press in the United States lately.

We're not going anywhere near Switzerland?

Switzerland's too obvious.

Everybody heads for the Swiss border.

It's the closest.

It's not much closer than France.

Well, we've got some good contacts in France.

The escape route into Spain is pretty well organised.

No, no, no, no. Spain's out.

-We're going for a little sea voyage. -Oh, you've done that before, Dick.

With the whole coast of France occupied,

it's next to impossible to get any kind of boat.

I've got some friends in Saint-Tropez. They've got a 1 4-foot yacht.

What he means is that they won't mind our stealing it.

It's only a week's voyage to Malta.

And what about instruments? You need more than a compass to steer a course.

Go on. Show him.

A sextant.

The length of the shortest shadow gives you the angle of the sun at midday.

-Right? -Hmm.

We made a complete set of latitude tables.

All we have to do is to measure the length of the shadow anywhere

and then check it with Greenwich time.

We've got our latitude and longitude right by a couple of miles, anyway.

Well, I suppose the Navy knows what it's doing.

I'll check the whole scheme out with our friends

in case there's any conflict.

Nice little nook you've got here.

Cosy.

Marvellous what friends in the right place can do for you.

Which of them do you fancy most? Heydrich, Himmler, Hess or Hitler?

Bergman, finish up and get out of here.

I don't hold with the Nazis much myself,

but then I'm prejudiced, of course, being jewish.

Member of an inferior race.

Like Spinoza and Freud and Einstein.

Not to mention jesus of Nazareth.

All those other sub-humans.

-In my personal opinion... -Bergman.

Oh, I'm sorry if I've said anything at all to offend you...

Bergman!

Get on with your work and let me get on with mine.

Yes, sir.

Am I breathing too heavily for you?

People have to breathe, don't they?

Never mind the bed. Leave it!

(STOMPS FEET)

Your permission to speak, sir.

(SIGHS) What is it?

Message to Lieutenant Carrington from Captain Grant, sir.

Go on.

Hitler's invaded Yugoslavia now.

-I know that. -Oh.

Course, your friends would have told you, wouldn't they?

Captain Grant wanted to know if that had made any difference,

the German Army moving into Yugoslavia.

-But I can see it hasn't. -No, it hasn't.

And you can tell Captain Grant that. Go on.

Right.

Heil Hitler!

(INDISTINCT)

(TRUMPET PLAYING IN DISTANCE)

(WHISTLING LONDON PRIDE)

(TRUMPET PLAYING CONTINUES)

-Yeah, I've got that for you. -Gestapo!

(ALL CLAMOURING)

BERGMAN: Captain, they've left the Kommandant"s office.

GRANT: Scramble!

They're not coming this way.

You mean they're searching the Polish quarters first?

I don't think they've come here to snoop at all, as far as I can see.

I think the rozzers just want to have a bit of cheese and chalk with the Yank.

Oh, for God's sake, speak English, can't you, Bergman?

It looks like the Gestapo are just coming here

to see Lieutenant Carrington.

Phillip Reinhardt Carrington?

My mother was German.

Yes. Yes, she was born in Cologne.

She was also a member of the Illinois delegation

to the Democratic Convention in 1 931 .

A lot of people were for Roosevelt in those days.

Yes, including you.

You were secretary of the Students for FDR

at Michigan State University.

-You've found out a lot about me. -Yes.

How many Germans voted for Hitler during the last Reichstag elections?

Did you?

Well, the elected Chancellor, Von Papen,

was already secretly a member of the Nazi party.

Every German who voted for Von Papen knew that.

Roosevelt promised to keep us out of foreign wars.

You didn't keep out of them yourself. You were in Madrid in 1 936.

Yes, I was working for an American newspaper there, The Herald Tribune.

Yes.

''The Spanish Republican Government stands for democracy everywhere.

''To support it is to help stop Hitler now.''

You know who wrote that, of course.

Yes. I did.

Would you like to have me quote you on Goebbels and Mussolini

before the Rome-Berlin pact?

Are you trying to convince us you've had a sudden change of mind?

Did Hitler have a change of mind about Stalin

after he signed the Non-Aggression Treaty with him?

RICHTMAN: That is completely irrelevant.

All I'm trying to do is to convince you that I'm a realist, a pragmatist.

That's all.

Hitler decided he couldn't risk fighting Russia.

I don't think the United States can risk fighting Germany.

That's all I'm trying to say.

RICHTMAN: And is that what you're going to say in your book?

I've said it already, loud and clear, in the first few chapters.

Why don't you read it? Hmm?

Yes, thank you. We will.

Yes, the Ministry of Propaganda will read every word of it.

With great interest.

And then the Ministry of Propaganda

will pass it along to us at Gestapo Headquarters.

For our opinion.

(BELL RINGING)

-1 2? -1 1 ...

British officers and Herr Phillip Carrington.

1 2.

1 1 of us, one of yours, that makes 1 2.

KOMMANDANT: The Minister has asked me to encourage you in every way I can

-to finish your book. -Yes, yes.

The Ministry of Propaganda is most enthusiastic

about the first two chapters of your manuscript.

And so am I.

You'll be given every opportunity to arrange for its publication

in the United States.

How does the Gestapo feel about it?

You have our permission to continue with your work.

No, no. Sit down, Lieutenant.

I found it very interesting,

your analysis of power situations.

There's nothing particularly new about that.

-Darwin's theory... -Uh, yes, Darwin.

But he didn't apply his idea to politics.

For an American liberal...

Disillusioned liberal.

For an American with your background,

you have an unusual contempt for human intelligence.

The human species, like any other, have to adjust to the existing surroundings.

Yes. Here in Colditz, too.

Some of you adapt to the idea of remaining prisoners

and some of you don't.

All anyone needs is a sense of purpose, something to do.

So you've adapted to Colditz?

As long as I can get my work done.

It might be possible to arrange a different environment for you.

Yes. We were considering some other form of internment.

House arrest. Perhaps a hotel room in Berlin.

There are other writers there, there are French and English...

CARRINGTON: Yes, I know that.

You prefer to stay here?

Well, what I'm thinking is that...

If I were to get special treatment

from what the Americans call the Gestapo,

they might think that I'd been bribed.

Every word that I wrote would be suspect.

And no one could say that if I remained a prisoner of war

here in Colditz.

(SOLDIERS SHOUTING)

Last year in Baden-Baden, the snow was this high.

Get back!

(MIMICKING BEING SHOT)

Notice the yellow tubular and hermaphrodite florets of the disc.

Peculiar to the species Bellis perennis.

Commonly known as the daisy.

(GUARD BLOWING WHISTLE)

(BELL RINGING)

(BELL CONTINUES RINGING)

Keep quiet and do as you're told.

Or I'll break your neck.

1 1 !

Where is the twelfth?

BRENT: There are only supposed to be 1 1 British Officers and your man.

-I'd say your man seems to be missing. -What man?

You know, Herr Carrington, the Kommandant"s friend.

Maybe the Kommandant told Herr Carrington he was excused Appel.

(DOGS BARKING)

This is not Carrington's.

The American did not go out to exercise this afternoon, sir.

He was working in his cell all afternoon.

DOWNING: At least Lord Haw-Haw never pretended to be on our side.

MUIR: He had the decency to get out of the country before the war even started.

DOWNING: Yes. Not like joining up and then supporting the enemy.

BRENT: They'll hang him when it's over.

FIRST CHESS PLAYER: Hang Lord Haw-Haw?

SECOND CHESS PLAYER: Aren't you ever going to move?

FIRST CHESS PLAYER: They ought to stuff him,

put him in Madame Tussaud's.

BRENT: Why shouldn't we? It's treason.

They made out the warrant the minute he started his broadcasts

telling us to give up.

I suppose he'd have got off it if he'd been American.

You stop being an American when you join the British Armed Forces.

Legally, anyway.

(SOLDIER WHISTLING)

At ease. Please keep to your bunks, gentlemen.

I do not wish to disturb you.

I just want a few words with Lieutenant Carrington.

Please get up, Lieutenant.

Take him to his quarters.

Well, there doesn't seem to be any serious damage.

Very little bruising.

Although it's hard to tell with the scalp.

(ALARM SOUNDING)

Emergency Appel.

Looks like someone made it over the wall. Can you stand?

You are excused all Appels until further notice.

The Kommandant"s orders.

Hmm, you are a lucky fellow. Wish it was me.

All right if I just finish up with him first

before I join the Appel?

I don't think there's any need for a bandage.

It's not much more than a cut, really.

-What were you hit with? -I don't know.

I don't seem to have been there when it happened.

Well, I'll take another look at it tomorrow morning.

Get as much sleep as you can.

Is the duffle coat still in there?

(FOOTBALL PLAYERS CALLING OUT PLAYS)

All right, jim.

Back, back, back, back! Back!

MUIR: Hold it!

Pat...

-It's a different bag. -Are you sure?

I've been punching it for months. I know every thread of it.

GRANT: The jerries are onto us. Scramble.

(SIGHING)

Why change the bag?

They probably ripped it open. When they found Dick's duffle coat,

they thought they'd see if he'd try the same trick again.

Well, at least Dick got away.

Any news of Dick?

Who?

Lieutenant Player.

Player?

Player.

Did he get clear?

I don't know him.

Okay, Bergman, forget it.

I expected to find you in a more cheerful mood this morning.

The British have pulled out of Greece.

Rommel's doing well, too.

You're so interested in Lieutenant Player,

don't you want to hear how your side's getting on?

Get out, Bergman.

Get out!

(BUCKET CLANGING)

Damn!

He'll spend the next couple of months in a cell.

Steady, Simon.

MUIR: Steady, Simon.

How about a nice game of chess?

A long game. Well, we've got plenty of time.

We've got years and years.

Easy, old man.

Or we could brush up on our Spanish.

Or take up the French horn.

You know what we should have done, Dick and I?

We should have gone on making those Azimuth tables.

Measuring the length of shadows at noon. Waiting for the sun to come out.

Cursing the days that it rained.

We should have made thousands and thousands of navigation tables.

At least when we were doing that we had something to do.

We had some bloody reason for being alive.

All right, you'll get another go!

Just bad luck this time.

That's all.

DOWNING: Perhaps it was.

Perhaps it wasn't.

Well, it could have been just his bad luck,

Jerries picking him up.

Could be they knew where to look.

MUIR: He was always hanging around. Listening.

Don't you think we ought to give him a chance to defend himself?

A sort of court-martial?

All right.

All right, we'll give him a chance.

After Appel tonight.

(jAZZ MUSIC PLAYING)

(KNOCKS ON DOOR)

-What is it? -The SPO wants to see you. Now.

He asked us what we were doing.

-And did you tell him? -No!

He knew we were making some sort of calculations,

I mean, I had a protractor,

Dick was drawing triangles, he'd seen us in the exercise yard,

anybody could guess what we were up to.

I didn't guess what you were up to, Simon.

Did you know?

Carrington?

Stand up.

Did you know?

Know what?

Player was planning to get to France and reach the Mediterranean.

-I knew he was planning something. -DOWNING: I see.

Everybody's planning something.

And after Dick escaped you were excused all further Appels.

So what?

DOWNING: Did you see the Kommandant that night?

No, I don't think so.

You've been on special rations for weeks now, haven't you?

Oh, yeah. I get truffles three times a day.

DOWNING: Ever since you had a private talk with the Kommandant...

CARRINGTON: I've had dozens of talks with the Kommandant.

DOWNING: The day you and Simon had a fight.

Oh, come on. We all know why Phil's been getting special...

-Phil... -Why are you standing up for him?

It's not a question of standing up for anybody.

There's no evidence at all that Carrington...

He deserves a damn good hiding anyway.

Make him run the gauntlet.

Now, wait a minute.

-Stay out of it. -All right. Let's take a vote on it.

But there's no evidence...

(CLAMOURING)

Let's vote.

All those in favour.

Move.

MAN: Riot squad!

-Move out. -Simon!

He's come to pin a medal on him.

(MAN WHISTLING LONDON PRIDE OUTSIDE)

Gestapo.

-Come to congratulate Carrington. -On finishing his book.

-What do you say now? -I just hope you're right, that's all.

Sit down, Lieutenant.

CARRINGTON: No, thanks.

I've read your manuscript.

You've spent enough time on it.

We had several typewritten copies made.

I was hoping it'd be off to the publisher by now.

I felt it deserved careful study by all our departments

before sending it to America.

I thought you had the authority to send it on yourself?

Yes. But there were things...

questions that puzzled me about the manuscript.

Maybe I can answer some of them for you.

Yes.

This letter attached to the manuscript...

That's a letter to my publisher.

Alexander Cole. He's an old school friend of yours, I see.

CARRINGTON: Yes, sir, he is. He also published my last book.

BRAUNER: Yes, the one about Spain.

It puzzled me, this letter.

''Dear Sandy...''

That's a contraction for Alexander.

Yes.

''You will probably be surprised by my book.

''I know that most of it is contrary to your own opinion.''

-I was just guessing. -Yes.

Knowing your friend's political views in the past.

''I know it goes against majority opinion in the United States.''

-You know that, too. -Yes.

''But I hope you will understand that the truth of what I'm trying to say,

''particularly in chapter four,

''lies in the fact that the multiple always adds up

''to the original factor, as they taught us in high school.''

''The multiple always adds up to the original factor.''

That's a curious phrase.

Yes, that could be a little obscure to a German.

What that is, is that's jargon used in American civics classes.

What does it mean?

Well, my interpretation was that

the lowest common denominator of public opinion is always...

always...

the loudest and most representative.

Yes, that's what I thought too,

for a time, and then one of our other departments

suggested an altogether different interpretation.

Well, I can change that phrase if it bothers you.

No, no, no, no. The whole book would be meaningless without it.

What are twice nine?

-What? -What are twice nine?

BRAUNER: Yes, three times nine.

Five times nine.

Seven times nine.

There's something very curious about this,

because if you add one and eight,

two and seven,

four and five,

six and three.

Yes, thank you.

The multiple always adds up to the original factor.

Always, but only with the figure nine.

That's fascinating.

I never took mathematics.

Yes, you did. At high school with your friend Sandy.

What's that got to do with my book?

Will you please read that first sentence from chapter four?

Please.

''However chivalrous it may seem,

''flooding unending American arms into England won't stop...''

Yes, that's it. That's it. That's enough.

Let's look at every ninth letter.

H.

I.

T.

L.

E.

R. Hitler. Thank you.

Let's read on, taking every ninth letter in the manuscript.

''Hitler.

''In spite objections,

''general staff Wehrmacht

''has already issued

''Directive Number 24.''

You know what Directive Number 24 is?

Yes, it's all here.

In the same code in your manuscript.

''Invasion of Yugoslavia has not changed Hitler's plans,

''although it may have postponed them.''

''Concentration of German troops in Romania and Poland

''is for Barbarossa,

''Hitler's code name for an attack on Russia this year.''

I know what Directive Number 24 is.

Did you?

I tried to warn a friend of mine in America.

No, you hoped to warn the American government,

and, through them, the Russians.

Where did you get your information?

-I was a journalist. -Yes, where did you...

Where did you get your information?

-Around. -Who from?

-just around. -Who from?

Everybody in Germany knows what Directive Number 24 is.

Who from?

(KEY RATTLING)

PLAYER: God!

Hello.

Pat got a message through to me.

It was a damn good try, Yank.

Thanks...

(GRUNTING)

...limey.