Original subtitles

Poor bastards.

Those were two one had rather assumed had made it.

-Seven weeks. -What do you think?

Two Frenchmen can't get home and dry in seven weeks.

I wonder what went wrong.

What did you do in the war, Daddy?

(LAUGHS) Oh, my son.

Product of my late middle age, if things go on the way they are.

I spent several weeks being pursued through the rain

by infinitely more competent Germans,

and the next 20 years digging little holes in a castle.

Seven weeks and still caught.

It'll be like a piece of Gruyere this place,

-by the time we've finished with it. -Ever seen a Gruyere?

The holes just reach the rind, not outside.

Moles. That's what we should model ourselves on.

Happy little fellows, tunnelling away.

They're blind.

-They got those two Frenchies. -Yes, we know.

(MEN CHATTERING)

The compliments of Captain Coty.

He wants a word with you. Privately.

Thanks.

Excuse me. I'll be back in a minute.

-Hello there. -Hello, Simon.

We are, in the French quarters, a little, uh...

Disorganised.

As you probably have heard our two escaped officers

-have been recaptured. -Yes, I was sorry to hear that.

They reached Le Treport,

-which is near Dieppe. -Mmm-hmm.

They had intended to steal a fishing boat and escape to England.

Yeah, well, they were jolly lucky to get that far.

They are exceptional officers.

In Le Treport, they were in a cafe

and the proprietor became suspicious.

Yeah? What did he do? Hand them over to the Germans?

No, no.

(CARTER WHISTLING)

He was himself a member of a resistance group.

Oh.

He told them it was almost impossible to take a boat

but he was able to introduce them into a...

Hey! Watch it.

A system that would enable them

to be passed from one resistance group to another,

all the way across France to the Spanish Gulf.

They joined two British airmen, and in only three days

they were at Saint-Girons.

This is a place about 1 0 kilometres from the Spanish frontier.

They spent the day in the house of an architect

before crossing into Spain that night, when the Germans came.

They were recaptured and the architect was shot.

-So very near. -I have no more details.

As you will realise, they are now in solitary confinement.

But one of them needed medical treatment

and we were able to talk with him for a few minutes.

Yeah, well, thank you for telling me.

You don't understand.

There is now a system

all the way across occupied Europe to enable men to escape to Britain.

Hold on.

Here.

Uh, do you mind?

(MAN SIGHING)

Thanks awfully.

They went through nine different areas in only three days,

in perfect safety.

It was only in, uh, in one area where one man had broken,

that the system broke down.

He said that literally hundreds of RAF men have been passed safely into Spain.

I see.

All we need is one address.

Holland. Belgium.

-France or Luxembourg. -One.

After that the resistance groups will guard our men.

It's a thought, isn't it?

Of course, this advice must never be given

except to a man who is escaping at the last minute.

Before that, no one but the escape officer should know it.

No one.

-Yeah, but how do we get the address? -I don't know.

All I know is that you have contact with England.

And it is in England that there are people

who organise these resistance groups.

Who know where it is safe and where it isn't.

Who know literally from day to day what is happening.

You must never believe that we Catholics worship the Blessed Virgin.

It is only through a representation of the Virgin...

But you must come to mass more often.

I'm sure our priest would be happy to instruct you in the faith.

CARTER: Anything I say, I don't want you to discuss with anybody, okay?

Obviously.

Can you think of any way that we can get in touch

with your chaps at British Intelligence in London?

Well, offhand, no.

We have no transmitter as you know, and even if we had,

I have no idea what frequencies are being used now,

let alone what codes.

And the Jerries would be bound to pick it up before London did.

And pigeons, well, they can't fly that far.

(LAUGHS) Wouldn't know where to go.

(SHIVERING) In here they'd be more use casseroled.

I'm serious.

Well, we could always get someone out and tell him to contact Dai in London.

Brent and Turner are going out later this week, but...

Then I presume you're more interested in regular contact?

-Yeah. -Why?

You tell me how to do it, I'll tell you why.

Well, there is only one way open. Letters home.

Yeah, but the Germans read those.

Well, I'm not a code expert. I'm only an ordinary G3I.

But I've run into chaps who do know about codes.

And the main problem is not devising a code,

but persuading anybody at the other end it is a code.

Who could we write to who might be bright enough

to realise what's happening?

(LAUGHS) My dear old mother.

I'm afraid if she got any message

other than that I was well and hoped she was, too,

she'd be so confused, I doubt if she'd recover.

We need someone with the sort of mind to spot an oddity,

and the brains to take it to an expert to sort...

-Cathy. -Cathy?

My wife.

Well, she does crosswords and all that sort of thing.

She's embarrassingly brilliant at it. Well, she'd be perfect.

You tell me. If she's got to be made suspicious,

she's got to realise we're trying to say something.

Do you have a private language? You know.

We were hardly together long enough to have a private anything.

We have a rudimentary code going.

-There's the honeymoon. -What about it?

Well, we spent our wedding night in the waiting room at Swindon Railway Station

-surrounded by troops. -(CHUCKLES)

No, ''honeymoon'' is a word that we have to mean something really awful.

Well, we can always try it.

(SIGHS) Now, if you'll give me permission,

I'd like to get back to bed.

Apart from the fact I'm freezing, a fresh mind in the morning...

CARTER: Yes?

You did say you normally sign your postcards just, ''S''.

-That's right. -Good.

You'll sign this one ''Simon''.

We write down the alphabet

and underneath each letter we write down another alphabet.

Except that we write S-I-M-O-N, under A-B-C-D-E.

-Ah. -Then we carry on as usual,

only leaving out the letters of Simon

-as we come to them. Okay? -Yeah, so far.

Now, there are five letters in Simon.

So we write our message in such a way that every fifth letter is the code...

(MAN WHISTLING)

-She'll never be able to work that out. -It's a very simple code.

The main problem is, will anybody realise it's a code at all?

But if we mention your honeymoon

-and change the way you sign it... -Yeah.

We'll just have to hope your wife realises you're being crafty

and haven't simply gone off your head.

Right, off you trot. (GRUNTS) I have a lot of message to play with yet.

I hope it works.

(ZIPPER CLOSING)

(CLEARING THROAT)

-Mafeking has been relieved. -What?

I want to see someone, please.

-Where's your pass? -I haven't got a pass.

I know that. I know everyone who has passes.

-Well, then how do I get to see anyone? -Fill this in.

Do sit down. The chairs are terribly uncomfortable, I'm afraid.

-Now, Miss... -Mrs Carter.

Mrs Carter, my name is Palmer.

Don't worry about Cooper on the door.

We rely on him rather than a battalion of infantry to keep away invaders.

I realise.

-From your husband? -Yes, he is in Oflag 4C.

Hmm, Colditz. You assume there's some sort of message hidden here.

-Yes, how did you know that? -I doubt if you'd had bothered to argue

with Cooper if this was Just an ordinary postcard.

Could you ask Colonel Mansell if he can spare a moment? Thank you.

-You've had a lot of postcards? -Yes, it's been a long time.

And this is the first one that seemed curious?

-Yes. -Tell me why.

Well, it's so formal and he signed it ''Simon'' instead of just ''S'',

-and the bit about our honeymoon. -Yes, he hopes to have another like it.

-It's our word for something disastrous. -I see.

Ah, sir, Mrs Carter received this from her husband in Colditz.

She thinks it may contain a message.

-Your husband a mathematician? -No.

I assumed not or I would know him.

We could try sending it to Bletchley, sir.

Uh, no. No, no. No.

Ah, Mrs Carter,

I don't want to be offensive. Your husband, is there any reason

why he should suppose you could break a code?

No, not really.

No? Quite mad, most of us.

But, he might on the other hand think that you could recognise a puzzle.

Well, I always do The Times crossword and he never could.

-And how long does it take you? -Oh, it varies.

Ten minutes, quarter of an hour.

Oh! I must make it more difficult.

-Well, I'll have a ponder. -Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much, you've been very helpful.

-You don't mind if we hang onto this? -Of course not.

And any other, of course.

Not really our department. We are counter intelligence, MI5.

You really want the other people, MI6,

but we, uh, hang together and try to help one another up over the wall,

one thing or the other, you know?

Now, if you could fill me in with a little background about your husband.

Of course, but I don't see why...

It's just that if there is a coded message in that postcard,

I imagine he'll be expecting a reply from you.

It will help if we have some idea of how best to approach your husband

if we're going to write your letters for you in future.

-MAN: Ulmann. -Scramble.

-Another guest for you, gentleman. -Hello, I'm Dick Player.

-Tim Downing. -How do you do?

Larry Page.

-Where do you come from? -Birmingham.

(ALL CHUCKLING)

-No, I mean to get sent here. -Oh.

-Oflag 1 4B. -1 4B?

Is this bunk taken?

DOWNING: Uh, the bottom one there is free.

-Tired? -Very.

(PAGE SIGHING)

Mrs Carter. How kind of you to come back at such short notice.

It's not every day I have a staff car sent to collect me.

-(PHONE RINGING) -Excuse me. Yes?

Yes, of course, sir. I won't be a minute.

(DOOR CLOSING)

(CLEARS THROAT)

(DOOR OPENING)

Oh, Mrs Carter. Just one or two questions.

Of course.

-This business of the honeymoon. -Yes?

How many people know what that means?

-It's our phrase, Simon's and mine. -It isn't quite what I had asked.

-Who else knows? -Nobody.

You've never joked about it with a girlfriend?

Well, yes, I suppose so but...

Then it's, uh, possible that your husband joked about it, too.

He wouldn't. Anyway, there's no reason why he should have done.

But you said yourself that he wasn't an expert at codes.

So whoever coded the postcard must have known.

You see, this postcard could have been sent by the Germans.

Next you will be saying Simon is a German spy.

-No. -Or do you think I am?

-We have checked. -Then I don't see what your problem is.

You were quite right.

There is a coded message in that postcard. It asks for information.

That information would be very useful to your husband.

It would be even more useful to the Germans.

It's just that if we do reply,

we want to make quite sure that the information reaches the right hands.

If your husband even once joked about your honeymoon in front of someone

who was working for the Germans,

then that postcard could have been sent without his ever knowing about it.

-But it's in his handwriting. -Oh, but Mrs Carter,

forgery is no longer a penal offence in our circles.

PALMER: You see, the Germans don't only read outgoing mail from POW camps,

they read incoming mail as well.

It's just that we'd be happier if we made absolutely sure

we're doing the wise thing, so if you'd be good enough to write a letter,

make it chatty, you know, like the one you're going to write anyway.

Then we can play around with it and...

You can write it out again on your own writing paper.

You do understand?

Yes.

If you would be good enough to write a draft.

Now.

(ALARM RINGING)

What the hell does he think he's doing?

(MAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(MAN SPEAKING FRENCH)

(MAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(MAN SPEAKING FRENCH)

(MAN SPEAKING GERMAN)

Oh, we've got a tough one here.

248-71 9, Pilot Officer Page.

(MAN SPEAKING GERMAN)

Tell Jimmy Walker to have a word with him.

-Aye. -He needs straightening out.

Indeed.

And you better tell Jimmy to tell him if he wants to get out of here

he's got to take his place in the queue.

(MEN CHATTERING)

(MAN SPEAKING GERMAN)

CARTER: Bombs away.

It works. As long as they never check on identities or nationalities, just heads.

Twenty-two heads go out with 44 legs and the same number come back in.

It's foolproof, Simon. We can use it as often as we like.

And the shed?

The gardener left the door open as always.

Good.

As long as our two dwarfs stay here, we can go on getting people out

for as long as we like.

Well, there's not much chance they're going to be posted.

Hi. I saw you last night but we haven't met.

My name's Jimmy Walker.

Afraid the percentage of RAF in here is increasing all the time.

-Tell me, what did you do to get here? -I wanted a continental holiday.

(LAUGHS) No, I mean where did you escape from?

1 4B.

-Oh, how'd you get out? -Over the wire.

-Over the wire? -Over it. Round it. Through it.

-How long were you out? -Not long.

-And they sent you here. -It would seem so.

It is just that normally you seem to have to have a bit of a reputation

before you get a ticket for this place.

Well, I didn't say it was the first time, did I?

Stand by your beds. Letters from your loved ones at home.

Willy. Don't worry if you've already shared them

with your friendly German censor, Dick.

-George? -Yeah.

Tim. Jimmy.

-Harry. -Anything for me?

I'm sorry, Simon. And one for me!

Hey, listen to this.

''We have turned the tennis courts into a vegetable garden.

''It's part of a campaign by the government called 'Dig for Victory'.''

What an interesting idea.

Anything wrong?

-Nothing serious. -Then what is it?

Just that my mother's been moved into a home.

What sort of a home?

A charity for the widows of indigent gentlefolk.

-Oh, I'm sorry. -It's probably all for the best.

She found the house too much for her even before the war.

And she could never get used to the idea of having to take in lodgers.

-If only I was there to help. -Yeah, I know.

What the hell do you mean you know? You've got a wife, parents!

Everything waiting for you when you get home.

Sorry.

It's just that if ever I get out of here the best I can hope for is a job

as a schoolmaster trying to scrape enough money together to buy a car

to take her out at weekends.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

(KNOCKING CONTINUES)

DOWNING: Come in, whoever you are.

-If I could have a word with you. -Yeah, of course, um...

-Come over here, all right? -Hello.

Uh, do you mind?

Here, sit down.

There are two matters I should like to discuss.

-The first is the business I mentioned. -Yeah, it's been put in hand.

Ah.

The other matter is just a warning.

-Your plan to give piggyback rides... -Yes?

I believe it depends on the gardener's hut.

As you know, part of our quarters overlooks that hut.

I have to tell you that today the door was never opened.

Why?

I managed to have a word with one of the civilian staff.

The gardener was taken ill last night. I was told it was, uh...

-Comment dites-vous? Appendicite. -Appendicitis.

Well, if the hut's locked, the whole thing won't work.

We've only got five seconds.

-We can't start picking locks. -I understand.

Well, Brent and Turner will just have to wait.

I never thought I should wish a sick German a speedy recovery

-but for your sake... -Yeah, thanks.

Damn.

(TOILET FLUSHING)

That business of the gardener's hut is off for the moment.

-Why? -I'll tell you later.

There's another thing.

-What? -The new prisoner...

Page?

He said he'd been in Oflag 1 4B.

When I asked him how he got out he said, ''Over the wire.''

I said, ''Over?'' He said, ''Through.''

1 4B is that old prison at Mainz. It has walls, not wire.

You sure?

I checked this afternoon with a Pole who had said he'd been there.

Well, maybe they put the wire up since then.

It's one of the places the Germans kept their most dangerous prisoners.

The Pole swore he was the only man who had ever got out.

Yeah, well, I put that business of rappel down to bloody mindedness.

Maybe I was wrong. Talk to him again. Make him talk.

Find out what he was doing before he came here.

(SIGHS)

-Well, how you finding Colditz? -Like a prison.

-Change from the RAF, though. -Mmm-hmm.

-What squadron were you with? -Official secret.

-Oh! What did you fly? -Lancs.

Good planes. What happened?

I was minding my own business and somebody interfered.

Well, I mean how?

-Does it matter? -(LAUGHS) What did you do?

I resigned myself to appearing in the In Memoriam section of The Times.

Uh, how did you get out?

I opened a little window and then I stepped out into the night.

Now, have you got any more stupid questions?

-Your parachute? -Yes.

Well, fortunately, I remembered to take that with me.

I was wearing it and sitting on it at the time.

I thought in Lancs you...

Hmm. And you must tell me the story of your life sometime.

Preferably after the war.

I don't think he's in the RAF at all. I think he's a plant.

-Why? -All sorts of things.

He said he was sitting on his parachute

-while he was flying. -Well, I used to sit on mine.

Yes, but this was in a Lancaster. They have observer chutes.

All right, leave it with me.

PRESTON: Private Officer Page, do you understand your position?

Yes... sir.

Now, you say you are an officer in the RAF.

Other Air Force officers here suspect that you are not.

Now that leaves me with three possibilities.

The first is that I hold an enquiry

to which Air Force officers will be invited,

you'll be asked questions which Flight Lieutenant Carter assures me

will prove whether you are what you say you are or not.

That will be details about your training,

people you must have met, and the aircraft you flew.

-Do you understand? -Yes.

Are you willing to undergo such an inquiry?

No.

The second possibility is that you go to the German Security Officer,

tell him no one believes your story and ask for an assignment elsewhere.

-Well? -No.

Well, the last possibility is that I myself go to the Kommandant of this camp

and ask that you be removed because I cannot guarantee your safety.

If I tell you the truth,

can I be sure that nobody outside this room,

and I don't just mean the Germans, I mean the other prisoners,

nobody will ever know?

That depends what the truth is.

No, I'm not an RAF Officer and my name isn't Page.

-What is your name? -That I'm not telling you.

Why not?

Because I'm not in any service as you understand the word.

And I'm not protected by the Geneva Convention,

or anything else for that matter.

PRESTON: Then what are you doing here?

I was being flown into France and the Germans knew about it.

-What kind of aircraft? -Lysander.

(SIGHING) Go on.

Well, we were coming in.

There were the usual torch signals from the ground,

but they weren't quite right. Nearly, but not quite.

Anyway, the pilot said that he could get down, drop me,

pick up the chap I was replacing all in about a minute.

I was fool enough to compromise and let him go down.

Not to land, just to fly over and see what we could see.

-What happened? -Well, what I expected.

The moment the Germans realised we weren't going to land,

they opened up with everything they had.

We crash-landed about three miles away from our rendezvous.

Pilot was killed. Neck broken.

-What was his name? -Lawrence Page.

I took his identity tags and I took his uniform.

Well, I was wearing civilian clothes

and I had just as long as it took the Germans to get there.

I obviously didn't want to be found by a crashed plane wearing civilian clothes.

And you put your clothes on the dead pilot.

Mmm-hmm and set fire to the lot with a Very pistol.

-What was the pilot's squadron? -I have no idea.

We're not encouraged to know unnecessary facts about each other.

-And what happened to his observer? -Stop trying to be clever.

Lysanders only carry two.

What was going to be your job in France?

Setting up resistance groups,

keeping an eye on them when they are set up,

replacing them when they're wiped out.

You know, there is one thing you haven't explained.

Yes?

-Why were you sent here to Colditz? -I have no idea.

You'd have to ask Pilot Officer Page.

There was a certain irony about the interrogation.

The Germans knew more about me than I did.

-Who interrogated you? -The Gendarmerie.

If you can't fool them,

you really shouldn't be allowed out without your nanny.

Well?

(PRESTON CLEARS THROAT)

-It's possible... -It's the truth.

Maybe, but it would have to be corroborated.

In this place?

No, I quite realise that that is not possible.

Simon?

If we could find a way of getting a message to London,

is there some way we could check?

There isn't any alternative.

If you knew who to ask,

Just say, ''toothbrush''.

Toothbrush?

CARTER: I got a letter from my wife today.

-Anything interesting? -No, the usual.

Everybody's fine. Uncle Harry sends his best.

But I don't have an Uncle Harry.

I told you she could do it.

(CLICKING TONGUE) Oh.

Even if it's the same principal, it's been done by an expert,

and I'm no expert.

We have to know the pattern.

-We have to know where to start. -Wait a minute.

She's put 79... We don't live at 79, we live at 1 2.

Now, suppose we start with the seventh word...

Pencil.

Then the ninth character.

Then, if that doesn't work, we'll try the seventh character,

then every ninth, and we can reverse it.

This may take a little time.

Yeah, the war could be over.

I enjoy this sort of thing.

Right. Off you go.

And if I can make anything out of it, I'll bring it along.

-Two, three, four... -No, I don't mind staying.

Just that I don't like people breathing down my neck while I'm working.

(MUTTERING UNDER BREATH)

(CARTER SNORING)

I've finished.

-Huh? -I've finished.

Oh!

''Give nickname. Your old headmaster.''

How nice to see you. Do come in. Would you wait, Corporal?

Sir.

This morning I received another card from my husband.

Yes. This one.

Don't worry. You have the original.

-We only have photocopies. -I didn't realise.

Well, look at it this way, if the Germans can read it,

and of course they do, it isn't really fair if we don't,

-is it? -(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Come.

Oh, Mrs Carter, your husband,

oh, he gave us a rare old dance with his postcard.

How long have you had his postcard?

-Oh, two or three days. -Just long enough to do our job.

The nickname of his erstwhile headmaster.

-Stuffy. -Stuffy?

That was the name he told you.

That was the name the headmaster liked to think that he was called.

But in fact, the name that your husband gave was

a little bit more ribald.

The headmaster denied it, vehemently of course.

But as he is now a captain in the Home Guard,

I was able to put on uniform and rank him.

And all's well that ends.

And on the promise that we wouldn't divulge the name,

he did confess that in the distant past...

Well, it's very kind of you to come and see us,

but don't put yourself out in future.

(BUZZER BUZZING)

We'll let you know if we need you. Goodbye, Mrs Carter.

-Toothbrush. -Yes?

I got on to the other department. Obviously, he did a switch.

And if he's in Colditz, they'd like him back.

They'd like their toothbrush back very much indeed.

-Can't we get rid of this bastard? -Not yet.

-We were going to hold an inquiry... -I said, not yet!

So the moment the gardener gets back, we're ready to go, eh?

I decide what we do...and when.

(DOOR CLOSING)

Well, we may not be going to hold an enquiry, but I am.

-Look here, Simon said leave it... -Damn what Simon said!

-I want to ask you some questions. -Make an appointment with my secretary.

-Where did you do your basic training? -On a potty.

-I'm serious. -No, you're not.

You're pathetic and tedious and boring.

And nobody would ever take you seriously.

You answer my... (SCREAMING)

(JIMMY CRYING OUT)

(MEN CHATTERING)

MAN: Well, he attacked Page and Page attacked him.

Get him to the MO.

JIMMY (CRYING): I can't see!

The report on the British prisoner in hospital, sir.

The one who fell down a flight of stairs?

His eyes are badly gouged, sir.

I don't think we need interest ourselves in fights between prisoners.

I'm interested in any man who does that to one of his colleagues, sir.

If you insist.

Thank you, sir.

Got a light?

The report from the hospital.

I thought you might be interested in knowing what has happened

to your friend Flying Officer Walker.

You'll be glad to know that he will not be permanently blind.

He will be scarred for life,

but the doctor tells me he will recover his sight.

How did it happen?

I'm talking to you.

I've asked you a question.

I'm afraid I was responsible.

Yes.

We were playing cards,

we had an argument about the number of aces in a pack.

In the RAF it is customarily to so injure a man over a game of cards?

Well, it's... It's not he first time that Flying Officer Walker

has been accused of cheating.

(DICE ROLLING)

I will leave this with you, Mr Player.

(SPEAKING GERMAN)

Yes?

I suppose you think I ought to thank you.

No.

I said that because I dislike him more than I dislike you.

Simon.

It says, ''Expedite toothbrush

''soonest. Orange.''

-''Orange''? -Whatever that means.

I've gone over it God knows how many times, but it still says that.

Yes.

-Does it mean anything to you? -Yeah, enough.

-What? -You're not going.

Not this time. This time it has to be Page.

-Page? -Simon, have you gone out of your mind?

-(ALL CLAMOURING) -Sir, George and I volunteered to go...

I can't tell you anything else, but this time it has to be Page.

But Page has been here a couple of weeks...

(ALL PROTESTING)

Page is going with Harry.

It'll be better for all of us in the long run.

All of us?

Right.

He's waiting outside. You can tell him to come in.

(DOOR CLOSING)

We have an escape plan that has a very good chance of success.

You'll be going out in a few days with Harry.

-I'll take my turn in the queue. -No, you won't.

As escape officer, you'll do as I tell you.

-So, you've lined it all up, have you? -Yes.

You'll be carrying one of the French prisoners

piggyback on the way to the exercise yard.

He'll be hidden under your great coat.

We've rehearsed it quite a number of times and it works.

Now, the Germans count numbers here, before you go through the main gate.

There'll be 30 prisoners going on exercise

plus the two that you and Harry will be carrying.

The gardeners hut is here. The door will be open.

Harry will slip inside.

As soon as you've dropped your man, you join him.

You wait there until everybody else is marked back.

As far as the Germans are concerned,

it's the same number coming back as went out.

-Any questions? -How could anyone question such a plan?

Well, Harry will fill you in on the details.

How to get over the wire and what you do once you're over it.

Tell me something, does the word ''Orange'' mean anything to you?

It's a fruit.

-Nothing else? -Well, are you asking me or telling me?

Yes, I know what it means.

-What does it mean? -It's a man. Contact.

-You can get our chaps to England? -I suppose so, amongst other things.

-Yeah, well, you and Harry can use him. -Not a chance.

I'm not risking his life by loosing an idiot like Harry on him.

All right, you use him. Harry can go the way we've planned.

By the way, what nationality is Orange anyway?

You really are dangerously naive, aren't you?

You expect me to tell you that?

When you get to London, I've got a lot of information I want you to pass on...

Oh, I'm sure you have. Tell me, how did you find out about Orange?

You really are dangerously naive, aren't you?

You expect me to tell you that?

You're learning.

(WHISTLING)

Ah, Simon, you'll be pleased to hear that our mutual friend, the gardener,

has completely recovered from his operation.

-Oh, good. -Yes, indeed.

We saw him today back at work.

-Doing the same job? -Oh, same everything.

Like the Bourbon he has learnt nothing and forgotten nothing.

He's as careless as ever.

It surprises me that nothing is ever stolen,

the way he leaves premises unlocked.

(EXHALES FORCEFULLY) I was thinking,

it is time we asked our captors for permission to exercise in the park.

I made a slight change in your papers.

Well, the suit's not too bad. It's a bit loose.

It was made to fit me.

Anyway, you're now going as a Dutch worker from Walcheren.

-Nobody speaks that dialect. -I do, but I won't.

Why make things more difficult?

There'll be more than 30 prisoners going on exercise, so you'll be well hidden.

-Have you got your Reichsmarks? -Yes.

I'm sorry, there isn't much, but that's all we can spare, I'm afraid.

-They're getting assembled in the yard. -Right, come on.

Great coats.

-Right. -Come on, off you go.

-Good luck, Harry. -Thanks.

Okay.

Whenever you're passing Germans, keep well bunched up.

And don't forget,

the minute Harry's in that hut, you join him as soon as possible.

-I know. -Harry's joined the group okay.

All right, go.

Page is coming out now.

That's it, he's joined the group.

-George... -It's going very well.

Check.

(DOG BARKING)

(BARKING CONTINUES)

-Well, what happened? -I don't know.

Harry got away into the hut all right, we were creating the diversion,

suddenly there was a lot of shouting and they'd found Harry.

-Get that thing off. -I was going to.

-All right, what happened to you? -I didn't have a chance.

I dropped my Frenchmen as planned, I was making my way towards the hut,

couple of guards rushed past me, that was it.

What happened to the two extra prisoners?

They got one of them, the Pole.

The Frenchman managed to hop on someone's back

and we got him back inside safely.

Didn't occur to them to look for another one.

Do you think they know how it was done?

Well, they must have a fair idea. They know about the hut anyway.

Well, it was a good try.

Simon.

Excuse us for a moment, would you, John?

What?

Simon, I was watching, that wasn't what happened.

-Well, what did? -The Frenchie and the Pole were dropped

almost as soon as we were through the gates.

Then everyone else started playing up, that went fine.

I was the only person watching the hut.

Now, Page went over to the hut, very slowly.

He had plenty of time but he went very slowly.

There was only one guard anywhere near him.

Now, when he got to the hut, he opened the door, again, very slowly.

He had all the time in the world, but he didn't try to go in.

When he was damn sure that guard had seen him,

he closed the door again and came and rejoined the rest of us.

So, the guard goes over and finds Harry. He shopped Harry, Simon!

Page, would you come in here a minute?

-Make sure nobody else comes in. -All right.

(PAGE SIGHING)

You not only wrecked another man's chance of escape,

you also wrecked a plan that in time

might've got dozens of people out of this place.

I want an explanation.

I never said I had any intention of escaping.

-Yes, you did. -No, I didn't.

After you told half the inhabitants of Colditz I was going to escape,

you decided to tell me.

-Well, you never said anything... -Well, obviously not!

My one chance of staying alive is not to be suspected by the Gestapo.

And I don't care.

I don't give a damn what the other prisoners here make of me,

Just as long as they assume that I'm a clumsy coward.

The Gestapo isn't interested in clumsy cowards.

We have a system here. We obey orders.

Do you imagine for one minute, that I'm going to risk my life

being tied to an idiot like Harry?

You seem very anxious to save your own life.

And is that so unnatural?

Well, you were perfectly happy to risk Harry's.

Well, Harry's life was never in any danger at all!

The only person whose life was threatened was me.

And the person who threatened me was you.

Oh, yes.

You made it quite clear that there was something odd about me

to a bunch of stupid schoolboys I wouldn't trust not to tell a child

what it's getting for a birthday present.

That's a peculiarly stupid remark.

There's a very large sum of money waiting in a Swiss bank account

for whoever betrays me.

And I've seen plenty of people betrayed and for all sorts of reasons.

But most of us, when we are caught, it isn't through treachery,

it's through fear and stupidity.

Yeah, well, perhaps you're judging British officers by the type of person

that you're used to.

Well, I'm sure a British officer is immune to fear.

But I haven't seen any reason here, in Colditz, to assume that they don't

Just occasionally lapse into a stupidity bordering on idiocy!

I could cheerfully kill you for giving away that plan.

Not a chance. You wouldn't last a minute.

Oh, basically scratch you, there's a decent chap underneath...

Somewhere.

No, you'd kill if you had to.

(MATCH LIGHTING)

There's that certain something in you, that would hold you back

Just for that one split second.

And that's all the time I need.

I don't like killing people.

I don't dislike it.

I don't have any feelings about it any more.

(GASPS)

Now, you see,

if we hadn't been having Just an academic discussion,

you'd be blind in one eye by now.

Some of our people really are dangerous.

If anything happens which they're not expecting, they react just by killing.

We had one operator. He was at home on leave,

he thought he'd feel relaxed sitting at home, feet up by the fire.

And his little daughter who was about seven,

decided that she'd creep up and surprise her daddy.

So she crept up behind his chair,

put her hands over his eyes and said, ''Boo!''

And he reacted as he'd been trained to react.

Smashed the tea cup in her face and twisted it round.

And that's the price you have to pay for all those briefings you get.

''Such and such a German division's here.'' ''Careful, that bridge is mined.''

Or ''Your target tonight is the Karl Storch factory,

''which manufactures 68% of all German ball bearings''!

Now, how the hell do you think that information's found

and brought back to you?

Nobody's... Nobody's saying that your chaps aren't brave.

Oh, you have no idea.

No idea at all.

Two missions ago, our group had been penetrated.

There was room for one on a plane to England. Me.

I was the one that was going to be of some use again.

The rest would be captured, tortured, and eventually shot.

But there was a girl who'd become my mistress.

And she was the only one who knew enough

to incriminate anyone outside that group.

So we made love.

And then I killed her.

No, you have no idea.

On my third mission,

there was some information that had to be leaked to the Germans.

And they had to believe it.

So I told a French boy, who was only 1 8, brave as a lion.

Anyway, I gave him the information and I told him

that under no circumstances was he to reveal it ever to the Germans.

And then I sent him on a mission which I had pre-arranged would fail.

And they duly caught him.

It took them 1 0 days.

Ten days and nights to tear that information out of him.

And then they let him die.

And I heard later that he died crying.

Not because of the pain,

but because he had let me down and I trusted him.

You see, I know the laws of probability.

There were 2 3 of us that started.

Four were killed in basic training.

The other 1 9, we averaged Just over three missions each.

Well, that last fiasco was my 1 2th!

I'm a sole survivor! Top of every list.

The man most likely to succeed and the man most likely to die.

I found the one place in the world where I can't be asked to do any more.

I'm already useless, they must realise that!

Every resistance cell in France

must have at least one person in it who knows who I am.

And who knows that if the worst came to the worst,

he can save himself from being deported, shot or whatever,

Just simply by betraying me.

And this stupid system grinds on.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

And this is the one place in Europe,

where the Gestapo wouldn't think of looking for me.

Well?

We leave him alone.

-What do you mean? -Tim told us what happened. Is it true?

-Why did he do it, Simon? -In future...

We just leave him alone.