(MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO)
Hello.
(GREETS IN FRENCH)
I'm looking for the owner.
No English. No English.
- The owner of the house? - I am the owner.
Hi. I'm Blaine Rawlings. I'm looking for a girl.
You might remember me.
- I injured my leg and she bandaged it up. - Oh, Lucienne.
Maybe. She was wearing a brown skirt.
But Lucienne is not one of my girls.
- She's not? - No, she does not work here.
She was eXchanging supplies, a round of Brie for some chocolate.
A round of Brie for some chocolate.
Madam?
Madam.
That girl, Lucienne,
do you know where she lives?
Down the Marlier Road, about five kilometers.
A small chateau.
And how about that horse outside? Do you know who owns that?
(SQUAWKING)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(RESPONDS IN FRENCH)
Right.
(GREETS IN FRENCH)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
What?
You know,
- I'm mad at you. I'm mad. Understand? - No.
I'm mad. I'm mad at you.
(ROARS MOCKINGLY)
Because you made me think that you were a prostitute.
- You know? - No.
One moment.
(QUESTIONS IN FRENCH)
You?
Are you?
No.
Well.
(SPEAKS FRENCH)
Am I?
No.
No, I came because I wanted to see you.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
I wanted to see
you.
Why did you pretend to...
(CLEARS THROAT)
I afraid.
You're afraid?
Why?
(SPEAKS FRENCH)
You
die soon.
Are these your children?
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
- Oh, no. - No?
They're your brother's?
- Wife. - Wife.
Wife?
Your brother and his wife's? Their children? Oh.
Die?
They died?
Yes.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
(IMITATES EXPLOSION)
Brother et wife.
I'm sorry.
The enfants must be sad.
I have an idea.
Come on.
(IMITATING GUN FIRING)
(WHOOPING)
(GROANING)
(SNICKERING)
Hey!
Hey. Hey! Hey!
(EX CLAIMING IN FRENCH)
(ALL CHUCKLING)
Thank you.
Did you like it?
Does that mean I can come back?
Can I come see you again?
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
No, not the kids. You.
Would you like to see me again?
All right, bye.
What are you gonna do?
(SIREN BLARING)
(CHATTERING)
The Germans just bombed the railway yard at Revigny.
If you hurry, you can cut them off.
It is a chance to be more aggressive in your tactics.
I want those chocks.
If you do well, you may get another chance at Jametz.
Let's get the jump and dictate the engagement.
Hurry.
Come on, let's go.
(MAN SHOUTING)
Come on, I'm keeping you guys alive.
(GUNS FIRING)
(GROANING)
(GRUNTING)
(GUNS FIRING)
(SINGING HYMN)
(GUNS FIRING)
(HAMMER CLINKING)
(GUN FIRING)
SKINNER: Now that's more like it.
We really stitched them up good today.
What?
It's so goddamn noisy up there. I can't hear a thing.
You got two today, Blaine. You're our ace so far.
Well, you fired enough to take down siX.
You ever think about trying to miss, Beagle? You might do better.
I told you, my gurs all screwy.
Oh, really? It's your gun, is it?
What are you trying to say, Lowry?
Cut it out.
Someone should mention Porter. He got one.
Yeah, well, I was lucky.
Germans just didn't want to hear you sing anymore.
Hey. Where's Higgins?
No.
I gotta sit down.
- Is it bad? - You're all right.
Bullet went right by you.
(MEN CHATTERING)
(ALL APPLAUDING)
There's our men!
The Yanks got their first Huns.
- Good show. - Well done. EXcellent.
Now you're officially killers.
GRANT: Come here, lads.
Well done.
We call this the Bottle of Death.
You get one swig for every plane you down.
Only reason I'm still alive is some German let me go when my gun jammed.
I don't know why the hell he did it.
CASSID Y: Did he have two crossed swords on his plane?
Franz Wolfert. A triple ace.
He did it because of what happened to Nunn.
He won't let you off again.
We know what happened to Higgins.
Drink up.
(MEN CHEERING)
- Porter. - I don't drink.
(ALL EX CLAIMING)
- Come on. - Take a drink...
- I don't drink. - Come on.
- Take a drink. - Drink up.
- Drink, drink, drink, drink! - Drink, drink, drink, drink!
(ALL CHEERING)
(COUGHING)
(PIANO PLAYING)
(MEN SINGING)
PORTER: Those guys sure can tie one on. I mean...
BEAGLE: Yeah.
...the more they fly, the more they drink. - Yeah.
EXcept for Cassidy. He just goes on even more missions.
The mars a mystery. He's not human.
We don't even know where he's from.
I heard that he lost his family in an electrical fire.
- Did you hear that? - I heard he flew for Pancho Villa.
So he's a mercenary?
Why don't somebody just ask?
Well, he's not too chatty about his personal life.
I'd just be happy he's flying on our side.
Yeah.
Especially with the new tri-wings the Germans got,
125-horsepower engines.
Nine-millimeter Spandau machine guns with twice the ammo capacity.
They can out-turn us and they have a 1,000 feet-a-minute climb.
They're the most maneuverable planes in the sky.
Well, yeah, maybe you'd be happier fighting for them.
Yeah. A lot fewer of our guys would get shot.
Real funny.
- Hey, listen. - What?
There's something not right about Beagle, you know?
What do you mean?
- I mean, he doesn't get any mail, right? - So?
Yeah, he never hits any of the Germans he shoots at.
Well, a lot of guys don't have kills.
And now he's an eXpert on German aircraft. When did that happen?
Man, you're scratching fleas on a stuffed dog.
Nothing there.
Right, we'll see.
Blaine, hey, I'm telling you,
there's something not right with that guy.
Hey, you asleep?
No.
(SIGHS)
A few years ago, we didn't even have airplanes.
Now there's thousands of us,
with one half trying to kill the other half.
Yeah, that's how it goes.
You really have your own ranch?
I did, 900 acres.
Was in my family for 85 years.
It was a tradition.
Grow up and you work the ranch.
Till my ma left and
my dad died all mortgaged out.
It was kind of hard to make a go of it.
So what you gonna do now? I mean, when the war is over?
I don't know.
Maybe I'll keep flying if there's any call for it.
Or get a new ranch.
How about you?
Hard to say.
I came here 'cause I heard they treated Negroes better.
- Do they? - They were good to me.
I don't wanna go back to boXing.
I'm tired of pounding on people, keeping my anger up all the time.
And I like flying.
Hell, if you're not fighting, it's nice and peaceful up there.
Nobody can touch you.
Nobody can make you feel low.
You think there'll be any future in flying after the war?
Maybe.
I mean, there's always giving people rides at fairs and things like that.
And I hear they might use planes to deliver mail from city to city.
Really?
Yeah, I like that. That'd be a good job for me.
I figure as long as I'm up in the air, they can't see me,
they won't mind if I'm black.
There's something wrong with Jensen.
BEAGLE: He's down here.
RAWLINGS: Hey?
Hey?
Jensen?
Can you hear me?
- Jensen? - CASSID Y: Thought this might happen.
Jensen? You're going through a little shock.
Don't think about flying for a while.
You don't have to go up again until you're ready.
You understand me?
Do you understand me, Jensen?
(SIGHS)
He tries flying tomorrow, stop him.
CASSID Y: Not that you'll have to.
Meantime, get him some bourbon.
- Go get the bourbon. - I'll get it.
(WHIMPERING)
(LUCIENNE SPEAKING FRENCH)
- How you are? - Non. Say, "How are you?"
"How are you?"
(AIRPLANE APPROACHING)
(CHILDREN SPEAKING FRENCH)
(GREETING IN FRENCH)
- How you are? - How are you?
That's good.
You speak English now. Then we can have a conversation.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Let me hear your English.
Good you see?
Yeah, good.
Good to see you, too.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
See?
This is my rabbit. Wanna pet it?
Better be gentle. He's jumpy.
(GASPS) Oh.
He looks a little cold. I think we'll give him a little blanket there.
How's that? There you go.
What about you?
Do you ever have any fun?
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
No time.
No, you're wrong. Right now's the perfect time.
We don't know how many chances we're gonna get.
Want to take a ride? In my avion?
- Come on. - No.
(SHOUTING IN FRENCH)
(CHEERING)
(LAUGHING)
Here.
(GIGGLING)
Picked a great day to fly, didn't I?
Did you have fun in the air?
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Fun in the plane?
Okay.
What's this?
"It's not good
"for me to like you."
Why?
(QUESTIONS IN FRENCH)
"Because I worry."
You're worried about me?
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
For me?
From Marie?
Maybe he'll bring me good luck.
Paris?
I've never been.
Maybe you could take me. Show me all them lights.
Afraid?
- There's a war. - Am I afraid of the war?
No.
- No? - No.
Okay.
Yes.
Every time I go up,
I'm afraid.
Rawlings.
- You hear about Beagle? - No, what?
I went to Thenault about him.
- Why would you do that? - Thenault had him checked out.
His whole background's all wet laundry.
- PORTER: Everything in his file is made-up. - They think he's a spy.
Your behavior has raised suspicion among the men,
and now we discover that Eddie Beagle is not your real name.
- It's Arthur Becker, huh? - So I changed my name.
You're from Wisconsin, I see.
There is a very large German population in Wisconsin
and your name is German.
I'm no spy.
Why didn't you give us your correct name? Are you a German sympathizer?
No.
We will find out the truth.
- Look, it's not what you think. - Why not?
We shoot spies, you know.
Sir, may I?
Beagle.
- Come clean. - I can't.
They're gonna shoot you. What could be worse than that?
- I swear I'm not a spy. - I know.
So just tell them what you did or they're gonna lock you up.
Is that what you want?
I committed a crime back in the States.
- Spit it out, Beagle. - I robbed a bank.
Hey, I was in debt to a bookie, and I needed the money.
THENAULT: Was anyone hurt in the robbery?
No.
How can we be sure?
Because I used a toy gun.
EXcuse me?
I used a toy gun. It was all I had.
(MEN SNICKERING)
Can you prove what you're saying?
No.
I can't.
I can.
I saw a discrepancy in his neXt of kin file
so I sent away for more information,
and I was sent these telegrams confirming the robbery.
Beagle, in his haste to escape an armed guard,
dropped most of the money along with the toy gun.
And although he escaped with only $12.36,
he is guilty of armed robbery
and if he was returned to the United States,
they would lock him up for a very, very long time.
The question for us is, can we allow him to continue flying for the Escadrilles
because we have no legal jurisdiction in this matter?
It is up to you.
Don't look at me.
Whether he continues to fly is up to them.
It's their squadron.
(RAWLINGS CLEARS THROAT)
Well, I'd like to know what you would have done if they didn't give you the money.
I don't know. Throw the toy gun at him?
- You probably would have missed. - LOWRY: Definitely.
Sir?
We don't condone what Beagle's done,
or the horrible way in which he botched it.
But we also don't think he should be thrown out on stupidity alone.
Although I'd never trust him with my wallet,
I think we all will continue to trust him with our lives,
on the off chance that one day he might actually hit something.
THENAULT: So be it.
Toy gun, huh? That's good. Yeah.
You see, that's why we have to load our own ammo.
Half these bullets are bent. Then the guns jam.
They spotted a group of Fokkers.
They're headed towards our infantry on the road to Rambucourt.
Let's go.
(ALL EX CLAIM)
(SCREAMING)
(GROANING)
(SCREAMING)
(CHEERING)
Yes! Yeah!
Lowry!
(GUN FIRING)
(GROANING)
(MEN SHOUTING IN FRENCH)
(GUNS FIRING)
(SHOUTING IN GERMAN)
(SHOUTING IN FRENCH)
(MAN GROANING)
(GUNS FIRING)
(SCREAMING)
(CHATTERING)
(EXPLOSION)
(MAN SHOUTING)
(GUNS FIRING)
(GROANING)
(MACHINE GUNS FIRING)
(MEN SHOUTING)
- Can you move? - No, something's pinning my hand.
(GROANING)
Just get out of here, Rawlings!
(YELLS)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Hey, come here, come here, come here. Push the tail up.
Wait. Wait.
(GUNS FIRING)
Okay, push! Push!
(GRUNTING)
- Rawlings, please, just go. - I'm not gonna leave you.
Just go!
(GRUNTING)
(EXPLOSION)
- What are you doing? - I'm sorry, Beagle.
No, Rawlings, no!
(SCREAMING)
Get up!
Move! Go!
Go!
(BEAGLE SCREAMING)
BEAGLE: My hand!
(BEAGLE SOBBING)
(CLEARS THROAT)
Mind if I join you?
This is a
100-year-old bottle of Louis XV. It's incredible.
Would you care to share a glass with me?
This 'cause I saved your life?
No. No, it's because I've been a pompous ass.
Pour me a glass.
Oh, my.
I stole this from my father's cellar.
If he'd have known, he would probably say
it's the only thing I've ever done successfully in my life.
Please.
Nice.
I'm glad you like it.
He's gotta be proud you came here.
No.
Actually, it was kind of his idea.
And how many planes you gotta bring down to get back in his good graces?
Probably just my own.
What does your father do?
My daddy was a slave.
(DOOR CREAKS)
You restless tonight, Rawlings?
Maybe.
- What about you? - It was a good day.
Not for Wolfert.
- You had no choice but to kill him. - He had a choice with me.
Yeah, whatever happened in the air or whatever happened on the ground
with Beagle, you gotta get that out of your head.
Okay.
Meanwhile, Beagle goes through life without a hand.
He volunteered for this war. He knew what he was getting into.
I don't care what happened in the past. You can't let that affect you.
You got to forget about it. Otherwise you're a danger to yourself
and everyone else up there.
Do you let go of the past?
(SIGHS)
I...
I heard some things.
- That you lost... - That I lost my family in a fire?
(CHUCKLES)
No. I didn't fly for Pancho Villa either.
The truth is, I was a lot like you.
Full of idealism, maybe even a sense of honor.
Then you realize this war ain't gonna be won by either side.
Some day it'll just end.
(SIGHS)
And everyone will go home, get on with their lives.
Tall grass will cover the battlefield.
And all the pilots we've lost wouldn't have changed a damn thing.
Guys like you won't quit.
So I got to stick around and try to knock some Huns off your tails,
and give you a chance to survive this useless war.
- That's what you do. - Not with enough success.
The guys I started with are a testament to that.
Well, if this war is really meaningless, then why do you fly eXtra missions?
Get the ones I've missed.
Get the ones that killed my friends.
You got to find your own meaning in this war.
I mean, I'll be real disappointed if we had more pilots die in vain
than the Germans.
How many you got left?
One.
The Black Falcon.
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOG BARKING)
(VEHICLES APPROACHING)
(MEN SHOUTING)
RAWLINGS: See, this whole wing. Patch on a patch.
And when they gonna send us a new canvas?
- SKINNER: Always "neXt time." - Hey, Rawlings.
The Germans have crossed the Meuse River.
And reports say they've overrun Souilly.
Lucienne.
Is that plane fuelled? Is this plane fuelled?
- SKINNER: Rawlings! - Yes, sir.
Give me a start. Give me a start. Let's go.
SKINNER: Rawlings, you know you're not allowed to take the plane!
(BANGING ON DOOR)
(CUP CLATTERS)
Hey. Hey.
- You all right? You all right? - Yeah?
- How you come? - My plane. A vion.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
- Germans. - All right. I'm gonna get you out of here.
No, it's all right. I'm gonna get you out of here.
(SPEAKING IN FRENCH)
Go get them. Go get them.