(Snoring)
Congressmen, we're now flying over the heart of Berlin.
Berlin.
Over 75,000 tons of explosives were dropped here.
British Lancasters by night, American Fortresses by day.
I heard Russian artillery had a little part in it too, if you don't mind.
Sure they did and I wish they'd pay us for all those cannons.
Hey, quit juggling. Film like this is good stuff around election time.
The incumbent overseas.
Pennecot, don't you want to see it? Look at it.
Like pack rats been gnawing at a hunk of old mouldy Roquefort cheese.
(Gags)
Miss Frost? Congresswoman Frost?
- Present. - We're flying over Berlin.
15 minutes ahead of schedule.
Well, don't you want to see it?
One thing at a time.
You got quite a sight coming. Looks like chicken innards at frying time.
Considering the taxpayers' money poured on it,
I don't expect it to look like a lace Valentine.
Golly.
(Man) Well, that's rough doing. That sure is rough doing.
(2nd man) They ought to put in grass and move in a herd of longhorn.
Build up their industries. Get those smokestacks belching again.
- Not without organised labour. - We got to feed the people.
You can't keep a country eating scraps out of garbage pails.
I'm all for sending food, only let 'em know where it's from.
I object to dollar diplomacy.
- But you don't mind sending food. - There's a difference.
If you give a hungry man bread, that's democracy.
If you leave the wrapper on, it's imperialism.
Gentlemen, these are very grave problems indeed
but they don't happen to be the problems of this committee.
Perhaps I should remind you why we were sent to Berlin,
since our chairman, Mr Pennecot of New Hampshire,
has been indisposed ever since we took off from Washington.
We're here to investigate the morale of American occupation troops,
nothing else.
12,000 of our boys are policing that pest hole down below
and according to reports, they are being infected by a kind of moral malaria.
It is our duty to their wives, their mothers, their sisters, to find the facts.
And if these reports are true,
to fumigate that place with all the insecticides at our disposal.
If you'll pardon me, we're approaching Tempelhof Airfield.
(Man) Oh, God, if they haven't got a reception out for us.
(2nd man) A band and everything.
(3rd man) They'll be glad to see home folks.
Men, once more it is our honour and privilege to welcome a visiting committee.
Lately they seem to be coming as regularly as the electric bill.
This time it's not just VIPs.
This time we're getting VIPIs.
Very Important Persons Indeed.
Some Congressional committee to investigate our morale.
Seems back home, they've got an idea this here is one great big picnic,
that all we do is swing in hammocks with blonde Fräuleins,
swap cigarettes for castles on the Rhine
and soak our feet in sparkling Mosel.
Well, let's not kid ourselves.
Some of you do go overboard once in a while.
Maybe some of you are working too hard to enlighten the civilian population
and maybe some of you PX millionaires have found out
you can parlay a pack of cigarettes into something more than 20 smokes.
After all, this isn't a Boy Scout camp.
We've got a tough job on our hands
and, by and large, I think we're handling it darn well.
For my dough, we're on the ball.
Most of us, anyway... most of the time.
What they've got to realise is you can't pin sergeant's stripes on an archangel.
Now, this committee is going to be here for five days.
Let's give them as good an impression as possible.
Not pussyfooting around with a phoney attitude.
That's not fair to them or us.
I'm counting on you men to behave, period.
Morale. Maybe some day we can send a little committee of our own
to investigate morale in Washington, DC.
Hey, look what I picked up at the Brandenburg Gate.
- How much? - A dozen candy bars.
They've still got some nine and a halfs.
- I got no one to give them to. - How about Trudy?
I lost her. Russian sergeant came along with a pound of rancid butter.
- Those German dames are all alike. - Speak for yourself.
I wouldn't be afraid of a Russian general with a ton of caviar.
Nice toe.
The best.
We're here, Congressman. Ready to unload?
([Music:] Upbeat march)
(Drill sergeant) Present... arms!
- Hello, Colonel. - Nice to see you, General.
Mr Giffin from Texas, General Finney, General McAndrew, Colonel Plummer.
- My pleasure. - Mr Salvatore, from New York.
- The Bronx. - Nobody's going to think you're Wall Street.
Mr Yandell, Congressman from Virginia. Mr Kraus, Congressman from Illinois.
Hold it, everybody. Want to get some of this brass.
Snappy little outfit you have.
Thank you. I have to apologise for the band.
- You should indeed. - We're half strength today.
- We generally have 40 pieces. - That's terrible.
We sent the others to the British sector for a parade. It's Empire Day.
What's terrible is I came hoping to find an army taking its task with seriousness.
Instead I find you have a 40-piece band.
Perhaps you also have some drum majorettes.
- May I introduce... - I know.
General Finney, General McAndrew and Colonel Plummer.
It's in my data. I am Miss Frost, Congresswoman from Iowa, 9th district.
Delightful of Congress to send us a lady representative for a change.
Delightful.
May I suggest here and now that we dispense with all the soft soap.
As committee chairman, permit me to bring you greetings
from the people of the United States of America.
This genial reception augurs well for the success of our mission.
I sincerely hope so. And now let us proceed to a luncheon we have prepared for you.
A very simple luncheon. Powdered egg omelette, probably, and a little Spam.
- Can I carry that for you? - No, thank you.
I undertook to deliver it in person to a Captain John Pringle,
stationed somewhere in Berlin, G2 Section.
- Could you tell me how to go about it? - I could try.
Through army channels? All I have is five days.
Captain Pringle!
Captain Pringle reporting, sir.
Congresswoman Frost, this is Captain Pringle.
Thank you. This is for you, Captain Pringle. Happy birthday.
Or happy birthday yesterday. I thought I could deliver it on time
but we were held up in Newfoundland for 16 hours - fog.
- You brought this from America? - Murdoch, Iowa.
Well, how is good old Iowa?
62°% Republican, thank you.
I was entrusted with this by a constituent, or rather, his daughter.
I hope it's still in one piece. Open it.
Be glad.
Well, what do you know? Little Dusty.
It's a beauty.
I didn't know it was so personal.
Her name is really Pauline Rose but we call her Dusty. Some joke.
- How long since you've seen her? - Dusty? Four years.
Don't these boys ever get home? Can't they be given a short leave?
- Certainly, if it's accrued. - I don't want any leave.
- You don't? - Oh, of course I do. Dying to.
We're all homesick but personal feelings don't matter.
There's unfinished business here.
Now that we've won the war, we mustn't lose the peace.
I hate to think of anybody sitting in his lonely barracks
with a birthday cake on his knees.
I won't have the cake on my knees. I won't be alone.
There'll be my buddies. I'll call them in.
We'll open up a case of root beer, light the candles,
then Frankovitch and his ukulele.
Some old songs. Why, it'll be like back home... almost.
Good to hear you talk like that.
General Finney wants you to go in his car.
I'll be right with you.
If you're a sample of the spirit prevailing in Berlin, I feel better already.
- I'm a sample, all right. - Goodbye.
You're losing something, Captain Pringle.
My handkerchief.
You blow your nose in nylon nowadays?
What do you know? There must have been a mistake at the laundry.
We got a crazy old laundress. You know what happened to Frankovitch?
He sent out his shorts and got back a girdle. (Laughs)
(Groans)
Ask her how much.
(Speaking German)
800 cigarettes, or coffee.
(Speaking German)
No. This watch gold. Gold for teeth.
- A watch from steel. - How's this?
No, this silver. Want steel.
You want steel.
No, want round watch, very big, nice face.
You're tough. All right, let's look in the other drawer.
(Cackles) Mickey Mouse! Mickey Mouse!
- How much? - $700.
- You got three like this watch, maybe? - We'll see.
Herr Captain, buy porcelain? Little Cupid to take for wife?
Never mind the knick-knacks. How much for the mattress?
- Why you want the mattress? - I'm sleepy.
- How much for the mattress? - (Speaking German)
What do you mean, "nein, nein, no"?
Look what you can get for it.
(Speaking German)
12 eggs in it and look at the writing on it and the candles.
The candles alone are worth the mattress. Get lost.
(All speaking German)
(Brakes squeal)
(Honks horn)
Yoo-hoo!
Erika! Erika!
(Whistling cheerfully)
(Speaks German)
Sit down, Johnny.
Go away, Johnny, sit down.
Johnny.
Johnny, what are you doing?
- I'm wiping my face. - You're hurting me, Johnny.
You're always hurting me. Why are you so mean to me?
I worry about you. I scrounge around, I bring you presents
and you tell me I'm mean to you.
You brought me a present? Where is it? Where have you got it?
Ohh...
Johnny, they're so sheer. So beautiful.
52 gauge. So I'm mean to you?
- No, you're good to me. - You bet I am.
You don't know how good. I bought you another present. You're not gonna get it.
Another one? Where have you got it? Where is it, Johnny?
- Keep away. - Is it here? Tell me...
Johnny... (Speaks German)
- Where did you get it? - A friend of mine baked it.
Only you're not going to get it. Why should I care whether you sleep or not?
Johnny, for 15 years we haven't slept in Germany.
First it was Hitler screaming on the radio, then the war of nerves,
then the victory celebrations,
then the bombing.
All the furniture burnt.
See?
(Springs crash and boing)
That one I hate worst. Give me that mattress, Johnny.
No mattress will help you sleep.
What you Germans need is a better conscience.
I have a good conscience.
I have a new Führer now... you.
Heil, Johnny.
You heil me once more and I'll knock your teeth in.
You'll bruise your lips.
Why don't I choke you a little? Break you in two?
Build a fire under you, you blonde witch.
(Knock at door)
Who's that?
With my luck, it's Eisenhower.
- Yes. - Your name Schlütow?
- I beg your pardon. - Is your name Erika Schlütow?
- No. - You live here, don't you?
Yes, I live here.
You the dame that sings at the Lorelei nightclub?
- Yes, I sing there. - And your name's not Erika Schlütow?
My name is Erika von Schlütow.
- A von? - She's a von.
Nobility. We beg your highness's pardon.
- What do you want? - A little information.
It says here that a certain Erika Schlütow... von Schlütow, pardon I...
has been an active von Nazi ever since 19 - von - 35.
Go on, gentlemen.
It says that Miss von Schlütow was ordered over a month ago
to a von labour camp to pick up some von bricks.
- What else does it say? - You're working at a night joint.
According to this report, what you're moving there ain't bricks.
I'm an artist, gentlemen, not a street cleaner, and I've been completely cleared.
Yeah? Tell us all about it.
My case has been reviewed and the decision reversed.
I'm on the white list now.
With that record? If you make the white list, we'll make the hit parade.
- OK, von sister, get your things on. - What for?
We're taking you to the von denazification office.
Now, Abbot and Costello, show me your orders.
- Yes, sir. - Who gave you these?
- Lieutenant Clark, sir. - Four weeks old.
We've had a lot of people to check.
Paperwork, that's why we're always fouled up when a war starts.
Takes us six months to clear up the paperwork from the last one.
I'll talk to Clark. This case is straightened out.
- Sorry, sir. - OK. That's all. Take off.
- May I have that, please? - Sorry.
Take an ordinary guy, make him an MP, suddenly he gets to be eight feet tall.
- If they look into the files for my papers. - Stop worrying. They're OK.
- Goodbye. I got a desk full of work. - Did the Colonel sign my papers?
Not exactly. He was out of the office having his tonsils swabbed.
- The duty officer signed them. - Who was the duty officer?
I was.
Johnny, if they find out you know me, that's very dangerous.
Everything is dangerous.
I know an old lady back home, broke her leg stepping into a church pew.
See you, baby.
Johnny! When you come back, bring me some sugar.
- Yeah, sure. - And some soap.
And hairpins.
- Anything else? - A pillow to go with that mattress.
Ah, you gorgeous booby trap.
Yahoo!
(Siren wailing)
On your left is the Russian war memorial,
built in honour of their soldiers killed in the battle of Berlin.
Those tanks on the side were the first to enter Berlin.
Beyond it, the Reichstag, the German house of representatives.
That's the building set on fire in 1933 and blamed on a poor Dutchman.
The word got out it was Hitler who threw the match.
They used to say it's the first time in history a man gave himself the hotfoot.
(Siren wailing)
The Brandenburg Gate, an arch of triumph until they got out of the habit.
That rubble heap over there was the American embassy.
You can't tell now but this spot was once the heart of Europe.
The street is the famous Unter den Linden,
named after the linden trees, which they've replanted now.
That pile of stone over there was the Adlon Hotel,
just after the 8th Air Force checked in for the weekend.
Now, let's look at the Wilhelmstraße.
(Siren wailing)
Here's the Reich Chancellery where the Führer fixed himself up a duplex.
As it turned out, one part got to be a big padded cell and the other a mortuary.
Underneath is a concrete basement,
where he married Eva Braun and where they killed themselves.
A lot of people say it was the perfect honeymoon.
Over there is the balcony where he bet his Reich would last a thousand years.
That's the one that broke the bookies' hearts.
This is the Tiergarten, used to be the Central Park of Berlin.
Those two big cement things are the zoo bunkers, enormous pillboxes.
They were the last two buildings in Berlin to surrender.
I thought you'd be interested in a typical Berlin residential area.
If you look hard, you'll see the houses are empty shells,
completely burned out by incendiaries.
Life goes on in those ruins, though.
That used to be the largest department store in Berlin.
It was 12 storeys high. Later on it became headquarters for the storm troopers.
They blew it up themselves. The idea was to destroy all their records.
They overlooked the fact that most of them were in fireproof vaults.
Excuse me.
Well.
This is one of our youth clubs. We've got a lot of them in the American zone.
We had quite a problem. Those weren't ordinary youngsters when we came in.
They were mean old men. Now we're trying to make kids of them again.
We had to kick the goose step out of them and cure them of blind obedience
and teach them to beep at the referee.
If they want to steal, make sure it's second base.
(Cheering)
One thing they don't have to worry about round here, breaking windows.
One family has already christened a kid DiMaggio Schultz.
That's when I started believing we'd won the war.
- (Shouts in German) - (All yelling)
(Man) Hey, Fräulein! Hey, Fräulein!
(Whistling)
Hey, Fräulein! Hey, Fräulein!
(Laughing) No, no, no.
Come on. What's the matter with you two? Just a little Spazierfahren in the park.
Nein, we don't bicycle. We automobile. (Both laugh)
Automobile? You got yourselves officers?
- (Speaking German) - French officers.
OK. So they got an automobile but we got the candy bar.
(Speaking German)
Ah, your Führer's moustache.
Hey, Doctor, I got a lady on the balcony.
Size 14.
Hey, Fräulein! Hey, Fräulein!
Hey, Fräulein! Stop, Fräulein!
- Guten afternoon, Fräulein. - Hello, Fräulein.
(Giggles)
Das is my friend Brigadier General Mike.
And das is mein Freund, Lieutenant General Joe.
Jawohl.
You know, you're a nice little strudel.
Hey, hands off. I saw her first.
(Giggles)
Fräulein, would you like a little Spaßmachen,
- Biertrinken and Tanzen making? - Jawohl.
She must be tetched in the wool. All she can say is, "Jawohl".
(All laugh)
[Music:] Fräulein, Fräulein, willst du ein candy bar
[Music:] Schön, fein Fräulein, you like Gls, nicht wahr?
[Music:] At home though you won't believe us
[Music:] The girls could take or leave us
[Music:] But here we squares is millionaires, ach, du wunderbar candy bar [Music:]
Don't give her that candy bar yet. Are you crazy?
- I ain't giving. I'm just showing. - Say, was ist your name?
(Speaking German)
- Er, Gretchen. - Gretchen what?
(Giggles)
- Gesundheit. Gretchen Gesundheit. - Gesundheit!
How do you like that? We're fraternising with a sneeze.
[Music:] Gretchen, Gretchen... [Music:]
([Music:] Men singing in Russian)
(Song continues, hummed, with percussion)
- I'm sorry. It's five packs now. - Four packs.
Five packs for champagne, three for wine, one for beer.
This is eine kleine clip joint. Here's your tip.
How do you like these prices? We got to write Congress to boost our PX ration.
Fat chance. All them schmoes think about is coal strikes, flood control, United Nations.
What's Congress? A bunch of salesmen with their foot in the right door.
For my dough, you can have Congress and the Senate.
- I'll take it. - You got it.
(Speaking German)
Hey!
(All cheering)
What a bunch of cut-ups.
Hey, Gretchen, you live with your mother? (Speaking German)
What business is it of yours?
Look, what do you want, the whole family?
You pulling a trick like the one with the Schultz sisters?
Nein, nein, you Soldaten, United States.
Fry the uniformen.
([Music:] Dramatic piano)
(Cheering and applause)
Shh!
(Silence)
- ([Music:] Piano) - [Music:] Black market
[Music:] Sneak around the corner, Budapesterstraße
[Music:] Black market
[Music:] Peek around the corner
([Music:] Sings in French)
[Music:] Come, I'll show you things you cannot get elsewhere
[Music:] Come, make with the offers and you'll get your share
[Music:] Black market
[Music:] Eggs for statuettes
[Music:] Smiles for cigarettes
[Music:] Got some broken-down ideals?
[Music:] Like wedding rings?
Shh.
[Music:] Tiptoe
[Music:] Trade your things
[Music:] I'll trade you for your candy
[Music:] Some gorgeous merchandise
[Music:] My camera, it's a dandy
[Music:] Six by nine
[Music:] Just your size
[Music:] You want my porcelain figure?
[Music:] A watch? A submarine?
[Music:] A Rembrandt? Salami? Black lingerie from Wien?
[Music:] I sell my goods behind the screen
[Music:] No ceiling, no feeling
[Music:] A very smooth routine
[Music:] You buy these goods
[Music:] And, boy, these goods are keen
[Music:] Black market
[Music:] Laces for the missus, chewing gum for kisses
[Music:] Black market
[Music:] Cuckoo clocks and bangles
[Music:] Thousand little angles
[Music:] Come and see my little music box today
[Music:] Price?
[Music:] Only six cartons
[Music:] Want to hear it play?
[Music:] Black market
[Music:] Mink and microscope for liverwurst and soap
[Music:] Browse around
[Music:] I've got so many toys
[Music:] Don't be bashful
[Music:] Step up, boys
[Music:] You'll like my first edition
[Music:] It's yours
[Music:] That's how I am
[Music:] A simple definition
[Music:] You take art
[Music:] I take Spam
[Music:] To you for your K ration
[Music:] Compassion
[Music:] And maybe an inkling
[Music:] A twinkling of real sympathy
[Music:] I'm selling out
[Music:] Take all I've got
[Music:] Ambitions, conviction, the works
[Music:] Why not?
[Music:] Enjoy these goods
[Music:] For, boy, these goods... are hot [Music:]
(Applause and cheering)
(Yelling in German)
(Drum flourish with each throw)
Boy, that's strudel. That's the kind of pastry makes you drool on your bib.
You know what they say? She was up there with them big Nazis.
Right in the major league. She was Goebbels' girl or Göring's.
- How did she get away with it? - Just look at her.
- She's hooked herself some big brass. - Who?
All I know is, some big shot's running interference for her.
- ([Music:] Jaunty tune) - (Speaks German)
Jawohl.
Listen, if anybody's dancing... Come on, Gesundheit.
- What's the matter? - Let go of me, you ape.
- What kind of language... - I said ape and I meant ape.
Hey! Hey!
- Where did you get that cake? - (Joe) Hey, Mike.
I demand to know where you got that cake.
(Man) What you want?
Where'd this restaurant get food? Our business, not yours.
I'm making it my business.
I happen to know all about that cake
and I am a Congresswoman of the United States of America.
- Some strudel you picked. - Yeah, let's go.
Put back that slice of the cake.
Take out the knife. I want to know what it is doing here.
- It is being eaten. - That's enough.
- This cake is confiscated. - Hello.
- How do you do? So that's where it is. - What do you know about this?
Very little. It was stolen out of my Jeep.
- It was? - Stolen and sold on the black market.
They'll steal anything around here.
- When I think of that girl back in Iowa... - Yeah.
I'll take care of this. Don't trouble yourself.
Thank you. Will you also take care of a pair of disgusting soldiers
who should be stood up against a wall and...
Oh.
I want you to find them. They're medium height. One is a little taller.
Their names are Mike and Joe and they're in uniforms with US on the collar.
Perfect sense, ma'am.
Now, what exactly is the name of this sewer?
- The Lorelei. - Address?
- Number 15, Hagenbachstraße. - Are there other sewers like this?
- Three or four but this is the best. - What is the name of that woman?
- What woman? - The singer here.
Oh, the singer. I think it's Erika.
- Erika what? - Erika von Schlütow.
Why do you ask about her?
Because there's something funny going on here and I'm not in the mood for laughs.
Schlütow? How do you spell it?
Schlütow, with an umlaut.
I thought so.
I want you to remember that when we moved into Germany,
we found a country of open graves and closed hearts.
We've tried to turn it into a civilised state.
We had to eliminate things that breed unrest and aggression.
We've tried to make them free men and give them some dignity.
We had to return four million displaced persons to their homes.
That's hard if you don't have a home to start with.
We had to repair hospitals and public utilities.
I remember the first day the gasworks started operating again.
There were 160 suicides in Berlin alone.
That was ten months ago.
Today, they take a match and light the gas and boil some potatoes.
Not many potatoes, mind you. There is still a lot of hunger.
But there is a new will to live.
We had to build schools and find teachers and then teach the teachers.
We helped them start a free press and institute a parliamentary government.
They had their first free election in 14 years.
It had been so long they didn't know what to do.
It was like handing the village drunk a glass of water.
What I want to point out is that it's a tough, thankless, lonely job.
We're trying to lick it as well as we can.
You might as well know, some of us get out of line occasionally.
But remember this. For the first time in history,
you are asking the same generation of soldiers to be both valorous and wise.
- Mighty fine. - Well said.
I sure hope our chairman has made notes of that speech of yours.
I think it should be incorporated in our report.
Colonel, we buy every word of it, all of us.
I don't.
I wouldn't think of buying it. I'm surprised at my colleagues' low sales resistance.
Miss Frost, this attitude calls for some explanation.
Colonel Plummer, in your eloquent speech,
which I'm sure you've made 50 times,
you used the phrase "Some of our boys may get out of line sometimes."
That is a masterpiece of understatement.
What are you driving at?
In your effort to civilise this country, our boys are becoming barbarians.
- I explained on that tour... - I know all about those tours.
You put blinkers on us and make sure we only see what you want us to see.
Then you give us pamphlets, statistics, a rousing speech
and ship us back a little more bamboozled than when we came.
We could have learned as much from Reader's Digest.
- This is very embarrassing, Colonel. - Go on, Miss Frost.
Well, I don't like blinkers. I look in all directions
and when I suspect dirt's been swept under a carpet, I turn up that carpet.
- What carpet? What dirt? - What dirt?
- One day and this is filled with it. - Please particularise.
Gls consorting with German Fräuleins...
Fraternisation is legal.
...in wide-open, shameless, black-market nightclubs.
So we close them and our boys sneak off to places in the Russian sector,
or the British, or in the French, and there's another thing.
This is off the record. Those places attract a lot of scum
and we clean it up by cracking down with a surprise raid once in a while.
Notorious Nazi entertainers parading themselves before our boys,
- is that off the record too? - For instance?
I am specifically referring to one Erika von Schlütow,
who works at a dive called the Lorelei, 15 Hagenbachstraße.
How can a creature...
I insist on a satisfactory explanation.
I must ask the Congresswoman to drop this particular matter.
- Why? - Some things must be left to our discretion.
Colonel Plummer, I didn't go for the blinkers. Now, don't try a muzzle.
The last time someone wanted to gag me, he tried it with a mink coat
but I never let go until the president of that particular ship company wound up in jail,
even though I did get pneumonia that winter.
Herr Maier, this is the second time we've had complaints.
I don't think it's a good idea that your son... What's his name?
Gerhard.
That Gerhard should draw swastikas all over the neighbourhood.
(Chastises in German)
- I will break his arm. - We've dissolved the Gestapo.
No food, Bürschchen. I will lock him into a dark room.
Why not just shove him in a gas chamber?
Yes, Herr Kapitän.
Listen, we've done away with concentration camps.
Take him round to a G YA, one of our German youth clubs.
Some baseball and a little less heel-clicking is what he needs.
Here's the address. Ask for Sergeant Breen.
Yes, Herr Kapitän.
I mean, thank you, Herr Kapitän.
Auf Wiedersehen.
Come, Bürschchen.
- Captain Pringle is wanted in 112. - Who's that?
That Congress dame, whatever her name is.
- Wants to see me? - You, sir.
- Now? - Now. She's clucking like a hen.
You'd better get there before she lays an egg.
- Captain Pringle reporting. - Hello.
- Lorelei, how do you spell it? - Lorelei?
l-E or E-I at the end?
E-I.
Thank you.
Captain Pringle, my belief in the army has been shaken to the core.
- Really? - I can't trust anybody in uniform.
Now, please...
With one single exception, you.
Thank you, ma'am.
I trust you because we're both Iowans.
- Right back at you, Miss Frost. - Moreover, you're a hard worker.
Perhaps you work too hard. You look tired.
Well, I hoped it didn't show.
That is ink, Captain Pringle.
So it is.
Captain, I need your help.
I want some additional data on Fräulein von Schlütow.
The one with the umlaut.
- Oh, her. - There must be a file on that woman.
- Of course there is. Only it's not here. - It isn't?
I asked for it and I was told it's gone to Nürnberg.
On account of the trials, a lot of files have been sent there.
- I see. - I asked around, though.
- Did you find anything? - Nothing important. Gossip.
Are you sure? No fire with all that smoke?
She may have known a couple of minor party members.
Nothing worth your attention. Small fry, I'd say.
- All right, ma'am, we're ready to go. - Thank you.
A warrant officer said he'd seen her in an old newsreel,
so I sent for the film from the Signal Corp.
(Pringle) The Week In Pictures.
This is a little Nazi get-together in Breslau.
That's Goebbels telling them how they're winning the war.
Opening of the opera with Lohengrin and famous guests.
(Frost) They fiddled big while Berlin burned.
Lohengrin, you know, swan song.
(Frost) Now we're getting someplace. I wonder what holds up that dress.
(Pringle) Must be that German willpower.
(Frost) Who's that man? (Pringle) I think it's Birgel.
(Frost) Who? (Pringle) Hans Otto Birgel.
(Frost) Who is Hans Otto Birgel?
(Pringle) He had something to do with the Gestapo. He's dead.
- Killed himself when the Russians came. - (Frost) An important party member?
(Pringle) So-so.
(Frost) Well, she must be his girlfriend.
Maybe she doesn't know him. Maybe she had a dizzy spell
and the first thing she could catch was his... elbow.
(Frost) That's enough. Thank you.
Well, we've learned one thing. No small fry is she.
- I guess not. - That a Nazi woman like that should...
I'll see she discontinues her appearances as an entertainer.
- Will that be satisfactory? - It will not.
What would you suggest, shave her head?
- I'm not after her head. - Well?
It's common talk that an officer in the army is protecting her.
- It's his head I'm after. - You really think an officer?
Incredible as it may seem.
Now, let's use some common sense.
That man is not giving her his protection for platonic reasons.
- Granted? - Granted.
Of course the association is undercover.
He's not stupid enough to entertain her at his billet.
- I guess that's right. - We can therefore assume he visits her.
Very logical.
Therefore, to catch him, we must watch her place.
Smart idea.
- You know where she lives? - I can find out.
And I shall watch it day and night... personally.
No, we'll watch it together, the two of us.
- We will? - Yes. I want to be an eyewitness.
I want to see that man myself and face him down.
Can you afford the time, Miss Frost?
Any time it requires. This I intend to make my case in point.
You'll go to the General?
I will, and to the War Department and to the President.
And if that doesn't do it, I'll see Gabriel Heater.
It's well after curfew. I wonder if he's coming tonight.
- He'll be here. - Yeah?
I don't think you understand about arrangements like this.
They work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Does the CIO know about this?
Are you sure there aren't any back stairs to that apartment?
There isn't even any back wall.
She must be waiting for somebody. Why leave the lights on?
Maybe she's knitting or putting up pickled peaches.
Only we know better.
Pickled peaches.
I bet you miss Iowa. I do already.
- It's changed since you've been there. - Yeah?
A lot has happened, especially in Murdoch.
- Do you remember Union Street? - Mm-hm.
Well, they've changed the name. Now it's called Iwo Jima Boulevard.
- That's news. - And there was a post office scandal.
- Yeah? - About the new mural in the post office.
The town collected $2,000 to hire a painter.
The mayor got his cousin from Chicago to do it.
- That's nice. - It was 80 feet long.
Supposed to be Custer's last stand.
After the cousin left town, they found out it wasn't an original.
He copied the whole thing from a beer ad.
(Pringle) Hm.
- There was an awful lot of trouble. - You take Iowa seriously, don't you?
Yes, I guess I do. I like it. Don't you?
Mm-hm.
We won a lot of honours last year, all the 4H prizes.
It's getting a little chilly.
We had the lowest juvenile delinquency rate until two months ago.
What happened?
A boy in Des Moines took a blowtorch to his grandmother.
We fell clear down to 16th place. It was humiliating.
(Horn honks)
(Key clinks)
What's that?
- Crickets. - Something dropped.
- How's that? - Something metallic.
Metallic?
Look, it's a key.
A key? Whatever for?
Evidently the man honks the horn and that's the signal.
You know more about these things than I do.
(Erika) Johnny? Johnny?
Where are you, Johnny?
Johnny?
- Johnny. - There are a lot of Johnnys in the army.
- Now we're getting someplace. - Where?
This eliminates all the Jims, the Bobs and the Georges.
Too bad his name isn't Zachary.
Yes, that would simplify it.
(Door opening)
Johnny.
I... don't know who you refer to.
I am Captain Pringle
and I have with me a member of the Congress of the United States.
Good evening.
- You are Erika von Schlütow? - I am.
We have reason to believe you're consorting with a member of our army.
- You have? - We think you're expecting him now.