LordSadler lordsadler2012@gmail.com
Hello, old Slote,
interested in buying Mrs. Byron Henry a breakfast?
Good. Then let's push on to Italy and get Aaron out.
I want to go home.
( train whistle blowing )
( train-crossing bell ringing )
Big surprise that I got summoned.
I had thought and certainly hoped that he'd forgot me.
You're not all that forgettable.
How far are we going?
Just to Hyde Park. He has to rest.
Are you all right, Mr. President?
Fine, Missy.
Captain Henry. Yes, ma'am.
You're to sleep in the president's car.
Thank you.
( train whistle blows )
Good evening, Captain Henry.
Evening, Felix. How are you?
Fine, thank you. Good to have you back, sir.
HENRY: Thank you. This way, sir.
You'll be staying in here, sir.
The president will call you just as soon as he's ready.
I think that you'll be comfortable.
If there's anything that you need, just buzz for me.
Thank you.
You're quite welcome, sir.
Good night. Good night.
( train whistle blows )
( knocking at door )
Yes?
FELIX: Sir, if you're available now,
the president would like to see you.
Thank you. I'll be right there.
It's just at the end of the corridor, sir.
( knocking at door )
Come in, Pug.
ROOSEVELT: Sorry I couldn't get to you sooner, old top,
but Harry and I didn't finish up until just a few moments ago.
Did I break in on your beauty rest?
Not at all, sir. Good.
Sit down.
( train whistle blows )
How are you on poetry, Pug?
Do you remember the poem that ends:
There isn't a train I wouldn't take
No matter where It is going?
Golly, that's the way I feel.
Just getting on this train has made me feel
100 percent better.
( coughs )
Well, 90 percent.
If this were a ship, it would be 100 percent.
I prefer a ship myself, sir.
The old grievance, eh, sailor?
Oh, truly no.
No, I'm quite happy in war plans.
Are you?
Well, I'm glad to hear it.
( Roosevelt coughs )
This train isn't supposed to go
more than 35 miles per hour.
They're shading it up there.
I better have more of that cough medicine.
Pug, the U-boats keep working westward
with this new "wolf pack" tactic.
The sinkings are outnumbering
the combined capacity of our yards
plus the British yards to build new bottoms.
You're aware of all that?
I've heard plenty about that in these conferences.
You accept the British figures? Yes, sir, I do.
So do I.
The point is, the minute Lend-Lease passes,
we'll be sending out a vast shipment of stuff.
Seventy ships are standing by now to be loaded.
Do you think Lend-Lease will pass?
Oh, it'll pass.
But then what?
None of that stuff must land on the ocean floor, Pug.
That's terribly important. The British need it.
They need even more the morale boost
of seeing it arrive.
The problem is getting it through as far as Iceland.
From there, they can take it themselves.
But not from here to Iceland.
They're simply stretched to the breaking point.
What'll we do?
Convoy, sir?
Not with people like the good senator Ike Lacouture
screaming that if Lend-Lease passes,
we warmongers will be demanding exactly that.
But I've been thinking,
suppose a squadron of our destroyers
were out on exercise in the North Atlantic--
not convoying, understand not convoying at all--
just professional drills, you might say.
Then, suppose they somehow run across those 70 vessels,
and the squadron leader decided
that he would form up with those vessels
and practice convoy procedures.
Just for, for drill exercises, you know.
Don't you suppose those U-boats might be a wee bit discouraged
to see 16 or so Benson Class United States destroyers
out there screening those ships?
A wee bit, yes, sir.
But suppose one of those submarines
closes and fires anyway?
That's the whole gamble.
I don't believe it'll happen.
Thanks.
This is against doctor's orders,
but I need a smoke.
Pug, I want this thing done,
and I'm thinking you can handle it.
Go out with the destroyers. Aye, sir.
It's very much like that airplane transfer
you handled so well.
Everything depends on its being done
in the calmest, quietest, most unobtrusive way.
And now tell me, what do you honestly think?
It's my own idea. I haven't even discussed this with Harry.
If you think it's bad, say so, but tell me why.
Well, to begin with,
the North Atlantic weather is atrocious.
Those U-boat fellows may never see us.
If they do, they will be surprised.
I doubt we'll hit a trigger-happy one.
Those German submariners are professional.
They'll radio for instructions,
and the policy question will go right on up to Hitler.
That'll take some time.
I think those ships have a good chance
of getting through without incident.
Grand.
But it'll only work once.
It's a policy surprise, far too risky to repeat.
Yes, it's a terrible risk,
but this first shipment is the crucial one.
I'll draft a plan for CNO.
No, I don't want any paperwork.
Talk to Preble personally.
( yawns )
Well, Pug,
we'll chat about that exercise again in the morning.
Aye, sir.
When you come back from that little jaunt,
which you ought to enjoy,
I want you and your wife and family
to come for a quiet little dinner with us.
Mrs. Roosevelt often speaks of you.
Thank you, Mr. President. I'm very honored.
Good night, old top.
Pug.
The best men I have around me
keep urging me to declare war.
They say it's inevitable,
and that it's the only way to unite the people,
and get them to put their backs into the war effort.
I suppose you agree with them.
Yes, Mr. President, I do.
It's a bad thing to go to war.
A very bad thing.
Get a good rest, Pug.
Good night, sir.
( solemn, majestic theme plays )
( stirring martial theme plays )
MAN OVER PA: Now hear this...
Captain Henry to see Admiral King.
Very well, sir.
Messenger, could you escort Captain Henry to the flag mess.
Aye, aye, sir.
This way, sir.
Request permission to come aboard, sir.
Very well.
So, captain,
you are quite prepared to get the United States of America
into this war all by yourself.
Well, that's one way for an obscure individual
to go down in history.
The president and the CNO feel that
this exercise can go off without incident.
So you said.
Suppose that judgment is wrong.
Suppose a U-boat fires a fish at you. What then?
I propose to fire back.
That shouldn't start a war unless Hitler wants one.
Well, we're in this war anyway.
It doesn't matter too much when or how the whistle blows,
the Japs are going to kick off against us when it suits them.
And probably when it least suits us.
Well, at least this Lend-Lease business
is going to get us building factories we need
to fight the damn war.
( dials rotary phone )
Get me Admiral Bristol.
You've got nothing in writing? No, sir.
Okay, you're hereby to discontinue
all references to the president.
Aye, sir.
Hello.
Admiral, I am sending to your office
one Captain Victor Henry,
special observer from war plans.
He is to be regarded as my...
...assistant chief of staff...
...with all the appropriate authority.
Affirmative.
He'll be in your office within the hour.
Thank you.
Captain, I desire that you now form out of DesRon 8
an antisubmarine screen and proceed to sea
to conduct realistic tests and drills
in the Newfoundland-Iceland area.
This is to include forming up screens
on cooperative merchant vessels should you encounter them.
And, of course, you will avoid provoking belligerent vessels
if they are to sight you.
I desire that you keep security at a maximum,
paperwork at a minimum,
that you will conduct yourself similarly.
Aye, aye, sir.
All perfect horse manure,
but that's the story.
In the event of an incident,
it'll be a hanging party for all hands.
Carry on. Aye, sir.
MAN OVER PA: Attention, please.
American Airlines flight number three
now arriving at gate two.
Pan American flight number nine is now boarding at gate six.
( rings )
Hello.
KIRBY: Hi, Rhoda. This is Palmer.
Oh, Palmer! Did I wake you?
No, no, no.
Where are you? I'm right here in Washington.
Washington? That's great.
Where's Pug? Oh, Pug?
Oh, who knows what he's up to.
He's away for a couple of weeks I guess
on some sort of hush-hush business.
In that case, how'd you like to come away with me for a week?
Rhoda, we owe it to ourselves
and to Pug to get this thing resolved.
The way we left it in New York was far from satisfactory.
I know.
All right, then.
Well, sir...
...uh, what did you have in mind?
Well, you and I are going to pile in the car
and drive around the South and we'll look at magnolias
and cherry blossoms and wisteria
and we'll walk and talk and, uh...
( chuckles )
...we'll drink some tea.
We will, will we?
It's funny. For the last couple of days,
I've had this... strange craving for tea.
( stirring martial theme plays )
( attention whistle blows )
MAN OVER PA: Now hear this.
Brace for heavy weather. Close all watertight hatches.
SAILOR: Sir, my rudder is right standard.
Coming to new course 2-7-0.
BALDWIN: Very well.
Here you are, captain.
Thanks, Spike.
Sir, steady new course 2-7-0.
Helmsman, right standard rudder.
Right standard rudder, aye, sir.
Sir, my rudder is right standard.
Very well.
Gale-force winds rising, captain.
Your convoy's out there. Broad on the port bow.
Three freighters, hull down, bearing 3-2-0 relative.
No, wait a minute, four freighters.
Sir, four freighters off the port bow, about 12,000 yards.
Very well.
One freighter, three tankers.
My lookouts need some drilling.
Peacetime Navy.
( attention whistle blows )
MAN OVER PA: Now hear this. The smoking lamp is out.
Assume tactical command, skipper.
Form Able Sugar screen in accordance with Plan William.
Use flag hoist signals only.
Aye, aye, sir.
Lieutenant, raise your convoy on your light.
Aye, aye, sir.
Seventy merchantmen zigzagging in a gale at night.
Should be interesting.
Deck cargo still secure, sir,
but we're shipping seas over the hatches.
Keep an eye on the starboard, Swales.
Aye, aye.
( crash )
CAPTAIN: Stop all engines, damn it!
( crashing )
I can't make her out, captain.
This is the master of the Holworth!
Who the hell is colliding with my starboard side?
CAPTAIN 2: Blast your Holworth! You crossed my bow!
CAPTAIN: What the devil do you mean, I crossed your bow?
CAPTAIN 2: Damn it, do I have to spell it out?
I repeat, you crossed my blaming bow!
Get me Sissons up here on the bridge.
Aye, aye, sir.
CAPTAIN: Rubbish, man! I didn't see her!
How the hell do you expect me to see anything in this weather?
I haven't got eyes in my backside!
Lieutenant Sissons to the bridge.
Now!
CAPTAIN 2: And that, my friend, if you've forgotten,
is five cables you're steering into the starboard of me!
So get that heap of rust you call a ship
off my weatherside and quick about it!
Lieutenant Sissons, don't your damned merchantmen skippers
know enough to maintain radio silence when ordered to?
You signal your commodore on that infrared apparatus:
"Imperative. Repeat, imperative
you restore and maintain convoy radio silence."
Aye, aye, sir.
( captains continue arguing )
Come on to the chart room with me.
CAPTAIN 2: Call yourself a shipmaster.
I've seen better things crawl out of me bilges!
CAPTAIN: "Didn't see me," you bloody moron?
You were 10 degrees off course,
and sailing like a Liverpool scud!
So don't you tell me to watch my station, damn you!
Collision... a convoy.
Absolutely.
Bearing zero eight zero, Captain.
Range?
Twenty to thirty miles.
Raise wolf pack command.
( speaks German )
( tapping )
SISSONS: Discontinue zigzagging, sir? What about submarines?
Right now, if there are any submarines out there,
we don't know about it.
What we do know is this zigzagging
is fouling this convoy's progress,
creating multiple collision hazards
and compromising radio silence.
You're the screen commander, skipper, what do you think?
Well, it gets us to Iceland a lot faster.
Minimizes the risk of detection or collision,
but if we encounter U-boats, we're sitting ducks for attack.
The gamble here is they don't attack.
Signal your commodore, "Discontinue zigzagging."
Aye, aye, sir.
Old Navy saying, "If it works, you're a hero.
If it doesn't, you're a bum."
U-235 has intercepted radio transmission...
from a British convoy.
Very well.
We will close on the surface until 0500 hours,
then submerge and assume attack posture.
Should be good hunting.
( ominous martial theme plays )
Mind your helm, sailor.
Mind my helm, aye, sir.
Well, sir, looks like our weather problems may be over.
( suspenseful theme plays )
( sonar pings )
The convoy!
Many, many ships!
God in heaven!
Down periscope!
Quick! The book of American warship identification.
( speaks German )
See for yourself.
( speaks German )
U.S. destroyers.
A whole squadron of them.
Excellent.
Commander, the sinking of a British merchantman...
is not an act of war against America.
Perhaps not in your mind, Mr. Steiner,
but possibly it is
to the American screen commander up there.
Those ships are obviously under his protection.
Notify the pack...
we will hold a course twelve thousand yards ahead of target.
( speaks German )
And raise the antennae.
Multiple contacts on the sound gear, sir.
Indications are they're submarines.
SOUNDMAN: Four contacts dead ahead, sir. About 12,000 yards.
They're making a lot of water noise, like a whale broaching.
They may be running with masts out of the water.
That figures. Can you estimate their speed?
Maintaining station with us, sir.
Go to general quarters, Jack. Alert the screen.
Aye, aye, sir.
MAN OVER PA: General quarters! General quarters!
All hands. Man your battle stations.
General quarters! General quarters!
All hands. Man your battle stations.
General quarters! General quarters!
All hands. Man your battle stations.
This is not a drill! General quarters! General quarters!
All hands. Man your battle stations.
( alarm blaring )
Mark the head.
Mark my head, aye, sir. 1-1-2.
SAILOR: Sir, stand by.
Sir, perhaps we might consider resuming the zigzag maneuvers.
If Jerry's going to penetrate a screen of 16 destroyers,
well, with 71 juicy, crawling targets,
zigzagging won't help much.
Present course and speed, lieutenant. No deviations.
SISSONS: Aye, aye.
We just started picking this up, sir.
A very strong signal.
He's transmitting in code.
He's gotta know we're copying this.
He's waiting for orders from higher up.
I'd like to see some of those faces in Berlin about now.
I tell you, Jodl,
the screening vessels are American destroyers.
Grossadmiral Raeder,
what are you thinking of? Wake the Fuehrer?
Bedsides, it is a mistake.
Weiner is my best wolf pack commander.
It's a confirmed sighting.
I will report it at the morning briefing.
RAEDER: Jodl, U-boat standing orders
are to stay submerged in presence of American warships.
They won't be able to keep up. They will lose this convoy!
Herr grossadmiral, it is not yet 7:00.
I will not wake the Fuehrer for a convoy sighting!
( sonar pings )
All four contacts remaining steady on course
and station, 12,000 yards ahead of us, captain.
We've got them in our sights.
If they fire on the convoy,
we'll take them out in the first pass.
I have no intention
of waiting for the convoy to be fired on, skipper.
If they submerge and start closing,
you will attack with depth charges.
If they surface and close, you will engage with gunfire.
Aye, aye, sir.
If they keep their distance, submerged or surfaced,
we'll keep ours.
Aye, sir.
SOUNDMAN: Contacts still maintaining course and speed with us, sir.
BALDWIN: Very well.
Herr grossadmiral, I said I'd call you
when the morning briefing's over.
I beg you, Jodl, make this the first item of the conference.
Telephone me immediately!
First comes the Yugoslavian crisis.
That is more important!
( suspenseful theme plays )
( sonar pings )
From the ministry, Commander.
Again! Await further instructions.
Our batteries are all but flat, Commander.
We have to reduce speed.
Slow to six knots.
Engage battery reserves.
MAN OVER PA: Now hear this. Ship condition Baker.
( suspenseful theme plays )
We're closing the contacts, captain.
At what speed?
At this speed we should be over them in two hours.
Recommend we come right. Negative.
He's losing power.
That commander's going to have to make his move very soon.
Looks like we're all waiting on Berlin.
American destroyers?!
Why was I not informed...
instantly?!
Why?!
It's Roosevelt. He is trying to provoke me.
Thirty two hundred meters, sir...
and closing.
It's been five and a half hours!
What is Berlin waiting for?
Turn on the speakers.
( speaks German )
( suspenseful theme plays )
They know we're here.
Why aren't they trying to evade?!
( sonar pinging )
If we're going to attack, we must do it now.
While we still have power to maneuver.
Sir, it's Berlin.
SOUNDMAN: Twenty-six hundred yards and closing, sir.
Twenty-five fifty and closing, sir.
Twenty-five hundred and closing, sir.
Twenty-four fifty and still closing, sir.
All right, that's it. Prepare for depth charge attack.
This battle force will not be fired on.
Aye, aye, sir.
Wait a minute!
It sounds like they're all blowing their tanks.
They're coming up.
( alarm blares )
The bloody fools. What targets.
( suspenseful theme plays )
( stirring theme plays )
It looks like he's throwing in the towel, sir.
Skipper, when all four submarines
have extended to 5,000,
stand down from attack.
Maintain sonar contact until they disappear.
All four.
Aye, aye, sir.
It worked, captain.
This time.
That's a real professional out there.
Did it all by the book. He obeyed orders.
But there goes one frustrated warrior.
( stirring theme crescendoes )
( birds chirping )
RHODA: Oh, it's been sheer heaven.
KIRBY: Does it have to end?
Oh, heavens, yes.
We should have been back last night.
What are you going to tell Pug?
It couldn't be worse timing,
what with Janice and Warren having the baby
and Byron suddenly sailing off
to marry that Jewish girl...
Rhoda, there's always going to be something.
I know. I know.
But he's down right now, Palmer.
Down?
Beached.
Oh, you have to be Navy to understand.
With the Navy expanding like mad,
his classmates are all getting battleships
and destroyer flotillas and cruisers,
and he's stuck in shore duty again.
He's had 10 years of it.
He's in war plans.
Oh, I know war plans sounds glamorous,
but flag rank depends on blue water command,
not on desk jobs.
That's a lousy system.
Wives, the Navy wives always know the score.
Gals who used to be my closest friends
are suddenly cooling off.
My man is falling out of the race.
Then it's not the time to hit him.
I know.
But how can I not tell him?
I'll find a way.
Thanks.
Hey, honey, he's home.
Man the bar.
Darling.
It's been absolutely impossible to talk to the girls
since you've been gone.
Nobody wants to gab about anything except the new orders.
Pug, you would not believe some of the new assignments.
Chip Pennington,
Old Chip, who hasn't drawn
a sober breath since the academy?
Well, he got a destroyer squadron out of Pearl.
Naturally, Tammy had it all over town
before BuPers even sent out a dispatch.
When you wind down, Rhoda,
I've got something to tell you.
You do?
Well, I've got something to tell you too.
This was waiting for me when I checked into war plans.
Dinner at the White House?
But what is it, Pug?
Is it a-- is it a state banquet or something?
Or one of those huge affairs?
No, no, no, just a quiet dinner.
Our family, the president and Mrs. Roosevelt.
Pug.
Oh, Pug. Just us and the Roosevelts?
What have you been up to?
Nothing, a little errand-running.
This is just a carrot for the donkey.
"A carrot for the donkey"? It's magnificent!
It's fantastic!
Oh, wait till Tammy hears about this,
and Elaine Foley too. Oh, God!
Rhoda, Rhoda, simmer down.
Oh, what on earth am I going to wear?
I'll have to shop like mad.
You have something you wanted to tell me?
What?
You wanted to tell me something.
Oh, no, nothing. Nothing.
God knows you've blown it clear out of my mind.
Oh, Pug.
Pug, just us and the Roosevelts.
Oh...
MAN OVER PA: Now hear this. Mail call.
( attention whistle blows )
( sailors shouting )
Mail for you, Mr. Henry.
Thank you, KB.
( subdued, epic theme playing )
Yahoo!
What in blazes is going on?
Hey, take a look at this one.
( laughs )
You did it!
Look at that.
Natalie's pregnant? That's wonderful news.
BYRON: Yeah, can you believe it, Dad? Boy, do I feel great.
Congratulations. Any news about her coming home?
Yeah, Slote says he really built a fire
this time under the consuls.
Well, they should be on their way by now, she and Aaron.
That's good to hear, Briny.
Something else, Dad, I got new orders.
Thirty days' leave, then proceed to the West Coast
and pick up the Devilfish.
Fleet submarine, huh?
I'm really coming up in the world.
You said it. Here's another one for you:
You're invited to dinner at the White House on the 26th.
Cut it out, Dad.
Your mother and Madeline too.
Warren probably couldn't fly in from Pearl on time,
but if you're around, you may as well come.
Something to tell your children.
( band plays German folk music )
NARRATOR: With the date for the invasion of Russia,
Operation Barbarossa, set for June 22nd,
Adolf Hitler holds an intimate afternoon tea at Berchtesgaden.
Finally, he is notified
that the most important guest has just arrived.
Summoned by the Fuehrer, Gestapo Chief Heinrich Himmler
is here to discuss a matter cloaked in such secrecy
that only a handful of top Nazi leaders
know of its existence.
Let's step out there. Right.
Well, Himmler, let's hear.
Mein Fuehrer, the special actions squads,
we call them Einsatzgruppen,
have been selected and reviewed by me personally.
At a meeting of the highest secrecy,
I myself addressed them
and disclosed their mission in the Soviet Union.
What was the reaction?
Immense enthusiasm.
You're sure? Was it genuine?
These are picked SS men, mein Fuehrer.
National socialists to the bone, screened.
Former lawyers, physicians,
police, civil servants,
the cream of German manhood.
How many in all?
All told, 3,000 men and officers.
They are just the organizers, mein Fuehrer.
The local population will execute the job.
We have been checking in Poland.
Plenty of volunteers.
A very positive report, Himmler.
Come to the party. Have a little fun. Relax.
You're working too hard, you know.
BYRON: What do you think, Dad?
The limeys going to get the Bismarck?
Well...
Briny, they claim that the Prince of Wales
winged her off Greenland.
But those German pocket battleships
have got fine damage control.
I've been aboard the Bismarck.
If they did hit her...
they probably just buttoned up those flooded compartments,
lit out for home.
The British are sure throwing everything into this search.
Well, they know where she's headed,
the French coast.
They know the speed she makes.
I imagine British Air will find her,
unless the Bismarck is not damaged.
In which case...
God help any convoys she runs across.
She can pick off 40 ships in an hour.
I'd sure like to be on that search.
You would, huh?
Hey, what time is it? Come on, let's make tracks.
Hey, Dad, you're pretty close to the president, aren't you?
Close?
I don't know anybody who's close to Mr. Roosevelt,
except maybe this Harry Hopkins.
I got a couple of letters from Natalie the other day.
She's still stuck.
What now? I don't know.
Her uncle can't get his passport renewed,
same old runaround.
Well, you tell your wife to come home.
Let him sweat it out.
That baby should be born here.
She won't leave him.
And now they're completely ringed by Germans.
They're in France, Yugoslavia, North Africa,
all the way through Italy.
Dad, they're a couple of Jews.
I'm aware of that, Byron.
RHODA: Pug, would you come here? I'm going out of my mind.
Yes, Rhoda?
Will you look at how my stomach is bulging.
Now why is that?
This stupid dress
did not look the least bit like this in the store.
It looked fine.
You're not bulging, you're very pretty.
Pug, for God's sake, I am bulging a foot.
Would you just button me up in the back, please.
I look six months pregnant.
I mean, I am horrible and I am wearing my tightest girdle.
Now what'll I do?
You'll do just fine. Oh...
Hey, Dad, you know, I was thinking
maybe you could mention this thing to the president.
That is an unreasonable notion.
Byron...
I don't think that your wife's uncle's citizenship mess
is a suitable problem to submit
to the president of the United States.
Well, just where would you suggest I submit it, then?
For heaven's sake, what are you two jawing about?
Uh, Pug, will you put on your jacket and come along.
Madeline's waiting at the railroad station.
Yes, dear.
MRS. ROOSEVELT: We're glad to have you back.
( guests chattering )
RHODA: That is wonderful.
You really are a master at this, I can see.
My goodness, Mr. President,
I wish Pug could carve like that.
Oh, I'm sure he can.
Think you can handle all that, Harry?
Barely, Mr. President.
( laughs )
I do like a slice of ham, though, don't you, Rhoda?
Oh, yes.
Not a steak, not a sliver either.
The secret is a sharp knife and a firm wrist.
RHODA: You know, we always served that at my house.
The children have always enjoyed it.
ROOSEVELT: I love it too.
RHODA: It's one of Pug's very favorites,
I must say, Mr. President.
( overlapping, indistinct chattering )
ROOSEVELT: Well, I prefer the sauce.
RHODA: Do you? I do.
You know, someone told me...
ELEANOR: ...Germans amassing so very many troops?
Hitler feels that threat.
They've got all their troops...
ROOSEVELT: What's that, Pug? Am I missing something good?
HENRY: Mrs. Roosevelt was just asking me about these
German troop movements.
Captain Henry was in
the intelligence business too, Willie.
He was Naval attaché in Berlin.
Very few people know this, Pug,
but Mr. Maugham is not just a famous author,
he was a British spy in the last war.
He even wrote a spy novel, Ashenden.
So watch out what you say around here,
it'll get right back to Churchill.
( guests laugh )
Mr. President,
you know very well that a houseguest
would never do that.
I am not a ferret now, I assure you,
but a much lower form of life, a sponge.
What do you think of this, Willie?
Captain Henry predicted the pact between Hitler and Stalin
before it happened.
All the clever diplomats and generals and columnists
were caught flatfooted,
but not Pug.
( guests murmur admiration )
What's your prediction this time, Pug?
Will Hitler attack Russia?
With that piece of luck, Mr. President,
I hocked my crystal ball and threw away the ticket.
Captain, uh, never admit to luck in our racket.
( guests laugh )
Let's ask our undersecretary of state. Sumner?
If one studies Mein Kampf, Mr. President,
the attack is inevitable, sooner or later.
I'd hate to be bound by anything I said or wrote 20 years ago.
If Germany attacks the Soviet Union,
will England help Russia,
or leave Stalin
to stew in his own juice?
I can't really say.
You know, Willie,
a lot of folks here don't believe the story
that Rudolf Hess is crazy.
They say he was sent over to advise your people
of the coming attack on Russia,
and to get a hands-off agreement in exchange for a promise
to help you keep the empire.
That very plan is in Mein Kampf.
Sumner...
do you think we could explain it to the American people
if the British did not help Russia?
I think that would finish off aid to England, Mr. President.
If Hitler is a menace to mankind, that's one thing.
If he's just a menace to the British Empire,
that is something very different.
Of course, Hitler may be gathering his troops in the east
precisely because he intends to invade England.
A feint, you mean? MARTA: Yes.
That too, is possible.
The princess is quite right.
Unfortunately, nowadays,
the whole thing seems to boil down
to whatever Hitler's impulses are.
Pity we have to live in the same century
with that creature.
Say...
we have here two men who have talked at length,
face to face with the fellow.
Let's take a Gallup poll.
Sumner, do you think Hitler's a madman?
I looked hard for such evidence, Mr. President.
But, as I reported, I found him a very cool,
very knowledgeable, skilled advocate.
( guests murmur )
How about you, Pug?
HENRY: I'm afraid I must agree with Mr. Welles, sir.
Face to face, the man has a powerful presence
with an incredible memory,
and a remarkable ability
to marshal the facts when he speaks.
Yes, the fellow is able, of course,
or he wouldn't be giving us all this trouble.
Pug, when on earth did you have a talk with Hitler?
That's news to me.
Well I mean, honestly, he's always been close-mouthed,
but to keep a thing like that from me...
You didn't need to know.
( guests laugh softly )
( gasps ): Well...
Captain Henry, I bow to a professional.
My dear, you couldn't have paid your husband
a handsomer compliment in public.
Well, I didn't intend to. Imagine.
RHODA: Oh, I mean, he is...
He is just a sphinx, that man.
Pug's a very fine officer. I expect great things of him.
I always have, Mr. President.
Not everybody deserves such a beautiful wife,
but he does, Rhoda.
Oh...
( guests chatter )
RHODA: Oh, thank you, Mr. President.
Pug brought that to me from Europe.
He always brings me something from wherever he's been.
Keep track of it. I do.
Where's this one from?
RHODA: I believe he brought this to me from the Orient.
Has anyone noticed we haven't heard from our submariner yet?
Byron, you're a natural for the silent service.
( laughs )
How's the morale in your group?
Good, Mr. President.
Ready to go to war, as I'm sure Willie would desire?
Personally, sir, I'm more than ready.
That's the spirit.
Byron was visiting a friend in Poland when the war began.
He was strafed by a Luftwaffe plane and wounded.
I see.
You have a motive, then, for wanting to fight Germans.
It's not that so much, Mr. President.
It's that my wife is trapped in Italy.
Trapped? How trapped?
Her uncle is Dr. Aaron Jastrow, Mr. President,
the author of A Jew's Jesus.
He's had some trouble with his passport,
and he can't come home.
BYRON: He's... Well, he's old and not very well,
and she refuses to abandon him.
Why, Franklin, we both read A Jew's Jesus.
Don't you remember?
You liked it very much indeed.
Dr. Jastrow taught at Yale, Mrs. Roosevelt.
He's lived here almost all of his life.
It's just some crazy red tape, and...
Well, there they are.
A Jew's Jesus was a good book.
Sumner, couldn't you have someone look into this?
Certainly, Mr. President.
ROOSEVELT: Let me know what you find out.
Yes, sir.
( guests resume chattering )
RHODA: I haven't read the book myself.
ROOSEVELT: Well, you should.
Really?
It's really-- It's a classic.
I beg your pardon, Mr. President.
Yes, yes, let me have it.
Well.
May I relate a bit of news?
It seems they've got the Bismarck.
( guests chatter ) RHODA: Isn't that wonderful?
Wait, wait, wait, I don't want to be overoptimistic
or premature.
What it says is that airplanes from the Ark Royal,
have caught up with her
and put several torpedoes into her.
"When night fell she was trailing thick oil
"and steaming slowly west, the wrong way.
"The entire fleet is now closing in,
and some units now have her in sight."
Do they give her position, Mr. President?
Longitude 16 west, latitude 48 north.
Okay, that's over 1,000 miles from Brest,
well beyond the Luftwaffe air umbrella.
They've got her.
Fill the glasses.
Pug always knows where everything is.
This could be a very important,
crucial moment in the whole war.
( stirring theme plays )
( guests chatter )
The British navy.
GUESTS: The British navy.
RHONDA: Palmer, dear, you have a kindly heart
that understands without explanations.
I cannot do it.
My love and everlasting thanks for offering me more...
...than I deserve or can accept.
I'll never forget,
and I hope we will be friends forever.
Forgive me.
( car horn honks )
Captain.
The undersecretary sends his thanks to you
for interrupting a busy schedule to come over. Please, come in.
Please sit down.
Cigarette? Thank you.
Thanks.
Muggy day. Yes.
Well, now.
The business of Dr. Aaron Jastrow's passport.
As it turns out, it was no problem whatsoever.
In fact... the authorization for clearance
went out quite a while ago.
It may have been delayed a bit en route,
but we've double-checked by cable and it's all set.
He can pick up his passport whenever he wishes in Rome,
and he's been so informed.
Good. That was fast work.
As I say, there was no work to do.
It had already been taken care of.
Well, my boy will be mighty glad
to hear about this.
Oh, about your son.
I hope you'll take this in the right spirit.
Uh, the undersecretary was a bit disconcerted
to have this thing raised at the president's table.
So was I.
I gave the boy holy hell about it afterwards.
I'm awfully glad you feel that way.
Suppose you just drop a little note to the president, captain,
sort of apologizing for your son's gaffe,
and mentioning you've learned
the whole thing was taken care of long ago.
The president asked for a report from Mr. Welles.
We made a rather dramatic effort this morning just to make sure
that young Mrs. Henry could get home.
Literally thousands of these cases of...
Jewish refugees come to us all the time.
The pressure is enormous, it's absolutely unbelievable.
Now, the problem in your family is settled.
We'd hoped you'd be more appreciative.
Natalie and her uncle are not Jewish refugees.
They're a couple of Americans.
Now, in the case of the uncle,
that was technically far from clear.
But it's all been set straight.
And in return, captain, I really think
that you should write that little note.
An unsolicited letter from me
to the president of the United States.
Sorry.
Let me be frank, captain.
The undersecretary wants a report from me
to forward to the president.
Now, just a word from you would conclude the matter--
Mr. Whitman, why was a distinguished man
like Aaron Jastrow, stopped on a passport technicality
when he wanted to come home?
Certainly, that's what the president wants to know
and I can't give him the answer, can you?
Okay.
Obviously, you can't either.
I suggest that whoever can had better try.
Now, is there anything else?
Captain Henry,
the undersecretary may find your refusal hard to understand.
You're flouting a direct request from the State Department.
I work for the Navy Department.
Many thanks.
( ship bell rings )
No kidding, Dad?
Well, do you believe it this time?
Yep.
BYRON: Well, now, if she can just get a plane or ship--
Ah, she can do it. She can do anything.
I'm so happy.
I'm happy for you, Briny.
Oh, Dad, we just got the word.
We're taking the Devilfish to Pearl.
Oh, then you'll see Warren and Janice.
Yeah, I know, won't that be great?
God, I still can't believe
that she's coming home.
Hey, Dad, be honest,
was I right when I talked to the president?
Or was I wrong?
You had one hell of a nerve.
Now, look, I'm busy and I hope you are too.
Now, get back to work.
And write when you get to Hawaii.
Bye. Yeah, bye.
( drums beating in cadence )
NARRATOR: June 22, 1941.
The German army of three and a half million men
is deployed along a thousand-mile eastern front,
from the icy Baltic to the warm Black Sea.
At exactly 0315 hours, the big guns erupt.
Barbarossa...
Adolf Hitler's invasion of Russia, is launched.
Fleets of German war planes sweep across the borders.
Caught on the ground, the Russian air force
is all but wiped out in the first hours.
The four-and-a-half-million-man Russian army
buckles under the onslaught.
The German surprise attack has succeeded
on a scale unsurpassed in the history of warfare.
The Soviet Union totters.
Field Marshal Sir John Dill,
chief of the Imperial General Staff,
hastens down from London to Chequers,
Churchill's country home.
He is carrying the latest dispatches
on the German invasion.
Mm.
( sighs )
Our intelligence warned me of this,
and I warned Stalin,
but he ignored me.
He's not only a butcher, he is a bungler.
I shall broadcast at 9 tonight,
offering our full support for the Soviet Union.
Does that not embarrass you, prime minister?
You, the lifelong arch-foe of Bolshevism?
Not at all.
I have only one purpose-- the destruction of Hitler.
If Hitler invaded hell,
I should at least make a favorable reference
to the devil in the House of Commons.
LordSadler lordsadler2012@gmail.com
So you've heard the splendid news, huh?
The villain with the mustache
is really throwing himself into his part.
Now we have a two-front war again.
I've just come from the immigration office.
Our seats to Lisbon have been cancelled.
They were "requisitioned" by the military.
So we have no exit permits?
Oh, no. On the contrary, I do.
How on earth did you accomplish that?
I pleaded complications with my pregnancy
and arranged for a short medical visit
to Zurich with you along to accompany the invalid
for her safety en route.
When we get there, then what?
We'll just stay until we can arrange
for safe passage to the United States.
Natalie, I know how badly you want to get home
and I understand that.
But, when I think of my lovely house
standing there empty...
Aaron, for God's sakes!
Are you going to suggest you'd even considering staying
on the same continent with the Germans?
AARON: My dear, don't be impatient with me.
You were an infant during the last war.
The talk was the same.
The Huns were always spearing Belgian babies on bayonets
and cutting the breasts off nuns.
Then I spent a year
with some truly wonderful people in Munich.
There are Germans and Germans.
Do you know who I rode up with on the elevator just now?
No. Who?
One of the Nazis
Byron and I had that run-in with in Lisbon.
Did he recognize you?
I don't know, but he gave me quite a stare.
Well, my dear, I wouldn't worry if I were you.
These men stare for a living.
Aren't you the least bit alarmed?
I mean we've been here now for three weeks
and they keep finding
one reason or another not to allow us to leave.
Doesn't that seem strange to you?
Aaron, I don't think they want you to leave.
Natalie, that is preposterous.
No, it's not.
You're important.
They probably think they can use you.
Aaron, I'm going to Zurich next week,
with or without you.
My baby is not going to be born in a fascist country at war.
Well, my dear,
it's been a long time since I tasted Swiss chocolate.
( soft, delicate theme plays )
( aggressive martial theme playing )
NARRATOR: The second day of the invasion.
Adolf Hitler travels from Berlin
to his new advanced army headquarters
on the eastern front.
VON ROON: To sum up, mein Fuehrer,
General Leeb has advanced north
toward Leningrad as planned.
Von Rundstedt has met with more resistance than anticipated
in the southward direction toward Kiev.
But the real surprise is in the center,
where Guderian's armor
has penetrated 25 miles toward Minsk.
25 miles!
On the straight road to Moscow!
Through their heaviest border defenses
and the frontline mass of the Red Army
and all in one day.
At this rate, mein Fuehrer,
we'll be in Minsk,
one-third of the way to Moscow, in a week.
It is starting out like Poland.
Even better!
What word from Himmler?
We talked on the phone an hour ago.
He is addressing the final meeting
of Einsatzgruppen officers at this moment.
They will then join up with their units.
All four special action groups
will jump off today.
They will begin actions immediately
in the border towns.
Himmler will be sending in daily figures.
I want to know those daily figures.
Certainly, mein Fuehrer.
The first big figures, of course,
will come from Minsk.
It's a huge Jewish center.
So begins the fulfillment of a dream.
Of a heroic and glorious vision, mein Fuehrer.
A purified Europe.
And in time, a purified world.
( dog whimpers )
Lately, I've neglected the dog most cruelly.
Blondi, good dog, Blondi.
Good dog.
Mankind will one day understand your lofty aims
and honor you for them, mein Fuehrer.
Jastrow, start your deliveries.
The truck is waiting.
( speaks Russian )
Come outside.
Go home. I must do something.
I'll be home soon.
Why? What is it?
We're going away from here this morning.
Father, where are you going?
Don't worry. Do as your father says.
( suspenseful theme plays )
( shouting commands in German )
( child screams )
( prisoners chatter )
( guards shouting in German )
( babies crying )
( prisoners crying )
Fire!
( rapid gunshots )
( train whistle blows )
( man speaking foreign language over PA )
Mm. This pear.
Ah, what foul idiocy war is.
Europe is such a... a rich continent.
These bloody fools keep laying waste to it
( thunder clap )
Pug, hello there!
Kirby! What are you doing here? Ho long you been in town?
A few weeks. I got some business with the Navy Department.
Why don't you come home with me for a drink.
Better still, join me for dinner.
Oh, thanks, Pug. I don't think I can.
Aw, that's too bad. I'm baching it.
Oh? Where's Rhoda?
She's in New York, shopping. You sure you can't join me?
It just means telling the cook to throw on a couple more chops.
Well sure, why not? I've done a lot of eating alone lately.
This will keep until tomorrow.
Great. Come on.
A second jug full?
Well, I pushed dinner back about an hour.
Gives us time to relax.
Well, the way I feel and the size of that jug,
you may have to lead me to the dining room.
It's not so far.
The furniture has no sharp corners on it.
One of the first things your very sweet wife Rhoda said to me
was that I drank too much.
It was the dinner you gave me in Berlin, remember?
You had to fly back to see the president.
Well, I was in a lousy mood
and I started swilling the wine and fast.
And she brought me up short.
Well, that was rude of her.
I think the amount a man drinks is his own business.
Not to mention the fact that, on occasions,
my proud beauty has a hollow leg herself.
( chuckles )
So, what's happening with uranium, Kirby?
Ah, that's why you're plying me with martinis, hm?
Doesn't war plans have any information?
It's all Jules Verne talk to us so far.
Well, unfortunately, it's much more than that.
The big question now
is how far ahead are the Germans?
What sort of weapon are we talking about?
I mean, how powerful?
In theory,
one bomb could level New York City.
Even an area the size of Rhode Island.
Jesus. Yeah.
Yeah, I'm having some unusual feelings these days myself.
I'm beginning to suspect the human race as we know it
may not make through the industrial revolution.
RHODA: Hello! Surprise!
Anybody home?
We're out here, honey!
RHODA: I'm drenched. A drowned rat.
We have company.
We have?
Hello, Rhoda.
Oh, my God!
Women.
Well, I'll be running along, Pug.
What are you talking about?
Well, Rhoda's home. I don't wanna intrude.
And I really got 100 things I have to do.
Don't be ridiculous. Sit back down,
have yourself another shorty, and I'll be right with you.
You okay, Rhoda?
RHODA: Where did you dig up Palmer Kirby?
Did he telephone?
No, I just ran into him.
I've asked him to stay for dinner. Is that okay?
Why not?
Why don't you go downstairs and keep him company, dear.
I'll be down in a minute. Okay.
( thunder claps )
( phone rings )
Hello?
Yes. Speaking.
Oh, hello, admiral.
Yes, sir. Aye, aye, sir.
Will do, sir. Goodbye, sir.
Well, quick-change artistry.
Well, I hope so.
When I got here I looked like the witch in Snow White.
I just had a call from Admiral King.
He's at the department.
Oh, no, Pug. What about dinner?
You and Fred go ahead and have dinner,
and I'll call you when I find out what it's about.
Oh, well, look, I'm sure the last thing Rhoda wants to do
is entertain me.
You must be exhausted. I'll go back to town with you.
Look at her, Fred. Does she look exhausted to you?
( car horn honks )
There's my taxi.
( thunder claps )
Let me.
I'll call you as soon as I can, honey.
All right.
I'll probably be home in time for coffee.
Pug doesn't realize he put you on the spot.
I'll be going.
Palmer, don't be foolish.
You know, I really believe
you don't feel the least bit awkward.
Palmer, I just take things as they come.
Actually, I'm very glad to see you.
MINNIE: Dinner, Mrs. Henry.
Oh, just put it on the table, Minnie, then you can go.
Yes, ma'am.
Now, Palmer, you'd just be wasting
some very good double lamb chops.
Can't you smell them?
( chuckles ): All right, Rhoda.
Good.
Little more Saint-Julien with the cheese?
Rhoda, if he comes home and finds out
we've cracked a second bottle,
his eyebrows will go way up.
Oh, pshaw. Many's a second bottle he and I have cracked.
And third ones, on occasion.
There.
( sighs )
Isn't this pleasant?
Hm.
Doesn't this porch remind you of the house in Berlin?
Well, it does remind me of an evening in Berlin.
The way the light lingers on,
the fresh smell of rained-on trees.
You do remember.
Oh, yeah, I have an excellent memory.
Sometimes a little too good.
Was my letter really so very upsetting?
Yes, it was the worst blow I've had since my wife died.
( bittersweet romantic theme plays )
I've, uh--
I've been trying to think how to tell you this
without... sounding like a flibbertigibbet.
I sat next to the president at that White House dinner.
He was very nice to me. He liked me.
He said wonderful things about Pug,
about his future career.
Dear...
a divorced man is very handicapped in the service,
especially when he's in sight of flag rank.
I've always been aware of that.
And...
so, I did what I did.
And I've slept badly ever since and I've been an awful crab.
But I've stuck to him and I don't intend to apologize.
Rhoda, this might sound offensive,
and I don't mean it that way,
but we may never talk like this again.
I want to ask you a question.
I've thought about this a great deal. When we met,
you said until I came along, there had been no one else.
Well, I believe that, of course, and I still do.
What I want to know... is how come?
Now I've made you angry. No, no.
Of course, I know the answer you want--
that you were irresistible...
that there has never remotely...
...been anyone like you...
...and that's true enough.
Still, I've had my chances.
And I don't just mean drunken passes at the Officer's Club.
There have been times...
But, to be absolutely honest,
those men were all Naval officers just like Pug.
None of them measured up, or even came close.
Oh, oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not...
I'm not blaming Pug for what happened this time.
That would be too low.
But he does...
shut me out so much.
He's a fanatic, you know, about getting things done.
That's an American trait. I'm the same kind of fanatic.
Ah...
but when you were in Berlin...
whether you knew it or not, you were courting me.
And when Pug courted me, I fell in love with him too.
Just one thing more.
Though you, of all people, may give me the horse laugh...
I'm a good woman, Palmer.
At least I think I am.
And so, with one thing and another,
there has been no one else.
Nor will there be.
I'm a quiet grandma now.
And that's that.
I'll be going now.
I feel a lot better. Thank you, Rhoda.
Will I, uh...
Will I see-- see you again?
Well, Washington's a pretty small town.
Look at the way I ran into Pug tonight.
Can you find your way out?
Yes, certainly.
I don't mean to be rude,
but to be frank, at the moment, my eyes are messy.
How very continental.
And sweet.
Straight through the living room and turn left to the front door.
Guten tag.
Mrs. Henry. My key, please.
( speaks in foreign language )
Thank you.
( phone ringing )
Hello. THURSTON: Hello, Natalie?
Bunky. Yes.
Look, Lufthansa's come through.
One seat to Lisbon, day after tomorrow.
So soon?
Yes. Now, I suggest that you go straight over
to the Lufthansa office.
It's about two blocks from your hotel.
Bunky, wait. I've just had a letter from Aaron.
He says we're both in the clear with Italian Immigration.
That's wonderful, Natalie. What's the problem?
The date of the tickets. December 15th.
If everything goes on schedule, I'd be a mother by then.
I'd have my baby in Rome.
Look, I know how you feel about that, Natalie,
but I do think you should consider the alternative.
Although, I'm absolutely sure
there'll be no problem with Lufthansa,
you'll still be in Nazi hands for over 20 hours.
Look, I can't presume to make your decision for you,
but I do know what Leslie Slote would say. And Byron too.
I know. Play it safe. Go back to Rome.
Exactly.
Listen, Natalie, if there's anything I can do,
just, just call me, will you?
Thanks, Bunky, you've been a dear.
Keep me posted. Okay? Bye-bye.
Bye.
( church bells ring in distance )
( clock bell chimes )
Guten tag.
Good afternoon. The American consul, Bunker Thurston,
made a reservation for me to go to Lisbon on Thursday.
Oh, Mrs. Byron Henry?
Yes.
Fine. Your passport?
Do you have the reservation?
Yes. Let me have your passport, please.
Fill this out, please.
My, what a lot of questions for an airplane trip.
Wartime security regulations, Mrs. Henry.
Both sides, please.
( speaks German )
Give me my passport, please.
Is something wrong?
Americans don't ask people's religions
for travel purposes and don't give their own.
If you want to leave that blank, it's up to you.
It's quite all right, Mrs. Henry.
I'll take my passport, please.
I've started to write your tickets.
It's very hard to get a passage to Lisbon, Mrs. Henry.
My passport!
( sets passport on desk )
( car horn honks )
( stirring, heroic theme playing )
( attention whistle blows )
MAN OVER PA: Now hear this. Boat ahoy, starboard.
Sir.
And the fresh oranges.
I'm given to understand the president requires
fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Yes, sir.
I don't believe the president will be disappointed, sir.
Very well.
( bell dings )
Good morning, sir.
All right, Henry...
what are you doing here?
I ordered all the war planners
berthed together on the Tuscaloosa.
You're nothing but a passenger here.
I was awakened at 0500 aboard the Tuscaloosa, sir,
and told that the president desired my transfer
along with my gear aboard the Augusta.
So I complied.
The president, huh? Yes, sir.
Tell me something, Henry,
you're not by some chance a distant relative
or an old family friend of Mr. Roosevelt?
No, admiral. I see.
Well, you might remember, when the occasion offers,
that you still work for the United States Navy.
Aye, aye, sir.
That's all.
( bell dings )
( stirring, heroic theme playing )
( attention whistle blows )
MAN OVER PA: Boat ahoy, starboard. The United States.
ROOSEVELT: Sure that suit isn't a shade loose, eh, Tom?
Just fine, Mr. President. Just fine.
Give that holder a bit more tilt.
"A jaunty angle,"
I believe that's the way the press describes it.
Am I right, gentlemen?
( attention whistle blowing )
Attention on deck!
( bell dings )
Here you are, sir. Thank you, Marcus.
Anything else, sir? No, thank you.
Captain Henry.
ROOSEVELT: If you're not standing watch, old man,
you might look in about 8 or so.
ROOSEVELT: The Skipper.
Pepper Young's Family, Ma Perkins...
( knock at door )
Come in.
Hello there, Pug. Just in time for the morning news.
By George, doesn't it feel wonderful to be at sea again?
Sure does, sir.
Many's the time I've sailed these waters.
I could navigate this ship for them, honor bright.
I'm sure you could, sir.
RADIO ANNOUNCER: Stay tuned for the news.
The Soviet government confirmed today
German claims that their armies have driven well past Smolensk
and have advanced many miles toward Leningrad in the north
and are closing in on the great Dnieper Dam in the south.
Smolensk, the last great bastion before Moscow.
VOICE ON RADIO: Though the whereabouts of the president
are no longer secret.
He is on holiday aboard the presidential yacht, Potomac.
At 7:00 last evening, reporters spotted him on the afterdeck
as the yacht passed through the Cape Cod Canal.
( laughs )
And here I was on the high seas.
How do you suppose I worked that one, Pug?
I don't know, sir. How did you?
Tom Wilson, that's the yacht engineer, is a big fella.
We got him a white suit and a white hat
and put him out there for the reporters to see.
Well, that's just grand. It worked.
We didn't want U-boats out gunning for Churchill and me.
Ah, here we are.
Look that over, old fella. I want your comment.
VOICE ON RADIO: In Geneva, the World Zionist Organization has announced
that large-scale secret massacres of Jews
are taking place behind the German lines
in the Soviet Union.
The German government, calling these allegations
"preposterous lies,"
has accused the Zionists
of deliberately spreading Allied atrocity propaganda.
"The Red Cross is free to enter
the occupation zone at any time,"
the German Foreign Ministry declared,
"to verify the facts," and has offered--
There's another lie.
Those Nazis are the most outrageous liars, really.
The Red Cross can't get in there at all.
I think, and I certainly hope,
those stories are terribly exaggerated.
Our intelligence says they are.
Still, where there's smoke...
I have a copy of that Jewish statement
the radio was talking about.
But what's one to do?
We've tried to get around
the immigration law. We've had some success.
But when I've got a Congress ready to disband the Army,
can you imagine my going to them with a bill to admit more Jews?
Well, what do you think?
This is something for my chief, Mr. President.
Pug, you've got a feeling for facts,
and when you talk I understand you.
These are two uncommon virtues.
So let's have it. Take your time.
All right, sir.
Essentially, the Army sees things differently
from us on Lend-Lease.
Possibly, it's because they figure
they'll have to fight the Axis single-handed
after the Russians and the British fold.
And the Germans may capture and use
against us all the stuff we send over there.
And the Navy?
Our contention is
that if the Soviet Union does go down, and Britain too,
a hell of a lot of Germans
are going to have to die to lick them.
And every dead German is one less German
who'll be firing on us one day.
I agree on that.
Okay. We can replace lost material pretty fast,
but it takes 20 years to raise a live Boche
to replace a dead one.
Pug, you're doing a grand job in war plans,
but you shouldn't get bogged down.
Once my victory program is completed,
why don't we see what we can do about detaching you to sea duty.
Mr. President,
for a long time I've been yearning for a battleship.
You think you can command one?
I think I can, sir.
Well, a commander in chief ought
to have a little say in this.
Let's get you command of a battleship.
Thank you, Mr. President.
You know, Pug,
I never have been able to beat this game,
but I'm going to keep trying.
( stirring theme crescendoes )
( attention whistle blows )
( bugle plays )
OFFICER: Hut!
Left face.
( foghorn blows, seagulls caw )
( band plays "Star Spangled Banner" )
OFFICER: Company salute!
( "Star Spangled Banner" ends )
( band plays "My Country 'Tis of Thee" )
OFFICER: Ready. Twos. OFFICER 2: Clark.
Well, Eliot,
I never heard "My Country 'Tis of Thee" played better.
( men chuckle )
( bugle sounds )
OFFICER: Carry on.
( attention whistle blows )
MAN OVER PA: Now hear this. The smoking lamp is lit.
Henry.
Yes, sir. Take my barge,
and go over to the Prince of Wales,
and put yourself at Mr. Harry Hopkins' service.
The president desires to talk with him
before Churchill comes to call.
Aye, sir.
She looks pretty good after her brawl with the Bismarck.
Yes, sir.
Expedite. Aye, sir.
HOPKINS: So you're still in war plans, huh?
You'll attend staff meetings, then.
Yes, sir. Some of them.
I believe you met a few of the British.
Oh, who, sir?
Lord Burne-Wilke. Yes, sir.
General Tillet.
Oh, yes. I've met General Tillet.
He's heading their army planners.
You might bear in mind what our friends will be after.
It's fairly clear to me after five days
at sea with the prime minister.
First, there going to press for an immediate declaration
of war on Germany.
Now, they know they won't get that.
But it softens the ground for the real reason
Winston Churchill's crossed the ocean.
They want us to warn Japan
that a move against the British Empire in Asia,
would mean war with us.
Will it?
And they want assurances that for Lend-Lease,
they'll come ahead of Russia.
The president isn't thinking that way.
I hope not.
If Hitler wins in Russia, he wins the world.
That's the war, now that's where stuff should go.
Well, then this whole conference is rather pointless, isn't it?
No, it's a triumph.
The American president and the British prime minister
are meeting face-to-face to discuss beating the Germans.
The world will know that.
That's achievement enough for now.
( bell dings )
Well, gentlemen,
shall we continue this at the morning session?
( officers agree )
Admiral Turner, one last word.
General Tillet.
A most productive session. Most admirably chaired.
Very heady planning we've had here tonight, gentlemen,
for fighting a global war as full allies.
Thousands of ships, tens of thousands of planes and tanks.
Many millions of men in arms, and so forth.
Visions of historic grandeur,
which I devoutly trust and believe
will one day soon come to pass.
At the moment...
we British are in grave need of 150,000 rifles.
Lord Burne-Wilke.
The Germans captured Crete, you see,
a large, well-garrisoned island, entirely with airborne troops.
We can no longer exclude such an attempt on England.
Now, we must arm against that possibility.
May we then tell the prime minister tonight,
Admiral Turner,
that those rifles will be forthcoming immediately
from the arsenal of democracy?
General Anderson?
We're woefully short of field arms ourselves
just now, admiral.
You may tell the prime minister that the request
will in all likelihood receive expeditious,
positive consideration.
We're infinitely obliged.
Thank you, gentlemen. Tomorrow morning.
"Expeditious, positive consideration."
Means yes.
Means yes, maybe.
Well, that's something, I suppose.
Henry, you hear the morning news?
Congress renewing a draft by one vote?
HENRY: I heard it, sir.
By one vote, we've still got an army.
With the Germans and the Japanese
out to loot the damn planet.
By one vote.
So, now we've got to get to the church services
at the Prince of Wales.
I'll make this short.
Your record has been checked,
and it seems to me that you claim
"poor to fair" knowledge of Russian.
How's that? That's very unusual.
I put that down when I first entered the academy, sir,
in 1911.
I was raised in a part of California
that had a lot of Russian immigrants.
I see.
Well, it's there on the record.
Anyway...
Hopkins brought up your name and it's already been decided.
I suppose you could take a crash refresher course.
A military supply mission is being sent
to the Soviet Union in September.
If Russia is still in the war, that is.
You're to go along as the Naval advisor.
Understood? Yes, sir.
Question?
Well, uh, only that the president may have
something else in mind for me, sir.
Well, when Hopkins brought up your name...
the president approved heartily.
Yes, sir.
All right.
Let's get on to the church parade.
( attention whistle blows )
( solemn, majestic theme playing )
NARRATOR: Sunday morning, August 10th, 1941. 8:46 a.m.
The United States Navy has been invited by Winston Churchill
to attend a church parade aboard the Prince of Wales.
Hey, can you take a line?
Yes, certainly.
( laughs )
NARRATOR: Franklin Roosevelt will lead the American contingent.
Offered the use of a boatswain's chair
to be taken across, he declines.
He insists that the president of the United States
will not be carried to this historic meeting.
He will join the British prime minister
aboard the deck of the great battle wagon.
But he will do it with dignity.
He will walk.
( band plays "Star Spangled Banner" )
( "Star Spangled Banner" ends )
( camera shutters clicking )
SAILORS: Onward, Christian soldiers ♪
Marching as to war ♪
With the cross of Jesus ♪
Going on before ♪
Christ, the royal master ♪
Leads against the foe ♪
( sailors chatter )
( "Onward Christian Soldiers" theme playing )
( no audible dialogue )
( laughs )
The historic meeting is a success.
We've got the 150,000 rifles.
You have a tough president.
Tough times.
BURNE-WILKE: Look at them.
You'd think they've agreed on almost everything,
instead of almost nothing.
Alas, those that have the experience lack the power.
Those that have the power lack the experience.
That can happen at the changing of the guard.
Changing of the guard?
Well said. Very well said.
Gentlemen, time to get back to the war.
Oh, I say, Captain Henry. It completely slipped my mind.
I bring you greetings and a message.
Oh? From whom? The Tudsburys.
Old Talky says hello,
and Pamela's ever so grateful to you
for the news about her fiancé you got out of the Germans.
How is she? Our little Pam?
Oh, she's fighting a hell of a lovely war.
Old Tudsbury's going on special assignment for the BBC.
And I received word on high to grant Pamela a leave of absence.
He's half blind, you know.
Special assignment?
Mm. To the Soviet Union.
I suspect they're in Moscow by now.
( crowd chattering )
( band plays "Anchors Away" )
( cheering )
Mahalo and aloha.
I'm Mr. Cleveland's assistant, Madeline Henry.
Hey, you guys up there had better watch out.
I have two brothers in the audience.
CROWD: Ooooh!
And they're both big and strong.
( laughter )
MADELINE: All right. Now I'm going to explain the rules
of our program.
Now, every contestant is going to get a $500 defense bond.
And the performer that gets the most applause
gets a special extra prize.
Our sponsor is going to fly his girlfriend, or his parents,
right here to Pearl Harbor to spend a week with him.
All right, I guess that's about it.
Now, here's the man you've all been waiting for,
the star of Happy Hour, and my nice boss,
Mr. Hugh Cleveland!
( band plays jazz rendition of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" )
Well, okey-be-bedokey!
Maybe I'll let Madeline Henry continue.
I got the job, but she sure got the lines.
I better introduce her brothers
so you can see how big and strong they are.
Our Naval aviator is Lieutenant Warren Henry
of the Enterprise.
( band strikes chord )
Where are you, Warren?
Stand up, silly. Stand up.
Come on. Stand up, Warren.
Welcome, Warren. And now, Byron Henry of the Devilfish.
Howdy, Byron. And their father is a battleship man, folks,
so the family's pretty well got the sea covered.
Listen, folks.
And one reason our country remains strong and safe
is that we have plenty of Henry families!
Well, okey-be-bedokey!
And now on with the show.
Our first contestant is...
Signalman First Class Virgil Hoover
of Caddo Gap, Arkansas!
Let's hear it for Virgil!
( band plays "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" )
( plays harmonica )
( Hawaiian music plays )
( crowd chattering )
Plan on finishing this by yourself?
Yes, sir.
Okay, Briny, what's wrong?
Ah, my transfer got turned down.
I got the word today.
That's tough. I'm sorry.
Look, you know, Briny, even if you got to the Atlantic,
the chances of you seeing Natalie,
much less getting her out, are almost zero.
Almost zero is better than less than nothing,
which is what I got now.
MADELINE: A call from New York.
Our sponsors, can you imagine?
You know, I don't like that guy.
I think it's time my kid had his bottle.
Want me to feed him?
You kidding me?
You like babies?
I like this baby.
( baby gurgles )
How about that, Vic?
Both of us empty at the same time.
Yes, I know.
There you go.
( Bing Crosby's "Blue Hawaii" playing )
...Night is young, and so are we ♪
Dreams come true ♪
In blue Hawaii ♪
And mine will all come true ♪
Byron!
This magic night of nights with you ♪
Now-- Now hold on a minute, buddy!
Now, wait a minute, Byron.
It's not what you think. You don't understand.
Our show got a spot-check rating of 23.5.
That's only four points less than Fred Allen!
What the hell are you talking about?
Our show, Briny, it's a hit! The sponsors loved it!
All right folks, while you two have a little chat,
I'll just go out in back and mix a couple more rounds there.
What do you say, huh?
Okey-be-bedokey.
That's a married man, Maddy.
Mom and Dad would be damn upset about what I saw.
You're being horrible, Briny. The Happy Hour was my idea.
And I was so happy when I heard the ratings,
I'd have kissed anyone who was on hand.
Well, you tell Hugh Cleveland
that if I find out he's done anything to you,
I'll come after him and put him in the hospital.
Well, you're cruel and you have a dirty mind.
And don't talk to me about hurting Mom and Dad.
I haven't married a Jew yet.
( Hawaiian dance music plays )
Hey, Maddy. Where's Byron?
Hey, Briny. I've got a little flash here
I think you might want to take a glance at
before you get pie-eyed.
Where'd you come from?
The base, sonny boy, where else?
Just came on the harbor circuit, originated in Rome.
Thought I'd better hustle it right up here.
Congratulations, Papa.
How about that?
It's a boy.
( laughs )
( big band music plays over radio )
Uncle Warren!
WARREN: Here you go, lieutenant.
( guests chatter )
You got it. You got it, baby.
Briny, forgive me for that awful thing I said.
You know I didn't mean it.
I love you and I adore Natalie,
and I'm really happy about the baby.
Oh, I'm sorry.
VOICE ON RADIO: We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin.
Berlin: German supreme headquarters announces
the capture of Kiev,
claims the greatest victory in the war.
According to German sources, four entire Russian armies,
numbering almost a million men,
have been surrounded and cut to pieces.
Radio Berlin proclaimed at midnight, quote:
"The Soviet Union no longer has a military capability.
And the fall of Moscow is now in sight."
( victorious marching music plays )
NARRATOR: With the German army less than 100 miles from Moscow,
an Anglo-American military mission
arrives in the Russian capital
to offer Lend-Lease help
to the beleaguered Soviet Union.
( band plays fanfare music )
Well, this is a surprise.
( soldiers shout in Russian )
( car horn honks )
( officer speaks Russian )
Still in Italy? And pregnant too?
That's right.
God, but I personally arranged for both her and Jastrow
to leave way back in June.
Their ship never left.
The Rome Embassy is still working
on ways to try to get them out.
Well...
What exactly is your assignment here in Moscow?
Advisory.
Although Harry Hopkins has asked me
to try to make my way to the front
and write a report to the president,
if I can wangle it.
Oh, forget it.
The Germans are getting closer by the day.
Russians'll never grant you permission.
Well, according to what we heard
in London day before yesterday,
The Russians were throwing them back on all fronts.
Nonsense.
All we're getting here is, unless the West
mounts a second front in Europe now,
the war is lost.
Alistair Tudsbury, broadcasting.
Oh, Tudsbury.
Tudsbury's the best propagandist
the Soviets have got.
You know the Tudsburys, don't you?
Sure.
Pamela's at my apartment right now, cooking dinner.
Your apartment?
She's an old friend from my Paris days.
Don't get any ideas, captain.
She's being true-blue to that RAF fiancé of hers
the Jerries have got.
And that, captain, is the story of my life.
Don't be alarmed, captain.
Your accommodations at the National
will be more comfortable than these.
Of course, they won't be as nice as Tudsbury's.
I'll be damned if the Russians haven't given him Lenin's suite.
Bit of a surprise.
Pug Henry, by Jove!
You've come with the Harriman mission, haven't you?
( Henry speaks Russian )
Bless my soul! This confounded superman talks Russian!
And that just about exhausts my vocabulary.
Victor!
( soft, romantic theme plays )
Victor.
Well...
bad pennies will keep turning up, won't they?
Well, Victor, I certainly hope you'll be joining us for dinner.
Of course he is.
Get him some vodka, Talky, and me too while you're at it.
Right! Ha, ha!
LordSadler lordsadler2012@gmail.com