Diplomatic Courier (1952) - full transcript

The Department of State, Washington D.C.

On the fifth floor of this building is
located the nerve centre

The Communications Department.

Here 24 hours a day wires flash messages
to and from the troubled spots of the world.

Korea, Tokyo, Berlin, Trieste.

On the night of April, the 9th 1950
a message arrived

on the direct line from Bucharest, Romania.

Not since the code message from Korea

announcing the crossing of the 38th parallel,
had a message meant so much

It's code name was "The Semper Project".

Mr. Butrick, I have a message here
you ought to see.



Let Luke meet me in the screening room immediately.

Luke, will you meet Mr. Butrick
in the screen conference room.

Right away.

- Ready on the teletype?
- Yes, Mr. Butrick.

This is to be coded to the Paris embassy.

Semper Project Washington to Paris.
Butrick in Washington. Ready, Paris?

Immediate need for experienced courier.

Must be reliable man.
Top secret mission

from Secretary of State

- What's Paris time?
- I make it 7.26.

Mike could handle this oké.

Assign Kells. He is to be armed
and given the following instructions.

Fasten your seat belts, please.

- You should know better.
- I like the way you do it.



- Oh, sure.
- Besides, how can I,...

they chain these things to your wrist
the way they used to.

I nearly get some sleep.

- About five minutes, I figure?
- Should be. We're on the landing pattern now.

- Bonjour, Mr. Kells.

- Merci.
- Kells...

- Hi, Mr. Chenery.
- How are you

- Hello, Bill.
- Mike.

- You're to be relieved here.
- Thank you, thank you very much.

- Why the red carpet?
- I don't know.

- That was very nice of you.
- I'm afraid, you won't think so.

You're on your way again.

You don't mean that he is kidding.

We have to hurry,
the plane is loading now.

Would you put this bag on flight 7, please?

- So long, Bill.
- Nice to see you, Mike.

Unless I'm mistaken, you do know Sam
Carew in our legation in Bucharest.

Sam Carew? Yes, we were together
for 3 years in the Navy.

Which one of these is Carew?

- Are you serious?
- Yes, I am.

That's Sam.

That's right.

You are to meet him on the Salzburg
Railway platform.

He'll be on the Arlberg express.

Your orders are to take what he'll give you
and fly it back to Washington immediately.

- Are you armed?
- Armed?

You are now.
Treat it as routine.

Well, the weather report is fair.
Have a good flight. Catch up on your sleep.

Good luck and again my apologies.

Okay, sir. It's just the tonic
I need to ride in a airplane.

Bonjour. monsieur Kells.

Good night, Zizi.
Don't wake me till we get to Salzburg.

Bonjour, madam.

- Madam?
- Isn't there anything else?

I am really sorry, but
this is the last seat we have.

This man wants to sleep.
I wouldn't think of disturbing him.

- I'm really sorry, madam.
- Okay, if it can't be helped, it can't be helped, can it?.

Mr. Kells, the chair is occupied.

At this moment while diplomatic courier
Mike Kells is on the plain bound for Salzsburg,

the man he was to meet, was on
the Arlberg express.

Still behind the iron curtain the express
was nearing the last checkpoint

between the Sovjet and the American zones.

Sam Carew, carrying the document, known
as the "Semper Project",

occupied a compartiment in the Bucharest sleeper.

- Have you a match?
- Certainly, sir.

- I'm sorry.
- Excuse me.

What time will we clear through
under the American zone?

- Approximately 10:30, if there is no delay.
- Thanks.

Good morning. Would you like
your orange jus now?

What? I must....did I?

- Like a baby in arms.
- Then, I'm really ashamed.

I had no idea I was so completely bushed.

It was rather amusing.
You roused all the mother instinct in me.

It is nice of you to take it that way.

How long did I?
Holy smoke!

- Would be a half hour late.
- Half an hour?

- If she loves you, she'll wait.
- She is a train.

It's a 20 minute ride from the airport
to the depot.

I'm getting off in Salzsburg
and I have a very fast car...

- No, I wouldn't...
- Around the town, practically past the station.

Please, don't get any wrong ideas.

- You're an American, aren't you?
- Patriotism has little to do with it.

- I'm just naturally soft-hearted.
- And soft-oeillade.

- Thank you. Joan Ross.
- Mike Kells.

Let me guess, New York?

- San Francisco?
- Richmond, Indiana.

- Oh, you're kidding?
- Honest, country girl, corn fed.

You could have fooled me.
Some corn.

- I might have to take you up about that lift.
- It's all settled, so relax.

You busy business men.
I thought I'd seen everything.

Two watches?
Isn't that overdoing a little?

Not in my....
Maybe you're right.

- You don't run by the clock?
- Me?

Never a watch and nothing but time.

I sort of rattle around,
completely unscheduled.

- That must be wonderful.
- Sometimes.

Just now, it's a lazy 10 days in Salzburg.

The Festival, Mozart, a hundert violins.

- You don't like violins?
- Why so many? One maybe, who doesn't.

in the right place, gypsies..

Salzburg is a sort of a romantic pilgrimage.

I'm visiting all the places I
lived in with my husband.

You threw a nice block, mrs. Ross.

I didn't particulary mean to throw a block.

Does that make the picture any brighter, mr. Kells?

I told you.
Plenty of time.

- How can I thank you?
- Don't be silly.

You run a elegant taxi service.

Look, my girl-hope you can have a change of mind?

Would you look like a fool,
sitting by the telephone all afternoon...

- waiting for you to ring?
- I have to meet this man

and after I won't be available either.

I never knew I could hate my job so much.

- I'm really grateful and it was a pleasure.
- Really?

Even the part
I was unlucky enough to sleep through.

- In a world of roses and mink.
- But no time.

And two watches.

You know, I could even have taken the fiddles.

They're not fiddles, Mike,
they would have been violins, I promise you.

But, I am getting around Europe
quite a lot. And if you get around.

- I do. Shall we hold the thought?
- Set.

Coffee, please.

- Alone , sir?
- Yes.

This way, sir.

- His excellency will permit it?
- Sorry, I have some people joining me.

This way, sir.

- Das Fräulein will noch Mahl?
- Nein, Danke.

- Light?
- Yes.

Thanks.

- Mr. Carew? Telegram.
- Thank you.

Salzburg. Sam refused contact.

Unscheduled stop at Werfen, 1:28 PM.

There's a girl in compartiment next to Sam's.

He went in there. Didn't knock.

Sam? Oh, I'm sorry, ..

Don't know if Sam got off.
Sure he did not get on

There are doors on this train
which have been unlocked.

I seem to have been assigned
to share this with you.

- Terribly sorry if I disturb you.
- It's okay.

- Bother you, if I smoke?
- No, no.

- Have one?
- No, thanks.

The switch doesn't work.

The juice is off.

Nothing unusual for a European train.
Don't disturb yourself.

- What's the matter?
- We don't know yet, sir.

We try.

- Do you know this man?
- Samuel Carew

from the American legation in Bucharest.

An American?
Most unfortunately.

- Karl, you've made a mess of it.
- Not before something else did.

I'm Michael Kells, the
American State Departement.

This train will have to be held while your
assistent will do un immediate investigation.

But, Mr. Kells, I have no authority.

I assure you an investigation will be
conducted en route

and the American Authorities notified
as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the track has to be cleared.

I'll stay right here, so just
throw my things off the train.

Certainly, sir, I leave a man here
to assist you in every way.

Peppi, you stay here.
Come on now.

I'll stay if you want me, mister.
There's an MP station back near the last town.

- I can get some of the boys.
- Thanks.

Back to the tunnel, as fast as I guess,
I like it.

- It could be murder, mr. Kells.
- Only could be, colonel Cagle?

Trains are been known to make
unscheduled stops before.

Train cruise and left doors unlocked,
light fuses are been under fail,

a man accidentely stumbles....

You mean, that they steer this
to look like an accident?

And in the American zone to make it neater?

- Look, sir, there was no blood.
- No blood?

Not where we found Sam's body.

Now, I put it to you, if a man is crashed
by trainwheels, he bleeds on the spot.

Therefore Sam was not killed by the
trainwheels but before.

Well, let's go in here.

You're observant, Kells.
Your eyes are okay.

We're trained to keep
them open, colonel.

I hope you've been trained to keep an
open mind to match. It's gone be useful.

A man is dead, that can't be helped now.

Who killed him has to come second.

Because the important thing is
why he was killed.

Colonel, who ever ripped these linings
sewed him back in a hurry

- This is Ernie, Mike Kells.
- Glad to know you

I've checked every item in this with
Washington this afternoon by telephone.

A document of top secret value is missing.

He was supposed to hand it over to you
on the Salzburg platform.

- Where is it?
- I told you...

I know you told me, but
where is it?

- I hope you're not of the opinion...?
- I can't afford opinions

I deal in facts. The very unfunny fact is, that
something very vital to our government
is missing

I assume Carew didn't give it to you.
If he had, you'd be here on the table, not him.

But that doesn't answer the 64 dollar question.

It's pretty obvious where it is, isn't it?

Do you know that they succeeded in getting it?

- ... no.
- Neither do I.

Kells, I understand you're the Courier
Service's pat carrier pidgeon.

6 years never dropped a message, is that right?

It seems I dropped one now though, sir.

I like to pick up that document
if they haven't got it. Wouldn't you?

What are you driving at, colonel?
I am a postman, not an intelligent's man.

You think it is possible that a girl
could be mixed up in this dirty business

as well as those two monkeys that were tailing you?

Look, all I know is, that Sam got a message
just before that phoney stop.

He saw the girl and 5 minutes later
he was dead.

Awful useful if I can find that girl.
Would you know her again, if you saw her?

It isn't likely I'll ever forget her.

There is a transport out of the airfield
that can get you to Triest...

in time to meet her train.

You might be able to have a very
interesting conversation with that girl.

I'm sorry, colonel, I'd like to, but you know
how it is. I am under orders.

I've got it all fixed with the chief,
if that's it.

Of course, if it is something else.
Look, you don't have to do this.

- I know Sam was a good friend of yours.
- Now, wait a minute.

You want me to go to Trieste, meet a train
and talk to that girl, right?

Allright, let's quit the build up.
How do I get to that strip? Take a jeep?

I've got a taxi and a reliable driver.

Here, you need some Italian currency.

- No, I better get it from the consul.
- Take this.

Awful sorry, I won't be there to
eavesdrop on you and that girl.

- Where will I contact you?
- I pick you up, when useful.

Just find the girl and
talk to her, understand?

It will be a pleasure.

- I wouldn't be wanna be him.
- What's that?

You ain't sending him to find any dame.

You could take her in an hour
if you wanted her.

You're setting him up, as a duck to find out
if the Sovjets have got the message.

He is the only lousy lead I got in this lousy case.
This isn't ping-pong we are playing.

Get me the embassy in Paris.

All I know is, I wouldn't wanna be him.

The other guy got killed.

Ernie, before you got this plushy job with me,
when we were in the commandos...

how many times have you seen
one man sent out...

to get information that might save a thousand?

- Without telling him?
- Would he feel better if he knew?

- Go faster, can't you?
- No.

Come on, come on!

Come on, faster.

Go through.

I'm a diplomatic courier.
Could you give me a lift to the airport?

- You're in trouble, chum?
- Oh, it's you?

Kind of a lucky idea you had.
I was beginning to worry.

Here come your friends again.

Aren't you gone do a thing about them?

Sure. They will be picked up and
kept under surveillance.

That's the idea. They chase the rabbit
and we chase them.

- Oh and I am the rabbit, he?
- You're getting it.

Great for the rabbit.

- Look fellow, the colonel has got a dirty job
- Ya, ya, I know.

and this move and these prove that they
ain't got it either.

What was that?

The blonde.

From the train? That ain't put up dynamite
in a pretty cartridge.

- How did that end up in my pocket?
- You don't know.

- Come on, she gave it to you. Don't tell me.
- She could have.

Or Sam could have planted it on me
when he pressed by me in the corridor.

Or those monkeys or anybody...
...the lights went off, remember?

It looks like somebody's got your hotel
in Trieste all picked up.

At least Cagle will know where to
send for the rabbit's body.

Of all the cities I have seen in the world,
this is my first time for Trieste.

It's quite a ball. What Lisbon and
Istanbul whatever last one

Trieste is the less.

Agents, counter-agents, hatchet men,
Titoists, anti-Titoists

Stalinist, anti-stalinists and
10.000 British and American troops

trying to teach brotherly love to
the Italiens and Yugoslavs.

- More highjinks than in the circus.
- Any news from the airfield?

That's what I came to tell you.
The taxi is waiting.

- How far in minutes to the railway station?
- That depends on your driver.

Sorry, mr. Kells, but if you tell me
the name, I could...

- I don't know the girl's name.
- I'm sorry, sir.

Do you have a reservation for anybody
who hasn't showed up?

Do you have a reservation for
a man named Carew? Samuel F. Carew.

Yes, we had a reservation.
arriving on the express.

But we haven't seen him.

Do you have a reservation for
anybody else from that same train?

Yes, we.. ordered a room for
miss Janine Betki.

That sounds about right. I guess the only
thing for me to do, is to wait around.

If this girl or anybody else asks for me,
call me. Day or night, call me.

Thank you. For my record, how long
will you be with us?

That all depends.

Is this, where you do something
about missing persons?

It all depends on what sex and age they are.

It's a girl, allright.

She doesn't look to me like she
is missing a thing.

Pete, wouldn't you say she's got it all there?

- Mama mia.
- Wait a minute. What's your connection with her?

- My connection? A connection is what I am trying to make.
- I mean, state the reason of your inquiry?

I am Mike Kells, diplomatic courier.

I am to talk to her for
colonel Mark Cagle, CID

in connection with the death of
Samuel Carew. It's confidential.

- Was she mixed up in that?
- It would be a fair country guess.

I wonder why she wandered around for the bushes.

About 20 miles off the line we're checking
all people coming in by train.

During passport inspection she got wise of
the fact that we were suspicious of her

and she managed to give us the slip.
Is that her?

That's the right girl. Janine Betki.

Ya, but a phoney passport.
So, if you run on to her, be sure to notify us.

She is listed here as an entertainer.

I wonder if she'll have nerve enough to try
to get a job in one of those nightclubs.

No, we checked everything and
she hasn't shown up yet.

- Thanks.
- Sure.

I'm rather proud of our good neighbour-policy.

And speaking of good neighbours,

here comes Betty Davis.

Fasten your seat belts.
It's going to be a bumpy night.

Do you know the meaning of a slow gin-fizz?

- Yes, signor.
- Make it two, darling.

- Joan!
- I would have died if you hadn't known.

- But, Joan, I thought you were in...
- In Salzburg? I was.

For two days. The longest, dreary...

Darling... He, look, I'm calling you darling.
I've been making progress.

Have you been making any progress, darling?

- You'd been amazed what progress.
- Where are you staying, Michael?

- At the Imperial.
- I'm in the Excelsior, it's nice.
Why don't you move?

I have to stay where I am.

Shall I move? Allright, I'm going to lay
my cards on the table.

When I started on this crazy tour,
the last thing I was looking for was a man.

Why I should pick on you, I don't know.

I have to have know you better,
I mean, I like you a bit.

I kept thinking about you and
started looking for you.

I phoned all over and Tony Bennis of the
Paris embassy

found out for me that you were here.

Michael, it was exactly 11:45 a few days ago,
when you left me.

What time is it now?
Check both watches.

Well, it's ...exactly 11:37.

Well, do we resume at heaven bless 11:37?

Joan, I'd like nothing better in the world,
but I am in a spot right now .

- I'm a sort of tight...
- Michael, tell me the truth. Are you with someone?

No. I am chasing her.

My dream girl.

What can't be helped, can't be helped, can it?

- Apologise to you, Mike, I'm truly sorry.
- I'm only kidding.

I'm just doing this for an acquaintance
of a friend of mine.

I promised to look her up and...
see about her.

Do you have to see about her tonight?

It doesn't look as though I can't tonight.

Darling, let's explore Trieste together.

They tell me it's a terrible place, they have
a wind here they call the Boris

strong enough to blow a man down.

I wish he blew our drinks this way. We sure
got ourselves a slack-footed waiter.

Look, I'm with those people overthere.
They are much duller than you are, but
they get far better manners

so I have to lie like the Dickens.
Specially that one guy..

he is the captain of his soul, thinks he is a
major mind, you know the kind.

So I have to be nice.
Darling, can you wait 2 minutes?

- Ya.
- I hardly can.

I'm not going, my darling.

- Signore, wanna buy a good watch?
- No, thanks. I have, look.

Not this one?

I've got it from a very interesting person.

in the old part of town.

- Where did you get that?
- 8, Via Capitolina.

8, Via Capitolina.

Who is it?

What do you want?
Who are you?

A very good friend of Sam Carew.

Don't let me rush you,
miss Betki. I can wait in....

- You are Mike Kells.
- That's right.

Excuse me, come in.

- But you are glad to see me.
- Come in, mr. Kells, please.

You don't need to do that, miss Betki.
I didn't bring anyone with me.

And there is no one here with me,
if that is what you're wondering.

Under the circumstances you don't mind
my making sure, do you?

No, I'm only surprised.

Here.

- I wouldn't mind.
- Please, believe me, that there's very great danger.

As Checherenko you found,
didn't he give you my message?

- Your mind size character?
- Yes, I asked him to say that I desperately needed...

He left in a hurry. It turned out
that he had an appointment to get killed.

- He was...?
- That's right, his timing was a bit off.

You'll be sorry to hear that the car
got him instead of me.

Are you suggesting that I've tried
to have you killed?

After you helped kill Sam Carew,
does the idea revult you?

You're making a very great misstake, mr. Kells.
Sam was my friend. I loved Sam.

Is that what he was doing in your compartment
5 minutes before he was murdered?

- Letting you be his friend?
- What do you think I am?

That's one of the things I come
here to find out.

Who put this in my pocket?

Where did you get that?

- Sam took this...
- I didn't ask you who took it.

I asked you, who planted it on me? Did you?

- No.
- Who, then?

I don't know.

It must have been Sam.
Yes, of course it was.

- Why Sam?
- So that you would go there and you

- and I would meet.
- You and I?

Yes, he told me that, if I needed help,
I was to contact you

But you got off the train, you weren't here
so I hid out.

Because the MP's were looking at you
on a passport charge?

- Do you think I'm a child?
- No, miss Betki, I don't. Not at all.

And where did you get this?
Did they take it off Sam's body?

Was this a part of your pay?

- You are terrible.
- Sure, I am terrible and Sam is dead.

I'm chocked...

Okay, you're chocked, I am terrible
and Sam is only dead.

You! But why should you believe me, even you.

but you drive me crazy with all your
questions and insults and
you don't give me any time.

Take all the time you want, sweathart.

Church is giving you some nice music
to go along with it.

You Americans, you've never had
to live with...

the shame of having an enemy
take over your country.

You should pray to God,
that you never will.

We plan to do more than just pray.

There are only a few choices open to
each person when that happens.

You can submit because
you are helpless

or you can do something rash and
get yourself and your family killed

or send into slavery.

Or you can collaborate.

Would it make you feel any better
if I said I did?

- The truth might look good on you.
- Allright, I'll say it then. I worked with them,
because Sam told me to.

For almost 4 years I worked for Sam
as an agent.

As a spy, if you prefer. While I pretended
to spy on Sam for them.

Sam made me a bargain.
I wanted freedom.

He was generous enough to say that it
was a fear bargain and he tried to keep it.

So he took me on the train with him.
He said he'd get me into the US.

But now they have killed Sam.

- And I don't know what to do.
- That's quite a story if you made it up .

It is quite a story if I didn't.
I try living with it as I've had to.

Hoping you'll find somebody named
Mike Kells, who is a friend of Sam

and will help you, but you won't
believe me. Nobody will believe me.

I can't expect it.

Look, I'd like to.

It would be pretty lousy, if what you
were telling me were the truth, and I didn't.

Look, if you were with Sam on the train,
maybe you can clear up a few riddles.

- Why did he try to avoid me?
- Because he knew they were on the train.

I recognized two of them
and told Sam.

If you knew them,
did they know you?

Yes, but they were assuming that
I was doing what I always pretended to do.

I didn't talk to them. I didn't
dream they planned to murder him.

Look, miss Betki, if you were with Sam,
what happened with what he
was bringing out with him?

- To what?
- What document did he have with him?

- Document?
- Yes, if you worked with Sam. What was it?

He didn't say anything about any document.

I don't know. Do you know?

Did you get me up here to try to find out
if we have it, is that it?

- No, I've told you everything
- Look miss Betki, I wanna believe you,
but you don't make it easy.

That's too bad, because that's why Sam
gave me his watch.

He said "If you're ever in trouble,
go to Mike,

show him this and
he know that I send you".

May I show you?

This stain on the back. That's from shrapnel
in the attack which sank your minesweeper.

Then you two were in that rubber raft
together for 10 days without water.

And when you both thought
that you were finished..

you prayed like a boy
at your mother's knees.

He said it about you lovingly, to show
that the fear of death

can make a man into a simple child.

Only Sam could have known about that.

It wasn't always like that.
You had a lot of fun together too...

like the time you were on leave
in San Francisco and...

you both were very naughty.

The next morning you kissed the lady judge
and got you both off.

He used to talk about you so much then,
that I thought I knew Mike Kells
almost as well as he did.

He loved you as only some brothers love.

Okay, miss Betki, I go along with you.

I may be a sucker, but I will.

I do everything I can for you.
I'll take it to colonel Cagle and wil...

- They're coming here.
- What is this?

- Get out the back door, quickly.
- No, I'm gone stay right here...

- I'm curious.
- I know how to handle them, please go.

Oh, here.

- What did you find out?
- Find out?

You came a little early.

- Is that?
- Ya, come on, let's go.

He, fellow. Fellow.

Mike, Mike, Mike...

Come on, boy, come on.
One more.

- Sorry I was a couple of minutes late.
- It's allright.

- Where have you been?
- Waiting around for you to find your girl.

Took you quite a while. We have
her staked out for a couple of days.

- You might at least have told me.
- It's important to see what they do about you.

They didn't do it exactly gently. But, then,
they're not exactly kind hearts and gentle people.

- What did they do to her?
- Why to her?

A little watch pedler tipped you off to her whereabouts?

Before he headed for that car in front of the club.

Yes, she sent him with Sam's watch
to tell me that she needed help.

How come, the girl had Carew's watch?

Colonel, we had this girl classified
all wrong. Completely.

She isn't one of them at all.

- She worked for Sam as an agent.
- That's what she said, he?

That's what she did. She told me things
that only Sam could have told her.

She has worked for him for about 4 years.

That's rather startling.

- What's the matter?
- You got that file there, Ernie?

- Yes, but you cut it out, didn't you?
- Show it to the man.

Let it go weigh all out on him,
saw him off.

- Read it, Mike, informative.
- What is it?

An account of some of the activities of
a known and proven Sovjet agent

from our Bucharest files.

- You don't mean Janine Betki?
- For your sake right now I wish I didn't

...on our Sovjet list for quite a while..

Would you like to know who put her on?

- I have a sinking feeling you're
gone tell me it was Sam.
- That's righs, Mike.

- But it is hard to realise!
- Don't blame yourself too much.

She is an appealing dish, no doubt.
Most bad women are, one way or another.

- That's why they can be so succesfully bad.
- I remember a dame in Portugal...

Dry out, Ernie. Did you talk about anything
else besides the troubles? Anything about the document?

No, I'm afraid I told her not to let her
know we're looking for.

- That's okay, they know that, but nothing else, he?
- Only the Sam story.

I'll put her down as looking too
and call it 6-2 and even.

It won't be even before I catch that lying.. .

I think we're just be a little careful
about letting you see her again.

Maybe you're right. That will put me back
on the main route.

You're doing fine.

Would you like to see, who walked into
her place when you were out?

Ernie, show it to the man.

Rasumny Platov, chief of the Sovjet
secret police for Europe.

Well, we made him call in their first team.

I give a nickel to know what he
and the girl talked about.

Haven't your boys got a wire into her apartment yet?

See never goes out. They got half done
when she slipped out to the market place.

If she ever stops sitting like
a hen on a nest, they can finish.

Keep them going! I wanna hear every word
she says. I wanna hear it if she breaths.

I have him every day.

When I got permission from Washington
to borrow you, I was instructed to let you know the score.

These people have murdered a
representative of our State Department.

That's going a long way even for them.

You mean, I don't care enough life insurance, he.

For the time being they're just as interested
in keeping you alive as I am.

But if they get the document or
if you are in their way

when they think they can get it,
you can lose, Mike.

The only thing is, it is only natural
to want to know:
what's all the heart and bother.

- What is it?
- I was given permission to tell you that too.

Sam was bringing out with him the
complete communist time table

including the date for the invasion
of Yugoslavia.

You can understand the value of that information.

Pearl Habour tripled in spades.

And you can understand that having that
knowledge could save thousands of lives.

And that Washington can't be concerned
with a live of two along the way.

It's likely Sam Carew gave up his
live deliberately.

- He'll do it too.
- Let's hope not uselessly.

He must have figured out someway
to get the document through.

Microfilm!

Could it have been in the watch?
In Sam's watch ...

Use your common sense, Michael.
Would the Russians have sent it
by a two bit messenger

just to lure you up to pass the time of day with Janine?

- No, I'm sorry.
- Let's talk about something more in your line.

Who is the girl?
At the Club Gala.

The nice, eager beaver in the romance department.

- You know everything, you tell me.
- Joan Ross her name?

- That's right.
- A widow, he?

She is married with someone in
the State Department.

Ya, Claude Ross.
Consul here.

A bit of a mystery, but nothing against her.

- What does she do?
- Just works at having fun.

Has it too, I bet. Anything else?

She comes from Richmond, Indiana.
I met her on the plane from Paris. And...

Well, you'll find this out anyway,
I fell asleep on her shoulder.

And now she can't wait to get
to sleep on you, he?

- Why don't you take her to lunch?
- No, nothing doing.

Why get her messed up in this?

Mike, in this business creating a false lead
can be just as important as a genuine lead.

The more people you see, the busier
they'll be and the more chanche of their making a mistake

Because, they just naturally got to do
something about anybody you contact.

No. If I'm in it it's my own business,
but she is a woman.

And lucky for her, she is sour at me
I stood her up last night.

A thing like that just whets her appetite.

She'll meet you at 1 O'clock
in the National Cafe.

- I called her up and asked it for you.
- Don't you stop at anything?

She is an American, isn't she?
Let her do something for her country.

That's fun, darling.
Let's have what we can.

But if you're trifling with me, Michael,
I'll cut your heart out.

- I try to tell you I had to work.
- All night? I rang your switchboard dizzy.

Tell me the truth Michael,
who's the woman?

- Are you mixed up with her or what?
- You ought to keep away from me.

How can I? I simply can't.

You started by rousing the mother instinct in me

and now you got the whole works
stirred up.

And you got something stirred up.

- And you, don't you feel anything?
- I feel a lot.

I feel that you're beautiful and
attractive and screwy and wonderful

and I like to see you keep it
that way.

The only way to do that is
to stay away from me.

Don't get mad at me, darling.
I have the most wonderful day plan.

We'll have a heavenly sail
on the Adriatic.

swarming on the sun bay.

Or, if you prefer, we go for a drive
at the Miramar castle.

We shouldn't miss it. Emperor Maximilian
build it for Carlota.

The military commander has it now
but the garden is divine.

- Michael, where are your thoughts?
- Right here.

I hope so. It is the night I'm giving
a coctail thing for you.

A few people I know and all your friends.
Don't look scared, only nice people here.

There are some of them overthere.

And that captain.
Come on over, I want you to meet them.

- I want to show you off.
- Sure, I like to.

You go ahead. I get the check.

- Hello, Joan.
- Hello.

My captain?
Hello darling, I want you to meet a very...

- I did have a friend.
- We waited much too long.

You've ever seen that girl
you came to ask about?

No, I haven't.

There's a special on her.
So, if you find her, don't forget to notify us.

I sure will.

Buona sera, Sr. Kells.

Mrs. Ross called. Urgent.

Hello? No, hold on.

- Make yourself at home, why don't you.

One thing I say for you.
You make this job a-off.

Your widow lady is on this 10 times
in the last hour.

A coctail party. I don't want to go.

Don't knock it, brother.
Me, tell her you send me.

- I called you for 2 hours.
- Joan, I just this minute got in.

- I need you, I got to see you.
- I can't come right now. I'll be along.

- Mike, I'm going crazy.
- Is anything the matter?

- Something happened to me,
something I don't understand.
- What's happened?

- I can't tell you like this.
- Don't worry about it, I'll be right there.

- You fought a good fight.
- that louse, Cagle, I warned him.

- Now something has happened to her.
- Ye, what?

Didn't you hear it?
She'll tell me when I get there.

That puts it right in the line of duty.
Some duty.

Joan, what is it?
What's the matter?

Don't you want to tell me?

I doubt if you would care.

Every time I turn my head,
you run out on me.

Of course I care.

I think I must be out of my mind.

I've got my life all tangled up in yours now

- and look at me. I can't stop..
- What is it?

I was almost killed.
Somebody tried to shoot me.

- You're kidding.
- Go look at the window in my bedroom.

- Where?
- In there.

This could have come from that building
across the court. Who lives there,
do you know?

No, and darling, get away from that window.
I don't want you shot at too.

Maybe you're right.

Joan, there is probably a very simple
explanation for this.

Someone was cleaning their gun and
it went off.

Mike, you're using me.

- Using you?
- Don't deny.

Haven't you got me mixed up in something?
Something I have no business to be in at all?

That doesn't make sense.
I'm really worried about this.

Did you hear anything?

I heard it bury itself in that wall.
I think I heard the glass.

They must have used a silencer.

Tell me everything that you remember.

Everything? First I waited half an hour
for you to come back to me.

Then I began to get the strangest feeling
that I was being watched

and, when I finally left, was being followed.

- Did you see anyone?
- This mistery is ridiculous.

I decided that I let you upset
my nerves.

So I hoped, that if I took a little nap
I might forget my fears.

I laid down right here. I hardly had
my head on the pillow when it happened.

- Maybe they didn't mean it for you.
- Do be serious, Mike.

- I am serious.
- Don't misunderstand me.

I win for you, heaven help me,
and I still do.

But you can't blame me if
I'm beginning to question you.

I know that normally you're
a courier, darling.

What makes you think that?

The two watches if nothing else.

Have you forgotten that I was State
Department by marriage too?

So, naturally, I know they got you
mixed up in something.

Something it isn't courier business.

- And now, that you got me mixed up
in it too.
- But I didn't want to do that, Joan.

But now, that I am in it so deeply,
it's only fair to tell me what it is all about.

You have to trust me.
I told you to stay away from me.

You think I am the kind of person who
run out on you if you're in a jam?

Oh no, I wanna stay with you.
I wanna share everything with you.

I'll handle it.

- Hello?
- Mike, get down here right now, brother.

Wait!

- Who was it?
- It was for me. Ernie.

Don't leave me here alone?

If I don't come back right away, call in
to the CID and ask for colonel Cagle.

- Cagle?
- That's right. Trust me.

You heel.

You are an idiot.

You're the idiot if you can't see
what's going on.

I'm not getting the first base
I've never had this trouble before.

There must be a reason.
Do you absolutely trust this Janine?

I do not absolutely trust anybody.
But why Janine?

Don't say that I am just a crazy dame
who's falling for a guy and getting jealous.

But he keeps slipping away
from me to her.

If they're seeing each other
they will be working together.

There is something between them.
Can you trust her?

It is very simple to find out.

- What's the matter?
- You got company.

- Janine.
- Where?

Overthere, flowerstand.

- Any of the baboon squad with her?
- I haven't seen anybody else.

- What's she wants?
- She didn't come over and tell me.

We will soon know.

I'm gone take a walk down the street.
You stay here and see if anyone else stays along.

Take it careful, brother.
You bruise easy.

- Mr. Kells...
- You lousy, lying little tramp.

What have you got now?
More hearts and flowers?

- It would be wise to listen to me.
- I have listened.

I didn't take this chanche for nothing.

And how I've listened. You mess around
with me anymore and I'll break your neck.

You found out about me, haven't you?
That I am a red agent.

I'm surprised that you admit it.

They'll tell you all about me.
Did they show you the file?

- Did they explain that Sam himself
put me on the list?
- How do you know?

Why wouldn't I know that Sam put me on
the list. We decided together that he...

- You and Sam again!
- What kind of protection could that be
for me. Isn't it reasonable.

How do I know what's reasonable?

I found you only to say that
I am prepared to make a deal.

- What deal?
- With you and only you. Take it or leave it.

- If you come to my apartment..
- No, I've been to your apartment.

I don't like what happens there
like getting slugged

- We can't talk here.
- That's only Ernie, go on.

You're doing fine.
You're fascinating me.

Don't be though with me, mr. Kells,
because I can be very though myself.

I think it would be a very good idea for your
sake as well as mine if we are friends
tonight.

Because it is tonight or not at all.
Here is my key.

What are you gone do when she beats
you to all the answers?

- What does she want this time?
- I don't know.

Either she is the best liar who ever wore
shoes or she is straight and wonderful.
I don't know

You know the way to the
Via Capitolina?

Mike, you ain't gonna listen.
I wouldn't do it.

There are plenty of other taxi's for hire.

- Cagle won't go for this girl.
- I don't hang about Cagle!

I'm going satisfy myself about this girl,
all by myself.

Come in here, come on. Let's go.

Did you get that microphone planted
in her place yet?

- Ye, I planted it.
- Good.

You can image I'll be glad to have Cagle
and some of the boys tuned in.

It took her about 15 minutes
to find it and pull it out.

You're out of your mind to go up there.
Have you got a gun?

Flashlight?
In that compartment.

Here we are.

If they do start something, try to bust
out a window.

Manage to do that, no matter how busy
otherwise, then I'll come up.

Allright, but if I'm busted, come up there, will you.

You didn't suppose I would leave it around
for you to find

You can't blame me for trying.

However, this is your meeting.
You said something about a deal.

This morning, when I told you I had known
about Sam's bringing out a document
with him,..

it was the truth. But I don't care if you
believe that. I don't care what you
believe anymore.

Wait a minute. Are you trying to hint
that you may have it?

I'm trying to make it very clear
that I do have it.

Well, I'll hold comment on that.

It were the questions you asked me,
that made me wonder

whether I did have something.
I searched and I found it.

I hit it and I looked for you.

You're trying to say that Same gave you
this without telling you?

I can understand Sam's using me.

He would have reasoned that I was
the perfect carrier, being a known red.

If they'd caught me and tortured me

they must have tortured him before
killing him

they would get nothing.
Because I would know nothing.

Do you think, that whatever happened
to him, you and I would meet

and everything would be allright.

It wouldn't be like him to imagine that
2 people whom he loved

Excuse me.

What is the document, if you have it?

It's in code. I don't know what it is,
but I know I have it.

What is your price,
if you have it?

- To you or to the Russians?
- To the Russians?

- Do you mean that you sell it ..?
- You think, that's terrible, don't you?

But just think about it again. If colonel
Platov of the Sovjet MVD

gets on to me, as he assured to
get on to me on time, then where am I?

I think I can handle him because
I have something he wants.

And I know the price I'll ask him.
My life.

And do you know something?
I'll take it.

It is one thing to talk about giving up your
life, but it's another thing to do it.

I know what you think.
I don't care what you think.

I only think you're pretty human.

I promise you I'll deal with them only
if you force me to.

- How can I force you to?
- I want what Sam promised me.

Freedom. If you vouch for me, if you
get me into America as a free person

I will give the document to you.

Get on your things, let's go.

- Go where?
- Where is the document?

We couldn't be seen together.
I'll get it, you stay here.

- No, I have a car. Ernie is with me.
- No. I'll meet you.

Down the hill, behind the ruines,
I know a backway the way I came.

- Don't answer that.
- If it's them, I'll put them off.

Hello?

Who?

Sam!

- Are you allright? Yes, I'm listening.
- Who?

Mike's right here, he is with me.

- Yes, Sam, yes.
- Are you crazy?

He is alive!
Sam, are you hurt?

- Mike, he is right here inTrieste.
- Sam Carew is dead. I saw him dead.

I just talked to him. He is coming right here.
He says to wait here.

He says
"Ask Mike to stay there".

You're a wonderful sweetheart.

You'd love that, wouldn't you,
while your friends come pouring in.

You are more than wonderful,
you're superb.

Mike, wait!

Mike, I didn't lie to you, ever.

You will be so ashamed.

The ratpack will be here any minute.

Right on schedule.

What a dame. You look in her eyes
and you begin to believe her.

You've got to. Then something funny
begins to happen.

You got knocked on the head...Would you
know what she tried me to believe just now?

- Sam Carew's still alive.
- Go back and babysit the widow, chum.

This Janine is the key though, somehow.
She's a smart cooky, Ernie.

She is smart enough to have it, to hold
her people off and to force them to deal
with it.

It was that spy dame in Portugal
that had everything.

she crossed me for a guy
who gave her diamonds.

She went downtown. Why?
She wouldn't have taken that chance for nothing.

She could'nt have kept the document in her apartment.

She can have a contact or a place.

I saw her come out of a building
in the Piazza Grande.

Mike, you get your nose in a ring,
but the colonel will fry my high.

Get off, will you! come on, get off!

Keep the engine running.
And keep your eyes open.

I'm sorry, I'm a little late I guess, we just
remembered I have to have my watch.

- We got a plane to make.
- A watch?

Yes, a girl brought it today.
Blond, my wife.

- Is it ready?
- I do not remeber you.

I didn't come in here with her.
But you remember, she wore...

a black coat and she had a
scarf around.

There it is, that's my watch,
that one right there in the middle.

- have you the ticket?
- No, but I can describe the watch exactly.

You see, on the back, that dent.

Shrapnel made that. It's a navy watch.
The inscription says..

"To Sam" that's me,
"from the crew of the Reliance".

But it is required to have the ticket.

How would I know what is on it
if it wasn't mine?

I guess so, sounds reasonable.
200 lires.

Fine, thanks.

- Good night.

Signor, thank you.

Signor, I cleaned this watch...

Get me to my hotel right away. There is
something I got to look at in private.

You probably give me the horse laugh
the same as Cagle did.

- But I think I've got it.
- In that? You've been reading the comic books.

It's one of those screw type,
hard to open cases.

I'd look like an idiot, rushing into Cagle
and yelling eureka until I pried it open
and make sure.

I'd open it in a dark corner,
if I was you.

- Where is Cagle now, do you know?
- Sam Carew's trunks came in today.

I don't know if they're gone open it on
the depot or headquarter.

Stop at the lobby phone and get him, will you.

Don't tell him I've got any ideas,
just where is he in case I need him.

Darling, I hope you don't mind my coming here.

Ye like flypaper.

How do you think I felt here all alone,
waiting for another bullet to come
crashing through my window?

Why didn't you call colonel Cagle?

You tell me you'd come right back.

What did you have to rush up to the hills,
to her?

I haven't time to discuss it or anything.
I'm very busy right now.

But I don't like being put out.

Whether you like it or not, sweet,
that's exactly what I'm doing.

Go home, take off yours spurs
and go to bed.

On my tail, worse than those
Russians on the train.

waterproof, dustproof...
openproof.

- I'll open you.
- Don't bother, darling.

- Oh my mother...
- Yes, Michael, you definitively are.

Don't try. You wouldn't make it.

Just put it right here and rather quickly.

Right there.

Get back. Go on, back.

Is that the gun you used to shoot
a hole in your window?

No questions, please.
I'm standing on the 5th amendement.

You're a long way from Richmond, Indiana.

Please, no lectures.

I gave them all to myself when
I took the first step a long time ago.

I pledge allegiance to my flag
etc, etc, etc...

Don't think I don't have one regret, Michael.

You are very foolish, really.
It could have been so pleasant.

Well, too late.
This time I'm walking out on you, darling

The widow lady!
You live and learn.

If that it isn't the cavalry.

I'll take it.

Put it right down, there.
Get over there in the chair.

Mike Kells room.
Ye, I just try to reach you.

- Cagle?
- Ye.

He wasn't there when I phoned.
He wants to talk to you.

- Your Cagle.
- Come here and hold her hand.

- Hi?
- What have you been up to?

Hold on to your breath, colonel.
I've got something for you.

I've got something for you, Mike.
Sam Carew is alive.

What? Sam?
Cagle, listen.

You listen. You saw a body smashed to
beafsteak and you convinced me..

...it was Sam. Sam's right here by my site.

- Would you like to talk to him?
- Just tell him that I found his watch.

I found..Cagle, what about Janine?

Janine is here too.
Now, get these instructions.
We're going after this pack of rats.

Meet us at number 20 Via Porta.
We'll pick you up. And make it snappy.

Right now.

Great, he?
Yes, I'll be seeing you.

It looks I'm running out on you
again, after all.

My fate. You get around quite a lot, don't you?

The next time you near Richmond, Indiana.
There is a little drugstore there,

practically the whole town. Drop in and
tell him the last time you saw me

the little girl was doing great, just great.

Sure.

Sam, Cagle...?

You're waisting your time. He doesn't
have it. I didn't give it to him.

- This is difficult to believe.
- I thought you were a realist.

I have it. I didn't have it all the time,
but I have it now.

Absolutely nothing.

Nothing here either.

Dress him, get rid of him.

- Very well, I'm willing to make the deal.
- You meet all the terms?

Enumerate them again, please.

I shall turn the document over,
when I am safely across the border.

You will provide me with a proper passport
and papers.

Safe passage to the border, train ticket
and boat passage

The money is to be paid in American currency.

It takes a lot to surprise me, Janine.

Surprise that I want so little?

Surprised that you could fool me
so completely.

And I might add it, blot on my pride.

Then the sooner that's finished the better.
I go to my apartment now and get my things.

I prefer you don't take that risk.

I've been in the down-town twice today
without anyone knowing.

Besides, I wouldn't dream of asking you
to send me an attender.

Agreed. See here, nobody has successfully
hidden anything for me before.

It's not part of the deal,
but when you turn over the document

will you tell me where it was hidden?

It isn't part of the deal, but

is it absolutely necessary that
you kill the American courier?

You keep your part of the deal,
I keep mine.

There is just one small favour I would ask.
I was force to pawn some of my clothing.

This is a claim check. May we stop by and
pick them up? I need my cloths.

This is not my instructions.

As you wish, may I leave the pawn ticket
as a gift to my concierge?

It's a pity to waste good clothing and
she has been so kind to me.

I write on the envelope only her name or
if you like, you write it...

her name is Anna. "A-N-N-A".

She's at the cinema tonight.

When we got downstairs, you yourself
may place the envelope on her desk.

where she'll find it when she comes home.

I leave it entirely up to you.

He's waking up. I'll take him some coffee.
He ain't happy. I didn't tell him nothing.

- Will he be allright?
- Yes, he is coming around.

I gave him a drug, but nothing very potent.

I'll send him along to the hospital later.
Let's see that he has a good night's sleep.

Cagle...

Cagle, I blew it like an idiot.

- They got Sam's watch, didn't they?
- Take it easy, it's all over.

It was the second phone call
that fooled me.

Yours, in your voice. I didn't go for
that first one that came in at Janine's.

That malarky about Sam.

When you called, I was a chump.

No, Mike, I was the chump.
About your girl, about Janine.

You know this job of mine, dealing mostly
with rats, makes a man cynical.

So I insisted in going by the record.
You wanted to go by your feelings.

Your feelings were right.
She did work for Sam.

And in the final analysis she double-crossed
the Reds. She gave us the document.
We got it.

- No! Where is she?
- Take some hot coffee, Mike.

Strange way events can fall.

You pound your brains making things fit
into a logical pattern

and then something just happens like this.

The concierge of Janine's place found it
with her name on it.

But inside... open it, Mike.
Written on the inside flap is the real address.

Mike Kells, care of colonel Cagle,
US military government.

- Was in it here?
- Only the means of getting it. A pawn ticket.

In the pawnshop I picked up a piece of microfilm.

- But I was in the pawnshop.
- And the right one, brother.

As a favour to his customer the proprietor
had cleaned the watch.

Of course he hadn't the faintest idea what
he had and there it was, lying in a drawer.

What did Janine say when you told her?

Pretty lucky you did had it for
the Reds to take it off from you.

So, that's it, Mike, case closed.
Your mission complete.

- except the satisfaction of starting...
- Case closed?

For you maybe, but what about Janine?

- Where is she?
- I don't know.

What do you mean, you don't know?
They didn't get her?

- You didn't let them take her, did you?
- Mike, I told you all I know.

But they were coming for her. That phone
call in Sam's voice was to tie her down
and you know what they'll do to her.

Let's put it to her credit that
she knew that too and

and went with them on her own free will
to keep up the deception as long as possible.

All she asked for was her life and
a chance to get to America.

I know, Mike, it's rough. People lose their
lifes in war and this is war.

At least she saved a lot of other lifes.

It makes you feel a kind of hopeful,
doesn't it, that someone who wasn't
even an American could care that much.

Is that all you intend to do?
Check her off with a few kind words?

I'm helpless, Mike?
They cleared out with her.

Even if I knew where I could lay my hands
on her, I couldn't do anything.

She isn't even a citizen. I have no
authority over her, the Sovjets have.

She is just another casualty in
this cold war.

- It's too bad, but that's the score.
- That may be the score, but ...

Mike, be sensible. The only thing you could
accomplish now is to get yourself killed.

They'd do it too. They haven't any reason
to keep you alive anymore.

Like the colonel says, it is though for
everyone who dies on D-Day.

I let Ernie take you to the hospital.
I got a phone to Washington.

Come and see me tomorrow, will you?
I'd hate to lose your friendship.

- Give him a break. He feels just
as bad as you do.
- Where are my clothes?

I'll wrap you in a blanket for the ride.

She bargains for her life and freedom.

No Iron Curtain for her.

Ernie, what would be heading for a free
country?

- Italy, Switzerland or France.
- Simplon Express, but Mike,

the clock has run out, fellow.
You heard what the colonel said.

You wouldn't be a pidgeon this time,
you would be a very dead duck.

What if we made her?

Are you gone get my clothes or
do I have to go like this?

Allright, come on.
Let's go!

- What's the matter, can't you go any faster?
- No!

Come on!

Come on, get on...!

Excuse me.

- Signore, do I have your ticket?
- No, as a matter of fact, I am...

a diplomatic courier.

Your destination?

I don't know, not yet, how far I'll be going.
I'm looking for someone, a girl.

Blond, Chech, stands about so high. I'm not
even sure she is on this particular train

but if she is, you might have seen her.
She maybe in company with some Russians.

It is probably the lady in compartment 7
in the next car, excellency.

- Allow me to show you.
- No, thank you, I'll find it.

You can understand my being
somewhat startled.

Sure, take your time.
You mind if I come in?

- Hello, Janine.
- Mike.

You don't mind if I..
sit here for a minute, do you?

Not particulary.

I only came to offer the lady my apology.

My very great apology and my admiration.

- You have more lifes than a cat, my friend.
- You should know.

I ought to tell you, that in addition to this
I have friends in compartments on both sides.

Then, you have nothing to worry about, have you.

But you have, so run along.

You boys staves the walk out

I wouldn't think of stealing your
dull, tired act.

Please, go.
You only get into trouble.

- She has a point.
- I doubt that.

You'd rather awkward if two dead Americans
showed up in the same week.

Two Americans who are supposed to be
protected by an international protocol
of diplomatic immunity.

I doubt very much whether you'd kill me
unless it becomes abolutely necessary.

So long as you understand that if you
do make it necessary I will violate...

- protocol with personal satisfaction.
- Speaking of personal satisfaction, Janine

I am sure you're be pleased to hear
that I had a letter tonight from Anna.

- You really did?
- That's right.

She sends you a message. She is very
grateful. She'll do her best to show you
how much.

No, Mike. I was very happy to do
what little I could.

No. She feels that you deserve much more.

She is very stubborn about doing
something about it.

But I am happy now.
It's really allright.

Please understand that.

I do.

We're gone stop.

Stop.

And while there is a stop
I suggest that you get off.

Maybe you are right.

Open the window.

You can stop trembling now.

I'm frightened.

- But it's all over.
- Is it over?

I can't believe it.
I wonder if I ever will.

I feel as a dead on the day
of the resurrection.

Eternally grateful

What's the matter?

You know something?

This is the first time I ever looked at you,
really looked at you...

as just a girl.

So, it is?