Colditz (1972–1974): Season 1, Episode 6 - The Spirit of Freedom - full transcript
Phil Carrington is put in with the British prisoners, who are resentful and suspicious of him, especially Simon Carter, as Carrington is supposedly writing a book, explaining the war from ...
What do you think?
- Fine.
Okay, let's try It.
Scramble.
How do you do? I'm Tim Downing.
Phil Carrington.
There's a spare bunk up here.
Carrington?
The SPO said you wanted to talk to me.
I'm Pat Grant, the Escape Officer.
Bad luck.
You've had a rough stretch of solitary.
- Never mind that now.
Well, you'll feel odd for a while.
Take you a few days Just to adjust
physically to other people being around.
Get all the exercise you can.
- Look,
I'm not asking you for medical advice.
I want to talk to you about escaping.
It works.
Yeah, magic.
So you will put my plan
to the Escape Committee?
All right.
When? How long before I get an answer?
Well, It's April the second now.
I should be able to get back to you
by beginning of June.
June?
- Look, there's quite a waiting list.
At the moment
there are 17 separate plans
waiting to be considered and discussed
with other nationals
so there's no duplication.
No one fouling anyone else up.
I can't wait until June...
- I know, I know.
It's a natural reaction
to solitary confinement.
It's got nothing to do
with solitary confinement.
Quiet!
I'm sorry. I'm wanted In the yard.
We'll have another talk In a week.
I'll try and get you
on the list somewhere.
You should be out of here
within six months, with Luck.
A lot of luck and careful planning.
It's time, Isn't It?
Isn't It?
Three minutes.
You said that 10 minutes ago.
I said 13 minutes 10 minutes ago.
Right!
Funny how slowly time passes
when you're waiting for something.
Yeah, well, It depends
what you're waiting for.
How do you mean?
When my wife and I were married
I'd just got out of training school.
I was waiting to be posted
to a squadron.
What about that?
I was just thinking how quickly
the time passed then. That's all.
You should try not to think
about it so much.
I know.
I can't help it.
It's just that, looking back,
we don't seem to have had
any time together at all.
Thank God I'm not married.
I'm sorry.
I told you yesterday.
You've got to be patient.
I know what you told me yesterday.
And now I'm going to tell you something.
Oh, come on, Dick, one minute's
not going to make that much difference
one way or the other.
- Do you want to wind up in Sardinia?
No.
Now.
Get out of the sun, will you?
Go ahead and play.
Oh, for God's sake, Yank.
Keep it still, will you?
Black.
Thanks for your help, Yank.
My name's Carrington, limey.
Did you hear that, Dick?
He called me a limey.
You called him a Yank.
You see that punching bag there?
Why don't you go and hit it?
Hit it as hard as you can.
We all get like this sometimes.
Another tactical British withdrawal.
March the 28th, 38.2.
March the 30th, 38.1.
What happened to the 29th?
- Rain.
March the 31st, 38.2.
No, no, that's a mistake.
- You kept joggling the conker.
Yeah. And what's next?
- April the first, today.
37.7.
We're going to need
at least another week's readings
before we can begin
to make accurate tables.
♪ Over there, over there ♪
Oh, not again, Simon. That's enough.
That's enough, Simon!
Come on, pack it in, Simon.
♪ They'll be over when it's over
over there ♪
I hope I didn't sing anything
to offend you.
Oh, I don't blame you.
I'd feel the same.
At least I've got a country
I can go home to one day,
without the Germans there ahead of me.
Years since I saw a German in England.
- Would you mind explaining that?
Maybe you haven't heard.
The British Army is bogged down
in Greece,
there's going to be another Dunkirk.
Only this time, the Germans
are ready to cross the Channel.
Where did you get that from?
I was on the run
for a couple of months
before I got caught and sent here.
Well, Hitler's given up the idea
of invading England. It's too late.
I remember them
saying that about France.
Wasn't it dear Mr Chamberlain who said
"Hitler's missed the bus"?
And then six weeks later, the Germans
were in Paris. You remember that?
There's no comparison.
The French were all divided
against themselves.
No politics, please.
War is only an extension of politics.
When you abandoned Czechoslovakia
for political reasons,
that was your last chance
to win the war.
I grant you, at the moment, Carrington,
it's pretty difficult to see
how we're going to win this war.
But we'll never lose it.
Hear, hear!
- You said it.
I'll give you six months
after the fall of Greece.
I thought we might liberate
the occupied countries first
before we give in?
- That's an idea.
That's a very good idea.
Why don't you liberate India?
There's an occupied country.
Liberate India.
No, I'll tell you what, we'll swap India
for Hawaii and the Philippines.
And Lana Turner.
And Joan Bennett.
- And Deanna Durbin.
Deanna Durbin's Canadian.
I do wish you'd stop talking
about women.
Can you think of a better subject?
No gentleman talks
about women behind their backs.
Certainly not.
I'm glad you think it's funny.
- You don't, do you?
You're serious.
Do you really think we're beaten?
Yes, I do.
- Then why did you join the RAF?
To observe.
- But you're a pilot.
To observe what's going on.
It's a pity you didn't join
the Luftwaffe.
I might have done that if I'd have been
in Berlin instead of London at the time.
That doesn't mean that
I want the Nazis to win.
One of your English writers said,
"I am a camera.
"Cameras don't take sides."
If I hadn't been shot down,
I might have been
one of the few Americans
to record the decline and fall
of the British Empire.
At first hand.
Is that what that's all about?
More or less.
Do you think he meant all that?
Yes, he meant it, all right.
What do we know about him?
Well, anyone could say
they were American.
Carrington's an American, all right.
- Really? How do you know?
Jimmy Corbett knew him in Spain.
Yeah, which side was he on?
- He was a journalist.
For the Berliner Zeitung?
- For the Berliner Zeitung?
We'll keep an eye on him.
Shine, damn you, shine.
The German Ministry of Propaganda
ensures us a warm, dry spring.
Yeah, but it's the third day in a row.
We've got to get one more reading
this week.
There'll be plenty of sun on the Med
this time of the year anyway.
What's it like there in peacetime?
All dress whites and cocktails.
The French used to make
a big fuss over us.
It was rather chic to have a
British Naval officer at their parties.
That's where I met these friends
at Saint-Tropez.
We used to go sailing.
My wife and I were planning
to go to Cannes on our honeymoon.
I've been thinking.
- I had a week's leave...
It's about time we went over
our whole scheme again with Pat,
so he can put it up to
the other Allied escape officers.
Oh.
No conkers today?
Not quite the weather for it.
Why are you so interested?
I have a theory that the British suffer
from arrested development. That's why.
Yeah, we have a theory about you, too.
Steady on, Simon.
- Let him finish.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time
the Germans had planted a stooge.
Oh, Simon, steady on! Steady on!
Steady, Simon. Come on!
Steady!
Are officers allowed to fight
among themselves in the Royal Air Force?
No, sir.
- Nor in the Wehrmacht.
It is also against the rules in Colditz.
The penalty for disturbing the peace,
as you English put it,
is seven days solitary confinement.
Dismissed.
You provoked the assault?
You went right up
to Flight Lieutenant Carter
and hit him, for no reason?
I had a reason.
It seemed like a pretty good way
of getting 15 days in a cell.
Please, no joking.
No, it would suit me fine.
Besides, it would
give me time to finish.
Finish what?
I want permission to speak
to the Kommandant.
Why do you wish to be sent
to solitary confinement?
I'm writing a book.
I want privacy, time to finish it.
You'll have plenty of time
in Colditz, Lieutenant.
Perhaps years.
Not for this one.
My publisher in the United States
wants it as soon as possible.
All written material
addressed to the United States
must be submitted to the Central Bureau
of Censorship in Berlin.
They'll pass it.
What is the subject of the book?
- Germany.
Germany in the war.
You must have seen a great deal
of the country in the...
How many days was it before
you were recaptured and sent here?
63.
In nine weeks you became
such an expert on Germany
that you decided to write a book?
You will also see that
I was a foreign correspondent
for the United Press in Spain.
That I worked for The Herald Tribune
in France, Holland and Denmark.
That I covered the Blitz in London.
I've seen a good deal of the Germans
during this war.
From the Allied side.
The losing side.
Leave us.
Mmm, stand easy.
Why are you in such a hurry
to finish the book?
Roosevelt has already repealed
the Neutrality Act.
I would imagine that he's going to
push Lend-Lease through Congress.
As a German Army officer and no doubt
a student of the last World war,
what would you think
his next move would be?
Germany has no quarrel
with the United States government.
There is no reason why
our two countries should go to war.
I think that, too. I believe that.
Roosevelt's been able
to do what he wants
because he's had
public opinion behind him.
And you think one book will change it?
No, I don't. But I think it'll at least
show the other side of the argument.
Germany's been getting some pretty
bad press in the United States lately.
We're not going
anywhere near Switzerland?
Switzerland's too obvious.
Everybody heads for the Swiss border.
It's the closest.
It's not much closer than France.
Well, we've got some good contacts
in France.
The escape route into Spain
is pretty well organised.
No, no, no, no. Spain's out.
We're going for a little sea voyage.
- Oh, you've done that before, Dick.
With the whole coast of France occupied,
it's next to impossible
to get any kind of boat.
I've got some friends in Saint-Tropez.
They've got a 14-foot yacht.
What he means is
that they won't mind our stealing it.
It's only a week's voyage to Malta.
And what about instruments? You need
more than a compass to steer a course.
Go on. Show him.
A sextant.
The length of the shortest shadow gives
you the angle of the sun at midday.
Right?
- Hmm.
We made a complete set
of latitude tables.
All we have to do is to measure
the length of the shadow anywhere
and then check it with Greenwich time.
We've got our latitude and longitude
right by a couple of miles, anyway.
Well, I suppose the Navy
knows what it's doing.
I'll check the whole scheme out
with our friends
in case there's any conflict.
Nice little nook you've got here.
Cosy.
Marvellous what friends
in the right place can do for you.
Which of them do you fancy most?
Heydrich, Himmler, Hess or Hitler?
Bergman, finish up and get out of here.
I don't hold with the Nazis much myself,
but then I'm prejudiced,
of course, being Jewish.
Member of an inferior race.
Like Spinoza and Freud and Einstein.
Not to mention Jesus of Nazareth.
All those other sub-humans.
In my personal opinion...
- Bergman.
Oh, I'm sorry if I've said
anything at all to offend you...
Bergman!
Get on with your work
and let me get on with mine.
Yes, sir.
Am I breathing too heavily for you?
People have to breathe, don't they?
Never mind the bed. Leave it!
Your permission to speak, sir.
What is it?
Message to Lieutenant Carrington
from Captain Grant, sir.
Go on.
Hitler's invaded Yugoslavia now.
I know that.
- Oh.
Course, your friends
would have told you, wouldn't they?
Captain Grant wanted to know
if that had made any difference,
the German Army moving into Yugoslavia.
But I can see it hasn't.
- No, it hasn't.
And you can tell
Captain Grant that. Go on.
Right.
Heil Hitler!
Yeah, I've got that for you.
- Gestapo!
Captain,
they've left the Kommandant's office.
Scramble!
They're not coming this way.
You mean they're searching
the Polish quarters first?
I don't think they've come here
to snoop at all, as far as I can see.
I think the rozzers just want to have
a bit of cheese and chalk with the Yank.
Oh, for God's sake, speak English,
can't you, Bergman?
It looks like the Gestapo
are just coming here
to see Lieutenant Carrington.
Phillip Reinhardt Carrington?
My mother was German.
Yes. Yes, she was born in Cologne.
She was also a member
of the Illinois delegation
to the Democratic Convention in 1931.
A lot of people were for Roosevelt
in those days.
Yes, including you.
You were secretary
of the Students for FDR
at Michigan State University.
You've found out a lot about me.
- Yes.
How many Germans voted for Hitler
during the last Reichstag elections?
Did you?
Well, the elected Chancellor, Von Papen,
was already secretly a member
of the Nazi party.
Every German who voted
for Von Papen knew that.
Roosevelt promised to keep us
out of foreign wars.
You didn't keep out of them yourself.
You were in Madrid in 1936.
Yes, I was working for an American
newspaper there, The Herald Tribune.
Yes.
"The Spanish Republican Government
stands for democracy everywhere.
"To support it
is to help stop Hitler now."
You know who wrote that, of course.
Yes. I did.
Would you like to have me quote you
on Goebbels and Mussolini
before the Rome-Berlin pact?
Are you trying to convince us
you've had a sudden change of mind?
Did Hitler have a change of mind
about Stalin
after he signed
the Non-Aggression Treaty with him?
That is completely irrelevant.
All I'm trying to do is to convince you
that I'm a realist, a pragmatist.
That's all.
Hitler decided he couldn't
risk fighting Russia.
I don't think the United States
can risk fighting Germany.
That's all I'm trying to say.
And is that what
you're going to say in your book?
I've said it already, loud and clear,
in the first few chapters.
Why don't you read it? Hmm?
Yes, thank you. We will.
Yes, the Ministry of Propaganda
will read every word of it.
With great interest.
And then the Ministry of Propaganda
will pass it along to us
at Gestapo Headquarters.
For our opinion.
British officers
and Herr Phillip Carrington.
12.
11 of us, one of yours, that makes 12.
The Minister has asked me
to encourage you in every way I can
to finish your book.
- Yes, yes.
The Ministry of Propaganda
is most enthusiastic
about the first two chapters
of your manuscript.
And so am I.
You'll be given every opportunity
to arrange for its publication
in the United States.
How does the Gestapo feel about it?
You have our permission
to continue with your work.
No, no. Sit down, Lieutenant.
I found it very interesting,
your analysis of power situations.
There's nothing particularly new
about that.
Darwin's theory...
- Uh, yes, Darwin.
But he didn't apply his idea
to politics.
For an American liberal...
Disillusioned liberal.
For an American with your background,
you have an unusual contempt
for human intelligence.
The human species, like any other, have
to adjust to the existing surroundings.
Yes. Here in Colditz, too.
Some of you adapt to the idea
of remaining prisoners
and some of you don't.
All anyone needs is a sense of purpose,
something to do.
So you've adapted to Colditz?
As long as I can get my work done.
It might be possible to arrange
a different environment for you.
Yes. We were considering
some other form of internment.
House arrest.
Perhaps a hotel room in Berlin.
There are other writers there,
there are French and English...
Yes, I know that.
You prefer to stay here?
Well, what I'm thinking is that...
If I were to get special treatment
from what the Americans call
the Gestapo,
they might think that I'd been bribed.
Every word that I wrote
would be suspect.
And no one could say that if
I remained a prisoner of war
here in Colditz.
Last year in Baden-Baden,
the snow was this high.
Get back!
Notice the yellow tubular
and hermaphrodite florets of the disc.
Peculiar to the species
Bellis perennis.
Commonly known as the daisy.
Keep quiet and do as you're told.
Or I'll break your neck.
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:10,314
Where is the twelfth?
There are only supposed to be
11 British Officers and your man.
I'd say your man seems to be missing.
- What man?
You know, Herr Carrington,
the Kommandant's friend.
Maybe the Kommandant told
Herr Carrington he was excused Appel.
This is not Carrington's.
The American did not go out to
exercise this afternoon, sir.
He was working in his cell
all afternoon.
At least Lord Haw-Haw
never pretended to be on our side.
He had the decency to get out of
the country before the war even started.
Yes. Not like joining up
and then supporting the enemy.
They'll hang him when it's over.
Hang Lord Haw-Haw?
Aren't you ever going to move?
They ought to stuff him,
put him in Madame Tussaud's.
Why shouldn't we? It's treason.
They made out the warrant
the minute he started his broadcasts
telling us to give up.
I suppose he'd have got off it
if he'd been American.
You stop being an American when
you join the British Armed Forces.
Legally, anyway.
At ease.
Please keep to your bunks, gentlemen.
I do not wish to disturb you.
I just want a few words
with Lieutenant Carrington.
Please get up, Lieutenant.
Take him to his quarters.
Well, there doesn't seem to be any
serious damage.
Very little bruising.
Although it's hard to tell
with the scalp.
Emergency Appel.
Looks like someone made it
over the wall. Can you stand?
You are excused all Appels
until further notice.
The Kommandant's orders.
Hmm, you are a lucky fellow.
Wish it was me.
All right if I just finish up
with him first
before I join the Appel?
I don't think there's any need
for a bandage.
It's not much more than a cut, really.
What were you hit with?
- I don't know.
I don't seem to have been there
when it happened.
Well, I'll take another look at it
tomorrow morning.
Get as much sleep as you can.
Is the duffle coat still in there?
All right, Jim.
Back, back, back, back! Back!
Hold it!
Pat...
It's a different bag.
- Are you sure?
I've been punching it for months.
I know every thread of it.
The Jerries are onto us.
Scramble.
Why change the bag?
They probably ripped it open.
When they found Dick's duffle coat,
they thought they'd see if
he'd try the same trick again.
Well, at least Dick got away.
Any news of Dick?
Who?
Lieutenant Player.
Player?
Player.
Did he get clear?
I don't know him.
Okay, Bergman, forget it.
I expected to find you
in a more cheerful mood this morning.
The British have pulled out of Greece.
Rommel's doing well, too.
You're so interested
in Lieutenant Player,
don't you want to hear
how your side's getting on?
Get out, Bergman.
Get out!
Damn!
He'll spend the next couple of months
in a cell.
Steady, Simon.
Steady, Simon.
How about a nice game of chess?
A long game.
Well, we've got plenty of time.
We've got years and years.
Easy, old man.
Or we could brush up on our Spanish.
Or take up the French horn.
You know what we should have done,
Dick and I?
We should have gone on making
those Azimuth tables.
Measuring the length of shadows at noon.
Waiting for the sun to come out.
Cursing the days that it rained.
We should have made thousands
and thousands of navigation tables.
At least when we were doing that
we had something to do.
We had some bloody reason
for being alive.
All right, you'll get another go!
Just bad luck this time.
That's all.
Perhaps it was.
Perhaps it wasn't.
Well, it could have been
just his bad luck,
Jerries picking him up.
Could be they knew where to look.
He was always
hanging around. Listening.
Don't you think we ought to give him
a chance to defend himself?
A sort of court-martial?
All right.
All right, we'll give him a chance.
After Appel tonight.
What is it?
- The SPO wants to see you. Now.
He asked us what we were doing.
And did you tell him?
- No!
He knew we were making some
sort of calculations,
I mean, I had a protractor,
Dick was drawing triangles,
he'd seen us in the exercise yard,
anybody could guess what we were up to.
I didn't guess what you were
up to, Simon.
Did you know?
Carrington?
Stand up.
Did you know?
Know what?
Player was planning to get to France
and reach the Mediterranean.
I knew he was planning something.
I see.
Everybody's planning something.
And after Dick escaped
you were excused all further Appels.
So what?
Did you see
the Kommandant that night?
No, I don't think so.
You've been on special rations
for weeks now, haven't you?
Oh, yeah.
I get truffles three times a day.
Ever since you had
a private talk with the Kommandant..
I've had dozens of talks
with the Kommandant.
The day you and Simon
had a fight.
Oh, come on. We all know why
Phil's been getting special...
Phil...
- Why are you standing up for him?
It's not a question of
standing up for anybody.
There's no evidence at all
that Carrington...
He deserves a damn good hiding anyway.
Make him run the gauntlet.
Now, wait a minute.
Stay out of it.
- All right. Let's take a vote on it.
But there's no evidence...
Let's vote.
All those in favour.
Move.
Riot squad!
Move out.
- Simon!
He's come to pin a medal on him.
Gestapo.
Come to congratulate Carrington.
- On finishing his book.
What do you say now?
- I just hope you're right, that's all.
Sit down, Lieutenant.
No, thanks.
I've read your manuscript.
You've spent enough time on it.
We had several typewritten copies made.
I was hoping it'd be off
to the publisher by now.
I felt it deserved careful study
by all our departments
before sending it to America.
I thought you had the authority
to send it on yourself?
Yes. But there were things...
questions that puzzled me
about the manuscript.
Maybe I can answer some of them for you.
Yes.
This letter attached
to the manuscript...
That's a letter to my publisher.
Alexander Cole. He's an old
school friend of yours, I see.
Yes, sir, he is.
He also published my last book.
Yes, the one about Spain.
It puzzled me, this letter.
"Dear Sandy..."
That's a contraction for Alexander.
Yes.
"You will probably be surprised
by my book.
"I know that most of it is contrary
to your own opinion."
I was just guessing.
- Yes.
Knowing your friend's political views
in the past.
"I know it goes against majority opinion
in the United States."
You know that, too.
- Yes.
"But I hope you will understand that
the truth of what I'm trying to say,
"particularly in chapter four,
"lies in the fact that
the multiple always adds up
"to the original factor,
as they taught us in high school.”
"The multiple always adds up
to the original factor."
That's a curious phrase.
Yes, that could be
a little obscure to a German.
What that is, is that's jargon
used in American civics classes.
What does it mean?
Well, my interpretation was that
the lowest common denominator
of public opinion is always...
always...
the loudest and most representative.
Yes, that's what I thought too,
for a time,
and then one of our other departments
suggested an altogether
different interpretation.
Well, I can change that phrase
if it bothers you.
No, no, no, no. The whole book
would be meaningless without it.
What are twice nine?
What?
- What are twice nine?
Yes, three times nine.
Five times nine.
Seven times nine.
There's something
very curious about this,
because if you add one and eight,
two and seven,
four and five,
six and three.
Yes, thank you.
The multiple always adds up
to the original factor.
Always, but only with the figure nine.
That's fascinating.
I never took mathematics.
Yes, you did.
At high school with your friend Sandy.
What's that got to do with my book?
Will you please read
that first sentence from chapter four?
Please.
"However chivalrous it may seem,
"flooding unending American arms
into England won't stop..."
Yes, that's it. That's it.
That's enough.
Let's look at every ninth letter.
H.
I.
T.
L.
E.
R. Hitler. Thank you.
Let's read on, taking every ninth letter
in the manuscript.
"Hitler.
"In spite objections,
"general staff Wehrmacht
"has already issued
"Directive Number 24."
You know what Directive Number 24 is?
Yes, it's all here.
In the same code in your manuscript.
"Invasion of Yugoslavia
has not changed Hitler's plans,
"although it may have postponed them."
"Concentration of German troops
in Romania and Poland
"is for Barbarossa,
"Hitler's code name
for an attack on Russia this year."
I know what Directive Number 24 is.
Did you?
I tried to warn
a friend of mine in America.
No, you hoped to warn
the American government,
and, through them, the Russians.
Where did you get your information?
I was a journalist.
- Yes, where did you...
where did you get your information?
Around.
- Who from?
Just around.
- Who from?
Everybody in Germany
knows what Directive Number 24 is.
Who from?
God!
Hello.
Pat got a message through to me.
It was a damn good try, Yank.
Thanks...
...limey.
- Fine.
Okay, let's try It.
Scramble.
How do you do? I'm Tim Downing.
Phil Carrington.
There's a spare bunk up here.
Carrington?
The SPO said you wanted to talk to me.
I'm Pat Grant, the Escape Officer.
Bad luck.
You've had a rough stretch of solitary.
- Never mind that now.
Well, you'll feel odd for a while.
Take you a few days Just to adjust
physically to other people being around.
Get all the exercise you can.
- Look,
I'm not asking you for medical advice.
I want to talk to you about escaping.
It works.
Yeah, magic.
So you will put my plan
to the Escape Committee?
All right.
When? How long before I get an answer?
Well, It's April the second now.
I should be able to get back to you
by beginning of June.
June?
- Look, there's quite a waiting list.
At the moment
there are 17 separate plans
waiting to be considered and discussed
with other nationals
so there's no duplication.
No one fouling anyone else up.
I can't wait until June...
- I know, I know.
It's a natural reaction
to solitary confinement.
It's got nothing to do
with solitary confinement.
Quiet!
I'm sorry. I'm wanted In the yard.
We'll have another talk In a week.
I'll try and get you
on the list somewhere.
You should be out of here
within six months, with Luck.
A lot of luck and careful planning.
It's time, Isn't It?
Isn't It?
Three minutes.
You said that 10 minutes ago.
I said 13 minutes 10 minutes ago.
Right!
Funny how slowly time passes
when you're waiting for something.
Yeah, well, It depends
what you're waiting for.
How do you mean?
When my wife and I were married
I'd just got out of training school.
I was waiting to be posted
to a squadron.
What about that?
I was just thinking how quickly
the time passed then. That's all.
You should try not to think
about it so much.
I know.
I can't help it.
It's just that, looking back,
we don't seem to have had
any time together at all.
Thank God I'm not married.
I'm sorry.
I told you yesterday.
You've got to be patient.
I know what you told me yesterday.
And now I'm going to tell you something.
Oh, come on, Dick, one minute's
not going to make that much difference
one way or the other.
- Do you want to wind up in Sardinia?
No.
Now.
Get out of the sun, will you?
Go ahead and play.
Oh, for God's sake, Yank.
Keep it still, will you?
Black.
Thanks for your help, Yank.
My name's Carrington, limey.
Did you hear that, Dick?
He called me a limey.
You called him a Yank.
You see that punching bag there?
Why don't you go and hit it?
Hit it as hard as you can.
We all get like this sometimes.
Another tactical British withdrawal.
March the 28th, 38.2.
March the 30th, 38.1.
What happened to the 29th?
- Rain.
March the 31st, 38.2.
No, no, that's a mistake.
- You kept joggling the conker.
Yeah. And what's next?
- April the first, today.
37.7.
We're going to need
at least another week's readings
before we can begin
to make accurate tables.
♪ Over there, over there ♪
Oh, not again, Simon. That's enough.
That's enough, Simon!
Come on, pack it in, Simon.
♪ They'll be over when it's over
over there ♪
I hope I didn't sing anything
to offend you.
Oh, I don't blame you.
I'd feel the same.
At least I've got a country
I can go home to one day,
without the Germans there ahead of me.
Years since I saw a German in England.
- Would you mind explaining that?
Maybe you haven't heard.
The British Army is bogged down
in Greece,
there's going to be another Dunkirk.
Only this time, the Germans
are ready to cross the Channel.
Where did you get that from?
I was on the run
for a couple of months
before I got caught and sent here.
Well, Hitler's given up the idea
of invading England. It's too late.
I remember them
saying that about France.
Wasn't it dear Mr Chamberlain who said
"Hitler's missed the bus"?
And then six weeks later, the Germans
were in Paris. You remember that?
There's no comparison.
The French were all divided
against themselves.
No politics, please.
War is only an extension of politics.
When you abandoned Czechoslovakia
for political reasons,
that was your last chance
to win the war.
I grant you, at the moment, Carrington,
it's pretty difficult to see
how we're going to win this war.
But we'll never lose it.
Hear, hear!
- You said it.
I'll give you six months
after the fall of Greece.
I thought we might liberate
the occupied countries first
before we give in?
- That's an idea.
That's a very good idea.
Why don't you liberate India?
There's an occupied country.
Liberate India.
No, I'll tell you what, we'll swap India
for Hawaii and the Philippines.
And Lana Turner.
And Joan Bennett.
- And Deanna Durbin.
Deanna Durbin's Canadian.
I do wish you'd stop talking
about women.
Can you think of a better subject?
No gentleman talks
about women behind their backs.
Certainly not.
I'm glad you think it's funny.
- You don't, do you?
You're serious.
Do you really think we're beaten?
Yes, I do.
- Then why did you join the RAF?
To observe.
- But you're a pilot.
To observe what's going on.
It's a pity you didn't join
the Luftwaffe.
I might have done that if I'd have been
in Berlin instead of London at the time.
That doesn't mean that
I want the Nazis to win.
One of your English writers said,
"I am a camera.
"Cameras don't take sides."
If I hadn't been shot down,
I might have been
one of the few Americans
to record the decline and fall
of the British Empire.
At first hand.
Is that what that's all about?
More or less.
Do you think he meant all that?
Yes, he meant it, all right.
What do we know about him?
Well, anyone could say
they were American.
Carrington's an American, all right.
- Really? How do you know?
Jimmy Corbett knew him in Spain.
Yeah, which side was he on?
- He was a journalist.
For the Berliner Zeitung?
- For the Berliner Zeitung?
We'll keep an eye on him.
Shine, damn you, shine.
The German Ministry of Propaganda
ensures us a warm, dry spring.
Yeah, but it's the third day in a row.
We've got to get one more reading
this week.
There'll be plenty of sun on the Med
this time of the year anyway.
What's it like there in peacetime?
All dress whites and cocktails.
The French used to make
a big fuss over us.
It was rather chic to have a
British Naval officer at their parties.
That's where I met these friends
at Saint-Tropez.
We used to go sailing.
My wife and I were planning
to go to Cannes on our honeymoon.
I've been thinking.
- I had a week's leave...
It's about time we went over
our whole scheme again with Pat,
so he can put it up to
the other Allied escape officers.
Oh.
No conkers today?
Not quite the weather for it.
Why are you so interested?
I have a theory that the British suffer
from arrested development. That's why.
Yeah, we have a theory about you, too.
Steady on, Simon.
- Let him finish.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time
the Germans had planted a stooge.
Oh, Simon, steady on! Steady on!
Steady, Simon. Come on!
Steady!
Are officers allowed to fight
among themselves in the Royal Air Force?
No, sir.
- Nor in the Wehrmacht.
It is also against the rules in Colditz.
The penalty for disturbing the peace,
as you English put it,
is seven days solitary confinement.
Dismissed.
You provoked the assault?
You went right up
to Flight Lieutenant Carter
and hit him, for no reason?
I had a reason.
It seemed like a pretty good way
of getting 15 days in a cell.
Please, no joking.
No, it would suit me fine.
Besides, it would
give me time to finish.
Finish what?
I want permission to speak
to the Kommandant.
Why do you wish to be sent
to solitary confinement?
I'm writing a book.
I want privacy, time to finish it.
You'll have plenty of time
in Colditz, Lieutenant.
Perhaps years.
Not for this one.
My publisher in the United States
wants it as soon as possible.
All written material
addressed to the United States
must be submitted to the Central Bureau
of Censorship in Berlin.
They'll pass it.
What is the subject of the book?
- Germany.
Germany in the war.
You must have seen a great deal
of the country in the...
How many days was it before
you were recaptured and sent here?
63.
In nine weeks you became
such an expert on Germany
that you decided to write a book?
You will also see that
I was a foreign correspondent
for the United Press in Spain.
That I worked for The Herald Tribune
in France, Holland and Denmark.
That I covered the Blitz in London.
I've seen a good deal of the Germans
during this war.
From the Allied side.
The losing side.
Leave us.
Mmm, stand easy.
Why are you in such a hurry
to finish the book?
Roosevelt has already repealed
the Neutrality Act.
I would imagine that he's going to
push Lend-Lease through Congress.
As a German Army officer and no doubt
a student of the last World war,
what would you think
his next move would be?
Germany has no quarrel
with the United States government.
There is no reason why
our two countries should go to war.
I think that, too. I believe that.
Roosevelt's been able
to do what he wants
because he's had
public opinion behind him.
And you think one book will change it?
No, I don't. But I think it'll at least
show the other side of the argument.
Germany's been getting some pretty
bad press in the United States lately.
We're not going
anywhere near Switzerland?
Switzerland's too obvious.
Everybody heads for the Swiss border.
It's the closest.
It's not much closer than France.
Well, we've got some good contacts
in France.
The escape route into Spain
is pretty well organised.
No, no, no, no. Spain's out.
We're going for a little sea voyage.
- Oh, you've done that before, Dick.
With the whole coast of France occupied,
it's next to impossible
to get any kind of boat.
I've got some friends in Saint-Tropez.
They've got a 14-foot yacht.
What he means is
that they won't mind our stealing it.
It's only a week's voyage to Malta.
And what about instruments? You need
more than a compass to steer a course.
Go on. Show him.
A sextant.
The length of the shortest shadow gives
you the angle of the sun at midday.
Right?
- Hmm.
We made a complete set
of latitude tables.
All we have to do is to measure
the length of the shadow anywhere
and then check it with Greenwich time.
We've got our latitude and longitude
right by a couple of miles, anyway.
Well, I suppose the Navy
knows what it's doing.
I'll check the whole scheme out
with our friends
in case there's any conflict.
Nice little nook you've got here.
Cosy.
Marvellous what friends
in the right place can do for you.
Which of them do you fancy most?
Heydrich, Himmler, Hess or Hitler?
Bergman, finish up and get out of here.
I don't hold with the Nazis much myself,
but then I'm prejudiced,
of course, being Jewish.
Member of an inferior race.
Like Spinoza and Freud and Einstein.
Not to mention Jesus of Nazareth.
All those other sub-humans.
In my personal opinion...
- Bergman.
Oh, I'm sorry if I've said
anything at all to offend you...
Bergman!
Get on with your work
and let me get on with mine.
Yes, sir.
Am I breathing too heavily for you?
People have to breathe, don't they?
Never mind the bed. Leave it!
Your permission to speak, sir.
What is it?
Message to Lieutenant Carrington
from Captain Grant, sir.
Go on.
Hitler's invaded Yugoslavia now.
I know that.
- Oh.
Course, your friends
would have told you, wouldn't they?
Captain Grant wanted to know
if that had made any difference,
the German Army moving into Yugoslavia.
But I can see it hasn't.
- No, it hasn't.
And you can tell
Captain Grant that. Go on.
Right.
Heil Hitler!
Yeah, I've got that for you.
- Gestapo!
Captain,
they've left the Kommandant's office.
Scramble!
They're not coming this way.
You mean they're searching
the Polish quarters first?
I don't think they've come here
to snoop at all, as far as I can see.
I think the rozzers just want to have
a bit of cheese and chalk with the Yank.
Oh, for God's sake, speak English,
can't you, Bergman?
It looks like the Gestapo
are just coming here
to see Lieutenant Carrington.
Phillip Reinhardt Carrington?
My mother was German.
Yes. Yes, she was born in Cologne.
She was also a member
of the Illinois delegation
to the Democratic Convention in 1931.
A lot of people were for Roosevelt
in those days.
Yes, including you.
You were secretary
of the Students for FDR
at Michigan State University.
You've found out a lot about me.
- Yes.
How many Germans voted for Hitler
during the last Reichstag elections?
Did you?
Well, the elected Chancellor, Von Papen,
was already secretly a member
of the Nazi party.
Every German who voted
for Von Papen knew that.
Roosevelt promised to keep us
out of foreign wars.
You didn't keep out of them yourself.
You were in Madrid in 1936.
Yes, I was working for an American
newspaper there, The Herald Tribune.
Yes.
"The Spanish Republican Government
stands for democracy everywhere.
"To support it
is to help stop Hitler now."
You know who wrote that, of course.
Yes. I did.
Would you like to have me quote you
on Goebbels and Mussolini
before the Rome-Berlin pact?
Are you trying to convince us
you've had a sudden change of mind?
Did Hitler have a change of mind
about Stalin
after he signed
the Non-Aggression Treaty with him?
That is completely irrelevant.
All I'm trying to do is to convince you
that I'm a realist, a pragmatist.
That's all.
Hitler decided he couldn't
risk fighting Russia.
I don't think the United States
can risk fighting Germany.
That's all I'm trying to say.
And is that what
you're going to say in your book?
I've said it already, loud and clear,
in the first few chapters.
Why don't you read it? Hmm?
Yes, thank you. We will.
Yes, the Ministry of Propaganda
will read every word of it.
With great interest.
And then the Ministry of Propaganda
will pass it along to us
at Gestapo Headquarters.
For our opinion.
British officers
and Herr Phillip Carrington.
12.
11 of us, one of yours, that makes 12.
The Minister has asked me
to encourage you in every way I can
to finish your book.
- Yes, yes.
The Ministry of Propaganda
is most enthusiastic
about the first two chapters
of your manuscript.
And so am I.
You'll be given every opportunity
to arrange for its publication
in the United States.
How does the Gestapo feel about it?
You have our permission
to continue with your work.
No, no. Sit down, Lieutenant.
I found it very interesting,
your analysis of power situations.
There's nothing particularly new
about that.
Darwin's theory...
- Uh, yes, Darwin.
But he didn't apply his idea
to politics.
For an American liberal...
Disillusioned liberal.
For an American with your background,
you have an unusual contempt
for human intelligence.
The human species, like any other, have
to adjust to the existing surroundings.
Yes. Here in Colditz, too.
Some of you adapt to the idea
of remaining prisoners
and some of you don't.
All anyone needs is a sense of purpose,
something to do.
So you've adapted to Colditz?
As long as I can get my work done.
It might be possible to arrange
a different environment for you.
Yes. We were considering
some other form of internment.
House arrest.
Perhaps a hotel room in Berlin.
There are other writers there,
there are French and English...
Yes, I know that.
You prefer to stay here?
Well, what I'm thinking is that...
If I were to get special treatment
from what the Americans call
the Gestapo,
they might think that I'd been bribed.
Every word that I wrote
would be suspect.
And no one could say that if
I remained a prisoner of war
here in Colditz.
Last year in Baden-Baden,
the snow was this high.
Get back!
Notice the yellow tubular
and hermaphrodite florets of the disc.
Peculiar to the species
Bellis perennis.
Commonly known as the daisy.
Keep quiet and do as you're told.
Or I'll break your neck.
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:10,314
Where is the twelfth?
There are only supposed to be
11 British Officers and your man.
I'd say your man seems to be missing.
- What man?
You know, Herr Carrington,
the Kommandant's friend.
Maybe the Kommandant told
Herr Carrington he was excused Appel.
This is not Carrington's.
The American did not go out to
exercise this afternoon, sir.
He was working in his cell
all afternoon.
At least Lord Haw-Haw
never pretended to be on our side.
He had the decency to get out of
the country before the war even started.
Yes. Not like joining up
and then supporting the enemy.
They'll hang him when it's over.
Hang Lord Haw-Haw?
Aren't you ever going to move?
They ought to stuff him,
put him in Madame Tussaud's.
Why shouldn't we? It's treason.
They made out the warrant
the minute he started his broadcasts
telling us to give up.
I suppose he'd have got off it
if he'd been American.
You stop being an American when
you join the British Armed Forces.
Legally, anyway.
At ease.
Please keep to your bunks, gentlemen.
I do not wish to disturb you.
I just want a few words
with Lieutenant Carrington.
Please get up, Lieutenant.
Take him to his quarters.
Well, there doesn't seem to be any
serious damage.
Very little bruising.
Although it's hard to tell
with the scalp.
Emergency Appel.
Looks like someone made it
over the wall. Can you stand?
You are excused all Appels
until further notice.
The Kommandant's orders.
Hmm, you are a lucky fellow.
Wish it was me.
All right if I just finish up
with him first
before I join the Appel?
I don't think there's any need
for a bandage.
It's not much more than a cut, really.
What were you hit with?
- I don't know.
I don't seem to have been there
when it happened.
Well, I'll take another look at it
tomorrow morning.
Get as much sleep as you can.
Is the duffle coat still in there?
All right, Jim.
Back, back, back, back! Back!
Hold it!
Pat...
It's a different bag.
- Are you sure?
I've been punching it for months.
I know every thread of it.
The Jerries are onto us.
Scramble.
Why change the bag?
They probably ripped it open.
When they found Dick's duffle coat,
they thought they'd see if
he'd try the same trick again.
Well, at least Dick got away.
Any news of Dick?
Who?
Lieutenant Player.
Player?
Player.
Did he get clear?
I don't know him.
Okay, Bergman, forget it.
I expected to find you
in a more cheerful mood this morning.
The British have pulled out of Greece.
Rommel's doing well, too.
You're so interested
in Lieutenant Player,
don't you want to hear
how your side's getting on?
Get out, Bergman.
Get out!
Damn!
He'll spend the next couple of months
in a cell.
Steady, Simon.
Steady, Simon.
How about a nice game of chess?
A long game.
Well, we've got plenty of time.
We've got years and years.
Easy, old man.
Or we could brush up on our Spanish.
Or take up the French horn.
You know what we should have done,
Dick and I?
We should have gone on making
those Azimuth tables.
Measuring the length of shadows at noon.
Waiting for the sun to come out.
Cursing the days that it rained.
We should have made thousands
and thousands of navigation tables.
At least when we were doing that
we had something to do.
We had some bloody reason
for being alive.
All right, you'll get another go!
Just bad luck this time.
That's all.
Perhaps it was.
Perhaps it wasn't.
Well, it could have been
just his bad luck,
Jerries picking him up.
Could be they knew where to look.
He was always
hanging around. Listening.
Don't you think we ought to give him
a chance to defend himself?
A sort of court-martial?
All right.
All right, we'll give him a chance.
After Appel tonight.
What is it?
- The SPO wants to see you. Now.
He asked us what we were doing.
And did you tell him?
- No!
He knew we were making some
sort of calculations,
I mean, I had a protractor,
Dick was drawing triangles,
he'd seen us in the exercise yard,
anybody could guess what we were up to.
I didn't guess what you were
up to, Simon.
Did you know?
Carrington?
Stand up.
Did you know?
Know what?
Player was planning to get to France
and reach the Mediterranean.
I knew he was planning something.
I see.
Everybody's planning something.
And after Dick escaped
you were excused all further Appels.
So what?
Did you see
the Kommandant that night?
No, I don't think so.
You've been on special rations
for weeks now, haven't you?
Oh, yeah.
I get truffles three times a day.
Ever since you had
a private talk with the Kommandant..
I've had dozens of talks
with the Kommandant.
The day you and Simon
had a fight.
Oh, come on. We all know why
Phil's been getting special...
Phil...
- Why are you standing up for him?
It's not a question of
standing up for anybody.
There's no evidence at all
that Carrington...
He deserves a damn good hiding anyway.
Make him run the gauntlet.
Now, wait a minute.
Stay out of it.
- All right. Let's take a vote on it.
But there's no evidence...
Let's vote.
All those in favour.
Move.
Riot squad!
Move out.
- Simon!
He's come to pin a medal on him.
Gestapo.
Come to congratulate Carrington.
- On finishing his book.
What do you say now?
- I just hope you're right, that's all.
Sit down, Lieutenant.
No, thanks.
I've read your manuscript.
You've spent enough time on it.
We had several typewritten copies made.
I was hoping it'd be off
to the publisher by now.
I felt it deserved careful study
by all our departments
before sending it to America.
I thought you had the authority
to send it on yourself?
Yes. But there were things...
questions that puzzled me
about the manuscript.
Maybe I can answer some of them for you.
Yes.
This letter attached
to the manuscript...
That's a letter to my publisher.
Alexander Cole. He's an old
school friend of yours, I see.
Yes, sir, he is.
He also published my last book.
Yes, the one about Spain.
It puzzled me, this letter.
"Dear Sandy..."
That's a contraction for Alexander.
Yes.
"You will probably be surprised
by my book.
"I know that most of it is contrary
to your own opinion."
I was just guessing.
- Yes.
Knowing your friend's political views
in the past.
"I know it goes against majority opinion
in the United States."
You know that, too.
- Yes.
"But I hope you will understand that
the truth of what I'm trying to say,
"particularly in chapter four,
"lies in the fact that
the multiple always adds up
"to the original factor,
as they taught us in high school.”
"The multiple always adds up
to the original factor."
That's a curious phrase.
Yes, that could be
a little obscure to a German.
What that is, is that's jargon
used in American civics classes.
What does it mean?
Well, my interpretation was that
the lowest common denominator
of public opinion is always...
always...
the loudest and most representative.
Yes, that's what I thought too,
for a time,
and then one of our other departments
suggested an altogether
different interpretation.
Well, I can change that phrase
if it bothers you.
No, no, no, no. The whole book
would be meaningless without it.
What are twice nine?
What?
- What are twice nine?
Yes, three times nine.
Five times nine.
Seven times nine.
There's something
very curious about this,
because if you add one and eight,
two and seven,
four and five,
six and three.
Yes, thank you.
The multiple always adds up
to the original factor.
Always, but only with the figure nine.
That's fascinating.
I never took mathematics.
Yes, you did.
At high school with your friend Sandy.
What's that got to do with my book?
Will you please read
that first sentence from chapter four?
Please.
"However chivalrous it may seem,
"flooding unending American arms
into England won't stop..."
Yes, that's it. That's it.
That's enough.
Let's look at every ninth letter.
H.
I.
T.
L.
E.
R. Hitler. Thank you.
Let's read on, taking every ninth letter
in the manuscript.
"Hitler.
"In spite objections,
"general staff Wehrmacht
"has already issued
"Directive Number 24."
You know what Directive Number 24 is?
Yes, it's all here.
In the same code in your manuscript.
"Invasion of Yugoslavia
has not changed Hitler's plans,
"although it may have postponed them."
"Concentration of German troops
in Romania and Poland
"is for Barbarossa,
"Hitler's code name
for an attack on Russia this year."
I know what Directive Number 24 is.
Did you?
I tried to warn
a friend of mine in America.
No, you hoped to warn
the American government,
and, through them, the Russians.
Where did you get your information?
I was a journalist.
- Yes, where did you...
where did you get your information?
Around.
- Who from?
Just around.
- Who from?
Everybody in Germany
knows what Directive Number 24 is.
Who from?
God!
Hello.
Pat got a message through to me.
It was a damn good try, Yank.
Thanks...
...limey.