Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975): Season 4, Episode 3 - The Beastly Hun - full transcript
The sinking of the Lusitania has Hudson on a tirade and his anti-German fervor pervade the servants hall. Upstairs, Richard is made Civil Lord of the Admiralty in the newly-formed coalition government.
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GEORGINA: I'm sorry, Hudson,
I forgot my keys.
HUDSON: That's quite
all right, miss.
GEORGINA: Come on.
GEORGINA: ls Mrs. Bellamy in?
HUDSON: She's in
the morning room, miss.
[Door opens]
- GEORGINA: Hello, Hazel.
- Hello.
- Come in.
- Thanks.
This is Dennis Kemp of
the Royal -- What is it?
The Royal welch Fusiliers.
Mrs. Bellamy, my sort of
step-cousin by marriage.
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
We've just been to lunch with
Dennis' mother out at Richmond,
and these are
from her garden.
- Oh!
- They're called Merry widows.
Thank you.
They're beautiful.
GEORGINA: We drove back through
Putney, it was lovely.
Lots of people,
all looking happy.
And isn't it strange?
Does it mean the war's
about to finish?
If it is, all my efforts
will be wasted.
Hazel's packing up
hundreds of mufflers
and things for the front.
Well, may I have one?
I'm going to
the front tomorrow.
Oh, no, these are for the
ordinary soldiers, aren't they?
- Yes.
- Hazel thinks that officers
can buy their own
at Harrods.
Oh, Hudson?
Will you fetch
a vase for these?
I'll arrange them myself.
HUDSON: Very good, madam.
And will you get me
what you promised?
All right.
Stay here
and talk to Hazel.
Do sit down.
Oh, yeah, tell us how
they've got women waiters
at the Athenaeum these days.
What ever next?
But Rose waits at tables here,
Mrs. Bridges.
- Where's Daisy?
- Off at the bakers, Mr. Hudson.
Then be so good as to put
water in this vase, Rose,
take it up to the mistress
in the morning room.
All right, I'll do it
when I finish this.
When you return, Rose.
Household duties must still
occasionally take priority
over the army's footwear.
It is socks, I take it?
And balaclava helmets.
RUBY: And comforters.
I was reading this poster.
It said that any woman
who by working helps to
release a man for fighting
does the nation a war service.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Taking brandies and sodas
to old gentlemen
in the Athenaeum Club
doesn't sound to me like
helping the war service.
RUBY: If it's helping
to release
a man for fighting,
Mrs. Bridges!
They ain't going to do much
fighting in them socks, Ruby.
DENNIS: I've been in charge of
men from my regiment
who've come back from the front,
wounded at Neuve Chapelle,
convalescing,
almost ready to go back now.
Well, you can imagine,
I felt rather a fraud.
HAZEL: Did they talk to you
of their experiences?
Not much.
I think they knew
it was my turn next.
Thank you, Rose.
HAZEL: Will you mind going?
DENNIS: No.
No, it's better now
I know for certain.
And I'm lucky --
I've met Georgina.
- Lucky?
- Oh, yes.
It makes all the difference
having someone in mind.
I'm sure your husband
would agree.
- Yes.
- Yes.
Yes, it gives
a reason to it all.
HAZEL: Have you known
each other long?
No.
No, only a very short while.
And naturally, I can't ask
anything of her.
But if I do return in
one piece...
Well, anyway,
she's already scored
a bull's-eye
with my mother.
It's an awful likeness,
but if you really want it.
DENNIS: Oh, yes, I do.
Thank you.
GEORGINA: Well,
shall we have some tea?
DAISY: Well, thank you
very much, Mr. Schoenfeld.
You don't know
the trouble
we have getting
the flour, Daisy.
- Good afternoon.
- Good afternoon.
It's Daisy, my dear,
from Mrs. Bellamy's house.
MRS. SCHOENFELD: You take good
care of those loaves, Daisy.
Oh, they're precious nowadays,
like gold.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Don't let
anyone steal them from you.
DAISY: [Laughing] No.
MRS. SCHOENFELD:
With flour so scarce
and no coal for my ovens,
I can only bake
two days in the week.
How many loaves
did you supply?
MR. SCHOENFELD: Four,
my dear, as a favour
to an old customer,
Mrs. Bridges.
Oh, I'll tell her.
Here, these ha'penny
buns have got smaller.
MR. SCHOENFELD: And dearer.
Penny now.
You're very lucky
to have them, my dear.
You can't get buns like that
anywhere else in London.
DAISY: Oh? And how do
you manage, then?
Special methods.
The same way as I get you
hot cross buns at Easter.
BOY: I'm back, mother,
can I have my tea?
You do not come into this shop
when we have customers.
DAISY: Hello, Wilfred.
MR. SCHOENFELD: He wants
to join up in the army
at ten years old,
I ask you.
Oh, I hope he
doesn't have to.
I hope this war's over soon.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Will be,
will be, there's no doubt of it.
Already we're pushing Fritz
back, eh, Wilfred?
Come along, Wilfred.
He loves playing soldiers.
I give him some
for his birthday.
DAISY: It's my birthday
next week, next wednesday.
Is it? Then you must
have a cake.
I haven't seen
a birthday cake for ages.
MR. SCHOENFELD:
You will have one.
Leave it for me.
DAISY: Thank you very much,
you shouldn't trouble.
MR. SCHOENFELD:
How's Edward getting on?
Oh, all right.
I get nice,
cheerful letters.
From the front, eh?
No, Codford St. Mary,
his camp on
Salisbury Plain.
Tell him to stay there.
Mmm, I will. Bye!
MR. SCHOENFELD: Bye!
[Hoofbeats]
You'd better make
our tea, Ruby.
HUDSON: Oh, careful.
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
is that my bread?
DAISY: Yes, Mrs. Bridges,
and lucky to get any.
Mr. Schoenfeld let us have these
as a special favour.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Special favour indeed.
I should think so,
considering we've been having
bread from him ever since
I can remember.
HUDSON: We want
no special favours
from Mr. Schoenfeld,
thank you.
ROSE: Why ever not,
Mr. Hudson?
MRS. BRIDGES: They're
very nice people.
Very good tradespeople too.
ROSE: Best bakers
'round here.
DAISY: I like him.
He's always ever so nice
and kind to me.
I've watched him since
he was a young lad,
when his father first
come over here
and opened up the shop.
HUDSON: Exactly, Mrs. Bridges.
Since his father first
came over here as
a German refugee from
the Franco-Prussian war.
MRS. BRIDGES: I don't
think I quite
get your meaning,
Mr. Hudson.
ROSE: I do.
I read a leaflet.
Mr. Hudson thinks
that Mr. Schoenfeld,
being of German origin,
is going to start
poisoning the bread.
[Daisy laughs]
This is no laughing matter,
I assure you.
Daisy, Rose, as long ago as
last August, all enemy aliens
were obliged to register at
their nearest police stations.
Enemy aliens?
German people living and working
over here, Mrs. Bridges.
And although the government
has since seen fit
to intern thousands
of them in special places,
many more are
still roaming free.
Why?
Because they're cunning.
They change their names.
I read in the papers that a city
firm called Seigborg Brothers
changed their names
to Curzon Brothers.
And a man called Rosenheim
announced in The Times
that he was to be known
in future as Rose.
MRS. BRIDGES:
But Alfred Schoenfeld
hasn't changed his name.
Why isn't he in one of
them special places?
ROSE: 'Cause he's
a nationalized Briton
and as patriotic
as you or I.
That is not the point, Rose.
Some of you may pronounce it
"Schoen-field" for convenience,
but the correct way
is Schoenfeld.
The name and the spelling
are German.
And believe you me,
if his father was still alive,
he would certainly be
interned already.
Better off dead, then.
For his own protection
as much as anything else.
DAISY: Protection?
Who from?
From us or the Germans?
I don't understand that,
Mr. Hudson.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Yes, you'll have to
explain that to us,
Mr. Hudson.
I will gladly,
Mrs. Bridges --
ROSE: Excuse me, Mr. Hudson,
but I've got work to do.
HUDSON: Well...
- Spies?
- DAISY: Yes, miss.
There's been cases of
signalmen being overpowered
and trains being sent
down the wrong lines
and coming off the rails.
And Germans have been
caught on the east coast
signalling to
German submarines.
And bombs have been found
in the trunks of
German governesses.
[Laughing] Oh, no,
that's too much, Daisy.
No, it isn't.
Here, see if
these will fit.
GEORGINA: Thank you, Hazel.
Daisy, who's been telling you
about German spies?
Mr. Hudson, madam.
He's read about it
in the newspapers
and he's told us all
to be on our guard.
But I don't see what
you could do about it,
Daisy, or what
any of us could do.
I've read these stories too,
and I think they're exaggerated.
Put it all out of
your mind, Daisy.
Yes, I will, madam.
Mr. Hudson says the newspapers
don't say enough.
He says they're muzzled
like dogs to stop them biting.
Well, I thought the war
was going on in France,
but it's not --
it's going on here
right under our noses,
and we can't see it.
Will that be
everything, miss?
Yes, thank you, Daisy.
And Mr. Hudson says,
if you please, madam,
to beware of tennis courts.
Tennis courts?
Yes, madam,
and German people's houses,
'cause really he says
they're gun platforms.
Yes, well,
thank you, Daisy.
[Sighs]
[Door closes]
Hudson working up
patriotic fervour.
Is that what it is?
Well, enjoy your evening,
Georgina.
That young Lieutenant
that came this afternoon.
He seemed very charming.
Dennis? Yes,
he's very nice.
He's taking me
to see La traviata .
HAZEL: Are you going to see him
off to the front tomorrow?
GEORGINA: Oh, no,
his train goes at 8:00.
He told me not to miss
my beauty sleep.
RICHARD:
This Dardanelles business
RICHARD:
This Dardanelles business
looks more and more like
a major blunder on our part,
if these latest reports
are to be believed.
HAZEL: Are they?
RICHARD: What?
HAZEL: Are they
to be believed?
How much of the truth
are the newspapers
telling about
anything these days?
Well, it's not always in
our best interests
to be told
the literal truth.
It could lead to
alarm and confusion.
That's why we have
a press bureau.
To be selective as to what
we may or may not be told?
RICHARD: Yes.
Then propaganda is more
important than truth?
The right sort, properly
handled, well of course it is.
To keep up public morale.
You must remember that
people nowadays rely on
their newspapers
more than ever before.
We must make the best
use of them.
So fill them up with
stories of German atrocity.
Oh, yes, they do go
too far sometimes.
It's what people
want to read.
It stiffens their determination
to defeat the enemy.
I think it's justified.
Richard!
People are being roused
by these loathsome stories
to a point of
uncontrolled hysteria.
We've got everybody looking
for spies under the bed.
It's ludicrous.
You may clear away the coffee,
thank you, Rose.
RICHARD: The government's
denying rumours
about spies every day.
HAZEL: Nobody believes them.
Why should they?
People know they're not
being told the truth,
so they believe what their
imagination tells them.
And soon they'll
start to act stupidly,
through fear and ignorance.
RICHARD: I wonder.
Rose, what do you think about
all these spy stories?
I don't believe
a word of them, sir.
Not even the ones Hudson's
been telling you, Rose?
Hudson?
Well, sir, Mr. Hudson
has always had
a bee in his bonnet
about spies.
He thought Alfred was a spy.
Alfred was our footman what
went to Germany, and...
Yes, I know about Alfred.
Thank you, Rose.
HAZEL: Rose may not believe
them, but the others do.
RICHARD: Now,
what do you mean?
HAZEL: I think you should know
the state of morale
in this house, Richard.
All right, what stories
in particular
has Hudson been spreading?
Horrible things!
He reads them in the less
reputable newspapers every day.
Huh, then you must have
a word with him.
Well, don't you
think you should?
He'd take it
so much better from you.
No, Hazel, it's up to you.
You're the mistress
of the house.
And as this particular issue
involves the female servants,
it's your job to speak to him.
Well, I must get off
to the House.
Tell Hudson I'll be in
for dinner.
Goodbye, my dear.
[Door closes]
[Knocking]
RUBY: Would you like
a cup of tea, Mr. Hudson?
HUDSON: What?
No, no, thank you.
[Sighs]
Thank you, Daisy.
Oh, you've all done
magnificently.
MRS. BRIDGES: Well, madam,
anything we can do
to help our boys.
Ruby, is this
sock or scarf?
RUBY: It's not one of mine,
Mrs. Bridges.
MRS. BRIDGES: Mmm,
certainly isn't one of mine.
ROSE: And some more of
them old magazines.
HAZEL: Oh, thank you, Rose.
ROSE: Right, now,
were we going to put
some in for you,
Mrs. Bridges?
MRS. BRIDGES:
Oh, thank you, Rose.
ROSE: There, you can
have one there.
Oh, um, that's not
for packing, madam.
That's Mr. Hudson's personal.
- HAZEL: Oh, I see.
ROSE: Stop reading.
HAZEL: When you've all
finished the packing,
would you put the boxes
in the front hall?
They'll be collected
this evening.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Very good, madam.
Ruby, isn't Mr. Hudson coming to
have his cup of tea in here?
RUBY: No, Mrs. Bridges,
he doesn't want any.
He seems in a funny mood.
MRS. BRIDGES: Still upset about
that Dumfries nurse, I expect.
RUBY: What Dumfries nurse?
ROSE: The one that got
savaged by a German.
DAISY: Here, that was
never true, was it?
You only hear one hundredth part
of the atrocities
perpetrated in
this war, Daisy.
Me friend says that
there's Belgian girls
walking about London
with their hands out off.
And there's this factory,
just outside Berlin,
where they're melting down dead
bodies to make grease for guns.
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
be quiet, Ruby!
Pick up that string
and tie up your box.
- Hudson.
madam.
I know that you have been butler
in this house a long time.
HUDSON: madam.
And I am reluctant to
criticize your conduct
in the servants hall,
which is your own concern.
HUDSON: Yes, madam?
HAZEL: I know this war is
upsetting you a great deal.
HUDSON: Indeed, madam, I think
we're all upset by it.
Yes.
Hudson, I want to be
frank with you.
I heard Daisy
telling Miss Georgina
stories of
so-called German
spying activities
which she heard from you.
She was recounting them in
a way that clearly alarmed her,
probably alarmed Miss Georgina,
and certainly alarmed me.
They are alarming stories,
madam.
HAZEL: Not in
that sense, Hudson.
I was alarmed that you should be
spreading these stories which,
for the most part,
are not verified.
HUDSON: But madam,
the newspapers --
Yes, I know about
the newspapers, Hudson.
And certain types of magazine
which seem to be circulating,
printing stories and pictures
that some people want to see.
For example,
that Scottish nurse
that was supposed to be
tortured in Belgium.
You mean Nurse Hume?
HAZEL: Yes.
It was proved that her sister
invented the story.
Yes, Nurse Hume did
volunteer for service,
but she never in fact
left Huddersfield.
HUDSON: That was later
reported, but...
But you don't believe it!
Hudson, don't you see how
irresponsible talk
can affect innocent lives?
The Germans are human beings,
exactly the same as we are.
If we cannot believe ourselves
capable of such horrors,
how can we
believe it of them?
The servants have been unsettled
by these stories, Hudson,
and I want that to stop.
Do you understand me?
Yes, madam,
but you will allow
I can't alter
my own feelings,
and I feel strongly that
this war is not just being
fought on the battlefields
but right here among us.
Of all your alleged
spy stories, Hudson,
only one single spy has been
caught and convicted,
Carl Hans Lody.
With respect, madam,
there was also that barber
on the Caledonian Road.
Yes, you're quite right.
I had forgotten the barber
in the Caledonian Road.
I will curb
my tongue, madam.
I'm sorry.
I appreciate there are
gullible young minds.
- Gullible, yes!
- They ought nevertheless
to realize the utter savagery
and brutality of those --
those pigs,
the Huns, madam.
The are inhuman monsters!
They are human beings, Hudson!
They are no more inclined
to cruelty and inhumanity
than we are.
It's lies!
So let us have no
more stories of spies
or atrocities
in this house.
Do you understand?
If those are
your orders, madam.
Yes, Hudson.
HUDSON: "Of all the deeds of
infamy done against vessels,
one stands out
above all others --
the sinking of the Cunard liner
Lusitania.
This great ship,
the pride of the Atlantic,
was passing the Old Head
of Kinsale on May the 7th
when she fell a victim
to a German submarine.
It was just after lunch.
The great liner was steaming
on a placid sunlit sea,
mothers and nurses
were playing
with their children
on the deck,
for there were many
children on board.
Suddenly, without warning,
two torpedoes struck,
and the liner sank nose-down
in a very short time.
Many hundreds of people were
hurled into the sea.
There were no ships
near at hand.
Parents held up their
children in the water
'til both sank
from utter exhaustion.
One mother held her baby
above her till rescue came,
but the cold had killed
the little one
before they could be
taken out of the sea.
Rich and poor,
millionaires and labourers,
bravely met their doom.
Close on 1,200 souls perished.
And Germany proclaimed
herself by the act
the enemy of the human race."
Monsters.
[Knocking]
MR. SCHOENFELD:
Hello, Rose.
Some extra loaves
for Mrs. Bridges
and a surprise for Daisy --
a cake for her birthday.
ROSE: Oh, that is kind of you,
Mr. Schoenfeld.
Come in and I'll see if I can
find a candle for it.
MRS. BRIDGES: Who is it, Rose?
MR. SCHOENFELD: Afternoon,
Mrs. Bridges, Mr. Hudson.
MRS. BRIDGES: Afternoon,
Mr. Schoenfeld.
- Hello, Daisy.
- Hello!
- Many happy returns.
- Thank you.
RUBY: Mr. Schoenfeld,
are you wearing that badge
because you're a --
MRS. BRIDGES: Ruby!
MR. SCHOENFELD:
Because I'm what, Ruby?
- Nothing.
ROSE: Look what
Mr. Schoenfelds
brought for Daisy!
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, now,
isn't that fine?
ROSE: Many happy returns
of the day, Daisy.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Many happy
returns of the day.
ROSE: You'll stay and have
a slice, won't you,
Mr. Schoenfeld? Mmm?
Thank you.
This is lovely.
I really didn't expect it.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Oh,
I always keep a promise.
ROSE: Come on,
you're supposed to
blow the candle out first
and make a wish.
DAISY: Oh, I know what I wish,
I wish Eddie was here.
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, don't say it!
It won't come true.
MR. SCHOENFELD: I don't know
what it will taste like.
DAISY: Sawdust, probably.
MRS. BRIDGES:
You ungrateful girl.
Did Mrs. Schoenfeld bake it?
MR. SCHOENFELD: Yes, she did,
and I can tell you, Daisy,
she would make a tasty cake
out of sawdust.
Well, I would have
made one myself,
only Daisy did mention that
you had something in mind.
ROSE: Ooh, delicious!
RUBY: Mmm, lovely.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Isn't Mr. Hudson
going to have some?
Probably not very hungry.
Here, I haven't given
Daisy a bit yet.
Come on, Daisy.
I'm going to give you a bit
with a daisy on it.
DAISY: Oh it's a big bit.
MAN: Yes,
teeth are all right.
Any serious illness,
operations?
No, no, I haven't been
in hospital for years, sir.
Oh, my knee, now,
I did damage my knee --
MAN: Breathe deeply.
Out.
HUDSON: But that hasn't given me
any trouble for a long time.
And as for illness --
MAN: Once again.
And out.
HUDSON: Well,
the occasional cold, you know,
but never anything to
keep me away from my duties.
- Varicose veins?
- No, sir.
MAN: Good. Put your hand
over your left eye
and read that notice,
will you?
Which notice, sir?
The one over there
in front of you,
with the letters on.
E, O, S...
R, V?
Yes.
Now the other one.
E, O, S, V, N --
no, no, no, M --
Oh, I am sorry.
My eyes seem to be
a wee bit tired today.
I can read perfectly
well normally.
E,O--
You wear spectacles,
do you?
Yes, yes, sometimes.
Let me see them,
if you have them.
They're a wee bit too strong,
these glasses.
I don't really need them
as strong as that.
I think that's maybe why my eyes
are a bit strained today.
How old did you say you were?
38, sir.
I'm afraid we can't have you.
Not with your eyesight.
The Corporal will give you
an exemption card.
Next one, please.
But if everything else
is all right, sir,
could I not be considered for
an administrative job?
MAN: I'm sorry.
There are other ways of
serving your country, you know.
A man of your
resourcefulness,
I'm sure you'll
find something to do.
The most extraordinary scenes
at the House this afternoon.
The stock exchange threw out
all brokers of German birth
then marched onto
Central Hall Westminster
and demanded the internment
of all Germans
living in the country.
HAZEL: They can't do that,
it's against the law.
Were they arrested?
No, no, no.
The police just stood by.
Well, you can hardly
blame them, I suppose.
It is the mood
of the country.
It's frightening.
What did Mr. Asquith do?
Nothing.
Nowhere to be seen.
Instead they were met
by Harry Dalziel.
He's a radical.
He addressed the crowd
and told them that
he was convinced there were
thousands of Germans
living all over London
ready to set fire to the city
if the zeppelins come.
It wasn't the bakers
and the waiters and the barbers
that worried him.
It was the people
of German birth
in high social
and government positions.
He'd have them all behind bars
just to make sure.
You don't agree with that,
do you?
Oh, no, no, no,
of course not.
Most of them are loyal
British subjects.
Of course they are.
But there are
the dangerous ones.
How do we find them?
Would everyone be so excited
if there'd been no Lusitania?
RICHARD: Yes,
that act of barbarism
has rebounded on them,
thank God.
But I haven't yet
told you the main news.
The coalition
is now a certainty.
Lloyd George has got his way.
They've sacked Churchill
from the Admiralty
and offered it to
Arthur Balfour.
[Door opens]
Yes, Rose?
Two gentlemen
to see you, sir.
Ah, thank you, Rose.
Could you show them into
the study, Rose?
[Knocking]
ROSE: Mr. Hudson?
Oh, where have you been?
The master's been
looking for you.
Mr. Bonar Law
and Mr. Arthur Balfour is here,
and I had to show them
to the study myself.
Oh, my goodness.
Have they been
served with tea?
Yes, they have,
and Mrs. Bridges sent up
some of them pastries that
Mr. Schoenfeld sent round.
MRS. BRIDGES: All right, Rose.
Now then, Mr. Hudson,
what we you been up to?
Going off and leaving us like
that?
Was it Albert Schoenfeld
upset you, was it?
No, no,
he didn't upset me.
I wasn't upset, I just, uh...
I just went out for
a wee walk, that's all.
Wee walk? where to?
Nowhere.
You can't walk nowhere.
Down to the embankment,
that's all, for a breath of air.
I don't believe you.
You've been up to something.
What was it?
HUDSON: If you must know,
I went down to
the recruiting office
at Scotland Yard.
You never!
Oh, my goodness me.
HUDSON: No, it's all right,
you can breathe again.
They wouldn't take me.
I should hope not,
indeed, at your age?
There are plenty
of men at my age.
You wouldn't
last a minute.
Thank you, Mrs. Bridges.
I'm sorry, Mr. Hudson,
but what ever made you
think of such a thing?
The same as makes every
decent man think --
the desire to do one's
duty for one's country.
The enemy has been
repulsed at Ypres.
Lord Kitchener has asked
for another 300,000 men
to make the final
push for victory.
That may be,
but if we've come down to
asking the likes of you,
We're in a pretty sorry state,
believe me.
I don't mean no disrespect
to you, Angus, you know that.
Well, what can I do, Kate?
I can't knit socks
for the troops like you.
What can I do?
I feel of so little value,
what with Captain James
and young Edward
still in uniform.
Never mind about them.
You're as good a man
as they are, in your way.
And as useful, believe me.
We've got to have some men
stop in the home.
War's not all fighting,
you know,
and you're the one that's
always telling us that.
Well, you could join
the special constables,
like Mr. Murphy the butcher.
Got turned down
for his varicose veins.
Now he's
a special constable.
GEORGINA: Oh, Hudson,
I've suddenly been asked
to a dance tonight, so I won't
be in to dinner after all.
If you could let
Mrs. Bridges know.
HUDSON: Very good, miss.
Have you had tea?
GEORGINA: Yes, thank you.
Do you know where
Mrs. Bellamy is?
HUDSON: In the study, miss.
Mr. Bellamy is telephoning
and madam is with him.
GEORGINA: I see.
Oh, Hudson?
HUDSON: Miss?
GEORGINA: Do you
understand Gaelic?
HUDSON: Oh, why I'm
ashamed to admit
only a few of the better
known phrases, miss.
GEORGINA: What does
Cuidich 'n Righ mean?
HUDSON: May I see it, miss?
Er, oh, yes, yes, I --
That's Cuidich 'n Righ.
It means "Help the King."
It's the motto of
the Seaforth Highlanders.
That's right.
How did you know?
HUDSON: Oh, well,
when I was a wee boy,
I used to out out all the badges
of the various regiments
from a magazine called
Soldier, miss.
You are marvellous, Hudson.
What would we do
without you?
Hudson?
Miss?
GEORGINA: Do you think
that it's frivolous
that one should go to a dance
when our soldiers
are fighting in France?
On the contrary, miss.
Oh, good.
Because a woman in the hat shop
said she thought it was.
Only the dance I'm going to
tonight is being given
by a family with
two sons in uniform,
one on leave from France
and one to celebrate
his commission.
Their mother wants them to
enjoy life while they can.
I mean, well, if one helps
to cheer them up
and make them forget...
Quite, miss.
However grave the news
is from abroad,
young ladies at home,
such as yourself, miss,
can do so much to keep up
the spirits of our officers
when they come home
to London on leave.
Oh, good,
I'm so pleased you agree.
HAZEL: Georgina.
HAZEL: Georgina.
RICHARD: Georgina.
Had a good day, my dear?
GEORGINA: I lunched with
a friend and then went shopping.
You look very cheerful,
Uncle Richard. Has something --
Oh, Richard's had
some wonderful news.
Hudson, let's have
some sherry.
Well, what news?
Well, this afternoon,
Mr. Bonar Law,
who is the leader of
the Conservative Party,
came to the house...
HAZEL: And offered
Richard a post
in his new
coalition government.
GEORGINA: Oh, wonderful!
Oh, Uncle Richard.
So, naturally,
I accepted the post.
GEORGINA: And it's
about time too.
Now perhaps we'll win
this beastly war.
What exactly
are you going to be?
I am to be Civil Lord
of the Admiralty.
That means I am responsible for
everything from plumbing
in Admiralty buildings
to the construction
of merchant shipping.
Will this coalition
government work?
GEORGINA: Yes,
will there be endless,
horrible arguments
between you?
No, no, no,
I don't think so.
The pooling of all our
resources must be welcomed.
Now we can push party politics
into the background
and get on with
the real job.
James will be so
pleased for you.
Yes, he will, won't he?
GEORGINA: Well, I'm afraid I
must go up and change.
Must you?
We're having champagne.
I haven't time, but you
and Hazel must have some.
Well, we'll wait,
have it with dinner.
- Oh, dear, I can't.
- Aren't you dining?
Not tonight, I'm afraid.
I've been invited to
Lady Swanbournés dance.
- Oh.
- Oh, Hazel,
I'm sick of all my dresses.
Can I borrow
something of yours?
Let's go and see,
shall we?
GEORGINA: You know,
last time she gave one,
we got lemonade
and squashed fly biscuits.
HAZEL: I wonder what
you'll get this evening.
- I dread to think.
- Now, as to dresses, there's...
Oh, there's that long, purple
one with the green edging.
Do you think you
could manage that?
It's got an awfully
long train.
HUDSON: May I offer my
sincere congratulations, sir.
I know how pleased
the staff will be.
RICHARD: Thank you, Hudson.
It's been a long wait,
but worthwhile in the end.
HUDSON: Might I ask your
advice about something, sir?
I too have been looking for some
contribution to make to the war,
sir, and while I realize
that the armed forces
are out of the question,
it did cross my mind
I could be of some use as
a special constable, sir.
A number of acquaintances
in my position,
other butlers, sir,
in houses such as this...
Special constable, eh?
What sort of hours would you
have to be on duty?
Well, I haven't fully
investigated that yet, sir,
but I believe it would
be shifts of four hours
at a time and only on certain
evenings of the week.
Could you still manage
the household?
Oh, yes, sir.
I would never allow anything
to interfere with that.
Well, I don't need to tell you
the specials are likely
to have a rough time of it --
menacing crowds in the streets,
anti-German feeling.
You could come home
with your head broken.
I know the danger.
I can look after myself, sir.
Yes, I'm sure you can.
Well, we shall have to consult
Mrs. Bellamy, of course,
but I can't see any problems.
You leave that to me.
Thank you.
Thank you very much
indeed, sir.
We're both in the war now,
eh,Hudson?
Sir.
How dare you, Richard!
How dare you!
One minute you're telling me
that it's my job
to deal with Hudson
over his spy mania,
he's my responsibility,
and the next,
when my back is turned
and without even the courtesy
of consulting me,
you allow him to run off
and join the specials!
I'm consulting you
now, Hazel.
It's already decided
between you.
You can't go back on it
now the servants know.
You've made my position in
this house quite impossible.
Of course I haven't.
Now, don't talk
such nonsense.
Hudson came to me
because he needed to
contribute something
for his own peace of mind,
to get away from his
morbid feelings about spies.
Oh, you admit that now,
do you?
This feeling of being
left out of things,
which I myself had
until this afternoon,
is something a woman
cannot understand.
HAZEL: Of course
I can understand!
But Hudson's first loyalty
is to this household.
And to allow him to run off
and play policeman now
is madness.
With your new appointment,
we are going to have to do
a great deal of entertaining,
and with Edward away,
we need him more than ever!
Poor Rose and Daisy will be left
with all the heavy work.
If we deny Hudson
this freedom,
he's going to walk
out of this house
and we won't have
a butler at all.
[Door closes]
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, I say!
[Laughs]
HUDSON: Well, my gaiters
are not quite
such a snug fit as
I would have hoped.
Oh, they do suit you,
don't they?
RUBY: What's that thing for,
Mr. Hudson?
HUDSON: Ah, it's called
a truncheon, Ruby.
RUBY: For hitting people
over the head with?
HUDSON: Only if they
misbehave themselves.
MRS. BRIDGES: Now, what else do
they give you?
Oh, yes, nice armlet.
Ooh, and a whistle!
[Laughs]
[Toots whistle]
And a wee book of rules
and regulations.
Maybe you girls might be
interested to hear
the oath I had to swear.
Yes, here it is.
You read it out for them,
Mrs. Bridges.
No, no, Mr. Hudson.
You say it, just like
you did in the court.
That's what we want to hear.
Shall I?
Oh, very well.
"I, Angus Hudson,
do swear I will
well and truly serve
our sovereign leader,
the King, in the office
of special constable
for the parish
of Westminster
without fear or affection,
malice or ill will,
and that I will,
to the best of my power,
cause peace to be kept
and preserved
and prevent all offences
against the persons
and properties of
His Majesty's subjects."
- Oh, that's very nice.
- Be quiet.
He hasn't finished yet.
Oh, sorry.
"And that while I continue
to hold the said office,
I will, to the best of
my skill and knowledge,
discharge all
the duties thereof faithfully
according to the law."
Very dignified.
[Clock tower chimes]
- Yes.
Oh, good heavens,
is that the time?
I must be on my way.
Where are you going,
Mr. Hudson?
I am in number one district,
B division.
I have to report first of all
to General Road police station,
and then I believe
I'm going to be shown
the fire tower at Fulham.
That's an observation post for
fires and suspicious lights.
Oh, you'd better hurry,
or they'll start without you!
HUDSON: Right, now, be very
careful there are no chinks
in our blackout, Mrs. Bridges.
MRS. BRIDGES: Don't you worry,
Mr. Hudson.
DAISY:
Well, goodbye, Mr. Hudson!
HUDSON: Thank you,
Daisy, Ruby.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Now, you will go careful.
HUDSON:
I will, Mrs. Bridges.
Don't you fret, my dear.
HAZEL: Richard.
Thank you for the flowers,
they're lovely.
There was no need.
Oh.
HAZEL: I've had rather
a sad letter,
sad for Georgina.
"Dear Mrs. Bellamy,
I thought it best
to write to you
and not to Georgina herself
to give you the bitter news
that my son Dennis
was killed in
France last week,
only two days
after his arrival."
RICHARD: Oh, dear.
HAZEL: "He was hit by
a rifle bullet near Festubert
and died instantly
without suffering.
Pray God it's the truth.
I write to you, of whom
Georgina spoke most warmly
on the occasion of our meeting,
because you know
better than I perhaps
the true extent of her
feelings for my son,
Whether they were
deep or not.
In this light,
perhaps you could convey
the news of his death.
For myself, I can only say that
I am grateful that Dennis
was able to take the image of
so enchanting a girl with him
through the last
days of his life.
Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth Kemp."
Was Georgina in
love with this boy?
I don't know.
I only met him once,
the day before he left.
He brought me some tulips.
[Door closes]
[Laughter]
HAZEL: There's Georgina.
Do you want me to stay?
No, I'll do it on my own.
Right, well I've
plenty of work to do.
I shall be in the study.
Georgina, could you
come in and...
GEORGINA: May I
introduce James Marriott?
Come on, don't be shy.
This is Mrs. Bellamy,
my step-cousin by marriage.
- How do you do.
- HAZEL: How do you do.
GEORGINA: And my uncle,
Mr. Bellamy.
- How do you do, sir.
- How do you do.
GEORGINA: James has
just got his commission
in the Seaforth Highlanders.
We've had
a breathless afternoon
reading up
the regimental history.
Very boring for Georgina,
but she insisted on coming.
Not at all.
James was reading
history at Cambridge
before he joined
the army.
RICHARD: How interesting.
Can I get you
a drink, Marriott?
Thank you very much, sir.
DAISY: Rose?
DAISY: Rose?
ROSE: Mmm?
DAISY: If Mr. Hudson
had joined up
and he had gone
up to the front,
do you think he could
ever have killed anyone?
ROSE: Not with his eyesight.
RUBY: No, she means
kill in cold blood, Rose.
You know, stick a bayonet
in someone's tummy
and twist it round.
ROSE: I know what
she means, Ruby,
and I don't want to
think about it.
DAISY: Oh,
but you have to, Rose.
I mean, they're training
my Eddie to kill
right at this moment.
And I want to know,
when it actually comes to it,
how can you pull the trigger
and what do you feel like after?
RUBY: Yeah what do
you feel like?
Well, I don't know.
It's no use looking at me.
I mean it's simple, isn't it?
Kill or get killed.
The Huns don't
think twice about it.
I suppose if you just
let off your gun
and you don't see
the person falling.
Captain James has killed men.
I know that 'cause I've heard
them talk about it upstairs.
Oh, yeah, well, it's
different for them, isn't it?
I mean, he's an officer.
He's expected to,
but my Eddie's different.
ROSE: Your Eddie'll have to
do it too when he goes.
Now be quiet and unravel that
and get on with your winding.
[Loud knocking]
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
what ever's that?
ROSE: Better look.
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, no, Rose,
don't go to the door.
Oh, Mr. Hudson shouldn't
leave us alone like this,
not at night time.
ROSE: Mr. Schoenfeld!
What on earth's happened?
Mr. SCHOENFELD:
Let us in, please.
- MRS. BRIDGES: Who's there?
- It's Mr. Schoenfeld!
MRS. BRIDGES: Well, what's he
want at this time of night?
ROSE: He's with his wife
and son, and they're right bad.
Can you come?
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
good gracious me!
What ever happened?
Come inside.
Ruby, get some water
to bathe these wounds in.
MR. SCHOENFELD: It's
all right, it's only --
MRS. BRIDGES: Get some lint
and some bandages.
Here, my dear, you sit there.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Thank you.
- Is that all right?
- Yes, thank you.
MRS. BRIDGES: Tell me,
what ever happened?
MR. SCHOENFELD:
A whole crowd of people.
They came to the shop,
they smashed the windows,
beat us, and then
they steal everything,
they set it on fire,
and we have to
run for our lives.
MRS. BRIDGES: But what
sort of people?
MRS. SCHOENFELD:
English people.
RUBY: Why?
- I don't know.
MR. SCHOENFELD: They call us
horrible names.
I could see faces in
the crowd that I serve,
my customers!
I tell them that
I'm not a German.
I tell them I hate
what the Germans do.
MRS. SCHOENFELD:
Oh, no, please,
could you help
the boy first?
See where the stone
has hit him?
Get up on the table,
that's it.
MR. SCHOENFELD: They think
we are spies.
They think because
of the name.
I cannot deny it is
a German name,
but I am a naturalized
British subject.
I have the same rights
as you do.
Perhaps I speak
with a little accent
because I live in close
community with German people
from my father's time,
but Wilfred,
my son, he is second generation,
and still they beat him.
MRS. BRIDGES: There, there,
Mr. Schoenfeld.
You're quite safe with us.
I didn't love Dennis.
I refuse to let myself
fall in love with any of them
because I don't want to
mourn them.
But you let them love you.
They're mostly very young
and very frightened,
and they cling to you
for love.
How can you be
indifferent to them?
You pretend to love them.
You give them photographs
and send them off
with half promises
and expectations --
Oh, you're angry.
Don't be angry with me.
I'm not angry.
I'm trying to understand.
All my friends
feel the same.
We just want to
protect ourselves.
From grief?
You can't.
Why not? Is it wrong?
It's cowardice.
What is so brave about
facing grief and fear
if you don't have to?
Isn't it better to stay cheerful
and smile for their sake?
I will go
and see his mother.
I promise.
[Door closes]
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
Mr. Hudson,
thank goodness
you're safely home.
We thought you must
have been hurt somewhere.
HUDSON: Why should I be?
MRS. BRIDGES: Well,
the street fights,
the rioting
and the looting.
HUDSON: Oh, come now,
Mrs. Bridges.
There's no riots
or looting.
The streets are safer
than when they were lit.
Didn't you read
the newspapers today?
The criminal has
turned patriot,
and I was only mentioning to
Mr. Gilespie just now that --
What's this?
ROSE: Their shop was attacked.
RUBY: High windows smashed.
DAISY: The women took all
the bread away in perambulators.
And when they'd done,
they set alight to it.
They thought
they were spies.
Who did?
ROSE: People like us.
English people.
MR. SCHOENFELD: We came
here for refuge, Mr. Hudson.
There was nowhere.
My wife, Maria,
and my son, Wilfred,
you see...
ROSE: Um,
shall I take your coat,
Mr. Hudson?
And how did the patrol go?
RUBY: Yes, what did
you do, Mr. Hudson?
Did you go up
the fire tower?
MRS. BRIDGES: Tonight was
Mr. Hudson's first night
on duty as
special constable.
We were shown the fire tower,
yes, Ruby.
Then what did you do?
We were detailed to guard
the power station at Wandworth.
ROSE: Oh, anything happen?
No, no, things were quite
peaceful, as it turned out.
Well, thank goodness
you wasn't
anywhere near poor
Mr. Schoenfelds shop.
What were they
expecting to happen
at this power station,
Mr. Hudson?
Were they expecting it to be
attacked by German spies?
- Maria.
- No, I want to know
why the special constables were
guarding peaceful power stations
when they could have been
out in the streets
preventing ordinary
British people
from behaving
like animals and savages.
MR. SCHOENFELD: She is upset,
Mr. Hudson.
There were special
constables there.
I saw them.
Doing their best
to control the crowd,
but sometimes they
are hit over the head
by the regular police
by mistake.
I think you will find,
Mrs. Schoenfeld,
that after these riots,
which I must confess to
knowing nothing about,
we will spend more time
patrolling the streets.
And I don't obviously wish
to defend what has happened,
but you must realize
this great wave of hostility
is largely the result
of the sinking by a submarine
of the neutral American liner,
Lusitania.
- Oh, yes, the Lusitania.
- An act of gross barbarism.
You have clearly
not been told
what we have been told
about the Lusitania.
- Maria, don't!
- That it was carrying
Women and children
and Americans, yes,
but concealing arms
and Canadian troops below.
You have not heard that?
MR. SCHOENFELD:
Exaggerations, propaganda.
Why do you talk to
these people like that?
They are our friends!
They have taken us in
when we needed help.
MRS. BRIDGES: Arms?
Canadian troops? Oh!
We'd never do a thing like that,
would we, Mr. Hudson?
Not British.
No, Mrs. Bridges,
we wouldn't,
but it is what one would expect
the enemy to say of us
to justify
the frightful deed.
Well, be that as it may,
Mr. Hudson,
Where are they
going to sleep?
Young Wilfred's
nearly dropping.
Well, he could have
Eddie's room, couldn't he?
Oh, yes,
I suppose he could.
And then Mr. and Mrs. Schoenfeld
could have our room
and we could sleep down here.
Now, now,
just a minute, Rose,
you're making rather
too many assumptions.
I will need to
consult the master.
They must go to the police
and report the damage
to their property.
As I thought, sir.
Then what happens to them?
They'll be safe,
that's the first thing,
until all this dies down.
They're naturalized
British subjects.
They'll remain free,
unless it's considered
safer for them
to be interned.
Interned?
Put behind barbed wire?
Oh, it's not as bad
as the word suggests.
I gather these camps
are quite decently run.
And they'll be
out of harm's way.
They could be the lucky ones.
You must convince
them of that, Hudson.
Yes, sir. Should I send them
on their way at once?
No, Hudson.
If they are shocked and hurt,
they must stay the night.
They can have
my room if necessary.
Very well, Hudson.
They may stay the night.
- Sir.
- But first thing
in the morning,
they must go to the police.
Very good, sir.
Poor devils.
HAZEL: Yes.
Doesn't it prove my point?
That once you start twisting
people's minds with propaganda,
even the English can
behave like savage beasts.
What happens to the boy?
HUDSON: Oh, I would
assume he goes with you.
Or to the work house?
They wouldn't
separate us, Maria.
No.
Well, then,
since you are so confident,
let us not waste any time.
ROSE: Oh, but --
- MR. SCHOENFELD: Maria.
The master has said you
may spend the night here.
Thank you, but since
we have to go anyway,
why should we
inconvenience you further?
Come along, Wilfred.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Maria,
don't be stupid!
Stupid?
Oh...
Who are you calling stupid?
It is you who are
the stupid one,
with your stupid
English badge.
Don't you see?
You fool nobody.
They don't want you,
these kind people.
You make them feel
uncomfortable.
Look at them all
looking at you.
And your son
they don't trust.
So, let them
take their bread
from English bakers
if they can find any.
Oh, I'll bet you're glad to see
the back of them, Mr. Hudson.
Who knows.
They might have burned
the house down during the night.
[Door slams]
Subtitling by
Acorn Media (re-sync by moviesbyrizzo)
Acorn Media (re-sync by moviesbyrizzo)
GEORGINA: I'm sorry, Hudson,
I forgot my keys.
HUDSON: That's quite
all right, miss.
GEORGINA: Come on.
GEORGINA: ls Mrs. Bellamy in?
HUDSON: She's in
the morning room, miss.
[Door opens]
- GEORGINA: Hello, Hazel.
- Hello.
- Come in.
- Thanks.
This is Dennis Kemp of
the Royal -- What is it?
The Royal welch Fusiliers.
Mrs. Bellamy, my sort of
step-cousin by marriage.
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
We've just been to lunch with
Dennis' mother out at Richmond,
and these are
from her garden.
- Oh!
- They're called Merry widows.
Thank you.
They're beautiful.
GEORGINA: We drove back through
Putney, it was lovely.
Lots of people,
all looking happy.
And isn't it strange?
Does it mean the war's
about to finish?
If it is, all my efforts
will be wasted.
Hazel's packing up
hundreds of mufflers
and things for the front.
Well, may I have one?
I'm going to
the front tomorrow.
Oh, no, these are for the
ordinary soldiers, aren't they?
- Yes.
- Hazel thinks that officers
can buy their own
at Harrods.
Oh, Hudson?
Will you fetch
a vase for these?
I'll arrange them myself.
HUDSON: Very good, madam.
And will you get me
what you promised?
All right.
Stay here
and talk to Hazel.
Do sit down.
Oh, yeah, tell us how
they've got women waiters
at the Athenaeum these days.
What ever next?
But Rose waits at tables here,
Mrs. Bridges.
- Where's Daisy?
- Off at the bakers, Mr. Hudson.
Then be so good as to put
water in this vase, Rose,
take it up to the mistress
in the morning room.
All right, I'll do it
when I finish this.
When you return, Rose.
Household duties must still
occasionally take priority
over the army's footwear.
It is socks, I take it?
And balaclava helmets.
RUBY: And comforters.
I was reading this poster.
It said that any woman
who by working helps to
release a man for fighting
does the nation a war service.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Taking brandies and sodas
to old gentlemen
in the Athenaeum Club
doesn't sound to me like
helping the war service.
RUBY: If it's helping
to release
a man for fighting,
Mrs. Bridges!
They ain't going to do much
fighting in them socks, Ruby.
DENNIS: I've been in charge of
men from my regiment
who've come back from the front,
wounded at Neuve Chapelle,
convalescing,
almost ready to go back now.
Well, you can imagine,
I felt rather a fraud.
HAZEL: Did they talk to you
of their experiences?
Not much.
I think they knew
it was my turn next.
Thank you, Rose.
HAZEL: Will you mind going?
DENNIS: No.
No, it's better now
I know for certain.
And I'm lucky --
I've met Georgina.
- Lucky?
- Oh, yes.
It makes all the difference
having someone in mind.
I'm sure your husband
would agree.
- Yes.
- Yes.
Yes, it gives
a reason to it all.
HAZEL: Have you known
each other long?
No.
No, only a very short while.
And naturally, I can't ask
anything of her.
But if I do return in
one piece...
Well, anyway,
she's already scored
a bull's-eye
with my mother.
It's an awful likeness,
but if you really want it.
DENNIS: Oh, yes, I do.
Thank you.
GEORGINA: Well,
shall we have some tea?
DAISY: Well, thank you
very much, Mr. Schoenfeld.
You don't know
the trouble
we have getting
the flour, Daisy.
- Good afternoon.
- Good afternoon.
It's Daisy, my dear,
from Mrs. Bellamy's house.
MRS. SCHOENFELD: You take good
care of those loaves, Daisy.
Oh, they're precious nowadays,
like gold.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Don't let
anyone steal them from you.
DAISY: [Laughing] No.
MRS. SCHOENFELD:
With flour so scarce
and no coal for my ovens,
I can only bake
two days in the week.
How many loaves
did you supply?
MR. SCHOENFELD: Four,
my dear, as a favour
to an old customer,
Mrs. Bridges.
Oh, I'll tell her.
Here, these ha'penny
buns have got smaller.
MR. SCHOENFELD: And dearer.
Penny now.
You're very lucky
to have them, my dear.
You can't get buns like that
anywhere else in London.
DAISY: Oh? And how do
you manage, then?
Special methods.
The same way as I get you
hot cross buns at Easter.
BOY: I'm back, mother,
can I have my tea?
You do not come into this shop
when we have customers.
DAISY: Hello, Wilfred.
MR. SCHOENFELD: He wants
to join up in the army
at ten years old,
I ask you.
Oh, I hope he
doesn't have to.
I hope this war's over soon.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Will be,
will be, there's no doubt of it.
Already we're pushing Fritz
back, eh, Wilfred?
Come along, Wilfred.
He loves playing soldiers.
I give him some
for his birthday.
DAISY: It's my birthday
next week, next wednesday.
Is it? Then you must
have a cake.
I haven't seen
a birthday cake for ages.
MR. SCHOENFELD:
You will have one.
Leave it for me.
DAISY: Thank you very much,
you shouldn't trouble.
MR. SCHOENFELD:
How's Edward getting on?
Oh, all right.
I get nice,
cheerful letters.
From the front, eh?
No, Codford St. Mary,
his camp on
Salisbury Plain.
Tell him to stay there.
Mmm, I will. Bye!
MR. SCHOENFELD: Bye!
[Hoofbeats]
You'd better make
our tea, Ruby.
HUDSON: Oh, careful.
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
is that my bread?
DAISY: Yes, Mrs. Bridges,
and lucky to get any.
Mr. Schoenfeld let us have these
as a special favour.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Special favour indeed.
I should think so,
considering we've been having
bread from him ever since
I can remember.
HUDSON: We want
no special favours
from Mr. Schoenfeld,
thank you.
ROSE: Why ever not,
Mr. Hudson?
MRS. BRIDGES: They're
very nice people.
Very good tradespeople too.
ROSE: Best bakers
'round here.
DAISY: I like him.
He's always ever so nice
and kind to me.
I've watched him since
he was a young lad,
when his father first
come over here
and opened up the shop.
HUDSON: Exactly, Mrs. Bridges.
Since his father first
came over here as
a German refugee from
the Franco-Prussian war.
MRS. BRIDGES: I don't
think I quite
get your meaning,
Mr. Hudson.
ROSE: I do.
I read a leaflet.
Mr. Hudson thinks
that Mr. Schoenfeld,
being of German origin,
is going to start
poisoning the bread.
[Daisy laughs]
This is no laughing matter,
I assure you.
Daisy, Rose, as long ago as
last August, all enemy aliens
were obliged to register at
their nearest police stations.
Enemy aliens?
German people living and working
over here, Mrs. Bridges.
And although the government
has since seen fit
to intern thousands
of them in special places,
many more are
still roaming free.
Why?
Because they're cunning.
They change their names.
I read in the papers that a city
firm called Seigborg Brothers
changed their names
to Curzon Brothers.
And a man called Rosenheim
announced in The Times
that he was to be known
in future as Rose.
MRS. BRIDGES:
But Alfred Schoenfeld
hasn't changed his name.
Why isn't he in one of
them special places?
ROSE: 'Cause he's
a nationalized Briton
and as patriotic
as you or I.
That is not the point, Rose.
Some of you may pronounce it
"Schoen-field" for convenience,
but the correct way
is Schoenfeld.
The name and the spelling
are German.
And believe you me,
if his father was still alive,
he would certainly be
interned already.
Better off dead, then.
For his own protection
as much as anything else.
DAISY: Protection?
Who from?
From us or the Germans?
I don't understand that,
Mr. Hudson.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Yes, you'll have to
explain that to us,
Mr. Hudson.
I will gladly,
Mrs. Bridges --
ROSE: Excuse me, Mr. Hudson,
but I've got work to do.
HUDSON: Well...
- Spies?
- DAISY: Yes, miss.
There's been cases of
signalmen being overpowered
and trains being sent
down the wrong lines
and coming off the rails.
And Germans have been
caught on the east coast
signalling to
German submarines.
And bombs have been found
in the trunks of
German governesses.
[Laughing] Oh, no,
that's too much, Daisy.
No, it isn't.
Here, see if
these will fit.
GEORGINA: Thank you, Hazel.
Daisy, who's been telling you
about German spies?
Mr. Hudson, madam.
He's read about it
in the newspapers
and he's told us all
to be on our guard.
But I don't see what
you could do about it,
Daisy, or what
any of us could do.
I've read these stories too,
and I think they're exaggerated.
Put it all out of
your mind, Daisy.
Yes, I will, madam.
Mr. Hudson says the newspapers
don't say enough.
He says they're muzzled
like dogs to stop them biting.
Well, I thought the war
was going on in France,
but it's not --
it's going on here
right under our noses,
and we can't see it.
Will that be
everything, miss?
Yes, thank you, Daisy.
And Mr. Hudson says,
if you please, madam,
to beware of tennis courts.
Tennis courts?
Yes, madam,
and German people's houses,
'cause really he says
they're gun platforms.
Yes, well,
thank you, Daisy.
[Sighs]
[Door closes]
Hudson working up
patriotic fervour.
Is that what it is?
Well, enjoy your evening,
Georgina.
That young Lieutenant
that came this afternoon.
He seemed very charming.
Dennis? Yes,
he's very nice.
He's taking me
to see La traviata .
HAZEL: Are you going to see him
off to the front tomorrow?
GEORGINA: Oh, no,
his train goes at 8:00.
He told me not to miss
my beauty sleep.
RICHARD:
This Dardanelles business
RICHARD:
This Dardanelles business
looks more and more like
a major blunder on our part,
if these latest reports
are to be believed.
HAZEL: Are they?
RICHARD: What?
HAZEL: Are they
to be believed?
How much of the truth
are the newspapers
telling about
anything these days?
Well, it's not always in
our best interests
to be told
the literal truth.
It could lead to
alarm and confusion.
That's why we have
a press bureau.
To be selective as to what
we may or may not be told?
RICHARD: Yes.
Then propaganda is more
important than truth?
The right sort, properly
handled, well of course it is.
To keep up public morale.
You must remember that
people nowadays rely on
their newspapers
more than ever before.
We must make the best
use of them.
So fill them up with
stories of German atrocity.
Oh, yes, they do go
too far sometimes.
It's what people
want to read.
It stiffens their determination
to defeat the enemy.
I think it's justified.
Richard!
People are being roused
by these loathsome stories
to a point of
uncontrolled hysteria.
We've got everybody looking
for spies under the bed.
It's ludicrous.
You may clear away the coffee,
thank you, Rose.
RICHARD: The government's
denying rumours
about spies every day.
HAZEL: Nobody believes them.
Why should they?
People know they're not
being told the truth,
so they believe what their
imagination tells them.
And soon they'll
start to act stupidly,
through fear and ignorance.
RICHARD: I wonder.
Rose, what do you think about
all these spy stories?
I don't believe
a word of them, sir.
Not even the ones Hudson's
been telling you, Rose?
Hudson?
Well, sir, Mr. Hudson
has always had
a bee in his bonnet
about spies.
He thought Alfred was a spy.
Alfred was our footman what
went to Germany, and...
Yes, I know about Alfred.
Thank you, Rose.
HAZEL: Rose may not believe
them, but the others do.
RICHARD: Now,
what do you mean?
HAZEL: I think you should know
the state of morale
in this house, Richard.
All right, what stories
in particular
has Hudson been spreading?
Horrible things!
He reads them in the less
reputable newspapers every day.
Huh, then you must have
a word with him.
Well, don't you
think you should?
He'd take it
so much better from you.
No, Hazel, it's up to you.
You're the mistress
of the house.
And as this particular issue
involves the female servants,
it's your job to speak to him.
Well, I must get off
to the House.
Tell Hudson I'll be in
for dinner.
Goodbye, my dear.
[Door closes]
[Knocking]
RUBY: Would you like
a cup of tea, Mr. Hudson?
HUDSON: What?
No, no, thank you.
[Sighs]
Thank you, Daisy.
Oh, you've all done
magnificently.
MRS. BRIDGES: Well, madam,
anything we can do
to help our boys.
Ruby, is this
sock or scarf?
RUBY: It's not one of mine,
Mrs. Bridges.
MRS. BRIDGES: Mmm,
certainly isn't one of mine.
ROSE: And some more of
them old magazines.
HAZEL: Oh, thank you, Rose.
ROSE: Right, now,
were we going to put
some in for you,
Mrs. Bridges?
MRS. BRIDGES:
Oh, thank you, Rose.
ROSE: There, you can
have one there.
Oh, um, that's not
for packing, madam.
That's Mr. Hudson's personal.
- HAZEL: Oh, I see.
ROSE: Stop reading.
HAZEL: When you've all
finished the packing,
would you put the boxes
in the front hall?
They'll be collected
this evening.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Very good, madam.
Ruby, isn't Mr. Hudson coming to
have his cup of tea in here?
RUBY: No, Mrs. Bridges,
he doesn't want any.
He seems in a funny mood.
MRS. BRIDGES: Still upset about
that Dumfries nurse, I expect.
RUBY: What Dumfries nurse?
ROSE: The one that got
savaged by a German.
DAISY: Here, that was
never true, was it?
You only hear one hundredth part
of the atrocities
perpetrated in
this war, Daisy.
Me friend says that
there's Belgian girls
walking about London
with their hands out off.
And there's this factory,
just outside Berlin,
where they're melting down dead
bodies to make grease for guns.
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
be quiet, Ruby!
Pick up that string
and tie up your box.
- Hudson.
madam.
I know that you have been butler
in this house a long time.
HUDSON: madam.
And I am reluctant to
criticize your conduct
in the servants hall,
which is your own concern.
HUDSON: Yes, madam?
HAZEL: I know this war is
upsetting you a great deal.
HUDSON: Indeed, madam, I think
we're all upset by it.
Yes.
Hudson, I want to be
frank with you.
I heard Daisy
telling Miss Georgina
stories of
so-called German
spying activities
which she heard from you.
She was recounting them in
a way that clearly alarmed her,
probably alarmed Miss Georgina,
and certainly alarmed me.
They are alarming stories,
madam.
HAZEL: Not in
that sense, Hudson.
I was alarmed that you should be
spreading these stories which,
for the most part,
are not verified.
HUDSON: But madam,
the newspapers --
Yes, I know about
the newspapers, Hudson.
And certain types of magazine
which seem to be circulating,
printing stories and pictures
that some people want to see.
For example,
that Scottish nurse
that was supposed to be
tortured in Belgium.
You mean Nurse Hume?
HAZEL: Yes.
It was proved that her sister
invented the story.
Yes, Nurse Hume did
volunteer for service,
but she never in fact
left Huddersfield.
HUDSON: That was later
reported, but...
But you don't believe it!
Hudson, don't you see how
irresponsible talk
can affect innocent lives?
The Germans are human beings,
exactly the same as we are.
If we cannot believe ourselves
capable of such horrors,
how can we
believe it of them?
The servants have been unsettled
by these stories, Hudson,
and I want that to stop.
Do you understand me?
Yes, madam,
but you will allow
I can't alter
my own feelings,
and I feel strongly that
this war is not just being
fought on the battlefields
but right here among us.
Of all your alleged
spy stories, Hudson,
only one single spy has been
caught and convicted,
Carl Hans Lody.
With respect, madam,
there was also that barber
on the Caledonian Road.
Yes, you're quite right.
I had forgotten the barber
in the Caledonian Road.
I will curb
my tongue, madam.
I'm sorry.
I appreciate there are
gullible young minds.
- Gullible, yes!
- They ought nevertheless
to realize the utter savagery
and brutality of those --
those pigs,
the Huns, madam.
The are inhuman monsters!
They are human beings, Hudson!
They are no more inclined
to cruelty and inhumanity
than we are.
It's lies!
So let us have no
more stories of spies
or atrocities
in this house.
Do you understand?
If those are
your orders, madam.
Yes, Hudson.
HUDSON: "Of all the deeds of
infamy done against vessels,
one stands out
above all others --
the sinking of the Cunard liner
Lusitania.
This great ship,
the pride of the Atlantic,
was passing the Old Head
of Kinsale on May the 7th
when she fell a victim
to a German submarine.
It was just after lunch.
The great liner was steaming
on a placid sunlit sea,
mothers and nurses
were playing
with their children
on the deck,
for there were many
children on board.
Suddenly, without warning,
two torpedoes struck,
and the liner sank nose-down
in a very short time.
Many hundreds of people were
hurled into the sea.
There were no ships
near at hand.
Parents held up their
children in the water
'til both sank
from utter exhaustion.
One mother held her baby
above her till rescue came,
but the cold had killed
the little one
before they could be
taken out of the sea.
Rich and poor,
millionaires and labourers,
bravely met their doom.
Close on 1,200 souls perished.
And Germany proclaimed
herself by the act
the enemy of the human race."
Monsters.
[Knocking]
MR. SCHOENFELD:
Hello, Rose.
Some extra loaves
for Mrs. Bridges
and a surprise for Daisy --
a cake for her birthday.
ROSE: Oh, that is kind of you,
Mr. Schoenfeld.
Come in and I'll see if I can
find a candle for it.
MRS. BRIDGES: Who is it, Rose?
MR. SCHOENFELD: Afternoon,
Mrs. Bridges, Mr. Hudson.
MRS. BRIDGES: Afternoon,
Mr. Schoenfeld.
- Hello, Daisy.
- Hello!
- Many happy returns.
- Thank you.
RUBY: Mr. Schoenfeld,
are you wearing that badge
because you're a --
MRS. BRIDGES: Ruby!
MR. SCHOENFELD:
Because I'm what, Ruby?
- Nothing.
ROSE: Look what
Mr. Schoenfelds
brought for Daisy!
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, now,
isn't that fine?
ROSE: Many happy returns
of the day, Daisy.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Many happy
returns of the day.
ROSE: You'll stay and have
a slice, won't you,
Mr. Schoenfeld? Mmm?
Thank you.
This is lovely.
I really didn't expect it.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Oh,
I always keep a promise.
ROSE: Come on,
you're supposed to
blow the candle out first
and make a wish.
DAISY: Oh, I know what I wish,
I wish Eddie was here.
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, don't say it!
It won't come true.
MR. SCHOENFELD: I don't know
what it will taste like.
DAISY: Sawdust, probably.
MRS. BRIDGES:
You ungrateful girl.
Did Mrs. Schoenfeld bake it?
MR. SCHOENFELD: Yes, she did,
and I can tell you, Daisy,
she would make a tasty cake
out of sawdust.
Well, I would have
made one myself,
only Daisy did mention that
you had something in mind.
ROSE: Ooh, delicious!
RUBY: Mmm, lovely.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Isn't Mr. Hudson
going to have some?
Probably not very hungry.
Here, I haven't given
Daisy a bit yet.
Come on, Daisy.
I'm going to give you a bit
with a daisy on it.
DAISY: Oh it's a big bit.
MAN: Yes,
teeth are all right.
Any serious illness,
operations?
No, no, I haven't been
in hospital for years, sir.
Oh, my knee, now,
I did damage my knee --
MAN: Breathe deeply.
Out.
HUDSON: But that hasn't given me
any trouble for a long time.
And as for illness --
MAN: Once again.
And out.
HUDSON: Well,
the occasional cold, you know,
but never anything to
keep me away from my duties.
- Varicose veins?
- No, sir.
MAN: Good. Put your hand
over your left eye
and read that notice,
will you?
Which notice, sir?
The one over there
in front of you,
with the letters on.
E, O, S...
R, V?
Yes.
Now the other one.
E, O, S, V, N --
no, no, no, M --
Oh, I am sorry.
My eyes seem to be
a wee bit tired today.
I can read perfectly
well normally.
E,O--
You wear spectacles,
do you?
Yes, yes, sometimes.
Let me see them,
if you have them.
They're a wee bit too strong,
these glasses.
I don't really need them
as strong as that.
I think that's maybe why my eyes
are a bit strained today.
How old did you say you were?
38, sir.
I'm afraid we can't have you.
Not with your eyesight.
The Corporal will give you
an exemption card.
Next one, please.
But if everything else
is all right, sir,
could I not be considered for
an administrative job?
MAN: I'm sorry.
There are other ways of
serving your country, you know.
A man of your
resourcefulness,
I'm sure you'll
find something to do.
The most extraordinary scenes
at the House this afternoon.
The stock exchange threw out
all brokers of German birth
then marched onto
Central Hall Westminster
and demanded the internment
of all Germans
living in the country.
HAZEL: They can't do that,
it's against the law.
Were they arrested?
No, no, no.
The police just stood by.
Well, you can hardly
blame them, I suppose.
It is the mood
of the country.
It's frightening.
What did Mr. Asquith do?
Nothing.
Nowhere to be seen.
Instead they were met
by Harry Dalziel.
He's a radical.
He addressed the crowd
and told them that
he was convinced there were
thousands of Germans
living all over London
ready to set fire to the city
if the zeppelins come.
It wasn't the bakers
and the waiters and the barbers
that worried him.
It was the people
of German birth
in high social
and government positions.
He'd have them all behind bars
just to make sure.
You don't agree with that,
do you?
Oh, no, no, no,
of course not.
Most of them are loyal
British subjects.
Of course they are.
But there are
the dangerous ones.
How do we find them?
Would everyone be so excited
if there'd been no Lusitania?
RICHARD: Yes,
that act of barbarism
has rebounded on them,
thank God.
But I haven't yet
told you the main news.
The coalition
is now a certainty.
Lloyd George has got his way.
They've sacked Churchill
from the Admiralty
and offered it to
Arthur Balfour.
[Door opens]
Yes, Rose?
Two gentlemen
to see you, sir.
Ah, thank you, Rose.
Could you show them into
the study, Rose?
[Knocking]
ROSE: Mr. Hudson?
Oh, where have you been?
The master's been
looking for you.
Mr. Bonar Law
and Mr. Arthur Balfour is here,
and I had to show them
to the study myself.
Oh, my goodness.
Have they been
served with tea?
Yes, they have,
and Mrs. Bridges sent up
some of them pastries that
Mr. Schoenfeld sent round.
MRS. BRIDGES: All right, Rose.
Now then, Mr. Hudson,
what we you been up to?
Going off and leaving us like
that?
Was it Albert Schoenfeld
upset you, was it?
No, no,
he didn't upset me.
I wasn't upset, I just, uh...
I just went out for
a wee walk, that's all.
Wee walk? where to?
Nowhere.
You can't walk nowhere.
Down to the embankment,
that's all, for a breath of air.
I don't believe you.
You've been up to something.
What was it?
HUDSON: If you must know,
I went down to
the recruiting office
at Scotland Yard.
You never!
Oh, my goodness me.
HUDSON: No, it's all right,
you can breathe again.
They wouldn't take me.
I should hope not,
indeed, at your age?
There are plenty
of men at my age.
You wouldn't
last a minute.
Thank you, Mrs. Bridges.
I'm sorry, Mr. Hudson,
but what ever made you
think of such a thing?
The same as makes every
decent man think --
the desire to do one's
duty for one's country.
The enemy has been
repulsed at Ypres.
Lord Kitchener has asked
for another 300,000 men
to make the final
push for victory.
That may be,
but if we've come down to
asking the likes of you,
We're in a pretty sorry state,
believe me.
I don't mean no disrespect
to you, Angus, you know that.
Well, what can I do, Kate?
I can't knit socks
for the troops like you.
What can I do?
I feel of so little value,
what with Captain James
and young Edward
still in uniform.
Never mind about them.
You're as good a man
as they are, in your way.
And as useful, believe me.
We've got to have some men
stop in the home.
War's not all fighting,
you know,
and you're the one that's
always telling us that.
Well, you could join
the special constables,
like Mr. Murphy the butcher.
Got turned down
for his varicose veins.
Now he's
a special constable.
GEORGINA: Oh, Hudson,
I've suddenly been asked
to a dance tonight, so I won't
be in to dinner after all.
If you could let
Mrs. Bridges know.
HUDSON: Very good, miss.
Have you had tea?
GEORGINA: Yes, thank you.
Do you know where
Mrs. Bellamy is?
HUDSON: In the study, miss.
Mr. Bellamy is telephoning
and madam is with him.
GEORGINA: I see.
Oh, Hudson?
HUDSON: Miss?
GEORGINA: Do you
understand Gaelic?
HUDSON: Oh, why I'm
ashamed to admit
only a few of the better
known phrases, miss.
GEORGINA: What does
Cuidich 'n Righ mean?
HUDSON: May I see it, miss?
Er, oh, yes, yes, I --
That's Cuidich 'n Righ.
It means "Help the King."
It's the motto of
the Seaforth Highlanders.
That's right.
How did you know?
HUDSON: Oh, well,
when I was a wee boy,
I used to out out all the badges
of the various regiments
from a magazine called
Soldier, miss.
You are marvellous, Hudson.
What would we do
without you?
Hudson?
Miss?
GEORGINA: Do you think
that it's frivolous
that one should go to a dance
when our soldiers
are fighting in France?
On the contrary, miss.
Oh, good.
Because a woman in the hat shop
said she thought it was.
Only the dance I'm going to
tonight is being given
by a family with
two sons in uniform,
one on leave from France
and one to celebrate
his commission.
Their mother wants them to
enjoy life while they can.
I mean, well, if one helps
to cheer them up
and make them forget...
Quite, miss.
However grave the news
is from abroad,
young ladies at home,
such as yourself, miss,
can do so much to keep up
the spirits of our officers
when they come home
to London on leave.
Oh, good,
I'm so pleased you agree.
HAZEL: Georgina.
HAZEL: Georgina.
RICHARD: Georgina.
Had a good day, my dear?
GEORGINA: I lunched with
a friend and then went shopping.
You look very cheerful,
Uncle Richard. Has something --
Oh, Richard's had
some wonderful news.
Hudson, let's have
some sherry.
Well, what news?
Well, this afternoon,
Mr. Bonar Law,
who is the leader of
the Conservative Party,
came to the house...
HAZEL: And offered
Richard a post
in his new
coalition government.
GEORGINA: Oh, wonderful!
Oh, Uncle Richard.
So, naturally,
I accepted the post.
GEORGINA: And it's
about time too.
Now perhaps we'll win
this beastly war.
What exactly
are you going to be?
I am to be Civil Lord
of the Admiralty.
That means I am responsible for
everything from plumbing
in Admiralty buildings
to the construction
of merchant shipping.
Will this coalition
government work?
GEORGINA: Yes,
will there be endless,
horrible arguments
between you?
No, no, no,
I don't think so.
The pooling of all our
resources must be welcomed.
Now we can push party politics
into the background
and get on with
the real job.
James will be so
pleased for you.
Yes, he will, won't he?
GEORGINA: Well, I'm afraid I
must go up and change.
Must you?
We're having champagne.
I haven't time, but you
and Hazel must have some.
Well, we'll wait,
have it with dinner.
- Oh, dear, I can't.
- Aren't you dining?
Not tonight, I'm afraid.
I've been invited to
Lady Swanbournés dance.
- Oh.
- Oh, Hazel,
I'm sick of all my dresses.
Can I borrow
something of yours?
Let's go and see,
shall we?
GEORGINA: You know,
last time she gave one,
we got lemonade
and squashed fly biscuits.
HAZEL: I wonder what
you'll get this evening.
- I dread to think.
- Now, as to dresses, there's...
Oh, there's that long, purple
one with the green edging.
Do you think you
could manage that?
It's got an awfully
long train.
HUDSON: May I offer my
sincere congratulations, sir.
I know how pleased
the staff will be.
RICHARD: Thank you, Hudson.
It's been a long wait,
but worthwhile in the end.
HUDSON: Might I ask your
advice about something, sir?
I too have been looking for some
contribution to make to the war,
sir, and while I realize
that the armed forces
are out of the question,
it did cross my mind
I could be of some use as
a special constable, sir.
A number of acquaintances
in my position,
other butlers, sir,
in houses such as this...
Special constable, eh?
What sort of hours would you
have to be on duty?
Well, I haven't fully
investigated that yet, sir,
but I believe it would
be shifts of four hours
at a time and only on certain
evenings of the week.
Could you still manage
the household?
Oh, yes, sir.
I would never allow anything
to interfere with that.
Well, I don't need to tell you
the specials are likely
to have a rough time of it --
menacing crowds in the streets,
anti-German feeling.
You could come home
with your head broken.
I know the danger.
I can look after myself, sir.
Yes, I'm sure you can.
Well, we shall have to consult
Mrs. Bellamy, of course,
but I can't see any problems.
You leave that to me.
Thank you.
Thank you very much
indeed, sir.
We're both in the war now,
eh,Hudson?
Sir.
How dare you, Richard!
How dare you!
One minute you're telling me
that it's my job
to deal with Hudson
over his spy mania,
he's my responsibility,
and the next,
when my back is turned
and without even the courtesy
of consulting me,
you allow him to run off
and join the specials!
I'm consulting you
now, Hazel.
It's already decided
between you.
You can't go back on it
now the servants know.
You've made my position in
this house quite impossible.
Of course I haven't.
Now, don't talk
such nonsense.
Hudson came to me
because he needed to
contribute something
for his own peace of mind,
to get away from his
morbid feelings about spies.
Oh, you admit that now,
do you?
This feeling of being
left out of things,
which I myself had
until this afternoon,
is something a woman
cannot understand.
HAZEL: Of course
I can understand!
But Hudson's first loyalty
is to this household.
And to allow him to run off
and play policeman now
is madness.
With your new appointment,
we are going to have to do
a great deal of entertaining,
and with Edward away,
we need him more than ever!
Poor Rose and Daisy will be left
with all the heavy work.
If we deny Hudson
this freedom,
he's going to walk
out of this house
and we won't have
a butler at all.
[Door closes]
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, I say!
[Laughs]
HUDSON: Well, my gaiters
are not quite
such a snug fit as
I would have hoped.
Oh, they do suit you,
don't they?
RUBY: What's that thing for,
Mr. Hudson?
HUDSON: Ah, it's called
a truncheon, Ruby.
RUBY: For hitting people
over the head with?
HUDSON: Only if they
misbehave themselves.
MRS. BRIDGES: Now, what else do
they give you?
Oh, yes, nice armlet.
Ooh, and a whistle!
[Laughs]
[Toots whistle]
And a wee book of rules
and regulations.
Maybe you girls might be
interested to hear
the oath I had to swear.
Yes, here it is.
You read it out for them,
Mrs. Bridges.
No, no, Mr. Hudson.
You say it, just like
you did in the court.
That's what we want to hear.
Shall I?
Oh, very well.
"I, Angus Hudson,
do swear I will
well and truly serve
our sovereign leader,
the King, in the office
of special constable
for the parish
of Westminster
without fear or affection,
malice or ill will,
and that I will,
to the best of my power,
cause peace to be kept
and preserved
and prevent all offences
against the persons
and properties of
His Majesty's subjects."
- Oh, that's very nice.
- Be quiet.
He hasn't finished yet.
Oh, sorry.
"And that while I continue
to hold the said office,
I will, to the best of
my skill and knowledge,
discharge all
the duties thereof faithfully
according to the law."
Very dignified.
[Clock tower chimes]
- Yes.
Oh, good heavens,
is that the time?
I must be on my way.
Where are you going,
Mr. Hudson?
I am in number one district,
B division.
I have to report first of all
to General Road police station,
and then I believe
I'm going to be shown
the fire tower at Fulham.
That's an observation post for
fires and suspicious lights.
Oh, you'd better hurry,
or they'll start without you!
HUDSON: Right, now, be very
careful there are no chinks
in our blackout, Mrs. Bridges.
MRS. BRIDGES: Don't you worry,
Mr. Hudson.
DAISY:
Well, goodbye, Mr. Hudson!
HUDSON: Thank you,
Daisy, Ruby.
MRS. BRIDGES:
Now, you will go careful.
HUDSON:
I will, Mrs. Bridges.
Don't you fret, my dear.
HAZEL: Richard.
Thank you for the flowers,
they're lovely.
There was no need.
Oh.
HAZEL: I've had rather
a sad letter,
sad for Georgina.
"Dear Mrs. Bellamy,
I thought it best
to write to you
and not to Georgina herself
to give you the bitter news
that my son Dennis
was killed in
France last week,
only two days
after his arrival."
RICHARD: Oh, dear.
HAZEL: "He was hit by
a rifle bullet near Festubert
and died instantly
without suffering.
Pray God it's the truth.
I write to you, of whom
Georgina spoke most warmly
on the occasion of our meeting,
because you know
better than I perhaps
the true extent of her
feelings for my son,
Whether they were
deep or not.
In this light,
perhaps you could convey
the news of his death.
For myself, I can only say that
I am grateful that Dennis
was able to take the image of
so enchanting a girl with him
through the last
days of his life.
Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth Kemp."
Was Georgina in
love with this boy?
I don't know.
I only met him once,
the day before he left.
He brought me some tulips.
[Door closes]
[Laughter]
HAZEL: There's Georgina.
Do you want me to stay?
No, I'll do it on my own.
Right, well I've
plenty of work to do.
I shall be in the study.
Georgina, could you
come in and...
GEORGINA: May I
introduce James Marriott?
Come on, don't be shy.
This is Mrs. Bellamy,
my step-cousin by marriage.
- How do you do.
- HAZEL: How do you do.
GEORGINA: And my uncle,
Mr. Bellamy.
- How do you do, sir.
- How do you do.
GEORGINA: James has
just got his commission
in the Seaforth Highlanders.
We've had
a breathless afternoon
reading up
the regimental history.
Very boring for Georgina,
but she insisted on coming.
Not at all.
James was reading
history at Cambridge
before he joined
the army.
RICHARD: How interesting.
Can I get you
a drink, Marriott?
Thank you very much, sir.
DAISY: Rose?
DAISY: Rose?
ROSE: Mmm?
DAISY: If Mr. Hudson
had joined up
and he had gone
up to the front,
do you think he could
ever have killed anyone?
ROSE: Not with his eyesight.
RUBY: No, she means
kill in cold blood, Rose.
You know, stick a bayonet
in someone's tummy
and twist it round.
ROSE: I know what
she means, Ruby,
and I don't want to
think about it.
DAISY: Oh,
but you have to, Rose.
I mean, they're training
my Eddie to kill
right at this moment.
And I want to know,
when it actually comes to it,
how can you pull the trigger
and what do you feel like after?
RUBY: Yeah what do
you feel like?
Well, I don't know.
It's no use looking at me.
I mean it's simple, isn't it?
Kill or get killed.
The Huns don't
think twice about it.
I suppose if you just
let off your gun
and you don't see
the person falling.
Captain James has killed men.
I know that 'cause I've heard
them talk about it upstairs.
Oh, yeah, well, it's
different for them, isn't it?
I mean, he's an officer.
He's expected to,
but my Eddie's different.
ROSE: Your Eddie'll have to
do it too when he goes.
Now be quiet and unravel that
and get on with your winding.
[Loud knocking]
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
what ever's that?
ROSE: Better look.
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, no, Rose,
don't go to the door.
Oh, Mr. Hudson shouldn't
leave us alone like this,
not at night time.
ROSE: Mr. Schoenfeld!
What on earth's happened?
Mr. SCHOENFELD:
Let us in, please.
- MRS. BRIDGES: Who's there?
- It's Mr. Schoenfeld!
MRS. BRIDGES: Well, what's he
want at this time of night?
ROSE: He's with his wife
and son, and they're right bad.
Can you come?
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
good gracious me!
What ever happened?
Come inside.
Ruby, get some water
to bathe these wounds in.
MR. SCHOENFELD: It's
all right, it's only --
MRS. BRIDGES: Get some lint
and some bandages.
Here, my dear, you sit there.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Thank you.
- Is that all right?
- Yes, thank you.
MRS. BRIDGES: Tell me,
what ever happened?
MR. SCHOENFELD:
A whole crowd of people.
They came to the shop,
they smashed the windows,
beat us, and then
they steal everything,
they set it on fire,
and we have to
run for our lives.
MRS. BRIDGES: But what
sort of people?
MRS. SCHOENFELD:
English people.
RUBY: Why?
- I don't know.
MR. SCHOENFELD: They call us
horrible names.
I could see faces in
the crowd that I serve,
my customers!
I tell them that
I'm not a German.
I tell them I hate
what the Germans do.
MRS. SCHOENFELD:
Oh, no, please,
could you help
the boy first?
See where the stone
has hit him?
Get up on the table,
that's it.
MR. SCHOENFELD: They think
we are spies.
They think because
of the name.
I cannot deny it is
a German name,
but I am a naturalized
British subject.
I have the same rights
as you do.
Perhaps I speak
with a little accent
because I live in close
community with German people
from my father's time,
but Wilfred,
my son, he is second generation,
and still they beat him.
MRS. BRIDGES: There, there,
Mr. Schoenfeld.
You're quite safe with us.
I didn't love Dennis.
I refuse to let myself
fall in love with any of them
because I don't want to
mourn them.
But you let them love you.
They're mostly very young
and very frightened,
and they cling to you
for love.
How can you be
indifferent to them?
You pretend to love them.
You give them photographs
and send them off
with half promises
and expectations --
Oh, you're angry.
Don't be angry with me.
I'm not angry.
I'm trying to understand.
All my friends
feel the same.
We just want to
protect ourselves.
From grief?
You can't.
Why not? Is it wrong?
It's cowardice.
What is so brave about
facing grief and fear
if you don't have to?
Isn't it better to stay cheerful
and smile for their sake?
I will go
and see his mother.
I promise.
[Door closes]
MRS. BRIDGES: Oh,
Mr. Hudson,
thank goodness
you're safely home.
We thought you must
have been hurt somewhere.
HUDSON: Why should I be?
MRS. BRIDGES: Well,
the street fights,
the rioting
and the looting.
HUDSON: Oh, come now,
Mrs. Bridges.
There's no riots
or looting.
The streets are safer
than when they were lit.
Didn't you read
the newspapers today?
The criminal has
turned patriot,
and I was only mentioning to
Mr. Gilespie just now that --
What's this?
ROSE: Their shop was attacked.
RUBY: High windows smashed.
DAISY: The women took all
the bread away in perambulators.
And when they'd done,
they set alight to it.
They thought
they were spies.
Who did?
ROSE: People like us.
English people.
MR. SCHOENFELD: We came
here for refuge, Mr. Hudson.
There was nowhere.
My wife, Maria,
and my son, Wilfred,
you see...
ROSE: Um,
shall I take your coat,
Mr. Hudson?
And how did the patrol go?
RUBY: Yes, what did
you do, Mr. Hudson?
Did you go up
the fire tower?
MRS. BRIDGES: Tonight was
Mr. Hudson's first night
on duty as
special constable.
We were shown the fire tower,
yes, Ruby.
Then what did you do?
We were detailed to guard
the power station at Wandworth.
ROSE: Oh, anything happen?
No, no, things were quite
peaceful, as it turned out.
Well, thank goodness
you wasn't
anywhere near poor
Mr. Schoenfelds shop.
What were they
expecting to happen
at this power station,
Mr. Hudson?
Were they expecting it to be
attacked by German spies?
- Maria.
- No, I want to know
why the special constables were
guarding peaceful power stations
when they could have been
out in the streets
preventing ordinary
British people
from behaving
like animals and savages.
MR. SCHOENFELD: She is upset,
Mr. Hudson.
There were special
constables there.
I saw them.
Doing their best
to control the crowd,
but sometimes they
are hit over the head
by the regular police
by mistake.
I think you will find,
Mrs. Schoenfeld,
that after these riots,
which I must confess to
knowing nothing about,
we will spend more time
patrolling the streets.
And I don't obviously wish
to defend what has happened,
but you must realize
this great wave of hostility
is largely the result
of the sinking by a submarine
of the neutral American liner,
Lusitania.
- Oh, yes, the Lusitania.
- An act of gross barbarism.
You have clearly
not been told
what we have been told
about the Lusitania.
- Maria, don't!
- That it was carrying
Women and children
and Americans, yes,
but concealing arms
and Canadian troops below.
You have not heard that?
MR. SCHOENFELD:
Exaggerations, propaganda.
Why do you talk to
these people like that?
They are our friends!
They have taken us in
when we needed help.
MRS. BRIDGES: Arms?
Canadian troops? Oh!
We'd never do a thing like that,
would we, Mr. Hudson?
Not British.
No, Mrs. Bridges,
we wouldn't,
but it is what one would expect
the enemy to say of us
to justify
the frightful deed.
Well, be that as it may,
Mr. Hudson,
Where are they
going to sleep?
Young Wilfred's
nearly dropping.
Well, he could have
Eddie's room, couldn't he?
Oh, yes,
I suppose he could.
And then Mr. and Mrs. Schoenfeld
could have our room
and we could sleep down here.
Now, now,
just a minute, Rose,
you're making rather
too many assumptions.
I will need to
consult the master.
They must go to the police
and report the damage
to their property.
As I thought, sir.
Then what happens to them?
They'll be safe,
that's the first thing,
until all this dies down.
They're naturalized
British subjects.
They'll remain free,
unless it's considered
safer for them
to be interned.
Interned?
Put behind barbed wire?
Oh, it's not as bad
as the word suggests.
I gather these camps
are quite decently run.
And they'll be
out of harm's way.
They could be the lucky ones.
You must convince
them of that, Hudson.
Yes, sir. Should I send them
on their way at once?
No, Hudson.
If they are shocked and hurt,
they must stay the night.
They can have
my room if necessary.
Very well, Hudson.
They may stay the night.
- Sir.
- But first thing
in the morning,
they must go to the police.
Very good, sir.
Poor devils.
HAZEL: Yes.
Doesn't it prove my point?
That once you start twisting
people's minds with propaganda,
even the English can
behave like savage beasts.
What happens to the boy?
HUDSON: Oh, I would
assume he goes with you.
Or to the work house?
They wouldn't
separate us, Maria.
No.
Well, then,
since you are so confident,
let us not waste any time.
ROSE: Oh, but --
- MR. SCHOENFELD: Maria.
The master has said you
may spend the night here.
Thank you, but since
we have to go anyway,
why should we
inconvenience you further?
Come along, Wilfred.
MR. SCHOENFELD: Maria,
don't be stupid!
Stupid?
Oh...
Who are you calling stupid?
It is you who are
the stupid one,
with your stupid
English badge.
Don't you see?
You fool nobody.
They don't want you,
these kind people.
You make them feel
uncomfortable.
Look at them all
looking at you.
And your son
they don't trust.
So, let them
take their bread
from English bakers
if they can find any.
Oh, I'll bet you're glad to see
the back of them, Mr. Hudson.
Who knows.
They might have burned
the house down during the night.
[Door slams]
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