Mission Impossible (1966) s07e13 Episode Script

The Puppet

Would you? Would you listen to me, Paul? I've already told you, Leo, the answer is "no.
" But it's gonna get us out of the penny-ante rackets into the really big time.
Do you know what our gross was last year? That's last year.
What about this year? What about five years from now? Look, times are changing.
Can't you see that? We're being forced out of narcotics.
We've gotta find something else.
This is what I put you through college for? There's book learning and there's real life.
Now, Leo, look around you and get some experience - before you kill a successful business.
- Experience? - A Phi Beta Kappa can go wrong.
- What about the stolen securities? What about the salvage copper cable? Those were my ideas.
They worked.
I didn't say you were dumb, kid.
I say you have no discrimination.
Paul.
Look, would you? Would you just go over the figures with me, huh? What does it take to knock an idea in that skull of yours, huh? Your idea is stupid, it's risky, and if I hear any more yap about it, you're gonna be back running numbers.
Now, I mean it, Leo.
Is that your last word? The only way you're ever gonna ram that plan down the family's throat is over my dead body.
Paul? Good morning, Mr.
Phelps.
You are looking at a picture of Paul Ostro, head of the criminal family of that name, whose activities include narcotics, gambling, prostitution and extortion.
A few weeks ago, he suffered severe facial injuries in a hunting accident and is confined to bed.
He is using his younger brother Leo as his spokesman and contact for the outside world.
Since the time of Paul's accident, there are rumours that the Ostro family is planning a new criminal enterprise involving over $ 100 million.
Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to discover the reason for the Ostro's change of policy and smash the new plan, whatever it is.
This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.
Good luck, Jim.
Jim, isn't there a danger that Paul Ostro may know - you've never met him? - If it is Paul Ostro.
- You think Leo's using an impostor? - Well, it's possible, Casey.
In which case, he won't be able to refute my claim.
But, Jim, if it is the real Paul, you'll be walking into a trap.
Well, not necessarily.
He'd have to have been under heavy sedation.
Bound to be confused.
Now, Barney, how long does it take this drug to work? Two minutes, Willy.
It produces all the symptoms of a heart attack.
Unless this antidote is taken in time.
- What about Paul's voice? - I'll record it, Hank.
- Khalid? - I have a valid diplomatic passport.
It indicates I flew from Beirut to Rome.
Now, this is Augie Leach.
A new man on Leo's payroll.
Actually, he's working for this man, Larry Gault, a rival gang boss who wants to take over the Ostro family operation.
Barney? In here is a false compartment.
It's activated by the lock.
Whenever it's closed, the compartments automatically reverse.
Jim, what about the Ostro family cook? Yeah, we've arranged a sudden family emergency, Casey.
All right, we've gotta move fast.
Whatever the Ostros are planning, it happens this week.
- Who do you wanna see? - I'm the new chef.
Yeah? What is it now? The new cook's here.
You check him against the agency photo? Yeah.
Yeah, that's him all right.
All right, send him up.
Tell him to use the back entrance.
In order to survive, we must diversify.
To get out of the hot rackets, change our procedures.
Come on, Paul, you told us all that on the phone.
Now, what's the job? We Leo.
We have a new venture.
It's international, very lush.
For an investment of $1 million apiece, we guarantee a return of 12.
Now, your money will go into a fund, subject to the usual controls and assurances.
Foreign payments will be made through one of our banking houses.
Sounds great to me.
Here's my million.
- Gentlemen? - Now wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
This is a lot of money.
And I want a lot of details before I invest it.
What do you mean, you won't tell us what the money's for? I've given you a rundown of the financial details.
You know the banks involved and who's handling the transfers.
Look, I grant it is unusual but so are the profits.
We have worked for over six months on this venture.
We cannot risk a leak.
Well, I don't invest blind.
- I don't think anybody should.
- Wait.
Wait, Larry.
I trust Leo and I'll be supervising the deal.
I give each one of you my personal guarantee.
If Paul okays it, it's all right with me.
What about you, Larry? Okay, Paul.
For you, Paul.
For nobody else.
No offence, kid.
Now lay it out for us.
- What's your name? - The name is Holt.
Your room's through there.
Mr.
Ostro is in a meeting.
He'll see you when it's over.
- Yeah, what is it? - Yeah, there's a guy here to see Paul.
What's his name? John Hunter.
Never heard of him.
Tell him to get lost.
Sorry.
They never heard of you.
Hey.
Listen to me.
You get on that phone and tell Paul Ostro himself I'm here.
I didn't fly 6,000 miles to be brushed off by some guard at a gate.
Now get at it.
Well, that will mean And where do we get the payoff? Oh, you can pick it up here in cash immediately if you want or we can launder it through the Bahamas before it goes to your account in Switzerland.
It's up to you.
Okay, kid.
It's yours.
Oh, just remember this.
The last time I gave a dime to a blind man, I had my boys burn his eyeballs out.
You know, just to make sure he wasn't taking me for anything.
Thank you for coming, gentlemen.
There's a guy at the gate by the name Hunter raising all kinds of trouble.
He says he's had an appointment with Paul for over three months - on a deal worth 2 and a half million.
- Two and a half million? - Well, Paul never told me about it.
- Well, you better check with him.
Are you sure? - Tell them at the gate to let him in.
- All right.
Okay.
Okay, you can go up now.
- Mr.
Hunter.
- Who are you? I'm Leo Ostro, Paul's brother.
Oh, this is my associate, Ms.
Munson.
How do you do? I understand that you claim that you have an appointment with my brother.
Claim? I don't claim anything.
I'm a long-standing partner of his.
That's curious.
He never mentioned your name.
Oh, what is this? Where is he? I'm afraid he's had a very bad hunting accident.
He's confined to bed under doctor's orders.
Well, I'm very sorry about that but I did not invest $200,000 of my own money and fly all this way to be put off.
I have important business.
All right, Mr.
Hunter, if you insist.
Let's go upstairs and see if my brother remembers you.
Paul? What? What is it? John Hunter is here.
Who? Who? Paul doesn't seem to recognise you, Mr.
Hunter.
What's Paul on? They must be playing games with his head.
I have $200,000 worth of my money in this.
We had a deal.
Either he picks up on it or I take it somewhere else.
Now wait a minute, Mr.
Hunter.
My brother has been heavily sedated due to severe pain.
Perhaps if you went over it all again to refresh his memory? All right.
I wanna talk to him alone.
No.
Leo is running everything for me when I'm in bed.
- He has to know.
- All right with you? If Mr.
Ostro says "yes," I suppose so.
Okay.
The minister has agreed.
We have access to 500,000 tons of oil.
He's ready to cooperate as soon as we deposit the equivalent of $1 million in Swiss francs in his Geneva account.
Our profit is 2 and a half million dollars at least, inside 30 days.
Oil? - Where? - In holding tanks on the Red Sea.
- How do we get it? Ship it? - Yes, we have a tanker arranged.
Now, we load the oil on a government-approved contract.
Once the oil is shipped, the contract vanishes.
No records.
Our oil, free and clear to sell at a beautiful profit.
And this minister, can he handle all this? He's a very important man in his country.
Who would also like to be very rich.
- Where is he now? - He's staying at the Ruxton Hotel.
- All right.
Bring him with the papers.
- No, he won't come here.
For his own protection, he can't be linked to Paul or you.
He is literally risking his neck.
And he won't move until that million dollars is up-front.
Which we provide? Well, that's the deal that Paul and I agreed on.
And what do you and Miss Munson provide, Mr.
Hunter? The contacts, the concepts, the customers.
The whole deal.
- For which you get? - Oh, come on, what is this? We agreed on a fifty-fifty split.
Are you gonna renege on that? No.
No, of course not.
When do you wanna meet him? In one hour.
Ruxton Hotel, Suite 417.
- You all right? - I'm fine.
- Ruxton Hotel, one hour.
- Very well.
- Do you think that was the real Paul? - Hard to say, Casey.
His reactions did seem awfully normal for a man who'd been injured that badly.
Yeah, I thought Leo was feeding him his cues all the way through.
Doesn't make any difference though because Leo's hooked.
- What is your name? - Holt, sir.
- May I see your references? - Yes, sir.
Thank you.
All right, Holt.
This is how things work in this house.
You will call me Mr.
Leo.
You will stay in these quarters at all times except when serving meals or taking food to my brother who eats at four-hourly intervals.
This is the diet sheet.
If you need any supplies, you will give a list to Mr.
Leach the night before.
Very well, sir.
Oh, by the way, do you know Russian cooking? Pre- or post-revolution, sir? A bastirma.
Well, your kitchen is not too well-stocked.
I'll need two pounds of boneless sirloin, black pepper, red wine vinegar and some basil.
When would it be ready? Five hours after I get the ingredients, sir.
Oh, I think you're going to fit in very well around here.
I hope so, sir.
You didn't get any details of Hunter's scheme? He said he had a deal for 2 and a half million dollars.
And that he and Paul had been working on it for months, that's all.
- What about the girl? - A blonde, name of Munson.
She was in Paul's room with them so she must know now what it's all about.
You say she's a hype, huh? Hey, needle marks all over her.
Fusco, get over to the Ruxton, pick her up.
We better start getting the bandages on you.
Right.
But I think I'll go get changed first.
Right.
You are familiar with the elements of the transaction? Oh, yes.
You wish us to give you a million-dollar bribe.
Well, you are blunt.
- Do you object? - Oh, no, no, no.
If you seriously intend to do business.
Well, all I've heard so far is a lot of talk.
The documentary proof is available.
Where? Doubt is infectious, Mr.
Ostro.
First, do you have the money? Oh, there will be no problem in obtaining the money when you prove you have the oil.
Now, this is the engineer's log sheet report on Storage Tank Number Ten.
As you can see, "500,000 long tons, Arabian light crude.
Specifications: API, 34.
5, sulphur, 1.
7, pour point, minus 13.
" And the oil commission trade balances to date, showing that the contents of Tank Number Ten have not been included.
How did you ever manage to separate An unfortunate pipeline leak.
- And the marketing? - Western Europe.
Well, it all seems to be in order.
But where is the loading permit? I mean, that is the key item.
Yes, the document should be arriving shortly by air.
Miss Munson, you better get out to the airport now and pick them up.
Well, when those documents arrive, send them out to the house, will you? That's impossible.
If you see them at all, Mr.
Ostro, it will be here, in my presence.
Why not? I took the liberty of increasing the cream content, sir.
It won't affect the medical properties but I do trust it will make it taste better.
Not too bad, Holt.
It's almost edible.
Is there anything else you want, Mr.
Ostro? To get out of this bed, that's all.
Taxi.
- You'll come with me.
- What? Just move.
- You got any hamburger? - Yes, sir.
- Rustle me up one, will you? - All right.
I'll tell you the truth, I'm not too crazy about this French garbage Leo likes.
- Yes, sir? - Leach, help.
Dr.
Faraday speaking.
Dr.
Holtfield, please.
I'm taking Dr.
Holtfield's calls while he's away.
Can I help you? Yes, I'm calling from the Ostro house.
Can you come over immediately? Mr.
Paul Ostro is very sick.
Heart attack, I think.
I'll be there as quickly as I can.
I can't help you or I would.
Please let me go.
Junkie.
How long is it since you had a fix, junkie, huh? How long? Yesterday.
That's beautiful.
It's beginning to hurt now, isn't it? Isn't it? - What's going on here? - Paul got sick.
- Who are you? - Dr.
Faraday.
Dr.
Holtfield's on vacation.
- What's wrong with him? - Apparently, a heart attack.
Could he have been poisoned? Oh, I don't think so.
The symptoms appear to be normally inspired.
However, I can run some tests.
Never mind.
Get the cook up here.
- Send out for this right away.
- When will you be back? In two hours.
He'll be sedated till then.
Mr.
Leo, I don't know anything about this.
I just made Mr.
Paul's diet from his chart.
Well, then, you have nothing to worry about, have you? I beg your pardon? Drink this.
What are you waiting for? Will that be all, sir? Just stand there.
Yes? I don't wanna be bothered now.
I'm busy.
All right, you may go.
Thank you, sir.
Hey, what happened to my hamburger? In the warmer.
I'll get it in a few minutes.
- Well, break it out.
- Yes, sir.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Has Mr.
John Hunter been here yet? - He just left.
I was supposed to meet him to pick up our tickets.
Oh, you must be Mr.
Ostro.
Right.
Well, he only just walked out of here.
If you hurry, you may catch him.
Thanks.
By the way, which way did you route us? Via London.
There is no direct flight to Zurich.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye.
I took the liberty of increasing the cream content, sir.
It won't affect the medical properties but I do trust it'll make it taste better.
Not too bad, Holt.
It's almost edible.
- Have you heard enough? - Yeah, sure.
Shut it off.
Not bad, Holt.
It's almost edible.
Very good, Hank.
You ready yet? Please.
Oh, please, help me.
No.
Come on, now.
You know the price.
Leo Ostro just closed a big deal and he sent Hunter to Zurich to get a numbered account and they're gonna take it out together in cash.
- How much? - Four million.
- When? - Tonight.
Look, I want a meeting of all the family leaders at the Ostro house, right away.
Tell them it's urgent.
Phone Fusco, tell him I'm on my way.
Oh, that was prime stuff.
She'll be floating for hours.
So when she comes to, kick her out of here.
- How is he? - No better.
I'm going to take a cardiogram.
Then he'll need rest with absolute quiet.
I'd prefer that no one remain in the room with him.
I'll see to it.
I'll be back in a couple of hours.
I'll need my bag.
It's in the back seat of the car.
Right away.
You, hold it! What are you doing there? I'm looking for some basil for Mr.
Leo's dinner.
Okay, Hank.
Get in bed.
Here's your bag, doc.
Jim? We've got the money.
Good.
The case will be in the bedroom.
Well, is he up there? Export licence.
Loading documents.
Technical specifications approval.
Shipping permit.
Customs clearance.
These could be Chinese.
I'm afraid I'll have to have them gone over by experts.
No, no, those papers must not leave my presence.
You think we are going to hand you $1 million without checking? All of this should have been taken care of.
Well, it was, minister.
With his brother, Paul.
If you are worried, come with me.
The papers need never leave your sight.
Well, I must not be seen with you.
Minister, perhaps I could go with Mr.
Ostro? Would that be all right? - All right.
- Just a moment.
Thank you.
- All right? - All set.
Mr.
Ostro.
Mr.
Gault would like to talk to you.
Just for a minute.
And you, Mr.
Hunter.
- We've been trying to find you.
- Why? Because Mr.
Gault has something he'd like to discuss with you.
- Come on, what is this? - It's urgent.
Please.
- All right, Larry, what is it? - Inside.
- Are you insane? - What have you got in there, kid? Nothing to do with you.
Well, then you got nothing to be worried about, have you? Jim was right.
Leo's puppet.
- What is all this? - We'll see.
You are really making a jackass out of yourself, Gault.
Never mind that.
Open this.
Go on and open it.
I make that a cool 4 million in cash.
Our 4 million.
And a ticket to Zurich in the name of Leo Ostro.
Paul.
This is a frame and he's behind it.
Where'd you get that money, Leo? Larry must have planted it in my briefcase.
Yeah.
Or Hunter.
Ask him.
Hunter, tell them who you are, will you? My name is John Hunter.
I'm an accountant.
Last week he asked me to open a numbered account for him - at the International Bank in Zurich.
- What? He's lying.
He came to us with a deal about oil.
Go on, Paul, tell them.
Tell them who he really is.
I don't know who he is.
He's your friend.
Paul? Paul! What have you done with my brother? - What's wrong with you? - That's not my brother.
He is a fake.
All right.
Now we'll see if it's Paul or not.
The tattoo.
It's over, Leo.
He shot me and then kept me drugged so that I would go along with his plan.
All right, take him out and lose him.
Be careful.
I don't want his body to be found.
Gault, wait a minute.
Look, I have been framed.
I don't know who wants me killed, but I have been framed.
Look, I needed that money for payoffs.
I'll tell you what I've done.
You see, I discovered that South African currency is printed in this country.
So I had plates made.
Perfect reproductions.
I had presses built, identical to the original.
We have now made arrangements to distribute throughout the world millions of dollars of South African banknotes in the next 48 hours.
- Look, I am sorry - Yeah, sure.
Take him out.
The presses are in the basement.
Look for yourselves.
Presses here? Come on.
I've had Augie watching you for three months.
We got Augie out of here one weekend and we moved the presses in at night.
Downstairs in the subbasement.
Maybe we'd better check.
Yeah, you come along too.
Enzo? You stay with Paul.
Willy? Now.
See? Be ready to roll in a few hours.
Don't anyone move.
You were never half as smart as your brother, kid.

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