China Gate (1957) Movie Script
1
This motion picture
is dedicated to
France. More than 300 years ago, French
missionaries were sent to Indochina
to teach love of God
and love of fellow man.
Gradually, French influence took
shape in the Vietnamese land.
Despite many hardships, they
advanced their way of living
and the thriving nation
became the rice bowl of Asia.
Vast riches were developed under
French guidance until 1941,
when Japanese troops moved in
and made the rice bowl red
with blood of the defenders.
In 1945, when the Japanese
surrender was announced,
a Moscow-trained
Indo-Chinese revolutionist
who called himself
Ho Chi Minh
began the drive to make his own country
another target for Chinese Communists.
Headquartered in the North, he
called the new party Viet Minh.
With the end of
the Korean War,
France was left alone to hold
the hottest front in the world,
and became the barrier between
communism and the rape of Asia.
Members of the Foreign Legion
imported from North Africa
fought valiantly
under the French flag,
but the ammunition pipeline
from Moscow could not be found.
Bombs and shells made in Russia
were stocked in secret tunnels
along the mountain range
of the China Gate.
This arsenal was winning the
war for the Communists.
Bombs and shells stocked underground
smashed village after village.
But still fighting for her life,
100 miles from the China Gate,
is the dying village of Son Toy,
the last holdout in the North.
Her supplies have been ambushed,
her ammunition depleted,
but she fights
as she starves.
Her only chance of survival is the
American food air-drop from the South.
The year, 1954.
The day, Thursday.
The time, 10:00
in the morning.
All animals have
been eaten. All but one.
Food! Food!
- How's Pierre?
- Pierre's hungry.
Food!
Keep off the road,
understand?
Come on, Leung.
It's gonna blow.
Look out!
Spread out!
Thank you, sisters.
Thank you very much.
You look wonderful,
Lucky, just wonderful.
Now that's the way
I like to see you.
I want you to meet Captain
Gaumont of the Air Force.
He has been pulled out of action
specifically to meet you.
Captain, this
is Lia Sermer.
So you're the one
they call Lucky Legs?
I keep them covered
on social calls.
I heard they are hollow,
to keep your cognac in.
You'll never find out.
What's on your mind,
Colonel?
I know what an ordeal it is for you
to stay sober, but this is important.
Mmm-hmm.
Important to whom?
Important to all of us.
This is an aerial photo
of the border.
There are hundreds of tunnels here along
those hills and mountains at the China Gate.
You got me sober
to tell me that?
I know you know
about those tunnels.
What's this all about,
Colonel?
Somewhere in this area is
a big dump of bombs and shells
and small arms ammunition that
are crippling our troops.
Everybody knows that.
But no one knows just
exactly where it is.
Some of our bombers got
through, but hit nothing vital.
We have sent out patrols
but they never got back.
You know the 100 miles from here to
the border like you know your cognac!
You have made this trip, oh, a
hundred times with your cousin.
Those Reds trust you.
That's why we need you.
Above all, you know Major
Cham at the China Gate.
My business with the Major
is strictly my business.
We are interested in the Major
because he is the lock to the dump
and you are the only key
that can open him up.
This isn't my war!
- You are part Chinese!
- Ah!
I'm a little of everything
and a lot of nothing.
The Chinese say I'm this, the French
say I'm that, the Americans say I'm...
As far
as I'm concerned
you and the hammer and sickle boys can
go fight it out among yourselves.
When the dump is blown,
there should be
a chain reaction
through the whole area.
In the confusion,
we steal a plane.
My job is to fly
you back here to Son Toy.
We will give you $5,000.
We'll open a new bar for
you in Saigon
and stock it with the finest
wines and liquor.
It's a deal?
No.
All right, then. Name your own price.
How much do you want?
I want to get
my son to America.
He has no criminal record,
no disease.
He's five years old and his eyes
are a cross he's got to carry.
But in America, I think that
cross would be lighter.
You know the right people.
You use your influence for my son
and I'll find that dump for you.
No. The laws are
strict in America.
All right.
Lucky! Wait a moment.
In this particular case,
I think we can
work it out.
- When do we start?
- Right away!
I have a pleasant
surprise for you.
What? A bottle?
Send him in.
You remember the American
dynamiter, Sergeant Brock?
He is with the
Foreign Legion now.
He will be in charge
of explosives.
The deal's off!
Find the dump yourself!
But I don't understand.
I thought it would be a wonderful
reunion for both of you on this job.
It would make
everything more pleasant.
I knew you lived together in
Saigon, but what happened?
We just didn't live
together, Colonel.
We were married,
in church.
Oh, you could have bought
her for $30 for two years
as a government-registered
wife.
That's right.
Well, then, did she find
you with another woman?
Is that why
she slapped you?
No. I walked.
Oh, that happens every day
in this part of the world.
Oh, yes, it could
have been worse.
It is. No.
What do you mean?
She told me her father was
Caucasian and her mother Chinese.
Who'd ever take her for Chinese?
Even half Chinese?
One thing I always
wanted was a kid.
We wanted the baby
born in America.
It just didn't work
out that way.
The baby was born
in Saigon.
When the doctor
phoned me, I ran.
I ran all the way
to the hospital.
I saw my baby.
It was like a bomb
had hit me.
I walked.
Why?
He was Chinese.
What did you expect?
A notarized guarantee that the baby
would be born with eyes aimed your way?
Do you know why she volunteered
to go on this mission?
For your son.
I promised him America
if she would find the dump.
Son?
Yes. You've got a son.
He's five years old. He has no
criminal record, no disease.
The only cross he has
to carry are his eyes.
You married me
six years ago in Saigon.
Brock, Johnny Brock.
I was a Sergeant
in the American army then.
I married Lia. Lia Sermer,
don't you remember?
Yes. I thought you
were killed in Korea.
You hate my guts, don't
you, Father?
What did the Colonel want
you to discuss with me?
We need Lia's help
on a patrol.
A demolition job. She said
she'd go until she saw me.
I've got to go,
I'm the dynamiter.
She's the only one who can
get us through to the Gate.
The Colonel thought you
could help me change her mind.
Why should I help you?
Because her feeling for me isn't
as important as going on this job.
Her father taught her
all about women.
Her Chinese mother taught
her all about men,
but didn't teach her
enough about hypocrites.
You married a beautiful woman
to satisfy your own vanity.
To me, that's a
criminal act.
After you left her she
became known as Lucky Legs.
Lucky Legs, that's what
they call her.
They say she ran
an opium den.
That she was
mixed up in murder,
that she caused a man
to take his life,
that she operated in black markets
and lived like a princess,
and lived like a prostitute.
They say she's a traitor to France, they
say she's a traitor to the Chinese Reds.
They say.
The gossips.
Those envious ones who
take pride in spreading lies.
I know they're lies,
because I know this woman.
I know what she went
through to feed your child.
The Communists
tore off my leg
and knifed a sign in my side
reading "capitalist spy."
Lia found me on the
outskirts of the village.
She cut off the gangrenous flesh
and carried me to the hospital.
Help you?
Stay out of her life!
I shouldn't have slapped you.
I should've shot you,
but your army would've
tossed me in prison,
And your son over there,...
yeah, that's your son,...
he'd be scrounging garbage
like a rat.
Take a good look
at him, Brock.
You didn't have time when
he was born, remember?
When I saw his eyes,
I got sick inside.
He was so ugly. Chinese all
the way down the line.
First time I met you, you said
children should be seen, not had.
You should have done
what you preached.
Look, I wore no halo
when we got married.
You knew how I felt about
half-castes and their kids.
Then why did
you marry me?
Because you didn't look like a
30-buck Chinese bride. That's why!
I didn't come to beg.
Tell the Colonel
you tried.
And don't stop on your way out
to pat my son like a dog!
Don't dig his grave because
you can't stomach me.
He's living on
borrowed time now.
He'll never get another
chance to go to the States.
China Gate
China Gate
Many dreams
and many hearts
You separate
Like two arms open wide
Some you welcome in
And some must stay outside
Bowl of rice
Bitter tea
Is this all the good earth
Has to offer me?
Will I find peace of mind?
Does my true love wait
Behind the China Gate?
China Gate
All right, check your equipment
and hardware. Kruger?
Explosives and grease gun.
- Charlie!
- Lead wire and automatic carbine.
- Andreades.
- Explosives and automatic carbine.
- Goldie!
- Explosives and grease gun.
- Janszi!
- Food, extra ammo and automatic carbine.
- Pigalle!
- Explosives and automatic carbine.
All right.
These, we've got to watch.
They're primers.
They set off the explosives.
You just tap one of them and
they can blow us apart.
That's why we've got to keep them away
from the explosives at all times.
Now, I'm carrying this box
of 50 of them.
I've got 50 more.
Now, I want one of you guys to stick
your neck out and carry the other box.
I'll carry it.
That wraps it up,
Captain.
Now, I don't want
trouble over this woman.
She has a job to do,
we will finish it.
You wanna blind me?
Kill that light!
- Lucky?
- Who else did you expect this time of night?
Pull in the mines! It's Lucky Legs!
Pull in the mines.
Cognac, huh?
Lucky Major. You know, my mother should
have raised me to be an officer.
You better get this floor fixed.
How's your village?
Rubble.
- Your child all right?
- So far.
Oh, we had a bad one today.
Yes. I saw our
planes fly over.
Did they hit your bar?
Oh, that was wrecked days ago.
I hid my cognac underground.
There's one thing that
bothers me, Lucky.
Yeah? What's that?
I've been stuck here
for more than a year,
making sure these French don't
infiltrate to hit our supply line.
Do me a favor, Lucky,
but don't make it obvious.
When you're with the Major, drop
a word how nice it would be
if I could be transferred
to Sambor-Treng.
I haven't seen
my family in a year.
I, uh... I'll try
to swing it.
I've never heard of any
man saying "no" to you.
We tie up here.
The rest of the way we walk.
The river bends west.
We go northeast.
Say, Goldie, what part of
Czechoslovakia did you fight in?
Falkenau.
- That's where the last battle was fought.
- Yeah, that's right.
And what outfit?
1St Division.
Oh, the 1st Division,
huh? The Big Red One.
Hey, didn't your outfit take over the
concentration camp there and make the German
civilians dress and
bury the Russian dead?
Yeah, funny, isn't it?
Going out of our way to give those
vodka corpses a decent burial.
- I wouldn't have done it.
- Well, at the time we figured they were our friends.
Who knows who's our friends?
It's all so crazy and mixed up.
We know one thing. We know
America is our friend.
I don't see them fighting over here.
I mean, in their own uniforms.
She's helping us where we need help most.
A war costs money,
especially this crazy one.
It's cost her a lot.
Say, Lucky Legs, you think we'll run
into one of those Moi villages?
Mmm. One or two
will be in the way.
Moi? Hey, what's that?
It's Vietnamese
for "savage".
For savages they certainly
have been taken advantage of.
The Commies promised
them rice and gave them guns.
They're like children. They love to play
soldier, with red stars on their hats.
You know the Mois well?
Well enough.
My mother was a Moi. - Oh, that's
right. I heard you were part Chinese.
You heard right.
The Moi believe that this world
is the land of the dying,
and the next is
the land of the living.
Their religion is their ancestors.
They fill big jars with rice wine
and pray that the spirits of their
ancestors will take up residence in them.
- In the jars? Ancestors in the jars?
- Yeah, that's right.
- Ah!
- How do you know?
I knew a Moi once who ran short of funds.
You know what he did?
No.
He took one of those jars and sold
it with his grandmother in it.
No.
That's right.
Say, you don't
look Chinese.
Everybody doesn't carry
their lives in their faces.
I like the idea of a
Fraulein scouting us.
- I don't.
- You superstitious?
Nope.
But a lot of these Vietnamese
switch overnight to the Communists,
sell out their friends,
even their families.
You think the Colonel
would've picked her
if there was a chance
she'd sell us out?
Why not? The Colonel
was a desperate man.
He'd take a chance
on anyone.
Can you see me walking in a West Berlin
beer parlor with a Fraulein like that?
Who would believe
she's part Chinese?
You know...
They say there was a rifle
company of Americans in Saigon.
Company.
The way I heard it,
it was a whole battalion. And do
you know what she did?
Shut up.
You're the first American
I saw without humor.
Shut up.
I'm just an old gossip at heart, Sergeant.
I just said what I heard.
You're too sharp a soldier to
swap lies and believe them.
I was thirteen when Hitler
turned my ears into sponges.
I guess all the propaganda was squeezed
out when you joined the French.
- French?
- Still a uniform lover at heart, eh, Kruger?
Ah, it's the only life for me,
even if I have to die to live it.
Say, Goldie, what part
of America are you from?
New York.
Yeah, I was with the
Hermann Goering Division.
Yeah, I know.
Your outfit
captured us in Sicily.
Yeah, I remember.
Say, why did you leave your own
army to fight here in Indochina?
Well, what I started out to
do in Korea, I didn't finish.
There are still a lot of
live Commies around.
Janszi... Janszi!
He's crazy! He jumped me! What's the idea
of hitting me? I could've killed him!
I'm sorry, Goldie.
I have that nightmare
all the time.
I always see that Russian
soldier looking at me.
I...
I'm sorry.
Forget it.
I fight it all the time...
I fight...
I should have
remained in Hungary.
But I got sick of watching the
way they took my church over.
I was going to the University
of Budapest when it happened.
I...
I... I'm sorry Goldie.
I told you, forget it.
I got drunk one night,
drunk with hate.
Just hate.
I followed that Russian soldier
down the alley near the university.
Do you know how I killed him?
With my hands.
My hands.
And I see him
all the time in my dreams.
And I kill him over
and over and over...
You screened every man for
this job, didn't you, Captain?
Yes.
On a plane you
can tie up a blow-top,
but on an infantry job you've got
to do something about it real fast.
What do you suggest,
Sergeant?
We can't leave him behind. He'd
be caught and brainwashed.
We can't take him with us. That Russian
soldier might visit him again.
It's nothing
personal, Janszi.
We like you,
you know that,
but you're dangerous for us
to haul with us on this job.
You might kill
us all in our sleep.
You might take a shot at
Goldie or me with our primers.
You know what that means?
We'd all be blown up,
because you're sick.
He's got to go.
I guess you're right.
I know I'm right.
Nobody fouls up this job.
Nobody.
You're wearing the bars.
Pick a man.
The quicker you do it,
the faster we
get it over with.
You make sense,
but I'm not going to
give the order.
What do you mean?
You want to kill him? Kill him, but
it will have to be your decision.
- All right.
- No! Wait a minute, Sergeant...
Just...
Just a minute.
Just wait.
I... I'm not afraid to die.
That's why I volunteered
for this patrol.
But, to be killed
by one of you...
I promise,
I won't sleep.
I will keep quiet as a bird.
No more dreams.
No more nightmares.
I will keep awake
until the job is finished.
You have a knife.
Use it.
No.
I pass this time, Janszi.
The next time you have a
nightmare, it'll be your last.
Janszi.
If I were you,
I'd take some sleepin' pills.
It's all mined except
along the statues.
There's always a guard stationed
there in contact with his unit.
I'll handle him. Leung
will signal when to start.
Remember, the safe ground
is only about that wide.
Brush against those stone idols
and you won't blow up on a mine.
You remember
Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
No, go ahead.
You're afraid
of Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
Have your own
little drink, there.
I'm gonna tell you a story
about Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
It's nothing.
Nothing at all.
Mines.
Be careful.
Easy.
Easy now. Mines.
Careful.
We're surrounded by all
kinds of booby traps.
They keep changing
them every day.
How do you get through?
I find out from that
observation post.
What post?
There's a tree house
up there.
They can see movement
in all directions.
Oh, I can get the information,
but night travel is out.
Too dangerous.
Daylight will be worse.
They will see us.
That's right, but
a dead guard can't see.
I'll send a man up to
make sure he can't see.
You've been up
there many times?
Yes.
Alone?
Yes.
That you, Lucky?
Yes!
You alone?
No. I came with Leung
and some friends.
Bring a bottle.
How many do you want?
Oh, just enough for me.
Tell them I'll call down
when I find out.
Since when did you start
swamp-crawling at night?
Think I like it?
My orders were to hurry.
The Major again?
Mmm-hmm.
You jealous?
Everyone's jealous of him.
Is, uh...
Is number three clear?
No. Every path is wired.
Every one?
Yes,
but there's a small bend about
twenty yards from here.
Oh? Where? Out there?
About twenty yards?
Yes, and if you keep to the
left side, you'll make it.
But it's too risky
to try at night.
I won't be
relieved till morning.
I better tell
my cousin.
Leung?
Yes?
We'll have to wait till morning.
Did you hear me?
Yes, I heard you.
You know, Leung
is a very good cousin.
The Captain told me to
spend the night here.
In case a Commie soldier
slipped up the ladder.
The Captain's a
frustrated matchmaker.
Yeah, I guess you're right.
I was captured.
They tried to brainwash me,
but I was a bad subject.
When it was over,
I was an exchange P.O.W.
You said
you were captured.
Yeah.
What's the matter,
don't you believe me?
You once told me that no one
could ever really be captured.
If you want to die,
you'll kill, or be killed,
but if you want to live,
you'll surrender.
That's right.
Give me one good reason
you had for wanting to live.
I was afraid to die.
It's as simple as that.
One thing about you, Brock.
You don't lie.
I don't have to.
Why'd you join the French?
Soldiering's my business. Korea
got cold and Indochina got hot.
Are you really that interested
in fighting for the French?
Sure. I don't particularly like the Commies
and France was left holding the bag.
France.
There's only a handful of French here,
Brock. There's millions of Chinese.
You came here to fight for a Chinese baby.
Go on, admit it!
You don't give a damn
about the French.
Go on! Admit it!
I'm learning a lesson in
hate just watching you.
I'm too tired
to hate anymore.
It was all my
fault, not yours.
I'm really to blame.
You knew all about me, but I
didn't know all about you.
Sure, you'd traveled all over the
world, but you hadn't learned anything.
Not where it counts.
I should have investigated
your heart and your brain.
Should have seen you
weren't adjusted yet.
That you couldn't face
facts that involve people.
Oh, you're tough.
You handle explosives,
but you're not tough
enough to handle life, Brock.
That's where I
made the mistake.
Everybody makes mistakes.
Five years...
Five years is a long time to think
about one woman every night.
Johnny, for me too.
Five years is a long time
to think about one man.
Every night
I talked to our son.
Half the time I was drunk,
but I talked to him.
I told him what I did.
I told him
when I was ashamed.
I asked him to forgive me.
I was luckier than you, Johnny.
I had someone to talk to.
Someone who loves me.
Every night, Johnny.
I told him...
I told him...
How much I love his father.
Oh, we'll
do our job, Johnny.
We'll go back together and
take our son to America.
That's not what I meant.
What did you mean?
What do you think?
The wrong man was
killed in here tonight.
Tell the Captain
to send up a human being.
What's eating them?
They know she's your wife.
I thought a man's life was
private in the Legion.
I have a big mouth,
Sergeant.
When I joined the leather-bellies,
I never figured the Legion
was an old lady
with an itchy tongue.
Time changes everything,
Sergeant, even the Corps.
The Legionnaire of today
is not fighting
for a few centimes,
a bottle and a woman.
This time the
Foreign Legion mercenary
is not fighting for money, nor
for the French government alone.
This time they're fighting for the whole
Western world, against a common enemy.
So it is only natural that time will
change the interests of the men.
They like Lucky Legs.
They know of your son.
They know you are
ashamed of him.
They just don't like you.
Look out!
I don't feel so good.
Your back's broken.
I've seen broken backs.
There's nothing anybody
can do about it. Huh?
Nothing.
What're you all waiting for?
Move out. Move out.
We have to wait.
Why?
We can't bury you alive.
I don't like for people
to watch me die.
We don't like it, either.
She's got manners, that one.
She's a wonderful
woman, Brock.
What she ever saw in you?
Ever been to Greece?
No.
You?
No.
I remember when
my wife went crazy.
I remember when
she died, crazy.
I'm sorry I'm taking
such a long time to die.
We're in no hurry.
Let there be a heaven,
for it would kill me to have
to come back here again.
I'm all mixed up, Lia.
I figured you'd understand.
I mean, what I told you
up there in the tree house.
I could've lied to you. I could've
filled your head with lies.
I could have said
that I wanted the kid,
that I'd take him
to the States with me.
I could've told you
all those things.
But I didn't, Lia,
I didn't.
Not when I... Not when I
can't feel anything for him.
You mean... You mean even
now, after you've seen him?
You feel nothing?
You're the only person that
ever made me feel ashamed.
Ashamed of my mother,
my race, myself.
I know I'm different.
I know the difference between me
and my sisters, and my cousins,
but I never felt
ashamed of it.
I told you he might look
Chinese, didn't I?
But you said it wouldn't make any difference,
as long as the baby were healthy.
Didn't you?
Yeah.
But it's different when
it really happens to you.
I never figured it would be
such a one-sided birth.
There's, there's nothing...
No, there's nothing Brock about
him, except half his blood.
Otherwise he's like
millions of Chinese babies.
But I don't want him wearing
a grenade when he's ten.
I don't want him carrying
a gun when he's fifteen.
I don't want him killed,
or made into a Communist.
Next time you fall
in love with one of us,
get it in writing your child
will be born with straight eyes.
You know why they call me Pigalle?
Because I was a gendarme in Paris.
A traffic cop,
that's what I was.
My station was
Place Pigalle.
You know, the one
you GIs call Pig Alley.
There I stood all day long,
king of the street,
Stopping that car,
waving this one to go.
Stop! Go! Stop! Go!
I blew my whistle till my lips
could not enjoy a glass of wine.
It was driving me crazy.
I think I need
some fresh air.
And so, I found myself directing
my family like traffic.
I was telling my wife at night
when to eat, when not to eat,
when to walk, when not
to walk, when to, uh...
I was losing my mind.
So I joined the Legion
to find it.
For the first time,
people are telling me
when to stop and when to go.
For the first time,
I am happy.
My wife is happy.
I am not there to nag her.
My children are happy.
I am not there to direct them.
I tell you, this is
the way to live!
Get back!
It's Goldie,
they've got him zeroed in.
Move out! Move out!
Goldie?
They've got action over there.
There's one more on the move.
Keep them off me
while I grenade them.
- Be careful with my cigars!
- Come on.
Hold this.
We still have a hundred pounds
of explosives and fifty primers.
Twenty-five for me.
And twenty-five for you,
Goldie.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
"Women and children first."
That's the new motto for war.
There is no law in war.
There are Nazis who still
believe in bombing everyone.
Are you one of them?
I only believe in keeping my skin in one
piece no matter who I fight for or against.
You're lucky you never got
hurt where it doesn't show.
All of us got hurt
where it doesn't show.
I found part of my mother
in a bomb hole.
You can't guarantee law in war.
It's environment.
Environment, that's hard
to put your finger on.
It's a follow-the-leader game that
grips the imagination of every child,
so you behave like children,
children with guns and blood for breakfast
and the Iron Cross as a reward.
What's the matter, Goldie?
What's wrong?
A kid spotted us!
I better check.
It was over here.
You're hearing things.
Come on.
You're sure lucky that spike
wasn't booby-trapped.
Take it easy! Nobody
asked you to help me!
I'm not doin' this
'cause I like it.
Oh, you want a medal?
What's eatin' you, Goldie? You've been
snapping at me every chance you get!
Why not? The only other
American on this patrol
and it had to be
a weasel like you.
What's bothering you? Don't bypass
it, give it to me straight.
What's bothering you?
- Lucky Legs and that son of yours.
- Yeah? In what way?
I always wanted a kid, Brock.
When my wife was told we couldn't have
one, we put in papers to adopt one.
But my wife got sick,
eaten up inside, not bein' able
to have one. Just eaten up.
I watched her go down
to 75 pounds.
She died feeling sorry for me. That's
how much she knew I wanted a kid.
When I learned you
walked out on yours...
Let me tell you
something, Brock.
I've belted through two wars, and I'm
comin' out of this one. You know why?
'Cause I got a reason. I'll get my
release when they know why I want out.
I'll tell you one thing.
Lucky Legs is going
through hell for your son.
And if something happens to her on this
job, he'll still get to the States,
even if I have to crawl all the
way back with him on my back.
I always wanted a son,
Brock.
Especially
a five-year-old one.
Soldiers all over town. More
coming in and spreading out.
What do you suggest?
We'll have to keep pushing
through the jungle.
Once we get past
the Moi village, we'll...
We'll be in sight
of the Gate.
What happened, Goldie?
Oh, I stepped on a spike, and this good
Samaritan over here patched me up.
- Lia!
- Hello!
- Be careful there.
- I know, I know.
Where's your cousin, Leung?
He'll be along.
Here you are!
Thank you, Lia.
Thank you, Lia.
Lia! Lia!
Hello, how are you?
How have you been?
You know what
you're playing?
Sure. Captured music! We
attacked a French headquarters.
Battalion headquarters.
We took everything!
You crank
and there is music!
You like this music?
Yes, it makes us
happy inside.
We'll play it all night,
you and me.
Oh, no, no, no.
I can't stay tonight.
Soon as my cousin comes, I have
to go to the Major with him.
You know that music?
It's the music
of the people.
- You know the words?
- Yes.
Sing, Lia.
Come on, sing! Sing!
The gunners have just left their posts.
I'll get my cognac.
You follow me.
Come on.
Lia! Lia! Lia! Lia!
Well, Corporal,
you're putting it on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I thought you were getting
rid of all the monks.
I changed my mind.
It's smarter to let them wander
around the temple grounds.
It looks more peaceful
from the air.
Those French pilots are as stupid as
the Americans were in the other war.
They don't bomb
temples or churches.
That's why we will win all of Asia.
We bomb anything.
That why I'm here, Cham.
Our village is rubble.
I've asked you
to move up here.
How's your son?
The last bombing
almost took him.
You've got to help me.
There's plenty of
room right here.
I don't want him caught in this
area when the real fighting starts.
Real fighting?
That cognac must
have blinded you.
The war will soon
be over, Lia.
A dozen more bombings
and they're all finished.
Did you bring him
with you?
No, I came with Leung.
Then I don't understand when
you say I must help you.
How? - You know where you
won't bomb again.
I'll take him there.
Our situation is too flexible for that.
We bomb everywhere.
It's hard for me to believe how you
can talk so indifferently about
killing women and children.
I remember when you used to
hate any kind of brutality.
I remember when you hated
the Communists.
That was a stupid thing
to say in front of her.
Fortunately, she's deaf.
Don't you ever say that to
me again in front of anyone.
Of course I hate killing,
but if France wins I'll be
a school teacher again.
If they don't execute me.
One must adjust to
the times, Lia.
When the Communists win,
I'll most likely be sent to
General Staff School.
Imagine me a general,
stationed in Peking,
or perhaps even Moscow.
Can you?
Yes.
I believe you can become
almost anything, Cham.
You've come a long way.
You'd have come with me if you hadn't
listened to that American soldier.
I told you then it
was all a farce.
But, no...
He wouldn't buy you
for 30 dollars.
Not your beautiful American soldier.
He really loved you.
He wanted your children. He was
going to take you to America.
There's a
wonderful man, Lia.
One of the brightest
in all the world.
Ho Chi Minh.
"He Who Enlightens".
He speaks five languages.
I speak seven.
The day I can report
directly to Moscow,
instead of through Peking...
That's the day I'll be in line to
command the Viet Minh Politburo.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe I'm too blind to
see what's happening.
Maybe I should bring
the boy here.
It's the only sensible
thing to do.
Lia...
We're both half-castes.
But I'm more fortunate than you. I have
Chinese characteristics. You don't.
Just picture yourself
the wife of a general.
Your son safe every night.
Playing every day.
His mind being developed so
that he can step into my shoes
and protect the people.
I could have married
many times, Lia.
I love only one woman, Lia.
Please let me
send for him.
Oh, I don't know.
You'll know when you see
what's taking place.
All those mountains are
laced with tunnels.
And the French are
losing the war,
because they don't know
which tunnel is our arsenal.
I'll show you why it's
logical you should marry me.
There are enough bombs
and shells in here
to guarantee your son
a safe life with me.
One of these may be
the one to kill him.
That's entirely up to you.
It's a butcher shop
before the slaughter.
Call it butchery.
When it's all over
you'll call it virtue.
How can you sleep nights?
It's all according to
your point of view.
You get caught in a political
upheaval, you're hanged as a traitor.
But lead
a successful revolt
and future generations
will worship you
as the father
of their country.
Can you argue with
all this, Lia?
No.
No, it's...
It's horrifying.
And dramatically final.
The difference between
failure and success
is in doing a thing
nearly right,
and doing it
exactly right.
If all this fails to convince you
that you'd be marrying the winner,
I can only
catalog you as a fool.
And file your son
as a casualty.
Lia...
It's said that the
Book of Life
begins with a man and a woman in a
garden and ends with Revelations.
This is my kind of
garden, Lia.
And my kind
of revelations.
With me you'd not
only live long,
but you'd live!
Let me think
about it.
The longer you take to think,
the shorter your boy's life.
I'll make up my
mind tonight.
I've been praying for
this moment a long time.
Hmm. You?
Prayed?
There's moments when
my soul is on its knees.
The guard at the Buddha is
relieved every two hours.
He's been on duty
for twenty minutes.
This is the shrine
entrance to the tunnel.
Two guards here.
- What about their relief?
They've got one hour to go.
At the far end are five guards.
I'll handle them.
Leung will let me know
the minute you've finished.
The Colonel was right in
picking you for this job.
It didn't take you long
to locate those bombs.
It wasn't hard.
No. I guess it wasn't.
- Are you ready?
- You'll get a medal for it, Brock,
and I'll get what I want.
- Are you ready?
Yes.
Keep close behind me.
There may be a guard not
interested in my legs.
Lia.
Wait.
- Is something wrong?
Yeah, me.
Lia...
Lia, I never said I was
sorry for what I did.
I never apologized.
I never asked you
to forgive me.
Lia... Lia...
I want you, Lia.
I want you.
I want our kid.
I want him the way he is.
The way he looks.
Lia?
Will you be
my wife again?
Oh.
Oh, Johnny!
That's what I've wanted to hear
for the last thousand years!
Oh.
There's only
one thing wrong.
What?
Well...
That one-legged priest.
The way he feels,
he'd never marry us again.
If only you hadn't
divorced me!
But...
Johnny...
I didn't!
I only hated you,
but you...
You were ashamed of me,
so I was sure that you...
- Me?
- Oh!
Darling! I couldn't
divorce you!
I couldn't!
Oh.
Well, come on...
We've got a job to do.
Come on.
- Hello. Good evening.
- Good evening.
- Isn't this a beautiful place?
- Oh, it is, yes.
Beautiful! Look at
that gorgeous Buddha.
My, but you're on
duty late tonight.
Yes, you're on duty
terribly late.
You know, I just came from the Major.
You know what he told me?
He said that you two were the most
wonderful guards in the whole army.
That's a good one, huh?
I'll drop by later. I've got
another story the Major told me.
Oh, I haven't
forgotten you!
Lia!
Get back to your post!
- Yes, sir!
- Go somewhere, Leung. Anywhere.
- Yes, sir.
I've got a surprise
for you.
- She's hot. - There's a plane there
pointed in the right direction.
- Where's Lia? Where is she?
- She's with the Major.
- I'm gonna wait.
- Make it hot, Sergeant.
Not until she shows up.
Make that connection hot!
- Will you wait for her?
- You know we can't!
Look Captain, I know her. She's smart.
She'll find a way of leaving him.
But you've got to
give her some time!
In your own words, Brock.
"Nobody fouls up this job!"
If that wire is found we've
come a long way for nothing!
I'll make it hot, Captain.
I'll make it hot.
But you've got to give
her a couple of minutes.
All right.
A couple.
She's hot.
Two minutes, Brock.
If you don't blow that dump, I'll
go in myself, hit the primers,
and you'll never see
your son again.
I just got this message
from Moscow.
I'm going to General
Staff School at once.
I'll have a few good men
infiltrate the French lines
and get your son
out of the village.
Do you know what
this means, Lia?
You don't have to think
about it any longer.
We can go to Moscow,
the three of us.
Major Cham here.
Yes.
Mmm-hmm.
Mmm-hmm.
Yes.
Alert every man.
You didn't come here
alone, did you, Lia?
Lia.
How many dynamiters did
you lead up to the gate?
The wire running from
the tunnel's been found.
It's been cut.
Your mission's a failure.
Why did you do it, Lia?
So that my son
can go to America.
Your son is going to Moscow.
Something's wrong.
It's disconnected.
Make it hot again, Brock!
It went dead by itself!
Look at this needle!
Brock! She's dead!
Forget her!
How... How do you know?
How can you be sure?
Brock! She's dead!
Kruger! Cover us!
Let's go!
We're dropping.
Gaumont! Gaumont!
Gaumont!
- No. I'm all right.
Just a small wound.
- Do you know how to fly a plane?
- No.
- You all right?
- I'll be all right!
That's it.
Gaumont! Sit up!
Gaumont, is that the village?
Is that the village, Gaumont?
Gaumont, is that the village?
Gaumont! Is that the village?
Hold your fire!
We're with
the 3rd Regiment.
That looks like
a Commie plane.
Yeah, we know. We know!
Send a burial detail for
the Captain in there!
Well, there they are.
All your papers are
in order, Mr. Brock.
Thank you, sir.
China Gate
China Gate
Many dreams
And many hearts
You separate
Like two arms
Open wide
Some you welcome in
And some
Must stay outside
Bowl of rice
Bitter tea
Is this all
The good earth
Has to offer me
Will I find
Peace of mind?
Does my true love wait
Behind
The China Gate?
China Gate
This motion picture
is dedicated to
France. More than 300 years ago, French
missionaries were sent to Indochina
to teach love of God
and love of fellow man.
Gradually, French influence took
shape in the Vietnamese land.
Despite many hardships, they
advanced their way of living
and the thriving nation
became the rice bowl of Asia.
Vast riches were developed under
French guidance until 1941,
when Japanese troops moved in
and made the rice bowl red
with blood of the defenders.
In 1945, when the Japanese
surrender was announced,
a Moscow-trained
Indo-Chinese revolutionist
who called himself
Ho Chi Minh
began the drive to make his own country
another target for Chinese Communists.
Headquartered in the North, he
called the new party Viet Minh.
With the end of
the Korean War,
France was left alone to hold
the hottest front in the world,
and became the barrier between
communism and the rape of Asia.
Members of the Foreign Legion
imported from North Africa
fought valiantly
under the French flag,
but the ammunition pipeline
from Moscow could not be found.
Bombs and shells made in Russia
were stocked in secret tunnels
along the mountain range
of the China Gate.
This arsenal was winning the
war for the Communists.
Bombs and shells stocked underground
smashed village after village.
But still fighting for her life,
100 miles from the China Gate,
is the dying village of Son Toy,
the last holdout in the North.
Her supplies have been ambushed,
her ammunition depleted,
but she fights
as she starves.
Her only chance of survival is the
American food air-drop from the South.
The year, 1954.
The day, Thursday.
The time, 10:00
in the morning.
All animals have
been eaten. All but one.
Food! Food!
- How's Pierre?
- Pierre's hungry.
Food!
Keep off the road,
understand?
Come on, Leung.
It's gonna blow.
Look out!
Spread out!
Thank you, sisters.
Thank you very much.
You look wonderful,
Lucky, just wonderful.
Now that's the way
I like to see you.
I want you to meet Captain
Gaumont of the Air Force.
He has been pulled out of action
specifically to meet you.
Captain, this
is Lia Sermer.
So you're the one
they call Lucky Legs?
I keep them covered
on social calls.
I heard they are hollow,
to keep your cognac in.
You'll never find out.
What's on your mind,
Colonel?
I know what an ordeal it is for you
to stay sober, but this is important.
Mmm-hmm.
Important to whom?
Important to all of us.
This is an aerial photo
of the border.
There are hundreds of tunnels here along
those hills and mountains at the China Gate.
You got me sober
to tell me that?
I know you know
about those tunnels.
What's this all about,
Colonel?
Somewhere in this area is
a big dump of bombs and shells
and small arms ammunition that
are crippling our troops.
Everybody knows that.
But no one knows just
exactly where it is.
Some of our bombers got
through, but hit nothing vital.
We have sent out patrols
but they never got back.
You know the 100 miles from here to
the border like you know your cognac!
You have made this trip, oh, a
hundred times with your cousin.
Those Reds trust you.
That's why we need you.
Above all, you know Major
Cham at the China Gate.
My business with the Major
is strictly my business.
We are interested in the Major
because he is the lock to the dump
and you are the only key
that can open him up.
This isn't my war!
- You are part Chinese!
- Ah!
I'm a little of everything
and a lot of nothing.
The Chinese say I'm this, the French
say I'm that, the Americans say I'm...
As far
as I'm concerned
you and the hammer and sickle boys can
go fight it out among yourselves.
When the dump is blown,
there should be
a chain reaction
through the whole area.
In the confusion,
we steal a plane.
My job is to fly
you back here to Son Toy.
We will give you $5,000.
We'll open a new bar for
you in Saigon
and stock it with the finest
wines and liquor.
It's a deal?
No.
All right, then. Name your own price.
How much do you want?
I want to get
my son to America.
He has no criminal record,
no disease.
He's five years old and his eyes
are a cross he's got to carry.
But in America, I think that
cross would be lighter.
You know the right people.
You use your influence for my son
and I'll find that dump for you.
No. The laws are
strict in America.
All right.
Lucky! Wait a moment.
In this particular case,
I think we can
work it out.
- When do we start?
- Right away!
I have a pleasant
surprise for you.
What? A bottle?
Send him in.
You remember the American
dynamiter, Sergeant Brock?
He is with the
Foreign Legion now.
He will be in charge
of explosives.
The deal's off!
Find the dump yourself!
But I don't understand.
I thought it would be a wonderful
reunion for both of you on this job.
It would make
everything more pleasant.
I knew you lived together in
Saigon, but what happened?
We just didn't live
together, Colonel.
We were married,
in church.
Oh, you could have bought
her for $30 for two years
as a government-registered
wife.
That's right.
Well, then, did she find
you with another woman?
Is that why
she slapped you?
No. I walked.
Oh, that happens every day
in this part of the world.
Oh, yes, it could
have been worse.
It is. No.
What do you mean?
She told me her father was
Caucasian and her mother Chinese.
Who'd ever take her for Chinese?
Even half Chinese?
One thing I always
wanted was a kid.
We wanted the baby
born in America.
It just didn't work
out that way.
The baby was born
in Saigon.
When the doctor
phoned me, I ran.
I ran all the way
to the hospital.
I saw my baby.
It was like a bomb
had hit me.
I walked.
Why?
He was Chinese.
What did you expect?
A notarized guarantee that the baby
would be born with eyes aimed your way?
Do you know why she volunteered
to go on this mission?
For your son.
I promised him America
if she would find the dump.
Son?
Yes. You've got a son.
He's five years old. He has no
criminal record, no disease.
The only cross he has
to carry are his eyes.
You married me
six years ago in Saigon.
Brock, Johnny Brock.
I was a Sergeant
in the American army then.
I married Lia. Lia Sermer,
don't you remember?
Yes. I thought you
were killed in Korea.
You hate my guts, don't
you, Father?
What did the Colonel want
you to discuss with me?
We need Lia's help
on a patrol.
A demolition job. She said
she'd go until she saw me.
I've got to go,
I'm the dynamiter.
She's the only one who can
get us through to the Gate.
The Colonel thought you
could help me change her mind.
Why should I help you?
Because her feeling for me isn't
as important as going on this job.
Her father taught her
all about women.
Her Chinese mother taught
her all about men,
but didn't teach her
enough about hypocrites.
You married a beautiful woman
to satisfy your own vanity.
To me, that's a
criminal act.
After you left her she
became known as Lucky Legs.
Lucky Legs, that's what
they call her.
They say she ran
an opium den.
That she was
mixed up in murder,
that she caused a man
to take his life,
that she operated in black markets
and lived like a princess,
and lived like a prostitute.
They say she's a traitor to France, they
say she's a traitor to the Chinese Reds.
They say.
The gossips.
Those envious ones who
take pride in spreading lies.
I know they're lies,
because I know this woman.
I know what she went
through to feed your child.
The Communists
tore off my leg
and knifed a sign in my side
reading "capitalist spy."
Lia found me on the
outskirts of the village.
She cut off the gangrenous flesh
and carried me to the hospital.
Help you?
Stay out of her life!
I shouldn't have slapped you.
I should've shot you,
but your army would've
tossed me in prison,
And your son over there,...
yeah, that's your son,...
he'd be scrounging garbage
like a rat.
Take a good look
at him, Brock.
You didn't have time when
he was born, remember?
When I saw his eyes,
I got sick inside.
He was so ugly. Chinese all
the way down the line.
First time I met you, you said
children should be seen, not had.
You should have done
what you preached.
Look, I wore no halo
when we got married.
You knew how I felt about
half-castes and their kids.
Then why did
you marry me?
Because you didn't look like a
30-buck Chinese bride. That's why!
I didn't come to beg.
Tell the Colonel
you tried.
And don't stop on your way out
to pat my son like a dog!
Don't dig his grave because
you can't stomach me.
He's living on
borrowed time now.
He'll never get another
chance to go to the States.
China Gate
China Gate
Many dreams
and many hearts
You separate
Like two arms open wide
Some you welcome in
And some must stay outside
Bowl of rice
Bitter tea
Is this all the good earth
Has to offer me?
Will I find peace of mind?
Does my true love wait
Behind the China Gate?
China Gate
All right, check your equipment
and hardware. Kruger?
Explosives and grease gun.
- Charlie!
- Lead wire and automatic carbine.
- Andreades.
- Explosives and automatic carbine.
- Goldie!
- Explosives and grease gun.
- Janszi!
- Food, extra ammo and automatic carbine.
- Pigalle!
- Explosives and automatic carbine.
All right.
These, we've got to watch.
They're primers.
They set off the explosives.
You just tap one of them and
they can blow us apart.
That's why we've got to keep them away
from the explosives at all times.
Now, I'm carrying this box
of 50 of them.
I've got 50 more.
Now, I want one of you guys to stick
your neck out and carry the other box.
I'll carry it.
That wraps it up,
Captain.
Now, I don't want
trouble over this woman.
She has a job to do,
we will finish it.
You wanna blind me?
Kill that light!
- Lucky?
- Who else did you expect this time of night?
Pull in the mines! It's Lucky Legs!
Pull in the mines.
Cognac, huh?
Lucky Major. You know, my mother should
have raised me to be an officer.
You better get this floor fixed.
How's your village?
Rubble.
- Your child all right?
- So far.
Oh, we had a bad one today.
Yes. I saw our
planes fly over.
Did they hit your bar?
Oh, that was wrecked days ago.
I hid my cognac underground.
There's one thing that
bothers me, Lucky.
Yeah? What's that?
I've been stuck here
for more than a year,
making sure these French don't
infiltrate to hit our supply line.
Do me a favor, Lucky,
but don't make it obvious.
When you're with the Major, drop
a word how nice it would be
if I could be transferred
to Sambor-Treng.
I haven't seen
my family in a year.
I, uh... I'll try
to swing it.
I've never heard of any
man saying "no" to you.
We tie up here.
The rest of the way we walk.
The river bends west.
We go northeast.
Say, Goldie, what part of
Czechoslovakia did you fight in?
Falkenau.
- That's where the last battle was fought.
- Yeah, that's right.
And what outfit?
1St Division.
Oh, the 1st Division,
huh? The Big Red One.
Hey, didn't your outfit take over the
concentration camp there and make the German
civilians dress and
bury the Russian dead?
Yeah, funny, isn't it?
Going out of our way to give those
vodka corpses a decent burial.
- I wouldn't have done it.
- Well, at the time we figured they were our friends.
Who knows who's our friends?
It's all so crazy and mixed up.
We know one thing. We know
America is our friend.
I don't see them fighting over here.
I mean, in their own uniforms.
She's helping us where we need help most.
A war costs money,
especially this crazy one.
It's cost her a lot.
Say, Lucky Legs, you think we'll run
into one of those Moi villages?
Mmm. One or two
will be in the way.
Moi? Hey, what's that?
It's Vietnamese
for "savage".
For savages they certainly
have been taken advantage of.
The Commies promised
them rice and gave them guns.
They're like children. They love to play
soldier, with red stars on their hats.
You know the Mois well?
Well enough.
My mother was a Moi. - Oh, that's
right. I heard you were part Chinese.
You heard right.
The Moi believe that this world
is the land of the dying,
and the next is
the land of the living.
Their religion is their ancestors.
They fill big jars with rice wine
and pray that the spirits of their
ancestors will take up residence in them.
- In the jars? Ancestors in the jars?
- Yeah, that's right.
- Ah!
- How do you know?
I knew a Moi once who ran short of funds.
You know what he did?
No.
He took one of those jars and sold
it with his grandmother in it.
No.
That's right.
Say, you don't
look Chinese.
Everybody doesn't carry
their lives in their faces.
I like the idea of a
Fraulein scouting us.
- I don't.
- You superstitious?
Nope.
But a lot of these Vietnamese
switch overnight to the Communists,
sell out their friends,
even their families.
You think the Colonel
would've picked her
if there was a chance
she'd sell us out?
Why not? The Colonel
was a desperate man.
He'd take a chance
on anyone.
Can you see me walking in a West Berlin
beer parlor with a Fraulein like that?
Who would believe
she's part Chinese?
You know...
They say there was a rifle
company of Americans in Saigon.
Company.
The way I heard it,
it was a whole battalion. And do
you know what she did?
Shut up.
You're the first American
I saw without humor.
Shut up.
I'm just an old gossip at heart, Sergeant.
I just said what I heard.
You're too sharp a soldier to
swap lies and believe them.
I was thirteen when Hitler
turned my ears into sponges.
I guess all the propaganda was squeezed
out when you joined the French.
- French?
- Still a uniform lover at heart, eh, Kruger?
Ah, it's the only life for me,
even if I have to die to live it.
Say, Goldie, what part
of America are you from?
New York.
Yeah, I was with the
Hermann Goering Division.
Yeah, I know.
Your outfit
captured us in Sicily.
Yeah, I remember.
Say, why did you leave your own
army to fight here in Indochina?
Well, what I started out to
do in Korea, I didn't finish.
There are still a lot of
live Commies around.
Janszi... Janszi!
He's crazy! He jumped me! What's the idea
of hitting me? I could've killed him!
I'm sorry, Goldie.
I have that nightmare
all the time.
I always see that Russian
soldier looking at me.
I...
I'm sorry.
Forget it.
I fight it all the time...
I fight...
I should have
remained in Hungary.
But I got sick of watching the
way they took my church over.
I was going to the University
of Budapest when it happened.
I...
I... I'm sorry Goldie.
I told you, forget it.
I got drunk one night,
drunk with hate.
Just hate.
I followed that Russian soldier
down the alley near the university.
Do you know how I killed him?
With my hands.
My hands.
And I see him
all the time in my dreams.
And I kill him over
and over and over...
You screened every man for
this job, didn't you, Captain?
Yes.
On a plane you
can tie up a blow-top,
but on an infantry job you've got
to do something about it real fast.
What do you suggest,
Sergeant?
We can't leave him behind. He'd
be caught and brainwashed.
We can't take him with us. That Russian
soldier might visit him again.
It's nothing
personal, Janszi.
We like you,
you know that,
but you're dangerous for us
to haul with us on this job.
You might kill
us all in our sleep.
You might take a shot at
Goldie or me with our primers.
You know what that means?
We'd all be blown up,
because you're sick.
He's got to go.
I guess you're right.
I know I'm right.
Nobody fouls up this job.
Nobody.
You're wearing the bars.
Pick a man.
The quicker you do it,
the faster we
get it over with.
You make sense,
but I'm not going to
give the order.
What do you mean?
You want to kill him? Kill him, but
it will have to be your decision.
- All right.
- No! Wait a minute, Sergeant...
Just...
Just a minute.
Just wait.
I... I'm not afraid to die.
That's why I volunteered
for this patrol.
But, to be killed
by one of you...
I promise,
I won't sleep.
I will keep quiet as a bird.
No more dreams.
No more nightmares.
I will keep awake
until the job is finished.
You have a knife.
Use it.
No.
I pass this time, Janszi.
The next time you have a
nightmare, it'll be your last.
Janszi.
If I were you,
I'd take some sleepin' pills.
It's all mined except
along the statues.
There's always a guard stationed
there in contact with his unit.
I'll handle him. Leung
will signal when to start.
Remember, the safe ground
is only about that wide.
Brush against those stone idols
and you won't blow up on a mine.
You remember
Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
No, go ahead.
You're afraid
of Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
Have your own
little drink, there.
I'm gonna tell you a story
about Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
It's nothing.
Nothing at all.
Mines.
Be careful.
Easy.
Easy now. Mines.
Careful.
We're surrounded by all
kinds of booby traps.
They keep changing
them every day.
How do you get through?
I find out from that
observation post.
What post?
There's a tree house
up there.
They can see movement
in all directions.
Oh, I can get the information,
but night travel is out.
Too dangerous.
Daylight will be worse.
They will see us.
That's right, but
a dead guard can't see.
I'll send a man up to
make sure he can't see.
You've been up
there many times?
Yes.
Alone?
Yes.
That you, Lucky?
Yes!
You alone?
No. I came with Leung
and some friends.
Bring a bottle.
How many do you want?
Oh, just enough for me.
Tell them I'll call down
when I find out.
Since when did you start
swamp-crawling at night?
Think I like it?
My orders were to hurry.
The Major again?
Mmm-hmm.
You jealous?
Everyone's jealous of him.
Is, uh...
Is number three clear?
No. Every path is wired.
Every one?
Yes,
but there's a small bend about
twenty yards from here.
Oh? Where? Out there?
About twenty yards?
Yes, and if you keep to the
left side, you'll make it.
But it's too risky
to try at night.
I won't be
relieved till morning.
I better tell
my cousin.
Leung?
Yes?
We'll have to wait till morning.
Did you hear me?
Yes, I heard you.
You know, Leung
is a very good cousin.
The Captain told me to
spend the night here.
In case a Commie soldier
slipped up the ladder.
The Captain's a
frustrated matchmaker.
Yeah, I guess you're right.
I was captured.
They tried to brainwash me,
but I was a bad subject.
When it was over,
I was an exchange P.O.W.
You said
you were captured.
Yeah.
What's the matter,
don't you believe me?
You once told me that no one
could ever really be captured.
If you want to die,
you'll kill, or be killed,
but if you want to live,
you'll surrender.
That's right.
Give me one good reason
you had for wanting to live.
I was afraid to die.
It's as simple as that.
One thing about you, Brock.
You don't lie.
I don't have to.
Why'd you join the French?
Soldiering's my business. Korea
got cold and Indochina got hot.
Are you really that interested
in fighting for the French?
Sure. I don't particularly like the Commies
and France was left holding the bag.
France.
There's only a handful of French here,
Brock. There's millions of Chinese.
You came here to fight for a Chinese baby.
Go on, admit it!
You don't give a damn
about the French.
Go on! Admit it!
I'm learning a lesson in
hate just watching you.
I'm too tired
to hate anymore.
It was all my
fault, not yours.
I'm really to blame.
You knew all about me, but I
didn't know all about you.
Sure, you'd traveled all over the
world, but you hadn't learned anything.
Not where it counts.
I should have investigated
your heart and your brain.
Should have seen you
weren't adjusted yet.
That you couldn't face
facts that involve people.
Oh, you're tough.
You handle explosives,
but you're not tough
enough to handle life, Brock.
That's where I
made the mistake.
Everybody makes mistakes.
Five years...
Five years is a long time to think
about one woman every night.
Johnny, for me too.
Five years is a long time
to think about one man.
Every night
I talked to our son.
Half the time I was drunk,
but I talked to him.
I told him what I did.
I told him
when I was ashamed.
I asked him to forgive me.
I was luckier than you, Johnny.
I had someone to talk to.
Someone who loves me.
Every night, Johnny.
I told him...
I told him...
How much I love his father.
Oh, we'll
do our job, Johnny.
We'll go back together and
take our son to America.
That's not what I meant.
What did you mean?
What do you think?
The wrong man was
killed in here tonight.
Tell the Captain
to send up a human being.
What's eating them?
They know she's your wife.
I thought a man's life was
private in the Legion.
I have a big mouth,
Sergeant.
When I joined the leather-bellies,
I never figured the Legion
was an old lady
with an itchy tongue.
Time changes everything,
Sergeant, even the Corps.
The Legionnaire of today
is not fighting
for a few centimes,
a bottle and a woman.
This time the
Foreign Legion mercenary
is not fighting for money, nor
for the French government alone.
This time they're fighting for the whole
Western world, against a common enemy.
So it is only natural that time will
change the interests of the men.
They like Lucky Legs.
They know of your son.
They know you are
ashamed of him.
They just don't like you.
Look out!
I don't feel so good.
Your back's broken.
I've seen broken backs.
There's nothing anybody
can do about it. Huh?
Nothing.
What're you all waiting for?
Move out. Move out.
We have to wait.
Why?
We can't bury you alive.
I don't like for people
to watch me die.
We don't like it, either.
She's got manners, that one.
She's a wonderful
woman, Brock.
What she ever saw in you?
Ever been to Greece?
No.
You?
No.
I remember when
my wife went crazy.
I remember when
she died, crazy.
I'm sorry I'm taking
such a long time to die.
We're in no hurry.
Let there be a heaven,
for it would kill me to have
to come back here again.
I'm all mixed up, Lia.
I figured you'd understand.
I mean, what I told you
up there in the tree house.
I could've lied to you. I could've
filled your head with lies.
I could have said
that I wanted the kid,
that I'd take him
to the States with me.
I could've told you
all those things.
But I didn't, Lia,
I didn't.
Not when I... Not when I
can't feel anything for him.
You mean... You mean even
now, after you've seen him?
You feel nothing?
You're the only person that
ever made me feel ashamed.
Ashamed of my mother,
my race, myself.
I know I'm different.
I know the difference between me
and my sisters, and my cousins,
but I never felt
ashamed of it.
I told you he might look
Chinese, didn't I?
But you said it wouldn't make any difference,
as long as the baby were healthy.
Didn't you?
Yeah.
But it's different when
it really happens to you.
I never figured it would be
such a one-sided birth.
There's, there's nothing...
No, there's nothing Brock about
him, except half his blood.
Otherwise he's like
millions of Chinese babies.
But I don't want him wearing
a grenade when he's ten.
I don't want him carrying
a gun when he's fifteen.
I don't want him killed,
or made into a Communist.
Next time you fall
in love with one of us,
get it in writing your child
will be born with straight eyes.
You know why they call me Pigalle?
Because I was a gendarme in Paris.
A traffic cop,
that's what I was.
My station was
Place Pigalle.
You know, the one
you GIs call Pig Alley.
There I stood all day long,
king of the street,
Stopping that car,
waving this one to go.
Stop! Go! Stop! Go!
I blew my whistle till my lips
could not enjoy a glass of wine.
It was driving me crazy.
I think I need
some fresh air.
And so, I found myself directing
my family like traffic.
I was telling my wife at night
when to eat, when not to eat,
when to walk, when not
to walk, when to, uh...
I was losing my mind.
So I joined the Legion
to find it.
For the first time,
people are telling me
when to stop and when to go.
For the first time,
I am happy.
My wife is happy.
I am not there to nag her.
My children are happy.
I am not there to direct them.
I tell you, this is
the way to live!
Get back!
It's Goldie,
they've got him zeroed in.
Move out! Move out!
Goldie?
They've got action over there.
There's one more on the move.
Keep them off me
while I grenade them.
- Be careful with my cigars!
- Come on.
Hold this.
We still have a hundred pounds
of explosives and fifty primers.
Twenty-five for me.
And twenty-five for you,
Goldie.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
"Women and children first."
That's the new motto for war.
There is no law in war.
There are Nazis who still
believe in bombing everyone.
Are you one of them?
I only believe in keeping my skin in one
piece no matter who I fight for or against.
You're lucky you never got
hurt where it doesn't show.
All of us got hurt
where it doesn't show.
I found part of my mother
in a bomb hole.
You can't guarantee law in war.
It's environment.
Environment, that's hard
to put your finger on.
It's a follow-the-leader game that
grips the imagination of every child,
so you behave like children,
children with guns and blood for breakfast
and the Iron Cross as a reward.
What's the matter, Goldie?
What's wrong?
A kid spotted us!
I better check.
It was over here.
You're hearing things.
Come on.
You're sure lucky that spike
wasn't booby-trapped.
Take it easy! Nobody
asked you to help me!
I'm not doin' this
'cause I like it.
Oh, you want a medal?
What's eatin' you, Goldie? You've been
snapping at me every chance you get!
Why not? The only other
American on this patrol
and it had to be
a weasel like you.
What's bothering you? Don't bypass
it, give it to me straight.
What's bothering you?
- Lucky Legs and that son of yours.
- Yeah? In what way?
I always wanted a kid, Brock.
When my wife was told we couldn't have
one, we put in papers to adopt one.
But my wife got sick,
eaten up inside, not bein' able
to have one. Just eaten up.
I watched her go down
to 75 pounds.
She died feeling sorry for me. That's
how much she knew I wanted a kid.
When I learned you
walked out on yours...
Let me tell you
something, Brock.
I've belted through two wars, and I'm
comin' out of this one. You know why?
'Cause I got a reason. I'll get my
release when they know why I want out.
I'll tell you one thing.
Lucky Legs is going
through hell for your son.
And if something happens to her on this
job, he'll still get to the States,
even if I have to crawl all the
way back with him on my back.
I always wanted a son,
Brock.
Especially
a five-year-old one.
Soldiers all over town. More
coming in and spreading out.
What do you suggest?
We'll have to keep pushing
through the jungle.
Once we get past
the Moi village, we'll...
We'll be in sight
of the Gate.
What happened, Goldie?
Oh, I stepped on a spike, and this good
Samaritan over here patched me up.
- Lia!
- Hello!
- Be careful there.
- I know, I know.
Where's your cousin, Leung?
He'll be along.
Here you are!
Thank you, Lia.
Thank you, Lia.
Lia! Lia!
Hello, how are you?
How have you been?
You know what
you're playing?
Sure. Captured music! We
attacked a French headquarters.
Battalion headquarters.
We took everything!
You crank
and there is music!
You like this music?
Yes, it makes us
happy inside.
We'll play it all night,
you and me.
Oh, no, no, no.
I can't stay tonight.
Soon as my cousin comes, I have
to go to the Major with him.
You know that music?
It's the music
of the people.
- You know the words?
- Yes.
Sing, Lia.
Come on, sing! Sing!
The gunners have just left their posts.
I'll get my cognac.
You follow me.
Come on.
Lia! Lia! Lia! Lia!
Well, Corporal,
you're putting it on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I thought you were getting
rid of all the monks.
I changed my mind.
It's smarter to let them wander
around the temple grounds.
It looks more peaceful
from the air.
Those French pilots are as stupid as
the Americans were in the other war.
They don't bomb
temples or churches.
That's why we will win all of Asia.
We bomb anything.
That why I'm here, Cham.
Our village is rubble.
I've asked you
to move up here.
How's your son?
The last bombing
almost took him.
You've got to help me.
There's plenty of
room right here.
I don't want him caught in this
area when the real fighting starts.
Real fighting?
That cognac must
have blinded you.
The war will soon
be over, Lia.
A dozen more bombings
and they're all finished.
Did you bring him
with you?
No, I came with Leung.
Then I don't understand when
you say I must help you.
How? - You know where you
won't bomb again.
I'll take him there.
Our situation is too flexible for that.
We bomb everywhere.
It's hard for me to believe how you
can talk so indifferently about
killing women and children.
I remember when you used to
hate any kind of brutality.
I remember when you hated
the Communists.
That was a stupid thing
to say in front of her.
Fortunately, she's deaf.
Don't you ever say that to
me again in front of anyone.
Of course I hate killing,
but if France wins I'll be
a school teacher again.
If they don't execute me.
One must adjust to
the times, Lia.
When the Communists win,
I'll most likely be sent to
General Staff School.
Imagine me a general,
stationed in Peking,
or perhaps even Moscow.
Can you?
Yes.
I believe you can become
almost anything, Cham.
You've come a long way.
You'd have come with me if you hadn't
listened to that American soldier.
I told you then it
was all a farce.
But, no...
He wouldn't buy you
for 30 dollars.
Not your beautiful American soldier.
He really loved you.
He wanted your children. He was
going to take you to America.
There's a
wonderful man, Lia.
One of the brightest
in all the world.
Ho Chi Minh.
"He Who Enlightens".
He speaks five languages.
I speak seven.
The day I can report
directly to Moscow,
instead of through Peking...
That's the day I'll be in line to
command the Viet Minh Politburo.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe I'm too blind to
see what's happening.
Maybe I should bring
the boy here.
It's the only sensible
thing to do.
Lia...
We're both half-castes.
But I'm more fortunate than you. I have
Chinese characteristics. You don't.
Just picture yourself
the wife of a general.
Your son safe every night.
Playing every day.
His mind being developed so
that he can step into my shoes
and protect the people.
I could have married
many times, Lia.
I love only one woman, Lia.
Please let me
send for him.
Oh, I don't know.
You'll know when you see
what's taking place.
All those mountains are
laced with tunnels.
And the French are
losing the war,
because they don't know
which tunnel is our arsenal.
I'll show you why it's
logical you should marry me.
There are enough bombs
and shells in here
to guarantee your son
a safe life with me.
One of these may be
the one to kill him.
That's entirely up to you.
It's a butcher shop
before the slaughter.
Call it butchery.
When it's all over
you'll call it virtue.
How can you sleep nights?
It's all according to
your point of view.
You get caught in a political
upheaval, you're hanged as a traitor.
But lead
a successful revolt
and future generations
will worship you
as the father
of their country.
Can you argue with
all this, Lia?
No.
No, it's...
It's horrifying.
And dramatically final.
The difference between
failure and success
is in doing a thing
nearly right,
and doing it
exactly right.
If all this fails to convince you
that you'd be marrying the winner,
I can only
catalog you as a fool.
And file your son
as a casualty.
Lia...
It's said that the
Book of Life
begins with a man and a woman in a
garden and ends with Revelations.
This is my kind of
garden, Lia.
And my kind
of revelations.
With me you'd not
only live long,
but you'd live!
Let me think
about it.
The longer you take to think,
the shorter your boy's life.
I'll make up my
mind tonight.
I've been praying for
this moment a long time.
Hmm. You?
Prayed?
There's moments when
my soul is on its knees.
The guard at the Buddha is
relieved every two hours.
He's been on duty
for twenty minutes.
This is the shrine
entrance to the tunnel.
Two guards here.
- What about their relief?
They've got one hour to go.
At the far end are five guards.
I'll handle them.
Leung will let me know
the minute you've finished.
The Colonel was right in
picking you for this job.
It didn't take you long
to locate those bombs.
It wasn't hard.
No. I guess it wasn't.
- Are you ready?
- You'll get a medal for it, Brock,
and I'll get what I want.
- Are you ready?
Yes.
Keep close behind me.
There may be a guard not
interested in my legs.
Lia.
Wait.
- Is something wrong?
Yeah, me.
Lia...
Lia, I never said I was
sorry for what I did.
I never apologized.
I never asked you
to forgive me.
Lia... Lia...
I want you, Lia.
I want you.
I want our kid.
I want him the way he is.
The way he looks.
Lia?
Will you be
my wife again?
Oh.
Oh, Johnny!
That's what I've wanted to hear
for the last thousand years!
Oh.
There's only
one thing wrong.
What?
Well...
That one-legged priest.
The way he feels,
he'd never marry us again.
If only you hadn't
divorced me!
But...
Johnny...
I didn't!
I only hated you,
but you...
You were ashamed of me,
so I was sure that you...
- Me?
- Oh!
Darling! I couldn't
divorce you!
I couldn't!
Oh.
Well, come on...
We've got a job to do.
Come on.
- Hello. Good evening.
- Good evening.
- Isn't this a beautiful place?
- Oh, it is, yes.
Beautiful! Look at
that gorgeous Buddha.
My, but you're on
duty late tonight.
Yes, you're on duty
terribly late.
You know, I just came from the Major.
You know what he told me?
He said that you two were the most
wonderful guards in the whole army.
That's a good one, huh?
I'll drop by later. I've got
another story the Major told me.
Oh, I haven't
forgotten you!
Lia!
Get back to your post!
- Yes, sir!
- Go somewhere, Leung. Anywhere.
- Yes, sir.
I've got a surprise
for you.
- She's hot. - There's a plane there
pointed in the right direction.
- Where's Lia? Where is she?
- She's with the Major.
- I'm gonna wait.
- Make it hot, Sergeant.
Not until she shows up.
Make that connection hot!
- Will you wait for her?
- You know we can't!
Look Captain, I know her. She's smart.
She'll find a way of leaving him.
But you've got to
give her some time!
In your own words, Brock.
"Nobody fouls up this job!"
If that wire is found we've
come a long way for nothing!
I'll make it hot, Captain.
I'll make it hot.
But you've got to give
her a couple of minutes.
All right.
A couple.
She's hot.
Two minutes, Brock.
If you don't blow that dump, I'll
go in myself, hit the primers,
and you'll never see
your son again.
I just got this message
from Moscow.
I'm going to General
Staff School at once.
I'll have a few good men
infiltrate the French lines
and get your son
out of the village.
Do you know what
this means, Lia?
You don't have to think
about it any longer.
We can go to Moscow,
the three of us.
Major Cham here.
Yes.
Mmm-hmm.
Mmm-hmm.
Yes.
Alert every man.
You didn't come here
alone, did you, Lia?
Lia.
How many dynamiters did
you lead up to the gate?
The wire running from
the tunnel's been found.
It's been cut.
Your mission's a failure.
Why did you do it, Lia?
So that my son
can go to America.
Your son is going to Moscow.
Something's wrong.
It's disconnected.
Make it hot again, Brock!
It went dead by itself!
Look at this needle!
Brock! She's dead!
Forget her!
How... How do you know?
How can you be sure?
Brock! She's dead!
Kruger! Cover us!
Let's go!
We're dropping.
Gaumont! Gaumont!
Gaumont!
- No. I'm all right.
Just a small wound.
- Do you know how to fly a plane?
- No.
- You all right?
- I'll be all right!
That's it.
Gaumont! Sit up!
Gaumont, is that the village?
Is that the village, Gaumont?
Gaumont, is that the village?
Gaumont! Is that the village?
Hold your fire!
We're with
the 3rd Regiment.
That looks like
a Commie plane.
Yeah, we know. We know!
Send a burial detail for
the Captain in there!
Well, there they are.
All your papers are
in order, Mr. Brock.
Thank you, sir.
China Gate
China Gate
Many dreams
And many hearts
You separate
Like two arms
Open wide
Some you welcome in
And some
Must stay outside
Bowl of rice
Bitter tea
Is this all
The good earth
Has to offer me
Will I find
Peace of mind?
Does my true love wait
Behind
The China Gate?
China Gate