Dirkie (1969) Movie Script
1
Between the Orange and Zambezi rivers
in Southern Africa,
is a 275,000 square mile
wasteland, called the Kalahari.
The first European to cross it,
was David Livingstone in 1849.
In 1878, a party of Boers
attempted to traverse it,
from Transvaal to Angola.
250 people and 9,000 cattle
perished of thirst
in the wind swept sand dunes
of this red desert.
Then and now one of the most rugged
and desolate regions
on the face of the earth.
Johannesburg, South Africa
-Sorry.
- One, two, three ...
- We have to take that
cough of yours to a doctor.
- His chest is not strong, he has to
get out of the city for a while.
Why do not you take him somewhere,
where there's lots of fresh air?
- I can't get away right now.
I have a whole series of concerts coming up.
Hey, Dirk, how would you like to fly with Uncle Pete
to his farm. He's got buckets of fresh air.
Now you see this clock will
ring every four hours.
When it rings, you have to take your medicine
One teaspoon every 4 hours, huh?
- Yes.
- Uncle Pete turns off he's generator quite early,
so i'll put in some candles and matches.
- How you doing? You ready to go?
- Yes, just about.
- And your girlfriend? She coming with us too?
- Yes, please, Uncle Pete.
- Alright, I will give you a shotgun,
The two of you can go hunt rabbits.
- Pete, do not force him to go and hunt.
He does not like to kill things.
- Sensitive, like his dad?
You never wanted to hunt either.
- Alright.
- Come aboard Lolly.
- Bye, Dad.
- You come back strong and healthy.
- Fasten seat belts.
- Pete, Look after him.
He's all i've got.
- You know I will.
Foxtrot, Hotel, Hotel
from Baragwana to Pogo Pogo.
My ETA. 17h00 hours. Over and out.
See the foul air you people live in.
prepared for release
RU TRACKER. ORG
Dirk
- Are we there?
No, we're hardly half way. It's time for coffee.
Will you bring us the kettle and things?
I got him!
Sorry boy, I forgot what your father said.
Don't look if it upsets you.
- We have to push on now,
we went far off course to steal that buck.
Oh, boy ...
- MayDay!
- Hey, Sergeant, trouble, here, here!
- Foxtrot, Hotel crash landing.
MayDay,
MayDay!
Heart attack! Crash landing!
Mayday ...
MayDay, MayDay!
- Uncle Pete?
- No sir, all he said was "MayDay, MayDay"
and "crash landing."
- Uncle Pete?
Uncle Pete?
Uncle Pete?
Uncle Pete?
- De Vries.
Yes
Where?
- Don't worry. We think that the boy is still alive.
They didn't crash very far from here.
- Where are you speaking from?
- From Windhoek. You can still catch the Boeing,
if you hurry.
- Mr De Vries?
- Yes. - Good afternoon.
- Let's go straight up to control.
- Fuller, Mr. Howard,
The helicopters left an hour ago
to search for your son.
Take a seat.
All we can do now is wait.
How old is the boy?
- He just turned eight.
- Shame, he is still very small.
- Tower, we can't find any sign of the wreck
in this area. Over and out.
- Tell them to make wider sweeps.
- Right colonel.
- Are you sure that's where they came down?
- Yes, Colonel.
They took off at 7h00 and there mayday
was at 14h20
That's where they should be.
- And if they went off course?. You know some of these
farmers are careless about their air regulations.
- Well, then they could be anywhere.
- Perhaps his radio is still on?
- It might just work!
- What was the wavelength?
- 3-6-80
- Dirkie? Dirkie? There's a microphone in the plane.
When I say "over", press the button on the microphone,
and talk to us. Over
- Dirkie. Dirkie De Vries ...
- Let ... let me try.
- Dirkie. Dirkie. Dirkie, you must
look in the plane for the microphone.
When I say "over", press
button on the microphone, and speak.
Dirkie? Can you hear me?
- What's up Lolly? What do you want?
- Press the button on the microphone and speak.
- What is it Lolly?
- Dirk, can you hear me? Dirkie if you can hear me ...
- Dad!
... You must look in the plane for a microphone.
When I say "over", you must press
the button on the microphone and speak to us. Over.
- Yes, Dad, here I am. Can you hear me?
- Yes, I hear you.
- Where are you?
- He can't hear you - he's still pressing the button.
- Dad ...
- Dirkie, let go the button.
- No, it won't help. I'm afraid we have to
wait until he thinks of it himself.
- Dad?
Dad?
- Okay, now you can speak.
- Boy, I'm so happy! Are you alright?
When you are finished, you should
say "over" and let go the button.
Are you alright? Over.
- Yes, Dad.
but uncle Pete ...
I think uncle Pete, is ...
Are you coming to fetch us? Over.
- Yes, we are looking for you, but the helicopters can't find you.
- Tell the helicopters to tune in there
direction finders, on his voice.
- Helicopter flight ...
- Where are you? Over.
- I don't know. Over.
- Dirkie, listen. The helicopters are trying
to find you by radio.
But they must hear your voice.
Right? Start talking.
- Hey, I don't know what to say now ...
Over.
- Say your tables,
and don't stop.
- Begin - one times one is one ...
One times one is one,
two times one is two,
three times one is three,
- Take a DF baring on 3-6-80. I repeat ...
- Six times Six is thirty-six,
seven times six is forty-two ...
eight times six is forty-eight.
nine times six is fifty-four,
ten times six is sixty.
- Colonel, we can't find him on the DF.
- then they not even within a hundred miles of the boy,
I swear that flying farmer was off course.
Tell them to come back here and start again.
- Three times eleven is thirty-three ...
- He's transmission is getting weaker.
The batteries are going down.
The little blighter must stop talking.
How far does he know his multiplication tables?
- I think, only up to twelve times twelve ...
- Thank the Lord.
... Eleven is ninety-nine ...
Ten times twelve is one hundred and twenty.
Eleven times twelve is one hundred and thirty two ..
Twelve times twelve is one hundred and forty-four.
One times one is one ...
one times four is four,
one times five is five ...
one times six is six.
Please sir, may I leave the room? Over.
- Listen. On the instrument panel
there is a red switch.
Switch it off, and then you leave the room.
When you finished, you come back and turn it on again,
and you say, "I'm back." and let go of the button.
Over.
- Yes, sir. Over.
- How many helicopters did you send?
- Three. That's all we have.
- What's our range?
- Three hundred and fifty miles.
- Three hundred and fifty miles.
Oh it's a vast area.
Three is not enough.
ask Pretoria, to send us some more.
We can start the search in the morning.
- are you calling off the search for today?
- If we have to make do with three helicopters we will
run the boy's battery down before we find him.
and then what do we do?
- can I tell him?
- very well, but say it quickly.
We must conserve his batteries
for tomorrow.
- I'm back. Over.
- Dirk, you'll have to sleep there tonight.
we will send more helicopters
to find you in the morning.
- But, Dad! ..
- It's going to be very cold,
so you will have to put on all your clothes.
- Make it short, the battery is running down!
- well good night, Dirkie boy.
Switch off now, over.
- Don't go away? Over.
- Alright, I'll stay here the whole night
If you must speak to me then switch on
but try not to.
We need your batteries in the morning.
Good night, son.
- but Dad!
- Your little boy, sir?
- Yeah.
I'm sorry to hear.
- Smithy, we assume that the child is
in this area. What type of country is it?
- All this is Kalahari. In the red
desert nobody can live.
- Population?
- There's hardly any. Just around here
you will find some people.
- Here's the sleeve.
Now where's you hand.
Ah, there we are.
- Mr De Vries? Good night, sir.
- Good night. Thank You.
- Bye, Tom.
- Bye, Frank.
- Dad, Dad, I ...
- Dad, I think Lolly is getting frightened.
There are so many noises.
- Dad, I think Lolly is getting very frightened. Over.
- Dirk, switch off!
- Yes, sir.
- I'm sorry.
- It's all right.
- Colonel, the press are waiting.
- Excuse Me.
- What about your piano recital
in Johannesburg tomorrow?
- Well, once we find my son in the morning,
everything will be back to normal.
- And if they don't find him?
- No, they must find him.
- I hope that it isn't just a publicity stunt?
- No, it is not a publicity stunt
- Well, thank you. Good night.
- Thank you, sir ... Good night ...
Thank you, good luck ... Good night ...
- Quiet, Lolly.
Lolly, be quiet!
Dad!
Uncle Pete!
- Dad! There's an animal here, it wants to kill me!
It will come again!
Help me, Dad!
- What does it look like?
- It's big. It looks like a dog, but with spots.
- It's a dirty hyena! Tell him to make a fire!
- Dirk, make a fire. Quickly.
- Is the hyena dangerous?
- Sir, their jaws are stronger than a lions,
but his a dirty coward.
- As long as the boy stands or walks about,
he will keep his distance,
But as soon as he sits or lies down -
he will take him.
- Will the fire help?
- Oh sure, as long as the boy
keeps it burning, it will make him stay away.
- pour on some more.
- Mr. De Vries sorry for the nuisance
but my editor would like a photograph of you
sitting at the radio
- Do you mind if I...
Alright.
- Thank you!
- Another one for luck?
- Many thanks Thank you.
- Dirk!
- Hey!
- Good Morning.
- Good Morning.
- Hasn't the boy started transmitting yet?
- No, maybe he's still asleep?
- I suppose so.
- It's eight-o-clock.
- Why doesn't he transmit!
Tell flights two and three to take off now.
- It's eleven.
- Yes.
- tell the helicopters to search by sight.
The plane should be easy to see - it's bright red and white.
Isn't it?
- Hey! .. here I am here! I'm here! I'm here! ..
Come back! Come back, here I am! ..
- Will we find him today?
- I don't know. It's such a vast
and desolute area.
- but why did he not transmit?
- Maybe his battery was leaking.
Anything could have happened.
- I think there is a river,
but it's so far.
- How long can he live?
- Well, if he is in the red desert,
then two or three days,
and if he is not in the red dunes
then maybe a week.
- Lets go Lolly.
Aargh ... It's a dried river.
- Lolly, go away!
Go Back, Go Back!
- How long can he survive, Smitty?
- Do not worry, sir. He can
last a long time.
We'll find him before he dies.
- Lolly!
Lolly!
- He's not very strong.
- Sir, he won't just lie down and die.
He's knows you love him
and wants to come back to you.
He won't just die down.
- Lolly!
Lolly!
- It's true what you say Smitty?
If he knows that there is someone,
who loves him,
he will not give up, no matter how badly things go.
- Oh, yes, sir, he won't just lie down.
- I wonder Smitty. You see,
when his mother was still alive,
she used to take him on her lap, pet him ...
And he knew that she loved him.
But a man is more self conscious,
and does not know how to show their love.
I play with him, we chat ...
But does he know I love him?
- Yes, sir, he must know.
He wants to come back to you, because
he knows you need him.
If the helicopters don't find him soon
then he will start walking,
cos he wants to come back to his dad.
- There must be something that I can
do! I must do something.
- Hello, Jack?
No, nothing yet.
Yes...
Look, can you cancel tonight performance?
I won't be able to
- I already done that. Is there anything else?
- Yes, Jack, I want to compile a leaflet
telling him exactly what to do,
to survive until we find him.
And then I want to scatter two million
of these leaflets from the air.
- Two million?
- It's a vast area.
- It's gonna cost money.
- How Much?
- Let me see ...
Letter size ... ... four per thousand ...
Nearly ten thousand rand!
- Jack, get me the money.
Okay, I'll see what I can do.
But you know that means we will
have to sell everything that you own,
You can't borrow that kind of money.
- Two million? You must be crazy. It will cost
us eight, nine, or ten thousand rand.
- you spent twenty thousand on the
"Save Our Souls" gimmick
- Our "Save Our Souls" campaign
increased circulation by 17.3%
- So spend 10 thousand and push
it up some more
- are you going soft for this piano player?
- No, i'm not. But I feel this is a chance
that's dropped into our laps and we should grab it.
- Okay. I'll think about it. I'll tell you know in the morning.
- Lolly!
- Mr De Vries! Mr. De Vries!
My paper will print the pamphlets for you!
- For nothing?
- Yes.
- Why?
- Well we would very much like to help you.
- And the real reason?
- Alright ... it will build our circulation.
- Did you think
I'm hard and callous,
but go ahead. Refuse our offer,
and rob your son of a chance to live.
- I had no intention of refusing.
You can tell your paper that I will
sign everything you need me to sign.
And ... tell them thank you.
- Hello, Jack, you don't have to sell my things.
The leaflets are been printed for nothing.
- Oh ... I'm not scared of you! ..
lower down...
I will have to cook them first ...
about two dozen ...
- now I want you to tell me,
what to write - how he can find water,
how to find food.
- Excuse me, sir, you must put there
"I love you very much and I'll find you."
- Yes.
- Dad!
Dad!
- All the rivers look bone dry, but he must
dig in the bed of the river.
Sometimes you will find water
under the bed of the sand, but not always.
- Lolly!
Lolly, Lolly! ...
And I'm thinking that you're dead, Lolly ...
boy I missed you so much ...
right let's go, Daddy must be so worried ...
You must be starving ...
I had thousands of birds' eggs last night.
I will find you some food too
- Not Bad.
That wasn't much.
I'll find us something better soon.
- Get him, Get him!
Got him.
Oh gosh now we must kill him.
I think you better kill it.
Go on, you do it.
Ah let him go. He's too skinny.
- And what can he eat?
- Anything that doesn't eat him first.
Sorry, sir, it's our way of saying it
in these here parts.
He can even eat snakes.
- But the snake will bite him!
- He's got to carry a long stick,
and if he finds a snake, he's got to kill it and eat it.
- There are a lot of things that could be
eat, if he only knows where to look for it.
- Darn It!
Ouch! They bite!
It's nice!
- Eat the food Lolly.
- You must eat it, it's nice,
Eat it now, people can eat ants.
Come on, Lolly, eat it!
Boy, tonight we having scrambled eggs!
Come on, Lolly, run!
- He should always walk to the south.
- Why?
- Well, you have to give him a direction.
Otherwise he will walk around and around
getting nowhere.
- Yes, but why south?
- Well, for instance, if he walks West,
he will go right into the red desert.
Then he'll die for sure.
In the white desert he can find some food and water.
But in those red dunes,
There's just nothing.
- There won't be people there ...
- I quote -
"I love you very much and I'll find you."
I know our readers love the sob stuff,
but this is laying in on too thick.
Dis you dream it up?
- No, I left it to him.
- What's he trying to do?
Sell himself to the public
or save his son's life?
- I do not think he even knows you want to publish the leaflet.
- He gave us exclusive rights to his story.
So you tell him that first line goes out or else
- But ...
- And I'm not going to make a laughing stock of the paper
just to build up the ego of your piano player.
Tell him that.
- Jack, sell my things.
No, the newspaper is backing out,
sell everything I own.
tell the printers to start printing.
We have to start dropping those leaflets.
"I love you and I'll find you."
- I won't be long.
Lolly, go back!
- Do you think that he is still alive, Smitty?
Sir, we must believe.
You say he is not very strong,
but the desert will make him strong.
He will learn to stand on his
own two feet
he won't just lie down.
It's alright Lolly. I'm coming.
- Kurt Lawrence reporting
Dirkie De Vries has not yet been found.
Since radio contact with the 8 year son
of concert pianist Anton de Vries,
was inexplicably broken off 5 days ago
the army has increased it's search force to 25 helicopters.
Two million leaflets have been
scattered over an area
of three hundred and fifty thousand square miles.
Many owners of private aircraft
have volunteered to help search for the boy.
There is little hope of spotting the boy
from the air in such a vast territory
So the first objective is to locate
the crashed plane,
and then the army will send troops and vehicles
to comb the pinpointed area.
whether the boy is still alive, is not known
- Go Lolly.
- I'm not turning back again. Come Lolly.
Sand! It's only the sand. Let's Go.
Come on, Lolly.
It's only the sand.
Oh ... you scaredy-cat
Come on.
No, you're too heavy.
No good. There won't be anybody here.
Let's turn back.
- Oh, no! Leave her alone!
You Beast!
Come on! You beast!
You monster!
Damn you. Go away!
Lolly. It's alright.
I'm sure we'll find somebody tomorrow.
and we will get you to the doctor and he will make you better.
Don't worry, I will carry you.
Dad will be so glad to see us.
We'll find someone tomorrow.
- Colonel, may I take Smitty with me please?
- Where to?
- I want to go and look for my son.
- Which way will you go?
East, West, North, South?
Look! Botswana, Angola, South-West, the Republic.
We don't even know which country your son is.
We have been looking for him for six days,
and we have not even found the wreck.
So where will you look?
- But I can't just sit here doing nothing!
- What you could have done, you've done.
all you can do now is wait and pray.
- They'll never find us, Lolly.
"Dirks, I love you very much
and I will find you "
There must be another part
- My father loves me, and he will find me ...
My father loves me, and he will find me ...
- Anton, you gotta come home.
- I can't leave here yet.
- But you've been sitting there for a week,
waiting, waiting. Whats the good of that.
- Give me a few more days.
- Alright, let's say, three days, huh?
-Alright.
- Where are the helicopters?
- I've sent them back to Pretoria.
- You are not to stop searching.
The 3 we have here will still go out every day ...
- And never find him!
- Anton,
your son has been in the desert for two weeks.
He's dead.
- No.
- I have to be blunt, because
you must accept that your child is dead,
and you must go home and forget.
- I've come to take you home. We
agreed that you stay for three more days.
That was six days ago!
- Hello, Jack.
Look, if I give up and
go home, they will stop searching.
- You will have to face up to it,
he can't be alive anymore.
You must work and try to
forget that you ever had a son.
I couldn't sell your furniture, so
I had to borrow five thousand.
You've got to come and earn money.
- Thank You.
Lolly?
Lolly?
No!
Stay away! Leave me alone!
Stay away! Leave me alone!
Lolly!
She is here! She's got puppies! Come and see!
Hey, don't go away!
Hey, wait for me. Don't leave me here!
Hey, wait for me. Don't leave me alone!
Do not leave me, please! Wait!
Wait for me!
Please, wait for me!
No, no, please!
Please!
- Good morning.
- Morning.
- How are you?
- I'm fine. You can tell your
readers that I am just fine.
- I did not come for the story.
- Would you sit down please.
They tell me, work to forget. It is not easy.
- Is there something I can do.
- De Vries.
Where?
Burnt out?
Yes, yes, I'm coming.
They found the wreck.
Burnt out.
Excuse me, I have to...
- Yes of course. I will lock up.
Thank You.
- And I'm sorry, I was rude.
- Your me will spread out to
search the immediate vicinity.
Your mobile units fan out
in a 20 degrees spread.
but tell them to stay out of the
red dunes. No body can survive there.
Right Lieutenant.
- Colonel.
- Men! Search the immediate vicinity.
Mobile units, fan out a 20 degrees spread.
And keep out of the red dunes.
Move out.
- Good afternoon, sir.
- Good day. Is the Colonel here?
- No sir, they have all gone to search for the boy.
- Are they searching the red dunes?
- No, the colonel said the kid
would not have survived there.
- Well, let's go!
- Where to?
- To those red dunes! He is there!
- He's there in the red dunes and it's my fault,
because I said that he should go south.
But who could have thought that he was here.
- Perhaps he did not find a leaflet.
- There were two million!
- Bushmen.
We better talk to them.
Maybe they saw him or maybe his tracks.
Sir! He says he saw the boy!
The day before yesterday.
- Where?
- Out there. In the nothing.
- Was he still alive?
- What's he saying?
He says the boy was still alive.
He left him there.
He says the boy was ugly.
This means he was possessed.
He had a bad spirit in him.
- But how could he leave the child there?
- He said the boy threw stones.
It is a big taboo ...
If you throw anything at them ...
- Well...
tell him that I will give him a lot of money,
if he only shows us where the child is.
- He refuses.
Says he does not want to come
near the boy again.
- Tell him to just take us near
where the child is.
- Now what?
He said the child is over there.
This thing won't go over.
You better take the truck and go around that way.
I will follow him on foot.
- No, I can't drive this. You
take the truck, and I'll go with him.
- Then you'd better take the revolver.
Shoot when you find him,
so I can hear where you are.
I will sound my horn,
so you will know where I am.
- Alright
- Dirk! Dirkie!
Dirk!
Dirk! Dirkie!
Dirk!
Lolly?
Lolly!
Dirk!
Dirk!
He is alive!
He's alive!
Ben!
Ben, bring water! I found him!
Benny!
Bennie, where are you?
Ben!
Ben!
No, Lolly, no, I have to take Dirk.
Bennie!!!
Between the Orange and Zambezi rivers
in Southern Africa,
is a 275,000 square mile
wasteland, called the Kalahari.
The first European to cross it,
was David Livingstone in 1849.
In 1878, a party of Boers
attempted to traverse it,
from Transvaal to Angola.
250 people and 9,000 cattle
perished of thirst
in the wind swept sand dunes
of this red desert.
Then and now one of the most rugged
and desolate regions
on the face of the earth.
Johannesburg, South Africa
-Sorry.
- One, two, three ...
- We have to take that
cough of yours to a doctor.
- His chest is not strong, he has to
get out of the city for a while.
Why do not you take him somewhere,
where there's lots of fresh air?
- I can't get away right now.
I have a whole series of concerts coming up.
Hey, Dirk, how would you like to fly with Uncle Pete
to his farm. He's got buckets of fresh air.
Now you see this clock will
ring every four hours.
When it rings, you have to take your medicine
One teaspoon every 4 hours, huh?
- Yes.
- Uncle Pete turns off he's generator quite early,
so i'll put in some candles and matches.
- How you doing? You ready to go?
- Yes, just about.
- And your girlfriend? She coming with us too?
- Yes, please, Uncle Pete.
- Alright, I will give you a shotgun,
The two of you can go hunt rabbits.
- Pete, do not force him to go and hunt.
He does not like to kill things.
- Sensitive, like his dad?
You never wanted to hunt either.
- Alright.
- Come aboard Lolly.
- Bye, Dad.
- You come back strong and healthy.
- Fasten seat belts.
- Pete, Look after him.
He's all i've got.
- You know I will.
Foxtrot, Hotel, Hotel
from Baragwana to Pogo Pogo.
My ETA. 17h00 hours. Over and out.
See the foul air you people live in.
prepared for release
RU TRACKER. ORG
Dirk
- Are we there?
No, we're hardly half way. It's time for coffee.
Will you bring us the kettle and things?
I got him!
Sorry boy, I forgot what your father said.
Don't look if it upsets you.
- We have to push on now,
we went far off course to steal that buck.
Oh, boy ...
- MayDay!
- Hey, Sergeant, trouble, here, here!
- Foxtrot, Hotel crash landing.
MayDay,
MayDay!
Heart attack! Crash landing!
Mayday ...
MayDay, MayDay!
- Uncle Pete?
- No sir, all he said was "MayDay, MayDay"
and "crash landing."
- Uncle Pete?
Uncle Pete?
Uncle Pete?
Uncle Pete?
- De Vries.
Yes
Where?
- Don't worry. We think that the boy is still alive.
They didn't crash very far from here.
- Where are you speaking from?
- From Windhoek. You can still catch the Boeing,
if you hurry.
- Mr De Vries?
- Yes. - Good afternoon.
- Let's go straight up to control.
- Fuller, Mr. Howard,
The helicopters left an hour ago
to search for your son.
Take a seat.
All we can do now is wait.
How old is the boy?
- He just turned eight.
- Shame, he is still very small.
- Tower, we can't find any sign of the wreck
in this area. Over and out.
- Tell them to make wider sweeps.
- Right colonel.
- Are you sure that's where they came down?
- Yes, Colonel.
They took off at 7h00 and there mayday
was at 14h20
That's where they should be.
- And if they went off course?. You know some of these
farmers are careless about their air regulations.
- Well, then they could be anywhere.
- Perhaps his radio is still on?
- It might just work!
- What was the wavelength?
- 3-6-80
- Dirkie? Dirkie? There's a microphone in the plane.
When I say "over", press the button on the microphone,
and talk to us. Over
- Dirkie. Dirkie De Vries ...
- Let ... let me try.
- Dirkie. Dirkie. Dirkie, you must
look in the plane for the microphone.
When I say "over", press
button on the microphone, and speak.
Dirkie? Can you hear me?
- What's up Lolly? What do you want?
- Press the button on the microphone and speak.
- What is it Lolly?
- Dirk, can you hear me? Dirkie if you can hear me ...
- Dad!
... You must look in the plane for a microphone.
When I say "over", you must press
the button on the microphone and speak to us. Over.
- Yes, Dad, here I am. Can you hear me?
- Yes, I hear you.
- Where are you?
- He can't hear you - he's still pressing the button.
- Dad ...
- Dirkie, let go the button.
- No, it won't help. I'm afraid we have to
wait until he thinks of it himself.
- Dad?
Dad?
- Okay, now you can speak.
- Boy, I'm so happy! Are you alright?
When you are finished, you should
say "over" and let go the button.
Are you alright? Over.
- Yes, Dad.
but uncle Pete ...
I think uncle Pete, is ...
Are you coming to fetch us? Over.
- Yes, we are looking for you, but the helicopters can't find you.
- Tell the helicopters to tune in there
direction finders, on his voice.
- Helicopter flight ...
- Where are you? Over.
- I don't know. Over.
- Dirkie, listen. The helicopters are trying
to find you by radio.
But they must hear your voice.
Right? Start talking.
- Hey, I don't know what to say now ...
Over.
- Say your tables,
and don't stop.
- Begin - one times one is one ...
One times one is one,
two times one is two,
three times one is three,
- Take a DF baring on 3-6-80. I repeat ...
- Six times Six is thirty-six,
seven times six is forty-two ...
eight times six is forty-eight.
nine times six is fifty-four,
ten times six is sixty.
- Colonel, we can't find him on the DF.
- then they not even within a hundred miles of the boy,
I swear that flying farmer was off course.
Tell them to come back here and start again.
- Three times eleven is thirty-three ...
- He's transmission is getting weaker.
The batteries are going down.
The little blighter must stop talking.
How far does he know his multiplication tables?
- I think, only up to twelve times twelve ...
- Thank the Lord.
... Eleven is ninety-nine ...
Ten times twelve is one hundred and twenty.
Eleven times twelve is one hundred and thirty two ..
Twelve times twelve is one hundred and forty-four.
One times one is one ...
one times four is four,
one times five is five ...
one times six is six.
Please sir, may I leave the room? Over.
- Listen. On the instrument panel
there is a red switch.
Switch it off, and then you leave the room.
When you finished, you come back and turn it on again,
and you say, "I'm back." and let go of the button.
Over.
- Yes, sir. Over.
- How many helicopters did you send?
- Three. That's all we have.
- What's our range?
- Three hundred and fifty miles.
- Three hundred and fifty miles.
Oh it's a vast area.
Three is not enough.
ask Pretoria, to send us some more.
We can start the search in the morning.
- are you calling off the search for today?
- If we have to make do with three helicopters we will
run the boy's battery down before we find him.
and then what do we do?
- can I tell him?
- very well, but say it quickly.
We must conserve his batteries
for tomorrow.
- I'm back. Over.
- Dirk, you'll have to sleep there tonight.
we will send more helicopters
to find you in the morning.
- But, Dad! ..
- It's going to be very cold,
so you will have to put on all your clothes.
- Make it short, the battery is running down!
- well good night, Dirkie boy.
Switch off now, over.
- Don't go away? Over.
- Alright, I'll stay here the whole night
If you must speak to me then switch on
but try not to.
We need your batteries in the morning.
Good night, son.
- but Dad!
- Your little boy, sir?
- Yeah.
I'm sorry to hear.
- Smithy, we assume that the child is
in this area. What type of country is it?
- All this is Kalahari. In the red
desert nobody can live.
- Population?
- There's hardly any. Just around here
you will find some people.
- Here's the sleeve.
Now where's you hand.
Ah, there we are.
- Mr De Vries? Good night, sir.
- Good night. Thank You.
- Bye, Tom.
- Bye, Frank.
- Dad, Dad, I ...
- Dad, I think Lolly is getting frightened.
There are so many noises.
- Dad, I think Lolly is getting very frightened. Over.
- Dirk, switch off!
- Yes, sir.
- I'm sorry.
- It's all right.
- Colonel, the press are waiting.
- Excuse Me.
- What about your piano recital
in Johannesburg tomorrow?
- Well, once we find my son in the morning,
everything will be back to normal.
- And if they don't find him?
- No, they must find him.
- I hope that it isn't just a publicity stunt?
- No, it is not a publicity stunt
- Well, thank you. Good night.
- Thank you, sir ... Good night ...
Thank you, good luck ... Good night ...
- Quiet, Lolly.
Lolly, be quiet!
Dad!
Uncle Pete!
- Dad! There's an animal here, it wants to kill me!
It will come again!
Help me, Dad!
- What does it look like?
- It's big. It looks like a dog, but with spots.
- It's a dirty hyena! Tell him to make a fire!
- Dirk, make a fire. Quickly.
- Is the hyena dangerous?
- Sir, their jaws are stronger than a lions,
but his a dirty coward.
- As long as the boy stands or walks about,
he will keep his distance,
But as soon as he sits or lies down -
he will take him.
- Will the fire help?
- Oh sure, as long as the boy
keeps it burning, it will make him stay away.
- pour on some more.
- Mr. De Vries sorry for the nuisance
but my editor would like a photograph of you
sitting at the radio
- Do you mind if I...
Alright.
- Thank you!
- Another one for luck?
- Many thanks Thank you.
- Dirk!
- Hey!
- Good Morning.
- Good Morning.
- Hasn't the boy started transmitting yet?
- No, maybe he's still asleep?
- I suppose so.
- It's eight-o-clock.
- Why doesn't he transmit!
Tell flights two and three to take off now.
- It's eleven.
- Yes.
- tell the helicopters to search by sight.
The plane should be easy to see - it's bright red and white.
Isn't it?
- Hey! .. here I am here! I'm here! I'm here! ..
Come back! Come back, here I am! ..
- Will we find him today?
- I don't know. It's such a vast
and desolute area.
- but why did he not transmit?
- Maybe his battery was leaking.
Anything could have happened.
- I think there is a river,
but it's so far.
- How long can he live?
- Well, if he is in the red desert,
then two or three days,
and if he is not in the red dunes
then maybe a week.
- Lets go Lolly.
Aargh ... It's a dried river.
- Lolly, go away!
Go Back, Go Back!
- How long can he survive, Smitty?
- Do not worry, sir. He can
last a long time.
We'll find him before he dies.
- Lolly!
Lolly!
- He's not very strong.
- Sir, he won't just lie down and die.
He's knows you love him
and wants to come back to you.
He won't just die down.
- Lolly!
Lolly!
- It's true what you say Smitty?
If he knows that there is someone,
who loves him,
he will not give up, no matter how badly things go.
- Oh, yes, sir, he won't just lie down.
- I wonder Smitty. You see,
when his mother was still alive,
she used to take him on her lap, pet him ...
And he knew that she loved him.
But a man is more self conscious,
and does not know how to show their love.
I play with him, we chat ...
But does he know I love him?
- Yes, sir, he must know.
He wants to come back to you, because
he knows you need him.
If the helicopters don't find him soon
then he will start walking,
cos he wants to come back to his dad.
- There must be something that I can
do! I must do something.
- Hello, Jack?
No, nothing yet.
Yes...
Look, can you cancel tonight performance?
I won't be able to
- I already done that. Is there anything else?
- Yes, Jack, I want to compile a leaflet
telling him exactly what to do,
to survive until we find him.
And then I want to scatter two million
of these leaflets from the air.
- Two million?
- It's a vast area.
- It's gonna cost money.
- How Much?
- Let me see ...
Letter size ... ... four per thousand ...
Nearly ten thousand rand!
- Jack, get me the money.
Okay, I'll see what I can do.
But you know that means we will
have to sell everything that you own,
You can't borrow that kind of money.
- Two million? You must be crazy. It will cost
us eight, nine, or ten thousand rand.
- you spent twenty thousand on the
"Save Our Souls" gimmick
- Our "Save Our Souls" campaign
increased circulation by 17.3%
- So spend 10 thousand and push
it up some more
- are you going soft for this piano player?
- No, i'm not. But I feel this is a chance
that's dropped into our laps and we should grab it.
- Okay. I'll think about it. I'll tell you know in the morning.
- Lolly!
- Mr De Vries! Mr. De Vries!
My paper will print the pamphlets for you!
- For nothing?
- Yes.
- Why?
- Well we would very much like to help you.
- And the real reason?
- Alright ... it will build our circulation.
- Did you think
I'm hard and callous,
but go ahead. Refuse our offer,
and rob your son of a chance to live.
- I had no intention of refusing.
You can tell your paper that I will
sign everything you need me to sign.
And ... tell them thank you.
- Hello, Jack, you don't have to sell my things.
The leaflets are been printed for nothing.
- Oh ... I'm not scared of you! ..
lower down...
I will have to cook them first ...
about two dozen ...
- now I want you to tell me,
what to write - how he can find water,
how to find food.
- Excuse me, sir, you must put there
"I love you very much and I'll find you."
- Yes.
- Dad!
Dad!
- All the rivers look bone dry, but he must
dig in the bed of the river.
Sometimes you will find water
under the bed of the sand, but not always.
- Lolly!
Lolly, Lolly! ...
And I'm thinking that you're dead, Lolly ...
boy I missed you so much ...
right let's go, Daddy must be so worried ...
You must be starving ...
I had thousands of birds' eggs last night.
I will find you some food too
- Not Bad.
That wasn't much.
I'll find us something better soon.
- Get him, Get him!
Got him.
Oh gosh now we must kill him.
I think you better kill it.
Go on, you do it.
Ah let him go. He's too skinny.
- And what can he eat?
- Anything that doesn't eat him first.
Sorry, sir, it's our way of saying it
in these here parts.
He can even eat snakes.
- But the snake will bite him!
- He's got to carry a long stick,
and if he finds a snake, he's got to kill it and eat it.
- There are a lot of things that could be
eat, if he only knows where to look for it.
- Darn It!
Ouch! They bite!
It's nice!
- Eat the food Lolly.
- You must eat it, it's nice,
Eat it now, people can eat ants.
Come on, Lolly, eat it!
Boy, tonight we having scrambled eggs!
Come on, Lolly, run!
- He should always walk to the south.
- Why?
- Well, you have to give him a direction.
Otherwise he will walk around and around
getting nowhere.
- Yes, but why south?
- Well, for instance, if he walks West,
he will go right into the red desert.
Then he'll die for sure.
In the white desert he can find some food and water.
But in those red dunes,
There's just nothing.
- There won't be people there ...
- I quote -
"I love you very much and I'll find you."
I know our readers love the sob stuff,
but this is laying in on too thick.
Dis you dream it up?
- No, I left it to him.
- What's he trying to do?
Sell himself to the public
or save his son's life?
- I do not think he even knows you want to publish the leaflet.
- He gave us exclusive rights to his story.
So you tell him that first line goes out or else
- But ...
- And I'm not going to make a laughing stock of the paper
just to build up the ego of your piano player.
Tell him that.
- Jack, sell my things.
No, the newspaper is backing out,
sell everything I own.
tell the printers to start printing.
We have to start dropping those leaflets.
"I love you and I'll find you."
- I won't be long.
Lolly, go back!
- Do you think that he is still alive, Smitty?
Sir, we must believe.
You say he is not very strong,
but the desert will make him strong.
He will learn to stand on his
own two feet
he won't just lie down.
It's alright Lolly. I'm coming.
- Kurt Lawrence reporting
Dirkie De Vries has not yet been found.
Since radio contact with the 8 year son
of concert pianist Anton de Vries,
was inexplicably broken off 5 days ago
the army has increased it's search force to 25 helicopters.
Two million leaflets have been
scattered over an area
of three hundred and fifty thousand square miles.
Many owners of private aircraft
have volunteered to help search for the boy.
There is little hope of spotting the boy
from the air in such a vast territory
So the first objective is to locate
the crashed plane,
and then the army will send troops and vehicles
to comb the pinpointed area.
whether the boy is still alive, is not known
- Go Lolly.
- I'm not turning back again. Come Lolly.
Sand! It's only the sand. Let's Go.
Come on, Lolly.
It's only the sand.
Oh ... you scaredy-cat
Come on.
No, you're too heavy.
No good. There won't be anybody here.
Let's turn back.
- Oh, no! Leave her alone!
You Beast!
Come on! You beast!
You monster!
Damn you. Go away!
Lolly. It's alright.
I'm sure we'll find somebody tomorrow.
and we will get you to the doctor and he will make you better.
Don't worry, I will carry you.
Dad will be so glad to see us.
We'll find someone tomorrow.
- Colonel, may I take Smitty with me please?
- Where to?
- I want to go and look for my son.
- Which way will you go?
East, West, North, South?
Look! Botswana, Angola, South-West, the Republic.
We don't even know which country your son is.
We have been looking for him for six days,
and we have not even found the wreck.
So where will you look?
- But I can't just sit here doing nothing!
- What you could have done, you've done.
all you can do now is wait and pray.
- They'll never find us, Lolly.
"Dirks, I love you very much
and I will find you "
There must be another part
- My father loves me, and he will find me ...
My father loves me, and he will find me ...
- Anton, you gotta come home.
- I can't leave here yet.
- But you've been sitting there for a week,
waiting, waiting. Whats the good of that.
- Give me a few more days.
- Alright, let's say, three days, huh?
-Alright.
- Where are the helicopters?
- I've sent them back to Pretoria.
- You are not to stop searching.
The 3 we have here will still go out every day ...
- And never find him!
- Anton,
your son has been in the desert for two weeks.
He's dead.
- No.
- I have to be blunt, because
you must accept that your child is dead,
and you must go home and forget.
- I've come to take you home. We
agreed that you stay for three more days.
That was six days ago!
- Hello, Jack.
Look, if I give up and
go home, they will stop searching.
- You will have to face up to it,
he can't be alive anymore.
You must work and try to
forget that you ever had a son.
I couldn't sell your furniture, so
I had to borrow five thousand.
You've got to come and earn money.
- Thank You.
Lolly?
Lolly?
No!
Stay away! Leave me alone!
Stay away! Leave me alone!
Lolly!
She is here! She's got puppies! Come and see!
Hey, don't go away!
Hey, wait for me. Don't leave me here!
Hey, wait for me. Don't leave me alone!
Do not leave me, please! Wait!
Wait for me!
Please, wait for me!
No, no, please!
Please!
- Good morning.
- Morning.
- How are you?
- I'm fine. You can tell your
readers that I am just fine.
- I did not come for the story.
- Would you sit down please.
They tell me, work to forget. It is not easy.
- Is there something I can do.
- De Vries.
Where?
Burnt out?
Yes, yes, I'm coming.
They found the wreck.
Burnt out.
Excuse me, I have to...
- Yes of course. I will lock up.
Thank You.
- And I'm sorry, I was rude.
- Your me will spread out to
search the immediate vicinity.
Your mobile units fan out
in a 20 degrees spread.
but tell them to stay out of the
red dunes. No body can survive there.
Right Lieutenant.
- Colonel.
- Men! Search the immediate vicinity.
Mobile units, fan out a 20 degrees spread.
And keep out of the red dunes.
Move out.
- Good afternoon, sir.
- Good day. Is the Colonel here?
- No sir, they have all gone to search for the boy.
- Are they searching the red dunes?
- No, the colonel said the kid
would not have survived there.
- Well, let's go!
- Where to?
- To those red dunes! He is there!
- He's there in the red dunes and it's my fault,
because I said that he should go south.
But who could have thought that he was here.
- Perhaps he did not find a leaflet.
- There were two million!
- Bushmen.
We better talk to them.
Maybe they saw him or maybe his tracks.
Sir! He says he saw the boy!
The day before yesterday.
- Where?
- Out there. In the nothing.
- Was he still alive?
- What's he saying?
He says the boy was still alive.
He left him there.
He says the boy was ugly.
This means he was possessed.
He had a bad spirit in him.
- But how could he leave the child there?
- He said the boy threw stones.
It is a big taboo ...
If you throw anything at them ...
- Well...
tell him that I will give him a lot of money,
if he only shows us where the child is.
- He refuses.
Says he does not want to come
near the boy again.
- Tell him to just take us near
where the child is.
- Now what?
He said the child is over there.
This thing won't go over.
You better take the truck and go around that way.
I will follow him on foot.
- No, I can't drive this. You
take the truck, and I'll go with him.
- Then you'd better take the revolver.
Shoot when you find him,
so I can hear where you are.
I will sound my horn,
so you will know where I am.
- Alright
- Dirk! Dirkie!
Dirk!
Dirk! Dirkie!
Dirk!
Lolly?
Lolly!
Dirk!
Dirk!
He is alive!
He's alive!
Ben!
Ben, bring water! I found him!
Benny!
Bennie, where are you?
Ben!
Ben!
No, Lolly, no, I have to take Dirk.
Bennie!!!