Rope of Sand (1949) Movie Script
This part of the
desert of South Africa where
only a parched camel Thorn
tree relieves the endless
parallels of time, space, and
sky surrounds like a rope of
sand, the richest diamond
bearing area in the world.
An uneasy land where men
inflamed by monotony and the
heat sometimes forget the
rules of civilization.
West area patrol, Thompson
speaking.
Give me Vogel, please.
Come on in, Vogel.
We've just take it, 40
minutes and all.
We're searching him
now for diamonds.
40 minutes, huh?
Quite a record.
My congratulations.
And put yourself on the report
when you return.
You'll be fined a week's
pay for allow a man
in the area at all.
Thompson, one of the axioms
of my department is this.
It is impossible for any man to
enter the prohibited area,
even for 40 minutes.
My job is to see that
no diamonds are
removed from the area.
I'm not playing games.
What is it?
From the hererra chief, sir.
Report a number of their
men want to sign
of our labor contract.
That's not in his job.
Mr. Martingale's got back
from cape town, sir.
How many?
About 100.
They understand the regulations?
They sign up for a year.
No drinking.
What?
Once a month.
Take them to corince.
Yes, sir.
Yes, what is it?
Exit permit for your
signature sir.
Pierson, separator foreman,
arm injury.
No fluoroscope check.
You know better than that.
The X-ray's broken down, sir.
Well, repair it.
Fly someone in if necessary.
I have an ok from doc Hunter.
These guys did it up.
And very neatly, too.
Take him down the hall and
explain to him the physical
dangers of hiding a diamond
in an open wound.
Incidentally, pierson.
Doctor Hunter's bandages
are never neat.
They have a certain alcoholic
sloppiness about them.
Come on, then.
What is this?
C'mon!
Get that batch wheeling.
Get 'em over there!
Get off your batches.
How soon can you
get my gear off?
Look, Mr. Davis, if you think
all I gotta do is lug through
1,000 tons of cargo and...
how soon can you
get my gear off?
Yes, sir.
Fasten your cargo.
C'mon, get it down!
Hey, send up that passenger
cargo next!
Hey, boy.
Hey, you.
Go on dock.
Take care of passenger's gear.
You understand/ now, go dock.
Take care gentleman's gear.
Understand?
Why did they get a stupid
herrera who
can't understand English.
I guess his mother didn't
bring him up right.
Hold that winch.
Davis, I warned you not
to come back here.
I thought you'd be gone, Vogel,
promoted to a little
diamond stud all your own.
I was waiting for you.
And your blue jacket, the
one with my blood stains.
Is that waiting, too?
Don't lose your temper in
the heat, commandant.
It's bad for the blood pressure.
What you want here?
That's my business.
C'mon, let's get this
stuff out of here.
His leg.
A regrettable accident.
Sorry your equipment is
owing, Mr. Davies.
Don't lose your temper
in this heat, Davies.
It's bad for the blood pressure.
Vogel, I came back telling
myself I'd forgotten what this
place did to me.
But all I wanted was
my license back.
I cam back here telling myself
that what happened before was
a regrettable accident.
I'm back, Vogel.
Now I know what I want.
Thank to you, the hunter
and the guide is gone.
I'm back to get something
I've already paid for.
The price has doubled.
So long, pig.
My blue jacket, Davis,
I saved it.
And all I want is an
excuse to use it.
Hey.
Thank you.
I thought you didn't
speak English.
I don't speak English
much to many people.
I see your point.
I may be able to use a boy that
don't speak English much.
I work for you.
Good.
But you'd better go see doc
Hunter first and have him take
care of this.
Tell him Mike Davis send you.
He'll remember the name.
Call Mr. Martingale
in cape town.
Try the perseus club first.
Yes, sir.
And insist that I talk to him.
Diamond stat to cape town.
Perseus club.
I'm sorry, Mr. Martingale
cannot be disturbed.
No, I'm very sorry but
the membership
committee is meeting.
The next and last application
is that of Mr. Paul Vogel, our
fair diamond stud.
Sponsor?
Gentlemen, there's no need to
reiterate all the splendid
services that Mr. Vogel has
vetted the club in the past.
Year yet three times previously,
his membership
application was rejected
by a single blackball.
Most regrettable.
Therefore I've asked Mr.
Martingale again to make a
personal plea.
Thank you.
Gentlemen, I'm quite sure you
are all aware that Paul Vogel
is the grandson of an
impoverished German colonist,
that he started with none of the
advantages that all of us
have enjoyed.
And that it's by his own
constant effort that he's
become a person of stature
and importance.
In regard to our personal
relationship, I can honestly
say that every day he has worked
under me has been a
distinct pleasure.
Gentlemen, I have no more to
say because well, I am
confident how each
of you will vote.
Hear that?
I think we may pass
the voting box.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Membership application rejected.
Rejected?
No further business, gentleman.
Meeting adjourned.
Sorry, Martingale.
This makes my going back
to diamond stud doubly
distasteful.
You joining us this
evening, Parker?
No, I'm afraid I can't.
I'm meeting Mrs. Parker
at the station.
We leave in an hour for a
business trip up country.
Uhhuh.
Oi.
Mr. Martingale, urgent, sir.
Oh, put him on.
Mr. Martingale is ready.
Oh.
Hello, Paul.
Sorry to interrupt you holiday,
but your instructions
were to report anything of an
unusual or unexpected nature.
Mike Davis has returned.
I have no intention of making
the same mistake again,
although I scarcely regard
it as a mistake.
I felt I should inform you as
to what my course of action
will be.
Your course of action
will be no action
whatsoever until I return.
Unless of course he should be so
foolish as to try to enter
the prohibited area.
I'll be up by plane
in the morning.
By the way, what happened to
my membership application?
Oh, I'm very sorry, Paul.
I'm afraid some wretch has
blackballed you again.
Better luck next time.
Mr. Martingale, Mr.
Parker's secretary
called from his office.
He's supposed to meet miss
Suzanne Renaud, daughter of a
rather important French
stockholder here.
But he's been detained and asked
if you could entertain
her until he arrives.
Till he arrives?
Earlier today he told me he
was going up country.
Tell me, Jacques, is there any
other unescorted girl but this
one?
No, sir.
Jacques, I'm indebted to you.
Or I may never forgive you.
I get your pardon.
I don't know what you want,
monsieur, but I do know that
if you are not gone in five
seconds, I'll call the head
waiter.
He will tell you that my name
is Martingale and that Mr.
Parker has appointed me
his ego alternate.
Oh, Mr. Martingale,
I'm so sorry.
My thought entirely.
Now would you like to
join our party?
Oh, if you don't mind,
I'd prefer a taxi.
Perhaps some other place.
No, just my hotel.
My car's outside.
Oh, thank you but I'm staying
across town at the royale.
Oh, that happens to
be hotel, too.
And I'm tired of all this
nonsense anyway.
In that case.
I'll take you along
with pleasure.
Thank you.
Yes.
C'mon, what about it?
Oh, it's not so late.
I have a little headache.
Well, champagne's good for that.
Oh, you will excuse me.
Thank you very much.
Oh.
Good night.
Good night.
What's the matter?
Oh, I thought I had my key, but
I don't seem to be able to
find it.
I'll go to the desk.
Oh, don't worry.
I can call from your room.
I'll do it for you.
Thank you.
I'm giving you so much trouble.
Prerogative of a
beautiful woman.
If you take one more step, I...
I'll scream.
In any case, I'll scream Mr.
Martingale unless you pay me
100 pounds.
I suppose this is what I
deserve for forgetting my age.
But I am unmarried.
Why shouldn't I pay?
The directors of your
company, perhaps.
I can always clear myself
if it reaches court.
100 pounds.
The lawyer's fees alone
should come to that.
Not to mention the
bad publicity and
the time you waste.
Then don't forget, there's
always the jury.
Of course, if you're a
man of principle...
I take it you're quite
experienced.
The German is brutal.
The frenchman cries l'amour.
The American is hoping for
the cavalry to come.
And what do englishmen do?
They pay.
You know, I really should
dislike you for this.
Well, that doesn't concern me.
And you must have been such
a sweet girl once.
Tell me, what happened?
The war?
Frenchman?
German?
An American.
And that time, I kept hoping
for the cavalry to come.
Yes, yes, I think you'll
do very well.
The stupid ones always tried
to get to the door.
My dear young lady, I happen
to know that Mr. Parker left
town early this afternoon and
couldn't possibly have sent
that message.
I also knew that I was
walking into a trap.
A very clever one.
What are you going to do?
Call the police?
The police?
Heavens no.
100 pounds, you said.
How would you like 500?
I know my stock in trade.
I'm not worth it.
The market's rising.
An old friends has just derived
in diamond stud so I
have a job for you.
A job?
Is that so?
What kind of a job?
You'll ask him a question
to get him to answer.
What kind of question?
Michael, darling, now tell
me where the diamonds are?
In your own sweet
way, of course.
How do I know you'll pay?
Have you ever seen a
more honest face?
Very well then.
Shall we say half
the money then.
Oh, that's much better.
I take the job.
Good.
Now do you want to kiss me?
No.
I think not.
You better keep your kisses
for emergencies.
Ah.
But tell me, why should a young
woman with your talents
be driven to such extremities
as this?
There is an extra charge
for my life story.
Well, my dear.
We have a plane to catch
early tomorrow.
So I think I'd better
pack my bag.
But you can fix yourself a
drink if you like, miss...
uh, miss?
Renaud.
Suzanne to you, Mr. Martingale.
Fred.
Suzanne to you, Fred.
Pleasant holiday,
Mr. Martingale?
Very nice of you.
Have you missed me, Paul?
I've had company.
But none so beguiling
as I bring you now.
Mademoiselle Suzanne Renaud, may
I present Mr. Paul Vogel,
the head of our police bureau?
How do you do?
Mademoiselle Renaud is the
niece of one of our largest
French stockholders.
Forgive me, mademoiselle.
I'm a little overwhelmed
by such beauty.
Well put, commandant.
Consider this place for
a minute if you will.
It often reminds me of the
interior of a whale's belly.
You sure get around.
It's only an intellectual
association, of course.
But it's just from the whale's
sordid interior that we
scavenge to base for the
most exciting perfumes.
And that can turn we confused
with desirability, with
virtue, with great passion.
Say, why are you here?
I mean you, I, any of us?
Why do we stay here
in diamond stud?
Simply because we're infatuated.
Yes.
Infatuated.
Plucking at the skirts of this
woman, this desert, this
heartless courtesan.
But we, we stay here, eternally
hopeful for some
small glittering favor.
Amazing place, this place here
in the desert where the gems
lie just a few inches below the
surface, free, free for
the taking.
Were if not for certain
unfortunate restrictions.
Here go away.
You'll spoil the resin.
Dr. Hunter's famous
prescription for
pickling the heart.
One injection every 15 minutes.
The rhythm is very important.
Doc.
Michael.
Whiskey and soda.
You did a good job
on my boy, doc.
Did a good job on you, Michael.
Scar's almost gone.
Why not?
It has almost two years to heal.
Why did you come back?
I had business with Martingale.
And?
Now I'm in business for myself.
I'm making a survey.
Which of Vogel's boys drinks
the most, owes the most?
Henry.
What's happened to our
friend, Thompson?
He deserted you for Oscar.
I couldn't say, doctor.
He's drinking too much, Henry.
Far too much.
So I'm sitting in Oscar's
this afternoon.
He was already three
parts elephant.
He's probably still there.
The desert must be getting him.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Thanks, doc.
Still play poker here?
They should be starting soon.
Thanks.
Take the diamond itself,
for instance.
Carbon, soot chemically
speaking.
And yet, the hardest
of all matters.
So hard, in fact,
that whatever it
touches much suffer...
glass, steel, the human soul.
Why don't you go sell your
rugs somewhere else?
Heard a curious story the
other day, Mr. Davis.
It's about a young man, a hunter
who used to make his
living around here as
a guide until uh...
until he got into trouble.
What kind of trouble?
Oh, it seems he took an
impetuous gentleman somewhat
beyond the main hunting party.
This gentleman, he was
obsessed by one idea.
He wanted to shoot a lion.
So one night, they... they
camped quite near to the
prohibited area.
And to amuse the gentleman, he
started to tell him some of
the tales of the prohibited
diamond area.
Perhaps the one about the clerk.
You know the clerk that made a
quick dash past a barrier and
scooped up a bushel
or so of diamonds.
They're lying only a few
inches under the sand.
And he fled to Angola and from
there to england, and there
he's supposed to be living now
like a fabulous prince.
At any rate, in the morning when
the guide woke up, his
gentleman was gone past have
been into the prohibited area.
Is this interesting?
It's interesting.
Yes.
Well, eventually he found him
delirious and fantastic as it
sounds, wallowing, but
wallowing in a
virtual bed of diamonds.
He got him back, but the two
fell into the hands of the
diamond police and the impetuous
gentleman who so
badly wanted to shoot a lion
died, babbling incoherently.
Poor gentleman.
What happened to the guide?
Hm?
He was badly beaten by the
police and then he was
released after time a time
and sent packing.
But apparently, he has
never disclosed the
location of the diamonds.
The curious part about the story
as it was told me is
that this young man, this guide,
he's supposed to be
right here in diamond stud
this very moment.
His purpose of course you
can easily guess.
Have you ever done any
hunting, Mr. Davis?
Once or twice.
I was only thinking if you ever
meet this young men, this
guide, you might deliver
a message for me.
Saying what?
Oh, saying...
saying that I'm here free
as the wind, fountain of
extraordinary knowledge,
splendidly corrupt and eager
to be of profitable service.
Where would he find you?
That wouldn't be difficult.
Never heard of him.
If you'll excuse me, please.
You see, they and I, we slightly
disagree about a
man's privilege to...
to occasionally sell or buy
a few little diamonds.
Until we meet again.
Good luck.
Keep out of the draft.
After you, sir.
Don't be so rude!
Don't push me!
Bring me another whiskey
and soda, will you?
Yes, sir.
There's your quarry.
Hello, Michael.
You're looking so much better
than when I saw you last.
It was a long rest.
Oh, forgive me, Mr. Davis.
Miss Renaud, she's the niece
of one of our stockholders.
How do you do?
Hello.
Miss Renaud has come here
to see for herself the
irresistible glamor of Africa.
And the men who live in it.
Really?
Well, Mr. Martingale, I thought
you told me I'd find
this place quite dull.
If I like young, rude Americans,
I should be able to
diamond stud for life.
I'm afraid Michael's a little
jaundiced about the ladies.
It's very common amongst
professional hunters and guides.
I suppose as hunters, they feel
that they ought to do the
hunting.
A hunter?
Well, then perhaps...
retired.
And so young.
No, he's not retired, my dear.
He's just entering the
diamond business.
He's working for you?
I'm working for me.
Michael, may I say
something quickly?
I regard this incident of two
years ago as ancient history.
I hold nothing against you.
I regret what happened, and I'm
willing to see that you
get your license back if you
want will tell us where the
diamond are.
Martingale, I'm dead
from cape town
to the Belgian Congo.
I'm an undesirable, a klinko.
I can't get a job and I
can't get a passport
to go anywhere else.
And you are the one man that can
help me to get my license.
That's why I came back here.
But now you're a little
too late.
Yesterday might have
been different.
Oh?
I didn't like what that smiley
sadist did to me at the
dock, or what he did to
a friend of mine.
I'm sorry to hear this,
Michael, but what can I do?
Not a thing, Martingale,
not a thing.
After the reception Vogel gave
me, I've forgotten where the
diamonds are.
Have you?
Cheers.
You'll have to do
better, my dear.
Come along.
Hello, Carl.
Your Mr. Davies hates Vogel,
and Vogel hates him.
You know the one thing Vogel
treasures more than his
house... and you must see
his house, my dear...
is the hope of someday beating
Mike Davis to death.
You know, I find the commandant
most charming, and
I intend to spend a good part
of the evening with him.
So why don't you invite
him to our table?
Davis is your business.
Diamonds are your business.
But men are mine.
Tell me, have you ever
gone fishing?
Hm.
What did you use for bait?
Small mackerel.
A fish.
So if you were looking to catch
a man, what would you
use for bait?
You know my fondest hope was
that you'd find the diamonds.
But this?
Set each of them against
the other?
The memory of it will warm
me in my old age.
Oh, hello Paul.
Would you like to join us?
Delighted.
I'll come.
Mademoiselle Renaud.
I hope you're enjoying
diamond stud.
Even more than I expected.
Do sit down, Paul.
Why, thank you.
Would you like to have some
champagne with me?
Well, that'd be very nice.
Breathly cold, cool as
the desert night.
Mademoiselle Renaud, you must
me to show you the desert at
night sometimes.
It's more here than anywhere
else in the world.
And I'd like you to
see my house.
I think it will please you.
We must do that some time.
To that which diamond stud
never had before.
And now if you'll excuse me.
Why must we wait, Martingale?
Michael?
Yes.
How else can he lead
us to the diamonds?
If you allow me to persuade him.
Now, Paul.
You had your way once with
him and you failed.
Have you forgotten?
No, I haven't forgotten because
of a report of my
failure that someone sent in, I
failed to get a district of
my own.
My dear Paul, must we
always talk shop?
By the way, Paul, when are you
going to apply for the perseus
club in cape town again?
A day you'll be absent from
the voting on membership.
This is a very dangerous
thing to do, Mr. Davis.
You are tense.
Cautious.
I
I thought you might
want company.
I'm used to being alone.
Oh, yes, that's right.
A hunter.
And you're a stockholder's
niece.
One cannot be too particular
when one is in need of
employment.
Well, sometimes the profession
makes demands that
I don't care to fulfill.
Don't you think that depends
on the employer?
Yes.
Look, I'm not for hire.
You are tense, Mr. Davis.
A man who is tense
makes mistakes.
You're too worried, miss Renaud.
You need a friend.
Just where do you fit into that?
I could be a friend.
I like courage.
What do you like, Mr. Davis?
Honesty.
Game open?
Yes.
He's insulted her.
You'll apologize to
mademoiselle Renaud.
Please!
Please!
Go away, pig.
Get out!
Vogel, I got a little
business here
at the poker table.
You know all I need to make
you sorry I came back is a
little dough.
I might even play with you.
Play you for a miserable
10 shilling?
It wouldn't be worth my while.
Perhaps you'll allow
me to remedy that.
The stakes are 500 pounds.
Shall we say 750?
Shall we say 750?
Cards.
Cut the deal.
I open.
I'll raise you 50.
Cards.
Three.
I'll stand pat.
Check.
Let's make it 100, Vogel.
Forgot to show your
openers, did you?
You should have stayed.
You'd have beaten me.
You wouldn't be bluffing,
Mr. Davis?
What'll you pay to find out?
Straight.
How high?
Nine.
Too bad.
Check.
500 more, and a new
deck of cards.
How many, Mr. Davis?
One.
I'll take one, too.
Check.
All I've got.
Beat my flush.
With pleasure.
Full house, aces.
Cash it for me, will you?
Yes.
To the Victor.
Thank you.
Let's celebrate.
Carl, some more champagne.
Oh, please.
I do not really want champagne.
Not here.
Well, I scarcely know what to
suggest. This is the only
decent place.
I thought perhaps you would
like to show me you house.
Mademoiselle.
Commandant, your money.
Don't take it too hard.
Maybe you haven't lost
as much as you think.
There can't be a place
like it for 100 Miles.
1,000.
It's all been assembled
with great care.
There's only one thing that
I've wanted that I've been
waiting for for a long time,
because I'm a perfectionist.
Nothing of value is
gained easily.
How beautiful.
Isn't it?
It needs a woman of your
taste to appreciate
it's magnificent beauty.
Here, look.
Server, 1782.
There are only two others like
it in the whole world.
Note the perfection
of the enameling.
How lovely.
I had to wait for it
for seven years.
The man who presented it was a
fool who let himself be outbid
by a frenchman.
But you were stubborn.
Yes, I waited.
Finally, in '39 I learned
through a contact at the
French serte that the
sister of the owner
was seized in Germany.
It would take all his money
and more to get
the old lady out.
So I made my bid.
And he had to accept.
It was a bargain.
I never saw such a collection.
All my life I've believed that
if you were willing to
take the time and energy,
you could have
anything you desired.
All my life I have sought
perfection.
It seems perfect.
Now it is perfect.
Pardon the interruption,
but I thought the
lights were still on.
Vogel, I'm a coward.
Hit me and I'll drop this.
You're wasting your time.
Pick a card, any card.
Mademoiselle Renaud, would you
mind waiting in the other
room?
No, let her stay.
She wants to see the
irresistible glamour of
Africa, and particularly
the men who live in it.
What do you want?
Vogel, a gentleman never
marks aces with his
fingernail.
How dare you suggest anything
of the sort.
I don't suppose I could prove
this to a... well, to a jury.
But I think Martingale
would listen.
And he'd be disappointed in you.
Besides, it happens
to be his money.
Money won't do you any good.
I know just the spot
where it would.
So come on, Vogel, quick.
2,000 pounds.
2,000 pounds.
Please.
You've got me at your
mercy, haven't you?
That's right.
And the keys to your car.
I sent my chauffeur home.
C'mon, red riding hood.
Time to leave grandma's.
My vase!
I don't like the way
you've got it.
So long, pig.
You shouldn't play with
these things.
Move over.
I'm cold.
I'm cold.
Listen, miss Renaud.
Maybe in your Paris you got
stop and go signals on the
streetcars.
Maybe you're used to playing
with traffic cop.
But Vogel's no traffic cop.
There are no stop and
go signals here.
They haven't even put
the roads in yet.
Maybe that's why I thought you
were the cavalry, and not
a minute late.
I mean, thank you
for the rescue.
I didn't come after you.
You just happened to be there.
That's all?
That's all.
I, too, like honesty, Mr. Davis.
When did you get that scar?
You wouldn't be interested?
What do I have to do
to prove that I am?
I want to be your friend.
I'm being honest with you.
It happened two years ago.
When I ask myself how long
ago that was, it
adds up to a century.
I was a desert hunter and guide.
I liked being what I was.
Problem was the thing you sell,
not something you...
something you live with while it
slowly chokes you to death.
I'd taken this fool, ingram,
two day's east of the main
part, lion hunting in
the scrub country.
We had no luck.
Somehow, the failure seemed more
my fault because I never
really liked the man.
We'd better turn back
in the morning.
We're pretty close to the
prohibited area, and those boy
are kind of touchy.
It wouldn't be bad to do
this and come up with
a handful of diamonds.
Or a bullet in your back.
From what you tell me, a
man could slip into the
area, with any luck...
either lie down or pick
yourself, because you're
already asleep.
But when I
awoke, I found he'd already
decided to try his luck.
He taken the better
the two horses.
And the hoof prints headed
straight for
the prohibited area.
He was traveling fast
for a man who didn't
know the desert country.
Too fast for his horse.
By this time, I knew my own
animal wouldn't be good for
much longer.
And I was feeling the heat
and the distance myself.
But sometimes an act that beings
in stupidity has to go
on, mile by mile, until it
reaches its logical end.
I finally reached the diamond
country, the black mountains
of which ingram spoke
constantly.
There were traces of the bottom
of a giant river that
flowed 1,000 centuries ago I
knew the end couldn't be far
away, and it wasn't.
There he lay, hugging the earth
as if it would save him.
And there it was that I first
saw them, a million to one
shot and ingram hit the jackpot,
a bushel of dull
pebbles that didn't even
glisten in the sun.
But worth enough to buy the
souls of 1,000 men.
Still, I didn't take them.
Don't ask me why.
There are lots of reasons
why a man won't
take what isn't his.
If you asked me how long I
walked, the answer could be
five hours or two days.
Time was a circle
that had no end.
And though the sun smashed into
my brain the message that
I'd never be able to
make it back, still
I had to keep going.
Maybe it would've been better
if Vogel never found us.
At least it would have
been simpler.
One of the things I hate Vogel
for is finding us still alive.
They took us back
to diamond stud.
And in the last minutes before
he died, ingram must have
babbled of what they found in
his fist. But he didn't live
long enough to tell them
where he found it.
The commandant had to know in
a heartbeat, for Martingale
was away and this was
his big chance to
prove himself a hero.
So to soften me up, Vogel and
his men went to work on me wit
the fists and their boots while
I was still out of my
mind and couldn't tell them even
though I would have been
willing to.
That was his big mistake.
Well, that's it.
A beating like that does
something to you.
When I came around, I wouldn't
have told them my name.
I didn't feel any
different then.
I don't feel any different now.
Except now you want
the diamonds.
Let's say I want the diamonds.
Shall we go.
Mike.
It's impossible.
You could never get
away with it.
Please.
Leave this place.
I thought I made
it clear to you.
I'm staying.
How long do you think
Martingale will hold Vogel
back?
Until he's sure there's no
chance of my leading him to
the diamonds.
Exactly.
Please listen to me.
It's over now.
You are still alive.
Be satisfied.
It's not enough just to
be alive, to eat and
sleep and to move.
When they beat me for something
I didn't do, it hurt
in a way blows never did before.
The paid won't leave until I get
what I already paid for.
When will you learn that you
cannot get along that way?
You know of another way?
Maybe I don't because
I've been lucky.
But maybe you're not the only
one who has been hurt by life.
Of course I'm not.
But you've got to fight back.
For a time.
And then you realize
it does no good.
So you shrug your shoulders
and say that's
the way of the world.
I shall live that way.
I'd rather be dead.
You will be.
Because those people are
dead inside anyway.
Sick, or rotten, or dead.
Mike, please do what Mr.
Martingale asked you to do.
You just don't understand,
do you?
C'mon.
Let's go.
I got things to do.
Mr. Martingale is busy.
I'll wait.
Hello, Michael.
Sorry I didn't hear you knock.
The door was open.
I was a considering splitting
up this diamond.
It's the starlight one.
Care to give me an
opinion about it?
Out of my class.
Like miss Renaud.
She's still a stockholder's
niece.
Dear me, I bought you
for a lift and play.
You can see her at the party
I'm giving tonight.
I wasn't invited.
Oh, you're invited.
Sorry, other business.
Michael, you were lucky
yesterday and
you didn't know it.
You were lucky yesterday
and you didn't know it.
Thanks.
Oscar, this makes it
five for tonight.
All right, rosebud.
Good evening, Thompson.
Good evening.
Give me a double.
Take it easy, fella.
You got all night.
I go on duty in two hours.
Well, I wouldn't drink so much.
You ever spent eight hours
in a half-track?
Not yet.
Then you've never had your eyes
fall out or your throat
close up or your guts turn
inside out from gas fumes,
sand, and head.
It's your squirrel cage.
Why'd you pick it?
I ran a tank during the war.
I went to bed with a 75
millimeter for three years,
but now I sleeping alone.
Know of a job that pays better?
Oscar?
Yes?
What do I owe you?
Three drinks.
That's the smallest you've got?
Afraid so.
Sorry, I can't change that.
I've got something smaller.
Thanks.
Let's find some place
where I can break
this and pay you back.
Shall we go outside?
Why, of course.
How long have you been
here, doctor?
Well, let me see.
I've been here about...
mademoiselle Renaud, may I have
a few minutes with you?
I'm sorry, but I'm busy.
Please.
It's important.
Oh, very well.
I'll have to claim you a
little later, doctor.
Well?
I asked you out here to...
to explain about last night.
It seemed quite clear to me.
Mademoiselle Renaud.
I'm afraid I have a bit
of a headache for
this sort of thing.
There was not such
thing intended.
Sorry I misunderstood.
Now shall we go inside?
Please, Suzanne.
Why do you think I wanted you
to see my home last night?
Why do you think I asked you
to come out here now?
From the moment you stepped off
the place I knew I'd met
the one woman that I wanted
to be my wife.
Suzanne.
I'm afraid the answer is no.
Why?
Because of my manners?
They have been perfect.
Well, isn't my house as fine
as those you are used to?
Far better.
What is it then?
Well, it's just that I'm
not attracted to you.
What's wrong with me?
Let me go.
Answer me.
Mark Davis was right.
You are a pig.
Your friend Davis won't have
the chance to teach you any
new names to call me.
Psst!
Commandant Vogel.
Ah.
What?
Not swarming with suitors.
Just Vogel.
Yes?
He proposed.
Seriously?
How wonderful.
And you rejected him, of course.
Wonderful.
You know you may be in
line for a bonus.
I don't like what's
happening here.
I'm quitting.
Sentimental my dear, but
you cannot quite.
Because if you quit, I shall
be obliged to let Vogel have
his way with Michael.
It's a little late for that.
He's already after him.
Thompson, I hear you
made a new friend.
If I did, I was off duty.
When you work for me, Thompson,
you're never off duty.
What did you and Mike
Davis talk about?
We just had a drink.
Just a drink, eh?
Gentlemen, how are your powers
of persuasion tonight?
All right.
All right.
Well?
10 o'clock.
I leave for night patrol.
10:05, he attacks me just
outside the town.
Knocks me out, takes
the half-track.
Makes a run for it through
the barricade.
Mike!
You left the door open, John.
Mike, don't do it tonight.
Don't try tonight.
Listen to me, you crazy
conceited donkey.
They're waiting for you.
They know.
They know what.
I don't know.
I'm not sure.
But someone came to see
Vogel at party.
Who?
I don't know, but they
went away together.
And Vogel seemed to know you
were planning something.
He said...
he said what?
He said you wouldn't be
around much longer.
Michael, if you ever believed
anybody in your life, please
believe me.
What's going to happen when
someone unties the knot that
holds you together?
Maybe you'll be around
to pick up the pieces.
C'mon, John.
Let's get that stuff out the
back way and into the...
Mike!
Don't try it!
Leave with me on the plane.
I'm giving here tomorrow.
Ask me tomorrow.
John.
How do you feel?
Ok.
Get in.
Get in!
Not tonight.
We'll make it another night.
It's got to be tonight.
If we wait, I may not be able
to set it up again.
I don't like the shape
of the moon.
Keep the money I gave
you as a retainer.
I'll look you up when I'm ready.
Vogel!
Let's go!
What happened?
I'll tell you later.
All right, Paul.
You keep me informed.
You must stop the commandant.
A man like Vogel can be
restrained only so long.
Now he has some justification
on his side.
Where are your diamonds
now, Mr. Martingale?
What will this accomplish?
Nothing!
Expect to prove that Michael is
crazy, and that 10 men are
stronger than someone.
Mr. Martingale, stop Vogel
just for tonight then...
and in the morning, I
will tell you where
the diamonds are?
What makes you think you can
find out now having failed?
I knew he was going into a trap.
I told him so.
He thought I was lying.
He knows know that I wasn't.
Believe me, he will tell me now.
How do I know I can trust you?
I can't compete with love.
Why will I never learn that the
most dangerous thing about
completely unmoral women is
their tremendous, unused, and
unpredictable reserve
of honest feeling?
Stop it!
Now Mr. Davis.
Will you tell us where
the diamonds are?
No?
Oh, we have time, Mr. Davis.
We have time.
Are you comfortable?
Commandant.
Yes?
Mr. Martingale to see you, sir.
I'm sorry I have to
leave you, Davis.
Keep an eye on my blue jacket.
I'll be back.
Try this one on Mr. Davis.
Mr. Martingale.
I want Mr. David released, Paul.
I caught Davis I attempting to
enter the prohibited area
with sufficient equipment to...
so you told me on the telephone.
I want him released.
He will be released when
I'm finished with him.
I want him released.
If you don't stop your constant
interference, I will
take the whole story
to your directors.
If he's not released in five
minutes, I'll have a story of
my own to tell in every
club in South Africa.
The story of how a cape town
trollop made such a compete
and utter fool of our poor Vogel
that he proposed to her
and was rejected.
A French tramp who looked
like a lady.
She has a delightful accent,
don't you think?
It's a lie.
I would have know.
And David virtually told
you, don't you remember?
He spotted her right off.
As a mean with a really good eye
for antiques, I'm rather
surprised you were so fooled.
I'll top this.
We'll go and see mademoiselle
Renaud now.
She's waiting in your office.
Oh, incidentally,
they're in love.
Oh, mademoiselle Renaud.
To what do I owe the pleasure
of this visit?
Mike Davis.
He's not here.
I know you have him.
Do you also know what
is happening to him?
It won't do you any good.
He'll never tell you where
the diamonds are.
Why not?
He'll never get there himself.
Commandant Vogel.
Mademoiselle Renaud.
I
I can make him tell me what
you want to find out.
We'll go away from here
and never come back.
Are you suggesting that where
I may fail it cheap cape town
trollop could succeed?
I beg you to let him go.
You shall have him when
I'm through with him.
You shall have him
in the morning.
Let me have him now.
Why should I?
Because if you don't,
I will tell
everyone about your proposal.
It might be embarrassing.
Are you bargaining
with me, a pig?
Yes.
I am bargaining with you.
Pig to pig.
Release Mike Davis.
Oh, thank you.
Paul.
Here to pick up the pieces?
Look what they've done to you.
Mike, tell them what they want
to know and let's leave here.
Why did they let you go?
I love you, Michael.
Why did they let me go?
Because they knew it was no use.
They knew you would
never tell them.
How do they know I'd
never tell them?
Never quit?
And why?
Oh, darling.
I'm a bleeding heart.
No.
You wouldn't quit.
I'd wake up dead every day.
Still I'd crawl out
of the grave to
get what I came after.
Let me do it.
I can get through with a
pass from Martingale.
I'll pretend to take
John as a guide.
He knows the desert.
Don't be a fool.
If they ever caught you...
or if they kill you.
My life stops.
Now sleep, darling.
The doctor will be back tonight.
You're in pretty good shape.
For once Vogel failed to shoot
par for the course.
I wonder why.
By now according to the
rules, I should be
floating in the bay.
Maybe he was horrified
as the sight of blood.
Why don't you ask miss
Renaud why they
didn't dispose of you?
I already asked her.
And she didn't know a thing?
What are you getting at?
Nothing.
This place has really
made you sick.
She's actually trying
to help me.
How?
By getting the diamonds for me.
Now you can figure out
why they let you go.
Last night the girl came and
told me to put you back
together again, so she must know
what why were released
and so do I. They want the
diamonds and they know you'd
never tell them.
But a woman like her?
That's something else again.
Ah, you drunken...
Doc?
Yes?
How am I?
How are you, or how are
you if anyone asks me?
How am I if Vogel asks?
Concussion of the brain.
You won't be up for some time.
Thanks.
Suzanne.
Keep heading north about
three Miles.
You'll come to a low spot, just
a dried up spring, couple
of bits of brush nothing more.
Then go directly west, 50 yards.
There it is.
After that, head for Angola
where I'll meet you.
You'll be safe there.
The border stops it.
The rest I'll tell to John.
They might search him.
You're right.
Sure you can do it?
This is the best way, Mike.
You'd better get back
to your room now.
And be careful.
Don't leave that lying
around anywhere.
Goodbye.
John, I'll see you in an hour.
Bye, John
good luck.
That's all.
Forgive me for not rising.
When you find what you want,
I hope you will tell
him why I did this.
Delighted to.
In detail.
I want a half-track
and supplies,
enough for 500 Miles.
Immediately.
Yes, sir.
You're leaving?
The plane tomorrow
for cape town.
I'd rather you say.
No need to endure the
corpse at the hotel.
I offer you the comforts of this
department for the time
I'll be gone.
Upon my return, I have the
evidence to demonstrate to Mr.
Martingale how a job really
should be done.
I shall express my appreciation
properly.
Perhaps even by inviting
you out again.
Au revoir, mademoiselle.
Take good care of her.
Ready?
Yes, sir.
Drunken fool!
Come on, doc.
Get up!
Get up!
Never trust a woman, Vogel.
They're too unstable.
They shot Vogel.
Drag his body back to
the half-track.
You won't get far, even if you
crash through the gates.
They'll be after you!
Drag!
Good evening, commandant.
Headquarters telephoned that
you're here with the patrol.
When do you return?
I don't know.
Very good, sir.
Vogel, we're 20 Miles
from no where.
I want you to have a little talk
with your headquarters,
so I won't be bother with
this thing tonight.
Think up a speech quick and then
turn it on and say it.
And be sure and say
the right things.
This is Vogel speaking.
I'm a report in the
reconnaissance.
Clear all patrols from
the northwest areal.
I won't be in further contact.
Now get out.
No.
No.
Get out.
Vogel, I'll be that the first
time anybody's shoved you
around without you hitting back.
So why break a precedent?
Beg!
Beg me not to break you legs
before I leave you!
No.
Beg!
Please with me!
Plead with me, I tell you!
Please with me!
No!
No!
Get out of here, dog.
Cowardly.
Hello, headquarters.
Send the half-track northeast
area of 26 immediately.
Yes, that's right.
Then why didn't you investigate?
But you ordered all
patrols out, sir.
Like hell I ordered.
In that length of time, you
should have investigated!
They are ready, sir.
Bring them in.
Are you please both of you?
If either of you have any hope
of joining Mr. Davis in Angola
to share his wealth, I
must disappoint you.
You Dr. Hunter will be charged
with seriously underestimating
your patient's powers of
recuperation for criminal
reasons, thus allowing
him to escape.
What have you got to say?
Under the circumstances, a man
of normal strength, you,
for example, commandant,
would've been in bed for at
least a week.
I based my prognosis on that.
But apparently as sometimes
happens, a patient was a man
of considerable more than
normal strength.
You!
Commandant!
You!
You will be charged with
criminal treason!
Sending me into a trap with
a counterfeit map!
You won't bother toe deny it,
will you, mademoiselle?
No.
I will not deny it.
I was helping him.
And apparently not in
the way I thought.
Doctor Hunter!
Get out!
C'mon, get out!
Let him alone.
He's dead!
He's dead!
Yes.
And you killed him.
It's not true!
I'll keep the death
weapon as evidence.
Send in a guard.
No!
No!
Take her.
No!
Suzanne Renaud is under
arrest for the
murder of Dr. Hunter.
I will assign the report
to the union police.
No!
No!
In Angola it's now 2:40
in the morning!
These doors, they must close.
No more drinks!
I want a drink.
But the law says...
I want a drink.
But the law says!
It's very unfortunate
you cannot smash
a diamond at these.
May I join you?
No.
Thank you, sir.
Oh, how quickly our little
tramps tarnish up, how quickly
a conquest turns heavy and
unlovely in our arms.
Nobody ever did me any favors.
Do you remember this little
story I once told you about...
about this guide?
Well, there's another
chapter to it now.
Do you think it would
interest you?
I thought it would.
He made it.
He made into the prohibited
area and out
again, with the diamonds.
Glorious dash.
Gloriously.
Now...
now he has vanished
into think air.
Who know?
Perhaps he's here in Angola.
In fact, certain information
I have leads me
to believe he is.
Of course, he still faces
certain obstacles like finding
an unscrupulous person to
Polish the diamonds and
disposing of them.
But in all these things, if I
can only locate the man, I
could help him.
I...
I could even help him to arrange
for a shipment of the
diamonds in... in small lots
to various countries.
Which is what I would
suggest. -Go away.
Yes, he's awful sorry.
He left great disaster
in his trail.
I think I've said it before,
there's nothing but suffering
from contact with this hardest
of all matter...
glass, steel, human soul.
As for the death of poor Dr.
Hunter, well, he drank a
little too much anyway.
But I feel really sorry for
mademoiselle Renaud.
I just can't believe
she killed him.
There's no one who can
prove differently.
Oh, that a girl so beautiful
should die.
Signore!
Senors!
Mr. Davis, try and remember
now that you're a rich man.
This violence is no
longer necessary.
Tell me the truth.
I'm only reporting
an incident...
tell me the truth.
If you'll let me
get in my inside
pocket, there's a clipping.
It'll...
it'll verify everything.
Mademoiselle Suzannette de
Renaud, known also as Suzanne
Renaud, who is being held for
the murder of Dr. Francis
Kiteeridge Hunter,
a diamond stud...
where did you ever
learn how to read?
This is what is says.
It says a French tramps
try to cross off Mike
Davis then got herself...
Nobody ever did me any favors.
Nobody!
Well, I think as long as you're
determined to... to
sacrifice this great fortune
and go back to diamond stud
and help the girl, I...
I think I know a man who can
arrange for us to make this
trip, quietly.
Of course I...
I'll needs some money.
May I get you some
strong coffee?
I thought you got by on charm.
I didn't know you did homework.
I thought I felt a draft.
Close that will you, please?
Michael, I can save
considerable time, I think, by
telling you immediately that
I could never accept your
proposition.
You haven't heard my
proposition yet.
You have your diamonds.
Now you want your girl.
Why else would you
risk coming back?
I cannot do it.
It's even better than that.
An even trade, the diamonds
for the girl.
You're really in love
with her, aren't you?
After what she did?
I got her into this, and
I have to get her out.
That's all.
I never know what
to think anymore.
I'm being constantly
disillusioned.
Has money completely
lost its power?
Is everyone motivated
now by love?
The diamonds for the girl?
Really, my dear Michael,
she's not worth it.
On the streets of cape town...
stick to the point.
Yes or no?
Hm.
It appeals to me, yes.
It would make a her of me in
the eyes of the company.
It would distress Vogel.
No, Michael.
I'm afraid I cannot
buck the law.
Our directors have very definite
ideas on that matter.
Look, let me buck the law.
You stay charming.
Whenever you have the diamonds,
you wouldn't have
them here, of course.
I would be trusting you
to produce then.
One thing at a time.
I wouldn't know where to begin.
Put a piece of paper
in that typewriter,
and get Vogel here.
That would be very amusing
come in, Paul.
Well, what is it?
Uh, forgive me Paul
for getting you out
at this late hour.
But it's time we resolved this
curious situation in which we
find ourselves.
Couldn't this have waited
till the morning?
Uh, no.
I'm afraid no.
Now we are both responsible
for the loss of the
diamonds, aren't we?
So even despising each other
as we do, we're obliged to
protect each other to
protect ourselves.
Is that so?
I've protected myself this time.
Would you sign this, please?
What is it?
I'll read it for you.
Mademoiselle Suzanne Renaud
known by whatever aliases et
cetera, et cetera.
Mademoiselle Suzanne Renaud is
innocent of the murder of Dr.
Francis Kiteeridge Hunter.
She will be released
immediately.
Signed, Paul Vogel, commandant,
witnessed Fred
Martingale.
Only our signatures are missing.
And this is intended as
some sort of joke?
The humor escapes me.
Let me explain it to you.
Davis and Martingale.
I see.
Personally, I decided
to the relax.
Your can see that our friend
is somewhat overwrought.
He was here when you phoned me.
Well, forgive my lack of
courage, but there was a gun
at my head.
Sign that paper, Vogel.
Martingale, you witness it.
Speaking for myself,
I have an enormous
antipathy to dying.
Sign it.
What if we sign?
We take our chances on getting
out and you take your
chances I send you the diamonds.
You'll give us our pass,
of course.
I won't.
She'll hang.
Sign it.
I'll sign.
But you won't get far.
I swear it.
Whenever you go, I'll
be waiting for you.
For you and the girl.
You'll be waiting for us wherever?
It says there above your
signature that mademoiselle
Renaud did not kill Dr. Hunter.
Then who did, Vogel?
Who did?
Who else but you was in the
room when he was killed?
You've just signed a confession
of murder.
I could prove before any court
that I signed this with
a gun at my throat.
Not if you died now.
Martingale is a witness.
I wonder if he's care
to testify for you.
Breathe, Vogel.
No grave would have you.
Cigar, Paul?
Mike?
I'm so sorry, Paul.
You gave me the gun too late.
You double tongued swine.
Oh, by the way Paul,
there's something
I neglected to tell you.
Something I think you
might like to know.
The report that deprived you
of a district of your own.
Someone else must have sent it.
I didn't.
Do you hear me, Paul?
Oh.
You though I'd be killed.
I had faith that his first shot
would be a little wild.
Call your police.
Go ahead.
Well, now.
Let me see.
Gentleman of the jury, I
cornered the late commandant
Vogel into admitting the
murder of Dr. Hunter.
He signed a confession.
Then, it requested the courtesy
of a gun and a few
moments alone with it.
For a gentleman, I
could do no less.
I gave him the gun.
Then unexpectedly, he attempted
to seize the
confession and escape.
Fortunately, I had provided
myself with another gun.
I'd always suspected he wasn't
a gentleman actually.
Why?
I don't know, really.
Except that perhaps
I'm a little more
sentimental than I thought.
Ah.
Oh, very well then.
Vogel and I have been forced
to trust each other.
That was no good.
Suppose he killed me.
I took that gamble.
With my life?
You know, in his way he was
quite a remarkable fellow.
Nasty, but remarkable.
Mr. Martingale told me
the original plan
was to run away together.
The plans have been changed.
Yes, but you were willing to.
I got you into something.
I got you out of it.
That ends it.
Does it?
Does it really, Mike?
After what you did?
Hello there.
I forgot your going
away present.
No thanks.
They're some of yours.
Keep them for luck.
Toady.
Mike, don't you love me?
If you ever tried to get away
from me, I'd follow you till I
wore the earth smooth.
Is that what you to want hear?
Yes, darling.
That's what I want to hear.
Goodbye!
Good hunting.
Amazing thing a diamond.
Carbon soot chemically speaking.
Yet hardest of all matter.
So hard in fact that whatever
it touches must suffer.
Glass, steel, the human soul.
Except of course under...
under unusual circumstances
and... and in the right hands.
Yes.
Amazing thing.
desert of South Africa where
only a parched camel Thorn
tree relieves the endless
parallels of time, space, and
sky surrounds like a rope of
sand, the richest diamond
bearing area in the world.
An uneasy land where men
inflamed by monotony and the
heat sometimes forget the
rules of civilization.
West area patrol, Thompson
speaking.
Give me Vogel, please.
Come on in, Vogel.
We've just take it, 40
minutes and all.
We're searching him
now for diamonds.
40 minutes, huh?
Quite a record.
My congratulations.
And put yourself on the report
when you return.
You'll be fined a week's
pay for allow a man
in the area at all.
Thompson, one of the axioms
of my department is this.
It is impossible for any man to
enter the prohibited area,
even for 40 minutes.
My job is to see that
no diamonds are
removed from the area.
I'm not playing games.
What is it?
From the hererra chief, sir.
Report a number of their
men want to sign
of our labor contract.
That's not in his job.
Mr. Martingale's got back
from cape town, sir.
How many?
About 100.
They understand the regulations?
They sign up for a year.
No drinking.
What?
Once a month.
Take them to corince.
Yes, sir.
Yes, what is it?
Exit permit for your
signature sir.
Pierson, separator foreman,
arm injury.
No fluoroscope check.
You know better than that.
The X-ray's broken down, sir.
Well, repair it.
Fly someone in if necessary.
I have an ok from doc Hunter.
These guys did it up.
And very neatly, too.
Take him down the hall and
explain to him the physical
dangers of hiding a diamond
in an open wound.
Incidentally, pierson.
Doctor Hunter's bandages
are never neat.
They have a certain alcoholic
sloppiness about them.
Come on, then.
What is this?
C'mon!
Get that batch wheeling.
Get 'em over there!
Get off your batches.
How soon can you
get my gear off?
Look, Mr. Davis, if you think
all I gotta do is lug through
1,000 tons of cargo and...
how soon can you
get my gear off?
Yes, sir.
Fasten your cargo.
C'mon, get it down!
Hey, send up that passenger
cargo next!
Hey, boy.
Hey, you.
Go on dock.
Take care of passenger's gear.
You understand/ now, go dock.
Take care gentleman's gear.
Understand?
Why did they get a stupid
herrera who
can't understand English.
I guess his mother didn't
bring him up right.
Hold that winch.
Davis, I warned you not
to come back here.
I thought you'd be gone, Vogel,
promoted to a little
diamond stud all your own.
I was waiting for you.
And your blue jacket, the
one with my blood stains.
Is that waiting, too?
Don't lose your temper in
the heat, commandant.
It's bad for the blood pressure.
What you want here?
That's my business.
C'mon, let's get this
stuff out of here.
His leg.
A regrettable accident.
Sorry your equipment is
owing, Mr. Davies.
Don't lose your temper
in this heat, Davies.
It's bad for the blood pressure.
Vogel, I came back telling
myself I'd forgotten what this
place did to me.
But all I wanted was
my license back.
I cam back here telling myself
that what happened before was
a regrettable accident.
I'm back, Vogel.
Now I know what I want.
Thank to you, the hunter
and the guide is gone.
I'm back to get something
I've already paid for.
The price has doubled.
So long, pig.
My blue jacket, Davis,
I saved it.
And all I want is an
excuse to use it.
Hey.
Thank you.
I thought you didn't
speak English.
I don't speak English
much to many people.
I see your point.
I may be able to use a boy that
don't speak English much.
I work for you.
Good.
But you'd better go see doc
Hunter first and have him take
care of this.
Tell him Mike Davis send you.
He'll remember the name.
Call Mr. Martingale
in cape town.
Try the perseus club first.
Yes, sir.
And insist that I talk to him.
Diamond stat to cape town.
Perseus club.
I'm sorry, Mr. Martingale
cannot be disturbed.
No, I'm very sorry but
the membership
committee is meeting.
The next and last application
is that of Mr. Paul Vogel, our
fair diamond stud.
Sponsor?
Gentlemen, there's no need to
reiterate all the splendid
services that Mr. Vogel has
vetted the club in the past.
Year yet three times previously,
his membership
application was rejected
by a single blackball.
Most regrettable.
Therefore I've asked Mr.
Martingale again to make a
personal plea.
Thank you.
Gentlemen, I'm quite sure you
are all aware that Paul Vogel
is the grandson of an
impoverished German colonist,
that he started with none of the
advantages that all of us
have enjoyed.
And that it's by his own
constant effort that he's
become a person of stature
and importance.
In regard to our personal
relationship, I can honestly
say that every day he has worked
under me has been a
distinct pleasure.
Gentlemen, I have no more to
say because well, I am
confident how each
of you will vote.
Hear that?
I think we may pass
the voting box.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Membership application rejected.
Rejected?
No further business, gentleman.
Meeting adjourned.
Sorry, Martingale.
This makes my going back
to diamond stud doubly
distasteful.
You joining us this
evening, Parker?
No, I'm afraid I can't.
I'm meeting Mrs. Parker
at the station.
We leave in an hour for a
business trip up country.
Uhhuh.
Oi.
Mr. Martingale, urgent, sir.
Oh, put him on.
Mr. Martingale is ready.
Oh.
Hello, Paul.
Sorry to interrupt you holiday,
but your instructions
were to report anything of an
unusual or unexpected nature.
Mike Davis has returned.
I have no intention of making
the same mistake again,
although I scarcely regard
it as a mistake.
I felt I should inform you as
to what my course of action
will be.
Your course of action
will be no action
whatsoever until I return.
Unless of course he should be so
foolish as to try to enter
the prohibited area.
I'll be up by plane
in the morning.
By the way, what happened to
my membership application?
Oh, I'm very sorry, Paul.
I'm afraid some wretch has
blackballed you again.
Better luck next time.
Mr. Martingale, Mr.
Parker's secretary
called from his office.
He's supposed to meet miss
Suzanne Renaud, daughter of a
rather important French
stockholder here.
But he's been detained and asked
if you could entertain
her until he arrives.
Till he arrives?
Earlier today he told me he
was going up country.
Tell me, Jacques, is there any
other unescorted girl but this
one?
No, sir.
Jacques, I'm indebted to you.
Or I may never forgive you.
I get your pardon.
I don't know what you want,
monsieur, but I do know that
if you are not gone in five
seconds, I'll call the head
waiter.
He will tell you that my name
is Martingale and that Mr.
Parker has appointed me
his ego alternate.
Oh, Mr. Martingale,
I'm so sorry.
My thought entirely.
Now would you like to
join our party?
Oh, if you don't mind,
I'd prefer a taxi.
Perhaps some other place.
No, just my hotel.
My car's outside.
Oh, thank you but I'm staying
across town at the royale.
Oh, that happens to
be hotel, too.
And I'm tired of all this
nonsense anyway.
In that case.
I'll take you along
with pleasure.
Thank you.
Yes.
C'mon, what about it?
Oh, it's not so late.
I have a little headache.
Well, champagne's good for that.
Oh, you will excuse me.
Thank you very much.
Oh.
Good night.
Good night.
What's the matter?
Oh, I thought I had my key, but
I don't seem to be able to
find it.
I'll go to the desk.
Oh, don't worry.
I can call from your room.
I'll do it for you.
Thank you.
I'm giving you so much trouble.
Prerogative of a
beautiful woman.
If you take one more step, I...
I'll scream.
In any case, I'll scream Mr.
Martingale unless you pay me
100 pounds.
I suppose this is what I
deserve for forgetting my age.
But I am unmarried.
Why shouldn't I pay?
The directors of your
company, perhaps.
I can always clear myself
if it reaches court.
100 pounds.
The lawyer's fees alone
should come to that.
Not to mention the
bad publicity and
the time you waste.
Then don't forget, there's
always the jury.
Of course, if you're a
man of principle...
I take it you're quite
experienced.
The German is brutal.
The frenchman cries l'amour.
The American is hoping for
the cavalry to come.
And what do englishmen do?
They pay.
You know, I really should
dislike you for this.
Well, that doesn't concern me.
And you must have been such
a sweet girl once.
Tell me, what happened?
The war?
Frenchman?
German?
An American.
And that time, I kept hoping
for the cavalry to come.
Yes, yes, I think you'll
do very well.
The stupid ones always tried
to get to the door.
My dear young lady, I happen
to know that Mr. Parker left
town early this afternoon and
couldn't possibly have sent
that message.
I also knew that I was
walking into a trap.
A very clever one.
What are you going to do?
Call the police?
The police?
Heavens no.
100 pounds, you said.
How would you like 500?
I know my stock in trade.
I'm not worth it.
The market's rising.
An old friends has just derived
in diamond stud so I
have a job for you.
A job?
Is that so?
What kind of a job?
You'll ask him a question
to get him to answer.
What kind of question?
Michael, darling, now tell
me where the diamonds are?
In your own sweet
way, of course.
How do I know you'll pay?
Have you ever seen a
more honest face?
Very well then.
Shall we say half
the money then.
Oh, that's much better.
I take the job.
Good.
Now do you want to kiss me?
No.
I think not.
You better keep your kisses
for emergencies.
Ah.
But tell me, why should a young
woman with your talents
be driven to such extremities
as this?
There is an extra charge
for my life story.
Well, my dear.
We have a plane to catch
early tomorrow.
So I think I'd better
pack my bag.
But you can fix yourself a
drink if you like, miss...
uh, miss?
Renaud.
Suzanne to you, Mr. Martingale.
Fred.
Suzanne to you, Fred.
Pleasant holiday,
Mr. Martingale?
Very nice of you.
Have you missed me, Paul?
I've had company.
But none so beguiling
as I bring you now.
Mademoiselle Suzanne Renaud, may
I present Mr. Paul Vogel,
the head of our police bureau?
How do you do?
Mademoiselle Renaud is the
niece of one of our largest
French stockholders.
Forgive me, mademoiselle.
I'm a little overwhelmed
by such beauty.
Well put, commandant.
Consider this place for
a minute if you will.
It often reminds me of the
interior of a whale's belly.
You sure get around.
It's only an intellectual
association, of course.
But it's just from the whale's
sordid interior that we
scavenge to base for the
most exciting perfumes.
And that can turn we confused
with desirability, with
virtue, with great passion.
Say, why are you here?
I mean you, I, any of us?
Why do we stay here
in diamond stud?
Simply because we're infatuated.
Yes.
Infatuated.
Plucking at the skirts of this
woman, this desert, this
heartless courtesan.
But we, we stay here, eternally
hopeful for some
small glittering favor.
Amazing place, this place here
in the desert where the gems
lie just a few inches below the
surface, free, free for
the taking.
Were if not for certain
unfortunate restrictions.
Here go away.
You'll spoil the resin.
Dr. Hunter's famous
prescription for
pickling the heart.
One injection every 15 minutes.
The rhythm is very important.
Doc.
Michael.
Whiskey and soda.
You did a good job
on my boy, doc.
Did a good job on you, Michael.
Scar's almost gone.
Why not?
It has almost two years to heal.
Why did you come back?
I had business with Martingale.
And?
Now I'm in business for myself.
I'm making a survey.
Which of Vogel's boys drinks
the most, owes the most?
Henry.
What's happened to our
friend, Thompson?
He deserted you for Oscar.
I couldn't say, doctor.
He's drinking too much, Henry.
Far too much.
So I'm sitting in Oscar's
this afternoon.
He was already three
parts elephant.
He's probably still there.
The desert must be getting him.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Thanks, doc.
Still play poker here?
They should be starting soon.
Thanks.
Take the diamond itself,
for instance.
Carbon, soot chemically
speaking.
And yet, the hardest
of all matters.
So hard, in fact,
that whatever it
touches much suffer...
glass, steel, the human soul.
Why don't you go sell your
rugs somewhere else?
Heard a curious story the
other day, Mr. Davis.
It's about a young man, a hunter
who used to make his
living around here as
a guide until uh...
until he got into trouble.
What kind of trouble?
Oh, it seems he took an
impetuous gentleman somewhat
beyond the main hunting party.
This gentleman, he was
obsessed by one idea.
He wanted to shoot a lion.
So one night, they... they
camped quite near to the
prohibited area.
And to amuse the gentleman, he
started to tell him some of
the tales of the prohibited
diamond area.
Perhaps the one about the clerk.
You know the clerk that made a
quick dash past a barrier and
scooped up a bushel
or so of diamonds.
They're lying only a few
inches under the sand.
And he fled to Angola and from
there to england, and there
he's supposed to be living now
like a fabulous prince.
At any rate, in the morning when
the guide woke up, his
gentleman was gone past have
been into the prohibited area.
Is this interesting?
It's interesting.
Yes.
Well, eventually he found him
delirious and fantastic as it
sounds, wallowing, but
wallowing in a
virtual bed of diamonds.
He got him back, but the two
fell into the hands of the
diamond police and the impetuous
gentleman who so
badly wanted to shoot a lion
died, babbling incoherently.
Poor gentleman.
What happened to the guide?
Hm?
He was badly beaten by the
police and then he was
released after time a time
and sent packing.
But apparently, he has
never disclosed the
location of the diamonds.
The curious part about the story
as it was told me is
that this young man, this guide,
he's supposed to be
right here in diamond stud
this very moment.
His purpose of course you
can easily guess.
Have you ever done any
hunting, Mr. Davis?
Once or twice.
I was only thinking if you ever
meet this young men, this
guide, you might deliver
a message for me.
Saying what?
Oh, saying...
saying that I'm here free
as the wind, fountain of
extraordinary knowledge,
splendidly corrupt and eager
to be of profitable service.
Where would he find you?
That wouldn't be difficult.
Never heard of him.
If you'll excuse me, please.
You see, they and I, we slightly
disagree about a
man's privilege to...
to occasionally sell or buy
a few little diamonds.
Until we meet again.
Good luck.
Keep out of the draft.
After you, sir.
Don't be so rude!
Don't push me!
Bring me another whiskey
and soda, will you?
Yes, sir.
There's your quarry.
Hello, Michael.
You're looking so much better
than when I saw you last.
It was a long rest.
Oh, forgive me, Mr. Davis.
Miss Renaud, she's the niece
of one of our stockholders.
How do you do?
Hello.
Miss Renaud has come here
to see for herself the
irresistible glamor of Africa.
And the men who live in it.
Really?
Well, Mr. Martingale, I thought
you told me I'd find
this place quite dull.
If I like young, rude Americans,
I should be able to
diamond stud for life.
I'm afraid Michael's a little
jaundiced about the ladies.
It's very common amongst
professional hunters and guides.
I suppose as hunters, they feel
that they ought to do the
hunting.
A hunter?
Well, then perhaps...
retired.
And so young.
No, he's not retired, my dear.
He's just entering the
diamond business.
He's working for you?
I'm working for me.
Michael, may I say
something quickly?
I regard this incident of two
years ago as ancient history.
I hold nothing against you.
I regret what happened, and I'm
willing to see that you
get your license back if you
want will tell us where the
diamond are.
Martingale, I'm dead
from cape town
to the Belgian Congo.
I'm an undesirable, a klinko.
I can't get a job and I
can't get a passport
to go anywhere else.
And you are the one man that can
help me to get my license.
That's why I came back here.
But now you're a little
too late.
Yesterday might have
been different.
Oh?
I didn't like what that smiley
sadist did to me at the
dock, or what he did to
a friend of mine.
I'm sorry to hear this,
Michael, but what can I do?
Not a thing, Martingale,
not a thing.
After the reception Vogel gave
me, I've forgotten where the
diamonds are.
Have you?
Cheers.
You'll have to do
better, my dear.
Come along.
Hello, Carl.
Your Mr. Davies hates Vogel,
and Vogel hates him.
You know the one thing Vogel
treasures more than his
house... and you must see
his house, my dear...
is the hope of someday beating
Mike Davis to death.
You know, I find the commandant
most charming, and
I intend to spend a good part
of the evening with him.
So why don't you invite
him to our table?
Davis is your business.
Diamonds are your business.
But men are mine.
Tell me, have you ever
gone fishing?
Hm.
What did you use for bait?
Small mackerel.
A fish.
So if you were looking to catch
a man, what would you
use for bait?
You know my fondest hope was
that you'd find the diamonds.
But this?
Set each of them against
the other?
The memory of it will warm
me in my old age.
Oh, hello Paul.
Would you like to join us?
Delighted.
I'll come.
Mademoiselle Renaud.
I hope you're enjoying
diamond stud.
Even more than I expected.
Do sit down, Paul.
Why, thank you.
Would you like to have some
champagne with me?
Well, that'd be very nice.
Breathly cold, cool as
the desert night.
Mademoiselle Renaud, you must
me to show you the desert at
night sometimes.
It's more here than anywhere
else in the world.
And I'd like you to
see my house.
I think it will please you.
We must do that some time.
To that which diamond stud
never had before.
And now if you'll excuse me.
Why must we wait, Martingale?
Michael?
Yes.
How else can he lead
us to the diamonds?
If you allow me to persuade him.
Now, Paul.
You had your way once with
him and you failed.
Have you forgotten?
No, I haven't forgotten because
of a report of my
failure that someone sent in, I
failed to get a district of
my own.
My dear Paul, must we
always talk shop?
By the way, Paul, when are you
going to apply for the perseus
club in cape town again?
A day you'll be absent from
the voting on membership.
This is a very dangerous
thing to do, Mr. Davis.
You are tense.
Cautious.
I
I thought you might
want company.
I'm used to being alone.
Oh, yes, that's right.
A hunter.
And you're a stockholder's
niece.
One cannot be too particular
when one is in need of
employment.
Well, sometimes the profession
makes demands that
I don't care to fulfill.
Don't you think that depends
on the employer?
Yes.
Look, I'm not for hire.
You are tense, Mr. Davis.
A man who is tense
makes mistakes.
You're too worried, miss Renaud.
You need a friend.
Just where do you fit into that?
I could be a friend.
I like courage.
What do you like, Mr. Davis?
Honesty.
Game open?
Yes.
He's insulted her.
You'll apologize to
mademoiselle Renaud.
Please!
Please!
Go away, pig.
Get out!
Vogel, I got a little
business here
at the poker table.
You know all I need to make
you sorry I came back is a
little dough.
I might even play with you.
Play you for a miserable
10 shilling?
It wouldn't be worth my while.
Perhaps you'll allow
me to remedy that.
The stakes are 500 pounds.
Shall we say 750?
Shall we say 750?
Cards.
Cut the deal.
I open.
I'll raise you 50.
Cards.
Three.
I'll stand pat.
Check.
Let's make it 100, Vogel.
Forgot to show your
openers, did you?
You should have stayed.
You'd have beaten me.
You wouldn't be bluffing,
Mr. Davis?
What'll you pay to find out?
Straight.
How high?
Nine.
Too bad.
Check.
500 more, and a new
deck of cards.
How many, Mr. Davis?
One.
I'll take one, too.
Check.
All I've got.
Beat my flush.
With pleasure.
Full house, aces.
Cash it for me, will you?
Yes.
To the Victor.
Thank you.
Let's celebrate.
Carl, some more champagne.
Oh, please.
I do not really want champagne.
Not here.
Well, I scarcely know what to
suggest. This is the only
decent place.
I thought perhaps you would
like to show me you house.
Mademoiselle.
Commandant, your money.
Don't take it too hard.
Maybe you haven't lost
as much as you think.
There can't be a place
like it for 100 Miles.
1,000.
It's all been assembled
with great care.
There's only one thing that
I've wanted that I've been
waiting for for a long time,
because I'm a perfectionist.
Nothing of value is
gained easily.
How beautiful.
Isn't it?
It needs a woman of your
taste to appreciate
it's magnificent beauty.
Here, look.
Server, 1782.
There are only two others like
it in the whole world.
Note the perfection
of the enameling.
How lovely.
I had to wait for it
for seven years.
The man who presented it was a
fool who let himself be outbid
by a frenchman.
But you were stubborn.
Yes, I waited.
Finally, in '39 I learned
through a contact at the
French serte that the
sister of the owner
was seized in Germany.
It would take all his money
and more to get
the old lady out.
So I made my bid.
And he had to accept.
It was a bargain.
I never saw such a collection.
All my life I've believed that
if you were willing to
take the time and energy,
you could have
anything you desired.
All my life I have sought
perfection.
It seems perfect.
Now it is perfect.
Pardon the interruption,
but I thought the
lights were still on.
Vogel, I'm a coward.
Hit me and I'll drop this.
You're wasting your time.
Pick a card, any card.
Mademoiselle Renaud, would you
mind waiting in the other
room?
No, let her stay.
She wants to see the
irresistible glamour of
Africa, and particularly
the men who live in it.
What do you want?
Vogel, a gentleman never
marks aces with his
fingernail.
How dare you suggest anything
of the sort.
I don't suppose I could prove
this to a... well, to a jury.
But I think Martingale
would listen.
And he'd be disappointed in you.
Besides, it happens
to be his money.
Money won't do you any good.
I know just the spot
where it would.
So come on, Vogel, quick.
2,000 pounds.
2,000 pounds.
Please.
You've got me at your
mercy, haven't you?
That's right.
And the keys to your car.
I sent my chauffeur home.
C'mon, red riding hood.
Time to leave grandma's.
My vase!
I don't like the way
you've got it.
So long, pig.
You shouldn't play with
these things.
Move over.
I'm cold.
I'm cold.
Listen, miss Renaud.
Maybe in your Paris you got
stop and go signals on the
streetcars.
Maybe you're used to playing
with traffic cop.
But Vogel's no traffic cop.
There are no stop and
go signals here.
They haven't even put
the roads in yet.
Maybe that's why I thought you
were the cavalry, and not
a minute late.
I mean, thank you
for the rescue.
I didn't come after you.
You just happened to be there.
That's all?
That's all.
I, too, like honesty, Mr. Davis.
When did you get that scar?
You wouldn't be interested?
What do I have to do
to prove that I am?
I want to be your friend.
I'm being honest with you.
It happened two years ago.
When I ask myself how long
ago that was, it
adds up to a century.
I was a desert hunter and guide.
I liked being what I was.
Problem was the thing you sell,
not something you...
something you live with while it
slowly chokes you to death.
I'd taken this fool, ingram,
two day's east of the main
part, lion hunting in
the scrub country.
We had no luck.
Somehow, the failure seemed more
my fault because I never
really liked the man.
We'd better turn back
in the morning.
We're pretty close to the
prohibited area, and those boy
are kind of touchy.
It wouldn't be bad to do
this and come up with
a handful of diamonds.
Or a bullet in your back.
From what you tell me, a
man could slip into the
area, with any luck...
either lie down or pick
yourself, because you're
already asleep.
But when I
awoke, I found he'd already
decided to try his luck.
He taken the better
the two horses.
And the hoof prints headed
straight for
the prohibited area.
He was traveling fast
for a man who didn't
know the desert country.
Too fast for his horse.
By this time, I knew my own
animal wouldn't be good for
much longer.
And I was feeling the heat
and the distance myself.
But sometimes an act that beings
in stupidity has to go
on, mile by mile, until it
reaches its logical end.
I finally reached the diamond
country, the black mountains
of which ingram spoke
constantly.
There were traces of the bottom
of a giant river that
flowed 1,000 centuries ago I
knew the end couldn't be far
away, and it wasn't.
There he lay, hugging the earth
as if it would save him.
And there it was that I first
saw them, a million to one
shot and ingram hit the jackpot,
a bushel of dull
pebbles that didn't even
glisten in the sun.
But worth enough to buy the
souls of 1,000 men.
Still, I didn't take them.
Don't ask me why.
There are lots of reasons
why a man won't
take what isn't his.
If you asked me how long I
walked, the answer could be
five hours or two days.
Time was a circle
that had no end.
And though the sun smashed into
my brain the message that
I'd never be able to
make it back, still
I had to keep going.
Maybe it would've been better
if Vogel never found us.
At least it would have
been simpler.
One of the things I hate Vogel
for is finding us still alive.
They took us back
to diamond stud.
And in the last minutes before
he died, ingram must have
babbled of what they found in
his fist. But he didn't live
long enough to tell them
where he found it.
The commandant had to know in
a heartbeat, for Martingale
was away and this was
his big chance to
prove himself a hero.
So to soften me up, Vogel and
his men went to work on me wit
the fists and their boots while
I was still out of my
mind and couldn't tell them even
though I would have been
willing to.
That was his big mistake.
Well, that's it.
A beating like that does
something to you.
When I came around, I wouldn't
have told them my name.
I didn't feel any
different then.
I don't feel any different now.
Except now you want
the diamonds.
Let's say I want the diamonds.
Shall we go.
Mike.
It's impossible.
You could never get
away with it.
Please.
Leave this place.
I thought I made
it clear to you.
I'm staying.
How long do you think
Martingale will hold Vogel
back?
Until he's sure there's no
chance of my leading him to
the diamonds.
Exactly.
Please listen to me.
It's over now.
You are still alive.
Be satisfied.
It's not enough just to
be alive, to eat and
sleep and to move.
When they beat me for something
I didn't do, it hurt
in a way blows never did before.
The paid won't leave until I get
what I already paid for.
When will you learn that you
cannot get along that way?
You know of another way?
Maybe I don't because
I've been lucky.
But maybe you're not the only
one who has been hurt by life.
Of course I'm not.
But you've got to fight back.
For a time.
And then you realize
it does no good.
So you shrug your shoulders
and say that's
the way of the world.
I shall live that way.
I'd rather be dead.
You will be.
Because those people are
dead inside anyway.
Sick, or rotten, or dead.
Mike, please do what Mr.
Martingale asked you to do.
You just don't understand,
do you?
C'mon.
Let's go.
I got things to do.
Mr. Martingale is busy.
I'll wait.
Hello, Michael.
Sorry I didn't hear you knock.
The door was open.
I was a considering splitting
up this diamond.
It's the starlight one.
Care to give me an
opinion about it?
Out of my class.
Like miss Renaud.
She's still a stockholder's
niece.
Dear me, I bought you
for a lift and play.
You can see her at the party
I'm giving tonight.
I wasn't invited.
Oh, you're invited.
Sorry, other business.
Michael, you were lucky
yesterday and
you didn't know it.
You were lucky yesterday
and you didn't know it.
Thanks.
Oscar, this makes it
five for tonight.
All right, rosebud.
Good evening, Thompson.
Good evening.
Give me a double.
Take it easy, fella.
You got all night.
I go on duty in two hours.
Well, I wouldn't drink so much.
You ever spent eight hours
in a half-track?
Not yet.
Then you've never had your eyes
fall out or your throat
close up or your guts turn
inside out from gas fumes,
sand, and head.
It's your squirrel cage.
Why'd you pick it?
I ran a tank during the war.
I went to bed with a 75
millimeter for three years,
but now I sleeping alone.
Know of a job that pays better?
Oscar?
Yes?
What do I owe you?
Three drinks.
That's the smallest you've got?
Afraid so.
Sorry, I can't change that.
I've got something smaller.
Thanks.
Let's find some place
where I can break
this and pay you back.
Shall we go outside?
Why, of course.
How long have you been
here, doctor?
Well, let me see.
I've been here about...
mademoiselle Renaud, may I have
a few minutes with you?
I'm sorry, but I'm busy.
Please.
It's important.
Oh, very well.
I'll have to claim you a
little later, doctor.
Well?
I asked you out here to...
to explain about last night.
It seemed quite clear to me.
Mademoiselle Renaud.
I'm afraid I have a bit
of a headache for
this sort of thing.
There was not such
thing intended.
Sorry I misunderstood.
Now shall we go inside?
Please, Suzanne.
Why do you think I wanted you
to see my home last night?
Why do you think I asked you
to come out here now?
From the moment you stepped off
the place I knew I'd met
the one woman that I wanted
to be my wife.
Suzanne.
I'm afraid the answer is no.
Why?
Because of my manners?
They have been perfect.
Well, isn't my house as fine
as those you are used to?
Far better.
What is it then?
Well, it's just that I'm
not attracted to you.
What's wrong with me?
Let me go.
Answer me.
Mark Davis was right.
You are a pig.
Your friend Davis won't have
the chance to teach you any
new names to call me.
Psst!
Commandant Vogel.
Ah.
What?
Not swarming with suitors.
Just Vogel.
Yes?
He proposed.
Seriously?
How wonderful.
And you rejected him, of course.
Wonderful.
You know you may be in
line for a bonus.
I don't like what's
happening here.
I'm quitting.
Sentimental my dear, but
you cannot quite.
Because if you quit, I shall
be obliged to let Vogel have
his way with Michael.
It's a little late for that.
He's already after him.
Thompson, I hear you
made a new friend.
If I did, I was off duty.
When you work for me, Thompson,
you're never off duty.
What did you and Mike
Davis talk about?
We just had a drink.
Just a drink, eh?
Gentlemen, how are your powers
of persuasion tonight?
All right.
All right.
Well?
10 o'clock.
I leave for night patrol.
10:05, he attacks me just
outside the town.
Knocks me out, takes
the half-track.
Makes a run for it through
the barricade.
Mike!
You left the door open, John.
Mike, don't do it tonight.
Don't try tonight.
Listen to me, you crazy
conceited donkey.
They're waiting for you.
They know.
They know what.
I don't know.
I'm not sure.
But someone came to see
Vogel at party.
Who?
I don't know, but they
went away together.
And Vogel seemed to know you
were planning something.
He said...
he said what?
He said you wouldn't be
around much longer.
Michael, if you ever believed
anybody in your life, please
believe me.
What's going to happen when
someone unties the knot that
holds you together?
Maybe you'll be around
to pick up the pieces.
C'mon, John.
Let's get that stuff out the
back way and into the...
Mike!
Don't try it!
Leave with me on the plane.
I'm giving here tomorrow.
Ask me tomorrow.
John.
How do you feel?
Ok.
Get in.
Get in!
Not tonight.
We'll make it another night.
It's got to be tonight.
If we wait, I may not be able
to set it up again.
I don't like the shape
of the moon.
Keep the money I gave
you as a retainer.
I'll look you up when I'm ready.
Vogel!
Let's go!
What happened?
I'll tell you later.
All right, Paul.
You keep me informed.
You must stop the commandant.
A man like Vogel can be
restrained only so long.
Now he has some justification
on his side.
Where are your diamonds
now, Mr. Martingale?
What will this accomplish?
Nothing!
Expect to prove that Michael is
crazy, and that 10 men are
stronger than someone.
Mr. Martingale, stop Vogel
just for tonight then...
and in the morning, I
will tell you where
the diamonds are?
What makes you think you can
find out now having failed?
I knew he was going into a trap.
I told him so.
He thought I was lying.
He knows know that I wasn't.
Believe me, he will tell me now.
How do I know I can trust you?
I can't compete with love.
Why will I never learn that the
most dangerous thing about
completely unmoral women is
their tremendous, unused, and
unpredictable reserve
of honest feeling?
Stop it!
Now Mr. Davis.
Will you tell us where
the diamonds are?
No?
Oh, we have time, Mr. Davis.
We have time.
Are you comfortable?
Commandant.
Yes?
Mr. Martingale to see you, sir.
I'm sorry I have to
leave you, Davis.
Keep an eye on my blue jacket.
I'll be back.
Try this one on Mr. Davis.
Mr. Martingale.
I want Mr. David released, Paul.
I caught Davis I attempting to
enter the prohibited area
with sufficient equipment to...
so you told me on the telephone.
I want him released.
He will be released when
I'm finished with him.
I want him released.
If you don't stop your constant
interference, I will
take the whole story
to your directors.
If he's not released in five
minutes, I'll have a story of
my own to tell in every
club in South Africa.
The story of how a cape town
trollop made such a compete
and utter fool of our poor Vogel
that he proposed to her
and was rejected.
A French tramp who looked
like a lady.
She has a delightful accent,
don't you think?
It's a lie.
I would have know.
And David virtually told
you, don't you remember?
He spotted her right off.
As a mean with a really good eye
for antiques, I'm rather
surprised you were so fooled.
I'll top this.
We'll go and see mademoiselle
Renaud now.
She's waiting in your office.
Oh, incidentally,
they're in love.
Oh, mademoiselle Renaud.
To what do I owe the pleasure
of this visit?
Mike Davis.
He's not here.
I know you have him.
Do you also know what
is happening to him?
It won't do you any good.
He'll never tell you where
the diamonds are.
Why not?
He'll never get there himself.
Commandant Vogel.
Mademoiselle Renaud.
I
I can make him tell me what
you want to find out.
We'll go away from here
and never come back.
Are you suggesting that where
I may fail it cheap cape town
trollop could succeed?
I beg you to let him go.
You shall have him when
I'm through with him.
You shall have him
in the morning.
Let me have him now.
Why should I?
Because if you don't,
I will tell
everyone about your proposal.
It might be embarrassing.
Are you bargaining
with me, a pig?
Yes.
I am bargaining with you.
Pig to pig.
Release Mike Davis.
Oh, thank you.
Paul.
Here to pick up the pieces?
Look what they've done to you.
Mike, tell them what they want
to know and let's leave here.
Why did they let you go?
I love you, Michael.
Why did they let me go?
Because they knew it was no use.
They knew you would
never tell them.
How do they know I'd
never tell them?
Never quit?
And why?
Oh, darling.
I'm a bleeding heart.
No.
You wouldn't quit.
I'd wake up dead every day.
Still I'd crawl out
of the grave to
get what I came after.
Let me do it.
I can get through with a
pass from Martingale.
I'll pretend to take
John as a guide.
He knows the desert.
Don't be a fool.
If they ever caught you...
or if they kill you.
My life stops.
Now sleep, darling.
The doctor will be back tonight.
You're in pretty good shape.
For once Vogel failed to shoot
par for the course.
I wonder why.
By now according to the
rules, I should be
floating in the bay.
Maybe he was horrified
as the sight of blood.
Why don't you ask miss
Renaud why they
didn't dispose of you?
I already asked her.
And she didn't know a thing?
What are you getting at?
Nothing.
This place has really
made you sick.
She's actually trying
to help me.
How?
By getting the diamonds for me.
Now you can figure out
why they let you go.
Last night the girl came and
told me to put you back
together again, so she must know
what why were released
and so do I. They want the
diamonds and they know you'd
never tell them.
But a woman like her?
That's something else again.
Ah, you drunken...
Doc?
Yes?
How am I?
How are you, or how are
you if anyone asks me?
How am I if Vogel asks?
Concussion of the brain.
You won't be up for some time.
Thanks.
Suzanne.
Keep heading north about
three Miles.
You'll come to a low spot, just
a dried up spring, couple
of bits of brush nothing more.
Then go directly west, 50 yards.
There it is.
After that, head for Angola
where I'll meet you.
You'll be safe there.
The border stops it.
The rest I'll tell to John.
They might search him.
You're right.
Sure you can do it?
This is the best way, Mike.
You'd better get back
to your room now.
And be careful.
Don't leave that lying
around anywhere.
Goodbye.
John, I'll see you in an hour.
Bye, John
good luck.
That's all.
Forgive me for not rising.
When you find what you want,
I hope you will tell
him why I did this.
Delighted to.
In detail.
I want a half-track
and supplies,
enough for 500 Miles.
Immediately.
Yes, sir.
You're leaving?
The plane tomorrow
for cape town.
I'd rather you say.
No need to endure the
corpse at the hotel.
I offer you the comforts of this
department for the time
I'll be gone.
Upon my return, I have the
evidence to demonstrate to Mr.
Martingale how a job really
should be done.
I shall express my appreciation
properly.
Perhaps even by inviting
you out again.
Au revoir, mademoiselle.
Take good care of her.
Ready?
Yes, sir.
Drunken fool!
Come on, doc.
Get up!
Get up!
Never trust a woman, Vogel.
They're too unstable.
They shot Vogel.
Drag his body back to
the half-track.
You won't get far, even if you
crash through the gates.
They'll be after you!
Drag!
Good evening, commandant.
Headquarters telephoned that
you're here with the patrol.
When do you return?
I don't know.
Very good, sir.
Vogel, we're 20 Miles
from no where.
I want you to have a little talk
with your headquarters,
so I won't be bother with
this thing tonight.
Think up a speech quick and then
turn it on and say it.
And be sure and say
the right things.
This is Vogel speaking.
I'm a report in the
reconnaissance.
Clear all patrols from
the northwest areal.
I won't be in further contact.
Now get out.
No.
No.
Get out.
Vogel, I'll be that the first
time anybody's shoved you
around without you hitting back.
So why break a precedent?
Beg!
Beg me not to break you legs
before I leave you!
No.
Beg!
Please with me!
Plead with me, I tell you!
Please with me!
No!
No!
Get out of here, dog.
Cowardly.
Hello, headquarters.
Send the half-track northeast
area of 26 immediately.
Yes, that's right.
Then why didn't you investigate?
But you ordered all
patrols out, sir.
Like hell I ordered.
In that length of time, you
should have investigated!
They are ready, sir.
Bring them in.
Are you please both of you?
If either of you have any hope
of joining Mr. Davis in Angola
to share his wealth, I
must disappoint you.
You Dr. Hunter will be charged
with seriously underestimating
your patient's powers of
recuperation for criminal
reasons, thus allowing
him to escape.
What have you got to say?
Under the circumstances, a man
of normal strength, you,
for example, commandant,
would've been in bed for at
least a week.
I based my prognosis on that.
But apparently as sometimes
happens, a patient was a man
of considerable more than
normal strength.
You!
Commandant!
You!
You will be charged with
criminal treason!
Sending me into a trap with
a counterfeit map!
You won't bother toe deny it,
will you, mademoiselle?
No.
I will not deny it.
I was helping him.
And apparently not in
the way I thought.
Doctor Hunter!
Get out!
C'mon, get out!
Let him alone.
He's dead!
He's dead!
Yes.
And you killed him.
It's not true!
I'll keep the death
weapon as evidence.
Send in a guard.
No!
No!
Take her.
No!
Suzanne Renaud is under
arrest for the
murder of Dr. Hunter.
I will assign the report
to the union police.
No!
No!
In Angola it's now 2:40
in the morning!
These doors, they must close.
No more drinks!
I want a drink.
But the law says...
I want a drink.
But the law says!
It's very unfortunate
you cannot smash
a diamond at these.
May I join you?
No.
Thank you, sir.
Oh, how quickly our little
tramps tarnish up, how quickly
a conquest turns heavy and
unlovely in our arms.
Nobody ever did me any favors.
Do you remember this little
story I once told you about...
about this guide?
Well, there's another
chapter to it now.
Do you think it would
interest you?
I thought it would.
He made it.
He made into the prohibited
area and out
again, with the diamonds.
Glorious dash.
Gloriously.
Now...
now he has vanished
into think air.
Who know?
Perhaps he's here in Angola.
In fact, certain information
I have leads me
to believe he is.
Of course, he still faces
certain obstacles like finding
an unscrupulous person to
Polish the diamonds and
disposing of them.
But in all these things, if I
can only locate the man, I
could help him.
I...
I could even help him to arrange
for a shipment of the
diamonds in... in small lots
to various countries.
Which is what I would
suggest. -Go away.
Yes, he's awful sorry.
He left great disaster
in his trail.
I think I've said it before,
there's nothing but suffering
from contact with this hardest
of all matter...
glass, steel, human soul.
As for the death of poor Dr.
Hunter, well, he drank a
little too much anyway.
But I feel really sorry for
mademoiselle Renaud.
I just can't believe
she killed him.
There's no one who can
prove differently.
Oh, that a girl so beautiful
should die.
Signore!
Senors!
Mr. Davis, try and remember
now that you're a rich man.
This violence is no
longer necessary.
Tell me the truth.
I'm only reporting
an incident...
tell me the truth.
If you'll let me
get in my inside
pocket, there's a clipping.
It'll...
it'll verify everything.
Mademoiselle Suzannette de
Renaud, known also as Suzanne
Renaud, who is being held for
the murder of Dr. Francis
Kiteeridge Hunter,
a diamond stud...
where did you ever
learn how to read?
This is what is says.
It says a French tramps
try to cross off Mike
Davis then got herself...
Nobody ever did me any favors.
Nobody!
Well, I think as long as you're
determined to... to
sacrifice this great fortune
and go back to diamond stud
and help the girl, I...
I think I know a man who can
arrange for us to make this
trip, quietly.
Of course I...
I'll needs some money.
May I get you some
strong coffee?
I thought you got by on charm.
I didn't know you did homework.
I thought I felt a draft.
Close that will you, please?
Michael, I can save
considerable time, I think, by
telling you immediately that
I could never accept your
proposition.
You haven't heard my
proposition yet.
You have your diamonds.
Now you want your girl.
Why else would you
risk coming back?
I cannot do it.
It's even better than that.
An even trade, the diamonds
for the girl.
You're really in love
with her, aren't you?
After what she did?
I got her into this, and
I have to get her out.
That's all.
I never know what
to think anymore.
I'm being constantly
disillusioned.
Has money completely
lost its power?
Is everyone motivated
now by love?
The diamonds for the girl?
Really, my dear Michael,
she's not worth it.
On the streets of cape town...
stick to the point.
Yes or no?
Hm.
It appeals to me, yes.
It would make a her of me in
the eyes of the company.
It would distress Vogel.
No, Michael.
I'm afraid I cannot
buck the law.
Our directors have very definite
ideas on that matter.
Look, let me buck the law.
You stay charming.
Whenever you have the diamonds,
you wouldn't have
them here, of course.
I would be trusting you
to produce then.
One thing at a time.
I wouldn't know where to begin.
Put a piece of paper
in that typewriter,
and get Vogel here.
That would be very amusing
come in, Paul.
Well, what is it?
Uh, forgive me Paul
for getting you out
at this late hour.
But it's time we resolved this
curious situation in which we
find ourselves.
Couldn't this have waited
till the morning?
Uh, no.
I'm afraid no.
Now we are both responsible
for the loss of the
diamonds, aren't we?
So even despising each other
as we do, we're obliged to
protect each other to
protect ourselves.
Is that so?
I've protected myself this time.
Would you sign this, please?
What is it?
I'll read it for you.
Mademoiselle Suzanne Renaud
known by whatever aliases et
cetera, et cetera.
Mademoiselle Suzanne Renaud is
innocent of the murder of Dr.
Francis Kiteeridge Hunter.
She will be released
immediately.
Signed, Paul Vogel, commandant,
witnessed Fred
Martingale.
Only our signatures are missing.
And this is intended as
some sort of joke?
The humor escapes me.
Let me explain it to you.
Davis and Martingale.
I see.
Personally, I decided
to the relax.
Your can see that our friend
is somewhat overwrought.
He was here when you phoned me.
Well, forgive my lack of
courage, but there was a gun
at my head.
Sign that paper, Vogel.
Martingale, you witness it.
Speaking for myself,
I have an enormous
antipathy to dying.
Sign it.
What if we sign?
We take our chances on getting
out and you take your
chances I send you the diamonds.
You'll give us our pass,
of course.
I won't.
She'll hang.
Sign it.
I'll sign.
But you won't get far.
I swear it.
Whenever you go, I'll
be waiting for you.
For you and the girl.
You'll be waiting for us wherever?
It says there above your
signature that mademoiselle
Renaud did not kill Dr. Hunter.
Then who did, Vogel?
Who did?
Who else but you was in the
room when he was killed?
You've just signed a confession
of murder.
I could prove before any court
that I signed this with
a gun at my throat.
Not if you died now.
Martingale is a witness.
I wonder if he's care
to testify for you.
Breathe, Vogel.
No grave would have you.
Cigar, Paul?
Mike?
I'm so sorry, Paul.
You gave me the gun too late.
You double tongued swine.
Oh, by the way Paul,
there's something
I neglected to tell you.
Something I think you
might like to know.
The report that deprived you
of a district of your own.
Someone else must have sent it.
I didn't.
Do you hear me, Paul?
Oh.
You though I'd be killed.
I had faith that his first shot
would be a little wild.
Call your police.
Go ahead.
Well, now.
Let me see.
Gentleman of the jury, I
cornered the late commandant
Vogel into admitting the
murder of Dr. Hunter.
He signed a confession.
Then, it requested the courtesy
of a gun and a few
moments alone with it.
For a gentleman, I
could do no less.
I gave him the gun.
Then unexpectedly, he attempted
to seize the
confession and escape.
Fortunately, I had provided
myself with another gun.
I'd always suspected he wasn't
a gentleman actually.
Why?
I don't know, really.
Except that perhaps
I'm a little more
sentimental than I thought.
Ah.
Oh, very well then.
Vogel and I have been forced
to trust each other.
That was no good.
Suppose he killed me.
I took that gamble.
With my life?
You know, in his way he was
quite a remarkable fellow.
Nasty, but remarkable.
Mr. Martingale told me
the original plan
was to run away together.
The plans have been changed.
Yes, but you were willing to.
I got you into something.
I got you out of it.
That ends it.
Does it?
Does it really, Mike?
After what you did?
Hello there.
I forgot your going
away present.
No thanks.
They're some of yours.
Keep them for luck.
Toady.
Mike, don't you love me?
If you ever tried to get away
from me, I'd follow you till I
wore the earth smooth.
Is that what you to want hear?
Yes, darling.
That's what I want to hear.
Goodbye!
Good hunting.
Amazing thing a diamond.
Carbon soot chemically speaking.
Yet hardest of all matter.
So hard in fact that whatever
it touches must suffer.
Glass, steel, the human soul.
Except of course under...
under unusual circumstances
and... and in the right hands.
Yes.
Amazing thing.