Snowbound (1948) Movie Script
(GENTLE MUSIC)
(CHATTERING)
Neil Blair, 42.
Neil Blair. 42, right?
(CHATTERING)
Morning, men!
Stage five in 10 minutes!
(MEN CLAMOURING)
Come on, everyone.
(MEN LAUGHING)
(HAMMERS BANGING)
Quiet. Come on, quiet.
Settle down.
Quiet!
Hold that hammering, boys, please.
Now, will you all pay attention
to the director?
Now then.
I want you all to listen
very, very carefully
to what I'm going to say.
The scene we're about to shoot
takes place
in a cafe owned by the mayor
of a little village in Austria.
The mayor is a pompous, political type,
and he's just made a speech
in which he's insulted
the honour of the regiment.
The regiment, gentlemen,
that you are supposed to represent.
Well now, as a sort of retaliation,
you force your way into his cafe
and smash the place up.
Now is that clear?
ALL: Yes.
Good, and when I say smash,
I mean smash.
Now I don't want to
take this scene twice,
and if you do it properly
the first time,
well, there won't be anything left
to take it with again, will there?
But one thing I must impress upon you,
this has got to be tough.
And when I say tough, I mean tough.
Now, look,
I want six of you chaps
as section leaders
just to start the bull ring.
I'll take you and...
..yes, you'll do, and...
..here, you,
come over here a minute.
Well, if it isn't young Blair.
How are you?
I'm all right, sir.
Good to see you again.
Tell me, are you doing this
for a living?
Yes.
Look, I want to talk to you.
You go down to my office.
I know, but I've just signed on...
No matter what you signed.
Ron?
Sir?
Show Mr Blair down to my office.
Yes, sir.
Yes, and change out of
that ruddy awful uniform.
All right.
Come this way, if you will.
Right, we'll take four more of you,
and then we'll have a crack.
(HAMMERS BANGING)
Right!
Come on, stations, please.
I was just wondering...
Good to see you again.
When did you get out?
Five months ago.
Have you spent your gratuity?
Yes.
Help yourself to a drink.
Thank you.
Have you been doing any writing?
A little.
Sold anything?
No.
Tell me,
would you care for a job?
It all depends. As what?
Scriptwriter.
Three months' contract
starting tomorrow.
You'll work at a place called Valcroce,
in the Dolomites.
30 quid a week, and all your expenses.
Well, do you want or not?
What makes you think I can
write a script?
I don't.
Then why...
Well, you're not supposed
to be writing one.
You see, what you're
really doing is holding
a sort of watching brief for me
and keeping an eye on certain people.
I'd go myself, only I've got
to finish this epic first.
What makes you think
I'm the man for the job?
Nobody else.
Oh, I see.
I know I can trust you, and that helps.
You're supposed to be a writer,
so that gives me an excuse
for sending you.
The rest, it's in the lap of the Gods.
Well, if you'll risk it, I will.
Fine.
What's the drill?
Now, look, you'll go to this place,
Valcroce, and snoop around.
You'll live in a little ski hut
up in the mountains,
and I want you to watch everyone
who comes there carefully.
And keep me posted about
everything that goes on.
Everything.
And, uh, look out for her.
She used to call herself Carla Rometta,
but I should think
she's changed that by now.
All right. What else?
Nothing else.
Blimey. It is that all I get
to go on?
Yes. The less you know about this,
the better.
You see, I'm following a lead
I picked up
when I was in intelligence in Italy.
Maybe there's something in it,
maybe not,
but I'm going to find out.
At least,
you're going to find out for me.
All right. When do I start?
Tomorrow morning.
My secretary will give you all the dope
about a plane and everything.
And I'm sending a cameraman with you,
a chap called Wesson.
What on earth for?
Oh, local colour.
He can take a few exteriors
while he's there.
And in case anyone doubts our story.
Does he know about...
No, no, as far as he's concerned,
you really are a scriptwriter,
and there's really going to be a film.
Well, good luck, old chap.
(LIGHT THOUGHTFUL MUSIC)
Oh yes, there's one other little thing.
This chap, Wesson,
he's bound to try and talk you
into staying
at the hotel down below
instead of at the hut.
If he does, the answer's no.
(BRIGHT PLEASANT MUSIC)
I'm sorry, old boy,
but the answer is no.
Well, I don't get it.
What possible difference
can it make to your script
if we stay here in comfort in the hotel
instead of living in a blinking hut
halfway up a perishing Alp?
Cognac? Due cognac.
Well, I imagine that Engles thinks
we can get better stuff up at the hut.
Oh, all well for you, of course.
You can sit around the fire
all day long
and kid yourself you're working.
I'm the one that's got to go
prancing about in the snow
like a ruddy mountain goat.
(NEIL CHUCKLES)
What's the film about anyway?
Where's the script?
I'm supposed to be going
to write the script.
Well, what's the storyline?
Isn't one yet.
Well, Engles must be up the pole.
You known him long?
Yeah, he used to be my CO.
Didn't get shell shock
or anything like that, did he?
Not that I know of.
He left us to go into intelligence.
He was perfectly all right then.
Intelligence, eh?
Yes, I knew a fellow in that lark once.
Thought everybody was a spy.
Spent thousands of pounds
having perfectly innocent
people watched.
Scusate signor.
Scusate.
All is arranged.
The rooms at the rifugio,
they are booked,
and the bus, she leave in five minutes.
Couldn't be more pleased.
If the signori wish to stay here,
I can arrange.
Yes?
No.
The signori can sleep here
and go to the call every day.
It's very healthy at the rifugio,
but it's not like hotel.
It's badly managed, too.
Well, doesn't the hut
belong to the hotel?
No, no, we arrange the bookings.
That is all.
It's not comfortable there,
and that Aldo, he's no good.
Dirty, lazy. And his wife.
(GROANING)
Very soon, two, three days,
I sack them both.
But I thought you told me
that it didn't belong to you.
Not yet, but in two days' time,
there will be an auction
here in this very room.
I will buy it then for 250,000 lire.
Nice, straight auction, huh?
Oh, a formality, signore.
We arrange things well
here in Valcroce.
There will be one bid only, mine.
You will see, it is all arranged.
Well, why have an auction?
Well, that is the government.
The government sell it,
but they do not know in Roma
how it is here in Valcroce.
Oh, I see. You have a nice
government, too. (CHUCKLES)
Well, how comes the government
to own a skiing hut?
Last week, they arrested the man who
buy it at the end of the war.
We think he's Italian,
but now we find it is Stelben,
a German Gestapo man who hide there.
He's a dirty dog.
Yeah, well, I might come down
and have a look at that auction.
Good! You come, and after,
we have celebration, huh?
When you have seen a Valcroce auction,
mm, you have seen something,
I tell you.
First class pickle, that.
Scusate signori, scusate.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Grazie, grazie, grazie.
What's he saying?
Oh, he say the bus, she is here.
Well, I hope you will be very
comfortable at the rifugio,
but I know you will not. (CHUCKLES)
Uh-uh, I say.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Another formality.
(MANCINI CHUCKLES)
Arrivederci, signore.
Arrivederci.
(BRIGHT MUSIC)
(LIVELY MUSIC)
(PEOPLE CLAMOURING)
(GIRLS LAUGHING)
Come on then, get a move on.
What do you mean?
We're getting out as fast as we can.
About time.
Here we are.
Hm. Might be worse.
Not much.
Um, anybody at home?
(BELL DINGS) Shop!
Come on, come on.
We have booked two rooms.
Mr Blair and Mr Wesson.
(CHUCKLING) That went well.
(HAND THUMPS)
Even the darn bell doesn't work.
Now it doesn't.
Signori?
Oh. Good morning.
We are from the Albergo Mancini,
and we have booked two rooms.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
What?
But Mr Mancini said
that the rooms are booked.
No rooms, no rooms.
Now look here,
you bald-headed old bath bun,
don't think that we want to stay
at your little old log cabin,
but we have booked two rooms!
No rooms, no rooms, no rooms.
Oh God, don't take any notice.
Come up with me.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(ARGUING IN ITALIAN)
Let's have this one.
No, no.
No, no, no.
Oh (SPEAKING ITALIAN).
All right, what's in this one?
Oh! Sorry.
I'm so sorry.
You are looking for me?
No, we are looking for a room.
Ah.
We have booked,
but he says there are no rooms.
My name is Valdini.
How do you do?
Stefano Valdini.
Hi.
This man, Aldo, is a fool.
Un momento.
(BOTH SPEAKING ITALIAN)
He's lazy, that's all.
The fewer people, the fewer work.
He thinks you are right now.
Thank you so much.
It is a pleasure.
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
Over the other side.
Aldo will show you.
Thank you.
Thank you to you.
Bene.
Oh, bene, bene. Molto bene to you.
You've got this one, Neil.
All right.
I'm next door.
What?
I'm next door.
Oh, good.
Bring the bags up, will you?
Huh?
Bags. Bagaglio.
Ah, bagagli.
Bagaglio. Three bags.
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
(REPEATS) That's it, yeah.
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
Bring them up, will you?
(ALDO EXCLAIMS)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Emilia! Emilia!
Emilia!
Hey! Hey!
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(LIVELY MUSIC)
You speak English?
Yeah.
Well, don't waste your time
banging that thing.
Aldo?
Aldo!
Aldo!
It's like that, is it?
Seems like it.
Been here long?
About half an hour.
Half an hour too long.
And if Aldo thinks
I'm going to wait for him
every time I want a drink, he's had it.
Grappa. I'll try anything once.
Ah.
(CONVERSING IN ITALIAN)
No rooms?
No rooms.
Have you booked?
Yes.
Well, go on up. There's an
empty one at the end, I looked.
Huh?
Yeah, he tried that with us, too.
That's curious.
Huh?
He's lazy, that's all.
Huh?
Oh, don't keep saying, "Huh?"
Look here, my fine, Italian friend.
If you expect me to pay for
this red biddy,
go and get me a slate
so I can chalk it up.
I'm not waiting for you every time
I get thirsty, see?
(CHUCKLING) Thanks for the tip.
Be seeing you later.
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
(ALDO EXCLAIMS IN ITALIAN)
Emilia!
Emilia!
Well, would you like to stroll around,
see what the place looks like?
I know what the place looks like.
Cold as charity and miserable
as sin. You have a stroll.
I have some unfinished business here.
All right.
(LIVELY ACCORDION MUSIC)
(VALDINI SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Joe. Joe, come over here, will you?
Joe, you see that girl
sitting over there talking
to the little Italian from upstairs?
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Is that the same girl, do you think?
Hm, could be.
A bit over-exposed,
where did you get this?
Oh, that's a picture
of an Italian actress
I met outside Naples just before Ancia.
Huh.
But the point is, Joe,
is that the same woman?
Well, why don't you go and ask her?
Yes, I think I will.
I say, if you get a knife
stuck in your back,
don't ask me to come and
pull it out, will you?
Excuse me, and good morning.
Do you remember me, signorina?
I don't think so.
Well, I was in Italy
with the British army.
Excuse me if I'm being rude,
but I meet so many people.
Why don't you sit down
and tell me all about it?
Thank you, I will.
Now, where was it that we met?
In Naples. Your name is
Carla Rometta, isn't it?
(LAUGHING) I'm afraid
you're mistaken, my friend.
Allow me to make introduction.
This is Comtessa Forelli, Mr...
Blair.
Oh, Mr Blair!
I'm sorry to disappoint you, Mr Blair.
Yes, but this is your photograph,
isn't it?
Where did you get this?
No, you can see for yourself,
this is not me.
Although there is a certain likeness.
(LAUGHING) Very strange.
Yes, it's a remarkable likeness.
Well, please excuse me.
Oh, don't go, Mr Blair.
Stefano, order a drink for Mr Blair.
No, no, no, I've been quite
rude enough for one day.
Please forgive me.
You are forgiven.
We must meet again.
Stefan tells me you are here to
prepare a picture with your friend.
You must tell me all about it.
I'm always very interested in films.
(LOW MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
Well, was it her?
I think so, but I don't think
she wanted to admit it.
You wouldn't hardly blame her, can
you, with that little guy in tow?
Take my advice, you'll lay off,
unless you're looking for trouble.
Perhaps I am.
Oh? Well, count me out of it.
Help yourself to a drink, give me one.
That's the only trouble I want.
Grazie.
Oh, bene.
Tea? Oh no, you've got a drink.
Oh dear,
do you ever call this muck tea?
What's it look like?
No, don't tell me.
You ought to know better than to
order tea in a place like this.
Oh, I think something's
crawled in there and died.
What do you suppose that is?
That's the tea, signore.
You permit?
Oh yeah.
I hear you and your partner
make a big film up here.
That should be most interesting.
Cigarette?
Thank you.
Cigarette?
No, I have a pipe.
Oh, you smoke the pipe.
But it's so much more comfortable
down in the hotel. I do not
understand why you should live
in a place like this.
Why do you?
You see, I must live high up
for my health.
Oh, too bad.
Oh no, it feels much better now.
Thank you, my friend. Thank you!
Mind if I join you?
No, come in.
I should have introduced myself before.
I'm Gilbert Mayne.
Joe Wesson. Neil Blair.
Hi, I'm Valdini.
Ah yes. You're here for your health,
I understand.
That is so. Why do you ask?
Well, I was wondering
if this was the ideal spot
for your... complaint.
I think I do not understand.
No, I think you do,
but it doesn't matter.
(TELEPHONE RINGS)
Ah, that will be my call.
And you, signore?
You're here for your health also?
That's right.
Quite a coincidence, isn't it?
Two of us here for the same reason.
Yes.
Yes, she's here, all right.
She calls herself the Comtessa Forelli.
Forelli.
No, F-O-R-E-L-L-I.
Yes, that sounds like her.
Who is the chap with her?
Well, go on.
An auction? When?
Well now, look,
you get down there
and keep your eyes open.
I want to know exactly what happens.
Right.
Cheerio, old boy.
All right?
Yeah.
(MACHINE RUMBLES)
Somebody coming up.
Sounds like it.
It's a bit late for new visitors,
isn't it?
It must be the new guest
Aldo is expecting.
He told me of him today.
He's a Greek called Keramikos.
He also has come here for
his health, Mr Mayne.
(MAYNE CHUCKLES)
Good evening, gentlemen.
(LOW MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Hello, Joe. Doing all right?
What do you think you're doing?
I'm going down to the auction.
Oh? What about the script?
Well, that can wait till later.
Engles won't care for that.
Don't you be so sure. I may get a
very good scene out of that auction.
I suppose it is the auction
you're going to?
What do you mean?
Not an assignation with the Comtessa?
Pop that under my arm, will you?
Sure.
Thank you.
Sure you haven't forgotten anything?
Quite sure.
Ah, you have.
What?
Dancing shoes.
Oh yes.
I say, if I'm not back for tea time,
send out a couple of St Bernard dogs
to look for me.
And don't forget those
little barrels of brandy
they hang round their necks.
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(CROWD EXCLAIMING)
Magnificent. Beautiful,
huh?
Hmm.
What's he getting so excited about?
Oh, he tell the story of how
the notorious Heinrich Stelben
was arrested in the rifugio last week.
Stelben? Not the Stelben?
But yes.
He was arrested at that very place.
Ah, he begins to end it.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
I will bid 250,000 lire,
the government's reserved price.
A mere formality, you will see.
(AUCTIONEER SPEAKING ITALIAN)
250,000.
250,000 per signor.
300,000 lire.
400,000
500,000.
AUCTIONEER: 500,000!
1,000,000.
2,000,000.
E mezzo!
AUCTIONEER: 2,500,000.
3,000,000!
E mezzo!
AUCTIONEER: 3,500,000.
4,000,000! (COUGHING)
(AUCTIONEER SPEAKING ITALIAN)
E mezzo!
4,500,000 per signore?
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(GAVEL BANGS)
(GAVEL BANGS)
(GAVEL BANGS)
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
4,500,000 lira for a hut.
It's insane.
There is something behind this,
my friend.
Signor Mancini?
Si.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Dio Mio! (SPEAKING ITALIAN)
It was for Comtessa Forelli
that Valdini was bidding.
The Comtessa?
Well, who bought it?
A lawyer from Milano
bidding for no one knows who.
It doesn't make sense.
There is something behind this.
Mark my words.
Come with me.
(LOW SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(CHATTERING)
Morning, Mr Blair.
Oh, hello. Good morning.
Morning. Going back to the hut?
Yeah.
Bus doesn't leave
for nearly half an hour.
Would you have some coffee with me?
Out on the terrace.
All right. Thank you.
You just come down on the run?
Yes, my exercise for the day, and
I fell only once. Good, isn't it?
You've just missed the fun.
They've been selling our hut.
Due caffe.
Subito, signor.
Somebody bought it for 4,500,000 lira.
4,500,000?
Yeah.
(CHUCKLING) Who bought it?
Nobody seems to know. Cigarette?
Thank you.
A lawyer from Milan did the bidding.
It's all a bit odd, don't you think?
Well, I don't know.
Nothing is really odd
if you know the reason behind it.
For instance, yourself.
What about me?
Well, some people
might think it's strange
that you live in a place like the hut.
Yes, but I'm...
I know you are writing a film story,
but you could be
so much more comfortable down here
and do the same thing.
I'm not the only person
living up at the hut.
Of course not, of course not.
Oh, there's your friend, Wesson.
Takes his pictures and is happy.
What about Valdini?
Why does he live there?
Wouldn't you say he was more at home
at a nightclub than a skiing hut?
Yes, certainly.
And then Mayne.
Where does he fit in?
And then yourself.
Where do you fit in?
Me? I like the solitude, Mr Blair.
And it pains me a little
to see that I haven't got it.
Shall I tell you something else?
Yes, please do.
I know that you're not really
writing a film story.
Well, if I haven't written much yet,
it's only because
I'm absorbing the background.
Ah, the background,
A very good explanation, Mr Blair.
A writer can always explain
anything he does, however strange,
by saying that he is absorbing
the background for his characters.
And yet it seems to me
that you are more interested
in what happens around you
than you are in your story.
Is that not so?
To an extent, yes.
I'm certainly interested in you.
You flatter me, Mr Blair.
You knew Mayne before you met him
last night, didn't you?
You noticed that?
Mm-hmm.
You're very observant.
I wonder why.
What else do you know about Mr Mayne?
Absolutely nothing.
Let me help you.
He was useful to me in Greece.
It was after he had deserted
from the British army.
He was the leader of
a deserted gang in Naples
until your military police
cleared them up.
Then he came to me through Athens,
and...
...I think you should go now,
Mr Blair.
You'll miss your bus.
Oh yes. I mustn't do that.
Thank you for a most interesting chat.
Well, what did Mayne do for you
in Greece?
I think that'll keep till another time.
All right. Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Oh, would you mind telling Aldo
that I shan't be back for dinner?
Yes, certainly. Bye.
Bye.
(BRIGHT MUSIC)
(WOMAN ARGUING FAINTLY)
(SLAPPING)
Carla.
(DOOR SLAMS)
Carla. (SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Carla.
Hello there!
(CHATTERING)
Oh. Hello!
Are you working?
Trying to.
You are very easily distracted.
Well, only when I have good reason.
Oh. Me?
Then I must go, or there will be
no picture. Uh-uh,
just a minute.
Where are you going?
Back to the hotel.
Then I'll come with you.
But your work?
Never mind about that.
I'll be down in just one minute.
It's very nice of you to come with me,
but what about your work?
Now, don't let's worry about that.
Of course we must worry.
Listen, you come halfway only,
and then you'll be back in an hour.
All right.
(SWEEPING MUSIC)
Have you hurt yourself?
Oh, no no. No, that's just my way
of stopping next to you.
It's very convenient.
It happened at the right moment.
I can usually guarantee
to do that, all right.
Oh, but you must turn
the right way and stop on a turn.
No, no, don't tell me, I saw.
But it's so easy. Look.
Just swing and let your edges greet,
and there you are.
There you are, you mean. Not me.
(LAUGHING)
Oh. (GRUNTS)
(LAUGHING)
I might get that turn better one day.
(NEIL SIGHS)
Like a smoke?
Please.
We shall become great friend,
you and I, yes?
Mm-hmm.
I shall call you Neil.
It's such a nice name.
And I shall call you Carla.
Why do you call me Carla?
Well, that is your name, isn't it?
No.
It was once.
I recognised you immediately
in that photograph.
Did I sign it?
Mm-hmm.
Who for?
Don't you remember?
Please tell me.
It read on the back "To Heinrich."
Oh.
Heinrich Von Stelben.
Von Stelben, wasn't it?
Yes.
Such a long time ago.
I had almost forgotten.
You wanted to forget it.
What's the good of torturing oneself
with memories?
It's so easy for you English.
You live on your island
until there's a war,
come to the continent and fight,
and then you go back to your island.
But here, things are different.
There's always intrigue,
suspicion, and fear.
One does things
one does not want to do.
I understand.
No, you don't understand.
You are intrigued.
You are fascinated,
but you don't understand.
I am an adventure for you,
something beyond the normal routine
of your life.
You don't see that
I'm like any other girls,
unless sometimes life has been...
..too difficult.
Carla.
Why are you so serious?
Hmm? Look at the sun,
the trees, and the snow.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Why don't you smile, my friend?
Tonight, we shall dance.
We shall dance all night.
And then...
Carla, this isn't the real you.
Do you know what is the real me?
Do you?
No, I don't.
I wish I knew, but I don't.
(SWEEPING DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(LOW PENSIVE MUSIC)
Why, Neil!
Neil!
Neil!
(NEIL LAUGHING)
What's so funny?
You ought to be up here.
All right, I'll come down.
I should think so, I'm frozen.
Hurry up.
(EQUIPMENT THUDS)
(LOW SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
You give me that camera and take these.
I found a cubby hutch
for myself down here.
A sort of dark room, eh?
Sort of is right.
Still, it's warm and near the bar.
Be back in a moment.
What wouldn't I give to be a writer.
Got a cure for frostbite?
You might try whiskey.
Yes, see, would I...
..if we had any.
This Italian hooch
is no good for my liver.
Don't let that stop you.
I won't.
Skin off your nose.
How's the script coming on?
Just sorting out the characters.
How did you get on?
Get any pictures?
What do you think I was doing out there
in the snow all the afternoon?
Yes, lovely stuff. Ski shots.
Down at the bottom of the first
slope there, there's a sharp turn.
I got 'em coming right up into camera.
If you'd seen...
You listening?
Yes, yes, I am.
What did you say?
Nothing.
I myself was with the underground.
You?
Yes. In Roma.
We fight the Germans all night.
The next day, the Americans arrived.
I don't like the Germans.
They are beastly people.
You speak as if the underground
were of assistance
to the British and Americans.
Peasants, that's all they were.
Peasants worth no more
than a platoon of infantry.
What happened in the towns?
Not until it was all over, and
the Germans were in full retreat,
did they come out
with their red arm bands.
Now, that's your underground.
(PIANO RESONATING)
You knew them well, I suppose?
Yes, I knew them.
(SOFT PIANO MUSIC)
Were you in the army?
For my sins.
Italy?
Yeah.
What were you in?
I was in the 201 light ack-ack.
They were in the Abruzzi.
I remember them quite well.
Especially Tommy Cross,
one of their battery commanders.
Grand fellow, do you remember him?
Tommy Cross?
Yeah. Big chap.
Light blue eyes,
large ginger moustache.
Oh yes. He was good.
Grazie, gentlemen.
(CHAIR THUDS)
Blast you, Wesson!
Why, what's the matter?
You might have warned us
you were going to do that.
Oh, no.
Much better to take you by surprise.
I like my pictures natural.
You two go on drinking.
Don't take any notice of me.
Suppose I don't want my picture taken.
You don't really mind, do you?
As it happens, I do.
A superstition, perhaps.
Yes, a superstition, and one
I think you share, Mr Keramikos.
Oh, this is a mad house.
Give me a drink, somebody.
I have surprised Mr Wesson
that people are superstitious.
Have you ever tried to
photograph native peoples?
I was a news photographer once.
Well, then you'll know
that some native peoples
do not like their pictures taken.
Why?
Because they are afraid.
Afraid of what they don't understand.
A little black box
which takes away their face
for strangers to gaze at.
Perhaps it's the same
with our friend here.
He doesn't want his face exposed
for strangers to see.
(LOW MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
(MEN SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(MATCH STRIKES)
I've been waiting for you, Mr Blair.
Why?
Are you surprised to see me?
That's not very clever.
The print of your feet in the snow
outside the door was still wet.
Had to be either you or Valdini.
Valdini's room is next to mine,
and he snores like a pig.
Your door was open. Very careless.
Do you mind pouring me another drink?
It's been very cold waiting for you.
(GLASS CLINKS)
Thank you.
Your health, my friend.
Where's the other fellow?
The other fellow?
Oh, the other fellow.
You didn't see him, did you?
No.
He's, uh, he's gone.
I've waited for you
because there are some
questions I want to ask you.
Quite a few I'd like to ask you, too.
I have no doubt about that.
Tell me, do you speak German?
Yes. Enough.
So you heard what I said
just before I closed the door?
You said it is necessary
to get rid of Valdini
and his Countess.
Then, you said to the other fellow,
"You're good at that sort of thing."
Uh-huh.
Well, what's the game, Keramikos?
Mr Blair,
I have something to say to you,
and you'd do well to remember it.
This is not your law-abiding,
neat, little island of England.
This is Europe.
Europe after seven years of war,
where people starve
and hate and go on fighting.
It's a jungle.
Here it is no good
to meddle into matters
which do not concern you.
Murder is a matter
that concerns everybody.
Murder.
You didn't hear the whole
of the conversation, only a scrap.
Hold onto that, Mr Blair,
and go to bed.
Tomorrow,
tomorrow, you'll concentrate
on your film story.
How can I concentrate in this place?
Everyone here is here
for a particular reason.
I want to know what that reason is.
It is none of your business.
You're young, you've got
your life in front of you.
I hope.
Cultivate a little...
A little less curiosity.
Is that a threat?
Take it as you wish, Mr Blair.
Good night.
(TENSE FOREBODING MUSIC)
Night.
(GUESTS CHATTERING)
Morning, Blair.
Oh, hello.
Lovely day, isn't it?
Yeah, lovely.
How about going for a run?
Well, I'm here to work, you know.
Well, you can't work all the time.
Yeah, that's true enough, but I'm
afraid not much good on skis anyway.
I can't believe that.
Well, that's a fact.
Well, how about the Corvo Alto run?
It's not very difficult.
All right.
Fine, we'll start right away
after breakfast.
Yeah.
Good.
(GRAND ADVENTUROUS MUSIC)
(GENTLE MUSIC)
Whew.
When do we start going down?
Just as soon as you've eaten these.
About time, too.
Just look at it.
It's even grander
than the view from the hut.
Not bad, is it?
You see three countries from here.
Three?
Well, counting this one.
The Swiss border's
a mile or two over there, and
France is just over that peak.
I had no idea we were
so near the border. Hm.
Mayne.
Yeah?
Tommy Cross was small and clean-shaven.
So what?
Last night, you agreed
that he was a big fellow
with a ginger moustache.
(CHUCKLING) You're quite a
little detective, aren't you?
That first night, when Keramikos
arrived, you recognised him,
didn't you?
Go on.
And I believe you already knew
Valdini and the Countess.
You're observant,
I'll say that for you.
Thank you.
Now, I've been very open with you.
Will you tell me something?
What?
You and all the others are here
searching for something, aren't you?
Now, what is it?
Better eat these up.
We'll discuss that later.
All right.
(SNICKERING) That reminds me,
a friend of mine once went to a cinema,
and when he got inside,
he found himself sitting
behind a very large man in a fur coat.
When his eyes got accustomed
to the darkness,
he realised he wasn't a man at all,
it was a large bear.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN) Bear?
Bear.
Well, he said to the man
sitting next to the bear, he said,
"Excuse me, is that bear with you?"
The man said yes.
So he said,
"Well, do you mind taking him out?"
The man said, "Take him out?
We've paid for his seat,
he's enjoying himself,
and behaving himself, why should I?"
So at the end of the performance,
my friend said to the man,
"I hope you didn't think
I was very rude asking you
to take the bear out."
Man said, "No, it's all right."
My friend said,
"All I would like to ask you is,
why bring a bear to a cinema?"
And the man said,
"Well, matter of fact,
I thought I had to bring him.
He was very keen to see this film.
You see,
he enjoyed the book so much."
(LAUGHING)
(BRIGHT MUSIC)
Can you take it a bit faster?
We're getting late.
I had no idea it was such a long run.
It's absolutely
straightforward from now on,
no difficult turns.
Just a straight run
down through the woods.
All right. Let's get going.
Keep close behind me, won't you?
I don't want you to lose your way.
All right.
(GRAND ADVENTUROUS MUSIC)
(LIGHT TENSE MUSIC)
(GENTLE MUSIC)
Is this seat taken?
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
(CHUCKLES) Parlez-vous francais?
Francese, no.
No?
Never mind. I speak.
I speak slow.
You
and me.
Telefono.
Telephone?
Telephone for me? For me?
Telefono! Telefono! Telefono!
Yeah. For me?
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
Oh, telephone for me.
I go.
I go telephone.
You stay. You wait.
Si, si. I come back quick.
I come back.
I telephone.
(ARGUING IN ITALIAN)
Hello. Wesson?
Has Blair turned up at the hut yet?
No, I don't know.
No, he's not here.
Well, I thought he was behind me,
but you know how it is
when you get in the run.
No.
No, I've been back about halfway
looking for him.
You've been halfway looking for him?
What do you mean?
What's happened?
Been an accident or something?
What?
He's lost?
Well, of course I realise it's serious,
but what's to be done?
A rescue party?
What's happened, Mr Wesson?
Who is lost?
Blair is lost out there in the snow.
Who is that on the telephone?
Mayne. He says he went back
to look for him.
Let me speak to him. Quick.
Gilbert.
Yes, yes, this is Carla.
What's happened?
What have you done with that boy?
Now listen, Carla,
you keep out of this.
It was an accident, I tell you.
What?
Now leave Wesson
to organise the search party.
Hm? Necessary?
Of course it was. He knew too much.
Now keep out of it, do you hear?
And don't contact Mancini.
Leave it to Wesson, I tell you.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
(CRADLE CLICKING)
Hello?
Hello!
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
What's happening?
Mancini is sending a search party.
They'll go straight up
from Albergo Mancini.
Don't worry. They'll find him.
They are used to those things.
Thank you.
(DEEP FOREBODING MUSIC)
(BELL CLANGING)
(TENSE DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(PENSIVE MUSIC)
(DEEP PLODDING MUSIC)
(GENTLE MUSIC)
That's nonsense, Carla.
I tell you, he was coming along
very well,
and I wasn't at all worried about him.
It was getting on for dusk,
but the going was dead easy.
He was there all at the time.
Then I looked around,
and he wasn't behind me anymore.
So you burst into tears
and hunt for him everywhere, huh?
Well, what's all the fuss about?
He's safe in his bed, isn't he?
No thanks to you.
(CHUCKLING) I think our little Carla
is falling in love with the boy.
Eh, Valdini?
She plays with him. That's all.
Just as she played with you, hm?
What do you mean?
Last month, I was in Venice.
But I thought...
You thought I was in Rome, Carla.
No, I was in Venice.
Watch out, Mr Gilbert Mayne.
I'm a man of business, see?
I don't like double cross.
As we have seen today,
accidents can happen.
It's very secluded here.
Sit down here, Neil.
Neil, I'm so glad you're all right.
Thank you.
Me too.
You got me rattled for a while.
What exactly happened?
Don't you remember?
You tried to kill me, that's all.
(LAUGHING) I don't understand.
I say, Neil...
Keep out of this, Joe.
You knew perfectly well
that I couldn't stop in that time.
You meant me to break my neck.
I'm sorry to disappoint you.
I haven't the foggiest idea what
you're talking about. Haven't you?
Then I make myself very clear.
Today, for some reason
best known to yourself,
you tried to murder me.
And I don't like that at all.
Now, look here!
No, no, no, no.
Boys, boys, break it up.
Break it up.
My friend,
you should be careful what you say.
Neil, come and have your drink with me.
All right.
Was it true what you said just now
to Gilbert?
Why do you ask?
Yes, why do I ask?
You know him pretty well, don't you?
Why are you up here so late tonight?
I wanted to make sure
that you were all right.
Thank you. Very nice of you.
Neil, come down to the hotel with me.
Now? Tonight?
Yes.
You should see a doctor.
Well, I'm all right.
No, no, you're not at all all right.
Your nerves are, oh, how do you say it?
Overstrained.
I'm perfectly all right.
I promise you.
Please, Neil.
It's so much better.
So much better.
(DOOR BANGS)
(WIND HOWLING)
Well, now. Blimey all righty,
look who's here.
Hello, Joe. How's it going?
All right.
Oh gosh, I'm glad to see you.
Yes, good to see you, too.
Goodbye, Neil.
You're not going?
Yes, it's getting late.
Oh, let me introduce you.
This is Mr Engles.
The Comtessa Forelli.
How do you do?
How do you do?
Did you say Comtessa?
Why not?
After all,
Comtessas are two a penny nowadays.
Yes, I expect they are.
And sometimes three.
And this is Mr Keramikos.
Keramikos?
That is right.
That sounds like
a very good, old Greek name.
And this is Mr Gilbert Mayne.
How are you?
How do you do?
He tried to kill me this afternoon.
Oh, cut it out.
Well, you couldn't have been
trying very hard, could you?
He didn't try hard enough.
At least I can still laugh.
And I, signore, am Valdini.
Stefano Valdini.
Oh, and who do you belong to?
I'm Comtessa Forelli's man of affairs.
Ah, and that
must keep you pretty busy.
Stefano.
Run along, little man. Run along.
Grazie.
You know, gentlemen,
there's a time in a man's life
when he usually wants to do
something big.
Something daring. Dangerous, even.
And this is one of those times,
and I now propose to do it.
So with your permission,
I'd like to buy you all a little drink.
(WESSON LAUGHING)
Where do you keep
the barman around here, Joe?
We don't. I sacked him long ago.
Just grab what you want,
and chalk it up.
Or don't.
All right, well grab this one on me.
Is that what you want?
Yes, thank you.
That and the cable car.
Well?
(SPEAKS ITALIAN) They will not come.
What?
The tempest.
They fear for the cable.
That means you're stuck here
for the night.
Oh no. I'll go down on ski.
Not tonight, you won't.
You'll never manage it.
But I can't stay here.
Oh yes, we'll fit you in somehow.
I think they have survived...
Mr Mayne, I think, was going to suggest
he move in with Mr Valdini,
but there is no need for that.
I shall be delighted
for Aldo to fix me up
with a mattress
down here near the stove.
No, no, I'll sleep down here.
No, no, I prefer it this way.
But I'm the younger man.
Now, now, gentlemen, I hate to see
all this chivalry wasted.
The Comtessa shall have my room,
and then the sheets will be clean,
won't they?
And the mattress can go
on the floor in Blair's room.
Thank you, you're very kind.
Not at all.
We've got a lot to discuss anyway.
And, actually,
I'm not very fond of sleeping alone.
I mean, that is, in a strange house.
(SNOW AND WIND BLUSTERING)
(GENTLE PIANO MUSIC)
(COMTESSA SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
What did he say?
Something has happened to the cable.
Can't do a thing about the lights.
How long is this going on for?
Maybe hours, maybe days.
Another day like this.
Are you afraid?
Afraid?
Yes.
You're afraid of something.
What is it?
Your friend will tell you.
What on earth she mean by that?
Play me a game of gin rummy.
Gin rummy, here? All right.
Give 'em another hour,
and they'll all boil over.
What are you talking about?
You'll see presently.
Now, you can't have been concentrating.
That'll be 1 pound 13..
I'll have to owe it to you.
OK.
Ah, here comes dinner.
Molto bene. Molto bene.
Ah, the Comtessa.
Allow me.
(ENGLES LAUGHING)
Will you share the joke with us,
Mr Engles?
You know, I can't help thinking
how amusing it is to see us
all cooped up here together.
This is where your story's
about to begin.
Mr Engles is pleased
to talk in riddles.
Riddles my foot, Mr Keramikos.
The Mr Smith of Greece.
Greek since when, Herr Von
Kellerman?
(WIND HOWLING)
What, after all,
is there in the name, huh?
You mean "A rose by any other name?"
The celebrated British humour.
Where would the world be without it?
Well, Mr Engles, as you say
in your wonderful language,
so what?
You've been puzzling me, Kellerman.
Why? Because I don't look German,
huh?
Well, I tell you my mother was Greek.
I was brought up in Berlin,
Paris, and your Oxford.
Yes, well,
I'll take your word for that.
I knew you'd come here,
but how exactly did you
find out about the gold?
What gold?
All in good time, old boy.
I'll tell you. Why not?
That should be very interesting.
No, no, very ordinary.
There was a certain Corporal Holtz.
That's right, I remember.
He was one of Stelben's party,
but didn't he die with the others?
No, he didn't die.
He managed to get away.
But my colleagues and myself
were fortunate enough
to meet him, and we...
We persuaded him to tell us his story.
I see.
And now, you will share it with us.
Why not?
Will you drink with me?
Why not?
Strange, is it not,
that we should be drinking together?
Colonel Engles
of the British intelligence
and Special Agent Kellerman
of the Gestapo.
Yes, only one can't always choose
one's company, can one?
That is life.
You serve your country,
and I serve mine.
Yes, only you haven't got one left
to serve, have you?
For the moment, it is true.
There are many like me working
all over the world, you know.
We need funds.
That's why I'm here.
Germany is destroyed now,
but one day she will be rebuilt.
Her industry will again
be the best in the world,
and it will be the same
with our armed forces.
One day, you can be sure,
fascism will triumph again,
we'll see to that.
There'll be a new generation,
thank heavens,
who will have forgotten
that war is horrible.
You're very frank.
I only hope you'll be equally honest
with your story.
Why not?
You know, of course,
that I was in charge
of the Gestapo in Venice.
(DARK THUMPING MUSIC)
It was there that Heinrich Stelben
reported to me
when Italy capitulated.
My instructions were to
remove the entire gold reserves
of the Bank of Italy to the fatherland.
Stelben was the one man I could trust
with such an important mission,
so I gave him the necessary orders
for its transfer to Germany.
Had I known then that he was
an admirer of Carla Rometta,
or should I say the Comtessa Forelli,
I might have acted differently.
I found out afterwards
that they were in the habit
of meeting at Valdini's restaurant.
Naturally, Carla was surprised to hear
that Stelben was suddenly
leaving Venice,
especially when he refused
to say where he was going.
This intrigued her very much.
She finally got out of him
our plans for transferring the gold,
and at once seized on the chance
of grabbing some of it for herself.
The war was nearly over, she told him.
If he took the gold back to Germany,
it would only fall into
the hands of the enemy.
Why risk that when,
with a little ingenuity,
they could keep it for themselves.
The temptation was too great.
Stelben eventually gave in
and agreed to do as she suggested.
What he did not know
was that Carla had fallen
for the charms of Gilbert Mayne,
and Heinrich Stelben was now
simply a means to an end,
and that end was gold.
Two days later,
Stelben ordered the convoy to stop
at a lonely hut up in the mountains.
As Mr Blair must have guessed by now,
that lonely hunt was here.
And that, my friend, is the story
of how the gold came
to the Colle della Vista.
All of it?
Sufficient unto the moment,
Colonel Engles.
Tell me, why didn't you
come out here before?
Because, unfortunately,
the good corporal never knew
the name of the village
to which he drove that night.
I see.
And I've not the slightest doubt
that your persuasion
of the corporal was sufficient
to provide the end of the story.
We have our methods.
You see, Neil, here is your story
forming as I promised you it would.
(GENTLE PIANO)
And here are your characters
about to play their appointed parts
at any moment now.
Mayne, for instance.
Yes, Englishman.
Public school, charming.
Didn't like having
his photograph taken.
No, I've no doubt you didn't.
When I left the war office
before coming here,
I was informed that there was
a certain Gilbert Mayne
who had been reported missing
but believe killed,
but he was short and dark.
Identity papers are easy to come by,
aren't they?
When you find them on corpses.
And talking of corpses,
have you two clever film people decided
why I should want to kill Blair?
The perfect murder,
that was your plot, wasn't it?
Well, no murder's perfect
without a motive, is it?
The perfect murder never fails.
But your motive was obvious.
Blair knew too much, that's easy.
But what interests us is
why you wanted to kill
Valdini and the Comtessa.
Why do you want to kill me, Gilbert?
Better ask him, it was his idea.
I don't have to ask him.
You double cross me,
and now you want to get rid of me.
I'm no use to you anymore.
And now, I know too much about you.
I know, for example, it's you
that inform against Heinrich.
You had him arrested.
You kill my Heinrich.
Your Heinrich.
You hated him, and he despised you.
It's not true.
He loved me, always.
Loved you? He was a fugitive,
and you were able to hide him,
that's all.
And you stayed with him because
your dirty, greedy, little soul
was in love with a million in gold.
I seem to remember you weren't
entirely disinterested yourself.
You paid 4 million lire
for this hut, didn't you?
So that's the scheme, you...
(GLASS SHATTERS)
Keep your hands still, Mr Mayne!
Sorry.
What are you doing with that?
You silly, little man, it might be l...
It is!
Do you know
you might have hurt somebody?
Bob!
Oh, there you are, Mayne.
Cut your finger, madam?
Oh, sorry.
Any food left?
(ENGLES LAUGHING)
What's the matter?
You know, Joe,
you'll be the death of me.
Well, the gun was loaded.
He might have hurt somebody.
No food? Well, this will do.
(CARLA AND MAYNE SCUFFLING)
Drop that glass, you silly little...
(CARLA SCREAMS)
(BODY CRASHES)
Keep your hands on the table,
all of you.
I say...
Shut up!
In my pocket.
But now, my impulsive friend,
what do you propose to do next?
You're going to dig. All of you.
And where are we going to dig?
That's what you're going to tell me.
(PIANO GROWING LOUDER)
Stop that playing!
Stop that blasted noise!
(GUNSHOT BANGS)
It was out of tune, you know.
What makes you think I'm going
to tell you where the gold is?
These?
You really think
I'm afraid of these guns? Shoot.
Shoot! And when I'm dead, what then?
Will you know where the gold is?
Do you know what to do with it
even if you find it?
40 cases of gold in bars,
you think you can dispose of it
just like that? You...
You bore me.
(PIANO KEYS TINKLING)
How do I know I can trust you?
You have your guns.
Pick up that,
that aristocrat over there.
Lock her away somewhere.
Do with her what you like
as long as she's quiet.
And then,
our friends shall dig for us.
Pick her up, Blair.
Hurry up!
Take her in there.
Close the door.
Lock it!
(TENSE FOREBODING MUSIC)
Throw it at my feet.
(GUNSHOT BLASTS)
It's all so very simple
if one uses one's brains.
Story's progressing nicely.
Aldo. (SPEAKING ITALIAN)
And now, my friends,
we are going to dig.
I'm glad to see the maestro
hasn't lost his touch.
A little thought, that's the formula.
As you are also a maestro,
you will know about that.
My dear Kellerman, that coming
from you is a very great compliment.
Get up.
Aldo.
This way out, gentlemen, please.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(WIND HOWLING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
Dio Mio...
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(RECEIVER CLACKING)
(EMILIA WHIMPERING)
I apologise, gentlemen,
for the difficulty of your task.
The concrete may be a little thick.
So this is where Stelben
hid the gold, eh?
Yes.
And this may be the time
to tell you the end
of Corporal Holtz's story.
It will amuse you while you dig.
According to Holtz,
the captain's position
as a member of the Gestapo
was quite sufficient
to overrule all the men.
Go on digging.
But I'd like to picture him
standing here as I am now,
complete master of the situation.
He had everything worked out
quite clearly.
He would say that the convoy
had been attacked
by enemy forces and wiped out,
that he was the only survivor.
Then arrived the moment for him
to make his story come true.
He reached out his hand
and felt the light switch.
(TENSE MUSIC)
(DOG BARKING)
(DOG BARKING)
(GUNSHOTS SPRAYING)
(SHOVEL THUMPING)
KELLERMAN: It took Stelben
three hours to bury the gold.
He never knew that
during every minute of that time,
Corporal Holtz, badly wounded
but still alive, was crouching
behind the machinery watching him.
If he had known,
it might have saved his life,
and I would have never
found out the truth.
Holtz kept his mouth shut
for obvious reasons.
Until I found him,
and then it was opened.
Let's start something.
Carry on digging, old boy.
Carry on digging, old boy.
That's very good advice,
Colonel Engles.
You should be getting near now.
(DOOR BANGING)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(EMILIA AND CARLA
YELLING IN ITALIAN)
Emilia! Emilia!
(CARLA SCREAMING IN ITALIAN)
Let me out!
(URGENT ROUSING MUSIC)
It's all right, Carla, I'm coming!
Oh, Gilbert.
Gilbert, please let me out.
The key's gone.
Huh?
Huh?
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
What's he say?
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
The place on fire or something?
Hey, leave the door open, will you?
There's a bit of a smell here.
Yeah, that's what remains
of the Third Reich.
Yes, and there's a part of it.
Go on digging!
And underneath the remains,
as you call it,
of the Third Reich,
you will find the gold,
which will help to found its successor.
(ENGLES CHUCKLES)
You find that funny,
Colonel Engles, do you?
Well, so do I.
It is very funny that the enemies
of the Third Reich should be so helpful
in founding the fourth.
Make no mistake, my British friends,
there will be another Reich.
Only this time,
it will spread all over the world.
And then people like you...
(YELLING IN ITALIAN)
Carla!
What's the matter?
The place is on fire!
It's on fire!
Oh no! No.
Gilbert, what are you saying?
Gilbert, please answer to me!
Gilbert. Gilbert!
Oh, Dio Mio!
(CARLA SCREAMS)
(URGENT MUSIC)
(GLASS SHATTERING)
Go on digging.
Go on digging!
Ah, I see the maestro
is beginning to crack at last.
Dig!
What's this? What's this?
Gosh, it's here all right.
Here, give me a hand.
Ha! There you are,
there's your ruddy gold!
(LOW INTENSE MUSIC)
Where is it?
How should I know?
Where is it?
Your guess is as good as mine.
I'll give you 10 seconds to tell me.
And if I don't?
Five seconds.
I said your guess is as good as mine!
You want your friends to die here, too?
OK, you win.
Well?
Oh, let them go.
Stay where you are!
Give them
a chance! After all,
if they stay here,
they're bound to get killed anyway.
Get back, Engles.
(GUNSHOTS CRACKING)
Engles, we must get Engles!
No, it's too late, too late.
Neil! Neil!
Oh, is he badly hurt?
No, he'll be all right.
But what happened?
We got trapped in there.
Only just got out in time.
And the others?
Too late.
Too late for everything.
Never even found the ruddy gold.
Now we'll never know where it is.
I know.
You know?
Yes.
Well, come on,
let's get out of here. Help me.
But, but, but the gold.
We must forget it.
Oh
no.
No, my friend.
I will never tell anyone
where the gold is.
Never.
Already too many people died
trying to find it.
I will never say.
Never, it is never.
Oh come on, help me with him.
We'll go to the hotel.
(INTENSE ROUSING MUSIC)
(CHATTERING)
Neil Blair, 42.
Neil Blair. 42, right?
(CHATTERING)
Morning, men!
Stage five in 10 minutes!
(MEN CLAMOURING)
Come on, everyone.
(MEN LAUGHING)
(HAMMERS BANGING)
Quiet. Come on, quiet.
Settle down.
Quiet!
Hold that hammering, boys, please.
Now, will you all pay attention
to the director?
Now then.
I want you all to listen
very, very carefully
to what I'm going to say.
The scene we're about to shoot
takes place
in a cafe owned by the mayor
of a little village in Austria.
The mayor is a pompous, political type,
and he's just made a speech
in which he's insulted
the honour of the regiment.
The regiment, gentlemen,
that you are supposed to represent.
Well now, as a sort of retaliation,
you force your way into his cafe
and smash the place up.
Now is that clear?
ALL: Yes.
Good, and when I say smash,
I mean smash.
Now I don't want to
take this scene twice,
and if you do it properly
the first time,
well, there won't be anything left
to take it with again, will there?
But one thing I must impress upon you,
this has got to be tough.
And when I say tough, I mean tough.
Now, look,
I want six of you chaps
as section leaders
just to start the bull ring.
I'll take you and...
..yes, you'll do, and...
..here, you,
come over here a minute.
Well, if it isn't young Blair.
How are you?
I'm all right, sir.
Good to see you again.
Tell me, are you doing this
for a living?
Yes.
Look, I want to talk to you.
You go down to my office.
I know, but I've just signed on...
No matter what you signed.
Ron?
Sir?
Show Mr Blair down to my office.
Yes, sir.
Yes, and change out of
that ruddy awful uniform.
All right.
Come this way, if you will.
Right, we'll take four more of you,
and then we'll have a crack.
(HAMMERS BANGING)
Right!
Come on, stations, please.
I was just wondering...
Good to see you again.
When did you get out?
Five months ago.
Have you spent your gratuity?
Yes.
Help yourself to a drink.
Thank you.
Have you been doing any writing?
A little.
Sold anything?
No.
Tell me,
would you care for a job?
It all depends. As what?
Scriptwriter.
Three months' contract
starting tomorrow.
You'll work at a place called Valcroce,
in the Dolomites.
30 quid a week, and all your expenses.
Well, do you want or not?
What makes you think I can
write a script?
I don't.
Then why...
Well, you're not supposed
to be writing one.
You see, what you're
really doing is holding
a sort of watching brief for me
and keeping an eye on certain people.
I'd go myself, only I've got
to finish this epic first.
What makes you think
I'm the man for the job?
Nobody else.
Oh, I see.
I know I can trust you, and that helps.
You're supposed to be a writer,
so that gives me an excuse
for sending you.
The rest, it's in the lap of the Gods.
Well, if you'll risk it, I will.
Fine.
What's the drill?
Now, look, you'll go to this place,
Valcroce, and snoop around.
You'll live in a little ski hut
up in the mountains,
and I want you to watch everyone
who comes there carefully.
And keep me posted about
everything that goes on.
Everything.
And, uh, look out for her.
She used to call herself Carla Rometta,
but I should think
she's changed that by now.
All right. What else?
Nothing else.
Blimey. It is that all I get
to go on?
Yes. The less you know about this,
the better.
You see, I'm following a lead
I picked up
when I was in intelligence in Italy.
Maybe there's something in it,
maybe not,
but I'm going to find out.
At least,
you're going to find out for me.
All right. When do I start?
Tomorrow morning.
My secretary will give you all the dope
about a plane and everything.
And I'm sending a cameraman with you,
a chap called Wesson.
What on earth for?
Oh, local colour.
He can take a few exteriors
while he's there.
And in case anyone doubts our story.
Does he know about...
No, no, as far as he's concerned,
you really are a scriptwriter,
and there's really going to be a film.
Well, good luck, old chap.
(LIGHT THOUGHTFUL MUSIC)
Oh yes, there's one other little thing.
This chap, Wesson,
he's bound to try and talk you
into staying
at the hotel down below
instead of at the hut.
If he does, the answer's no.
(BRIGHT PLEASANT MUSIC)
I'm sorry, old boy,
but the answer is no.
Well, I don't get it.
What possible difference
can it make to your script
if we stay here in comfort in the hotel
instead of living in a blinking hut
halfway up a perishing Alp?
Cognac? Due cognac.
Well, I imagine that Engles thinks
we can get better stuff up at the hut.
Oh, all well for you, of course.
You can sit around the fire
all day long
and kid yourself you're working.
I'm the one that's got to go
prancing about in the snow
like a ruddy mountain goat.
(NEIL CHUCKLES)
What's the film about anyway?
Where's the script?
I'm supposed to be going
to write the script.
Well, what's the storyline?
Isn't one yet.
Well, Engles must be up the pole.
You known him long?
Yeah, he used to be my CO.
Didn't get shell shock
or anything like that, did he?
Not that I know of.
He left us to go into intelligence.
He was perfectly all right then.
Intelligence, eh?
Yes, I knew a fellow in that lark once.
Thought everybody was a spy.
Spent thousands of pounds
having perfectly innocent
people watched.
Scusate signor.
Scusate.
All is arranged.
The rooms at the rifugio,
they are booked,
and the bus, she leave in five minutes.
Couldn't be more pleased.
If the signori wish to stay here,
I can arrange.
Yes?
No.
The signori can sleep here
and go to the call every day.
It's very healthy at the rifugio,
but it's not like hotel.
It's badly managed, too.
Well, doesn't the hut
belong to the hotel?
No, no, we arrange the bookings.
That is all.
It's not comfortable there,
and that Aldo, he's no good.
Dirty, lazy. And his wife.
(GROANING)
Very soon, two, three days,
I sack them both.
But I thought you told me
that it didn't belong to you.
Not yet, but in two days' time,
there will be an auction
here in this very room.
I will buy it then for 250,000 lire.
Nice, straight auction, huh?
Oh, a formality, signore.
We arrange things well
here in Valcroce.
There will be one bid only, mine.
You will see, it is all arranged.
Well, why have an auction?
Well, that is the government.
The government sell it,
but they do not know in Roma
how it is here in Valcroce.
Oh, I see. You have a nice
government, too. (CHUCKLES)
Well, how comes the government
to own a skiing hut?
Last week, they arrested the man who
buy it at the end of the war.
We think he's Italian,
but now we find it is Stelben,
a German Gestapo man who hide there.
He's a dirty dog.
Yeah, well, I might come down
and have a look at that auction.
Good! You come, and after,
we have celebration, huh?
When you have seen a Valcroce auction,
mm, you have seen something,
I tell you.
First class pickle, that.
Scusate signori, scusate.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Grazie, grazie, grazie.
What's he saying?
Oh, he say the bus, she is here.
Well, I hope you will be very
comfortable at the rifugio,
but I know you will not. (CHUCKLES)
Uh-uh, I say.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Another formality.
(MANCINI CHUCKLES)
Arrivederci, signore.
Arrivederci.
(BRIGHT MUSIC)
(LIVELY MUSIC)
(PEOPLE CLAMOURING)
(GIRLS LAUGHING)
Come on then, get a move on.
What do you mean?
We're getting out as fast as we can.
About time.
Here we are.
Hm. Might be worse.
Not much.
Um, anybody at home?
(BELL DINGS) Shop!
Come on, come on.
We have booked two rooms.
Mr Blair and Mr Wesson.
(CHUCKLING) That went well.
(HAND THUMPS)
Even the darn bell doesn't work.
Now it doesn't.
Signori?
Oh. Good morning.
We are from the Albergo Mancini,
and we have booked two rooms.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
What?
But Mr Mancini said
that the rooms are booked.
No rooms, no rooms.
Now look here,
you bald-headed old bath bun,
don't think that we want to stay
at your little old log cabin,
but we have booked two rooms!
No rooms, no rooms, no rooms.
Oh God, don't take any notice.
Come up with me.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(ARGUING IN ITALIAN)
Let's have this one.
No, no.
No, no, no.
Oh (SPEAKING ITALIAN).
All right, what's in this one?
Oh! Sorry.
I'm so sorry.
You are looking for me?
No, we are looking for a room.
Ah.
We have booked,
but he says there are no rooms.
My name is Valdini.
How do you do?
Stefano Valdini.
Hi.
This man, Aldo, is a fool.
Un momento.
(BOTH SPEAKING ITALIAN)
He's lazy, that's all.
The fewer people, the fewer work.
He thinks you are right now.
Thank you so much.
It is a pleasure.
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
Over the other side.
Aldo will show you.
Thank you.
Thank you to you.
Bene.
Oh, bene, bene. Molto bene to you.
You've got this one, Neil.
All right.
I'm next door.
What?
I'm next door.
Oh, good.
Bring the bags up, will you?
Huh?
Bags. Bagaglio.
Ah, bagagli.
Bagaglio. Three bags.
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
(REPEATS) That's it, yeah.
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
Bring them up, will you?
(ALDO EXCLAIMS)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Emilia! Emilia!
Emilia!
Hey! Hey!
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(LIVELY MUSIC)
You speak English?
Yeah.
Well, don't waste your time
banging that thing.
Aldo?
Aldo!
Aldo!
It's like that, is it?
Seems like it.
Been here long?
About half an hour.
Half an hour too long.
And if Aldo thinks
I'm going to wait for him
every time I want a drink, he's had it.
Grappa. I'll try anything once.
Ah.
(CONVERSING IN ITALIAN)
No rooms?
No rooms.
Have you booked?
Yes.
Well, go on up. There's an
empty one at the end, I looked.
Huh?
Yeah, he tried that with us, too.
That's curious.
Huh?
He's lazy, that's all.
Huh?
Oh, don't keep saying, "Huh?"
Look here, my fine, Italian friend.
If you expect me to pay for
this red biddy,
go and get me a slate
so I can chalk it up.
I'm not waiting for you every time
I get thirsty, see?
(CHUCKLING) Thanks for the tip.
Be seeing you later.
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
(ALDO EXCLAIMS IN ITALIAN)
Emilia!
Emilia!
Well, would you like to stroll around,
see what the place looks like?
I know what the place looks like.
Cold as charity and miserable
as sin. You have a stroll.
I have some unfinished business here.
All right.
(LIVELY ACCORDION MUSIC)
(VALDINI SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Joe. Joe, come over here, will you?
Joe, you see that girl
sitting over there talking
to the little Italian from upstairs?
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Is that the same girl, do you think?
Hm, could be.
A bit over-exposed,
where did you get this?
Oh, that's a picture
of an Italian actress
I met outside Naples just before Ancia.
Huh.
But the point is, Joe,
is that the same woman?
Well, why don't you go and ask her?
Yes, I think I will.
I say, if you get a knife
stuck in your back,
don't ask me to come and
pull it out, will you?
Excuse me, and good morning.
Do you remember me, signorina?
I don't think so.
Well, I was in Italy
with the British army.
Excuse me if I'm being rude,
but I meet so many people.
Why don't you sit down
and tell me all about it?
Thank you, I will.
Now, where was it that we met?
In Naples. Your name is
Carla Rometta, isn't it?
(LAUGHING) I'm afraid
you're mistaken, my friend.
Allow me to make introduction.
This is Comtessa Forelli, Mr...
Blair.
Oh, Mr Blair!
I'm sorry to disappoint you, Mr Blair.
Yes, but this is your photograph,
isn't it?
Where did you get this?
No, you can see for yourself,
this is not me.
Although there is a certain likeness.
(LAUGHING) Very strange.
Yes, it's a remarkable likeness.
Well, please excuse me.
Oh, don't go, Mr Blair.
Stefano, order a drink for Mr Blair.
No, no, no, I've been quite
rude enough for one day.
Please forgive me.
You are forgiven.
We must meet again.
Stefan tells me you are here to
prepare a picture with your friend.
You must tell me all about it.
I'm always very interested in films.
(LOW MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
Well, was it her?
I think so, but I don't think
she wanted to admit it.
You wouldn't hardly blame her, can
you, with that little guy in tow?
Take my advice, you'll lay off,
unless you're looking for trouble.
Perhaps I am.
Oh? Well, count me out of it.
Help yourself to a drink, give me one.
That's the only trouble I want.
Grazie.
Oh, bene.
Tea? Oh no, you've got a drink.
Oh dear,
do you ever call this muck tea?
What's it look like?
No, don't tell me.
You ought to know better than to
order tea in a place like this.
Oh, I think something's
crawled in there and died.
What do you suppose that is?
That's the tea, signore.
You permit?
Oh yeah.
I hear you and your partner
make a big film up here.
That should be most interesting.
Cigarette?
Thank you.
Cigarette?
No, I have a pipe.
Oh, you smoke the pipe.
But it's so much more comfortable
down in the hotel. I do not
understand why you should live
in a place like this.
Why do you?
You see, I must live high up
for my health.
Oh, too bad.
Oh no, it feels much better now.
Thank you, my friend. Thank you!
Mind if I join you?
No, come in.
I should have introduced myself before.
I'm Gilbert Mayne.
Joe Wesson. Neil Blair.
Hi, I'm Valdini.
Ah yes. You're here for your health,
I understand.
That is so. Why do you ask?
Well, I was wondering
if this was the ideal spot
for your... complaint.
I think I do not understand.
No, I think you do,
but it doesn't matter.
(TELEPHONE RINGS)
Ah, that will be my call.
And you, signore?
You're here for your health also?
That's right.
Quite a coincidence, isn't it?
Two of us here for the same reason.
Yes.
Yes, she's here, all right.
She calls herself the Comtessa Forelli.
Forelli.
No, F-O-R-E-L-L-I.
Yes, that sounds like her.
Who is the chap with her?
Well, go on.
An auction? When?
Well now, look,
you get down there
and keep your eyes open.
I want to know exactly what happens.
Right.
Cheerio, old boy.
All right?
Yeah.
(MACHINE RUMBLES)
Somebody coming up.
Sounds like it.
It's a bit late for new visitors,
isn't it?
It must be the new guest
Aldo is expecting.
He told me of him today.
He's a Greek called Keramikos.
He also has come here for
his health, Mr Mayne.
(MAYNE CHUCKLES)
Good evening, gentlemen.
(LOW MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Hello, Joe. Doing all right?
What do you think you're doing?
I'm going down to the auction.
Oh? What about the script?
Well, that can wait till later.
Engles won't care for that.
Don't you be so sure. I may get a
very good scene out of that auction.
I suppose it is the auction
you're going to?
What do you mean?
Not an assignation with the Comtessa?
Pop that under my arm, will you?
Sure.
Thank you.
Sure you haven't forgotten anything?
Quite sure.
Ah, you have.
What?
Dancing shoes.
Oh yes.
I say, if I'm not back for tea time,
send out a couple of St Bernard dogs
to look for me.
And don't forget those
little barrels of brandy
they hang round their necks.
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(CROWD EXCLAIMING)
Magnificent. Beautiful,
huh?
Hmm.
What's he getting so excited about?
Oh, he tell the story of how
the notorious Heinrich Stelben
was arrested in the rifugio last week.
Stelben? Not the Stelben?
But yes.
He was arrested at that very place.
Ah, he begins to end it.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
I will bid 250,000 lire,
the government's reserved price.
A mere formality, you will see.
(AUCTIONEER SPEAKING ITALIAN)
250,000.
250,000 per signor.
300,000 lire.
400,000
500,000.
AUCTIONEER: 500,000!
1,000,000.
2,000,000.
E mezzo!
AUCTIONEER: 2,500,000.
3,000,000!
E mezzo!
AUCTIONEER: 3,500,000.
4,000,000! (COUGHING)
(AUCTIONEER SPEAKING ITALIAN)
E mezzo!
4,500,000 per signore?
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(GAVEL BANGS)
(GAVEL BANGS)
(GAVEL BANGS)
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
4,500,000 lira for a hut.
It's insane.
There is something behind this,
my friend.
Signor Mancini?
Si.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Dio Mio! (SPEAKING ITALIAN)
It was for Comtessa Forelli
that Valdini was bidding.
The Comtessa?
Well, who bought it?
A lawyer from Milano
bidding for no one knows who.
It doesn't make sense.
There is something behind this.
Mark my words.
Come with me.
(LOW SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(CHATTERING)
Morning, Mr Blair.
Oh, hello. Good morning.
Morning. Going back to the hut?
Yeah.
Bus doesn't leave
for nearly half an hour.
Would you have some coffee with me?
Out on the terrace.
All right. Thank you.
You just come down on the run?
Yes, my exercise for the day, and
I fell only once. Good, isn't it?
You've just missed the fun.
They've been selling our hut.
Due caffe.
Subito, signor.
Somebody bought it for 4,500,000 lira.
4,500,000?
Yeah.
(CHUCKLING) Who bought it?
Nobody seems to know. Cigarette?
Thank you.
A lawyer from Milan did the bidding.
It's all a bit odd, don't you think?
Well, I don't know.
Nothing is really odd
if you know the reason behind it.
For instance, yourself.
What about me?
Well, some people
might think it's strange
that you live in a place like the hut.
Yes, but I'm...
I know you are writing a film story,
but you could be
so much more comfortable down here
and do the same thing.
I'm not the only person
living up at the hut.
Of course not, of course not.
Oh, there's your friend, Wesson.
Takes his pictures and is happy.
What about Valdini?
Why does he live there?
Wouldn't you say he was more at home
at a nightclub than a skiing hut?
Yes, certainly.
And then Mayne.
Where does he fit in?
And then yourself.
Where do you fit in?
Me? I like the solitude, Mr Blair.
And it pains me a little
to see that I haven't got it.
Shall I tell you something else?
Yes, please do.
I know that you're not really
writing a film story.
Well, if I haven't written much yet,
it's only because
I'm absorbing the background.
Ah, the background,
A very good explanation, Mr Blair.
A writer can always explain
anything he does, however strange,
by saying that he is absorbing
the background for his characters.
And yet it seems to me
that you are more interested
in what happens around you
than you are in your story.
Is that not so?
To an extent, yes.
I'm certainly interested in you.
You flatter me, Mr Blair.
You knew Mayne before you met him
last night, didn't you?
You noticed that?
Mm-hmm.
You're very observant.
I wonder why.
What else do you know about Mr Mayne?
Absolutely nothing.
Let me help you.
He was useful to me in Greece.
It was after he had deserted
from the British army.
He was the leader of
a deserted gang in Naples
until your military police
cleared them up.
Then he came to me through Athens,
and...
...I think you should go now,
Mr Blair.
You'll miss your bus.
Oh yes. I mustn't do that.
Thank you for a most interesting chat.
Well, what did Mayne do for you
in Greece?
I think that'll keep till another time.
All right. Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Oh, would you mind telling Aldo
that I shan't be back for dinner?
Yes, certainly. Bye.
Bye.
(BRIGHT MUSIC)
(WOMAN ARGUING FAINTLY)
(SLAPPING)
Carla.
(DOOR SLAMS)
Carla. (SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Carla.
Hello there!
(CHATTERING)
Oh. Hello!
Are you working?
Trying to.
You are very easily distracted.
Well, only when I have good reason.
Oh. Me?
Then I must go, or there will be
no picture. Uh-uh,
just a minute.
Where are you going?
Back to the hotel.
Then I'll come with you.
But your work?
Never mind about that.
I'll be down in just one minute.
It's very nice of you to come with me,
but what about your work?
Now, don't let's worry about that.
Of course we must worry.
Listen, you come halfway only,
and then you'll be back in an hour.
All right.
(SWEEPING MUSIC)
Have you hurt yourself?
Oh, no no. No, that's just my way
of stopping next to you.
It's very convenient.
It happened at the right moment.
I can usually guarantee
to do that, all right.
Oh, but you must turn
the right way and stop on a turn.
No, no, don't tell me, I saw.
But it's so easy. Look.
Just swing and let your edges greet,
and there you are.
There you are, you mean. Not me.
(LAUGHING)
Oh. (GRUNTS)
(LAUGHING)
I might get that turn better one day.
(NEIL SIGHS)
Like a smoke?
Please.
We shall become great friend,
you and I, yes?
Mm-hmm.
I shall call you Neil.
It's such a nice name.
And I shall call you Carla.
Why do you call me Carla?
Well, that is your name, isn't it?
No.
It was once.
I recognised you immediately
in that photograph.
Did I sign it?
Mm-hmm.
Who for?
Don't you remember?
Please tell me.
It read on the back "To Heinrich."
Oh.
Heinrich Von Stelben.
Von Stelben, wasn't it?
Yes.
Such a long time ago.
I had almost forgotten.
You wanted to forget it.
What's the good of torturing oneself
with memories?
It's so easy for you English.
You live on your island
until there's a war,
come to the continent and fight,
and then you go back to your island.
But here, things are different.
There's always intrigue,
suspicion, and fear.
One does things
one does not want to do.
I understand.
No, you don't understand.
You are intrigued.
You are fascinated,
but you don't understand.
I am an adventure for you,
something beyond the normal routine
of your life.
You don't see that
I'm like any other girls,
unless sometimes life has been...
..too difficult.
Carla.
Why are you so serious?
Hmm? Look at the sun,
the trees, and the snow.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Why don't you smile, my friend?
Tonight, we shall dance.
We shall dance all night.
And then...
Carla, this isn't the real you.
Do you know what is the real me?
Do you?
No, I don't.
I wish I knew, but I don't.
(SWEEPING DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(LOW PENSIVE MUSIC)
Why, Neil!
Neil!
Neil!
(NEIL LAUGHING)
What's so funny?
You ought to be up here.
All right, I'll come down.
I should think so, I'm frozen.
Hurry up.
(EQUIPMENT THUDS)
(LOW SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
You give me that camera and take these.
I found a cubby hutch
for myself down here.
A sort of dark room, eh?
Sort of is right.
Still, it's warm and near the bar.
Be back in a moment.
What wouldn't I give to be a writer.
Got a cure for frostbite?
You might try whiskey.
Yes, see, would I...
..if we had any.
This Italian hooch
is no good for my liver.
Don't let that stop you.
I won't.
Skin off your nose.
How's the script coming on?
Just sorting out the characters.
How did you get on?
Get any pictures?
What do you think I was doing out there
in the snow all the afternoon?
Yes, lovely stuff. Ski shots.
Down at the bottom of the first
slope there, there's a sharp turn.
I got 'em coming right up into camera.
If you'd seen...
You listening?
Yes, yes, I am.
What did you say?
Nothing.
I myself was with the underground.
You?
Yes. In Roma.
We fight the Germans all night.
The next day, the Americans arrived.
I don't like the Germans.
They are beastly people.
You speak as if the underground
were of assistance
to the British and Americans.
Peasants, that's all they were.
Peasants worth no more
than a platoon of infantry.
What happened in the towns?
Not until it was all over, and
the Germans were in full retreat,
did they come out
with their red arm bands.
Now, that's your underground.
(PIANO RESONATING)
You knew them well, I suppose?
Yes, I knew them.
(SOFT PIANO MUSIC)
Were you in the army?
For my sins.
Italy?
Yeah.
What were you in?
I was in the 201 light ack-ack.
They were in the Abruzzi.
I remember them quite well.
Especially Tommy Cross,
one of their battery commanders.
Grand fellow, do you remember him?
Tommy Cross?
Yeah. Big chap.
Light blue eyes,
large ginger moustache.
Oh yes. He was good.
Grazie, gentlemen.
(CHAIR THUDS)
Blast you, Wesson!
Why, what's the matter?
You might have warned us
you were going to do that.
Oh, no.
Much better to take you by surprise.
I like my pictures natural.
You two go on drinking.
Don't take any notice of me.
Suppose I don't want my picture taken.
You don't really mind, do you?
As it happens, I do.
A superstition, perhaps.
Yes, a superstition, and one
I think you share, Mr Keramikos.
Oh, this is a mad house.
Give me a drink, somebody.
I have surprised Mr Wesson
that people are superstitious.
Have you ever tried to
photograph native peoples?
I was a news photographer once.
Well, then you'll know
that some native peoples
do not like their pictures taken.
Why?
Because they are afraid.
Afraid of what they don't understand.
A little black box
which takes away their face
for strangers to gaze at.
Perhaps it's the same
with our friend here.
He doesn't want his face exposed
for strangers to see.
(LOW MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
(MEN SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(MATCH STRIKES)
I've been waiting for you, Mr Blair.
Why?
Are you surprised to see me?
That's not very clever.
The print of your feet in the snow
outside the door was still wet.
Had to be either you or Valdini.
Valdini's room is next to mine,
and he snores like a pig.
Your door was open. Very careless.
Do you mind pouring me another drink?
It's been very cold waiting for you.
(GLASS CLINKS)
Thank you.
Your health, my friend.
Where's the other fellow?
The other fellow?
Oh, the other fellow.
You didn't see him, did you?
No.
He's, uh, he's gone.
I've waited for you
because there are some
questions I want to ask you.
Quite a few I'd like to ask you, too.
I have no doubt about that.
Tell me, do you speak German?
Yes. Enough.
So you heard what I said
just before I closed the door?
You said it is necessary
to get rid of Valdini
and his Countess.
Then, you said to the other fellow,
"You're good at that sort of thing."
Uh-huh.
Well, what's the game, Keramikos?
Mr Blair,
I have something to say to you,
and you'd do well to remember it.
This is not your law-abiding,
neat, little island of England.
This is Europe.
Europe after seven years of war,
where people starve
and hate and go on fighting.
It's a jungle.
Here it is no good
to meddle into matters
which do not concern you.
Murder is a matter
that concerns everybody.
Murder.
You didn't hear the whole
of the conversation, only a scrap.
Hold onto that, Mr Blair,
and go to bed.
Tomorrow,
tomorrow, you'll concentrate
on your film story.
How can I concentrate in this place?
Everyone here is here
for a particular reason.
I want to know what that reason is.
It is none of your business.
You're young, you've got
your life in front of you.
I hope.
Cultivate a little...
A little less curiosity.
Is that a threat?
Take it as you wish, Mr Blair.
Good night.
(TENSE FOREBODING MUSIC)
Night.
(GUESTS CHATTERING)
Morning, Blair.
Oh, hello.
Lovely day, isn't it?
Yeah, lovely.
How about going for a run?
Well, I'm here to work, you know.
Well, you can't work all the time.
Yeah, that's true enough, but I'm
afraid not much good on skis anyway.
I can't believe that.
Well, that's a fact.
Well, how about the Corvo Alto run?
It's not very difficult.
All right.
Fine, we'll start right away
after breakfast.
Yeah.
Good.
(GRAND ADVENTUROUS MUSIC)
(GENTLE MUSIC)
Whew.
When do we start going down?
Just as soon as you've eaten these.
About time, too.
Just look at it.
It's even grander
than the view from the hut.
Not bad, is it?
You see three countries from here.
Three?
Well, counting this one.
The Swiss border's
a mile or two over there, and
France is just over that peak.
I had no idea we were
so near the border. Hm.
Mayne.
Yeah?
Tommy Cross was small and clean-shaven.
So what?
Last night, you agreed
that he was a big fellow
with a ginger moustache.
(CHUCKLING) You're quite a
little detective, aren't you?
That first night, when Keramikos
arrived, you recognised him,
didn't you?
Go on.
And I believe you already knew
Valdini and the Countess.
You're observant,
I'll say that for you.
Thank you.
Now, I've been very open with you.
Will you tell me something?
What?
You and all the others are here
searching for something, aren't you?
Now, what is it?
Better eat these up.
We'll discuss that later.
All right.
(SNICKERING) That reminds me,
a friend of mine once went to a cinema,
and when he got inside,
he found himself sitting
behind a very large man in a fur coat.
When his eyes got accustomed
to the darkness,
he realised he wasn't a man at all,
it was a large bear.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN) Bear?
Bear.
Well, he said to the man
sitting next to the bear, he said,
"Excuse me, is that bear with you?"
The man said yes.
So he said,
"Well, do you mind taking him out?"
The man said, "Take him out?
We've paid for his seat,
he's enjoying himself,
and behaving himself, why should I?"
So at the end of the performance,
my friend said to the man,
"I hope you didn't think
I was very rude asking you
to take the bear out."
Man said, "No, it's all right."
My friend said,
"All I would like to ask you is,
why bring a bear to a cinema?"
And the man said,
"Well, matter of fact,
I thought I had to bring him.
He was very keen to see this film.
You see,
he enjoyed the book so much."
(LAUGHING)
(BRIGHT MUSIC)
Can you take it a bit faster?
We're getting late.
I had no idea it was such a long run.
It's absolutely
straightforward from now on,
no difficult turns.
Just a straight run
down through the woods.
All right. Let's get going.
Keep close behind me, won't you?
I don't want you to lose your way.
All right.
(GRAND ADVENTUROUS MUSIC)
(LIGHT TENSE MUSIC)
(GENTLE MUSIC)
Is this seat taken?
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
(CHUCKLES) Parlez-vous francais?
Francese, no.
No?
Never mind. I speak.
I speak slow.
You
and me.
Telefono.
Telephone?
Telephone for me? For me?
Telefono! Telefono! Telefono!
Yeah. For me?
(SPEAKS ITALIAN)
Oh, telephone for me.
I go.
I go telephone.
You stay. You wait.
Si, si. I come back quick.
I come back.
I telephone.
(ARGUING IN ITALIAN)
Hello. Wesson?
Has Blair turned up at the hut yet?
No, I don't know.
No, he's not here.
Well, I thought he was behind me,
but you know how it is
when you get in the run.
No.
No, I've been back about halfway
looking for him.
You've been halfway looking for him?
What do you mean?
What's happened?
Been an accident or something?
What?
He's lost?
Well, of course I realise it's serious,
but what's to be done?
A rescue party?
What's happened, Mr Wesson?
Who is lost?
Blair is lost out there in the snow.
Who is that on the telephone?
Mayne. He says he went back
to look for him.
Let me speak to him. Quick.
Gilbert.
Yes, yes, this is Carla.
What's happened?
What have you done with that boy?
Now listen, Carla,
you keep out of this.
It was an accident, I tell you.
What?
Now leave Wesson
to organise the search party.
Hm? Necessary?
Of course it was. He knew too much.
Now keep out of it, do you hear?
And don't contact Mancini.
Leave it to Wesson, I tell you.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
(CRADLE CLICKING)
Hello?
Hello!
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
What's happening?
Mancini is sending a search party.
They'll go straight up
from Albergo Mancini.
Don't worry. They'll find him.
They are used to those things.
Thank you.
(DEEP FOREBODING MUSIC)
(BELL CLANGING)
(TENSE DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(PENSIVE MUSIC)
(DEEP PLODDING MUSIC)
(GENTLE MUSIC)
That's nonsense, Carla.
I tell you, he was coming along
very well,
and I wasn't at all worried about him.
It was getting on for dusk,
but the going was dead easy.
He was there all at the time.
Then I looked around,
and he wasn't behind me anymore.
So you burst into tears
and hunt for him everywhere, huh?
Well, what's all the fuss about?
He's safe in his bed, isn't he?
No thanks to you.
(CHUCKLING) I think our little Carla
is falling in love with the boy.
Eh, Valdini?
She plays with him. That's all.
Just as she played with you, hm?
What do you mean?
Last month, I was in Venice.
But I thought...
You thought I was in Rome, Carla.
No, I was in Venice.
Watch out, Mr Gilbert Mayne.
I'm a man of business, see?
I don't like double cross.
As we have seen today,
accidents can happen.
It's very secluded here.
Sit down here, Neil.
Neil, I'm so glad you're all right.
Thank you.
Me too.
You got me rattled for a while.
What exactly happened?
Don't you remember?
You tried to kill me, that's all.
(LAUGHING) I don't understand.
I say, Neil...
Keep out of this, Joe.
You knew perfectly well
that I couldn't stop in that time.
You meant me to break my neck.
I'm sorry to disappoint you.
I haven't the foggiest idea what
you're talking about. Haven't you?
Then I make myself very clear.
Today, for some reason
best known to yourself,
you tried to murder me.
And I don't like that at all.
Now, look here!
No, no, no, no.
Boys, boys, break it up.
Break it up.
My friend,
you should be careful what you say.
Neil, come and have your drink with me.
All right.
Was it true what you said just now
to Gilbert?
Why do you ask?
Yes, why do I ask?
You know him pretty well, don't you?
Why are you up here so late tonight?
I wanted to make sure
that you were all right.
Thank you. Very nice of you.
Neil, come down to the hotel with me.
Now? Tonight?
Yes.
You should see a doctor.
Well, I'm all right.
No, no, you're not at all all right.
Your nerves are, oh, how do you say it?
Overstrained.
I'm perfectly all right.
I promise you.
Please, Neil.
It's so much better.
So much better.
(DOOR BANGS)
(WIND HOWLING)
Well, now. Blimey all righty,
look who's here.
Hello, Joe. How's it going?
All right.
Oh gosh, I'm glad to see you.
Yes, good to see you, too.
Goodbye, Neil.
You're not going?
Yes, it's getting late.
Oh, let me introduce you.
This is Mr Engles.
The Comtessa Forelli.
How do you do?
How do you do?
Did you say Comtessa?
Why not?
After all,
Comtessas are two a penny nowadays.
Yes, I expect they are.
And sometimes three.
And this is Mr Keramikos.
Keramikos?
That is right.
That sounds like
a very good, old Greek name.
And this is Mr Gilbert Mayne.
How are you?
How do you do?
He tried to kill me this afternoon.
Oh, cut it out.
Well, you couldn't have been
trying very hard, could you?
He didn't try hard enough.
At least I can still laugh.
And I, signore, am Valdini.
Stefano Valdini.
Oh, and who do you belong to?
I'm Comtessa Forelli's man of affairs.
Ah, and that
must keep you pretty busy.
Stefano.
Run along, little man. Run along.
Grazie.
You know, gentlemen,
there's a time in a man's life
when he usually wants to do
something big.
Something daring. Dangerous, even.
And this is one of those times,
and I now propose to do it.
So with your permission,
I'd like to buy you all a little drink.
(WESSON LAUGHING)
Where do you keep
the barman around here, Joe?
We don't. I sacked him long ago.
Just grab what you want,
and chalk it up.
Or don't.
All right, well grab this one on me.
Is that what you want?
Yes, thank you.
That and the cable car.
Well?
(SPEAKS ITALIAN) They will not come.
What?
The tempest.
They fear for the cable.
That means you're stuck here
for the night.
Oh no. I'll go down on ski.
Not tonight, you won't.
You'll never manage it.
But I can't stay here.
Oh yes, we'll fit you in somehow.
I think they have survived...
Mr Mayne, I think, was going to suggest
he move in with Mr Valdini,
but there is no need for that.
I shall be delighted
for Aldo to fix me up
with a mattress
down here near the stove.
No, no, I'll sleep down here.
No, no, I prefer it this way.
But I'm the younger man.
Now, now, gentlemen, I hate to see
all this chivalry wasted.
The Comtessa shall have my room,
and then the sheets will be clean,
won't they?
And the mattress can go
on the floor in Blair's room.
Thank you, you're very kind.
Not at all.
We've got a lot to discuss anyway.
And, actually,
I'm not very fond of sleeping alone.
I mean, that is, in a strange house.
(SNOW AND WIND BLUSTERING)
(GENTLE PIANO MUSIC)
(COMTESSA SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
What did he say?
Something has happened to the cable.
Can't do a thing about the lights.
How long is this going on for?
Maybe hours, maybe days.
Another day like this.
Are you afraid?
Afraid?
Yes.
You're afraid of something.
What is it?
Your friend will tell you.
What on earth she mean by that?
Play me a game of gin rummy.
Gin rummy, here? All right.
Give 'em another hour,
and they'll all boil over.
What are you talking about?
You'll see presently.
Now, you can't have been concentrating.
That'll be 1 pound 13..
I'll have to owe it to you.
OK.
Ah, here comes dinner.
Molto bene. Molto bene.
Ah, the Comtessa.
Allow me.
(ENGLES LAUGHING)
Will you share the joke with us,
Mr Engles?
You know, I can't help thinking
how amusing it is to see us
all cooped up here together.
This is where your story's
about to begin.
Mr Engles is pleased
to talk in riddles.
Riddles my foot, Mr Keramikos.
The Mr Smith of Greece.
Greek since when, Herr Von
Kellerman?
(WIND HOWLING)
What, after all,
is there in the name, huh?
You mean "A rose by any other name?"
The celebrated British humour.
Where would the world be without it?
Well, Mr Engles, as you say
in your wonderful language,
so what?
You've been puzzling me, Kellerman.
Why? Because I don't look German,
huh?
Well, I tell you my mother was Greek.
I was brought up in Berlin,
Paris, and your Oxford.
Yes, well,
I'll take your word for that.
I knew you'd come here,
but how exactly did you
find out about the gold?
What gold?
All in good time, old boy.
I'll tell you. Why not?
That should be very interesting.
No, no, very ordinary.
There was a certain Corporal Holtz.
That's right, I remember.
He was one of Stelben's party,
but didn't he die with the others?
No, he didn't die.
He managed to get away.
But my colleagues and myself
were fortunate enough
to meet him, and we...
We persuaded him to tell us his story.
I see.
And now, you will share it with us.
Why not?
Will you drink with me?
Why not?
Strange, is it not,
that we should be drinking together?
Colonel Engles
of the British intelligence
and Special Agent Kellerman
of the Gestapo.
Yes, only one can't always choose
one's company, can one?
That is life.
You serve your country,
and I serve mine.
Yes, only you haven't got one left
to serve, have you?
For the moment, it is true.
There are many like me working
all over the world, you know.
We need funds.
That's why I'm here.
Germany is destroyed now,
but one day she will be rebuilt.
Her industry will again
be the best in the world,
and it will be the same
with our armed forces.
One day, you can be sure,
fascism will triumph again,
we'll see to that.
There'll be a new generation,
thank heavens,
who will have forgotten
that war is horrible.
You're very frank.
I only hope you'll be equally honest
with your story.
Why not?
You know, of course,
that I was in charge
of the Gestapo in Venice.
(DARK THUMPING MUSIC)
It was there that Heinrich Stelben
reported to me
when Italy capitulated.
My instructions were to
remove the entire gold reserves
of the Bank of Italy to the fatherland.
Stelben was the one man I could trust
with such an important mission,
so I gave him the necessary orders
for its transfer to Germany.
Had I known then that he was
an admirer of Carla Rometta,
or should I say the Comtessa Forelli,
I might have acted differently.
I found out afterwards
that they were in the habit
of meeting at Valdini's restaurant.
Naturally, Carla was surprised to hear
that Stelben was suddenly
leaving Venice,
especially when he refused
to say where he was going.
This intrigued her very much.
She finally got out of him
our plans for transferring the gold,
and at once seized on the chance
of grabbing some of it for herself.
The war was nearly over, she told him.
If he took the gold back to Germany,
it would only fall into
the hands of the enemy.
Why risk that when,
with a little ingenuity,
they could keep it for themselves.
The temptation was too great.
Stelben eventually gave in
and agreed to do as she suggested.
What he did not know
was that Carla had fallen
for the charms of Gilbert Mayne,
and Heinrich Stelben was now
simply a means to an end,
and that end was gold.
Two days later,
Stelben ordered the convoy to stop
at a lonely hut up in the mountains.
As Mr Blair must have guessed by now,
that lonely hunt was here.
And that, my friend, is the story
of how the gold came
to the Colle della Vista.
All of it?
Sufficient unto the moment,
Colonel Engles.
Tell me, why didn't you
come out here before?
Because, unfortunately,
the good corporal never knew
the name of the village
to which he drove that night.
I see.
And I've not the slightest doubt
that your persuasion
of the corporal was sufficient
to provide the end of the story.
We have our methods.
You see, Neil, here is your story
forming as I promised you it would.
(GENTLE PIANO)
And here are your characters
about to play their appointed parts
at any moment now.
Mayne, for instance.
Yes, Englishman.
Public school, charming.
Didn't like having
his photograph taken.
No, I've no doubt you didn't.
When I left the war office
before coming here,
I was informed that there was
a certain Gilbert Mayne
who had been reported missing
but believe killed,
but he was short and dark.
Identity papers are easy to come by,
aren't they?
When you find them on corpses.
And talking of corpses,
have you two clever film people decided
why I should want to kill Blair?
The perfect murder,
that was your plot, wasn't it?
Well, no murder's perfect
without a motive, is it?
The perfect murder never fails.
But your motive was obvious.
Blair knew too much, that's easy.
But what interests us is
why you wanted to kill
Valdini and the Comtessa.
Why do you want to kill me, Gilbert?
Better ask him, it was his idea.
I don't have to ask him.
You double cross me,
and now you want to get rid of me.
I'm no use to you anymore.
And now, I know too much about you.
I know, for example, it's you
that inform against Heinrich.
You had him arrested.
You kill my Heinrich.
Your Heinrich.
You hated him, and he despised you.
It's not true.
He loved me, always.
Loved you? He was a fugitive,
and you were able to hide him,
that's all.
And you stayed with him because
your dirty, greedy, little soul
was in love with a million in gold.
I seem to remember you weren't
entirely disinterested yourself.
You paid 4 million lire
for this hut, didn't you?
So that's the scheme, you...
(GLASS SHATTERS)
Keep your hands still, Mr Mayne!
Sorry.
What are you doing with that?
You silly, little man, it might be l...
It is!
Do you know
you might have hurt somebody?
Bob!
Oh, there you are, Mayne.
Cut your finger, madam?
Oh, sorry.
Any food left?
(ENGLES LAUGHING)
What's the matter?
You know, Joe,
you'll be the death of me.
Well, the gun was loaded.
He might have hurt somebody.
No food? Well, this will do.
(CARLA AND MAYNE SCUFFLING)
Drop that glass, you silly little...
(CARLA SCREAMS)
(BODY CRASHES)
Keep your hands on the table,
all of you.
I say...
Shut up!
In my pocket.
But now, my impulsive friend,
what do you propose to do next?
You're going to dig. All of you.
And where are we going to dig?
That's what you're going to tell me.
(PIANO GROWING LOUDER)
Stop that playing!
Stop that blasted noise!
(GUNSHOT BANGS)
It was out of tune, you know.
What makes you think I'm going
to tell you where the gold is?
These?
You really think
I'm afraid of these guns? Shoot.
Shoot! And when I'm dead, what then?
Will you know where the gold is?
Do you know what to do with it
even if you find it?
40 cases of gold in bars,
you think you can dispose of it
just like that? You...
You bore me.
(PIANO KEYS TINKLING)
How do I know I can trust you?
You have your guns.
Pick up that,
that aristocrat over there.
Lock her away somewhere.
Do with her what you like
as long as she's quiet.
And then,
our friends shall dig for us.
Pick her up, Blair.
Hurry up!
Take her in there.
Close the door.
Lock it!
(TENSE FOREBODING MUSIC)
Throw it at my feet.
(GUNSHOT BLASTS)
It's all so very simple
if one uses one's brains.
Story's progressing nicely.
Aldo. (SPEAKING ITALIAN)
And now, my friends,
we are going to dig.
I'm glad to see the maestro
hasn't lost his touch.
A little thought, that's the formula.
As you are also a maestro,
you will know about that.
My dear Kellerman, that coming
from you is a very great compliment.
Get up.
Aldo.
This way out, gentlemen, please.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(WIND HOWLING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
Dio Mio...
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(RECEIVER CLACKING)
(EMILIA WHIMPERING)
I apologise, gentlemen,
for the difficulty of your task.
The concrete may be a little thick.
So this is where Stelben
hid the gold, eh?
Yes.
And this may be the time
to tell you the end
of Corporal Holtz's story.
It will amuse you while you dig.
According to Holtz,
the captain's position
as a member of the Gestapo
was quite sufficient
to overrule all the men.
Go on digging.
But I'd like to picture him
standing here as I am now,
complete master of the situation.
He had everything worked out
quite clearly.
He would say that the convoy
had been attacked
by enemy forces and wiped out,
that he was the only survivor.
Then arrived the moment for him
to make his story come true.
He reached out his hand
and felt the light switch.
(TENSE MUSIC)
(DOG BARKING)
(DOG BARKING)
(GUNSHOTS SPRAYING)
(SHOVEL THUMPING)
KELLERMAN: It took Stelben
three hours to bury the gold.
He never knew that
during every minute of that time,
Corporal Holtz, badly wounded
but still alive, was crouching
behind the machinery watching him.
If he had known,
it might have saved his life,
and I would have never
found out the truth.
Holtz kept his mouth shut
for obvious reasons.
Until I found him,
and then it was opened.
Let's start something.
Carry on digging, old boy.
Carry on digging, old boy.
That's very good advice,
Colonel Engles.
You should be getting near now.
(DOOR BANGING)
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(EMILIA AND CARLA
YELLING IN ITALIAN)
Emilia! Emilia!
(CARLA SCREAMING IN ITALIAN)
Let me out!
(URGENT ROUSING MUSIC)
It's all right, Carla, I'm coming!
Oh, Gilbert.
Gilbert, please let me out.
The key's gone.
Huh?
Huh?
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
What's he say?
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
The place on fire or something?
Hey, leave the door open, will you?
There's a bit of a smell here.
Yeah, that's what remains
of the Third Reich.
Yes, and there's a part of it.
Go on digging!
And underneath the remains,
as you call it,
of the Third Reich,
you will find the gold,
which will help to found its successor.
(ENGLES CHUCKLES)
You find that funny,
Colonel Engles, do you?
Well, so do I.
It is very funny that the enemies
of the Third Reich should be so helpful
in founding the fourth.
Make no mistake, my British friends,
there will be another Reich.
Only this time,
it will spread all over the world.
And then people like you...
(YELLING IN ITALIAN)
Carla!
What's the matter?
The place is on fire!
It's on fire!
Oh no! No.
Gilbert, what are you saying?
Gilbert, please answer to me!
Gilbert. Gilbert!
Oh, Dio Mio!
(CARLA SCREAMS)
(URGENT MUSIC)
(GLASS SHATTERING)
Go on digging.
Go on digging!
Ah, I see the maestro
is beginning to crack at last.
Dig!
What's this? What's this?
Gosh, it's here all right.
Here, give me a hand.
Ha! There you are,
there's your ruddy gold!
(LOW INTENSE MUSIC)
Where is it?
How should I know?
Where is it?
Your guess is as good as mine.
I'll give you 10 seconds to tell me.
And if I don't?
Five seconds.
I said your guess is as good as mine!
You want your friends to die here, too?
OK, you win.
Well?
Oh, let them go.
Stay where you are!
Give them
a chance! After all,
if they stay here,
they're bound to get killed anyway.
Get back, Engles.
(GUNSHOTS CRACKING)
Engles, we must get Engles!
No, it's too late, too late.
Neil! Neil!
Oh, is he badly hurt?
No, he'll be all right.
But what happened?
We got trapped in there.
Only just got out in time.
And the others?
Too late.
Too late for everything.
Never even found the ruddy gold.
Now we'll never know where it is.
I know.
You know?
Yes.
Well, come on,
let's get out of here. Help me.
But, but, but the gold.
We must forget it.
Oh
no.
No, my friend.
I will never tell anyone
where the gold is.
Never.
Already too many people died
trying to find it.
I will never say.
Never, it is never.
Oh come on, help me with him.
We'll go to the hotel.
(INTENSE ROUSING MUSIC)