The Lost Patrol (1934) Movie Script
Right through the lung.
Bell, dismount the men.
Yes, Sergeant.
Dismount!
Pity.
- Decent boy, in some ways.
- Yeah, no soldier though.
- See the blighter what done it?
- No.
Blasted Arabs. Hide like sand flies.
Never see them.
There's them GS shovels.
Will I get two or three of
the blokes to start in?
Right.
Sanders!
Corporal.
Brown.
Here.
Hand your horses over to McKay.
Put your rifles back in your buckets
and get them GS shovels.
What happened?
There was a shot and then the officer...
Is dead, my lad. Gwendolyn is napoo.
We are gravediggers.
Understand now, young fellow, my lad?
But out here?
Where are we gonna bury him?
Doesn't make much difference, does it?
- All right, men, that'll do.
- Gonna mark it?
What's the good? Bell, mount the men.
Sergeant.
Haven't you forgotten something?
Oh.
Go ahead, Sanders.
"Almighty Father...
"we commend the soul
of our brother departed...
"and we commit his body to the ground.
"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes,
dust to dust...
"in sure and certain hope
of the resurrection...
- "unto eternal life, through our Lord."
- Amen.
I'm sorry, Sergeant,
but that's not the entire service.
Sorry, Sanders,
but we gotta be moving.
If we stick around here...
we'll be patting you and a couple
of others in the face with a spade.
Put your topi on.
All right, men.
Return to your horses.
Morelli, do you see anything?
No. Nothing but sand. Plenty of it.
Corporal Bell.
Yes, Sergeant?
- Do you know where we are?
- No.
Do you know what we're here for?
Do you know where we're going?
- No.
- Well, neither do I.
Huh?
That young lad, that officer back there,
never gave me his orders.
What?
I ask him four or five times,
and he'd always say...
"I'll do that, Sergeant, tomorrow."
Well, here's our tomorrow.
A nice one, too, ain't it?
Didn't he have them on him?
Wasn't they in his pocket?
No, kept them in his head.
A fat lot of good that'll do us now.
Where are we going now?
What are we gonna do?
Well, we're lost.
You heard me. Lost.
What are you figuring on doing?
Well, I've worked it out the best I can.
We're heading due north.
We ought to hit the river tomorrow night.
Yes, we may hit the river and that'll
be that. But what else will we hit?
Yeah. A fine thing, ain't it, huh?
A patrol patrolling
and not knowing where they're at...
and the orders locked up
in that dead kid back there.
Dismount.
That's it, Jock.
That'll do your horse good.
Pearson!
Yes, sir?
- You're a fool, Pearson.
- Yes, sir.
Now, come on.
Take it off, give it to me.
Now, come on, come on.
You know I won't drink it.
You'll have a little
left for tonight.
All right, men, walk your horses.
I don't know, Jock,
I will never forget the time...
I drank the 57 bottles
of beer on a bet.
It was in a bar in Calcutta,
the Queen's Bar.
- Ice cold it was.
- 57 bottles.
Well, I may have miscounted a few,
one way or another...
but I know it was 10 below me record.
Freezing cold it was. Gave me a chill
that nearly caused my death.
A pity it didn't.
All right, then.
Horse down!
Hold it! Halt!
Come on, laddie, please get up.
Too bad.
Sorry, McKay.
Here, Jock, give me that.
Take my horse. Go on with the rest.
Bell...
what do you make that out to be?
Looks like something moving.
Not sure. Such a glare.
- Couldn't be the brigade, could it?
- Brigade? No.
Might be Arabs.
Morelli.
Hey, Morelli.
You're the hawk-eye of this party.
What do you make that out to be?
Trees.
Whole clump of them.
Sure it ain't a mirage?
Mirage, my aunt.
Think he's right, Bell?
Maybe and maybe not.
Maybe it is Arabs.
Arabs, my eye.
It's palms, I tell you.
It's an oasis.
That's what it is.
- Right.
- An oasis.
Prepare to mount.
Take it easy.
Take it easy, there.
Look after your horses.
That's enough.
Now come on, watch your horses.
"Oh, Mother, may I go out to swim?
"Yes, my darling daughter
"Hang your clothes on a hickory tree
But don't go near the water"
Corporal Bell, come on,
get out of there.
Out, all of thee,
and have some lemonade.
You forgotten yourself?
You haven't watered your own horse,
have you?
Go on, get your rifle
and see what's in there.
You ought to know better.
Now come on, you men,
get out of there.
Aye, sir.
You can bust your own guts,
but look out for your own horses.
Get your horses in there now.
Oh, Jock, boy,
why, this is better than beer.
Aye.
Come on, girl.
Take it easy.
Oh, boy.
A creepy place.
What do you think?
Mohammedan mosque.
- I wonder how old it is?
- It's hard to say.
Funny.
Water, plenty of dates, this thing...
- and not a soul around.
- Yeah.
And not a ghost of an idea
where we're at...
what we're here for,
or where we're going.
I want to see the horses.
Well, the horses look good.
I bet they feel better.
Abelson, smarten up there.
Do up that shoulder strap,
and carry that rifle, don't sling it.
You're on duty.
- Is that your horse?
- Yeah.
I thought so.
Look at his back.
I've told you about this before.
You ride the officer's horse tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
Are we gonna ride tomorrow?
I said tomorrow.
We pull out before sun-up.
I say, Sergeant,
did I hear you right?
- We moving out of here tomorrow?
- Yes.
Gentlemen, I am the bearer
of joyful tidings.
Yeah?
We leave this charming paradise
tomorrow.
Paradise?
It is the devil's own backyard.
Don't jest, Quincannon.
You know what this place really is.
I do, and I can tell you in 50 words.
And every one of them forbidden.
If you'd read your Bible...
instead of hanging around canteens
and native quarters all your life...
you'd know that Mesopotamia...
this, this very spot that you're
standing on this very minute...
is the actual Garden of Eden.
The Garden of Eden!
The Garden of Eden, how are you?
I tell you, it'd take no angel
with a flaming sword to drive me out.
That's blasphemy, Quincannon!
- You'd better not...
- Blasphemy?
Are you aware you're talking to a man
who was for 10 years an altar boy?
- How you feeling, Pearson, better?
- Oh, I feel fine, thank you, sir.
I'm sorry I wasn't
quite up to it out there.
- Guess I'm not much of a soldier yet.
- You're all right, lad. You did fine.
- You'll learn.
- Thank you, sir.
Sure he'll learn.
Take for an example yon Matlow.
I remember the time when he first came
to the regiment 20 years ago...
the time Quincannon and myself had
making a soldier of him.
Michael, do you mind the time
we were at the depot at Poona together?
- I was Troop Sergeant Major at the time...
- Excuse me...
but I was Troop Sergeant Major
at the time.
Oh, no, Michael.
You were Troop Sergeant Major...
but you had been broken
for being drunk and disorderly...
setting fire to your tent...
and appearing on the parade ground
with nothing on...
but your drawers and your topi.
That's a dirty lie.
I did not set fire to my tent.
Well, as I was saying...
Matlow was no better nor no worse
a soldier than he.
And look at him now.
- Quincannon.
- Sergeant.
Yeah?
How soon are we going to join up
with the brigade?
I don't know.
Tomorrow, possibly the next day.
Yes, sir.
Yes, but everything's all right now,
isn't it?
Why, yes, certainly.
Quincannon, have you seen that
the horses are securely pegged down?
Yes, Sergeant.
Well, I want you to
paste this in your hat.
Our getting back to the brigade
depends entirely on our horses.
Well, we've lost one today, you know,
McKay's horse.
- Now that's bad.
- Now, don't worry, Sergeant.
They're as secure as
if I was in charge myself.
They'll stand through the night.
Well, before you kip down tonight,
look them over again.
All right, Sergeant.
Pearson.
I think I'll give you a whack
at sentry-go tonight.
Will do you good.
Yes, sir.
All right, get your rifle
and watch over the horse lines.
Yes, sir.
Well, boys, it's hotter in here
than it is out there.
Aye.
Hey, here's a place there might be
some shelter from the wind.
Come on, Matlow.
I say, jolly sort of place, isn't it?
There ain't no swansdown feather beds
like what you got at home, Topper.
The Garden of Eden Temperance Hotel.
Brother Sanders, will you lead us
in prayer, or are we to be spared that?
I likes that tune, Morelli.
That was my cue in the music halls.
When the orchestra did that...
boom.
I come down rolled up in the curtain.
It always knocked them.
Topper, what is it when two things
happen at the same time?
- Coincidence?
- A coincidence. That's it.
Play it again, will you, Morelli?
That's what the band was playing
when we sailed from Tilbury.
And here was I,
standing on the deck...
and there was Molly, in a red hat,
a-waving from the dock.
First time she ever saw me in my khaki,
and the last sight I ever had of her.
So, there's a Molly with a red hat
in your love life, is there?
Molly's me wife, Topper.
We were married that morning
by the regimental chaplain.
- Married, huh?
- Got a baby.
I'm the father of a boy.
Herbert Hale Jr. II.
Got a letter when we left Cairo.
I've got a picture of the nipper here.
It's in my haversack. I'll show you.
He's two months old.
- Two months?
- Yes.
Splendid fellow, Herbert.
Nothing like a family.
It's all right, Pearson, it's me.
Now, if I was one of those sneaking
Arabs, I'd have cut your throat by now.
Well, I'm sorry, sir. I didn't think.
I mean...
I was just thinking.
What were you thinking?
Well, that moon.
It's so bright.
It sort of gets one, Sergeant.
I was just thinking
that in 12 hours' time...
that same moon
will be shining over England.
Makes it seem sort of close.
Don't you think so, Sergeant?
I never thought of that.
- How old are you, son?
- 19, sir.
Public school?
No, I had a tutor for a while.
Just Mother and I.
She never wanted me to be away.
Guess that's why I'm here now.
I ran away.
Joined up, huh?
Well, I thought it was
the right thing to do.
My uncle, well,
he's in the War Office.
He wanted to wangle me a commission.
But I'd rather be on my own.
That's why I'm glad I'm here.
Oh, I suppose I'll get a commission,
eventually...
but it's a fine thing
to come up from the ranks.
- Don't you think so, Sergeant?
- Yes.
You see, you're more on your own.
You're around fine soldiers...
men like Mr. McKay
and Mr. Quincannon...
the kind of soldiers I read about
in Kipling. I'm crazy about Kipling.
And here I am...
a part of it now.
The finest thing is,
they're so modest.
They don't even see the glory in it,
do they?
No.
How about your mother?
What did she say
about your joining up?
She didn't like it.
First time I ever saw her cry.
Well, you're lucky, son.
Nobody ever cried over me.
Well, stop looking at the moon
or you'll be seeing ghosts.
And keep your eyes peeled, because we
don't know what's out there, you know.
Yes, sir.
- Good night.
- Good night, Pearson.
Fall out!
Knifed in the back.
Aye, that's Arabs, Michael.
We've met it before.
The swine.
Bell, Corporal Bell!
- So help me...
- I'll get him!
Where's the horses?
They're gone!
Fall in!
Extended order.
From Cook, right turn.
Double. Left turn.
Keep 25 yards apart.
Circle the mosque.
Sergeant, I found Bell alive.
Just.
There's where the horses went.
Sergeant, can't we put
something over it?
I could get a couple of sticks, Sergeant,
and tie them together and...
Wait. Get Pearson's sword.
Put it there.
I think he'd like that.
See anything?
No.
Beats me, how in the name of holy...
Oh, shut up. We've chewed
the blinking rag about it...
all the blooming morning.
- The horses are gone, ain't they?
- Hey!
Whose fault is it
the horses are gone?
Yeah, they should never have put
that laddie out there, Michael.
Oh, chuck it. Chuck it!
Hey, what kind of lingo is that?
Meant to be Malayan,
or possibly Javanese.
- I forget.
- Been there, Topper?
Cruised around a bit.
- What's it like?
- Ain't like this, I hopes.
Oh, palm trees.
But you don't mind the heat.
Lots of water, flowers, mountains,
a breeze from the ocean.
Cruised around on a yacht
most of the time.
Tell us, what did you have to
drink there, besides water?
Oh, the usual.
Gin and bitters in the morning,
scotch and soda in the afternoon...
and at night, sparkling champagne
served in a bucket of ice.
- Don't, don't.
You're breaking my heart.
- Shut up.
I can't say much for
the women though.
But, oh, the girls.
All Malayan females
should be poisoned at 21.
Before that, they're...
But a wee bit on the dark side,
huh, Brown?
Oh yes, they're dark.
But the longer you're there,
the whiter they get.
Or that's the way it seems.
That didn't bother me, Jock.
I'll never forget
the first time I saw them.
We sailed into a little harbor,
about sundown.
The girls all came swimming out...
flowers in their long hair, singing
and laughing up at us from the water.
Brown skin?
Seemed like gold to me.
A richer, deeper gold than any metal.
I can see that gold shimmer, even now,
on their wet bodies...
as they swam like mermaids to the rail
and climbed on-board...
laughing at us
like a lot of shameless imps.
Ah, man, Topper...
'tis the soul of the poet you have.
They knew they were beautiful.
What happened then?
Oh, then the men came out.
Yeah, in their war canoes.
Seems they didn't quite like the way
we were getting along with the girls...
- entirely too chummy.
- Did you fight?
Yeah, one fellow heaved a spear at me.
I suspect it was his girl
I had under one arm...
while I was trying to heave up
the anchor with the other.
Go on, go on.
Don't keep us in suspense.
- What come of it?
- Nothing. We sailed away.
Hey, but the lasses?
What about them?
Oh, later on,
when we passed by the coast again...
they slipped over the side
and swam ashore.
- How about it?
- Oh, shut up.
Ain't you got no imagination?
But all the same, Topper,
you didn't ought to leave
us high and dry like that.
They want the gory details,
you know, color.
What their minds will run to
is far more exciting than
what actually happened.
Brown!
I want a word with you.
- Go ahead.
- I would rather...
In a way, I would rather have spoken
to you in private, but that'd be cowardly.
I will say it in front of these...
I will say it in spite of...
Bub, what's all this for?
It's for your sake, for you.
Oh, Brown, I implore you to listen.
Is your whole life
so filled with filthy drunkenness...
brawling and lust, that here now...
perhaps close to your death...
the only thing left for you to do
is to live it all over again in your mind?
Oh, pack up. It's too hot to listen.
- But Brown...
- And don't shout so.
Brown, you're a gentleman,
you've got breeding.
You must have faith.
Why?
Why?
In heaven's name, man,
what do you believe in?
What do I believe in?
Would it really interest you?
Oh, a lot of things.
A good horse...
steak and kidney pudding...
a fellow named George Brown...
the asinine futility of this war...
being frightened...
being drunk enough to be brave...
and brave enough to be drunk.
The feel of the sea when you swim,
the taste and strength of wine...
the loveliness of women, the splendid,
unspeakable joy of killing Arabs...
the smell of incense and bacon,
the weight of a fist...
an old pair of shoes,
toothache, triumph...
Stop!
All right.
Oh, you're barmy, soapy.
Shut your trap. Leave us alone.
- Hey, hey...
- Hey, wait a minute.
You leave him alone, Abelson.
He can't help it.
You're more offensive than he is.
- What's that?
- I said, you're offensive.
Abelson! Abelson, take it easy.
Oh, go on. You're nothing but
a second-rate, broken-down, heavyweight.
If I have to get to my feet,
you're gonna regret it.
- Get to your feet.
- No, no!
- Brown, no!
- Hey, wait a minute, come here!
Take it easy!
Brown! Abelson!
Put on those topis.
Sanders, come here.
You're supposed to be
looking after Corporal Bell.
Get inside.
I wanna talk to you, men.
Sorry, Sergeant, about that scrap.
Must have been the heat.
- Sorry, Abelson.
- All right.
Well, what do you think
of our chances here?
Well, I think the position
is extremely dubious.
- Now, what do you think?
- Well, I'll tell you what I know.
Nothing.
I don't know where we are.
I don't know where we're going.
I don't even know where the brigade is.
It's my fault. It's me.
I told you I was a Jonah.
Bad luck, that's me.
Bad luck, if you say so.
Of course, our horses are pinched.
That's Arabs.
What's your opinion, McKay?
How many out there?
Well, we examined the tracks
of the horses. There's not many.
- That's just what I think.
- How so, Sergeant?
Well, if there'd been more than a few...
they'd have rushed us in force
and wiped us out.
- Aye.
- That's true.
How about stalking out somewhere
on foot, Sergeant?
With our rifles,
and fighting it out tonight.
And leave the Corporal here alone?
How would you carry
him without horses?
How would you carry enough water
for a long march?
We've gotta stick here and
take our chances of being relieved.
We've got water, we've got dates.
But first we've gotta see.
You think you can see everything
in the desert, but you can't.
Hardly a thing out there.
We've gotta see for miles.
Sergeant, how about me climbing to the
top of that palm tree and having a look?
I could see from there to Bloomsbury.
- That's it.
- Go on, Hale. I'll help you.
All right. Let's go.
That's a boy!
Come on, old boy.
Hey.
A little bit of how's-your-father.
Will you all mind?
Right. Coming up.
- See anything?
- Can't see what I'm looking for...
Molly's red hat on the dock.
Are you sure it's the red hat
you're looking at?
If she has a friend with her,
let me know, will you?
Half a mile. I see something.
It's moving.
Looks like the sun
shining on a rifle barrel.
- Where?
- Right over there, behind that dune.
Right over there, in the shadow.
Look out! Clear!
Hale, Hale, Hale.
Right through the head.
See here, men.
There's a strip of paper in here
for each one of us, except Sanders.
I'm leaving him out of it.
All right with you?
There's one of them longer
than the others...
and the man that gets it,
picks his mate and slogs out
for the river tonight.
It's our only chance.
We've gotta get help.
Anybody object to doing it that way?
No? All right.
Here they go.
Now, keep it as it is. Don't unroll it.
I'll draw the last.
Abelson.
Morelli.
All right, unroll them.
- It's up to you now, Cook.
- Aye.
Relieve Morelli.
Come on, choose your sidekick.
- Who would it be, but myself.
- No, no, Michael. You are too late.
If Matlow goes, I go with him.
- He'll need my knowledge of soldiering.
- What did you say about soldiering?
- Well, in my 25 years of service...
- And what about my 27?
Three of them in the guardroom.
The guardroom?
Boys, did you hear that?
The guardroom.
Listen, Jock, to your teeth,
that's a dirty red lie.
Forget it, forget it.
Brown, flip a coin. You decide.
Have you got a shilling?
Oh.
Eenie, meenie, miney, mo,
catch a boodoo by his toe...
if he hollers, let him go,
eenie, meenie, miney, mo.
Now, that settles it.
McKay, you go with Cook.
And you better get your gear together.
Take all the water bottles, except two.
You'll leave tonight
when the moon is down.
Aye.
Oh...
by the way...
they might not...
There's a chance
they might not get back in time.
Now what I mean to say is...
if any of you fellows
want to scribble a few lines...
I've no objection of
McKay taking them along.
Remember, Jock...
- keep to the north all the time.
- Right.
Head to the river
and you'll find the brigade.
Here's some letters.
Morelli's, Quincannon's, Sanders'.
Here's mine.
I didn't know that, Sergeant.
You're a man to be envied.
- Thanks.
- Well, Matlow, here we go.
Goodbye to you, Sergeant.
We'll be sending along for you shortly.
We'll be looking for you.
- Say goodbye, Jock, old scout.
- Goodbye.
And have a couple of pints for me
when you get there.
So long, Jock.
No sweating on the way.
- Good luck, Jock.
- I'll try, Michael.
- See you.
- Bye.
- How you feeling, Abelson?
- Oh, I'm all right.
Only it's so blooming hot...
I'm sweating worse than
when the sun was up.
Want me to take your
turn at sentry-go?
I'm not asking any favors.
I'll do my part.
Well, you'll be relieved pretty soon.
Keep your topi on, son.
- What's up?
- Abelson. Look.
Over and beyond Abelson.
See that moving there?
200 yards.
Blank fire and keep firing.
Hey!
He's moving.
Morelli! Come back, you fool.
Come back!
Morelli, you fool. Come back.
Come on, cover him up. Rapid fire.
You mustn't go. Don't go.
Sergeant. Sergeant! Corporal Bell!
Oh, Father.
Father of mercy.
Sergeant!
- What's up?
- Something moving out there.
Right back of that dune.
Turn out!
Horses.
Get ready.
Let them have it.
Wait, they're not Arabs.
They're our horses.
It's McKay and Cook.
Oh, look at their faces.
Oh, Jock. Jock, Matlow.
Quick, lend us a hand.
We gotta get them out of here.
The dirty, filthy swine.
I'll get one of you for this.
By the cross of Croagh Patrick,
by the blood of the mother that bore me...
you shall suffer.
I'll get you for this. I'll get...
- Quincannon! Come back!
- Come back, you fool!
- Come back, Quincannon!
- Bastards!
Morelli.
Morelli.
Morelli.
Did you see their faces?
McKay and Cook?
Their eyes and mouths...
all choked up with...
Shall you ever forget it?
Oh, shut up, will you?
I'm trying to forget it, blast you!
I was dreaming,
thinking I was back in Blighty.
And you wake me up.
That's what's going
to happen to all of us.
Maybe, I'll be next...
maybe you'll be next.
Why don't you prepare yourself?
Why don't you make
your peace with God?
Because I don't have to. I'm all right.
I ain't done nothing to be ashamed of.
There's only been one in my life.
Shut up and let me sleep, will you?
Now, he's gone.
First, it was the Lieutenant...
then it was Pearson.
Oh, suck it, will you?
What's the use of talking about it?
Then it was Hale...
Abelson...
Bell...
McKay, Cook...
Quincannon.
And now he's gone.
He said goodbye to me.
Then he disappeared.
What are you talking about?
You're not going the way they did.
They weren't prepared.
I'm going to save you, Morelli.
I know my mission now.
I'm going to make you believe.
Listen, Sanders,
I'll blow you to kingdom come.
I will, so help me. I'll splatter
your brains against that wall.
- Now stay away and shut up, will you?
- Steady on, steady on.
Easy with that rifle, Morelli.
- What's up?
- He's crazy, Sergeant.
He ought to be tied up.
If you don't keep him away from me
I'll kill him, so help me, I will.
Morelli, get hold of yourself.
Sanders.
Sanders! Go wake up Brown.
Time I was relieved.
He's gone.
Gone?
- Who?
- Brown.
He went out of that door.
He said you'd understand.
What?
He wrote something in my Bible...
for you.
Deserted?
Insubordinate swine.
Bilged out.
Left us like a rat,
when we needed every man.
Why didn't you tell me?
You're a party to this, you know.
Get your rifle and get out of here.
You take his place.
Yes.
Yes, that's it.
That's it, Sergeant. Yes.
"Sorry, Sergeant...
"but Quincannon was right.
He marked off one for Jock.
"I'll get another for Matlow.
"Taking a long swing to come around
behind them.
"Fine moon tonight.
Should be good hunting.
"Yours contritely, George Brown.
"PS:
"Not a good name...
"but the best I could think of
when I enlisted."
- Have a smoke?
- How many you got?
Six. How many have you?
Four.
Not enough, ain't it, Sarge?
Have one of mine.
Sarge, did you ever hear tell
the tale of Jonahs?
Yeah.
If only something
would move out there.
This... waiting.
- About Jonahs. Listening?
- Yeah.
Well, I'm one of them.
Take that turn of mine before the war.
That was as good a dancing team
as ever you saw, Sarge.
Morel and Moree, acrobatic dancers.
Morel was me, see. Moree was Jessie.
She was a good kid, Sarge.
And dance, oh...
She was a looker, too.
We wasn't exactly married...
but if ever a guy got a wife
that was too good for him...
that's what happened to me
when I hooked up with Jessie.
We sure was happy, too.
Well...
knocking down good money, too.
We're growing so big,
we're figuring on with topping the act.
So we stick in a slack wire dance
for Jessie.
Just for a climax, you know?
It goes great.
The opening night,
we knock them for a row.
We go around hugging each other.
Next night, the wire breaks.
They ring down the curtain to find
me over her crying like a baby.
And Jessie's a-lying there,
white as milk...
biting her lips against the pain,
trying to put on a smile...
and comfort me.
Comfort me, mind you.
She wasn't killed...
'cause I'm a Jonah.
I guess you don't know
what I mean, Sarge.
Guess nobody else does.
You're not bothered with no woman.
Never seen you look at one.
You never was married, like,
was you, Sarge?
- Yes.
- Yeah?
That's funny.
I never heard you talk about it.
She died.
Kind of made me hate the kid at first.
Oh.
- That way, huh?
- Yeah.
Seemed to me
the little beggar was to blame.
I didn't want him. I wanted her.
- Little blighters grow on you, though.
- I suppose so.
I'll never know.
Pretty soon,
all I could think of was the kid.
Wanted him to have
everything I'd missed.
Found myself working
hard for promotion.
More pay. Saving every bob.
Cor, I had it all figured out.
Sent him to a good school.
Oh, he's a fine little fellow, Morelli.
You ought to see him.
That's what I've been fighting for.
What'll happen to him now,
without me?
Oh, forget it.
- If only something would move out there.
- Don't worry.
- You ever had ambition?
- Yeah.
Jessie and me
always wanted to play the Coliseum.
Well, I've had it bad in my time,
but I've never had it like I've got it now.
Swine...
hiding out there.
I'll get them.
I tell you, I'll get them, Morelli.
- And then I'll die.
- Easy, Sarge, don't you go that way.
Hey!
He sees us, Sarge!
He sees us!
Sanders, Sanders, look! See it?
Look!
You see that, Sanders?
We're all right now.
We're all right now.
- He's landing, Sarge.
- Morelli, Morelli, we're crazy.
Hello.
We mustn't do it.
If he goes walking across there...
- Hey, get back! Get back!
- I never thought of that, Sarge.
Get away!
- Don't do it! Turn back!
- Get away!
- Don't do it!
- Turn around!
- Go on!
- Don't do it.
- Get away!
- Hey!
I say...
I say, you chaps should...
You did that! You've killed him!
He came in answer to my prayers,
for me...
and you killed him,
you murdered him!
Tie him up, Morelli.
Tie him up before I kill him.
Look at it out there, mocking us.
What good does it do us?
Better if it wasn't there.
- Ever been up in one, Sarge?
- No.
Let's do something.
I can't stand this.
- Let's take a whack at it.
- Good idea.
- You know how to start it?
- No.
I don't know one
jigger from the other.
All I know is horses.
- Sarge.
- Yeah?
I'm thinking...
if we'd have rushed them, right off,
the minute we got here...
What's the use of chewing the rag
about something we might have done?
Right you are, Sarge.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking!
Perhaps I've done everything wrong.
Perhaps this, and perhaps that.
But what I've done, I've done!
And what I haven't, I haven't!
Sorry, Morelli.
Shouldn't fly off like that.
- I'm getting jumpy.
- That's all right, Sarge.
- Forget it. My fault.
- No, it's mine...
because I...
Well, I blew up like that because...
Well, I've done all the thinking
in this outfit.
Had to meet everything that came along.
My head was twisted silly, thinking.
- Good job you was with us.
- Thanks.
But the thing that gets me most...
is being done in by them sneaking Arabs.
What does the war mean to them?
Might just as well be friendly.
Some are, some ain't.
- They'll get us all right.
- Yeah, but we'll get them, too, see.
That's all I want now.
That's the only idea I've got in here.
See, I'm thinking, Morelli.
That's all I've been doing.
All day and all night.
Thinking, thinking.
I've got an idea.
We're going out there, you and me.
Try and start it?
Don't be crazy. I said an idea.
I'll leave this behind.
- You stay here and cover me.
- Wait a minute, Sarge...
- I'll go along with you.
- You stay here.
No, Sarge.
I can tell you, I'm scared...
scared of being alone, the last man,
no one to talk to.
I'd go bug-house like him.
I couldn't stand it.
All right.
Leave it here. Come along.
- Leave it?
- Yes, I said leave it.
Come on.
Halt!
Sergeant Clegg.
What do you make that out to be?
Fire of some sort, sir.
How far do you think?
Five or six hours, sir.
Forward march!
Sergeant! Sergeant!
I thought I saw something
moving out there!
Couldn't have been though, huh?
I'm getting jumpy.
No. No, it ain't that, Sarge.
I'm scared. Scared of being alone.
Scared to be the last man,
I gotta talk to somebody!
Well, we're alone now.
He's gone.
- Sanders?
- Yes.
Morelli, look!
Sanders, come on back here! Sanders!
Morelli!
Sanders, don't stick
your head up there!
Sanders, what's wrong with you?
Morelli, come back! Let him go!
Stop walking, will you!
Come on, you swine!
Come and get me now!
Come and get me! Come on. Come on.
Come on, you swine!
Come on! Come on!
Quincannon, I got them!
Quincannon, Brown!
There they are! I got them!
Morelli, Pearson! Pearson, Morelli!
McKay, look! Look at them! l...
Full halt!
Been looking for you, Sergeant.
Where are your men?
Speak up, man. Where's your section?
Bell, dismount the men.
Yes, Sergeant.
Dismount!
Pity.
- Decent boy, in some ways.
- Yeah, no soldier though.
- See the blighter what done it?
- No.
Blasted Arabs. Hide like sand flies.
Never see them.
There's them GS shovels.
Will I get two or three of
the blokes to start in?
Right.
Sanders!
Corporal.
Brown.
Here.
Hand your horses over to McKay.
Put your rifles back in your buckets
and get them GS shovels.
What happened?
There was a shot and then the officer...
Is dead, my lad. Gwendolyn is napoo.
We are gravediggers.
Understand now, young fellow, my lad?
But out here?
Where are we gonna bury him?
Doesn't make much difference, does it?
- All right, men, that'll do.
- Gonna mark it?
What's the good? Bell, mount the men.
Sergeant.
Haven't you forgotten something?
Oh.
Go ahead, Sanders.
"Almighty Father...
"we commend the soul
of our brother departed...
"and we commit his body to the ground.
"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes,
dust to dust...
"in sure and certain hope
of the resurrection...
- "unto eternal life, through our Lord."
- Amen.
I'm sorry, Sergeant,
but that's not the entire service.
Sorry, Sanders,
but we gotta be moving.
If we stick around here...
we'll be patting you and a couple
of others in the face with a spade.
Put your topi on.
All right, men.
Return to your horses.
Morelli, do you see anything?
No. Nothing but sand. Plenty of it.
Corporal Bell.
Yes, Sergeant?
- Do you know where we are?
- No.
Do you know what we're here for?
Do you know where we're going?
- No.
- Well, neither do I.
Huh?
That young lad, that officer back there,
never gave me his orders.
What?
I ask him four or five times,
and he'd always say...
"I'll do that, Sergeant, tomorrow."
Well, here's our tomorrow.
A nice one, too, ain't it?
Didn't he have them on him?
Wasn't they in his pocket?
No, kept them in his head.
A fat lot of good that'll do us now.
Where are we going now?
What are we gonna do?
Well, we're lost.
You heard me. Lost.
What are you figuring on doing?
Well, I've worked it out the best I can.
We're heading due north.
We ought to hit the river tomorrow night.
Yes, we may hit the river and that'll
be that. But what else will we hit?
Yeah. A fine thing, ain't it, huh?
A patrol patrolling
and not knowing where they're at...
and the orders locked up
in that dead kid back there.
Dismount.
That's it, Jock.
That'll do your horse good.
Pearson!
Yes, sir?
- You're a fool, Pearson.
- Yes, sir.
Now, come on.
Take it off, give it to me.
Now, come on, come on.
You know I won't drink it.
You'll have a little
left for tonight.
All right, men, walk your horses.
I don't know, Jock,
I will never forget the time...
I drank the 57 bottles
of beer on a bet.
It was in a bar in Calcutta,
the Queen's Bar.
- Ice cold it was.
- 57 bottles.
Well, I may have miscounted a few,
one way or another...
but I know it was 10 below me record.
Freezing cold it was. Gave me a chill
that nearly caused my death.
A pity it didn't.
All right, then.
Horse down!
Hold it! Halt!
Come on, laddie, please get up.
Too bad.
Sorry, McKay.
Here, Jock, give me that.
Take my horse. Go on with the rest.
Bell...
what do you make that out to be?
Looks like something moving.
Not sure. Such a glare.
- Couldn't be the brigade, could it?
- Brigade? No.
Might be Arabs.
Morelli.
Hey, Morelli.
You're the hawk-eye of this party.
What do you make that out to be?
Trees.
Whole clump of them.
Sure it ain't a mirage?
Mirage, my aunt.
Think he's right, Bell?
Maybe and maybe not.
Maybe it is Arabs.
Arabs, my eye.
It's palms, I tell you.
It's an oasis.
That's what it is.
- Right.
- An oasis.
Prepare to mount.
Take it easy.
Take it easy, there.
Look after your horses.
That's enough.
Now come on, watch your horses.
"Oh, Mother, may I go out to swim?
"Yes, my darling daughter
"Hang your clothes on a hickory tree
But don't go near the water"
Corporal Bell, come on,
get out of there.
Out, all of thee,
and have some lemonade.
You forgotten yourself?
You haven't watered your own horse,
have you?
Go on, get your rifle
and see what's in there.
You ought to know better.
Now come on, you men,
get out of there.
Aye, sir.
You can bust your own guts,
but look out for your own horses.
Get your horses in there now.
Oh, Jock, boy,
why, this is better than beer.
Aye.
Come on, girl.
Take it easy.
Oh, boy.
A creepy place.
What do you think?
Mohammedan mosque.
- I wonder how old it is?
- It's hard to say.
Funny.
Water, plenty of dates, this thing...
- and not a soul around.
- Yeah.
And not a ghost of an idea
where we're at...
what we're here for,
or where we're going.
I want to see the horses.
Well, the horses look good.
I bet they feel better.
Abelson, smarten up there.
Do up that shoulder strap,
and carry that rifle, don't sling it.
You're on duty.
- Is that your horse?
- Yeah.
I thought so.
Look at his back.
I've told you about this before.
You ride the officer's horse tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
Are we gonna ride tomorrow?
I said tomorrow.
We pull out before sun-up.
I say, Sergeant,
did I hear you right?
- We moving out of here tomorrow?
- Yes.
Gentlemen, I am the bearer
of joyful tidings.
Yeah?
We leave this charming paradise
tomorrow.
Paradise?
It is the devil's own backyard.
Don't jest, Quincannon.
You know what this place really is.
I do, and I can tell you in 50 words.
And every one of them forbidden.
If you'd read your Bible...
instead of hanging around canteens
and native quarters all your life...
you'd know that Mesopotamia...
this, this very spot that you're
standing on this very minute...
is the actual Garden of Eden.
The Garden of Eden!
The Garden of Eden, how are you?
I tell you, it'd take no angel
with a flaming sword to drive me out.
That's blasphemy, Quincannon!
- You'd better not...
- Blasphemy?
Are you aware you're talking to a man
who was for 10 years an altar boy?
- How you feeling, Pearson, better?
- Oh, I feel fine, thank you, sir.
I'm sorry I wasn't
quite up to it out there.
- Guess I'm not much of a soldier yet.
- You're all right, lad. You did fine.
- You'll learn.
- Thank you, sir.
Sure he'll learn.
Take for an example yon Matlow.
I remember the time when he first came
to the regiment 20 years ago...
the time Quincannon and myself had
making a soldier of him.
Michael, do you mind the time
we were at the depot at Poona together?
- I was Troop Sergeant Major at the time...
- Excuse me...
but I was Troop Sergeant Major
at the time.
Oh, no, Michael.
You were Troop Sergeant Major...
but you had been broken
for being drunk and disorderly...
setting fire to your tent...
and appearing on the parade ground
with nothing on...
but your drawers and your topi.
That's a dirty lie.
I did not set fire to my tent.
Well, as I was saying...
Matlow was no better nor no worse
a soldier than he.
And look at him now.
- Quincannon.
- Sergeant.
Yeah?
How soon are we going to join up
with the brigade?
I don't know.
Tomorrow, possibly the next day.
Yes, sir.
Yes, but everything's all right now,
isn't it?
Why, yes, certainly.
Quincannon, have you seen that
the horses are securely pegged down?
Yes, Sergeant.
Well, I want you to
paste this in your hat.
Our getting back to the brigade
depends entirely on our horses.
Well, we've lost one today, you know,
McKay's horse.
- Now that's bad.
- Now, don't worry, Sergeant.
They're as secure as
if I was in charge myself.
They'll stand through the night.
Well, before you kip down tonight,
look them over again.
All right, Sergeant.
Pearson.
I think I'll give you a whack
at sentry-go tonight.
Will do you good.
Yes, sir.
All right, get your rifle
and watch over the horse lines.
Yes, sir.
Well, boys, it's hotter in here
than it is out there.
Aye.
Hey, here's a place there might be
some shelter from the wind.
Come on, Matlow.
I say, jolly sort of place, isn't it?
There ain't no swansdown feather beds
like what you got at home, Topper.
The Garden of Eden Temperance Hotel.
Brother Sanders, will you lead us
in prayer, or are we to be spared that?
I likes that tune, Morelli.
That was my cue in the music halls.
When the orchestra did that...
boom.
I come down rolled up in the curtain.
It always knocked them.
Topper, what is it when two things
happen at the same time?
- Coincidence?
- A coincidence. That's it.
Play it again, will you, Morelli?
That's what the band was playing
when we sailed from Tilbury.
And here was I,
standing on the deck...
and there was Molly, in a red hat,
a-waving from the dock.
First time she ever saw me in my khaki,
and the last sight I ever had of her.
So, there's a Molly with a red hat
in your love life, is there?
Molly's me wife, Topper.
We were married that morning
by the regimental chaplain.
- Married, huh?
- Got a baby.
I'm the father of a boy.
Herbert Hale Jr. II.
Got a letter when we left Cairo.
I've got a picture of the nipper here.
It's in my haversack. I'll show you.
He's two months old.
- Two months?
- Yes.
Splendid fellow, Herbert.
Nothing like a family.
It's all right, Pearson, it's me.
Now, if I was one of those sneaking
Arabs, I'd have cut your throat by now.
Well, I'm sorry, sir. I didn't think.
I mean...
I was just thinking.
What were you thinking?
Well, that moon.
It's so bright.
It sort of gets one, Sergeant.
I was just thinking
that in 12 hours' time...
that same moon
will be shining over England.
Makes it seem sort of close.
Don't you think so, Sergeant?
I never thought of that.
- How old are you, son?
- 19, sir.
Public school?
No, I had a tutor for a while.
Just Mother and I.
She never wanted me to be away.
Guess that's why I'm here now.
I ran away.
Joined up, huh?
Well, I thought it was
the right thing to do.
My uncle, well,
he's in the War Office.
He wanted to wangle me a commission.
But I'd rather be on my own.
That's why I'm glad I'm here.
Oh, I suppose I'll get a commission,
eventually...
but it's a fine thing
to come up from the ranks.
- Don't you think so, Sergeant?
- Yes.
You see, you're more on your own.
You're around fine soldiers...
men like Mr. McKay
and Mr. Quincannon...
the kind of soldiers I read about
in Kipling. I'm crazy about Kipling.
And here I am...
a part of it now.
The finest thing is,
they're so modest.
They don't even see the glory in it,
do they?
No.
How about your mother?
What did she say
about your joining up?
She didn't like it.
First time I ever saw her cry.
Well, you're lucky, son.
Nobody ever cried over me.
Well, stop looking at the moon
or you'll be seeing ghosts.
And keep your eyes peeled, because we
don't know what's out there, you know.
Yes, sir.
- Good night.
- Good night, Pearson.
Fall out!
Knifed in the back.
Aye, that's Arabs, Michael.
We've met it before.
The swine.
Bell, Corporal Bell!
- So help me...
- I'll get him!
Where's the horses?
They're gone!
Fall in!
Extended order.
From Cook, right turn.
Double. Left turn.
Keep 25 yards apart.
Circle the mosque.
Sergeant, I found Bell alive.
Just.
There's where the horses went.
Sergeant, can't we put
something over it?
I could get a couple of sticks, Sergeant,
and tie them together and...
Wait. Get Pearson's sword.
Put it there.
I think he'd like that.
See anything?
No.
Beats me, how in the name of holy...
Oh, shut up. We've chewed
the blinking rag about it...
all the blooming morning.
- The horses are gone, ain't they?
- Hey!
Whose fault is it
the horses are gone?
Yeah, they should never have put
that laddie out there, Michael.
Oh, chuck it. Chuck it!
Hey, what kind of lingo is that?
Meant to be Malayan,
or possibly Javanese.
- I forget.
- Been there, Topper?
Cruised around a bit.
- What's it like?
- Ain't like this, I hopes.
Oh, palm trees.
But you don't mind the heat.
Lots of water, flowers, mountains,
a breeze from the ocean.
Cruised around on a yacht
most of the time.
Tell us, what did you have to
drink there, besides water?
Oh, the usual.
Gin and bitters in the morning,
scotch and soda in the afternoon...
and at night, sparkling champagne
served in a bucket of ice.
- Don't, don't.
You're breaking my heart.
- Shut up.
I can't say much for
the women though.
But, oh, the girls.
All Malayan females
should be poisoned at 21.
Before that, they're...
But a wee bit on the dark side,
huh, Brown?
Oh yes, they're dark.
But the longer you're there,
the whiter they get.
Or that's the way it seems.
That didn't bother me, Jock.
I'll never forget
the first time I saw them.
We sailed into a little harbor,
about sundown.
The girls all came swimming out...
flowers in their long hair, singing
and laughing up at us from the water.
Brown skin?
Seemed like gold to me.
A richer, deeper gold than any metal.
I can see that gold shimmer, even now,
on their wet bodies...
as they swam like mermaids to the rail
and climbed on-board...
laughing at us
like a lot of shameless imps.
Ah, man, Topper...
'tis the soul of the poet you have.
They knew they were beautiful.
What happened then?
Oh, then the men came out.
Yeah, in their war canoes.
Seems they didn't quite like the way
we were getting along with the girls...
- entirely too chummy.
- Did you fight?
Yeah, one fellow heaved a spear at me.
I suspect it was his girl
I had under one arm...
while I was trying to heave up
the anchor with the other.
Go on, go on.
Don't keep us in suspense.
- What come of it?
- Nothing. We sailed away.
Hey, but the lasses?
What about them?
Oh, later on,
when we passed by the coast again...
they slipped over the side
and swam ashore.
- How about it?
- Oh, shut up.
Ain't you got no imagination?
But all the same, Topper,
you didn't ought to leave
us high and dry like that.
They want the gory details,
you know, color.
What their minds will run to
is far more exciting than
what actually happened.
Brown!
I want a word with you.
- Go ahead.
- I would rather...
In a way, I would rather have spoken
to you in private, but that'd be cowardly.
I will say it in front of these...
I will say it in spite of...
Bub, what's all this for?
It's for your sake, for you.
Oh, Brown, I implore you to listen.
Is your whole life
so filled with filthy drunkenness...
brawling and lust, that here now...
perhaps close to your death...
the only thing left for you to do
is to live it all over again in your mind?
Oh, pack up. It's too hot to listen.
- But Brown...
- And don't shout so.
Brown, you're a gentleman,
you've got breeding.
You must have faith.
Why?
Why?
In heaven's name, man,
what do you believe in?
What do I believe in?
Would it really interest you?
Oh, a lot of things.
A good horse...
steak and kidney pudding...
a fellow named George Brown...
the asinine futility of this war...
being frightened...
being drunk enough to be brave...
and brave enough to be drunk.
The feel of the sea when you swim,
the taste and strength of wine...
the loveliness of women, the splendid,
unspeakable joy of killing Arabs...
the smell of incense and bacon,
the weight of a fist...
an old pair of shoes,
toothache, triumph...
Stop!
All right.
Oh, you're barmy, soapy.
Shut your trap. Leave us alone.
- Hey, hey...
- Hey, wait a minute.
You leave him alone, Abelson.
He can't help it.
You're more offensive than he is.
- What's that?
- I said, you're offensive.
Abelson! Abelson, take it easy.
Oh, go on. You're nothing but
a second-rate, broken-down, heavyweight.
If I have to get to my feet,
you're gonna regret it.
- Get to your feet.
- No, no!
- Brown, no!
- Hey, wait a minute, come here!
Take it easy!
Brown! Abelson!
Put on those topis.
Sanders, come here.
You're supposed to be
looking after Corporal Bell.
Get inside.
I wanna talk to you, men.
Sorry, Sergeant, about that scrap.
Must have been the heat.
- Sorry, Abelson.
- All right.
Well, what do you think
of our chances here?
Well, I think the position
is extremely dubious.
- Now, what do you think?
- Well, I'll tell you what I know.
Nothing.
I don't know where we are.
I don't know where we're going.
I don't even know where the brigade is.
It's my fault. It's me.
I told you I was a Jonah.
Bad luck, that's me.
Bad luck, if you say so.
Of course, our horses are pinched.
That's Arabs.
What's your opinion, McKay?
How many out there?
Well, we examined the tracks
of the horses. There's not many.
- That's just what I think.
- How so, Sergeant?
Well, if there'd been more than a few...
they'd have rushed us in force
and wiped us out.
- Aye.
- That's true.
How about stalking out somewhere
on foot, Sergeant?
With our rifles,
and fighting it out tonight.
And leave the Corporal here alone?
How would you carry
him without horses?
How would you carry enough water
for a long march?
We've gotta stick here and
take our chances of being relieved.
We've got water, we've got dates.
But first we've gotta see.
You think you can see everything
in the desert, but you can't.
Hardly a thing out there.
We've gotta see for miles.
Sergeant, how about me climbing to the
top of that palm tree and having a look?
I could see from there to Bloomsbury.
- That's it.
- Go on, Hale. I'll help you.
All right. Let's go.
That's a boy!
Come on, old boy.
Hey.
A little bit of how's-your-father.
Will you all mind?
Right. Coming up.
- See anything?
- Can't see what I'm looking for...
Molly's red hat on the dock.
Are you sure it's the red hat
you're looking at?
If she has a friend with her,
let me know, will you?
Half a mile. I see something.
It's moving.
Looks like the sun
shining on a rifle barrel.
- Where?
- Right over there, behind that dune.
Right over there, in the shadow.
Look out! Clear!
Hale, Hale, Hale.
Right through the head.
See here, men.
There's a strip of paper in here
for each one of us, except Sanders.
I'm leaving him out of it.
All right with you?
There's one of them longer
than the others...
and the man that gets it,
picks his mate and slogs out
for the river tonight.
It's our only chance.
We've gotta get help.
Anybody object to doing it that way?
No? All right.
Here they go.
Now, keep it as it is. Don't unroll it.
I'll draw the last.
Abelson.
Morelli.
All right, unroll them.
- It's up to you now, Cook.
- Aye.
Relieve Morelli.
Come on, choose your sidekick.
- Who would it be, but myself.
- No, no, Michael. You are too late.
If Matlow goes, I go with him.
- He'll need my knowledge of soldiering.
- What did you say about soldiering?
- Well, in my 25 years of service...
- And what about my 27?
Three of them in the guardroom.
The guardroom?
Boys, did you hear that?
The guardroom.
Listen, Jock, to your teeth,
that's a dirty red lie.
Forget it, forget it.
Brown, flip a coin. You decide.
Have you got a shilling?
Oh.
Eenie, meenie, miney, mo,
catch a boodoo by his toe...
if he hollers, let him go,
eenie, meenie, miney, mo.
Now, that settles it.
McKay, you go with Cook.
And you better get your gear together.
Take all the water bottles, except two.
You'll leave tonight
when the moon is down.
Aye.
Oh...
by the way...
they might not...
There's a chance
they might not get back in time.
Now what I mean to say is...
if any of you fellows
want to scribble a few lines...
I've no objection of
McKay taking them along.
Remember, Jock...
- keep to the north all the time.
- Right.
Head to the river
and you'll find the brigade.
Here's some letters.
Morelli's, Quincannon's, Sanders'.
Here's mine.
I didn't know that, Sergeant.
You're a man to be envied.
- Thanks.
- Well, Matlow, here we go.
Goodbye to you, Sergeant.
We'll be sending along for you shortly.
We'll be looking for you.
- Say goodbye, Jock, old scout.
- Goodbye.
And have a couple of pints for me
when you get there.
So long, Jock.
No sweating on the way.
- Good luck, Jock.
- I'll try, Michael.
- See you.
- Bye.
- How you feeling, Abelson?
- Oh, I'm all right.
Only it's so blooming hot...
I'm sweating worse than
when the sun was up.
Want me to take your
turn at sentry-go?
I'm not asking any favors.
I'll do my part.
Well, you'll be relieved pretty soon.
Keep your topi on, son.
- What's up?
- Abelson. Look.
Over and beyond Abelson.
See that moving there?
200 yards.
Blank fire and keep firing.
Hey!
He's moving.
Morelli! Come back, you fool.
Come back!
Morelli, you fool. Come back.
Come on, cover him up. Rapid fire.
You mustn't go. Don't go.
Sergeant. Sergeant! Corporal Bell!
Oh, Father.
Father of mercy.
Sergeant!
- What's up?
- Something moving out there.
Right back of that dune.
Turn out!
Horses.
Get ready.
Let them have it.
Wait, they're not Arabs.
They're our horses.
It's McKay and Cook.
Oh, look at their faces.
Oh, Jock. Jock, Matlow.
Quick, lend us a hand.
We gotta get them out of here.
The dirty, filthy swine.
I'll get one of you for this.
By the cross of Croagh Patrick,
by the blood of the mother that bore me...
you shall suffer.
I'll get you for this. I'll get...
- Quincannon! Come back!
- Come back, you fool!
- Come back, Quincannon!
- Bastards!
Morelli.
Morelli.
Morelli.
Did you see their faces?
McKay and Cook?
Their eyes and mouths...
all choked up with...
Shall you ever forget it?
Oh, shut up, will you?
I'm trying to forget it, blast you!
I was dreaming,
thinking I was back in Blighty.
And you wake me up.
That's what's going
to happen to all of us.
Maybe, I'll be next...
maybe you'll be next.
Why don't you prepare yourself?
Why don't you make
your peace with God?
Because I don't have to. I'm all right.
I ain't done nothing to be ashamed of.
There's only been one in my life.
Shut up and let me sleep, will you?
Now, he's gone.
First, it was the Lieutenant...
then it was Pearson.
Oh, suck it, will you?
What's the use of talking about it?
Then it was Hale...
Abelson...
Bell...
McKay, Cook...
Quincannon.
And now he's gone.
He said goodbye to me.
Then he disappeared.
What are you talking about?
You're not going the way they did.
They weren't prepared.
I'm going to save you, Morelli.
I know my mission now.
I'm going to make you believe.
Listen, Sanders,
I'll blow you to kingdom come.
I will, so help me. I'll splatter
your brains against that wall.
- Now stay away and shut up, will you?
- Steady on, steady on.
Easy with that rifle, Morelli.
- What's up?
- He's crazy, Sergeant.
He ought to be tied up.
If you don't keep him away from me
I'll kill him, so help me, I will.
Morelli, get hold of yourself.
Sanders.
Sanders! Go wake up Brown.
Time I was relieved.
He's gone.
Gone?
- Who?
- Brown.
He went out of that door.
He said you'd understand.
What?
He wrote something in my Bible...
for you.
Deserted?
Insubordinate swine.
Bilged out.
Left us like a rat,
when we needed every man.
Why didn't you tell me?
You're a party to this, you know.
Get your rifle and get out of here.
You take his place.
Yes.
Yes, that's it.
That's it, Sergeant. Yes.
"Sorry, Sergeant...
"but Quincannon was right.
He marked off one for Jock.
"I'll get another for Matlow.
"Taking a long swing to come around
behind them.
"Fine moon tonight.
Should be good hunting.
"Yours contritely, George Brown.
"PS:
"Not a good name...
"but the best I could think of
when I enlisted."
- Have a smoke?
- How many you got?
Six. How many have you?
Four.
Not enough, ain't it, Sarge?
Have one of mine.
Sarge, did you ever hear tell
the tale of Jonahs?
Yeah.
If only something
would move out there.
This... waiting.
- About Jonahs. Listening?
- Yeah.
Well, I'm one of them.
Take that turn of mine before the war.
That was as good a dancing team
as ever you saw, Sarge.
Morel and Moree, acrobatic dancers.
Morel was me, see. Moree was Jessie.
She was a good kid, Sarge.
And dance, oh...
She was a looker, too.
We wasn't exactly married...
but if ever a guy got a wife
that was too good for him...
that's what happened to me
when I hooked up with Jessie.
We sure was happy, too.
Well...
knocking down good money, too.
We're growing so big,
we're figuring on with topping the act.
So we stick in a slack wire dance
for Jessie.
Just for a climax, you know?
It goes great.
The opening night,
we knock them for a row.
We go around hugging each other.
Next night, the wire breaks.
They ring down the curtain to find
me over her crying like a baby.
And Jessie's a-lying there,
white as milk...
biting her lips against the pain,
trying to put on a smile...
and comfort me.
Comfort me, mind you.
She wasn't killed...
'cause I'm a Jonah.
I guess you don't know
what I mean, Sarge.
Guess nobody else does.
You're not bothered with no woman.
Never seen you look at one.
You never was married, like,
was you, Sarge?
- Yes.
- Yeah?
That's funny.
I never heard you talk about it.
She died.
Kind of made me hate the kid at first.
Oh.
- That way, huh?
- Yeah.
Seemed to me
the little beggar was to blame.
I didn't want him. I wanted her.
- Little blighters grow on you, though.
- I suppose so.
I'll never know.
Pretty soon,
all I could think of was the kid.
Wanted him to have
everything I'd missed.
Found myself working
hard for promotion.
More pay. Saving every bob.
Cor, I had it all figured out.
Sent him to a good school.
Oh, he's a fine little fellow, Morelli.
You ought to see him.
That's what I've been fighting for.
What'll happen to him now,
without me?
Oh, forget it.
- If only something would move out there.
- Don't worry.
- You ever had ambition?
- Yeah.
Jessie and me
always wanted to play the Coliseum.
Well, I've had it bad in my time,
but I've never had it like I've got it now.
Swine...
hiding out there.
I'll get them.
I tell you, I'll get them, Morelli.
- And then I'll die.
- Easy, Sarge, don't you go that way.
Hey!
He sees us, Sarge!
He sees us!
Sanders, Sanders, look! See it?
Look!
You see that, Sanders?
We're all right now.
We're all right now.
- He's landing, Sarge.
- Morelli, Morelli, we're crazy.
Hello.
We mustn't do it.
If he goes walking across there...
- Hey, get back! Get back!
- I never thought of that, Sarge.
Get away!
- Don't do it! Turn back!
- Get away!
- Don't do it!
- Turn around!
- Go on!
- Don't do it.
- Get away!
- Hey!
I say...
I say, you chaps should...
You did that! You've killed him!
He came in answer to my prayers,
for me...
and you killed him,
you murdered him!
Tie him up, Morelli.
Tie him up before I kill him.
Look at it out there, mocking us.
What good does it do us?
Better if it wasn't there.
- Ever been up in one, Sarge?
- No.
Let's do something.
I can't stand this.
- Let's take a whack at it.
- Good idea.
- You know how to start it?
- No.
I don't know one
jigger from the other.
All I know is horses.
- Sarge.
- Yeah?
I'm thinking...
if we'd have rushed them, right off,
the minute we got here...
What's the use of chewing the rag
about something we might have done?
Right you are, Sarge.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking!
Perhaps I've done everything wrong.
Perhaps this, and perhaps that.
But what I've done, I've done!
And what I haven't, I haven't!
Sorry, Morelli.
Shouldn't fly off like that.
- I'm getting jumpy.
- That's all right, Sarge.
- Forget it. My fault.
- No, it's mine...
because I...
Well, I blew up like that because...
Well, I've done all the thinking
in this outfit.
Had to meet everything that came along.
My head was twisted silly, thinking.
- Good job you was with us.
- Thanks.
But the thing that gets me most...
is being done in by them sneaking Arabs.
What does the war mean to them?
Might just as well be friendly.
Some are, some ain't.
- They'll get us all right.
- Yeah, but we'll get them, too, see.
That's all I want now.
That's the only idea I've got in here.
See, I'm thinking, Morelli.
That's all I've been doing.
All day and all night.
Thinking, thinking.
I've got an idea.
We're going out there, you and me.
Try and start it?
Don't be crazy. I said an idea.
I'll leave this behind.
- You stay here and cover me.
- Wait a minute, Sarge...
- I'll go along with you.
- You stay here.
No, Sarge.
I can tell you, I'm scared...
scared of being alone, the last man,
no one to talk to.
I'd go bug-house like him.
I couldn't stand it.
All right.
Leave it here. Come along.
- Leave it?
- Yes, I said leave it.
Come on.
Halt!
Sergeant Clegg.
What do you make that out to be?
Fire of some sort, sir.
How far do you think?
Five or six hours, sir.
Forward march!
Sergeant! Sergeant!
I thought I saw something
moving out there!
Couldn't have been though, huh?
I'm getting jumpy.
No. No, it ain't that, Sarge.
I'm scared. Scared of being alone.
Scared to be the last man,
I gotta talk to somebody!
Well, we're alone now.
He's gone.
- Sanders?
- Yes.
Morelli, look!
Sanders, come on back here! Sanders!
Morelli!
Sanders, don't stick
your head up there!
Sanders, what's wrong with you?
Morelli, come back! Let him go!
Stop walking, will you!
Come on, you swine!
Come and get me now!
Come and get me! Come on. Come on.
Come on, you swine!
Come on! Come on!
Quincannon, I got them!
Quincannon, Brown!
There they are! I got them!
Morelli, Pearson! Pearson, Morelli!
McKay, look! Look at them! l...
Full halt!
Been looking for you, Sergeant.
Where are your men?
Speak up, man. Where's your section?