Darkest Hour Page #10

You got me there again. New law--

preventing trans-shipment ofmilitary equipment.

WINSTON:

But we’ve paid for them--with the

money we borrowed from you!

ROOSEVELT:

(anguished)

So sorry, Winston.

WINSTON:

I need not impress upon you thetrouble faced by the WesternHemisphere. Without your support,

in some fashion...

Silence. A tense moment...

ROOSEVELT:

I know. I know. You are on mymind day and night.

(pause)

Look. We could--possibly...

But words fail the hampered ROOSEVELT and his voice trailsoff.

WINSTON:

Mr President--we are facing the

gravest odds!

55.

ROOSEVELT:

...we could take your planes toabout a mile from the Canadian

border--and then if you send across

a team of horses from Canada-nothing

motorized--then you could

pull 'em over the border yourself.

How does that sound?

WINSTON:

Horses? You said “a team of

horses”?

ROOSEVELT:

I guess you could push ‘emyourself. The damn things havewheels. Up to you.

WINSTON is speechless -

ROOSEVELT (CONT’D)

We could do that.

(silence)

Prime Minister?

WINSTON covers the PHONE, bunches his fist, swallows his

RAGE, and then speaks again, as calmly as he can-

WINSTON:

Anything you can do at this timewould be welcome.

ROOSEVELT:

Goodnight to you Winston.

(feeling WINSTON’s pain)

It must be late there?

WINSTON:

In more ways than you couldpossibly know.

He puts down the phone and sits back in his chair - stunned,

fuming. But as he stews, he slowly - slowly - conceives anidea, a new IDEA!

INT. MAP ROOM / WAR ROOMS -NIGHT

WINSTON enters and strides past the staff, making for theLARGE MAP of EUROPE. He puts his finger on the FRENCH COAST,

at DUNKIRK, encircled by RED THREAD. And then looks atENGLAND, the COAST, and then taps DOVER on the map.

He turns, sees the DOZEN colorful TELEPHONES and addresses a

NAVAL MAP-ROOM OFFICER

56.

WINSTON:

Get me Vice-Admiral Ramsay on one

of these.

EXT. DOVER CASTLE -PRE-SUNRISE (5 AM)

HIGH AERIAL of the CASTLE atop the famous WHITE-CLIFFS.

INT. ADMIRAL RAMSAY’S BEDROOM/ TUNNELS/ BENEATH DOVER CASTLE

-NIGHT

ADMIRAL RAMSAY is woken by a STAFFER.

STAFFER:

Admiral Ramsay?

RAMSAY:

Huh?

STAFFER:

It’s the Prime Minister.

INT. DYNAMO ROOM/ TUNNELS/ BENEATH DOVER CASTLE - NIGHT

RAMSAY, on the PHONE with WINSTON.

WINSTON (O.S.)

Bertie? I hope I didn’t wake you.

RAMSAY:

Of course not. I was just reading

the Bible.

(INTERCUT, as necessary with - )

INT. MAP ROOM/ WAR ROOMS - NIGHT

WINSTON, on a PHONE, studies the COAST of ENGLAND.

WINSTON:

Exodus?

(smiles)

We need to evacuate our boys,

Bertie. The Navy is saying that

with one cruiser and six

destroyers, and with the Luftwaffecontrolling the skies above, we'llbe lucky to get 10% out. I want youto order an assembly of boats.

RAMSAY:

Boats?

57.

WINSTON:

Yes. Civilian boats, as many asyou can get your hands on.

Country’s full of boats--let’s put

‘em to use. Bertie? You there?

RAMSAY:

(sceptical)

Rrrr-ight.

WINSTON:

-anyone with a pleasure craftbigger than 30 foot that can get toFrance. Longley's clipper,

Fearnley's gin palace, any half-

rotten fishing boat that’ll float.

RAMSAY:

Mmmm-hmmm.

WINSTON senses BERTIE’s reticence...and makes a different

appeal...

WINSTON:

Help me stage this thing, Bertie.

We must at least try to bringsome of our boys home.

After a pause -

RAMSAY:

I will have the BBC issue the

order.

WINSTON starts to put the phone down, and then rememberssomething -

WINSTON:

Oh-- Bertie--still there?

RAMSAY:

Sir?

WINSTON:

We need a name--for this Operation.

RAMSAY looks around him - a blazon on a generator says“DYNAMO”.

INT. CORRIDOR/ WAR ROOMS - DAY

CAPTION:
SUNDAY, MAY 26 1940

WINSTON walks with EDEN, but then they pass an OFFICER’sOFFICE, whose DOOR is open - and it’s then that he hears, tohis fury, the sound of a RADIO playing a SPEECH BY HITLER!

WINSTON PULLS THE DOOR SHUT, silencing the dictator.

58.

WINSTON and EDEN look at each other, then walk on, and stopbefore entering the WAR CABINET ROOM, (as if before takingthe stage). WINSTON takes a deep breath and tries to shakeoff his worries. Only then does he enter, followed by EDEN -

INT. WAR CABINET ROOM/ WAR ROOMS - DAY

WAR CABINET MEETING 2.

PRESENT:
17 PERSONS. The Main War Cabinet (CHURCHILL,

CHAMBERLAIN, HALIFAX, GREENWOOD, ATLEE) and the FOLLOWING(EDEN, ALEXANDER, SINCLAIR, CADOGAN, ANDERSON, POUND,

DOWDING, IRONSIDE, BRIDGES, ISMAY, NICHOLL, WILKINSON)

A tense atmosphere - faces riven with doubt. The CABINET isstanding, conferring anxiously with each other......but then

fall silent when WINSTON and ANTHONY EDEN enter.

WINSTON:

Good day. I’ve asked the Ministerfor War to join us.

HALIFAX and CHAMBERLAIN share a look - this doesn’t bode

well.

All sit. WINSTON looks around the table - sees the fear and

doubt and nervousness in his CABINET right away.

WINSTON starts to tap his SIGNET RING on his right hand onthe wooden arm of his chair, until -

WINSTON (CONT’D)

Obviously--we are in a dangerous

situation. But - I am assured bythe French Premiere that while some

German tank units have reached the

sea, the situation generally seemsto be well in hand.

No-one looks at all convinced by this -

CLOSE ON:
the wooden arm of WINSTON’s chair - the varnish has

worn away from three weeks of such anxious tapping.

GREENWOOD:

Prime Minister. You don’t believe

that.

ATTLEE:

France will fall.

GREENWOOD:

Yes.

ATTLEE:

And invasion of this island will

follow.

59.

WINSTON changes the subject -

WINSTON:

What news from Calais?

ATTLEE:

What?

IRONSIDE:

The Garrison attacked, but was

forced back and is now surrounded

on all sides. They are beingshelled and bombed mercilessly.

Casualties are at sixty percent.

The CABINET all shake their heads - all look to have lost

FAITH in WINSTON.

CHAMBERLAIN nods at HALIFAX -

HALIFAX:

On the question of peace talks

WINSTON:

-We must hold our nerve. Signalonly that we are going to fightit out to the end. A peace offer

telegraphs our weakness.

CHURCHILL looks to EDEN for support -

EDEN:

Agreed.

WINSTON:

And even if we were beaten--we

should be no worse off than we

should be if we were now to

abandon the struggle.

Let us therefore avoid beingdragged down the slippery slope

with talk of a negotiated peace.

HALIFAX:

Slippery slope? The only

WINSTON HALIFAX (CONT'D)

-I suspect Germany and Italy --the only slippery slope -

WINSTON:

-want to get us so deeply involved

in negotiations that we should beunable to turn back!

HALIFAX:

Oh nonsense! Bastianini informed me-

60.

WINSTON:

The approach -

HALIFAX:

- The only slippery slope -

WINSTON:

WILL YOU STOP INTERRUPTING ME

WHILE I AM INTERRUPTING YOU!?

When I chose my War Cabinet I took

great care to surround myself with

old rivals. I may have overdone it.

Only GREENWOOD and ATTLEE and EDEN smile. HALIFAX andCHAMBERLAIN look exasperated.

WINSTON (CONT’D)

Viscount Halifax--the approach you

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