Shining Through Page #4

Any suggestions?

What about that cabinet maker, Meyerhoff?

The guy from Leipzig?

- If you wanna get into the study...

- Makes sense.

They'd let him pull apart

their secret cabinets?!

What about Eric Erdmann, the language

professor? He came from Munich.

They were both born in Germany,

so they'll be instant best friends?

- Linda. - It took Eckert years

to gain their confidence.

You think somebody can just move

in and be given run of the house?

She's right.

That is what you need, though,

someone who can move in and live there.

Someone with a low-class Berlin

accent who could work as a domestic.

Someone with the accent

of a Berlin butcher's wife.

Let's break for dinner.

I know the codes, the network,

I know the whole operation!

- I could pass for a Berliner!

- Linda.

- Because you are a secretary, You are

not a spy. - Because I'm a secretary?!

You're not suited to it. You have

no formal training whatsoever.

- I'm not suited?! You can't speak German!

- You can't hold your tongue.

I saw it the first time I met you.

Everything just spills out of your mouth.

- It makes you dangerous.

- Is more my war than yours.

- That is a ridiculous thing to say.

- I'm a Jew!

You know what Hitler's

doing to Jews?

- Even half Jews? - Of course I do.

I have relatives still hiding there.

- I doubt it.

- That they're hiding?!

- That you know whas happening.

- Meaning?

Meaning I won't let

you commit suicide.

- I will quit if you don't let me go.

- I'll miss you.

I will, goddammit!

I quit!

- Linda.

- Ed, I want you to taste my strudel,

the way my grandmother

taught me to make it.

She taught me to cook German-style,

the way my grandfather likes it.

And i could cook for 50 if I had to.

Five courses-the way they do it in Berlin.

On nights when they didn't have people over,

I could bring tea and strudel

up to the Dreschers' study

and put a little schnapps in the tea

so that Horst and Hedda would

get tired and could retire early,

and I could be left alone

in the study to clean up.

This is not about you and me, goddammit.

I wanna do something important with my life.

Here, taste!

Taste it!

You know what you're

getting yourself into, Linda?

Yeah.

The war.

He agreed to send me

for two weeks only...

insisting that whether

I succeeded or not,

I'd come out of Berlin

in exactly 14 days.

Untrained in survival skills,

I was given a quick course

in using a microfilm camera,

and a purse that made up in function

for what it lacked in fashion.

Beyond that, it was all guts.

Accompanying me

as far as Switzerland,

Ed would turn me over to

the legendary Sunflower,

a German working

for the Americans,

who would take me on my

final journey into Berlin.

I'll meet you in two weeks.

Right on this platform,

two weeks from today.

- Do I look all right?

- You look perfect.

This is it.

Still wanna go

through with it?

- Where is he?

- Right in front of you.

- There?

- Not there.

There.

Take care of yourself, Linda.

See you in two weeks.

Eyes down, say nothing.

And try not to look like a spy.

- Are you mute?

- You said not to speak.

- In German, please.

- You spoke in English.

Dear God, your accent.

What's wrong with it?

Excuse me?

I guess I couldn't blame him.

Might I interrupt? Are you aware

that you're speaking in German?

Sorry.

I remember it in German.

Could you remember

it in English, please?

Sure.

- Whas wrong with my accent?

- Is from the gutter.

But is supposed to be.

I'm a cook.

But not one that

Drescher would accept.

Don't you know he's a

man of great pretensions?

With that vulgar sound,

he won't let you in at the door.

My God,

what have they sent me?

I guess I couldn't blame him.

Konrad Friedrichs, known as Sunflower,

had become a spy, by my calculations,

around the year I was born.

A veteran of two wars,

he was now partnered with me,

whose only qualification,

as he was quick to point out,

was that I was born to some

low-class individuals from Berlin.

It was my hope that some of these

individuals were still in safe hiding,

that my Jewish relatives had escaped

Hitler's dreaded storm troopers,

and were somehow,

somewhere,

still alive.

Your first sight of Berlin.

Any impressions?

Pitch darkness...

I was surrounded by it.

The city was blacked out, prepared for

the night raids which hadn't yet begun.

Leave the luggage.

Not yours.

Follow me.

Toilet, washbasin.

You'll stay in here until

I decide what to do.

Come!

Come.

Uncle Putzi!

I'm sorry I frightened you.

No one answered the door.

Herr Friedrichs

is not at home.

Well, he's wrong

about your accent.

Is charming.

Come.

Come.

He said if your cooking was like your

accent, it was strictly for the beer halls.

So, I'm taking a week off work to teach you

some grammar and high German cuisine.

And believe me,

you're going to need it.

We're putting you into

Drescher's house in a week

to cook for a party which

is most important to him.

His temper is legendary

when things go wrong.

- My uncle didn't tell you I was coming?

- I just arrived last night, Frulein.

I'm Margrete von Eberstien

of the Klaus von Eberstiens.

My father, the baron,

is an actual friend of Hitler.

Der Fhrer's been to my house!

To tell you the truth, is my mother

he likes. She's a famous concert pianist.

And der Fhrer, like Horst Drescher,

is a man of great pretensions.

Would you like to

meet der Fhrer, Lina?

Ed Leland says

to tell you hello.

Margrete von Eberstien was

no one I was prepared for.

And now,

you must tell me

all about Clark Gable.

Is he really married

to Vivien Leigh?

But we were sisters

from the start.

Our first job was to contact

my courier, a fishmonger,

who would export any documents,

microfilm or written messages

inside cartons of

frozen fish to Norway.

- That's him?

- Ja.

How does it work?

I just go over?

Again, use the signal so

he'll know who you are.

Pass a message for practice.

- What message?

- Anything you like.

For practice, I wrote a message

indicating I was looking for my relatives

Hannah,

Liesel and Sofi Weiss.

- What is that?

- My family.

We heard they're

hiding in Berlin.

You're Jewish?!

Half.

My God, you've got guts.

My father calls it chutzpah.

- What is this?

- American spy stuff.

There was a password.

- Ready?

- Yeah.

Something about fish.

Codfish.

Is fresh cod in season?

Is fresh cod in season?

Is fresh cod in season?

Is cod in fresh s-season?

We are closed.

I meant is fresh

cod in season?

Get out of the car.

Where the hell is he? Kurt!

Did you fall in?

Take it easy.

Whas the hurry?

- Gurke?

- He doesn't like to be kept waiting.

Just tell him Kurt

was on the toilet.

Heil Hitler.

Heil Hitler.

Papers?

You got this at

the Tauschmarkt?

- Yes.

- My wife did, too.

What did you pay for it?

40 marks.

You overpaid.

Good for hiding money.

- Come! Is getting late.

- Let her be!

- The Commandant is waiting.

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