Stalag 17 Page #14

SEFTON:

(taking the cigar out

of his mouth)

No use, Schulz. You might as well

come clean. Why don't you just tell

'em it's me. Because I'm really the

illegitimate son of Hitler. And after

the Germans win the war you'll make

me the Gauleiter of Zinzinnati.

SCHULTZ:

You Americans! You are the craziest

people! That's why I like you! I

wish I could invite you all to my

house for a nice German Christmas!

HARRY:

(to Stosh)

Why don't we accept, Animal? The

worst that can happen is we wind up

a couple of lamp shades.

SCHULTZ:

(jovially)

Raus! Raus! All of you!

By this time most of them have put on their warm clothes,

caps and gloves and are filing out.

Schulz starts to follow them, but stops short as he sees:

The electric light bulb hanging by a wire from the ceiling.

Just the bulb. No shade. The wire is tied up into a slip

knot.

Schulz reacts to what he has seen. he watches the last of

the P.O.W.s leave, and the Germans carry the stove out of

the barrack. He closes the door. His entire attitude has

changed. He is serious and efficient. He walks over to the

chess set on the table. Out of his pocket he takes a chess

piece -- a black queen -- and exchanges it with the black

queen from the set. He puts it in his pocket. Steps over to

the light bulb, pulls the slip knot free and exits.

The light bulb hangs straight now, swaying gently in the

empty barrack.

EXT. COMPOUND

The men from Barrack 4 are lined up between the latrine and

the barbed wire, starting to dig up the tunnel. They are

supervised by German guards. In the background, Schulz is

crossing from the barrack towards the Administration Building.

As the men dig, they look off at:

COOKIE'S VOICE

He was the Beast of Bavaria all right,

as we pieced it together later. And

there was a stoolie in our barrack,

just as Duke said. They had a very

simple communications system -- Schulz

and the stoolie...

An open German half-truck driving toward the big gate,

carrying two crude wooden coffins.

COOKIE'S VOICE

That's how the Krauts knew about the

tunnel, from the day we started

digging. Those poor suckers Manfredi

and Johnson! They got out of Stalag

17 sure enough, only not quite the

way they wanted to go.

The men have stopped digging. As the CAMERA goes down the

row they take off their caps. Joey does not comprehend.

Blondie, standing next to him, takes the cap off for him.

The CAMERA PULLS PAST Cookie who has taken his cap off, and

now STOPS on Sefton. He has seen the coffins. He has seen

the others take off their caps. He takes the cigar out of

his mouth, snuffs it out, puts it into his pocket, and slowly

pulls off his cap.

COOKIE'S VOICE

As for the stoolie, I just wish he

had German measles because when you

get the measles you break out all

over in red spots, and we could have

pegged him easy. As it was it could

have been anybody in our outfit --

Duke or Hoffy or Price or Goofy Joey

or Harry or the Animal or maybe

Sefton. Sergeant J.J. Sefton. I guess

it's about time I told you a few

more things about that Sefton guy.

If I was anything of a writer I'd

send it in to the Reader's Digest

for one of those 'Most Unforgettable

Characters You've Ever Met'...

DISSOLVE:

END OF SEQUENCE "B"

SEQUENCE "C"

EXT. COMPOUND - (DAY)

A circle about 15 feet in diameter is drawn on the barren

ground with white lime. Around it, some forty G.I.s. In the

center, Cookie, holding a cardboard box. To one side, standing

on a wooden crate, Sefton. In front of him, a makeshift

bookie's desk, a heap of loose cigarettes on top. G.I.s are

crowding around, making wagers in cigarettes. Hanging off

one side of the desk, the odds board: NO. HORSE ODDS 1.

Whirlaway 3:
1 2. Seabiscuit 5:1 3. Equipoise 1:1 4. Twenty

Grand 4:
1 5. Schnickelfritz 10:1

COOKIE'S VOICE

...he was a B.T.O., Sefton was. A

Big Time Operator. Always hustling,

always scrounging. Take for instance

the horse races. Every Saturday and

Sunday he would put on horse races.

He was the sole owner and operator

of the Stalag 17 Turf Club. He was

the Presiding Steward, the Chief

Handicapper, the Starter, the Judge,

the Breeder and his own bookie. He

was the whole works, except that I

was the stable boy for ten smokes a

day.

SEFTON:

Step up, boys! The horses are at the

post!

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