Strange Cargo

All right, Verne.

Did you hear me? I said, come out.

Thirty days in solitary

won't make him any easier to handle.

Don't try anything, Verne,

or you'll go back in there.

Look him over. He may have a knife.

Yeah. Maybe one of them rats in there

slipped me one.

But I got a couple of hidden weapons

at that, here and here.

- Nobody can take them away from me.

- Come on.

Ninety lashes, 16 months in solitary,

seven months in the bear pit

and five attempts to escape in three years.

- Don't you like it here, Verne?

- No. Does that answer it?

You put things so clearly.

Maybe we ought to give you a chance

to make some new contacts,

outside the walls.

- Outside?

- Why not?

Nature surrounded us with something

stronger than walls, the jungle.

You know about that don't you, Verne?

So it's tough. You've plugged up

every hole I've ever made,

but you know

I'm going to make another one.

Yeah, I've heard men talk like

that before. Men like Moussenq.

Six times he got away.

Three times we caught him,

and three times the jungle got him for us.

You can't win, Verne.

And why try,

when you've only got three years left?

I'd try if I only had three minutes left.

I'm a thief by profession, Grideau,

not a convict.

There's nothing worth stealing

around here except freedom,

and I'm after some of that.

Verne, I'm going to assign you

to the wharf detail outside the walls.

Frankly, it's an experiment.

I've tried everything else with you.

You'll be on your honor.

I haven't got any. Don't be a sucker.

Yes, well go and clean yourself up.

Report for work at the main gate.

Oh, Verne. I forgot to tell you,

there were three or four men,

big men like you,

who did make it through the jungle.

Except when they got through,

I was waiting for them to bring them back.

28, 30, 32, 34, 36. 36, right?

36, right.

Looks like you've had enough, Pop.

Twelve years seems like enough.

More than enough.

Get up, Moussenq. This is no picnic.

Did he call you Moussenq?

That's my name.

That's all Moussenq is now, a name.

You called me Pop.

How old do you think I am?

You look about 50.

I'm 36 years old, believe it if you can.

Twelve of them I spent in the bear pit

and solitary and under the lash.

You've made enough breaks.

Why didn't you get away?

No man can get through that jungle.

It tears you and breaks you

and makes you old before your time.

There's nothing a man can't get through

to be free. It's been done.

With help from the outside,

a boat waiting down the coast, maybe.

Who knows?

Some way they did it, but not alone.

No, monsieur, it can't be done.

But someday I'll try it again.

Verne. Drop it and get moving.

Hello, Georges. You've been

such a stranger at the caf lately.

Well, you know how it is

with a newly married man.

- He feels kind of married, you know?

- Well, in a couple of months, then.

- May I go aboard?

- What for?

Let's say I'm a fool for boats,

and I only see one every three months.

Well, maybe you expect

something from home?

- In care of the captain.

- Well, I'll take you to him.

Coming, Julie? There might be some mail.

Mail for me?

- Hello, Julie.

- Go away, Pig.

Oh, Julie, you don't mean it

just like that, do you?

After all, there is no harm

in being friendly.

Men die all the time

and pigs live on and on,

when you'd think their own smell

would kill them.

Look, how many times

have I got to tell you?

You're a pig, a sneak

and a dirty stoolpigeon,

and I want you to leave me alone.

Watch yourself, baby.

Just act natural like you're alone.

- What do you want?

- Guess.

Why, you crummy convict.

Who do you think you're talking to?

Wait a minute, sweetheart.

Made a nice grab there, didn't I?

Let go, or I'll yell for the guard.

Be nice, or I'll give it a twist.

And they'll fish you out of the drink.

Don't you know what'll happen

if you're caught talking to me?

Sure. They'll throw me into solitary.

Can we fix it to be thrown in together?

You'd like to cut yourself

a piece of cake like that, wouldn't you?

Easy, baby.

Listen, if I'm caught talking to a

convict, they'll chase me off the island.

Swell. We'll meet on the mainland,

and hit Paris together.

You're from Paris, ain't you?

I said, where you from, baby?

- Marseille.

- Marseille.

Hot blue nights,

the right kind of music, it's a date.

A romantic convict.

What are you in for, stealing doilies?

All right, I got no time to mess around.

You're one of the girls

at the caf, ain't you?

- Ain't you?

- Well, what if I am?

I'll be there tonight.

Keep a light in the window,

and a couple more in your eyes.

Tonight you'll be in a cell

just where you belong.

And if the walls fall down or something,

and you should get out,

I'll turn you over to the guards

so quick it'll make you dizzy.

You hate hard, baby, so you love hard.

What's your name?

Yvonne, Missy, Julie, Fifi?

Julie.

I'll see you tonight, Julie.

Don't tell me the heat's got you.

I'd swear I saw you talking to yourself.

You weren't talking to a convict?

No. I know better than that.

I was just trying out some new answers.

I'd like to hear some new ones.

Why don't you drop up some night after

you've tucked the convicts in the cells?

You lock them up, don't you?

I mean, there's no way

they can get out at night, is there?

- No way that they know about. Why?

- Nothing. I was just wondering.

30, 32, 34, 35. Halt.

Louis, there should be 36. I count 35.

Hurry up there,

get up here with the others.

I must have fallen behind.

There was so much to do out there.

Get in line and hurry up about it.

All right, Louis, 36 is right.

Take them away.

March.

- I said I'd be here, baby.

- Yes, so you did.

And here you are,

and you're quite a little man.

Now beat it

before you get yourself a lot of grief.

Grief ain't what I came after.

You got class, kid.

Or is it because

I haven't seen any women lately?

Don't try that again.

Because if you do,

I'll break a couple of your bones,

if you've got any.

Let's see if you have.

Now get smart.

Why don't you get smart?

You know what they'll do to you.

Sure I do, but I'll take all they've got

for a little of this.

I don't know

what you'll look like tomorrow,

but right now, baby, you're

the most beautiful dame in the world.

- Does that mean anything to you?

- Not a thing.

No? Supposing I wasn't a convict?

Supposing I was sailing through

on my yacht or a guy selling brushes...

Yeah, and suppose I was Snow White.

But even if I did think you weren't

the worst-looking guy in the world,

supposing even I told you

you looked like someone

I was once dumb enough to go for,

what would it get me?

If you get caught here,

I get sent back to the mainland.

I can think of worse things than that.

Look, this isn't my idea of heaven, either.

Let's get back to supposing.

Supposing I was the guy

you were dumb enough to fall for.

- Then what?

- Here's what.

There, you see?

Maybe you wouldn't be so hard to like

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