The High and the Mighty Page #7

Before we actually have to go in

there'll probably be several more.

Some of which can land on water.

And surface vessels

will be directed toward us.

Aeroplanes have gone

into the water before

and no one received the slightest injury,

except maybe a little dampening.

Casualties come from panic.

So you must not hurry.

Miss Spalding and our second officer,

Mr Wheeler, will be back here with you.

Do exactly as they tell you.

Aeroplanes have been known to float

for so long that

they became a menace to navigation

and had to be sunk by gunfire.

They've been known to sink

in a few minutes, too.

This is an inflatable life raft.

It's really a wonderful gadget.

It's got everything in it

but T-bone steaks.

It will hold all of you very comfortably.

Mr Wheeler, our second officer,

will be in charge.

He will tell you

when to take off your shoes.

We don't want anybody kicking holes

in this raft.

Miss Spalding will show you

where the emergency rations are,

when you get hungry.

How're we gonna get hungry if we're

only gonna be in the raft a few minutes?

Aren't you giving us a lot of malarkey?

Maybe a little,

but we just don't want bad things said

about the service

and cuisine on this airline.

No doubt there'll be caviar.

It would be most arduous

if there were no caviar.

I'll speak to the emergency chef.

I don't think

this is anything to joke about.

You're wrong.

The more jokes, the better.

When you get in that raft,

you might even try singing.

I was once a fair-to-middling bass.

I can't carry a tune in a basket,

but I'm sure loud.

Now, this is very important.

When we actually go in,

there will be two shocks.

If you know about them in advance,

they won't frighten you.

The first will be hardly noticeable,

like a normal landing.

But the second may be quite severe,

so brace yourselves.

Soon after that, the lights will go out,

but Miss Spalding and Mr Wheeler

both have flashlights.

So unfasten your seat belts

and wait for his call.

And keep calm.

Now, is there anything

you don't understand?

Could we send a radio message

to our families?

They were gonna meet us at the airport.

They will be standing.

I'm sorry, our radio is extremely busy

giving our position

and contacting the rescue plane.

I've some important papers

in my briefcase, many years of work.

Can I take them with me?

Not unless you can stuff them

in your pockets.

No baggage of any kind.

Come to think about it,

the bottom of the sea

is the best place for them.

And one thing more.

Now, don't get your hopes up.

There is one chance in a thousand

that we can make the coast.

This isn't possible unless there is

a marked change in the wind.

And according to our forecast,

it just couldn't happen.

But it could. And the one thing

we can do right now to help matters

is to lighten ship.

That way we'll use slightly less fuel.

If any of you gentlemen have ever had

an urge to throw things out of windows,

this is your chance of a lifetime.

What about us girls?

I love to throw things.

Good, go back and help Miss Spalding.

I'd better stick with the wife. She's

awfully worried about our children.

Please, let me help.

I'll sue the airline for this,

I'm not supposed to exert myself.

- The doctor says my heart...

- Your heart is breaking my heart.

We can get rid of some of this baggage

if you gentlemen will come with me,

and the rest of you

form a line clear back to the door.

My new Mainbocher frock is in here.

The insurance company

isn't gonna like this.

What a wonderful excuse

to get a new wardrobe.

Be kind of nice

if he came through all this

and didn't know a thing about it.

I need a big man.

Interested?

- Fascinated.

- Grab me around the waist.

All right, start kicking things out,

but be careful.

Keep behind me,

it's lonesome out there.

That does it.

Now all we have to do is wait.

Excuse me.

My kids, they like to hear me play this.

- Aren't you coming back to our seat?

- I'm staying here.

I can't stand that crying towel.

Hobie, give me 2,250 rpm.

Crack the cowl flaps.

Watch those head temperatures.

Give me another inch of boost!

Look at the fuel, Skipper,

the flow meters, we're pouring it in.

I can't help it. This turbulence is slowing

us down and we can't climb out of it!

Have a cup of coffee.

- I'm plenty hot enough now.

- Then it will cool you off.

Of course you're worried, Mrs Joseph.

But I'm quite certain

we'll get out of this all right.

By tomorrow we can look back on it

as an interesting experience.

By the by, how old are your children?

Jennifer is six and Edward is four.

Jennifer is such a delightful name,

Mrs Joseph. How fortunate you are.

Jennifer has always brought to me

the suggestion of the Scottish moor,

heather, great peace,

and visions of little villages

nestled against the hills.

That sort of thing.

Is your Jennifer anything like that?

I don't know exactly what you mean,

but she's always been a quiet child.

Precisely.

Somehow I knew your Jennifer

would be like that.

And Edward, I've no doubt, is growing

so fast you can't buy shoes for him.

Every three weeks.

Why don't you try to rest now?

Later I'd like to hear

a great deal more about your children.

I thought you hated

the mere mention of children.

I do.

But that poor woman is terrified.

I think I helped her.

For 10 years you've said that

love was a word in the dictionary

and children were monsters.

And you would never go two inches

out of your way to help anybody.

What goes, Gustave?

I've never seen you this way.

You've forgotten yourself

for a whole hour.

You've been magnificent.

Exaggeration is a foolish indulgence.

You told that woman

we'd get out of this all right.

- Do you really believe that?

- No.

In spite of what that pilot said, I think

we're batting at a very sticky wicket.

- And yet you're not afraid?

- Yes and no.

I'm not sure just how I feel.

If I were openly afraid now,

some of the others might become so.

I was guilty of the cheapest theatrics

right after the fire

and now it seems, I'm stuck with it.

I just want to know one thing.

What happened to the biggest baby

in the world?

The child-man who was afraid to sleep

with the lights off.

You used to burst into tears

if the laundry put starch in your shirts,

or the crepe suzette was underdone.

I don't understand you, Gustave.

I guess I never will.

Maybe it isn't important

to understand you

like the other women

you've always managed to keep around.

I've tried to tell myself I made a bargain

with a throwback, a Roman emperor.

You bought me on the market, Gustave,

paid for me,

like you might pay for a play

which you thought might turn out well.

For 10 years I've lived with that thought

and hated it.

Now it'll never bother me again.

Gustave, there is something

I'd like to tell you.

And if we don't get out of this,

I'd like you to know it even more.

I've never said it before

and probably you'll never want me

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