The Wooden Horse Page #3

I prefer it that way.

I feel I do better on my own.

We accept that condition.

HE PLAYS:
"Nymphs and Shepherds"

by Henry Purcell

ENGINES APPROACH

Bill!

VIOLIN PLAYS FRANTICALLY

PHIL:
Clear it up, boys.

Quick!

# Come away

# Nymphs and shepherds

come away, come away

# Come-a, come away

# Nymphs and shepherds

come away, come away

# Nymphs and shepherds

come away, come away, come-a...#

RAUS!

# Nymphs and shepherds

come away, come away

# Nymphs and shepherds come away

# Come away...#

CONFUSED SHOUTING

# Come away...# AUS! #

Come-a, come-a, away... #

# Come away, come away... #

Komm, komm.

Where's Nigel? In the roof.

BANGING:

If they find the sand, that's it.

I'm afraid we've had it, Pete.

Well, it was a lousy tunnel anyway.

WHISTLE:

COMMAND IN GERMAN

Raus!

Did they get yours? Yep.

Bad luck. Yours OK?

So far. That's one thing, anyway.

Must be three tons of sand up there!

Name?

Michel Condein.

Born?

Lille.

Date? September 29, 1920.

Nationality? French.

Profession? Draughtsman.

Destination? Lubeck.

Do you have a permit to travel? Yes.

Who are you employed by?

Metalleverkehr-Gesellschaft.

Very good.

Coffee's ready, John.

Well, how do I look? Well...

All right! Don't say it!

Pete, your turn. Remember "Ich bin Auslander.

Nicht verstehen." I'm a foreigner. I don't understand.

Name? Marcel Levasseur.

Born? Paris. Nationality? French.

Wie heisst die zweite Schwester

ihrer Mutter? Hmm?

Ich bin Auslander. Nicht verstehen.

No-one will with that accent!

Well, how do I look?

Commercial traveller - German style!

Very good. Are you proposing

to take those through the tunnel?

These are my samples. Oh.

I need samples.

These serve a dual purpose.

What are they? Margarine.

I can eat them if I'm hungry.

How are the combis getting along?

I don't fancy those next to my skin.

They smell revolting!

Something's peculiar in the dye.

"Peculiar" is an understatement!

Here's your special rations.

"Dog food" we call it. Mixed with

water it's like porridge... Sort of!

Chocolate, raisins

and a couple of torches.

Thank you. Could we see the Group Captain for a

moment? Yes, come on. He has some money for you.

Clothes look pretty good.

David.

- Howard and Clinton, sir.

- OK. Gather round.

Good evening, sir.

Keep your voices low.

Zero hour tomorrow, eh?

What time do you break?

6pm. The train is at 6.30.

What's your plan?

Phil Roe is going alone to Danzig.

John and I are going to Lubeck.

If we don't get a ship, we'll stay

in a hotel. It's worth trying.

Here's your money.

120 marks each. Sorry

we can't afford more. Thank you.

One thing, sir. Would you stand in

at roll call tomorrow? Stand in?!

What for? There's three of us.

We need a fourth to seal the trap.

The horse won't carry four, so one of us is sealed

down waiting for the rest. Not very pleasant.

Who'll be sealed down?

HOWARD AND CLINTON: I will!

I can get on with digging.

So can I!

A great lout like you will use up more air! It

was my idea! There's one way of settling this.

The longest match goes first.

Me. Good, it means

I'll be first out of the tunnel too!

RHYTHMIC THUDS ABOVE

Yours.

Mine.

Phil's.

It's pretty hot down here.

Take it easy.

I don't want to carry you out!

I'll be OK. So long.

Good luck.

THUDS GET FAINTER

BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYS

Howard? Hmm?

I've got a bit of German money here.

It might come in handy.

Thanks.

LABOURED BREATHING

Parade dismissed!

Thank you, sir.

Stand by.

Phil!

Ready? Up.

So long.

Paul.

So long, Nick. Pete?

For John.

Thanks, Nick. Good luck.

Right, now!

OK? All set.

HE KNOCKS:

NICK:
Careful, now. Right, lift.

NICK:
Watch it!

RHYTHMIC THUDS:

That's the hole for your feet. OK?

Right.

Blimey!

Good luck, Phil.

See you after the war!

Right.

John!

JOHN!

SHALLOW BREATHING

Where the hell have you been?

It's only about 4.30. Is that all?

I thought something had gone wrong.

A present from Nick.

Thanks.

How bad is the fall?

It's not a fall. Thank God!

It's the sand I pushed behind me.

I'm pushing to the surface.

How far is it?

A couple of feet.

Drink up, then, old boy.

We haven't much time.

All right. Lift.

DOG BARKS:

Only a thin crust left!

Right. Hold it.

John's bag.

Mine.

Stand by.

Peter!

Good luck, Pete. See you in Sweden.

Good luck, Phil.

Ready?

Wait.

THUDDING:

THUDDING GETS FAINTER

Five seconds.

Four, three,

two, one. Now!

RIOTOUS NOISE:

Da druben.

WHISTLING, BARKING AND SHOUTING

MUSIC BLARES OU SHOUTING IN GERMAN

Links!

Come on, let's get going.

HE GIGGLES:

What on earth are you laughing at?

You!

Mincing around

like a ruddy great bear!

Don't look so good yourself.

Come on, let's get cleaned up.

TRAIN ENGINE RUMBLES

Zwei Karten fur Lubeck, bitte.

Ausweis, bitte?

Ja.

Haben Sie

eine polizeiliche Reiseerlaubnis?

Ah, Sie sind Franzose.

Fahren Sie im Urlaub?

Ich habe nicht die ganze Nacht Zeit!

Eine Ruckfahrkarte nach Frankfurt.

Danke schon.

WHISTLE BLOWS:

Parade, attention!

The following penalties

have been imposed.

One - the weekly hot shower

will be stopped.

ALL:
Boo!

Two - access to the camp theatre

will be denied.

ALL:
Boo!

All sport will be forbidden and all

gymnastic equipment will be denied.

ALL:
Booo-ooo!

ALL:
Hooray!

Three cheers for the horse!

THEY CHEER ENTHUSIASTICALLY

ANNOUNCER:
'Der auf Bahnsteig Ein...'

BRAKES SCREECH:

'Achtung!'

'Hauptmann Zwickler

zur Kommandantur!'

We can't stand around here.

Let's keep with the crowd.

'Achtung!'

GERMAN TRAIN ANNOUNCEMEN INAUDIBLE

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

This is more like it. Look.

She's Swedish!

We must get in touch with the crew.

We'll come back tonight and climb

into the docks. I don't like that.

It's better to meet them ashore. It's better to meet

them on board, than out here surrounded by goons!

We'll climb in tonight.

Perhaps you're right.

We should move.

It's not safe around here.

HORN BLOWS:

GUARD COUGHS VIOLENTLY

This is it.

She's gone.

Sure it's the right dock?

Halt!

He's seen us.

OK.

Halt! Wer da?

Stehen wir besser im Wachtposten

bevor sie entkommen.

Back to the fence.

CLOCK STRIKES THE HOUR

He's following.

Down here, quick!

Blind alley!

Through the gate. Look

as if we're going into the house.

He's coming down the alley.

CRASH:

Quick. Over here.

BABY CRIES:

RAISED GERMAN VOICES

MAN AND WOMAN ARGUE IN GERMAN

DOG BARKS:

No, the object is to get to Sweden, not a bullet in

the back! No more climbing into docks! We got out OK.

Now, look here, John.

It took four months to get here.

Don't rush the fences.

The old bull is right. We can't get to the Swedes,

let them come to us. How? Find the pubs they go to.

Where do we stay?

We can't even get a shave.

When we left camp, we planned to

travel by train and stay in hotels.

If we're going to find the Swedes,

we must have a base.

OK.

Russians, I think.

Any luck? No, full up.

Always "full-up". Maybe foreign

workers aren't allowed in hotels!

MEN SPEAK IN FRENCH

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes