The Young Lions Page #2

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Arrtez les gars! Arrtez!

Arrtez!

Nous sommes fiichus!

- Captain Hardenburg?

- Ah, Diestl. Nice to see you.

- I understand you had difficulty on the road.

- Yes, sir.

- At ease.

- Thank you, sir.

They were young conscripts, sir, making

a token gesture. There was a roadblock.

No need to apologise. I want to commend you

for the way you seem to have handled this.

Thank you, sir. We had one casualty, sir.

Private Maeschen was killed.

Oh, yes, Private Maeschen.

Did he perform his duty?

Yes, sir, he killed one of the enemy,

and then became, uh... excited

and failed to take cover.

Too bad. I'm sure he fought bravely.

lt's wonderful, isn't it?

Yes, sir. So, with your permission,

I would like to write a letter to his family.

Never mind, Diestl, I will do it.

Leutnant!

Since you are with us, I wonder if you would

mind taking a photograph of me for my wife.

- We had always planned to come here.

- lt would be a pleasure, Captain.

- Come on, Diestl.

- I'm sure your wife is not interested...

Oh, yes, yes, yes! I have written about you

and many of the men. She's most interested.

Just a moment.

We will stand on the steps. Come on, Diestl.

With the church in the background.

A great day. A day of historic importance.

ln years to come, we will

look back on this and say

''We were there at the dawn of the new era.''

Ah,ja. Now, Captain, this is the one,ja?

Wunderbar!

All right, settle down!

Settle down! This is New York City property!

Stop spittin' and throwin' butts

on the floor, and stop shovin'!

The army's got plenty of room for everybody.

- What's wrong?

- lt's cold.

Now cough.

Turn your head and cough.

All right, breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Out.

All right, bend over.

- Bend over and touch your toes.

- Oh.

OK.

For a man your age and your profession,

you're in excellent health.

- How do you manage it?

- Clean liquor.

Give this to the board. Next man.

You didn't register in California?

Yes, I did, but I came east

before I got my classification.

- You came to New York to get a defence job?

- To get any job.

Michael Whiteacre.

Oh, uh, sit down over here, Mr Whiteacre.

You must be very busy, Mr Whiteacre.

I'm told we had a special call

from Selective Service headquarters,

asking us not to waste

any of your valuable time.

- I'm rehearsing a show against a deadline.

- Well, we'll try to rush you through quickly.

- How long will this show run, do you think?

- I don't know. No one ever does.

Well, this is March. lf it runs very long,

your understudy will get a break.

- You're booked for Uncle Sam from June 15.

- Well, I don't think that's quite fair...

- You can file an appeal if you like.

- Oh, I'll appeal.

- ls there anything else you'd like to discuss?

- No, I'll just appeal.

Just see the secretary outside.

(man) Ackerman.

Oh, sit down over here, Mr Ackerman.

Mr Ackerman, you don't seem to have

any dependent relatives,

or any occupation

essential to national defence.

Can you think of any reason why

you should not be classified 1A?

No, sir, I can't.

I see you work for Macy's.

You'll stay for the Easter rush,

and you'll report June 15th.

I think that'll be all.

Thank you very much.

Ralph Spencer.

Anybody got a cigarette?

- Want a cigarette?

- Oh, thanks.

Here.

How do you spell ''extenuating''?

- Hm?

- ''Extenuating''.

Uh... I don't know. E-x-t-e... No, e-x-t...

llliteracy. That'll do it.

- I heard you sing a lot of times.

- Oh, you have? At the club?

- On the radio.

- Oh.

- Are you singing at a club?

- No, we're rehearsing a show.

- On Broadway?

- Mm-hm.

- What's the name of it?

- Soft Shoes.

Soft Shoes. I gotta... I gotta remember that.

Let's have a drink. Don't frustrate me.

Anybody that can't spell ''extenuating''

is a friend of mine.

Come on.

Sometimes I think I give off a scent -

- you know, rouses the female.

- Hm?

- Those girls.

- Where? Oh!

Wait a minute. You mean that you didn't...?

Your antenna's turned off.

- No, I frankly didn't notice.

- Well, you're sick.

Have you ever had a girl?

- Have I ever had a girl?

- That's what I thought.

Listen, tonight I'm givin' a party -

you know, girls, females, broads.

And you will attend. You will capture one

and carry her off to your cave.

- You will attend?

- Sure, yeah. Yeah.

Good. Let us not discuss this sort of topic

any longer. Let us discuss alcohol.

# I like New York in June

# How about you?

# I like a Gershwin tune

# How about you?

# I like a fireside when a storm is due

# I like potato chips,

moonlight and motor trips

# How about you?

# I'm mad about good books

# Can't get my fill

# And James Durante's looks

# Give me a thrill

May I refresh your drink?

Thank you, no. I'm fine.

Have you met everyone?

That's all right, I was...

listening to the music.

Michael's told me all about you.

He has?

Yes.

No, I meant... I only met him

this morning at the draft board.

- You met Michael at the draft board?

- Yes.

And he was 1A?

We were both 1A.

- Excuse me... would you?

- Yes.

# You saw me standin' alone

# Without a dream...

- I wanna talk to you.

- # Without a love...

- Good evening. How are you tonight?

- Fine, thanks. And you?

- Hi, Hope.

- Hi, Mike. How are you?

- Fine. How are you?

- Good.

- I want you to meet somebody.

- Friend of yours?

Yes.

Noah, this is Hope Plowman. Noah Ackerman.

- Hello.

- How do you do?

See if you can cheer him up.

I don't think he really likes my music.

Actually, I haven't been listening.

My, what a lovely view.

lsn't it?

Yes, Margaret?

I hear you're being drafted.

- I'm not being drafted.

- Mr Ackerman says you are.

Mr Ackerman doesn't know what rabbits

can be pulled out of a hat in Washington.

Look, I'm not a hero and I'm not a pigeon.

The pigeons can do my fightin' for me.

What's the matter with you?

You think I hate you for trying to get out of it?

I don't. Really, I don't.

Anything you do is OK with me,

but... you start to feel guilty about it, then we

start having fights and you take it out on me.

I don't feel guilty!

lt's just that I'm against war, and this whole

drummed-up super-patriotic atmosphere.

You just don't wanna get shot. Nobody wants

to get shot. Stop trying to convince yourself.

Forget it.

- I got a sick show on my hands!

- Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Look, Michael... this is me, Margaret.

I understand you.

You're a heel, but you're not that big a heel.

And then, too, they fish for fish in the river.

I was told that.

- I like your tie.

- You do?

I just saw it and I bought it.

Do you think it's gonna rain?

I like to walk in the rain.

- Mm. I do, too.

- You do?

- Mm-hm.

- You want to walk?

- All right.

- Let's walk.

OK.

- What are you gonna tell him?

- Who?

- Michael.

- Nothing.

Oh.

Well, maybe so.

New York City must be frightening

to a girl from the country.

Oh, no, it isn't.

lt puts on an act of sophistication,

but at heart, it's strictly provincial.

I don't think it's provincial.

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