Uncertain Glory Page #2

I didn't know there was any left in France.

Oh, very little, but there's always something

left for those who appreciate the best.

Thank you, my friend.

And there're

very few of us left too. Here.

You know, if anybody'd ever told me

I'd follow a man clear across France...

...l'd have laughed in his face.

Then laugh in mine, sweetheart.

I knew it the minute I saw you.

What are you going to do?

Why come to Bordeaux?

Oh, I'm waiting to hear

from a couple of friends.

Tomorrow night they're gonna slip me

across the border into Spain.

- Both of us?

- No, but...

But I'll send for you.

I got plenty of money.

Thanks to our mutual friend, Henri.

To Henri.

Who is it?

The waiter, sir, I have a message for you.

What?

Easy, Picard.

I don't like to use this.

It always upsets me.

Jean.

Oh.

How much did you get out of this?

I don't understand, Jean.

- What do you want with him?

- He's a convicted murderer.

And I'm taking him back to the guillotine.

women and Bonet.

Go to the devil.

No, Picard, that's your address.

Come on, get your hat.

You know better

than to try that with me.

Get up.

Next station, Clairvaux.

Everyone changes for Paris.

Change? They told me

this was a through train.

But not today.

The bridge over the Gartempe

was blown up last night.

- Sabotage?

- Yes.

Very soon the French railway

will have to be run like a steeplechase.

- Was anyone killed?

- Fortunately, it was terrible.

The saboteur waited until a long

German troop train was crossing.

That must've been a beautiful sight.

Oh. Which one of you gentlemen

is the prisoner?

Ah. Of course. A bad type.

- What did he do?

- I killed a conductor.

For asking too many questions.

A hundred hostages.

"A hundred hostages to die

unless saboteur found within five days."

Horrible.

And all innocent.

Absolutely innocent of anything,

and now they have to die in five days.

- Those Germans will catch the saboteur.

- No, they won't.

Don't forget the saboteurs

are not ordinary criminals like you.

They are intelligent people

and have great brains directing them.

They do things for France.

Hmm. What do the Germans do

if a saboteur gives himself up?

Firing squad.

Oh, how many guns? Six?

Eight.

Tie his hands behind his back?

That's the custom.

Blindfolded, huh?

If a man wants to be. That's optional.

Well, that's not so bad.

At least it has more dignity

than the guillotine.

What time do we get to the prison?

Tonight.

Bonet?

Bonet?

I've got an idea.

What would happen...?

What would happen

if I were to walk into the Gestapo...

...and say that I was the fella

that blew up this bridge?

Oh, no, wait a minute.

You can't shrug that off.

That's an important thought.

A hundred lives.

A hundred innocent lives

for one guilty one.

That's an idea that's gonna take root

in your mind and it'll grow there.

And you'll never be able to get rid of it.

I can see how it grew

in your mind well enough.

You can? Well, tell me.

I'm not so sure myself.

You are only playing for time.

These hostages mean nothing to you.

That's true, they don't.

Not a thing.

But they do to you.

Don't they?

And what...

What a magnificent gesture.

And no one would ever know about it,

would they?

Come on.

It'd be a good joke on the Germans too.

I've had enough of your jokes. Be quiet.

That's the policeman in you.

You're afraid.

Afraid to break the law

even in a good cause.

Listen, Bonet.

You said I've never done anything

for anybody except myself.

All right, here's my chance.

You will have your chance.

The new executioner

is a poor devil with a large family.

And your job will bring him 500 francs.

The workings

of the typical bourgeois mind.

It's enough

to take the heart out of a man.

What heart?

That cold lump you feel in your chest?

That's fear.

I've already had one foot in the grave,

it's still cold.

If you've ever been out there

and seen that...

And then have them come

and cut the collar off your neck?

That's when a man dies.

Not when the knife comes down.

- And a firing squad would be easier?

- Pretty much.

Look, Bonet, I'll be honest with you.

I have, it's true,

a prejudice against the guillotine.

But I've got to die.

And this way you'll be rid of me.

They'll even fire a salute in my honor.

Your honor?

You amuse me, Picard.

- Captain, what have you found?

- Not a thing.

We've searched every field

within 10 kilometers of the bridge.

No trace of the saboteur.

I would like to offer you

a little professional advice, captain.

- Yes?

- The Gestapo does not entirely trust...

...you gentlemen of the Garde Mobile.

You are Frenchmen as,

no doubt, is the saboteur.

If he is not found,

we will hold you responsible.

You, personally.

Do you think these saboteurs

are fools enough to wait to be caught?

- We will leave the details to you, captain.

- Yes, sir.

What's the matter, Bonet?

The Gestapo worry you?

Or your conscience?

Let's eat something.

I'm sick of listening to you.

My offer still worries you, doesn't it?

And it always will,

day and night, until you die.

A hundred men.

A hundred men you could've saved

and didn't.

Even I don't envy you, Bonet.

A hundred Frenchmen.

Look at them.

All passengers for Tours, Orlans, Paris.

Your train will proceed

to the Gartempe bridge...

...where the boats

will take you across the river.

Well, train's leaving.

Now, listen, Picard, carefully.

I've been with the Sret for 25 years

without a black mark against me.

What I shall do now is a crime for

which I can be discharged and imprisoned.

And I have a wife and children.

But I'm going to risk everything

on the word of a thief and a murderer.

Yes, I accept your offer.

Thanks.

Now what?

Not far from here there is a bridge.

Or what's left of one.

We are going to have a look at it.

Now, go on.

Keep in front of me

and don't try any tricks.

It would spoil everything

to be caught here.

Hmm.

- He did a fine job, that fellow.

- Not he.

"I did a fine job."

It is "l" from now on.

Get that into your skull.

There is only one saboteur

and that's you.

All right. I did a fine job.

That's better.

Take a good look around here.

Everything you see,

photograph in your brain. Everything.

The Gestapo will ask a lot of questions.

Now, turn away

and tell me what you've seen.

All right.

Across the hill,

the tracks turn off to the left.

And before you come to the bridge,

a clump of trees.

Correct, elms.

- Elms.

- Good. Now what?

Then on the other side there's a road

and a little farmhouse.

That's correct.

Now, what else?

More trees, rows of them.

Poplars.

Say it.

- Poplars.

- All right.

Down the valley, a village.

I don't know the name.

Well, we'll go down and find out.

We've got to stop

for the night somewhere.

Oh, we're not going to Paris tonight?

No, tomorrow.

We have a lot to do before then.

- They go to sleep early here.

- No, nobody's asleep here.

They are all sitting up in the dark

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