Von Ryan's Express Page #3

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- You all wantjustice?

- (men) Yes!

Then do to him what he did to your colonel.

Put him in a sweatbox to rot.

- No!

- (men) Yes!

(cheering)

You fool.

- You soft-headed, sentimental fool.

- That's privilege of rank, Major.

Damn your rank. If letting that scum live

costs the life of one of my men, I promise...

(plane)

Scatter! Hit the deck! Hit the deck!

He pinpointed us. We'd better move quick.

- Brilliant, Colonel. Where?

- We're a day's march from the coast.

- I could contact your navy.

- Move 400 men in daylight? You're mad.

- I'll lead you.

- Why should you?

You think you hate the Germans

more than I do?

- It's worth a chance.

- I don't trust the Eyeties.

But I'm in command here

and I say we move - now.

Halt!

German convoy! Everybody down!

Those ruins could hide a thousand men.

Let them rest there for the night

while I go ahead and contact the ships.

How much farther to the coast?

Five... perhaps six miles.

I should be back well before dawn.

That's as pretty a place for a trap

as I've ever seen.

Good luck, Oriani. We'll be

waiting for you. Now let's go.

(pounding)

(vehicle approaching)

(shouting in German)

(German)

(German)

(pounding)

(pounding continues)

(German)

(German)

(Italian)

Kamerad.

(whistle)

Face it, Yank.

Your little Eyetie chum has deserted us.

We're left in a box.

(sentry) Colonel!

- Something's moving!

- (gunshots)

Out! Out!

- Germans! Scatter!

- (gunshots)

Scatter! Scatter! Come on!

(German)

(shouts orders in German)

(shouts in German)

(shouts in German)

(shouts in German)

OK. Now.

Hold it. Hold it!

Colonel Ryan, Major Fincham, Captain Stein

and Costanzo, Lieutenant Orde - the front car.

I'm a doctor. I stay with the wounded.

They will remain behind so we can care

for them properly. Get aboard, gentlemen.

That little Eyetie bastard Oriani

led us to the railhead and turned us in.

(speaking in Italian)

It was that pig who betrayed us!

I'll kill you!

- (machine-gun fire)

- (men screaming)

They've cared for our wounded properly now.

The poor bastards.

Just cos you let Battaglia live!

You'll get your Iron Cross now, Von Ryan.

(train gets ready to move)

Hey, the roads are full of Germans.

It means we must still be headed north.

You can bet on it, Yank. Von Ryan's got us

all a one-way ticket to the Fatherland.

- (men) Yeah!

- Aw, blow it out your barracks bag, mate.

Listen, I'll take you on any time you like!

(train whistle)

We are coming in to Rome.

(soldier shouts in German)

I am Major von Klement,

now in command of this prison train.

You will be in my charge

until we reach the final destination.

You have now 30 minutes for rest, relief,

and there is food and water for all.

Major von Klement?

Captain Oriani is an Italian officer. He's not

a prisoner of war. He doesn't belong with us.

- I have my orders.

- (soldier shouts in German)

(train whistle)

Heil Hitler.

The guards are on top again.

They're not needed here

as far as we're concerned.

No chance of our tunnelling

through this coop, Von Ryan.

(clanging)

(clanging continues)

Say, Doc, you got a knife

in that manicuring kit of yours?

Are you planning

to snip your way through it?

No.

I'm planning to tunnel my way through it.

Do you mind, Major?

No, no, Colonel, wait. Wait until...

until the wheels hit cross tracks.

It will cover the sound of

the wood breaking.

It's impossible to get out

while we are moving.

- And when we stop, the guards will patrol.

- If it's dark when we stop, I'll risk it.

- What about the rest? If one goes, we all go.

- Do we, now? Mind telling me how?

- We'll have to eliminate the guards.

- Brilliant!

They have machine pistols

and we have bare hands.

If we could take one gun from one guard...

Oriani?

Turn around.

Go on. Just turn around.

Learn that from the cowboy films, did you?

You got a better idea?

It would take you too long

to strangle a man, Colonel Ryan.

The average Nazi would get impatient

while you were doing it.

Orde.

The knots smash his larynx, the knee

breaks his back. He's dead in 15 seconds.

Thug garrotte - India.

All right, then. Now what's your scheme?

(train whistle)

(shouts in Italian)

If you haven't the guts for it, I'll do it.

(train whistle)

(train slows down)

We're stopping again.

Something must have gone wrong.

- Perhaps they've been caught.

- Take it easy, Padre.

(train slows to a halt)

(Italian)

(German)

(German)

- There's a station up ahead.

- Wait.

- Someone might be watching.

- It's a chance we'll take.

The guards are on this side.

Open the door on that side.

- What kind of insanity...

- Knock it off.

- Get the men on the roof right away.

- Right, sir.

If you fail, the Germans

won't have to kill you. I will.

Shut up.

Shh. Shh.

Bostick, you follow me with half the men.

Dunbar, spread out with the rest. Move. Quiet.

(Germans chatting)

(shouting in Italian)

Let's turn 'em loose.

(train whistle)

- Can we get moving?

- The engineer's alive but not the fireman.

- I can stoke the boiler, sir.

- Get Oriani up with the engineer.

- Send the chaplain and the doctor here.

- Yes, sir. Get those bodies in the boxcar!

(Ryan) Get this stiff in the boxcar.

Get those bods in quick!

(train whistle)

Move, you people! Come on, move!

- (whistles)

- (Italian)

Ten more minutes... Of all the luck!

He'll have to stop for water, same as we did.

By the time he gets goin' we'll be miles away.

(Fincham) Damn thing's right behind us.

Can you bring him around? We'll need him.

(gasps)

Come on. Come on!

All the comforts of home.

Please. I am Italian.

I have done nothing. Please.

- What on earth are you doing here, my child?

- Padre, you're priceless.

Don't you think she ought to

get dressed while we discuss it?

He's right. Go on, girl. No

one will hurt you.

Now, about some questions, Major.

- May I rise?

- Of course.

I will answer no questions, Herr Oberst.

Major... All your guards are dead.

We're running this train now.

I want the schedule of when and where we're

gonna get that food you promised us. Clear?

- Florence at 0600 hours.

- And what happens in Florence?

The train will stop in the rail complex

and the prisoners can dismount.

Colonel Ryan! Colonel, look!

Looks like we're headed for Innsbruck.

What do these circles mean, Major?

I am to receive instructions in those cities

from the dispatchers. I, myself. No one else.

Did you receive those instructions

through that radio there?

- No. It is a simple commercial radio.

- All right. Over there.

Lieutenant, if he wiggles,

put a hole in him.

(train whistle)

- They're keeping pace with us.

- A German troop train is on this schedule.

Gentlemen, you have been very daring.

Yet what have you gained?

In Florence, other troops are waiting.

You have been brave.

If you now wish to be sensible, I will see

that you are treated with respect in Florence.

We had a sample of your Nazi respect

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