Yellow Canary

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CHURCH BELLS RING

CLOCK STRIKES NINE

I'm afraid the judge decided against it.

What have you been doing? Busy day?

I was in the British Museum -

textual criticism, Shakespeare.

Bacon.

Bacon, my foot!

Dr Johnson said that if Bacon didn't write

Shakespeare, he missed a great opportunity.

My dear chap, could Bacon have written,

"Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises,

"Sounds and sweet airs that

give delight and hurt not,

sometimes a thousand

twangling instruments..."?

LOUD EXPLOSION IN DISTANCE

Ack-ack over the estuary.

King Three, ack-ack over the estuary.

All right, Centre.

Raid coming in from the southeast.

Later than usual.

Somebody's signalling.

Better give them the plot.

Direction 41 on Sound Circle.

Somebody's signalling.

Direction 41 on Sound Circle.

AIR RAID SIRENS WAIL

Cockspur and Lower Regent Street?

Right!

Inspector Scott, Observer

Call Centre reports

signalling top floor,

office building,

Cockspur and Lower Regent Street

locality. Get busy!

SIRENS WAIL:

AIRCRAFT ENGINES ROAR

Buckingham Palast!

BELL RINGS:

KNOCK ON DOOR:

Hello, Skipper! Something here.

Dead as mutton.

Looks like a suicide job.

Torch.

.38 Webley revolver.

One round fired.

"Oscar Burrell."

LAUGHTER:

Don't tell us you'll think of it

on the way home!

This is the tale of Queenie Feather,

fire watch in all sorts of weather!

But being rather scared of bombs,

she made herself some tin-lined coms

Soppy thing! So went on duty unafraid,

tin hat, tin coms, bucket and spade!

One night on hearing the alert,

she filled her bucket up with dirt

Then scudded up the attic stairs

to stand among the falling flares

Well, just as she was feeling tired,

an anti-aircraft gun was fired

And as the shell went whizzing past,

the tin coms couldn't stand the blast

And though poor Queenie tried to duck

it, she fell head first in her bucket!

Aren't I common?

So holding her...courage in her hand,

she stood like an ostrich in the sand

The shell which bent Queenie double

landed a Jerry plane in trouble

As the pilot shouted, "Here I come!"

it landed on poor Queenie's back

The tin coms acted like a skewer

and Hitler's air force was one fewer

Now like a soldier of the line

our Queenie is a heroine

The George Medal awarded, the Mayor to

give it, and for the coms, a golden rivet!

WHISTLES AND APPLAUSE

I'd almost given you up.

Would you rather I went home?

No, but it's hard to keep a table.

I say, look who's blown in!

Sally from Unter den Linden!

She has the nerve to come here!

Not so loud.

I thought you promised

to ship her out to Canada. When?

That's a question you don't ask.

Why can she leave the country?

Put her into Brixton Jail

with all the other 18Bs!

Ladies and gentlemen, you've all

heard me recite Dreaming Of Thee.

I'll now give you the latest

version which I've dedicated

to a young lady whose name

for the moment escapes me.

Dreaming of thee, dreaming of thee

Dreaming of her Fuhrer love she be

She went to see old Hitler

down the famous Wilhelmstrass'

He rose to greet her, then sat down,

then jumped up, what a farce!

He'd sat down on his Iron Cross

which, structurally, being brass...

Now she's dreaming

of her darling love, of him.

APPLAUSE:

Was her journey really necessary?

Sally, do you think you're wise

in staying?

I came for a good reason.

I won't be driven out by a few

cheap jibes that amuse halfwits!

I hope that I'm the good reason,

not the halfwit.

Let's dance.

Why not ditch them and have

a real birthday party?

Jimmy, it's not your birthday.

Won't matter. Come on.

All right. It's a date.

Sir, Colonel Hargreaves wishes

to have a word with you.

Colonel Hargreaves?

He's at that table.

George, will you have the

waiter send up another bottle?

With pleasure.

Be back in a flash!

Here he comes.

Hello, Colonel. Mrs Hargreaves.

Congratulations, Jimmy.

I suppose one mustn't ask what it's for.

No.

You wanted to see me, Colonel?

Yes. Excuse me, my dear.

I've been searching for you all day.

I've been doing some celebrating.

I've got an important job for you.

You're leaving for Canada tomorrow

night. Tomorrow night? I'm afraid so.

I should have stopped

her from coming in,

but her friend had already booked

a table and he's a very good client.

George, it wasn't your fault.

Thank you very much.

Her father an Admiral,

her mother in the Red Cross,

her brother and

sister in the Navy!

Something's fishy. She's trying

to draw attention to herself.

LOUD EXPLOSION:

Do you want to go down

to the shelter? Do you? No.

I'm quite happy where I am.

No-one's to have an inkling

of what you're doing. I understand.

You must keep her under

close observation.

It needs initiative and courage.

You're the man for the job.

Thank you, Colonel. There she is.

Take a good look at her.

I had a good look at her.

Everybody has!

What time did I arrive here?

It was pretty late. I wondered

what had happened to you.

I had an appointment.

It kept me later than I expected.

Oscar Burrell. Couldn't be suicide

if he was signalling.

The report reached here at 9.04.

PHONE RINGS:

You were at the location...?

9.09.

Rigor mortis had set in. There

must be someone else in this.

They hit Buckingham Palace.

Were Their Majesties...?

In the country.

Thank God for that!

Bad news?

The news is all bad.

And will be for months

until it gets better.

Another bit about Sally. Dragging our

name through the mud! Leave it there.

A mistake. A great mistake ever

letting her go to Germany. My fault.

'London in der vergangenen Nacht

von der Luftwaffe angegriffen.

'Die Bevolkerung von London

ist vollkommen terrorisiert.

'Alle bleiben im Luftschutzkeller...

KNOCK ON DOOR:

Sir William and Her Ladyship are

at breakfast, Miss Sally. Thank you.

'...ein wichtiges Gebaude in London

erhielt einen Volltreffer.'

Sometimes I think it was my fault

for ever having produced her. Betty!

Hello, Mother! Darling!

Hello, Dad. Good to see you.

How long have you got?

48. Where were you?

The other end of nowhere!

Nothing to eat for ages.

You must be starving.

Have a cup of coffee. I'd love one.

Miss Betty! Reynolds, how are you?

In exceptional health.

What's that? Scrambled eggs?

Dehydrated. They look all right.

They have a resemblance to scrambled

eggs. May I help you? Thank you.

It's grand to be home.

One saccharin or two? One, please.

Betty, what are you doing here?

48 hours' leave. Do you mind?

Morning, Mother. Morning, my dear.

Morning, Dad. Eh? Oh, morning.

Are those eggs real?

Quite real, but not the old-fashioned sort.

Toast and butter for me.

Margarine, Miss Sally.

There you are, Miss Betty.

Plenty of butter and eggs in Canada.

Won't that be nice? Betty, dear!

Sorry, Mother. This is an occasion.

Sally's last breakfast before her

departure to the land of plenty.

And safety. Won't you be glad,

all of you? The post, my lady.

Thank you.

It's from Jack. He's all right.

What does he say?

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