Film Gorillas
  • 5 years ago
Not Rated | 26min | Adventure, Drama, TV Series | Episode aired 1952

Steve Mitchell is sent to the South China Seas to assume the identity of the mysterious Captain Jaeger with the mission of breaking up a huge gun-running operation.

Director: Bill Karn

Writers: Robert Ryf, Adrian Gendot

Stars: Brian Donlevy, Herb Butterfield, Dayton Lummis
Transcript
00:00THEME MUSIC
00:30THEME MUSIC
00:49Morning, Commissioner.
00:50Morning.
00:51You sent for me?
00:52Yes, I did, Steve.
00:54Here.
00:56What's this?
00:57Am I drafted?
00:58Yes, to find out who's been running
00:59these guns and other contraband into ports
01:01along the China coast.
01:03Steve, this gun running has reached serious proportions,
01:07and it's got to be stopped.
01:08We think one man is the brains of the operation.
01:12Ever hear the name Captain Jaeger?
01:15Captain Jaeger.
01:17Isn't he some kind of a soldier of fortune
01:20in the China coast area, or should I say sailor of fortune?
01:24Yes.
01:26You mean he's the head of this gun running?
01:28No, but we're going to use Captain Jaeger
01:31to find out who is.
01:33Use him?
01:34How?
01:37Hey, Commissioner, I see a very peculiar gleam in your eye.
01:42That's all I can tell you at this stage of the operation,
01:45Steve.
01:45Report to Naval Intelligence in the Philippines.
01:47They'll take it from there.
01:49Well, that's it.
01:50You've got your assignment.
01:51Good luck.
01:52Thanks.
01:53All right.
02:01Sure, I've got my assignment, or have I?
02:04All I know is there's a wholesale smuggling
02:06operation going on in the China Sea,
02:08and somehow I'm supposed to tangle
02:10with a rugged gent named Captain Jaeger
02:12and use him to find out who's masterminding the operation.
02:16Yeah, I'm really in the dark on this deal.
02:19It's like playing a game of poker
02:20when I can't see my own hand.
02:22I've got an uneasy feeling that I'll
02:24run into somebody who'll be trying his best to see
02:26that I cash in my chips for keeps.
02:30It's Wednesday when the plane lands in the Philippines.
02:33At Naval Intelligence, I meet a commander, Elwood,
02:36who takes me to the waterfront.
02:37I'm still in the dark on the deal.
02:44There's where we're heading.
02:50Submarine?
02:51Right.
02:52I'll try and take good care of you.
02:54You the skipper?
02:55I'm a skipper.
02:58Hell's first time for everything.
03:00Come on.
03:01We get on the way immediately.
03:05I watch the dock slide away, and I
03:07get that uneasy feeling again.
03:09Some deal they've handed me.
03:11Here I am on a submarine heading out to sea,
03:13and I still don't know what it's all about.
03:16We set our course southwest.
03:18The first day we cruise on the surface, everything's quiet.
03:21At dawn of the second day, we change course and submerge.
03:25We cruise under the surface all day,
03:27and towards the end of the afternoon,
03:29Commander Elwood sends for me.
03:31I find him in the conning tower.
03:34Have to give that navigator of mine an extra stripe, I guess.
03:45Looks like we're out in the middle of a big nowhere.
03:47Turn to the right a bit.
03:52Look.
03:53A tramp steamer.
03:54Can you make out the name on the stern?
03:57Shanghai Lady?
04:00Captain Jaeger's ship.
04:03Sealed orders.
04:05You're to open them when you get aboard.
04:08I'm going aboard Captain Jaeger's ship?
04:09Right now.
04:11Prepare to surface.
04:12Aye, aye, sir.
04:22Aye, aye, sir.
04:43Hi.
04:44Is Captain Jaeger around?
04:51This is Captain Jager's cabin.
05:14Oh?
05:15Well, where is he?
05:17Right here.
05:18Who, you?
05:19No, you.
05:20Well, you better read your orders, Mitchell.
05:24Mitchell.
05:25Yeah, I guess I'd better.
05:39Hey, surprise, huh?
05:42Yeah.
05:42It says here there isn't any Captain Jager.
05:45That's right.
05:46What?
05:47That's right.
05:49Mitchell, you remember during the last war,
05:51the RAF, whenever anything went wrong, who'd they blame it on?
05:54The gremlins.
05:56Wait a minute.
05:57You mean Captain Jager is a gremlin?
06:00I guess the Navy started it.
06:01Everything that's gone wrong out here the last couple of years,
06:04they blamed on Captain Jager.
06:06You know, it's gotten so a lot of people believe
06:07there is a Captain Jager.
06:10So that's why the commissioner had that gleam in his eye.
06:14Well, now, I'm Captain Jager.
06:17That's right.
06:18If a lot of people believe there is a Captain Jager,
06:20why not come up with one?
06:22Mitchell, we've been running down a lot
06:24of the small time gun runners.
06:27Whoever's behind the whole operation needs help.
06:30They might try to hire me, huh?
06:34You mean they might try to hire Captain Jager?
06:39You'll find all the clothes you need in there.
06:41Thanks.
06:42You want to see your ship?
06:44Sure.
06:45Any more questions?
06:46Yeah.
06:48The crew, who are they?
06:50Mostly volunteers from the Marine Corps.
06:52The Marine Corps?
06:56That's good enough for me.
06:57Let's go.
06:58Let's go.
07:05Man, this is our new skipper.
07:08This is Hoffman.
07:10Hoffman?
07:12They call me Tennessee.
07:14Sir?
07:15I wonder why.
07:15Ha, ha, ha.
07:22They grow them pretty tall in Tennessee, don't they?
07:25Yes, sir.
07:28Just how much does the crew know about this deal?
07:31They didn't know anything about it until we got aboard.
07:34Now they have a general idea of the operation.
07:37Well, that just about clears up everything but you.
07:42Mike Merrick.
07:43First mate of the Shanghai Lady.
07:46Otherwise known as Lieutenant Merrick, United States Navy.
07:49Merrick?
07:51Seems to me a guy by that name played
07:53quite a lot of football at the Academy a few years ago.
07:57Seems to me I remember you spent some time there too.
08:01Well, you're the skipper.
08:03From now on, whatever happens is up to you.
08:07What's our position, Mike?
08:09Come on.
08:10I'll show you in the chart room.
08:14And this is where the trouble area is here.
08:17That's where most of the guns are being run, huh?
08:19Yeah.
08:20Well, my orders read to cruise around the various ports
08:23in this area and see if somebody contacts me.
08:25So let's head for the Malayan Peninsula, down into Singapore,
08:31then over to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo area.
08:35Sounds good.
08:36Something ought to happen in one of those places.
08:38Yeah.
08:39Question is, what?
08:43We set our course to the west and steam
08:45all night and the next day toward the Malayan coast.
08:49By dawn of the second day, we'll
08:51change our course to the south.
08:59What is it?
09:00Could be trouble.
09:01Trouble?
09:02Oh, yeah.
09:03Oh, yeah.
09:04Oh, yeah.
09:05Oh, yeah.
09:06Oh, yeah.
09:07Too close.
09:09Real too close.
09:10Their favorite gag, break the bridge
09:13and try to kill off everybody on it.
09:14Who's they?
09:16Malayan pirates.
09:24Oh, great.
09:26Dead ahead.
09:31They'll try to board us.
09:33What are we supposed to use, slingshots?
09:36We got a 20 millimeter gun on the folks
09:38so if someone could get to it.
09:41Hey, looks like one of our boys is making a try for it.
09:54I got me that machine gunner spotted, Skipper,
09:56up on their mast.
10:06I used to be pretty fair, knocking squirrels out of trees.
10:10OK, Daniel Boone, you try your luck.
10:14Maybe I can make it to that gun mount
10:15before somebody else lets go.
10:17What are you doing?
10:19For luck, when I need me a bullseye.
10:21Go ahead.
10:22I sure need one.
10:26Can you see him?
10:27No.
10:31That's just fine.
10:32Now hold it.
10:36You got him!
10:40You got him!
10:49Let him have it.
10:57Come on, give it up!
11:11You got him!
11:26Well, we got ourselves a shot on board, Captain.
11:29You must have made that mark of yours for me, Tennessee.
11:33Well, that's where some of those smuggled guns wind up, huh?
11:35Just one more reason, we got to get
11:37the boy behind the gun running.
11:40Touched by the look of it.
11:56Stand by for boarding party.
12:05Acknowledged.
12:07What'll I do, skipper?
12:08Steady as you go.
12:10Hey, Steve, these fellas mean business.
12:15They sure do.
12:17Right over our bow.
12:24What was the idea of that routine?
12:26Just behaving like Captain Jager would behave.
12:28Captain Jager?
12:30Are you going to identify yourself?
12:32Suppose they think I am Captain Jager.
12:34What'll they do?
12:35Escort you to the nearest clink
12:37and search the ship for contraband?
12:39Yeah, we'll give them a lot of publicity.
12:41Yeah.
12:43Yeah.
12:45Oh, wait until the port authorities
12:47start trying to find out what kind of contraband
12:49we're carrying.
12:50What are we carrying?
12:52A load of sand for ballast.
12:59I wish to see Captain Jager.
13:01I am his wife.
13:06Hello, darling.
13:07Well, hi.
13:09Is that any way to greet me?
13:15There.
13:16He's not that much better.
13:17Yeah.
13:18Like I always say, I'm so lucky to have a wife like you.
13:23That was just for the benefit of the guard.
13:26Oh, I bet I got more benefit out of it than needed.
13:29I am Colette.
13:31I told him I was your wife because I
13:33wanted to talk to you.
13:35He wouldn't let me in otherwise.
13:36Oh, I see.
13:38You're a reporter?
13:39Oh, in a way.
13:41There are some questions I want to ask you.
13:43Such as?
13:45Do you know where the Blue Parrot Bar is?
13:48I think I could find it.
13:50On your first night free?
13:53Maybe.
13:56Oh, I'll see you later.
13:58You have company now.
14:03Bye, darling.
14:07Hi, Mike.
14:08Hi, darling.
14:10You work fast.
14:12Oh, I'm a whiz.
14:14Who is she?
14:15My wife.
14:16She also claims to be a reporter.
14:19She wants to interview me in the Blue Parrot
14:21Bar the first night I'm released.
14:23You think maybe she's the contact?
14:25Could be.
14:26Well, maybe you'll find out tonight.
14:28Tonight?
14:29You're a free man.
14:31So they finally gave up on that sand.
14:33In disgust, they gave us 24 hours
14:35to get the Shanghai lady out of port.
14:38Well, if anybody's going to contact me,
14:40they better hurry up.
14:41Let's get out of this flea trap.
14:50Man, oh, man, oh, man.
14:54What goes on, Tennessee?
14:58Take a look, skipper.
15:03Yacht?
15:05What's on it?
15:08Well, well.
15:10What is it?
15:11A cute little number in some kind of a sun suit or something.
15:14Hey, he's waving at me.
15:17This Captain Jaeger ought to have been
15:19invented a long time ago.
15:21Skipper, I sure am getting lonesome for my binocs.
15:28Well, what do you know?
15:30Kind of looks like we're sure enough going to have company.
15:33She's getting into a motorboat there.
15:35You think maybe she's the contact?
15:38Be fun trying to find out.
15:41I sure would admire to be a one-man welcoming committee.
15:45OK, Tennessee, bring her into my cabin.
16:04Come in.
16:08Well, the famous Captain Jaeger himself.
16:11Remember me?
16:12Well, not exactly.
16:13Patricia Brent.
16:15Well, there's no reason why you should.
16:17We've never met before.
16:19I'm glad to hear you say that.
16:21For a moment, I thought I was slipping.
16:23I just wanted to see the famous man close up.
16:26Well, sometimes close ups aren't so hot.
16:30I'd say in this case, it was even better.
16:33Oh?
16:34Uh, that's quite a yacht you've got.
16:39Were we speaking of yachts?
16:41No.
16:42You're an interesting combination, Captain Jaeger.
16:46I collect interesting things, you know.
17:01I wish to see Captain Jaeger.
17:04Just a moment.
17:08Excuse me.
17:08Sir.
17:10Another visitor from the yacht.
17:13Looks pretty unhappy about something.
17:16That's not unusual.
17:18He's always unhappy.
17:21Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Jaeger.
17:23It's a pleasure to meet you, too, sir.
17:25Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Jaeger.
17:29Oh, well, I don't know.
17:30You're always unhappy.
17:33Who is he?
17:34Arthur, my husband.
17:36You're, uh, up to your old tricks as usual, Patricia?
17:43Oh, now, Arthur, let's not be a complete bore.
17:46As for you.
17:47Arthur, this is Captain Jaeger.
17:49I don't care if you're Captain Kidd.
17:51I'm Captain Jaeger, and this is my ship.
17:54Who asked you aboard?
17:58Goodbye for now, Captain.
18:02Good luck with your collection, Patricia.
18:05Perhaps I can add to it.
18:11What is it with you, anyway?
18:13Catnip?
18:16Hey, it'll be getting dark pretty soon.
18:18Let's get into town and see if Colette keeps
18:21her date at the Blue Parrot, huh?
18:28I was wondering if the famous Captain
18:44Jaeger would remember me.
18:46I think you made sure he would.
18:48You're prompt.
18:49Yeah.
18:50And you came alone.
18:52I'll buy you a drink.
18:53Good evening, Colette.
18:54Vincent.
18:56Come, Captain.
18:57I, uh, haven't met your friend.
18:59The pleasure would be all mine.
19:00Captain Jaeger, this is Van Zandt.
19:02Now, if you will excuse me.
19:03Oh, the famous Captain Jaeger.
19:06I've been looking forward to meeting you for some time.
19:08Yeah?
19:10I'm an importer.
19:11An importer? What kind?
19:12Oh, various commodities.
19:14Couldn't the three of us have a drink?
19:15We might at that.
19:17If you don't mind, Captain Jaeger, it's too warm inside.
19:20Well, perhaps I'll see you later, Captain Jaeger.
19:23Maybe.
19:28Which way?
19:29This way.
19:33Hey, what goes?
19:35A month ago in Singapore, my husband was killed.
19:37Now, look, here.
19:38He was knifed in the back by the famous Captain Jaeger.
19:41Surprise.
19:42Now, look, Annie Oakley, you got your signal switched.
19:44I didn't kill your husband.
19:45You did.
19:46They say it was you.
19:47Why should I kill him?
19:48I don't even know him.
19:49You lied.
19:50Look, they blame a lot of things on Captain Jaeger,
19:52but I didn't kill your husband.
19:54One month ago, I was 1,000 miles from Singapore,
19:57and I can prove it.
19:58Hey, now, you better run along.
20:01Don't go getting any more crazy ideas like that one.
20:05I'm sorry.
20:11You know, this little incident just gave
20:14me a very unpleasant thought.
20:17Me too.
20:18I wonder how many more people are gunning for Captain Jaeger.
20:25I don't like it, Merrick.
20:26I should have been contacted long before this.
20:29I know.
20:30You got company, skipper.
20:55I took the liberty of waiting in your cabin.
20:57No wonder I couldn't find you when
20:59I went back to the Blue Parrot.
21:04Oh, Dutch intelligence agent.
21:07Yes.
21:08Sit down.
21:09As you and Lieutenant Merrick may know,
21:11we're working very closely with your government
21:13in this operation.
21:14Some of these smuggled arms have been finding
21:16their way into our colonies.
21:18I should have been contacted by now.
21:19I'm afraid it's too late for that, Mitchell.
21:22Where was the leak?
21:23Couldn't have been us.
21:24We're the only two to have gone ashore.
21:25The imposter in your crew got the news ashore.
21:27Imposter?
21:28Who?
21:29A body was found back in the United States.
21:31A man named Hoffman.
21:36I never saw the guy before in my life.
21:37I know.
21:38This is the real Hoffman.
21:39Oh.
21:40You mean the guy that we accepted as the real Hoffman
21:43killed the real one back in the States
21:44and came out here on his papers?
21:45Sure.
21:46He did it to learn our plans, and then he
21:48killed the real Hoffman.
21:49Well, let's go get him.
21:50All right.
21:51Great.
21:52A half hour ago, I saw him ashore.
21:54Then I lost him.
21:56The whole operation gone up in smoke
21:58and no closer to an answer than we were before.
22:00Well, let's go take a look at his locker
22:02and see if we can find anything that might give us a lead.
22:04Yeah, go ahead.
22:10Suddenly, I realize something doesn't add up.
22:13When did the leak take place?
22:15I don't know.
22:16I don't know.
22:18When did the leak take place?
22:20None of the crew members, including the phony Hoffman,
22:22knew what the deal was until they came aboard.
22:24And once aboard there was no chance for him
22:27to communicate with anybody.
22:29No chance except ...
22:47Hold it.
22:52Boy's in the small boat, Tennessee?
22:55Sure are, escapee.
23:03Arthur, will ya stop harping on it?
23:06How was I to know who he was?
23:08If I hadn't caught up with you,
23:09you'd have ruined everything.
23:10But you did.
23:12Now we're getting underway.
23:13Everything's all right.
23:19Off with you.
23:30Care for a drink, my dear?
23:31No thanks.
23:35Well, well, well.
23:38We were just talking about you, Mr. Mitchell.
23:41I don't doubt it.
23:43Hello, Hoffman. Looks like I'm in the soup, huh?
23:47Well, if I'm going to add to my collection, I might as well start right now.
23:59Well.
24:01I'm captain here. This is my ship.
24:04And you've just increased the amount of pleasure I'm going to get from watching you die.
24:08You know, I finally figured out how your stooge got word to you.
24:13He was the one that helped you on the deck when you came busting over for Patricia.
24:17He signaled you to get over there fast before she could spill something that would tip me off that you were the boy at the head of the gun running.
24:24Exactly, genius.
24:26All right, take him forward. We'll shove off and dump him at sea.
24:35Too late, Mitchell.
24:36Too late, Mitchell.
24:50All right.
24:53So long, sweetheart. Take good care of your collection.
25:00I still can't figure out how Tennessee got here in the nick of time.
25:03Well, there I was, leaning over the rails, squinting through my binoculars.
25:07The lovely lady.
25:08As usual.
25:09Yeah, I see the captain put his arms around her and plant a big kiss on her.
25:13But behind her back, he's making a sign, you know, that he needs a shot.
25:17You sure got over here in a hurry.
25:19I wasn't sure that you'd realize I was in trouble.
25:22Are you kidding, Skipper?
25:23What do you mean?
25:24If you wanted to be rescued from that, I figured how bad can trouble be?
25:29You sure enough got a point there, Tennessee.
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