Colour version, from the original B&W. Fascinating political drama series with a splendid cast. Businessman and politician sir John Wilder, after becoming ambassador and special envoy for special situations and trade, pursues his tangled schemes, despite many adversaries (the original name of the series was "Special Envoy''). This is series 3 of this sequel to "The Plane Makers". Starring Patrick Wymark, Barbara Murray, Michael Jayston, Clifford Evans, Peter Barkworth, Donald Burton, David Savile, Richard Hurndall, Jack Watling, Deborah Grant, Barrie Ingham. Written by Wilfred Greatorex, Peter Draper.
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Short filmTranscript
00:30© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:00© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:30© BF-WATCH TV 2021
02:00© BF-WATCH TV 2021
02:31Whistle at it.
02:34Whistle?
02:36Yes, like the lady said. You know how to whistle, don't you?
02:39I saw the film. Whistle what?
02:42Anything.
03:01WHISTLE
03:03Were any of those interpreters I sent over to you any good?
03:06No. Oh, I'm sorry about that.
03:08It doesn't matter.
03:10Perhaps if I knew what you wanted an interpreter for.
03:12Principally, to go with me to the Common Market meeting in Bonn.
03:15Secondly, if I have to spend three weeks with him,
03:18I want somebody I can chat to.
03:20Oh, well, I'll send over some more.
03:22No hurry. When do you leave?
03:24The end of next month.
03:26How would you like a little trip to Switzerland in the meantime?
03:28Not a lot.
03:29No? Why not?
03:30I find Switzerland a dreary country.
03:32Oh, yes, yes, I agree.
03:33The only thing that seems to animate there is money.
03:36The Bible tells us that we shouldn't build our houses on sand.
03:40The Swiss have built an entire nation on snow.
03:43They have to be interested in money in case they have a hot winter.
03:46Ha! You don't ski.
03:48Heavens forfend.
03:50What would you say if you were to meet a Swiss banker
03:52who wanted to undermine the whole concept of modern finance?
03:56Well, I'd say stick a pin through his middle
03:59and have him mounted on a small black frame.
04:01You'd have a collector's item.
04:03Would you be interested in bidding for such an item?
04:06Just because we're at a party, Father,
04:08we don't have to pay party games.
04:13Cindy, did you know about the Big Dipper at Coney Island?
04:16It is so big that when you get your ticket, they sell you travel tickets.
04:20Really?
04:21Yes.
04:23What's it all about?
04:25Oh, just something I have in mind.
04:27How's Caswell there?
04:28He's away. He's not very well, I'm afraid.
04:30I know.
04:31No, it's just something that's come up.
04:35Would you like to take a mug of coffee with me tomorrow morning?
04:38Possibly.
04:39Say 11?
04:40All right.
04:41Well, if I can't make a mug of coffee at 11,
04:44then perhaps we might take a dish of tea before.
04:48Sorry I was late.
04:50Oh, you didn't miss much.
04:52How did you enjoy the pictures?
04:54Well, they weren't pictures, actually.
04:56Well, sculptures, then.
04:57Machines.
04:59What do you mean? Like combine harvesters?
05:01Computers.
05:03Good God, you're not going to cover the walls with those now, are you?
05:06It was an exhibition of cybernetics.
05:08Really?
05:12How would you like a trip to Switzerland?
05:15Well, you know I would.
05:17When?
05:18I don't know.
05:19It's an idea of Jason Fowler's.
05:21I'm going to speak to him about it tomorrow morning.
05:26I thought cybernetics was one of Lincoln Darling's provinces.
05:30Yes, he took me.
05:32Oh.
05:34But you wouldn't have wanted to take me now, would you?
05:37Hmm?
05:38You can take me to Switzerland.
05:41What are you up to, Fowler?
05:43Up to, my dear fellow.
05:44Up to, Jason.
05:45Do you take sugar?
05:46Yes, please.
05:49Did you know that between them, South Africa and Russia control 30% of the world's free gold?
05:54Yes.
05:55That's rather a disturbing thought, don't you find?
05:58No.
05:59No? Well, most people do.
06:01I haven't noticed my wife's scheming woman getting hysterical over the idea.
06:06Well, most people are concerned with the problem.
06:08How is your wife, by the way?
06:10Oh, come to the point, Jason.
06:12I read the most interesting article about a Swiss banker.
06:16Well, actually, I had a talk with him when he was over in London some weeks ago.
06:20He seemed to me to have got the measure of it.
06:24For what?
06:25Well, he made the point that in all probability, the world would divide itself up into two nations.
06:29White, on the one hand, and coloured, that is to say,
06:33Negro, Chinese, Indian, and the rest, on the other.
06:37South Africa would almost certainly be taken over by the coloured races,
06:41together with its gold.
06:43And that would put the Russians, who are white, in our cap, together with their gold.
06:48Unless, of course, the coloured races were aligned to communist China.
06:54Not a dependable hypothesis.
06:58Herr Wieselman.
06:59Who?
07:00This Swiss banker fellow.
07:02He made the point that if we don't move away from gold during the next 50 years,
07:06we could find our financial system at the mercy of intolerable black men.
07:10Well, what does he suggest?
07:11Well, he has several ideas.
07:13One of them being paper gold.
07:15I thought we already had that.
07:17Represented in the floating rate of exchange.
07:19Ah, but he wants to take these ideas further.
07:21But it's the principle he's putting forward that is most interesting.
07:24You see, the financial structure of the Western world is in a shambles and likely to get worse.
07:29Everyone is trying to find a way through.
07:31Now, here is a man who's coming forward with some original and unorthodox thinking.
07:38Well, don't you think that's interesting?
07:40Fascinating.
07:43Well, thank you for the coffee, Jason.
07:45Keep going.
07:46I can't quite see what else you want me for.
07:48But I hadn't finished.
07:50Oh.
07:51There's to be a conference.
07:52Well, more of a seminar, really, to be held in Geneva next week under the unofficial auspices of the World Bank.
07:59And you thought that I might like to go there.
08:02Why?
08:03I didn't assume you'd want to go at all, Waldo.
08:05I thought perhaps you might be concerned to do something for the department.
08:10Now, Bissellman was to have addressed this seminar on the subject we've been talking about.
08:14But I now learn he isn't.
08:16So?
08:17Well, I suppose pressure's been brought to bear on him.
08:19Possibly by the Swiss themselves, who hate him because they think he's a renegade.
08:22Possibly by the French, by the Germans, or even the Americans.
08:28Why are these great nations lowering over this tiny gnome from Zurich?
08:32Well, because it's just the sort of thing the press might seize on and make much of.
08:37Why shouldn't we want them to make much of it?
08:39Because there has to be a change in the financial structure.
08:43I, together with my colleagues in foreign governments, have been asked to put our views forward.
08:48Now, we know what might happen. We don't know what will happen.
08:52A little publicity might drive these other nations out into the open, which is healthy.
08:57And you want me to go and persuade this economic Martin Luther to stand up and be counted?
09:04Well, I think it'd be a good thing if he did speak on the subject.
09:07No, I wondered whether you would like to take on the combined might of the French, Swiss, Germans and Americans.
09:14Would you?
09:16No.
09:17Thank you for the coffee, Jason.
09:19Oh, and by the way, that other interpreter you sent me was as dreary as the rest.
09:24And he also had adenoids.
09:27Have them take a medical first, would you?
09:37West Germany. I like West.
09:42Germany?
09:44Very much.
09:46Hope you'll live to see it.
09:48How long shall we be there for, Sir John?
09:51How many languages do you actually speak?
09:54French, Italian and German.
09:57Do you cough in all these languages?
10:01Bronchitis.
10:02Well, when you've come to think of it, there may be a clue here.
10:07Why did you ask how long we'd be there?
10:10The hospital have allocated me a bed towards the end of next month.
10:14Of course, it doesn't matter. I mean, I can always...
10:16Accept it. Accept it, Mr. Hampton.
10:19But I am private, Sir John. They'll find me...
10:21Thank you. Thank you. Sir Jason will be in touch with you.
10:25Thank you very much for coming.
10:27Since your time is money, I'll be going.
10:31Since your time is much more valuable than mine.
10:42Don?
10:43You called, Master?
10:47Take a memo to Jason Fowler, will you?
10:49You're saying what?
10:50Quote.
10:52Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.
10:57In its worst state, an intolerable one. Unquote.
11:00Tom Paine.
11:02You are well read.
11:04What's Fowler done now?
11:06Why, he'd imagine...
11:08That I should want to spend three weeks with a man...
11:11I wouldn't even take a cup of coffee with in a Brighton snack bar.
11:15I can't imagine.
11:16There's a shorter Tom Paine quotation, if you prefer to use it.
11:18What's that?
11:19These are the times that try men's souls.
11:22Just bring him and tell him I'll make my own arrangements.
11:26There's another interpreter here to see you, Sir John.
11:28We never know. Maybe Mr. Wright.
11:33All right, I'll... I'll see him.
11:38Show him in, Mrs. Waters, will you?
11:40Do you know what you're looking for, John?
11:42I won't know till I see it.
11:51Oh, maybe you've just seen it.
11:53Sir John Wilder?
11:54Oh, this is Sir John Wilder.
11:56I'm the man who thought the next breakthrough would be in colour radio.
12:06Who's that?
12:07You may well ask, Mr. Henderson.
12:08I gather Sir Jason sent her over as a last resort.
12:11Well, as a last resort, I wouldn't mind resorting to.
12:13My father's Lord Wessex.
12:15I thought sex would be in it somewhere.
12:17Well, um...
12:19Shall we sit down?
12:21Okay.
12:25Um...
12:26Are you nervous?
12:27Of course I'm not nervous.
12:29Kate, that's not my head off.
12:31Everyone gets nervous at interviews.
12:33Well, I assure you that I'm not in the least.
12:35Fine.
12:36A bit pompous, isn't it?
12:37I assure you I'm not in the least.
12:39You sound like my father.
12:42How old are you?
12:43Twenty. How old are you?
12:46Twenty.
12:47Twenty.
12:48Twenty.
12:49Twenty.
12:50Twenty.
12:51Twenty.
12:52Twenty.
12:54Has that any bearing on it?
12:56Well, has mine.
12:57Jason told me you wanted an interpreter.
12:59I can speak four languages,
13:00so it wouldn't really matter if I was 85, would it?
13:04Do you, uh, want this job?
13:08Well, then, if you're not keen, I suggest we...
13:11No, no, no.
13:12Sit down a minute.
13:18How many languages do you actually speak?
13:21French, German, Russian, Italian.
13:23Very uptight, aren't you?
13:26What does that mean?
13:27Well, sort of...
13:29Well, it's only a job, isn't it?
13:31You might as well try and get some fun out of it.
13:35Is that what you think?
13:36Sure.
13:37You see them all the time.
13:39See what?
13:40People who go about their jobs as if they were in prison.
13:43They seem to think their good time is coming when they retire.
13:46But they forget.
13:47They're going to be so old.
13:49Well, it's like being good all your life
13:51because you'll get your reward in heaven.
13:53If there's no heaven, you've been swindled.
13:57See?
13:58You're not so uptight now.
14:01No, no.
14:08Do you really want this job?
14:10Sure.
14:11Why?
14:12I need the money, I'd like to go to Bonn,
14:14and Jason thought I might get a bit of skiing.
14:16Do they ski in Bonn?
14:18Jason seemed to think we might be going to Switzerland
14:21for two or three days first.
14:24Oh, did he?
14:31All right.
14:32The job is yours.
14:34I can't guarantee the ski.
14:37And what's your name?
14:39Perpetua.
14:40Oh, good God!
14:42Isn't it a dog?
14:43My father chose it.
14:44He's hooked on history.
14:45And it's the name of a third-century virgin martyr.
14:49Really?
14:51A fate that is hardly liable to overtake you, I should think.
14:55Oh, no.
14:56I'm not going to be anyone's martyr.
14:58I'm on the pill.
15:00You said quite definitely
15:02that if you weren't at all, we'd both go.
15:05Well, it just turns out that it isn't possible.
15:08It'll be all business.
15:09I shan't have any spare time at all.
15:11I bought all these things.
15:14Well, you can wear them when we go down to visit Tony and Sue.
15:19A free ski in Weymouth.
15:23I'm sorry, but there you are.
15:25You know what you are, don't you, John?
15:27You're a...
15:28I've made arrangements to go with you.
15:31Well, it turns out that I shan't be needing you.
15:34Why do I have to explain everything twice to everybody?
15:37Jason told me I could assume I would be.
15:39That might teach you not to arrange your life
15:41around the assumptions of Jason Fowler.
15:44It's likely that I might have to handle this
15:46in a quite unorthodox way.
15:49And I don't want the full might and pomposity
15:51of the Foreign Office breathing down my neck.
15:54I shall take Don with me.
15:56I see.
15:58There's no need to be so uptight about it.
16:01Of what?
16:03Upset.
16:04Oh, no, there's nothing to be upset about.
16:07Upset.
16:08Oh, not in the least upset.
16:10I shall simply have to rearrange things, that's all.
16:15Yes, well, you don't appear to be figuring very prominently
16:18amongst this week's most popular people.
16:20Well, he's probably annoyed that he won't get any skiing.
16:23Are you going for the skiing?
16:26I don't ski.
16:28Oh, Don, do something for me, will you?
16:31Find out all you can about her...
16:33her...
16:34her...
16:35Visselman.
16:36Waffleman?
16:38Visselman.
16:40He's a...
16:42a banker from Zurich.
16:44Visselman Gesellschaft.
16:46I'll see what I can do.
16:47There's not much you can learn about the Swiss.
16:48They get born, they die.
16:49Nothing much seems to happen in between.
16:51Except they grow richer.
16:52I'll see what I can do.
16:53Arrange a meeting for me with him next weekend.
16:56All right. Shall I book the air tickets?
16:57Yes, if you would.
16:58How many?
17:00Well, one.
17:01Only yours.
17:02I shall...
17:03take the roles.
17:04I shall take it gently down there and you can fly out on Friday.
17:07Oh, you and Pamela are taking a bit of a holiday, are you?
17:10Yeah.
17:11Oh, no, no, no.
17:12Pamela is not coming.
17:14Well, she said she was.
17:16Yes, well, it's...
17:20Well, it'll be...
17:21with one thing or another.
17:23Oh, and you're going to sit by yourself
17:25in the back of her roles all the way to Geneva?
17:28No, I shall...
17:29probably take the...
17:31interpreter with me.
17:32Oh, I see.
17:35And that's your idea of...
17:37taking it gently, is it?
17:39Well, I can't stand here yapping about it.
17:42You make your own arrangements, will you?
17:45And I'll make mine.
17:49Are you all right, Sir John?
18:02You know, John,
18:03you go on like this
18:04and you find yourself overdrawn at the blood bank.
18:17All alone in your master's monastic cell.
18:20Hello, Armiton.
18:21What are you doing round here?
18:23My master's in a bit of a hurry.
18:25Oh, I see.
18:26Well, I've got to get going.
18:28Hello, Armiton.
18:29What are you doing round here?
18:30My master's upstairs taking tea with the Great Bly.
18:33A somewhat immovable feast,
18:34so I dropped in for a gossip
18:36while they haggle over who's to have the chocolate biscuit.
18:38Have you any gossip?
18:39Oh, my dear, I wish I had.
18:42I hear the Off-White Knight has taken to the road again,
18:45tilting up windmills.
18:46Is that what they call him?
18:47It's quite nice, isn't it?
18:49Jay Wilder, the Off-White Knight.
18:51My own.
18:52That's very good.
18:53What do you call Lord Bly?
18:55Well, being directly over us,
18:57we call him the Lord Above.
18:58That's nice.
19:00Is it true the Knight took a dolly girl with him?
19:04Where did you hear that?
19:05It was murmured at me in a discotheque
19:07by a depraved adolescent,
19:09friend of the aforesaid dolly of the first part.
19:11I had no idea.
19:12How dull you've become!
19:15It's your devotion to affairs of state.
19:17What affairs are you devoting yourself to?
19:19My dear, if I could only speak.
19:23So you sit here, do you,
19:24doing your good works
19:25while your master is paddling in the pool
19:27of permissive society,
19:28down at the shallow end where the children play.
19:30What have you heard?
19:31I think you'll find that these days
19:32even to venture in the shallow end
19:33puts you in over your head.
19:35She's only 20,
19:36but the poor man could drown.
19:39Who is she?
19:40Perpetua Catiline,
19:42Lord Wessex's wayward youngest.
19:45Cheltenham Ladies' College,
19:46a brief but startling term in Zurich.
19:49Sussex University,
19:50Grosvenor Square Riots,
19:52Reed's Queen,
19:53Nova and the Black Dwarf.
19:55Smokes pot, takes the pill,
19:56intends refusing to vote,
19:58and the King's Road
19:59passes straight through her flat.
20:01In short, the product Emily Pankhurst
20:03gave her entire life to allow its head.
20:05My God.
20:06Well, may you call on your deity.
20:07I hope Sir John is.
20:09Well, there you are, my dear.
20:10I've given you my gossip.
20:11Have you none to give me?
20:12None at all.
20:13Oh, dear.
20:14Lady Wilder is on the phone for you,
20:16Mr. Dowling.
20:19You lie to me, Lincoln.
20:22You lie to me.
20:44Connecting doors.
20:46Did you stipulate that?
20:47I, uh...
20:48I didn't actually ask you, no.
20:52May I order a drink?
20:53Of course.
20:54I thought I ought to ask nicely.
20:56It's a bit like being out with Daddy.
20:58Look, I didn't specifically ask for connecting doors.
21:01I...
21:02Okay, okay, okay.
21:04Go and have your bar.
21:07Do you want a drink?
21:10All right.
21:13I'll, uh...
21:14I'll have a scotch.
21:17If you can manage it.
21:19Don't get so screwed up, baby.
21:21Is it supposed to be a secret from me
21:23why you're doing all this?
21:26Can I, uh...
21:27give you a lift?
21:28Oh, thank you.
21:30Tell me.
21:32Is it true
21:33that Wilder took Perpetual Catalina to Geneva with him?
21:36It is.
21:37I understood it was you who sent her to see him.
21:39Yes, it was.
21:40Yes, I got tired of him
21:41sending back every interpreter that I suggested.
21:44And I thought the sight of her mini-skirted thighs
21:46would bring him out in a hot sweat.
21:48I gather they did.
21:49And make Switzerland a little more inviting.
21:52Well, I did feel that was a bit naughty of me.
21:54But you see, I imagined he'd be travelling with a party of you.
21:57And that with you there to keep an eye on him,
21:59her inaccessibility would...
22:01drive him mad.
22:02He seems to have spiked your guns.
22:05Yes.
22:07She's a very pretty girl.
22:09Very.
22:10And sexy.
22:11Mm. Extremely.
22:14Do you, um...
22:17Do you think she, uh...
22:19Oh, I wouldn't be surprised.
22:21No.
22:23You know, Lincoln,
22:24much as I disapprove of Wilder,
22:26oh, there are times when I could wish I were he.
22:32Are you ready?
22:47Hey, where are you? I need zipping up.
22:50I won't be a minute.
23:16Ahem.
23:46Miss.
23:50Ah.
23:52Dinner.
23:53So we're eating here, I take it.
23:56Do you mind?
23:57Why, I don't mind where I eat as long as I don't have to pay for it.
24:00There's dancing downstairs in the restaurant.
24:03I don't dance.
24:05No, but I do.
24:07Well, we might try it later on.
24:16Mm.
24:47Thank you.
25:01Tell me.
25:03Did you see a lot of Ronald Coleman movies when you were young?
25:16Oh, yeah.
25:47Now, what time did you get in last night?
25:51Or should I say this morning?
25:53Oh, God, it is going to be like being out with Daddy.
25:56All right, let's go, good old.
26:01Is Sir John at the hotel?
26:03Ah, no, sir. I have a message for you.
26:05Sir John Wilder is spending the weekend at St. Moritz.
26:08He will not be arriving until Monday.
26:11Oh, blimey.
26:14Oh, blimey.
26:28I can't.
26:29Why not?
26:30Well...
26:31Look, we take the train to Poole, we pick up the boat, sail it down to Salcombe,
26:34stay the night with these friends of mine and catch the train back on Sunday.
26:37It's perfectly respectable.
26:38Oh, I didn't think for a minute it wouldn't...
26:40Then what?
26:41Oh, I...
26:42Look, if you're worried, no-one he'd ever know.
26:44I don't think I want to do things anymore that people don't have to know about.
26:48All right.
26:49It does seem a pleasant way of spending the weekend.
26:52Yes.
26:53Yes, I'm sure it would be.
26:57Did you know that I had an affair a couple of years ago?
27:00No.
27:01I just wondered if it might be in one of those dossiers government departments are so fond of drawing up nowadays.
27:06Tell me about it.
27:08Well...
27:10I did it because of John, really.
27:13I think I said to myself, if he can do so-and-so, I can do such-and-such on the hill with him.
27:19It wasn't much of an affair, really, looking back on it.
27:23I mean, there was never really any chance of my going away with him.
27:28I wasn't prepared to give up what I'd got.
27:32So it was rather sneaky, really.
27:35Don't you think?
27:36I don't believe you.
27:39All right.
27:40I think you probably did love him.
27:42He was just an implement.
27:45What does that mean?
27:47I'm just telling you what happened.
27:49I don't care what you're not prepared to give up.
27:53Lincoln...
27:55You're a bloody fool.
27:57All right.
27:58Let's just take it I might be.
28:00I'm sure I'm not the only one about.
28:10Why don't we sing this song all together?
28:16You hate it, don't you?
28:18Well, at least I'm trying.
28:20Come on, let's enjoy it.
28:21No, no, no, let's wait till the end of the dance.
28:23Come on.
28:25Let's go see where we all come from.
28:30Well, at least you're a trial.
28:33Shall I tell you how to do the dances these days?
28:36How, except by losing two stones?
28:40You do them as if you wanted to.
28:42Just let yourself go.
28:44The thing about dancing now is that if you're enjoying it,
28:47you're doing it right.
28:49And if you're not enjoying it,
28:51you're doing it wrong.
28:53You're doing it wrong.
28:55You're doing it wrong.
28:57If you're enjoying it, you're doing it right.
29:00You're too aware of yourself.
29:02Thanks for the advice.
29:04No trouble.
29:06Go a little, baby.
29:08Do you have to call me baby?
29:11Oh, come on, you're not the great John Wilder here.
29:14You're just some cat out dancing with a bird.
29:17I don't even understand the language.
29:20Cat is you, bird is me.
29:25Does the cat get the bird?
29:29That's better.
29:32Really?
29:36You're too much.
29:38What does that mean?
29:40It means you've grabbed me where I live.
29:46I like you.
29:50I couldn't get any reply.
29:52Well, I expect they thought we wouldn't get this far in this kind of weather.
29:56Probably. Anyway, we're stuck here for the night.
29:58It's 20 miles to Salkham.
30:00Where are we?
30:01Brixham.
30:02I suppose I'd better go and find a hotel.
30:05Why?
30:07Well, the only two bunks there are in here.
30:10What are you trying to tell me, that you've snowed?
30:18When I was 18,
30:20there was this guy in Zurich. He was about 30.
30:24He taught me pretty well all I know about men.
30:28And he never touched me.
30:31And you know what?
30:33When he got married, he named his first kid after me.
30:36Isn't that fantastic?
30:39I think all girls look for is a father figure to lean against.
30:43Young girls.
30:45I suppose it's a way of saying they really did love their fathers.
30:50Fathers are usually such fainthearted people.
30:54Mine is.
30:56It's difficult to explain.
30:59When it was all over and the pieces put together again,
31:03I said to myself, never no more.
31:06Never.
31:08Never no more.
31:11And if I did, after saying that to myself,
31:16I don't think I'd be able to trust anything I thought ever again.
31:21Anyway, it's different now.
31:24Things have changed.
31:27For the better.
31:29As better as things ever are.
31:32John's changed too.
31:34He seems to need me more.
31:39So...
31:42I'm sorry.
31:47Good night.
31:53Good night.
32:01You're a funny person.
32:03Why?
32:04You're so neat.
32:06Neat shirt, neat suit,
32:08neatly tied tie.
32:11Neat watch strap.
32:13It's as if you thought it was possible to tidy up the whole of life
32:16and make some order out of it.
32:18Isn't it?
32:19Delivered as it comes.
32:21You didn't give me this job just because I speak four languages.
32:27No, no, not entirely.
32:29No, I knew that that first day in your office.
32:33Why did you come?
32:36Because the grave's a fine and private place.
32:41But none, I think, do there embrace.
32:43Who wrote there?
32:44Andrew Marvell.
32:46Solid sender, if there ever was one.
32:49But at my back, I always hear time's winged chariot hurrying near.
32:54And yonder, all before us, lie deserts of vast eternity.
33:00If we had...
33:02world enough from time,
33:05this coyness lady were no crime.
33:07Hey, man, that's out of sight.
33:10Underneath the neat shirt, there's a poet.
33:14My love is of a birth
33:17as rare as tales of objects strange and high.
33:21It was begotten by despair upon impossibility.
33:29Nothing's impossible, then.
33:33Hey.
33:35Look at the time.
33:39Your bed.
33:51John, John, we've been looking everywhere for you.
33:54This is Herr Visselman.
33:55How do you do? Tomorrow night.
33:57Herr Visselman wanted to meet you to have a chat.
33:59Well, Herr Visselman wanted to meet you to have a chat.
34:01Yes, well, first thing tomorrow dawn, if you'll excuse us.
34:05Yeah, but, John...
34:10Oh, I'm sorry.
34:12Not at all.
34:13There are, thank God, still some things equally important as money.
34:18Of course, as a banker, I always ask myself how much costs such a thing.
34:30DOORBELL RINGS
34:34Oh, you're back.
34:37Oh, good morning, darling.
34:39Yes, so it would seem.
34:43That's a bit strong, isn't it?
34:45It is.
34:46Hi, man.
34:48Oh, hello.
34:51What did you want me for, darling, hmm?
34:54Well, I, um, I...
34:59I, um...
35:01I wondered if you felt...
35:06I wondered if you felt more inclined...
35:09How old would you say I was?
35:11I mean, if you didn't know me and you met me in a bar,
35:15what age would you put me at?
35:17Well, this morning.
35:19Oh, so about 83, give or take a year or two?
35:22I mean, if you saw me in a bar, say, with...
35:28that girl.
35:30And I said I was 49, what would you think?
35:33Oh, come now, John. 49's young...
35:36for a dirty old man.
35:39I thought you were supposed to stay in Geneva till I got there.
35:43I've got here Visselman downstairs.
35:45Hello. Tomorrow morning.
35:47John, you said this morning. He's come all the way from Geneva and I promised him faithfully.
35:51Ready?
35:54Look, wait a while downstairs. I might have to see somebody.
35:58It won't take more than half an hour. Just wait for me.
36:00Are you crazy? I'm not sitting around in the snow waiting for you.
36:03I might get my backside frozen off and I need it.
36:06Now, look, just wait for me downstairs. I won't be more than half an hour.
36:10Cool it, baby, cool it.
36:12You're coming unglued.
36:14You do what you have to do. No fuss.
36:17I can go up with that dolly and strap tuck. Ciao.
36:20Perpetua?
36:22Perpetua?
36:26Look, doll, find her, Visselman.
36:29John, tonight will do.
36:31Don't be a bloody fool.
36:33Anyway, you know it'll take more than half an hour.
36:38You reckon so?
36:40And you don't ski, remember?
36:50John, look... When in Rome...
36:52Take it gentle. You're overdoing things.
36:55You know what it is that sits at the bottom of the sea and shakes?
36:59What? A nervous wreck.
37:04All right, I'll see him now.
37:08Oh, Don.
37:10Tell that girl that the skiing is off.
37:13I want her to interpret. But he speaks English.
37:16Don't! Just go and tell her. All right, all right.
37:20John, you can't keep a girl of her age away from all the dolly men.
37:24Not at your age.
37:26You get them? Yes.
37:28Happy ending.
37:30They'll take the boat so we can catch the train.
37:33That's that. I shall miss this boat.
37:35We don't have to catch the train if we don't want to.
37:38I think we should. There aren't many trains on a Sunday morning.
37:42I hope you weren't too disappointed with your trip.
37:45Of course not. It was a pleasant way of spending the weekend.
37:51I've still got some washing up to do.
37:54Will you tell him how you spent the weekend?
37:57Probably not. There isn't much to tell, is there?
38:00Only if it comes up, and it probably won't.
38:03Ahoy! Hey, you out of bed yet?
38:06Hello, old chap. We thought you'd gone amok on start point.
38:10Look, darling, we imagined you feeding fishies.
38:13I can't get into these flies. Steady the old sea legs.
38:16This is a friend of ours.
38:18Well, darling, what are you doing here?
38:22And Lincoln, darling.
38:24You know each other? Isn't that wonderful?
38:27Great.
38:30You have no idea how I was dreading this train journey back.
38:34It takes hours.
38:36I was overjoyed when I saw it was you two.
38:39Was the train crowded coming down?
38:41Oh, but of course you came by boat.
38:44I expect that was a bit crowded too, wasn't it?
38:47Still, that could be quite pleasant.
38:50Who's steering it?
38:52Aunt May. Yes, marvellous navigator.
38:55Actually, it was a bit crowded, but I managed to squeeze into the aft cabin,
38:58and May and Pamela had the main cabin.
39:00May had to go over to Torquay first thing this morning, or you'd have met her.
39:04I don't know where we'd have been without her in that storm.
39:06Incredible woman for her age.
39:08What is her age?
39:10Sixty-nine.
39:12She's unbelievably good at splicing ropes.
39:14And spiking guns.
39:16That's an old nautical term.
39:18Yes, I had heard the phrase.
39:21You come all the way from England to try to persuade me to do something
39:24which I had never had any intention of doing anyway.
39:29You didn't intend to speak.
39:31Oh, I shall address them, yes.
39:33But I have not yet decided upon what subject I shall address them.
39:38You mean other interests have perhaps persuaded you?
39:42There has been no pressure put upon me whatsoever
39:45of any kind by anyone.
39:47Oh, from the Americans?
39:49No.
39:50Or the French?
39:51None at all.
39:52From your own country?
39:53Ah, here I am regarded as eccentric.
39:56Then why did you change your mind?
39:58I haven't changed my mind.
40:00Sir John, you have seen an article of mine
40:03in which I put forward the two nations hypothesis
40:06and the idea of paper gold.
40:09But it was only a hypothesis, an amusing idea.
40:12It's not even wholly true.
40:14Gold is fairly evenly distributed over the whole world.
40:17If it is on the land, it is probably also under the sea.
40:20If we need it enough, we can always find it.
40:23That is also my idea.
40:25Oh, may I...
40:29You know what magazine I wrote it for?
40:32No.
40:33It was for Ampersand.
40:37But it's a satirical magazine.
40:40Oh, the basis of the article is quite feasible.
40:43The idea is possible.
40:45It is just that it is not immediately probable.
40:50I think you are the only ones who have taken it seriously.
40:54Collapse of Stout Party.
40:57Where did you read the article, Sir John?
41:00I haven't read it, as a matter of fact.
41:02You were told about it. May I ask by whom?
41:05By a colleague of mine.
41:07By a colleague of mine.
41:09Would I know him?
41:11His name is Jason Fowler.
41:13Ah, Fowler.
41:16He and I have had a long and interesting discussion upon the subject
41:20when I was in London last month.
41:23I think I have made the mistake of thinking that
41:26that discussion was also hypothetical.
41:30I'm afraid nobody appreciates my sense of humour.
41:33What do you mean by that?
41:35I understand your Sir Jason Fowler has to put in a report
41:39on the reorganisation of international currencies.
41:42He gave me a long and boring lecture about it.
41:45I expect he was trying it on the dog.
41:48It struck me as a man who needed an idea.
41:52Perhaps because for years an idea has been expected of him
41:56and he has never been able to deliver.
41:58I suppose it would be a great help to him
42:01to be able to quote from something as respectable as a conference of the World Bank.
42:05Herr Visserman, if you are looking for a subject for your lecture
42:10how about the manipulation of ideas by government officials for their own ends?
42:17Now that is a good idea.
42:22And now, if you will excuse me, since I am here
42:26I think I will try and recapture some of my lost youth on the nursery slopes.
42:30It has been very nice meeting you.
42:33Es hat mich sehr erfreut.
42:35Auf Wiedersehen.
42:36Herr Visserman.
42:40Thank you.
42:41Nice fellow.
42:43Are you going to listen to his speech?
42:45What for?
42:46Fowler only asked me to persuade him to talk.
42:49He didn't say on what subject.
42:51I thought he was dishy.
42:52He's written nearly the greatest thing since sliced bread.
42:55Oh, come along, perpetual baby.
42:58Get your slide area off that sofa
43:01and zip it into your ski pants.
43:04There's no snow in the King's Road, booby baby.
43:08Get him.
43:10You know, suddenly I think you're getting on the ball again, Jackson.
43:15Thank God she got out at Reading.
43:18I was terrified she'd invite us up for drinks.
43:21Lincoln.
43:22Yes?
43:23Who did John go to Switzerland with?
43:26With?
43:27Well, he took Henderson with him.
43:29Nobody else?
43:31I really don't know. Why?
43:33Well, I just thought it was odd that he didn't want you to go with him.
43:37Or me.
43:39I've no idea.
43:41Good for you.
43:43Are we there?
43:45It's just about.
43:50Would you like to come to my place first for a drink?
43:53Oh, I think I'd better get back.
43:55Thanks for a super weekend and everything.
43:58Nonsense.
43:59I'm going to Cheltenham tomorrow for the day.
44:01I don't suppose you'd like to come?
44:03I think...
44:04Think about it.
44:06We can always take Aunt May with us.
44:09I'll see you in London the day after tomorrow.
44:12Are you leaving today?
44:13Yes, I'm catching a plane this afternoon.
44:16Oh.
44:18Taking a few little gifts home with you, are you?
44:21Well, I bought... We bought some little things.
44:26When she knew that my ambassador status gave me customs immunity,
44:30there was no stopping her.
44:32Yes, well, all the most desirable properties cost the earth these days.
44:36You know, you're looking tired, John.
44:38Well, this is the altitude.
44:40Oh, you think so?
44:42Well, have you tried doing the Watootsie or whatever it's called three nights in a row?
44:46I haven't tried doing it three minutes in a row.
44:49I'll tell you something, Don, which is quite true,
44:53that a man is as young as he feels,
44:56and I feel like death.
44:58Or perhaps you're a little overdrawn at the fun bank.
45:01Hey, John, if we got good old to drive like hell,
45:03we could stop the night at that place that had that discotheque, huh?
45:06Oh, we'll see.
45:07John, John, look.
45:09Try taking it easy, will you?
45:11You know what they say.
45:13Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down.
45:19Hmm.
45:28Give me your ring, huh?
45:31Okay.
45:32Okay?
45:33Only not next week.
45:35Next week I'm in a demonstration for war on want.
45:38As long as you know what you want.
45:42Where the hell are they?
45:44Do you really think we will get all that stuff through without paying duty?
45:48My dear child, I've told you I have diplomatic immunity.
45:52God, don't start getting pompous again just because we're back in England.
45:58Good day, sir.
45:59I have to ask you if you're familiar with this document.
46:02I have read it.
46:03Perhaps you'd both just step outside and stand beside the car, sir.
46:09I think you'll find I have diplomatic immunity.
46:14You'd just wait a moment, sir.
46:19Now what?
46:20Oh, don't panic.
46:28Good day, sir John.
46:29Madam.
46:31Good day.
46:32Is everything all right?
46:34Perfectly, sir.
46:35Splendid.
46:36But we would be very grateful if you would step outside and stand beside your car, sir.
46:40I'm on Her Majesty's diplomatic service.
46:43Oh, yes, sir.
46:45Well then, what's all this about?
46:47If you would just step outside, sir, perhaps we could explain.
46:51I'm damned if I will.
46:53Look, fetch somebody with more authority, your superior.
46:57I'm afraid there's no one here with more authority, sir.
47:00I'm sorry, sir, but I must insist.
47:04You mean you're not prepared to take that on its face value?
47:07Oh, we take nothing on face value, sir.
47:09After all, for all we know, the young lady could be an underage, unfropped nun.
47:13Couldn't she, sir?
47:17Don!
47:18Look, Don, get hold of Fowler.
47:21Get hold of Fowler this minute.
47:23I can't find him.
47:24Well, what's wrong?
47:27Oh, Lord.
47:30Yes, yes, right away.
47:32He's claiming what?
47:34Oh, well, I'm afraid he can't do that.
47:37No, you see, he isn't actually accredited.
47:41Well, not to any particular country, you see.
47:45Well, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid that's his problem.
47:50Look, John, I've, uh...
47:52I've got hold of Fowler, but, um...
47:56He said what?
47:58Oh, all right, Don.
48:00All right.
48:02I'll see Fowler when I get back to London.
48:30Well, sir John, you'll be pleased to hear we haven't found anything,
48:33other than the thing that's in the boot?
48:35No.
48:37Well, let me tell you something that you'll be less pleased to hear.
48:41I could have told you that without all this officious nonsense.
48:45And if this is the gateway to England,
48:49the country will be far better off if they put you back in your laboratory jar
48:53in which you've obviously spent half your life.
48:55We get a great many diplomats through here, sir John,
48:58if they all paid their duty,
49:00perhaps the country would be able to afford the formaldehyde.
49:05All right. Put the bloody thing back together again.
49:08I'm afraid not, sir.
49:10Although we have the right to take the car apart if we think it necessary,
49:13it is not incumbent on us to have to reassemble it again.
49:17Thank you, sir.
49:19Oh, baby!
49:21That custom's immunity.
49:24I don't think the vaccine took.
49:29These things are yours, I think.
49:32You bought them.
49:35You pay the duty.
49:37Baby!
49:38And good old.
49:40Give her a spanner.
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