The General Died at Dawn (1946)

There they are:
Refugees from Anshan,
or what used to be Anshan
before General Yang rode through it.
And who is
General Yang?
Why, he's the warlord
of this province,
and a swell guy
to do business with.
But why does
he want to destroy
his own towns?
Oh, because they refuse
to pay their taxes.
Well, I should think
those people would learn
how to obey the law,
rather than suffer this.
Ah, these people
have no nerves, no feelings.
They're used
to suffering.
But they can't
get used to paying.
Excuse me, Madam.
You got a match,
Colonel?
No,
I don't smoke.
Colonel.
Refuse me a match,
will you?
But I haven't a match.
And those people
didn't have the pennies
to pay General Yang.
Think it over.
He's cute.
What is his name?
Sam.
How does he keep cool
in this hot weather?
Room 26.
Stay there, Sam.
I bring you greetings
from Mr. Wu, General Pen.
I'm O'Hara.
Oh, Mr. O'Hara.
You startled me at first.
I didn't expect him
to send a foreigner.
Well, he thought I'd have
a better chance of getting through.
Mr. Wu is very wise.
With his help,
we will rid the province
of Yang and his locusts.
Riding through,
I didn't see much left
for Yang to plunder.
The bark on trees, perhaps.
And that is why he has made
so many short, desperate raids
the past months.
His ordinary soldiers
are deserting by the dozens
for the lack of rice.
His ammunition is so little,
it is distributed chiefly
among his personal guard.
Dear O'Hara, this is the time
we have waited for.
Here is the money.
Mr. Wu gave you instructions?
To the "T."
To which, allow me to add,
I am ashamed to say,
"Be careful."
Not only for the love
we bear you,
but for the sake
of that money,
and the guns it will buy.
I'll get through.
It is of my opinion that
General Yang would sacrifice
half his personal guard
for that belt.
Which is to say,
he would give his arms
and legs for it.
You don't advise the train
from Pengwa?
No.
Wait for the plane in Pengwa.
It will be arranged.
Good.
And even there,
General Yang has special agents.
So be careful
and only by plane.
Mr. O'Hara.
From the time
you close that door,
until the time you deliver
that money to Mr. Wu
in Shanghai,
the fate of the people
of this entire province
is in your hands.
I'll get through.
Must be
a very careful job.
I can do it.
Why all the secrecy?
'Cause the man O'Hara
is here in Pengwa.
General Yang says-
I know.
I've done those jobs
for him before,
all kinds.
General Yang knows
he can trust me.
Your shot, Judy.
Your daughter has
beautiful form,
Mr. Perrie.
Don't worry
about her.
I got it all straight, see,
so you don't need to worry.
I'm to get this O'Hara
on a train,
and then leave
the rest to you.
He's got something
General Yang wants, huh?
Yes.
Money for an opposite side
with which to buy guns.
For this reason,
care must be exercised.
Also for the reason
the General himself
needs guns badly.
Hmm.
O'Hara by any chance
a cock-eyed fellow?
No. American.
Staying at your hotel.
I'll point him out
to you later.
Well, you know,
it won't be easy
to get a man like that
on a train
when he wants
to go by plane.
A beautiful woman
does it very easy.
She's high-spirited,
don't worry.
Wait for me,
I'll be back.
I'll wait.
Now, Judy.
Judy.
Please, Judy.
No. No. No!
All right.
I'm not luring men
to their death on trains,
a man I never saw.
Judy.
Open this for me,
will you?
What good
are these pills?
I don't know.
Someone said
they were good.
Who?
Someone.
I can't remember.
I've had
so many doctors.
This is no place for us,
China.
Isn't it, Pete?
A man ought to die at home,
a Christian death.
L- I've waited months
for a chance
to make enough to leave.
Now it's possible.
Oh, please don't
come back to that again.
If you'll help,
it's possible.
Well, maybe it doesn't
mean much to you.
You never saw America.
But if I have
six months to live-
You want
to live it there.
New York. Nyack.
L- I'd get a house on the hill
looking over the river.
Oh, it means so much,
it does.
L- I want
to sit there.
There's boats.
They go up
and down the river.
You can't do this
to me, Judy.
You're me, my kid.
It's six months,
then you're free.
You can do what you want then,
but help me now.
Oh, what's the use?
You've been playing me
for a sucker
for as many years
as I'm old.
Will you do it?
Sure.
Sure, I will.
Why not?
Don't feel like that,
Judy.
I don't feel
any way at all. I...
Just leave me alone,
will you?
Maybe someday
there will be a law
to abolish the blues.
Something big,
like an amendment
to the Constitution.
For all of us.
O'Hara is now on the train,
from the other side.
Can you beat it?
He's afraid.
Don't blame him.
Goodbye.
He's on.
Any cigarettes?
Be careful,
Judy.
I'll see you
tomorrow.
Yang's stopping
the train at 8:00.
See you
after then.
See you tomorrow.
Boo.
He remembers me.
Did you expect me?
What are you doing
hiding behind doors?
I live here till tomorrow.
Do you mind?
I don't mind.
Do you like me,
Judy?
I wish
you hadn't come.
Do you?
Like you?
Yes.
It's comfortable.
"Cozy," said the spider
to the fly.
Preparations?
Lots of things on the ground
don't like me.
For instance?
Well, uh...
There are certain
busy Lizzies
who scoot around
taking potshots.
At you?
Mmm-hmm.
But the train's moving.
Sure,
the train's moving,
and it's nighttime
and we're alone.
And I like the lady
and she likes me.
Judy, you've got me
by the throat,
and I'm telling you,
whether it's dopey or not.
Judy.
Don't do that.
No?
You don't
want to do that.
That's what
you say.
What do you think of that,
Sam?
Come on.
You know, Judy, uh,
I'm not one
of the anxious boys.
You're a good guy.
I can wait.
Wanna hear
something funny?
I'm crazy
for a laugh.
I'm scared. Afraid.
Because of me?
Yes.
Well, I'm a man
of infinite patience.
Sure.
You have a whole
lifetime ahead.
It was only the mail.
Why are you so jumpy?
I told you,
lots of things
on the ground don't like me.
Why do they make
those attempts on your life?
A certain honorable
tootsie roll named Yang
thinks he has the right
to control the lives
of tens of thousands
of poor Chinese.
How?
Military dictatorship.
Taxes.
You put, he takes.
You protest, he shoots.
A heartbreaker,
a strike breaker,
a head breaker.
Altogether a four-star rat.
And what do the poor ones say?
Me. That's where I come in.
They're preparing
underground.
They need good guns
and ammunition.
You'll sell to them?
And, naturally, your Yang
doesn't care for that?
You uttered
a profound mouthful, lady.
Why do you risk
your life, O'Hara?
What do you get
for it?
Money? Fun?
Here's my life
in a few lines:
Ran away from
an orphan asylum at 14.
Sold newspapers
on the street
and got pretty good
at ducking blows.
A life of opposition,
you'd call it.
Then I boxed for a living,
you know.
Didn't like smacking
other kids around, so I quit.
Dock walloper for a year,
road construction,
then I joined
an aviation outfit.
A bunch of us came over here
in '29 to fly planes,
and some of the fellows
are still flyin' planes
and dropping bombs
on the same people
I'm working for.
You ask me
why I'm for oppressed people?
Because I've got a background
of oppression myself,
and O'Haras and elephants
don't forget.
What's better work
for an American
than helping fight
for democracy? Do you know?
No, I don't.
But do you believe all that?
That's like asking
do I believe I'm alive.
I hope to spit, I believe it.
If I believed like that
in anything,
I'd do a dance.
Why do you look at me
like that?
Can't I look?
Can't I kiss you?
Ask my mother.
Mrs. Perrie,
may I kiss
your daughter, huh?
Thank you.
What did she say?
She said it's okay.
Very soon, Herr General.
Isn't that marvelous?
They're playing hooky
from a padded cell.
Look at him.
You're full of jokes, aren't you?
Why not? I don't meet
a good girl in 10 years,
and you expect me
to be dumb.
So eat your cabbage
and don't stick pins in papa.
Dinner and hurry it.
Quiet, Sam.
Are you hungry?
Not very.
You're pretty delicate.
Waiter.
Oh, hello, O'Hara.
Hello.
Who's that?
A Shanghai journalist.
Writes on an
English-speaking paper.
You can buy him
for a bag of salt.
How you been?
Fine.
Chiseler.
What's the time?
My watch has stopped.
Ten minutes to 8:00.
Can I tell you
something?
Something I can
write down in my diary?
Why won't you
be serious?
Why? What for?
The Lord made the world
in six days,
and on the seventh...
Oh-oh. The moles are
working underground.
Don't go out there.
Why not?
You're in trouble.
Am I?
They're waiting.
Who is?
I say, do you know
what it is?
Cloudburst.
I'm a newspaperman,
General Yang.
With newspapermen,
me all the time gentle.
Caught yourself
a public enemy, huh?
That's a fact.
Very bad man, et cetera.
Mind if I tell
our readers?
No, I don't mind.
Also print my picture?
Sure.
Front page stuff.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Nice friends you got.
Don't blame me for this,
young man.
I'm a plain passenger
on the train.
Sorry what they're
doing to you.
Awful,
but don't blame me.
Good, I won't have
to remember your face.
Come on, Sam.
Greetings.
Breath purifier?
Thanks. I have got
a bad taste in my mouth.
What's on your mind,
Yang?
General Yang.
General Yang, Sam.
Very sweet.
Aw!
Sad.
Mr. O'Hara,
you are
a big bother on me.
Looks pretty black for you
from where I sit, Yang.
Real opposition begins.
The old days are through.
For my money,
sweetheart,
you're sitting
on a porcupine.
Mr. Buddha.
That's a fact.
That's the only way
they ever leave me.
They do
shameful thing,
lose face,
then kill self.
Someday even
they'll get wise,
your fanatics,
and cut you down
like the rice is reaped.
Huh!
My guards faithful.
Stay with General Yang
until each one himself
becomes General,
and I
biggest General
of all 12 provinces.
Yang Incorporated,
merchants of war
with 12 dummy partners,
huh?
I don't like you
to interfere.
Why you help
my enemy, hmm?
I'd do anything I could
to give you
a kick in the pants.
To my jaundiced eye,
you're a social disease.
I don't like your disposition,
I don't like your friends,
I don't like your politics,
and I don't like your hat.
Your faithful dozen
may stick to you,
but you're still a small noise
at the end of a parade.
Mr. O'Hara seems
so little interested
in his life.
You'd take chances, too.
I have a great destiny.
So have I,
but mine is tied up
with millions of people.
Yours is tied up
with yourself,
and the power of machine guns.
Your belief is in your own
very limited self.
Mine is in people.
One day, they will all
walk on earth, straight, proud.
Men, not animals, with no fear
of hunger or poverty.
That's not so bad to die for,
sweetheart.
The time has come
when even,
even peasants
dare to laugh
in the face
of officer and General.
Pal, my nose
bleeds for you.
Give me the money.
Couldn't Wong
find it?
He's saying no money
in your place.
Cough up, Sam.
Give me the money.
The eight characters
of destiny are against you.
No money tonight.
Eight characters say
you are a liar.
Come and get it.
Fight?
Give me.
All right.
This is
the money.
You don't have
to worry an iota.
I'll take it
right to him.
Uh, Brighton.
That's his name?
Yes,
Brighton.
He is waiting
at the Mansion House,
Shanghai.
And
B- R-l-G-H-T-O-N.
Now I got it all in my head,
every word of it.
No mistake?
Oh!
General Yang never
forgets mistakes.
Say, am I honest
or am I not?
After all,
I...
I keep Mr. O'Hara
for now.
Maybe his Shanghai friends make trouble,
et cetera, maybe.
You're
a running dog.
Thanks.
Very good man.
Teaches my men discipline
and how to make war.
We will float down the river
to Shanghai together,
me and O'Hara.
Pick up ammunition also together.
Two days from now, we arrive.
If Mr. O'Hara's friends
make trouble,
if I don't get ammunition,
Mr. O'Hara don't arrive.
No hummingbird
can fight 15 wolves,
Mr. O'Hara.
Now, was that so terrible
as you thought?
The Mansion House.
Mr. Brighton.
Mr. Brighton.
Paging Mr. Brighton.
Paging Mr. Brighton.
Paging Mr. Brighton.
Paging Mr. Brighton.
Paging Mr. Brighton.
"I'll be glad when you're dead,
you rascal you"
"I'll be glad when you're dead,
you rascal you"
Paging Mr. Brighton.
Paging Mr. Brighton.
Paging Mr. Brighton.
I'm Mr. Brighton.
Thank you.
No news?
No.
I am very worried.
Something
is very wrong.
Drink hearty, my friend.
Oh, no, you don't.
You can't get away
with that.
I won't even
drink this drink.
You're trying
to get me drunk,
so I'll wait here
for your man O'Hara.
But I won't.
Now, look here, Woozy.
Don't you know
I can't lay around this harbor
with that
load of guns?
Any minute, the gitchie-witchies
are liable to hop on us
and we're sunk.
What do you think
I'm doin'?
Waitin' till the kids
get out of school
to sell them
lollipops and pretzels?
No, it's munitions.
It's illegal.
Plenty guns.
Plenty bullets.
Plenty noise.
And you, none of your
philosophical remarks.
Get me, Chennie?
Is he comin' or not?
No philosophy.
Have a drink,
my friend.
Oh! Take the wax
out of your ears.
Don't you hear me?
You can't get me tight.
Mr. Brighton,
it is no such intention
in my mind.
But we are expecting
an information
from Mr. O'Hara
this morning.
What was in that wire
you got?
Oh! Smart,
very smart.
Well,
you get six more hours
and then I sell
to the first comer.
That's what was
in that wire.
Get me?
Got you.
You forget the glass.
Oh.
I'll be under
that moose head
and a stuffier piece
of stuffin' I've never seen.
"I'll be glad when you're dead"
"You rascal you"
"I'll be glad
when you're dead"
"you rascal you"
Detestable man.
Who is it?
Don't know.
Thank you.
Pete.
What?
Where are you going?
I'll be back.
Where are you going?
Down to the bar...
for a tonic.
No more bets
on the ponies?
Now, Judy,
have I got money for bets?
I don't know.
Have you?
I surely don't
understand your attitude.
Pick up that shipment
for Yang, first thing.
Of course. Of course.
Of course. Why, of course.
Well, I must say,
what a funny world
where a man's own daughter
don't trust him. I must say.
No one mistrusts you, Pete,
but I just happen
to be worried
about that O'Hara boy.
So please be careful.
Sure.
Oh, you dog.
Oh, you dog, you.
What are you looking at,
banjo eyes?
He drink
for three days now.
Who is he?
Name Mr. Brighton.
Oh! Mr. Brighton?
Yeah.
Waiting for somebody.
He got plenty money.
Say he go
to hard-knock university.
Every morning, he eats
two double lamb chops.
Also has
two sisters
live in Washington, D.C.
His favorite song:
"I'll be glad when you die,
you rascal you"
"I'll be glad"
"When you're dead,
you rascal you"
See?
I found this sign
on the floor, Mademoiselle.
Thank you.
My foot.
I am Wu, Mademoiselle.
And?
I bring to Mademoiselle
the greetings of the house.
A custom here.
Good brandy?
Yes.
Our four-star is better.
Brandied duck is with us
a house specialty.
I never eat brandied duck.
Very friendly on the stomach.
Like our small creature here.
You have him long?
Two years.
Call him.
What?
Mademoiselle,
call the animal to you.
What for?
Call him.
Maybe if you call him
with name.
Maybe if you say to him,
"Sam."
What do you want?
Where is O'Hara?
Who is O'Hara?
Mademoiselle,
you are indelicate.
You do not know him,
nor the creature here?
Your Mr. O'Hara was taken off
a train last night.
General Yang do it?
Yes.
What else?
I don't know what else.
What do you mean?
You don't know more?
No.
The animal was left behind.
You're sure
nothing more? Please.
Why should I lie?
Mademoiselle has
already lied once.
Who in the world are you
to demand the truth?
A great friend
of O'Hara.
And what's that
got to do with me?
Shanghai is filled
with dangerous persons,
Mademoiselle.
Be careful.
Of what? Do you-
You will be watched.
You like to fish?
It bores me.
Why are you so
very much interested
in my country,
my, uh, people?
How many times before
you buy guns
for people
of my province?
Maybe I fix you
so you really don't talk.
Interesting idea, no?
Yang, that money
was the bitterly earned
personal property
of 500,000 oppressed people
who want your heel
off their collective neck.
They trusted me with it,
and I failed.
If I live to ever
look them in the face,
it will be
with far greater difficulty
than facing you.
Do I make myself clear?
No.
I'm saying, bring on your fires
and your devils.
You've already done
all you can to me,
or I've done it myself.
Mr. O'Hara has
so little regard for his life.
He sounds,
sounds almost like Chinese.
That makes me a candidate
for your guard, don't it?
No. You are too much
interested in women.
That's a fact.
You eat fresh fish
tonight.
Thanks.
When we arrive
in Shanghai tomorrow,
maybe fresh fish
eat you.
Hmm, thanks.
When does she sail?
Midnight tomorrow.
I'd like to book two bedrooms
and a sitting room.
Two bedrooms and-
It's for me and my daughter.
Oh, yes, Mr...
Uh, Martin. Martin.
Mr. Martin.
Peter Martin.
Peter Martin.
I'll pay you now, cash.
How much is it?
$530. $530.
$1,060.
$1,060.
Was the name Martin,
did you say?
Yes, Martin,
Peter Martin.
Midnight tomorrow,
Mr. Martin.
Seems everybody
in these parts
have two names.
Have they?
That one is either
a thief or a liar.
Really?
He gave a fake name.
I've seen it by
the initials on his wallet.
How are you on pears?
24 hours more,
and still no news.
I shall lose my mind
waiting.
The boy
must be dead.
Has the girl made
any moves?
In 24 hours,
nothing suspicious.
"I'll be glad"
"When you're dead,
you rascal you"
"I'll be glad when you're dead,
you rascal you"
Believe me,
Mr. Chen,
it's lucky
if more complications
do not set in.
Oh,
where are you coming from?
Down the bar,
having a drink.
Down the bar? Why?
What's the matter?
Headache.
Oh.
You've been looking
awfully worried
these last 24 hours.
Well, knock on wood, huh.
Everything's shipshape.
We'll be out of here
by midnight.
We're on our way, huh?
What's that for?
Shh.
Who's that?
I don't know.
A fat man.
How did he get here?
He sneaked in,
looked through your bags.
Better open up, brother. Who are you?
I was inside when he came.
He didn't see me.
I can make an awful racket,
maybe break down the door.
You wouldn't like
that disturbance, would you?
Better call the police, Pete.
No, no!
Open up.
Judy, don't get excited.
Judy?
What's the matter?
Nothing, nothing.
We don't know who he is and-
Where's your gun?
In my bag.
Stand back.
Come out of there.
Put down your popgun.
Who are you?
I'm the angle man.
W- what?
When you're in trouble,
I work out the angles.
We'll find an angle,
Brother Perrie,
and, uh, Miss Perrie,
I might add.
And what's all that
supposed to mean?
Well, from the General
to the specific,
you're on a very
interesting project.
No one here knows
what you're talking about.
Now you get out.
We'll have the police
on you in 10 seconds.
Get out.
Now, I'm not the smartest man
in the world, brother,
but I'm not the dumbest.
You send for the police.
Yes, you do
that little thing.
Well, what are
you gonna do?
Judy, this man's
a big imposter of some sort,
a- a faker...
He's gonna share
some money with me.
What money?
That's what
I came to find out.
Oh, come on,
get out of here.
You admit you don't know
what you're talking about.
But your father, he knows.
Just look at him.
He needs a friend.
A bird's-eye-view man
like me
that knows the town,
all the back alleys.
Get out!
You have it in your power
to stop me from leaving,
Brother Perrie.
Pete?
One final word,
Brother Perrie.
If you were thinking
of escaping
with a large sum of money,
and you know you are,
it'd be absolutely fatal
not to insure yourself
with a man like me.
Oh, excuse me,
I forgot to introduce myself.
The name is Leach.
And I want one-third of it.
I shall be downstairs
in the bar.
And I shan't consider it
an imposition
if you should call on me
when you need me.
Judy-
I don't want one trembling word
out of you, not one.
All I want to know is what
you're doing with those Yang funds?
Shh.
Don't duck, Pete,
answer my question.
You can't frighten me.
I won't give it up. Not a cent.
You'll have to. I'm not gonna let
the O'Hara boy get killed.
I don't care if he does. Here are the tickets.
We're going to the States.
You mean you are.
I'll get there.
In a coffin.
Judy, help me, please.
Not this year.
Judy, don't you see,
it's for you.
I can't use
all this money-
Oh, stop that.
Think about
buying what you want-
Are you picking up
that shipment or not?
Are you?
No.
What are you
going to do?
Get out of my way.
You won't tell anyone?
Won't I?
No. Because that
would be patricide.
Killing your own father.
You couldn't do it, Judy.
But you're murdering O'Hara.
You can do that.
It doesn't mean
the slightest,
dumbest thing to you that I haven't slept
for two nights because of him.
Oh, it's nice to talk
about "patricide"
and "poor father,"
but that
I'm crazy about the boy
doesn't make you
wink an eye.
Do you care about him or me?
Do you care about me
a nickel's worth?
Where are you going?
I don't know.
Will you tell him?
I might.
You wouldn't dare.
Maybe you're wrong.
Or right.
If I were
the heroine of a novel,
I'd know what to do.
Pull a plane
out of one sleeve,
a fat checkbook
out of the other,
get the Marines,
and put the situation
well in hand.
But this is a simple girl,
my lovey-dovey Pete,
one of the nameless legion
that always gets stuck.
Yes, your
black-hearted daughter
is up a dead-end street.
Useless, dumb.
But if you laugh
at him or me, I'll
I'll have
your life.
Take it
with my own hands.
The General say
you go.
Do you want to die?
Show me how
to get out of here.
Ah.
Mademoiselle plays
a very nice game.
May I join you, Mademoiselle?
Certainly.
Come along.
I regret,
Mademoiselle.
Really, really?
What is it?
I feel like a bag
of broken glass.
Chen.
It's not serious.
I will do it myself.
Get some hot water,
some iodine,
some bandages.
His clothes
are in my rooms.
Well, you may as well start
from the beginning.
What happened?
And that's the story in a nutshell.
I am sorry, Mr. O'Hara,
for everyone.
We can
never trust you again.
I don't expect it.
You were
lonely, huh?
Yeah, if you want
to put it that way.
In our cause,
my friend,
there must be
a minimum of loneliness
and a maximum of care.
Well, what next?
Next is to find
the girl.
I'll find her
and give her the works.
What is the good,
to give the works?
She knows who
Yang's agent is.
Mmm-hmm. Well.
I'll grab her
and make her cough up.
We'll have
to work fast.
Yang won't waste
a minute now he's here.
One thing is in our favor.
Yang's agent has not yet
contacted Mr. Brighton.
No?
No.
He has private plans,
it seems.
No, he...
It's that dame.
Huh? Well,
maybe you're right.
There was some guy,
some little guy.
Shanghai's a big town.
I don't know where
to start looking for her or him.
I suppose
you'll kill her
if you see her
or him.
In half.
Huh.
Mr. Chen?
I think maybe
we will soon have
that money again.
Hey.
What are you
trying to pull?
O'Hara's here.
Calm yourself,
calm yourself, my friend.
I think maybe
we soon fix everything.
Lay down, Sam.
I know it's not
my right to say it,
but I'm glad
you're alive.
Save your breath
because anything
you say
goes in one ear
and out the other.
What are you going to do?
You make the recommendation,
you're so talented.
You started
to beat me up.
You might continue
where you left off.
I might kill you,
that's a possibility.
Yes, it is.
First,
I want some information.
Answer precisely
and to the point.
Who employed you? Yang?
Yes.
When they took
the belt off me,
they gave it to a man.
Who was he?
L- I don't know.
A little fellow with a gray face,
sick-looking. I don't know.
Don't waste my time,
I'm warning you.
I'll tell you
whatever I can.
And don't give me that whiskbroom stuff.
Brushing me off.
Is it necessary to shout?
Where's the dough?
Listen, lady, you can be broken
in little pieces.
Little pieces,
very easy.
What's funny?
You think I care,
but I don't.
That's what's so funny,
Mr. O'Hara.
I could kill myself
for almost next to nothing.
Try carbon monoxide.
They say
it's pretty good.
O'Hara, O'Hara,
you're such a fool.
Sit down.
And this is the girl I loved
with vitamins A, B, and C.
Why are you
so hard like that?
Where's the money?
I wouldn't tell you if I knew.
You can't intimidate me.
This is Shanghai,
a public hotel.
You were doing illegal work,
running guns. You fell.
You were so busy
giving me a rah-rah talk,
you couldn't see
before your nose.
You want to speak to me,
speak as a person or not at all.
Not at all is
good enough for me.
There's no money here.
I didn't ask you.
The pig they made
this out of was luckier
than you're gonna be
before I get through.
You gotta
listen to me.
I want the cash.
I had nothing
to do with it.
You didn't get me
on the train?
Against my will.
Let me explain.
I know. You're working
a brother through school.
Please, if-
Or an old, sick father
needs care.
Let me tell you,
dreamboat,
don't think
I fell for you.
A tree with a flower on.
I'd have fallen for that,
the way I felt.
A fish on a dish
would have gotten me.
You don't have to
justify yourself.
You think you're pretty smart, don't you?
I'm sorry
you won't listen.
You're licked.
The money isn't here,
Mr. O'Hara.
Your gun won't help,
and your brawn won't help.
And your big mouth
won't help.
When I'm finished here,
we'll talk about
places where it might be.
Unless Yang gets here
before we're clear.
He's at anchor,
three miles out, personally.
He is?
I speak good English.
O'Hara,
the money isn't there.
Where is it?
Is Yang here?
Where do you suppose
I came from, the sky?
Are you being tricky?
You heard Yang say he'd pick up
the shipment himself.
Suppose you got
that money, most of it,
what would you do?
Would you let the person go
who had the money?
Maybe.
And give him a bonus?
This is
no bargain counter.
It is for you.
I'd have to ask.
Who?
Wu.
Then do it.
A $1,000
or $2,000 bonus.
You mean it?
I mean it.
Who's in there?
Where?
Behind that door.
I don't know.
But if I were behind it,
I'd keep it locked.
Don't you come in here.
Pete!
Stay out, now.
Wait!
Stay out, I tell you!
Who is he?
My father.
He's dead.
Get your hand fixed.
I'm sorry.
He's Yang's agent.
I'll have to get my belt.
You'll get your money.
I'll get it now.
Get out.
Please get out.
I'm sorry.
What must I do
to ask you to leave me alone
with this tired old man?
Do you want me
to call the police?
No, even if you could.
Do you want me
to scream and be heard?
I must get my belt.
Try your room.
I'm not sorry
for him.
He took a job.
He knew what it involved.
I'm sorry you had
to get into this mess.
I said it before.
You can't do this kind of work
and die in bed.
It was
my life or his.
It's got me nuts, too.
I like people
too much to shoot,
but it's a dark year
and a hard night.
Come on.
I'll have to take
whatever he's carrying.
Don't make me
go in that room.
All right.
You stay here and have
your sorrow out alone.
Hello.
Looks like you, uh,
murdered a man, brother.
Miss Perrie,
take his gun from him.
Miss Perrie, take his gun.
All right.
Now throw it on the bed.
That's right.
Now, may I recommend care,
Mr. O'Hara?
Look before you leap.
And you, too,
Miss Perrie.
I may be fat, but I'm agile.
Now may I recommend
our next move?
Evidently, you may.
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut.
The money isn't
on our dear dead brother.
Now, every impulse
of my carnal nature
says to stay here
and continue the search.
But every impulse
of my intellectual nature
says to move
the luggage and all
out of the approaching
Yang's wrath.
Am I, uh, understood?
Well, do it.
Oh, no, no, no.
You do it.
Mr. Wu. Call him.
Hello.
Ask Mr. Wu
to come up.
Take a seat.
And you, too.
Not so good.
Better luck next time.
Don't try it again.
Now, sit down
where you were.
Don't move.
Fatso was sucking around
for a little nectar.
No time to waste.
Did you find anything?
The girl knows
where it is.
Who is he?
Her father.
You kill him?
Yeah.
Watch him.
Bring the body here.
Fats will help.
Now,
you stay here
with Miss Perrie.
And you come with me,
my freelance friend.
But perfect,
positive quiet.
You hear me,
Fats?
I hear.
I will come back.
I was holding the fort,
General,
but they
nailed me down.
Yes? Who are you?
I heard they was
going to rob you, so l-
Very nice.
Find Mr. Brighton.
Bring him here.
Gentle.
O'Hara!
He's got
another one there.
Where is
Mr. Perrie?
Miss Perrie,
where is Mr. Perrie?
Dead. Killed.
In there.
Man who killed Perrie,
take money.
Give me.
Don't talk? Nobody?
I leave my men here to search,
and we, all good friends,
go on my boat.
Maybe then
somebody talk
what this is all about.
Take baggage, too.
It looks like
I'm the original boy
that took the watch apart
and couldn't put it
together again.
He don't shake hands no more.
Example of what
sometimes happens.
My man Wong here, uh, uh...
Expert.
Yes.
Very expert.
Can make
painfulness many, many ways.
See?
Big chop, little chop.
And person die very slow.
Your friend Mr. Chen
die too fast.
So you don't forget?
Hmm?
Now, which dog hide bone?
Miss Perrie, perhaps.
Now you tell me
where is the hiding place?
I don't know,
General Yang.
That's the plain
honest truth.
My man Wong, expert.
Expert.
She told you 50 times,
she don't- Shh.
Shush your Aunt Susie.
The water around here
is jammed with gunboats.
And you'll have one
on your tail any minute.
Optimist.
Yes.
Optimist, O'Hara.
Got fog. Got night.
But there will be a day.
Oh, plenty day,
but you'll never see it.
You, you, and you,
you all die
because destiny
don't fail me.
I looted 12 cities,
killed many thousands,
make great commerce:
Silk, rice, and opium.
Got big, great friends.
I am Yang.
Would somebody please
be good enough
to hide
Mr. Chen's face?
Let's put him up there.
Well?
Do you want me
to tell Yang, or will you?
Tell him what?
Where the money is.
Do you know?
Lady, this is
no time for games.
But I don't know
and that's the blank,
flat, honest truth.
Didn't you tell me in your room
at the hotel
you'd make a deal?
Didn't you tell me that...
You certainly knew
where it was then.
I thought my father
had it on him.
That's the truth?
That's the truth, and may I be permitted
to exercise the prerogative
of the outsider?
Now, may l-
May I make a suggestion
before he wakes up?
Sure, but if you're gonna
suggest chocolate,
I prefer vanilla.
This is how
I see it.
A girl is good for nothing,
and she knows it.
The only bright spot in her life
she can remember
is when she once
won a prize in school.
That's all right
because it only involves
the girl's life.
But then she begins
to get good people in trouble,
perfect strangers,
like you're in trouble now,
and Mr. Wu.
It sounds like the speech
that got you that prize.
Well, I don't care.
Even if
I got off this boat,
I don't know where
I'd go or what I'd do.
I've got a good, solid chunk
of anguish in me as it is.
Why don't I tell Yang
I know where the money is
and that I'll tell if he lets you off
the boat, and Mr. Wu.
You would do that?
Why not?
It won't cost me anything,
as the saying goes.
Except your
delicate little life.
Who's that a loss to?
Me, myself, and I?
Don't be a fool.
Don't you be a fool.
Let her do it, O'Hara.
Do you want this girl
to kill herself?
She got us here,
didn't she?
You think Yang
will fall for that stuff?
He might.
Otherwise,
it's finished.
I'll call him.
O'Hara!
This young lady
is about to present a lie
to Your Excellency.
She's going to tell
you she knows
where the money is
and reveal its hiding place
if you will release
her comrades.
You make decide?
Yes, and it's no lie.
But you'll have to release
Mr. Wu and O'Hara
before I tell you.
I don't care
what you do with him.
You make bargain?
Yes.
I don't take a chance.
If Miss Perrie knows,
we'll find out quick.
We'll take Miss Perrie
deeper in the ship.
Oh, Mr. O'Hara like her.
Very sad.
Too bad he never kiss her.
Yes. Too bad.
Maybe now make kissing
before Miss Perrie go
because maybe
he don't like her
when she comes back.
Can I tell you
something?
Sure.
Maybe we're
through here
and because
we're through,
I want to ask you
something.
Ask or tell?
Ask first, then tell.
Why did you pick me up
in Pengwa?
You needed the dough?
My father, he wanted
to get out of the country.
Honest?
Yes.
I would have helped you
before now, if I could.
Why?
Look, Judy,
life at its best
isn't much of a bargain.
Someday it may be different,
not now.
It's a series
of dumb accidents.
Now you're a great guy,
you scratch your finger,
blood poisoning.
What are you trying to say?
Look, you kicked out
one of my lungs
on the train.
You were properly sore.
All over.
I don't feel like that now.
I'm trying to say
you're wonderful.
That makes me a sap,
I know,
but it doesn't make
any difference
one way or the other now.
You know I'm wonderful, too.
You are.
Judy Perrie, darling,
we could have made
wonderful music together.
We could have worked
and made ourselves
a circle of light and warmth.
O'Hara,
I am so lonely for you.
Hey.
Where's my whisky,
Rastus?
Oh, dummies, huh?
Oh, I see.
I asked you for a drink,
and that's your answer.
Tough guy, huh?
Make me a prisoner,
will you?
Ah! Go away.
What are you doing?
Yeah,
put that tomahawk away.
Where's my whisky?
The Herr General
sends his regrets,
we have
no whisky aboard.
Ah, what kind of house
is this?
Ain't got
nothing to drink.
There must be
whisky in those bags.
Hey, what goes on here,
Sambo? What is this?
What did you say?
Do you see this?
Well, now you don't.
What's in these?
When I want something,
I want it when I want it.
Well, that's fine.
Why didn't
I think of that before?
Well, well, well.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Thank you.
Hey, wait a minute,
wait a minute.
Sit down.
That's American money,
and no Chinese can-
Sit down, please.
All right, I heard you,
I heard you.
All right.
There's more here in the bag.
Get out of my way.
So the drunk fool
found the bone.
Everybody please
come outside on deck.
What's happened?
General Yang wishes
to converse with you.
He's got our
telephone number.
Do so immediately!
He's stabbed.
If he isn't dead in 20 minutes,
it will be a miracle.
He's our only chance.
Yang?
This is something
I never expected to see.
Who chopped you?
Miss Perrie knows all the time
where money is.
We found it in
her father's bag.
He hide good.
Now, I must kill all of you.
But the General
promised
if he found the money,
we should go free.
Huh.
Am I free?
Slowly here, my life fall out,
fall out in my hand.
You make me so much trouble,
you die
one by one.
Yang, I asked you
who chopped you up,
and you didn't answer me.
Don't argue
with him, Wu,
because he's
sore at the world,
and who blames him?
It's easy to see
that his own guards
betrayed him,
knifed him.
Huh! What a laugh
that will be.
Boys and girls
will dance in the streets
when they hear how the great Yang
was killed by his own men.
Lie, lie. You hear me? Lie!
Drunk fool Brighton
make accident.
Tell it to Sweeney.
Even if it were true,
where was your guard
when it happened?
Where were your tootsie boys who were
supposed to give up their lives for you?
My men are faithful.
How do you know?
My men die for me, okay.
They're alive
and kicking,
while your singing days
are over.
When you die here,
they'll feed you to the sharks.
Then they'll go
where another General
will give them rice
and put silver in their pockets.
They will not return.
What's to stop them?
They will be dead.
Who will kill them?
They lose face.
They shoot each other.
At whose command?
My command.
You must think
we're out of a nuthouse
to believe
a story like that.
They have
sons and wives.
You see answer.
Mr. Wu, Mr. Wu,
he understand Chinese.
"Men, do not forget
this happening," he says.
"In the temples
of Peiping
"and in the sing-song houses
of Canton
they will laugh at Yang and his guards",
he says.
"Only if they are
not afraid
"to ascend
to the Dragon with him,
can they hope to wipe out this shame",
he says.
They are agreeing
to die with him.
My men faithful.
That's the most
marvelous thing
I ever saw in my life.
Excellency,
you are to be commended
upon the integrity
of your guard.
But, uh, might I make
a little suggestion?
What about giving
the order for my release?
White flesh dies.
Also Mr. Wu.
One by one.
Oh yes, yes, I know, I know.
And very just, too.
They deserve it.
But what about me?
You know, just me?
Thank you, Excellency.
Thank you.
I'm very sorry,
but you understand.
You know,
self-preservation.
Go.
But, Excellency,
you misconstrue me.
Go.
Excellency,
you misconstrue me.
Excellency!
Excellency.
Shut up.
General Yang,
I'm thinking of you.
Yes.
You're a brave, great man,
and so are your guards,
but who will know it
if they die with you?
Who's left
to tell the story?
Excellency,
let me go, let me go!
Yang, what will
your enemies say?
They'll say river pirates
assaulted you,
or Nanking
surprised you in the night.
Your enemies
will never know
the glorious death
that was yours and your men's.
What did he say, O'Hara?
What did he say?
Yang, listen to me.
Such great honor
should not live in a closet.
It needs the open air
and daylight.
Your enemies must not laugh
at the memory of General Yang.
Coolies must not laugh.
Peasants, old men, women
must not spit on your name.
You can't do this to me.
I won't die.
Someone must be left,
Yang.
Someone who has seen
this last, glorious page
in the history
of General Yang's life.
Yang, listen to me,
before you fall asleep.
Yang, before you fall asleep.
O'Hara, O'Hara!
They'll find out the truth.
How? If you stop all our mouths,
who will be left
to speak tenderly of Yang?
No one, I tell you,
no one!
O'Hara!
You'll tell the story, O'Hara?
Yes, I will tell it. Yes.
Of your greatness
and the obedience of your men.
Gentlemen in clubs
will hear it.
Crowds at the dog races
will talk of your guards.
Shanghai diplomats
will know it.
Gunboat captains
will tell it by radio.
O'Hara, O'Hara!
Every great paper
in the world must tell
how Yang's guard
went to death with him.
The London Times,
The New York Times.
You think we'll get
pictures in the papers?
Everywhere.
Because these are not things
that happen every day.
You want I let you go?
Let us go.
Us?
All of us, to see
no stain or blemish is left
on the memory of Yang.
Will it be worth it?
Don't lie?
I swear,
this is one true thing.
That's a fact?
Yes. Yang, before you fall asleep.
Yes, yes, help, help.
Oxford.
You will see.
I am a big man.
He was a talented man,
but very, very corrupt.