Original subtitles

Blackpool in early July.

A vast, idiotic carnival with a restless life of its own.

Interested only in pleasure and caring nothing for the warnings of war growing

louder by the hour.

But I couldn't ignore them.

Just as I couldn't ignore the policeman, Inspector Crabb, who was still

investigating Noni Colmar's murder.

He enjoyed emptying and darkening the scene for me even more.

Making me see running through the gold and silver tinsel, a scarlet cord

dripping with blood.

Taking a breath of sea air, Mr. Owen Carlton?

It's the best there is.

I was. Mind if I walk along with you?

I'm on my way back to the palace.

Oh, don't sue me. Very well.

Just the place for a healthy young chap, Blackpool.

Do you like this sort of thing?

You're a one for the ladies, aren't you?

Enjoy yourself, but be careful.

There's enough clap round here to lay up a brigade of cavalry.

Horses and all.

Is there no one else in your troop particularly friendly with Nani Komar,

would you say, Mr. Owen Castle?

Oh, there's, er... You know, one or two. All the men fancy do, you know.

Why did Mr. Ollenton get rid of sissy mates, Mr. Owen Castle?

No idea.

He's a ruthless man, isn't he?

He can be a hard man.

I was in Brighton this time last year.

Brighton Sunny.

Three we had murdered then.

Of course, we got the fella who did it in the end.

You still say all this frightens me, Mr. Earncastle.

It might look as if it's all amusement and silliness, but there are tigers

loose, Mr.

Earncastle.

Tigers.

Right.

As soon as you get a firm offer, let me know.

Bye.

Mr. Ollenton?

You must be very fond of us, Inspector. You're spending enough time with us.

This business fascinates me, Mr. Ollenton. You fascinate me.

The artistes.

And there's a couple of smart young chaps. I know Barney very well.

Don't I, Barney?

I don't think I've met... Mr. Philip Tuby.

Too small, gentlemen.

I've seen an illusion needing.

A treat you have in store, Inspector.

I call it the two-dwarf trick.

I've yet to perfect it.

Infuse the magic.

Magic. That's a strong word.

What would you call it?

Deception.

Oh, my honey, oh, my honey, better hurry and let me in.

Ain't you going, ain't you going to the leader man, ragged leader man? Oh, my

honey, oh, my honey, let me take you to Alexander's grandstand.

Ain't you coming along?

Come on in here, come on in here, Alexander's ragtime band.

Come on in here, come on in here, they're the best band in the land.

They can play a bugle call like an... ever heard before oh that's just the

bestest band what else a honey lamb come on along come on along let me take you

by the hand up to the man up to the man who's the leader of the band and if you

care to hear this one here ever played in right time

come on

He's here again, that policeman.

Sitting there like a frog.

He's beginning to put me off. You can feel his eyes on you all the time you're

on the stage.

Nobody interferes with my act, Doris, not even the Kaiser.

Just forget him and concentrate on what you're doing.

It'll be better than anything he's ever done in his life.

Yes, Mr. Ollerton.

You feeling all right, Barney?

Eyes and ears, Mr. Tuby.

Eyes and ears, Mr. Ollerton.

Cheer up, Richard, for God's sake.

I told you I wasn't feeling very cheerful.

Nobody in the company is.

Except maybe Uncle Nick.

Still, he's a law unto himself.

That's what parties are for, to make you cheerful.

Is that why theatricals always seem to be having parties?

Absolutely. Have you only just realised it? We should talk to Peggy.

Can I sit next to you?

I will, anyway.

What's the matter, Dickie boy?

You know what's the matter.

It's probably Blackpool, too.

It's too cheerful by half. It's a fake.

You're a temperamental artist.

That's what you are.

Isn't it, Peggy?

I'm not temperamental.

I'm very predictable.

Do you know what a chap once called me?

His little Skylark.

Because I was always so happy.

Peggy's temperamental.

Aren't you?

Am I?

And she doesn't like life.

What's the good of that?

Life's what we've got.

I'll show you how sweet life can be.

I'm sorry it wasn't very good.

It wasn't your fault.

Why don't you like life, Peggy?

I've tried it.

You're only, what, 22, 23.

You can't have tried much.

Enough to know what's left will probably be repetition.

That's not a very happy prospect.

You've got to hope it's going to improve.

I'm not very good at hoping.

What about getting married?

That's that.

You've got a girl on your mind, haven't you?

How did you know?

You're too nice not to have.

I did have.

It's over with.

Will you take me dancing?

Dancing?

I'm not a very good dancer.

I'd just like you to take me dancing.

All right.

There's something, I don't know, innocent about dancing.

You're a very good dancer.

You're a very good teacher.

No, you were right what you said about dancing.

This kind, anyway, it's... Like I said, it's innocent.

Yes, it is.

To Stratton and Mackay in there, keeping nice time, Mr.

Earncastle? You might brinkly Stratton and Mackay me.

Murderers, Mr.

Earncastle. Some of the few we've caught.

You don't know this lady, do I?

Er, Peggy Canford.

Inspector Crabbe.

Peggy's not with us. She's with a concert party on Central Pier.

How do you do? How do you do?

Best off out of it at the moment, isn't she, Mr.

Earncastle?

Are you a detective, Miss Canford?

Well, I hope not.

Most women are. They notice more than men do.

They're detectives by instinct.

I've traced Sissy Mapes, Mr.

Hernecastle, and had a word with her.

Oh, where is she?

London. Where else do you expect her to be?

I thought she might have noticed something while she was working with you

and Mr. Rollington.

About the murder?

Frightened poor Sissy, I'll tell you that.

I see you call her poor Sissy.

You're right to do.

I'd say she'll be on the street, surely.

The next time I see her, she'll be in a back bedroom, Paddington Way, with a

throat cut.

I'm fond of Sissy.

I'm sure up about her.

A nasty, brutal chap, eh?

I don't want Sissy Mames to go on the street. Though I'm not her friend, you

are, right?

But what'll you do to make sure she doesn't go on the street? I'll tell you,

my boy.

Not a bloody thing.

Not you, nor your uncle, who used her and then stopped using her. And then

it's Nonny Colmar, a lively girl, just being silly as lively girls are.

She suddenly finds someone's fingers round her throat and ends up as a piece

of meat.

As I said, Mr Hearncastle, there are tigers loose.

I live with that knowledge day and night.

Pleased to meet you, Miss Canford.

I don't think I'll be offended here much longer, Mr Hearncastle.

Will you take me back to the days, Rachel?

I've been looking everywhere for you.

Where have you been? Me and the boys went for a run in the car.

We went faster and faster.

Yes, it was a splendid experience. Thank you once again, Mr Alton.

Uncle, I can have a word with you in private.

You're getting as bad as that chap Crabbe with your mysteries and secrets.

We'll have to humour him, boys. Off you go.

Keep up the good work, Mr Tuby. You can rely on me, Mr Alton.

Talk about me having secrets.

What are you up to with Tubi?

He's just noting and learning while he finds his feet.

Barney seems to be behaving a lot better. Not as agitated.

And I thought... What?

He must be high on the list of crab suspects.

I thought we all were, according to you.

Perhaps Barney's behaving better because he's found a friend.

Well, that's another thing. I expected Barney to be jealous of Tubi.

I thought they'd be at each other's throats.

Seems you were wrong about everything, doesn't it?

Never mind, lad.

Perhaps you get smarter as you get older.

I hope so.

Well,

anyway, all I wanted to tell you was that Krabs isn't going to be around much

longer.

When did he say that?

This afternoon.

Did he say anything else?

No.

I got the impression something's up.

Well, you're right about something.

There's the harp.

I can't see him. He's not in his usual seat.

I'm sure he's up to something.

Did you see those two coppers at the stage door when you came in tonight?

They thought they were being inconspicuous, but they stood out like

big drums.

They weren't there when I came in. Well, they were when I did, but still, so long

as Crabbe isn't spying on us from out there... He won't be far away.

Better tonight than it's done for ages, didn't you think so?

Yes, this... Oh, look who's here.

Lucifer himself.

Congratulations, Mr. Ollenton.

I think I'm something of an expert on your acts, seeing as how often I was one

of your best performances.

Not by a mile.

You should see us when we're really good.

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to upset the apple cart, Mr. Ollenton.

I'm sure someone as resourceful as you won't let it bother him too much.

It won't, whatever it is.

I'm going to have to arrest Barney there for the murder of Noni Colmar.

I don't believe it.

Not Barney. I think you've known for some time, haven't you, Mr. Ollenton?

I've no idea.

I'm sorry, in a way, this case is finished.

I've had a very interesting time.

You're all such interesting people. You lead such interesting lives, shining and

glittering on air like you do.

It's been a privilege for a humble soul like me to have watched you.

And I'm sure Mr.

Hernecastle's going to miss me.

Right, Mason, let's get him down to station.

Come on, Sonny Jim.

Excuse me, sir.

You've made a mistake.

I'm not Barney, I'm Mr. Tuber. Mr. Philip Tuber.

It is Mr.

Tuber. Where's Barney, Ollenton?

He said he wasn't feeling very well.

So I stuck Mr. Tuby in his place.

He said he was going back to his digs.

You bloody knew, Arlington.

Knew what?

I certainly didn't know you were going to arrest Barney.

You should have been a bit more forthcoming, shouldn't you, Inspector?

I'll get that little bastard, don't you worry, if I have to tear the country

apart.

Mason!

That was marvellous.

It was worth it just to see the expression on Crabbe's face.

Well done, Mr Tuby.

I'd like to be of assistance, Mr Dalton.

Barney should be nearly halfway across there by now.

I wonder if he'll be all right in America.

I have some friends over there. They promised to look after him.

I wish you'd let me in on the secret.

Could have helped.

Would have been nice to put one over on Crabbe.

Helping a murderer escape, lad.

That's serious.

Not like that suffragette woman.

That was just a game.

I couldn't let you get involved.

Why did you take the risk?

You did kill Noni.

Poor, tormented little sod.

He isn't a murderer.

He didn't want to kill her.

She deliberately excited him and then laughed in his face, telling him he

wasn't a man.

Before he knew what he was doing, he had his hands around her neck.

He won't do it to anybody else.

He's not a killer.

Just an excitable, silly little man who had the bad luck to get entangled with a

stupid, cruel teaser.

I couldn't let them arrest him, get some lawyer to turn him into a monster, until

in the end they dragged him kicking and screaming to the hangman.

Who were they to do that to anybody?

New World.

That's what they call it, don't they?

Wonder if it's any different to this.

It'd be a miracle if it were.

The outbreak of war came sooner than even I expected.

The effect on most people was unbelievable.

Or so it seemed to me.

It was as if a never-ending national holiday had been declared instead of a

world war.

People were swept up in a torrent of patriotic fervour, which drowned the

sound of the guns already booming in Belgium.

And there was no doubt at all in their minds who would win.

We'll find ourselves in the madhouse soon.

They see it all like a free trip to Margate, a brand new bit of excitement.

They'll display their patriotism by stoning German bands and looting pork

butchers for free sausages.

It's a nasty kind of excitement.

I can feel it in the audience.

Oh, never to have let Joe Bosenby talk me into this, Dick.

I ought to be having a nice holiday somewhere.

Then I don't know a woman I'd like to take.

I'll find one for you, Uncle.

Oh, you're too optimistic, lad.

But what's gonna happen I mean no one's gonna be able to take a holiday not for

a very long time

Three cheers for the red, white and blue.

What side are you on?

No, that's not what I mean, lad.

But just wait a week or two.

I'll explain exactly how I feel about this war business we got ourselves into.

The warm August sunshine added to the holiday atmosphere.

The soldiers were all brave, handsome heroes.

They had yet to turn into corpses.

I've been looking for you. What's happened?

I'll explain after the second house tonight.

I want you all there.

What's the lady's song? Gallant Little Belgium.

Must be a lot different from the Belgium I know.

Tell the others I want two bang-slap-splendiferous performances

tonight.

I have good reasons.

Gather round, everyone.

Take a glass of this.

Sam, Ben, you two rather have a couple of pints of Tetney's strong ale, I know,

but you'll have to put up with my tipple for once.

Good health to you all, and thanks for a great last performance.

What? Last performance? How do you mean, last?

I'll explain in a minute.

First,

you must take one of these.

There's two weeks' wages there.

As soon as you've heard what I have to say, Sam and Ben and you, Tuby, have

better start packing up.

Everything's to go early tomorrow morning to a London warehouse ready for

when I sail for America.

What do you mean, America?

Why?

Because I don't like this war.

I don't believe in it.

I think it should never have happened.

And what about us?

I was coming to that.

At a time like...

Bad time to be out of work, Doris? I should say so.

Not at all, not at all.

Kitchener's asking for 100,000 men.

And he'll get them. And another 100,000, and another.

They've already called in the regular reserves and territorials. In a few

months' time, they'll be desperately short of men. Sam and Ben, you're

mechanics. And Doris, you'll be working on munitions, something like that.

You'll all be earning three times more than I can pay you.

What about me, Mr. Alton?

Things were bad enough before I took this engagement.

You too, Tuby. You'll be all right.

I'm not leaving you in the lurch.

But I am leaving you.

So, Richard, fill up the glasses.

Well, I don't agree with Mr Alton.

I think Mr Asquith is a man of peace who would never let us get into a European

war.

It seems to me I'm crying half the time now.

Must be a softening of the brain.

Remember me to ask you, Doris. Of course I...

Then you see you find yourself a nice girl.

Not that that'll be easy, because most of them now just aren't worth the house

rule.

I left you out of that talk on stage.

You realize why?

No.

I want you to come with me.

I have a 40-week contract lined up, followed by a season at the Palace, New

York.

There'll be hard work on the road, longer hours, longer journeys.

But it'll be a great experience.

It really is a new world, Richard.

Oh, I don't say it's perfect. There's plenty to find fault with.

But it'll grow and grow, get better and better, while Europe's busy cutting its

own throat.

We'll be sailing on the Lusitania in about ten days' time.

I'm sorry, Uncle, I'm enlisting.

You're what?

Enlisting.

Joining Kitchener's new army.

Army?

Why should you join any bloody army?

I've already given you a dozen good reasons why you shouldn't. Just you give

me one why you should.

It's hard to explain.

It's impossible to explain.

Unless you're going up the pole, bar me.

Well, go on, lad.

You must have something to say for yourself.

I don't want to be a soldier.

I wish there wasn't a war.

I don't feel particularly patriotic. All this king and country stuff and...

Flag waving doesn't make me want to cheer.

I should hope not. Lot of dog shit.

I know, though, that if I went, I'd be miserable.

I'd never be able to take my mind off it.

I'd feel I'd run away.

It's different for you, and look, I'm not blaming you for going.

Thank you very much, lad.

Very good of you, I'm sure.

But I'm a young man, and I live here.

And I just feel that I ought to take my chance, as so many others are.

Right. Now I'll talk.

What you really believe is what all those other silly buggers believe.

That it's going to be a kind of picnic.

And after a few months of flag-waving, cheering and marching, Germany will be

done for and you'll all be back home heroes with medals all over your chests.

No, I don't... Just listen to me, boy!

Get this into your head.

I'm not like all those other people. I've been to Germany.

I've played Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt.

I've kept my eyes and ears open. I know the Germans. They've built up a military

machine that'll make you lot look like tin soldiers.

This war isn't going to last a few months. It'll last years and years.

You're asking to be put in a bloody missing machine, lad.

That old Indian was right.

We're in for the biggest bloody massacre of all time.

And you can't even wait for them to fetch you!

Did you get badly, have I, lad?

I won't.

I want to have you with me over there.

Sorry, Uncle.

You can always telephone Joe Posenby if you change your mind.

Thanks, but I won't be doing that.

Please, sir.

Just as he had driven into my life, Uncle Nick drove out of it.

I never saw him again.

I had worked on the stage with him for only a few brief months, but I had

enough vivid memories to last me a lifetime.

He'd kept his promise.

He had shown me the big, wide world.

He'd let me enjoy it and make some bitter mistakes.

But the boy from the Dales had become a man, which I'm sure he knew all along

would happen.

And I hope it gave him some pleasure.

I would never forget my Uncle Gagadon.

Oh, it's all right. It's all right now. You don't need to worry anymore.

Oh, say, if the army wasn't strong, it should improve them.

Pint up and wear off. I accept one shilling.

I accept one shilling.

Sign here, please.

Good luck, Briggs.

Raise your right hand.

Take the book.

I swear by almighty God. I swear by almighty God. I will be faithful and

bear true allegiance to you. I just do it. So I will thank you and there's true

allegiance to you.

I swear by almighty God.

What's that one?

Thank you.

Thank you.

For days I was in a half-waking state in which I think I was actually trying to

die.

I felt so ill and broken I wanted to just slip back into unconsciousness.

It seemed the only escape.

But through the pain and the wretchedness, I kept seeing Nancy.

I couldn't believe she was there.

She'd gone off in that car, hadn't she?

Beyond my reach again, like she always did.

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz. You are my honey, honeysuckle.

I am the bee.

Dear Nancy If you've ever sent any replies to my letters

I've never had them I shan't write again after this

But it wouldn't hurt to send me a line.

Even a postcard.

To tell me you are not interested.

Then perhaps I could stop thinking about you.

It wasn't a dream I had seen it And there was the proof

I clung to her for dear life.

Because that's what she was to me.

Part of me still suspected she might dissolve in my arms and become that

ghost again.

Like so many of the others were.

Julie Blaine was eventually to return from South Africa.

To work where she belonged on the West End stage.

Sissy Mapes.

She was last heard of courting an army sergeant and looking very well on it.

Of course, Uncle Nick.

Still in America.

Making pots of money, which he always really preferred to people.

my Nancy at last.

I intended to keep her.