Original subtitles

NARRATOR: To those of you who ask who was this Florence Nightingale

and what did she do

you would have to understand the world into which she was born.

It was England, Dickens' England,

where the people were divided into two classes,

the very rich and the very poor.

But whether rich or poor, it was a time of great medical ignorance,

when to fracture an arm or a leg was to lose it.

(WALTZ PLAYING)

(ALL CHATTERING)

Look at her, William, the prettiest girl in the room.

No wonder Henry is so smitten.

Our other daughter does not appear to be enjoying it quite so much.

Sisters are natural rivals, all women are.

That's why you men are so conceited.

Poor Parthe will have a much better chance with Florence out of the way.

You still haven't answered my question, Flo.

But, Henry, I have.

I've told you time and time again.

Yes, but you never tell me the same thing twice.

Dash it all, Flo, I have loved you for so long.

Ever since we were children.

And I've told everyone we were going to be married.

Henry, no!

Is it because we are cousins?

Now, many cousins marry, Florence.

My love will sweep away your fears about that.

Henry, you deserve more than a bride full of doubts and dreams.

All the same, I won't stop asking you till you say yes.

Now, what more could you possibly want from life than what I will offer you?

Love, honor, comfort, a beautiful home.

What man in this room, in this world, could offer you more?

Mr. Milnes, you are admiring my almost sister-in-law.

She and my brother, Henry, are about to be engaged.

Could you be warning me off, Miss Nicholson?

You are a gentleman, I believe.

Take it as a piece of advice to save you possible trouble in the future.

Trouble, my dear, is the most interesting thing about the future.

Would you...

Yes, of course, Flo. Excuse me.

Richard Monckton Milnes, at your service.

We've not been introduced.

Now, these are modern times, Miss Nightingale.

The 1840s are not the 1700s.

However, if you feel the tradition is important to you,

I can arrange a formal introduction

through your almost sister-in-law, Miss Nicholson.

I'm not exactly known as traditional.

Well, neither am I, Miss Nightingale.

When I'm not attacking my fellow parliamentarians

on their indifference to the plight of the poor,

I'm working on an edition of the collected poems of Keats.

And you?

When I'm not pursuing the more womanly arts,

I'm learning, trying to learn opera.

Opera? \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hMmm.

If it's your passion, it becomes you, Miss Nightingale.

And in womanly arts, you are clearly second to none.

Would you care to dance?

Yes. Yes.

(WALTZ PLAYING)

WILLIAM: Fanny, are both the girls going to join us for this ride?

Florence isn't even down yet. I think she's trying on her new outfit.

No, not Flo. She's not interested in such things.

She has a man's brain. She thinks.

She does not, Papa.

For a girl who complains about the idleness of the leisured class,

I think she's the idlest of us all.

FLORENCE: Am I then?

Good morning, Papa.

Good morning.

Good morning, Flo. You look absolutely lovely.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThank you. WILLIAM: Breakfast is finished.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h(HORSE WHINNYING) FANNY: Never mind. She can still have some tea.

Good heavens, what gall.

Henry, what's wrong?

Why, that Monckton Milnes fellow is here.

But who could have invited him?

I did.

You? But you mean you invited him here yourself?

No, he's my guest. I invited him. Such a charming man.

I'm sorry, Henry, I simply neglected to tell you.

Oh, Henry, do sit down. Control yourself.

(INAUDIBLE)

Florence.

Good morning, Henry.

William.

Good morning, sir. \h\h\h\hGood morning.

I understand Mrs. Burbage is in a bad way, sir.

Indeed.

She got burned last night, sir, while she was helping over at Winston's place.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so glad you could join us, Mr. Milnes.

I hope the ride pleases you.

Everything about this day pleases me, Miss Nightingale.

FLORENCE: This way.

Miss Florence?

Williams told us about your accident.

I came to see if I might be of help.

That's so kind.

May I see the burn?

No, dear.

It's a terrible burn I've got. You don't want to see it.

It is fearful, ma'am. She screams if you even touch it.

But her wound has to be kept clean and changed.

Would you please bring me some butter?

Oh, no. No, you mustn't!

Don't be afraid.

No, it isn't that, it's just...

(CRYING)

Pretty eyes like yours should never have to see such a thing.

It's just a burn.

(MRS. BURBAGE CRYING)

Just a hurt that needs healing, nothing bad. It will heal.

(SIGHS)

There. There now.

(SIGHS)

Forgive my curiosity,

but when you left the ride I couldn't help but wonder...

You spoke of womanly arts, Miss Nightingale,

but I had no idea they encompassed such a range.

It seems you enjoy making fun of people's feelings, Mr. Milnes.

Only when I'm fond of them.

How could you possibly be fond of me? You don't know me.

You only see that side of me that everyone can see.

Then tell me about the rest.

\h\h\h\h\hThat's impossible. Why?

Because it is.

Well, try to explain it then.

When I was 17, I heard a call from God.

He spoke to me, Mr. Milnes.

Now you can laugh if you like.

And what precisely did God call upon you to do?

I don't know. That's what torments me.

Something more. To be more than a pampered, wealthy little girl.

Somehow, to use the gifts I have to serve,

instead of going dancing and to parties.

Does that sound strange?

Florence, listen to me, it is not strange

that a strong, intelligent girl who was blessed by fortune

should wish to be more than just an ornament to society.

Remember you're not alone.

There are many gifted people who believe they should use their talents

in the service of others.

Besides, I'm sure Joan of Arc enjoyed dancing, too, you know.

Now you are making fun of me.

Florence,

my greatest wish would be to see you every single day.

(ALL CHATTERING)

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hCharles. Florence.

Selina. It's so good to see you.

I didn't know you were friends of Richard Milnes.

Well, nor did we until he invited us.

It seems that anyone who's a friend of yours is a friend of Mr. Milnes.

Marianne, I'm so happy to see you. Is Henry here?

Do you think he has no pride? I only come out of curiosity.

What kind of man is this Richard Monckton Milnes

to court a young lady under the very nose of her intended husband?

Marianne, I'm not engaged to Henry and I hardly know Mr. Milnes.

From the way he looks at you, if you knew him any better

you would be ruined if he did not marry you.

Florence.

Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Howe from the United States.

Florence Nightingale.

Miss Nightingale.

Hello.

Hello.

Mrs. Julia Ward Howe is famous in her own right.

She composes books and poetry, and Dr. Howe works with the blind in Boston.

With the blind, Dr. Howe?

But what can one do with the blind?

Why, he teaches them, Miss Nightingale.

Dear friends, it's time for breakfast.

(ALL CHATTERING)

Do you really think it's possible?

Oh, Selina, if only... She's already 22.

She's so beautiful, so accomplished.

Many men admire her.

But she does not admire them.

She's so strong-willed.

Where would I be now if I'd been as stubborn as that?

You used to be, didn't you?

Age does wonders for a woman's sensibilities, you know.

(GIGGLES)

Dr. Howe,

you said you worked in a hospital helping the blind.

Well, we do more than just help them, Miss Nightingale.

We teach them to read.

To read?

But how is that done?

Allow me to show you.

But first, I have to ask

that you pretend to be blind.

I always thought that would be horrible.

That is exactly why what we are doing is so exciting.

Now, Miss Nightingale, you are blind, you cannot see a thing,

so if I were to give you a piece by William Shakespeare

and ask you to read me a few pages, what would you say?

I would say you were mad, Dr. Howe.

Mmm-hmm.

So, if I were to give you another book

and asked you to read to me what would you say?

Why, I would still say the same thing.

Now, Miss Nightingale, I'm going to give you this.

FLORENCE: What is this?

This is what we have devised in the Perkins School in Boston.

Do you feel anything?

Yes. Paper. There's a small bump on it.

That, Miss Nightingale, is the letter "A."

Here is the letter "B."

And here is "C."

Now, Miss Nightingale, you are totally blind,

you cannot see a thing

yet can you tell me what letter this is?

B.

Totally blind.

C.

Cannot see a thing.

A.

You see,

Miss Nightingale, if you have a passion,

I would suggest the only way to satisfy it is to pursue it.

NARRATOR: Florence knew it was considered unthinkable

for a lady of quality to enter a hospital alone.

But what she didn't know

was that when she crossed the threshold of Middlesex Hospital,

she would be changing her life forever.

(WOMAN CHATTERING)

(WOMAN LAUGHING)

Yes. Begging your pardon, what do you want?

I just wanted to know...

This is a men's ward.

They don't want the likes of you here

anymore than you want to see the likes of them.

Didn't you hear what she said?

Now what you want is the hospital for the deaf and dumb up Blackfriars.

(ALL LAUGH)

I told her.

(WHEEZING)

(GROANING)

Help me. Help.

Help me.

(GASPING)

(GASPING)

FANNY: Did you say the Middlesex Hospital?

Yes.

You mean, inside the hospital?

Not much to see on the outside.

You, without asking our permission, went alone into all that filth and squalor.

That's a fair description of it, Mama. How did you know?

How dare you address Mama in that fashion?

Would you have me contradict her and say that it was beautiful?

Or that the doctors and nurses were sober?

Or that the floors were sparkling and clean instead of filthy and verminous?

And that the stench was almost enough to make...

Florence, that's quite enough.

Florence, if there is one thing that we have taught you, it is good manners,

which you seem to have lost for the moment.

Good manners demand that we never make anybody feel uncomfortable.

And I cannot help but believe that a lady of your bearing and class

made many people in that hospital feel very uncomfortable indeed.

So dreadfully posturing.

So precious, meddling about in a place like that.

Florence.

You have a kind heart and mean well.

Visiting a cottage in the country is one thing,

but visiting a public hospital in London is another matter entirely.

Unfortunately, Mother, you are quite right.

"Still as an island stood our ship.

"The waters gave no sound.

"But when I touched her quivering lip.

"I felt the world go round".

You wrote it?

Mmm-hmm.

I like it.

All but the "quivering lip."

(BOTH LAUGH)

Why are women's lips supposed to quiver and not men's?

I don't know.

I love you, Florence. Will you marry me?

Richard, I'm always so happy when I'm with you.

You know that, don't you?

Isn't it wonderful, on a day like this

to know that Flo is going to make the perfect marriage.

Of course, the Nicholsons will never talk to us again.

Marianne cut me dead yesterday. And Henry...

A whole branch of the family gone.

But Florence is happy, surely that is the most important thing.

Richard, something happened the other day.

I think I learned something about myself I didn't know before.

I went to Middlesex Hospital.

I was drawn there.

I wanted so much to learn how to heal the sick.

Instead of learning anything or seeing anything.

I was frightened and ran away.

I want to be brave. I don't want to be a coward.

I don't want to be sheltered from the other side of life.

I used to think I was called to heal, now I'm certain of it.

But I have to learn.

Your friend from America, Dr. Howe, told me about a place called Kaiserswerth

where they train women, mostly nuns, to become nurses.

But my family will be horrified and forbid it.

Will you help me?

Will you be my friend, my ally?

Florence, you must believe me.

While others may oppose you in what you wish to do,

I promise I never, never shall.

Then you will help me?

Of course, in any way that I can.

But you still haven't answered my proposal.

Oh, Richard, hold me.

Tell me that I'm not mad or morbid and that if I succeed,

you won't stop loving me.

WILLIAM: Richard, this is serious.

Do not let your love blind you to a very real danger.

I love my daughter, too. And I'm proud of her accomplishments.

But this business of hospitals...

(TSKING)

(SIGHS)

Tenacity has always been her downfall.

Well, I'm sorry, William,

but that is a quality I especially admire in her.

You have not yet tried living with it.

You know, to be frank, my wife and I are appalled by this hospital idea.

We had hoped that when she actually went to one

she would see how unsuitable it is.

Thank heavens that she's agreed to this idea in Europe with the Bracebridges.

(SIGHS)

Florence is not in Rome or Paris eating bonbons or buying frocks, William.

Ah.

She's in Germany at the Kaiserswerth Institute.

She's trying her best to learn to be a nurse.

What the devil do you mean?

When Florence has an idea that's very strong in her

she's like a mother with a newborn child and hates to see that idea die.

And I, perhaps just as much, would hate to see that idea die in her.

That's understandable, you're in love with her.

NARRATOR: In Germany, Florence learned about hygiene and nutrition.

But above all, at Kaiserswerth she learned that nursing was more than just caring.

It was a science.

(DOCTOR SPEAKING GERMAN)

(DOCTOR SPEAKING GERMAN)

(DOCTOR AND NURSE SPEAKING GERMAN)

(GRUNTING)

(EXCLAIMS)

(SCREAMING)

(NANNY SPEAKING GERMAN)

(CHILDREN LAUGH)

(NANNY SPEAKING GERMAN)

You love children, yes?

Yes.

You have children of your own?

No. Not yet.

But surely some day.

If God wills.

(SCRUBBING)

Tell us, what were you trying to achieve in Germany?

In London, one sees the poor everywhere.

Here, all we look out on are lawns

and beautiful trees, but behind them...

Come to the point.

What I mean is, Papa,

that none of the people we know do anything to help the poor, those in need.

Florence, do you know what goes on in those hospitals?

I didn't know, but I know now.

I mean, what goes on between the nurses and the medical students.

And the doctors. As far as they're concerned, nurses are just harlots.

Parthenope, will you be quiet?

If I were a fainting woman, I would faint.

Well, you're not.

Don't you see? We have to change our attitudes towards the poor and the sick,

and towards women who would go among them and help them.

Yes, but how do you propose to do that?

By example, my own example.

To give, not just money and things, but to give of one's self.

Are you trying to tell us that you wish to leave Embley Park

and go and work inside a hospital?

No one seems to mind the idea that I go and leave them

to marry Richard Milnes and live inside his house.

Look. Please, now listen.

Do you realize what you're proposing?

You're proposing to give up everything.

Papa, don't you see, it's everything that I want to use,

not throw away or waste on endless luncheons and teas.

Florence, all we ask is that you not throw away the chance

to make a happy and successful marriage.

Yes, yes, yes. Well, you settle it amongst yourselves. I'm off to London

to get some peace and quiet. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hPapa...

Oh, William, please.

It's not, truthfully, that I do not care. I do.

I will not be part of any more family rows.

See what you've done?

You can't come in here, miss. This is a gentleman's club.

I know that. My father, Mr. Nightingale, is a member.

All I want to know is, is he here? Because if so, I must see him.

I'm not permitted to say, miss, or madam, as the case may be.

It's a rule of the club. If you'd care to leave a note,

I'll see that Mr. Nightingale receives it when he is next on the premises.

If I were a gentleman, you'd be able to tell me if he was inside.

Ah, if you were a member, which is to say a gentleman,

that would be a different matter, madam, I agree.

And were a member ungentlemanly enough not to wish his daughter to see him,

would he cease to be both a member and a gentleman or neither?

You've got me mixed up, miss.

Or madam, as the case may be.

I say, William. There's a young woman outside

making an awful fuss about having to see you.

Oh, now, now, W.E.N., what have you been up to, dear boy?

(MAN LAUGHS)

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hFlorence! Thank goodness.

Oh, my dear, you know better than to come looking for me here.

Papa, since this is the place where you are,

surely looking for you anywhere else would be rather stupid.

Women are not allowed in the club and you know that.

But I'm not in the club, I'm in the lobby.

(SIGHS) Anyway, you look radiant.

Papa, there's something I must discuss with you.

Unless I have your understanding and help,

especially with Parthe and Mama... What I mean is...

(SHUSHING)

I have reached the conclusion that neither your mother, Parthe,

nor anyone else for that matter,

is capable of moderating or controlling your interests,

which will free you from all feeling of responsibility toward them.

As for me, I am now totally on your side.

Papa.

But, for goodness sake, don't tell your mother or your sister

or the rest of my life will be made even more unbearable than it already is.

Oh, Papa.

Now, remember, we are in the club, not too much affection in public.

RICHARD: Lord and Lady Ashcroft, Florence Nightingale.

Lord and Lady Breerly, Florence Nightingale.

Lord and Lady Monteagle, Florence Nightingale.

Lady Monteagle is on the committee for the institution

you may have heard of, Florence.

The Hospital for Distressed Gentlewomen.

Yes. And I heard of Miss Nightingale from Miss Marianne Nicholson.

Come, dear.

Mr. Gregory. Hello.

Florence Nightingale.

Look at him. When will Flo put all this nonsense out of her mind

and make up her mind to marry him?

Never. I'll wager that she never does.

Richard is a very patient man.

Parthe, what was that you just said?

Ever since Flo was a little girl,

she has always done precisely what she wanted and only what she wanted.

She'll never do things his way. And after all, that is what marriage is all about.

Oh, really? I'd never noticed.

You know it's true, Papa.

A woman may say what parties to go to or how a gown should be cut,

but the real decisions are made by the man.

Florence will accept that. She will have to.

Of course, she will marry and so will you.

If I had Richard Milnes paying court...

Now there's the man I want you to meet, Florence.

Sidney Herbert, the most gifted and influential man in England.

Secretary at War, a brilliant parliamentarian, vastly rich.

He lives at Wilton, to my mind the most beautiful house in England.

Newly married, so you needn't make eyes at him,

and very interested in hospitals.

And why do you care so much about nurses and hospitals, Miss Nightingale?

What do you hope to accomplish?

Women should have some alternatives to just being wives, Mr. Herbert.

Alternatives?

Yes. Now they have none.

Not in England. None they can be proud of.

Nursing in a hospital is considered disgraceful

when it should be just the opposite.

For the good of hospitals and the good of women.

But to change the condition of the one

it is necessary to change the condition of the other.

Bravo, Miss Nightingale.

There's a hospital that needs a new administrator, Mr. Herbert,

the Hospital for Distressed Gentlewomen.

If I could just be considered for the post, I would attempt to do the rest on my own.

How do I look? Am I dressed all right?

You look wonderful, as always.

I mean, mature, serious, sober enough to be an administrator?

I must be mad to even try.

Well, Sidney Herbert doesn't think so.

And he's an excellent judge of horses, wine and sober, serious women.

Please don't tease me, I'm frightened to death.

What if they laugh at me?

What if they ask me questions I can't answer?

Richard, you know that Lady Monteagle is a friend of the Nicholsons

and is clearly against me for rejecting Cousin Henry.

Well, I clearly am for you.

Richard, I am serious.

Now, darling, those biddies couldn't think up a question you can't answer.

Now what's the worst that could possibly happen?

You'd be turned down for this post but be offered another, Mrs. Monckton Milnes.

It's bad luck to try and read the future.

Florence...

Please, help me, advise me.

Tell me to be brave, but don't ask me to make decisions about us now.

I was going to say

that you mustn't let them think for a moment that you're their servant.

Now, I know these committees.

They'll only respect you if they think they're serving you.

Richard, you have that sort of confidence

but I'm so afraid I'm going to fail.

I'm not frightened of that, Florence.

What scares me is, what if you succeed?

I have tried to present the reasons I believe I would be a good administrator

and the ways I feel I can improve hospital conditions.

LADY MONTEAGLE: Miss Nightingale.

Yes, Lady Monteagle.

Your qualifications are well set out in Mrs. Herbert's letter of recommendation.

But your ideas, I believe, are quite unrealistic.

Which ideas do you mean?

Well, for one, your suggestion to

"install mechanical lifts for food delivery."

(ALL LAUGH)

Well, our nurses have always brought the patients their food.

Well, of course they have.

These lifts can save much time and effort.

But bedside bells for summoning nurses.

Why, patients will be calling every moment for all sorts of silly things.

Not at all. I feel...

What about your suggestion for piping hot water to the rooms?

We have cold water piped to the rooms and that is quite enough.

Hear, hear.

When hot water is required, the nurses carry it in jugs, as they always have.

You speak of these women as though they were just pairs of legs, madam.

They have a higher calling than that.

Do they, indeed? A lower calling, perhaps.

(WOMEN MURMURING)

My nurses will be dedicated to healing.

The health and care of the patient is the important thing.

Your nurses?

They are not your nurses yet, Miss Nightingale.

WOMAN: Quite, quite.

Frankly, my dear, you seem too young to take on these high responsibilities

as evidenced in these well meaning but quite impractical demands.

Ladies, please, these are not demands,

but ideas for bettering the lot for both the nurse and the patient.

Miss Nightingale, you have had only a few short weeks of training.

Yet you come here, you want to change everything.

I feel that this is...

I have come here in good faith to say I want to work with you,

to make this hospital an even finer institution than it now is.

If you agree, I would be proud to be its administrator.

And if you choose me, I will put into effect any good ideas I have

to make the sick more comfortable and the nurses more efficient.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: On July 23, 1853,

Florence Nightingale was declared superintendent of nursing

for the Harley Street Hospital for Gentlewomen.

I must say you're looking far less "not too bad, miss" on the whole

than you were this morning.

(LAUGHS) You do make me laugh sometimes, Miss Florence.

(EXCLAIMS)

No. No, like this, Miss Stewart.

Remember? One arm under the head and shoulders,

the other in the small of the back.

(BOTTLES CLATTERING)

Oh, dear!

Nurse Davis, would you come here, please?

This bottle is labeled "Spirits of Balsam."

Luckily, I smelled it before it was administered.

It is muriatic acid!

Well, that can't be.

From whom did you order this bottle, nurse?

From the usual chemist. He gives us the best price.

No matter what the price,

I want you to tell that man that we will not use him again.

I will not have my patients at the mercy of a careless man,

no matter what the price!

Your patients?

I were a nurse before you were born, and a good one, too.

I worked for pennies, 'cause I cared whether the sick got well.

You just ask anyone about me. And now you come accusing me

like I were a common cheat that took money from the chemist...

You're accused of nothing, nurse. I too care.

There's a sick patient in that room,

who trusts us and could have died from this medicine.

We will not use your man again, ever.

Is that clear?

What if it's not?

Nurse, you're experienced and well respected,

I had hoped to have your support in my work here.

But I am the administrator,

and it is my job to protect and help the patients get well.

We'll hire our own chemist

and have a dispensary right here on the premises.

That way, there will be a check on all medications.

Now, if that is not agreeable with you, then just as we will hire a new chemist,

we will hire a new head nurse.

Now, do you understand?

Yes, Miss Nightingale.

Good.

This difficult job needs both of us. Let us try to do it together.

My dear, your success at the hospital is the talk of London.

You've become a sort of heroine.

You've achieved what you set out to do.

Now, I really don't begrudge the fame,

but, quite selfishly, I wonder about our plans for the future together.

I need to ask you now, finally, will you be my wife?

Richard, you've been so kind and patient with me for so long...

Florence!

Please, I beg you, don't force me to an answer now!

I must!

I always believed we had an understanding.

But if you don't love me enough to want to marry me now,

why should you in the future?

Richard, I've only just escaped one kind of domestic life,

the life of family, and I don't want to be nailed to it again so soon.

You're making excuses, Florence.

Have I ever tried to nail you down?

I have loved you truly as a friend,

but I have a passionate side of my nature, too.

And that side of me has to have an answer.

If you tell me again that you want more time, you're saying no,

and I must take that "no" as final.

You choose to make it final, not me.

Very well, then, if it has to be now or never, then let it be never.

And I shall never marry!

You're talking like a child, Flo, and a spoiled one.

Of course you will marry.

I, too, have a passionate side to my nature.

And perhaps I shall satisfy it outside of marriage.

But I shall never marry.

Florence, don't say you'll never marry.

Say rather that

you and I will never fully part.

I love you.

When I say it,

I'm saying goodbye to one whole side of life and all of youth.

Past and future, being torn apart, right here.

And I'm doing the tearing.

And now it's done.

(ALL SHOUTING)

(SOLDIERS SCREAMING)

(GUNFIRE)

NARRATOR: While Florence's fame grew in the world of British medicine,

England found itself entangled in a war with Russia.

The glow of pride which followed the first victories on the Black Sea

was soon to be replaced by a feeling of national shame

as over half the Army's casualties occurred

not on the battlefield, but in its hospitals.

But if the medical supplies were left behind at Varna and Calamita,

why in heaven's name haven't they been shipped

to the main body of the Army since?

They've had five, six weeks to do it in.

Surely something so obvious,

something calling for no more than a simple shred of common sense,

doesn't require a direct order from London.

Well, I wouldn't believe everything that this chap, Russell,

writes in the Times, you know...

In fact, I do believe it.

And even if only half of it's true, it's still an outrage.

And one which the whole country will be reading about

and justly feeling incensed about from this morning onwards.

Yes, sir.

Miss Nightingale is here to see you, sir.

My dear Florence, what can I do for you?

Sidney, I would like to help at the hospital in Scutari.

Scutari? Florence, there's a big difference between

running a women's hospital in London

and trying to merely survive in a pest-hole in Turkey.

Here you're respected, practically a celebrity.

There, well...

Have you any idea what life might be like for a woman?

Women are strong, stronger than you think.

I bow to no man in my respect for women, but Scutari is a living hell.

Besides, it is a British Army installation.

No woman would be allowed to enter.

And even if she were, what could she possibly do?

Exactly what the wives and mothers and sisters of those young men would do.

Clean them, take care of them, nurse them back to health.

Florence, I don't think you understand the scope of this tragedy.

But I do, Sidney.

I want to raise a corps of nurses, the best that can be found.

Pay them out of my own pocket, if I have to.

Take them to Scutari with bandages and shirts and medical supplies,

pound down the Army's doors if they won't let us in,

and take care of those wounded heroes.

This whole war is a monumental embarrassment.

We wouldn't even be in it

if the Russians didn't believe that on land we are vulnerable

as opposed to our might on the seas.

And to make matters worse, the Times sends William Russell

to record all of the Army's blunders and the mishandling of the wounded.

Florence, what do you suppose will be the reaction of the military

if they heard that a woman, worse, a band of women,

is on its way to rescuing the British Army?

Give me permission to try. And if you can, give me funds.

Enough funds to show the world

that we won't let our soldiers rot away in some foreign land for lack of care.

Sidney, our soldiers are dying needlessly. What you're talking about is pride.

What I'm talking about is saving lives. Will you help?

Florence, you can't! The boat sails in 10 days.

You'd have to leave London in less than a week.

And if I tried, and if I succeed,

you would be going to a country so vastly different from England,

you'd be in the most horrible of circumstances.

No, Sidney, the most horrible of circumstances would be to do nothing.

(WOMEN MURMURING)

FLORENCE: Experience?

MRS. BRENT: Nursed all me own family.

Spent four years in St. John's.

And I've done scrubbing and washing, too, to raise me kids.

That's perfect experience for Scutari. Sister, sit down.

Do you know where Scutari is?

Some heathen place?

Near Constantinople in Turkey.

Are you married, Mrs. Brent?

I never exactly married.

I can go where I please, and I please to go to wherever it is.

Why do you please to go?

For the money, miss. Eighteen shillings a week!

I just always liked nursing the sick. It's a sort of calling I have.

At least, I think I have.

I don't really know much about it, nobody taught me,

but I just seem to know how to make people feel better.

And I love it. You know what I mean, ma'am?

FLORENCE: Yes.

Just call me Iris.

FLORENCE: Have you had any experience in nursing, Iris?

Well, I sure like soldiers. Known a lot of them, too.

I don't like to think of any I've been with lying in that awful place,

wanting a human hand to hold,

or a woman to sponge them off and make them better.

I feel the same way myself, Iris.

I thought my calling was to be a nun.

I tried, but it was wrong for me.

So my parents arranged for me to marry an Englishman.

He's in the Army somewhere in the Crimea.

Perhaps in Scutari.

(DOOR OPENS)

You look surprised.

I am.

Please sit down, Nurse Davis.

It's the end of a long, hard day and I'm sure you're tired, too.

I want to volunteer.

To tend the wounded soldiers in Turkey? Are you sure?

Why me less than those others?

I've watched them in and out of here all day. Am I any worse than them?

No. Of course not.

You're a competent, experienced nurse. I'm just surprised that...

Surprised I want to go with you? Well, don't be.

What do you say, Miss Nightingale? Will you take me?

TRUDE: Miss Nightingale?

Trude?

Why, I can't believe my eyes.

What are you doing in England?

I have been here doing work for Dr. Fleetner.

I am a nurse, I come to serve.

You want to go to Scutari?

Where you go, if I can be of help, Miss Nightingale.

If you can be of help?

If you only knew how I've prayed for someone like you.

Someone who understands, who doesn't have to be taught.

Trude, I'm taking 40 women halfway around the world,

nearly all with little training.

And I'm terrified I won't be equal to the task.

You will. You will be equal to anything.

I hope so, I pray so.

And those boys, they pray, too, I think. And look, we are coming.

Sometimes I think prayers are answered.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

(CROWD CHATTERING)

There she is, over there!

But where are the Bracebridges?

All these women traveling to the continent unescorted.

I'm so relieved Charles has agreed to go with them.

Otherwise, I'd never have allowed her to go.

PARTHENOPE: How could anyone have stopped it?

Charles, we're here!

Hello.

(CROWD CHEERS)

Does Florence know you're here?

No, we cannot get near her.

She really is remarkable.

I never would've imagined she was capable

of organizing and carrying out a venture like this.

Hereditary, I expect.

I am so grateful that you and Selina have agreed to go with her.

She'll need to be among friends, however strong she appears to be.

There's not a lady in that company, apart from Selina.

No one of our class would go, Mama. I certainly wouldn't.

Florence!

I'm so glad you've come to see me off.

Flo, do be careful.

Turks do not respect women the way English gentlemen do.

I will be careful, Mama.

PARTHENOPE: Florence.

(SIGHS)

My sister, my little sister.

Flo, I'm so afraid for you.

This all sounds so horrible. I could not bear to...

Parthe.

I want to go, I'm not afraid.

I know what I'm doing.

Of course you do, Flo.

Father, I hope you understand.

Don't ask me that, I shall never understand.

But I shall always marvel, with pride,

with awe, at the brave, noble girl

that we raised in our family without ever realizing that she was different.

Godspeed, my gallant daughter.

Richard.

I had to be here.

I'm so pleased.

You really are the most adorable patriot I've ever seen.

I've missed you, Florence.

Richard, I'm happy to hear that, and to know you're not angry at me any longer.

Will you write?

Of course.

And expect answers.

And I will send them.

I... I am afraid of what's ahead,

but this is what I was always meant to do.

I believe that, and I want you to believe it.

I do, Florence.

CHARLES: All nurses stay together. No wandering off, please.

RICHARD: Florence, my dear.

Hold your head high.

How many of us in our lifetime can ever say, "I have made a difference"?

You are one of those rare ones, Flo.

As for us,

I have no regrets for what is,

only selfishly at times

for what might have been.

Love, Richard.

NARRATOR: The journey to Turkey took nearly a month.

By ferry from England to France.

By train to the port of Marseille.

And by ship to Constantinople.

Florence, Bracebridges, and her group of 40 nurses

arrived at the base hospital, Scutari, on November 4th, 1854.

I'm Charles Bracebridge, sir. My wife, Selina.

This, of course, is Miss Nightingale.

I'm Dr. Clarke. Welcome to Scutari, or as much welcome as it offers.

This is where you'll be. Barracks Hospital.

This used to be a Turkish barracks, now it's a British hospital.

Strange, this war.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hGood God! This way.

We have at present some 2,000 cases.

The wounded, some cholera, some simple dysentery.

Hard to tell the difference, really.

You'll be staying in the Barracks Hospital, if you stay.

And I apologize in advance for the stench,

but, well, these are rough military quarters, you know.

I'll escort you to Dr. Menzies' office, if you're ready.

Now this Dr. Menzies, sir, just who is he precisely?

Our chief medical officer, sir.

He will give you your instructions.

Our instructions, Doctor, come from the Secretary at War, Mr. Sidney Herbert.

Certainly Dr. Menzies knows that.

With all due respect, Miss Nightingale,

you and your party are a long, long way from home.

Dr. Menzies gives the orders at Scutari.

Who is that?

DR. CLARKE: That, Miss Nightingale, is the man

who gives Dr. Menzies his orders.

Dr. John Hall, the man in charge of all medical services for the Army.

He is here on a tour of inspection. He just arrived from the Crimea, actually.

Doctor, please, don't let us disturb your dinner.

You've had your dinner, madam?

No, sir.

I'll see that a meal is laid out for you and your ladies.

Later on, when you've rested, perhaps tomorrow or the next day,

we'll have time to talk.

Thank you, Doctor, but we rested quite enough on the ship.

We are eager to begin our work.

Perhaps tomorrow, Miss Nightingale, or the day after,

something can be arranged for you to do.

Something can be arranged for us to do?

Miss Nightingale, our problems here are enormous.

We're already overloaded with patients and are about to receive more.

There's been a big battle at Balaclava near Sebastopol, with a great many wounded.

That means a mountain of administrative work.

We're literally snowed under as it is with forms,

indents, purveyor's warrants, accounts to the paymaster general.

Now if you'd brought us 40 clerks

instead of 40 nurses, we could've put them to use.

(MEN MURMURING)

Sir, we are not clerks.

We've come a long way to tend the sick and wounded

who, by your own description, need us very badly.

DR. HALL: Miss Nightingale,

let me make myself very clear.

Why ever you've come, you are now under my command.

What you suggest is, of course, quite impossible.

No female has ever been allowed to nurse in the British Army,

and that is that!

Have I made myself plain?

Florence, we're wasting our time.

Dr. Menzies, I understand all too well the restrictions of the British Army.

However, common soldiers who have fought with uncommon courage

are lying just a few steps away from here,

suffering for the lack of what I have brought with me,

medical supplies and dedicated nurses.

Surely you wouldn't let your feelings about women

prolong the suffering of wounded soldiers?

They are not my feelings alone, Miss Nightingale.

There's a good deal of opposition, prejudice, if you will,

among my divisional officers against female nurses going into the men's wards.

Well, in that case, sir, what the devil have we come here for?

I would ask you the same question, sir.

Doctor, when can we at least get acquainted with the hospital?

We are medical persons, as you are. Tending wounds is our profession.

Very well, Miss Nightingale. Your curiosity shall be satisfied.

Immediately after dinner, my aid, Dr. McGregor, will escort you himself.

But, Major, it will be dark at that hour.

The wards will be as black as pitch.

Miss Nightingale will light them up with her presence, no doubt.

(MEN CHUCKLING)

Or better still, bring a candle.

And Miss Nightingale,

I wouldn't eat too much beforehand, if I were you.

SURGEON: Chloroform.

Don't you know, sir? I gave orders!

No chloroform to be used in any hospital under my command!

But this man's leg's in a terrible way, sir, mangled to the thigh.

He's got to lose it, sir.

Smart use of the knife, sir, is a powerful stimulant.

For it's far better to hear a man bawl lustily

than to see him sink silently into the grave.

Sir.

Gag.

(CRYING)

I've got him, sir.

(SCREAMING)

(RATS SQUEALING)

NURSE: 12 of us in here?

We've only been allotted these three rooms.

Mrs. Bracebridge, would you mind coming here, please?

My God, what is that?

A dead man from the look of it. Russian, and a general, I should think.

Would you mind giving me a hand with him?

Oh, God, I can't. I can't.

Well surely you can try. Come on. Come on, take some of the weight.

Come on, lift him.

Come on, help me. That's it, that's it. Sit him up, sit him up, sit him up.

Right, Trude, we're gonna need help!

Charles!

Help us lift.

Got him? Now, lift. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hYeah, yeah.

All right.

TRUDE: He's so heavy.

All right, got him.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNURSE: You got him? Yes.

Dr. McGregor, be frank with me, please.

Why are you doctors so frightened of letting nurses into the wards?

What do you imagine we can do?

It isn't a question of being frightened,

it's just that women tending common soldiers in the army,

it's not done.

Doctor, have you ever done things in your life that aren't done?

Of course.

So have I. That's why I'm here.

Now, please show me the wards.

(RATS SQUEALING)

(SOLDIERS GROANING)

(SOLDIERS COUGHING)

SOLDIER: Have mercy.

(RAT SQUEALING)

What's that sound?

It's rats, madam.

I see they lie here for the most part just as they were brought in.

No sheets or blankets?

None.

They're left where they landed.

Shirts?

What they've got on.

Laundry?

There is none.

Dr. McGregor, we have clean shirts and bedding with us.

Please help us distribute them to the men.

It would seem simple, wouldn't it?

But the purveyor must approve it.

The truth is, if your shirts were for the officers there would be no problem.

But for the common soldier...

Well, you've already had some introduction to the prejudice of the British Army.

Yes.

(SOLDIERS MOANING)

SOLDIER: Water.

(SOLDIER EXCLAIMS)

Are the windows ever opened here? Floors ever cleaned?

No.

Are the dressings ever changed?

Are the wounds ever cleaned at all?

Are the men ever cared for in any way...

SOLDIER: Doctor.

...or are they just brought in here to die?

SOLDIER: Doctor!

Have you finished?

No, I have not.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hMa'am. Yes?

Have you come to look after us then?

What's your name?

Tom. Tom Miller, ma'am.

Where are you from, Tom?

Cornwall, ma'am.

Cornwall is beautiful, isn't it?

Tom, we will be coming to look after you. Try to get some sleep now.

I'll come to you soon. Yes.

SOLDIER: I don't want to die here.

That boy's wound is infested.

Most of them are.

Better maggots than gangrene.

What are you going to say?

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself"?

Would that help?

Miss Nightingale, I do the best I can.

Believe me, if I worked night and day,

if I begged and fought for medical supplies...

If I killed myself fighting conditions here,

do you think it would help these poor wretches one bit?

No, they would simply be worse off, with one less doctor.

So I do my best to live with it, and I stay.

Dr. McGregor, I beg of you, please help me to do the work I came to do!

Madam, there are centuries of prejudice to overcome.

Only one thing has ever changed anything in the British Army.

And what is that, Doctor?

Disaster.

My God, isn't this disaster enough?

FLORENCE: Dear Sidney,

the conditions of the sick and wounded arriving from the battlefront

are even more appalling than this hospital itself.

Tragically, most never survive the 12-day journey from the Crimea

across the open sea.

Those that do are so ravaged by gangrene, cholera and exposure

that there is little anyone can do for them.

Surely, someone must appeal to Dr. Hall

about this inhumane treatment of our wounded boys.

For the most part, they are just boys.

Where's Mrs. Bracebridge?

Gone for her morning walk, I shouldn't wonder.

Why must you always pick on her?

Because she deserves it.

She's got no stomach for this kind of work and you know it.

When do we start work, Miss Nightingale?

We can hear the men on the wards, miss, calling out they are.

The stench in this place is enough to give a man a fever,

let alone cure him of it. And there are rats! I saw them.

Why can't they give us decent quarters?

I just bet the officers don't live like this.

Ladies, hear me out. Mr. Herbert is thousands of miles away.

Our patients are here.

If we are to be allowed to help them,

then we must bite our tongues, do as we are told,

and show the Army that we, too, can endure suffering without complaint.

But I never came all this way to sit and sew blankets

while men are dying for want of care.

If you can't make them let us work,

why don't we just pack up our things and go home?

Nurse Davis, you signed an agreement to accept my orders.

My orders are to be patient, silent and dedicated as a nurse should be.

I'm as good a nurse as any, better than most.

But I'm not here to waste my time.

I hear the men crying out in there, and my stomach turns.

Get us in there, or let's be gone!

You want to do what?

We want to clean your floors.

There are no brushes.

We have 200 in our store.

If we may not cleanse and disinfect the men,

may we not at least go in and scrub and disinfect the floors?

And throw open the windows to stop the spread of cholera and typhus?

We have four miles of beds. Four miles of floors.

And do you realize how filthy they are?

Do you, Doctor?

It seems such a disgrace to let the women do it by themselves.

We're not asking to do it all by ourselves.

That's why we have 200 brushes, Major.

DR. MENZIES: Very well, Miss Nightingale. Go ahead.

(ALL SHOUTING)

(TRUMPET PLAYING)

(EXPLOSION)

(GUNFIRE)

(SOLDIERS GROANING)

(GROANING)

(GUNFIRE)

(GROANING)

(EXPLOSION)

Miss Nightingale, there's been a heavy battle at Mount Inkerman above Balaclava

I've been told to expect over 1,000 wounded here

within the next seven days.

A thousand? But the wards are hopelessly overcrowded already,

and the deaths from cholera are still rising.

I was hoping we could improvise something.

If your good ladies would help out, as they did in the wards.

In the past several weeks, your nurses have done tremendous work.

Really.

Few men would have the courage to do what you have.

Dr. Menzies, we can help you.

But only if we are allowed to attend to the wounded.

Is this a bit of blackmail, Miss Nightingale?

Furthermore, we want the purveyor's permission

to distribute free all the shirts that we brought with us.

And your permission to hire enough Turkish workmen to help us.

We have not got the funds.

We have. Over 29,000 pounds raised by the Times.

Well, in that case,

if you could do all that, my dear lady, it would be something like a miracle.

The miracle, Dr. Menzies, will not be what my nurses can do

but that we will finally be allowed to do it.

(COUGHING)

This man's shoulder looks to be shattered. Place him over there, please.

Up the stairs, please.

Yes, ma'am.

NURSE: This way, bring him through.

(GRUNTING)

Over there.

I shall look after him now.

You've had a long journey.

Now you're going to stay here with me, and I'm going to be beside you all the time.

And you're going to rest.

That's right. Close your eyes and rest.

Keep holding my hand.

Do you have a family?

I have a wife.

If she were here, she'd want to hold you as I am.

Care for you and help you to get well.

I'll help you write a letter to her

and you'll see how much better you'll feel.

(PANTING)

(GASPS)

NARRATOR: During that terrible year of 1855,

over 2,000 soldiers wounded in the line of duty

died in the arms of Florence Nightingale.

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

CHARLES: Florence. It's us, Selina and I.

Come in.

Selina has something to say to you.

Flo, I've asked Charles to take me back to England.

Which, well, I suppose I have no choice.

It seems like such a betrayal of you, Florence.

Selina, why?

I'm not a nurse. I have no purpose here.

What possible reason can there be for me to stay?

For that matter, Charles, what possible reason can there be for you?

I resent that. We are here to support Florence!

SELINA: We're not supporting her, she's supporting us.

Flo, I know it's you who's had to cover up for all our inadequacies.

Selina, you have not been...

I am not as strong as you.

I cannot suppress my feelings the way that you do.

Suppress them?

Is that how you see me?

How else have you managed to survive and do what you have done?

Nearly a score of nurses that you brought with you have gone down with cholera.

Half a dozen have died. And yet you go on.

It requires a hardness, Flo.

You're different from us, different from what you were.

I wonder sometimes how you'll manage to go back.

Well, at least she's not going back until she's done what she set out to do,

which is more than you can say for us!

I mean, ever.

To that world we all once knew.

I suppose the answer is you'll manage to do without it perfectly well,

as you'll manage to do without us perfectly well.

CHARLES: For God's sake, Selina.

I'll say goodbye now, Flo.

I'm sorry I failed you.

Goodbye, my dear.

Goodbye, Flo.

Safe journey home.

Miss Nightingale.

That patient, the gangrene on Ward Two, I'm going to amputate shortly.

I shall be there, Doctor.

I'll need the chloroform.

Dr. McGregor.

You should know the symptoms by now.

For God's sake, for the sake of this whole bloody hospital,

stay away or you'll catch the cholera, too.

(SOLDIER SCREAMS)

Stop! You will please treat these men with dignity!

God bless you, miss. Are you Miss Nightingale, miss?

Yes. Nurse, will you please see to this man?

Everybody knows your name, Miss Nightingale.

What the world has not yet seen is your face.

And who are you, sir?

William Russell of the Times.

And you are Florence Nightingale.

I'm honored to meet you at last.

I can't believe the change you've made here.

In the three months since you came here,

you've brought some sense of order, where before there was only chaos.

I have not been alone, Mr. Russell.

Do you know that the soldiers speak of you in hushed voices,

almost as if you were an angel?

At the front, you're all that they talk about.

What's been done here was done by ordinary people doing ordinary things.

It's the work of my nurses that has made the difference, Mr. Russell, not mine.

And how do you explain the quiet when you pass?

I can't. Sometimes, listening to that quiet, I'm amazed,

because of the suffering, the squalor,

and because in the middle of it all,

there is this extraordinary gentleness among men.

And they're the ones the grandees of the Army call the scum of the earth.

I've got to know a lot of them since I've been out here.

And you're right. They're brave and they're good.

But I know no one who's braver or better than the woman I'm looking at now.

That sounds like newspaper talk, Mr. Russell.

No, it's not. Indeed, you are brave.

And important to the British people. You deserve the credit.

And it's my job to see that you get it.

So you're attempting to make me a hero?

I'm just trying to describe the truth, Miss Nightingale. Only the truth.

I have to leave for the Crimea in the morning.

Could we go somewhere and talk?

A man is about to have his leg amputated. I promised to be by his side.

Well, maybe afterwards. I could wait for you.

May not be an afterwards, Mr. Russell.

That man's probably going to die by morning. No man should die alone.

By tomorrow, you'll be gone.

If you're ready to wait all night with that man,

I'm ready to wait all tomorrow on the off chance that you might be free,

even for an hour, Miss Nightingale.

All right.

NARRATOR: Now William Russell knew what Florence had told me years ago,

that she had a calling.

This lady, who carried herself with such dignity.

This lady, who carried herself with such grace

that men kissed her shadow as she passed.

This lady with the lamp.

WILLIAM: Fanny, here's another article from Mr. Russell on conditions in Scutari.

Oh, read it, Papa. Please, read it.

"Due to the heroic exertions of Miss Nightingale and her nurses

"conditions of the Barracks Hospital, so catastrophic but for a few months ago,

"have improved out of all recognition and are still improving."

What an amazing girl.

Yet I shouldn't be surprised. Her whole life has been leading up to this.

I am so proud of her!

(ALL MURMURING)

Robert! Robert! Robert!

Oh! Oh, no! Oh, Mother of God.

(CRYING) Oh, no! No!

My darling! My darling! No!

(CRYING)

No!

I know I had given him up in my heart.

I began to think I'd never see him again.

And I did see him again.

FLORENCE: Richard, though I am hardly ever alone in this place,

I feel very much alone. Everyone here has felt the strain.

If there is a hell on earth, this must be it.

And when I think of you and what our life would be together

I feel I must be mad or possessed by the devil himself to be here.

I miss you, Richard. I love you, Richard.

When did that bed become vacant?

Early this morning, ma'am, took him away.

Isn't he the third man to die in that bed in two weeks?

That's right, ma'am.

It's kind of a hard-luck bed. I'm glad I'm not in it.

It smells bad down there, too.

(SNIFFS)

Nurse, Doctor.

Nurse Davis, take Tom out of that bed. Put him into the far end of the ward.

Don't put any new patients in this area.

But we're so short of space.

Nurse, please. Do as I say. It may save lives.

(RAT SQUEALING)

(GASPS)

(RAT SQUEALING)

So, Dr. Clarke, how long have you been out

in this infidel wilderness?

DR. CLARKE: Too long, sir, I assure you.

What is that?

I believe it is Florence Nightingale.

The lady with the lamp.

May I present Dr. John Sutherland,

Dr. Hector Gavin and Mr. Rawlinson of the special commission.

Gentlemen, you could not have chosen a more opportune moment.

When I explain to you why, it will explain to you my appearance.

I think your appearance is just grand, Miss Nightingale.

You do? Then please follow me, Dr. Sutherland. Gentlemen.

DR. SUTHERLAND: My God!

(RATS SQUEALING)

DR. GAVIN: Shocking!

Doctor, this entire building is a veritable death trap.

The gases from the sewerage channels are killing our men.

That's impossible.

Dr. Menzies.

What you have down there beneath this imposing structure

is a sea of decaying filth.

The sewerage channels are hopelessly blocked

by the bodies of dozens of dead animals.

Every breeze, every puff of wind

blows poisonous gases into the air works,

killing all those whose beds are near the vents.

Worse yet, Doctor, it appears your water supply

passes right through the carcasses of two dead horses!

Dr. Menzies, we will hire workers to clean these channels right away

or I am telegraphing London to demand your immediate resignation!

Is that clear?

Miss Nightingale, there's a soldier asking for you in Ward B.

She just left. She should be there by now.

She's doing too much. She'll wear herself out.

I can't bear to see how pale she looks.

No paler than us, locked up in this dungeon 18 hours a day.

Oh, I'm sick of your complaining.

Why don't you leave then and go home where you belong?

Who are you to say where I belong?

You're no nurse, you're just a common thief, a slut,

here to collect your 18 shillings. It's easier than earning them on your back!

Why, you!

(BOTH SHOUTING)

NURSE: Iris!

(ALL CLAMORING)

NURSE: Let go!

Oh, my God!

Go!

Go from here. You disgrace your calling!

Wait!

She called me names, Miss Nightingale. Terrible names.

Ask the others if it ain't the truth.

And I'll say them again. Thief! Woman of the streets!

Don't you dare...

Nurse Davis!

Why do you torment your sisters so? You're a fine nurse,

but ever since we came here your hand that is so gentle with the soldiers

seems to be set against us.

Not against them, against you!

But why?

If I'd been born in your place, I'd be the leader here.

Shame on you. For shame!

You think that's such an enviable job? Then take it.

If it were in my power alone, I would gladly give it to you.

This has been a terrible burden on all of us.

Let us all try to get some sleep now.

"It is Christ that died, yea rather that has risen again.

"Who was even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

"Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,

"or nakedness or perils?

"As it is written, for thy sake, we are killed all the day long,

"we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

"Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,

"nor angels, nor principalities,

"nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come

"nor height, nor depth

"nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God."

NARRATOR: On September 7th, 1855,

John Sutherland wrote Sidney Herbert in London,

"You little know what daily anxiety it causes me to see her dying by inches.

"This woman, who tends to the soldiers and to her nurses.

"This woman tends to everyone but herself."

Miss Nightingale, since I arrived, I've done everything you asked me to. True?

Yes, Doctor. True. And more than true.

Well, now I want you to do something for me. Will you grant it?

Hadn't I better know what it is first?

And what if when you'd ordered me down the sewers I'd said,

"I think I'll have to know what's down there first"?

I trust that's not a strict parallel, Doctor?

Far from it, I'm hoping.

Tell me, how long is it since you enjoyed a decent meal,

served on china plate,

with knives and forks that weren't bent out of shape, and a good-sized glass of wine?

I can't even remember.

Well, there's a small cafe down in Scutari, I'm told.

Now you need, in fact, we both need a few hours outside of this place or we'll go mad.

And then what use will we be to anybody?

Dr. Sutherland, is that an invitation to dinner?

If you prefer, not so much an invitation as a prescription.

You persist in calling me doctor. Well, what if I said in that capacity

that your work is suffering from a lack of recreation?

Is that true?

No. But what if I were to say it?

Then I suppose I would have to do what you want me to do and come.

Dressed. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hWhat?

None of that nurse's garb. The real benefit only comes when you're all dressed up.

At 8:00, Miss Nightingale, if you please.

And by the way, thanks very much for the honor.

RICHARD: "My dear friend,"

"I hesitate to write this, yet I know I must.

"I hesitate because I sense that in the turmoil that surrounds you,

"you are much alone and face many problems.

"Yet, and before anyone else knows about it,

"I feel in duty bound to tell you that I'm going to be married.

"If, my dear Florence, we could live forever,

"I would wait for you to come to me.

"But I cannot make time stand still for either of us.

"I love you and will always. Richard."

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

To the future and us. To us tonight.

Somehow this makes me feel silly.

It's good for you to feel silly once in a while, Florence.

You've been cooped up in that place for far too long.

I was joking earlier about being your doctor, but your hand is trembling.

Is there something wrong with you, Florence?

Nothing.

You must tell me, you know.

Nothing that as a doctor you'd need to know about. I promise.

Then perhaps, may I ask not as a doctor?

Today I received a letter from the man I once thought I would marry,

only he's going to marry someone else.

Forgive me.

He has every right to marry, and I have no right to shed a single tear.

You loved him?

Yes, I loved him.

But when he proposed, I could not say yes.

I put him off again and again.

I think I knew even then that if I gave myself to him wholly and completely,

I could not do my work. One passion would cancel out the other.

One of the reasons I invited you here with me was that,

even though I see you surrounded by people, I feel you're very lonely.

One has to be alone to be able to think in the midst of all this turmoil.

I don't mean being alone to think.

I mean, it's as though the path you've chosen in life is lonely.

I am lonely, but I don't want to be.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I long to cling to someone.

But then I get frightened and I...

I feel that if I give myself to someone, I'll lose my way altogether.

It seems the only thing you're afraid of is love.

Dr. Sutherland... Florence.

Do you really believe that a love will take you away from your work?

That will never be.

Florence, you're a divinely gifted healer.

Whatever you want to do, you'll do.

Wherever you want to go, you'll go.

And I would be most grateful if in any capacity you choose

you would allow me to go with you.

Forgive me, John, I must get back.

Florence.

It won't help those people hungry at the hospital if you eat well tonight.

I know that, but don't you see? I can't swallow it down.

I don't choose to be as I am. This is not what I wanted.

This, it is kind of a curse.

I can never have a life like other women.

When I was 17 I heard a call from God.

I hear that voice still.

Go your own way, John.

Don't ask to go at mine.

NARRATOR: As Florence's fame continued to grow,

a vengeful Dr. Hall took steps to relieve her of her command.

Left with no other choice,

Florence made preparations to confront the man who clearly was her enemy.

Miss Nightingale, before you leave,

I should like to take this opportunity of wishing you a safe journey.

Thank you, Dr. Menzies.

I also want to tell you that I owe you an apology,

and not just because you're to see the Inspector General.

We did not receive you very graciously when you came.

I'm the first to acknowledge that.

But your pluck and persistence,

well, those virtues are two I particularly admire.

Every soldier does. No man could have shown more.

That's what I wanted to say.

And you saying it means a great deal.

NARRATOR: Of the original 40 nurses that Florence brought to Turkey,

only 12 had survived when she left Scutari.

Now, sick with fever, Florence led her small band of travelers to Russia

for her meeting with destiny.

(SOLDIERS CHEERING)

God bless you, ma'am! You're a saint!

Florence, you look exhausted. The journey was far too long.

I am a little tired but pleased by our reception.

The men seem so encouraged that we're here.

You're like a miracle to them, Flory.

Is that you, Miss Nightingale?

Yes.

How long ago were you wounded?

A couple of hours. Stray bullet it was, miss.

This man's wound should have been cleaned on the spot

and the clothing round it cut away.

Why has this not been dealt with immediately?

Well, do it! Don't you have orders to do that as soon as the man is found wounded?

Yes, ma'am. Very good, ma'am.

Florence, gently does it.

You told me that when I was so angry with Menzies I wanted to hit him

because of the conditions of the sewer. Remember?

I remember, John. Yes.

You Miss Nightingale, ma'am?

Yes, I am.

Where's Dr. Hall, please?

His tent is just over there, ma'am.

Thank you.

Bless you for coming, ma'am.

SOLDIER: Sir, Miss Nightingale, sir.

Ah.

Miss Nightingale. A pleasure, indeed.

Forgive me, Doctor. But there was a wounded man being brought in.

They said he was picked up over two hours ago,

but in those two hours his wound had not been cleaned,

the clothing round it had not even been cut away.

\h\h\h\hlsn't it possible that... In that case,

I trust you gave the orderly in charge a thorough dressing down?

Dr. Hall, we've sent so many letters and reports

imploring your men to take these elementary measures at the frontlines.

Do you know how many hundreds and hundreds

of cases of gangrene we've had at Scutari?

Miss Nightingale, I do not intend to be subjected

to a harangue by a hysterical woman.

If that's the method that got results at Scutari,

then I must warn you that I'm a much sterner man than Dr. Menzies,

and far less susceptible to the wiles of a woman.

Miss Nightingale, are you quite all right? Would you like tea?

Yes, please.

Orderly!

Sir.

Tea for Miss Nightingale.

Sir.

(TRUMPET PLAYING)

(SOLDIER BARKING ORDERS)

Oh, well, you feeling better?

Yes.

Yes, you're a frail little thing. I can see that now.

I'm not trying to belittle your work, Miss Nightingale.

But when I read the papers,

with the magnificent achievements attributed to you and you alone at Scutari,

it does grit one's teeth a bit.

Believe me, Dr. Hall, I have never made any such claims for myself.

Well, you do not appear to disavow them, all the same.

You have no real authority here at all, I've told you that before.

Your report states that you're the superintendent in charge

of the female nurses at Scutari. That's Turkey, this is Russia.

British-occupied Russia, but Russia nonetheless.

I did not come to exercise any authority, Dr. Hall, but to discuss my ideas with you.

And to try, with your help,

to prevent the tragedies of last winter from happening again.

Dr. Hall, much has been accomplished at Scutari.

I had hoped to ask your permission to stay on there.

But I see...

Oh, how softly you speak now, Miss Nightingale.

Well, you may visit my hospitals, if you wish.

It's the least you deserve. But I shall need no help from you or your nurses.

I have a well-trained staff, thank you, who don't coddle our soldiers.

We are not interested in your wildly applauded ideals on morale.

We do not have a little girl's army.

We have come here to gain a victory, madam. We're interested in glory.

Men who can bear pain without flinching, obey orders without question.

Something you might think about. My advice to you would be

to spend a few days here, enjoy our hospitality, and then go back to England.

But, Dr. Hall, I...

Miss Nightingale,

the British Army has a long, long history.

And it will flourish long after you and your nurses have disappeared and left...

Dr. Hall, don't speak to me of the British Army!

The army is men, sir!

Unless we see every soldier, every single one, as a human being

deserving of proper treatment, medical or otherwise,

deserving equally, whether he be of high or low degree.

Unless we do that, Dr. Hall,

your British Army will become what it was but a few months ago,

an army of well-fed officers who make wars,

and dying soldiers who have to fight them.

I am interested, not in prejudice,

and certainly not in conceit,

but in proper treatment of human beings,

bodies and even minds.

I have come here to ask you to help me,

not to learn the rules of the British Army, but to change them.

Or the proud, great country that we both love will one day be humbled

and lost because of men like you!

Miss Nightingale!

She will get well, she must.

It is in God's hands.

Aye. If we can only bring the fever down.

We have done all we can. What is there left now but to pray?

Like us, all the soldiers, they are praying, too.

I've come to relieve you.

No, no. I'll stay a little longer.

You'd best get some sleep.

What good is it if you get cholera, too? Who'll take care of her then?

She is right, Doctor. You are exhausted.

I sleep to get strength to serve her.

Without us, she's helpless now.

I will sleep for an hour.

I'll be here when you get back.

You're on fire.

Well, little Nightingale,

you're brought low now, aren't you?

Not so pretty now.

Sickness can do that, can't it?

To the rich and the poor alike.

One thing to do they haven't done.

They'd never believe it weren't for spite, though.

What would you do if you were me?

What would I want if I were you?

I'd want to live, little lady.

I'd want to bring that fever down.

You heard the news? Miss Nightingale's been taken very bad.

Go on.

They think she'll die.

Dear Mother of God.

Don't say it's that cholera.

They said it was the Crimean fever,

that's what they said.

Richard.

(SHUSHING)

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hRichard. (SHUSHING) It's all right, Flory.

It's all right.

My hair.

It had to be done to break the fever, Flory.

And it is broken. You'll get well.

Who?

Nurse Davis and Trude.

They've been in here, faithful as mother hens, tending you

and coaxing you back to life.

You, you look like a Madonna.

Beautiful lady.

The lamp shines on your hair,

on your gentle, sweet face,

on your eyes.

Let me comfort you now.

Let me love you now.

OFFICER: Come on, pick them up there, pick them up. Left, right, left, right...

It is Lord Raglan to see you. The commander-in-chief, Miss Nightingale.

Major Sutherland.

Lord Raglan.

Miss Nightingale.

I'd heard you were better, but I had to come and see for myself.

Very kind of you, Lord Raglan.

I should've come sooner, but I've had a message from the Queen.

From the Queen?

Asking me to make sure that "that excellent and valuable person, Miss Nightingale",

"is making a safe recovery."

I should like to telegraph her tonight

that you have indeed made the recovery which she and all of England prays for.

May I?

Yes.

I'm also giving you a copy of today's general orders, signed by me.

Because it concerns you.

I have also sent a copy to Dr. John Hall, whom I believe you know.

"Miss Nightingale is recognized by Her Majesty's Government

"as the general superintendent of nursing of all military hospitals of the Army.

"The principal medical officer will, therefore, communicate with her

"on all matters connected with that establishment

"and will give and receive orders only through that lady."

Miss Nightingale, I believe this is also for you.

This brooch was created in your honor by Her Majesty, Queen Victoria.

I've been asked to present it to you on her behalf.

The inscription reads, "Blessed are the Merciful."

NARRATOR: Six months later,

the war with Russia was finally over.

Though a hero's welcome awaited her,

Florence chose to slip quietly back to England.

Back to her home.

FANNY: Florence!

Mama.

PARTHENOPE: Florence.

Florence!

I'm home.

I'm home.

Oh, my darling Flo.