All language subtitles for Red Ball Express 1952 MKV, ES, 480P, Ronbo_[ave] (SUBRIP)

History records that the invasion...

which was to liberate
Europe from the German army...

began in July of 1944.

D-day was already behind us.

We'd stormed the beaches
and fought through the hedgerows...

and reached the rubble of village streets.

For a while,
we thought it was gonna be a walkover,

but 30 miles inland,
between the towns of Saint-? and Périers,

we ran into it...

A wall of German men and guns planted
there by der Führer with one order:

Hold or die.

The Germans didn't have any
corner on giving orders.

Break through.

And so, on July 27, the Allied
armies swung all the way from the floor,

and we hit the west wall
with everything we had,

Lightning Joe Collins's Seventh
Corps showing the way.

It took three long, never-forgotten days,

but the wall cracked,

and the crack became a hole...

and the hole a doorway.

And through the door, more armor poured
into France than the Germans knew existed.

General Courtney Hodges's First
Army moved east toward the Seine.

Field Marshal "Monty"
Montgomery's 21st Army Group...

took a cut north, heading for Antwerp.

And General George
S. Patton's Third Army...

Well, George, he took his tanks, his men,

added a dash of his
private brand of courage...

and led them straight
up the center for Paris.

Hey, knock it off, you jerk!

You feel like makin' some noise,

get down the road
and join the war!

I'll give you 10 seconds
to get out of there!

Yeah? Well, I'll give you just 10
seconds to knock that racket off...

before I give you
a punch right in the...

Good morning, sir.

I hope I didn't break up
a crap game, Lieutenant.

No, sir.

Why are you lying doggo
here in the road?

- Are you lost or afraid or both?
- Neither, sir.

It's just that we only had one can
of gas left, and I thought we'd save it.

Save it for what?

You can't win a war against enemy you
don't capture or terrain you don't take.

So get back in that tank
and start moving!

Yes, sir.

Wow.

So we burn up our last
can of gas. Then what?

Maybe there's some gas stations
along the road somewhere.

Aw, sure.
This is a regular Route 66.

Free air, free water
and registered restrooms.

Yeah. They wash your windshield
with an 88-millimeter shell.

Why don't they send up
those back-line supply troops?

Are you kidding?
Those jokers?

If you expect them to keep
up with Old Blood and Guts,

I'll bet my bottom stripe we
take Berlin with slingshots.

Hey, Charlie.

They got another cartoon
in here about General Gordon.

I'd give $20 to see his face
when he sees...

Get your money up, Lieutenant.

I hope it was worth it.

Now get on that telephone and get the
advance section of the communications zone...

Colonel Carter.
It's in Le Mans.

Yes, sir.
Make the call, Corporal.

Yes, sir.

This is Tippecanoe 6.
Give me Tatter Forward.

This is a high-priority call.
Get that... a high-priority call.

I want Colonel Carter...

for Major General Lee Gordon
on General Patton's staff.

Yeah, yeah. Who is it?

This is Major General Lee
Gordon speaking. Can you hear me?

Yes, sir. Yes, General.
Can you hear me?

Doesn't make any difference
whether I can hear you...

because you're not going to be
doing any of the talking.

Ten days ago, you told me that supplies
were being sent up. Where are they?

Uh... Uh, well,
you see, sir, uh...

I'm fed up with promises!

I want gasoline and gasoline
and more gasoline.

And I want small-caliber
ammunition and rations,

and I want them sent up here as
fast as you can get them to me.

I know how you feel, General,
but your outfit's been moving...

four times as fast
as anybody thought it would.

We'll catch up to you
eventually.

"Eventually"!

Get me those supplies!

Ten-hut!

Here's the situation, men.
At ease.

In the 23 days since
the Allied troops...

broke their way through the
main German line of defense,

General Patton's army has fought
its way to the Seine River.

That's 270 miles
into enemy-held territory.

It's the most important
push in the war,

but General Patton has outrun
his line of communications support.

He's virtually
drinking gasoline,

chasing krauts
with .30-caliber bullets.

He's dangling out there
all by himself.

It's our job to get him off
that hook and keep him rolling.

No reflection on Patton's ability
as a field commander, General,

but military history has proved
that war is an inchworm.

The head has to stop
while the tail catches up.

- Now, our supply line...
- Right now, Colonel,

General Patton is rewriting
military history.

He's already demonstrated that
many military concepts are obsolete,

especially
our concept of supply.

But, General, how do you supply
an army that's moved as fast as his?

There are no forward airfields
worth discussing,

and it'll take our engineers 60 days
to put those railroads back into shape.

I'll tell you
how we're gonna do it...

With trucks, trucks
and more trucks.

We'll clear our own
private route.

We'll make it off-limit
for everyone...

from French civilians
to combat units.

We'll set up our own one-way
private road to Patton and back.

But that road will have to go
through points that Patton's bypassed.

How do trucks get through
enemy pockets?

They fight their way through.

What's your vehicle situation,
Colonel?

I could have better than 6,000
trucks ready to roll by morning.

All right. Before we leave
Le Mans tonight,

we'll have a beachhead-to-front
Red Ball Express...

One way out and one way back.

General, we might have
the trucks,

but we haven't men enough
to put in all of them.

Then get the men.

Every man in the E.T.O. Who isn't shooting
or kicking krauts out of their holes...

is going to find himself
pushing a truck.

All right, gentlemen.

We'll reassemble here at 1300. Put all the
plans together and get this Red Ball rolling.

Ten-hut!

I'd give a six-hour pass if I
knew what this was all about.

I already did.
I still don't know.

Then stop beatin'
your brains out thinkin'.

You do guess it right, they'll
change the whole thing,

even if they have
to lose the war.

This is the highest-prize
quiz show of all times.

We're in the Transportation
Corps, aren't we?

That means
we'll be driving trucks.

Yeah. The kind of work
they don't care who does.

Trucks. Who wants
to drive a truck?

Nobody.
And most of all me.

Somebody oughta tell the
government what's goin' on over here.

A year and a half we train.

The Fightin' 104th,
they call us.

And I know what it means.
Only 104 of them are gonna fight.

The rest of us are gonna
wind up as wheel jockeys.

Why don't you stop beefin'?

Drivin' a truck is the softest
touch in the world.

You sit down all day long.

You pick up some stuff here.
You put it over here.

Nobody breathin' down your neck.

Carry a couple of jugs
of cognac.

And mademoiselles...

What they won't do for a ride and a
gallon of gasoline to take home to Papa...

can't be done.

Hey, you make it sound
like heaven.

I wouldn't even want
to drive a truck in heaven.

I don't know the first thing
about one of these gadgets.

It's a cinch. Take you
10 minutes to learn.

Back in the States,
I pushed rigs from one coast to the other.

All kinds of weather...
Rain, snow, desert.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

Let me tell you about the time I
was on the Mojave Desert run.

It was 120 in the shade,
and I was loaded with popcorn.

All of a sudden,
this stuff started to pop.

Boom, boom, boom.

And would you believe it?
By the time I got to Phoenix,

all I had to do was add
the butter and the salt.

Yeah.

Very entertaining.

Oh, that was nothin'.

Once I was drivin'
in the Rockies, see?

Rockies? And it was... Yeah.

I pushed a few rigs
over those hills myself.

Oh? Pretty cold, wasn't it?

Hey, what are you
workin' on there...

A formula for a secret weapon?

Oh, this? This, my friend,
is my future fortune...

The first real novel that's
gonna come out of this war.

Well, what are you
gonna call it?

How do I know?
Haven't finished it yet.

What, what, what?
Why, why, why?

Look, Shakespeare, you write
anything about this outfit,

leave me out of it, will you?

I'm beginnin' to feel like
an end man in a minstrel show.

Then why don't you tell a joke?

Aw, come on.
He was only kiddin'.

Company, halt!

Left face!

Rest.

Al right, you men,
the army's got a bug in its ear.

That's new?
Don't it always?

Hurry, hurry, hurry, and then
you never go anywhere.

Well, this time the army's
gonna make it up to you.

This time, you're
really goin' some place.

Hey, Sarge, don't we have at least a
general or somethin' in charge of us?

There will be an officer here
in a minute, wise guy.

And when he gets here,
I want you to show him you're in the army.

That means you act
like soldiers,

not clerks, messengers
or ward boys,

even though that's what
you were a few hours ago.

Detail! Ten-hut!

How are you, Red?

All right, Sergeant,
take your post.

All right. At ease, men.

My name's Campbell.

I know you're wondering
what this is all about.

The army is setting up the
biggest trucking detail in history.

They're gonna call it
the Red Ball Express.

That's an old railroad term
meaning high-priority freight.

We're gonna be part of it.

Our orders are to load up,
catch General Patton, unload...

and then drive right back
and do it all over again.

Load, roll 'em,

unload, roll 'em...
Until we're dizzy.

There isn't anything
I can add to that.

These are our vehicles
right behind us.

Two men to a truck.

Mount up and follow me
when we move out.

Sergeant Kallek.

Dismiss the company, Sergeant.

Company, dismissed!

Fall out.

Sergeant Kallek.

Yes, sir.

Put Corporal Green and
anybody else you want in the jeep.

I'll drive the lead truck.

I thought you lost
your taste for trucks.

You know how the army is, Red.

They sneaked a look at my Form
20 and found out I was a trucker.

They find out from your Form 20
what kind of a trucker you were?

Okay, Red, if that's
the way you want it.

I'll only mention this once.

We have a job ahead of us here
that has nothing to do with you or me,

so don't let your personal feelings
get in the way of those stripes.

Good morning. You mind
if I ride with a professional?

Say, not at all.
I'm one of the Smiths.

Call me Taffy.
Everybody does. Taffy it is.

My name's Partridge.
This is livin', isn't it?

Excitement, drama,
drivin' the open road.

See France the easy way.

Well, if you go for this kind of ease,
give me just lying around back home.

Say, what'd you do
in civilian life, Taffy?

Bop!

That's what I did.

Sat up on those high traps with Eddie
Mulaney's band, just keepin' the beat.

I've heard Mulaney play many
times. Out of St. Louis, wasn't it?

Out of St. Louis, out of Chicago,
out of New Orleans.

We been kicked out
of lots of places.

Well, as they say
in that other service,

I'm glad to have you
aboard, Taffy.

Let me say I'm gratified
to be ridin' with a man...

with your drivin' background.

But after the Rockies, this will
probably seem like a soapbox derby.

Yeah.

Say, uh, I wouldn't
like this to get around,

but how do you start
one of these things?

Oh!

Now what?

Step on the starter!

Where is it?

Sir, the sergeant said
I was to ride In this truck.

Well, hop in.

Move over, Mac.
I'm drivin'.

Oh, sure, Sarge. Sure.

My name's Heyman.

I'm Red Kallek.

What do you think of
this outfit, Sergeant?

With an officer like Campbell
in charge, not much.

What's the matter?
You got somethin' against him?

Yeah, I got somethin'
against him.

He killed my brother.

I guess we should get to know
each other a little better.

My name's Andrew Robertson.
My friends call me Robbie.

Nice to know you, Robertson.

I come from Detroit.

Worked on the sports desk
of a Negro newspaper there.

I guess that's because I picked up
a medal once in the Golden Gloves.

- Where you from, Lieutenant?
- Hmm? Uh, Colorado.

You work for a trucking
company there? Yeah. Yeah.

That's a coincidence.

Sergeant Kallek's a trucker
from Colorado. Did you know that?

I guess you two knew each other
before the service.

Look, Corporal,
I appreciate your interest.

If ever I want to go
to confession,

you'll be the first one
I call on.

Sure, Lieutenant.

I get it.

Grab your mess gear!

All right, we'll take a half hour for
chow while they're loadin' the trucks.

Make it snappy, huh?

What do you know... stew.

Stew, stew.
This is new?

Hey, the guy's a poet
and don't know it.

Lift and load

Lift and load

When the trucks is loaded,
Lieutenant, where are we headed?

Somewhere off the Seine River,
if General Patton's still there.

Gee. That Patton... he's
really makin' a war out of this.

We must be a pretty important outfit to be
picked to supply the hottest general in the army.

McCord, I have a feeling
before we're through,

this is gonna be one of the
biggest things the army's ever done.

You really think so, huh?
I could be wrong.

I don't think so, sir.

You know, it's great to be on
a winning team for a change.

Back in the high school
I went to,

we were always
getting beat at football.

We won just one game
in four years,

and then only because their fullback
dropped the ball behind the goal line.

One of our boys tripped
and fell on it accidentally.

What position did you play?

I was a cheerleader.

With a team like that, you must
have had the softest job in school.

The softest job?

Did you ever try to get up in front
of your student body and scream,

"All right, gang, remember
what they did to us last year?

Are we gonna let 'em get away
with it again? We are not.

Let's have a big locomotive
for the team.”

Tell you what.

When the going gets rough, you...

You give us a big locomotive
for the team.

Yes, sir.

And one
for the fraulein

One for the fraulein

One for the boys
All right, fellas.

One for the boys...

Sorry to break it up,
but gather round, huh?

Come on. Let's go.
Everybody.

Here we go.
Now listen carefully.

Finally got the scoop.

Here's the water.

Here's Cherbourg, where we are.

Saint-Lo, Paris,
the Seine River.

Now, Cherbourg's gonna be
our main supply dump.

Pick up the supplies here and
move 'em to a forward supply dump...

that will be designated
by the Red Ball every day.

What's our first objective?

A dump north of Paris,
somewhere along the Seine River.

We'll get specific instructions
at a forward control point.

Paris is 270 miles from here.

The way those roads are,
it'll take us 10 days to get there.

We'll make it
in a day and a half,

driving a maximum speed
of 35 miles an hour.

Lieutenant,
I've seen those roads.

You can't shoot a bullet
35 miles an hour down 'em.

The roads will be
cleared for us.

Incidentally, Sergeant,
speaking of bullets, I want you to check...

and see that every man's been issued
a belt full of ammunition and a rifle.

We gonna shoot rabbits
or somethin'? Could be.

We better keep our engines
hot in case we have to cook 'em.

Now, in addition to rations, we're gonna
be carryin' ammunition and gasoline,

so I don't have to warn you
to be careful.

You have any questions?

Okay, everybody in the trucks.

All except you, Sergeant.

Quit buckin' me, will you, Red?

I want to make an outfit
out of these men.

With these goldbricks,
troublemakers and misfits?

Guys other outfits
wanted to get rid of?

We're gonna make
a good outfit out of 'em.

The large part of it's
gonna be your job.

Don't worry.
When the goin' gets rough,

you won't see me jumpin'
out of a truck and runnin'.

You better get in your vehicle.

That Partridge.

If his truck lasts long enough,
he may learn how to drive.

Get that vehicle off the road.
I'll check the damage.

All right, you deadheads,
move this hunk of junk off the road...

before it starts growin' roots.

Aw, go oil your shoes.
They squeak.

It's dolls.

Real American dolls!

How can you tell
in these outfits?

I can tell all right.
I guess I'm just lucky.

Well, wonderful. Now that
you've established our gender,

I don't suppose
you'd mind giving us a hand.

Take two. I wish
I was an octopus.

I'll bet he is,
in the back seat of a car.

Wh-What's this
Red Cross business?

Don't tell me
there's a disaster up here.

We're Red Cross workers,
Sergeant.

This is our clubmobile.

We're supposed to ride
this road,

serve coffee and doughnuts
to the Red Ball Express drivers.

- We haven't seen any yet.
- Well, you have now, sweetheart.

I'm one of these heroes
you've been waitin" for.

Break out the grub.
Okay. Comin' up.

Hey, you guys!
Off your duffs!

Chow!

Stay where you are!

The situation's taken
kind of a twist.

The dames are here to entertain
the enlisted men, Lieutenant.

Coffee, tea and doughnuts
will be ready in a minute.

Tell the men they don't have to
line up. We'll bring it down to them.

Well, I... I know
this is gonna sound stuffy,

but there are some men up near Paris
who need gasoline and ammunition...

much more than we need
coffee, tea or doughnuts.

So will you please move?

While I'm changing the tire,

they can be passing out
the refreshments.

You're not gonna
change anything.

You'll get in your truck
along with the rest of the men.

Take it easy, Sergeant.

You wouldn't look good
with a court-martial.

I'll do my own fighting.

I'll bet you could
lick him too, lady.

Everybody in the trucks.
Prepare to move out.

This boy's
the soul of generosity.

In order to have a soul,
I hear you gotta be human.

Sergeant Kallek.

We'll take 10 here.

Have the men check their loads,
their tires, their gas and water.

Anything else, sir?
Yeah.

Yeah, put out a four-man security
patrol and check the road ahead.

Security patrol?

Now, look, Lieutenant,
this isn't combat we're in.

This is behind-the-lines
communications zone work.

I don't wanna tell you your
job... I'd rather you wouldn't.

Just put out the patrol.

All right, you men.
Everybody up here!

You too, Higgins!
On the double!

Come on. Let's relax.

Relax? Are you
kiddin'? Security patrol.

I take it, Sergeant, this is where we sweat
out the rest of this dangerous mission.

You take it right.

Whatever gave the lieutenant the
idea for this security patrol, Sarge?

I think he read a book
on Napoleon once,

so now he wants to capture
Europe single-handed.

If there's a kraut within
50 miles of this place,

I bet he's laughin'
himself to death.

Say, how do you laugh in German?

Grab your guns and take cover
away from these trucks!

Wonder where
the lieutenant's goin'.

Probably back to Cherbourg
to get his transfer.

Here, Red.
Let's take a look.

If those krauts come around that bend,
they'll blow this convoy to bits.

Come on. Let's go.

I'll cover you,
Lieutenant. Don't worry about us.

Just don't fire unless
they attack the convoy.

I'm gonna draw their fire, Red.

You pinpoint 'em.

They're over there in that
cluster of trees, but they're low.

As long as we stay behind
the lip of the road, we're all right.

Yeah, but we could
stay here all night.

I'm gonna try to go around
and get behind 'em.

You get as close to the lip
as possible.

When I yell, we both go.

All right, Red!

Red!

Thanks.

Thanks for what?

I was hoping they'd kill you.

You might as well realize what
happened just now can happen anytime.

This isn't what a lot of you guys have been
thinkin'... a bus line or a gravy train.

There's hundreds of Germans
been bypassed.

A lot of 'em still figure
we haven't won the...

Stop! Stop!
Hold that fire!

Think I'll buy you a slingshot.

Are you the officer in
charge of this outfit? Yes, sir.

Lieutenant Campbell, sir. Don't your
men even recognize their own army?

Yes, sir, but...
You might have killed us.

I'm sorry,
Major. The men... It's bad enough...

I had to drive 50 miles back from
the front to find a supply column.

But then to have it fire at me
is a little more than I can take.

We had a run-in
with the krauts, sir.

We're a little
trigger-happy. That's all.

I see.

Get your men in the trucks. I'll
show you where to take the stuff.

Major, these men need a break.
They've been driving 30 hours.

A break? Nobody's getting
any breaks up where I came from.

We need this ammo and gas,
and we need it bad.

Yes, sir.

Unless our speedometer's broke,
we've done 275 miles in the last 36 hours.

Yeah. Hey, that's just what the
lieutenant said we'd do. Yeah.

This is where we drop it,
Lieutenant.

This area's been cleared
for mines.

Where's the Seine River?

Just the other side
of those hills.

Soon as Patton gets another bridge built,
his boys will pick this stuff up.

Hey, Major, which way is Paris?

About 10 miles in
that direction. Uh-huh.

It's not gonna do you any good.
The Germans still hold it.

Germans?
Ten miles away?

What's the matter? You nervous
because the krauts are 10 miles away?

That's a little close, buddy.

Well, don't spread this around, but
they're only two miles in that direction.

Hey, Major.

Where are the unloading crews?

Sergeant, this is not a
reception center. This is war.

Up here,
we do our own unloading.

So let's get this stuff
on the ground.

Let's move, Sergeant.

All right, you guys. The next hour
will be devoted to physical education.

Next thing you know, they'll want
us to pour the gas right in the tanks,

load their guns and pull
the triggers for 'em.

I guess this is the life
of a soldier.

Soldiers?
Are you kiddin'?

We're nothin' but bus drivers and
traveling gas station attendants.

Hey, Taffy, you know that book
I'm doin' on my war experiences?

I'm afraid that's gettin'
a little depressing.

You ask me, you've lost
readers by the hundreds already.

Hold it!

Hold it!
Hey, wait a minute, Red Ball!

There's no point in you going
back empty, Lieutenant.

You can give these krauts a ride back
to the P.W. enclosure at Cherbourg.

We don't have anyplace
to keep prisoners up here.

We'll take good care
of 'em, sir.

"Halten Sie!"”

All right, Red Ball,
we got passengers.

Load 'em up, Sergeant.

You know, there's nothin' that guy
won't have us do to make him look good.

You know, by the time
that we reach Cherbourg,

we'll have driven 550 miles...
In 72 hours...

without sleep.

That's a miracle, Wilson.

And I...

I'll have the...

The first... book.

You all right?
Fine, fine.

How about you?

I think so.
I just fell asleep.

Why don't you two go somewhere
to relax and settle your nerves.

Yeah. We'll take care
of your truck.

Sorry, Wilson. As of now,
I'm on detached service.

Hey, wait a minute.

- I'm not selling anything.
- I just want...

Mm-hmm. Well,
I see I'm gonna have a little trouble here.

Say, do you know
the semaphore code?

That's, uh, "hello.”
You understand?

Au revoir.

Au revoir?
That's "good-bye"!

Hey! Hey, what's your name?

You. Uh, name.

"Num." Marie?

Claudette? Cherie?

Hey! Hey, wait a minute.

All I wanna know is your name.

Antoinette Dubois.

Ronald Partridge.

Me Ronald.
Ronald?

This is like
Tarzan and the apes.

Tarzan?
Yeah!

Tarzan.
Jane.

Non. Antoinette.

Hey, wait.

I can't run and talk
at the same time.

Say something to me,
even in French.

S'il vous plait.
Shove off.

Hey, wait a minute.

That was English. You
don't speak English?

Not only do I speak English.

I speak English
without an accent.

That's remarkable.

Say, where'd you get
that "shoove off" stuff?

You have heard, perhaps,
of the Eighth Air Force?

Oh. They were here?

Mm-hmm.

Well, I guess I will shove off.

I heard that American soldiers
fight for what they want.

Honey, if those big-winged birds
came down out of the sky first,

with $280 a month
plus flight pay...

and that line they teach 'em
at basic training,

there's nothing left around
here worth scrounging for.

Wait a minute, Ronald.

You remembered.

Don't worry about the air corps.

We just helped send some of them back,
through the underground.

Oh, well.

Uh! Uh, friend!

Americano!

Amigo! Yeah.

Yeah, Cherie... Antoinette!

Say, uh, cigarette?

I'm with her.

Américain?
Oui.

Oh, merci!

Sure. Yeah.

Yeah. Uh-huh.

Louise! Louise!
Oui?

Ma femme.
Un Américain.

Hi, uh...

Oh, bonjour.
How do you do?

Marie? Marie?
Oh, la voila.

Oh, cute! Hi!

Eugene!

Oh! Say, this is great!

Uh... No, go ahead.
Non, non, non.

Go ahead.
Merci, merci.

Marie!

Say, come on.
I'll get you some food.

Thanks very much,
but I'll get you some food.

I'll be back.

Au revoir, monsieur.
I'll be back.

There it is.
Let's take off.

Wait a minute. I gotta
find my buddy first.

If he isn't here,
that's his tough luck. Wait a minute!

Take off.

Hey! Wait for me!

Whooh. I'm in a lot of trouble.
Let me borrow your bicycle.

I'll come back with plenty of food. Now,
you wait for me.

I will wait, Tarzan.

All right, you guys,
grab your socks.

We gotta be loaded and rollin'
in 20 minutes.

We gotta be outta here by 0500.

Aw, man, if this is what
they call a soft touch,

I'll go back
to combat duty any day.

Now, what would you wanna
go back to combat duty for?

Personally, I think that
this is a pretty...

Okay, okay, Higgins.
Knock it off.

Okay, fellas, up and at 'em.

Oh, brother.

Lift and load

One for Hitler

And one for the road

Lift and load

What are they tryin' to prove,
Lieutenant?

These men need 40 hours' sleep,
not four.

Patton took the supplies we brought
him yesterday, moved up 25 more miles.

Guess he needs the supplies
more than we need sleep.

Are we the only company in this Red Ball?
What's the matter with the rest of 'em?

They were dropping stuff at their
forward dump 10 minutes after we left.

The line of trucks between here
and the front is almost continuous.

Tomorrow, there'll be a truck
every 50 yards of that 250-mile road.

A load of supplies will be dropping behind
Patton every minute... day and night.

What'd they do... give
you a speech to learn?

Look, Red, if you spent half as
much time workin' as you do gripin',

we'd make an outfit
out of these men.

Now get to work!

One for Hitler

And one for the road

Lift and load

Lift and load

Good morning, sir.
Where do we sleep?

Sleep?
Where have you been?

Oh, that. Sir,
if I live to be 100 years old,

I hope I never again get into a
hassle like the one I just got out of.

Due to a failure of
the steering mechanism,

our vehicle unfortunately sustained
superficial damages yesterday.

Well, sir, in an effort to follow your
example as a thorough and cautious soldier,

I felt it my duty to put out
a one-man security patrol...

while the able mechanics were
tending to the needs of the vehicle.

Well, during the course of my
investigation of the surrounding terrain,

I flushed out
a very suspicious party.

She was... He was... Uh...

It's a very long story,
Lieutenant.

Okay. But I ought to make you go through
the whole thing just for punishment.

After this,
see your French girls on your own time.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

My own time?

My own time. Yeah, I had a lot of that.

At least two whole seconds a day.

We climbed up into those trucks and didn't
get out of 'em for the next three weeks.

And you know, I was the guy
who once said drivin' was a cinch...

Just a matter of pickin' stuff up
here and puttin' it down there.

Well, my vast driving experience...

Had left out something quite important.

Little things like your hands
swelling up into two big blisters...

and your feet gettin'
slow-baked on the floorboards...

and in between, more aches and pains...

than were ever squeezed into
six feet of human body.

Cobblestones, dust,
blackout lights and hairpin turns...

weren't enough, it seemed.

Somebody had to throw
in eight days of rain...

followed by 65 miles
of freshly-churned mud.

The road was not only
long, it now became deep.

And we fought a war within a
war... with time and distance.

This mud was strictly G.I. issue,

not to be confused
with the ordinary variety.

This stuff was composed of two
parts glue and one part perversity.

Some of the Red Baller seven claimed that
the army had seasoned it with meanness...

Meanness squeezed from
the first sergeant's heart.

But as bad as the mud was,
there was always somethin' tougher ahead.

Accidents... Sure, we had 'em.

But their wheels would
hardly stop turnin'...

before a repair crew
hauled 'em back on the road,

gave 'em a little mechanical motherin'...

and sent 'em back to the job.

Then, for any of us who got cold, there
was an occasional bonfire on the road.

Only we didn't stop for a rally.

It was our gas and our friends goin' up.

When we hit the towns again... or what
was left of them... Taffy kept askin' me,

"Where are those mademoiselles...

who were supposed to be waitin'
just to throw their arms around us?”

I was too tired to even
think about mademoiselles.

And, friend, that's about
as tired as I ever get.

Then just when you thought you
couldn't drive another mile,

you turned a curve and the army
handed you one of its many surprises.

Well, what is this, Sergeant?

It's a relief camp for you
Red Ball drivers. Relief camp?

That's nice. Now all we gotta do is get
a medal every time we drive 10 miles.

It'll be just like
the air corps.

Lieutenant, better have your men
get the gear off the trucks. What for?

This is the way
we're operating now.

While you rest,
somebody else drives your trucks.

When you get up,
you drive somebody else's.

Really keeps
those supplies movin'.

That's pretty good. Sergeant, will you have
the men take their stuff off the trucks?

All right, you men,
take your personal stuff off the trucks!

9415! Outside and mount up!

It's all yours.

Take it easy, baby!

Come and get it!
Come and get it!

Oh,
boy. This is good. Hot coffee.

Here you are,
boys. All you can eat and drink.

Hot stuff. Comin' out! Hey,
hey. Can we look too? Huh?

- Sure, long as you don't touch.
- Boy, this is just like home!

What are you two dames
doin' tomorrow night?

Same thing you're gonna be doing,
Sergeant. Drivin'.

What a romantic item
for my book.

Two dames chased me halfway
across France and back.

Hold it for rewrites, kid.

Before we're through, we'll chase
you all the way across France and back.

Say, what happened to that lieutenant
who doesn't think women belong up here?

Oh, Campbell?
Who cares about him?

Yeah, forget about him. How about
giving me a couple of those doughnuts?

Black boy, you give orders
to nobody. You take 'em.

Well, I'm not
taking any from you!

All right, break it up.
Let me through.

Break it up!
All right, all right.

Now get out of here,
both of you! Lieutenant, he was the one...

I said get out of here.
You tryin' to start a riot?

Lieutenant, what happened
was not that man's fault.

Lady, you run your
clubmobile. I'll run my company.

Now beat it.
Get into the tents.

And, everybody, break it up!

All right!
Go on! Break it up!

Lieutenant Campbell, sir.

Robertson?
Come on in.

Corporal Robertson reporting,
sir, with a request.

Why all the formality?
It's a formal request, sir.

Okay, relax and tell me
what you want.

I would like to request
a transfer to another outfit.

Why?

I'd rather keep my reasons
to myself, sir.

"Cause of what just happened?
That might be a part of it.

'Cause I had to bark at you?

Well, that's my job whenever
you or anyone else gets out of line.

Would you rather have thrown
a few more punches?

Punches I can handle, sir.

Look, Robertson,

I'm not educated to all the
subtleties of race relationship,

but it was never my intention
to treat you any differently...

from anyone else
in this company.

To the best of my knowledge,
I haven't.

Transfer? No. There
aren't any to be had.

I don't think any of us
wanted to be in this outfit.

That didn't make a bit
of difference to the army.

It makes even less difference
that any of us wants to get out.

Is that all, sir?

Yeah.

Okay, turn out.

Thank you, my friend.

Oh, hi, Robbie.

I just asked for a transfer.

Why do you want to do
a thing like that?

Because I don't like the way I'm
being treated, especially by him.

Campbell?

What can I do about it?
Nothin'!

He outranks us the way we've
been outranked all our lives.

Ever think you could
be wrong? Wrong?

Readin' things into Campbell's
mind that aren't there.

Look, you don't ride with
him all day. You don't know.

Robbie, I've been all over the world,
seen all kinds of people.

This is the greatest bunch
of fellas I've ever worked with,

even if half of them are white.

All I ever heard 'em do
is argue and complain,

feel sorry for themselves,

try to take their misery
out on somebody else.

Arguin' and complaining' isn't
bad. That shows they've got spirit.

All they've gotta do is to get that
spirit movin' in the same direction.

When they do, you're gonna see
an outfit grow right up in front of you...

one you'll be proud of.

Proud?

With him commanding.

There's nothing wrong
with that boy.

The day will come, Robbie,
when you're gonna like that boy.

This is no easy job.

Got a lot on his mind. The best thing we
can do is to try to help him work it out.

- Hold it!
- Hold it! Hold it!

How long ago did this happen?

About a half an hour ago, sir.

- Why hasn't the road been cleared?
- We don't have equipment, sir.

Our convoy will go around it. We'll
leave our wrecker here to clear the road.

I wouldn't advise that,
sir. This area is pretty heavily mined.

Why don't we send someone back to
the next patrol point for an engineer crew?

We'd be here all afternoon. Red Ball
would be piled up from here to Saint-L0.

No, we can't wait.

I'll take the first truck
through myself.

McCord,
you get back in your vehicle. Yes, sir.

I'll circle the craters,
sweep the ground with a machine gun.

If there are any mines,
the bullets should explode them.

All we need's a path
10 feet wide.

Sergeant,
will you get the men together? Yes, sir.

All right, you men,
assemble up here!

On the double!

Stay on the road!
Keep close to the trucks!

All right.
Here's the situation.

This area around here is undoubtedly
heavily mined. We can't wait...

Stop that truck!

I'm takin' it through, Lieutenant.
Here's a big locomotive for the team!

Okay, you heroes!

This way to the front!

Take your helmets off.

What's this convoy stopped for?

Holding services
for one of our men, Captain.

The chaplain will take care
of that, Lieutenant.

Hop in your trucks
and get moving.

Take your helmet off, sir?

Do you move, or do I
put you under arrest?

Court-martial the
whole outfit if you'd like.

Dear God, this is
Private Davey McCord.

A good man.

He always said he wanted
to win something someday.

He never did.

Maybe you could fix some
kind of a prize for him.

He earned it.

Amen.

Something you wanted, Captain?

No. Just try and make up
the lost time.

Lieutenant, have your men put
this stuff back in their trucks. Why?

There's a tank outfit bogged
down on the road 15 miles up.

You'll have to move up
alongside and unload.

All right, hold it!

Put everything back in the
trucks and prepare to move out!

Oh, no.

Oh!

Hey, do you suppose we're gonna
drop this stuff behind the German lines...

so it'll be waitin' for Patton
when he gets there?

You know,
I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

My family used to say,
"That boy, Ronald, he'll go far."

At the time,
I didn't realize how far they meant.

Good morning,
Lieutenant. Morning. How's it goin'?

Well, it's gonna go a lot better
since you're here. Thanks.

Good. All right, Red,
get 'em unloaded.

All right, let's work
on this truck first!

Lieutenant, with your permission,
I'd like to have some of your guys help us.

Sure. Max, get the boys and
give 'em a hand, will you?

Okay, you guys, on the double!

How many tanks
have you got here?

Well, we have 10,
but there's more coming up.

Put 'em in the trucks.
Take 'em out of the trucks.

Put 'em in the trucks... Put 'em in
the trucks. Take 'em out of the trucks.

That's a good rhythm.

Hey, what happened? Did
you boys take the wrong road?

You're up here where the
men are doing the fighting.

Well, we came up here
to check on a rumor...

that you fellas were sellin'
this stuff to the krauts.

Yeah, we are. But you oughta
see the price they're payin' for it.

Oh, you jokers
have got a soft touch.

You not only sit around on your
butts all day driving around the country,

but when you get here,
we have to do your work for you.

Lift and load

One for Hitler

And one for the road

Lift and load

They, um,
look like they work pretty well together.

One for Goering
Yeah, good outfit.

One for Goering

Are you guys on a gravy train? Is
this an army outfit or a minstrel show?

You think this is a gravy train,
I'll swap you jobs.

You drive my truck,
and I'll drive your tank.

Are you kiddin', buddy? You think I'd
leave one of Patton's tank companies...

for a lousy 4-F goldbrick
outfit like this?

Sergeant, if I were you, I wouldn't
talk about the Red Ball Express that way.

Oh, the Red Ball Express. Well,
we call it the Foul Ball Express.

Oh!

Hey! Come on!

No! No, wait a minute,
Lieutenant. What do you mean?

Your boys are liable to get
hurt. My tankers are tough.

We'd better stop this. Come on. No,
no.

If there's anything
I ever learned in life,

it's not to interfere
in other people's fights.

See this scar? I got that
trying to be a peacemaker.

I don't see any scar.
It's there, all right.

Come on.
I'll tell you about it.

Aah!

Are you enjoying yourselves,
gentlemen?

Yes, sir.
No...

Ten-hut!
Attention!

Ten-hut!
Attention!

Fall in!
Fall in!

I've always said that
men enjoy a fight...

and don't believe anybody
who says I'm a liar.

But the battle
is up there ahead of you!

Save your fists and your energy for
the fanatics who got us into this war.

Don't use them
in petty arguments...

with the men who supply the
lifeblood to your fighting outfit.

If it weren't for the Red Ball Express
and the men in it pushing through supplies,

we might never be able
to keep attacking.

And every day we can attack means
we're that much nearer the end of the war.

Now get over and help those Red Ball drivers
load whatever you need into your tanks!

And whenever they hand you a
gallon of gas or a bullet, be grateful,

because it might be the one that saves
your life and the life of your country.

And when you're through, tankers,
meet me two miles down the road.

We'll see how eager you are
to fight there!

All right, Sergeant,
get the men back to work.

Yes, sir.
Back to the trucks!

Hey, Sarge, how'd you like
the minstrel show, eh?

Good outfit.

Well, Taffy, we're almost there.

Partridge, we've passed that
little French girl every three days...

for the past five weeks
without stopping.

If I know anything
about women, and I do...

She just won't wait any longer.

Oh, she'll be there,
and lovely as ever.

Hey, there she is!
Hi, baby!

Whoo-ee!
Man, what have you got?

Her bicycle!

Now don't you be in a hurry,
Taffy!

Don't worry about me.
Don't you be.

Hey, come on! The army’s
got some inquisitive mechanics.

Okay, what's wrong with it now?

I don't know, Max. I just happened to close
my eyes, and all of a sudden she stops.

Just like that.

Poor little old thing. You
expect she could just be tired?

Every time you didn't stop,
I worry.

I think maybe you're dead.
Would it make any difference?

Most certainly would.
You had my bicycle.

Well, you can put in your diary
that I would've come back...

even if I were dead and
didn't have your bicycle.

I like you.

Oh, hey, I almost forgot.

Here's the food I promised you.

I guess you're
a little hungry by now.

Oh, no. Three weeks ago,
I stuffed myself with a cracker or two.

I'm sorry I joked about it.

Next time, I'll be around
a lot sooner.

Well, you can put
in your diary...

I would have waited for you,

even if I'd just finished a banquet
and I didn't need my bicycle.

Hey, who you trying to kid?
There's nothin' wrong with this truck.

Step on the starter.

Would you mind turning on
the switch, please?

The switch? Oh.
Yeah.

Then throw it in low
and keep on moving.

Come on! Come on!

What about my buddy?
I can't just leave him behind.

Look, pal, most of the things we do
in this army are things we can't do.

Now get moving.

Hey! Hey!

Oh, no.

Well, they did it again.

Honey, I'm gonna have to
borrow your bicycle, but I'll be back!

Oh, Robertson.

Yes, sir?

I want to talk to you.

I got some news
you might like to hear.

What news is that, sir?

I've been given permission to
approve requests for transfer.

I'm honoring yours. You'll be
in another outfit within an hour.

Lieutenant, I'd hoped
you'd forgotten that.

I don't want a transfer, sir.

Okay.

Thank you, sir.

Hey, I see you got yourself
some very talented labor.

Not bad, huh?

How'd you get 'em so
interested in the work?

It wasn't me. It was you guys. The said
when they saw all these supplies movin' up,

they figured the war was
as good as over. Oh, yeah!

Hey, now that's the way I like to
fight a war. Let the enemy do it for you.

Huh! That's nothin'.
Watch this.

Hey, pretzel!

Eins, zwei!
Lift und load

Lift und load

One for little Adolf

And one
for the Cleveland Indians

Hey, that's wonderful!

It ain't the Floradora Sextet,
but it kills me.

You got a union.
So long.

Hey, Partridge!

Where you goin'?
Partridge. Hey!

Say, is that really you,
Higgins?

It sure is

And, you, you can't be Wilson.

Who'd you think I was...
Eisenhower?

Well, you could have fooled me. This
is the first time I've seen you guys clean.

We got clean uniforms
and showers and shaves.

What happened... Germany surrender? No,
no. Campbell did.

He gave us four and
one-half hours off.

Not because he wanted to. Because
the trucks are so beat up they won't run.

And, look, hide that, will you?

Before he figures out some way for us
to take supplies up to Patton by bicycle.

Hey,
why don't you lay off Campbell for a while?

Yeah, I'm tired of
hearin' you gripe.

You're gettin' to sound
as bad as Wilson.

Joke!

We'll all be at the Maison
D'Or, Partridge. You can join us there.

Nothin' in the world's
gonna stop me.

I'll see you.

For free.
For f...

Hey, say somethin' else charming. Why,
that's easy!

Hey, hey, hey!

Come and get it!

Hi!
What do you say?

Sorry, fellas. This is
high-priority merchandise.

I'm gonna Red Ball her
right to the bar.

Sergeant, don't let me stand in
your way. Baby, you're with me.

Hey, waiter!

Well, go on, Sarge.
You're spoke for.

Hey, baby, you speak English?

What's the matter...
"English" a dirty word?

What's your pleasure?
Oh, you've had a few.

No,
no. I'm just intoxicated by your presence.

Come on. Aren't you gonna let me
buy you a drink? Vermouth cassis.

Vermouth... Cassis? Certainement.

Um, how did you
find your way here?

Oh, we had to come to Cherbourg for some
supplies, so we thought we'd take in the sights.

Why aren't you men on the road?

Simon Legree gave us
a couple hours off.

Maybe just so he could think of something
dirty to do to us when we get back.

Why do you dislike him so much?

He, my brother Al and myself
were close friends once.

So, what did he do to you?

Well, Al and Chick were...

drivin' a double-trailer load
of gas over the Rockies.

Somethin' went wrong
with the truck.

It jackknifed, went off
the road into the woods,

turned over and caught on fire.

Campbell jumped out
when he saw trouble comin'.

Al got pinned in the cab.

And instead of goin' back to get him,
Campbell turned yellow and ran.

Didn't he have anything to say?

Any explanation?
Explanation?

He said he was thrown out of
the cab when the truck jackknifed.

He was knocked cold.

When he came to, Al was...

Hi, Lieutenant Campbell.

Whiskey.

Take off those bars
and come outside.

You're makin' a mistake,
Red. So I'm makin' a mistake.

Get him.

Turn him over to the M.P.s. Tell
them he's under arrest by my orders.

Yes, sir.

You're sort of throwin' the book at him,
aren't you, Lieutenant?

You know what's on his mind.

So you do too.

Well, look, Miss Red Cross.
Let's get one thing straight.

When that truck went up in flames, there
wasn't anything anybody could do about it.

Are you sure?

I hope you never
have to see one burn.

Any of you men here from
the 2371st Truck Company,

report back to the dumptout de suite.

That's French for
"Don't waste a minute."

Come on.

Out here, beyond the regular
Red Ball route, is a spur.

On that spur is Moret,

where one of Patton's spearheading
tank outfits is bogged down.

For the past 24 hours, the Germans
have been trying to cut them off.

They've closed everything behind
them except the road through Gruey.

And the tank outfit is
out of gasoline. Yes.

They can hold out
as long as their ammo lasts.

But if they had enough gas,
they could break out of the encirclement.

And if they don't pretty soon, we might as
well write those tanks and men off the books.

We want a small convoy with a
maximum load to sneak through...

before the Germans
know what happened.

Now, Lieutenant, your trucks
are outside being loaded.

Get them out of here
in the next 15 minutes...

and drive like
you've never driven before.

And don't let anything stop you.

If you make it,
you probably won't get a medal,

but you'll save
an awful lot of good men.

Yes, sir.

Here's Sergeant Kallek for you,
Lieutenant. Thank you, Captain.

Come on. Get out. What
about the charges against him?

He's being released to
me. I'd rather take the rap.

Shut up and come with me.

Take cover!

Take cover!

Hey, Taffy.
That's a German tank.

If we only had a bazooka.

Hey, if anything happens,
give this to Antoinette, will you?

It's all I've got.

Hey, where you goin'?

Tonight, I'm a bazooka.

Okay, Red, let's get rollin'.

Roll in. Roll in.

Well, you made great time,
Lieutenant.

But I'm afraid you're a little
too late. Tank outfit captured?

No, but it's just
a matter of minutes.

Krauts set fire to Moret, and they're completely
cut off. It's impossible to get to 'em.

Do we have to go through Moret?

Well, there's only one road,
and that was it.

Then we have to
go through Moret.

That's very dramatic,
Lieutenant,

but how you gonna get all this
gasoline through a burning town?

Look at that.
Burning like election night.

Anybody get through that,
they can land a job in a circus.

You think any of those truckers
will try to get through that furnace?

If they do,
I'll eat these stripes.

I can't blame them much though.

Those guys get all the work
and none of the glory.

This is glory?

Bring it up here on the double!

Well, there it is.

You mean we're gonna
drive through that?

At least we'll be able
to see the road.

Seems to me it might be
a little dangerous...

if one of the trucks
gets stalled in that fire.

You get stalled in there, buddy,

you'll be drivin' the only
10-wheel Roman candle in France.

Okay.

We go as fast as we can.

Only remember,
don't crowd anyone.

Keep... 20 yards apart.

At the bottom of the hill,
you'll find the main drag.

It's the only street
that goes through the town.

You make a right turn into her.

If the street is blocked,
ride over it, around it,

climb a building if you have to.

But don't stall your truck. If you do,
you'll pile up everybody behind you.

Sergeant Kallek
will take the lead truck.

Good luck.

When I pull out,
you can swing around me. Yeah, sure.

What truck you gonna be in,
Lieutenant? The last?

Look at that. It's murder!
So it's murder.

Get outside on the running
board and tell me where to turn.

Turn right!
Turn!

Heyman!

Turn! Turn!

There's one of our trucks!

Hey, Lieutenant!
Here he comes!

Hey! He made it!

Hey, Lieutenant! Boy,
we thought you were a goner!

What are you guys doin'
here? We're waitin' for you.

Well, come on! Let's go!

Lieutenant!
Headlights out of Moret!

I don't believe it!
It's them! It's them!

Come on! Get the lead out!
Those Red Ball drivers did it!

The gasoline's coming!
They're bringing gasoline!

Hey, what's happening?
Hey, fellas!

Lift and load

Lift and load

One for Hitler

And one for the road

Little further down the road.

She'll be there waiting.
She always is.

Hey!

Hi, Partridge!

Hey, Higgins!
Hey, Partridge!

Boy, do you look great.

Well, sir, you wanna hear
all about it? This time, yeah.

Well, I jumped out of that
truck before it hit the tank,

and I rolled off the road
and hit my noggin on a rock.

When I came to, you'd gone.

So I picked up a bicycle, but
I couldn't catch you with that.

So I, uh, just peddled back here and,
uh, killed a little time.

Here's your notebook.
Oh!

Boy, have I got
a chapter to write!

Come and get it!
Come and get it!

Okay, take 10.
Amen!

As a matter of fact, take 20!

Cup of coffee, Red?

All right! All right!

Lift and load

Lift and load

Lift and load

Lift and load

One for Hitler

One for Hitler

And one for the road

And one for the road