Original subtitles

REPORTER: And though no one in the State Department...

is willing to make an official confirmation...

I'm told this exhibition of Russian masterpieces is being viewed...

by both governments as much more than a vehicle for cultural exchange...

that in an unprecedented expression of openness and trust...

the Soviet Union has given new meaning to the concept of Detente...

by allowing us this intimate look at its people, traditions, mind and heart.

(PEOPLE CLAPPING)

The applause is for Countess Korischeva...

world-renowned curator and art restorer...

who has so brilliantly prepared this exhibition.

Maybe we can get a word with her.

Countess? Countess Korischeva?

Countess, I'd like to...

Please call me Lysandra.

Or Miss Korischeva.

Ms. Korischeva, take your pick, but not Countess.

Certainly, but you are a descendant of a Latvian royal family?

Yes, but there aren't any royal families in my country now...

just families and people and a climate for cultural development.

Excuse me. Thank you.

That was Miss Lysandra Korischeva...

and this is Edward Altman, ABS News, at the National Gallery in Washington.

Countess, what a pleasure to see you again.

You look as beautiful as ever.

Oh, Oscar, thank you.

My, what an evening! What a turnout.

That's a beautiful, um, what?

Oh, the sculpture.

You can assume that we're being watched.

Cigarette, Countess?

Take one and put the micro-dot in the case.

I'm sorry, Mr. Goldman, I don't smoke.

Oh, forgive me, I thought that you liked American cigarettes.

I did.

What happened?

It was becoming hazardous to my health.

Anything serious?

I'm afraid it is.

Well, perhaps we can go somewhere and discuss the problem.

If we stay here, I can show you.

Ah, the Byzantine Madonna.

Beautifully restored, Countess, just beautiful, you're a genius.

Thank you, Mr. Goldman.

You know, there used to be a little round chip missing, right there.

And that's where the micro-dot is, huh?

Uh-huh.

You know, all these paintings are fragile and priceless.

Arrangements for their safety are extensive.

So I noticed.

Can't you find some excuse to work on it, alone?

Yes, but that's not the answer.

A security guard will be with me all the time.

How much time would you need?

10 minutes would be very productive.

Really? Yes.

I'll see if I can arrange them.

FLIGHT COM: It looks good at NASA One.

B-52 >PILOT: Roger.

BCS Arm switch is on.

FLIGHT COM: Okay, Victor.

B-52 PILOT: Landing Rocket Arm switch is on. Here comes the throttle.

Circuit breakers in.

STEVE: We have separation.

B-52 PILOT: Inboard and outboards are on.

I'm comin' forward with the side stick.

FLIGHT COM: Looks good.

PILOT: Ah, Roger.

STEVE: I've got a blowout in damper three.

SR-71 PILOT: Get your pitch to zero.

STEVE: Pitch is out. I can't hold altitude!

B-52 PILOT: Correction. Alpha Hold is off. Threat selector is emergency.

STEVE: Flight Com. I can't hold it! She's breaking up! She's breaking...

ANNOUNCER: Steve Austin. Astronaut.

A man barely alive.

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him.

We have the technology.

We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man.

Steve Austin will be that man.

Better than he was before.

Better, stronger, faster.

(MAIN TITLE THEME)

Steal a painting?

Oh, just for 10 minutes, Steve.

The micro-dot we've been expecting, Steve.

With the Warsaw Pact missile deployment system?

It's hidden in a painting?

OSCAR: Beneath layers of paint.

Our contact is a restorer.

It was the only way that she could get it out.

Where's the painting now?

The National Gallery, Steve, it's part of an exhibition from the Hermitage.

That sounds delicate.

And difficult...

This museum was chosen because of its extensive security operations.

All right, the painting's right here...

in this alcove, behind an inch of glass...

surrounded by a stainless steel frame.

Light beams project across the alcove to the other side 12 inches apart.

One break and the alarms go off.

The cone-shaped device, is that part of the alarm system, too?

That device is sensitive to air movement.

A moth would set it off.

TV surveillance scanning the entire gallery...

monitored by a security guard.

Now, the alarms are set the minute the museum is closed.

Do the guards make rounds after the museum is closed?

As unnecessary as it sounds, yes.

Well, we'll have to get copies of the schedules.

OSCAR: No way, they change it every day, Steve.

Is that it?

The floors are sensitive to weight.

Any change and the bells start ringing.

That's it.

Do we have somebody inside, somebody at the museum?

Yes, our contact has an office in the museum...

for the duration of the exhibition.

She is arranging for a malfunction of the air conditioning system...

so that you can end up in this area right here, you see?

Right above the picture.

What about cooperation from museum personnel?

No way.

Security was provided by both sides.

And we can't risk the Russians finding out.

OSCAR: Exactly.

The Secretary is steaming that we're using this exhibit for espionage purposes.

So, it's just me.

And the Countess.

Excuse me, I'm Steve Austin.

Lysandra Korischeva.

We don't have much time, Mr. Austin.

This must be done quickly. As quickly as possible.

How long will the exhibition be here?

Three weeks, but we have only three days.

The Director of the Hermitage, Viktor Bellushyn...

arrives at the museum in 72 hours for a reception in his honor.

And you think he could spot the micro-dot beneath the paint?

He's given lectures, written books about that painting.

He knows every square millimeter of its surface.

He'll know something isn't right.

And if he finds the micro-dot, he'll know that you put it there.

Yes.

Well, we'll have to get it out before he does.

Do something for you?

Uh, Maintain-Temp I got a service call here.

Oh, yeah, they said you were coming.

What's that?

Oh, that's a humidity tester.

It co-evaluates the negative pressure on the barometric sensor discs...

with the air filtration control diodes among other things.

Sure, buddy.

Are you gonna be long?

Well, let me check it out and I'll let you know.

Okay.

(WHISTLING)

Well, it could be a while. The trouble's down below.

Okay.

(WHISTLING)

(BIONIC EYE SOUND EFFECT)

(LIGHT COVER RUSTLES)

(FOOTSTEPS)

(KEYS JINGLE)

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(METAL CREAKING)

(BUSY SIGNAL)

A maintenance guy, huh?

Yeah, he's in there working on the HVAC.

Did you get a notice on that?

Of course, it came through this afternoon.

Well, okay, listen, I gotta make the rounds.

You hustle up and check out that access door, will ya'?

I couldn't get it open before.

All right. I'm on my way.

Aw.

(PHONE RINGS)

Security, main desk, Russell.

Mr. Russell, this is Miss Korischeva.

Yes, ma'am. What can I do for you?

I can't find my passport.

I think I might have left it in my desk, the drawer on the right side.

Could you check it for me, please?

Well, ma'am, I'm late for rounds now.

Oh, Mr. Russell, you know the problems I could have if I lost it.

Yes, ma'am.

You hang on and I'll be right back.

(OMINOUS MUSIC)

(DOOR KNOB CLICKING)

COUNTESS: I've got it.

Steve, it's incredible.

I never expected such complete data.

You did a terrific job.

Thank you.

The Countess had a lot to do with it.

(PHONE BUZZES)

Yes?

Mr. Goldman, I have an Under Secretary of the State Department waiting out here.

Mrs. Arthur Cummings.

Show her in.

Well, good morning, Mrs. Cummings.

May I present Colonel Steve Austin.

Mrs. Arthur Cummings of the State Department.

Gentlemen...

I understand you were involved in a little operation...

at the National Gallery last night.

And a very highly successful one, I might add.

I'm afraid not, Mr. Goldman.

My input indicates it was miserably bungled.

Bungled?

The data in that micro-dot is priceless, Mrs. Cummings.

It's worthless if you started World War III getting it!

I'm afraid I don't understand.

The Byzantine Madonna.

Yes.

Yes, I thought that'd get through.

The painting in the museum today is not the one that was there yesterday!

What?

UNDER SECRETARY: It's been switched with a fake.

The museum director Mr. Templeton noticed it this morning.

And thank God...

Thank God he had the good sense to come to me first!

That's impossible.

It happened!

And I want to know what's going on!

I don't know what's going on, Mrs. Cummings, but I'll tell you one thing...

I'm gonna find out!

Let's hope so.

You don't have much time.

What happened?

I don't know.

I mean, I took the painting from the alcove...

handed it up to the Countess, she removed the microdot...

restored the painting and I put it back.

What you're saying then is the Countess is the only one...

that could have made the switch.

I guess that's what I'm saying, yeah.

But I'll get it back.

You'd better get it back.

The Russians are due here in exactly 36 hours.

If we don't get that painting, we might be back in a Cold War.

Okay.

(SIGHS)

Then he won't listen to reason.

Well, the man leaves me very little choice.

Yeah, it's time to explain. (DOOR BELL RINGS)

He sticks to pushing on the street and keeps his fingers out of my operation...

or they get broken.

Wait a minute.

Tell him I said his future is in your hands.

Yeah, handle it.

I have an important meeting now.

Right.

Countess...

welcome.

Mr. Kane.

Ohh.

Magnificent.

An experience without precedent.

A five-million-dollar experience, Mr. Kane.

I'm sure everything is in order.

A pleasure, Mr. Kane.

Indeed it is, a rare one.

Share it with me for a few moments.

Thank you, Mr. Kane, but I really must go.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Well, Steve, what a nice surprise.

Come in.

I'm looking for a painting.

That's wonderful!

Do you have a specific period or style in mind?

The Byzantine Madonna, I want it back.

I don't have it now.

Who does?

I'm not at liberty to say.

Well, you picked the magic words, at liberty.

How about 10 years in jail?

For what?

STEVE: You stole a painting!

Ah, correction, you stole a painting.

Correction, I borrowed a painting for a few minutes, you stole it.

All right, I confess.

Let's go to the police.

COUNTESS: We'll tell them the O.S.I. engineered this little caper.

And for what reason?

To get possession of a microdot containing the Warsaw Powers missile locations.

You know, we could suggest to your government...

that they have a career diplomat to stand by...

to explain the situation to the Russians.

Or we could just forget the whole thing.

Except the last part.

I don't want to forget I met you.

Would you zip me, please?

Thank you.

Like it?

Oh, it's beautiful.

Great camouflage for your character.

Ah, so gallant.

If you'll excuse me, I have to meet someone.

(PHONE RINGS)

Hello.

GORDNEY: This is Gordney, I won't be able to keep our appointment.

Would you hold on.

Would you please leave?

You must keep the appointment.

GORDNEY: It would be meaningless to meet.

I haven't been contacted yet.

Oh.

But I was told the money had to be delivered no later than midnight tomorrow.

GORDNEY: The deadline can be extended.

When I am informed where the money is to be delivered, I will contact you.

Be in your hotel room at 4:00.

(DIAL TONE)

Tell me who has the painting.

Sorry.

You know, there's a lot about you that impressed me...

but you know the one thing that impressed me the most?

You're coordinated.

Everything about you is so perfectly coordinated...

except your luggage.

Now why wouldn't a woman so in sync have matching luggage?

Now if you tell me where that painting is...

I won't satisfy my curiosity about what's in this attache case.

Steve, please, I have been trusted.

Well, you go in for trust a lot.

I trusted you, Oscar trusted you.

Lives depend on my delivering this attache case.

Okay, you've got a commitment.

Then you can appreciate mine.

Steve, please.

I sold the painting for five million dollars.

It's in this attache case.

Who did you sell it to?

Look, if anything goes wrong, if! can't deliver this attache case.

Steve, the money in it will buy the freedom of hundreds of unjustly imprisoned people.

It's true, please believe me, I beg you.

Oh, I believe you, but why didn't you go a different route?

What different route?

There are organizations, Amnesty International, Freedom Groups.

Communications media.

My people can't afford the time that would take.

They're dying, losing their sanity in wretched prisons every day.

Can you imagine what it's like?

A damp windowless cell...

always cold, never enough food, torture.

Years without feeling the warmth of another human being...

constantly brainwashed...

treated like an animal all because you dared to think...

or practiced your religion.

All because you had the courage to voice an unpopular political view.

I understand.

But then you have to understand why I must do what I have to do.

Oh, Steve.

I sold the painting to a collector...

a man named Chilton Kane.

Thanks.

Oh, thank you.

Well, I'm sorry Mr. Stacks...

I just can't imagine where you got that information.

Well, my pipeline, lam in oil you know...

and well, that's what we call it where I'm from.

You know, pipeline, grapevine, you get it?

Anyway, it only pumps out only top grade information.

I can guarantee you that.

Yes, well it looks like it's pumped out some Oklahoma crude this time.

Like I told you, I don't have the painting.

Cezanne, Ruben...

Van Gogh...

and that fella there.

Rembrandt.

Yeah, Rembrandt, I once paid seven million for one of his paintings.

'Course nobody knows I got it.

Okay, so you're a collector, too.

Exactly, that's why there'll be no questions asked...

no bill of sale required...

and I'll pay eight million for it.

Look, Mr. Stacks, I don't have the Byzantine Madonna.

If I did, I wouldn't be interested in any deals.

You see, there's this little lady I use.

She's a curator, if you follow my meaning.

Of course, she don't curate nothing until after she lines up a buyer.

Well, just between you and me I didn't think figure she could, well...

bring in the well, so to speak...

so I didn't bid on the Byzantine Madonna.

And what has that got to do with me?

Well, you see, I think she prefabricated that little story about another bidder...

just to pump up my interest a little bit.

Ah, interesting.

What made you figure it that way, that she wouldn't be able to bring in the well?

Well, security in that museum is tighter than a blow-out collar on a gusher.

I know, I've dropped a bundle on fancy surveillance systems for my refineries...

so I figured the only way to get that painting would be to steal the whole museum.

But I gotta hand it to that little lady.

She sure pulled off the impossible.

Well, Mr. Kane...

Glad you came by.

I, uh...

I'm camped out over there at the Ogden on M Street.

You give me a jingle.

If you got some time, we'll have a couple of shooters, you hear?

See ya'.

(RINGS)

TYNAN: Hello?

I want to speak to Richard Tynan.

This is Richard Tynan.

Chilton Kane, I need your expert opinion on a certain matter.

Well, of course, that's my business, Mr. Kane.

KANE: The National Gallery, half an hour.

Very well, Mr. Kane.

I understand you people do your homework, but how did you know?

How could you know that he would call me?

Mr. Tynan, you're an expert on Byzantine Art.

Yes, one of three with international credentials.

Exactly, and there are only two others...

in Florence and Leningrad.

(OMINOUS MUSIC)

Magnificent.

It's the original?

Yes, of course it is.

You're sure of that.

Mr. Kane, a man with your eye...

with your sensitivity...

surely you've noticed the crisp, brush strokes...

the unmatched depth of the glazes...

the ambiance one can feel from across the room.

My very conclusion, a brilliant masterpiece.

I wonder that you could have thought any different.

Well, let' s just say I was settling a bet.

Be sure and send me a bill.

Find her.

Bring her to me.

How'd it go?

Tynan told him it was the original.

Now if he'll take the rest of the bait.

All phone calls to that number you gave Kane will be patched through to my office.

You better get back there.

Countess, Kane wants to see you.

Well, I can't see him now.

Now! (SCREAMS)

Let go of me!

(TIRES SCREECHING)

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(TIRES SCREECHING)

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

Are you all right? Yes, I'm all right.

Steve, that man, he was at Kane's.

Why is this happening?

Because I put you in danger, it's my fault, I'm sorry.

You're fault, what do you mean? That doesn't make any sense.

Because I made Kane think that you sold him a fake.

I should have hid you away someplace safe.

Look, I gotta hide you away for a couple of hours.

Oh, no. I'll be all right.

Just for a couple of hours.

I can't go into hiding.

They expect me inside the museum to complete arrangements...

for the reception for the Russian Delegation...

and then I have to be back in my hotel room at 4:00...

otherwise all that I did was for nothing.

One more favor.

When I get the painting...

I'm gonna need your help to get it back into the museum.

So it's a phony.

Yes, and it cost you five million dollars, Mr. Kane.

I'm sorry, Mr. Kane, I mean...

Relax, Boyle.

It didn't cost me a penny.

As a matter of fact, it's an investment that's going to make me three million dollars.

Mr. Kane?

Well, come on. Let's hear it.

She... she had some guy work me over.

I don't care if she had some guy work you over!

I don't you to find her and bring her here!

But boss, what do you care about her now?

You're gonna make three million on the deal.

Eight million, she's got five million of mine and I'm gonna get it back.

Nobody cheats me.

What are you waiting for? Get moving!

I'm well aware that Bellushyn is arriving at the airport.

I sent a limousine to pick him up.

Yes, the painting will be at the museum before he gets there.

Thank you.

If we get the call from Kane.

And if we're sure that the Countess will be there to help us.

I got her word.

Good.

Thank you.

Anything yet?

A lot of noise, from everybody but Kane.

There's eight million in here, that ought to be enough.

And here's a little something I developed.

Now that should show up on all the bills, rather suddenly in three hours.

Now you will be finished with Kane by then?

Or we're finished but good, that reception is in little more than an hour.

(PHONE RINGS)

That's our patch line.

Yep? Sure-nuff, you got him.

I'm travellin' already, Mr. Kane.

I'll be there in a shake.

You bet.

We got him.

Good luck, pal.

(PHONE RINGS)

Yes?

GORDNEY: Gordney...

You've been contacted.

Yes, the ambassador has been detained.

He's not coming here tonight?

No, he's remaining in Geneva.

Well, then I must go to Geneva.

Yes, it's all been arranged.

You're booked on a 6:00 flight.

You must be in Geneva by noon tomorrow.

6:00? It's 5:00 now.

Don't miss it.

(DIAL TONE)

That's right decent of you to do this so fast, Mr. Kane.

When I decide on a move, I make it, Mr. Stacks.

And before I leap, I look, Mr. Kane.

I don't see the objet d'art in our presence.

I have it. It's here.

But first we talk price.

Oh, first things first, I like that.

Well, I managed to tap a coupla wells on the way over here.

Of course, if it runs over ten million...

I'll have to wire my banking people back in Oklahoma.

Oh, that won't be necessary.

I won't be offended by an offer of nine million.

Well, I'm sure you can recollect, I said no hagglin' and I'm a man of my word.

How offended would you be at seven?

(SCOFFS)

You know, negotiating...

I don't like it either.

I'm forced to accept your offer...

of eight.

By golly, I knew you would.

That's why I gave my best shot right off.

Well... see.

The rest is yours, Mr. Kane.

And the Byzantine Madonna is yours.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Come in.

There's a suitcase in the bedroom and these two.

(PHONE BUZZES)

Yes.

Mr. Bellushyn is here.

Show him in.

Gentlemen, come in!

Pleasure to have you here.

My name is Oscar Goldman.

I'm coordinating this cultural exchange with the Soviet Union.

Ah, Viktor Bellushyn.

Yes, I know. Pleasure.

Won't you sit down, please?

If you don't mind, Mr. Goldman, we go to the museum now.

Now? But the reception isn't until 6:00.

I thought maybe you'd like to have some drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

I'm on a very tight schedule.

I would like to go to the museum now.

But you've been on a long flight, I thought maybe you'd like to relax.

You know?

I have no time for relaxation.

Please, Mr. Goldman, can we go?

Well, of course.

Would you excuse me just for a moment...

I have to make a telephone call to make some arrangements.

Yes.

That's right. We're moving it up.

To when?

We're leaving now.

Listen, if you want to cover that event, you better get that camera crew right over there.

I can't afford not to, thanks, thanks a lot, on our way.

(BRAKES SQUEAL)

I got the painting.

Steve, I'm sorry.

I've only half an hour to get to the airport.

Look, I've only got a half hour to get that painting back to the museum...

I can't do that without you.

Steve, try to understand.

People's lives are depending on me.

I've got to be in Geneva by noon tomorrow.

Look, I'll fly you to Geneva myself as soon as we're finished.

You're sure?

Trust me.

I don't want to get to the museum before 6:00.

Nobody said a word to me about it this time, I'm sorry.

Look, buddy, I get a notice from the chief, you get in.

I don't get a notice, you don't get in.

I didn't get any notice.

Okay, okay, forget it.

You mind signing this right here, please?

What's this?

This is a release.

You see, tomorrow, when the paint on those portraits starts peeling...

because the humidity's too high...

well, somebody's gonna be responsible and it ain't gonna be me.

Come on, just sign right here, please.

Mr. Bellushyn, Edward Altman, ABS News.

Perhaps you as its guiding genius would explain to the American people...

what prompted this exhibition?

Please, I have no time for a statement now.

But surely, sir, you can take out a few moments.

It might be a good idea to say something, this is a live broadcast.

The whole country is watching.

Ah, yes, of course.

For many years now it has been my vision, my dream...

to share with the...

I don't know how, Mr. Russell, but I'm afraid I did it again.

Well, I'm sorry, you're gonna have to wait this time.

But Mr. Russell, wait, you don't understand.

No, I can't, call me back in a half an hour.

Steve! The guard, he wouldn't do it.

He's making his rounds again in two minutes.

Make the switch.

American public the great wealth of Soviet artistic genius.

And so after much struggle and persistence...

I have finally made my vision come true...

in this magnificent reality.

Thank you very much, Mr. Bellushyn.

Ah, Mr. Bellushyn, your speech has furthered the cause...

of Soviet-American cultural exchange.

Excellent job.

Very kind.

Thank you.

(DOOR RATTLING)

Russell? Sir!

TEMPLETON: Where are you going?

RUSSELL: I'm making my rounds, sir.

Forget your rounds. The Russians have arrived.

Come with me. Yes, sir.

At last, I am here!

Mr. Bellushyn, I have waited years.

It is indeed my pleasure to welcome you.

Thank you. Please.

Ay, yes, an honor, of course.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT) (METAL CREAKING)

RUSSELL: Gentlemen, wait just a moment, please.

TEMPLETON: Go ahead, Russell.

(KEYS JINGLING)

Excuse me.

This way, gentlemen.

Yes!

BELLUSHYN: You have done a fine job.

Ah!

Mr. Templeton.

Well, the jet will be ready in a few minutes and we'll be on our way to Geneva...

and that bird is so fast we'll probably have time to stop off for dinner somewhere.

Oh, that will have to wait.

I'll feel a lot better when those people are safe.

Then, any place you say.

Well, I was thinking about your country.

Behind the Iron Curtain?

Oh, it won't be as much fun as Paris or Rome.

But it's a lot safer.

You realize you'll have to stay there a long time.

You mean because of Kane?

It's one of the few areas in the world where he can't get to you.

Before I leave you, I want to tuck you someplace safe.

Sounds delightful.

And then you'll untuck me when it's safe to come out?

And probably a couple of times in between.

(END THEME MUSIC)