Lifeboat

Are you number two boat?

Faster! (lndistinct)

He was on number one last time I saw him.

Ahoy there!

Lady, you don't look like somebody that's just been shipwrecked.

- Man, I certainly feel like it! - (Panting)

Did you see anything of Charcoal?

- Who? - Joe, the steward.

He helped me into the lifeboat with my things.

I thought this boat was abandoned.

Not by me, it wasn't. It looked pretty good to me.

What part of the ship are you from, darling?

Engine room. (Gasps)

I was off duty in the washroom. Thanks.

Caught with my...

I was washing my hands when the torpedo smacked us.

Most of the crew were trapped like rats.

When they got to topside, it was a shambles.

Quite a night!

Reminds me of an air raid once that hit me in Chungking.

Reminded me of a slaughterhouse I once worked at in Chicago.

Those Nazi buzzards in tin fish ain't enough... they've got to shell us too!

Ha! Now I can perfect my backhand.

Get that! It might come in handy.

Let's have the cap too.

What are we worryin' about this junk for?

Let's take a look for the others before that U-boat surfaces again and sees us.

She won't surface. One of our shells got her.

Are you sure?

She was killed dead, darling. Went down like a rock.

- Did you see it? - It's all in here, my pet.

You're Constance Porter. I heard you were aboard.

- So you took pictures? - And what pictures. Priceless!

Oh, I caught some wonderful shots on deck.

A little knot of people around one of the lifeboats.

They look slow and heavy and fat with the life belts on, so lonesome.

Then a shell hit the lifeboat. They all jumped overboard.

I got a beautiful shot of the gun crew firing at the submarine.

But the best of all was in the boat, here, with Joe.

I got the freighter going down,

one of the lifeboats caught in the suction and pulled under.

I got some of the U-boat crew jumping overboard and I also got...

Look! That's a perfect touch!

What did you do that for?

Why don't you wait for the baby to float by and photograph that?

Help!

Gangway!

You stupid, clumsy, son-of-a...

Why don't you look where you're going?

Absolutely irreplaceable stuff. Priceless. The best film I ever took!

- Goes to the bottom of the sea! - That's better than going there yourself!

I wouldn't have parted with that film for a million dollars!

When will I ever get stuff like that again? Of all the stupid, clumsy...

Maybe we can arrange another shipwreck for you sometime.

Sparks, did you have time to send out an SOS?

Hardly... the first shell from the U-boat did for the radio shack! (Panting)

Keep going, Kovac, there's more people out there!

- Where'd this come from? - It was floating by.

Miss MacKenzie!

- (Woman) Stanley! - She's out there!

She's alive. Come on, Kovac! Come on!

There's somebody, out there.

To your right, Kovac!

There's three of them. Swing over, Kovac!

Hurry, we've got a wounded man!

Step on it!

A dame!

Never mind me. Help him... he's hurt his leg!

- Well, hang on, Miss! - Well, folks, we're in business again.

- Somebody gonna give me a hand? - Ritt!

- You old rat! - Connie! (Chuckles)

Did you come from the freighter or the Stork Club?

- Still striking oil, I see, eh, Ritt? - (Man) Anybody got any liquor?

I'll have this off you in a jiffy.

I'm okay, Sparks. What happened to Nolan?

I was on my way from the bridge to bring him our position.

A shell from the U-boat hit the radio shack!

I was at the wheel waitin' for Hennessy to relieve me.

Just set the mug up with some hot java when...

Holy smokes, look at this mess.

Maybe we'd better get the raft back.

Do you think we'll stay afloat?

If the buoyancy tanks are okay she'll float, even if we're waterlogged.

I see you've even managed to get some of your luggage aboard.

- Just the bare necessities. - Uh, look at that!

Six full boxes, and I had to grab this one.

Don't cry, my pet. It'll last until we're picked up. I hope.

- First shell must've done for the skipper. - And most of the gun crew.

What happened to the woman with the baby?

See if you can find a first-aid kit.

I thought everybody was killed. I never expected to see you alive.

You know I'm practically immortal, Ritt!

I... I thought I was done for.

See, we were playing poker in the saloon...

Now, how do you get this thing off?

Here's the first-aid kit. It's been pretty well smashed up.

Oh! I need something to cover him up with.

Let me have that blanket, please.

Bandages, please.

Well, share and share alike, I always say!

- Lie down, please. - What for?

You'll be more comfortable. I wanna take a look at your leg.

Oh, well, okay, babe. Maybe you'll let me return the compliment someday!

- Lie down, please. - I think it's got a hunk of slug in it.

Yes, sir. It was the biggest pot of the game,

but believe you me, I never even stopped to collect it.

- That pot went to Davy Jones. - Well, not all of it.

- Here's 20 bucks Mr Jones didn't get. - Well, it's yours.

- It was floating in the water. - Well, keep it.

No, go on! I insist! It's probably legitimate as salvage.

- You one of the crew, son? - Black gang. Oiler. Name's Kovac.

- Kovac, eh? My name's Rittenhouse. - Glad to...

- Rittenhouse? - That's right!

- C. J. Rittenhouse? - C. J. Rittenhouse!

- Junior. - Here.

Are you sure there's no sulfanilamide left in the kit?

'Fraid not.

- Hurt? - No.

Here's the shrapnel. Thought you might like to keep it as a souvenir.

Nah! My hide was full of that stuff on the last trip.

- Hold it steady! - I oughta have my head examined.

This is the fourth time I've shipped out since the war, and I ain't got no place yet!

Gee, I wish I could make the complete round-trip just once.

- How does it look? - It's a pretty deep cut.

It's leakin'.

I ain't gonna wind up with a gimpy leg, am I?

No! Not enough to interfere with your jitterbugging!

- Jive, huh? - Eh, tell her, Sparks!

Why he's the champion hoofer of the merchant marines.

Tell her what I done in Jersey City.

Listen, I copped two prizes at Roseland one year,

and all the time, I'm suffering somethin' terrible from double pneumonia.

I can out-jive the rest of those hepcats even with a bum gam.

Everything under control? Anything I can do?

You ain't got somethin' to drink on ya?

- Sorry, son! Not a drop. - I have some brandy, darling.

Oh, boy! I could sure go for some of that.

- I'll get my flask. - No! In a case like this, the rule is to...

Come on! We're among friends, ain't we?

- I don't think it's advisable. - Look! Just one slug... it'll pick me up!

Make up your minds, darlings!

Help!

Help!

It's Charcoal!

It's the steward!

There's a woman. And a baby.

Easy there!

Give me the baby!

Are you all right, Joe?

I got my feet wet a little bit.

She was fightin' me all the time in the water.

She tried to drown the baby and herself with it.

Huh, it's all right, sister. You're safe.

The baby's safe. It's all right. The danger's over.

You're safe now. Nothing to worry about.

Best let her have it. We'll wait till she's asleep.

Here!

Hey! That's right!

Her name's Higley. She was bombed out in Bristol.

One of them shell shock cases sent to America.

Her child was born in New York.

Said to me on the ship, "I'm going home to show my husband the baby!"

Here, darling. You better put this on.

Hey, look. Another customer.

Where'd he come from? Is he a crew member?

I never saw him before. Not off our boat.

Danke schön.

He's very grateful to us for having saved his life.

Regrets very much the U-boat was compelled to sink our ship.

Ask him why they shelled our lifeboats.

- Captain's orders! - If you ask me, he's the captain himself.

Ask him if he's the captain.

He says he's not a captain or officer, just a crew member.

Well, crew member or skipper, he's German!

A guy can't help bein' German if he's born a German, can he?

Neither can a snake help being a rattlesnake if he's born a rattlesnake!

That don't make him a nightingale! Get him outta here!

Don't be silly, darling! He can't very well get off in the middle of the ocean, can he?

- Throw him off! - Have you gone out of your mind?

- Throw the Nazi buzzard overboard! - That's out of the question!

- It's against the law. - Whose law?

We're on our own. We can make our own law!

Now, just a minute! He was acting under orders.

Our freighter was an enemy ship. After all, we're at war.

Is that woman at war? Is her baby at war?

And listen, how come you know the lingo so well?

How come when I climbed into this lifeboat you were the only one in it,

all dressed up like you knew you were going someplace?

I was going someplace. I was going into a lifeboat.

What is this? Are you insinuating?

You seem pretty anxious to stand up for your friend here!

What do you mean, "my friend"?

Now, children, let's keep our shirts on!

I haven't got a shirt or a mink coat either!

Oh, I get it!

A fellow traveller!

I thought the Comintern was dissolved!

Now, we're all sort of fellow travellers,

in a mighty small boat, on a mighty big ocean!

And the more we quarrel and criticize and misunderstand each other,