Shooting the Past (1999) s01e01 Episode Script
Episode 1
First of all, clearly, I don't have a video camera.
For the only time in my life, it would have helped having one, but it seemed a bit bloody late to buy one, this being the last afternoon of my life.
Because I want to leave a record of the extraordinary events of the last few days, I'm talking into this.
Ridiculously out of date, of course.
I haven't used it since I practised cricket commentary at the age of 12 and three quarters.
But it does work.
It's still functioning.
It's rather good quality, in fact.
And every now and again, I'm going to take a picture of myself.
That's not strictly necessary, of course, I know but I want to do that.
Together, they will form something hopefully that can be kept, published, even used by the mass media.
Not "even".
I shouldn't have said that.
MUST be used by the mass media.
So why the hell should they be interested in a chubby man wearing a cardie talking into an old tape machine? How can that be blazingly urgent, vitally important? Come on, Waldy.
You're doing really well.
So, why should we care? Or rather, why should YOU care? Because what hit me with such a wallop it WAS a wallop can happen to anyone, has happened to a lot of people.
Anybody who has suddenly lost their Job or house, even business or has Just had somebody promoted above them.
Anybody who knows how that feels, this is for you.
I'll Just finish this piece.
And let's get going.
So it's the 21st December and we're in London.
It's slightly amazing to think it's only a few days ago this all started.
Mmm.
Made myself rather hungry eating that now.
OK.
I'll wait.
So a large, 18th century house just outside central London.
This house was built for his mistress by the Earl of Halifax.
When they'd finished with it, it fell on hard times until a 19th century confectionary firm rescued it.
They were famous for their toffees and chocolates.
Apparently, the finest toffees of the age.
Like a lot of 19th century firms, they had philanthropic leanings, and started an Institute for the lmprovement of Londoners in this house.
Somehow nobody's sure quite how they started collecting photographs.
This flowered during the years into the Fallon Photo Library and Collection.
It just grew and grew.
The Institute passed into the hands of an insurance company, a rather benign outfit that kept themselves in one part of the house.
The Fallon Photo Library and Collection continued to be run as a quiet business.
And, besides, it's an exceptionally magical place.
As you will see.
Our friendly insurance company sells up and leaves London.
And the day comes we have to meet our new owners.
We have no idea, nobody believes me, but we have no idea what sort of day it would be.
No inkling it was to be such a momentous, mind shattering sort of day.
They're here! They're here already.
It's OK.
No need for us to rush.
Come on, everybody! They're here! Come on! Here we are, ready for you.
You're splendidly punctual.
A very good start.
Marilyn Truman.
Christopher Anderson.
This is Oswald Bates, who, if you like, is second in command here.
Not that we use terms like that.
And this is Veronica.
Then the young ones.
Spig, who insists we call her that.
And Nick, who never wants to be called anything at all.
Now, come this way.
I'm sure you want the grand tour.
We'll give you the grand tour whether you like it or not.
We've got a treat for you as well.
The grand tour! Fortunately, the one thing we have is space.
We do have lots of space.
Mr Anderson does have a meeting on site in a few minutes.
Somehow, we still have in house cooking, even though there are only five of us.
Wicked, I know.
We laid on what we thought would appeal.
Doughnuts, of course.
Californian wine for later.
A full elevenses, anyway, so you can make pigs of yourselves.
If you're starving and nothing appeals, Molly might rustle up something hot.
Her roly poly pudding is Justly famous.
Miss Truman, I need to have a word.
Of course.
Fire away.
I need a private word.
So Ah So, do tell me exactly what you're doing with the rest of the building.
It's becoming a business school, isn't it? Yes.
A sort of American LSE, is that right? That is the London School of Economics.
There are a lot of suspicious colleges dotted about this city, I gather.
The American School of This and That.
But you won't be one of those.
A higher class of establishment, I'm sure Miss Truman, please.
I don't think you realise.
Realise what? That there has been There SEEMS to have been a maJor breakdown in communication.
Really? In what way? I don't believe so.
Here you are! And elevenses was waiting for you.
I have no idea how this happened.
You acknowledged our letters and said you understood.
Every letter we sent was replied to.
You must know this, Miss Truman.
No.
We can do this all day a guessing game.
I've no idea what you're talking about.
You wanna sit? No, thank you.
I'm quite happy like this.
Miss Truman, the library, your business, is being closed.
Closed? That's ridiculous.
Who's closing it? It's not ridiculous.
It's what is happening.
We have the correspondence.
You must have seen them.
Why must I have seen them? They were addressed to Mr Oswald Bates.
And, months ago, the notice of closure.
Closure is impossible, clearly.
Marty.
No, I've not quite got there yet.
I'll be there in a few minutes.
Excuse me.
Do you know what they Just told me? They don't like the elevenses.
They were offended by the doughnuts.
Oswald.
Did you receive a letter saying they were shutting us down? Shutting us down? Absolutely not! Not a single word.
Never? Never! I promise you! And you didn't reply to any letters? If I didn't receive any, how can I reply? I thought so.
They can't shut us down.
I know.
Don't accept anything.
Don't accept a single thing.
Not even their right to be in your office.
You are under contract to deliver three days ago and they're not here.
It's not like that from this end.
I don't care if he Joined the circus, moved to Sardinia and lost an eastern European tour.
It makes no difference.
They're not here and that's the problem.
That wasn't part of the package.
Yeah.
Well, I don't care.
I know.
It doesn't matter.
Yeah.
As we are in my office maybe we can deal with this first.
I told you I'd go straight over.
No, it won't be as bad as that.
I've talked to my staff and there has been no correspondence with you, as I thought.
No prior warning.
Not one hint.
They're lying to you.
You'd be advised to make no more remarks like that.
Bill meant that that cannot be the case.
We Just checked.
We know for a fact there were four letters sent to Mr Oswald Bates.
We were advised he dealt with the business side.
The replies said you were taking all necessary steps to comply.
We were taking necessary steps? What did the letters say we were complying with? That these buildings were to be developed, becoming the American School of Business for the 21st Century.
The 21st School, for short.
Yes, yes.
They said that the valuable pictures, which are kept in a separate room, we would dispose of ourselves.
And the rest of the collection, buyers should be sought, and we left that up to you.
You can't split up the collection.
You cannot, you simply cannot split up the collection.
First, it is to be closed.
Then, it is to be split up.
There is no way I can allow that to happen.
It is unique.
It is the finest We have to be realistic.
I am being realistic.
That is precisely what I am being.
And I'm telling you, there is no way that can happen.
Don't take that call, please.
I have to be on the other side of the site in a few minutes.
I have a meeting.
A few minutes.
That's all I've got.
How many is a few minutes? How many? Say, five.
At the outside.
Five at the outside.
I'm not very used to time pressures like that.
Miss Truman, this is a mix up of communication.
Let's leave aside how it happened.
This is a shock.
I'm not going to sit here sounding outraged.
Clearly, that is not getting us anywhere.
I will say that what you have outlined is not an option.
Splitting the collection will never happen while I'm around.
We will have to sit down calmly and work out an alternative home for the collection in a sensible fashion.
Miss Truman.
If you want me to say "Call me Marilyn", I won't say that.
Let's keep this as formal as we can.
The idea that this is our fault, though I said I wouldn't sound outraged, is outrageous.
Miss Truman, the situation is starker than you realise.
I don't see how that can be possible.
I'm afraid it is possible.
These buildings are being stripped out, completely rebuilt.
That has to start in four days' time if we're to meet our schedule.
Naturally, it has to start on the ground floor.
Do you understand, Miss Truman? It means all these rooms have to be empty.
I was expecting to see everything packed up and on the way out.
On this time scale, there's no chance of finding a buyer for the collection.
No chance.
No.
The brutal facts are, the valuable pictures are worth about 400,000 pounds sterling, that is.
The rest of the collection is worth about 160,000 if you could sell every picture.
The hard economics are, Ms Truman, 160,000 is a fraction of what a few days' delay would cost.
And the cost of storage elsewhere for a huge collection is enormous.
So, we'll take the valuable pictures and the rest will have to be disposed of.
They will have to be destroyed.
Clearly it gives me no pleasure to say this.
That goes without saying.
Miss Truman? It's going to be a few minutes.
It's no problem.
We will.
OK.
Miss Truman? I've said I don't accept it.
I can't let it happen.
I'm thinking.
I'm desperately thinking of how to of what to do at this precise moment, this absolute precise moment.
I haven't a clue.
I can't really believe you've said what you Just have.
I mean, Just a few minutes ago, literally a few minutes ago, I was greeting you, everything was sunny and we were about to make a fuss of you.
Yes, well, I have to say, I've never encountered this situation before in 15 years, where people have carried on regardless in the face of closure.
And the effect is devastating.
Clearly.
When communications were acknowledged but nothing stirred.
Nothing stirred.
What sleepy people we must appear.
Just to show we're not completely dopey, I want one thing.
And what is that? I want you to see the collection.
That would be interesting, but I have a schedule You really should see it before you destroy it.
I didn't cause this situation.
I wish it was other than it is.
I will not be made to feel That was crass of me.
I'm sorry.
I was getting somewhere then I said that.
You'll see the collection after your meeting.
Come on.
What have you got to lose? A quick walk? I don't want to sound like a lawyer, but you must accept this situation.
I accept we have a problem.
I need to know you understand.
The library is closing.
I'll understand, if you see the collection.
We'll call with a time.
It'll have to be in the next three hours.
Can you believe this? Ready for a drink now, then? Would you like to take a bottle with you? They'd be appalled, absolutely appalled, if they could see this.
A full sit down service.
I'm sure if we do our best to be reasonable, if we do our VERY best, they will see sense.
No way.
It's Just business to them.
They're killers.
By the end of the day we'll be finished.
Marilyn will handle it.
Besides, I have a plan.
You do? I do.
And it's simple.
We should still be here eating lunch when they arrive.
That's a plan? Very much so.
A surprisingly good one.
No.
Contrary to appearances, I'm serious.
If we're still here, eating a formal meal, it will suggest that they're dealing with irrational people, crazies.
They'll think, "What do these guys do when faced with the biggest crisis in their life?" They eat a five course lunch as if nothing has happened.
Very alarming! Oh, yeah? Yeah! The one thing any business dreads is dealing with people that don't respond to rules, don't show fear, which we won't.
These characters we're dealing with need fear.
Everything in their life is fear.
Deadlines, hirings, firings all fear.
Remove fear from the equation and you're saying, "I don't care.
" "I'm faced with extinction but I Just don't care.
" And then they'll get worried and they'll think, "These assholes could do anything.
"They could burn down the building.
" Which we could.
Then our American friends would decide, "We must be much more careful.
"We must give these guys a lot more time.
" So, I've taken the liberty of extending the menu.
After the melon, blackcurrant sorbet, then corn on the cob and then a roast.
We're going to eat our way to victory.
Couldn't think of a better way.
Oswald? Can I have a word? Absolutely.
Perhaps between the third and fourth courses? So? So.
Oswald, they're coming back shortly.
No matter how hard I keep thinking, if I don't have any cards to play that is going to be that.
You don't agree with my analysis? My eating offensive? Be serious, Oswald, please.
I was making a serious point.
We have two choices.
And only two.
Do something truly perverse to make them doubt our sanity.
Maybe we don't have to work hard at that.
Which is the choice that I favour.
There are many successful historical precedents.
At the battle of Austerlitz, for instance, some Austrian deserters sat down in the battlefield and started having lunch while under fire.
A picnic! They escaped the firing squad quite easily because of insanity.
What's the second choice, Oswald? Play dirty.
How? There's only one thing those guys are interested in.
That, of course, is money.
Sex, too, probably, though I'm not sure Spig is up to it.
Go on.
Well, it's extremely simple.
Blindingly obvious, in fact.
We have a few very valuable photographs.
So, instead of leaving them conveniently in a little room for the Americans to collect, we sprinkle them away amongst the collection.
We lose them in all the other pictures.
Try finding them among ten million photographs if you don't know where to look.
It'll be like finding the right piece of hay in a haystack.
They'll never do it.
You mean, "You give us more time to find a home for the collection, "or you don't ever find the pictures.
" You've got it in one.
That's blackmail.
Of course.
It's great, isn't it? It's the only language they understand.
So, where do we start? Our prize fish, the Man Ray.
Probably go for about 120,000? Where shall we put it? Hmm? In the Woolworths shop fronts of the 1950s? If I were in Mr Anderson's position and somebody did this, I would immediately lose all respect for them at a stroke.
You think he respects us? He could be made to.
Are you out of your mind? He thinks we're pathetic, dusty people from a Ealing comedy with Margaret Rutherford.
We're bumbling prats.
Well, these prats are going to sink their teeth into his fleshy parts.
It's all prats like us can do.
It would enrage me if somebody did this.
We want to enrage him.
I'm not sure.
I don't think we'll prevail being this childish.
Things don't work like that.
Where don't they work like that? Outside.
Out there.
Out there? What do you know about that? You go out even less than I do.
Do you want to save this collection or not? It MIGHT buy us time.
I'm also not sure he won't destroy the whole collection if he can't find them.
He'd be crackers to do that.
It would get his proJect terrible publicity.
Nobody's going to torch this place if they can't find these.
You'll see.
A series of very quick So how long have I got this time? I said I'd look at the collection in exchange for you accepting this situation.
We'll be doing any business we need to from here.
Everything is under control.
Reassuring (!) Before we plunge in, I have an announcement for the employees.
We'll be conducting interviews to see if we can employ you in our new proJect.
Nobody need be out of a Job, subJect to interview, of course.
So it means nothing because it's "subJect to interview".
I'm sure you can handle it.
So everybody understand that? Let's take a look.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Hi.
Hi.
OK, you guys! Let's start firing! Firing? Nobody's firing anybody.
No, fire away at me.
I'll find anything within seven seconds.
Seven seconds? Seven seconds IS long.
We'll make it five.
I take it you're computerised.
You think we have computers here? It'd take years to get all this lot catalogued and on line.
It's all in here.
So shoot! As "fire" makes you nervous.
Anybody! The giant squid always goes down well.
It's believed that nobody's photographed one alive under water.
We have a picture taken 50 years ago of precisely that.
Want to see the giant squid? We'll pass.
Some think it's a fake.
It's Just a calamari held up close to the camera.
I think it's a real giant caught in glorious murkiness.
Do you want me to find it? It would be a better test if we nominated the subJect.
Just a little over eager to show you the squid, that's all.
So, shoot! You probably haven't a picture, but my home town, Emporia, Virginia? Too easy.
It's not a very big town.
I'm telling you it's too easy.
OK, our street.
Lamonia Avenue.
I'll bet Here it is.
Emporia.
Jesus! There it is! And then, zzzzt! We get closer.
Just like a computer blow up.
We zoom.
And then zzzzt! The main street of Emporia.
And then zzzzt! The corner of Chestnut Tree Avenue and Lamonia Avenue.
It really is.
A sleepy time.
A sleepy place.
Were you there then? Hm? Do you see yourself? Your little head sticking out? Your little freckled face? You're there somewhere saying, "Hey, Dad.
"Let's close the local museum.
It's not worth shit!" Thanks for finding that.
Come on.
There's a lot to see.
We didn't get a timing for finding the picture.
So shoot again, anybody! Shall we see the prime collection? The really valuable pictures? Yes, but perhaps first you'd like to see our portrait section? No, no, no! That's boring.
Come on! This way! It gets worse, too.
Much more unexpected is THIS! Our erotica.
Mostly Edwardian and Victorian erotica.
There are some beautiful pictures in here.
Naughty snaps from the '20s, too.
Feels rather sad in here.
A lot of yearning.
That's good, yes.
Yearning.
Something I know all about.
Would you like to see our images of obsession? Obsession is always interesting, isn't it? A rather plump, nude woman at a seaside resort in 1910.
Photographed in an astonishing series of poses and interesting positions.
Shall we move on? I want to see the great pictures.
That's easy.
This way! And here we are! The strong room.
Oh, my goodness (!) They've gone! They were moved a few months ago for security reasons.
For security reasons? You moved them OUT of the strong room? Yes.
Other collections have lost their best pictures because they were easy to find.
So why were we brought here? To whet your appetite.
So! What next? How about shop fronts? Got a fine collection of Woolworths in the 195Os.
I think we'd better have a word.
Ooh! Not interested in shop fronts? He'll never want to look at these again now.
You know, Miss Truman, if I was to believe those pictures have been moved today, distributed so we can't find them If I was to believe that That has not happened.
I would form a low opinion of whoever had done that.
I would never do something as crude as that.
You will get your pictures.
Let's see them.
You will see them.
Any moment.
I want you to appreciate the full collection.
I've seen the collection.
No, you haven't.
You haven't even begun.
There are all sorts of things here.
All kinds of pictures with incredible stories attached.
Right now, for instance.
Where we're standing.
Within three feet of us, there are six or seven hair raising things.
Like here.
You know the contents of every box without even reading the label? Not every one.
No.
So, in here there are the three fat brothers that committed a very bizarre murder with three apples and a crossbow the William Tell murder.
Miss Truman, I've explained the situation and you've agreed and accepted it.
However hard you try to weave a spell, it won't alter anything.
You don't want to hear the stories? I've got time for one.
Just one? I thought you had all the time in the world.
I've got the time for one.
Ten million pictures.
One story.
Out of all this.
Some challenge, huh? Right.
You know what I really don't like about today? It's how, suddenly, I've become the villain of this.
I'm made out to be a number crunching moron who marches in and says, "Flush the whole thing away right now!" That really annoys me.
In fact, you know nothing about me.
I don't.
You're right.
Why don't you tell me? We'll leave that for another time.
I thought there wouldn't be another time.
Not another time like this.
No.
What's strange is I've been forced into this because of incompetence at your end, the negligence of Oswald Bates, but nobody mentions that.
What's more, the 21st School suddenly becomes a piece of cheap real estate.
Yet another hotel or car park or something.
What we're actually doing is planning a progressive educational establishment.
A business school.
A unique outfit.
Not Just another way of making money.
I'm glad you're not Just making money.
That's reassuring.
On top of this, you disappear the most important pictures so we have to act like in a children's story, the bad guys in "Tom Thumb".
I refuse to be that! I'm not going to shake people saying, "Get me the pictures!" Right.
So you're not saying "Get me the pictures" any more.
I'm not gonna say it.
But I'm not leaving today without them.
Thought you could do with this.
Help you to survive.
Because you'll need it.
Ice? What's gonna happen here? Just a story.
It's not a horror story? It's not going to be body parts, trying to shock? Certainly not.
All electronics off, please.
But I gotta keep All of them off.
It's important to watch closely.
A little girl.
A little girl, yes.
Going for the heart strings, then.
I hope so.
A little Jewish girl, Lily Katzman, in Berlin.
Jewish, too! A holocaust story.
It won't be difficult to move me.
I get affected quickly by these stories.
You've taken an easy route.
Don't Jump to conclusions.
Lily Katzman was the daughter of a doctor who was also an amateur photographer.
Her father made many studies of her.
He worshipped her with his camera.
The persecution of the Jews starts, of course.
The family split up.
The mother and father go into hiding.
Somehow Lily becomes part of this family.
Because she doesn't look too Jewish.
The Oelendorffs adopted her.
A rich, upper bourgeois family.
One little girl appears in their midst, explained away, no doubt, as a distant niece.
The matriarch probably wasn't aware of what was really going on.
A very unusual situation in itself.
This rich, conventional family harbouring a Jewish child, putting the whole family at great risk.
Nobody knows why it happened.
Love child? Secret affair? Or were they being brave in a way so few others were? Was there Jewish blood in the family that nobody guessed at? Lily is not allowed outside the house, although she is allowed to greet visitors.
Then, one day, it is arranged for her to see her parents.
They're in hiding in a basement room in a house on the other side of the city.
The plan is for her to meet her father first at some halfway point.
He will then take her to a public park to meet her mother.
He meets her.
He does? Yes.
But when he sees her, the father, he wants to buy her something.
Buy her something? That's a risk.
It's dangerous.
He wants to give her a present.
He doesn't know when he'll see her again.
The most natural thing in the world.
While Lily window shops, looking for something to buy, they try to appear as normal as possible, not to move too quickly, not to seem too rushed.
Just a father with his daughter, taking pictures.
Her mother is waiting.
They have to reach her.
Yes.
They must have been acutely aware of time.
Maybe they didn't buy anything after all because of it.
There she is.
So they do meet in the park? Yes.
Their last meeting.
Her papa records the moment.
A few minutes together.
While the Berliners promenade around them in the park.
But then something happens in the park.
We don't know what happened, but the mother decides they must leave immediately.
She goes first.
The last time she saw her mother.
So who survived their story? Who wrote it down? Did Lily? Her father takes a couple of final pictures then he leaves.
He leaves her there? Alone in the park? It was safer that way.
It had been arranged for somebody from the Oelendorffs to pick her up.
Nobody comes.
So is she arrested there? Is she arrested in the park? He shouldn't have left her.
She decides to go.
Lily decides to leave the park and find her own way home.
There are more pictures of Berlin at the time.
Lily moves along the streets, but she loses her way.
And she goes into a bank, rather like this one to ask for directions.
A little girl on her own.
They were bound to be suspicious.
Why did she go in there? If she'd Just asked on the street.
She did go into a bank and ask directions, but she got frightened and ran away.
But they had the address, right? That she'd asked for? They were waiting when she got home? She left the bank and You must realise.
These pictures are from all over the collection.
This is the most extraordinary thing.
Totally by coincidence, an official photographer, a Nazi photographer, is taking photos of a parade.
And he's also taking pictures of the crowd.
And, quite unwittingly, he takes a picture of Lily on her Journey home.
She comes across the parade and has to stand waiting for it to pass.
So we can see her trying to get home.
There she is.
It's remarkable.
How did you find this? Oswald found it, of course.
When we were given her father's photos, Oswald went through every still we have of Berlin of that period.
And there are a lot of those.
In case there was something else of her.
It took him ages, but he found her.
Now, people would use security videos.
Exactly.
There, by an amazing chance, is Lily on her dangerous Journey home, halfway there.
Did she get home? She got home.
Yes.
But the Oelendorffs had been questioned that very afternoon.
The whole family was arrested.
Even the matriarch.
And Lily, too, of course.
Are there any more pictures or does the trail go cold there? It can't.
There's more.
Oswald went through everything, every still we have of Jewish people being rounded up.
The trains, the stations, the cattle trucks, the lorries.
Every image we have like that in the collection.
And he found her.
And, eventually, he found this.
Their little bundles.
Little bundles.
Yes, I know.
It goes on, then? From them on the train? Are there more pictures? Did Oswald find any more? No more like that.
No.
But there is this.
Please.
If it's a pile of bodies, I I know we can't change history here, but I don't I'd rather not see it.
I can imagine too well.
No.
Lily did survive.
She did? It was her son in law that gave us her father's pictures.
And from what he told us, and from a tiny passport photo that he showed Oswald, from that evidence, Oswald stared at every picture we have of street scenes around Elephant & Castle and the Old Kent Road here in London.
She's in this city? Every picture we have.
From the '60s, '70s and '80s.
And, again, he found her.
Here is Lily, on the Old Kent Road in 1987.
That's not her.
That's not Lily.
It is Lily.
I promise you.
It's been confirmed.
You, er, showed me these You told me this particular story because the pictures come from all over the collection? A 20th century tale caught like that.
Marilyn I'm gonna call you that because even after a few hours, Miss Truman doesn't seem right.
Marilyn, I cannot change my decision, you understand? It is a bad situation.
It's very unfortunate but it cannot be changed.
The economics of the situation prevent it.
Moreover, you have our pictures.
You have stolen #400,000 worth of photos.
Not stolen.
You will have them back.
Give them back and you can have a deal.
Take anything you want from the collection.
Anything you can house or store yourself you can have it for free.
Fill bags if you want.
A truckload I will NOT split up the collection.
For God's sake, don't be so proud, Marilyn.
You have miles and miles of routine pictures here of shop fronts and other crap that's in a thousand other collections.
For Christ's sake, get to work on it now.
Use your knowledge.
Save what really matters.
You have to compromise.
I said I'd never split it up.
Marilyn! There is simply no alternative.
Go on.
Take it.
Take the deal.
You're right.
I have to.
You do.
You do have to.
Yes.
But But what? You must keep all the staff on that want to stay.
Does that include you? No.
Of course not.
But the others.
You said you would.
Yeah.
SubJect to interview.
You can do that now.
Today.
Now? See them now.
So nobody leaves here tonight without a Job.
That's the deal.
No, the hotel's fine .
No.
Don't do this, Marilyn.
These are our big weapon.
What are you doing handing them back? They've served the purpose.
I don't think we can play any more games.
Games? You think everything's hunky dory? That those robots are gonna stick to their word? I assure you, I'm going to make them.
And, what's more, they're not robots.
They're getting to you.
May I have one last look? It's odd, isn't it, how much money one or two pictures are worth? Oswald! We should not be co operating.
Total non compliance, that's how we should be fighting.
I promise you, it'll work.
No.
It's time to co operate.
We have to.
Tearing the collection to pieces? Wrecking it.
We have to salvage something.
And do me a favour, Oswald, please.
When they talk to you try to be reasonable.
Huh.
What skills do I have? Yes.
What do you think your strengths are?
For the only time in my life, it would have helped having one, but it seemed a bit bloody late to buy one, this being the last afternoon of my life.
Because I want to leave a record of the extraordinary events of the last few days, I'm talking into this.
Ridiculously out of date, of course.
I haven't used it since I practised cricket commentary at the age of 12 and three quarters.
But it does work.
It's still functioning.
It's rather good quality, in fact.
And every now and again, I'm going to take a picture of myself.
That's not strictly necessary, of course, I know but I want to do that.
Together, they will form something hopefully that can be kept, published, even used by the mass media.
Not "even".
I shouldn't have said that.
MUST be used by the mass media.
So why the hell should they be interested in a chubby man wearing a cardie talking into an old tape machine? How can that be blazingly urgent, vitally important? Come on, Waldy.
You're doing really well.
So, why should we care? Or rather, why should YOU care? Because what hit me with such a wallop it WAS a wallop can happen to anyone, has happened to a lot of people.
Anybody who has suddenly lost their Job or house, even business or has Just had somebody promoted above them.
Anybody who knows how that feels, this is for you.
I'll Just finish this piece.
And let's get going.
So it's the 21st December and we're in London.
It's slightly amazing to think it's only a few days ago this all started.
Mmm.
Made myself rather hungry eating that now.
OK.
I'll wait.
So a large, 18th century house just outside central London.
This house was built for his mistress by the Earl of Halifax.
When they'd finished with it, it fell on hard times until a 19th century confectionary firm rescued it.
They were famous for their toffees and chocolates.
Apparently, the finest toffees of the age.
Like a lot of 19th century firms, they had philanthropic leanings, and started an Institute for the lmprovement of Londoners in this house.
Somehow nobody's sure quite how they started collecting photographs.
This flowered during the years into the Fallon Photo Library and Collection.
It just grew and grew.
The Institute passed into the hands of an insurance company, a rather benign outfit that kept themselves in one part of the house.
The Fallon Photo Library and Collection continued to be run as a quiet business.
And, besides, it's an exceptionally magical place.
As you will see.
Our friendly insurance company sells up and leaves London.
And the day comes we have to meet our new owners.
We have no idea, nobody believes me, but we have no idea what sort of day it would be.
No inkling it was to be such a momentous, mind shattering sort of day.
They're here! They're here already.
It's OK.
No need for us to rush.
Come on, everybody! They're here! Come on! Here we are, ready for you.
You're splendidly punctual.
A very good start.
Marilyn Truman.
Christopher Anderson.
This is Oswald Bates, who, if you like, is second in command here.
Not that we use terms like that.
And this is Veronica.
Then the young ones.
Spig, who insists we call her that.
And Nick, who never wants to be called anything at all.
Now, come this way.
I'm sure you want the grand tour.
We'll give you the grand tour whether you like it or not.
We've got a treat for you as well.
The grand tour! Fortunately, the one thing we have is space.
We do have lots of space.
Mr Anderson does have a meeting on site in a few minutes.
Somehow, we still have in house cooking, even though there are only five of us.
Wicked, I know.
We laid on what we thought would appeal.
Doughnuts, of course.
Californian wine for later.
A full elevenses, anyway, so you can make pigs of yourselves.
If you're starving and nothing appeals, Molly might rustle up something hot.
Her roly poly pudding is Justly famous.
Miss Truman, I need to have a word.
Of course.
Fire away.
I need a private word.
So Ah So, do tell me exactly what you're doing with the rest of the building.
It's becoming a business school, isn't it? Yes.
A sort of American LSE, is that right? That is the London School of Economics.
There are a lot of suspicious colleges dotted about this city, I gather.
The American School of This and That.
But you won't be one of those.
A higher class of establishment, I'm sure Miss Truman, please.
I don't think you realise.
Realise what? That there has been There SEEMS to have been a maJor breakdown in communication.
Really? In what way? I don't believe so.
Here you are! And elevenses was waiting for you.
I have no idea how this happened.
You acknowledged our letters and said you understood.
Every letter we sent was replied to.
You must know this, Miss Truman.
No.
We can do this all day a guessing game.
I've no idea what you're talking about.
You wanna sit? No, thank you.
I'm quite happy like this.
Miss Truman, the library, your business, is being closed.
Closed? That's ridiculous.
Who's closing it? It's not ridiculous.
It's what is happening.
We have the correspondence.
You must have seen them.
Why must I have seen them? They were addressed to Mr Oswald Bates.
And, months ago, the notice of closure.
Closure is impossible, clearly.
Marty.
No, I've not quite got there yet.
I'll be there in a few minutes.
Excuse me.
Do you know what they Just told me? They don't like the elevenses.
They were offended by the doughnuts.
Oswald.
Did you receive a letter saying they were shutting us down? Shutting us down? Absolutely not! Not a single word.
Never? Never! I promise you! And you didn't reply to any letters? If I didn't receive any, how can I reply? I thought so.
They can't shut us down.
I know.
Don't accept anything.
Don't accept a single thing.
Not even their right to be in your office.
You are under contract to deliver three days ago and they're not here.
It's not like that from this end.
I don't care if he Joined the circus, moved to Sardinia and lost an eastern European tour.
It makes no difference.
They're not here and that's the problem.
That wasn't part of the package.
Yeah.
Well, I don't care.
I know.
It doesn't matter.
Yeah.
As we are in my office maybe we can deal with this first.
I told you I'd go straight over.
No, it won't be as bad as that.
I've talked to my staff and there has been no correspondence with you, as I thought.
No prior warning.
Not one hint.
They're lying to you.
You'd be advised to make no more remarks like that.
Bill meant that that cannot be the case.
We Just checked.
We know for a fact there were four letters sent to Mr Oswald Bates.
We were advised he dealt with the business side.
The replies said you were taking all necessary steps to comply.
We were taking necessary steps? What did the letters say we were complying with? That these buildings were to be developed, becoming the American School of Business for the 21st Century.
The 21st School, for short.
Yes, yes.
They said that the valuable pictures, which are kept in a separate room, we would dispose of ourselves.
And the rest of the collection, buyers should be sought, and we left that up to you.
You can't split up the collection.
You cannot, you simply cannot split up the collection.
First, it is to be closed.
Then, it is to be split up.
There is no way I can allow that to happen.
It is unique.
It is the finest We have to be realistic.
I am being realistic.
That is precisely what I am being.
And I'm telling you, there is no way that can happen.
Don't take that call, please.
I have to be on the other side of the site in a few minutes.
I have a meeting.
A few minutes.
That's all I've got.
How many is a few minutes? How many? Say, five.
At the outside.
Five at the outside.
I'm not very used to time pressures like that.
Miss Truman, this is a mix up of communication.
Let's leave aside how it happened.
This is a shock.
I'm not going to sit here sounding outraged.
Clearly, that is not getting us anywhere.
I will say that what you have outlined is not an option.
Splitting the collection will never happen while I'm around.
We will have to sit down calmly and work out an alternative home for the collection in a sensible fashion.
Miss Truman.
If you want me to say "Call me Marilyn", I won't say that.
Let's keep this as formal as we can.
The idea that this is our fault, though I said I wouldn't sound outraged, is outrageous.
Miss Truman, the situation is starker than you realise.
I don't see how that can be possible.
I'm afraid it is possible.
These buildings are being stripped out, completely rebuilt.
That has to start in four days' time if we're to meet our schedule.
Naturally, it has to start on the ground floor.
Do you understand, Miss Truman? It means all these rooms have to be empty.
I was expecting to see everything packed up and on the way out.
On this time scale, there's no chance of finding a buyer for the collection.
No chance.
No.
The brutal facts are, the valuable pictures are worth about 400,000 pounds sterling, that is.
The rest of the collection is worth about 160,000 if you could sell every picture.
The hard economics are, Ms Truman, 160,000 is a fraction of what a few days' delay would cost.
And the cost of storage elsewhere for a huge collection is enormous.
So, we'll take the valuable pictures and the rest will have to be disposed of.
They will have to be destroyed.
Clearly it gives me no pleasure to say this.
That goes without saying.
Miss Truman? It's going to be a few minutes.
It's no problem.
We will.
OK.
Miss Truman? I've said I don't accept it.
I can't let it happen.
I'm thinking.
I'm desperately thinking of how to of what to do at this precise moment, this absolute precise moment.
I haven't a clue.
I can't really believe you've said what you Just have.
I mean, Just a few minutes ago, literally a few minutes ago, I was greeting you, everything was sunny and we were about to make a fuss of you.
Yes, well, I have to say, I've never encountered this situation before in 15 years, where people have carried on regardless in the face of closure.
And the effect is devastating.
Clearly.
When communications were acknowledged but nothing stirred.
Nothing stirred.
What sleepy people we must appear.
Just to show we're not completely dopey, I want one thing.
And what is that? I want you to see the collection.
That would be interesting, but I have a schedule You really should see it before you destroy it.
I didn't cause this situation.
I wish it was other than it is.
I will not be made to feel That was crass of me.
I'm sorry.
I was getting somewhere then I said that.
You'll see the collection after your meeting.
Come on.
What have you got to lose? A quick walk? I don't want to sound like a lawyer, but you must accept this situation.
I accept we have a problem.
I need to know you understand.
The library is closing.
I'll understand, if you see the collection.
We'll call with a time.
It'll have to be in the next three hours.
Can you believe this? Ready for a drink now, then? Would you like to take a bottle with you? They'd be appalled, absolutely appalled, if they could see this.
A full sit down service.
I'm sure if we do our best to be reasonable, if we do our VERY best, they will see sense.
No way.
It's Just business to them.
They're killers.
By the end of the day we'll be finished.
Marilyn will handle it.
Besides, I have a plan.
You do? I do.
And it's simple.
We should still be here eating lunch when they arrive.
That's a plan? Very much so.
A surprisingly good one.
No.
Contrary to appearances, I'm serious.
If we're still here, eating a formal meal, it will suggest that they're dealing with irrational people, crazies.
They'll think, "What do these guys do when faced with the biggest crisis in their life?" They eat a five course lunch as if nothing has happened.
Very alarming! Oh, yeah? Yeah! The one thing any business dreads is dealing with people that don't respond to rules, don't show fear, which we won't.
These characters we're dealing with need fear.
Everything in their life is fear.
Deadlines, hirings, firings all fear.
Remove fear from the equation and you're saying, "I don't care.
" "I'm faced with extinction but I Just don't care.
" And then they'll get worried and they'll think, "These assholes could do anything.
"They could burn down the building.
" Which we could.
Then our American friends would decide, "We must be much more careful.
"We must give these guys a lot more time.
" So, I've taken the liberty of extending the menu.
After the melon, blackcurrant sorbet, then corn on the cob and then a roast.
We're going to eat our way to victory.
Couldn't think of a better way.
Oswald? Can I have a word? Absolutely.
Perhaps between the third and fourth courses? So? So.
Oswald, they're coming back shortly.
No matter how hard I keep thinking, if I don't have any cards to play that is going to be that.
You don't agree with my analysis? My eating offensive? Be serious, Oswald, please.
I was making a serious point.
We have two choices.
And only two.
Do something truly perverse to make them doubt our sanity.
Maybe we don't have to work hard at that.
Which is the choice that I favour.
There are many successful historical precedents.
At the battle of Austerlitz, for instance, some Austrian deserters sat down in the battlefield and started having lunch while under fire.
A picnic! They escaped the firing squad quite easily because of insanity.
What's the second choice, Oswald? Play dirty.
How? There's only one thing those guys are interested in.
That, of course, is money.
Sex, too, probably, though I'm not sure Spig is up to it.
Go on.
Well, it's extremely simple.
Blindingly obvious, in fact.
We have a few very valuable photographs.
So, instead of leaving them conveniently in a little room for the Americans to collect, we sprinkle them away amongst the collection.
We lose them in all the other pictures.
Try finding them among ten million photographs if you don't know where to look.
It'll be like finding the right piece of hay in a haystack.
They'll never do it.
You mean, "You give us more time to find a home for the collection, "or you don't ever find the pictures.
" You've got it in one.
That's blackmail.
Of course.
It's great, isn't it? It's the only language they understand.
So, where do we start? Our prize fish, the Man Ray.
Probably go for about 120,000? Where shall we put it? Hmm? In the Woolworths shop fronts of the 1950s? If I were in Mr Anderson's position and somebody did this, I would immediately lose all respect for them at a stroke.
You think he respects us? He could be made to.
Are you out of your mind? He thinks we're pathetic, dusty people from a Ealing comedy with Margaret Rutherford.
We're bumbling prats.
Well, these prats are going to sink their teeth into his fleshy parts.
It's all prats like us can do.
It would enrage me if somebody did this.
We want to enrage him.
I'm not sure.
I don't think we'll prevail being this childish.
Things don't work like that.
Where don't they work like that? Outside.
Out there.
Out there? What do you know about that? You go out even less than I do.
Do you want to save this collection or not? It MIGHT buy us time.
I'm also not sure he won't destroy the whole collection if he can't find them.
He'd be crackers to do that.
It would get his proJect terrible publicity.
Nobody's going to torch this place if they can't find these.
You'll see.
A series of very quick So how long have I got this time? I said I'd look at the collection in exchange for you accepting this situation.
We'll be doing any business we need to from here.
Everything is under control.
Reassuring (!) Before we plunge in, I have an announcement for the employees.
We'll be conducting interviews to see if we can employ you in our new proJect.
Nobody need be out of a Job, subJect to interview, of course.
So it means nothing because it's "subJect to interview".
I'm sure you can handle it.
So everybody understand that? Let's take a look.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Hi.
Hi.
OK, you guys! Let's start firing! Firing? Nobody's firing anybody.
No, fire away at me.
I'll find anything within seven seconds.
Seven seconds? Seven seconds IS long.
We'll make it five.
I take it you're computerised.
You think we have computers here? It'd take years to get all this lot catalogued and on line.
It's all in here.
So shoot! As "fire" makes you nervous.
Anybody! The giant squid always goes down well.
It's believed that nobody's photographed one alive under water.
We have a picture taken 50 years ago of precisely that.
Want to see the giant squid? We'll pass.
Some think it's a fake.
It's Just a calamari held up close to the camera.
I think it's a real giant caught in glorious murkiness.
Do you want me to find it? It would be a better test if we nominated the subJect.
Just a little over eager to show you the squid, that's all.
So, shoot! You probably haven't a picture, but my home town, Emporia, Virginia? Too easy.
It's not a very big town.
I'm telling you it's too easy.
OK, our street.
Lamonia Avenue.
I'll bet Here it is.
Emporia.
Jesus! There it is! And then, zzzzt! We get closer.
Just like a computer blow up.
We zoom.
And then zzzzt! The main street of Emporia.
And then zzzzt! The corner of Chestnut Tree Avenue and Lamonia Avenue.
It really is.
A sleepy time.
A sleepy place.
Were you there then? Hm? Do you see yourself? Your little head sticking out? Your little freckled face? You're there somewhere saying, "Hey, Dad.
"Let's close the local museum.
It's not worth shit!" Thanks for finding that.
Come on.
There's a lot to see.
We didn't get a timing for finding the picture.
So shoot again, anybody! Shall we see the prime collection? The really valuable pictures? Yes, but perhaps first you'd like to see our portrait section? No, no, no! That's boring.
Come on! This way! It gets worse, too.
Much more unexpected is THIS! Our erotica.
Mostly Edwardian and Victorian erotica.
There are some beautiful pictures in here.
Naughty snaps from the '20s, too.
Feels rather sad in here.
A lot of yearning.
That's good, yes.
Yearning.
Something I know all about.
Would you like to see our images of obsession? Obsession is always interesting, isn't it? A rather plump, nude woman at a seaside resort in 1910.
Photographed in an astonishing series of poses and interesting positions.
Shall we move on? I want to see the great pictures.
That's easy.
This way! And here we are! The strong room.
Oh, my goodness (!) They've gone! They were moved a few months ago for security reasons.
For security reasons? You moved them OUT of the strong room? Yes.
Other collections have lost their best pictures because they were easy to find.
So why were we brought here? To whet your appetite.
So! What next? How about shop fronts? Got a fine collection of Woolworths in the 195Os.
I think we'd better have a word.
Ooh! Not interested in shop fronts? He'll never want to look at these again now.
You know, Miss Truman, if I was to believe those pictures have been moved today, distributed so we can't find them If I was to believe that That has not happened.
I would form a low opinion of whoever had done that.
I would never do something as crude as that.
You will get your pictures.
Let's see them.
You will see them.
Any moment.
I want you to appreciate the full collection.
I've seen the collection.
No, you haven't.
You haven't even begun.
There are all sorts of things here.
All kinds of pictures with incredible stories attached.
Right now, for instance.
Where we're standing.
Within three feet of us, there are six or seven hair raising things.
Like here.
You know the contents of every box without even reading the label? Not every one.
No.
So, in here there are the three fat brothers that committed a very bizarre murder with three apples and a crossbow the William Tell murder.
Miss Truman, I've explained the situation and you've agreed and accepted it.
However hard you try to weave a spell, it won't alter anything.
You don't want to hear the stories? I've got time for one.
Just one? I thought you had all the time in the world.
I've got the time for one.
Ten million pictures.
One story.
Out of all this.
Some challenge, huh? Right.
You know what I really don't like about today? It's how, suddenly, I've become the villain of this.
I'm made out to be a number crunching moron who marches in and says, "Flush the whole thing away right now!" That really annoys me.
In fact, you know nothing about me.
I don't.
You're right.
Why don't you tell me? We'll leave that for another time.
I thought there wouldn't be another time.
Not another time like this.
No.
What's strange is I've been forced into this because of incompetence at your end, the negligence of Oswald Bates, but nobody mentions that.
What's more, the 21st School suddenly becomes a piece of cheap real estate.
Yet another hotel or car park or something.
What we're actually doing is planning a progressive educational establishment.
A business school.
A unique outfit.
Not Just another way of making money.
I'm glad you're not Just making money.
That's reassuring.
On top of this, you disappear the most important pictures so we have to act like in a children's story, the bad guys in "Tom Thumb".
I refuse to be that! I'm not going to shake people saying, "Get me the pictures!" Right.
So you're not saying "Get me the pictures" any more.
I'm not gonna say it.
But I'm not leaving today without them.
Thought you could do with this.
Help you to survive.
Because you'll need it.
Ice? What's gonna happen here? Just a story.
It's not a horror story? It's not going to be body parts, trying to shock? Certainly not.
All electronics off, please.
But I gotta keep All of them off.
It's important to watch closely.
A little girl.
A little girl, yes.
Going for the heart strings, then.
I hope so.
A little Jewish girl, Lily Katzman, in Berlin.
Jewish, too! A holocaust story.
It won't be difficult to move me.
I get affected quickly by these stories.
You've taken an easy route.
Don't Jump to conclusions.
Lily Katzman was the daughter of a doctor who was also an amateur photographer.
Her father made many studies of her.
He worshipped her with his camera.
The persecution of the Jews starts, of course.
The family split up.
The mother and father go into hiding.
Somehow Lily becomes part of this family.
Because she doesn't look too Jewish.
The Oelendorffs adopted her.
A rich, upper bourgeois family.
One little girl appears in their midst, explained away, no doubt, as a distant niece.
The matriarch probably wasn't aware of what was really going on.
A very unusual situation in itself.
This rich, conventional family harbouring a Jewish child, putting the whole family at great risk.
Nobody knows why it happened.
Love child? Secret affair? Or were they being brave in a way so few others were? Was there Jewish blood in the family that nobody guessed at? Lily is not allowed outside the house, although she is allowed to greet visitors.
Then, one day, it is arranged for her to see her parents.
They're in hiding in a basement room in a house on the other side of the city.
The plan is for her to meet her father first at some halfway point.
He will then take her to a public park to meet her mother.
He meets her.
He does? Yes.
But when he sees her, the father, he wants to buy her something.
Buy her something? That's a risk.
It's dangerous.
He wants to give her a present.
He doesn't know when he'll see her again.
The most natural thing in the world.
While Lily window shops, looking for something to buy, they try to appear as normal as possible, not to move too quickly, not to seem too rushed.
Just a father with his daughter, taking pictures.
Her mother is waiting.
They have to reach her.
Yes.
They must have been acutely aware of time.
Maybe they didn't buy anything after all because of it.
There she is.
So they do meet in the park? Yes.
Their last meeting.
Her papa records the moment.
A few minutes together.
While the Berliners promenade around them in the park.
But then something happens in the park.
We don't know what happened, but the mother decides they must leave immediately.
She goes first.
The last time she saw her mother.
So who survived their story? Who wrote it down? Did Lily? Her father takes a couple of final pictures then he leaves.
He leaves her there? Alone in the park? It was safer that way.
It had been arranged for somebody from the Oelendorffs to pick her up.
Nobody comes.
So is she arrested there? Is she arrested in the park? He shouldn't have left her.
She decides to go.
Lily decides to leave the park and find her own way home.
There are more pictures of Berlin at the time.
Lily moves along the streets, but she loses her way.
And she goes into a bank, rather like this one to ask for directions.
A little girl on her own.
They were bound to be suspicious.
Why did she go in there? If she'd Just asked on the street.
She did go into a bank and ask directions, but she got frightened and ran away.
But they had the address, right? That she'd asked for? They were waiting when she got home? She left the bank and You must realise.
These pictures are from all over the collection.
This is the most extraordinary thing.
Totally by coincidence, an official photographer, a Nazi photographer, is taking photos of a parade.
And he's also taking pictures of the crowd.
And, quite unwittingly, he takes a picture of Lily on her Journey home.
She comes across the parade and has to stand waiting for it to pass.
So we can see her trying to get home.
There she is.
It's remarkable.
How did you find this? Oswald found it, of course.
When we were given her father's photos, Oswald went through every still we have of Berlin of that period.
And there are a lot of those.
In case there was something else of her.
It took him ages, but he found her.
Now, people would use security videos.
Exactly.
There, by an amazing chance, is Lily on her dangerous Journey home, halfway there.
Did she get home? She got home.
Yes.
But the Oelendorffs had been questioned that very afternoon.
The whole family was arrested.
Even the matriarch.
And Lily, too, of course.
Are there any more pictures or does the trail go cold there? It can't.
There's more.
Oswald went through everything, every still we have of Jewish people being rounded up.
The trains, the stations, the cattle trucks, the lorries.
Every image we have like that in the collection.
And he found her.
And, eventually, he found this.
Their little bundles.
Little bundles.
Yes, I know.
It goes on, then? From them on the train? Are there more pictures? Did Oswald find any more? No more like that.
No.
But there is this.
Please.
If it's a pile of bodies, I I know we can't change history here, but I don't I'd rather not see it.
I can imagine too well.
No.
Lily did survive.
She did? It was her son in law that gave us her father's pictures.
And from what he told us, and from a tiny passport photo that he showed Oswald, from that evidence, Oswald stared at every picture we have of street scenes around Elephant & Castle and the Old Kent Road here in London.
She's in this city? Every picture we have.
From the '60s, '70s and '80s.
And, again, he found her.
Here is Lily, on the Old Kent Road in 1987.
That's not her.
That's not Lily.
It is Lily.
I promise you.
It's been confirmed.
You, er, showed me these You told me this particular story because the pictures come from all over the collection? A 20th century tale caught like that.
Marilyn I'm gonna call you that because even after a few hours, Miss Truman doesn't seem right.
Marilyn, I cannot change my decision, you understand? It is a bad situation.
It's very unfortunate but it cannot be changed.
The economics of the situation prevent it.
Moreover, you have our pictures.
You have stolen #400,000 worth of photos.
Not stolen.
You will have them back.
Give them back and you can have a deal.
Take anything you want from the collection.
Anything you can house or store yourself you can have it for free.
Fill bags if you want.
A truckload I will NOT split up the collection.
For God's sake, don't be so proud, Marilyn.
You have miles and miles of routine pictures here of shop fronts and other crap that's in a thousand other collections.
For Christ's sake, get to work on it now.
Use your knowledge.
Save what really matters.
You have to compromise.
I said I'd never split it up.
Marilyn! There is simply no alternative.
Go on.
Take it.
Take the deal.
You're right.
I have to.
You do.
You do have to.
Yes.
But But what? You must keep all the staff on that want to stay.
Does that include you? No.
Of course not.
But the others.
You said you would.
Yeah.
SubJect to interview.
You can do that now.
Today.
Now? See them now.
So nobody leaves here tonight without a Job.
That's the deal.
No, the hotel's fine .
No.
Don't do this, Marilyn.
These are our big weapon.
What are you doing handing them back? They've served the purpose.
I don't think we can play any more games.
Games? You think everything's hunky dory? That those robots are gonna stick to their word? I assure you, I'm going to make them.
And, what's more, they're not robots.
They're getting to you.
May I have one last look? It's odd, isn't it, how much money one or two pictures are worth? Oswald! We should not be co operating.
Total non compliance, that's how we should be fighting.
I promise you, it'll work.
No.
It's time to co operate.
We have to.
Tearing the collection to pieces? Wrecking it.
We have to salvage something.
And do me a favour, Oswald, please.
When they talk to you try to be reasonable.
Huh.
What skills do I have? Yes.
What do you think your strengths are?