Transatlantic (2023) s01e03 Episode Script

1
[airplane engine whirs]
[man over radio] This is Europe.
In England,
the city of Coventry is burning.
Since August, the Luftwaffe have dropped
200 tons of bombs there,
murdering hundreds of people
and injuring many more.
The Germans raided again last night,
knocking out utilities
and setting the city on fire.
[Mary Jayne groans]
- [Thomas] You're doing it wrong again.
- Ugh.
You're making this so complicated.
It's really not.
That lipstick is the only way
to get a camera into the damn prison.
It's been almost five months since
these men were captured at Dunkirk.
The Nazis are
bombing the hell out of Great Britain.
You don't have to convince me
of the mission. I volunteered.
Try it again.
Apply the lipstick.
Use the compact to hide your hand
as you click the camera.
- While the guard is there?
- Say you have to freshen up.
- You know nothing of lipstick.
- You'd be surprised.
Be my guest.
You're holding it wrong.
- Hm. How will you press the button?
- Could you just give me a moment?
- [Mary-Jayne] Mm-mm-mm!
- Damn it!
The roll of film is under the lipstick.
The tiny lens is on the bottom.
Aim it at their faces,
and tell them to look at you.
There are 12 shots on the roll.
I just used one, so you have 11 left.
Okay.
[indistinct chatter over radio]
[sighs]
[child laughing]
Monsieur Fry! Sit down.
We were just talking about you.
- [chuckles]
- [André] Miss Aube.
The six of hands and the keyhole are
perfectly obvious, of course.
Poor, kind Mr. Fry, you're here all alone.
[scoffs]
But what intrigues me is
the eye in the window.
- [clears throat]
- [André] Wait.
[Jacqueline] Hm.
[in French] Of course.
It makes perfect sense.
He's totally alienated from himself.
[in English] These cards present
a great opportunity for you.
See,
we've been here
at the villa for a month already.
We've been watching you.
You must turn inwards
and listen to your primal impulses
to liberate yourself.
Trusting the great light
will emerge from overwhelming darkness.
You think you can learn
everything you need to know
from the news on the radio, don't you?
As a journalist, I suppose I do, yes.
By the time it's on the radio,
it's already yesterday's news.
We wanna know what's happening right now.
If you see the present clearly,
the future holds no threat.
Do these cards show you
where I might find Max Ernst?
- [André chuckles]
- Hm.
- Ah!
- I think he is in the pool.
[in French] Thanks a lot.
[Varian in English] Mr. Ernst!
Oh.
Uh, I have some news for you.
[Varian] Uh
After some considerable pressure
from the Museum of Modern Art in New York,
the US government has finally
issued you an entry visa.
Oh, thank you.
You and your wife can now, uh,
legally emigrate to the United States.
[clears throat]
My wife? Marie-Berthe?
No, uh, let me look at this. Sorry.
Uh
Luise Strauss-Ernst?
We divorced in 1927.
- [Varian] It says she's in Marseille.
- Not with me.
So are you planning to travel to America
with her or not?
I would do it. I'd even remarry her,
but I haven't seen her in years
and I'm married to someone else.
- [Varian] Marie-Berthe.
- Exactly.
Very complicated.
You've never loved
more than one person at once?
I've been married to the same woman
for nine years.
And And And where's she?
You know, the point, Mr. Fry,
is that I'm here in Marseille
heartbroken and alone.
Haven't you noticed?
I was put in the camp,
and my love abandoned me.
This was her robe.
But she was not my wife.
She was a beautiful English painter.
You feel that?
Broken.
I'm gonna hold onto this.
- [knock on door]
- [mumbles]
- Did you hear the news?
- Hm.
- Willkie's ahead across the Northeast.
- [Hiram] I mean Coventry.
It's all over the radio now.
The Luftwaffe bombed the hell out of it.
Major civilian casualties.
Whole city's on fire.
They don't call it blitzkrieg for nothing.
Now, why is Churchill letting
these people get slaughtered?
The sooner the British accept
the reality of the situation,
the better it'll be for all,
including the good citizens of Coventry.
You think the Germans will win this thing.
Look around you, Bingham.
Resistance is waning.
Fascists in Italy, Spain,
Germany, now most of France.
This is the new world order. Us and them.
Democracy and fascism.
Two superpowers.
Jesus.
It's not like they're Communists. At least
they still believe in free enterprise.
Henry Ford sold over 60,000 Model Cs
in Germany in the last five years.
- We have to work with these people.
- [man] Here you go.
Thanks, Steve.
You're talking about
doing business with Nazis.
America's business is business, Bingham.
Going forward,
it only makes good common sense
to shore up our position at home
and protect our interests abroad.
Anything to avoid more war.
Willkie understands that.
And when he gets elected next week,
believe me, the US government's
gonna be singing a very different tune.
Victor, take the art into the house.
We can't leave it baking in the car.
[woman] Hello?
- Peggy?
- Oh!
Wow! [chuckles] If it isn't
Miss Mary Jayne Gold of Chicago.
I haven't seen you since
When was it? Gstaad? Yes!
Winter of 1937.
[chuckles] What are you still doing here?
- There's a war on.
- Is there?
- And where are you off to?
- Oh, the tailor.
And how's your father?
I wouldn't know.
I'm doing the rounds down south
before I head back to New York.
- Victor and I just cleaned out Picasso.
- These ones are mine.
Marcel Duchamp tells me that Max Ernst
has been living here. Is that true?
- [Thomas] In the flesh.
- And you are?
In a hurry. Oh, so good to see you, Peggy!
- Okay.
- [both chuckle]
Victor!
[curious music plays]
[car engine starts]
Comrades! Good morning.
Look who's here.
Who was the lucky lady last night?
Ladies.
[laughs]
Two women?
How do you give both enough attention?
It's because I'm an economist.
Increase demand, increase supply.
[laughing]
But what about Miss Mary Jayne Gold?
I see how she looks at you.
Yeah, she looks at me the same way
that she looks at a dog.
Doesn't she have something going on
with the American consul? Uh, Patterson?
Why would you think that?
[Paul] He's come to the lobby
to pick her up.
He's a chatty one.
Why are you keeping track
of her private life?
I'm the concierge of this hotel.
Eyes and ears. I keep track of everything.
And you have to stop distracting yourself.
- [scoffs]
- [Paul] You're in pain. We all are.
But what you are getting
from these women is just temporary relief.
We must channel all our–
energy into revolution! Yes, I know!
I am getting people out every day.
I am talking about fighting back.
Weapons?
Weapons?
Paul, no.
When the French army demobilized,
we dropped our guns and walked away.
There must be piles of weapons
buried all over this country.
We need a concrete plan
and to recruit more people.
[laughing]
[Peggy] There I was, running around Paris,
trying to hide my collection.
I wanted to start
in the basement vaults of the Louvre,
but the curators were busy
worrying about the Mona Lisa
to bother with my stash
of worthless modern paintings.
So, finally, I managed to convince
some museum underlings
to crate it up and ship it for me.
They had to put "household items"
on the export forms.
[laughing]
God help me if Vichy bureaucrats
are smart enough to look inside.
Hopefully, it's on its way
to New York already on a boat.
- [Victor] Lucky paintings.
- [Peggy] Mm.
Victor's upset 'cause we've been trying
to get Alfred Barr of the MoMA
to write an affidavit of moral support
since the summer.
I might have to marry him to get him out.
[laughing]
Don't laugh.
Just give it time, Victor.
He finally came through for Max this week.
- [Victor] Lucky Max.
- He's not the only one waiting for a visa.
[Peggy] Barr is overwhelmed
with all the appeals for help from Europe.
- He's overwhelmed?
- He's put his wife in charge.
- Can you imagine? [chuckles]
- Marga?
That's a great idea.
I knew her at Harvard. She's pushy.
Which gives me a great idea.
Why don't you help me?
Me? [scoffs] God no.
[Varian] What if I get arrested
or, worse, expatriated?
I'm not insane, Varian.
Don't forget, unlike you, I'm a Jew.
Got caught up in a hotel raid
only last week.
I'm on the next plane
straight out of here. [chuckles]
Miss Guggenheim.
Call me Peggy.
It's gorgeous.
It's strange.
I love it.
I'll take all of it. I wanna take it all
back to New York with me.
Peggy.
Tomorrow is my birthday.
You must be my birthday present.
Let's throw you a birthday party!
You know, in Köln, when I was a kid,
we always, uh, toasted at midnight
going into the birthday.
Reinfeiern.
[Peggy] Huh.
Well, then, that's just what we'll do.
[Thomas] This is Camp des Milles.
Here's the first of your false passports.
Do you remember all the prisoners' names?
Michael Bretherton
[exhales shakily]
Ian Canning, Dennie Williams.
They need to peel off
when out doing labor.
If they can get to the villa,
we'll get them to England.
Am I supposed to tell them this
in some sort of code?
- English is the code.
- Oh.
You can safely assume
the guards don't speak English,
especially if you speak quickly.
Okay.
They eat lunch in shifts. Time it right
and we'll get a different guard each time.
If someone comes snooping around,
just pull out, drive around
for a few minutes, and then meet me here.
I don't know how to drive a car.
Seriously?
[sighs]
- [in French] Hello, madam.
- Hello.
[in English] I'm here to see my husband
Michael Bretherton.
- [in French] My husband.
- Bretherton?
Let's see.
Yes.
Proof of identity?
A visitor for Bretherton in Block D.
- Thank you. Open up!
- Thank you.
[in English] Yes. See you later.
They're throwing a birthday party
for Max Ernst tonight.
[in French] Thank you.
[in English] Many artists will be there.
Duchamp, Chagall
Chagall?
Could be your chance
to convince him to leave.
What about Ernst's first wife?
- How many does he have?
- [Varian] Too many.
Turns out that the woman listed
on his entry visa to the United States
divorced him in 1927.
And she's somewhere in Marseille.
- Let's find her.
- Well, we can try. It's Luise Strauss.
What if the U.S. doesn't let him
into the country without his ex-wife?
Maybe they can split it.
I'll talk to Bingham.
The MoMA reached out
to Patterson directly,
so we have to go through him.
I'll do it.
[Lena] Talk to Patterson?
[Albert] Why not?
I'm happy to do it.
Okay.
[officer in French] Go on! Move! Go on!
[door opens]
Your wife.
[Bretherton in English]
I don't have a wife.
Oh, darling,
you're just as much of a joker
as the day we got married.
[in French] Go on.
[in English] Hello, darling.
Mutual friends sent me.
I'm staying at the Villa Air-Bel
just east of here.
Meet me there
as soon as you can get away from work
so we can get you home
as soon as possible. Do you understand?
[whispers] Hold still. Look right here.
[camera clicks]
[panting]
I got the picture.
Two more to go.
[Mary Jayne] Hello, darling.
It's so good to see you.
[clicks]
[clicks]
[fly buzzing]
Excuse me. That's Elizabeth Arden.
That color is discontinued.
[in French] Thank you.
[in English]
I love you, and I will be in touch.
[footsteps approaching]
[Mary Jayne] Slide over.
That was a close one. Let's go.
[suspenseful music plays]
Oh. Let's go.
[indistinct chatter]
[in French] Excuse me.
[in English] Where are they?
[Patterson]
Last I heard, at the Splendide.
Well, but they are not there now.
I saw Walter Benjamin myself.
Then he disappeared.
Two days later,
we found his body dead in Spain.
Really?
[Frot] Yeah. And now nothing.
Max Ernst, André Breton,
Hans Bellmer, Marcel Duchamp,
Alma Mahler, Franz Werfel,
Heinrich Mann, Golo Mann
We know that
Mr. Chagall is still in his cottage,
but what about the others?
Your
American Emergency Rescue Committee
set up in a new place in Marseille, uh?
We watch the lines of people
waiting day and night,
but all nobodies.
All the important people
on Mr. Fry's list,
they're gone.
Maybe they're flying them out of here
on hot air balloons.
- What?
- Out of sight, out of mind.
You should be glad.
[Frot] No, the Germans are not glad.
And I am not glad.
You are responsible for these Americans,
and they are making a fool of me.
I want to go through these people
working on this committee with you now,
one by one.
I just need a pen.
This one.
[Patterson] Mary Jayne Gold's father is
an old friend of the family. Sensible guy.
He doesn't want his daughter
making trouble any more than you do.
Does Mr. Gold know that
his daughter is working as a prostitute?
What?
[Frot] Mary Jayne Gold's police file
clearly states that she's a prostitute.
An American blonde with a small dog.
I've read the file myself.
She's all over town. [chuckles]
[Patterson] There must be
a misunderstanding.
Miss Gold is an adventurous young woman.
But she's not, you know
[Frot in French]
A blonde with a small dog?
[scoffs]
[Frot in English]
Have you seen her recently?
Can't say that I have.
[footsteps approaching]
Door closed, please.
Oh, can I help you?
- I was just waiting to see Mr. Patterson.
- Well, he's already in a meeting.
I work with Mr. Varian Fry
at the Emergency Rescue Committee.
But do you have an appointment?
No, um, but I have an urgent message.
It's regarding a visa
issued for the German artist Max Ernst.
Ah, Monsieur Ernst stays in Marseille.
Actually, Mr. Ernst is
throwing a party tonight.
I'd love to meet him.
[upbeat music plays]
[laughs]
[in French] And ta-da! Ready!
- [Max trills]
- Whoo!
Whoo! Whoo!
[laughs]
[in English]
And, um, what about the backstroke?
Well, you gotta keep practicing.
Just a second.
Uh, do you need anything more,
Mr. Patterson?
I'm leaving a bit early tonight.
Something special?
Well, yes, actually. I'm going to a party
at a château called the Villa Air-Bel.
A real château?
All Marseille will be there!
It's Max Ernst's birthday.
- [in French] Have a good evening.
- Have a good evening.
[in English]
Uh, no, that means, uh, good evening.
Yeah, Daddy can speak French.
Yes, I can. I just don't like to.
The house looks so beautiful.
[Varian clears throat]
You don't look too bad yourself.
[Mary Jayne clears throat]
How many guests are we expecting tonight?
And there's supposed to be a band?
You realize that
Vichy outlawed jazz music?
If undercover cops come,
we'll all end up in jail.
Varian, it's a party.
Can you even try to have some fun?
[Varian] Maybe you're right.
[laughing]
[Paul] Oh, big party!
Oh!
[in Fon] I'm going to dance.
We're going to dance.
Hey, hey, hey, we're gonna dance ♪
[in French] Tonight's my night, brother.
I can feel it in my bones.
Stamp my feet so hard, they'll feel
the earth rumble back in Ouidah.
[in Fon] We're gonna dance
Hey, hey, hey ♪
We're gonna dance, hey ♪
We're gonna dance, hey, hey, hey ♪
We're gonna dance, hey
We're gonna dance ♪
[in French] They will say it is Petit
Petit who went to the country ♪
Petit became big ♪
And is back now ♪
[in Fon] We'll dance, hey, hey, hey
We'll dance ♪
Hey, hey, hey, we're gonna dance ♪
Hey, hey, hey, we're gonna dance ♪
Hey, we're gonna dance ♪
Hey, hey, hey, we're gonna dance, hey ♪
- [knock on door]
- [Varian] Lisa?
[in English] I've come to coax you out.
No, thank you.
Rumor is you're quite the dancer.
I'm not in the mood for a party.
Is this about Mr. Benjamin?
Not just Mr. Benjamin.
Nobody in this house has
anything to celebrate.
Max Ernst is alive.
We're all alive. I mean, I think
that's as good a reason as any.
There's no blueprint
for what we're doing here, Lisa.
We're all just trying to do
the best we can.
That's what you tell yourself
so you can sleep at night.
Who said I sleep at night?
[in French] Thank you.
- [guests] Thank you.
- [in English] Food.
[guests laugh]
[all exhale]
[Max] Bravo!
[guests] Bravo!
[whispers indistinctly]
Your Mr. Fry is
full of surprises, isn't he?
Mm.
[woman] These refugees
will never want to leave France.
Apparently, there's a painting
by Winston Churchill himself
floating around the Côte d'Azur.
- [woman 2] Churchill is a painter?
- Why not?
On the radio, that man sounds very boring.
All painters sound boring on the radio.
- [woman 2] Well, not Chagall.
- [Chagall] Who is that man?
My husband is
the most beloved artist in France.
Maybe he is, dear Bella,
but Duchamp is the most important.
[Victor] And Chagall's still a Jew.
With a US visa he refuses to use,
despite my best efforts.
France is my home.
In the end, the Nazis
will come for all of us, Marc. Even you.
[Max] Oh. The chicken.
[André] Oh!
Brava!
[in French] Thank you, Madame Nouget.
[guests] Thank you!
[Max in English]
My friend Victor Serge likes to say
among the refugees of fascism
waiting here in exile,
we have enough brilliant minds
to revitalize an entire nation.
- [Varian] Hear, hear.
- Thank you, my friends.
This dark journey
would be unbearable without you.
And Monsieur Fry, for your hospitality
and your deep commitment to our cause,
thank you for being our North Star.
- [Peggy] Speech, Varian, speech!
- No.
- [guests] Speech!
- [glasses clinking]
Yes.
[in French] Thank you, André.
You honor me greatly.
[in English] Uh, when I was young
- You're still young.
- [guests chuckle]
When I was younger, uh,
art was my North Star,
my truest companion,
and my savior in times of
great confusion and pain.
And it is the honor of my life
to return the favor now to artists
and to writers
whose work has given me so much.
So thank you.
[applause]
Now I suggest that
we all change places for the next course.
- If there is a next course, of course.
- [Varian] Okay!
- Do it.
- [Max] Let's go.
[indistinct chatter]
I'm going to miss you terribly.
Mm.
- Hello.
- Hello.
You and Thomas seem cozy.
[chuckles]
- Are you jealous?
- No.
Who's your little date?
[Albert] None of your business.
- [chuckles]
- But God damn, huh?
The US consul.
Word gets around.
[chuckles]
Word's also gotten around
that you've slept with
every pretty little refugee in Marseille.
So good thing for you
this city is bursting
with desperate women.
A French policeman
today referred to you as a prostitute.
What were you doing
talking to a French policeman?
[chuckles]
I'm not gonna apologize
for using every tool at my disposal
to try and save people's lives.
Oh, please.
[jazz music plays]
[singing in French]
[in English] Ladies and gentlemen,
your attention, please!
[in French] Ten, nine,
eight, uh, seven
six, five
[in English] Stop! Stop!
[in French] Four, three,
two, one, me!
[in English] Happy birthday!
Whoo!
[jazz music plays]
Hey!
- Hey!
- [lyrics in French]
[guests] Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
[in English] Uptown, downtown
Everybody knows we're swinging ♪
Swinging ♪
Uptown, downtown
Everybody knows we're singing ♪
Singing ♪
Bit to bop, let's go to shop
Step on hop, let's hit the spot ♪
Daddy might buy you a soda pop ♪
It's ringing ♪
Ringing ♪
Turn up the stick
Till we blow the top ♪
The train is bounding
It won't stop ♪
Daddy gonna take to the Lindy Hop
We're swinging ♪
[guests] Swinging ♪
[guests laugh]
[calm music in French plays]
[indistinct chatter]
[guests] Ooh!
[applause]
[man] Whoo!
[Lisa] What about her?
[scoffs] Too tidy.
- If anything, she works for the Gestapo.
- [chuckles]
[Paul] What about him?
Constipated?
I say, um
National Police.
[laughs] National Police.
Mary Jayne, which one
of your fancy friends here
is a British spy?
[laughs]
How should I know?
Why?
British intelligence is funding local
resistance cells. I want to start one.
Really?
Count me in.
There's a guy you should meet.
He's a sharpshooter at Camp des Milles.
He's an ally. I'm sure of it.
[Paul] Maybe I can recruit some here.
What do you know about sharpshooters
and resistance cells?
The British are fighting the Nazis
by themselves. They need help.
- You have to take me home right now.
- Mm.
My boss just arrived.
He cannot see me like this.
Where do you work?
The American consulate.
Consul Patterson is right over there.
- Oh my God. What is he doing here?
- [Albert] Don't act so surprised.
- I didn't invite him.
- No?
What is wrong with you?
I have to get out of here now.
- [Albert] All right, let's go.
- Ugh.
[woman] Let's go.
[sighs]
Jesus
[indistinct chatter]
[whistles]
Oh. Hi.
What's a pretty girl like you
doing in a dump like this?
[laughs]
[chuckles]
It's, uh
couture, actually.
Let's get you a drink.
- [footsteps approaching]
- [Lena] Varian!
- Lena! I was wondering where you were.
- [Lena] Come.
- Look who I found.
- [Varian] Hi. Who is this?
Luise Strauss.
I'm I'm Varian Fry.
I'm with the Emergency Rescue Committee.
This is amazing.
We have a visa with your name on it.
- [Max cooing]
- [Peggy laughing]
[Max] Oh, oh, oh!
- [Luise] Max?
- [Max in French] Excuse me.
[Max] Luise.
[in English] Are you real?
- [Luise] Don't know.
- [in German] What are you doing here?
[in English] Now you can marry her
and travel to America.
What, right now?
- Once was enough, believe me.
- But you're on the same visa.
[Luise in German] No.
You are the mother of my only child,
and I am a man of honor.
You are?
Since when?
[Peggy in English] Don't worry.
If she doesn't wanna marry you,
I'll do it.
Chin-chin!
[sighs]
Ladies and gentlemen.
At the end of this wonderful evening,
your chance to make a wish.
[bird squawking]
One wish.
And we will send it out into the universe.
You light your candles
like me.
And push it gently
into the lake.
[Thomas] What did you wish for?
I wished for this war to end.
Nothing else?
For a cigarette.
You don't smoke.
No?
[Varian] What did you wish for?
I don't believe in wishes.
[chuckles]
If we want something,
we just have to make it happen.
[Lisa humming]
[chuckles]
- That dress fits you like a glove.
- [chuckles]
[Lisa] Hm.
Good night, Lisa Fittko.
I'm sorry. I
I can't do this again.
[chuckles] What?
Did you know
we were having a party tonight?
- Are you spying on me?
- Don't flatter yourself.
[breathing heavily]
You have to go.
Fucking princess.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[Thomas chuckles]
[footsteps approaching]
[Patterson] Mademoiselle Letoret!
[typewriter clacking]
Why are you yelling?
I need to send a wire
to the State Department.
- Okay.
- Uh, keeping an eye on Varian Fry. Stop.
Questionable behavior. Stop.
Is the Emergency Rescue Committee
working against American interests? Stop.
- These people are fucking crazy.
- You want me to put that in the cable?
- How was the party last night?
- Well, I decided not to go.
[Jacqueline] And then
we come in the front.
[Varian groans]
And then we say, "Hello, sun."
Oh.
Feel the sun.
And then we do the warrior pose.
[Paul in French] Thank you for meeting
me here, where no one can hear us.
[Margaux in English] These are perfect.
I'll have the passports made.
She's good, this one.
And Varian?
- He can't be involved in this.
- Why not?
- He just can't.
- [Margaux] We have a war to win, Thomas.
Varian Fry's already involved,
whether he knows it or not.
[engine starts]
[dramatic music plays]
[theme music plays]