The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (2002) s01e19 Episode Script
Winds of Change
The War to End All Wars is over.
After four years of hideous slaughter,
Germany and her satellites
have collapsed.
This is Percy McCallum for
the British Radio Corporation,
broadcasting live from
the great Palace of Versailles.
There is jubilation across Europe
as the deadly guns of battle fall silent.
Defeated German troops struggle home
across the shattered countryside
to find their once all-powerful Kaiser
has abdicated and fled his homeland.
Every one of the enemy monarchs
has fallen before the power
of the great democracies,
and a new day of liberty dawns.
Now here in Paris, the victorious Allies
gather to make peace.
The fearful rites of war must give way
to the gentle arts of diplomacy.
Great men of integrity and honour
are here.
Their task?
To make a future war impossible.
Their challenge?
To forge a world where charity
and compassion rule the day.
Georges Clemenceau,
"the Tiger," Premier of France,
the Prime Minister of Great Britain,
David Lloyd George,
and Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States,
greeted here as a savior
with his vision of lasting world peace.
And so, in conference halls
all over the city,
the great work begins
to create a new world order.
France will have territory.
She will have treasure.
I speak for the nation which,
more than any other,
has fought and bled.
I speak for the nation which,
more than any other,
has brought victory
over our barbarous foe.
I speak for France.
France declares that never again
will she suffer invasion of her borders.
Never again will she submit
to the destruction of her countryside
and the slaughter of her citizens.
To this end, she will have justice
and security on her own terms.
Then, and only then,
will France grant peace.
France is great, her voice is loud,
and her glorious people
will accept nothing less.
No one has anything more to say?
Mr Jones?
- Mr Jones?
- Yes, yes, yes.
Those speeches
from yesterday's conference?
How soon can I have the translations?
It'll be on your desk by 4:30, sir.
- Fine.
- Ned?
Henry.
By all that's wonderful.
- How long has it been? A year?
- Nearly two.
I just got a job with
the American delegation as a translator.
Pay's not much,
but it's interesting work.
So, here I am helping Arabia and
Prince Feisal become a free nation.
Well, that's great, Ned.
I tell you, colonialism is dead.
There must be dozens of countries
competing to become free nations.
I hope so, for Arabia's sake.
Oh, Mr Lawrence,
may we be so presumptuous
as to ask for your autograph?
Why, yes, you may.
I didn't realise
you'd become such a celebrity.
Well, power of the press.
It has nothing to do with me.
Look, I'm dining with Gertrude Bell
at the Majestic tonight.
- Thank you.
- Gertrude Bell?
She's written more about the situation
in Arabia than anyone.
- Will you join us?
- I'd love to.
- Excellent. At 7:30, then.
- Great.
Henry, this is so good.
So I took my discharge
from the Belgian Army.
I just decided it was time
I quit being a spy.
Well, in your last letter,
you talked of going to college.
Well, my boss says there's a chance
of a job in the State Department, so
- You're going to be a diplomat.
- Maybe.
Oh, Henry, beware.
The snares and delusions of diplomacy
are not to be embraced lightly.
Everyone, please.
Do you know Arnold Toynbee?
If I may say,
our most distinguished historian.
- Arnold, this is Gertrude Bell.
- A great pleasure.
- Mr Toynbee.
- And my friend Henry Jones.
- Pleasure to meet you, sir.
- How do you do?
Please.
You see, Arnold's the man who
really knows what's going on here.
I wouldn't say that.
He's part of the official
British delegation,
unlike people like me.
I've been out trying to catch sight
of the German delegation.
- Oh, really?
- They're due in tonight.
Nobody's seen them.
They'll be trying
to sneak in the back way.
It's true.
The feeling against them is frightening.
I read the newspapers.
I've seen the demonstrations as well,
and my fear is
that we do not have statesmen
with enough courage
to resist the public demands
for revenge.
I don't know.
I've been watching our President.
No, really. He's a fine man.
He's a fine man obsessed with forming
his absurd League of Nations.
And meanwhile, he's giving way
to every bloodthirsty demand.
He's completely outwitted.
Clemenceau, a dinosaur,
baying for blood.
Lloyd George, a politician with no vision
or morality at all.
There's just been a war.
The worst war in history.
People have fought and died.
You can't just expect
that they'll turn around and forgive.
You can't just wipe your enemy out.
Years ago, Rome could just wipe
Carthage out, but now,
the world has changed.
Everything's connected.
What has happened will happen again.
For better or worse,
history now moves in a spiral.
These men are trying
to force Germany down.
But it cannot be done
without terrible tragedy.
Push Germany down
and you'll pay a price.
And one day it will once more
rise to the top.
But this lot are behaving
like men with no memories.
Those who forget the lessons
of history are doomed to repeat it.
His Excellency,
the President of the United States.
Delegates, representatives, friends,
for we are all friends here.
We have now
been engaged for five months
on a course of framing a peace.
A just peace. A lasting peace.
Moreover, we have
also been establishing,
for the first time
in the history of mankind,
an international forum,
a supreme body of world affairs.
I refer to the League of Nations,
that bright hope I know we all share.
The aim of the League is simple,
yet awe-inspiring.
It is nothing less
than the brotherhood of man.
And with goodwill and calm endeavor,
we shall succeed in our noble purpose.
We shall succeed where great religions,
where even Christianity itself,
has failed.
Why has Jesus Christ
so far not succeeded
in inducing the world to follow
his teachings in these matters?
Friends, I will tell you.
It is because he has taught the ideal
without devising
a practical means of attaining it.
That is why I propose
a practical scheme
to carry out his purposes.
That is why I offer you
the League of Nations.
No more warring or petty factions.
No more being at the disposal
of the colonial powers. But one Arabia.
Independent. United.
Under the rule of Prince Feisal.
- Now, how does that sound?
- Sounds great.
Sounds very well.
Unhappily, the French have other ideas.
France was to have Syria.
Britain, Iraq and the oil fields.
Well, the war is over,
and now the French
are insisting
the agreement be honoured.
Now, when did the French
know anything about honour?
Ned, that's unworthy of you.
Yes. All right, I'm sorry.
But it makes my blood boil.
We promised independence to Feisal.
I promised.
- And now they tell us
- Oh, come on, Ned.
Don't play the innocent.
You knew about it all along.
So, that's the hitch, Mr Jones.
An equivocal promise
to a desert chieftain
versus a solemn agreement
between two great imperial powers.
You see, there's no such thing
as the Arab nation.
No Arab feels part of it.
He doesn't even think of himself
as an Arab.
What is he?
A man from Damascus,
Mecca or Baghdad.
A member of a particular Bedouin tribe.
A Kurd, a Sunni, a Shiite.
He can be any of these things.
But an Arab? Never.
At least, not yet, I'm afraid.
He will be one day.
I'm determined to make it happen.
All by yourself, Ned?
- Your view is too narrow, too personal.
- Too personal?
- What other view is there?
- The statesman's.
The statesman's. Oh, God.
This way. Now just keep quiet.
The President says he needs a record.
With these two,
he likes everything to be written down.
- Mr President.
- Gentlemen.
Gentlemen, I have to tell you,
this is not the most
important problem we face.
Oh, it's a waste of time discussing this.
The future of Arabia is settled.
France and Britain made an agreement.
Well, I wish it were
as simple as that, you see.
But Britain also made a promise
to Prince Feisal.
- I am sorry. That cannot be helped.
- But it was a promise.
Which we knew nothing about.
And let me remind you, Prime Minister,
that you will get Iraq and the oil fields.
And let me remind you, sir,
that France's contribution to
the victory in Arabia was negligible.
Negligible?
Gentlemen, this
is a pointless argument.
I believe there's a matter
of principle involved here.
England and France
have made a secret agreement.
It is my passionate conviction
that secret agreements
belong to the past.
- Mr President
- You have both accepted
my Fourteen Points. We must have
open agreements, openly arrived at.
You've pledged yourself to these things.
Very well, the answer to this problem,
therefore, is simple.
We go and consult
the people themselves.
- The people?
- Exactly.
The people of Arabia.
We ask them what it is they want.
- Ask them?
- Yes.
Yes, I see. And what form would this
exercise in democracy take?
I am proposing a commission.
It will be their job to go
and thoroughly investigate
the wishes of the people of Arabia,
and to come back and report.
I understand. Yes.
Well, it is a brilliant solution.
Don't you agree?
And what do we say
to Feisal tomorrow?
Say? Well, we say nothing.
We just listen.
Or at least we listen for now.
He said that? Wilson said that?
"I don't care about
your secret agreements."
- That's what he said.
- Wonderful.
Do you think he meant it?
Of course he meant it. I was there.
As close to him as I am to you now.
Thank you.
And the others?
I mean, Lloyd George, Clemenceau
- They just took it. They had no choice.
- But what will happen about Feisal?
- They'll listen to everything he says.
- Henry, you're priceless.
What a boon it is
to have a friend at court.
Is this idea of a commission
Oh, who cares about
a tuppenny-ha'penny commission?
- The President does.
- Let him.
A commission will take months,
years even.
The real decisions are being made now,
which leaves the field clear for us
and what we say.
No, no, no. Ned, you're wrong.
You have to wait for the commission.
That's what the President means.
Wilson's an idiot.
We'll run rings round him.
But what if the others don't listen?
They'll listen. I'll make them.
Don't you see? This is the chance
we've been waiting for,
to get out of this business
with clean hands.
Whose hands, Ned? Yours?
Yes. Mine.
Well, why not mine?
What are you scowling for?
- I'm not scowling. I just think
- You think? What do you think?
Some vacuous cliché
of Woodrow Wilson's?
- Ned?
- Some Christmas card motto
parading as wisdom? Well?
Maybe that's what it sounds like, Ned.
But the President means business.
- And I agree with him.
- Oh, do you indeed? I tremble.
And I also think you're way out of line.
Go to hell.
And take that sanctimonious
hypocrite of a President with you.
Sir! Excuse me, sir.
May I speak with you for a moment?
It's about the Conference.
I'm sorry.
I really need to catch up with my friend.
I'm sorry.
Ned!
- I just didn't want you to think
- Henry, don't.
And don't, whatever you do, apologise.
It's me who should be doing that.
My behaviour back there
was unforgivable.
- I just thought you might be mad at me.
- Mad?
Oh, I see. You mean angry. No.
You didn't make me mad.
It's just that I've
become a little cynical,
and it doesn't mix too well
with your idealism.
- You're probably just tired.
- No. We're all tired.
Tired and disillusioned.
All except you, Henry.
Now, don't change, will you?
It's what makes you
such a splendid chap.
I just thought you might be worried
about Prince Feisal's speech.
Oh, I am worried. There's a lot at stake.
For you, Arabia, or the future
of the 20th century?
Well, why For me, of course.
Is it your intention, sir,
to speak to us directly,
or through an interpreter?
Prince Feisal asks me
to interpret for him,
if it pleases this great Conference.
Colonel Lawrence,
it pleases this Conference very well.
Prince Feisal speaks for the horsemen
who carried the Arab flag across
the great desert.
"We do not ask for favors,"
"merely for justice
and the fulfillment of your promises."
"We fought for the unity of our nation"
"and the right to rule ourselves."
"We remind you,
we speak one language."
"We are one race."
"Our lands must not be divided"
"and given as war booty
to this or that colonial power."
"We did not overthrow the Turk
to be enslaved again."
Prince Feisal says,
"My people were civilized"
"when every other country here
was populated by barbarians."
"You should remember this."
"Remember, too, what you promised
when you needed us."
"Liberty and independence,"
"in exchange for our help
in the great battle."
"We believed you,"
"we trusted you,"
"we joined our cause with yours."
"We fought and died."
"We have kept our own part
in this bargain."
"We have kept our word."
"All we ask now is that you prove"
“the greatness of your nations,
and keep yours."
“In return,"
"we offer you gratitude
and lasting peace."
Thus speaks Prince Feisal.
These are his words.
Excuse me. Sir, do you have a moment?
May I speak with you, please?
I saw you the other evening
at the restaurant.
The restaurant?
- Right, right. You were the waiter
- The waiter. Yes.
Sir, I'm sorry.
I realise you must be very busy.
But if I could just have
two minutes of your time.
- Well, I really
- It is important. Please.
I am working in Paris as a pastry chef,
but sometimes as a waiter as well.
My name is Nguyen Ai Quoc, sir.
I'm Vietnamese.
Not very well, I'm afraid.
-Sir, we need your help.
We?
Small group of my countrymen and me.
We are a delegation of patriots.
We have written a petition.
Is this it?
For weeks now we've tried to present it.
No one will hear us.
No one will even receive it.
That is why I come to you.
- I'm sorry, Mr Nguyen
- I know you can do this.
I heard you in the restaurant.
You are close to President Wilson.
I know that you are
a very important man.
I'm just a translator.
I just happened to be present
We have tried everywhere.
No one will listen.
All the doors shut in our faces.
All we ask for is assistance. Please.
Well, I can't promise you anything.
Thank you, sir.
Are you crazy?
- But sir
- For crying out loud,
Vietnam's on the other side
of the world.
- But so is Japan.
- The Japanese were our allies.
They fought on our side. No. I'm sorry.
- The schedule is crazy enough as it is.
- It won't take long, sir.
Do you have any idea
just how busy we are?
- Yes, sir. I do.
- And what are the French gonna say?
Hell, Vietnam belongs to them.
But sir, the President says
the whole world
The President.
Henry, listen to me.
You've done well here as a translator.
I've already marked you down for a job.
When this is all over, there's a post
in the State Department
I have in mind for you.
But if you come aboard,
there's one thing you have to learn.
Presidents come and go.
Diplomats stay.
Now, I'm not criticizing
Woodrow Wilson.
All I'm saying is,
he won't be around much longer.
We will. Think about it.
- Something else on your mind?
- No. No, sir.
- Didn't you hear me just now?
- Yes, sir. I heard.
And I also heard what you said
about presidents.
About how they come and go.
And it reminded me of an old man
I met in Mexico once,
who said pretty much the same thing.
Oh, he did?
He was a peasant.
Most likely he's dead now.
I don't even know his name.
But I'll never forget what he told me.
It's maybe the reason I'm here now.
He said, "The men in power change,
but the people go on suffering."
Look, Jones
Sir, I really think the Vietnamese
ought to be heard.
Maybe people think
their country's not important,
and it's not our business
what happens there.
But it is important.
These are people
just like any other people.
Who are we to say they can't be heard?
Sir, the whole world
has come to this city.
Why shouldn't they have
the opportunity to make their case?
And we, as Americans,
should be right behind them.
Half an hour is all they need.
Is that too much to ask?
All right, when you get in there,
keep it simple.
Concentrate on the American.
He'll listen.
- So speak mainly to him.
- We understand.
Thank you, sir.
On behalf of the people of Vietnam,
we do not ask for independence
or freedom from French colonial rule.
Only the implementation
of these points.
A general amnesty for
all political prisoners.
Equal rights
for the Vietnamese and the French.
Freedom of the press.
Freedom to meet and assemble.
Freedom to emigrate and travel abroad.
Better schools.
Abolition of rule
by the French President's decree.
And the appointment of
Vietnamese members
to the French Parliament.
Sir, that is all.
Thank you.
Your petition will be considered.
Any questions?
- I'm sorry.
- No.
At least they heard us.
I don't think they listen
to anyone any more.
Someday they will listen to Ho Chi Minh.
Ho Chi Minh?
That's what we call him.
It means, "Father of our Country."
It's not a title I deserve.
Thank you, Mr Jones.
You did your best.
But they didn't even listen.
The Frenchman went to sleep.
That's what I've been telling you.
The real decisions
are being made in private.
The colonial powers are simply
carving up the world.
But the Vietnamese don't even
want to rule their own country.
All they're asking for is to be
represented in the French government,
for basic equal rights.
Henry, Wilson aside, nobody here
is interested in people's rights.
It's just It's just not fair.
It's not about fairness.
It's about power and greed.
Well, then, why did we fight in the war?
Why did so many people die?
Are you saying
that it was all for nothing?
No. No war is for nothing.
But when it's over,
it turns out to be something
quite different from
what was believed at the start.
And the result is never intended
to be what it is.
Arnold, Henry. Have you heard?
The German delegation is arriving.
Well, what in the world
has taken them so long?
A classic piece of French diplomacy.
They stopped them at the border,
then they took them
on a very long, slow train journey
through the worst parts
of the battlefields.
The ruin, destruction.
They made them look at all of it.
That must have been grim.
Not as grim as what's waiting for them
now they've arrived here, in Paris.
We need three cabs.
Can you take us to the Hotel Balzac?
What? You German scum.
This war had to be fought.
Above all, it had to be won.
The alternative was unthinkable.
- Who said that?
- You did.
I did?
In a letter you once wrote to me.
Oh, yes. It was a long time ago.
What did you mean?
I don't know. I suppose I meant
the need to preserve
some sort of decency,
simple human decency,
in a world suddenly gone mad.
- Do you still believe that?
- Yes, of course I do.
Well, is it sane again?
I I don't know.
Gentlemen, plenipotentiaries of
the German Empire,
the hour has struck for the weighty
settlement of our account.
You have asked for peace.
We are disposed to give it to you.
Does anyone wish to speak?
Very well.
Gentlemen, we shall study
this document.
And when we have determined
our position
There is nothing to determine.
The position is clear.
I mean, when negotiations begin.
Negotiations?
There will be no negotiations.
We have given you terms,
and you will sign.
Are we not even to be allowed
to respond to these demands?
You may make observations.
You have 15 days.
After that, you will sign.
Arnold.
You're such an idiot.
You've almost missed the whole thing.
I know, I was detained.
Have a drink.
It's exactly what I foresaw.
Wilson's given way
on nearly everything.
A slice of Austria for the Italians,
a wedge of China for the Japanese.
He came with Fourteen Points
towards world peace.
Well, he's abandoned
just about every one of them.
- If that's true, then it's tragic.
- Tragic? I'd say it's fatal.
The terms of German reparation
are even worse
than anybody possibly foresaw.
The document they gave
to the Germans
is so fierce it will bankrupt Germany.
Germany will go down in chaos,
then drag Europe down with her.
Mr Jones, the war you've just fought in,
which your friends died in,
in 10 or 20 years,
we will fight over again.
The worst thing in the document is this.
They're insisting on war quilt.
Yes. The Germans have to say
the whole fault of the war was theirs.
- That's madness.
- But of course.
And I tell you frankly,
if I were a German, I'd refuse to sign.
Leaders of the Allied
and Associated Powers,
this treaty is nothing more than
a continuation of the war
Speak up. I cannot hear.
A continuation of the war
by other means.
The reparation payments you demand
will ruin Germany.
She will have no navy,
no army to defend herself
if her borders are violated.
Colonies stripped away, coal mines
given to the Poles and the French.
You compel us to acknowledge
responsibility for the war
and demand that we hand over
our heroes to be tried as criminals.
President Wilson,
Germany laid down her arms
according to the principles
of your Fourteen Points.
This treaty here breaks
every one of those points!
May I remind you, sir,
that the German armies
marched home undefeated?
Where is your peace?
We have been betrayed!
We know the hatred
which meets us here.
This document proves it.
But you demand of us that we say we,
and we alone,
are guilty of having caused this war
Such a confession from my mouth
would be a lie.
What did I tell you?
The old Germany's still there.
This war was the greatest crime
against humanity
that any nation calling itself civilized
has ever committed.
Germany not only began it,
but she is responsible,
solely responsible,
for the inhuman way it was fought.
Justice is what you ask for?
Justice is what you shall have.
The treaty must be
accepted or rejected.
Answer.
Are you ready to sign?
Yielding to overwhelming force,
but without abandoning its view
Speak up! I cannot hear.
This is shameful.
Of the unheard-of injustice
of the terms
Speak up!
The government of Germany declares
it is ready to sign.
For a minute I thought
they were gonna walk out.
- They can't. They're hog-tied.
- Well, my knees were shaking.
This is history. Now make the most of it!
You'll never see anything like this again.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
You were at the hotel
the night we arrived.
Yes.
Sorry about what happened back there.
We were expecting it in the streets,
but not here.
Why do they insist on humiliating us?
I guess so you'll know
what they've suffered.
So you won't forget.
I fought at Verdun. I shall never forget.
I fought at Verdun, too.
You know, then, but I wonder, do they?
Maybe in the future.
The future?
We shall have no future
if those old men have their way.
We are here to sign a treaty of peace.
Isn't victory beastly?
Well, I guess this is the end of it.
I'm afraid this is just the beginning.
Leave that.
Get your stuff, we're needed again.
Weren't we going to
send a commission?
Quite right, sir, we were and we shall,
but the Middle East is highly unsettled.
Things are very volatile there.
In our view, it's imperative that
we make a firm decision now, sir.
I can't answer for the consequences
otherwise.
You agree?
Obviously.
I thought that we had decided
You've got your League, Mr President,
allow us to have this.
What exactly do you have in mind?
Now, our line
Will run here.
And ours
Runs here.
What are those areas?
Zones of influences, sir.
Let me show you.
British zone.
French zone.
Does anyone have a pencil?
- Mr President.
- Thank you, young man.
I see.
Splendid.
I take it we're all agreed, then?
- What about Prince Feisal?
- Oh, I dare say we'll find him something.
Diplomacy? Everything
you promised Feisal was a lie.
Is that your idea of diplomacy?
Mr President?
It's finished.
No one is satisfied.
It makes me hope
we've made a just peace.
So what happens with Prince Feisal?
Maybe they'll give him Iraq.
That's Gertrude's plan.
She says she'll move heaven and earth
to get it for him.
- So what will you do?
- Go back to England.
Vegetate. Starve, I imagine.
You won't starve. Unless you want to.
Henry, you're right, of course. And you?
A glittering career in diplomacy.
Ambassador to the Court of St. James?
I turned it down.
I'm gonna go back home, go to school.
- School?
- University.
I'm going to study archaeology.
Oh, that's fine.
- God, I envy you.
- I don't know, it's pretty scary.
- It's been three years since I left, so
- And what three years. A lifetime.
Well, I should get going.
- So long, Ned.
- Goodbye, Henry.
Henry. Don't forget me.
I won't forget you.
- Will you write?
- I will.
We gave the old men victory,
and they threw it away.
We offered them a new world,
and they made the old one over again.
Still, it might've been worse.
- What?
- I said, it might've been worse!
Did you fight?
- I'm sorry?
- Were you a soldier? Did you fight?
Yeah, yeah, I did.
- Were you scared?
- Gaston! That's not polite.
Yeah, yeah, I was scared.
I guess most soldiers are.
My father wasn't scared. He was brave.
He got a medal.
Look!
It's great.
- Did you get a medal?
- Yeah, I did.
Can I see it?
I don't have it on me right now.
One day, I'm going to have
a medal of my own.
Really?
When the next war comes.
What if another war doesn't come?
Don't be silly!
Of course there'll be a next war.
- Who will you fight?
- The Germans, of course!
I demand to see an official.
This is totally exasperating.
No! I am sorry.
Oh, goodness. Amy, we must find
someone who can speak
- Excuse me, ma'am, can I help?
- He doesn't speak English.
I'm sorry, ma'am. He apologizes
for the misunderstanding,
but your baggage will be sent
to your cabin.
I'm gratified to hear it.
I'm obliged to you, young man.
Thank you.
Sure.
Now, here you go. Thank you,
thank you. Come along, Amy.
American women.
They're impossible, no?
Hello.
Yes?
Excuse me.
Let's hope we're all quiet sleepers.
- Hi.
- Good afternoon, Mr
- Jones, Henry Jones.
- Yes, Mr Jones, what can I do for you?
I was wondering about dinner.
You are down for the second sitting.
Perfect.
Now, about the seating arrangements
But of course, Mr Jones.
Hello.
Oh, this is something
of a surprise, Mr Jones.
A pleasant one, I hope, Mrs Wharton.
Very pleasant.
A wonderful coincidence, I guess.
And how long was your stay
in Paris, Mr Jones?
Just a couple of months, ma'am.
I was with the American delegation
during the peace treaty negotiations.
Perhaps you know my husband,
Mr Thomas Wharton?
He is First Secretary at our embassy.
- You were in the war.
- In the war for three years.
I imagine your parents will be
most relieved at your return.
Well, my mother passed away,
and my father,
he's pretty involved with his work.
What sort of work would that be?
He's a professor of medieval studies
at Princeton.
Well, I do not doubt
he will be happy to see you.
Happy?
I'm sure he'll be tickled to death.
Good game.
Why would your father be
angry with you?
- First, for the way I left home.
- He didn't approve?
He really didn't get a chance.
I just sort of left without telling him.
And we haven't really communicated.
He did write to me once, though.
Telling you to never
darken his doorstep again.
No.
He said it was up to me
about what school I went to.
- Well, that doesn't sound so bad.
- Let's hope he still means it.
I'd like to go to the University of Chicago
and study archaeology,
instead of Princeton.
I'm going to Vassar to study medicine.
I plan to be a doctor.
Really? That's great.
And don't worry.
I'm sure that deep, deep down,
your father hasn't changed one bit.
That's what I'm afraid of.
Isn't it beautiful?
No, Indy, please don't.
- What's wrong?
- I don't know.
I don't want to fall in love with you.
- Why not?
- I'm not sure.
Are you scared?
Yes, I think so.
But why shouldn't I
go on seeing him, Mother?
What's wrong with him?
To begin with, I'm not at all sure
your father would approve.
Oh, nonsense, Mother.
Daddy would love Indy. I know he would.
Indy. What sort of name is that?
It's short for Indiana.
And you haven't answered my question.
Amy, this young man has
just been through a war.
Now I realise
that may seem glamorous to you
He fought in a war to end all wars.
He fought for the right reasons.
War can do terrible things to a person.
Especially when he's young
and impressionable.
Drat!
Who knows what dreadful things
he has seen, or even done?
I know that, Mother. I'm not a child.
Maybe not, but you still have
your whole life in front of you.
My dear, I just don't want to see
you make a terrible mistake.
One you'll live to regret.
But I like him, Mother.
I really, really like him.
I'm gonna come and visit you
every week, I promise.
Well, then I'll come to Princeton,
and that's a promise, too.
And we are going to keep
our promises, aren't we?
Yeah.
Yeah, we're gonna make this work.
We're home.
Yeah.
We're home.
So next Sunday,
Central Park bandstand.
- I'll be there.
- Okay.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye.
Welcome to Princeton.
Watch your step now.
- There you go.
- Thanks very much, sir.
Sure. Why not?
Maybe later we'll get to do
a little spooning, know what I mean?
Are you saying
you've asked Annie and Mabel?
Well, you know what they say, fellas.
"Two birds in the bushes are worth
one in the hand."
Golly, Charlie, you sure are something.
Nancy?
Indy! Oh, my gosh, this is wonderful.
Oh, it's so great to see you.
- It's good to see you, too.
- Well, when did you get back?
-Just now.
“What?
Oh, you should've told us.
We would've met you with
the band and everything.
Given you a real hero's welcome.
I don't know if I'd care for that too much.
- So how are you?
- Fine, just fine. We've been
Say hello
To little Butch.
Say hi to Indy,
Mommy's high school beau.
You married Butch?
Nearly two years ago.
- So how's your father
- How's your dad
- My dad's fine. How's yours?
- I don't know, I haven't seen him yet.
I haven't seen anyone. You're the first.
- Well, be sure and come and see us.
- Yeah, sure, I will.
Okay. Bye, Indy.
It's really great to have you back.
Well, I see you're back
from your little adventure.
Your room is as you left it.
- And, Junior?
- Yes, sir?
Dinner is at 7:30.
Sharp.
I see nothing's changed.
It's good to be home.
- Ready for a boat ride?
- Yes.
Was it really that bad?
It was worse. It was like
I never even left.
So what will you do?
Well, there's a physics professor
at Clark University.
He used to be at Princeton,
so he's spending his summer there.
I got a job as his lab assistant.
I can make
some extra money for school.
And, I don't know,
at least it will get me out of the house.
Won't your dad help? With school?
I mean
He got me the job.
That's his idea of helping, I guess.
Well, have you told him
about Chicago yet?
No.
Indy, you have to tell him sometime.
Well, I start my new job tomorrow,
so I guess I'll see you next week.
Okay.
Well, goodbye.
Indy,
you really should speak with your father.
How do you talk to a stone?
Bye.
Goodbye.
Amy?
I'm not at all pleased.
You will oblige me by not seeing
that young man again.
Why?
We weren't doing anything.
One of the Rockefeller boys
called on you again today.
This boy from New Jersey
is just not suitable.
Not suitable?
For heaven's sakes, Mother!
This is not the 19th century.
I'm sorry. I've made up my mind.
Whatever you say, I'll still see him.
- You will not.
- I will.
Professor Goddard?
I don't think so. That's the prof.
Don't disturb him. He doesn't like it.
- You're Henry Jones?
- Yes, sir.
Great. The job's all yours.
Where do I start?
Just remember,
he doesn't like to be disturbed.
Jonesey! Hey!
Jonesey!
Hey, buddy! Where you spring from?
- Last I heard, you was in the war.
- Well I was, I just got back.
So, what are you doing here?
I'm singing at Rutgers Glee Club.
We're giving a concert tonight.
Come hear us.
I can't.
My father, he's expecting me.
If I don't give him notice
Still keeping you
on a pretty tight rein, huh?
- Yeah.
- Some things don't change.
Say, how about we get together
next week some time?
That's great.
Yeah, we'll make a night of it.
We'll get something to eat.
Oh, you know a place in Princeton
where a white boy and a black boy
can grab a beer
and get something to eat?
- Trust me.
- That's my trouble, Jonesey.
I always did.
- It's good seeing you.
- You, too.
- Sorry I'm late.
- When I said dinner was at 7:30,
I did not mean 7:52.
I'm sorry. It'll never happen again.
Guess who I saw on campus today
on the quad? Paul Robeson.
Little Paul?
Whom you used to hang around with?
He's not so little any more.
You know, he just made all-American.
- At Princeton?
- No, no. At Rutgers.
He was just visiting from the Glee Club.
Still, there's no question
that Princeton's the right school
for you, Henry.
Listen, Dad
I've already spoken
to Dean Daly in Admissions.
- Hello?
- Amy, it's Indy.
Oh, Indy. Hi.
So, how's your new job?
Oh, pretty good.
Listen, about Saturday,
would you mind if I bring
an old friend of mine along?
He's one of my best friends,
we grew up together
and I kind of promised him
we'd get together.
- Of course it is.
- You'll really like him.
He's at Rutgers,
terrific footballer, all-American.
I'm sure that I will. I can't wait.
See you Saturday.
Okay, bye.
- All finished.
- Good.
Same time tomorrow, then.
Professor Goddard.
These altitude calculations,
aren't they a bit extreme?
I mean, 100,000 miles. That's pretty far.
What do you know
about altitude calculations?
Well, not a whole lot, but
In the war I was a flyer for a time, so
You flew in the war?
- Did you ever get to use rockets?
- For signaling? No, not really.
Never mind.
But I've always been interested
in rockets,
ever since I read Jules Verne as a kid.
Do you know
From The Earth To The Moon?
Indeed I do.
What about H. G. Wells?
Do you like his works, too?
Oh, he's fantastic!
I love The Time Machine.
And War of the Worlds, that was great.
Me, too.
In fact, it was reading H. G. Wells
that first got me started on this.
Is that what you're working on?
Rockets for signaling?
Rockets, yes. Signaling, no.
Come with me.
- How does it work?
- How long have you got?
See, the problem with ordinary rockets,
the kind that people know about,
is that they're inefficient.
They can rise, but not very far.
Because the fuel it carries is only a
small fraction of the rocket's total mass.
Exactly. But this rocket
is 30 times more efficient.
- How do you achieve that?
- Well, in three crucial ways.
The first is by using this tapering nozzle
so that the thrust is concentrated.
The second is by including
a reloading device
inside the rocket, so that the fuel is
used up only a little bit at a time.
Still, you're gonna need
an awful lot of powder.
You don't have to use powder.
A mixture of liquid oxygen
and kerosene works much better.
- Liquid fuel?
- Right.
- Well, how do you retrieve it?
- Simple, by fitting it with a parachute.
Still, it's gonna burn out pretty quick.
True, which brings us
to the third device.
You see, if this one works
we'll build another one,
with three rockets fitted together,
in stages, or steps, if you like.
So when one is used up,
it drops away,
and another one begins firing,
and then another and another,
and so on.
- So the sky's the limit.
- Why stop at the sky?
- Why not go on beyond?
- Beyond the sky?
Into space?
- Is that possible?
- There's no law in physics against it,
therefore one day it'll happen,
and I believe that day is very soon.
We're on the verge
of a very great change.
Space travel, it's
It's always been such a joke.
Every vision is a joke
until the first man accomplishes it.
Do you think it'll work?
That's what we're gonna find out.
Sorry, Dad. I got tied up at the lab
with Professor Goddard.
- It was really interesting.
- Enough.
I'm really sorry I'm late.
- I guess I'll go make myself a sandwich.
- No, you won't.
You chose to miss dinner,
therefore, you will go without.
Is there anything interesting
in the paper?
Not much.
President Wilson is sick again.
I heard him speak in Paris.
I really felt sorry for him.
No doubt he was deeply touched
by your concern.
The Treaty was just such a disaster, I
I think it broke him.
Nonsense.
The Treaty of Versailles
is merely the latest settlement
in the traditional
European nation-state conflict.
If you'd studied more history,
you'd know that.
- I disagree.
- You disagree?
You think this bizarre idea
of a League of Nations can ever work?
I'll tell you it's a fantasy.
Congress will never vote for it.
Junior, the nation-state
grew out of the city-state,
which realised itself through conquest
and expanded through colonization.
Think of Athens, think of Sparta.
The logical result was empire.
Think of Alexander, think of Rome.
Now, what just happened in Europe
was that the German Empire
attempted to expand.
It wanted territory, colonies.
And the only way to get them
was through conquest.
As a result, the Russian Empire,
the British Empire
and the French Republic,
which is an empire in all but name,
combined to crush it.
Russia fell, but Britain and France,
with timely American assistance,
smashed Germany and restored
the balance of imperial power.
Now that is why
Lloyd George and Clemenceau
are statesmen in the grand tradition.
And Woodrow Wilson
is an impractical dreamer.
That is the historical reality, Junior.
It'll never change.
We gave them victory
and they threw it away.
We offered them a new world,
and they're building the old one
- all over again.
- Sentimental rubbish.
Consider the position
of France and England
- at the end of the Hundred Years' War.
- It's different now.
Wars aren't fought by knights in armour,
who go back to their castles
when it's over.
There's machine guns and aeroplanes
and high explosives and tanks.
The weapons may have altered,
not the historical perspective.
No, Father, you're wrong.
There's a real change coming.
I know it, I've seen it.
Soon there'll be things
you've never dreamed of.
Oh, really?
You're an expert, then, are you?
-I decline to continue this conversation.
“What?
Be silent.
- No, but Father, we have
- Do you hear?
I said, be silent.
You're just mad 'cause I left for the war
without discussing it with you.
That subject is closed.
It's true. Why can't you admit
- you're still mad at me?
- Junior!
And you're gonna go on being
mad at me, aren't you?
- You're never gonna let it go.
- Henry, for the very last time
No, no. You'll never change, will you?
You can't, you never could.
Not even when Mother was alive.
- How dare you
- Not even
How dare you mention
your mother to me!
Don't even let me hear you
speak of her again.
Why shouldn't I?
You never did one thing
to make her happy.
And now you're taking it all out on me.
Why, you ignorant,
ungrateful, unfeeling,
- young
- Unfeeling?
I'm unfeeling?
No, no, you're the one that's unfeeling.
You never gave a thought
for anyone but yourself.
You're the one that could never admit
to being wrong.
You shirked every duty,
dodged every problem
Fine, well, at least I admitted it.
- Why can't you?
- Took the easy way out.
- Ran away every time.
- Go on!
Go on, just for once in your life,
admit that you were wrong.
- Go to your room.
- No.
No, Father,
I'm not 10 years old any more.
You do as I say, Son.
This instant.
Go to your room.
But Jonesey, you can't just
write your father off.
- You've got to resolve this thing first.
- Indy!
Amy!
- You made it.
- I did, and in spite of my mom.
Amy, this is Paul.
My friend. I told you about him.
Except he didn't tell you
that I was a Negro.
- Right?
- No, no, he didn't.
Which is fine, it's okay.
I'm happy to know you, Paul.
Okay, so where do we eat?
- We're gonna go
- We plan to eat?
Indy, that could be a problem.
No, it's no problem.
I got it all figured out. Come on.
- Here you are, that'll be 10 cents.
- Thanks.
- Everything on it?
- You bet!
Hello.
Three with all the trimmings, please.
Coming up.
I missed these.
You don't see these
in France, huh, Indy?
Since when did you start
serving niggers?
- Hey, look, mister
- You heard me.
- Hey, I don't want no trouble.
- Hey, hey, hey.
- Listen, friend, we just
- Hey, hey.
Well then, maybe you should
go eat somewhere else.
Unless you wanna make
something of it.
Wait for me, wait for me, Sarah.
Those were the times!
My father had me washing windows
for a month.
What else is new?
Well, he can't be worse
than my mother.
I mean, all she wants from me
is to marry someone
from the Upper East Side,
live happily ever after and
And have babies.
I mean, and as for being a doctor,
she doesn't even think
that women should vote.
My father's still stuck in the Dark Ages.
It's like time just stopped for him.
It's like all of those politicians
in Europe.
They continue their long-honoured
cycle of wars. It's
- I wonder if it'll ever change.
- Politicians never change.
You know, in some ways, things haven't
changed since the Civil War.
I don't just mean for colored people.
I mean for the ordinary man.
I mean, look around. What do you see?
Wage slavery, exploitation,
I mean, it's everywhere.
Can't go on like this.
But it does.
You know, change is painful.
People will do anything to prevent pain.
It's because it's unfamiliar to them.
I mean, it's not safe.
They have this fear of the unknown.
Can't wait for our parents to change.
It's got to be up to us.
Maybe I should put that in my speech.
What speech?
Saturday is Commencement Day.
I'm valedictorian.
You're valedictorian? That's terrific!
- Congratulations!
- You wanna come?
You try and keep us away.
Paul.
Amy, head home.
- But Indy, I
- No, please, just
- Head home. We'll meet you there.
- Okay.
Oh, I smell something bad!
Hey, Joe, do you smell something bad?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, nigger.
Just like the old days.
- What happened to you?
- I got in a fight.
I can see that.
What was it about?
I guess you could say I was trying to
help some people
change their social patterns,
only they didn't want to.
- Did you win?
- The fight? Yeah.
Not so sure about the social patterns.
Some people are pretty stubborn.
Don't worry, history's on your side.
That's not what my father would say.
I'm talking about the progression
of science, technology, this.
And no matter how much
people try to resist,
technology will force them to change.
Think how vast the world used to be,
and how small it's become.
Imagine how much smaller yet
it will become.
I mean, air travel will make it possible
to go around the world
in a matter of hours.
Radio and telephone, you can talk to
anybody, anyplace, at any time.
Nations that used to be
on the other side of the globe
are now next-door neighbours,
economically and socially linked.
What if they don't get along?
Oh, they'll have to.
Technology will make them.
Well, suppose they fight.
They won't dare to.
The weapons will be too horrible.
And they'll find new ways to cooperate.
Because if they fight,
they'll destroy each other.
The future's here.
This is it. It's a fact.
The pace is gonna get quicker.
Old methods of thought
will be discarded.
Old habits will change.
And no matter how much mankind
tries to resist,
in the end,
there's no choice.
Well, that may work for mankind,
but I'm not so sure about my father.
Not a word. It's as if I don't even exist.
Poor man!
- Poor man?
- Sure.
Can't you see how lonely he is?
How sad he must be feeling?
- My father doesn't have feelings.
- Oh, Indy, I don't think so.
No. You're wrong.
He's not like other fathers.
He never has been.
Even when I was kid, we never talked.
We never laughed, we never played.
We never did anything fathers are
supposed to do with their sons.
You have to make up with him.
Father, there's something I'd like to say.
I'd like to apologise.
About the other night.
The things I said, the way I acted,
I was way out of line.
And I'm sorry.
I guess that's it.
We'll not discuss it further.
Yes, we will. Yes, we will. We have to.
We can't just pretend
that this never happened.
You have apologized.
I have accepted your apology.
What more is there to say?
A lot more.
A whole lot more. Don't you see?
We never talk.
We're more like strangers
than father and son.
Like strangers?
You and I are like strangers?
It's because we're never close.
We're never together. We
We never have been.
Except maybe that time in Athens.
But that
In Athens?
When we went to see the monasteries,
just Just the two of us.
Oh, yes.
We'd gone to Greece, if I remember,
straight after our visit to Russia.
And we got stuck
in the monastery's wooden lift.
That's right.
That was the best time
I ever had with you.
When we finally escaped up the rope,
I remember you picked me up,
and you just held me really tight.
It was the only time I can ever
remember you actually hugged me.
And it felt great.
For a while there, just
Just for that moment
You really were my dad.
- You ready, Indy?
- Yeah.
Start the countdown.
Five, four, three, two
This is the future, Indy. And it's here.
- Well, good luck, Paul.
- Thanks.
- I'm gonna need it.
- You'll be great.
I sure hope so.
Because I've never been so nervous
in my whole life.
Your seats are in the front row.
- Mr Robeson, it's very good to see you.
- Good to see you, Indy.
- This is Paul's father.
- Hello.
- Paul's aunt.
- Hi.
- Hello.
- And Paul's cousin.
- Hi.
- It's a pleasure to meet you.
Ladies and gentlemen, our class
valedictorian, Paul Robeson.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
and fellow students,
this nation has just emerged
from a Great War
in which she has proven true
to her trust.
Her soldiers have fought and died,
to preserve those
historic ideals of liberty and justice
by which America was founded.
And those ideals have prevailed.
Yet America is still a nation
of two races,
one favoured and one less-favoured.
And so I speak to you today
of a new idealism,
and I invoke its spirit in the days
of change that lie ahead.
We of the less-favoured race realise
that our future
lies chiefly in our own hands.
On ourselves alone will depend
the preservation of those liberties
and the transmission of them
to those who shall come after us.
And we are struggling on,
attempting to show that knowledge
can be obtained under difficulties,
that poverty may make way
for affluence,
that obscurity is not an absolute bar
to distinction,
and that a way is open to all who wish
to follow the way with wisdom
and resolution.
That neither old-time slavery
nor continued prejudice
need extinguish self-respect,
crush manly ambition,
or paralyze effort.
I call upon my own race
to practice the virtues of self-reliance,
self-respect, industry,
and perseverance.
But I also call upon you,
the more-favoured race,
to catch a new idealism,
to invoke a new spirit of compassion
at the manifest distress
of your fellow men.
This new idealism
asks more from you than courtesy
and fair-mindedness.
It also asks for your willingness to fight
for the great principle,
that there will be
equal opportunities for all.
And so, in conclusion,
I appeal to all of you
to fight for a government
whereby character
shall be the standard of excellence,
where white and black
shall clasp hands friendly,
in full consciousness
that we are brothers,
and God almighty is the Father of us all.
So, Jonesey,
you secure a place at Princeton?
No, University of Chicago.
I'm gonna study archaeology.
A doctor, lawyer and an archaeologist.
Not bad for a start.
Well, we'd better get going.
She's got a train to catch.
Yes.
- Thanks for coming.
- Paul, it was a privilege.
You take care of yourself, Jonesey.
I will.
It was a great speech, Paul.
It was a really great speech.
You think they heard?
They heard.
- And they'll remember.
- God willing.
- Take care of yourself.
- Sure will. Do the same.
- All aboard!
- Well, good luck at medical school.
So, what about us?
Well, Chicago's
an awfully long way away.
I'll come and visit you every week.
No, you won't. And you know that.
I'll write to you, I will.
I'll write to you every day.
You're right, I won't.
I will still love you.
I'll still love you, too.
And I really do hope
that you get everything that you want.
Goodbye, Indy.
Father, I'm sorry
we haven't talked more.
So am I, Henry.
Because
I know it's what your mother
would have liked.
And I know, too, that
she'd have wanted me to say,
I'm glad you're safe.
- You're going somewhere.
- University of Chicago.
- Chicago?
- To study archaeology.
What about Princeton?
The archaeology department's
better at Chicago.
And you said I could decide.
You wrote me.
That was a long time ago.
- Yes, but Father
- Very well.
If that's what you want.
Dad
Close the door behind you
when you leave, Junior.
After four years of hideous slaughter,
Germany and her satellites
have collapsed.
This is Percy McCallum for
the British Radio Corporation,
broadcasting live from
the great Palace of Versailles.
There is jubilation across Europe
as the deadly guns of battle fall silent.
Defeated German troops struggle home
across the shattered countryside
to find their once all-powerful Kaiser
has abdicated and fled his homeland.
Every one of the enemy monarchs
has fallen before the power
of the great democracies,
and a new day of liberty dawns.
Now here in Paris, the victorious Allies
gather to make peace.
The fearful rites of war must give way
to the gentle arts of diplomacy.
Great men of integrity and honour
are here.
Their task?
To make a future war impossible.
Their challenge?
To forge a world where charity
and compassion rule the day.
Georges Clemenceau,
"the Tiger," Premier of France,
the Prime Minister of Great Britain,
David Lloyd George,
and Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States,
greeted here as a savior
with his vision of lasting world peace.
And so, in conference halls
all over the city,
the great work begins
to create a new world order.
France will have territory.
She will have treasure.
I speak for the nation which,
more than any other,
has fought and bled.
I speak for the nation which,
more than any other,
has brought victory
over our barbarous foe.
I speak for France.
France declares that never again
will she suffer invasion of her borders.
Never again will she submit
to the destruction of her countryside
and the slaughter of her citizens.
To this end, she will have justice
and security on her own terms.
Then, and only then,
will France grant peace.
France is great, her voice is loud,
and her glorious people
will accept nothing less.
No one has anything more to say?
Mr Jones?
- Mr Jones?
- Yes, yes, yes.
Those speeches
from yesterday's conference?
How soon can I have the translations?
It'll be on your desk by 4:30, sir.
- Fine.
- Ned?
Henry.
By all that's wonderful.
- How long has it been? A year?
- Nearly two.
I just got a job with
the American delegation as a translator.
Pay's not much,
but it's interesting work.
So, here I am helping Arabia and
Prince Feisal become a free nation.
Well, that's great, Ned.
I tell you, colonialism is dead.
There must be dozens of countries
competing to become free nations.
I hope so, for Arabia's sake.
Oh, Mr Lawrence,
may we be so presumptuous
as to ask for your autograph?
Why, yes, you may.
I didn't realise
you'd become such a celebrity.
Well, power of the press.
It has nothing to do with me.
Look, I'm dining with Gertrude Bell
at the Majestic tonight.
- Thank you.
- Gertrude Bell?
She's written more about the situation
in Arabia than anyone.
- Will you join us?
- I'd love to.
- Excellent. At 7:30, then.
- Great.
Henry, this is so good.
So I took my discharge
from the Belgian Army.
I just decided it was time
I quit being a spy.
Well, in your last letter,
you talked of going to college.
Well, my boss says there's a chance
of a job in the State Department, so
- You're going to be a diplomat.
- Maybe.
Oh, Henry, beware.
The snares and delusions of diplomacy
are not to be embraced lightly.
Everyone, please.
Do you know Arnold Toynbee?
If I may say,
our most distinguished historian.
- Arnold, this is Gertrude Bell.
- A great pleasure.
- Mr Toynbee.
- And my friend Henry Jones.
- Pleasure to meet you, sir.
- How do you do?
Please.
You see, Arnold's the man who
really knows what's going on here.
I wouldn't say that.
He's part of the official
British delegation,
unlike people like me.
I've been out trying to catch sight
of the German delegation.
- Oh, really?
- They're due in tonight.
Nobody's seen them.
They'll be trying
to sneak in the back way.
It's true.
The feeling against them is frightening.
I read the newspapers.
I've seen the demonstrations as well,
and my fear is
that we do not have statesmen
with enough courage
to resist the public demands
for revenge.
I don't know.
I've been watching our President.
No, really. He's a fine man.
He's a fine man obsessed with forming
his absurd League of Nations.
And meanwhile, he's giving way
to every bloodthirsty demand.
He's completely outwitted.
Clemenceau, a dinosaur,
baying for blood.
Lloyd George, a politician with no vision
or morality at all.
There's just been a war.
The worst war in history.
People have fought and died.
You can't just expect
that they'll turn around and forgive.
You can't just wipe your enemy out.
Years ago, Rome could just wipe
Carthage out, but now,
the world has changed.
Everything's connected.
What has happened will happen again.
For better or worse,
history now moves in a spiral.
These men are trying
to force Germany down.
But it cannot be done
without terrible tragedy.
Push Germany down
and you'll pay a price.
And one day it will once more
rise to the top.
But this lot are behaving
like men with no memories.
Those who forget the lessons
of history are doomed to repeat it.
His Excellency,
the President of the United States.
Delegates, representatives, friends,
for we are all friends here.
We have now
been engaged for five months
on a course of framing a peace.
A just peace. A lasting peace.
Moreover, we have
also been establishing,
for the first time
in the history of mankind,
an international forum,
a supreme body of world affairs.
I refer to the League of Nations,
that bright hope I know we all share.
The aim of the League is simple,
yet awe-inspiring.
It is nothing less
than the brotherhood of man.
And with goodwill and calm endeavor,
we shall succeed in our noble purpose.
We shall succeed where great religions,
where even Christianity itself,
has failed.
Why has Jesus Christ
so far not succeeded
in inducing the world to follow
his teachings in these matters?
Friends, I will tell you.
It is because he has taught the ideal
without devising
a practical means of attaining it.
That is why I propose
a practical scheme
to carry out his purposes.
That is why I offer you
the League of Nations.
No more warring or petty factions.
No more being at the disposal
of the colonial powers. But one Arabia.
Independent. United.
Under the rule of Prince Feisal.
- Now, how does that sound?
- Sounds great.
Sounds very well.
Unhappily, the French have other ideas.
France was to have Syria.
Britain, Iraq and the oil fields.
Well, the war is over,
and now the French
are insisting
the agreement be honoured.
Now, when did the French
know anything about honour?
Ned, that's unworthy of you.
Yes. All right, I'm sorry.
But it makes my blood boil.
We promised independence to Feisal.
I promised.
- And now they tell us
- Oh, come on, Ned.
Don't play the innocent.
You knew about it all along.
So, that's the hitch, Mr Jones.
An equivocal promise
to a desert chieftain
versus a solemn agreement
between two great imperial powers.
You see, there's no such thing
as the Arab nation.
No Arab feels part of it.
He doesn't even think of himself
as an Arab.
What is he?
A man from Damascus,
Mecca or Baghdad.
A member of a particular Bedouin tribe.
A Kurd, a Sunni, a Shiite.
He can be any of these things.
But an Arab? Never.
At least, not yet, I'm afraid.
He will be one day.
I'm determined to make it happen.
All by yourself, Ned?
- Your view is too narrow, too personal.
- Too personal?
- What other view is there?
- The statesman's.
The statesman's. Oh, God.
This way. Now just keep quiet.
The President says he needs a record.
With these two,
he likes everything to be written down.
- Mr President.
- Gentlemen.
Gentlemen, I have to tell you,
this is not the most
important problem we face.
Oh, it's a waste of time discussing this.
The future of Arabia is settled.
France and Britain made an agreement.
Well, I wish it were
as simple as that, you see.
But Britain also made a promise
to Prince Feisal.
- I am sorry. That cannot be helped.
- But it was a promise.
Which we knew nothing about.
And let me remind you, Prime Minister,
that you will get Iraq and the oil fields.
And let me remind you, sir,
that France's contribution to
the victory in Arabia was negligible.
Negligible?
Gentlemen, this
is a pointless argument.
I believe there's a matter
of principle involved here.
England and France
have made a secret agreement.
It is my passionate conviction
that secret agreements
belong to the past.
- Mr President
- You have both accepted
my Fourteen Points. We must have
open agreements, openly arrived at.
You've pledged yourself to these things.
Very well, the answer to this problem,
therefore, is simple.
We go and consult
the people themselves.
- The people?
- Exactly.
The people of Arabia.
We ask them what it is they want.
- Ask them?
- Yes.
Yes, I see. And what form would this
exercise in democracy take?
I am proposing a commission.
It will be their job to go
and thoroughly investigate
the wishes of the people of Arabia,
and to come back and report.
I understand. Yes.
Well, it is a brilliant solution.
Don't you agree?
And what do we say
to Feisal tomorrow?
Say? Well, we say nothing.
We just listen.
Or at least we listen for now.
He said that? Wilson said that?
"I don't care about
your secret agreements."
- That's what he said.
- Wonderful.
Do you think he meant it?
Of course he meant it. I was there.
As close to him as I am to you now.
Thank you.
And the others?
I mean, Lloyd George, Clemenceau
- They just took it. They had no choice.
- But what will happen about Feisal?
- They'll listen to everything he says.
- Henry, you're priceless.
What a boon it is
to have a friend at court.
Is this idea of a commission
Oh, who cares about
a tuppenny-ha'penny commission?
- The President does.
- Let him.
A commission will take months,
years even.
The real decisions are being made now,
which leaves the field clear for us
and what we say.
No, no, no. Ned, you're wrong.
You have to wait for the commission.
That's what the President means.
Wilson's an idiot.
We'll run rings round him.
But what if the others don't listen?
They'll listen. I'll make them.
Don't you see? This is the chance
we've been waiting for,
to get out of this business
with clean hands.
Whose hands, Ned? Yours?
Yes. Mine.
Well, why not mine?
What are you scowling for?
- I'm not scowling. I just think
- You think? What do you think?
Some vacuous cliché
of Woodrow Wilson's?
- Ned?
- Some Christmas card motto
parading as wisdom? Well?
Maybe that's what it sounds like, Ned.
But the President means business.
- And I agree with him.
- Oh, do you indeed? I tremble.
And I also think you're way out of line.
Go to hell.
And take that sanctimonious
hypocrite of a President with you.
Sir! Excuse me, sir.
May I speak with you for a moment?
It's about the Conference.
I'm sorry.
I really need to catch up with my friend.
I'm sorry.
Ned!
- I just didn't want you to think
- Henry, don't.
And don't, whatever you do, apologise.
It's me who should be doing that.
My behaviour back there
was unforgivable.
- I just thought you might be mad at me.
- Mad?
Oh, I see. You mean angry. No.
You didn't make me mad.
It's just that I've
become a little cynical,
and it doesn't mix too well
with your idealism.
- You're probably just tired.
- No. We're all tired.
Tired and disillusioned.
All except you, Henry.
Now, don't change, will you?
It's what makes you
such a splendid chap.
I just thought you might be worried
about Prince Feisal's speech.
Oh, I am worried. There's a lot at stake.
For you, Arabia, or the future
of the 20th century?
Well, why For me, of course.
Is it your intention, sir,
to speak to us directly,
or through an interpreter?
Prince Feisal asks me
to interpret for him,
if it pleases this great Conference.
Colonel Lawrence,
it pleases this Conference very well.
Prince Feisal speaks for the horsemen
who carried the Arab flag across
the great desert.
"We do not ask for favors,"
"merely for justice
and the fulfillment of your promises."
"We fought for the unity of our nation"
"and the right to rule ourselves."
"We remind you,
we speak one language."
"We are one race."
"Our lands must not be divided"
"and given as war booty
to this or that colonial power."
"We did not overthrow the Turk
to be enslaved again."
Prince Feisal says,
"My people were civilized"
"when every other country here
was populated by barbarians."
"You should remember this."
"Remember, too, what you promised
when you needed us."
"Liberty and independence,"
"in exchange for our help
in the great battle."
"We believed you,"
"we trusted you,"
"we joined our cause with yours."
"We fought and died."
"We have kept our own part
in this bargain."
"We have kept our word."
"All we ask now is that you prove"
“the greatness of your nations,
and keep yours."
“In return,"
"we offer you gratitude
and lasting peace."
Thus speaks Prince Feisal.
These are his words.
Excuse me. Sir, do you have a moment?
May I speak with you, please?
I saw you the other evening
at the restaurant.
The restaurant?
- Right, right. You were the waiter
- The waiter. Yes.
Sir, I'm sorry.
I realise you must be very busy.
But if I could just have
two minutes of your time.
- Well, I really
- It is important. Please.
I am working in Paris as a pastry chef,
but sometimes as a waiter as well.
My name is Nguyen Ai Quoc, sir.
I'm Vietnamese.
Not very well, I'm afraid.
-Sir, we need your help.
We?
Small group of my countrymen and me.
We are a delegation of patriots.
We have written a petition.
Is this it?
For weeks now we've tried to present it.
No one will hear us.
No one will even receive it.
That is why I come to you.
- I'm sorry, Mr Nguyen
- I know you can do this.
I heard you in the restaurant.
You are close to President Wilson.
I know that you are
a very important man.
I'm just a translator.
I just happened to be present
We have tried everywhere.
No one will listen.
All the doors shut in our faces.
All we ask for is assistance. Please.
Well, I can't promise you anything.
Thank you, sir.
Are you crazy?
- But sir
- For crying out loud,
Vietnam's on the other side
of the world.
- But so is Japan.
- The Japanese were our allies.
They fought on our side. No. I'm sorry.
- The schedule is crazy enough as it is.
- It won't take long, sir.
Do you have any idea
just how busy we are?
- Yes, sir. I do.
- And what are the French gonna say?
Hell, Vietnam belongs to them.
But sir, the President says
the whole world
The President.
Henry, listen to me.
You've done well here as a translator.
I've already marked you down for a job.
When this is all over, there's a post
in the State Department
I have in mind for you.
But if you come aboard,
there's one thing you have to learn.
Presidents come and go.
Diplomats stay.
Now, I'm not criticizing
Woodrow Wilson.
All I'm saying is,
he won't be around much longer.
We will. Think about it.
- Something else on your mind?
- No. No, sir.
- Didn't you hear me just now?
- Yes, sir. I heard.
And I also heard what you said
about presidents.
About how they come and go.
And it reminded me of an old man
I met in Mexico once,
who said pretty much the same thing.
Oh, he did?
He was a peasant.
Most likely he's dead now.
I don't even know his name.
But I'll never forget what he told me.
It's maybe the reason I'm here now.
He said, "The men in power change,
but the people go on suffering."
Look, Jones
Sir, I really think the Vietnamese
ought to be heard.
Maybe people think
their country's not important,
and it's not our business
what happens there.
But it is important.
These are people
just like any other people.
Who are we to say they can't be heard?
Sir, the whole world
has come to this city.
Why shouldn't they have
the opportunity to make their case?
And we, as Americans,
should be right behind them.
Half an hour is all they need.
Is that too much to ask?
All right, when you get in there,
keep it simple.
Concentrate on the American.
He'll listen.
- So speak mainly to him.
- We understand.
Thank you, sir.
On behalf of the people of Vietnam,
we do not ask for independence
or freedom from French colonial rule.
Only the implementation
of these points.
A general amnesty for
all political prisoners.
Equal rights
for the Vietnamese and the French.
Freedom of the press.
Freedom to meet and assemble.
Freedom to emigrate and travel abroad.
Better schools.
Abolition of rule
by the French President's decree.
And the appointment of
Vietnamese members
to the French Parliament.
Sir, that is all.
Thank you.
Your petition will be considered.
Any questions?
- I'm sorry.
- No.
At least they heard us.
I don't think they listen
to anyone any more.
Someday they will listen to Ho Chi Minh.
Ho Chi Minh?
That's what we call him.
It means, "Father of our Country."
It's not a title I deserve.
Thank you, Mr Jones.
You did your best.
But they didn't even listen.
The Frenchman went to sleep.
That's what I've been telling you.
The real decisions
are being made in private.
The colonial powers are simply
carving up the world.
But the Vietnamese don't even
want to rule their own country.
All they're asking for is to be
represented in the French government,
for basic equal rights.
Henry, Wilson aside, nobody here
is interested in people's rights.
It's just It's just not fair.
It's not about fairness.
It's about power and greed.
Well, then, why did we fight in the war?
Why did so many people die?
Are you saying
that it was all for nothing?
No. No war is for nothing.
But when it's over,
it turns out to be something
quite different from
what was believed at the start.
And the result is never intended
to be what it is.
Arnold, Henry. Have you heard?
The German delegation is arriving.
Well, what in the world
has taken them so long?
A classic piece of French diplomacy.
They stopped them at the border,
then they took them
on a very long, slow train journey
through the worst parts
of the battlefields.
The ruin, destruction.
They made them look at all of it.
That must have been grim.
Not as grim as what's waiting for them
now they've arrived here, in Paris.
We need three cabs.
Can you take us to the Hotel Balzac?
What? You German scum.
This war had to be fought.
Above all, it had to be won.
The alternative was unthinkable.
- Who said that?
- You did.
I did?
In a letter you once wrote to me.
Oh, yes. It was a long time ago.
What did you mean?
I don't know. I suppose I meant
the need to preserve
some sort of decency,
simple human decency,
in a world suddenly gone mad.
- Do you still believe that?
- Yes, of course I do.
Well, is it sane again?
I I don't know.
Gentlemen, plenipotentiaries of
the German Empire,
the hour has struck for the weighty
settlement of our account.
You have asked for peace.
We are disposed to give it to you.
Does anyone wish to speak?
Very well.
Gentlemen, we shall study
this document.
And when we have determined
our position
There is nothing to determine.
The position is clear.
I mean, when negotiations begin.
Negotiations?
There will be no negotiations.
We have given you terms,
and you will sign.
Are we not even to be allowed
to respond to these demands?
You may make observations.
You have 15 days.
After that, you will sign.
Arnold.
You're such an idiot.
You've almost missed the whole thing.
I know, I was detained.
Have a drink.
It's exactly what I foresaw.
Wilson's given way
on nearly everything.
A slice of Austria for the Italians,
a wedge of China for the Japanese.
He came with Fourteen Points
towards world peace.
Well, he's abandoned
just about every one of them.
- If that's true, then it's tragic.
- Tragic? I'd say it's fatal.
The terms of German reparation
are even worse
than anybody possibly foresaw.
The document they gave
to the Germans
is so fierce it will bankrupt Germany.
Germany will go down in chaos,
then drag Europe down with her.
Mr Jones, the war you've just fought in,
which your friends died in,
in 10 or 20 years,
we will fight over again.
The worst thing in the document is this.
They're insisting on war quilt.
Yes. The Germans have to say
the whole fault of the war was theirs.
- That's madness.
- But of course.
And I tell you frankly,
if I were a German, I'd refuse to sign.
Leaders of the Allied
and Associated Powers,
this treaty is nothing more than
a continuation of the war
Speak up. I cannot hear.
A continuation of the war
by other means.
The reparation payments you demand
will ruin Germany.
She will have no navy,
no army to defend herself
if her borders are violated.
Colonies stripped away, coal mines
given to the Poles and the French.
You compel us to acknowledge
responsibility for the war
and demand that we hand over
our heroes to be tried as criminals.
President Wilson,
Germany laid down her arms
according to the principles
of your Fourteen Points.
This treaty here breaks
every one of those points!
May I remind you, sir,
that the German armies
marched home undefeated?
Where is your peace?
We have been betrayed!
We know the hatred
which meets us here.
This document proves it.
But you demand of us that we say we,
and we alone,
are guilty of having caused this war
Such a confession from my mouth
would be a lie.
What did I tell you?
The old Germany's still there.
This war was the greatest crime
against humanity
that any nation calling itself civilized
has ever committed.
Germany not only began it,
but she is responsible,
solely responsible,
for the inhuman way it was fought.
Justice is what you ask for?
Justice is what you shall have.
The treaty must be
accepted or rejected.
Answer.
Are you ready to sign?
Yielding to overwhelming force,
but without abandoning its view
Speak up! I cannot hear.
This is shameful.
Of the unheard-of injustice
of the terms
Speak up!
The government of Germany declares
it is ready to sign.
For a minute I thought
they were gonna walk out.
- They can't. They're hog-tied.
- Well, my knees were shaking.
This is history. Now make the most of it!
You'll never see anything like this again.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
You were at the hotel
the night we arrived.
Yes.
Sorry about what happened back there.
We were expecting it in the streets,
but not here.
Why do they insist on humiliating us?
I guess so you'll know
what they've suffered.
So you won't forget.
I fought at Verdun. I shall never forget.
I fought at Verdun, too.
You know, then, but I wonder, do they?
Maybe in the future.
The future?
We shall have no future
if those old men have their way.
We are here to sign a treaty of peace.
Isn't victory beastly?
Well, I guess this is the end of it.
I'm afraid this is just the beginning.
Leave that.
Get your stuff, we're needed again.
Weren't we going to
send a commission?
Quite right, sir, we were and we shall,
but the Middle East is highly unsettled.
Things are very volatile there.
In our view, it's imperative that
we make a firm decision now, sir.
I can't answer for the consequences
otherwise.
You agree?
Obviously.
I thought that we had decided
You've got your League, Mr President,
allow us to have this.
What exactly do you have in mind?
Now, our line
Will run here.
And ours
Runs here.
What are those areas?
Zones of influences, sir.
Let me show you.
British zone.
French zone.
Does anyone have a pencil?
- Mr President.
- Thank you, young man.
I see.
Splendid.
I take it we're all agreed, then?
- What about Prince Feisal?
- Oh, I dare say we'll find him something.
Diplomacy? Everything
you promised Feisal was a lie.
Is that your idea of diplomacy?
Mr President?
It's finished.
No one is satisfied.
It makes me hope
we've made a just peace.
So what happens with Prince Feisal?
Maybe they'll give him Iraq.
That's Gertrude's plan.
She says she'll move heaven and earth
to get it for him.
- So what will you do?
- Go back to England.
Vegetate. Starve, I imagine.
You won't starve. Unless you want to.
Henry, you're right, of course. And you?
A glittering career in diplomacy.
Ambassador to the Court of St. James?
I turned it down.
I'm gonna go back home, go to school.
- School?
- University.
I'm going to study archaeology.
Oh, that's fine.
- God, I envy you.
- I don't know, it's pretty scary.
- It's been three years since I left, so
- And what three years. A lifetime.
Well, I should get going.
- So long, Ned.
- Goodbye, Henry.
Henry. Don't forget me.
I won't forget you.
- Will you write?
- I will.
We gave the old men victory,
and they threw it away.
We offered them a new world,
and they made the old one over again.
Still, it might've been worse.
- What?
- I said, it might've been worse!
Did you fight?
- I'm sorry?
- Were you a soldier? Did you fight?
Yeah, yeah, I did.
- Were you scared?
- Gaston! That's not polite.
Yeah, yeah, I was scared.
I guess most soldiers are.
My father wasn't scared. He was brave.
He got a medal.
Look!
It's great.
- Did you get a medal?
- Yeah, I did.
Can I see it?
I don't have it on me right now.
One day, I'm going to have
a medal of my own.
Really?
When the next war comes.
What if another war doesn't come?
Don't be silly!
Of course there'll be a next war.
- Who will you fight?
- The Germans, of course!
I demand to see an official.
This is totally exasperating.
No! I am sorry.
Oh, goodness. Amy, we must find
someone who can speak
- Excuse me, ma'am, can I help?
- He doesn't speak English.
I'm sorry, ma'am. He apologizes
for the misunderstanding,
but your baggage will be sent
to your cabin.
I'm gratified to hear it.
I'm obliged to you, young man.
Thank you.
Sure.
Now, here you go. Thank you,
thank you. Come along, Amy.
American women.
They're impossible, no?
Hello.
Yes?
Excuse me.
Let's hope we're all quiet sleepers.
- Hi.
- Good afternoon, Mr
- Jones, Henry Jones.
- Yes, Mr Jones, what can I do for you?
I was wondering about dinner.
You are down for the second sitting.
Perfect.
Now, about the seating arrangements
But of course, Mr Jones.
Hello.
Oh, this is something
of a surprise, Mr Jones.
A pleasant one, I hope, Mrs Wharton.
Very pleasant.
A wonderful coincidence, I guess.
And how long was your stay
in Paris, Mr Jones?
Just a couple of months, ma'am.
I was with the American delegation
during the peace treaty negotiations.
Perhaps you know my husband,
Mr Thomas Wharton?
He is First Secretary at our embassy.
- You were in the war.
- In the war for three years.
I imagine your parents will be
most relieved at your return.
Well, my mother passed away,
and my father,
he's pretty involved with his work.
What sort of work would that be?
He's a professor of medieval studies
at Princeton.
Well, I do not doubt
he will be happy to see you.
Happy?
I'm sure he'll be tickled to death.
Good game.
Why would your father be
angry with you?
- First, for the way I left home.
- He didn't approve?
He really didn't get a chance.
I just sort of left without telling him.
And we haven't really communicated.
He did write to me once, though.
Telling you to never
darken his doorstep again.
No.
He said it was up to me
about what school I went to.
- Well, that doesn't sound so bad.
- Let's hope he still means it.
I'd like to go to the University of Chicago
and study archaeology,
instead of Princeton.
I'm going to Vassar to study medicine.
I plan to be a doctor.
Really? That's great.
And don't worry.
I'm sure that deep, deep down,
your father hasn't changed one bit.
That's what I'm afraid of.
Isn't it beautiful?
No, Indy, please don't.
- What's wrong?
- I don't know.
I don't want to fall in love with you.
- Why not?
- I'm not sure.
Are you scared?
Yes, I think so.
But why shouldn't I
go on seeing him, Mother?
What's wrong with him?
To begin with, I'm not at all sure
your father would approve.
Oh, nonsense, Mother.
Daddy would love Indy. I know he would.
Indy. What sort of name is that?
It's short for Indiana.
And you haven't answered my question.
Amy, this young man has
just been through a war.
Now I realise
that may seem glamorous to you
He fought in a war to end all wars.
He fought for the right reasons.
War can do terrible things to a person.
Especially when he's young
and impressionable.
Drat!
Who knows what dreadful things
he has seen, or even done?
I know that, Mother. I'm not a child.
Maybe not, but you still have
your whole life in front of you.
My dear, I just don't want to see
you make a terrible mistake.
One you'll live to regret.
But I like him, Mother.
I really, really like him.
I'm gonna come and visit you
every week, I promise.
Well, then I'll come to Princeton,
and that's a promise, too.
And we are going to keep
our promises, aren't we?
Yeah.
Yeah, we're gonna make this work.
We're home.
Yeah.
We're home.
So next Sunday,
Central Park bandstand.
- I'll be there.
- Okay.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye.
Welcome to Princeton.
Watch your step now.
- There you go.
- Thanks very much, sir.
Sure. Why not?
Maybe later we'll get to do
a little spooning, know what I mean?
Are you saying
you've asked Annie and Mabel?
Well, you know what they say, fellas.
"Two birds in the bushes are worth
one in the hand."
Golly, Charlie, you sure are something.
Nancy?
Indy! Oh, my gosh, this is wonderful.
Oh, it's so great to see you.
- It's good to see you, too.
- Well, when did you get back?
-Just now.
“What?
Oh, you should've told us.
We would've met you with
the band and everything.
Given you a real hero's welcome.
I don't know if I'd care for that too much.
- So how are you?
- Fine, just fine. We've been
Say hello
To little Butch.
Say hi to Indy,
Mommy's high school beau.
You married Butch?
Nearly two years ago.
- So how's your father
- How's your dad
- My dad's fine. How's yours?
- I don't know, I haven't seen him yet.
I haven't seen anyone. You're the first.
- Well, be sure and come and see us.
- Yeah, sure, I will.
Okay. Bye, Indy.
It's really great to have you back.
Well, I see you're back
from your little adventure.
Your room is as you left it.
- And, Junior?
- Yes, sir?
Dinner is at 7:30.
Sharp.
I see nothing's changed.
It's good to be home.
- Ready for a boat ride?
- Yes.
Was it really that bad?
It was worse. It was like
I never even left.
So what will you do?
Well, there's a physics professor
at Clark University.
He used to be at Princeton,
so he's spending his summer there.
I got a job as his lab assistant.
I can make
some extra money for school.
And, I don't know,
at least it will get me out of the house.
Won't your dad help? With school?
I mean
He got me the job.
That's his idea of helping, I guess.
Well, have you told him
about Chicago yet?
No.
Indy, you have to tell him sometime.
Well, I start my new job tomorrow,
so I guess I'll see you next week.
Okay.
Well, goodbye.
Indy,
you really should speak with your father.
How do you talk to a stone?
Bye.
Goodbye.
Amy?
I'm not at all pleased.
You will oblige me by not seeing
that young man again.
Why?
We weren't doing anything.
One of the Rockefeller boys
called on you again today.
This boy from New Jersey
is just not suitable.
Not suitable?
For heaven's sakes, Mother!
This is not the 19th century.
I'm sorry. I've made up my mind.
Whatever you say, I'll still see him.
- You will not.
- I will.
Professor Goddard?
I don't think so. That's the prof.
Don't disturb him. He doesn't like it.
- You're Henry Jones?
- Yes, sir.
Great. The job's all yours.
Where do I start?
Just remember,
he doesn't like to be disturbed.
Jonesey! Hey!
Jonesey!
Hey, buddy! Where you spring from?
- Last I heard, you was in the war.
- Well I was, I just got back.
So, what are you doing here?
I'm singing at Rutgers Glee Club.
We're giving a concert tonight.
Come hear us.
I can't.
My father, he's expecting me.
If I don't give him notice
Still keeping you
on a pretty tight rein, huh?
- Yeah.
- Some things don't change.
Say, how about we get together
next week some time?
That's great.
Yeah, we'll make a night of it.
We'll get something to eat.
Oh, you know a place in Princeton
where a white boy and a black boy
can grab a beer
and get something to eat?
- Trust me.
- That's my trouble, Jonesey.
I always did.
- It's good seeing you.
- You, too.
- Sorry I'm late.
- When I said dinner was at 7:30,
I did not mean 7:52.
I'm sorry. It'll never happen again.
Guess who I saw on campus today
on the quad? Paul Robeson.
Little Paul?
Whom you used to hang around with?
He's not so little any more.
You know, he just made all-American.
- At Princeton?
- No, no. At Rutgers.
He was just visiting from the Glee Club.
Still, there's no question
that Princeton's the right school
for you, Henry.
Listen, Dad
I've already spoken
to Dean Daly in Admissions.
- Hello?
- Amy, it's Indy.
Oh, Indy. Hi.
So, how's your new job?
Oh, pretty good.
Listen, about Saturday,
would you mind if I bring
an old friend of mine along?
He's one of my best friends,
we grew up together
and I kind of promised him
we'd get together.
- Of course it is.
- You'll really like him.
He's at Rutgers,
terrific footballer, all-American.
I'm sure that I will. I can't wait.
See you Saturday.
Okay, bye.
- All finished.
- Good.
Same time tomorrow, then.
Professor Goddard.
These altitude calculations,
aren't they a bit extreme?
I mean, 100,000 miles. That's pretty far.
What do you know
about altitude calculations?
Well, not a whole lot, but
In the war I was a flyer for a time, so
You flew in the war?
- Did you ever get to use rockets?
- For signaling? No, not really.
Never mind.
But I've always been interested
in rockets,
ever since I read Jules Verne as a kid.
Do you know
From The Earth To The Moon?
Indeed I do.
What about H. G. Wells?
Do you like his works, too?
Oh, he's fantastic!
I love The Time Machine.
And War of the Worlds, that was great.
Me, too.
In fact, it was reading H. G. Wells
that first got me started on this.
Is that what you're working on?
Rockets for signaling?
Rockets, yes. Signaling, no.
Come with me.
- How does it work?
- How long have you got?
See, the problem with ordinary rockets,
the kind that people know about,
is that they're inefficient.
They can rise, but not very far.
Because the fuel it carries is only a
small fraction of the rocket's total mass.
Exactly. But this rocket
is 30 times more efficient.
- How do you achieve that?
- Well, in three crucial ways.
The first is by using this tapering nozzle
so that the thrust is concentrated.
The second is by including
a reloading device
inside the rocket, so that the fuel is
used up only a little bit at a time.
Still, you're gonna need
an awful lot of powder.
You don't have to use powder.
A mixture of liquid oxygen
and kerosene works much better.
- Liquid fuel?
- Right.
- Well, how do you retrieve it?
- Simple, by fitting it with a parachute.
Still, it's gonna burn out pretty quick.
True, which brings us
to the third device.
You see, if this one works
we'll build another one,
with three rockets fitted together,
in stages, or steps, if you like.
So when one is used up,
it drops away,
and another one begins firing,
and then another and another,
and so on.
- So the sky's the limit.
- Why stop at the sky?
- Why not go on beyond?
- Beyond the sky?
Into space?
- Is that possible?
- There's no law in physics against it,
therefore one day it'll happen,
and I believe that day is very soon.
We're on the verge
of a very great change.
Space travel, it's
It's always been such a joke.
Every vision is a joke
until the first man accomplishes it.
Do you think it'll work?
That's what we're gonna find out.
Sorry, Dad. I got tied up at the lab
with Professor Goddard.
- It was really interesting.
- Enough.
I'm really sorry I'm late.
- I guess I'll go make myself a sandwich.
- No, you won't.
You chose to miss dinner,
therefore, you will go without.
Is there anything interesting
in the paper?
Not much.
President Wilson is sick again.
I heard him speak in Paris.
I really felt sorry for him.
No doubt he was deeply touched
by your concern.
The Treaty was just such a disaster, I
I think it broke him.
Nonsense.
The Treaty of Versailles
is merely the latest settlement
in the traditional
European nation-state conflict.
If you'd studied more history,
you'd know that.
- I disagree.
- You disagree?
You think this bizarre idea
of a League of Nations can ever work?
I'll tell you it's a fantasy.
Congress will never vote for it.
Junior, the nation-state
grew out of the city-state,
which realised itself through conquest
and expanded through colonization.
Think of Athens, think of Sparta.
The logical result was empire.
Think of Alexander, think of Rome.
Now, what just happened in Europe
was that the German Empire
attempted to expand.
It wanted territory, colonies.
And the only way to get them
was through conquest.
As a result, the Russian Empire,
the British Empire
and the French Republic,
which is an empire in all but name,
combined to crush it.
Russia fell, but Britain and France,
with timely American assistance,
smashed Germany and restored
the balance of imperial power.
Now that is why
Lloyd George and Clemenceau
are statesmen in the grand tradition.
And Woodrow Wilson
is an impractical dreamer.
That is the historical reality, Junior.
It'll never change.
We gave them victory
and they threw it away.
We offered them a new world,
and they're building the old one
- all over again.
- Sentimental rubbish.
Consider the position
of France and England
- at the end of the Hundred Years' War.
- It's different now.
Wars aren't fought by knights in armour,
who go back to their castles
when it's over.
There's machine guns and aeroplanes
and high explosives and tanks.
The weapons may have altered,
not the historical perspective.
No, Father, you're wrong.
There's a real change coming.
I know it, I've seen it.
Soon there'll be things
you've never dreamed of.
Oh, really?
You're an expert, then, are you?
-I decline to continue this conversation.
“What?
Be silent.
- No, but Father, we have
- Do you hear?
I said, be silent.
You're just mad 'cause I left for the war
without discussing it with you.
That subject is closed.
It's true. Why can't you admit
- you're still mad at me?
- Junior!
And you're gonna go on being
mad at me, aren't you?
- You're never gonna let it go.
- Henry, for the very last time
No, no. You'll never change, will you?
You can't, you never could.
Not even when Mother was alive.
- How dare you
- Not even
How dare you mention
your mother to me!
Don't even let me hear you
speak of her again.
Why shouldn't I?
You never did one thing
to make her happy.
And now you're taking it all out on me.
Why, you ignorant,
ungrateful, unfeeling,
- young
- Unfeeling?
I'm unfeeling?
No, no, you're the one that's unfeeling.
You never gave a thought
for anyone but yourself.
You're the one that could never admit
to being wrong.
You shirked every duty,
dodged every problem
Fine, well, at least I admitted it.
- Why can't you?
- Took the easy way out.
- Ran away every time.
- Go on!
Go on, just for once in your life,
admit that you were wrong.
- Go to your room.
- No.
No, Father,
I'm not 10 years old any more.
You do as I say, Son.
This instant.
Go to your room.
But Jonesey, you can't just
write your father off.
- You've got to resolve this thing first.
- Indy!
Amy!
- You made it.
- I did, and in spite of my mom.
Amy, this is Paul.
My friend. I told you about him.
Except he didn't tell you
that I was a Negro.
- Right?
- No, no, he didn't.
Which is fine, it's okay.
I'm happy to know you, Paul.
Okay, so where do we eat?
- We're gonna go
- We plan to eat?
Indy, that could be a problem.
No, it's no problem.
I got it all figured out. Come on.
- Here you are, that'll be 10 cents.
- Thanks.
- Everything on it?
- You bet!
Hello.
Three with all the trimmings, please.
Coming up.
I missed these.
You don't see these
in France, huh, Indy?
Since when did you start
serving niggers?
- Hey, look, mister
- You heard me.
- Hey, I don't want no trouble.
- Hey, hey, hey.
- Listen, friend, we just
- Hey, hey.
Well then, maybe you should
go eat somewhere else.
Unless you wanna make
something of it.
Wait for me, wait for me, Sarah.
Those were the times!
My father had me washing windows
for a month.
What else is new?
Well, he can't be worse
than my mother.
I mean, all she wants from me
is to marry someone
from the Upper East Side,
live happily ever after and
And have babies.
I mean, and as for being a doctor,
she doesn't even think
that women should vote.
My father's still stuck in the Dark Ages.
It's like time just stopped for him.
It's like all of those politicians
in Europe.
They continue their long-honoured
cycle of wars. It's
- I wonder if it'll ever change.
- Politicians never change.
You know, in some ways, things haven't
changed since the Civil War.
I don't just mean for colored people.
I mean for the ordinary man.
I mean, look around. What do you see?
Wage slavery, exploitation,
I mean, it's everywhere.
Can't go on like this.
But it does.
You know, change is painful.
People will do anything to prevent pain.
It's because it's unfamiliar to them.
I mean, it's not safe.
They have this fear of the unknown.
Can't wait for our parents to change.
It's got to be up to us.
Maybe I should put that in my speech.
What speech?
Saturday is Commencement Day.
I'm valedictorian.
You're valedictorian? That's terrific!
- Congratulations!
- You wanna come?
You try and keep us away.
Paul.
Amy, head home.
- But Indy, I
- No, please, just
- Head home. We'll meet you there.
- Okay.
Oh, I smell something bad!
Hey, Joe, do you smell something bad?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, nigger.
Just like the old days.
- What happened to you?
- I got in a fight.
I can see that.
What was it about?
I guess you could say I was trying to
help some people
change their social patterns,
only they didn't want to.
- Did you win?
- The fight? Yeah.
Not so sure about the social patterns.
Some people are pretty stubborn.
Don't worry, history's on your side.
That's not what my father would say.
I'm talking about the progression
of science, technology, this.
And no matter how much
people try to resist,
technology will force them to change.
Think how vast the world used to be,
and how small it's become.
Imagine how much smaller yet
it will become.
I mean, air travel will make it possible
to go around the world
in a matter of hours.
Radio and telephone, you can talk to
anybody, anyplace, at any time.
Nations that used to be
on the other side of the globe
are now next-door neighbours,
economically and socially linked.
What if they don't get along?
Oh, they'll have to.
Technology will make them.
Well, suppose they fight.
They won't dare to.
The weapons will be too horrible.
And they'll find new ways to cooperate.
Because if they fight,
they'll destroy each other.
The future's here.
This is it. It's a fact.
The pace is gonna get quicker.
Old methods of thought
will be discarded.
Old habits will change.
And no matter how much mankind
tries to resist,
in the end,
there's no choice.
Well, that may work for mankind,
but I'm not so sure about my father.
Not a word. It's as if I don't even exist.
Poor man!
- Poor man?
- Sure.
Can't you see how lonely he is?
How sad he must be feeling?
- My father doesn't have feelings.
- Oh, Indy, I don't think so.
No. You're wrong.
He's not like other fathers.
He never has been.
Even when I was kid, we never talked.
We never laughed, we never played.
We never did anything fathers are
supposed to do with their sons.
You have to make up with him.
Father, there's something I'd like to say.
I'd like to apologise.
About the other night.
The things I said, the way I acted,
I was way out of line.
And I'm sorry.
I guess that's it.
We'll not discuss it further.
Yes, we will. Yes, we will. We have to.
We can't just pretend
that this never happened.
You have apologized.
I have accepted your apology.
What more is there to say?
A lot more.
A whole lot more. Don't you see?
We never talk.
We're more like strangers
than father and son.
Like strangers?
You and I are like strangers?
It's because we're never close.
We're never together. We
We never have been.
Except maybe that time in Athens.
But that
In Athens?
When we went to see the monasteries,
just Just the two of us.
Oh, yes.
We'd gone to Greece, if I remember,
straight after our visit to Russia.
And we got stuck
in the monastery's wooden lift.
That's right.
That was the best time
I ever had with you.
When we finally escaped up the rope,
I remember you picked me up,
and you just held me really tight.
It was the only time I can ever
remember you actually hugged me.
And it felt great.
For a while there, just
Just for that moment
You really were my dad.
- You ready, Indy?
- Yeah.
Start the countdown.
Five, four, three, two
This is the future, Indy. And it's here.
- Well, good luck, Paul.
- Thanks.
- I'm gonna need it.
- You'll be great.
I sure hope so.
Because I've never been so nervous
in my whole life.
Your seats are in the front row.
- Mr Robeson, it's very good to see you.
- Good to see you, Indy.
- This is Paul's father.
- Hello.
- Paul's aunt.
- Hi.
- Hello.
- And Paul's cousin.
- Hi.
- It's a pleasure to meet you.
Ladies and gentlemen, our class
valedictorian, Paul Robeson.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
and fellow students,
this nation has just emerged
from a Great War
in which she has proven true
to her trust.
Her soldiers have fought and died,
to preserve those
historic ideals of liberty and justice
by which America was founded.
And those ideals have prevailed.
Yet America is still a nation
of two races,
one favoured and one less-favoured.
And so I speak to you today
of a new idealism,
and I invoke its spirit in the days
of change that lie ahead.
We of the less-favoured race realise
that our future
lies chiefly in our own hands.
On ourselves alone will depend
the preservation of those liberties
and the transmission of them
to those who shall come after us.
And we are struggling on,
attempting to show that knowledge
can be obtained under difficulties,
that poverty may make way
for affluence,
that obscurity is not an absolute bar
to distinction,
and that a way is open to all who wish
to follow the way with wisdom
and resolution.
That neither old-time slavery
nor continued prejudice
need extinguish self-respect,
crush manly ambition,
or paralyze effort.
I call upon my own race
to practice the virtues of self-reliance,
self-respect, industry,
and perseverance.
But I also call upon you,
the more-favoured race,
to catch a new idealism,
to invoke a new spirit of compassion
at the manifest distress
of your fellow men.
This new idealism
asks more from you than courtesy
and fair-mindedness.
It also asks for your willingness to fight
for the great principle,
that there will be
equal opportunities for all.
And so, in conclusion,
I appeal to all of you
to fight for a government
whereby character
shall be the standard of excellence,
where white and black
shall clasp hands friendly,
in full consciousness
that we are brothers,
and God almighty is the Father of us all.
So, Jonesey,
you secure a place at Princeton?
No, University of Chicago.
I'm gonna study archaeology.
A doctor, lawyer and an archaeologist.
Not bad for a start.
Well, we'd better get going.
She's got a train to catch.
Yes.
- Thanks for coming.
- Paul, it was a privilege.
You take care of yourself, Jonesey.
I will.
It was a great speech, Paul.
It was a really great speech.
You think they heard?
They heard.
- And they'll remember.
- God willing.
- Take care of yourself.
- Sure will. Do the same.
- All aboard!
- Well, good luck at medical school.
So, what about us?
Well, Chicago's
an awfully long way away.
I'll come and visit you every week.
No, you won't. And you know that.
I'll write to you, I will.
I'll write to you every day.
You're right, I won't.
I will still love you.
I'll still love you, too.
And I really do hope
that you get everything that you want.
Goodbye, Indy.
Father, I'm sorry
we haven't talked more.
So am I, Henry.
Because
I know it's what your mother
would have liked.
And I know, too, that
she'd have wanted me to say,
I'm glad you're safe.
- You're going somewhere.
- University of Chicago.
- Chicago?
- To study archaeology.
What about Princeton?
The archaeology department's
better at Chicago.
And you said I could decide.
You wrote me.
That was a long time ago.
- Yes, but Father
- Very well.
If that's what you want.
Dad
Close the door behind you
when you leave, Junior.