Strange Cargo

All right, Verne.

Did you hear me? I said, come out.

Thirty days in solitary won't make him any easier to handle.

Don't try anything, Verne, or you'll go back in there.

Look him over. He may have a knife.

Yeah. Maybe one of them rats in there slipped me one.

But I got a couple of hidden weapons at that, here and here.

Nobody can take them away from me.

Come on.

Ninety lashes, 16 months in solitary, seven months in the bear pit

and five attempts to escape in three years.

- Don't you like it here, Verne? - No. Does that answer it?

You put things so clearly.

Maybe we ought to give you a chance to make some new contacts,

outside the walls.

- Outside? - Why not?

Nature surrounded us with something stronger than walls, the jungle.

You know about that don't you, Verne?

So it's tough. You've plugged up every hole I've ever made,

but you know I'm going to make another one.

Yeah, I've heard men talk like that before. Men like Moussenq.

Six times he got away.

Three times we caught him, and three times the jungle got him for us.

You can't win, Verne.

And why try, when you've only got three years left?

I'd try if I only had three minutes left.

I'm a thief by profession, Grideau, not a convict.

There's nothing worth stealing around here except freedom,

and I'm after some of that.

Verne, I'm going to assign you to the wharf detail outside the walls.

Frankly, it's an experiment. I've tried everything else with you.

You'll be on your honor.

I haven't got any. Don't be a sucker.

Yes, well go and clean yourself up. Report for work at the main gate.

Oh, Verne. I forgot to tell you, there were three or four men,

big men like you, who did make it through the jungle.

Except when they got through, I was waiting for them to bring them back.

28, 30, 32, 34, 36.36, right?

36, right.

Looks like you've had enough, Pop.

Twelve years seems like enough. More than enough.

Get up, Moussenq. This is no picnic.

Did he call you Moussenq?

That's my name. That's all Moussenq is now, a name.

You called me Pop. How old do you think I am?

You look about 50.

I'm 36 years old, believe it if you can.

Twelve of them I spent in the bear pit and solitary and under the lash.

You've made enough breaks. Why didn't you get away?

No man can get through that jungle.

It tears you and breaks you and makes you old before your time.

There's nothing a man can't get through to be free. It's been done.

With help from the outside, a boat waiting down the coast, maybe.

Who knows? Some way they did it, but not alone.

No, monsieur, it can't be done. But someday I'll try it again.

Verne. Drop it and get moving.

Hello, Georges. You've been such a stranger at the café lately.

Well, you know how it is with a newly married man.

He feels kind of married, you know?

Well, in a couple of months, then.

- May I go aboard? - What for?

Let's say I'm a fool for boats, and I only see one every three months.

Well, maybe you expect something from home?

- In care of the captain. - Well, I'll take you to him.

Coming, Julie? There might be some mail.

Mail for me?

- Hello, Julie. - Go away, Pig.

Oh, Julie, you don't mean it just like that, do you?

After all, there is no harm in being friendly.

Men die all the time and pigs live on and on,

when you'd think their own smell would kill them.

Look, how many times have I got to tell you?

You're a pig, a sneak and a dirty stool pig eon,

and I want you to leave me alone.

Watch yourself, baby. Just act natural like you're alone.

- What do you want? - Guess.

Why, you crummy convict. Who do you think you're talking to?

Wait a minute, sweetheart. Made a nice grab there, didn't I?

Let go, or I'll yell for the guard.

Be nice, or I'll give it a twist. And they'll fish you out of the drink.

Don't you know what'll happen if you're caught talking to me?

Sure. They'll throw me into solitary. Can we fix it to be thrown in together?

You'd like to cut yourself a piece of cake like that, wouldn't you?

Easy, baby.

Listen, if I'm caught talking to a convict, they'll chase me off the island.

Swell. We'll meet on the mainland, and hit Paris together.

You're from Paris, ain't you? I said, where you from, baby?

- Marseille. - Marseille.

Hot blue nights, the right kind of music, it's a date.

A romantic convict. What are you in for, stealing doilies?

All right, I got no time to mess around.

You're one of the girls at the café, ain't you?

- Ain't you? - Well, what if I am?

I'll be there tonight.

Keep a light in the window, and a couple more in your eyes.

Tonight you'll be in a cell just where you belong.

And if the walls fall down or something, and you should get out,

I'll turn you over to the guards so quick it'll make you dizzy.

You hate hard, baby, so you love hard.

What's your name? Yvonne, Missy, Julie, Fifi?

Julie.

I'll see you tonight, Julie.

Don't tell me the heat's got you. I'd swear I saw you talking to yourself.

You weren't talking to a convict?

No. I know better than that. I was just trying out some new answers.

I'd like to hear some new ones.

Why don't you drop up some night after you've tucked the convicts in the cells?

You lock them up, don't you?

I mean, there's no way they can get out at night, is there?

- No way that they know about. Why? - Nothing. I was just wondering.

30, 32, 34, 35. Halt.

Louis, there should be 36. I count 35.

Hurry up there, get up here with the others.

I must have fallen behind. There was so much to do out there.

Get in line and hurry up about it.

All right, Louis, 36 is right. Take them away.

March.

- I said I'd be here, baby. - Yes, so you did.

And here you are, and you're quite a little man.

Now beat it before you get yourself a lot of grief.

Grief ain't what I came after.

You got class, kid.

Or is it because I haven't seen any women lately?

Don't try that again.

Because if you do, I'll break a couple of your bones,

if you've got any.

Let's see if you have.

Now get smart.

Why don't you get smart? You know what they'll do to you.

Sure I do, but I'll take all they've got for a little of this.

I don't know what you'll look like tomorrow,

but right now, baby, you're the most beautiful dame in the world.

- Does that mean anything to you? - Not a thing.

No? Supposing I wasn't a convict?

Supposing I was sailing through on my yacht or a guy selling brushes...

Yeah, and suppose I was Snow White.

But even if I did think you weren't the worst-looking guy in the world,

supposing even I told you

you looked like someone I was once dumb enough to go for,

what would it get me?

If you get caught here, I get sent back to the mainland.

I can think of worse things than that.

Look, this isn't my idea of heaven, either.

Let's get back to supposing.

Supposing I was the guy you were dumb enough to fall for.

- Then what? - Here's what.

There, you see?

Maybe you wouldn't be so hard to like if you went at things in a nicer way.

It'd be a nice gamble if a guy could win, wouldn't it?

All right, we'll try things your way. Where do we begin?

Well, I've got a number coming up,

and a date with one of the prison directors.

And he should be downstairs now.

Yeah, but I'll tell him I've got a headache or something.

Take off your beard, sweetheart.

Okay. If you want him to find you here, it's no skin off my teeth.

That's right.

So when they start yelling for me to come down and sing my song, I'll...

You'll stay here and sing it.

Sure, sure, what do we care?

We'll take what we've got right now. Who cares about later?

Let them come and get you. You're too tough

- and too smart for them all. - I'm not exactly a cluck, baby.

No, you figure here we are, this is the beginning and the end.

Only a cluck would think of tomorrow. Well, I'm a cluck.

You're no good to me in a cell.

I'm going down to stall them off. You wait here.

It's nice of you to try things my way.

- But, monsieur, I assure you... - He's here some place.

There must be some mistake. No prisoner would dare come in here.

He was seen climbing in an upstairs window.

You. We're looking for...

If you're looking for a loose convict, come and get him.

All right, Verne, we've got you. Don't try anything.

So, you outsmarted me, huh?

That's what happens, they tell me, when smart people get together.

One of them winds up ahead.

And I lose. Only what happens when I catch up with you?

And I will catch up with you, baby.

The law here denies convicts the privilege of associating with women.

The same law applies to women. Women are not allowed to associate

with convicts, on the penalty of expulsion from the colony.

Don't tell me I'm going to be kicked out of this paradise of yours.

All right, come on, give me my ticket. I'll be on my way.

Well, we don't give out tickets.

Oh, what do you expect me to do, ride out of here on a cloud?

Make it a cloud for two, baby.

We didn't send for you. You can get out the way you got in.

But, Grideau, it wasn't my fault.

He spoke to me on the dock, and I warned him to keep away from me.

When he didn't, I told him I'd call the guard,

and he said if I did, he'd throw me overboard.

How about that, Verne?

Some women would rather drown than talk to a guy like me.

How did you come to be in her room?

I told her I'd be there, didn't I?

Why didn't she turn me in before I made good?

Because I didn't believe he would.

He broke into my room, and as soon as I could, I called the guards.

They'll tell you. Go on, tell him.