Reilly Ace of Spies

(gentle music) (crowd yelling) (water splashing) - This way!

(men yelling) - No, no!

(gunfire) - Well, here's a how do you do?

You don't have to read between the lines to see the man's desperate.

What will happen if we pull him out?

- We'll have to start from the beginning again.

- But he isn't capable of doing it that's all.

- Sir, there is another dimension to the problem.

Zaharoff, off he's written to the Admiralty saying it's absolutely imperative we get the plans of the gun, or he can't guarantee the capacity of our ships to deal with it.

He says if we don't get the plans now, our ships could be at the bottom of the ocean in ten years time.

- Well, this man can't do it.

His nerve's gone.

- Then we'll have to send someone in to support him.

- Who?

- Reilly?

According to Margaret he's due back soon.

- Very well.

Try and get ahold of him before she does.

- How much do I tell him?

That there are certain plans at a German shipyard, which we must acquire.

That they are located in various parts of the yard which makes it impracticable to obtain them all in one night.

That one of our men has already been killed, that the other is panic-stricken and under suspicion, and that quite frankly the task is well nigh impossible.

And that ought to do the trick.

(train whistling) - It seems that all roads lead to Hamburg these days.

- Hello, Basil.

- Is that all you have to say?

I delayed my journey for one week so that our paths would cross.

- I didn't think it was a coincidence.

- I was informed by Fothergill that you would be on this train.

I believe you were at Port Arthur when the Japanese attacked.

- [Reilly] Yes.

- The torpedoes were not successful.

- Torpedoes?

- I have a new patent by a man called Harrington.

Next time they will not fail.

- They were your torpedoes?

- They were my warships.

I sold the Japanese their navy, an exceptionally good one apart from the torpedoes.

Fothergill tells me you are going into the Blohm & Voss shipyards.

- Yes, and to pull out a young and inexperienced agent.

It's a relatively simple task.

- The gun is more important.

- Yes, Fothergill mentioned your interest.

- I need the drawings.

- [Reilly] Why don't you send in your own man?

- You think I haven't tried?

They come back in beautifully made coffins, turned brass, copper screws and the sort of lead you only find on cathedral roofs.

(laughs) Well?

- Very well, Basil, I shall get you your drawings.

- Thank you, my dear fellow.

And you'll earn the thanks of a grateful nation.

- But clear it with Fothergill first.

- Oh, I have done so already.

I shall be in Berlin for six weeks.

You can reach me at the Kempinski, should you have any problems.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] In 1905 the spy fever, which raged across Germany, had almost destroyed the rudimentary British espionage network.

Many of its agents were naval officers straight out of college and ill suited to the psychology of intelligence work.

Reilly, returning from the Orient, was one of the few professionals available to the British, and it was a measure of Cummings' desperation that he was ordered straight into Germany before he had even set foot on English soil.

And his only help was a Navy lieutenant who was rapidly losing his nerve.

(dogs barking) (dog yelping) - [Glass] Yes?

- [Reilly] You're advertising a room?

- That's right.

You work at the yard?

- [Reilly] I hope to.

- What's your name?

- [Reilly] Frikar.

- This way.

This is Herr Goschen, you'll share with him.

Herr Goschen this is Herr Frikar.

(gentle music) Herr Frikar is looking for a job at the works.

Perhaps you'd take him down tomorrow.

- What's your trade?

- I'm a welder, but my specialty is works fireman.

(horn honking) - Good morning, Herr Von Jaegar, welcome to Blohm and Voss.

This is the subject.

There's no proof, merely that he has all the characteristics you described in your letter.

- [Von Jaegar] Has he any friends in the yard?

- [Huberhoff] No.

- He lives alone?

- No, he shares a room with one of his workmates.

Fetch Frikar.

- At once Herr Huberhoff.

The fireman, is he around?

- [Man] He's in there.

- [Von Der Helle] Frikar?

- What are these, spittoons, ash trays?

Even the guard dogs pee in them!

- Herr Huberhoff wants to see you.

- Is it an emergency, I ask you?

Herr Huberhoff?

- Herr Von Jaegar is an expert on espionage.

He's here to discover spies and saboteurs.

- If this yard burns down, it will be through carelessness.

Don't blame it on saboteurs.

- Are you from Holstein?

- Answer Herr Von Jaegar.

- Yes, sir.

- And a patriot?

- Yes, sir.

- You share a room with a mechanic called Goschen.

We believe that he is a spy.

What do you say to that?

- I find it unlikely.

- Unlikely?

- He's a good man, works hard, he's punctual, polite, and a Protestant.

- [Von Jaegar] Go on.

- He does not swear, he polishes his boots.

Such a man could not be a spy.

- [Von Jaegar] Is there anything else you can tell me about him?

- Once a week he writes a letter.

- To whom?

- I don't see what business it is of yours.

- Answer the officer!

Don't they teach you manners in Holstein?

- We're also taught to mind our own business!

- Goschen is an English spy.

- And the pope, no doubt, a Jew.

- I want you to report here everyday.

You will tell me what Herr Goschen is up to, and you will not tell him of our interest in him.

Keep your mouth shut.

- That all, sir?

- You may go.

Such insolence!

I would sack him if it were not essential he be here.

- He could be useful.

- Maybe, let us concentrate on Goschen.

It is imperative that he be transferred immediately.

- That would give the game away.

- But he's a threat to the security of the project.

- I want him put under pressure.

Send him up the gantries.

- He's on the gantries.

- Then work him nights, as well.

(men laughing) (dramatic music) - [Goschen] Yesterday the room was searched.

I suspect Frikar.

I hate that man.

All he can talk about are fires.

Even in sleep he shouts out his hose drill.

(men laughing) - You a religious man, Herr Frikar?

- Mmmm.

- A Catholic?

- Of sorts.

- Then you may accompany my daughter to Mass on Sunday.

- I should be honored.

- Herr Goschen cannot because he's a Protestant.

I will not, because I am an atheist.

- You're an atheist?

- Father, please.

- And what's more, a socialist.

No doubt you've seen the pictures on my walls, traitors the lot.

- Well, how can you be both a socialist and a patriot?

- I can and I am.

- And when the war comes?

- What war?

- The war.

- The working class of Europe won't fight.

Remember the bayonet is a weapon with a worker at each end.

- And what are we building those guns for?

- Because we have to earn a living wage.

- So much for your socialism.

- It's all right for you, you're not married.

(whistle blowing) Nor do you have a daughter to support.

- Don't blame it on me.

- Yes, don't blame it on her.

- It's time for my watch.

(train chugging) Believe me, I do do it for you.

(sewing machine whirring) - There's a first-aid class tomorrow at the fire station, bandaging and so forth, care of flesh wounds.

Will you come with me?

- I will have to ask Papa.

- If he will let me take you to church, he will let me take you to the first aid.

(dramatic music) - Morning.

- [Man Inside] Morning.

- What seems to be the trouble?

- The main block's jammed.

- I'll need assistance.

- I've been detailed to help.

- Where's your harness.

- Harness?

- Here.

(chains clanking) Set the brakes on safety and make sure the boat is secure.

- All right.

- All set.

(dramatic music) - [Goschen] It's a bearing.

We'll have to dismantle the wheel.

- [Jaegar] How long will it take?

- [Goschen] An hour, maybe longer.

Give me a spanner.

What's your name?

- Jaeger.

- You're an engineer here?

- No, a naval officer, seconded.

- I thought you looked different.

(dramatic music) (grunting) You look after the tools, Herr Jaegar, I'll look after myself.

(boat horn sounding) - Have some letters for me?

- [Postman] Name?

- Goschen.

- Identification?

- I come here every week, you must know me by now.

- Yes, but your ID.

- I've left it at home.

Now do I have to go back and get it?

- All right.

Goschen.

Sign here.

- [Fothergill] Dear Goshen, don't worry.

We are sending our best man.

- Attention!

The water which is delivered through your hoses, is drawn from a three barrel pump designed to shoot 100 cubic kilos of the stuff over a range of 17 meters.

The nozzle must be held so, so that you have maximum control.

Grip it firmly, master it, tame it.

(train whistle blowing) - [Huberhoff] Good morning, Von Jaeger.

- Morning, Huberhoff.

- And what was your impression of Herr Goschen?

- I have the greatest admiration for him.

So far he hasn't put a foot wrong.

- I would also like to inform you that Frikar hasn't been in to see me.

He appears to have ignored your request.

- It is simply misguided loyalty.

There is no need for disciplinary action, yet.

- Come on, Muller, I am waiting.

What happens if a fire breaks out in Section J?

If a fire breaks out in Section J?

- I sound the alarm.

- You sound the alarm.

- Obtain keys of fire office from Herr Huberhoff's office.

- Obtain keys of fire office.

- Open fire office and prepare pump.

- [Von Der Helle] Prepare pump.

- Convey pump to J section.

- And?

- Put out fire.

- How can you put out a fire, Muller, when you have not got a floor plan of the shed?

- Oh, obtain floor plan from plan office.

- And how do you unlock the plan office?

- With a key.

- And where do you get that key?

- From the main security office.

- Good.

- Excuse me, sir.

- Yes, Frikar?

- Isn't all this a waste of time?

Wouldn't it be simpler if the floor plans for the sheds were kept in the fire office?

- I beg your pardon, Frikar?

- I said wouldn't it be quicker-- - We have practiced it Herr Frikar, and it works perfectly.

- You mean you've actually lit a fire in, say, the paint store and allowed it to burn for 10 minutes?

- Of course not.

- Then how do you know it works?

- It works, Herr Frikar, because I say it works.

- Of course, if you say so, Herr Von Der Helle.

(bomb exploding) (bells ringing) - [Man] Go for the key, get the key!

- [Fireman] Come on!

(yelling) (bells ringing) - I have been asked by the management to congratulate you on your initiative, Herr Frikar, and to present you with a signed testimonial.

- Thank you, Herr Huberhoff.

- You are to be permanently transferred to the works fire section with a rise in salary.

- I'm overjoyed, Herr Huberhoff.

- You will also be glad to know that the recommendations you made last week have been agreed by the Security Committee.

From now on all the floor plans of the sheds will be kept in one place, namely, the new office above the fire station.

In that way we will not have a repeat of last night's nonsense.

(dramatic music) - What caused the fire?

- An incendiary.

Why anyone should want to burn the place down, I really don't know.

- [Reilly] He keeps a journal, did you know that?

- [Fothergill] A journal?

- [Reilly] Yes, how he feels, what's going on.

I feature rather frequently in it.

- [Fothergill] My God.

- [Reilly] Who chose him for the job?

- [Fothergill] He's a Navy man, one of Kell's.

You must order him to destroy it.

- I'm not sure that I care.

See, I haven't actually told him who I am yet.

- [Fothergill] But you are in contact with him?

- Yes, we share a room.

- You mean you share a room with him, and yet you haven't told him who you are?

- Yes, and I think I should keep it that way, don't you?

I mean, he might be picked up at any time, and if the journal is anything to go by, he's likely to fall to pieces.

He's at the end of his tether.

- Look, I don't quite understand.

You're here to protect him, to get him out.

- I thought it was the gun which was important.

- Well, can't you do both?

- No.

- Is he under pressure, or is he just imagining it?

- Oh, no, they're onto him all right.

- Then you must warn him!

- I can't without jeopardizing my own position.

Fact is, Fothergill, you're gonna have to make up your mind which it's going to be, Tanner or Goschen or whatever he calls himself, or the gun.

- [Fothergill] I shall have to consult Cummings.

- Might be quicker to consult Zaharov.

He's in Berlin.

- Zaharov, what's he got to do with this?

- He wants the gun for Vickers.

- Look, let's get this straight.

Are you working for Zaharov or for us?

- Vickers is an English firm, aren't you both on the same side?

- The greater good of our country is not to be confused with the sordid commercial interests of a firm like Vickers.

- If Zaharov says he wants the gun for Vickers, who's to gainsay him?

Certainly not Cummings.

- Not for the first time, Sydney, you've got it wrong.

If it comes to the life of one of our agents, or the demands of a man like Basil Zaharov, Cummings won't hesitate and neither will I.

Our tradition demands that we do not let our men down in the field.

- But you do it all the time, old boy.

- My advice to Cummings will be that Goschen should be warned, and if you can't do it, we will.

(horses' hooves clip-clopping) (dramatic music) - [Postman] Yes?

- My mail.

- What name?

- Goschen.

- [Postman] Just a minute.

Goschen, one letter.

- You always pick up Goschen's mail?

- When he's on duty.

- What's in the envelope?

- Money, I hope.

- Give it to me.

- You ask Goschen for it.

- You could lose your job, you know that Frikar.

- You fire me, I'll have the whole factory out.

We're all socialists around here.

(ducks quacking) - [Boy] Daddy!

(gentle music) - Lock the door.

- [Glass's Daughter] Will you both be home for lunch tomorrow?

- No, I'll take a sandwich.

- Something wrong with her cooking?

- I don't feel hungry tonight is all.

- You got something going down at the works?

- Yes, as a matter of fact, I have.

Bit of overtime.

- [Reilly] Saving up for your old age, huh?

(train whistle blowing) - [Glass's Daughter] Will you be out late?

- It'll be two before the job's done, yes, I suppose so.

- Hey, wait for me!

I ask you, what kind of world is it, when grown men won't walk each other to work?

Hey, Goschen!

Goschen, Goschen!

(door slams) (dramatic music) - You became suspicious only when you noticed the substance on the face of the drawings?

- Yes, sir.

- It must have been picked up when we laid it on the desk here.

- How long could he have had access?

- We only laid the powder last night?

It could have been going on for weeks.

- The locks haven't been forced.

But they've been manipulated.

- Well, what do you make of it, Von Jaeger?

I think you should arrest Goschen.

- I would prefer to give him more rope.

- These drawings are most secret.

There will be an outcry if it was ever discovered they'd fallen into enemy hands.

- Those drawings are useless without the others.

- Nevertheless, I insist you search his room!

- I'll have Frikar report to his lodgings.

(gentle music) - [Reilly] I live here.

- Is this yours?

- You think I can afford a camera?

- We found it in your room.

- [Reilly] Where?

- Under your bed.

What time did Goschen turn in last night?

Can you remember?

- Don't ask me, I was at the yard.

- Eleven, twelve?

One?

When you're father's at the yard, where do you sleep?

- In here.

- [Von Jaegar] So you'd be in a position to hear if anyone came into the house?

Unless, of course, you were somewhere else.

- I was in here.

- [Von Jaegar] Alone?

- Of course.

- And no one came into or left the house?

Read that.

- I can't.

- [Von Jaegar] Then allow me.

Frikar has come home promoted.

Since the fire, he has been unbearable, boasting that he had saved the factory.

His attitude to me is patronizing.

Now he not only works shorter hours, but he is carrying on with Glass's daughter.

He crawls into bed at four o'clock in the morning, and I am obliged to listen detail by detail, as to what he has just done to her, which is followed by a vocal rehearsal as to what he will do the next time round.

- You bloody welsher!

(woman crying) (Glass yelling) - That was unfair.

- Did you crawl into bed at four o'clock this morning?

- Yes.

- [Von Jaegar] Was Goschen there?

- No.

- You have seen this book before?

- Yes, he used to write in it.

- I want you to come back with me.

You two will go to the police station, where you will be required to make statements.

- You betrayed Goschen, you betrayed me, and you betrayed her.

- I love her.

We will get married.

- And I'll stand by him, even if it is a mortal sin.

- You see?

- Now when I bring him in, I don't want you to give the game away.

I want you to be filling the sand buckets or something like that.

I don't want you to say anything until I've told you to.

Do you understand me?

I'm going to ask Goschen a few questions, and I want you to be here when he answers them.

- Yes, sir.

- I appreciate your reluctance to get involved in this, Frikar, but I am relying on you to play your part.

Do you understand me?

- Yes, sir.

Is this where you do the spying?

- These drawers contain the plans of the gun we're building out there.

There are many people who would like to get their hands on it.

Now remember what I told you, just listen to what he has to say, and don't speak till you're told.

- Yes, sir.

(dramatic music) (suspenseful music) - Have you got the plate?

- Yes.

- What are you doing here, Frikar?

- I've been told to wait, by the yonker out there.

- Herr Von Jaegar to you, Frikar!

(dramatic music) - Another bolt.

- [Von Jaegar] You want to grease?

- Yes.

(boat whistle blowing) - Games up, Goschen.

- Spanner.

- I was arrested in South Hampton in August, I know how you feel.

I was pulled from the water naked.

They made me run all the way to the lockup.

So much for the English sense of humor.

You will find that you are treated better here.

After all, you were an officer, engaged in a dangerous and legitimate branch of warfare, for which you will get little thanks.

Believe me, once you've crossed the channel, they forget you.

- No one's been in touch with me for months.

I wrote time and time again.

- [Von Jaegar] It's over now.

- I tried, but without help, I'm helpless.

- You did your duty, there was nothing for you to be ashamed of.

- I'm so glad it's over.

I've been watched for some time, right?

- Yes.

(crowd yelling and whistling) What we wanted was the other man.

- What other man?

- The one that was sent in to replace Maitland?

- [Goschen] No one was sent.

I told you, there's been silence, nothing, not even instructions.

- What about the letters?

- What letters?

- [Von Jaegar] The ones that Frikar fetched for you?

- Frikar?

- You used him to fetch letters from the post office.

- No, believe me, I don't know what he's up to.

He's lying.

- Look, Goschen, there is no time for games.

This is a serious situation.

(crowd yelling) I was at the post office.

I saw him pick them up.

But that is not my main concern.

What I want is the other man.

We're not fools, you know?

We knew that moment that Maitland was killed, the British would send in someone else with a new plan.

(men yelling) I think it's time we were going down.

Come on, Goschen.

We're going down.

- No, I'm not going.

- We have to.

Don't worry, you have my protection.

- I want to make a statement.

I've been most unfairly treated.

And my trust has been abused.

And I've been misled.

- [Crowd] Spy!

Spy!

Spy!

Spy!

And I had to be someone, really - Goschen, you are my prisoner!

I am ordering you to return with me to the ground.

- My name's John Tanner.

I'm a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.

(men chanting) (dramatic music) - [Crowd] Spy!

Spy!

Spy!

- [Crowd] Spy!

Spy!

Spy!

- Lieutenant, I command you!

(crowd cheering) - Well, there's nothing much left, his old shirt and his boots.

The police have taken everything.

- Well, where he's gone, he won't be needing it.

Now, we must sort out your betrothal to my daughter.

(train whistle blowing) - How much of this do we publish?

- [Von Jaegar] None of it.

The inquest will record accidental death.

- What do we do with the body?

- [Von Jaegar] Inform the British.

- They won't claim it!

- It is their duty!

He was one of their men.

A naval officer with a family, no doubt.

It shall be handed over with a guard of honor.

We are not gangsters.

- Well, I'll inform the British consul that the unidentified body of a naval officer was recovered under a crane at the Blohm and Voss shipyard, request a time and place for the return.

This is a nasty business.

- [Goschen] December the eighth, bitterly cold, heavy snow.

Leave at five to walk to the yard.

I do not know how long I can survive this kind of life.

January the 10th, ice on river a meter thick, contrived to get to the post office, still no news.

February the 12th, new tenant, his name is Frikar, have taken an instant dislike to him.

February the 15th, room searched, suspect the new man.

March 16th, fire at works, Frikar the hero, now he will be quite unbearable.

March 18th, I no longer go to the post office.

What is the point?

There is never any mail, and even if there were, they would be waiting for me.

(dramatic music) (phone ringing) - Von Der Helle!

Yes.

- There's been another break in.

This time they got everything, every drawing, every plan, everything!

- I'm coming down.

- Yes, Herr Von Jaegar?

- [Von Jaegar] Arrest Frikar!

- Frikar?

- [Von Jaegar] Yes.

(train whistle blowing) - You killed the watchman?

- There was no stopping him.

He came at me with such fury, perhaps because he knew me so well, the man that was to marry his daughter he'd caught stealing plans.

- They will call him a patriot that died for his country.

- On the contrary, Basil, he was a socialist, who believed a bayonet was a weapon with a worker at each end.

- The socialists have got it wrong.

There will be a fortune to be made with bayonets in the next decade.

You know these plans are very important, Sydney, you are to be congratulated.

- Well, I couldn't have done it without Goschen, though he never knew what the hell was going on.

- Alas, poor Goschen.

- What will happen to his body?

- If my experiences are anything to go by, he, too, will be returned in one of their exquisitely made coffins.

There will be some tawdry backstreet ceremony in a dreary general port.

Somewhere neutral like Austin.

And the German escort will have superior smiles on their faces, they always do.

Although, this time, the laugh will be on them.

I trust you will attend.

Unfortunately, I have other business elsewhere.

Besides, my association with the service, I would prefer to be kept confidential.

- You know, Basil, one day we may find ourselves on opposite sides, and I will take the greatest pleasure in denting your self-esteem.

- I look forward to that, dear boy.

(train whistling) - [Narrator] With the return of Goschen's body, a new realism entered the British intelligence service.

Not only because of their growing rivalry with Germany, but because they now began to learn from Reilly's ruthless approach.

The death of Goschen marked the beginning of a new age of professionalism in European espionage.

(train chugging) (boat whistle blowing) (train whistle blowing) - He never got my message, I suppose?

- No.

(birds cawing) (gentle music)