This motion picture is dedicated to
France. More than 300 years ago, French missionaries were sent to Indochina
to teach love of God and love of fellow man.
Gradually, French influence took shape in the Vietnamese land.
Despite many hardships, they advanced their way of living
and the thriving nation became the rice bowl of Asia.
Vast riches were developed under French guidance until 1941,
when Japanese troops moved in
and made the rice bowl red with blood of the defenders.
In 1945, when the Japanese surrender was announced,
a Moscow-trained Indo-Chinese revolutionist
who called himself Ho Chi Minh
began the drive to make his own country another target for Chinese Communists.
Headquartered in the North, he called the new party Viet Minh.
With the end of the Korean War,
France was left alone to hold the hottest front in the world,
and became the barrier between communism and the rape of Asia.
Members of the Foreign Legion imported from North Africa
fought valiantly under the French flag,
but the ammunition pipeline from Moscow could not be found.
Bombs and shells made in Russia were stocked in secret tunnels
along the mountain range of the China Gate.
This arsenal was winning the war for the Communists.
Bombs and shells stocked underground smashed village after village.
But still fighting for her life, 100 miles from the China Gate,
is the dying village of Son Toy, the last holdout in the North.
Her supplies have been ambushed, her ammunition depleted,
but she fights as she starves.
Her only chance of survival is the American food air-drop from the South.
The year, 1954.
The day, Thursday.
The time, 10:00 in the morning.
All animals have been eaten. All but one.
Food! Food!
- How's Pierre? - Pierre's hungry.
Food!
Keep off the road, understand?
Come on, Leung.
It's gonna blow. Look out!
Spread out!
Thank you, sisters. Thank you very much.
You look wonderful, Lucky, just wonderful.
Now that's the way I like to see you.
I want you to meet Captain Gaumont of the Air Force.
He has been pulled out of action specifically to meet you.
Captain, this is Lia Sermer.
So you're the one they call Lucky Legs?
I keep them covered on social calls.
I heard they are hollow, to keep your cognac in.
You'll never find out.
What's on your mind, Colonel?
I know what an ordeal it is for you to stay sober, but this is important.
Mmm-hmm. Important to whom?
Important to all of us.
This is an aerial photo of the border.
There are hundreds of tunnels here along those hills and mountains at the China Gate.
You got me sober to tell me that?
I know you know about those tunnels.
What's this all about, Colonel?
Somewhere in this area is a big dump of bombs and shells
and small arms ammunition that are crippling our troops.
Everybody knows that.
But no one knows just exactly where it is.
Some of our bombers got through, but hit nothing vital.
We have sent out patrols but they never got back.
You know the 100 miles from here to the border like you know your cognac!
You have made this trip, oh, a hundred times with your cousin.
Those Reds trust you. That's why we need you.
Above all, you know Major Cham at the China Gate.
My business with the Major is strictly my business.
We are interested in the Major because he is the lock to the dump
and you are the only key that can open him up.
This isn't my war!
- You are part Chinese! - Ah!
I'm a little of everything and a lot of nothing.
The Chinese say I'm this, the French say I'm that, the Americans say I'm...
As far as I'm concerned
you and the hammer and sickle boys can go fight it out among yourselves.
When the dump is blown, there should be
a chain reaction through the whole area.
In the confusion, we steal a plane.
My job is to fly you back here to Son Toy.
We will give you $5,000.
We'll open a new bar for you in Saigon
and stock it with the finest wines and liquor.
It's a deal?
No.
All right, then. Name your own price. How much do you want?
I want to get my son to America.
He has no criminal record, no disease.
He's five years old and his eyes are a cross he's got to carry.
But in America, I think that cross would be lighter.
You know the right people.
You use your influence for my son and I'll find that dump for you.
No. The laws are strict in America.
All right.
Lucky! Wait a moment.
In this particular case,
I think we can work it out.
- When do we start? - Right away!
I have a pleasant surprise for you.
What? A bottle?
Send him in.
You remember the American dynamiter, Sergeant Brock?
He is with the Foreign Legion now.
He will be in charge of explosives.
The deal's off! Find the dump yourself!
But I don't understand.
I thought it would be a wonderful reunion for both of you on this job.
It would make everything more pleasant.
I knew you lived together in Saigon, but what happened?
We just didn't live together, Colonel.
We were married, in church.
Oh, you could have bought her for $30 for two years
as a government-registered wife.
That's right.
Well, then, did she find you with another woman?
Is that why she slapped you?
No. I walked.
Oh, that happens every day in this part of the world.
Oh, yes, it could have been worse.
It is. No.
What do you mean?
She told me her father was Caucasian and her mother Chinese.
Who'd ever take her for Chinese? Even half Chinese?
One thing I always wanted was a kid.
We wanted the baby born in America.
It just didn't work out that way.
The baby was born in Saigon.
When the doctor phoned me, I ran.
I ran all the way to the hospital.
I saw my baby.
It was like a bomb had hit me.
I walked.
Why?
He was Chinese.
What did you expect?
A notarized guarantee that the baby would be born with eyes aimed your way?
Do you know why she volunteered to go on this mission?
For your son.
I promised him America if she would find the dump.
Son?
Yes. You've got a son.
He's five years old. He has no criminal record, no disease.
The only cross he has to carry are his eyes.
You married me six years ago in Saigon.
Brock, Johnny Brock.
I was a Sergeant in the American army then.
I married Lia. Lia Sermer, don't you remember?
Yes. I thought you were killed in Korea.
You hate my guts, don't you, Father?
What did the Colonel want you to discuss with me?
We need Lia's help on a patrol.
A demolition job. She said she'd go until she saw me.
I've got to go, I'm the dynamiter.
She's the only one who can get us through to the Gate.
The Colonel thought you could help me change her mind.
Why should I help you?
Because her feeling for me isn't as important as going on this job.
Her father taught her all about women.
Her Chinese mother taught her all about men,
but didn't teach her enough about hypocrites.
You married a beautiful woman to satisfy your own vanity.
To me, that's a criminal act.
After you left her she became known as Lucky Legs.
Lucky Legs, that's what they call her.
They say she ran an opium den.
That she was mixed up in murder,
that she caused a man to take his life,
that she operated in black markets and lived like a princess,
and lived like a prostitute.
They say she's a traitor to France, they say she's a traitor to the Chinese Reds.
They say.
The gossips.
Those envious ones who take pride in spreading lies.
I know they're lies, because I know this woman.
I know what she went through to feed your child.
The Communists tore off my leg
and knifed a sign in my side reading "capitalist spy."
Lia found me on the outskirts of the village.
She cut off the gangrenous flesh and carried me to the hospital.
Help you?
Stay out of her life!
I shouldn't have slapped you.
I should've shot you,
but your army would've tossed me in prison,
And your son over there,...
yeah, that's your son,...
he'd be scrounging garbage like a rat.
Take a good look at him, Brock.
You didn't have time when he was born, remember?
When I saw his eyes, I got sick inside.
He was so ugly. Chinese all the way down the line.
First time I met you, you said children should be seen, not had.
You should have done what you preached.
Look, I wore no halo when we got married.
You knew how I felt about half-castes and their kids.
Then why did you marry me?
Because you didn't look like a 30-buck Chinese bride. That's why!
I didn't come to beg.
Tell the Colonel you tried.
And don't stop on your way out to pat my son like a dog!
Don't dig his grave because you can't stomach me.
He's living on borrowed time now.
He'll never get another chance to go to the States.
♪ China Gate
♪ Many dreams and many hearts
♪ You separate
♪ Like two arms open wide
♪ Some you welcome in
♪ And some must stay outside
♪ Bowl of rice
♪ Bitter tea
♪ Is this all the good earth
♪ Has to offer me?
♪ Will I find peace of mind?
♪ Does my true love wait
♪ Behind the China Gate?
♪ China Gate
All right, check your equipment and hardware. Kruger?
Explosives and grease gun.
- Charlie! - Lead wire and automatic carbine.
- Andreades. - Explosives and automatic carbine.
- Goldie! - Explosives and grease gun.
- Janszi! - Food, extra ammo and automatic carbine.
- Pigalle! - Explosives and automatic carbine.
All right.
These, we've got to watch.
They're primers. They set off the explosives.
You just tap one of them and they can blow us apart.
That's why we've got to keep them away from the explosives at all times.
Now, I'm carrying this box of 50 of them.
I've got 50 more.
Now, I want one of you guys to stick your neck out and carry the other box.
I'll carry it.
That wraps it up, Captain.
Now, I don't want trouble over this woman.
She has a job to do,
we will finish it.
You wanna blind me? Kill that light!
- Lucky? - Who else did you expect this time of night?
Pull in the mines! It's Lucky Legs! Pull in the mines.
Cognac, huh?
Lucky Major. You know, my mother should have raised me to be an officer.
You better get this floor fixed. How's your village?
Rubble.
- Your child all right? - So far.
Oh, we had a bad one today.
Yes. I saw our planes fly over.
Did they hit your bar?
Oh, that was wrecked days ago. I hid my cognac underground.
There's one thing that bothers me, Lucky.
Yeah? What's that?
I've been stuck here for more than a year,
making sure these French don't infiltrate to hit our supply line.
Do me a favor, Lucky, but don't make it obvious.
When you're with the Major, drop a word how nice it would be
if I could be transferred to Sambor-Treng.
I haven't seen my family in a year.
I, uh... I'll try to swing it.
I've never heard of any man saying "no" to you.
We tie up here. The rest of the way we walk.
The river bends west. We go northeast.
Say, Goldie, what part of Czechoslovakia did you fight in?
Falkenau.
- That's where the last battle was fought. - Yeah, that's right.
And what outfit?
1St Division.
Oh, the 1st Division, huh? The Big Red One.
Hey, didn't your outfit take over the concentration camp there and make the German
civilians dress and bury the Russian dead?
Yeah, funny, isn't it?
Going out of our way to give those vodka corpses a decent burial.
- I wouldn't have done it. - Well, at the time we figured they were our friends.
Who knows who's our friends? It's all so crazy and mixed up.
We know one thing. We know America is our friend.
I don't see them fighting over here. I mean, in their own uniforms.
She's helping us where we need help most. A war costs money,
especially this crazy one. It's cost her a lot.
Say, Lucky Legs, you think we'll run into one of those Moi villages?
Mmm. One or two will be in the way.
Moi? Hey, what's that?
It's Vietnamese for "savage".
For savages they certainly have been taken advantage of.
The Commies promised them rice and gave them guns.
They're like children. They love to play soldier, with red stars on their hats.
You know the Mois well?
Well enough.
My mother was a Moi. - Oh, that's right. I heard you were part Chinese.
You heard right.
The Moi believe that this world is the land of the dying,
and the next is the land of the living.
Their religion is their ancestors. They fill big jars with rice wine
and pray that the spirits of their ancestors will take up residence in them.
- In the jars? Ancestors in the jars? - Yeah, that's right.
- Ah! - How do you know?
I knew a Moi once who ran short of funds. You know what he did?
No.
He took one of those jars and sold it with his grandmother in it.
No.
That's right.
Say, you don't look Chinese.
Everybody doesn't carry their lives in their faces.
I like the idea of a Fraulein scouting us.
- I don't. - You superstitious?
Nope.
But a lot of these Vietnamese switch overnight to the Communists,
sell out their friends,
even their families.
You think the Colonel would've picked her
if there was a chance she'd sell us out?
Why not? The Colonel was a desperate man.
He'd take a chance on anyone.
Can you see me walking in a West Berlin beer parlor with a Fraulein like that?
Who would believe she's part Chinese?
You know...
They say there was a rifle company of Americans in Saigon.
Company. The way I heard it,
it was a whole battalion. And do you know what she did?
Shut up.
You're the first American I saw without humor.
Shut up.
I'm just an old gossip at heart, Sergeant. I just said what I heard.
You're too sharp a soldier to swap lies and believe them.
I was thirteen when Hitler turned my ears into sponges.
I guess all the propaganda was squeezed out when you joined the French.
- French? - Still a uniform lover at heart, eh, Kruger?
Ah, it's the only life for me, even if I have to die to live it.
Say, Goldie, what part of America are you from?
New York.
Yeah, I was with the Hermann Goering Division.
Yeah, I know.
Your outfit captured us in Sicily.
Yeah, I remember.
Say, why did you leave your own army to fight here in Indochina?
Well, what I started out to do in Korea, I didn't finish.
There are still a lot of live Commies around.
Janszi... Janszi!
He's crazy! He jumped me! What's the idea of hitting me? I could've killed him!
I'm sorry, Goldie.
I have that nightmare all the time.
I always see that Russian soldier looking at me.
I...
I'm sorry.
Forget it.
I fight it all the time...
I fight...
I should have remained in Hungary.
But I got sick of watching the way they took my church over.
I was going to the University of Budapest when it happened.
I...
I... I'm sorry Goldie.
I told you, forget it.
I got drunk one night, drunk with hate.
Just hate.
I followed that Russian soldier down the alley near the university.
Do you know how I killed him?
With my hands.
My hands.
And I see him all the time in my dreams.
And I kill him over and over and over...
You screened every man for this job, didn't you, Captain?
Yes.
On a plane you can tie up a blow-top,
but on an infantry job you've got to do something about it real fast.
What do you suggest, Sergeant?
We can't leave him behind. He'd be caught and brainwashed.
We can't take him with us. That Russian soldier might visit him again.
It's nothing personal, Janszi.
We like you, you know that,
but you're dangerous for us to haul with us on this job.
You might kill us all in our sleep.
You might take a shot at Goldie or me with our primers.
You know what that means?
We'd all be blown up, because you're sick.
He's got to go.
I guess you're right.
I know I'm right.
Nobody fouls up this job. Nobody.
You're wearing the bars. Pick a man.
The quicker you do it,
the faster we get it over with.
You make sense,
but I'm not going to give the order.
What do you mean?
You want to kill him? Kill him, but it will have to be your decision.
- All right. - No! Wait a minute, Sergeant...
Just... Just a minute.
Just wait.
I... I'm not afraid to die.
That's why I volunteered for this patrol.
But, to be killed by one of you...
I promise,
I won't sleep.
I will keep quiet as a bird.
No more dreams.
No more nightmares.
I will keep awake until the job is finished.
You have a knife. Use it.
No.
I pass this time, Janszi.
The next time you have a nightmare, it'll be your last.
Janszi.
If I were you, I'd take some sleepin' pills.
It's all mined except along the statues.
There's always a guard stationed there in contact with his unit.
I'll handle him. Leung will signal when to start.
Remember, the safe ground is only about that wide.
Brush against those stone idols and you won't blow up on a mine.
You remember Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
No, go ahead.
You're afraid of Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
Have your own little drink, there.
I'm gonna tell you a story about Lieutenant Sinh Huy.
It's nothing. Nothing at all.
Mines. Be careful.
Easy.
Easy now. Mines.
Careful.
We're surrounded by all kinds of booby traps.
They keep changing them every day.
How do you get through?
I find out from that observation post.
What post?
There's a tree house up there.
They can see movement in all directions.
Oh, I can get the information, but night travel is out.
Too dangerous.
Daylight will be worse. They will see us.
That's right, but a dead guard can't see.
I'll send a man up to make sure he can't see.
You've been up there many times?
Yes.
Alone?
Yes.
That you, Lucky?
Yes!
You alone?
No. I came with Leung and some friends.
Bring a bottle.
How many do you want?
Oh, just enough for me.
Tell them I'll call down when I find out.
Since when did you start swamp-crawling at night?
Think I like it? My orders were to hurry.
The Major again?
Mmm-hmm. You jealous?
Everyone's jealous of him.
Is, uh... Is number three clear?
No. Every path is wired.
Every one?
Yes,
but there's a small bend about twenty yards from here.
Oh? Where? Out there? About twenty yards?
Yes, and if you keep to the left side, you'll make it.
But it's too risky to try at night.
I won't be relieved till morning.
I better tell my cousin.
Leung?
Yes?
We'll have to wait till morning. Did you hear me?
Yes, I heard you.
You know, Leung is a very good cousin.
The Captain told me to spend the night here.
In case a Commie soldier slipped up the ladder.
The Captain's a frustrated matchmaker.
Yeah, I guess you're right.
I was captured.
They tried to brainwash me, but I was a bad subject.
When it was over, I was an exchange P.O.W.
You said you were captured.
Yeah.
What's the matter, don't you believe me?
You once told me that no one could ever really be captured.
If you want to die, you'll kill, or be killed,
but if you want to live, you'll surrender.
That's right.
Give me one good reason you had for wanting to live.
I was afraid to die. It's as simple as that.
One thing about you, Brock. You don't lie.
I don't have to.
Why'd you join the French?
Soldiering's my business. Korea got cold and Indochina got hot.
Are you really that interested in fighting for the French?
Sure. I don't particularly like the Commies and France was left holding the bag.
France.
There's only a handful of French here, Brock. There's millions of Chinese.
You came here to fight for a Chinese baby. Go on, admit it!
You don't give a damn about the French.
Go on! Admit it!
I'm learning a lesson in hate just watching you.
I'm too tired to hate anymore.
It was all my fault, not yours.
I'm really to blame.
You knew all about me, but I didn't know all about you.
Sure, you'd traveled all over the world, but you hadn't learned anything.
Not where it counts.
I should have investigated your heart and your brain.
Should have seen you weren't adjusted yet.
That you couldn't face facts that involve people.
Oh, you're tough.
You handle explosives,
but you're not tough enough to handle life, Brock.
That's where I made the mistake.
Everybody makes mistakes.
Five years...
Five years is a long time to think about one woman every night.
Johnny, for me too.
Five years is a long time to think about one man.
Every night I talked to our son.
Half the time I was drunk, but I talked to him.
I told him what I did.
I told him when I was ashamed.
I asked him to forgive me.
I was luckier than you, Johnny. I had someone to talk to.
Someone who loves me.
Every night, Johnny.
I told him...
How much I love his father.
Oh, we'll do our job, Johnny.
We'll go back together and take our son to America.
That's not what I meant.
What did you mean?
What do you think?
The wrong man was killed in here tonight.
Tell the Captain to send up a human being.
What's eating them?
They know she's your wife.
I thought a man's life was private in the Legion.
I have a big mouth, Sergeant.
When I joined the leather-bellies, I never figured the Legion
was an old lady with an itchy tongue.
Time changes everything, Sergeant, even the Corps.
The Legionnaire of today is not fighting
for a few centimes, a bottle and a woman.
This time the Foreign Legion mercenary
is not fighting for money, nor for the French government alone.
This time they're fighting for the whole Western world, against a common enemy.
So it is only natural that time will change the interests of the men.
They like Lucky Legs. They know of your son.
They know you are ashamed of him.
They just don't like you.
Look out!
I don't feel so good.
Your back's broken.
I've seen broken backs.
There's nothing anybody can do about it. Huh?
Nothing.
What're you all waiting for?
Move out. Move out.
We have to wait.
Why?
We can't bury you alive.
I don't like for people to watch me die.
We don't like it, either.
She's got manners, that one.
She's a wonderful woman, Brock.
What she ever saw in you?
Ever been to Greece?
No.
You?
No.
I remember when my wife went crazy.
I remember when she died, crazy.
I'm sorry I'm taking such a long time to die.
We're in no hurry.
Let there be a heaven,
for it would kill me to have to come back here again.
I'm all mixed up, Lia.
I figured you'd understand.
I mean, what I told you up there in the tree house.
I could've lied to you. I could've filled your head with lies.
I could have said that I wanted the kid,
that I'd take him to the States with me.
I could've told you all those things.
But I didn't, Lia, I didn't.
Not when I... Not when I can't feel anything for him.
You mean... You mean even now, after you've seen him?
You feel nothing?
You're the only person that ever made me feel ashamed.
Ashamed of my mother, my race, myself.
I know I'm different.
I know the difference between me and my sisters, and my cousins,
but I never felt ashamed of it.
I told you he might look Chinese, didn't I?
But you said it wouldn't make any difference, as long as the baby were healthy.
Didn't you?
Yeah.
But it's different when it really happens to you.
I never figured it would be such a one-sided birth.
There's, there's nothing...
No, there's nothing Brock about him, except half his blood.
Otherwise he's like millions of Chinese babies.
But I don't want him wearing a grenade when he's ten.
I don't want him carrying a gun when he's fifteen.
I don't want him killed, or made into a Communist.
Next time you fall in love with one of us,
get it in writing your child will be born with straight eyes.
You know why they call me Pigalle? Because I was a gendarme in Paris.
A traffic cop, that's what I was.
My station was Place Pigalle.
You know, the one you GIs call Pig Alley.
There I stood all day long, king of the street,
Stopping that car, waving this one to go.
Stop! Go! Stop! Go!
I blew my whistle till my lips could not enjoy a glass of wine.
It was driving me crazy.
I think I need some fresh air.
And so, I found myself directing my family like traffic.
I was telling my wife at night when to eat, when not to eat,
when to walk, when not to walk, when to, uh...
I was losing my mind.
So I joined the Legion to find it.
For the first time,
people are telling me when to stop and when to go.
For the first time, I am happy.
My wife is happy. I am not there to nag her.
My children are happy. I am not there to direct them.
I tell you, this is the way to live!
Get back!
It's Goldie, they've got him zeroed in.
Move out! Move out!
Goldie?
They've got action over there. There's one more on the move.
Keep them off me while I grenade them.
- Be careful with my cigars! - Come on.
Hold this.
We still have a hundred pounds of explosives and fifty primers.
Twenty-five for me.
And twenty-five for you, Goldie.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
"Women and children first." That's the new motto for war.
There is no law in war.
There are Nazis who still believe in bombing everyone.
Are you one of them?
I only believe in keeping my skin in one piece no matter who I fight for or against.
You're lucky you never got hurt where it doesn't show.
All of us got hurt where it doesn't show.
I found part of my mother in a bomb hole.
You can't guarantee law in war. It's environment.
Environment, that's hard to put your finger on.
It's a follow-the-leader game that grips the imagination of every child,
so you behave like children,
children with guns and blood for breakfast and the Iron Cross as a reward.
What's the matter, Goldie? What's wrong?
A kid spotted us! I better check.
It was over here.
You're hearing things. Come on.
You're sure lucky that spike wasn't booby-trapped.
Take it easy! Nobody asked you to help me!
I'm not doin' this 'cause I like it.
Oh, you want a medal?
What's eatin' you, Goldie? You've been snapping at me every chance you get!
Why not? The only other American on this patrol
and it had to be a weasel like you.
What's bothering you? Don't bypass it, give it to me straight.
What's bothering you?
- Lucky Legs and that son of yours. - Yeah? In what way?
I always wanted a kid, Brock.
When my wife was told we couldn't have one, we put in papers to adopt one.
But my wife got sick,
eaten up inside, not bein' able to have one. Just eaten up.
I watched her go down to 75 pounds.
She died feeling sorry for me. That's how much she knew I wanted a kid.
When I learned you walked out on yours...
Let me tell you something, Brock.
I've belted through two wars, and I'm comin' out of this one. You know why?
'Cause I got a reason. I'll get my release when they know why I want out.
I'll tell you one thing.
Lucky Legs is going through hell for your son.
And if something happens to her on this job, he'll still get to the States,
even if I have to crawl all the way back with him on my back.
I always wanted a son, Brock.
Especially a five-year-old one.
Soldiers all over town. More coming in and spreading out.
What do you suggest?
We'll have to keep pushing through the jungle.
Once we get past the Moi village, we'll...
We'll be in sight of the Gate.
What happened, Goldie?
Oh, I stepped on a spike, and this good Samaritan over here patched me up.
- Lia! - Hello!
- Be careful there. - I know, I know.
Where's your cousin, Leung?
He'll be along. Here you are!
Thank you, Lia. Thank you, Lia.
Lia! Lia!
Hello, how are you? How have you been?
You know what you're playing?
Sure. Captured music! We attacked a French headquarters.
Battalion headquarters. We took everything!
You crank and there is music!
You like this music?
Yes, it makes us happy inside.
We'll play it all night, you and me.
Oh, no, no, no. I can't stay tonight.
Soon as my cousin comes, I have to go to the Major with him.
You know that music?
It's the music of the people.
- You know the words? - Yes.
Sing, Lia. Come on, sing! Sing!
The gunners have just left their posts. I'll get my cognac.
You follow me.
Come on.
Lia! Lia! Lia! Lia!
Well, Corporal, you're putting it on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I thought you were getting rid of all the monks.
I changed my mind.
It's smarter to let them wander around the temple grounds.
It looks more peaceful from the air.
Those French pilots are as stupid as the Americans were in the other war.
They don't bomb temples or churches.
That's why we will win all of Asia. We bomb anything.
That why I'm here, Cham. Our village is rubble.
I've asked you to move up here.
How's your son?
The last bombing almost took him.
You've got to help me.
There's plenty of room right here.
I don't want him caught in this area when the real fighting starts.
Real fighting?
That cognac must have blinded you.
The war will soon be over, Lia.
A dozen more bombings and they're all finished.
Did you bring him with you?
No, I came with Leung.
Then I don't understand when you say I must help you.
How? - You know where you won't bomb again.
I'll take him there.
Our situation is too flexible for that. We bomb everywhere.
It's hard for me to believe how you can talk so indifferently about
killing women and children.
I remember when you used to hate any kind of brutality.
I remember when you hated the Communists.
That was a stupid thing to say in front of her.
Fortunately, she's deaf.
Don't you ever say that to me again in front of anyone.
Of course I hate killing,
but if France wins I'll be a school teacher again.
If they don't execute me.
One must adjust to the times, Lia.
When the Communists win,
I'll most likely be sent to General Staff School.
Imagine me a general,
stationed in Peking, or perhaps even Moscow.
Can you?
Yes.
I believe you can become almost anything, Cham.
You've come a long way.
You'd have come with me if you hadn't listened to that American soldier.
I told you then it was all a farce.
But, no...
He wouldn't buy you for 30 dollars.
Not your beautiful American soldier. He really loved you.
He wanted your children. He was going to take you to America.
There's a wonderful man, Lia.
One of the brightest in all the world.
Ho Chi Minh. "He Who Enlightens".
He speaks five languages.
I speak seven.
The day I can report directly to Moscow,
instead of through Peking...
That's the day I'll be in line to command the Viet Minh Politburo.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe I'm too blind to see what's happening.
Maybe I should bring the boy here.
It's the only sensible thing to do.
Lia...
We're both half-castes.
But I'm more fortunate than you. I have Chinese characteristics. You don't.
Just picture yourself the wife of a general.
Your son safe every night.
Playing every day.
His mind being developed so that he can step into my shoes
and protect the people.
I could have married many times, Lia.
I love only one woman, Lia.
Please let me send for him.
Oh, I don't know.
You'll know when you see what's taking place.
All those mountains are laced with tunnels.
And the French are losing the war,
because they don't know which tunnel is our arsenal.
I'll show you why it's logical you should marry me.
There are enough bombs and shells in here
to guarantee your son a safe life with me.
One of these may be the one to kill him.
That's entirely up to you.
It's a butcher shop before the slaughter.
Call it butchery.
When it's all over you'll call it virtue.
How can you sleep nights?
It's all according to your point of view.
You get caught in a political upheaval, you're hanged as a traitor.
But lead a successful revolt
and future generations will worship you
as the father of their country.
Can you argue with all this, Lia?
No.
No, it's... It's horrifying.
And dramatically final.
The difference between failure and success
is in doing a thing nearly right,
and doing it exactly right.
If all this fails to convince you that you'd be marrying the winner,
I can only catalog you as a fool.
And file your son as a casualty.
Lia...
It's said that the Book of Life
begins with a man and a woman in a garden and ends with Revelations.
This is my kind of garden, Lia.
And my kind of revelations.
With me you'd not only live long,
but you'd live!
Let me think about it.
The longer you take to think, the shorter your boy's life.
I'll make up my mind tonight.
I've been praying for this moment a long time.
Hmm. You?
Prayed?
There's moments when my soul is on its knees.
The guard at the Buddha is relieved every two hours.
He's been on duty for twenty minutes.
This is the shrine entrance to the tunnel.
Two guards here. - What about their relief?
They've got one hour to go.
At the far end are five guards. I'll handle them.
Leung will let me know the minute you've finished.
The Colonel was right in picking you for this job.
It didn't take you long to locate those bombs.
It wasn't hard.
No. I guess it wasn't.
- Are you ready? - You'll get a medal for it, Brock,
and I'll get what I want. - Are you ready?
Yes.
Keep close behind me.
There may be a guard not interested in my legs.
Lia.
Wait. - Is something wrong?
Yeah, me.
Lia...
Lia, I never said I was sorry for what I did.
I never apologized.
I never asked you to forgive me.
Lia... Lia...
I want you, Lia.
I want you.
I want our kid. I want him the way he is.
The way he looks.
Lia?
Will you be my wife again?
Oh.
Oh, Johnny!
That's what I've wanted to hear for the last thousand years!
Oh.
There's only one thing wrong.
What?
Well...
That one-legged priest.
The way he feels, he'd never marry us again.
If only you hadn't divorced me!
But...
Johnny...
I didn't!
I only hated you, but you...
You were ashamed of me,
so I was sure that you...
- Me? - Oh!
Darling! I couldn't divorce you!
I couldn't!
Oh.
Well, come on...
We've got a job to do.
Come on.
- Hello. Good evening. - Good evening.
- Isn't this a beautiful place? - Oh, it is, yes.
Beautiful! Look at that gorgeous Buddha.
My, but you're on duty late tonight.
Yes, you're on duty terribly late.
You know, I just came from the Major. You know what he told me?
He said that you two were the most wonderful guards in the whole army.
That's a good one, huh?
I'll drop by later. I've got another story the Major told me.
Oh, I haven't forgotten you!
Lia!
Get back to your post! - Yes, sir!
- Go somewhere, Leung. Anywhere. - Yes, sir.
I've got a surprise for you.
- She's hot. - There's a plane there pointed in the right direction.
- Where's Lia? Where is she? - She's with the Major.
- I'm gonna wait. - Make it hot, Sergeant.
Not until she shows up.
Make that connection hot!
- Will you wait for her? - You know we can't!
Look Captain, I know her. She's smart. She'll find a way of leaving him.
But you've got to give her some time!
In your own words, Brock. "Nobody fouls up this job!"
If that wire is found we've come a long way for nothing!
I'll make it hot, Captain. I'll make it hot.
But you've got to give her a couple of minutes.
All right.
A couple.
She's hot.
Two minutes, Brock.
If you don't blow that dump, I'll go in myself, hit the primers,
and you'll never see your son again.
I just got this message from Moscow.
I'm going to General Staff School at once.
I'll have a few good men infiltrate the French lines
and get your son out of the village.
Do you know what this means, Lia?
You don't have to think about it any longer.
We can go to Moscow, the three of us.
Major Cham here.
Yes.
Mmm-hmm.
Yes.
Alert every man.
You didn't come here alone, did you, Lia?
Lia.
How many dynamiters did you lead up to the gate?
The wire running from the tunnel's been found.
It's been cut.
Your mission's a failure.
Why did you do it, Lia?
So that my son can go to America.
Your son is going to Moscow.
Something's wrong. It's disconnected.
Make it hot again, Brock!
It went dead by itself! Look at this needle!
Brock! She's dead! Forget her!
How... How do you know? How can you be sure?
Brock! She's dead!
Kruger! Cover us! Let's go!
We're dropping. Gaumont! Gaumont!
Gaumont! - No. I'm all right.
Just a small wound.
- Do you know how to fly a plane? - No.
- You all right? - I'll be all right!
That's it.
Gaumont! Sit up!
Gaumont, is that the village?
Is that the village, Gaumont?
Gaumont, is that the village?
Gaumont! Is that the village?
Hold your fire!
We're with the 3rd Regiment.
That looks like a Commie plane.
Yeah, we know. We know!
Send a burial detail for the Captain in there!
Well, there they are.
All your papers are in order, Mr. Brock.
Thank you, sir.
♪ China Gate
♪ Many dreams
♪ And many hearts
♪ You separate
♪ Like two arms
♪ Open wide
♪ Some you welcome in
♪ And some
♪ Must stay outside
♪ Bowl of rice
♪ Bitter tea
♪ Is this all
♪ The good earth
♪ Has to offer me
♪ Will I find
♪ Peace of mind?
♪ Does my true love wait
♪ Behind
♪ The China Gate?
♪ China Gate