Daily Dialogue — January 26, 2015
FERRADAY: It wasn’t sealing wax. It wasn’t chewing gum. It was epoxy glue. All of a sudden, you know a whole damn lot about submarines.
JONES: I know how to wreck them, and I know how to lie, steal, kidnap, counterfeit, suborn, and kill. That’s my job. I do it with pride.
FERRADAY: And, Vaslov, is that your job, too?
VASLOV: Yes, Captain.
FERRADAY: What’s your theory?
VASLOV: That a man aboard this ship committed sabotage.
FERRADAY: You mean, go down with it?
VASLOV: Of course, and as willing to die for what he believes in as you are…or I am.
FERRADAY: And what do you believe in, Mister Vaslov?
VASLOV: That should be obvious, Captain. I was born a Russian, but I chose my side out of conviction, not by accident of birth.
JONES: And since I got him through the Berlin Wall in 1961, his convictions have been proven by British Intelligence, your CIA, and by me. Somebody doesn’t want us to get to Ice Station Zebra.
FERRADAY: Why?
JONES: Well, my guess is the job could have been done before you sailed. One of your civilian —
FERRADAY: Those men have top serity clearances.
JONES: People with top security clearances are being hung every day, but if you must have a suspect, I, uh, aboard the ship, I give you, uh…Captain Anders.
FERRADAY: Is that an accusation?
JONES: A nomination.
FERRADAY: Why?
JONES: He’s — excuse me — he’s the only one that none of us know about. He’s too perfect. Picked up in transit, he says, dropped down to us out of the skies —
FERRADAY: I don’t believe it.
JONES: Boris, did anyone at the helicopter base know or recognize Captain Anders?
VASLOV: No, but he had orders.
JONES: He had Captain Anders’ orders, but is he Captain Anders, or is Captain Anders lying dead somewhere along the line in transit? I’ve done that same sort of thing myself to the other side.
FERRADAY: You go along with this?
VASLOV: Please, I do not like Captain Anders, so I disqualify myself.
JONES: Captain, when you surface, you can radio to check on his authenticity.
FERRADAY: Very well, I’ll check on Captain Anders. And Mister Vaslov and you.
JONES: Oh, I’ve vouched for Mister Vaslov. As for me, you can safely eliminate me.
FERRADAY: Why?
JONES: Oh, You must.
FERRADAY: Why?
JONES: By a logical absurdity. Haven’t you forgotten, Captain? I’m in charge of this operation.
FERRADAY: Never entered my mind.
JONES: Well, then you’d better take another look at your orders. I haven’t labored the point so far because up to now you’ve been doing all that’s been required of you, but the primary objective of this mission is to get me to Ice Station Zebra. Those orders come to you from your Chief of Naval Operations and direct to him from your President, so before we go any further, I suggest that you get me there. Put another torpedo up the spout, blow a hole in the ice, and GET ME THERE!
FERRADAY: One of my men is dead, three of them badly hurt, and my ship damn near wiped out. Now you take another look at those orders. I’m in command of this submarine, and I am not sticking another torpedo up that spout or taking another chance or making another damn move until I know exactly what we’re doing and why.
INTERCOM: Captain, Control. We’ve hit a lead. we’re under thin ice.
JONES: Well, that does make the problem academic, doesn’t it, Captain?
— Ice Station Zebra (1968), screenplay by Douglas Heyes, screen story by Harry Julian Fink, novel by Alistair MacLean
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Espionage. Today’s suggestion by Will King.
Trivia: In the era before VCRs, Howard Hughes would call the Las Vegas TV station he owned and order them to run a particular movie. Hughes so loved this that it aired on his Las Vegas station over 100 times.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “At the height of the Cold War, Ice Station Zebra pitted the US Navy against the Russian military in a race to the North Pole to retrieve a downed spy satellite. In this scene just after an nearly-successful attempt to scuttle the submarine, spies David Jones (Patrick McGoohan) and Boris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine) are confronted by the submarine’s Captain Ferraday (Rock Hudson) who demands answers. At this point, no one is sure who can be trusted. All of the major characters’ nerves are getting frazzled, and the scene ends without any satisfying answers, thus maintaining the tension going forward.”
If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please post in comments.