It should go without
saying that Santa Claus
has given these United States
the best present possible
this Christmas, our
first holiday season
with h*tler in the
cold, cold ground,
and our fighting men back at
home with their loved ones.
And what does Baby New Year
have in store for 1946?
Prosperity, and hope
for a brighter future!
Listen, oh honey do
Ida, I idolize ya
I love you Ida 'deed I do
Just let me help you babe.
- Oh, come on.
I got it, Bob, don't worry.
I know you got it, but what
kind of fella would I be
if I didn't at
least offer a hand?
Well, you'd be like
every other man on Earth.
You're adorable, that's
why I married you.
- Heyo, lovebirds.
I thought you said we weren't
gonna be seeing him anymore.
No, you said we
wouldn't see him.
He's one of my best friends.
He's also a w*r criminal.
He didn't do it.
Marla the Merciless!
As I live and breathe.
How the hell are you?
Oh, how the hell are you?
Ever vigilant, and the husband?
It's Bob.
I know your name, Bobbo.
Just giving you the
business. How you doing?
Just fine, it's just Bob.
You gotta tell me about that
Kraut you cracked in Hamburg.
I read your interview in Yank,
but I've been waiting
to get the details
straight from the horse's mouth.
You calling me a horse?
- No class, that fella.
Look at my gal here! Tortured
more secrets outta Krauts
than any woman in US history.
Uh, interrogation
is not t*rture.
Whatever helps you
sleep at night, Bobbo.
It's just Bob. I didn't think
we'd see you here tonight.
Well thank heaven for
small miracles, eh?
- You only brought one bottle?
- Paulie's gonna love it.
Speaking of no class
fellas, is he here yet?
What do you think?
DiFranco, get your ass out here.
Oh, f*ck you! I'm
pouring a drink.
He's been here since 2:00 PM.
Well, of course he has.
And we had a little
business to attend to.
Of course you did.
- Can't live without you
- Oh, Hock.
-Listen, oh honey do...
Ida, I idolize you
I love you Ida, 'deed I do
Paulie.
Paul.
See? Now I told
Hock you'd be late.
Darling, he said 7:00!
We're here right on time.
Oh? Oh yeah, I guess my
watch is a little fast.
Yeah, like five hours fast!
I heard you've been here
all day, eager beaver.
- How you been, Bob?
- Good Clive, thanks.
Life's been treating
us very well.
Hm.
I just can't
live without you
She really happy
at the Pentagon?
She loves it. She's got her
own office... secretary.
- Office?
- Hm.
She doesn't belong in an office.
You know, back in '43, I
saw her bend a Kraut finger
so far back, the fingernail
dug into the back of his hand.
That boy would not stop puking.
Still, he told us what
we needed to hear.
Well, she's loving DC.
Ah, well you were
born there, Bob.
- Mm-mm.
- You had no choice.
But I'll never
understand how the hell
America's finest
interrogator gave it all up
to move into that swamp.
Well...
I think it worked
out in her favor.
She's been to five continents,
speaks six languages.
She's the sharpest
mind in the m*llitary.
Don't I know it.
And I bet she never
lets you forget.
Mm, so good to see you.
Thank you for coming so early.
I know I'm to blame
But ain't that a shame
You know when I got here, he
was already two bottles in.
No.
He won't stop
talking about Susan.
Hm.
I think maybe the holidays
alone really broke him.
Yeah.
And he's been trying to
tell me something all day,
but he can't seem to get the
nerve up to tell me what...
what is, um... He's a mess.
- Major.
- Major.
You're a good-looking
son of a bitch.
Oh, thank you. Ooh! Ooh!
How you holding up?
Meeting with the
committee again next week.
We've done all we can.
Looks like it'll go to trial.
First one of the w*r.
Press is having a goddam
field day with it.
Thousand pinkos and
Nazis on the lam,
but the Times sells more
papers if the headlines read:
"Corn-Fed Nebraska Major
Turns w*r Criminal."
My ma's having a hard
time with it, you know?
Don't worry Archie, Hock and I,
we're gonna take care of you.
Your mom can bet
the farm on that.
She might have to.
And you'll be fine
Archie. Come spring,
The New York Times will
be printing the biggest,
fattest apology in the
history of journalism.
Hell yes they will,
my pet! Absolutely.
Come here.
God damn, it's good
to see you guys.
When was the last time
you all got together?
Oh, the last time we
were all together?
- Hm.
- Thanks.
Well sh*t, must have
been your wedding.
Yep.
God damn, I think
you're right, DiFranco.
We all needed to see
that with our own eyes.
"Marla the Merciless
Weds Pentagon Clerk."
Now there's a proper
headline for the Times!
Excuse me Arch, but
when your base is bombed
and not a single God damn
officer helps dig you out,
your opinions on men
change awfully quick.
I mean, I got crushed.
I was calling out for help,
and all I could hear
from my bleeding ears
were those feckless
cowards just running away.
I got more respect
for the Krauts
than the men at
the base that day.
f*ck the Krauts.
Oh yeah, of course
f*ck the Krauts, Hock.
But while we're at
it, can't we just f*ck
the whole goddam w*r, hmm?
The w*r's over.
And this is why I love
you, [laughing], mm.
- f*ck 'em all.
- f*ck 'em all.
See now, that's the faggots'
credo, right Archie?
It was for a couple of years.
Then we had a meeting of the
Nancies and we changed it to,
"Keep calling us faggots
and we'll feed you
your goddam teeth!"
Um, guys please, could we-
I almost kept a straight face.
Bullshit. You can't keep
a straight anything.
Here, I'm tired of tending bar.
Freshen my drink, you fruit.
I ever tell you about
the time I was stuck
out on the Elsenborn
Ridge, and the only way
I could keep my lap warm was
by spooning Orville Ketcham,
- that Tommy from London?
- Vaguely.
Say what you want
about the Tommies,
but they've got some warm rumps.
Okay.
Hard to believe
that was a year ago.
I, I wanna thank you
all for being here.
It's been a hard start to
the winter without Susie.
- To Susan.
- Hear, hear.
- To Susan.
- To Susie.
Ah, Susie.
Well, it helps having you here.
I never thought I'd spend
a Christmas without her.
None of us did, Hock.
It's been six weeks now
since she... checked out.
I've been doing a lot
of reading, you know,
to pass the time and
keep the wits about me.
Started with
psychology, you know,
thinking I could figure out
why she did what she did.
But then I switched
to metaphysics.
You ever heard that
word? I hadn't.
Yeah, it's ghosts and
hokum. Weird nonsense.
You know, just to keep hopeful.
- Hopeful?
- Yeah.
Stories of, o-of fellas
that can talk to the dead:
mediums... clairvoyants...
spirit guides.
Grifters. During the Great
w*r, my no-good uncle
charged folks a buffalo nickel
to give them messages
from their dead kids.
They just wanna feel like
something else is out there.
They're scared.
It's all hooey.
Ah well you know, but
outta every hundred cases
that they debunk, all that
hooey, one or two check out.
I mean, they got a whole society
that keeps tabs on it in the UK.
Come on Hock. Now I've known you
since we were eight years old.
You used to laugh at people
who bought into this malarkey.
Well, I'm not saying
that I believe it.
But listen... you're all
here tonight and that's...
that's very special.
And I'm just wondering
if you would humor me.
He's harmless with his
woo, it's only in his eyes
Now, you probably all
think it's a load of bunk.
But, uh... this sance thing,
there's a lot of
corroborating evidence.
Hock, I...
Colonel, I know it's been
rough since Thanksgiving,
but this is not the answer.
So this, this is
just... it's silly.
Sure, well maybe
just for a laugh.
A laugh, Hock?
This isn't funny.
Listen, you can
all roll your eyes
until they snap off
inside your head.
But I started going to church
three days a week
after Susie... left.
I was looking for answers.
You know, why she
did what she did.
And afterwards, every
time I would sit down
with the reverend
and he would tell me
all about the afterlife.
He would go on and on
about the glory of heaven
and the fires of hell.
He told me all about redemption,
and all the babies in purgatory,
and everything in between.
And after going to
mass for four weeks,
like some sort of
brainwashed schmuck,
that holier-than-thou son
of a bitch had the nerve
to say that what Susie
did was unforgivable.
That my wife, a good
church-going patriot,
was damned to hell
because of what she did?!
I mean, do you know why
she did what she did?!
It was because of
the Krauts next door!
She knew they were
spying for the Nazis!
And I didn't believe
her. Nobody did.
And she couldn't take that.
She couldn't take
that her friends
and her family
didn't believe her.
But what was she gonna do?
She put it in the reports,
and no one was listening.
And then on
Thanksgiving morning,
right before I went out
for a pack of Raleighs,
she said it again.
She said they were
moving in on her,
that they knew that she knew.
And I, I jus-I, I laughed.
I just, I laughed at her.
And then when I came
back, she was just all...
and that priest, he
had the nerve to say
that she was damned to hell.
Well, I just walked out.
I mean, I gave up, quit
believing in any of it.
I decided right there and then
that if Susie was
damned to hell,
then the whole thing
was f*cking bullshit!
All of it! When you die,
it's just... just nothing.
You're just f*cking worm food.
And then I started
thinking about that,
and that seemed even scarier.
So t-t-there's just nothing?
That Susie's just gone,
Gone forever because I
didn't listen to her?
- I didn't believe her?
- Hock.
Sweetheart, we all miss Susie.
Then please, will you humor me?
I mean, I think it's
abundantly clear
that I'm not in a good place.
I've held out as much
hope as any man can.
And now I just, I
need you to do this.
I need this. I
need this from you.
Here. Now.
Sir, we are here for you.
But not for this.
I am not comfortable right now.
Meet my friends, we're
never comfortable.
Sit down, Paul.
Okay.
Don't you just hope after
all this death, the w*r,
all the nightmares... that
there's something else?
I already believe Hock,
I don't need to see it.
You remember Jimmy Rogers?
That poor kid we tried to staple
back together in Normandy?
Don't you just want to
know that he's still
got that smile on his
face out there somewhere?
What about you?
Don't you wish you had proof
that all the other fellas
at your base, they didn't
just burst into dust and flame
when those Kraut bombs
came raining down on them?
- And your wife, Clive.
- And my wife.
All right, so where,
where are you keeping
the Ouija board?
Oh, well this is
different, Arch.
See with Ouija, the spirits
speak through the board,
writing messages and
stories and such.
But with a sance, the spirits
speak directly through us.
All you really need is a mirror,
and a couple of friends who
aren't afraid to hold hands.
What do you say, Paulie?
Will you hold my hand?
I need a scotch.
Ah, ah, ah... We're supposed
to have clear minds.
Clear minds, Hock?
You're three f*cking
bottles in already.
Well, then we split this one.
So they, they say if
you have something
that belonged to the person
you're trying to contact,
that it's a little easier.
Is that Susan's handkerchief?
Oh my God, Hock.
- Why'd you hold onto that?
I, I wanna be clear.
I, I believe in the afterlife,
I believe in heaven and hell.
I believe Susie's out there,
but I don't believe in this.
- Look,
if we can just make
contact with anyone,
if we can just confirm that
there's something else.
Whatever, Hock.
Just don't play us
for a bunch of fools.
This ain't about
that kid in Normandy,
and it ain't about Marla's
fellas at the base.
No this, [finger tapping],
this is about Susie.
All right. Fine.
Okay, I don't exactly
know what I'm doing,
but if there are
any spirits here,
we'd love to talk to ya.
How do we, you know...
know if it's working?
If it's gonna work, it'll work.
Okay but Hock, if
it doesn't work,
I don't want you
to stop believing
Susie is out there somewhere.
Faith is about
what you can't see.
Yeah, well that's where
we're different, darlin'.
I got no faith left.
If there are any spirits here...
Make yourselves known.
Spirits? Give us a sign.
Anything. Please.
Please! Give us
a sign, anything!
Give us a sign.
- Oh my God!
What the hell was that?
Hey, don't let go.
- You can't break the circle.
- What?
We have to end the sance
before we break the circle.
Otherwise, the door to the
other side remains open.
And how exactly do you close
the door to the other side?
Because I vote for that.
What the hell is that?
Come on, Hock. Did you lock
your cat in the closet again?
- Nobody gets up!
Give us a sign!
That wasn't good enough for you?
It sure as hell wasn't
good enough for me.
You're gonna have to do a
lot better than that, ghosts!
All right, everyone just focus!
Focus?! Focus on what?
On the closet that none of
us are allowed to check out?
Now you listen to me, Colonel.
I'm here for you... all the way.
But this, this isn't
gonna fix anything.
Now, if you want to know
if there's something
on the other side, that's fine.
But you're gonna have to
dig a hell of a lot deeper
than some kind of parlor
trick or something,
because I'm not gonna buy it.
Look!
Are those... trick candles?
You ever heard of candles
that light themselves on cue?
I don't know, but I'd
buy that more than...
Spirits?
Spirits, please...
find a way to speak to us.
Join us here.
Force your way into our
world, with all your might.
- Look.
- Come in.
- Or maybe don't.
- Come in.
Look into the mirror.
Marla, focus on the
mirror, do you see her?
- I want to.
- Again with the closet.
- Forget the closet.
You know I don't, I don't think
we should do this anymore.
- I'm gonna...
- Don't you dare get up.
- Hello?
I'm looking for
Susan Hockstatter!
Is anyone listening?
She has brown hair
and brown eyes,
and she cut her wrists
on Thanksgiving morning.
This is her locket, this
is her handkerchief.
And I miss her more than
any man could ever miss...
Hock, please.
- Susie?
- Hock!
Don't let go.
Everybody stay where you are.
Hock, you're sick.
- You need to go to the...
- I, I'm fine.
- You are not fine.
- I'm fine.
- Clive...
- Susie?
Why didn't you believe me?
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- No, no, no.
- What is going on?
No one lets go. No one lets go.
- I love you.
- That's Susie's voice.
I need to get out of here.
Susie? How are ya, baby?
I got a gal
who's always late
Anytime we have a date
But I love her
Yes, I love her
- Yes I love her
- Are you hurting?
- Susie?
- I'm gonna walk right up
I'm ah, letting go.
It's okay, sweetie. It's okay.
Marla I... I knew
Susie for 19 years.
I won't be damned if
that was not her voice.
- Was it her, Mar?
- That, that was Susie.
I, I can still
smell her perfume.
I, I didn't finish the sance.
I broke the circle.
But that means, that means
the door isn't closed yet.
That means we can get
her back, right? Right?!
- Yeah.
- Oh, Jesus Christ.
- Watch yourself.
- What?
Well, if heaven
and hell are real,
you might wanna start
reining in the blasphemy.
I mean, I mean, they
are, aren't they, right?
Heaven and hell? I mean,
we saw that... tonight.
Yeah, we sure did.
It's real. There's really
something out there.
There is, there, uh...
absolutely seems to be.
- Ah, Paul?
- Hmm?
This afternoon when you came,
I told you I needed you to do
something for me and Susie.
I need you to take
care of that...
before I can let
you leave this room.
W-well, of course, Hock.
I mean, when we die...
We actually go somewhere.
We're reunited.
We get to move on.
We get to move on.
You okay, sweetheart?
Yeah.
I'm just...
moving on.
- No!!!
- What just happened?!
We have to get the
hell outta here.
No! No!!! The door's locked!
He locked us in here!
Why the hell would he do that?!
He must have the key, Paul.
- What?
- Paul.
- What?
- Honey, honey,
- look for the key.
- Oh.
Oh God, what did you do?
What did you do?
Wait, wait... this... here, yes.
- What is this?
I have to get out of here,
I have to get out of here.
Ach du meine gute!
He sh*t himself?
Yeah.
Now, wait just a minute.
Meine gute, verdammt nochmal.
Wait, what were you doing,
what were you doing in there?
- ScheiBe!
- You're a Kraut.
Oh my God, Paul!
What are you doing?
Take your hand off the door.
But, but we really
need to leave.
We need to get outta here, Paul.
We need to call the cops.
Take your hand off the door.
Am I the only g*dd*mn one here
who wants some f*cking answers?
We all want answers, Paul.
Have you snapped your cap?
I just saw a ghost.
My best friend blew
his brains out,
and now...
Some dizzy Kraut is
hiding in Hock's closet.
So no, I don't think
I'm overreacting, Bob.
Now, what's your name?
- Are we really doing this?
- We are.
Sit down.
- Oh my God.
I got a gal
My name is Hildegard Bauman.
- You're German?
- By birth, yes.
You a n*zi?
Mein Gott, you're all the same.
The w*r is over.
Says who?
Answer the question.
I moved from Erlangen
to New York in 1931.
My father-in-law owns the
grocery two blocks away.
I work there.
I live three doors
down from here
with my husband and two girls.
Last September after
the Jap surrender,
his wife decided that because
I was German, I was a spy.
Ja, ich weiss.
- Was?
- Oh, I know.
She rang me up,
begging me to come
to the city and interrogate you.
She was losing
it, she was saying
the Krauts were moving
in on all sides.
- You never told me that.
- I know.
She spit on my daughters.
She spit on them!
- She was a patriot.
- She was a lunatic!
The w*r was over, and
she couldn't let it end.
It was only after
she slit her wrists
that this bastard
decided to believe her.
Last night after I
was closing up shop,
I saw him sitting on his
front stairs, shivering,
drunk as always.
He says he's sorry for
everything that happened.
Offers me a whiskey.
I think, " Ja, why not?"
I mean, we put all
of this behind us.
The next thing I know, I
woke up in that closet.
That piece of sh*t drugged me!
Are... you... a n*zi?
- I am an American.
My husband and my two girls,
they must be so
worried about me.
To hell with him!
That's my best friend
you're talking about there.
I don't want to fight with you.
I just want to go home.
How do we know
you're not a n*zi?
I suppose you don't.
Susie thought you were.
And Clive didn't believe her.
None of us did.
You speak Kraut, Marla.
Why didn't you come up
here and interrogate her
when Susie asked you to?
Because Susie was unwell!
Because the Germans lost
the goddam w*r in May,
and because it's not my job
to interrogate civilians!
It's not my job to
interrogate anyone anymore!
I, I think that
maybe we should...
I think maybe we should
let the adults talk, Bob.
Don't you dare talk to Bob
as if he were less
of a man than you.
And I don't need
a g*n to prove it.
Susie was all worked
up because she thought
this dame was a n*zi!
She cut her wrists!
What did that get her, huh?
- And Hock.
- Hock was not well.
He just sh*t himself
in the head, Arch!
Hock was one of the smartest
men I've ever known.
And h*tler was a fine painter.
Now is not a good time
to be witty, Kraut.
Good men can change.
They can be blinded by hate.
We lived on this street
peacefully for eleven years,
until one day his
wife chose hate.
She chose it. It consumed
her and it k*lled her.
Of course he would
follow in her footsteps.
Of course, he would
also choose hate.
You know, you're
awfully observant.
Ja, this is New
York. We see things.
We know what our
neighbors are up to.
Yeah well see, now that
sounds like spy talk.
Oh ja? Well if I was a n*zi,
who would I be spying for?
h*tler's dead. Breslau's
a pile of rubble.
Our allies d*ed
because of n*zi spies.
I am not a n*zi!
Paul, put the g*n down.
We could all use a breath.
What are you doing, Paul?
Makin' a drink.
Well, slag off and open the
door. We gotta call the police.
Then what, Marla?
The police show up, they
throw ol' Clive in a body bag,
and then they let
the Kraut walk free.
You know how this works.
We file a suspicion form
and she gets checked out.
Susie filed dozens of those.
They don't do sh*t.
h*tler's dead, Paul.
You're fightin' a pile of ashes.
The w*r's over.
Says who?
I've interrogated
a lot of spies.
That woman doesn't set
off one single red flag.
Look at her.
Look, we loved Susie,
but she was just gone.
And then Hock lost
it after she d*ed.
I mean, that's why we were
called here tonight, right?
To calm him down?
You know, he may have lost
it, but Hock was always Hock.
You're damn right he was.
What's your point Arch? Huh?
Let's say Hock and Susie
were right, she is a spy.
We're not judge,
jury, and executioner.
Our best friend is
dead on the table.
We gotta get out of here.
You've done a hell of a
lot of interrogating Marla,
but you've never been out there.
On the front lines,
it's k*ll or be k*lled.
- Okay, yeah.
This isn't the
front line, Archie.
This is Park Slope.
See, you've never been
out there either, Bob.
You've never seen a squadron
of Krauts charging at you,
death in their beady eyes,
machine g*ns roaring.
You've never seen your
friends... your brothers
pop like balloons full of blood.
I am grateful every
day that I haven't seen
the horrible things
that you've seen.
But that doesn't make
me any less of a man.
We have seen some unbelievable
things here tonight, Paul.
There's a very good chance
that no one in this room
has their proper
wits about them.
Speak for yourself.
You will stop talking
to Bob like that.
We need to get out of here,
and we need to let the
right people handle it.
What if we are the right people?
Come on, Arch.
Why did Hock lock us in
here in the first place?
And why did he store
a Kraut in his closet?
I mean, he's got a basement.
If he really wanted
to keep her a secret,
he could have found a much
better place to store her.
No, no... There
was a method here.
- He wanted us to find her.
There's a reason he
invited his best friend,
his interrogator, and his
trigger man here tonight.
He wanted us to
see what he'd done.
He wanted us to finish this.
That's why he wanted me
to come here early today.
What?
That's what he'd been trying
to tell me all afternoon.
- What?
- He wanted me to k*ll this woman
before y'all even showed up.
And right, right before
he popped himself,
he said he needed me to
do something for him,
before he would
even let me leave.
I don't get it. If he
wanted to k*ll her,
why didn't he just
do it himself?
Because Hock wasn't a k*ller.
I'm sorry, Colonel Clive
Hockstatter wasn't a k*ller?
Oh, he had no
problem with k*lling.
He just couldn't do it himself.
He'd freeze up, look
like he was gonna heave.
Any time there was blood,
he'd send in someone else
to get their hands
red, someone like me.
- That's drivel.
- No, it's true.
No, no fellas, all those
stories he regaled to me,
- on and on and...
- Marla.
- What?
- That was bunko.
You know how he felt about you.
He would say anything to put
stars in your pretty eyes.
Excuse me... may we
please get back to me?
- Sure.
- Arch, knock it off.
No, I want some straight
dope on why Susie and Hock
thought this dame was a n*zi.
Because, because I'm
German... Archie?
Because I sound like the enemy.
Well, if it looks like a duck
and it quacks like a duck.
It could still be a goose.
You know, when we
came to America...
It was for a better life.
They told us it was
The Great Melting Pot.
A place where every
race, every religion,
every language was welcome.
Silver-tongued government
propaganda, all of it.
Hey! That's Hock's booze.
Ja? well he owes me one.
It's easy to create an enemy.
All you need are slanty
eyes, different color skin,
or an accent.
But it's always
better if they speak
a different tongue, isn't it?
Must be easier to k*ll someone
when you can't understand
their cries for help.
- Shut up.
You've k*lled a lot of
Germans, haven't you?
So what's one more?
But when was the last
time you k*lled someone
who could tell you
their husband's name,
or their children's
favorite radio show?
I'm not some nameless soldier
shouting fascist nonsense.
I'm a green grocer
who came to New York
chasing the American dream.
My friends call me Hildy. My
husband's name is Jurgen.
My girls go to PS 124.
And we let them
stay up to listen
to "The Charlotte
Greenwood Show".
- g*dd*mn it.
- Are we good?
No, I'm not gonna sh**t
you, but I don't like you.
I don't like your name,
and I don't like you
living in my country.
Well, suppose that's
a start, isn't it?
Now, can we please
open the door?
No, we cannot.
You know, y'all might
fall for a solid
dog and pony show, but not me.
Let's see... when
was the last time
I k*lled someone
who spoke English?
Yeah, a year and a
half ago in Salerno.
A weasely little Wop
with big brown eyes...
Looked me up and down
half a dozen times
before stammering out,
"I l-l-love America."
I stabbed that little
Dago right in the mouth.
Do you wanna know why?
Because given half a chance,
he would've done the
same g*dd*mn thing to me.
Or maybe he was just
a scared Italian boy,
who secretly loved America.
Get those words outta your
mouth, you dirty Kraut.
You don't get to talk about
my country. Neither did he.
This is my country!!!
Land of the free.
Pssh! She's a n*zi!
You say your last
name's DiFranco?
What of it?
You boast of k*lling
Italians, and yet you are one.
She's takin' us for a walk.
Jesus. Breathe, DiFranco.
After all we've seen
tonight, she knows!
What? What have you seen?
You were in the closet,
didn't you hear it?
Well, I, I was drugged.
I-I think I'm still drugged.
- Damn it.
- I heard voices.
I heard Clive yelling
and, and a g*nsh*t.
I panicked, I started
kicking harder.
There was a... a sance.
And we connected with, with-
Why are you telling
her any of this?
It was Susan! She told Clive...
Shut up, Bob.
What are you trying to
accomplish here Paul, huh?
Open the g*dd*mn door!
Or what, Marla? You
going to break my finger?
Oh, I might.
Why don't you just try
and interrogate it open?
Okay.
She's on the beam,
Paul. Open the door.
Three minutes, Arch.
That's how long it's been
since you've had your doubts,
and now you're willing to let
this bitch stroll outta here.
Classic. Right when I
need you, you turn f*gg*t.
Excuse me?
You know what I mean.
Yeah, I do. But I'm gonna
pretend like I don't
and we're still being
cordial to one another.
Oh, for God's sake.
If you've got a problem
Major, speak up.
But it'd better be
about Brownshirts,
and not wearing I'm
dippin' my d*ck.
We're on the same team, Paulie.
Thanks for the
reminder... Baby Butcher.
- What does that mean?
Nothin'.
What does that mean, Paul?
Well...
it might mean, that Archie here,
asked me to stand
before the grand jury
and tell them that I did not see
what I definitely
saw back in Berlin.
All to protect my friend,
and the reputation of
this great country.
I knew it. Dammit,
I knew you did it.
- Shut up.
- Archie?
Paul... he did it?
You did it?
Archie was right, Marla.
You've never had two dozen
Nazis charging at you.
He's not being tried
for k*lling Nazis, Paul.
He's being tried for
k*lling children.
You're Archibald Stanton,
from the news radio?
The Berlin Butcher?
You said the kid who who
did it was, was dead.
Surprise.
Oh, I'm going to be sick.
Don't be so dramatic, Marla.
You're starting to
sound like Hock.
Shut up.
I told you he did it.
You wanna know what
happened, Marla? Huh?
We were being picked off
by two n*zi sharpshooters.
One by one, kid after
screaming all-American kid.
Hock knew we had to
take that rooftop.
So he told Archie that
if he led the charge
and saved even one more of
our boys from sn*per fire,
he'd have a hero's
welcome when he got home.
He said he was my Colonel,
and that if anything went wrong,
he would take responsibility.
I didn't think about it.
In w*r, you don't
have time to think.
You look at the faces of the
men you've sworn to save,
and you race into hell.
And I... I ran straight
for that building,
praying that if one of
the countless b*ll*ts
I heard whizzing past
my ears actually hit me,
that it'd be over quick,
and I wouldn't be left
flopping around on the road.
And I pressed against that wall.
Oh God...
Broke the first
window I came to and,
tossed a belt of pineapples
into that building.
It wasn't until after the
smoke cleared that we saw...
It was a kindergarten center.
I've been reading
about this for weeks.
It was a children's shelter.
w*r isn't fair, Kraut.
I followed my orders
to the letter,
I did exactly as I was told.
Our boys took the roof,
knocked off their sn*pers
and saved our soldiers.
Fifty-six children.
You knew they were in there.
Everyone knew they
were in there.
It was a registered shelter.
Hock knew. He just didn't care.
God... damn it.
When the press asked,
he made up a story
about a trigger-happy private,
said he was k*lled in the blast.
But people started talking.
Soldiers started putting it
together and I, I got worried,
but he said everything
was gonna be okay.
He was gonna clear my name
and keep me outta prison,
and that everyone was
going to eat crow.
And that people would
stop saying those awful,
awful things to my mama every
time she left her house.
Well... Clive just blew
his brains out, so...
- I'm a good man.
I mean, who, who... who are you?
I mean, what, what kind of man?
You can't say that.
You weren't there... It happens.
"It happens"?!
God, all those kids.
I mean, what kind
of man, would...
A good one.
In w*r, good men are tasked
with doing terrible things
every single day.
This does not make
them terrible people.
And what do you know about w*r?
I know my family
is still in Berlin.
My nieces and nephews...
They could have
been in that school,
but somehow I cannot call
you a monster, Major Stanton.
You were fighting
for your country.
You were doing your job.
- I was... I still am.
I'm not a bad man.
No, none of us are bad.
We simply do as, as
we are commanded.
And just who is your Commander?
I thought you worked
in a grocery store
with your father-in-law.
Ja, I do.
And you call him... Commander?
No, no, I do not
call him Commander.
I, I work for him, so
I do as as he commands.
Don't play with me, bitch.
I can see your mask slipping
every time you open your mouth.
I have tried to express to
you that I do not believe
a man's singular
actions make him evil.
Especially if that man believes
that what he is doing is moral.
I do not believe Major
Stanton to be a bad man,
simply because he
was following orders.
Just like I do not believe
you to, to be a bad man,
because you are trying
to protect your friend,
and your country.
Say it.
Some days I can
even try to believe
that my mentally ill
neighbors who were only acting
out of a crushing love for
their government and homeland
were not bad people.
Say it.
My name is Hildy Bauman. I
moved to New York in 1931.
My father-in-law owns the
grocery two blocks away.
I work there! I live
three doors down from here
with my husband
and my two girls.
- Say it.
- I am an American.
- Liar!!!
Can we please just open the
door and call the police?
-Is you is or is you ain't
- Not again.
- For God's sake.
What are you gonna
do, Paul? Huh?!
k*ll her right here in Hock's
brownstone?! Is that...
Just open the door, Paul!
They're right Major,
open the door.
We're losing our
heaven-sent minds.
You can't mean that.
Please, Major.
I can't believe
what I'm hearing.
Archie, you are
an American hero.
You're not the kind
of man who lets
a n*zi spy walk out of a room.
- Marla.
- What?
The Krauts bombed your base.
Yeah.
They burnt your pretty body
and left you with a gimp leg.
They k*lled every friend
you had outside this room.
I know.
- Bob.
- Yeah?
Well, I don't know tits
about what it is you do.
But somehow I doubt that
the Pentagon would allow
a n*zi sympathizer to
push their pencils.
Really? Nobody?
Well in that case Major,
I'll make you a deal.
I give you the key,
you give me the g*n.
Absolutely not.
I am not speaking to you, Bob.
I'm sorry Major,
but I can't do that.
Well then, I guess
we'd better get cozy.
To hell with you then,
and to hell with this!
Archie, what are you doing?!
God damn it!
I- I don't understand.
- Why won't it open?
Check the rounds.
Well, the b*llet Clive
used sure worked!
Enough! Paul I need
you to take the key
out of your pocket and
open the goddam door.
This is not up for discussion,
and I don't want to point
a w*apon at my friend.
Oh, Archie...
Please, Major?
Fine. f*ck all'a ya.
But, if you make
me open this door
and go against everything I am,
I will not take the
stand for you, Archie.
Oh, I will stand, before
my God and my country,
and I will tell them
how you spinelessly
blew those toddlers
limb from limb,
just like the
newsmen say you did.
Hock had me come early
before any of y'all,
to do what he couldn't do,
what, what Susie couldn't do.
He wanted me to k*ll this woman.
And if you make
me open this door,
I will follow that n*zi
home and b*at her to death
in front of her family.
I am not a n*zi.
- That's it!!!
What's it?
You wanna know if
she's a n*zi, Paul?
Huh? Is that it? You want proof?
Is that the only way
you're gonna let us out
of this g*dd*mn room?
I already know.
You don't know squat.
And if you're not
gonna help, and
if you're just gonna
panic, I'm taking charge.
If this were my base, I'd
demand all three of you
get out of this room, but
apparently that's not an option.
- So get over there.
- What?
Go over there, all of you.
What are you doing, Marla?
My job... my shitty job.
Marla. I don't think
that's the best idea.
You know what? I'm
all out of ideas.
This will confirm it one
way or another, go on.
Go on.
Sit, Frau Bauman.
Um... why?
Because I told you to.
I don't think you're a spy.
- Thank you.
- Don't thank me.
We've apparently found
ourselves in a situation
where you and I
can't leave this room
until we are certain
you're not a n*zi.
Hold my hand, Hildy.
f*ck you, Paul.
What, what is-
Sh-sh-sh.
Hmm?
Mm-hmm.
Stay with me now,
Hildy. Here we go.
You need to listen to me very
closely right now Hildy, hmm?
If you stand up, you'll
be admitting guilt.
If you attempt to break free,
you'll be admitting guilt.
You will stay seated
with your hand in mine,
until I tell you our time
together is complete.
- But...
- You will answer
every question no matter
how many times I ask it.
And although it
might seem otherwise,
you and I are alone,
quite alone right now.
Now, what is your full name?
Um, Hildegard Bauman.
Are you now, or
have you ever been
a member of the National
Socialist German Workers Party?
No, the n*zi party
no longer exists.
That's not what I asked.
No, no, no, no, no. Mm-mm. No.
Who's your primary employer?
Bergen Street Grocery.
What's your husband's full name?
- Jurgen Bauman.
- Mm-hmm.
What are your daughter's names?
Robin and Melissa Bauman.
Why did Susan
Hockstatter believe
you were a spy for
the German government?
Because she was a sick woman.
Bullshit.
Did you want me to stop, Paul?
Why did Susan
Hockstatter believe
you were a spy for
the German government?
- I told you.
- You will answer.
Oh, no.
All of my questions, no matter
how many times I ask them.
Why did Susan Hockstatter...
believe you were a spy
for the German government?
Because, because
I have an accent.
Because she needed a
personification of her fears.
Because she wasn't ready
for this w*r to be over.
And her husband,
Clive Hockstatter?
He-he didn't believe
her when she was alive.
It was only after she
d*ed that he needed
a- a target to aim his guilt at.
I became that target.
You do realize the
Hockstatters were not religious
or political fanatics, correct?
That they were
high-ranking m*llitary,
and upstanding members
of their community?
- Ja.
- Yeah.
But they were sick people.
Hildy! Fraulein! Are you now,
or have you ever been a
member of the n*zi party?
Nein... Nein...
Are you now or have
you ever been a member
of the National Socialist
German Workers Party?
What?...No!
Are you now, or have
you ever been a member
of the National Socialist
German Workers Party?
Nein... Nein.
What's your full name?
Hildy... Hildegard Bauman.
Verzehung.
Open the door Paul.
She's not a n*zi.
Open the door!
I can't believe
what I'm hearing.
Is that all you're
going to do to her?
You wanna do my
job for me, Paul?
No, but I, I just-
That's all I needed to do, Paul.
I have my answer.
And if you have any
respect for me whatsoever,
you'll take that
as your answer too.
Earlier you said
um, faith was about
what you couldn't see?
About what you believe?
Well, I know what I believe.
Open the damn door.
Marla, you are the finest woman
the US m*llitary has ever seen.
I'm not.
It's such a goddam
shame you ended up
with this pencil neck.
What the hell?
The, the key it just,
it just disappeared.
Paul, don't you dare.
The door, the door just ate it.
That's a load of baloney, Paul.
What did you do?
I didn't do any, do you
see it on me anywhere?
- Paul!
- Come on.
I didn't do anything.
Well, somebody
better do something.
Somebody...
Somebody is,
going to do something.
No, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, I, what?
Somebody is going to
k*ll... that... n*zi.
Leiber Gott!
- Clive...
- He's dead, right?
- Clive?
- He's very dead.
Well, he doesn't sound dead!
Major...
No, no, no... This, this
isn't, this isn't right.
- Help, somebody help!
- Can anyone hear us?!
Help! Help! Help!
Ich muss hier raus,
verdammt nochmal!
- Shut up...
- Can anyone help me?!
Help! Help! Help!
Outta the way!
Shut up... shut up!
Shut up!!!
Hock?
Oh, what is going on?
- Colonel?
- Be careful.
Colonel?
k*ll... her.
What?
k*ll... the... n*zi.
Okay.
No! Nein! No, no, no! Please.
- No, Paul.
- Please, please.
You heard him.
Oh, this is hell, this room...
And we're locked in it until
one of us offs this Kraut.
There, there must
be another way.
Oh, I pray there isn't.
There has to be.
This, this is why
we are here tonight.
Not for support, not
to save our friend.
He was dead before
we even got here.
Hock needs one of us
to get our hands red.
Wait... we finish the sance.
- What?
- Yeah, we, we finish the sance.
We're, we're still
in another realm.
Hock said if we uncoupled
our hands during the sance,
that the door would stay open.
The door is locked, Marla.
Not the parlor door! The door
to the other side, you know?
But if we can close that door,
whatever's keeping us in
here has to go back, correct?
That's insane.
Our dead friend
says we have to k*ll
a Kraut green grocer spy
in order to unlock
his parlor room doors.
Now that, that right
there is insane.
Okay, you kinda,
you got a point.
Give me the g*n Archie.
I have to end this.
No.
Oh, you're protecting her now?
- Yeah.
- Give me that goddam...
- Paul.
- Oh, I don't believe
we're even having
this conversation.
I say we try the sance.
Oh see, baby Bob
agrees with Marla.
Big whopper of a surprise.
Why don't you cram it, Paul?
Nobody's gonna be
k*lling anyone.
We try the sance and
if that doesn't work,
we try something else,
we just keep trying.
Stay here.
We try it, and if it doesn't
work, I give you the g*n.
What, what? No.
You just stay right there.
I'll be with you in a minute.
Let's hope this works.
Oh, God damn it.
But whatever happens,
still k*lling that n*zi.
- But I...
- Don't.
I don't know what to do.
Well, neither did he.
Yeah, and how did that turn out?
Just tell him to go away.
"Tell him to go away?"
That's pure poetry.
Uh, this is a message
to the spirit world.
End this.
What Hock started,
we're prepared to stop.
- We're through with you.
Oh god.
Our friend Clive
Hockstatter was hurting
more than any good man should.
And he wanted answers
to soothe his pain.
He wanted to know that there
is something else out there,
and now he knows, we all know.
So now this is over.
It's not over.
- Shut up, Hock.
- It is over!
This madness is over this
w*r, this f*cking w*r is over!
Says who?
You don't belong here
anymore you, you coward!
You need to leave us alone!
You're not gonna drag us
into the dark with you.
That is my best friend
you're talking to there, Bob.
Yeah? Well, he was a sad old
bitter knob, just like you!
Hock never liked you Bob,
and neither did Susie.
To hell with the both of them!
- What happened?
- The fuse blew.
Was there a power failure?
What do you think, Bob?
Hock, turn the lights back on.
Go on, Susie.
- You...
- Susie?
- You...
- Oh, Mein Gott.
Gehe weg!
You did this, all of this.
You moved into my neighborhood.
You poisoned my city,
you poisoned me.
No, stop it.
You k*lled me.
- You crept into my house.
- What?
- Pinned me down...
- That's a lie.
And slit... my... wrists.
Absolutely not, you crazy bitch!
She's lying! She's mad!
She slit her own wrists!
Go on, show them how you did it.
Stop it, stop it!
Did you do it?
Did you k*ll Susie?
No, no... I've, I've,
I've never k*lled anyone,
let alone a sick woman.
How about a sick woman
who found you out?
Susie? Hock... let us go.
Hock, stop it.
Stop it.
Stop it!
We're not gonna k*ll her, Hock.
Yeah, speak for yourself.
It's not happening, Paulie.
I can't count the
number of times
you made me k*ll for you, Hock.
You aren't doing it again.
You ain't doing it again!
- Archie!
- Jesus, please.
Jesus, let me out.
Send me to prison...
Send me to hell.
Just let me out. Please.
Hilfe!
Close the door!
That's it. I'm doing
this for Susie.
- Paul, no!
- k*ll her.
Let go, let go Paul.
- Oh, to hell with you.
- Let her go, Paul!
- Whoa! Oh oh! Bobbo!
Put the g*n down,
nobody's k*lling anybody.
- What a crock.
You look away for
one second, Bob,
I'm ripping that
g*n from your hands
and I'm shoving it
down to her throat.
No, you're not.
That snatch k*lled
Susie and Hock.
I'm still fighting
this w*r Marla,
and I'll take you down
if I have to, Arch.
Paul.
I'll take everyone in this
room down if I have to.
Are you listening
to yourself, huh?!
Have you lost your g*dd*mn mind?
We're your best friends!
Calm down, Major.
I swore an oath to protect
the United States of America.
And no one in this
room is standing
between me and my country.
I'm doing this for Hock and
Susie... just like he ordered.
This is insane.
Shut the f*ck up.
- Now... Bob.
- Hmm?
I'm going to ask one
more time, nicely.
Will you give me that
God damn g*n... please?
No.
We've clearly reached
the end of our time here.
Paul, I've done terrible things.
You know that, now they
know that, but I am done.
I can't be be a part
of this anymore.
You? You can't be a
part of k*lling Nazis?
k*lling anyone Paul! That's
not what I signed up for!
Protecting your friends
and family from Nazis
is exactly what
you signed up for!
No, she's not a n*zi.
The Nazis are gone.
We're fighting ghosts,
Paul... ghosts like Hock.
You ruined my goddam life.
You told me to blow up a
schoolhouse for America.
You told me you'd take
care of me and then you,
you go and sh**t yourself.
I'm not a bad man.
And the only person in this room
who seems to understand
that is the Kraut.
k*ll her!
k*ll her, Paulie. k*ll
her, Paulie... Paul...
- k*ll her!
- I am trying, sir.
k*ll her!
k*ll her!
I got a girl
who's always late
No!
Hock, stop it!
Is you is or is
you ain't my baby
The way you're acting
lately makes me doubt
Well.
Youse is still my baby, baby
You heard him.
Seems my flame in your heart
- Stop.
- Done gone out
- Don't!
You blew my f*cking hand off!
- I'm gonna k*ll you.
- Stop!
You'll find you've
gone and made a change
What did you do?
Is you is or is
you ain't my baby
Danke lieber Gott...
Maybe baby's
found somebody new
Or is my baby
still my baby true
Bob... Thank you. I
thought he would...
What did you do, Bob?
I had to do it.
Open the damn door... Colonel.
Now!
Going into the Bureau tomorrow.
I'm gonna tell them
what happened in Berlin.
What really happened.
Good.
It is.
What about them?
I'll take responsibility for
what I've done. Will you?
I had to do it.
So did I, Bobbo. So did I.
Sorry Marla.
I love you.
I love you too, Arch.
- Abyssinia.
- Auf Wiedersehen
See you in the papers.
I've got it.
I know you do.
Can't we just f*ck
the whole goddam w*r?
The w*r's over.
Says who?
Brooklyn 45 (2023)
Moderator: Maskath3