In Search of the Castaways

WALTZ MUSIC

-Good night.

-Good night, My Lord, My Lady.

-Excuse me, sir. Is that Lord Glenarvan's yacht?

-It is.

-We'd like to see him.

-He'll be hurt you didn't make the party sooner(!)

-We didn't know about it.

-I bring news of his missing ship, from Captain Grant of the Britannia.

Captain Grant? He's dead, isn't he? How would he get a bottle where he's at?

Get on wi' you!

He's our father, and he's not dead.

I'm Mary, and this is my brother.

No offence intended. He was a good man, he was. The best this line ever had.

It's just it's hard to take serious. The note in the bottle, I mean.

Still, I suppose it COULD happen.

We must see His Lordship at once.

Sorry, Miss. I've had my orders - nobody aboard except invited guests.

But we've come all the way from Plymouth today.

And we haven't had a thing to eat.

So it's a trick. Get out of here with your wild tales, your hard-luck stories.

You almost took me in.

-< Go on, stand clear of the gate.

-Come on, Robert.

You two, come back here!

Come back, I say! >

If you two don't come here...!

Good evening.

Good evening.

Come out now, wherever you are. You wouldn't want me to lose my job.

(How do we get past this one?)

Good night, sir.

Very simple - walk nonchalantly up the plank backwards.

Yes.

He won't be able to tell you from the guests.

Go on, now. Go on.

Good night, sir.

Come on.

You now. Go on. Go on.

Good night.

Little boy, would you be so kind as to get my wrap for me? I think I left it...

You children, what are you doing?

Stop those children!

Good evening. Good evening. Good evening, sir.

Come back. Stop, you two! Come on, stop!

Come back, you two!

HUM OF CONVERSATION

< Some more turkey? The salmon is delicious. >

< I hear Lord Glenarvan is going to the Mediterranean this year. < Yes, he enjoys the season.

< How long is he planning to be away this time? < He was planning on six months.

< He seems very proud of this new steamship.

MOUTHS

Cloves from Madagascar.

It is not bad for English ham.

Excuse me.

Ah! Ah!

There's someone under the table!

Look!

There they are. Head them off!

Steward, they're up on deck.

-Oh, let me go!

-Why?

Come back!

Come here. Gotcha!

Oh, let me go!

Leave him alone! Oh...!

It's you, Your Lordship, isn't it?

-I dare say. Who are you?

-We must speak to you.

-We came from Plymouth.

-Our father's Captain Grant.

-Of the Britannia.

-He's alive! You must bring him back.

Now, just a minute. Come along. We'll talk it over.

-How do you know he's alive?

-He put a note in a bottle.

-M Paganel found it.

-That again!

-What do you mean?

-Since I posted the reward for news of the ship people have come with notes.

-How many is this, John?

-Twenty-two.

They should all be hung from the yardarm.

Exploiting human misery, that's what it is! Vicious!

-It IS from my father!

-M Paganel, show them the note you found.

Bonsoir, messieurs dames.

There! Oh, I'm sorry - wrong bottle.

Ah, this is the one.

-Where did you find the bottle?

-I went fishing with some students.

-So you cut open a fish and found it inside(?)

-Oui, a 220lb shark.

-Throw him off the ship!

-No, Your Lordship.

-It's the truth!

-Why should a shark swallow it?!

What was in his mind? I don't know. I tell you what was in his STOMACH.

Do you make a career of exploiting children?

I am Jacques Elias St Francois Paganel, Professor of Geography, University of Paris. My card.

Oh!

Forged like the note in the bottle. Steward!

-Come along.

-Bah! Laissez-moi tranquille!

-Oh, no, Your Lordship, you can't!

-He's our friend.

-Just a minute.

If we could be alone, for a moment.

Take your hands off me. Never have I been thrown from any place in my life. Let's not set a precedent.

Merci, Monsieur. Merci.

I'd be the first to respond if I thought your father was alive. I'd go to the ends of the earth.

That's no idle boast! The Glenarvan motto is "Persevero", our creed for 800 years.

-I saw the note. I know my father wrote it.

-It's the way he makes his letters.

Just clever.

Considering the odds, it would be fantastic finding the BOTTLE, but the SHARK...

What would my father have to do, come himself and say, "Find me"(?)

You said you came from Plymouth?

-Arrange cabins. We'll drop them off.

-Yes.

-What about M Paganel?

-We can't leave him.

-I'm doing what's best.

Merci de meme, Monsieur.

How did he get past you? How did he get past YOU?

Hang on! Oh, here's His Lordship's wine.

About time! Bit late, aren't you?!

It'll be a rough trip if his Lordship doesn't get his wine.

Follow me, please.

This way. Cabin 5 on the starboard side.

Richard's older than you. Maybe not in years, but he's been around more.

What do you mean? There's probably nobody else who's made as many trips to the Mediterranean.

That's just it. Have you ever been...

to South America, for instance?

-As a matter of fact, no.

-Pacific Ocean - ever seen that?

-It's only an ocean.

You should see Father. He's the one who'd give the order to change course for South America.

He WOULD. Nothing could stop him.

If it was for something you could believe in, and not a note in a bottle.

If you were a castaway and you had a bottle, wouldn't you put a note in it and throw it into the sea?

I don't think so. It's such a small chance.

What WOULD you do? Sit there with the empty bottle till you died?

Maybe I would try, but I wouldn't expect someone to find it in a shark.

Well, if that's where they DID find it, you wouldn't expect that they'd just forget about you.

You never saw that Frenchman before, yet you believe every word he says.

And no matter what he says, you and your father refuse to believe him.

-If I said I'd found a note in a bottle, would you believe me?

-Did you?

-Yes.

-What did it say?

It said...

"Disregard first message."

You think that's funny. You've got YOUR father. To you this is a joke!

-I'm not making a joke of it. I'm trying to show you.

-Do you mind?

-I'll make you an offer.

-What kind?

I don't believe this story about the shark, but I AM getting fed up with trips to the Mediterranean.

(Oh!)

Down boy! Good old boy. I'll bring you a bone later.

Woof! Woof, woof, woof! Woof! Woof!

Woof! Woof! Woof, woof, woof.

Woof! Woof! ..Oh, bonjour!

In case you've emptied your OWN pockets.

-Don't let any shark get this away from you!

-Thank you.

I assure you, Mademoiselle, your case shall be properly presented.

-Father, suppose it was YOU castaway. Do you think

-I

-would give up if I had the slightest clue?

Like all Glenarvans, I'd persevere.

-Why don't we try Corsica?

-Father, listen to me.

If you were castaway with a bottle, you wouldn't stare at it till you died.

-You'd put a note in it. Then suppose it DID get swallowed by a shark...

-Most unlikely.

If you won't listen, I'll get off at Plymouth with Mary.

-Oh, come!

-I feel very strongly.

-All right, let's look at the note. Where is it?

-In the bottle.

-Where's the bottle?

-The Frenchman has it.

-And where's HE?

-You threw him off the ship in Glasgow.

-That's a fine thing! I drop a casual remark...

-Casual remark!

"Throw him off the ship! He should be hung!"

That Frenchman might be anywhere by now! Where's Captain Mangels?

-Tell Captain...

-Oui, Milord!

The Frenchman! I thought...

I WAS put off the ship. Fortunately, I don't let such things upset me.

The note, Milord.

There's almost nothing of it left!

Oh, but with a little study, a little intelligence, it is possible to make it out.

Without question their location is given as 37 degrees, 11 minutes, southern latitude.

That's no good without the longitude.

Consider first, Milord, on the 37th parallel there are only a few places they could be.

It's what I've always said - if Captain Grant's anywhere, he's in Australia. It's only logical.

Use the head, Milord. The note makes reference to being captured.

And you can make out "INDIANS".

-Where on the 37th parallel would they be captured by Indians?

-Australia, of course!

Aborigines - yes. Indians - no.

I've got it - South America! It couldn't be anywhere else.

To be captured by Indians, he'd be on the west coast. We'll go there.

And follow the 37th parallel over the Andes until we find him. Change course!

Thank you, Milord!

-Don't forget it was me...

-Thank you!

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-I'm an Englishman!

-#

-Merci, merci, merci beaucoup Merci, Milord Glenarvan

# Merci, merci, merci beaucoup Merci, Milord... #

-#

-N'ayant pas peur des belles et hautes montagnes

-#

-Grimpons, grimpons, grimpons, grimpons, grimpons

-#

-N'ayant pas peur des belles et hautes montagnes

-#

-Grimpons, grimpons, grimpons, grimpons, grimpons

-#

-Si nous tombons - pata boum! - et c'est la mort effroyable Mais que importe?

-#

-Nous avons eu la joie de grimper

-#

-N'ayant pas peur des belles et hautes montagnes

-#

-Grimpons, grimpons, grimpons, grimpons, grimpons

-#

-N'ayant pas peur des belles et hautes montagnes

-# Grimpons,

-grimpons,

-grimpons, grimpons, grimpons

-#

-Si nous tombons - pata boum! - et c'est la mort effroyable

-#

-Mais que importe? Nous avons eu la joie de grimper

-#

-N'ayant pas peur des belles et hautes montagnes

-#

-Grimpons, grimpons, grimpons, grimpons, grimpons

That's where we must go - the Pass of Entoucot.

Then follow the parallel until we find Captain Grant.

So he threw a bottle in the ocean from there(!)

He could've put the bottle into a river so it would flow to the sea.

# Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa, grandpa. #

No, "grim-pons".

Grim-pons.

That means, "Let's climb." It is a recipe for the good life.

Don't be afraid to do anything for fear of failure.

-#

-Don't be afraid of the beautiful, high mountain

-#

-Let's climb, let's climb, let's climb, let's climb

-#

-Don't be afraid of the beautiful, high mountain

-#

-Let's climb, let's climb, let's climb, let's climb

-#

-And if we fall - crash, bang - and have a terrible death

-#

-We've had the joy, the joy of the climb

-#

-Oh-h-h, don't be afraid of the beautiful, high mountain

-#

-Let's climb, let's climb, let's climb, let's climb

-# Let's climb,

-let's climb,

-let's climb, let's climb

-#

-Let's climb, let's climb, let's climb, let's climb, let's climb.

-#

-Oh, look! Look! Straight down that valley there.

-Where?

-Do you see it, Milord? A river into which one might throw a bottle.

-By Jove, yes!

-And an Indian village.

-This could be the place. Have a look, my dear. Better camp here for an early start.

Hey, you! Make camp! Stay here tonight.

-No stay. Trengo piri.

-Eh?

-Trengo piri.

-What's he talking about?

-It's not Spanish. It must be an Indian term.

Hey! What means "trengo piri"?

Trengo piri.

Trengo piri.

Oh, I think he wants to tell us...

he gets terribly cold up here.

Oh, we build a fire. No matter how cold. No matter how trengo piri. We stay in hut.

No stay!

-I

-tell you when to go and when to stay!

-No stay!

-We stay here tonight!

-YOU stay. WE go.

Don't you dare to try and tell me...

I think the fellow really means it.

That's done it! Without the horses we're helpless. We'll never make it.

Can't we still go on, on foot?

-Of course. Indians have crossed the mountains on foot for generations.

-Oh, good.

-When do we start?

We're not going to start.

I'm not leaping about like a mountain sheep, thank you.

-Oh, please, Your Lordship.

-No, he is right.

We'll return to the ship with the Indians and get some crew-men who are younger.

-Age has got nothing to do with it!

-I'll take over the expedition. You can remain in your deck chair.

YOU lead the way? Ridiculous! Have the lot of you lost in no time.

On the other hand, with me in command,

it would take a great deal more than, hah, trengo piri to turn us back.

-That's right, isn't it?

-Right, Your Lordship.

-Right, Your Lordship.

Do you think we might have one?

When you are in the poultry yard it is a good time to wish you catch the egg. See?

Look at this. See? Any small tremor of the earth and it starts to swing.

If you're asleep, how can you tell?

Maybe all night I sleep with one eye open.

Perhaps His Lordship will sleep better

if we do not tell him before tomorrow what trengo piri means. Eh?

Your pleasure, Mademoiselle.

-#

-Castaway, castaway, trust in your star

-#

-You know I will find you wherever you are

-#

-Though all your dreams may be tossed by the tide

-#

-Cling to your hopes

-#

-Never cast them aside

-#

-Castaway, castaway, though you may be

-#

-Lost in the wilderness over the sea

-#

-I will discover your castaway shore

-#

-Then you'll be a castaway no mo-o-ore

-#

-You'll be a castaway no mo-ore.

-#

It's my father's favourite.

-Since I was little I've thought it sad.

-Not the way you sang it.

Oh, it's just how I feel tonight.

Now it's all so exciting!

We're up here.

Father's down there.

The stars pointing the way.

It's almost like being in heaven.

I know.

There you are, my boy. Better get some sleep.

-We're too excited to sleep.

-But you'd better come.

Wait. I want to make a wish on that star.

What could YOU wish for?

That my father would go somewhere and get lost. Just for a while.

-What are you doing?

-This is to wake me up.

-Eh?

-Yes, in case...

-"In case" what?

-Oh, nothing.

And what is this, may I ask?

My watch, Milord. Perhaps I want to look at it during the night.

How very peculiar.

Robert, do put those things away.

-But if there's an earthquake, I want to see it.

-Earthquake?!

Oh, I'm so stupid, Milord. I didn't realise it until later.

The Indian, when he did that... You see?

He did not mean it was cold. He meant trengo piri - earthquake.

This is the land of earthquakes.

Good gracious!

In the whole of the world, no place has such big, such beautiful, such magnificent earthquakes.

But it is one chance in a million we should be so fortunate.

Yes, yes, of course. Quite right.

This place looks as if it's been here for hundreds of years.

One can assume it'll last another night. Eh?

-Oui, Monsieur?

-Oui, Milord.

And I'll wake you up if one comes.

-It worked!

-Oh, Robert, do be quiet.

An earthquake of the first magnitude.

Do you have to shake the whole place? By Jove, it's an earthquake!

Outside, everybody!

Oh! Oh, magnificent!

This is an experience that makes our entire expedition worthwhile.

Ah!

By Jove, that was a narrow squeak!

Oh!

I say, this is getting rather dangerous!

Then we must change course. Everybody to port.

It worked.

That's better. Much obliged.

-Look out!

-This way, everybody. Quick!

To the port. Quick!

-Port!

-No, starboard!

-Port!

-Starboard!

Pefect timing!

Oh!

Abandon ship!

-Wait - there's a hole in the ice.

-Where does it go?

-Soon find out!

Alpine-type glacier - drift minimum.

You'd never get out of here...alive.

The ice melts and gets out. Why can't we?

YODELS

ECHO

YODELS AGAIN

-ECHO Isn't it beautiful?

-Oh, they'll never believe us when we get home.

IF we get home.

CONTINUES TO YODEL

Look out, everybody! Duck!

Ice starboard!

This is most peculiar.

Look out!

-That was close!

-Oh!

M-a-a-a-ry!

Come on!

-Where's Robert?

-Here's his hat.

-Robert! Robert, can you hear me?

-Not down there. I'm up here.

Oh, a giant condor - Onsacrahamphus gryphus!

Robert, hold on!

I don't have to. She won't let go.

She won't until she reaches her nest.

Reaches her nest?

Yes, high in the mountains. She will have little ones that must...

Oh! Hang on, Robert. We're coming!

GUNSHOT

Ah!

-Robert!

-I got dizzy coming down, but it was a jolly good view.

-Thank goodness you're all right.

-Who fired the shot?

-Perhaps him.

A Patagonian. Magnificent!

-It's like turning back a history book.

-Hope he's not dangerous.

Permit me, I've learned a few primitive words.

Agonami gal ayoo aviz a tutu?

A tumi ka koo eviger a teoi shabada tu.

Shevaday a tu!

Even if you don't understand, I want to thank you for saving my brother's life.

-Happy could do.

-Heavens, he speaks English!

First-class shooting - right through the heart.

No - shoot through heart, bird go limp, drop small boy.

But shoot back of head, bird go stiff, wings go up.

He circle down, land boy safe.

-So you induced motor paralysis through damage on the medulla?

-Not understand.

-Neither do I!

-Where's my father?

-He was captured.

-On the 37th parallel.

-Kidnapped.

Three white men.

Indians hold them for ransom money. You very slow to come.

Are they all right?

Last time I hear they're well, but very tired of being prisoners.

Don't you come from the village where they're held?

No, I am an Arokanian chief - Thalcave. My people do not steal, do not hold prisoners for ransom.

-Well, where are they?

-Far away. At the foot of the mountain, plain reaches as far as you can see.

The pampas.

Couldn't YOU take us there?

First we stop at my village for horses and supplies, then Thalcave try help you find them.

Much rain there. You sleep in tree. May come flood.

Flood! By George, that's a good one.

Giant Ombu tree - Phitolaca diurica. What a magnificent specimen!

Oh, please may we sleep in it?

-Sleep where you like, but

-I

-won't roost in a tree like a sparrow. Pitch my tent!

HORSE NEIGHS

DISTANT RUMBLING

You in tree! Listen!

Flood come - much water. You stay in tree. I bring help.

- My father! - I'll wake him.

We should tie things so they do not fall.

Flood come! You go quick to tree. I ride for help.

Not even raining!

SPEAKS IN INDIAN TO HORSES

ROARING NOISE GROWS

-Make ready for the storm.

-Look - the flood!

Father! Father!

John, be careful!

-Father, hurry up!

-What's going on?

-Come on!

-Can't get a night's rest!

-Come on, Father!

-Oh!

Come on!

We've got him!

Hold on!

Highly irregular! It's not even raining.

BIRDS SING

WHISTLES

Achoo!

A-A-Achooo!

After some food the world will feel a lot brighter.

-Oh! Look out below!

-Oh!

Sorry, My Lord.

-#

-Why cry about bad weather? Enjoy it!

-#

-Each moment is a treasure

-#

-Enjoy it!

-#

-We travel life's highway Enjoy the trip!

-#

-Each lovely twist and byway Each bump and dip

-#

-If there's a complication - enjoy it!

-#

-You've got imagination

-#

-Employ it!

-#

-You'll see roses in the snow Joie de vivre makes them grow

-#

-Voila! That's life! Enjoy it!

-#

-Since I must do the cooking I'll enjoy it!

-#

-This Ombu tree smells gorgeous You'll enjoy!

-#

-A hurricane comes your way

-#

-Enjoy the breeze!

-#

-You're stranded in the jungle Enjoy the trees!

-#

-If there's a complication

-#

-Enjoy it!

-#

-You've got imagination Employ it!

-#

-This tree's a cornucopia

-#

-Why, it could be...

-Utopia!

-Voila! That's right. Enjoy it!

-#

-Why cry about bad weather? Enjoy it!

-Enj-joy!

-#

-Each moment is a treasure Enj-joy it!

-Better! Enj-joy it!

-#

-We travel life's highway Enj-joy the trip!

-#

-Each lovely twist and byway Each bump and dip

-#

-If there's a complication

-# Enjoy it!

-Enjoy it!

-#

-You've got imagination Employ it! Employ it!

-#

-From eggs and herbs au naturel

-Omelette Ombu a la Paganel

-#

-Pour vous, Milord Enjoy it!

-#

Voila!

CALL OF WILD GEESE

Robert, can you see anything that looks like an Indian on horseback coming to our rescue?

-Only some birds.

-Only some... A-A-Achoo!

Only gone down half an inch in two days. We'll be here for ten years.

Cheer up, Milord. We pay no rent.

Mother Nature sets the table for us. And, fortunately, we have plenty of water.

Very fortunate, I must say(!)

Very fortunate(!)

-Father'll never trust another Indian.

-But Thalcave's different. He said, "I bring help."

-And he will.

-If he got through.

Don't even think such things.

All right, but if I may paraphrase what a wise young girl said to me -

"If you were marooned in a tree and you had logs to make into a raft,

"you wouldn't sit there till you died, would you?"

That's very good. For a girl, I mean.

Most girls are taught embroidery, but Mother died after Robert was born, and Father being...

-When we met I had a different impression. Most girls can be rather silly. Do you know what I mean?

-No.

-Well, you're different.

-How different?

I don't know how to say it. I had it worked out last night.

-Sounds rather silly now, though.

-What does?

You don't expect things of a girl - things like climbing mountains, making the most of it.

You know what I mean?

I don't think I do.

Well, I want to say that I think you've been just fine.

For a girl.

What I really mean is if we get out of here alive, and when we're old enough...

-John.

-Mary.

There's the log you needed for your raft.

That's it - just what we need.

Perfect!

Got it!

-Oh!

-Keep out of the way!

GROWLS

-It's a tiger.

-No, a jaguar - Felis onca.

Get it out!

It's probably as frightened of us as we are of it.

Just a big cat, Milord.

Get rid of it. I can't stand cats at the best of times. They make me sneeze.

Go on! Get out of here!

-Go on. Get out!

-Don't! The poor thing.

ALARMED BIRD-CALLS

(Do not move. Not an eyelash.)

Atishoo!

One...two...three...

four...five...six...seven...

THUNDER

More than two kilometres away.

Father says, "Avoid trees in a thunderstorm."

-One...two...three...four...five...

-THUNDERCLAP

I think it's getting closer!

Yes. At 35 degrees centigrade sound travels at approximately... One...

-The tree's on fire! Look!

-We'll put it out!

No time for that sort of thing. Get out of the way!

It's too late now.

The oil in the Ombu tree, Milord, has a remarkably low flash-point.

-Get in the raft. It's our only chance.

-Look out!

Oh, no!

-I'll get it.

-No, don't!

So, it's eaten alive down there or roasted up here!

Hold on, everybody. Mother Nature comes to our rescue - the waterspout!

Aho-o-o-oy!

Ah-o-o-oy!

We're still several degrees off course.

-Hurry with the canvas. There's a breeze coming.

-Aye, aye.

-You're strangely quiet, aren't you?

-Sorry, Milord, I was thinking.

I don't know which is worse - you singing or this.

"The Ombu tree is gorgeous. Enjoy it!"

I am stupid. Stupid!

-Stupid!

-I know, but that hasn't worried you until now.

-It is better they do not hear.

-What?

It is something I remembered in the night. How could I be so stupid?!

-The shark was a mackerel shark...

-FAINT SOUND OF VOICES

-Aho-o-oy!

-I should know that the mackerel shark lives only in...

-Be quiet!

Ahoy there!

Ahoy! Ahoy there!

I think I see it. There!

A canoe.

Ahoy there! Ah...

It's an Indian war canoe. This IS a fix - we're unarmed.

-It's Thalcave. He DID come back.

-Thalcave, my good man! Delighted to see you.

-I bring news.

-What kind of news?

You come in canoe. We go to village where they hold prisoners - three sailor-men.

Three sail...

We've found them. It's like a miracle!

-Thank you, My Lordship.

-I say! Come along, let's get aboard.

You're a welcome sight, sir.

Forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty.

Oh, now it's come I can hardly believe it!

PRISONERS EXCLAIM IN ITALIAN

-Stop it! Who are these people? Where's Captain Grant?

-These are not right men?

It's all my fault. How could I be so stupid?

It's what I started to tell you, Milord, about the mackerel shark.

-What about it?

-It lives only in and around the Indian Ocean.

That's what the word "INDIAN" means in the note. Not that they were captured by Indians.

-Why didn't you tell me before I paid out all that money?

-I kept hoping somehow I was wrong.

This can mean only one thing.

Captain Grant is in Australia!

Australia?! That's where I wanted to go in the first place.

Children, I'm sorry it all had to end like this.

Listen! Thalcave speak.

For many years my people hunt, trail game many miles.

Sometimes sneak up, but game not there.

But Indian knows if game not there, it somewhere else.

Keep looking, otherwise Indian die out many years ago.

Keep looking. He's right, you know.

Now we know where Captain Grant really is, we'll go and find him.

Oh, thank you, Thalcave!

Thank you.

How does she look to you? Just what we need. No ship could overhaul her.

What about the steam? We can learn.

I should tell the old man about the Britannia. Seriously?

Maybe I should tell him.

The very spot, Your Lordship, where she sank beneath the waves.

-My own dear brother died trying to put out in a small boat to save the crew.

-All right, Osmond, pay 'em off.

Very good, Milord. Thank you.

-I won't see any more.

-Very good.

Look at that! Ridiculous! How can a ship go down in a dozen different places, sometimes 500 miles apart?

Confounded wolf-rats - lie to you, take your money! How can I tell where to start, eh?!

-Yes?

-Mr Frederick Ayrton, Milord.

-Nobody else!

This is a gentleman. Sorry I couldn't get here sooner to prevent you offering a reward.

-Well...

-There's very little integrity among our sailors here.

-And

-I

-have the information you require!

-About my father?

-So THIS is the daughter of Captain Grant.

If I can reunite you and your good father, that's the reward I want.

-Were you ever in Plymouth?

-Plymouth, England? I haven't had that pleasure.

-What is your information?

-Two years ago I was caught in a violent storm in the Tasman Sea.

We picked up a fellow badly battered and half-drowned off New Zealand.

-Oh?

-He was from the Britannia which sank with all hands. He died in the night and we combed the area.

Till I saw the paper, I didn't know there were any survivors.

Why didn't you report the sinking?

I assumed it was. I was only a passenger.

He must have been captured by the Maoris. I must report this to the authorities.

-It isn't as easy as that.

-Why not?

You haven't experienced our colonial government. They talk endlessly, and need authorisation from London.

You'll be lucky if they're ready in a year.

But anything could happen to him in a year! What do YOU suggest?

I can't afford to get mixed up in this. I've told you all I know, and I've got my estates to run.

The lives of three men are at stake.

I'd like to speak to this gentleman alone, please.

The trouble is New Zealand is NOT in the Indian Ocean.

There's something very strange!

-I've seen that man before.

-You're just imagining it.

-No, I'm not!

I can't stand people who look at you like that. "Your GOOD father"!

Perhaps it's good neither of you take to him, as everything you've welcomed has turned out dead wrong.

Brrrr.

-I don't want to do anything illegal.

-Indeed.

But I don't intend to leave Captain Grant in the hands of cannibals.

I appeal to you, with your local knowledge and experience, to help.

I'll gather some intrepid men who know the Maoris.

You mean we just go in and have it out with them?

Oh, no. We'll take supplies to buy back Captain Grant and his men.

-Capital idea! I am grateful to you.

-We must be discreet about our plans.

We don't want to be tied by red tape. My son, Captain Mangels, and no-one else to know.

Yes, just as it should be.

Get this crate down the hold, Johnny.

Motley-looking lot you've got.

When you look for men to go into Maori country, you don't choose the socially elite.

Jolly well put!

There's a lot of merchandise.

The days have gone when one could impress the natives with some beads.

-If they choose to sell their prisoners dearly, we'd better be prepared.

-I see.

Tell me what's going on out there!

Mademoiselle, you are too pretty in zee new gown to worry about zis.

-What's in the boxes?

-Father would have told you if he'd wanted to.

These men look like fugitives from a penal colony.

Don't let this man make a fool of your father.

Because you don't like how he talks you think he's trying to make a fool of Father.

Better to THINK it than to give him the opportunity to PROVE it.

Maybe Father huffs and puffs - and we've all smiled at him in fun -

but nobody's going to make a fool of him quite as easily as certain people I could name.

And now, if you'll excuse me...

Patience. Nous verrons ce que nous verrons. We shall see what we shall see.

-I'll wager she's faster than any ship in the Royal Navy.

-Good.

-I'd say steam was the coming thing if it wasn't so complicated to handle.

-Actually, it's simple.

-Yes.

-Milord, can I talk to you sometime before too long?

-Yes. What about?

No matter how much I think about it, it is always the same -

Captain Grant is in Australia, not New Zealand.

-Don't worry about the note. Mr Ayrton knows where the Britannia went down.

-Yes.

I'll be the happiest man in the world if it turns out I'm wrong.

-I've no doubt you will be.

-I'd like to see the engine room.

-Delighted. Take you round myself.

Nothing complicated about steam!

It's a beautiful day. Why not "enj-joy it", let bygones be bygones?

Now we're at sea I can let you in on our secret, IF you're interested.

Those boxes, like to know what's in them?

Trinkets, trade goods. To barter your father's freedom.

-Who told you this?

-Mr Ayrton.

You believed him.

All right, Miss Suspicious. If it'll make you friendlier, I'll show you.

Well, here you are!

-Pandora, which box do you want me to open?

-That one.

-You sure you don't have a guilty feeling?

-No.

-It is like spying on someone, especially when they're so nice to you.

-Open it!

-I will.

Nothing is too much trouble if it satisfies your curiosity.

Voila, Mademoiselle!

-"Trade goods. Trinkets," he says!

-So that's his game! He's using this ship as a gun-runner!

Pity you did that.

Wilcox, down here!

We've got to warn the others. I'll lead them off, then you make for the door.

< You people there, after them.

There he is! > I see him. We'll get the boy. >

-Oh!

-Now, is that a nice way to behave when we're taking you to meet your father?

Come on!

Stop the paddles or I'll shoot!

DING DING

Have you been to New Zealand before?

Yes, twice.

Do as I tell you, and perhaps you'll live to make it three times.

We're stopping!

That is MOST strange!

-Raise the hands, quietly!

-Do as he says, Robert!

Ah!

Help! Pirates! Lord Glenarvan! > Help! Lord Glenarvan! Help! Help!

Lord Glenarvan, help! Pirates! Lord Glenarvan!

-I thought I heard the boy call for help!

-You did. Now give me that gun and no harm will come to him.

I say, you can't put us out there without oars. It's not human.

The current will carry you to the shore.

But we'll keep your crew on board until they've taught us to use steam.

We're unused to it in the Pacific.

-You'll pay for this!

-You've got it backwards. We have been paid for it, and quite handsomely.

Frenchy, you said you'd be happy if you were wrong about Captain Grant being in Australia. And you were!

Let it off! Stand by to make sail! Aye, aye! >

You WERE in Plymouth. My father signed you on the day he sailed!

As third mate. What a memory!

You'll hang for this. I'll make a full report to the Admiralty!

Do so! Here's a bottle to put it in.

-I hope it isn't swallowed by a shark. ..Lower!

-You won't get away with it!

That's what Captain Grant said as we put him over the side at this spot with his mates.

If you're lucky you might all end up in the same stew-pot.

CREW LAUGH

If anyone is interested, I might explain.

It is the influence of the west-wind drift playing against the East Australian current

that might drive us up onto the shore.

Yes. Yes, yes.

That's the second of my ships he's got. The Britannia AND my new yacht.

It's all clear now. It WAS a mutiny. There's no reason why he should lie about it.

-My father was set adrift here...

-He must be a prisoner of the Maoris.

What did he mean by we might "end up in the same stew-pot"?

Not to change the subject, but our reception committee is waiting.

Maoris! Hundreds of 'em!

Deuce of a fix - no trinkets to bargain with! What've we to offer?

Just us, I suppose.

SHOUTING

-CHUCKLING

-Gracious!

-Stranger, I take you in.

"I have prepared a place for thee in the presence of thine enemy."

It's all right, he's harmless.

What think you now? I be crazy, eh?

Not a bit of it. I be smart. Mark ye well the words of old Bill Gaye.

Bill Gaye! Weren't you the mate on my father's ship?!

Depends entirely who your father was, what was his ship, and who you be for that matter.

You see? I BE smart.

Makes a difference WHO she is!

-I'm Mary Grant. My father's Captain Grant of the Britannia.

-Why didn't you say so?

Fine ship she was.

I walked her decks across the seven seas.

"Woe be unto thee, Moab, for thy sons are taken captive."

-Who's he?

-The Britannia's mate.

Do you know where he is? Can you tell me, where is Captain Grant?

Have you no eyes? Can you not see? He's gone.

-Where?

-Same as before - Dians Inlet.

-Did the Maoris take him?

-Nay, he be smart too.

He's learnt to keep alive. They need him when they get more guns.

Guns! Then it must be Ayrton.

That's who it be. The devil's got another ship.

-Were there three of you?

-Aye, three of us.

Captain Grant, McNab and old Bill Gaye against Ayrton and his mutinous crew.

Hello, Monsieur.

-Did my father and McNab both go to Dians Inlet?

-Nay, I say unto you, McNab he was NOT smart.

He was caught when he tried to escape.

Poor devil!

What's he laughing at? For this child I have prayed.

And the Lord hath granted my petition.

This night the Lord giveth us our salvation.

What think ye? Could a man force himself through there?

Even a man who has starved himself to become as thin as a man can be?

Nay, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.

Robert, could you crawl through?

Maybe if I tried very hard.

You be smart too.

If he could, what good would it do?

I'll show you now. The Lord helps them that helps themselves.

Two years we took to make it.

From the hairs of our heads, from a thousand things we gathered.

-Preposterous! What could the boy do all by himself?

-There be more to it.

For this be the night of the Haga.

Bide ye your time till the night be well be gone.

And the horns sound, and the flames leap upward, and the devil hath seized the souls of our captors.

THEN I will show the way.

CHANTING

HORN BLOWS

-Nobody's looking. Now's your chance.

-Up you go.

It looks awfully small. Go on! Go on!

Ah!

(I'm stuck!)

Let out all the air.

Which is worse - a "smart" madman or a "stupid" Frenchman?!

-Haul that!

-Oh!

Now to get the pendulum swinging.

Oh, do be careful!

Lower away.

I have the unhappy feeling we're going out of the frying pan into the fire.

-He can't get over. The rope's not long enough.

-Lower away!

He still can't do it.

-Lower away!

-That's all there is!

Then let her go!

He did it!

Tie that down there.

Get down it!

IN MAORI

Deuce of a fix this is!

-Off we go to the mountain.

-We'll never outrun these fellas.

-By Jove, I never saw a rope burn like that.

-Gunpowder - it's woven in like a fuse.

Aye, what say ye? Who be smart now?!

"Vengeance is mine. I will repay," saith the Lord.

Father, come on!

If this is the sacred volcano of the taboo, they dare not follow.

-You know of such things even though you be a stranger?

-I be smart too.

Aye, we be two of a kind.

-They've stopped.

-What think ye now of old Bill Gaye?

Be he crazy or be he smart?

They dare not set foot here, for all this is taboo.

I say, that's splendid, isn't it?

IN MAORI

-But they're coming!

-A slight miscalculation - the wrong volcano.

-Just as I thought - out of the frying pan...

-Don't worry, Milord.

Come ahead, please!

-What are you planning to do?

-Uncork the bottle and free the genie.

-Poussons tous! Allez!

-I've got it. Everybody push.

Un...deux...trois...

quatre!

-Lucky shot!

-In Paris, I am considered the wizard of the croquet court.

IN MAORI

Come ye, where we be safe.

EXPLOSION

-Oh, it's horrible!

-Have no fear - the Maoris can run faster than the lava. Enjoy it!

-And now Mr Gaye, to Captain Grant.

-Aye, to Captain Grant!

Follow old Bill Gaye.

He's got it all planned out. Yee-hee-hee.

Grant, tell them there's six more boxes, 200 rifles, still in the hold.

I'll set them ashore when they hand over the money.

- How do I know they're good? - I give you my word.

That's what you offered last time, when you unloaded a pile of junk.

Now really, Grant! Every time I do something charitable I regret it.

Like putting you ashore alive!

I'm staying alive. By not passing unexamined rifles!

(My beautiful, beautiful yacht.

(If they've done anything to damage her, I'll have them strung up.

-(How did you know where she was going to be?

-This be where they always unload -

(In Dians Inlet.

(Dians Inlet? Oh, sacre tonnerre!

(In the note what I thought said "INDIAN" was really...

(Oh...I'm stupid.

(Stupid!

-(STUPID!

-Cheer up, my friend, your stupidity may turn out to be of divine inspiration.

(Mr Gaye, I thought we were going to find Father?

(We be. We be. Lookee now.

(It's Father!

(He looks well. Thank goodness.

(They're all getting into boats.

(They're coming here. We have but little time to prepare a reception.)

CLATTERING SOUND

Ahoy! No-one comes aboard! You be not afraid of Bill Gaye?

Bill Gaye?

A hoary head is a crown of glory. Know ye not?

How many do you want?

BABBLE OF CONVERSATION

You want a hand, do you? Right.

How do we get past him?

Sir, is this Lord Glenarvan's yacht?

Well, sonny, I guess...

Here, ain't you the boy with that lot? Come back!

Oh!

-Your Lordship...!

-Captain, we have to break the door down!

I'm busted! Thomson'll play... Your deal.

Hey, come here quick!

The brig! The brig!

Aha! Know ye not what the good book says?

"He that diggeth the pit shall fall into it."

Send him over to me!

Oh, got HIM!

I suppose we'll have to open every box. Put the best ones on top.

Ayrton, you scoundrel!

Don't move. You may live long enough to hang.

Hello, Glenarvan. Welcome aboard.

This makes us even, doesn't it? You've got your ship back and I'm bringing you Captain Grant.

Captain, take him below with the rest of the scoundrels.

Aye, you've sown the wind and I say to ye, Ye shall reap the whirlwind.

SPEAK IN MAORI

-Bill Gaye, what on earth...?

-Father!

Mary! Robert!

You think I betrayed you, don't you?

See now how are the mighty fallen!

-How did you find me?

-M Paganel...

-A French professor.

-Found the bottle.

-Lord Glenarvan took us...

-Round the world.

Mary.

My dear children. Oh, how I prayed for this day.

I must be catching your cold.

And now you're here, and I'm able to hold you both close in my arms.

-I can't express my gratitude to you.

-We'd have been quicker, if I hadn't been so stupid about the note.

-Note?

-Yes, the note in the bottle.

The note? In the bottle?

What think ye now? 'Twas I put that note in the bottle. And put the bottle in the sea.

Cast thy bread on the water. Thou shall find it again.

-You were sure it was your father's.

-It was, wasn't it?

Now you know my secret - why I ran away to sea.

The voice is the voice of a God-fearing man, but the hands are the hands of a forger.

Par exemple.

Bill, you scoundrel!

Just think, if he hadn't put the note in the bottle, and M Paganel hadn't caught that shark...

And if you hadn't tried to slap me I wouldn't have talked my father into this trip.

Funny how things work out, isn't it?

Isn't it?

-Here we are, all of us together.

-ALL of us.

Did you ever see so many stars?

Once, on top of a mountain.

-Did you know that down there, out of the light, you can see the Southern Cross?

-Southern Cross?

So, that's my little girl!

By George, they do grow up.

Tous les climats sont parails pour l'amour.

I was just thinking to myself -

wherever you are in the world it is always different, but always the same.

In English you would say, "All climates are the same for LOVE."

There it is - the Southern Cross.