"LIBEL" "Directed by" "London, in 1959" " Gotta match?" " No." "I'm sorry, I don't smoke." " Hello boy." " Pinka." " Pink." "Thank you." " Hello, is this yours?" " Yes, he is always doing that." " He is very friendly." "Don't you believe it." "He bit a man last week." "I'm glad, he is in a better mood tonight." "Come on." "Good boy." " On top form tonight Fred?" " I can't do a thing right." " Good evening, Betty!" " Hello Maisie!" " Would you care for a drink?" " Thanks." "I usually have a gin and tonic." " Good." "A gin and tonic and a beer, please?" " Coming up!" " Are you in town for long?" " No, just two days between clients." " Have you been to London before?" " Yes, yes." " I was here during the war." " Really?" "Hey Maisie, I haven't seen you for days." "How have you been?" " Three and three, sir." " Thank you." " Gin!" " Thank you." "Cheers!" " Cheers!" " Look Maisie..." "This is the BBC Television Service" "Tonight in our series, 'Historic Country Houses' we are privileged to visit Ingworth, the home of Sir Mark Loddon." "You join us in one of the loveliest Elizabethan houses in England." "And here tonight welcome us Sir Mark and Lady Loddon." "Now Sir Mark, if you will, we'd like you first of all, to tell us something about the house and its history." "I think your family has always lived here, in Ingworth." "Yes, ever since it was built in 1580." "It's a record we rather proud of." "The family built it and we still live here." " Would you like to come on the grand tour?" " Very much." "Hey boys, we're missing the big fight." "Charlie, switch it over." "Excuse me sir." " Hey, switch that back, will you?" " Leave it Charlie?" " Look, I've got to see that program." " Well, you ain't gonna see in here, mate." "That's enough sir." "I don't want any trouble here." " He's got him cold." " I've got a dollar on him." " Do you live near here?" " Well yes, just around the corner." " I share a flat with a girlfriend." " Good." "What are you getting at?" "Nothing doing." " No No." "Have you got a television set?" " What?" "Have you got a television set?" "Here we are, it's over there." "Doesn't this darn thing work?" " Give it a chance to warm up." " All right, then." "Come on, come on." "Oh, I don't know what all the fuss is about." "One TV program is same as any other." "It's quite a great deal these days maintaining Ingworth" "Yes, if we didn't open the house to the public at weekends, and certain other holidays, we shouldn't able to afford to live here, anyway." " You are the seventh baronet, aren't you?" " Yes, I am." "That's the first one there, Sir John Loddon." "You know it's quite remarkable after all these years" " The family like this, I mean." " Do you think I like him?" " Yes, you got the Loddon face." " Can't see it myself." "One's a very bad judge of one's own face." "Oh, yes, darling, he is just like you." "Except for the weight." " You really want to watch it?" " Shhh..." "What a splendid room." "But we hardly ever use it." "Not really since the war." "Of course, you were a prisoner of war Mark, weren't you?" "Yes, I was taken prisoner at Dunkirk." " When were you released?" " I escaped just before the end of the war." "Just in time for the celebrations." "I was in no condition to celebrate, I was in hospital for 6 months." "Oh..." "That's lovely, isn't it?" "And then you were discharged from the army and got married soon afterwards." "That's right, yes." " And your son was born in the following year?" " Yes, on Christmas day." " Are we going to see him tonight?" " Oh, I'm afraid not." "He is asleep in his nursery." "At least, I hope he is." " I dare say, a lot of famous people have dined in this room." " Yes." "Queen Elizabeth I." "Charles II." "Margaret you're better at this than I, you take over." "Naturally I'm American." "And you know what Americans are like when they are hotfoot after culture." "Well, it was Marlborough and Disraeli." " And this will surprise you, Benjamin Franklin." " Really?" " Yes." " At all around this table?" "By the look of it you are expecting them again this evening" "We've laid it out especially for you." " For me?" "For you and the viewers." "It set exactly as it was for my husband's 21st birthday party." " Is it?" "That would be interesting to know who the guests were on that occasion." "Could you name them for us, Sir Mark?" "Ah, the guests..." " You want to know their names." " Yes." "Well... mostly just friends and relations." " Won't you name just a few for us?" "Just one if you like?" " Well I..." " Don't you remember?" "No, I don't remember." "I'm terribly sorry." "I don't remember." "Is anything strange in that?" "Not strange at all, pal." "Not strange at all." "As matter of fact my husband hates all family ceremonies." " Oh, a lot of people do." " Well I like them." "I love all tradition." "I'm fascinated by all the things my husband has always taken for granted." "He's taking a lot for granted, that guy." "Well don't tell me you know him?" "If it's who I think it is, I know him." "I think we mustn't trespass on your time any more." "Lady Loddon we must go." "Come on, your hand." "Let's see your hand." "And to you Sir Mark, being so kind." " Good night." " Thank you very much, indeed." "That was a visit to Ingworth the home of..." "Thank Goodness that's over." "Are you going to buy me a drink or something?" "I need it." "Here." "Buy yourself a bottle." "But..." "Aren't you coming with me?" "I thought you didn't take off the two days." "I may not take off at all." "Oh, thank goodness that's over." " Good night!" " Good night!" " How do you think it went?" " Fine." " Except when I made a fool of myself just now." " Oh, nonsense." "His fault was for asking those stupid questions." "Oh, you can't blame him darling." "It was just bad luck." " How could he know?" " Know what?" "That you can't always remember the things that happened to you before the war." "What should I have done?" "Tell the hell country in general that the war changed my life?" "Except for the memory." "It hasn't changed that much, has it?" "Hasn't it?" "I don't know." "I was only 26 and I hadn't had a gray hair on my head." "And now you are an old, old man." "Settled with a possessive wife." "Now that part I rather like." "Darling." "Shall we go up?" "Ahh, no." "Not just yet." "I feel a little restless." "You go up." "I'll join you presently." "All right darling." " Good night!" " Good night!" "I thought you did very well." "Get out!" "Get out!" "Get away!" "I'm sorry." " I'm terribly, terribly sorry." " Oh, darling, darling." "I had to come down." "I heard you playing that same tune again." "Yes, I know you did." "Let me help you." "Tell me." "It came from nowhere." "I wasn't even thinking about it." "It suddenly started." "It went on and on and on, beating in my brain." "And always always stopping at the same place." "Why does it always do that?" "Why?" "Yes, but this time there was something more, wasn't it?" " Yes, there was something more." "Standing there I saw a reflection, behind me in the looking glass." "And then the music stopped." "And I knew then at that moment... that those two things were part of my nightmare." "The tune and the reflection." "And for one second..." "I knew quite clearly what that reflection was." "Darling, it was me." "No." "It wasn't you." " It wasn't you." " Who then?" "I don't know." "Something I've forgotten." "Oh, darling I can't help you." "I can't help you!" "And I want so much to." "I love you so." "Whatever happens... or whatever I do... you'll never leave me, will you?" " Never." "Because I need you." "I need you." "Ingworth, In Norfolk, England" "Welcome to Ingworth House." "Ladies and Gentlemen, Ingworth is hardly altered at all since the first day it's stood here in the valley, before the Spanish armada sailed." "This way ladies and gentlemen..." "Well, ladies and gentlemen, if you all have the seen the dining room" "I'd like to take you to the next item of interest, which is the long gallery." "But first of all, may I draw your attention on this magnificent staircase, which is of course part of the original building." "Well now I'll take you upstairs to the long gallery." "This way ladies and gentlemen, please." "Both sides up it all goes the same way." "Robert, put that down!" "Come away, both of you." "Thank you." " Good afternoon, sir." " Good afternoon, Pete." " Had a good day?" " Yes, sir." "Nearly 500." " Very good day." " Did they break anything?" " No, sir." "Not this time." " That's a blessing." "Baa, baa, black sheep, Have you any wool?" "Yes, sir, yes, sir, Three bags full;" "One for the..." " master," "And one for the..." " maid," "And one for - the little boy Who lives down the lane." "You make a very charming picture you know." " Hello, daddy." " What would you call the picture?" " Oh I don't know." "Domestic bliss, I suppose." "No one can fit in more perfectly with the surroundings." "Thank you, sir." "I'm glad you think so." "Come Michael now." "You go off to the kitchen, take those to Mrs. Bead." " Take Jason with you, darling." " Yes, take Jason with you." "Come on, Jason." "Just think if we'd never met, you and I." "There'd be just you and just me miles and miles apart." "A dreadful thought." " What would you be doing?" " Oh, working." " New York." "In some office, I suppose." " And you?" "I wouldn't be alive." "Margaret..." "I... have a feeling." "that I won't have that nightmare again." "When I... when I shouted at you last night," " You won't laugh at this, will you?" " Oh, darling I'm not laughing at you." "I felt..." "I felt as if a devil had gone out of me." "I think for good." "Really?" "Yes, really." "I'm not even" "I'm not even frightened of that tune anymore." "What are you doing in here?" "These are the private apartments, you know." "Did you lose your way?" "I'll show you out, right?" "I know you." "You're..." "Jeff..." " Jeffrey..." " Buckenham." "Of course." "Alpine Camp 1945." " The same hut." "Of course I remember you." "Jeffrey Buckenham from Montreal." "Where had you been all these years?" " Places." " Well, why didn't you contact me sooner?" "Now that you're here, don't think you're going away so easily." "You'll stay for dinner, won't you?" "Maggie will be delighted to see you." "You remember Margaret, don't you?" "I told you all about her." "Oh, we finally did get married." "Here at Ingworth church." "Jeff, it's really good to see you again." "How are you?" " I'm fine." "How are you?" " I'm fine." "Hello Frank!" "What did you say?" "Your name." "Just your name, Frank Welney." "I'm the one with the bad memory." "My name is Mark." "Don't you remember?" " I remember." "That's the trouble." "I remember that hand." "I remember your theme song." "What are you talking about?" "You, the English baronet." "Yeah, you played the part pretty well, Frank, but I'm afraid the show is over." "What is this?" "What do you want?" "You forget I was there." "I know what happened to Mark." "And I'm going to make you pay for this." "If it's the last think I do I'm gonna make you pay for this." "Pay for what?" "Oh, I see what it is." "Money, that's it." "A case of a little blackmail." "Oh, no." "You got me wrong Frank." "I'll name the price alright and you'll pay it." "But it won't be just a few pounds." "I want a lot more than that and I'm going to get it." "I want to see you crawl, Frank." "I want the whole world to see what a louse you are." "Get out!" "Get out!" " You damn fraud." "Get out!" "I'm not gonna touch you." "What I'm gonna do is gonna hurt a lot more." "I'm..." "I'm sorry, I can't stay for dinner, Frank." "Who was that?" "A war time companion." " Why did he call you, Frank?" " He mistook me for someone else." "Someone we both knew a long time ago." " Good afternoon, sir!" " Good afternoon!" "Can I speak to Captain Gerald Loddon, please?" " Certainly, I just get him." " Thank you." "Nice, isn't it?" " Captain Loddon?" " Yes." "You're, Sir Mark Loddon's cousin." " Yes." "Why?" "Do you know him?" " I met him during the war." "Ah, splendid." "How do you like the new cars?" "They're pretty hot stuff." "I'm not really suppose to talk about speed, most of our customers are a bit slow." " Look, I'm here on a personal matter." "Oh." "If Mark Loddon hadn't come back from the war... you would have inherited everything." "What are you getting at?" "Only this." "Mark Loddon didn't come back from the war." "Frank..." "I remember." "That's the trouble, Frank." "I remember." "Maggie..." "What is it?" "I don't know." "So you see from what I said, he can't be your cousin." "I don't know if what you say is true." "It is true." "I was there." "I don't deny he has changed a bit since the war." "Almost a different man." "But you know I hardly feel I can do anything about it." "Well if you won't do anything I will." "I will go to the police." "But I doubt if they would listen to you." "Somebody is going to listen to me." "I want to get this thing out to the open." "You know you could always..." "Always what?" "No, if I were you I would forget all about it." " What were you gonna say?" "Well I was only going to say you could always go right to the press." "You know an open letter publicly exposing him." "Some papers would jump at it." " What papers?" " Well, the..." "Sunday Gazette for one." "It's right up their street." "You know fearless exposure, Sunday Gazette speaks out for justice." "They love that sort of thing." "As it happens they don't love my cousin, Mark." "Thank you." "Now look old chap." "I didn't mean that I shouldn't have spoken." "You may get into trouble." "Besides I'm very fond of my cousin." "He is not your cousin." "And I want trouble." " Mommy?" " What is it, darling?" "Mommy, mommy, come here!" "Michael, what's the matter?" " Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" " Sorry, we're just taking a few pictures." " Did you get Sir Mark's permission?" " We sent our message out..." " But did he give you his permission?" " No, he didn't." "Stop it!" "Michael go on up to the nursery." "How dare you come bursting in here like this." "Take it easy." "We got a job to do and a living to make same as anybody else." " You're news?" " News?" "You should know." " You are Lady Loddon aren't you?" " Yes, I am." "Well then, what do you expect?" "After that letter in the Gazette." " Letter?" "What letter?" " Haven't you read it?" "Must be the only one." "Here." "BOGUS BARONET" "Fraud and impostor." "Not very nice, is it?" "You got your pictures." "Now, will you please go?" " Come on, Harry." "Darling." "Maggie..." "Who were they at the church?" " Mark, I think you gotta see this." "Oh, yes." "I have seen it." "Pete showed it to me." " But who could write such stuff." "Was it that man who was here the other day?" " The man who called you Frank?" " Yes, yes, it was." "I have told you he'd made a mistake then." "He's got mad and paper's mad for printing it." "What are you going to do?" " Do?" "I'm going to ignore it." "What does one do with muck like that?" "We shall be late darling." "I don't think I want to go." "Margaret, you must go." "We've got to go." "My dear, isn't it awful?" "About Mark Loddon I mean." "If you mean that rubbish in the paper Mildred..." "Excuse me, does sir Mark Loddon always come here to church?" "Well, nearly always, but I don't expect he will today." " Why on earth not Mildred?" " Well, under the circumstances you hardly expect him to show his face in public." "Unless of course, she made him." "She is an American and you know how Americans adore publicity." "I mean if he doesn't, well." "one knows what to think." " Doesn't it?" " Exactly." "Dear Lady Loddon." "I am so sorry." "Of course, I don't believe a word..." "My dear, my dear." "Don't let this ridiculous rubbish worry you too much." "Nobody there seems to believe it." "Would you care to make a statement, Sir Mark?" "Can't you see I'm busy." "I told you I don't want to talk about it anymore." " I really don't understand." " There is nothing to understand." "The Gazette is being a little more vulgar than usual." "That's all." "You're not going to do anything about it?" " What do you want me to do?" "Go to court and expose my whole life in public?" "Your life?" "It's my life, too." "And Michael's." "All right." "Supposing I do sue for libel." "Do you know what it means?" "It means going to the witness box." "Having the last shreds of privacy ripped from us." "Being plastered over in every newspaper in the land." "Do you think I want that?" "Mark, there's nothing you haven't told me, is there?" "I've told you there's nothing." "Isn't that enough?" "Or do you think I'm an impostor too?" "I haven't thought of that one." "Oh, Mark." " But at least that's something." "But you still want me to go and prove who I am." "What for?" "For some tiresome neighbours, some boring acquaintances." "Why?" "What for?" "For Michael." "I don't care for myself." "But you don't want a cloud over him." "Perhaps for the rest of his life." "You must Mark for his sake, you must." "No, I won't." " Please, Mark, please." "I know our life together." "Our whole future depends on it." "I didn't think he dare." "Just listen to this." " A lot of people let's go into the office." "A summons from the High Court of Justice." "Sir Mark Loddon against the Sunday Gazette and Jeffrey Buckenham." "Plaintiff claims damages for libel." "Oh, the fat is in the fire, isn't it?" " It sure is he's in for it now." "You seem very confident." " I am." "I hope so for your sake." "By the way, I've been looking through my correspondence with Mark." "I've got something to show you." "There's a rather curious sentence on this page, I think might interest you." "Well, this proves what I've said." "That's for the court to decide, isn't it?" "Now you hang onto it, it might be of use to you." "But please don't disclose who gave it to you because if you do, I should deny it." "All right." "Will you be in court?" "Well if I am it will be give evidence for my cousin." "Well, I have to, you know. blood is thicker than water and all that stuff..." "But don't worry, I don't think you will find anything I have to say or do will be helpful." "I see." "You really must excuse me, I got some customers to attend to." "Good bye." "See you in court." "It's time to go darling." " I shan't be a moment." "How long do you think the case will last?" "About 2-3 days, I should think." " Maggie..." " Yes?" " If anything should happen..." " What could happen?" "I don't know." "But things may not turn out just as we hope." "Darling, you're quite sure there is nothing you haven't told me?" "Because if there is anything... you must tell me now." "No, no." "I've told you all I know." "Then things can only go one way." "You've got the truth on your side and that's all it matters." "You'll have to be very brave, you know." "This is going to be... going to be quite annoying." "I'm ready for it." "Shall we go?" "LIBEL CASE SENSATION" "Loddon against the Sunday Gazette and another." "My Lord, I call Sir Mark Loddon." "Repeat after me:" "I swear by Almighty God," "I swear by Almighty God..." " that the evidence I shall give, - that the evidence I shall give," " shall be the truth, - shall be the truth," " the whole truth - the whole truth" " and nothing but the truth." " and nothing but the truth." "You are Sir Mark Loddon?" "The seventh Baronet of Ingworth House, in the County of Dorset." "That's so." "And I believe Sir Mark that you joined up at the outbreak of war, and went to France with your unit, in 1939." " Yes, I did." " Were you wounded and taken prisoner at Dunkirk?" " I was." "And did you subsequently escape from the prison camp Hobhigh known as Altflag 9A in April 1945?" " I did." " What effect that have on you?" "My hair went grey." " As it is now." " And your health?" " Apart from my memory I don't complain." " What of your memory?" "It's unreliable." "It's unreliable about events which occurred before my escape." "I mean it's... it has great gaps in it." "There is some things that I... remember quite clearly." "Things which keep coming up to the surface like... like wreckage." "But there are quite odd things, quite distrunted very trivial things." "Nothing is too trivial if it helps us to arrive at the truth." "What are these trivial matters to which you refer?" "Well, I remember..." "I remember that I had a linnet, in a cage." "It was given to my own 5th birthday by the head gardener." "I remember his name, too." "It was Mr. Sal." "Do you remember old Sal, John?" "The... the cage was... it was too small." "The bird kept fluttering" "Really quite trivial things." "Other more important events and people I don't remember at all." "Have any members of your family have ever found difficulty identifying you?" "No." "And these of course are the people who know you most intimately." "And now the Sunday Gazette, which proudly claims the readership of... of..." "Give it to me!" "of 1200036 registered readers." "Are you one of them?" " No." "I don't subscribe to the gutterpress." "Have you ever in public voiced your distaste of the sensational type of journalism practiced by the Sunday Gazette?" "Yes, once I made a speech locally." "In which I expressed my opinions in no uncertain terms." "And would it be true to say the Sunday Gazette has lost no opportunity to try and discredit you?" "Yes, I am told so." "I choose to ignore it." "And that these petty acts of spitefulness have culminated in the publication of a gross libel which you do not choose to ignore." " No, I do not." "Thank you, Sir Mark." "I think that's all." "I suggest that ever since April 1945 you've indulged in the unscrupulous pretense of being an English baronet." "That's a stupid lie." "And most unscrupulous pretense of all of being entitled to woo and marry your wife." "You won't make me lose my temper as easily as that, Mr. Foxley." "We shall see." "Now then." "When did you last see Frank Welney?" "Whom did you say, Mr. Foxley?" "Frank Welney, My Lord." " You at least have heard of Frank Welney?" " Yes." " I was with him in a German prison camp." " When did you last see him?" "Let me help you." "Did you shave yourself this morning?" "Yes, why?" "Didn't you see him then?" "Really My Lord, is it necessary from my friend to be so deliberately offensive?" "I think you must Let him pursue his own mind, Mr. Wilfred." " Have he any peculiarities?" " No, he was a very ordinary man." "Wasn't he remarkably like you?" " I never noticed it." " I see, you never noticed, no..." "Well now then I wonder if you know whether Sir Mark ever wrote to anybody about this similarity?" "Did I?" "No, certainly not." "Do you recognize the handwriting on this letter?" " Yes, I do." " It's yours." " Of course, it is my signature, right?" " It's signed, Mark Loddon." "It's a page of a letter written by Sir Mark Loddon from the prison camp in Germany and contains pertinent information." "Would you please read it to the jury?" "There are only two other British prisoners in our hut here." "A chap called Buckenham from Canada, and a man called Welney, from heaven knows where." " Proceed please." " Welney himself says we might be brothers." "He says it makes him feel like one of the family." ""Feel like one of the family."" "Doesn't that letter recall anything to you?" ""One of the family."" "Yes." "Yes, it does." "It was a day that Buckenham was giving out the mail." "Here chap." "Sorry, not you." "Ed." "George." " Letter for you André." " Merci!" "Letter for you, Mark?" "Hey, that's not yours." " All right, all right, you boring Canadian lumberjack." "Just remember you gave it to me." "You know it damn well because I thought..." "Thought I was Mark, didn't you?" "Ah, there you are." "I'm frightfully sorry old chap, our lumberjack friend made a mistake." "He thought that I was you." "I opened it without even reading it." "You were reading it as quick as you darn well could." "That's just exactly a kind of remark I would've expected from you." "Shut up, you two!" "I'll hit him if I stay here." "He really is impossible, that chap." "So uncouth." "I just wish we could have have him transferred to another hut." "Jeff's a very good friend of mine." "If it wasn't for him, I would have been off my head years ago." "You don't think I was deliberately reading your letter, do you?" "No, of course not." "I'm glad of that Mark." "You don't mind me calling you Mark, do you?" "It's rather presumptuous of me." "It's a bit silly after 3 years, wouldn't it?" "Yes." "You see it's so frightfully good to talk to you Mark." "You understand people." "I'm quite sure that lumberjack just said that I was... a little snob sucking up to you." "Oh, don't be silly." "I realize perfectly well compared to you," "I'm absolute nothing, I am just a... provincial actor, small parts." "No background, no standing." "But what's a chap to do?" "One can't get on in the theater these days unless one is in with the right people." "Talent is I am afraid is really, not all together enough." "And I am quite talented." "Well, perhaps you'll have better luck when we get out." "I certainly mean to get on." "I assure you that." "Mark, I am sorry about the letter." "It was from your fiancee, wasn't it?" "I saw her name on the envelope." "Or does one say, envelope in your accent." "I don't think it matters why?" "One doesn't want to make mistakes." "Would you give her my regards when you write?" "You and I being so like each other at least people say we are." "Almost makes me feel like one of the family." "It just goes to show, doesn't it how easily some people can be mistaken." "Can they?" "I am lucky enough to... have here an official description of Welney from the army records," ""Thick, crop of grey hair."" "How would you describe yours?" "Mr. Foxley, what is the date of that document?" "The year 1939." "Supposing a man's hair had not been grey then surely it could have turned grey after all these year." "I am aware of that, My Lord." "Indeed it hadn't largely disappeared." "It has for so many of us." "But it is also on record that Frank Welney has lost the first two joints of the first finger of his right hand." " Have you?" " Would you please hold up your right hand to the jury?" "May I ask how you lost your finger?" " It was shot off during the escape." " How very convenient." "So that would produce the interesting result that no one in the prison camp could remember that Sir Mark Loddon had lost his finger." "Naturally." " But I do." " Thank you." "And so today by another remarkable coincidence your body combines all the physical peculiarities of both Welney and Loddon." "So it would appear." "When did you say you last saw Welney?" "I repeat the question." "When did you last see Frank Welney?" "It was during the escape." "Was anyone else a party to the escape?" "Yes." "Buckenham." "Would you please tell us exactly what happened?" "Well, we... we started away from... from the camp..." "We were making our way to the Dutch border." "Hiding by day and walking by night." "We had very little food, and not much sleep." "One night we... we came to the outskirts of a town." "All right, they have gone." "I could eat a horse." "Better go and find one." "We'd not eaten for 3 days." "And Buckenham..." "Yes, Buckenham?" "Well there was... there was a... a kind of farm across the field." "So we decided amongst ourselves that... one of us ought to go and find something." "And I wanted to... but you said no, because I was the only one in British uniform and anyway you were the youngest." "You?" "Do you mean Mr. Buckenham?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "Yes." "Then he left us." "And eh..." "And then?" "Welney and I... were left to wait for him." "You were alone together." "Yes." "We were alone together." "And then?" "And then..." "Yes?" "And then?" "There was a mist." "And water moving." "Pulling and waving." "And Buckenham crawling away." "Something... in the water." " And Welney." " And Welney?" "What about Welney?" "What about Welney?" "Witness!" "What happened to Welney?" "I can't remember." "So you can't remember." "How very interesting." "I can't remember!" "I've told you." "I can't remember anything after that." "It's not because I don't want remember because I can't." "I remember a mist." "I remember water." "And Buckenham, crawling away." "That is all!" "Silence!" "You made a great deal of this loss of memory." "Even if it isn't so complete." "How is it possible for you to remember your pre-war engagement, and the lady's name on your return?" "Do you refuse to answer that question?" "Well." "I did forget her." "I forgot her name, her face, her very existence." "But she wrote to me while I was in hospital and her letters revived my memory of her." "Could you produce any letters written by Sir Mark Loddon which refer to his wound and his loss of memory?" " No." "No, I can't produce any letters like that." "I never wrote about those things." "Rightly or wrongly, I..." "I kept them from her." "You seem to have kept a great deal from her." "If I am Welney, what became of Loddon?" "That's a very interesting question which I don't propose to answer now." "Thank you." "That will be all." "Mr. Foxley I think this might be an appropriate moment for an enjoyable lunch." "Lady Loddon." "Excuse me, a fellow countryman of yours" "Barry Medox, American Press Service." "I'm sure people in America would be interested knowing how..." "Lady Loddon has nothing to say." "Will you leave us alone please?" "Excuse me." "Hello Hubert, what's good today?" " The trout's excellent." "My learned friend highly recommends the trout." " Which is a very good reason for having the turnout." " Now now." "You mustn't be too put off by Fox's professional manner." "We fight like angry stags in court but outside we are the best of friends." "Now then this afternoon should be quite straightforward." "I'm going to call your relatives as to discuss and after that" "I should like to put Lady Loddon in the box, just to clinch things." "You'll do no such thing." " Why not my dear fellow?" "Just a few simple, straightforward questions." "Lady Loddon is our principal asset." "She'll ensure the jury's sympathy." "You speak as if there was some doubt about the result of this case." "Darling if he thinks it will help..." "No it's quite out of question." "I won't have you humiliated in that box." "The whole thing's sordid without dragging you into it." "That's the end to the whole matter." "Captain Loddon, when you were questioned by my learned friend," " you said, you recognized your cousin anywhere." " Of course, Known him all my life." "I often went to Ingworth on holiday when we were kids." "But I use to bully him a lot then." "I remember on one occasion we were larking around and he felt down from a tree." "He still has a scar to thank me for." " Then another time..." " Just a moment." "This scar you mentioned." "Where is it?" " On the left leg, just about the knee." " You're sure?" " Oh quite positive." "Yes, thank you." "I have here Captain Loddon report of a full medical examination to which the plaintiff was good enough to submit to at our request." "It contains no reference to any scar." "I don't quite understand that." "As I remember it was a pretty serious cut that had several stitches in it." "I'd say that scar would still be there." "I'm quite prepared to believe that Sir Mark Loddon had a scar but the plaintiff obviously hasn't." " Look I hope you don't think..." " Thank you Captain Loddon." "I should like to re-examine this witness, my Lord." "By all means." "Apart from the question of the scar about which there appears to be some conflict of opinion, you are absolutely certain are you not that the plaintiff in fact Sir Mark Loddon." " Yes, of course, except..." "Except?" " Nothing, I'm absolutely certain." " Exactly." "Thank you Captain Loddon." "I consider it absolutely essential that we should call Lady Loddon..." " On no account." " She knows you better than anybody." "The evidence about the scar could be very damaging to us." " I said no." " Lady Loddon I appeal to you..." "Not if Mark doesn't want me to do." " Sir Wilfred when you are ready?" " I beg your Lordship's pardon." "I have no further witnesses to call." "In that case we will adjourn until tomorrow." "Excuse me." "LIBEL CASE LATEST" "Back a winner mister?" " Looks like it." " Are you awake?" " Yes." "I can't sleep either." "But you must." "I'll get you something." "You'll need all your strength for tomorrow." "Mark." "Why did you never tell me that there was a time when you've forgotten me all together?" "I thought it might be... might be the one thing you couldn't forgive." "And that you wouldn't marry me." "I didn't know you then as I know you now." "Take it." "It'll make you sleep." "Why didn't you tell me afterwards?" "After it didn't seem to matter." "And anyway..." "I thought it might hurt you." "Hurt me much more hearing it like that today." "Do you think it didn't hurt me to have to say it like that?" "Oh darling, that was a horribly selfish thing for me to say." "Forgive me." "It isn't very often that I have to do that, is it?" " Good night." " Good night." " Maggie." " Yes?" "It happened again today." " In court." " I guessed." "I was remembering the water... and something moving in it." "When the music stopped." "Of course." "It was a reflection." "It was the same reflection I saw on the looking glass that night." "What is it?" "What is it?" "What is it?" "It was only yourself." "If it was myself why does it frighten me so much." "Why?" "Why?" "Unless..." "Supposing it were true." "Supposing what were true?" "That I was not myself." "That that other man..." "How can you be?" "What do you mean?" "Oh, darling I am your wife, I know who you are." "And I'll swear it in court if you let me." "Loddon against the Sunday Gazette and another." "Part 3rd" "Jeffrey Buckenham." "What is your full name?" "Jeffrey Buckenham." "Heh heh, Buckenham is on." "Buckenham is on." "And you are the author of the letter in the Sunday Gazette." "Yes." "Have you gained anything by its publication?" "Not yet." "Do you stand to gain anything?" " A lot." " Financially?" " No." " What then?" "Personal satisfaction." " Mark Loddon was my friend." " You say, was." "Yes, I said, was." " He is dead." " My Lord, I really must protest against such a monstrous statement." " Unsupported by one shred of evidence..." " Really my Lord, my learned friend does more credit to his heart than to his head." "Evidence will be forthcoming." "Now Mr. Buckenham you heard the plaintiff described an incident which occurred in prison hut, when you mistook Welney for Sir Mark." "Was that account accurate?" "Part of it was but he left out a lot." "Would you please describe the incident in your own words?" "Well." "Like he said one day I came in with the letters." "Letter for you, Mark." "André!" "Oh, Merci!" "That's not yours." "All right, all right, you boring Canadian lumberjack." " Just to remember you did give it to me." " Well give it back." "You dirty, little thief." "Welney!" "Caught him reading your letter." "Our lumberjack friend made a mistake." "He mistook me for you." " I opened it without even looking at it." " You liar." "You were reading as fast as you could." "I caught you reading them before." " Oh for Heaven's sake Jeff." "Shut up!" "Then you shut up too with all this lumberjack stuff." "You both sound like a couple of kids and you know it." "Fact is we... we are getting on each other's nervous, yeah?" "Not really surprising, being caged up like this." "It's a rotten thing, a cage." "I once had a bird in a cage." "A linnet." "It was given to me by old Sal, the gardener." "My 5th birthday." "Cage was too small the bird was always trying to get out." "I was used to imagine what it was feeling" "It must have been rather fun." " All those birthday parties at Ingworth" " Yes, they were." " Did you have a special one for your 21st?" " Yes, I think so." "I have spent my 21st in theatrical lodgings." "In... in Darlington." "I don't think it matters where you spend your 21st As long as you were with friends." "I was alone." "Always that same tune, doesn't he know any other?" "No letter again for you?" "No." "Don't have one for quite a while, have you?" "No, she stopped writing months ago." "I guess she got tired of waiting." "Oh, I see." "Look, why don't you write to Maggie?" "She's like it if you did, she'd write back." "Wouldn't she think it a little bit..." "She wouldn't be a little bit anything." "You don't know Maggie." "No, I don't." "What's she like?" "Oh, she is American and very pretty." "I didn't mean that." "What's she really like?" "It's rather difficult to describe her really." "She is..." "Well." "When you are with her, you're at your best." "Even quite dull people become amusing when they are in her company." "Even people you don't like very much, you suddenly you suddenly find there... nice things about them." "Things you didn't know were there." "Do you know what I mean?" " Yeah, I know what you mean." " Well, you write to her then." "What happened with the linnet?" " The linnet." " Oh..." "I let it go." "So that would account for the plaintiff's vivid memory of his 5th birthday present from the head gardener, Mr. Sal." "Wouldn't it, Mr. Buckenham?" "Yes." "Yes, it sure would." " Did anything further come of this incident?" " Yes." "He kept asking Mark questions about personal things." "Family, servants, even the furniture in the rooms." "I told Mark that he was preparing to be his understudy" "And if he wasn't careful, he would take over the star part." "At the time I was only kidding." "But then one afternoon I was lying in my bunk, well, he didn't know I was there." "Mark Sebastian Loddon." "I know you almost as I know myself." "Better." "And this is one performance I can give complete with affection." "A change of hair," "the change of voice, and I am..." "Mark Sebastian Loddon." "Seventh Baronet and owner of Ingworth House." "One of the stately homes of England." "I'm also one of the luckiest men alive." "Margaret Madison, Maggie." "The girl I intend to marry." "I met in Ascot, in 1939." "Hey you, clown?" "You leave Maggie out of this." "Mark." "Our great actor was pretending he was you." "He is taking over Ingworth." "I haven't taken over Ingworth at all." "I was merely doing a little impersonation of you which I thought I might do at the Camp concert." "Do you mind?" "No, not a bit as long as it's good." "Let's hear a piece of it." "Really well you are the most insufferable boor." "I don't know why we put up with you in this house." " It's very good." " I'm glad you like it." "Do you know one of the Poles actually mistook me for you the other day." "He must have been making fun of you." "You know if you could dispose of me." "I believe you could go back to Ingworth." "Take over." "And there won't be anyone the wiser." "Do you really think so?" "I wonder..." "I might do it if you aren't really careful." "Yes, Mister Buckenham." "Yeah..." "That's what you did." "That's just what you did." "You killed him." "My Lord, this is intolerable." "Is there no limit to the license allowed this witness?" " Silence!" "We appreciate your point, Wilfred." " The witness will..." " But he did!" "I know it now, I know it." "If the witness's persist in interrupting I will have him held for contempt of court." "Please, confine yourself to answering the question." " Proceed Mr. Foxley." " I thank you, you Lordship." "Mr. Buckenham about the escape." "Was the plaintiff's account accurate?" "Yes, up to the point that I left him." " Then what happened?" "Well, I..." "I managed to get some food and I was making my way back." "Er ist schon tot." "Los gehen wir shon." "And you're absolutely certain Mr Buckenham the body was Mr. Mark's?" "Certain." "He was the only one of us wearing a battle dress jacket." " Were you certain he was dead?" " I know that 'tot' is the German word for dead." "And you're reasonably certain the man you saw making off was Welney?" "Yes, he was the only one was wearing a leather jacket." "Thank you, Mr. Buckenham." "My Lord, I will dispose of the evidence of this gentleman, with the brevity it merits." "Although it's not strictly necessary for me to do so," "I will deal with the fantastic charge of murder." "You say when you returned from foraging, you heard shots." " Yes." " Were you... or Welney, or Sir Mark carrying firearms?" " No, of course not." " Well then I suppose you were right." "And the man you saw escaping was Welney and the body was that of Sir Mark." "It follows, doesn't it?" "That Welney couldn't possible have shot Sir Mark." "Kindly answer the question." " Yeah, I guess so." " Thank you." "The jury may conclude that the man who was made one wildly irresponsible and palpably false statement is not incapable of having made another." "And now let us turn to this famous impersonation." "You say, you came across Welney rehearsing an imitation of Sir Mark for a camp concert." "No." "I mean..." "What he was doing before he knew I was watching... wasn't for his act." "It wasn't that kind of thing." "He was practicing being Sir Mark." "Did you like Welney?" "I hate his guts." "So that your interpretation of his intentions could hardly be impartial." "And so on the strength of a five minute imitation." "You are suggesting that Frank Welney could over the years have persuaded Sir Mark Loddon's nearest relative, his family who knew him ever since he was a little boy." "The lady to whom he was betrothed and whom he subsequently married." "You have the effrontery to suggest that he could persuade all these people that he was Sir Mark Loddon?" "Yes." "I gravely doubt that anybody else would accept such an outrageous suggestion." "Now then let us come to the escape." "You said immediately after the shots you saw Welney making off." "Did you see his face?" "No." "And the body on the ground in British battle dress." "Were you close enough to see its face?" " No, but I told you he was..." "My Lord, on the witness' own evidence it was dark and misty." "He saw a figure in a leather jacket." "He saw a body wearing a British army jacket." "And that was all he saw." "I don't think we need detain this gentleman any longer." "Court will now adjourn." "Buckenham." "I don't suppose we should even be seen together, but I must talk to you." " Look, there is no..." " Listen." "You must listen to me." "Before I saw you in the witness box I thought you must be a madman or a blackmailer." "Now I know you neither." "I believe you are telling the truth and I know you really love Mark." " Thank you." " Know one who didn't could have described so well the Mark that I fell in love with." "But now you made a mistake." " Have the courage to say so." " How can I?" "I saw him lying there dead." "But you just said, you couldn't see his face." "How can you be sure it was Mark?" "Are you sure the man you married is Mark?" "Is he the same Mark you felt in love with?" "Well, naturally because of all his..." " Look." "Do you think I like doing this to you?" "You see." "I feel I know you." "Because... well because..." "Mark talked so much about you." "Made me feel rather proud because he... let me share a little bit of how he felt." " Sorry, I can't put it into words." " You don't have to." "Do you know the last time he spoke to me it was about you?" " Was it?" " Yes, it was that night I went off to get food." "He left Welney and came after me, trying again to stop me and go himself." "He said that if anything happen would I take back the last thing that you gave him?" " Well of course I wouldn't let him" " The last thing I've ever gave him" "Yes, it was a little charm, a medallion." "Well, of course I didn't let him..." "He didn't bring it back, did he?" " I expect he lost it." " And he's never mentioned it, has he?" " He's probably forgotten all about it." " The last thing you gave him before France." " He's forgotten so many things." " Yes." "He's forgotten so many things." "I'm sorry." "Mr. Buckenham." "Mark has forgotten so many things much more important things than my medallion." "but one thing I know, he is not this Frank Welney you described." "He is Mark." "Your name is Heinrich Schrott." "You are physician and surgeon to the mental home at Cleaves." "That is true for the last 20 years." "Mr. Schrott is your English good enough to enable you to follow my questions without an interpreter." " Sufficiently, yes." "I've learnt the language from a phonograph playing records." " Splendid." "I..." " Splendid, yes." "I hope your memory is equally good, Dr. Schrott." "Can you by any chance remember something which happened two days before the surrender in 1945?" "Yes and no." "So many things happened those days." "Was someone brought to you who've been found near Oxbridge over the canal?" "Yes, a man in a British army jacket." "What was his condition when he was brought to you?" "Terrible." "More dead than alive." " But he had not been shot?" " No." "Skull fracture." "The face unrecognizable." "Right arm smashed, we had to amputate." "You didn't happen to notice whether any of the fingers were missing?" "No, it was an emergency operation." "I don't remember now." " Did your patient die, doctor?" " Yes and no." "The body of my poor unfortunate slowly recovered but the mind is lost, blows, damaged his brain." " I see." " He breathes." "It is true he eats, he sleeps but... he is not alive." "Doctor, the extinction of life is murder, is it not?" "Yes." "Would you so kind as to tell us what has happened to this living corpse?" "Ever since he's been an inmate of our home we call him Nummer Fünfzehn." "Number 15." "Number 15?" "Why?" "That's the number of his bed, we have no other name." "I understand you can produce 1 or 2 exhibits associated with this sad case." "Yes." "Khaki jacket." "Number 15 was wearing at the time." "As the jury will see for themselves it is that of a Major's of the British Army, the rank of Sir Mark Loddon." "You say Dr. Schrott no one has been able to identify him." "Isn't it possible that the sight of a well-known face might revive the memory of this unfortunate man?" "It's just possible." "Please, bring Number 15 into court!" "You bloody swine." "Doctor, did your patient ever say anything even unconsciously to indicate his assailant might have been known to him?" "Might even have been a former friend?" "Nein, nein, it was not a friend." "It was a murderer." "Is there anything at all about the jacket that might indicate its ownership?" "Apart from the fact that it belonged to a Major in the British Army." " Nothing." " then I need hardly remind the jury that there was more than one Major in the British Army." "Now I want you to be perfectly clear on one point doctor." "Nobody has identified him." "Nobody claims to know who he is." " That is so." " And I'm going to suggest you that he can not possibly be Sir Mark Loddon." "Since Sir Mark Loddon is here alive and well." "My Lord, surely that's for the jury to decide." "Is this man Mark Loddon or is he Frank Welney?" "I suggest that after this evidence the jury can give but one answer." "That will be all, Dr Schrott." "Sir." "Mark, I'm going to call your wife." "After that evidence I have no other choice." "Sir Mark, this is our only hope." " All right." " Lady Loddon, please." "I would like your Lordship's permission to call Lady Loddon." " Certainly." " Lady Loddon." " What is your full name?" " Margaret Loddon." "Take the book in your right hand and raise your hand." "Repeat after me." " I swear by Almighty God," " I swear by Almighty God," " that the evidence I shall give, - that the evidence I shall give," " shall be the truth, - shall be the truth," " the whole truth - the whole truth" " and nothing but the truth." " and nothing but the truth." "You are Lady Loddon?" "Wife of Sir Mark Loddon, seventh Baronet of Ingworth Hall?" " Yes." "In 1946 you were married at Ingworth church." "Yes." "Was the plaintiff married to you bearing the name of Sir Mark Loddon?" "Yes." "And did you at any time have any reason to doubt his identity?" "No." "And do you still believe that your husband the plaintiff in this action is Sir Mark Loddon?" "Lady Loddon?" "No, no he is not Mark Loddon." "Silence!" "Lady Loddon I feel we owe his Lordship and the jury an explanation." "I called you to give evidence for your husband." "The court realizes that this trial has been a very great deal to you." "Do you still wish to affirm what you have just said?" "I must ask you to answer my question." "Yes, I do." "What made you change your mind?" "What I have just seen and heard." "But at what point did you know, did you come to believe... that your husband was not Sir Mark Loddon?" "When I saw he recognized Number 15." "And that poor creature recognized him." "I'm going to put it to you that you may have misinterpreted what you just saw." "No." "I couldn't misinterpret the horror and the guilt I saw on my husband's face." "Lady Loddon, you are married to the plaintiff." "You have lived together as husband and wife." "You have a child." "You've never had any doubts up to now." "I'm going to suggest to you that the shock of your recent experience has clouded your judgment." "No!" "It is cleared it." "I have always known that the Mark who came back to me was not the Mark I knew and loved before the war, but I thought that was because all he had been through." "Now I know, he never came back at all." "I have no further questions to put." "Lady Loddon believe me I would willingly spare you any further questions, but there is just one that must be answered." "Must not then that pitiful creature be Sir Mark Loddon?" "Behind those terrible scars couldn't you recognize him?" "No, I couldn't." "But he did." "I saw his face." "He did." "He did!" "He did!" "I think the witness should be allowed to rest." "I have no further questions, My Lord." "This noise in court, please." "In that case we should adjourn until tomorrow morning." "Margaret!" "Maggie!" "Open the door!" "Open the door!" "Maggie." "If you won't let me in, at least listen to me." " Please, please, listen to me." " I'm listening." "Please, open the door." "I must see you." "I won't come in." "I swear, I swear." "Margaret." "I need you." " Who needs me?" " I do." "I do" "The man you loved, the man you married." " You did love me, didn't you?" " Yes." "And all through the years you went on loving me, didn't you?" "Yes." "And it was me, wasn't it?" "Not just someone called Mark Loddon." "But me, me, myself." "Nothing can make that love unreal." "Yes, because you were unreal." "I believed you were Mark." "So I imagined I saw in you the man I'd fallen in love with." "The man who had changed because of all he'd suffered." "And who needed me all than more because of that." "And I gave him all I had to give." "And now, now I find I've been living with a stranger." " I love you." " Don't touch me." "A stranger who stole my love, my sympathy, my understanding, everything." "By a confidence trick." " It wasn't." "You can't believe that." "You can't believe that everything about me was false." "My love, my need for you." "Not everything." "Your terror was real." "but it wasn't the terror of something you couldn't remember." "Your terror was of something you couldn't forget." "The murder of a friend." "My Lord, with your permission I must bow to my client's insistent demand." "That I should call him to the witness box." " Certainly." " Are you going to the box, Sir Mark?" "Sir Mark, you had the opportunity yesterday of seeing the jacket, produced by Dr. Schrott." " Yes, I did." "Whose jacket is it?" "I have no doubt at all that it is mine." " You identify it as yours?" " Yes, My Lord." "You mean that your jacket was on Number 15 when he was discovered by Dr. Schrott?" " Yes, I do." " Will you tell the court, how your jacket came to be on the man, known as Number 15?" "I put it on him." "After Buckenham went to find some food that night," "Welney and I waited for him." "I beat him and beat him." "I only knew it was my life or his." "And I wanted it to be mine." "When he was still..." "I ripped off his leather jacket and changed it for my battle dress." "But they heard me and fired some shots." "one shot hit my hand." "But I got away and two days later I was picked up by a forward patrol of British troops." "When you first gave evidence, did I hear you take the oath?" "Did you swear to tell the truth the whole truth?" "Yes." "Why didn't you tell the whole truth then?" "I did." "Up until yesterday that's all I could remember." "And what is it that has so miraculously opened the book of your memory?" "Seeing Number 15 standing before me yesterday." "For years now I've been haunted by a sort of dream." "In which there was always mist and water." "And something moving in the water." "And running through my head the fragment of a tune always ending at exactly the same place." "I only knew that these things meant violence." "When I saw Number 15 yesterday," "I knew quite clearly in that instant that his terrible twisted face," "was the image in the water." "But I knew no more than that." "When my wife... denied me in the witness box," "I knew quite clearly that one of us was Welney, one of us was Loddon but I didn't know which was which." " What then?" " All night I tried to remember." "And then just before dawn..." "I was standing by a canal, watching my own reflection in the water pulling and twisting." "And suddenly the tune started again." "and broke off in exactly the same place." "And my reflection... became his." "Twisted and mad with hatred." "And it was Welney." "And now my memory is quite clear." "Is that the truth?" "Have we got it now?" "Or are we still hiding something?" "The truth is that Number 15 is Welney, and I am responsible for him." "So you admit to being a man capable of a brutal murder?" "Is there any evidence to substantiate your story?" "Apart from my own word," " No, My Lord." " I see." "Mr. Foxely, would you like to make your final address to the jury?" "May it please, your Lordship?" "Members of the jury." "This case which began as a case for libel, has turned into a case for attempted murder." "So it seems to me, members of the jury, that you are confronted..." " My Lord!" " You're interrupting counsel." "May I be permitted to examine my jacket again?" "Well certainly." "I don't see how it can be of any help to us." "Asha, pass the jacket to the plaintiff." "There might be something inside." "Something I hid in the lining." "It should be a..." "little medallion." "Silver and the enam... enamel." "Here it is." "This was the last thing my wife gave to me before I went to France." "I even asked Buckenham to give it back to her." "If anything should happen to me." "He said nothing would." "Oh, my God!" "Tell them." "Tell them!" "You must tell them!" "My Lord!" "If you wish to give an evidence you must say it from the witness box." "My Lord!" "The story about the medallion is true." "Mark and I were alone when he gave it to me, so..." "Welney couldn't possible have known about it." "He is Mark Loddon." "My Lord, it's abundantly clear that the plaintiff has been the victim of an appalling mistake." "If your Lordship will allow me a moment to confer with the plaintiff's counsel the jury won't be troubled in this case." " Certainly, certainly." "I feel sure Sir Wilfred will not find my clients ungenerous." "I will adjourn the case to allow council time to come to terms of settlement." "Will you leave the question of the damages to me, yeah?" "Sir Mark." " Will you leave the question of damages to me?" " Yes yes, anything." "Enough to keep Welney for his life." "Congratulations." "I never had any doubts." "Come along Hubert." "Your client can pay for the champagne." "That's not all he'll have to pay for." "My dear Mark, let me be the first who congratulate you." "Thank you." "Hello Jeff!" "There are no words." "Just thank you." "Thank me?" "After what I have done?" "What you have done, you did for me." "And I shall never forget for that, ever." "You've restored me to myself." "You've given me back everything." "Everything?" "Yes." "Everything." "Thank you." "Darling." "Are you coming home?" "Mark!" "THE END" "Subtitles: mitbrille Karagarga@2014"