beyond radio contact
with Kingsbay.
It took us to the wreckage of your airship.
Strange, was it not?
Hard to write off as mere chance.
Still, presumably it was chance.
When we saw the wreckage,
it was difficult to know what we should do.
To land was dangerous...
but it was just as dangerous,
almost as dangerous...
to stay in the air in the grip of that wind.
And we could see people.
So I ordered my pilot to land...
and we crashed.
My pilot was killed.
Guilbaud was his name. A Frenchman.
Very brave and amusing.
The people we had seen
had looked quite lifelike from the air.
At least it had seemed possible
that there was life in them...
and impossible not to land and find out.
Now, it was very clear
that life had left them long ago.
I could find no food,
nor means of making fire.
So it was just a matter of time.
Luckily, I did find something
to help me pass the time.
The book was a bit theatrical, wasn't it?
And for whom would
I have been performing?
For yourself.
But that's not theatrical. That's necessary.
The trick is to choose a good part.
Bravo!
- Did you see them?
- Did you see them, Lundborg?
How many people?
Are they alive? Are they all alive?
Hooray!
How many did you see?
General Nobile.
It's the General.
Nobile.
RADIOGRAM - NOBILE IS IN KINGSBAY
Kingsbay?
THANK GOD. ONE OF THEM IS SAFE.
Captain Romagna?
Why wasn't I awakened?
- You left an order, sir.
- Well, I...
Never mind.
- The weather has changed.
- It has.
- Is flying possible?
- No, sir. Not in this weather.
Even Lundborg wouldn't dare risk it.
Operator.
- Sir?
- I want a met report immediately.
How soon can you make contact
with the Krassin?
- Now, sir.
- Well, do it!
Captain...
I want five land parties
organized immediately.
One can take the tractors, four with dogs.
- I also want to see your logbook.
- General?
- These are your orders.
- Orders? What orders?
From Rome.
"In view of your extraordinary conduct...
"in abandoning the men in..."
It would be best, for the time being,
for me to continue in command.
What do they think that I've done?
They think you have done...
what you have done, I suppose.
Sir.
Sir. The Krassin.
No. Message.
Nobile. Samoilovich. Personal.
Message begins, urgently request...
No. Cancel. Cancel that.
My dear Samoilovich.
In the name of friendship...
and those who are dead...
I implore you to save the lives of my men.
Samoilovich, if your ship
is capable of movement...
I beg you, at any reasonable risk...
proceed there and save them.
Umberto Nobile.
- Difficult decision?
- Yes. But no, not really.
General, the facts were these.
I did not know where they were.
But I told you where they were!
By then, the ice was on the move,
as much as 20 miles a day.
I only knew where you had left them.
Secondly, the ice was melting.
Thaw followed by freeze-up.
At such a time,
a ship which can't keep moving...
can be caught and crushed
like a cardboard carton.
Thirdly, my ship could only move
at half speed.
My decision was to put back
to the nearest port.
Unfortunately, before leaving Leningrad...
I had taken on board an airplane...
and...
a hero.
He wanted to try and take off
and see if he could find them.
I agreed that if he should see them...
within two days' sailing distance
of the Krassin...
we would try to reach them.
It was their own lives they were risking...
and that is always seductive.
They've seen us.
- They've seen...
- Zappi.
Zappi, don't leave me.
Zappi.
TRANSMIT "KRASSIN": HAVE SIGHTED
THE GROUP OF THREE.
RETURNING TO SHIP BECAUSE OF FOG.
KRASSIN HERE. HAVE RECEIVED YOU.
REPEAT CO-ORDINATES.
THEY HAVE FOUND THE GROUP OF THREE.
Hooray!
The plane, Romagna. Can it land?
No. The pilot is attempting
to return to the Krassin.
- Attempting? Why attempt?
- There is fog.
He can't land.
You can come to the wireless room
if you like, General.
No, thank you. I'll stay here.
As you wish.
Oh, God.
LIGHT