[seagulls squawking]
[radio whirs]
[static crackles]
[man on radio] And now the news from Europe.
With British forces withdrawn from the continent,
the Nazis presently command the English Channel, the Atlantic coast,
and the north of France,
forcing multitudes to flee Paris for the unoccupied zone in the south.
[boat horn blares]
[man] The last free port of Marseille teems with refugees from all over Europe,
desperately seeking travel visas and funds to depart for the new world.
[curious music plays]
[waves crashing]
[panting]
Whoo!
Ah!
[jazz music plays]
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Mm.
This came for you today in my diplomatic pouch.
Go ahead. It won't bite.
[woman] Hm.
My father is demanding that I come home to Chicago.
He's bought me a ticket for tomorrow night.
He has been asking nicely ever since the Nazis marched into Paris.
He's done being nice. He's threatening to cut me off.
Can you blame him? His only daughter gallivanting around wartime Marseille
with Hitler's most wanted?
I'm trying to save their lives.
Come on, Ms. Gold. Be good. Go home. Settle down with a nice guy.
- Well, I don't see you rushing home. - I'm here for work.
And so am I.
[chuckles]
These are some of Europe's finest minds, Mr. Patterson,
and America would be lucky to have them.
- You know what makes America great? - Please remind me.
The hammer. There's 50 different kinds of hammer in the United States.
- Fifty. - What was wrong with the first one?
Nothing. And they're already working on the 51st.
That's American ingenuity for you.
These European intellectuals are just staring at their own navels.
Says you.
[Patterson] Do you really wanna help that badly? Send money from Chicago.
Will you please speak to my father for me?
He thinks you're a man with common sense.
Maybe.
If you'll excuse me, I have to powder my nose.
Here. Take it. The boy didn't even touch it.
Are you trying to get out of Marseille?
Isn't everybody?
We both got away from Paris.
I can get you on the boat to New York tomorrow. The MS Rex.
You can get visas?
No, but if you go at 6:00 a.m.,
they will be loading cargo in the back of the ship.
You talk to Lionel, and he can get you on.
As stowaways?
Yes.
I'm traveling with my brother.
Um...
Then I... I'll pay Lionel for both of you.
Why?
I have the money. I can do it. Does it matter why?
Here. If you need to reach me, you can find me here.
I'm working with the Emergency Rescue Committee
at the Hotel Splendide.
If you clean yourself up, you can go up on the deck once the ship sets sail,
and no one will notice.
- Did you-- - Oh, I just fixed my hair.
Do you like it?
- [in French] Good morning. - Good morning.
[indistinct chatter]
- [In French] Good morning, Paul. - Mary Jayne.
[in French] Special delivery for Mademoiselle Gold!
[in English] Can you get this to Lionel? I have two more for the boat.
[Paul] No problem.
Dagobert.
- [in French] Hello. - Hello.
[knocking]
[mysterious music plays]
- [man in English] Here's your lunch. - I thank you.
[man] Thank you.
[indistinct chatter]
- Varian Fry. - [knocking]
- [in French] This way. - [Varian] Thanks.
[in English] How goes your Rescue Committee?
Emergency Rescue Committee.
Knights on shining horses. Or is it shining knights on...
I always forget.
I saw your Miss Gold today.
Miss Gold. She's indispensable to our operation.
A spoiled young lady with no clue about the real world.
Her daddy's money is indispensable. Let's hope he keeps it coming, hm?
Mr. Patterson,
why are you stonewalling Mr. Benjamin's visa request?
This is a matter of life and death.
It always is.
People here have been killing since the Trojan War.
[scoffs]
The Trojan War was fought for love. The Nazis are driven only by hate--
You're a guest here, Mr. Fry.
The United States has a neutral position in this war. Don't forget that.
You and I are in wartime France at the pleasure of the French authorities.
Most Americans wouldn't come here to begin with.
My own wife refused to join me.
So,
what are you really doing here, Mr. Fry?
You bored at home?
Unhappy marriage?
Innocent people's lives are being ruined, Mr. Patterson.
They're being wrongfully incarcerated.
Even killed.
Last week, two more people on my list committed suicide.
These refugees need help, and no one else is lifting a finger.
I don't need a better reason.
Well, as an American, I expect you to behave yourself in Marseille.
Do that for me, and I'll figure out Mr. Benjamin's visa.
Thank you.
[mysterious music plays]
[knocking on door]
Please leave the food outside. Thank you.
[knocking on door]
[Mary Jayne] Mr. Benjamin, it's me. Mary Jayne.
Now please release me from this purgatory.
[Mary Jayne] The MS Rex is in the harbor, ready to take you to New York.
[exhales]
[Benjamin] What are you doing?
No, Mr. Benjamin, it smells like a hash den in here.
If the French find me here, they'll send me to the prison camps,
and I can't go back there.
[Mary Jayne] I understand.
I really do.
My Berlin was a paradise. Now they've destroyed it.
Please don't touch that.
It's the only thing that I have left from my past.
You know, you're lucky.
You can go back home.
Well, I don't know about that. [scoffs]
[somber music plays]
[man] Come.
Come.
[man] Gut shabbes.
[in German] Let's share my challah.
Challah?
[in German] I thought you were Jews, like everyone here.
We are.
We were. We just never really...
Our parents left all that behind.
Your parents left all that behind,
and yet they are still Jewish enough for Hitler?
Yes. [chuckles]
[woman] Thank you.
[man] Thank you.
[in German] My daughter is waiting in New York.
She wanted me to leave Germany with her. That was two years ago.
Why didn't you leave?
Stupidity.
Pride.
Do you have the documents to be able to leave?
[man 1] No, not yet.
But I have unwavering faith and trust in God.
And...
hatmadah.
Hatmadah?
[man 1] Perseverance.
If Abraham can survive the ten tests,
then we can survive this too.
- [in English] Hello. - Speak of the devil.
Oh, gee, thanks.
[woman] Where's your dress?
Oh. [chuckles]
Seriously, what are you wearing?
- [Varian] Down to the beach again? - No.
[Varian] Our job's difficult enough.
Just find the 200 people on the list approved by the State Department,
get them out on boats to the US.
While the American government is hoarding all of the visas
and we have how many people hiding out in this hotel?
Poor Mr. Benjamin is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
I'm working on him.
The Museum of Modern Art is working on Ernst and Breton.
You've been in Marseille for how long now, Varian?
What is it, two months?
And in all that time,
how many people from the committee's famous list
have you officially managed to rescue?
- [Varian] Not enough. - Eleven people.
Eleven people! That's it.
Do you think I don't know that?
I haven't managed one tenth of what I've set out to do.
My wife's already demanding I come home.
I'm sorry. It's just the port is... It's overflowing with desperate people.
You're not the only person who cares.
But this isn't a mob operation.
We have to concentrate our resources.
You mean my money.
[Varian] Yes, your money.
My time.
Lena's time.
Look, if we don't concentrate on who we've set out to rescue,
we're never gonna get anything done.
[rhythmic tapping]
[dramatic music plays]
[coughing]
[whimpers]
[sighs]
[in German] You know how he looks?
[indistinct chatter]
Lionel?
Lionel!
[in English] A woman sent us.
Mary Jayne Gold.
She only paid for two.
[suspenseful music plays]
[Lionel in French] Listen up!
Take the dinghy and hurry over to the stern side of the boat.
Our men will tell you where to hide. Understood?
Okay.
[Lionel] Documented passengers board when the ship comes into port.
You'll board now, before the cargo.
Stay in the hold till the anchor is raised. Okay?
[in German] Isn't he coming?
[motor whirs]
[boat horn blares]
[man mumbles]
[in German] Shit.
[woman] Oh no!
No! No, no, no!
[alarm bell ringing]
No, no, no, no!
[overlapping yelling]
[man in French] Police.
[woman in English] Don't stop.
[officer speaking French over megaphone]
[man in German] Ursula, we need to jump! Take off your coat.
[officer speaks French]
[man in German] You'll be too heavy.
[horn blares]
- [Ursula] Can he swim? - Quick!
Ursula!
[Ursula] Albert!
[panting]
[Albert] Can you see him?
- No, I can't find him! - I'll go back down. Stay here!
[Ursula] Albert!
[coughing]
[breathing unsteadily]
Did you try to swim to America?
Easier than getting an exit visa.
At least I survived.
An old man drowned trying.
Exit stamps, entry papers,
transit visas...
The Nazis took inspiration from Kafka.
Thank you.
An American tried to help us, but...
Americans?
Forget it.
We have to help ourselves.
[in English] Mr. Benjamin, I assure you that we are gonna get you out of here.
There was no way to anticipate what happened...
What's going on?
- [Varian] Police round-up on the MS Rex. - [Mary Jayne] What?
Caught dozens of refugees trying to stow away.
The boat's been impounded.
Can you take the dog, please?
- Sorry, I have to go. - Mary Jayne.
[in German] I'll die in this godforsaken country.
- [Mary Jayne in French] Is this enough? - No.
[man] Let's go, ladies.
- [in German] What's going on? - Just keep walking.
[door opens]
How can we help ourselves?
Tell me.
[indistinct chatter]
[in English] You set us up?
No. I swear to you, I didn't. I thought it would work. I bailed you out.
I'm so sorry.
Uh, your brother should be here too.
[in German] Did you see my brother?
[in English] Did you see my brother? He's... He's this tall, blue eyes.
Oh yeah. I think they took him aside as we were coming out.
- [Ursula] He's still inside? - Yeah.
[in German] My brother's still inside. Please, you have to help us.
I've found an unguarded path over the mountains.
Over the Pyrenees? On foot? That's impossible.
I'm leaving now. Come if you want.
[in English] Please let me make it up to you.
- She found a pass into Spain. - [Mary Jayne] What?
[in German] Who's that?
[in English] You can trust me. Please. I wanna help.
[in English] The path starts outside Banyuls-sur-Mer.
[in German] Albert, I...
- [in English] I can't leave Albert. - I'll wait for him.
- You'd do that? - Here... one second.
[in German] Can we really trust her?
[in English] Show me. I'll make sure he finds you.
We can't wait for him.
Border guards start patrolling at sunrise. They shoot to kill.
Then I will make sure that he is right behind you, I promise.
Okay, just outside Banyuls-sur-Mer, there is a stone house.
You want to turn right. Okay? And then you see the vineyards...
Hirschman. Sir.
Um...
[in French] An old German name.
- [in English] Difficult. - Hm.
[in French] Maybe. It's spelled differently in each of your passports.
So, which is the real one?
Or are they all fake?
[in English] Uh, you fought at Hannut?
- Hm? - [Albert] Um...
[in French] You fought at Hannut?
Ah, yes.
I still don't understand how it all went south so quickly.
I served...
in the French immigrant infantry division,
east of Paris.
[in English] It's where my French passport comes from.
General Georges gave it to me himself.
I used this one
to fight for the republicans in Spain.
This one here got me into Italy to study economics
until the fascists kicked me out.
And this one...
This one got me out of Germany in '33.
[officer] Um...
[in French] So which is your real identity?
[in English] If you ask the Nazis? None.
They don't think that I deserve an identity.
[in French] An American woman paid your bail.
I kept you for falsifying documents, but...
I see nothing false about you.
[Mary Jayne] Sir, please...
[in English] You told me he'd be out two hours ago,
and now I've been waiting here, and I...
Excuse me, are you Albert Hirschman?
- I'm Mary Jayne-- - I know. The American.
- Where's my sister? - Um...
There's a lot that I have to explain to you,
but... we are so late.
You're never gonna make it. Um...
Wh--
I... I could drive you there. I'll drive you there.
You don't have somewhere else you need to be?
How old are you?
Twenty-five.
How old are you?
That's a very rude question.
And what do you do?
Do?
Professionally.
- I trained as an economist. - Oh.
But, uh, well, I've been running from the Nazis for so long,
at this point, I guess... I'm a professional refugee.
And a Jew.
Yeah. You know, being Jewish never really meant anything to me.
Now it's the most important thing about me.
What do you do?
I... do what I can.
I have a car.
- A Mercedes, no less. - [chuckles]
People think there's nothing they can do to help, so they do nothing.
Most people don't expect rich, beautiful American girls to do anything.
[chuckles]
I'm missing my plane to Chicago tonight to drive you to the border of Spain.
What's in Chicago?
Nothing.
People's assumptions about you can be useful if you know how to use them.
[dramatic music plays]
Oh God.
- [Albert] Just play the American girl. - Yeah, what are you gonna do?
- [in French] Hello. Papers, please. - Oh. Yes, sir.
Excuse me, sir. Um...
[in English] We're in a hurry.
- [in French] Hurry... Hurry? - Ah. Why are you in a hurry?
[in English] We just had oysters.
[chuckles]
[officer in French] Ah, oysters.
- [knocks on car] - Uh...
All good.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Let them pass!
[engine starts]
[in English] Paul. Any news?
Nothing yet.
[Varian sighs]
Your wife must have a lot to say. Never misses a day.
You married, Paul?
Not yet, sir. Just me and Petit. And our mother back home in Ouidah.
- Where is that? - West Africa, Mr. Fry.
Some say French Dahomey. But it used to be the Kingdom of Dahomey.
She want you home?
- She's just glad we are out of the army. - I am saving all my money to go home.
[chuckles] He wants to go back.
But I want to finish my studies. I have big plans.
Where's this from? There's no postage on this.
A man hand-delivered it this morning. He said he was an old friend.
Uh, do you have a map of the local area?
Yes. Yes, of course.
Here.
[in French] Thanks.
[in English] So, I think they can't be that far away
because you've already cut the distance in half. You see?
Mm-hmm.
Whoever's waiting for you in Chicago will be very disappointed tomorrow.
Thank you.
[owl hoots]
[knocks on door]
- [owl hoots] - [dog barks]
[Varian] Thomas.
Welcome to the Villa Air-Bel.
Whose house is this?
[chuckles] It belongs to a distant relative.
[Varian] And you're living here?
[Thomas] I just got here.
I'm still trying to get the electricity turned on.
I sent a letter to your home in New Jersey.
Your wife wrote back.
Told me you're saving the European brain trust from the Nazis.
How's that going?
It's going very well. Thank you.
You're still a terrible liar.
- [Varian] I have to get back to work. - Right now?
I'm doing something truly important here, maybe for the first time in my life.
- [Thomas] I could help you. - And then what?
Disappear again for five years?
I thought you'd been captured, Thomas.
Or worse.
Thomas.
I can't let you distract me.
Never.
[dramatic music plays]
[panting]
[in German] Just a few steps to the Spanish border.
- Is that good? - Yeah.
[Ursula grunts]
Say goodbye to France.
[man in English] Stop!
[in German] Run!
[man in French] Stop immediately!
[overlapping yelling]
Papers, please, everyone!
The village ahead is Spanish territory!
You cannot approach the border without a French exit stamp.
[in German] What the hell do you think you're doing?
Why did you abandon your posts?
Huh? Unmanned tracts of the Spanish border
are under direct control of the Geheime Staatspolizei.
- [in French] What's that? - Gestapo.
[in German] Your presence is a violation of the Compiègne Armistice
between our two governments.
This is the new France, officers.
Performing duties beyond the limits of your jurisdiction
is punishable by law. Do you understand that?
- [in French] Yes. - [in German] Keep it straight.
Now run along back to your desks.
Go! Now! Run!
Oh.
[panting]
Hey.
Thank you.
[indistinct chatter]
[Albert] From Barcelona, we take the bus to Lisbon?
[Ursula] Exactly.
[chatter in Spanish]
Come.
- I can't do it. - [Ursula] What?
[woman] I'm going back.
- No. - [woman] I'm going.
Not you too?
- Listen to me. - I knew it.
There are so many people now in Marseille just waiting to get out.
We know how to get them out.
We observe Shabbat once with that old man and now you're Moses?
Ursula...
[Ursula] You'll both end up in a camp. Or dead.
- [horn honks] - Ursula...
You promised you'd stay with me.
[man] Señores, nos vamos.
[indistinct chatter]
Ursula.
Please understand.
I'll catch up with you in Lisbon. Do you hear?
Send word of your whereabouts to the Splendide. Did you hear me?
Send word of where you are to the Splendide!
[sobbing]
[reporter in French] In Marseille, authorities declared
that due to gross mismanagement, creating an illegal immigration crisis,
a series of arrests, and an unmanageable crisis for the police,
no passenger ships bound for points west will dock in Marseille or in France...
[in English] Damn it.
...until further notice.
In fact, all French ports will remain closed to all passenger ships
until the threat of...
- [in English] Wait. Can they do that? - They just did it.
[reporter] Vichy has instructed the police
to begin enforcement of Article 19 of the Franco-German armistice.
What's Article 19?
All refugees on French soil must be surrendered on demand.
- To whom? - The German Reich.
You said they weren't gonna crack down.
I was wrong.
Wait. They can't actually deport people, can they?
- They can make it impossible to get out-- - It's already impossible.
But send them back? Now?
- [knocking] - [Varian] Come in!
Can I help you?
- [Albert] I'm looking for Miss Gold. - [Mary Jayne] What are you doing here?
This is Lisa Fittko.
- She found a safe route into Spain. - [Mary Jayne] It worked?
We went over last night
with five people who are now on their way to safety in Lisbon.
[upbeat music plays]
Commissaire Frot!
So glad you could join me.
[Frot clears throat]
I just want to be absolutely sure that you understand the Article 19.
Yes, I read your cable.
Uh, all undesirables are to be surrendered upon demand to the local police.
Rosé?
Marseille is crawling with refugees from all over Europe.
Um, I am the chief of police, so it is my job to clean up the city.
You are the American consul, Mr. Patterson.
So it is your job to make sure that no American people make trouble for me.
[in French] Of course.
[in English] Then what about the American Emergency Rescue Committee?
Hm. [chuckles]
[Frot] Despite my instructions, you issued the visa they requested
for German writer Walter Benjamin.
[clicks tongue]
You said dangerous writers.
You never mentioned Walter Benjamin explicitly.
He writes about nonsense. How could he be dangerous?
He's on the Nazi blacklist.
So if this man leaves Marseille on my watch,
I will hold you accountable.
Well, lucky for both of us,
his boat got impounded a few days ago,
so he's probably still shacked up at the Splendide.
Benjamin is at the Hotel Splendide?
Last I heard, they all were. Benjamin, Ernst, Breton.
If we cross the border before the guards show up at daybreak,
I could take... four people at a time, twice a week.
That's over 100 by Christmas.
And you don't need French exit stamps?
If they do, we'll just buy forgeries. That's easy.
I need to keep this squeaky clean.
Varian, this is our chance. Think about the number of people we can--
What if the French police come after me and shut this down?
[Albert] You don't have to know about it.
I'll deal with the black market. You remain clean.
- [Varian] Forgeries can't be cheap. - No.
I'll take care of it.
- We're also talking about train tickets. - [Mary Jayne] Mm-hmm.
- Hotels. Meals. - [Mary Jayne] I have the money.
No problem.
- Okay. - [Albert] Okay!
Okay! All right, well, that is settled, then.
Varian, you remain the face of the operation.
Lisa, you are the muscle.
- Albert's definitely the criminal. - Oh no! [chuckles]
Okay, then what are you?
Oh, I'm just the bank.
Give yourself more credit.
- [knock on door] - [Varian] Come in.
And who are you?
Paul. Kandjo.
- Oh, he's the brains. - [Paul] Uh, telegram for Mary Jayne.
[Lisa] We need a budget.
How much per person?
I'm sure people will be happy to share rooms.
[Varian] How easy is the hike?
[Varian] Right, Mary Jayne?
Mary Jayne, everything okay?
Yes.
Let's get back to work.
[theme music plays]