1 00:00:27,526 --> 00:00:31,678 THE STORY OF A CHEAT 2 00:00:54,406 --> 00:00:57,509 This film was conceived and directed by myself. 3 00:01:02,487 --> 00:01:06,257 The music was composed by my friend Adolphe Borchard. 4 00:01:29,118 --> 00:01:32,650 Marcel Lucien did the photography with Raymond Cluny... 5 00:01:33,298 --> 00:01:37,192 while Paul Duvergé recorded the sound in his isolated booth. 6 00:01:42,733 --> 00:01:45,438 The sets are by Ménessier and... 7 00:01:45,598 --> 00:01:47,308 Mailleray did the furniture. 8 00:01:47,470 --> 00:01:48,454 My actors are... 9 00:01:48,624 --> 00:01:51,727 Marguerite Moreno, chatting here with Jacqueline Delubac. 10 00:01:51,888 --> 00:01:53,710 She's pretending to be busy... 11 00:01:53,879 --> 00:01:57,772 but they both know they're being filmed. 12 00:01:58,894 --> 00:02:02,472 Here's Roger Duchesne with Rosine Deréan and Elmire Gautier. 13 00:02:04,508 --> 00:02:07,610 Where's Serge Grave? Serge! 14 00:02:08,010 --> 00:02:08,722 What? 15 00:02:08,966 --> 00:02:10,234 Nothing... 16 00:02:12,349 --> 00:02:14,932 Where is Pauline Carton hiding? 17 00:02:17,126 --> 00:02:19,391 Here's Fréhel talking to Labry. 18 00:02:19,555 --> 00:02:23,574 Pauline Carton, come let me thank you for you help... 19 00:02:24,252 --> 00:02:26,470 while I directed the film. 20 00:02:27,238 --> 00:02:30,296 Give a smile to your friend Pierre Assy. 21 00:02:33,608 --> 00:02:36,867 Here's Pfeifer who plays the hero in the film... 22 00:02:37,150 --> 00:02:38,622 talking to Dupray. 23 00:02:38,781 --> 00:02:41,805 Myriam and her crew edited the film. 24 00:02:41,966 --> 00:02:43,710 And, finally... 25 00:03:59,393 --> 00:04:02,290 I was born in Pingolas... 26 00:04:02,458 --> 00:04:04,722 a pretty little town in Vaucluse... 27 00:04:04,885 --> 00:04:08,226 whose steeple you see on the left as you go to Tillac... 28 00:04:08,628 --> 00:04:10,179 from Cavaillon. 29 00:04:10,339 --> 00:04:13,363 My parents ran a grocery that averaged... 30 00:04:13,524 --> 00:04:15,629 an annual profit of 5,000 francs. 31 00:04:15,793 --> 00:04:17,185 Our family was big. 32 00:04:18,421 --> 00:04:21,286 Mama had 2 children by a former husband. 33 00:04:22,084 --> 00:04:26,023 She had 1 boy and 4 girls with Father. 34 00:04:27,377 --> 00:04:30,593 Father had his mother, Mother had her father. 35 00:04:30,761 --> 00:04:32,707 They were even on that score! 36 00:04:32,871 --> 00:04:36,053 We also had an uncle, a deaf-mute. 37 00:04:36,971 --> 00:04:38,793 At mealtime, we were 12. 38 00:04:38,961 --> 00:04:41,145 1... 2... 3... 4... 39 00:04:41,309 --> 00:04:44,764 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 40 00:04:44,933 --> 00:04:46,959 10... 11... and 12. 41 00:04:47,798 --> 00:04:49,271 A dish of mushrooms... 42 00:04:49,510 --> 00:04:51,061 and overnight... 43 00:04:52,217 --> 00:04:53,486 I was alone in the world 44 00:04:54,804 --> 00:04:57,941 because 2 hours earlier I'd robbed... 45 00:04:58,109 --> 00:05:00,973 2... 4... 6... 8... 46 00:05:02,368 --> 00:05:04,995 the till to buy some marbles. 47 00:05:05,433 --> 00:05:08,095 The consequences of my crime were unexpected... 48 00:05:08,261 --> 00:05:10,366 numerous and varied. 49 00:05:10,887 --> 00:05:13,185 My angry father shouted... 50 00:05:13,673 --> 00:05:16,810 "No mushrooms for a thief!" 51 00:05:22,431 --> 00:05:26,009 The fatal vegetables had been picked by our deaf-mute... 52 00:05:27,009 --> 00:05:30,304 and that night, the house contained 11 corpses. 53 00:05:30,473 --> 00:05:33,336 Someone who hasn't seen 11 corpses all at once... 54 00:05:33,498 --> 00:05:36,759 has no idea how many corpses that can be. 55 00:05:37,041 --> 00:05:38,943 They were everywhere! 56 00:05:39,430 --> 00:05:41,489 Shall I talk about my sorrow? 57 00:05:42,374 --> 00:05:44,957 To be honest, I was only 12 and... 58 00:05:45,121 --> 00:05:48,303 such a misfortune was obviously too much for a boy my age. 59 00:05:48,506 --> 00:05:51,721 Yes, I was truly overwhelmed by this catastrophe. 60 00:05:52,367 --> 00:05:54,744 Indeed, I felt unworthy of it. 61 00:05:54,915 --> 00:05:57,735 You can cry over your father or mother or brother... 62 00:05:57,900 --> 00:06:00,684 but how can you cry over 11 people? 63 00:06:00,845 --> 00:06:03,268 You just don't know where to weep! 64 00:06:03,433 --> 00:06:07,091 Not to mention the vast choice I had, but that's how it was. 65 00:06:07,453 --> 00:06:10,319 Dr Lavignac came that afternoon... 66 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:14,611 to dispense enlightened but, alas, useless remedies. 67 00:06:14,940 --> 00:06:17,678 My family inexorably faded away. 68 00:06:19,118 --> 00:06:22,536 Having lunched with the Marquis de Beauvoir, our priest... 69 00:06:22,700 --> 00:06:24,647 arrived by bicycle at 4:00. 70 00:06:24,810 --> 00:06:27,516 We were certainly going to need him! 71 00:06:32,413 --> 00:06:35,197 The rumor of my misfortune soon spread and... 72 00:06:35,359 --> 00:06:38,224 by 5:00, the whole town was there. 73 00:06:39,142 --> 00:06:42,357 I'd been sent from room to room and, not knowing where to go... 74 00:06:42,524 --> 00:06:45,978 I fearfully hid under the counter in the store. 75 00:06:46,146 --> 00:06:48,254 From there, I heard everything... 76 00:06:48,415 --> 00:06:50,080 and all the whispering. 77 00:06:50,246 --> 00:06:53,700 My deaf-mute "killer" uncle died in terrible agony. 78 00:06:53,989 --> 00:06:57,566 They heard him and asked, "Who's screaming that way?" 79 00:06:57,731 --> 00:06:59,633 "It's the deaf-mute!" 80 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:09,905 At 7:00 when it was all over... 81 00:07:10,072 --> 00:07:11,463 I came out of hiding... 82 00:07:11,663 --> 00:07:13,565 and came face to face... 83 00:07:13,774 --> 00:07:16,434 with the exhausted doctor, wiping his brow. 84 00:07:16,799 --> 00:07:19,539 He saw me and couldn't believe his eyes. 85 00:07:19,706 --> 00:07:23,078 What was I doing there alive? By what right was I not dead... 86 00:07:23,328 --> 00:07:25,116 like everyone else? 87 00:07:25,317 --> 00:07:28,851 He looked at me as if I were a miracle or the devil. 88 00:07:29,936 --> 00:07:33,434 A 12-year-old who easily ate deadly mushrooms and... 89 00:07:34,115 --> 00:07:35,587 survived the others... 90 00:07:37,579 --> 00:07:40,522 would be a very interesting case for him. 91 00:07:40,684 --> 00:07:43,661 What a source for some experiments! 92 00:07:43,829 --> 00:07:47,361 Since I could already imagine him dissecting my innards... 93 00:07:47,531 --> 00:07:48,878 I admitted I'd had none. 94 00:07:49,042 --> 00:07:49,790 "Why?" 95 00:07:49,998 --> 00:07:53,655 His 'hy"sounded so much like a reproach... 96 00:07:54,018 --> 00:07:57,518 that I told him about my crime, my theft... 97 00:07:57,881 --> 00:07:59,669 and also my punishment. 98 00:07:59,832 --> 00:08:02,380 He gave me a look that seemed to say... 99 00:08:02,539 --> 00:08:04,723 "You're no fool!" 100 00:08:05,842 --> 00:08:07,709 The story spread through the town... 101 00:08:07,872 --> 00:08:10,250 and you can imagine the gossip... 102 00:08:15,197 --> 00:08:16,747 At the funeral, 103 00:08:17,625 --> 00:08:19,923 I followed the 11 coffins... 104 00:08:20,093 --> 00:08:23,195 my head bowed and my eyes dry. 105 00:08:23,875 --> 00:08:25,458 I wondered if the fact... 106 00:08:25,705 --> 00:08:27,609 that I'd been miraculously spared... 107 00:08:27,777 --> 00:08:29,564 didn't make me look as if... 108 00:08:29,727 --> 00:08:31,233 I'd killed them all. 109 00:08:32,394 --> 00:08:34,896 Meanwhile, they whispered behind my back... 110 00:08:35,060 --> 00:08:37,168 "Know why the boy's not dead?" 111 00:08:38,006 --> 00:08:39,716 "'Cause he's a thief!" 112 00:08:50,984 --> 00:08:54,200 Yes, I was alive because I'd robbed the till. 113 00:08:55,721 --> 00:08:58,143 It clearly meant the others had died... 114 00:08:58,309 --> 00:09:00,255 because they'd been honest! 115 00:09:02,010 --> 00:09:05,385 As I fell asleep that night in the empty house... 116 00:09:05,991 --> 00:09:08,891 I formed an opinion on theft and justice which... 117 00:09:09,058 --> 00:09:12,715 is rather a paradox and yet, 40 years of experience... 118 00:09:12,918 --> 00:09:14,820 haven't altered it. 119 00:09:17,974 --> 00:09:19,796 An unknown cousin of Mama... 120 00:09:19,964 --> 00:09:21,674 Mr Morlot, a notary... 121 00:09:21,835 --> 00:09:24,100 learned of the series of family deaths... 122 00:09:24,264 --> 00:09:26,607 and came to take me to Cavaillon. 123 00:09:26,772 --> 00:09:27,993 I'd been told... 124 00:09:28,205 --> 00:09:30,027 and I was expecting him. 125 00:09:31,309 --> 00:09:35,045 I don't know why but I expected a short, thin, smiling man. 126 00:09:35,888 --> 00:09:36,996 He entered. 127 00:09:37,161 --> 00:09:39,301 He was an unfriendly brute... 128 00:09:39,470 --> 00:09:42,130 an abomination who terrified me. 129 00:09:42,693 --> 00:09:44,404 His impression of me... 130 00:09:44,605 --> 00:09:46,189 was not good either... 131 00:09:46,357 --> 00:09:49,573 His "hello"sounded like an adieu and his "Come along!"... 132 00:09:50,060 --> 00:09:52,039 was like "Out of my sight!" 133 00:09:58,286 --> 00:10:01,741 2 minutes later, he shut the door on the shop and... 134 00:10:02,109 --> 00:10:04,168 like a precocious criminal going to jail... 135 00:10:04,338 --> 00:10:08,029 I left the village of my birth, never to see it again. 136 00:10:21,097 --> 00:10:23,158 In the buggy he said he'd agreed... 137 00:10:23,367 --> 00:10:27,498 to take me in out of kindness and settle my situation. 138 00:10:28,461 --> 00:10:29,773 He said no more. 139 00:10:38,414 --> 00:10:42,545 Upon arrival, he led me into his office... 140 00:10:43,031 --> 00:10:44,819 gave me a seat... 141 00:10:45,260 --> 00:10:48,238 sat himself down and opened my file, 142 00:10:49,122 --> 00:10:50,344 explaining that... 143 00:10:50,595 --> 00:10:53,334 with the shop sold and the burials paid for... 144 00:10:53,700 --> 00:10:55,839 I would still have 18,000 francs. 145 00:10:56,008 --> 00:10:57,876 To me, this was a fabulous sum! 146 00:10:58,038 --> 00:11:00,416 To him, it must have been unhoped for! 147 00:11:00,586 --> 00:11:03,168 He would invest it for me in his affairs... 148 00:11:03,333 --> 00:11:05,789 and return it to me upon my majority. 149 00:11:06,238 --> 00:11:08,899 Obviously I've never seen the money again... 150 00:11:09,821 --> 00:11:11,010 nor the cousin! 151 00:11:11,653 --> 00:11:13,871 But I hadn't reached the end of my trials. 152 00:11:14,041 --> 00:11:16,747 I was still to meet Madam Morlot. 153 00:11:24,709 --> 00:11:25,694 She entered. 154 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:32,464 I was spellbound. 155 00:11:33,109 --> 00:11:35,373 Her glance, her glasses, her hair... 156 00:11:35,538 --> 00:11:38,594 narrow nose and mouth like a scar... 157 00:11:39,199 --> 00:11:42,618 all gave her face an impossible look. 158 00:11:43,379 --> 00:11:45,677 - "Hello, my boy." - "Hello, ma'am. 159 00:11:48,196 --> 00:11:51,615 She hated me on sight and the feeling was mutual. 160 00:11:57,710 --> 00:12:00,575 I soon realised I would be a child-martyr... 161 00:12:00,735 --> 00:12:02,796 with this viper and that ox. 162 00:12:02,966 --> 00:12:04,708 Her way of feeding me... 163 00:12:04,876 --> 00:12:07,660 was abominable and parsimonious. 164 00:12:09,851 --> 00:12:13,225 Besides, the idea of a peasant dining at their bourgeois table... 165 00:12:13,753 --> 00:12:15,814 exasperated them both. 166 00:12:17,097 --> 00:12:20,278 Just think! I'd stolen 8 sous. 167 00:12:20,441 --> 00:12:23,735 How shameful for them as they prepared to get my 18,000 francs! 168 00:12:24,901 --> 00:12:27,005 They couldn't bear the sight of me. 169 00:12:28,561 --> 00:12:32,218 At times, I saw in their icy eyes... 170 00:12:32,383 --> 00:12:34,443 a desire to see me dead. 171 00:12:36,165 --> 00:12:38,870 Only my refusal to fulfill that hope kept me... 172 00:12:39,310 --> 00:12:40,940 from throwing myself under a train. 173 00:12:41,776 --> 00:12:45,434 That night I decided to run away from them... 174 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,262 to flee forever... 175 00:12:47,430 --> 00:12:49,774 without demanding my 18,000 francs... 176 00:12:49,938 --> 00:12:52,882 so that I wouldn't be the only thief in the family! 177 00:12:53,362 --> 00:12:56,463 One day she played a dreadful trick on me. 178 00:12:57,104 --> 00:12:59,605 Each night, they played cards for hours. 179 00:12:59,770 --> 00:13:04,062 She once left 5 or 6 francs on the card table. 180 00:13:05,144 --> 00:13:08,122 At first I didn't see she'd done it on purpose. 181 00:13:12,230 --> 00:13:13,860 I almost took them. 182 00:13:16,092 --> 00:13:19,036 It was hideously evil to do that to me... 183 00:13:19,197 --> 00:13:22,254 a boy who already lacked good and proper instincts... 184 00:13:22,540 --> 00:13:26,594 but who wanted so badly to become honest. 185 00:13:28,392 --> 00:13:32,650 Then, my hoped-for chance to escape came along. 186 00:13:32,970 --> 00:13:34,917 On the 4th page of the local paper... 187 00:13:35,079 --> 00:13:37,502 Mr Personaz, restaurant owner in St Maxime... 188 00:13:37,669 --> 00:13:40,532 had an opening for a doorman. 189 00:13:40,692 --> 00:13:42,515 I'd found this paper... 190 00:13:42,684 --> 00:13:45,388 in a place I needn't specify more clearly. 191 00:13:45,549 --> 00:13:48,493 It was folded in such a way that a fairy godmother... 192 00:13:48,654 --> 00:13:52,074 seemed to have handed me Mr Personaz' offer. 193 00:13:52,357 --> 00:13:54,983 I refolded it and placed it... 194 00:13:55,422 --> 00:13:58,682 in Madam Morlot's sewing basket... 195 00:14:01,115 --> 00:14:03,378 without being seen by a soul. 196 00:14:05,573 --> 00:14:08,675 24 hours later I found it again in the same spot... 197 00:14:08,996 --> 00:14:11,622 to which I had returned out of necessity. 198 00:14:16,241 --> 00:14:17,384 This time... 199 00:14:17,594 --> 00:14:20,651 I placed it in Madam Morlot's bedroom... 200 00:14:20,899 --> 00:14:22,801 knowing she was absent. 201 00:14:23,366 --> 00:14:24,997 When I went to bed... 202 00:14:25,716 --> 00:14:28,535 I found to my surprise on my night table... 203 00:14:29,337 --> 00:14:32,077 the same wandering page from the newspaper. 204 00:14:32,245 --> 00:14:34,622 I finally understood that my fairy godmother... 205 00:14:34,791 --> 00:14:37,497 was none other than the monstrous Madam Morlot... 206 00:14:37,658 --> 00:14:39,446 and we were in total agreement. 207 00:14:39,847 --> 00:14:42,270 A week later, with 300 francs in my pocket... 208 00:14:42,435 --> 00:14:45,016 I was a doorman at the Personaz restaurant. 209 00:14:45,181 --> 00:14:48,046 I saw for the 1st time those people we call wealthy. 210 00:14:48,645 --> 00:14:52,505 It made a deep, lasting impression on me. 211 00:14:53,303 --> 00:14:56,675 Oh, to one day be one of them! 212 00:14:56,845 --> 00:14:59,189 I admit that was my immediate dream. 213 00:14:59,631 --> 00:15:01,657 Later, it came true! 214 00:15:04,492 --> 00:15:07,153 Yes, my friend, I'm writing my memoirs... 215 00:15:07,837 --> 00:15:10,260 and do you know what I'm saying? 216 00:15:10,424 --> 00:15:12,925 Very nice things about the wealthy! 217 00:15:13,091 --> 00:15:15,797 But the ones whom I call rich are... 218 00:15:15,957 --> 00:15:18,414 those who spend their money, not save it! 219 00:15:18,584 --> 00:15:21,132 Money has value only when it leaves our pockets... 220 00:15:21,292 --> 00:15:23,196 not when it goes into them! 221 00:15:23,362 --> 00:15:25,818 What good is having it on you? None! 222 00:15:25,989 --> 00:15:28,049 For 5 francs to be worth 100 sous... 223 00:15:28,219 --> 00:15:30,279 spend them! If not, they're fictitious! 224 00:15:31,044 --> 00:15:33,626 If I were the government, as my concierge says... 225 00:15:33,792 --> 00:15:36,815 I'd heavily tax those who don't spend their incomes. 226 00:15:37,056 --> 00:15:40,915 I know people who have incomes of 700 or 800 pounds... 227 00:15:41,076 --> 00:15:43,058 and spend not even 1/4 of it. 228 00:15:43,225 --> 00:15:45,682 I consider them to be idiots... 229 00:15:45,853 --> 00:15:47,641 and almost dishonest people. 230 00:15:47,804 --> 00:15:49,785 True, a check without funds... 231 00:15:49,953 --> 00:15:52,409 is a banking action punished by the penal code. 232 00:15:52,581 --> 00:15:54,686 It's only fair that it should be. 233 00:15:54,849 --> 00:15:57,669 But I'd be equally severe with those... 234 00:15:57,836 --> 00:16:00,213 who have funds but write no checks! 235 00:16:00,384 --> 00:16:02,647 A man who doesn't spend his income... 236 00:16:02,810 --> 00:16:05,868 breaks the rhythm of life by not making money circulate. 237 00:16:06,036 --> 00:16:07,585 He has no right to do that! 238 00:16:07,826 --> 00:16:09,854 After such a statement of principle... 239 00:16:10,017 --> 00:16:12,042 let me say that I'm now 54... 240 00:16:13,161 --> 00:16:15,617 that I started out... quite low... and... 241 00:16:15,788 --> 00:16:18,495 if I haven't risen very high, I've gone quite far! 242 00:16:18,894 --> 00:16:21,112 I've lived only on other people's money... 243 00:16:21,282 --> 00:16:23,308 and I thus made millions. 244 00:16:23,472 --> 00:16:25,418 Today, I'm almost broke. 245 00:16:25,580 --> 00:16:28,366 Why? Exactly because of what I'm saying. 246 00:16:28,527 --> 00:16:32,898 Do you know why I chose this café for writing my memoirs? 247 00:16:33,065 --> 00:16:35,805 Because only 18 steps away... 248 00:16:35,972 --> 00:16:40,103 across the street, stands that lovely townhouse. 249 00:16:40,828 --> 00:16:44,881 I wanted to sit opposite because it used to be mine. 250 00:16:45,049 --> 00:16:46,711 It's true! 251 00:16:46,878 --> 00:16:49,098 Thanks to a 9 of hearts... 252 00:16:49,266 --> 00:16:51,815 I built it in 1923. 253 00:16:51,973 --> 00:16:54,872 A few years later, an 8 of diamonds took it from me! 254 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,455 But let's not go too fast. Let's go back to St Maxime. 255 00:16:59,617 --> 00:17:00,409 Excuse me! 256 00:17:00,611 --> 00:17:01,325 Pardon me... 257 00:17:01,488 --> 00:17:04,070 I left St Maxime the following April... 258 00:17:04,235 --> 00:17:06,782 to be a bellboy at the St Raphael Grand Hotel... 259 00:17:06,941 --> 00:17:09,363 which was flourishing at the time. 260 00:17:09,887 --> 00:17:11,993 Fashions have changed since then. 261 00:17:12,156 --> 00:17:15,892 These lovely ladies and fine men seem a bit ridiculous today... 262 00:17:16,057 --> 00:17:19,317 just as we'll look a bit silly 40 years from now. 263 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,700 As for me, I was in my uniform and already adored my profession. 264 00:17:24,099 --> 00:17:26,158 I loved the coming and going... 265 00:17:26,926 --> 00:17:28,714 picking up an umbrella... 266 00:17:28,875 --> 00:17:31,378 giving a smoker a light just in time... 267 00:17:31,543 --> 00:17:33,964 indicating the clock to a man without a watch... 268 00:17:34,130 --> 00:17:35,160 going... 269 00:17:36,559 --> 00:17:38,031 coming... 270 00:17:38,270 --> 00:17:39,254 going up... 271 00:17:39,743 --> 00:17:40,615 coming down... 272 00:17:40,779 --> 00:17:42,250 opening the door 50 times... 273 00:17:42,411 --> 00:17:44,278 "Goodbye, sir!"... 274 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:46,387 "Come in, madam!"... 275 00:17:46,550 --> 00:17:48,927 "Out you go, ma'am!" 276 00:17:49,138 --> 00:17:51,436 "In you come, sir!" 277 00:17:51,606 --> 00:17:54,787 Yes, I loved it because I felt everyone was obeying me... 278 00:17:54,949 --> 00:17:57,575 and I was creating all the coming and going! 279 00:17:57,896 --> 00:17:59,525 And the folded notes! 280 00:17:59,687 --> 00:18:01,588 The love notes men handed to me... 281 00:18:01,756 --> 00:18:03,704 "Boy, give this at once... 282 00:18:03,867 --> 00:18:05,892 'o the lady in the red hat!" 283 00:18:06,056 --> 00:18:07,800 "Give her my letter!" 284 00:18:10,354 --> 00:18:12,938 "See that brunette with the old gentleman?" 285 00:18:13,101 --> 00:18:16,396 "As soon as she's alone, give her this!" 286 00:18:16,963 --> 00:18:20,823 If I'd made a mistake, intentionally or not... 287 00:18:20,984 --> 00:18:23,440 What a scene! What catastrophes! 288 00:18:27,791 --> 00:18:31,052 At night when all the guests had come in... 289 00:18:31,214 --> 00:18:33,478 I then made my rounds. 290 00:18:33,642 --> 00:18:36,065 I went from door to door, my ears alert... 291 00:18:36,230 --> 00:18:38,734 indiscreet and amused. 292 00:18:40,689 --> 00:18:44,028 I stayed there 2 years, learned a lot and... 293 00:18:44,192 --> 00:18:47,566 when I left, I had grown up, changed, and was unrecognisable. 294 00:18:59,488 --> 00:19:00,438 Paris beckoned. 295 00:19:00,601 --> 00:19:02,186 With good recommendations... 296 00:19:02,353 --> 00:19:05,297 a month later I was a doorman at Larue's. 297 00:19:07,369 --> 00:19:10,347 At Larue's I met Serge Abramich... 298 00:19:10,515 --> 00:19:13,255 who occupied the role of dishwasher. 299 00:19:13,421 --> 00:19:16,001 Concerning him, I have a dramatic story... 300 00:19:16,167 --> 00:19:18,114 in which I was involved. 301 00:19:18,277 --> 00:19:20,574 Half Russian, half Rumanian, he was a man... 302 00:19:20,744 --> 00:19:23,326 of unusual and deadly charms. 303 00:19:24,487 --> 00:19:27,227 He offered me a friendship that I appreciated... 304 00:19:27,393 --> 00:19:29,215 for he was not friendly to all. 305 00:19:29,542 --> 00:19:32,485 But a secret instinct warned me not to give in... 306 00:19:32,647 --> 00:19:35,230 to the feelings he aroused in me. 307 00:19:35,832 --> 00:19:40,247 Each night we returned to Montmartre where we both lived. 308 00:19:40,888 --> 00:19:44,023 His words were extravagant with vague threats... 309 00:19:44,192 --> 00:19:47,407 regarding the forthcoming visit of a man... 310 00:19:47,574 --> 00:19:50,124 who was due between October 5th and 8th. 311 00:19:51,517 --> 00:19:53,067 One night he stopped... 312 00:19:53,228 --> 00:19:55,526 suddenly grabbed the lapels of my jacket... 313 00:19:55,696 --> 00:19:58,152 and said with his persuasive accent... 314 00:19:58,324 --> 00:20:01,345 "You see, some men are criminals... 315 00:20:02,065 --> 00:20:03,776 "and they must disappear." 316 00:20:03,936 --> 00:20:06,076 And he added, "It's God's will!" 317 00:20:07,519 --> 00:20:10,892 I tried to appear to respect his beliefs... 318 00:20:11,340 --> 00:20:14,871 but wanted to remain alien to his activities. 319 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:17,190 On Oct. 3rd, about 11 p. M... 320 00:20:17,352 --> 00:20:20,533 2 panting men came to Larue's, asking for Serge. 321 00:20:21,651 --> 00:20:22,634 They were Russians. 322 00:20:23,322 --> 00:20:25,824 I led them to Serge in the kitchen. 323 00:20:28,259 --> 00:20:30,682 They whispered briefly in Russian... 324 00:20:30,846 --> 00:20:33,030 and then left. 325 00:20:34,468 --> 00:20:35,782 A bit later... 326 00:20:35,941 --> 00:20:37,923 Serge and I were sitting in an empty café... 327 00:20:38,090 --> 00:20:40,198 on the rue des Martyrs, a fateful name. 328 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:42,816 He told me his much-awaited mystery man... 329 00:20:43,428 --> 00:20:45,452 would surely arrive on the 6th. 330 00:20:46,331 --> 00:20:48,471 Putting his hand on mine... 331 00:20:48,641 --> 00:20:52,138 he seemed to regret he couldn't tell me more. 332 00:20:52,939 --> 00:20:56,312 Then he murmured, "Tomorrow you'll know everything." 333 00:20:59,149 --> 00:21:02,331 Czar Nicolas II Due In Paris October 6th 334 00:21:06,116 --> 00:21:08,742 That night I didn't wait till Serge did his dishes... 335 00:21:09,260 --> 00:21:11,763 but left alone without saying goodnight. 336 00:21:12,048 --> 00:21:14,311 At 4 a.m., someone knocked on my door. 337 00:21:15,072 --> 00:21:16,623 - "Who is it?" - "Serge!" 338 00:21:17,182 --> 00:21:19,050 He came in with his 2 Russians. 339 00:21:26,099 --> 00:21:28,555 At once I saw I already knew too much... 340 00:21:28,727 --> 00:21:31,671 and that I'd be in deep trouble in no time... 341 00:21:33,145 --> 00:21:34,776 if I refused to help them. 342 00:21:36,210 --> 00:21:39,822 By 7 a.m., it was all settled. Our roles were assigned. 343 00:21:40,470 --> 00:21:42,611 A phony Russian policeman, an anarchist... 344 00:21:42,778 --> 00:21:46,118 was to get me into the Foreign Affairs Ministry... 345 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,499 with 3 other temporary workers who were... 346 00:21:49,666 --> 00:21:52,926 to move a rug on which the Czar's bed would be placed. 347 00:21:53,169 --> 00:21:55,274 Beneath the bed, I was to leave... 348 00:21:55,437 --> 00:21:57,814 an object no larger than a can of sardines. 349 00:21:58,383 --> 00:22:00,364 I would run no risks... 350 00:22:01,568 --> 00:22:03,549 and would receive 5,000 francs... 351 00:22:03,718 --> 00:22:05,382 later that evening. 352 00:22:07,898 --> 00:22:10,762 We were not to meet again until the 5th at 5 p. M... 353 00:22:10,923 --> 00:22:13,424 in a restaurant on the Champs-Elysées. 354 00:22:13,590 --> 00:22:15,967 I would then be given the object. 355 00:22:22,108 --> 00:22:24,611 On Oct. 6th the newspapers announced... 356 00:22:24,776 --> 00:22:27,231 at the last minute that Czar Nicolas II... 357 00:22:27,403 --> 00:22:29,306 would not sleep at the Ministry... 358 00:22:29,474 --> 00:22:31,974 but at the Russian Embassy instead. 359 00:22:36,041 --> 00:22:37,988 A few lines lower, the same paper... 360 00:22:38,271 --> 00:22:39,697 wrote about this. 361 00:23:09,405 --> 00:23:12,189 But it's bad taste to brag about writing... 362 00:23:12,351 --> 00:23:14,649 an anonymous letter left-handedly. 363 00:23:30,782 --> 00:23:33,760 That affair, the coming of winter... 364 00:23:34,245 --> 00:23:36,985 a chance to go to the Riviera... 365 00:23:37,151 --> 00:23:38,939 it all led to my leaving Paris... 366 00:23:39,699 --> 00:23:40,841 for Monaco... 367 00:23:41,251 --> 00:23:45,021 where I was to run the elevator at the Hotel de Paris. 368 00:23:47,501 --> 00:23:50,048 At once I was won over by a country so wonderful... 369 00:23:50,208 --> 00:23:53,185 magnificent and unequalled in the world. 370 00:23:53,433 --> 00:23:54,700 Geographically... 371 00:23:54,984 --> 00:23:57,804 it's a rock shaped like a dog's head... 372 00:23:57,970 --> 00:24:00,552 barely 650 metres long... 373 00:24:00,717 --> 00:24:03,172 and about 200 metres wide. 374 00:24:03,703 --> 00:24:04,609 Historically... 375 00:24:04,858 --> 00:24:06,884 legends say it was founded by Hercules. 376 00:24:07,047 --> 00:24:10,658 It's never mentioned among his 12 famous labors... 377 00:24:10,828 --> 00:24:15,323 but it's indeed his 13th and it's brought happiness to Monaco. 378 00:24:16,578 --> 00:24:18,604 On the other hand, we do know... 379 00:24:19,127 --> 00:24:21,752 the only antiquities found on the rock... 380 00:24:21,912 --> 00:24:23,622 were some Roman coins. 381 00:24:23,783 --> 00:24:26,240 I find it quite amusing... 382 00:24:26,410 --> 00:24:28,867 to think that in the days of old... 383 00:24:29,038 --> 00:24:31,620 money was already being lost at Monaco. 384 00:24:32,661 --> 00:24:34,641 Ask me "What's Monaco?"and... 385 00:24:34,810 --> 00:24:36,679 I'll say, "It's an operetta!" 386 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:38,787 Look at this principality... 387 00:24:38,950 --> 00:24:41,894 made up of a city and a village. 388 00:24:42,254 --> 00:24:44,314 The country has no real name because... 389 00:24:44,483 --> 00:24:46,667 Monaco is the town's name... 390 00:24:46,832 --> 00:24:49,493 and Monte Carlo is the city's name. 391 00:24:49,659 --> 00:24:51,719 The town is ancient... 392 00:24:51,887 --> 00:24:53,996 the city is modern. 393 00:24:54,196 --> 00:24:56,415 The town is Monegasque, : The city, cosmopolitan. 394 00:24:58,138 --> 00:25:00,685 Each foreigner says he feels perfectly at home. 395 00:25:01,203 --> 00:25:02,425 It's quite unique! 396 00:25:02,596 --> 00:25:04,974 You see Englishmen, Chinese, Cubans... 397 00:25:05,144 --> 00:25:07,090 Hindus, Negroes, Hungarians... 398 00:25:07,254 --> 00:25:10,390 Finns and Egyptians like elsewhere. 399 00:25:10,557 --> 00:25:13,343 The reason they're more at home here than elsewhere... 400 00:25:13,741 --> 00:25:16,164 is Monte Carlo has no Monegasques! 401 00:25:16,529 --> 00:25:19,631 It's not a foreign city but a city for foreigners. 402 00:25:19,793 --> 00:25:22,578 You may ask "Where are the Monegasques?" 403 00:25:23,057 --> 00:25:24,959 They're croupiers in the casino! 404 00:25:25,126 --> 00:25:28,026 In Monaco you're born to be a croupier. 405 00:25:28,750 --> 00:25:30,382 A born croupier! 406 00:25:30,541 --> 00:25:32,408 It's hereditary! 407 00:25:32,571 --> 00:25:35,231 At birth, each Monegasque finds in his crib... 408 00:25:35,398 --> 00:25:37,742 the traditional croupier's black rake. 409 00:25:38,224 --> 00:25:40,364 It's a lovely operetta with 2 scenes... 410 00:25:40,533 --> 00:25:42,638 and 2 very different settings... 411 00:25:42,801 --> 00:25:45,350 that of a town and that of a city. 412 00:25:45,867 --> 00:25:48,131 In the city's center is a casino. 413 00:25:48,295 --> 00:25:50,355 In the town's center is a palace. 414 00:25:50,963 --> 00:25:53,669 In the casino reigns a god called Luck. 415 00:25:54,266 --> 00:25:56,326 In the palace reigns a prince... 416 00:25:56,495 --> 00:26:00,187 well-guarded by a little army, as charming as can be. 417 00:26:01,471 --> 00:26:03,927 You see the little army about 11 a.m. 418 00:26:04,099 --> 00:26:05,604 It leaves the palace... 419 00:26:05,770 --> 00:26:08,115 for the changing of the guard. 420 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,622 I like to imagine how much more amusing... 421 00:26:10,786 --> 00:26:13,334 this scene would be... 422 00:26:13,493 --> 00:26:15,520 if the Monegasque soldiers... 423 00:26:15,682 --> 00:26:17,823 strictly in rhythm... 424 00:26:18,549 --> 00:26:21,131 having marched a few steps forward... 425 00:26:21,296 --> 00:26:25,065 suddenly took exactly the same number of steps backwards. 426 00:26:33,741 --> 00:26:36,118 To reach the palace, all the roads go up. 427 00:26:36,447 --> 00:26:38,032 To the casino, they go down. 428 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,984 To be more precise, they lead you there. 429 00:26:41,424 --> 00:26:45,443 The casino! It looks like a sugar-cane masterpiece... 430 00:26:46,002 --> 00:26:49,613 like a station selling tickets to unknown destinations only. 431 00:26:49,942 --> 00:26:52,240 Above all, it looks like a 1st-class spa... 432 00:26:52,411 --> 00:26:53,995 which is just what it is... 433 00:26:54,162 --> 00:26:56,460 since it cures an astounding illness. 434 00:26:56,630 --> 00:27:00,525 It's a unique spot with not even 100 metres of cultivated land. 435 00:27:00,691 --> 00:27:03,316 Where indeed would you want too grow any beets? 436 00:27:03,477 --> 00:27:05,820 There are hotels everywhere. 437 00:27:05,985 --> 00:27:08,204 Some are so large that... 438 00:27:08,374 --> 00:27:11,271 the frontier cuts between the left and right wings. 439 00:27:11,439 --> 00:27:13,783 If one day you are expelled from Monaco... 440 00:27:13,947 --> 00:27:17,004 you need only to change hotel rooms! 441 00:27:17,410 --> 00:27:20,036 It was in Monaco that I for the 1st time... 442 00:27:21,112 --> 00:27:24,214 How shall I say it? I think you see what I mean. 443 00:27:24,536 --> 00:27:25,724 She was a countess. 444 00:27:26,446 --> 00:27:29,027 Countess Beauchamp Dubourg de Catinax! 445 00:27:30,068 --> 00:27:32,129 She had a certain allure. 446 00:27:32,298 --> 00:27:35,117 I knew she was 20 years older than I was... 447 00:27:35,284 --> 00:27:38,261 the Countess Beauchamp Dubourg de Catinax... 448 00:27:40,140 --> 00:27:43,162 But on the other hand, she knew I was... 449 00:27:43,325 --> 00:27:45,906 20 years younger than she was! 450 00:27:59,886 --> 00:28:02,104 She lived on the 2nd floor. 451 00:28:02,392 --> 00:28:05,812 She had a languorous, promising look... 452 00:28:06,055 --> 00:28:08,716 Countess Beauchamp Dubourg de Catinax! 453 00:28:30,816 --> 00:28:32,603 She was a lively, grateful lady... 454 00:28:32,766 --> 00:28:35,393 Countess Beauchamp Dubourg de Catinax! 455 00:28:42,524 --> 00:28:44,788 The gold watch she gave me... 456 00:28:49,167 --> 00:28:51,464 I still have the gold watch. 457 00:28:51,635 --> 00:28:52,585 Waiter! 458 00:28:53,149 --> 00:28:53,940 Madam? 459 00:28:54,103 --> 00:28:55,687 I'm expecting a call. 460 00:28:55,855 --> 00:28:59,352 If someone wants the Countess Beauchamp Dubourg de Catinax... 461 00:28:59,517 --> 00:29:01,066 it's me. 462 00:29:04,971 --> 00:29:07,473 Sir, could you tell me the time? 463 00:29:07,956 --> 00:29:10,662 Certainly! It's 5:00. 464 00:29:10,902 --> 00:29:12,408 Thank you very much. 465 00:29:14,842 --> 00:29:16,236 I never wear a watch. 466 00:29:17,192 --> 00:29:19,738 It's quite amusing that I don't have a watch. 467 00:29:20,496 --> 00:29:22,839 Yes, after all those I've given to others! 468 00:29:25,392 --> 00:29:28,448 No one has given away as many watches as I have. 469 00:29:29,372 --> 00:29:33,063 In 40 years, sir, I've given away 217! 470 00:29:33,592 --> 00:29:37,883 92 gold ones, 73 in silver and 52 in stainless steel. 471 00:29:39,245 --> 00:29:41,271 I've spent a fortune on watches! 472 00:29:41,712 --> 00:29:44,295 I don't regret it, believe me! 473 00:29:44,897 --> 00:29:47,999 But there's one I'd like to see again. 474 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,897 No, not see again... Meet again! 475 00:29:51,186 --> 00:29:53,214 I mean the man to whom I gave it. 476 00:29:53,497 --> 00:29:55,363 He's the one I'd like to see. 477 00:29:55,963 --> 00:29:58,420 I wonder what's become of him. 478 00:30:00,262 --> 00:30:01,089 In jail! 479 00:30:02,174 --> 00:30:04,314 What a scoundrel he was! 480 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:06,307 If I get my hands on him... 481 00:30:08,066 --> 00:30:10,250 Very tall! Very slim! 482 00:30:10,812 --> 00:30:12,318 A dark complexion... 483 00:30:13,678 --> 00:30:15,501 A little turned-up nose! 484 00:30:17,421 --> 00:30:19,401 What a rascal! 485 00:30:20,326 --> 00:30:23,065 There's another one I'd like to see again... 486 00:30:23,391 --> 00:30:25,893 but for different reasons. 487 00:30:26,337 --> 00:30:29,360 He was charming! 488 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:31,668 An elevator boy... 489 00:30:32,109 --> 00:30:34,488 at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo. 490 00:30:35,095 --> 00:30:39,036 He was cute... with a lock of hair... 491 00:30:39,792 --> 00:30:42,012 that kept falling over his forehead. 492 00:30:43,734 --> 00:30:46,915 He was truly a 1st-class little guy! 493 00:30:48,033 --> 00:30:50,171 He really put his heart in it! 494 00:30:51,655 --> 00:30:56,659 He must now be... 54 or 55. 495 00:30:57,985 --> 00:31:00,442 Even so, I'd like to see him again. 496 00:31:01,687 --> 00:31:04,948 May I again ask you... for the time? 497 00:31:05,508 --> 00:31:08,689 It must be around 5:00... Maybe 5:10. 498 00:31:08,932 --> 00:31:11,909 But I'd like to know the exact time. 499 00:31:13,588 --> 00:31:15,853 - Yes, it's 5:15. - Thank you. 500 00:31:16,017 --> 00:31:18,678 A call for Countess Beauchamp Dubourg de Catinax! 501 00:31:18,844 --> 00:31:20,066 Coming! 502 00:31:39,787 --> 00:31:40,772 Waiter... 503 00:31:41,379 --> 00:31:42,205 Sir? 504 00:31:42,375 --> 00:31:44,877 May I ask you for a little favor? 505 00:31:45,042 --> 00:31:46,988 - Yes, sir. - I'd like... 506 00:31:51,650 --> 00:31:53,313 - Waiter! - Madam? 507 00:31:54,237 --> 00:31:56,378 - What do I owe you? - 1 franc 50, madam. 508 00:31:58,975 --> 00:32:00,084 - Here! - Thank you. 509 00:32:00,248 --> 00:32:01,800 - Keep the change! - Thank you! 510 00:32:15,615 --> 00:32:17,481 - Sir? - Madam? 511 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:20,581 For the last time... 512 00:32:21,546 --> 00:32:23,572 May I ask you for the time? 513 00:32:25,447 --> 00:32:26,919 Certainly! 514 00:32:29,427 --> 00:32:31,805 It's 5:25. 515 00:32:40,295 --> 00:32:42,402 - Thank you very much. - Not at all! 516 00:32:50,128 --> 00:32:52,108 - Sir? - Thank you! 517 00:32:52,476 --> 00:32:54,819 I didn't harm it, don't worry! 518 00:32:57,532 --> 00:32:59,954 At 21, I was drafted into the army... 519 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,575 and spent 3 years in Angoulême. 520 00:33:02,746 --> 00:33:06,641 Angoulême isn't a bad town but 3 years in Angoulême... 521 00:33:07,165 --> 00:33:08,149 is too much! 522 00:33:08,703 --> 00:33:10,934 There was a sort of musical café... 523 00:33:11,104 --> 00:33:13,857 a semi-brothel we invaded in the evening... 524 00:33:14,024 --> 00:33:16,141 and where we tried to behave badly. 525 00:33:33,468 --> 00:33:36,540 He was slender and handsome! 526 00:33:36,707 --> 00:33:38,903 His hair was quite long! 527 00:33:39,069 --> 00:33:41,184 It covered his ears! 528 00:33:41,348 --> 00:33:44,022 His face was sweet, his eyes brimmed with song! 529 00:33:44,429 --> 00:33:46,821 With his different style... 530 00:33:46,991 --> 00:33:49,300 He stood out by a mile! 531 00:33:49,471 --> 00:33:51,826 I've known many a pimp! 532 00:33:51,991 --> 00:33:55,063 But this guy was no wimp! 533 00:33:56,231 --> 00:34:01,068 So that's why every Sunday... 534 00:34:01,232 --> 00:34:05,307 I wore white to make it a fun day! 535 00:34:05,472 --> 00:34:09,227 I'd go to the woods and wander about... 536 00:34:09,394 --> 00:34:15,346 With the guy I was crazy about! 537 00:34:45,839 --> 00:34:47,956 I'll tell ya later! Wait a bit! 538 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,913 But one sad February night... 539 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:55,232 Before he could yell or fight... 540 00:34:55,403 --> 00:34:57,631 Big Jules laid him out flat... 541 00:34:57,802 --> 00:35:00,191 After a silly spat! 542 00:35:00,363 --> 00:35:02,832 He stabbed him with a knife... 543 00:35:03,003 --> 00:35:05,312 That completely ruined my life! 544 00:35:05,484 --> 00:35:07,792 'Cause for me it's been real hard... 545 00:35:07,962 --> 00:35:11,036 Since he died on the boulevard! 546 00:35:12,363 --> 00:35:17,119 So that's why every Sunday... 547 00:35:17,285 --> 00:35:21,436 I'm not in white to make it a fun day! 548 00:35:21,605 --> 00:35:25,360 I can't go to the woods and wander about... 549 00:35:25,527 --> 00:35:31,797 With the guy I was crazy about! 550 00:36:08,694 --> 00:36:11,367 Sad glory... Pathetic debauchery... 551 00:36:11,535 --> 00:36:12,968 Agatha... 552 00:36:13,495 --> 00:36:14,928 Madeleine... 553 00:36:15,094 --> 00:36:16,574 and Redhead! 554 00:36:16,735 --> 00:36:19,648 3 different ladies, 100 soldiers all alike! 555 00:36:19,816 --> 00:36:23,446 It was a mother and her 2 daughters. 556 00:36:23,936 --> 00:36:26,497 Redhead was the mother and singer. 557 00:36:26,657 --> 00:36:29,411 The father-husband played the piano. 558 00:36:29,577 --> 00:36:32,457 The joint's boss was the pianist's brother. 559 00:36:33,098 --> 00:36:36,977 A family of 5 who thought they were the best in the world! 560 00:36:37,698 --> 00:36:39,768 Agatha and Madeleine loved their mother. 561 00:36:39,939 --> 00:36:42,089 When one of us had enjoyed... 562 00:36:42,260 --> 00:36:44,853 several times one of the daughter's favors... 563 00:36:45,021 --> 00:36:46,898 she'd always tell us... 564 00:36:47,059 --> 00:36:49,734 "Be sweet! Next time, choose Mama!" 565 00:36:51,502 --> 00:36:53,777 After my discharge, I bought a bicycle... 566 00:36:53,941 --> 00:36:56,694 and left Angoulême with undisguised joy. 567 00:36:57,501 --> 00:36:59,733 Exhausted, I sold my bike in Toulouse... 568 00:36:59,902 --> 00:37:01,893 and bought a ticket to Monaco... 569 00:37:02,062 --> 00:37:04,133 where I headed instinctively. 570 00:37:04,424 --> 00:37:07,382 I didn't make a good deal nor did the garage man. 571 00:37:09,544 --> 00:37:11,694 Yet I was the one who was had. 572 00:37:11,864 --> 00:37:13,902 Leaving the Monaco station... 573 00:37:14,064 --> 00:37:17,456 I realised the garage man had slipped me a counterfeit coin. 574 00:37:17,625 --> 00:37:19,742 I didn't like that at all! 575 00:37:21,025 --> 00:37:23,779 I immediately bought some cigarettes... 576 00:37:23,946 --> 00:37:27,099 and got rid of the phony money. 577 00:37:27,548 --> 00:37:29,616 No, I didn't like that at all either! 578 00:37:29,788 --> 00:37:32,223 No, frankly, not at all! 579 00:37:32,748 --> 00:37:35,343 I ran into a croupier whom I knew somewhat. 580 00:37:37,428 --> 00:37:39,624 We talked as if we were old pals. 581 00:37:39,789 --> 00:37:43,703 I asked him to name a profession where one couldn't be dishonest. 582 00:37:44,030 --> 00:37:45,349 He said, "Croupier!"... 583 00:37:45,591 --> 00:37:47,023 and explained why. 584 00:37:48,191 --> 00:37:50,307 So I became a citizen of Monaco. 585 00:37:50,472 --> 00:37:52,462 The papers I signed were... 586 00:37:52,631 --> 00:37:55,510 more like a contract than for citizenship... 587 00:37:55,672 --> 00:37:57,264 but very polite. 588 00:37:57,433 --> 00:38:00,982 Given the traditional rake mentioned earlier... 589 00:38:01,953 --> 00:38:05,469 6 months later I was hired as a croupier at table 4... 590 00:38:05,873 --> 00:38:07,751 convinced I'd lead an honest life... 591 00:38:07,915 --> 00:38:11,703 because a croupier can't cheat at roulette. 592 00:38:12,474 --> 00:38:14,831 Time passed... 1914... 593 00:38:14,994 --> 00:38:17,908 France didn't recognise my Monegasque citizenship. 594 00:38:18,075 --> 00:38:20,430 I was called up and rejoined my unit. 595 00:38:20,796 --> 00:38:22,866 I was 34 and a stretcher-bearer. 596 00:38:23,037 --> 00:38:26,427 I was at the front 2 weeks later, on Aug. 17th, 1914. 597 00:38:27,877 --> 00:38:30,312 We reached the front lines at 4 a.m. And... 598 00:38:30,478 --> 00:38:33,629 at 4:01 I was hit by shrapnel in my right knee. 599 00:38:34,039 --> 00:38:37,315 In terrible pain I passed out and was covered by dirt. 600 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,108 I regained consciousness in an ambulance. 601 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:42,748 A man named Charbonnier had saved my life... 602 00:38:42,919 --> 00:38:45,388 by digging me out and carrying me to safety. 603 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,395 He too was wounded, alas, and worse than I was. 604 00:38:49,001 --> 00:38:51,071 His arm had to be amputated. 605 00:38:51,761 --> 00:38:54,071 Next day I saw him on a stretcher... 606 00:38:54,282 --> 00:38:55,601 being carried away. 607 00:38:55,763 --> 00:38:59,597 An extremely pale, charming face I would never forget! 608 00:38:59,763 --> 00:39:02,323 I wanted to thank my savior but... 609 00:39:02,683 --> 00:39:04,401 I didn't have time. 610 00:39:04,764 --> 00:39:07,358 Later, he'd already been evacuated to the rear. 611 00:39:08,764 --> 00:39:10,436 1 month later, so was I. 612 00:39:10,965 --> 00:39:13,114 I was sent to a hospital in Poitiers. 613 00:39:13,285 --> 00:39:15,002 They forgot me and time passed. 614 00:39:15,605 --> 00:39:17,279 I slowly healed. 615 00:39:17,446 --> 00:39:20,165 I let my beard grow as it pleased... 616 00:39:20,326 --> 00:39:22,715 as I devoured Balzac whom I'd never read. 617 00:39:22,887 --> 00:39:24,035 Thanks to him... 618 00:39:24,206 --> 00:39:26,640 I made many acquaintances and gained weight. 619 00:39:26,807 --> 00:39:28,526 I sat and matured and... 620 00:39:28,687 --> 00:39:30,919 didn't care if I became unrecognisable. 621 00:39:31,088 --> 00:39:34,001 I read Gautrain's story for the 3rd time. 622 00:39:34,489 --> 00:39:37,959 Discharged again and a civilian... 623 00:39:38,130 --> 00:39:40,927 I decided to shave but only partially. 624 00:39:41,090 --> 00:39:43,242 Not knowing it would help me later... 625 00:39:43,410 --> 00:39:45,800 I played at altering my appearance. 626 00:39:46,011 --> 00:39:48,571 My beard was at first pointed, then square. 627 00:39:48,731 --> 00:39:51,006 Next, I kept my sideburns. 628 00:39:51,170 --> 00:39:54,050 I looked rather like a young Franz Joseph. 629 00:39:54,212 --> 00:39:57,205 I shaved my sideburns. What did that do for me? 630 00:39:57,612 --> 00:39:58,841 Not much! 631 00:39:59,012 --> 00:40:00,730 Then the moustache went. 632 00:40:00,893 --> 00:40:03,123 I became what I'd been before and... 633 00:40:03,294 --> 00:40:07,004 saw that, clean-shaven, I was even more unrecognisable... 634 00:40:07,455 --> 00:40:09,205 but for a different reason. 635 00:40:09,374 --> 00:40:11,809 I'd suddenly aged a lot. 636 00:40:12,375 --> 00:40:14,888 I was only 35 but looked at least 40. 637 00:40:15,055 --> 00:40:17,935 Never mind! The ladies would get used to it! 638 00:40:27,617 --> 00:40:30,086 A few days later, something happened to me... 639 00:40:30,259 --> 00:40:32,692 a story well worth the telling! 640 00:40:32,858 --> 00:40:35,373 Before leaving Poitiers for Monaco... 641 00:40:35,899 --> 00:40:38,539 I decided to have a good lunch... 642 00:40:38,860 --> 00:40:40,975 at the best inn in the region. 643 00:40:41,139 --> 00:40:44,416 I entered, sat down and what did I see? 644 00:40:44,780 --> 00:40:48,172 A marvellous little thing with the look of an angel! 645 00:40:48,341 --> 00:40:50,980 A charming smile! I was astounded. 646 00:40:51,702 --> 00:40:55,820 She noticed me and seemed neither surprised nor annoyed. 647 00:40:56,304 --> 00:40:58,214 My word, you'd have sworn... 648 00:40:58,422 --> 00:41:00,893 she felt the same way about me! 649 00:41:01,945 --> 00:41:05,983 I was seeing things! Yet she stared at me insistingly... 650 00:41:06,144 --> 00:41:07,542 unpardonably! 651 00:41:07,704 --> 00:41:11,220 Quickly she finished her meal, rose and... 652 00:41:11,986 --> 00:41:13,213 came toward me. 653 00:41:14,345 --> 00:41:18,464 She asked if she might sit down and did so before I could reply. 654 00:41:18,626 --> 00:41:20,185 Taking my hand... 655 00:41:20,347 --> 00:41:22,702 she said, "You're the man for me!" 656 00:41:24,227 --> 00:41:26,184 2 hours later, with her driving at 60 mph... 657 00:41:26,587 --> 00:41:29,022 we were in Bordeaux where we spent the night. 658 00:41:29,188 --> 00:41:30,337 What a night! 659 00:41:31,348 --> 00:41:34,422 The hours I owe that adorable creature! 660 00:41:34,668 --> 00:41:35,658 I was crazy! 661 00:41:35,829 --> 00:41:39,708 But in the morning I flaired an enigma in her eyes. 662 00:41:40,391 --> 00:41:41,982 I felt she had a question to ask me. 663 00:41:42,150 --> 00:41:46,224 She asked it. "My love, shall we work together?" 664 00:41:46,950 --> 00:41:49,068 "Work together? How?" 665 00:41:49,231 --> 00:41:51,062 She'd explain after I gave her... 666 00:41:51,833 --> 00:41:53,060 her robe. 667 00:41:54,351 --> 00:41:56,424 I began to feel worried. 668 00:41:56,593 --> 00:41:59,665 Working with her didn't sound good! 669 00:41:59,873 --> 00:42:01,989 "You dry so well, darling!" 670 00:42:02,274 --> 00:42:04,504 Teasingly she laughed at my confusion. 671 00:42:05,274 --> 00:42:06,105 "I love you! 672 00:42:06,275 --> 00:42:09,312 "Now, sir, sit down! 673 00:42:09,476 --> 00:42:11,944 "Yes, sit down and listen to me! 674 00:42:12,115 --> 00:42:13,594 "You'll soon understand!" 675 00:42:13,756 --> 00:42:15,746 "First, give me your feet!" 676 00:42:16,035 --> 00:42:17,185 "So?" 677 00:42:17,556 --> 00:42:20,674 Quite simply she said she was a thief... 678 00:42:20,836 --> 00:42:25,673 who worked in fancy hotels and that was the job she offered me. 679 00:42:25,837 --> 00:42:27,555 What've I done to the Lord... 680 00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:30,994 to get only offers to commit crime? 681 00:42:33,839 --> 00:42:35,715 But I was caught in her trap. 682 00:42:35,879 --> 00:42:38,348 How could I get out of her mad embrace? 683 00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:40,909 Being curious, I went along with her. 684 00:42:42,441 --> 00:42:45,353 That night we were in Biarritz where... 685 00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:49,037 we took what she lovingly called "connecting"rooms. 686 00:42:50,482 --> 00:42:54,873 She inspected them rapidly and curiously. 687 00:42:55,682 --> 00:42:58,960 My God, what sort of mess was I in? 688 00:42:59,124 --> 00:43:02,115 I already regretted saying yes to the child! 689 00:43:02,483 --> 00:43:04,793 "Thank you, you may go now! 690 00:43:09,925 --> 00:43:12,838 "Put the big suitcase on the bed." 691 00:43:13,966 --> 00:43:15,524 - "This one? - That one!" 692 00:43:18,406 --> 00:43:19,839 She was quite enigmatic... 693 00:43:20,006 --> 00:43:22,362 and clearly enjoyed startling me. 694 00:43:23,888 --> 00:43:26,481 She took a phonograph from the suitcase. 695 00:43:30,485 --> 00:43:31,200 "Come on!" 696 00:43:34,604 --> 00:43:36,720 What was she going to do with that? 697 00:43:42,081 --> 00:43:44,275 Redecorating? 698 00:43:49,638 --> 00:43:51,357 "Open the phonograph!" 699 00:43:58,276 --> 00:44:01,233 What did she want in there? 700 00:44:03,035 --> 00:44:05,627 What was in the other mysterious bag? 701 00:44:17,589 --> 00:44:19,260 A drill! 702 00:44:20,349 --> 00:44:22,259 My God! 703 00:44:22,710 --> 00:44:23,583 "Put on a record. 704 00:44:26,827 --> 00:44:30,977 "Play the music loud. Very loud!" 705 00:44:31,465 --> 00:44:33,340 "Why loud?" 706 00:44:34,424 --> 00:44:35,299 "You'll see!" 707 00:44:35,943 --> 00:44:36,979 And I did! 708 00:45:38,122 --> 00:45:39,077 - "OK? - OK!" 709 00:45:39,243 --> 00:45:40,643 - "Ready? - Ready!" 710 00:45:47,081 --> 00:45:49,069 "I'd like 2-3-0, please!" 711 00:45:50,517 --> 00:45:52,267 "Hello... Yes, madam. 712 00:45:54,034 --> 00:45:55,388 "Very good, madam!" 713 00:46:01,107 --> 00:46:01,857 "Come in! 714 00:46:06,144 --> 00:46:07,655 "Do sit down, sir." 715 00:46:10,139 --> 00:46:11,537 "Very well, madam. 716 00:46:11,698 --> 00:46:14,494 "Here is one and here is the other." 717 00:46:26,526 --> 00:46:28,082 "I prefer this one." 718 00:46:28,325 --> 00:46:30,041 "It's more beautiful, madam." 719 00:46:30,202 --> 00:46:32,588 - "And you said...? - 320,000." 720 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:35,591 - "That's expensive! - A very good price!" 721 00:46:35,757 --> 00:46:37,586 "300,000 and I'll take it!" 722 00:46:37,756 --> 00:46:39,347 "Agreed, madam." 723 00:46:39,515 --> 00:46:41,979 "I'll get the money from the hotel safe. 724 00:46:42,151 --> 00:46:44,265 "But I'm very wary, sir. 725 00:46:44,870 --> 00:46:46,939 "Since I want this one and no other... 726 00:46:47,109 --> 00:46:49,019 "allow me to take some precautions. 727 00:46:49,188 --> 00:46:51,380 "I don't doubt your honesty, sir... 728 00:46:51,544 --> 00:46:54,181 "but here's what I'm going to do. 729 00:46:54,622 --> 00:46:55,371 "I'll put it away. 730 00:47:01,695 --> 00:47:04,004 "Since it's so easy to change a label... 731 00:47:04,174 --> 00:47:07,402 "I'll put it in the closet and that way you'll be assured... 732 00:47:07,570 --> 00:47:09,843 "because you'll be its guardian. 733 00:47:10,887 --> 00:47:12,319 "I'll lock it... 734 00:47:14,163 --> 00:47:15,594 "put the key in my purse and... 735 00:47:16,122 --> 00:47:17,998 "my purse under my arm. 736 00:47:19,041 --> 00:47:20,439 "I'll put my hat on. 737 00:47:20,598 --> 00:47:22,271 "I hate going bare-headed! 738 00:47:22,438 --> 00:47:24,471 "My coat... so I don't catch cold! 739 00:47:24,634 --> 00:47:28,181 "And with a smile, I'll see you in a while!" 740 00:47:54,409 --> 00:47:56,921 "Darling, isn't my ring lovely?" 741 00:47:57,766 --> 00:48:00,438 While our tank was being filled near Bayonne... 742 00:48:00,604 --> 00:48:02,480 pretending to go buy a paper... 743 00:48:02,642 --> 00:48:04,517 bravely or like a coward, I fled... 744 00:48:04,681 --> 00:48:06,431 from my exquisite creature... 745 00:48:06,601 --> 00:48:08,235 as if fleeing fate... 746 00:48:08,397 --> 00:48:10,113 yet rather painfully... 747 00:48:10,276 --> 00:48:13,310 for I must admit she was the only woman in my life... 748 00:48:13,473 --> 00:48:15,781 whom I almost truly loved. 749 00:48:19,747 --> 00:48:21,066 I returned to Monaco... 750 00:48:21,227 --> 00:48:23,579 and my casino job at table 4. 751 00:48:23,743 --> 00:48:26,097 "Hello, my friends! 752 00:48:31,097 --> 00:48:33,767 "I'm glad to be back in harness. Hello!" 753 00:48:41,249 --> 00:48:44,159 For me, the years went by, trouble-free. 754 00:48:44,366 --> 00:48:46,957 I had no plans to marry. I was wary of women and... 755 00:48:47,123 --> 00:48:49,714 had only some affairs, intentionally momentary. 756 00:48:49,880 --> 00:48:53,031 A ballerina who said, "I love you... 757 00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:56,186 "because you're tall and keep me on my toes!" 758 00:48:57,394 --> 00:48:59,382 A lovely model who cheated on me... 759 00:48:59,552 --> 00:49:02,623 with friends and then confessed to me in tears... 760 00:49:02,790 --> 00:49:04,744 whereas I had not forbidden her... 761 00:49:04,908 --> 00:49:07,181 to cheat but to tell me about it! 762 00:49:07,346 --> 00:49:09,016 "That's the 14th! 763 00:49:09,184 --> 00:49:11,014 "I'm fed up! Get out!" 764 00:49:12,341 --> 00:49:15,217 An adorable Chinese doll... 765 00:49:15,378 --> 00:49:17,971 who called me 'Mikitili' or 'Kukulutu' and... 766 00:49:18,136 --> 00:49:21,205 compared me to the sun. Very flattering! 767 00:49:21,373 --> 00:49:24,089 Later I learned she also compared me to the moon. 768 00:49:26,330 --> 00:49:29,204 A postman's wife wrote me daily love letters... 769 00:49:29,967 --> 00:49:31,239 disguising her handwriting 770 00:49:31,404 --> 00:49:35,156 because her smiling husband delivered them to me. 771 00:49:35,321 --> 00:49:36,833 "Thank you!"...Poor dear... 772 00:49:45,113 --> 00:49:47,465 MY WIFE 773 00:49:49,088 --> 00:49:51,397 I can see her even now! 774 00:49:52,048 --> 00:49:55,116 A brunette, broad forehead, heavy eyebrows... 775 00:49:55,285 --> 00:49:57,957 beautiful eyes, turned-up nose... 776 00:49:58,123 --> 00:50:00,796 an almost tragic face when she was serious... 777 00:50:01,003 --> 00:50:04,118 but childlike as soon as she smiled. 778 00:50:10,756 --> 00:50:12,904 A girl from Arles? 779 00:50:15,234 --> 00:50:16,791 Or from Guadeloupe? 780 00:50:21,990 --> 00:50:24,742 With such eyes, she could've been Turkish... 781 00:50:25,787 --> 00:50:27,505 or from Alexandria. 782 00:50:28,427 --> 00:50:31,177 Later I learned she was a Parisian. 783 00:50:31,624 --> 00:50:33,933 She wasn't likeable, yet I liked her. 784 00:50:34,104 --> 00:50:36,662 I was attracted by all that held us together... 785 00:50:36,822 --> 00:50:39,016 as well as all that separated us... 786 00:50:39,181 --> 00:50:41,249 a phenomenon surely related to physics... 787 00:50:41,419 --> 00:50:44,533 but not knowing physics, I called it physical. 788 00:50:45,456 --> 00:50:46,776 She was ravishing. 789 00:50:46,936 --> 00:50:49,324 She resembled a Watteau drawing... 790 00:50:49,895 --> 00:50:51,293 and I was afraid... 791 00:50:51,455 --> 00:50:54,523 because she also resembled a Lautrec pastel. 792 00:50:54,771 --> 00:50:57,967 She looked like she was 25. Besides, she was 24. 793 00:50:58,570 --> 00:51:01,128 In my life she was to play a role that was brief, 794 00:51:01,288 --> 00:51:03,402 providential and evil. 795 00:51:03,726 --> 00:51:05,956 I'd noticed her several times. 796 00:51:06,126 --> 00:51:08,240 How could I not notice her... 797 00:51:08,726 --> 00:51:12,681 when she spent long moments staring at me? 798 00:51:13,402 --> 00:51:15,153 She always took the same seat... 799 00:51:15,401 --> 00:51:16,718 opposite me. 800 00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:19,953 Patient and motionless... 801 00:51:20,118 --> 00:51:22,551 she waited for me to toss the ball. 802 00:51:23,117 --> 00:51:24,435 Upon the fateful phrase... 803 00:51:24,795 --> 00:51:27,593 "Gentlemen, the balls are ready!"... 804 00:51:27,955 --> 00:51:29,829 she threw me 6 louis d'or that... 805 00:51:29,993 --> 00:51:32,949 were so hot they burned her fingers. 806 00:51:34,191 --> 00:51:36,861 She said, "The 2nd dozen!" 807 00:51:37,549 --> 00:51:39,060 "Very good, madam." 808 00:51:39,627 --> 00:51:41,264 She bet nothing else. 809 00:51:41,427 --> 00:51:44,417 I can frankly say that her glance... 810 00:51:44,943 --> 00:51:46,535 which troubled me deeply... 811 00:51:47,423 --> 00:51:50,493 was meant for the croupier, not the man. 812 00:51:51,700 --> 00:51:54,260 By attracting the man, she'd reach the croupier. 813 00:51:54,419 --> 00:51:56,726 The poor girl was obsessed with the idea... 814 00:51:56,937 --> 00:51:59,929 that I could at will cause the ball... 815 00:52:00,097 --> 00:52:02,927 to land in the 2nd dozen. 816 00:52:03,294 --> 00:52:05,851 That night, having lost 9 times in a row... 817 00:52:06,333 --> 00:52:08,719 she was annoyed by her bad luck. 818 00:52:08,931 --> 00:52:11,318 She doubled, then tripled her bets. 819 00:52:11,848 --> 00:52:13,965 I looked at her with feeling... 820 00:52:14,129 --> 00:52:16,800 with a friendly but reprehensive glance. 821 00:52:17,525 --> 00:52:19,163 She looked at me eloquently. 822 00:52:19,324 --> 00:52:21,360 "Instead of giving me advice... 823 00:52:21,522 --> 00:52:24,399 "make it land in the 2nd dozen!" 824 00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:28,548 Totally unmoved because I'd already seen so many like her... 825 00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:31,467 yet amused and attracted by her... 826 00:52:31,639 --> 00:52:35,151 I gave her a faint smile, like an understanding accomplice... 827 00:52:35,715 --> 00:52:38,069 and I spun the wheel. 828 00:52:38,235 --> 00:52:40,951 It turned and turned, then slowed down and... 829 00:52:41,112 --> 00:52:44,148 as if exhausted, the ball fell in a 2nd-dozen slot. 830 00:52:44,990 --> 00:52:48,140 I remember I blushed crimson red. 831 00:52:48,627 --> 00:52:52,254 As for her, her delight was indescribably childlike. 832 00:52:52,745 --> 00:52:55,975 I thought it was a coincidence, pure chance... 833 00:52:56,145 --> 00:52:59,612 and yet I was anxious to spin it again. 834 00:53:02,699 --> 00:53:05,531 Again it landed in the 2nd dozen! 835 00:53:06,179 --> 00:53:08,645 It did it again... 3 times... 836 00:53:10,257 --> 00:53:12,927 then 5 times in a row! 837 00:53:13,095 --> 00:53:14,765 I avoided looking at her. 838 00:53:14,933 --> 00:53:16,809 She began to bet 100-franc chips. 839 00:53:17,332 --> 00:53:19,161 A new croupier took the wheel... 840 00:53:19,650 --> 00:53:22,084 but by then, she'd won 11,000 francs. 841 00:53:23,049 --> 00:53:25,437 A moment later, she rose and disappeared... 842 00:53:26,127 --> 00:53:29,241 without a glance at me. What had happened? 843 00:53:30,165 --> 00:53:33,519 Just what had happened? My goal had been clear but... 844 00:53:33,763 --> 00:53:36,753 could I conclude that I had the power... 845 00:53:36,921 --> 00:53:39,434 to make the ball land wherever I pleased? 846 00:53:39,601 --> 00:53:41,111 "Excuse me." 847 00:53:41,279 --> 00:53:42,756 I reached no conclusion... 848 00:53:43,598 --> 00:53:46,474 but even so, I didn't sleep a wink that night. 849 00:53:46,716 --> 00:53:50,501 Would the thing, the miracle repeat itself the next night? 850 00:53:50,673 --> 00:53:51,787 Besides... 851 00:53:52,153 --> 00:53:54,665 hadn't she left? 852 00:53:55,031 --> 00:53:57,749 She hadn't and it repeated itself the next night... 853 00:53:57,910 --> 00:54:00,104 and she won 30,000 francs. 854 00:54:00,268 --> 00:54:03,099 She was triumphant and so lovely to see! 855 00:54:04,186 --> 00:54:07,301 That night I decided a miracle had happened. 856 00:54:07,464 --> 00:54:10,818 I realised that, without her, it was impossible... 857 00:54:11,623 --> 00:54:14,373 for me to make the ball land in a given slot... 858 00:54:14,538 --> 00:54:16,689 be it this one or that one. 859 00:54:17,259 --> 00:54:20,806 Therefore, between us was a certain je-ne-sais-quoi... 860 00:54:20,977 --> 00:54:23,887 I couldn't name and which we both lacked... 861 00:54:24,054 --> 00:54:27,090 but occurred only when our 2 wills were combined. 862 00:54:27,693 --> 00:54:28,806 But the problem! 863 00:54:29,411 --> 00:54:32,322 Was I to go on enriching an unknown lady? No! 864 00:54:33,049 --> 00:54:35,881 We had to reach an agreement at once. 865 00:54:37,208 --> 00:54:38,640 Yes, but how? 866 00:54:38,846 --> 00:54:40,837 How to make an agreement? 867 00:54:41,445 --> 00:54:43,082 That'll do for tomorrow... 868 00:54:43,244 --> 00:54:44,597 A contract! 869 00:54:45,923 --> 00:54:47,913 Would she be honest? 870 00:54:48,081 --> 00:54:50,195 And... excuse me... but... 871 00:54:50,359 --> 00:54:52,667 what would such a contract's legal value be... 872 00:54:52,838 --> 00:54:55,226 when its aim was to divide a 'heft"? 873 00:54:55,438 --> 00:54:59,064 God, what another night I spent! 874 00:54:59,636 --> 00:55:01,067 I awoke and I knew! 875 00:55:01,795 --> 00:55:05,148 Only 1 contract could protect me from her. 876 00:55:05,711 --> 00:55:08,985 That night I followed her after she came out. 877 00:55:09,150 --> 00:55:11,378 I followed her and... 878 00:55:11,549 --> 00:55:14,505 far from indiscreet ears, we got acquainted... 879 00:55:14,666 --> 00:55:17,178 quickly made our agreement and set a date. 880 00:55:18,822 --> 00:55:20,814 2 weeks later... 881 00:55:20,983 --> 00:55:24,576 in the charming town hall at St Martin de Vésubie... 882 00:55:25,500 --> 00:55:28,091 I wed under the joint estate law... 883 00:55:29,019 --> 00:55:31,770 Henrietta Gertrude Bled... 884 00:55:31,936 --> 00:55:35,166 former wife of a Bulgarian colonel. 885 00:55:41,291 --> 00:55:44,123 I took a 2-week vacation. 886 00:55:44,329 --> 00:55:46,363 But I must say we both agreed... 887 00:55:46,528 --> 00:55:48,723 our marriage was to be... 888 00:55:49,448 --> 00:55:52,835 a marriage in name only. 889 00:55:53,126 --> 00:55:58,070 We spent the 2 weeks working out a reasonable scheme... 890 00:56:00,320 --> 00:56:03,755 and learned it by heart for the 2nd-dozen slots. 891 00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:06,989 As of the moment, if our accounts are correct... 892 00:56:07,316 --> 00:56:09,227 Yes, they are... 893 00:56:10,955 --> 00:56:15,424 After 1 month our winnings totalled 1, 700,000 francs. 894 00:56:19,271 --> 00:56:22,339 2 days later, my heart pounding, I took my seat... 895 00:56:22,507 --> 00:56:24,385 at the roulette table. 896 00:56:26,226 --> 00:56:28,343 She discreetly sat down... 897 00:56:28,505 --> 00:56:32,052 opposite me without a word nor a glance. 898 00:56:33,022 --> 00:56:35,977 By heart she knew what to do. 899 00:56:36,660 --> 00:56:39,616 I spun the wheel. 900 00:56:41,298 --> 00:56:43,334 "The 2nd dozen? Yes, madam." 901 00:56:44,976 --> 00:56:48,125 It spun... and landed on 26. 902 00:56:49,173 --> 00:56:52,004 The exact opposite of our goal! 903 00:56:52,251 --> 00:56:55,878 Henceforth, it was impossible to land in a 2nd-dozen slot! 904 00:56:56,849 --> 00:56:58,758 It was bewitched! 905 00:56:58,927 --> 00:57:00,758 I put it in 35. 906 00:57:00,927 --> 00:57:03,157 I put it in 0... 26! 907 00:57:03,325 --> 00:57:05,964 I put it in all the slots neighboring on 0. 908 00:57:06,124 --> 00:57:07,351 I was going crazy! 909 00:57:07,962 --> 00:57:10,396 Naturally she couldn't change her bet. 910 00:57:10,561 --> 00:57:12,198 Our capital was running out. 911 00:57:12,600 --> 00:57:14,000 I was raking myself to ruin! 912 00:57:14,239 --> 00:57:15,991 I didn't dare signal to her. 913 00:57:16,278 --> 00:57:17,710 I was being watched. 914 00:57:17,876 --> 00:57:19,435 And on it went! 915 00:57:19,678 --> 00:57:20,790 3! 916 00:57:20,995 --> 00:57:24,111 People from nearby tables came over. 917 00:57:24,633 --> 00:57:25,430 12! 918 00:57:26,831 --> 00:57:27,980 26! 919 00:57:28,151 --> 00:57:29,062 0! 920 00:57:30,510 --> 00:57:32,739 More and more people came! 921 00:57:32,989 --> 00:57:35,978 0! 0! 0! 922 00:57:36,186 --> 00:57:38,653 Putting it at times in 0 looks good... 923 00:57:38,826 --> 00:57:40,940 but 5 in a row is very serious! 924 00:57:41,104 --> 00:57:43,252 Everyone was on it then except us. 925 00:57:43,822 --> 00:57:45,734 She had no more money on her. 926 00:57:45,900 --> 00:57:48,175 I made a gigantic effort... 927 00:57:48,341 --> 00:57:50,569 to keep it away from the damn 0. 928 00:57:50,939 --> 00:57:52,848 Alas, it was too late! 929 00:58:01,333 --> 00:58:02,481 They broke the bank! 930 00:58:02,653 --> 00:58:05,165 2 hours later, I was fired. 931 00:58:05,332 --> 00:58:08,001 In the minimum of time legally required... 932 00:58:09,128 --> 00:58:11,278 my wife and I were divorced. 933 00:58:14,567 --> 00:58:17,556 On the train, I thought it all over. 934 00:58:17,803 --> 00:58:19,633 I'd tried to cheat but... 935 00:58:19,841 --> 00:58:22,638 was unable to and so I'd been fired. 936 00:58:22,801 --> 00:58:25,632 Yet if I'd cheated, nobody would've known... 937 00:58:25,797 --> 00:58:29,346 because they thought I'd cheated when I really was unable to! 938 00:58:29,557 --> 00:58:32,753 So if I'd been fired, it was for not cheating! 939 00:58:32,917 --> 00:58:34,870 Fate was against me... 940 00:58:35,034 --> 00:58:37,423 pushing me to become a true scoundrel. 941 00:58:37,593 --> 00:58:40,344 What idea sprouts in the mind of a man who is... 942 00:58:40,511 --> 00:58:42,147 punished for not cheating? 943 00:58:42,309 --> 00:58:43,789 To cheat! Obviously! 944 00:58:43,947 --> 00:58:46,621 And that's why I became a cheat. 945 00:58:47,228 --> 00:58:49,023 But to do so, like a pianist... 946 00:58:49,187 --> 00:58:51,822 it takes months of practice to relax the fingers. 947 00:58:52,505 --> 00:58:55,858 Here's the best exercise. 948 00:58:59,301 --> 00:59:00,698 You see? 949 00:59:01,219 --> 00:59:03,528 Appear! Disappear! 950 00:59:03,698 --> 00:59:05,653 Appear! Disappear! 951 00:59:08,896 --> 00:59:12,362 You can also practice by passing a coin... 952 00:59:12,533 --> 00:59:15,127 from your left hand to your right sleeve. 953 00:59:15,850 --> 00:59:19,526 After learning all that, I began modestly in 3rd-class hotels... 954 00:59:19,687 --> 00:59:21,484 to get my hands in shape. 955 00:59:22,528 --> 00:59:23,799 "Sit down, sir!" 956 00:59:23,966 --> 00:59:26,764 I dug up an old, distinguished and naive royalist... 957 00:59:26,925 --> 00:59:28,801 to serve as my guinea pig. 958 00:59:28,965 --> 00:59:31,954 I pretended to shuffle the stacked deck... 959 00:59:32,601 --> 00:59:34,477 and let him cut it. 960 00:59:35,041 --> 00:59:37,793 Naturally, I cancelled his cut. 961 00:59:37,958 --> 00:59:40,390 Charming old man... 2... 2... 962 00:59:40,918 --> 00:59:43,271 And since you're a royalist... 3... 963 00:59:43,755 --> 00:59:45,790 To make you happy... A king! 964 00:59:46,313 --> 00:59:48,781 Once I felt I was ready, I began with poker. 965 00:59:48,952 --> 00:59:50,385 "Pass!" "Pass!" 966 00:59:53,069 --> 00:59:53,900 "Pass!" 967 00:59:54,751 --> 00:59:56,501 Now let's see... 968 00:59:57,228 --> 00:59:58,262 "2,000!" 969 01:00:01,186 --> 01:00:01,935 "I'm in." 970 01:00:03,024 --> 01:00:03,980 "OK." 971 01:00:04,663 --> 01:00:05,380 "Gentlemen!" 972 01:00:06,383 --> 01:00:08,611 "1... 2... but where's the 4th ace? 973 01:00:08,782 --> 01:00:09,452 "Here! 974 01:00:10,301 --> 01:00:12,415 "What can I say? It's God's will!" 975 01:00:12,698 --> 01:00:13,575 Then one day... 976 01:00:14,139 --> 01:00:16,492 I made my real debut in a real casino. 977 01:00:30,169 --> 01:00:31,682 How did I manage... 978 01:00:31,848 --> 01:00:33,756 to cheat for 20 years... 979 01:00:33,926 --> 01:00:35,645 and never get caught? 980 01:00:35,806 --> 01:00:38,079 I changed my nationality 12 times... 981 01:00:38,244 --> 01:00:40,883 my name 14 times and my appearance 20 times. 982 01:00:41,363 --> 01:00:44,194 I was Russian, English, German, 983 01:00:44,562 --> 01:00:47,313 Spanish, Brazilian, Chinese, Turkish and Armenian. 984 01:00:48,601 --> 01:00:50,907 I had all sorts of haircuts... 985 01:00:51,077 --> 01:00:54,227 with moustaches and beards of all sizes... 986 01:00:54,516 --> 01:00:57,028 as a marquis, colonel, doctor, lawyer... 987 01:00:57,194 --> 01:00:59,706 industrialist, architect or bookmaker. 988 01:01:00,072 --> 01:01:03,665 However, all my different disguises... 989 01:01:03,989 --> 01:01:07,823 and false identities were used only... 990 01:01:08,029 --> 01:01:10,176 to throw the police off my track. 991 01:01:10,345 --> 01:01:13,815 I did my best to let them know my various faces... 992 01:01:13,985 --> 01:01:16,975 and make them famous, except for my real face. 993 01:03:17,195 --> 01:03:20,107 But I've never really cheated except... 994 01:03:20,674 --> 01:03:23,504 while wearing my real face and name. 995 01:03:38,104 --> 01:03:39,934 "Is this seat taken?" 996 01:03:40,543 --> 01:03:44,215 Let me show you a cheating method of which I'm the modest inventor. 997 01:03:44,700 --> 01:03:46,894 No enemies around? Good! 998 01:03:48,617 --> 01:03:52,530 Place a shiny gold cigarette case in front of you. 999 01:03:53,135 --> 01:03:57,047 Being the bank, you deal over it, as over a mirror... 1000 01:03:57,214 --> 01:03:59,043 2 cards to your opponent. 1001 01:03:59,211 --> 01:04:01,484 The jack of diamonds... 1002 01:04:01,651 --> 01:04:04,038 Your 1st card... 1003 01:04:04,208 --> 01:04:06,847 To your opponent, the ace of spades... 1004 01:04:07,086 --> 01:04:09,679 And your 2nd card... 1005 01:04:09,846 --> 01:04:12,360 Knowing your opponent's total... 1006 01:04:12,524 --> 01:04:14,595 it's your option to draw a 6... 1007 01:04:14,764 --> 01:04:18,276 or stand pat comfortably with 4. 1008 01:04:20,001 --> 01:04:22,672 Here's a smart little ploy... 1009 01:04:22,840 --> 01:04:24,477 to be used at a distance. 1010 01:04:24,640 --> 01:04:26,433 See this yellow circle... 1011 01:04:26,596 --> 01:04:28,552 that marks off the playing area? 1012 01:04:28,716 --> 01:04:31,466 Any sum placed beyond the line becomes a bet. 1013 01:04:31,633 --> 01:04:33,941 Behind it, it's still yours. 1014 01:04:34,113 --> 01:04:37,547 If it's on the line, it's only half bet. 1015 01:04:39,310 --> 01:04:42,778 You take a 1000-franc note folded in quarters. 1016 01:04:43,226 --> 01:04:45,536 You place it so that it straddles... 1017 01:04:45,707 --> 01:04:47,696 the line, like this. 1018 01:04:48,024 --> 01:04:49,013 The bank deals. 1019 01:04:49,183 --> 01:04:52,731 If it wins, you lose half your bet, meaning 500 francs... 1020 01:04:52,982 --> 01:04:55,813 But if it loses... 1021 01:04:55,980 --> 01:04:58,174 then you take a good drag... 1022 01:04:58,339 --> 01:05:01,533 blow the smoke toward your bet... 1023 01:05:04,495 --> 01:05:08,089 sending it to the other side of the line... 1024 01:05:08,252 --> 01:05:11,801 and your half bet becomes a full bet! 1025 01:05:12,090 --> 01:05:14,206 So you risk losing 500 francs... 1026 01:05:14,370 --> 01:05:16,088 or winning 1000 francs! 1027 01:05:16,250 --> 01:05:17,805 See how easy it is? 1028 01:05:17,969 --> 01:05:19,957 You'd be crazy not to do it! 1029 01:05:20,367 --> 01:05:21,513 "Thank you, sir!" 1030 01:05:29,482 --> 01:05:31,231 One July night I entered... 1031 01:05:31,400 --> 01:05:34,038 the Deauville gaming room in disguise... 1032 01:05:34,519 --> 01:05:36,474 and saw 2 deluxe beauties... 1033 01:05:36,637 --> 01:05:39,707 attracting the attention of the men there. 1034 01:05:40,035 --> 01:05:43,025 I walked around the table to see them. 1035 01:05:44,913 --> 01:05:46,505 What a delightful coincidence! 1036 01:05:46,672 --> 01:05:49,103 A charming surprise! What did I see? 1037 01:05:49,350 --> 01:05:52,341 My wife and my little thief together! 1038 01:05:52,828 --> 01:05:56,137 Amazing privilege of women's beauty or men's memories? 1039 01:05:56,386 --> 01:05:59,741 They seemed as young and pretty as always. 1040 01:06:00,465 --> 01:06:03,420 My thief still looked like and astonished bird. 1041 01:06:03,582 --> 01:06:06,095 My wife had the same triangular face... 1042 01:06:06,261 --> 01:06:09,092 the same icy, enigmatic glance. 1043 01:06:10,218 --> 01:06:13,367 Both of them were extremely elegant. 1044 01:06:14,017 --> 01:06:16,529 My wife and my mistress were close friends. 1045 01:06:16,974 --> 01:06:19,533 They both looked at me and wondered... 1046 01:06:19,693 --> 01:06:22,526 if they hadn't already seen these eyes before... 1047 01:06:22,693 --> 01:06:25,123 but neither of them recognised me. 1048 01:06:25,289 --> 01:06:27,679 They were playing as one, honestly perhaps... 1049 01:06:27,848 --> 01:06:30,486 and had just given up the deck. 1050 01:06:30,648 --> 01:06:33,399 I bought it for 10,000 francs. 1051 01:06:38,564 --> 01:06:41,711 With an accent, I said to them... 1052 01:06:41,960 --> 01:06:47,430 "I'll sell you half my hand, but only when I win." 1053 01:06:47,718 --> 01:06:48,909 They smiled graciously. 1054 01:06:49,076 --> 01:06:51,874 A moment later I turned up 9, of course. 1055 01:06:52,035 --> 01:06:55,231 I had the voluptuous joy of sharing my 'theft'... 1056 01:06:55,393 --> 01:06:57,463 with my wife and my mistress. 1057 01:07:00,511 --> 01:07:03,945 "1... 2... 3... 4..." 1058 01:07:05,788 --> 01:07:07,265 "Divide it in half. 1059 01:07:07,786 --> 01:07:10,696 "5,000 for the ladies, 5,000 for me. 1060 01:07:12,744 --> 01:07:14,653 "Very good. Thank you!" 1061 01:07:21,659 --> 01:07:23,410 "Now, ladies, listen to me!" 1062 01:07:24,977 --> 01:07:26,694 We talked a bit. 1063 01:07:26,855 --> 01:07:28,767 They were both free that night... 1064 01:07:28,934 --> 01:07:31,572 and agreed to dine with me. 1065 01:07:53,281 --> 01:07:55,667 During dinner, they both wondered... 1066 01:07:55,839 --> 01:07:59,147 which one would spend the night with me. 1067 01:07:59,318 --> 01:08:00,387 So did I... 1068 01:08:00,558 --> 01:08:01,989 and I hesitated. 1069 01:08:03,115 --> 01:08:06,867 But the 'unknown' lady's appeal was greater than that... 1070 01:08:07,033 --> 01:08:08,703 of the 'I'm-back-again' girl. 1071 01:08:18,347 --> 01:08:21,257 That night, still disguised... 1072 01:08:21,586 --> 01:08:23,495 I became my wife's lover. 1073 01:08:23,665 --> 01:08:27,496 During the night she talked about her life and our marriage... 1074 01:08:27,662 --> 01:08:30,051 in terms that were absolutely inexact! 1075 01:08:32,500 --> 01:08:35,409 FINAL CHAPTER or... 1076 01:08:35,659 --> 01:08:38,727 THE END OF A CHEAT 1077 01:08:54,485 --> 01:08:59,876 One memorable night about 11:00 I entered the Aix-les-Bains casino... 1078 01:09:00,044 --> 01:09:03,716 with the 9 of hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds up my sleeve. 1079 01:09:03,880 --> 01:09:05,756 I was looking for a banco worthy of me. 1080 01:09:05,920 --> 01:09:09,308 After a moment I heard, "Banco for 1,200 louis!" 1081 01:09:09,678 --> 01:09:11,509 I turned and said, "Banco!" 1082 01:09:11,678 --> 01:09:13,826 "Banco on my right!" Said the croupier. 1083 01:09:14,035 --> 01:09:17,184 The dealer's face was masked by the lampshade. 1084 01:09:17,353 --> 01:09:20,548 I saw he dealt with his left hand... 1085 01:09:20,712 --> 01:09:24,225 as one does when doing something else with the right. 1086 01:09:24,590 --> 01:09:26,499 That can be dangerous! 1087 01:09:26,668 --> 01:09:29,386 I wondered, "Are we colleagues?" 1088 01:09:29,546 --> 01:09:32,379 I picked up my cards, took others... 1089 01:09:32,663 --> 01:09:36,496 moved over and saw a man in his 40s... 1090 01:09:36,663 --> 01:09:40,097 a one-armed officer in the Legion of Honor. 1091 01:09:40,660 --> 01:09:45,652 Charbonnier! The man who saved me on Aug. 17th, 1914! 1092 01:09:46,296 --> 01:09:48,890 What a horrible, unbearable moment! 1093 01:09:49,055 --> 01:09:52,683 He was there before me, like a judge! 1094 01:09:53,215 --> 01:09:57,683 I'd already taken my cards and could do nothing else. 1095 01:09:58,171 --> 01:10:01,286 I had 9 and had to play 9. 1096 01:10:02,290 --> 01:10:03,800 And so I did! 1097 01:10:04,647 --> 01:10:06,795 He had 9 also. 1098 01:10:07,086 --> 01:10:09,918 Good! "Are you still banco?" Said the croupier. 1099 01:10:10,085 --> 01:10:11,403 I said, "No, no!" 1100 01:10:13,362 --> 01:10:16,195 I said it so fast and oddly that... 1101 01:10:16,599 --> 01:10:18,589 everyone looked at me and... 1102 01:10:18,760 --> 01:10:21,318 Charbonnier leaned over to see me better. 1103 01:10:21,717 --> 01:10:25,833 What admirable clear eyes gazed at me! How they hurt! 1104 01:10:26,156 --> 01:10:29,942 I wished I was again under the earth as on Aug. 17th, 1914. 1105 01:10:30,233 --> 01:10:33,428 In spite of myself, I gestured quickly, repeating... 1106 01:10:33,591 --> 01:10:34,465 "No, no!" 1107 01:10:34,629 --> 01:10:36,903 My attitude surprised him. 1108 01:10:37,068 --> 01:10:38,740 He gave up his hand... 1109 01:10:39,789 --> 01:10:41,698 rose and came toward me. 1110 01:10:42,626 --> 01:10:46,901 He dryly asked me to explain my behavior and why I'd quit. 1111 01:10:47,783 --> 01:10:49,659 I asked if his name was Charbonnier. 1112 01:10:49,822 --> 01:10:50,936 He said yes 1113 01:10:51,102 --> 01:10:54,728 and I explained he'd saved my life on Aug. 17th, 1914... 1114 01:10:54,899 --> 01:10:56,457 by toting me on his back. 1115 01:10:56,618 --> 01:10:59,129 I said the idea of winning his money... 1116 01:10:59,297 --> 01:11:01,936 was more than odious to me. 1117 01:11:02,453 --> 01:11:03,774 He believed me... 1118 01:11:03,935 --> 01:11:06,400 and held out his hand... 1119 01:11:06,611 --> 01:11:09,250 his only hand and said, "Thank you."... 1120 01:11:09,573 --> 01:11:12,083 adding, "let's have a drink." 1121 01:11:12,249 --> 01:11:14,398 I blushed and, for the first time in my life... 1122 01:11:14,728 --> 01:11:16,922 I felt ashamed. 1123 01:11:17,127 --> 01:11:20,163 He described his dull, monotonous and proper life. 1124 01:11:20,324 --> 01:11:22,882 Then he spoke enthusiastically about gambling. 1125 01:11:23,042 --> 01:11:26,396 He talked of it as one of the rare pleasures he enjoyed... 1126 01:11:26,560 --> 01:11:29,916 without suffering from what he cruelly lacked. 1127 01:11:30,518 --> 01:11:33,078 "Yes, I miss my arm constantly except here." 1128 01:11:33,878 --> 01:11:36,548 I felt very sympathetic toward him. 1129 01:11:36,716 --> 01:11:39,386 He understood and smiled. 1130 01:11:39,874 --> 01:11:42,591 Suddenly he said, "Let's be associates!" 1131 01:11:43,511 --> 01:11:45,945 - "Associates? - In gambling!" 1132 01:11:46,270 --> 01:11:47,862 "You love it, I adore it! 1133 01:11:48,029 --> 01:11:49,348 "Let's play together!" 1134 01:11:55,187 --> 01:11:58,892 Minutes later we were associates, seated side by side. 1135 01:11:59,304 --> 01:12:02,055 I owed him my life. He was rehabilitating me! 1136 01:12:02,221 --> 01:12:05,770 The cheat and the honest man joined forces to play honestly! 1137 01:12:06,139 --> 01:12:09,972 A gaming inspector had noticed my behavior at the card table... 1138 01:12:10,136 --> 01:12:12,968 and had tailed us to the bar. 1139 01:12:13,415 --> 01:12:15,563 His eyes were glued to us. 1140 01:12:16,014 --> 01:12:19,449 We were surely plotting something and... 1141 01:12:19,651 --> 01:12:21,561 he'd have bet his life on it! 1142 01:12:22,050 --> 01:12:24,927 For me it was an unknown joy to lay down 9... 1143 01:12:25,209 --> 01:12:26,846 and laugh in his face. 1144 01:12:27,728 --> 01:12:29,682 Luck was ours that night... 1145 01:12:29,846 --> 01:12:31,597 and we split 18,000 francs. 1146 01:12:31,766 --> 01:12:33,754 Our association began well! 1147 01:12:34,004 --> 01:12:36,959 Even for a thief, such a sum would've been magnificent! 1148 01:12:37,563 --> 01:12:40,596 We were together constantly until the last day. 1149 01:12:40,760 --> 01:12:43,910 Each night we gambled and shared 50-50. 1150 01:12:44,637 --> 01:12:48,104 It lasted 17 days. In the end, had we won or lost? 1151 01:12:48,274 --> 01:12:50,344 I truly can't recall because... 1152 01:12:50,514 --> 01:12:53,231 something much more important had happened. 1153 01:12:53,394 --> 01:12:55,190 He'd made an honest man of me! 1154 01:12:55,351 --> 01:12:57,148 But even better... even worse! 1155 01:12:57,310 --> 01:12:58,901 He made me a true gambler. 1156 01:12:59,068 --> 01:13:01,024 I had doubts at first. Was it just... 1157 01:13:01,188 --> 01:13:03,861 a passing phenomenon due to his presence? 1158 01:13:04,026 --> 01:13:06,585 After he'd left, that was out of the question. 1159 01:13:06,745 --> 01:13:08,859 I was bitten once and for all. 1160 01:13:09,024 --> 01:13:12,218 The incredible, unhoped-for mutation was both... 1161 01:13:12,380 --> 01:13:14,496 beneficial and fatal to me. 1162 01:13:14,660 --> 01:13:18,049 My savior had cured my vice by giving me his own. 1163 01:13:18,259 --> 01:13:19,976 In one night and a few days... 1164 01:13:20,137 --> 01:13:22,697 I learned what gambling truly was and I adored it. 1165 01:13:22,858 --> 01:13:26,531 Without understanding it, I'd hated it and lived on it. 1166 01:13:26,695 --> 01:13:29,412 At last I saw it in a new light. 1167 01:13:29,573 --> 01:13:33,483 I enjoyed its pleasures and felt its emotions. 1168 01:13:33,651 --> 01:13:37,164 All the money I'd won in 7 years by cheating... 1169 01:13:37,328 --> 01:13:40,602 I lost in a few months by playing honestly. 1170 01:13:40,766 --> 01:13:43,721 "I'll sign another check for 100,000 francs." 1171 01:13:44,043 --> 01:13:46,637 You may say it's only fair but the fact is... 1172 01:13:46,803 --> 01:13:49,440 my cars, jewels, paintings, houses... 1173 01:13:49,721 --> 01:13:51,517 I lost them all! 1174 01:13:53,719 --> 01:13:54,630 - Sir! - Yes? 1175 01:13:55,078 --> 01:13:56,033 - Look! - What? 1176 01:13:56,197 --> 01:13:57,026 The countess! 1177 01:13:58,436 --> 01:14:00,425 Quick! Give me your watch! 1178 01:14:00,594 --> 01:14:03,745 Too late! So it was you! 1179 01:14:03,913 --> 01:14:07,028 The elevator boy at Monte Carlo! Don't deny it! 1180 01:14:07,594 --> 01:14:10,422 I had the date engraved... Thank you! 1181 01:14:10,589 --> 01:14:13,705 On the casing! I found all the details at home. 1182 01:14:13,947 --> 01:14:17,097 "April 12th, 1897"! 1183 01:14:17,387 --> 01:14:19,022 - It was you! - It was me. 1184 01:14:19,184 --> 01:14:22,890 And you were so cute! 1185 01:14:23,622 --> 01:14:24,496 I remember! 1186 01:14:24,660 --> 01:14:27,493 Remember no further, Countess, it's over! 1187 01:14:28,739 --> 01:14:30,729 No, my heart remembers and... 1188 01:14:30,898 --> 01:14:33,366 it's grateful and tells me... 1189 01:14:33,856 --> 01:14:35,289 "Here's the man for you!" 1190 01:14:35,534 --> 01:14:37,093 It's being funny? 1191 01:14:37,295 --> 01:14:39,168 No, I'm not asking you to marry me. 1192 01:14:39,973 --> 01:14:42,007 - Nothing of the sort! - Good... 1193 01:14:42,212 --> 01:14:43,405 - Good? - I mean... 1194 01:14:43,570 --> 01:14:44,685 I accept that. 1195 01:14:44,850 --> 01:14:48,841 I want your collaboration on a project... 1196 01:14:49,207 --> 01:14:51,402 that'll be extremely fruitful... 1197 01:14:51,566 --> 01:14:53,636 but not at all dangerous. 1198 01:14:53,805 --> 01:14:55,556 Countess, you scare me! 1199 01:14:55,725 --> 01:14:57,951 Trust me! What do you do for a living? 1200 01:14:58,122 --> 01:15:00,953 Nothing brilliant worth mentioning... 1201 01:15:01,121 --> 01:15:03,316 not even in my memoirs! 1202 01:15:03,481 --> 01:15:05,274 Good! I thought so! 1203 01:15:05,478 --> 01:15:07,945 Praise heaven for leading me to you! 1204 01:15:08,117 --> 01:15:10,948 Let's unite our Ionely destinies! 1205 01:15:11,115 --> 01:15:12,753 Tell me about your life! 1206 01:15:12,916 --> 01:15:14,504 In no time at all! 1207 01:15:14,712 --> 01:15:16,988 At 10, I was saved due to a theft. 1208 01:15:17,152 --> 01:15:20,062 Later, when I tried to steal, I was punished for it. 1209 01:15:20,230 --> 01:15:23,821 Then, after stealing a lot, I became honest and... 1210 01:15:24,067 --> 01:15:25,706 went completely broke. 1211 01:15:25,866 --> 01:15:30,380 Then with nothing to live on, I went to work for Grimaud. 1212 01:15:30,544 --> 01:15:32,853 Yes, Countess, the playing-card manufacturer! 1213 01:15:33,023 --> 01:15:35,741 I put them in their little boxes. 1214 01:15:35,901 --> 01:15:37,856 In spite of myself... 1215 01:15:38,021 --> 01:15:40,250 I marked all the 9s with my fingernail... 1216 01:15:40,418 --> 01:15:42,851 and I was soon fired. 1217 01:15:43,216 --> 01:15:46,127 You're truly the man for me! 1218 01:15:46,296 --> 01:15:49,684 You're not going to ask me to rob big hotels! 1219 01:15:49,852 --> 01:15:52,127 - Small ones! - Small ones? 1220 01:15:52,292 --> 01:15:54,851 Small houses that're empty during the holidays! 1221 01:15:55,848 --> 01:15:57,920 Like that one, as a matter of fact! 1222 01:15:58,089 --> 01:15:59,839 As a matter of fact, that one... 1223 01:16:00,008 --> 01:16:01,838 I checked it out earlier. 1224 01:16:02,006 --> 01:16:04,882 It's full of art and other fine things! 1225 01:16:05,045 --> 01:16:06,193 Countess, halt! 1226 01:16:06,885 --> 01:16:10,032 I could put a halt to you forever! I must refuse. 1227 01:16:10,202 --> 01:16:11,431 Firstly... 1228 01:16:11,602 --> 01:16:15,274 that house was once mine. I can't rob my own home! 1229 01:16:15,678 --> 01:16:18,431 My new profession won't allow it and... 1230 01:16:18,597 --> 01:16:21,394 I suggest you leave at once! 1231 01:16:21,556 --> 01:16:22,305 You scare me! 1232 01:16:22,475 --> 01:16:24,907 Tremble, Countess, and tell me no more! 1233 01:16:25,074 --> 01:16:26,267 What's your job? 1234 01:16:26,434 --> 01:16:29,549 The only one which henceforth... 1235 01:16:29,711 --> 01:16:31,064 spares me from temptation and... 1236 01:16:31,230 --> 01:16:33,948 in which I can use my natural talents... 1237 01:16:34,109 --> 01:16:35,859 without the risk of jail! 1238 01:16:36,027 --> 01:16:38,176 I'm a security agent! 1239 01:16:38,347 --> 01:16:40,414 Yes, Countess, flee! 1240 01:16:40,585 --> 01:16:42,303 Farewell! I envy you!