Cameraderie

INT.  GUEST HOUSE, TIBETAN BORDER - NIGHT
The two-room hut, for such it amounts to, is dirty and dark and ill-kept, by a Nepalese man and his wife and son.  In the first room there is a low table in the Tibetan manner, set out with mats and cushions; a domestic altar, and a great deal of clutter.  In the second room are camp beds and mats, bedding and nothing else.  Between the two rooms is a passageway, which has a fire against one wall, and a woven vent in the ceiling.  On the table in the first room there is a bottle of 18-year old Scotch, half full, with a note attached.  NORTON picks up the note.
NORTON
Ah, it's from young Bruce!
(reading)
Dear chaps, please do finish this with our compliments.  We have plenty with us.  J.G.  Bruce.
(beat)
Well, I say, that's dashed decent of them!
He lifts up the bottle to the dim light, takes out the cork and smells the bottle appreciatively.
NORTON
Lovely!
The rest gather round and eye one another expectantly.
NORTON
How shall we make use of this bounteous generosity, gentlemen?  God knows it's TT for the next five months after this.
GEORGE
(to ODELL)
Unless you count chang.
The woman of the house brings in tea, and they sit at the table to decide what to do with the whisky.  After some debate, during which momos and other food is brought in, they decide to serve it up in the tea.  NORTON obligingly pours it out into the cups passed round.
ODELL
I say, this is delightful!
HINGSTON
Smoky.
GEORGE
Smooth.
SANDY
Tolerable.
Laughter at this.  They tuck into the soup and noodles, curries and meat dishes for a while, talking of the day.  After a time, SHEBBEARE drinks some more of the tea and whisky, looks at SANDY, who is completely unaffected, and at ODELL next to him, who is merry.
SHEBBEARE
You're a whisky man, ODELL.
ODELL
(smiles)
As you might say.
SHEBBEARE
And you, Mallory?
GEORGE
Not me! Give me a brandy.
NORTON
Or champagne.
SHEBBEARE enquires round the table, again as to their enjoyment of the Scotch.
HINGSTON
I say, what is all this?
SHEBBEARE
I have an idea.
SHEBBEARE gets up, goes round the low table and plucks the mostly empty bottle from before NORTON.
SHEBBEARE
Pardon me.
Uncorking the bottle, he picks up NORTON's mostly empty teacup, flinging the contents on the dirt floor, and pours out some of the whisky while the others watch expectantly.  SHEBBEARE looks disgusted.
SHEBBEARE
As I thought! It's tea! Bloody tea!
All are astonished.  They drink some more.
NORTON
They foxed us again, chaps!
HINGSTON
Geoff will hear about this, the blighter!
SANDY
No wonder I didn't feel anything. 
ODELL
Well, I feel a proper idiot.
GEORGE
You should stick to brandy.
SHEBBEARE
We'll have to think of something to get our own back.
He sits down again.  They continue eating, a little subdued.  The sweetmeats are brought in.  ODELL looks up, thunderstruck.
ODELL
Hullo! I just remembered what day it is!
ALL
What? What?
NORTON throws his arms in the air, and grins mischievously.
He looks around and raises his glass of tea.
NORTON
It's the First of April.
MONTAGE
1) The expedition crosses into Tibet.  From the high pass, they descend into the Chumbu valley, which is arid, cold desert.  The trees are hardy evergreens, and stunted, before they disappear entirely.
2) Men are afflicted with headaches in the mornings.  ODELL takes a fall from his pony and damages his knee.
3) The expedition come on a now-rare spring, and despite the warnings, fall on it, suffering in their tents afterward from dysentery.
4) GEORGE, exhausted, writes to Ruth in a sloping tent by the light of a candle-lantern.  The snow is blowing into his tent, covering his feet.
GEORGE
On many stages of our journey we were delayed for one reason or another by the local Dzongpen, not being given fresh transport animals or supplies, despite our writ from the Dalai Lama in Lhasa.  We were not generally too disheartened by these pauses, for they gave us time to rest and hammer out our plan for staging the camps and climbing the mountain.  As early as the previous Christmas in England, Norton and I had sparred by correspondence concerning the details.
(beat)
Now we continued in person, with Somervell and Geoffrey Bruce.  But we failed to agree, though we came closer in the main points.  We differed in a very pleasant spirit; our disagreements were never personal.  We were as happy a family as ever faced together the trials inseparable from such enterprises.  But soon we were to face a loss of the paterfamilias which took the jollity out of our little party, irreplaceable as he was: Charlie Bruce fell seriously ill. 
(beat)
I had in my mind the vision of Kellas, our leader from '21, dying within sight of Everest, and prayed the same fate should not befall the General.
EXT.  YATUNG - DAY
SERIES OF SHOTS
1) GEORGE and SANDY are rock-climbing in the hills beyond the town.
2) Through a long afternoon, one following another, they practise different moves.  GEORGE is joyous and laughing, sometimes earnest and patient.  SANDY is earnest and anxious, sometimes breaking into joyous delight at having struggled with and won through a challenging pitch. 
3) At DUSK they are walk back toward the town.  The rope is slung over GEORGE's shoulder and neck.  He lights a cigarette.
GEORGE
That was no more difficult than being in the boat, was it?
SANDY
(smiles)
No, but that's saying a lot! You were much more patient than our captain.
GEORGE
(blowing out smoke)
I like to think I was a good captain for my eight.  It was difficult to tell - they swore at me a lot.
SANDY
You were in the Cambridge boat?
GEORGE
Didn't I mention that? I thought I had.  Yes!  We won the Regatta
He playfully punches SANDY's arm.
GEORGE
the year I was Captain.  I was a picture postcard the whole next season.  It was great cachet and made up for my having got locked out of my College naked after hours early on.
SANDY
Hullo! How did that happen?
GEORGE
(grins)
We were climbing roofs and towers at Trinity, and I ended up in the
GEORGE
fountain.  For a lark, the fellows I was with stole my clothes while I was drying off in a friend's rooms.  I had to walk all the way back to Magdalene in the dead of night and bang on the door.  Our stuffy prefect was not amused.  I nearly got sent down.
(draws on the cigarette)
I was no angel, you see.  But winning the Regatta put me amongst the saints.
(grins)
As it will you.  You'll come back from this and be the star of Merton forever.
SANDY
I'd like to see that!
INT.  DZONGPEN'S HOUSE, YATUNG - LATER THAT EVENING
SERIES OF SHOTS
1) MACDONALD stands before the group in an antechamber lecturing them on the niceties of Tibetan eating customs before they go into the main room.  There is much laughter at his commentaries. 
2) Finally, the doors open and they all go in.  There are low tables facing one another perpendicular to the room.  The Dzongpen sits on a dais at the far end. 
3) In the middle of the room as food is served there is a performance of Devil Dancers, which goes on for many hours.  Several pretty girls serve chang and rakshi [moonshine] and the less cautious members of the party, including BRUCE, get quite drunk. 
4) SANDY takes pictures of the dancing, as does NOEL.
5) At the end of the night, the party troop back to their camp outside of town, some of them sing 'Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous' in loud voices much off-key. 
6) They navigate the single-tree bridge over the river.  Several porters and one or two sahibs need of help across.
EXT.  CAMP, YATUNG - NEXT MORNING
Half the expedition sit about the mess tent with sore heads complaining, while HINGSTON and SOMERVELL perform routine medical exams to see how they are getting on with altitude.  HINGSTON examines BRUCE, who looks very pale and clammy.
BRUCE
I was hoping you would say it was the rotgut, Major.
HINGSTON lets go of BRUCE's wrist, and looks at SOMERVELL.
HINGSTON
No, General.  Your pulse is very thready, and from what Somervell says you've been having trouble with arrhythmias.
BRUCE
(disgusted)
Yes.
SOMERVELL
I can't say I like this temperature, General.  That's not simply being seedy from our bender.
BRUCE
I know.
(beat)
I'm afraid this altitude is too much all at once for the old ticker - and I feel malarial again.  I KNOW what it is, Howard, you needn't look that way.
(looks up at them)
What do you boys recommend?
HINGSTON
You could get to Kampa by Dug La, as Dr.  Kellas did.  It would take several days longer, but it is much lower and would give you a rest.
HINGSTON looks at SOMERVELL, who nods.
BRUCE
I don't know.  Can we wait a day or two and see how I get on?
SOMERVELL
Of course, sir.
SEQUENCE OF SHOTS
Medical Exams of the others of the party.
GEORGE
It was difficult to know how much to make of this trouble. 
GEORGE
But by the time we reached Phari three days later, it was clear the General was not fit for the strenuous march over the Pang La.  Hingston and MacDonald would take him by the Kellas route to Kampa Dzong, meanwhile the rest of us fretted over his possible loss.
EXT.  PANG LA, 17,000 FT - DAY
The Expedition, minus BRUCE, HINGSTON and MACDONALD make their way on the ponies, up the PANG LA.  The day is bright and cold.  To the far right of the path there is a cairn with a rough obelisk atop it.  In the distance, to the left, is EVEREST.  GEORGE and SANDY ride together, far ahead of the others.  They come up on the cairn.
GEORGE
(nods)
Over there, do you see that cairn? There lies Dr.  Kellas.
(beat)
He was the leader of our expedition in '21.  And we failed him.
SANDY
Why do you say that? I thought he died of heart failure.
GEORGE
(vehemently)
YES! Right on this pass! And none of us were here, we had all gone on ahead! Because we thought he would be all right.  Like the General.
SANDY
But you can't have known he would die.
GEORGE
No, but we knew that he had pushed himself to the limit climbing on Kabru to survey climbing routes on Everest before we met him in Darjeeling.
He looks at the cairn as they pass.
GEORGE
Speaking of Everest
He smiles, lifting up his arm to point off to the southwest.
GEORGE
Look there.
SANDY
Ye Gods!
SANDY picks up his field glasses.  Before them in the far distance is the Everest massif, a great white triangle rising far above the surrounding mountains.  They are nearly at the top of the pass.  GEORGE has tears in his eyes.
GEORGE
(almost to himself)
However I feel about the mountain, I am never prepared for this sight.  It catches me every time.
SANDY
Pictures don't do it justice.
GEORGE stops his pony.  They are at the top of the pass.
GEORGE
Shall we wait for the others? We can sit.
SANDY
YES!
GEORGE turns to his porter,riding behind.
GEORGE
(In Hindi)
Dawa, we'll stop here until the sahibs come.
DAWA
Yes, Sahib!
DAWA flings himself off his pony.  He and SANDY's PORTER catch up the bridles as GEORGE and SANDY dismount.  They sit in silence in the wind, GEORGE with his elbows on his knees.  SANDY, leans forward eagerly, snapping pictures.  GEORGE's face is thoughtful and intense, SANDY's eager and awed.  Behind them, the rest of the company arrive.  ODELL takes a photo of them from his pony.
ODELL
(to NORTON)
For posterity.
NORTON smiles wryly.
ODELL
Teddy, they are so much THE TEAM already in the public mind, this
ODELL
picture will be worth its weight in gold someday.
NORTON
Do you know something the rest of us don't, Noel?  Mallory's not the only member of the climbing team, and he could pair up with young Bruce, or myself or Somervell.
ODELL
(emphatically)
I tell you, whatever happens, to the public mind, these two represent our endeavour, and this picture will give the Mount Everest Committee something to crow about.
NORTON
As you say.
INT.  MESS TENT, KAMPA DZONG, 12 APRIL - EVENING
The party are now on the Tibetan Plain, surrounded by vast stretches of high desert.  They are camped outside the town of Kampa Dzong, a fortress which rises from the floor of the plateau almost seamlessly from the rock from which it was carved.  It is the end of Tiffin.  In the distance, MACDONALD rides up alone with an extra mule.  He looks grim and dirty.  Everyone turns round or stands up as he flings himself off his pony and marches determinedly toward the Mess.  All know the meaning of his arriving alone, and query each other as to what might have happened.  NORTON takes control of the situation, rising smoothly.
NORTON
Macdonald, good man! Come and sit and tell us what's become of the General.  You look done in, man!
Wincing, saddle sore, MACDONALD launches himself onto a camp stool at the head of the table, folding his hands before him agitatedly, frowning.
MACDONALD
The situation is not as bad as some of you might be fearing.
(looks up at them)
The General's malaria got very bad at Tuna, it is true.  We were there for three days, during which he nearly died of the fever.  But on the fourth day, it broke and we were able to carry on to Phari with him on a litter.  Hingston is presently escorting him back to Darjeeling.
MACDONALD
(looks at NORTON)
At Yatung, I took the liberty of notifying the Mount Everest Committee, so Hinks will have received the telegram by now.
NORTON
Thank you, Macdonald.
MACDONALD
But as you can imagine, it was a hellish journey, coming and going, and I'm glad to be quit of it.
He is on the raw edge of emotion, having travelled across half of Tibet alone.
MACDONALD
I'm sorry, gentlemen, excuse me. 
Abruptly, he gets up from the table and walks out into the twilight.  In the distance, he kicks rocks and swears.  In the Mess, NORTON rises.
NORTON
Irvine, will you take MACDONALD a drink?
SANDY rises.
SANDY
I will.
NORTON speaks quietly to the men.
NORTON
Men, we should not be too glum over the loss of the General, but grateful that he has been spared further difficulties of health and is safely on his way back to Darjeeling.
If we are to be henceforth deprived of his leadership, we should at least be aware of the legacy he has left us in a most efficient organisation.  I doubt whether so strong a party will ever again be got together to climb Mount Everest.  We ourselves together shall be the stronger for his cheerful spirit at the commencement of this expedition, and for the genius of understanding with the porters he has bequeathed to us, and to our excellent young Bruce, his estimable cousin.
NORTON
(nods at Geoffrey)
Hereafter, we must reconstitute our party.  Mallory,
(regards GEORGE keenly)
I shall count on you as climbing leader.  You ought to have had the post in the first place.
GEORGE
Thank you, Norton.
NORTON
So some of you who may not have thought to climb high this year, and you know who you are - young Bruce, Odell, Hingston when he arrives back - will of necessity be pressed into service.  I dare say you won't find this disappointing.
ALL
No sir! We'll do our best!
NORTON
As I thought.
MACDONALD and SANDY come back, and MACDONALD sits at the end of the table.
NORTON
Thank you, John.
(clears his throat)
Now, to get down to business, if that is not crass, Mallory has had one of his brainwaves and has formulated a plan for climbing the mountain, which I believe all of the climbers can agree on.  If you don't mind sharing it with us all, George.
GEORGE
Not at all.
GEORGE smiles a little and pulls out a large piece of paper from his pocket, unfolds it, and lays it in the middle of the table.  On it, there is a map of the camps and a list of the men labelled A,B,C,D,E,F.
GEORGE
You will see your names here against certain letters.  These can be changed if you like but I hope you shan't find the designations unsatisfactory.
The climbers crowd about the paper, leaning on the table.  GEORGE points out the names.
GEORGE
Geoffrey, Odell, you two are A and B, and will establish Camp Five, starting from the North Col, with about fifteen porters, building placements for four tents at about 25,500, and then descend.
ODELL
All right.
GEOFFREY nods.
GEORGE
Norton, you and Somervell are C and D, the gasless party, and will go up to Five with another fifteen porters, seven of whom will carry loads and descend; the others will continue on with you, sleeping there, and establishing a Camp Seven at about 27,300, with the eight porters carrying six loads.
SOMERVELL
That will be a test of human endurance!
GEORGE
It will! Have you any objections?
SOMERVELL
No.
GEORGE
Norton?
NORTON
No.
NORTON folds his arms, watching this performance.
NORTON
Go on.
GEORGE
E and F, myself and Irvine, the gas party, will go up the same day as the gasless party, start with ten porters from about Four, go without loads to Five
(beat)
and from that point E and F using oxygen, take on stores, and the gas previously dumped at Five, to Camp six at 26,500. 
GEORGE
Then the two parties make an Alpine start and presumably meet on the summit.
NORTON
I put myself in your hands, Mallory.  You and Somervell should lead the parties.
GEORGE
Thank you Norton, I appreciate that.
ODELL
But won't there be a great strain on the gasless party, even starting from Seven?
GEORGE
Quite probably.  But this is why A and B are in reserve, in case the plan should go badly.  As it stands there us much in the way of mutual support the two parties can give one another, and in case there is a problem, A and B won't have done so much that they couldn't recover to participate in a second attempt. 
(beat)
Camps Six and Seven will be accomplished without a collapse of the porters and if this first attempt fails the highest camps will be stocked for the second attempt.
NORTON
Well, I tell you I am dead keen on having a go without gas.  There's real adventure!
GEORGE
(smiles)
It is the better adventure.  It's always been my pet plan, but Howard you recovered so well last year from climbing high without, and it seemed natural to put you in the gasless party.
SOMERVELL
I'm with you, George.
GEORGE
My only concern is that some of you may be feeling left out.
He looks at ODELL and GEOFFREY.
GEOFFREY
Not me.  I'd like to have a whack, sure, but I'm not sure I've got the experience just yet.  There's important work I can do in the meanwhile being on reserve.
NORTON
Good man, Geoffrey.
GEORGE
Odell?
Odell smiles.
ODELL
I'm a good man for the Alps, but this is new ground to me.  I'm happy to bag my rocks and take my notes and be a reservist.  Don't you worry, Mallory.
GEORGE
Thank you, Odell, that's big of you.
He looks across at SANDY.
GEORGE
And how about you, my friend? Are you game for the gas party?
SANDY
I would of course prefer to go without it -
Laughter.  SANDY colours up.
SANDY
But you know full well I couldn't bear to be separated from it.
He grins.
NORTON
Such becoming modesty!
ODELL
The very spirit of scientific enquiry!
GEORGE looks at SANDY keenly. 
GEORGE
Thank you.
EXT.  SHEKAR DZONG.  EVENING.
SERIES OF SHOTS
1) GEORGE, SANDY, NORTON and SOMERVELL are out on the cliffs below Shekar Dzong, a vast towering fortress over a steep granite buttress.  They are wearing oxygen frames and three canisters each, roped two by two. 
2) They move from the town at the base of the cliffs, to the monastery at the middle, to a very old hermitage at the top.
3) They come down the last bit of cliffside towards their camp at the edge of town.  SANDY and NORTON are a little behind GEORGE and SOMERVELL.
NORTON
So, Mallory, what did you think?
GEORGE
(to NORTON and SANDY)
I certainly like the difference in weight!
He shrugs the apparatus up on his shoulders.
SANDY
Thank you!
GEORGE
I think it's a perfectly manageable load now.  And the arrangement of the piping is much more convenient.  Much more certain.
SOMERVELL
Yes, I'd say that as well.  Certain. 
Irvine, what have you done to make it feel so well balanced?
SANDY
The bottles are now inverted.  Can you see? I've eliminated half the glass tubing.
SOMERVELL
Why yes! You thought of this yourself?
SANDY does not have time to reply.
NORTON
Of course he did, Somervell.  You think Siebe Gorman sent him a telegram?
Laughter.  GEORGE talks over his shoulder to SANDY.
GEORGE
You did very well out there today.
SANDY
Thank you! It seemed a bit daunting from the bottom!
GEORGE
It's about the same pitch as on the mountain, at least where we've been so far.
SANDY
Well, that's encouraging!
NORTON
Except the North Col.
SOMERVELL
Ice-climbing will be another test entirely.
(to SANDY)
We can all practise carrying these at the Pinnacles.
SANDY looks a little dubious.
SOMERVELL
Don't worry, none of us have done any ice-climbing with these new sets of yours, so we're all novices at it.
NORTON
(to GEORGE)
What have you thought about the summit attempt since Kampa?
GEORGE
(laughs shortly)
It shows!
GEORGE ruffles his hair and looks serious again.
GEORGE
I want all four of us to get there, and I believe it can be done.  It's best to start by moonlight, I think.  A regular Alpine start, so to get the mountain climbed before the wind comes up in the afternoon.  I'd like to carry as little as possible, go fast and rush to summit, if we can.
NORTON
That would depend on the porters being able to get the highest camps stocked.
GEORGE
(grins)
Well now Teddy, that's your portfolio.
(to SANDY)
I think today has convinced me after all that, we CAN go on three at half flow.  I wasn't sure of it, but if it made a difference at this elevation it surely will above 25.
SANDY
(grinning)
The triumph of Experience over Theory!
GEORGE
And now you have both.
EXT.  SHEKAR DZONG - DAY
ODELL on the cliffs with his camera, a bag, and a pick, wearing a slouch hat and goggles.  He clambers about the slopes, up and down like a monkey, absorbed in his work.
FADE IN:
EXT.  SHEKAR DZONG - LATER
ODELL wanders through the town, with the bag over his shoulder and the camera slung round his neck.  In the market of the town he sees one of the Tibetan Ferris wheels (built of wood), and is startled to see SANDY and GEORGE, in short trousers, taking turns sitting on the thing, one pushing the other.  He snaps a picture and hails them.
ODELL
Well! Here's happy pair of children!
GEORGE
Eh? What?
ODELL
(grins)
But one of you only looks like one!
SANDY
Give us a push, won't you, Odell?
ODELL puts down his bag and camera.
ODELL
Happy to!