Didja Notice?
The episode opens with a radio news report by Percy McCallum of
the British Radio Corporation from Versailles about the end of
the war. Both the reporter and the broadcasting company are
fictitious.
Versailles refers to the Palace
of Versailles,
the former royal residence of the sovereign of France during parts
of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Much
of the film footage shown in this segment is actual footage of
war and peacetime activities of the time.
McCallum remarks that the German Kaiser has abdicated and fled
his homeland. This is Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941), who
abdicated on November 9, 1918, the armistice taking place two
days later (depicted in
Treasure of the
Peacock's Eye).
The exterior of the site of the Paris Peace Conference was shot
in front of the
Rudolfinum
concert hall in Prague, Czech Republic. The interior lecture
room was shot at
Wallenstein Palace in Prague.
McCallum announces that "great men of integrity and honor" are
in Paris to
make a future war impossible and to "forge a world where charity
and compassion rule the day." These men are Georges
Clemenceau, "the Tiger," Premier of France: the Prime Minister of
Great Britain, David Lloyd George; and Woodrow Wilson, President
of the United States. These were the elected leaders of the
three primary Entente powers during the war. "The Tiger" was an
actual nickname given to Clemenceau due to his aggressive
debating style as a legislator in France's National Assembly.
Woodrow Wilson's "vision of lasting world peace" is a reference
to his Fourteen Points and plan for a League of Nations, discussed in the course of
this episode. The phrase "new world order" used by McCallum in
his broadcast is also one first used in connection with Wilson's
League of Nations ideology (the phrase as used here is a
political one, not the New World Order conspiracy theory that
evolved in some circles during the Cold War).
When he finds that no one has anything else to add at the end of
his speech, Clemenceau says, "C'e la vie." This is
French for "That's life."
At the Paris Peace Conference, Indy is reunited once again with
his friend T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Lawrence was
actually a part of the conference historically, as a member of Emir Feisal's
delegation to make the current provisional Arab government more
permanent. Lawrence previously appeared in
"My First Adventure" and "Daredevils
of the Desert" and Indy is seen writing to him in several
other episodes.
Indy has dinner with Lawrence and Gertrude Bell. During the
dinner, he also meets
Arnold Toynbee.
Bell (1868-1926) was a British writer, archaeologist, and
intelligence officer. She and Lawrence both advocated for Arab
independence at the Paris Peace Conference.
Toynbee (1889-1975) was a renowned British historian who was an
official advisor to the British delegation at the conference.
Toynbee makes some prophetic statements during his discussion
with Indy about the aftermath of the war and danger of punishing
one's enemies too severely. He remarks that in modern times you
can't just wipe your enemy out the way Rome could just wipe
out Carthage. Cathage was a major trading port in the classical
world and the capital of Ancient Carthage in what is now
Tunisia. Rome destroyed the city in a three-year siege during
the Third Punic War in 146 BCE.
Toynbee also
predicts that Germany will
rise again (presaging World War II) and paraphrases George
Santayana in saying, "Those who forget the lessons of history
are doomed to repeat it."
At 7:30 on the DVD, Indy looks out his hotel room window in
Paris and sees the base of the
Eiffel
Tower. His hotel must be close!
At 8:16 on the DVD, the shot of Indy listening to Wilson's
speech is flipped. His hair is parted the opposite direction and
the mole on his neck is on the wrong side! It seems the editors
had to flip the shot, as it was filmed with Indy looking in the wrong
direction for where he is supposed to be seated in relation to
the head table of Wilson,
Clemenceau, and George.
At 15:27 on the DVD, Indy races
after Lawrence
from the Le Etoile
hotel where they had been having dinner with Bell
and Toynbee.
Le Etoile
is French for "The Star". As far as I can tell, this is a
fictitious hotel for the time. The shot was filmed in front of
the Academy of
Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. This same building
also serves as the
Hotel
Balzac, where the German delegation stays later in the
episode.
Prince Feisal makes his speech to the conference here in April,
but in reality he did it in February.
The waiter from
Le Etoile,
Nguyễn Ái Quốc, from Vietnam,
pays Indy a visit and asks for a big favor. Indy speaks a
little Vietnamese to him and says he's been to that country. This was in a
visit that has yet to be chronicled.
Nguyen Ai Quoc was an alias of
Nguyễn Sinh Cung, who would later go by Ho Chi Minh as the
communist leader of Vietnam from 1945-1969.
As Indy makes his argument to Keating to let the
Vietnamese say what they came to say at the conference, he tells
the man that he is reminded of something a peasant in Mexico
said to him, "The men in power change, but the people go on
suffering." This exchange occurred in
"Spring Break Adventure".
At 25:06 on the DVD, the file folder
Nguyễn Ái Quốc hands to the American diplomat is titled "Une
Petition de la Part de Vietnamiens". This is French for "A
Petition from the Vietnamese". The document inside the folder
(not seen until 42:32) is titled "Revendications de Peuple
Annamite". This is French for "Annamite People's Claims".
Annam was a name used for Vietnam during its period as a Chinese
colony until 1945. In reality, Nguyễn Ái Quốc delivered his
petition in June, not May.
The train that brings the German delegation at last to Paris is
engine 524-1110. This same engine was seen in several previous
episodes.
Indy paraphrases Lawrence's own words back at him from a letter
he'd once sent Indy, "This war had to be fought. Above all, it
had to be won. The alternative was unthinkable." Indy received
this letter from Lawrence in
"Spring Break Adventure".
The Eiffel Tower is again seen in the background as Indy walks
back to his hotel at 28:43 on the DVD.
The leader of the German delegation is Count Ulrich von
Brockdorff-Rantzau (1869-1928). He was the real world German
diplomat assigned to lead the delegation at the Paris Peace
Conference.
At 32:42 on the DVD, the opera Indy attends with Lawrence and
Bell is Jules Massenet's 1894 lyrical comedy Thaïs,
based on the 1890 novel by Anatole France.
Toynbee regretfully tells Indy his belief that, due to the
fierce conditions demanded of Germany in the peace treaty, the
war he just fought in and his friends died in will be fought all
over again in ten or twenty years. He is predicting what becomes
in history, World War II.
German delegation member Jurgen tells Indy he fought at Verdun
and Indy responds that he did as well. Indy's time at Verdun was
depicted in "Demons of
Deception".
The treaty signing was filmed in the Ceremonial Hall of the
Archbishop's Palace in Kromeriz, Czech Republic.
In reality, the German signing of the Treaty of Versailles took
place on June 28, when T.E. Lawrence had already left Paris for
Cairo.
Though the German government reluctantly agrees to sign the
Treaty of Versailles weighted fiercely against the nation,
Count Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau refuses to sign it himself.
The man who performs the signing is the German politician
Hermann Müller (1876-1931). This is true to history. Müller
would go on to become the Chancellor of Germany in 1920 and
again in 1928-1930.
The cannon salute (and later nighttime fireworks) after the
signing of the Treaty of Versailles takes place on the grounds
of the
Palace of Versailles at 41:56 on the DVD.
Indy witnesses the signing of the
Treaty of Versailles, even though this episode allegedly ends in
the month May, while in real world history, it was signed on
June 28.
Indy and Lawrence say farewell at the train station. This was
shot at Prague's Main Railway Station, which has previously
appeared in several past episodes. The train they walk past at
the beginning of the scene is engine
524-1110 again. Indy is seen riding this same engine to
Le Havre as
he heads home at the end of the episode.
Lawrence speculates with Indy that perhaps Prince Feisal will be
given Iraq. Indeed, the British made him King of the British
Mandate of Iraq in 1921.
Lawrence half-jokingly asks Indy if he's going to pursue a
glittering career in diplomacy and become Ambassador to the Court
of St. James.
The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of
the United Kingdom.
Memorable Dialog
the war to end all wars is over.mp3
a new day of liberty dawns.mp3
the gentle arts of diplomacy.mp3
a new world order.mp3
those who forget the lessons of history.mp3
get out of this business with clean hands.mp3
presidents come and go.mp3
the men in power change, but the people go on suffering.mp3
the result is never intended.mp3
that must have been grim.mp3
drag Europe down with her.mp3
justice is what you shall have.mp3
isn't victory beastly?.mp3
I dare say we'll find him something.mp3
that your idea of diplomacy?.mp3
no one is satisfied.mp3
I'm going to study archaeology.mp3
it might have been worse.mp3
one day I'm going to have a medal of my own.mp3
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