ACT THREE
The Suez Betrayal (1956)
A field near Chartwell House. CHURCHILL is painting. He sits before the full gear: easel, paintbox on a folding table, large palette, all under a huge umbrella.
MACMILLAN, in a mackintosh, with an umbrella, approaches.
For a while they both stare at the canvas.
CHURCHILL. Canât do cows.
MACMILLAN. Theyâre very good.
A beat.
SomewhatâŚ
CHURCHILL. Somewhat what?
MACMILLAN. Legless.
CHURCHILL. Theyâre sitting down!
MACMILLAN. Ah. Yes, I see.
CHURCHILL. Obviously they are sitting down!
MACMILLAN. The cows in the field are standing up.
CHURCHILL. But in my picture they are not!
MACMILLAN. Artistic licence.
CHURCHILL. What?
They look at each other.
A beat.
MACMILLAN. Winston, the CanalâŚ
Nothing.
The Suez Canal.
Nothing.
The crisis!
CHURCHILL is sunk in his thoughts, not moving.
A beat.
Then MACMILLAN can wait no longerâŚ
WinâŚ
CHURCHILL (interrupting). Colonel Nasser. Did I ever meet him?
MACMILLAN. I donât think so.
CHURCHILL. A Mussolini.
MACMILLAN. Anthony thinks more an Arab Hitler.
CHURCHILL. No. More tinpot. A Mussolini. That fat king.
MACMILLAN. What fat king?
CHURCHILL. The one Nasser kicked out. Farouk. Met him, in the war. Fingers like barrage balloons, with rings. Did we put him in power?
MACMILLAN. Of course. Donât youâŚ
CHURCHILL (interrupting). Had a splendid palace at Luxor, did things with boys in it. Had a private casino too. If Iâd been a young Egyptian Army colonel in 1952, think Iâd have kicked the bastard outâŚ
MACMILLAN. Winston, there is a plan to get the Canal back.
CHURCHILL. Well, after three months of dithering with the United Nations I should damn well hope there is!
MACMILLAN. Itâs⌠a bold plan.
CHURCHILL. Involving Israel and France.
MACMILLAN. You know?
CHURCHILL. Israel attacks Egypt. England and France intervene to separate the Israeli and the Egyptian forces. To keep the Canal open and undamaged. On behalf of the international community, blah blah. In effect, we invade Egypt and get rid of Nasser.
MACMILLAN. Only four of us in the Cabinet know that, including Anthony. How did you find out?
CHURCHILL. Too gaga to remember.
He grins.
MACMILLAN. So what do you think?
CHURCHILL. Got a nip?
MACMILLAN (taking out a flask). Yes, actuallyâŚ
CHURCHILL takes the flask.
CHURCHILL. Clemmie wonât let me take alcohol out when Iâm painting. I think she fears Iâll produce some disastrous, late-abstract period. Or that itâll kill me. At last.
CHURCHILL drinks. ThenâŚ
The night Nasser took over the Canal.
MACMILLAN. YesâŚ
CHURCHILL. Made that huge speech in Alexandria, over the radio, all over the Middle East, crowd going wildâŚ
MACMILLAN. YesâŚ
CHURCHILL. Kept on saying the name of the man who built the Canal. Man who built the bloody thing, help me hereâŚ
MACMILLAN. Ferdinand de Lesseps.
CHURCHILL. âFerdinand de Lesseps.â Said it fourteen times, no one could understand why. Turned out to be the signal for the Egyptian Army to take the Canal.
MACMILLAN. So what is yourâŚ
CHURCHILL (interrupting). What happened two hours later?
MACMILLAN. Anthony called a crisis meeting in Downing Street.
CHURCHILL. That meeting was his great mistake.
MACMILLAN. I think I follow.
CHURCHILL. You damn well should, you were there! First meeting after a crisis breaks, thatâs when success is grasped. Or not. At that crucial, deadly moment, there were ships and marines at Malta. They could have been at the Canal in four days. But he dithered.
MACMILLAN. So if youâd still been in Number TenâŚ
CHURCHILL. Donât letâs play âifsâ.
MACMILLAN. No.
A beat.
CHURCHILL. Oh, bugger it. âIfâ the Labour Party hadnât won the â45 Election. âIfâ I had stood down as Party Leader and Anthony had beaten Labour in 1951. âIfâ I hadnât waited until â55 to resign as Prime Minister. âIfâ it hadnât been Anthony who took over from me, but you.
A beat.
How worried about him are you?
MACMILLAN. Heâs taking a lot of pills.
CHURCHILL. Pills? When I was PM, I smoked seven cigars a day, drank three bottles of Pol Roger and much brandy, what are pills?
MACMILLAN. Anthony is a wonderful political animal, a Derby winner weâve put our money on for years. The trouble is he was trained for the 1938 Derby. And only got out of the traps in 1955.
CHURCHILL. Very bitchy of you, Harold.
MACMILLAN. I know.
CHURCHILL. There a lot of bitching going on in Cabinet?
MACMILLAN. The atmosphere is highly unpleasant.
CHURCHILL. Moved you from the Foreign Office, didnât he? Wanted a doormat. Selwyn Lloyd. Always wondered if Selwynâs simple in the head.
MACMILLAN. Heâs excellent.
CHURCHILL. Hunh. Those things.
MACMILLAN. ThingsâŚ
CHURCHILL. Things youâve brought inâŚ
MACMILLAN. Do you mean Premium Bonds?
CHURCHILL. Those things. Brilliant. The British love a flutter. Combine saving with gambling, a winner. Anthony must be green.
MACMILLAN. I want to encourage savers.
CHURCHILL. You want to make Anthony sick!
MACMILLAN. I donât know. Why do we fight so?
CHURCHILL. Fear.
A beat.
We canât lose the Canal. Lose the Canal, we lose the Empire.
MACMILLAN. Yes.
CHURCHILL. Our place in the eyes of the world.
MACMILLAN. Particularly the eyes of the Americans.
CHURCHILL. Push him, Harold. Use the jockeyâs whip on this pill-popping, broken-down Derby favourite of ours. The British flag over...