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Toni Pellerin: Look! A rainbow! Oh, Grandfather says there's a pot of gold at the end.
Ferdinand de Lesseps: One end in the Mediterranean and the other in the Red Sea. What a pot of gold for the world if they could be joined: the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Look, Toni! That water in the old gulf. Just as it was centuries ago, when the Phoenicians sailed through. Can you imagine ships sailing right through here where we're standing?
Toni Pellerin: Ships?
Ferdinand de Lesseps: Yes. Not ancient galleys but modern ships, steamers, sailing a short trade route to the East. It could be done: no elevations, no rock formations, just a simple sand... ditch. (Heh heh heh. And I was told I was going to dig ditches.) There's fate in this, Toni. Something sent me here to Egypt when I didn't want to come, kept me here when I wanted to leave. I thought it was a dead end, has been up to now. But I can make this -- I can make this spot that we're standing on the crossroads of the Earth. Why, think of it, Toni, a canal stretching through to the Mediterranean, open to the ships of all nations! It could be done, and I can do it. I was looking for a way to serve France, and I think... I think I've found a way to serve the world
Ferdinand de Lesseps: One end in the Mediterranean and the other in the Red Sea. What a pot of gold for the world if they could be joined: the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Look, Toni! That water in the old gulf. Just as it was centuries ago, when the Phoenicians sailed through. Can you imagine ships sailing right through here where we're standing?
Toni Pellerin: Ships?
Ferdinand de Lesseps: Yes. Not ancient galleys but modern ships, steamers, sailing a short trade route to the East. It could be done: no elevations, no rock formations, just a simple sand... ditch. (Heh heh heh. And I was told I was going to dig ditches.) There's fate in this, Toni. Something sent me here to Egypt when I didn't want to come, kept me here when I wanted to leave. I thought it was a dead end, has been up to now. But I can make this -- I can make this spot that we're standing on the crossroads of the Earth. Why, think of it, Toni, a canal stretching through to the Mediterranean, open to the ships of all nations! It could be done, and I can do it. I was looking for a way to serve France, and I think... I think I've found a way to serve the world
Full Transcript
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:03.055
Look a rainbow
00:00:05.973 --> 00:00:09.255
Grandfather says there is a pot of gold at the end
00:00:09.966 --> 00:00:12.922
One in the Mediterranean and the other in the Red Sea
00:00:14.134 --> 00:00:16.633
What a pot of gold for the world if they could be joined
00:00:16.644 --> 00:00:18.385
the Red Sea and the Mediterranean
00:00:19.795 --> 00:00:20.795
Look Toni
00:00:21.104 --> 00:00:22.082
Water in the old gulf
00:00:24.002 --> 00:00:26.088
Just as it was centuries ago when the Phoenicians sailed through
00:00:29.386 --> 00:00:32.526
Can you imagine ships sailing right through here where we're standing
00:00:33.336 --> 00:00:34.336
Ships
00:00:34.517 --> 00:00:37.006
Yes Not ancient galleys modern ships
00:00:37.061 --> 00:00:40.082
Steamers sailing a short trade route to the East
00:00:42.246 --> 00:00:43.226
It could be done
00:00:43.245 --> 00:00:46.024
No elevations no rock formations
00:00:46.026 --> 00:00:48.811
Just a simple sand d
00:00:52.122 --> 00:00:53.122
ditch
00:00:56.348 --> 00:00:58.255
And I was told I was going to dig ditches
00:00:58.975 --> 00:01:00.871
There's fate in this Toni
00:01:00.881 --> 00:01:03.611
Something sent me here to Egypt when I didn't want to come
00:01:03.623 --> 00:01:05.999
kept me here when I wanted to leave
00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:08.001
I thought it was a dead end
00:01:09.997 --> 00:01:10.999
It has been up to now
00:01:10.001 --> 00:01:12.012
But I could make this
00:01:12.185 --> 00:01:15.001
I could make this spot that we're standing on the crossroads of the Earth
00:01:15.313 --> 00:01:19.996
Why think of it Toni A canal stretching through from the Mediterranean
00:01:19.006 --> 00:01:21.218
Open to the ships of all nations
00:01:21.428 --> 00:01:23.956
It could be done
00:01:23.996 --> 00:01:24.321
And I can do it
00:01:27.123 --> 00:01:29.503
I was looking for a way to serve France
00:01:30.816 --> 00:01:31.001
And I think
00:01:33.121 --> 00:01:36.001
I think I found a way to serve the world
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Movie Summary
Ferdinand de Lesseps, disappointed in love, is sent as a junior diplomat to the Isthmus of Suez, and realizes it's just the place for a canal.
