Chapter Two

Second chapter.

Chapter Two (full name Chapter Two - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) is the second chapter of the film.

Summary

An American lieutenant puts together a group of 8 Jewish-American soldiers on a special mission in a Germany occupied France, to kill Nazis and sow terror among the German military.

Synopsis

In a courtyard, First Special Service Force Lieutenant Aldo Raine is speaking a group of 8 Jewish-American soldiers, Staff seargent Donny Donowitz, Corporal Wilhelm Wicki, Private First Class Smithson Utivich, Private First Class Andy Kagan, Private First Class Simon Sakowitz, Private First Class Omar Ulmer Private First Class Michael Zimmerman and Private First Class Gerold Hirschberg. Aldo Raine tells them that their mission to France will involve disguising as civilians and killing as many Nazis as possible, while also spreading horror throughout the German military with their actions. He also tells the men that each and every single one of them owes him 100 scalps taken from dead German soldiers.

Not long after arriving in France, the Basterds reputation reaches Adolf Hitler's ears, who is extremely angry at their attacks on German soldiers. He gets very irritated at the latest rumor, that the most infamous Basterd, Donny Donowitz, nicknamed "The Bear Jew" is a golem. He then calls Kliest, issuing an order to the German soldiers stationed in France that The Bear Jew must never be called The Bear Jew again. Kliest asks Hitler if he still wants to see private Butz, the only survivor of the latest attack of the Basterds. Hitler asks for him to be sent to him, and we immediately see Butz being escorted by two men to the Führer.

Butz tells Hitler how the Basterds ambushed his squad, and the only survivors were him, Sergeant Werner Rachtman and Ludwig. While one of the Basterds was guarding them, the other Basterds were scalping the dead Germarn soldiers, removing their shoes and socks, as well as looting their corpses. Aldo Raine is seen calling for Werner, who introduces himself to the American lieutenant. Aldo salutes him, asking him about his English, and presents Werner the German speaking members of the Basterds, should he have problems speaking. He tells him about Wilhelm Wicki, an Austrian Jew that fled to America, got drafted and came back with the Basterds to get revenge on the Nazis. Aldo then shows him sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, a former Wehrmacht sergeant who became (in)famous for killing 13 Gestapo officers, and was about to be sent to Berlin to be executed. However, Aldo and the Basterds managed to free him from the jail he was kept in and recruited him. Aldo then asks Werner if he knows who he is, and the German sergeant positively identifies him as Aldo the Apache. Aldo then shows him a map, telling him to reveal the position of another German squad and to describe what they carry. Werner refuses, and Aldo tried to intimidate him by pointing out to the Bear Jew who begins to beat his famous baseball bat against the tunnel's walls. But Werner is not impressed, and rebuffs Aldo with a blunt "fuck you", and to the Basterds, calling them "Jew dogs". The Basterds laugh, while Aldo chuckles and folds up his map, shouting to Donny there's a "German here who wants to die for his country".

After pounding his bat against the tunnel's wall for almost a minute, Donny comes out of the cave with his baseball bat in the cheering of the Basterds, and asks Werner about his Iron Cross, if he got it for killing Jews, to which the sergeant replies "Bravery". Donny then begins to beat Werner to death, while Butz and Ludwig watch in horror. After killing Werner, Donny points at Ludwig, who tries to flee, only for Hirschberg to shoot him in the back with his rifle, much to the dismay of Aldo. Aldo tells Donny to bring Butz to him, as he unfolds his map. Donny pushes a frightened Butz with his baseball bat towards Aldo, holding the bat close to his head. Since Butz doesn't speak English, Aldo calls Wicki down to translate for him. Scared for his life, Butz reveals the positions of the German soldiers on Aldo's map, their number and what weapons they carry. Aldo tells Butz that they'll let him live so that he spread the word on the Basterds actions, but Hitler forbids him to do that, telling him to just say that his squad was ambushed and he managed to get away. In the flashback, Aldo asks Butz what will he do when he gets back home, to which Butz replies that he'll hug his mother, while Wicki translates that to Aldo. Aldo then asks the German soldier what he intends to do with his uniform, to which Butz replies that he'll take it off and burn it. Aldo doesn't like that, and says that he wants every Nazi to wear their uniform, to make it easier to be spotted, and without a uniform no one will know that he is a Nazi. To solve that dilemma, Aldo carves a swastika on Butz's forehead. Hitler sees the swastika scar on Butz's forehead in awe. Donny praises Aldo's latest "work", telling the lieutenant he's getting better, to which Aldo replies with the old joke about getting to Carnagie Hall, "practice".

Memorable quotes

• Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein! - Adolf Hitler
• You probably heard we ain't in the prisoner-takin' business; we in the killin' Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin'. - Aldo Raine
• I respectfully refuse, sir. - Werner Rachtman
• Fuck you. And your Jew dogs! - Werner Rachtman
• You got that for killing Jews? - Donny Donowitz
• I'm gonna give you a little somethin' you can't take off. - Aldo Raine
• You know how you get to Carnegie Hall, don't you? Practice. - Aldo Raine

Trivia

• The place where Aldo Raine briefs the Basterds is identified as England only in the original draft of the script.
• The reason for the scar on Aldo Raine's neck is not mentioned in the film. The script hints that Raine survived a lynching, a common punishment in the 1920s and 1930s.
• When Aldo Raine is introduced, he is shown wearing the insignia for the "Black Devils" the 1st Special Service Force, composed of both Canadian and American soldiers.
• During his opening speech, Aldo says that he is a direct descendant of the mountain guide Jim Bridger and therefore has a bit 'of Indian blood in the veins (Aldo, among other things, uses the term "injun" which is an offensive racial epithet to the native Americans). Jim Bridger, explorer and mountain guide during the first half of the nineteenth century, married 3 women from Native American tribes with whom he had a total of 5 children, so some of his descendants are part Indian. However, none were Apache.
• The scene where Hitler shouts "Nein!" and bangs his hand on the table is a reference to the movie Watch Out, We're Mad (1974), where actor Donald Pleasence, who plays the doctor, shouts "Nein, nein, nein!" and bangs his fist on the table.
• In the script, Hitler's palace is identified as Burstich Garden, set in Bavaria. There is no Burstich Garden in real life, so it's likely this place is based on Berghof.
• Samm Levine, who plays the Bastard Gerold Hirschberg, also plays Hitler's painter.
• Hirschberg is seen carrying a pack of "Red Apple" cigarettes in his breast pocket.
• In the trailer, Hirschberg is seen running with an MG42 and firing it. This scene did not appear in the film and instead the person running and shooting in the prison scene is Omar, who's firing an MP40.
• In the original script is revealed more about the past of Sergeant Donny Donovitz. Shortly before leaving for the front, Donny who works as a barber in the living room of his father in Boston, went to a store in his neighborhood to buy a baseball bat, heavier than they have, and goes to his neighbors and friends, asking them to write on the bat the name of a loved one who lives in Europe and is in danger. The first person whom he visits is Mrs Himmelstein, who writes the name Madeleine. The flashback about Donny was to appear shortly before the killing of Sergeant Rachtman. The scenes appear for a few moments in the extra "room angel" on the DVD. This scene was still in the film during the screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
• Eli Roth described the shot of Donny exiting the tunnel as: "Jesus, it looks like Donny’s coming out of a brick oven!"
• Donowitz talks about "Teddy Ballgame" in Chapter 2. This is one of the many nicknames for Ted Williams, who in addition (arguably) to being the greatest hitter who ever lived, was also a war hero who interrupted his baseball career twice to serve in WWII and the Korean War.
• Donny takes Butz to Aldo, yelling to him "Two hits, I hit you, you hit the ground". A phrase very similar to this one, "Just you and me. Two hits. Me hitting you, you hitting the floor" was pronounced by Andrew Bender in the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club.
• In the scene with private Butz a yellow maple leaf is seen on Wicki's left arm. According to Eli Roth, Tarantino kept that shot when someone pointed out the yellow leaf looks like the Yellow badge.
• Aldo's knife was made specifically for the film by using the blade of the Bowie hunting knife "Smith & Wesson Texas Hold 'em".
• Shortly after carving the swastika on Butz's forehead, Aldo responds to Donny, who had just complimented him, by saying the phrase: "You know how you get to Carnegie Hall, doncha? Practice". The joke is a reference to this very old American joke: "A tourist visiting New York stops and asks a passerby," How do you get to Carnegie Hall? "(The most prestigious concert hall in the world) meaning, of course, the road directions to reach it and the New Yorker, in the mood of jokes, answers him: "Practice, practice, practice", meaning, however, what you need to do to be able to perform in the famous hall.

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