Dial 1119 (1950) Movie Script
This is Station WKYL in Terminal City...
...the fastest growing commercial center
of the middle valley.
Hastings, the friendly jewelers,
brings you the correct time.
When you hear
the sound of the chimes...
...it will be exactly 20 seconds
past 7:30 p.m., Central Standard Time.
And once again,
we take you to the Crystal Room...
...of the Hotel Amberson to dine
and dance to the haunting melodies...
...of Steven Lancer and his legionnaires.
That did it.
I've written that story every year
for 10 years.
I started at 30 bucks a week,
now I'm making 49.75.
I'm all through.
Sure.
I'm not gonna write
the great American novel...
...and nobody's offered me
a big salary in an advertising mill.
- I'm just walking out calmly.
- Sure.
First, I'm gonna fortify myself
with strong waters.
Second, about the witching hour tonight,
I'm calling the emperor at the city desk.
Sure.
I know he's got his own ideas...
...but I'm gonna reveal a completely
new place he can circulate this newspaper.
For the record, on your way home
to that room, you'll stop in a bar.
You'll order your sherry flip
because with your ulcers...
...a man's size shot of liquor
would kill you.
You won't call the city editor
on account of wanting to be here Thursday.
- Which is payday.
- Sure.
Helen, I don't like it.
Suddenly running off. All this mystery.
Oh, mother, please, I'm not running off
and there's no mystery.
I told you, Marianna's
been going to this place for years.
It was nice of her to ask me to go with her
for a quiet weekend.
I should think you'd get tired
of always seeing me around.
You need a change as much as I do.
Two young girls, all alone in a hotel.
Oh, mother, I'm not a young girl. I'm 28.
I'm competent
and reasonably attractive...
...but how many men
ever invite me to go out?
When do I ever have any fun?
Well, I have a right to this weekend,
and nobody's going to stop me.
I never thought I'd...
- Not even my...
Oh, mother, please.
- Well?
- Nothing happened yet.
I told you
you didn't have to come in tonight.
I've been there all day. They ran me out.
I left the phone number here.
Nobody called, did they?
- On the way over, I mean?
- No calls.
These things take time.
You know, waiting drives you crazy.
Dismiss it.
Nothing wrong with your wife?
She have any trouble?
- Only the way she was sick in the morning.
- They're all sick in the morning.
- This happens all the time.
- Yeah, but not to me.
Dismiss.
Dixieland.
Horses.
This man was wearing a light
tan gabardine suit when last seen.
- Television.
27.
6 foot 2 inches, rangy.
light brown, slight wave.
brown.
No visible scars.
Nose, mouth and jaw line
predominantly Anglo- Saxon American.
This man should be approached
with caution if recognized.
Five minute stop.
Bus leaves in five minutes.
Five minute stop.
Step lively, please.
- All right, buster. Give me that gun.
- What gun?
The gun and clip
you took out of that holster.
Will you give it to me?
Get a doctor. Get a doctor.
Tony being an optimist,
gets Fisher's ugly head under his arm...
...and expects to hold it there.
A headlock.
That may be a good hold,
but it looks to us...
...like Fisher is stretching things
a little too far.
Hitting Tony right between
the vegetable soup and the filet mignon.
Looks like Fisher's mother
was scared by a left-right.
Tony finally had so much agony,
manages to squirt out of that.
And away they go again,
just beating each other up.
Fisher twists around into what is starting
to be an arm-lock. It is a good one.
Tony is running a very bad...
Chuckles, you're a happy character.
Yeah, what have I got
to be happy about?
Sure, maybe if I had a place
with some class, carpet on the floor...
...plush around,
instead of being stuck with a crumb joint.
Look at all the nice people you meet.
Crumbs.
Beer drinkers, dames with hangovers.
Chuckles, I love you.
You don't love anybody,
you love the drink.
What's your name?
Boyd.
Yes, sir?
What's your pleasure?
- What?
- What do you want to drink?
I don't know.
Well, you can have a martini, a Manhattan,
an old fashioned, a horse's neck...
...gin, Scotch,
bourbon, Irish rye, rock and rye.
Anything.
Anything.
Bourbon high ball.
Are you happy, Boyd?
Yeah, I guess so.
Well, you don't look it.
Here.
That beer will never get you any place.
That's enough.
Stop annoying the customers.
- I'm a cheerer-upper.
- You're a crumb.
Who is she?
Just a barfly. What's the matter?
- Is your drink too sweet?
- Oh, no.
No, it's fine, thank you.
Chuckles.
We've got over an hour.
I can't think of a better way to kill it.
A few drinks to loosen up the train ride,
good talk, a beautiful girl.
- Earl...
- Now, don't be modest.
Do you know why I say that, Helen?
It's right here.
You're real people.
Real people, Helen. A lot of heart.
And believe me,
what's here shows up here.
Say, why is it we never decided
to do this before?
Not my fault, you know. I asked you.
You played it pretty cozy.
But, that's a thing I admire
in a woman, Helen.
Sincerity, good judgment,
a girl who takes her time...
...and looks a man over
before deciding to go out with him.
That's a quality hard to find in a girl
these days. I see all kinds of people...
You want the same?
- Oh, Chuckles.
Helen, this is Chuckles.
You didn't know
I had a 23 year old niece, did you?
No.
Glad to have you around.
- You dress up the joint.
Thank you.
There, you see what I was telling you?
You keep an eye on her when I'm not here.
You never have to worry
about anything in here.
- You want the same?
- A little drier. That means not so sweet.
No, this is fine for me just now.
That's a smart girl. It's better to coast
a little while, that's right.
But, for me, Chuckles,
you haven't got bursitis.
Bend it this time.
Twenty-three.
Did I hit it right?
Well, most people think I'm 25.
You see, I have a lot responsibility
in my position.
And I guess that makes one seem older.
Of course, it does.
But that's your manner.
Intellect, self-possession.
But with your face...
Where are you going? It's early.
The old lady is waiting.
You've got nice shoulders.
I'll see you around.
Skip.
Skip.
Take it easy.
Well, do you think
I ought to come back?
Well, I know it won't speed things
but I wanna be there at the right time.
Yeah.
You're sure you've got the right number?
Tell Skip to get off that phone.
I wanna talk to him.
Leave him alone. He's busy.
He's having a baby.
- Freddy.
- Hi, Harry.
- Skip.
- Hi, Harry.
- Chuckles, a boilermaker.
- Sure.
Only not in here.
- You're not gonna die in my joint.
- Why? What's he got to live for?
Dismiss it. Stop annoying the customers.
The young lady never spoke truer words.
Yeah. Well, I'll listen to your troubles,
but you get a sherry flip.
Waiter.
Be right with you, sir.
Chuckles?
- What?
Hey, Chuckles, it's gone again.
Yeah.
More trouble than it's worth.
What's the sense of having
a television if you can't see it?
You mean anybody wants to?
I do. I like to watch them
beat each other's brains out.
Fourteen hundred bucks installed,
the guy charges me.
Push button picture control,
reflected image, 3 by 4 foot screen.
What do I get on it? Wrestlers, crumbs.
Hey.
What's this an orphan?
Don't belittle wrestlers, Chuckles.
They merely illustrate the society
in which we live. We're all wrestlers.
Everybody beats each other's brains out.
You know something, Harry?
You're extremely dull.
I'm sorry. I find you very exciting.
I was about to suggest that we wind up
this drunken evening together.
You couldn't go the distance.
Hey, Harry, it's for you.
That's a moot question. I'm not here.
There's been a killing at the bus terminal.
They want you there.
You haven't seen me.
Tell them I'm not here.
You'll get yourself fired.
That's impossible.
- What's the matter? You crazy?
- Stop annoying the customers.
I'm no longer a working member
of the fourth estate.
The city editor doesn't know it yet
but he'll be duly informed.
Oh, big words.
I'll have another.
One for the road, and that's all.
- I think this is what you want, captain.
- Thanks.
- Say, isn't that...?
- Butt out.
See if she recognizes him.
No.
It's Wyckoff.
Gunther Wyckoff.
- What does she say?
- She's just scared.
Sure.
Tell her we'll protect her.
This is the man.
- She said she can't forget him.
- Good.
Rewrite, please.
Here's your lead. Gunther Wyckoff, fugitive
from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane.
Rooming house murder. Wyckoff, the guy
who slashed the waitress three years ago.
Dragnet for the killer
of the bus driver tightens.
Insane killer returns to Terminal City.
Yeah, that's right.
Gunther Wyckoff, armed, dangerous.
It should be perfectly obvious
to you by now, young lady...
...that you have been stood up.
Your young man's
forgotten all about you.
Are you kidding?
Chuckles.
Now, you take it easy.
- I wanna buy Harry another malted milk.
- Yeah?
That's an admirable idea...
...but for the moment,
you'll have to excuse me.
You know Harry's on a diet.
Leave him alone.
- He's a happy character.
- He's got ulcers.
How do you know? You ever see them?
Dismiss it.
Tell Skip to come here.
- What for?
- To mix me a drink.
You got a drink.
Hey, Skip. Table.
Right.
Of course, I don't fool myself.
A girl with my position...
A lot of men invite me out because
they think I can get them in to see the boss.
I understand, Helen.
The world's full of fellows like that,
promoters, operators.
But I admire the way you handle them.
Sometimes it's rather difficult.
Well, of course it is, and an awful strain.
That's why I thought
of this weekend up at the lake...
...away from all this heat
and a few laughs.
After all,
you've got to learn to break the tension.
I realize it.
Well, tempus fugit.
The weekend's already started.
Is there something wrong with that?
No. No, of course not.
It's just that...
Well, I think I've told you
I live with my mother.
Mm-hm.
You see,
mother's had a heart condition for years.
And whenever I go away,
I guess I can't help feeling a little uneasy.
Well, of course you can't.
That's a big responsibility for a girl.
I don't care who it is.
But you've got to learn to develop
a philosophy about these things.
Take the bitter with the sweet.
I've always felt
that when my time's up, that's it.
I'm ready. No regrets.
- I had plenty of fun.
- Well, it's not the responsibility so much.
Mother's a very understanding woman.
But in her condition,
so as not to worry her unnecessarily...
...I don't always tell her where I'm going.
You're right. Don't I know.
We all have problems in human relations.
My marriage...
Well, when we're better acquainted,
there are a lot of things I want to tell you.
This is a special police bulletin.
The police have good reason
to suspect...
...that the man who shot and killed
a bus driver...
...in the Orchard Street Depot tonight
is Gunther Wyckoff...
...a recent fugitive from the State Hospital
for the Criminal Insane.
This is a photograph
of the suspected murderer.
Gunther Wyckoff, 27 years old.
Six feet two inches tall.
Light brown hair, brown eyes.
This man is a ruthless, dangerous killer.
He is still at large somewhere
in Terminal City. He is armed.
Wyckoff may be in hiding
but he could be on the street...
...in a public place, in a hotel.
Maybe you can help me.
Because when I first saw you,
when I first walked in that office...
...I said, "There's a girl with intellect."
And believe me,
that's a rare combination...
...beauty and intellect.
Skip.
If you see this man, call the police.
- Skip, come and talk to me.
Dial 1119.
Hey, Chuckles, it's snowing again.
Want a drink?
Coming right up.
Why, Chuckles.
Why, Chuckles, I didn't think you cared.
I've always cared.
Take it easy.
How about it, mister? Another?
No.
Skip, take over.
I'm gonna get
another bottle of vermouth.
Chuckles, you're a loveable character.
I just thought of a good story.
- You know...
- It's about time.
Nobody's leaving.
Lock the door.
Put the chain on.
I tell you, it was a backfire.
Then why did that woman scream?
It's none of our business. Come along.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
There's a cop over there.
Get over there.
All of you.
Why don't you sit down.
Get to the telephone at the drug store.
Call police headquarters.
Tell them you're calling for Martin,
Beat 42.
A man with a gun barricaded in a bar
at Second and Spring.
- Tell them I've been hit.
- Right. Come on, honey.
What do you want?
Don't get up.
Look, we've got to rush him.
- Somebody could get hurt.
- He can't get us all.
Well, maybe we can talk him
into letting us go.
You can't talk to him.
Skip, how many bullets
does that gun shoot?
The gun holds eight.
He's fired two, that's six left.
He's got another clip.
That's eight more shots.
They heard a scream, so there must be
other people up there with him.
I didn't get a chance to find out.
- Do you think there will be a reward?
- I wouldn't know, ma'am.
Please stand back.
You're in the line of fire.
Get all the people out
of those apartments.
- Start a barricade down the next block.
- Okay.
What's it all about, lieutenant?
Information, please.
Information?
Would you be kind enough
to give me the number...
...of the Rialto Drug Store
on Second Street?
Thank you very much.
Is this the Rialto Drug Store?
I'm calling from the bar across the street.
Would you please tell the policeman
in charge outside your store...
...that I want to speak to him?
Who's this?
Captain Keiver, Homicide.
Oh, yes.
You remember me, captain?
This is Gunther Wyckoff.
I don't want any trouble, captain.
I've come back to see the doctor,
Dr. Faron.
Just a minute, captain.
You.
No.
Come here.
Talk to him.
Tell him what's happening in here.
Please.
A man's just been killed.
There are five of us in here.
He won't let any of us leave.
And I can't stand it.
Tell him there's another woman.
There's another woman.
He's locked all the doors.
You've got to get us out of here
or we'll all be killed.
Do something. Do whatever he says,
but get us out of here.
Get us out!
Go back.
Sit down.
Hello?
Hello.
Don't let the police come anywhere near,
captain.
All right, son.
Now, you don't wanna hurt
innocent people.
Come out of that bar
and I promise to let you talk to Dr. Faron.
No, I don't wanna do that, captain.
I'm staying here.
You just send the doctor in to see me.
You just send the doctor here by 9:00.
I won't wait any longer.
Twenty-five minutes or every one of them
will have to die.
Please, Earl.
You've got to get me out of here.
How about through the cellar?
Stairs lead to a steel fire door.
We could blow it.
Windows?
Just those in front
and one in the washroom.
Not much help with those steel bars.
We could thrown in some gas.
No.
Before they have time to work,
he'd kill every one of them.
Nine K to Control 1 calling from car 11.
Control 1 to Nine K, go ahead.
Have Homicide locate Dr. Faron.
Bring him to Second and Spring
immediately.
Control 1 to Nine K, roger.
Who's Faron?
The police psychiatrist.
What does he want him for?
Ask him.
Now, look, son.
It's...
It's obvious that you've got a problem.
After all, everybody's got a problem.
I've got a problem.
She's got a problem.
But we have to learn to master them
instead of letting them master us.
Now... Now take for instance.
I was just reading a magazine article
on a train.
And it had a lot to say about...
By...
I want another drink.
Buy me another drink, Wyckoff.
Look, mister, my wife's in the hospital.
I gotta make a call.
I think you'd better sit down.
Twenty-five minutes is a lifetime.
Maybe he'll come.
Excuse me.
Come on, stand back here, please.
What's the trouble, Pete?
Oh, Dr. Faron,
a call just went out for you.
I didn't know.
I was on my way home.
Captain Keiver wants you.
He's up at the barricade.
You'd better go back around the block.
Okay, Pete. I beg your pardon, excuse me.
I know you've got authority to be here
but keep your men out of our way...
...or you'll have to get off the street.
- I understand, lieutenant.
Lieutenants.
Have a camera set up
at the other end of the street...
...to cover that barricade down there.
Tolin, get in the alley across from the bar.
Carpenter, cover from the other end.
You'd better come in from the rear.
Say, doctor. Captain's looking for you.
- I'm looking for him.
- Right there.
I want the janitor of that building.
Find him.
Get him out of bed. Bring him here.
Right.
Hank.
- Anyone brief you?
- No.
- It's Wyckoff, John.
- Wyckoff?
In the bar with people.
I just had him on the phone.
So far, five of them are still alive.
- Maybe I can help.
- That's what Wyckoff said.
- Wyckoff. He asked for me?
- Yeah.
Wants to talk with you.
Says that's what he came back for.
What else did he say?
Send you in in 25 minutes
or he'd kill everyone else in the bar.
Better let me go in, Hank.
That makes a lot of sense.
This is not an ordinary criminal
trying to make a deal.
Wyckoff is a demented man
with a dream.
You can't handle him
by ordinary police methods.
He'll justify keeping that threat.
But he won't kill you.
He might, but I don't think so.
He knows me.
I spent considerable time with him.
My professional opinion
helped prevent his execution.
- He'll remember that.
- Yeah.
I remember that too.
In his mind, I'm his only friend.
If you talk to him, you use the phone.
You can't establish contact with a patient
over a phone, Hank.
You've gotta talk to him
like I'm talking to you, face-to-face.
He's up there now,
face-to-face with five other people.
You wanna go up and make it six
just so you can talk to him?
You use the phone.
That's for me.
It's the hospital.
They're trying to reach me.
I told you. Stay where you are.
He won't answer.
Then there's nothing more you can do.
Sixteen minutes of 9.
Do you know what's happening
right now?
Back at the office,
the emperor at the city desk...
...must be going out of his mind.
He told them to hold the presses
on the final and replate for an extra.
Everybody in the building's standing by.
Right down to the guys
on the loading dock.
Even they know something big
has happened...
...because they heard the presses stop.
Up in the city room, everybody's frozen.
Watching one rewrite man pound his brains
out at his typewriter.
There's a copy boy standing near him,
shifting from one foot to another.
The rewrite man finishes his paragraph.
He yells, "Copy."
The boy rips it out of his machine.
He's off like a shot
for the composing room.
Downstairs,
the linotyper sets up the copy.
They're bringing up the mats
of your pictures from three years ago.
The emperor himself's tearing his hair out
for a screamer head.
He'll come up with something corny.
"Gunman Berserk" maybe,
but he'll think it's good.
Then the presses start rolling again.
Two minutes after, they...
They're loading the trucks.
A minute after that, the newsies
are yelling the extra on the streets.
Just like it happened three years ago.
Remember, Wyckoff?
Three years ago,
I didn't have my shoes off for 24 hours.
You were the biggest newsbreak
this town ever saw.
Until tonight.
Now you're bigger.
Gunther Wyckoff returns.
Now, you're on the wires
to every sheet in the country.
Your picture being
telephotoed to every town.
I picked a great night
to quit the business.
I'm an eyewitness to a Pulitzer Prize story
and can't even get to a telephone.
You're dull, Harry. Extremely dull.
I've got a souped-up convertible.
Tank full of gas.
Make a deal with that policeman.
Twenty-four hour start.
Just the two of us.
That's all we'd need.
I'll show you places
the cops will never find.
Buy me a drink, Wyckoff.
If we decide on this,
what do you think about Ulrich?
Well, he's small enough
and he's a good shot.
He'd be a good man for it.
Well?
After we turn off
the air-conditioning system...
...a man enters ahead of the coils here.
We lower him to the turn,
he crawls along here to the outlet.
Then he fires through the grill.
- You've been in there?
- Several times to clean the ducts.
At the outlet, how much space
would you say there was...
...between the bars of the grill?
Inch, inch and a half.
That's plenty room for a.38.
It's a natural, captain.
Nobody's gonna talk this guy
into surrendering.
We're gonna have to blast him
out of there.
How long would you say it would take
for a man crawling slowly to reach the grill?
Couple of minutes. Not any more.
Donnelly,
clear that barricade further back.
Hey, folks. Come on.
Back up, back up.
Let me know when he's ready.
- I'll tell you when to start him down.
- Right.
Ulrich, here's what we're gonna do.
Gonna tie ropes around your feet
and lower you down.
When you reach that turn,
you crawl along and up to the grill.
Extra, extra. Read all about it.
A mad killer trapped.
Extra, extra.
Read all about it.
Mad killer trapped.
Extra, read all about it. Mad killer.
Those newspapers of yours.
They lied about me.
They wouldn't listen to me.
They didn't want the true story.
But this time, it will be different.
There's still time to put it on the record.
This time, you'll have to listen.
Everybody will have to listen.
I don't like it, Hank. If it goes sour,
it's liable to trigger Wyckoff into anything.
- He might blast those people.
- He's promised to blast them already.
A risk we'll have to take. So will they.
I know what you're up against.
I'm only asking you not to let urgency
motivate the wrong action.
What do you suggest?
Sit down and wait for him to come out?
I risked men's lives
getting Wyckoff alive once before.
I provided the district attorney
with plenty of evidence for a conviction.
Then you people stepped in.
You won. Wyckoff wasn't executed.
- He was put away for three years...
- He was put away for life.
For the safety of society
and for treatment.
We no longer execute the sick.
We're not in the Middle Ages.
I'm not arguing morality.
If Gunther Wyckoff had gone to the chair,
the life of one man, maybe two...
Maybe all the people in that bar
would've been spared.
Hank, listen to me for just a moment.
Wyckoff has always been unbalanced.
Most of us are, in one way or another.
But the pressures of tension
and circumstances made this boy a killer.
This is not news to me.
My examinations,
his subsequent hospital history...
...all give away the nature of his fixation.
Fighting his inability
to function normally...
...he's trying to overcome insecurity
by proving to a hostile world...
...that he's a hero.
Remember how we found his room
full of war books and all kinds of weapons?
Yeah.
But all those fancy words
don't help my problem one jugful.
I think they do.
Those war books gave me a clue
to Wyckoff's mind.
They gave me something to work on.
I'm not gonna let you go in there, John.
Hank, I can solve the problem.
If I talk to him, I'll break him down
as I've done before.
I'll shock him back to reality.
Yeah, it's a risk.
But that's my responsibility.
All right, Whitey, start him down.
Sorry, John, it's too late.
Blood, sweat, tears.
That's what the man said.
What good did it do?
We were gonna have a better world.
That's what they said during the first one.
That's what they told us this time.
But what happened to that world?
Look at the people's faces in the streets.
What do you see?
Sadness.
Sadness everywhere.
Gonna give us a break, they said.
And what kind of a break
did they give me?
I'm a good man with a gun.
Who gave it to me?
Who told me to use it?
Ever since I was a kid I believed people
should sit down and reason things out.
But they didn't want to.
They attacked us and when attacked,
you've got to hit back, kill or be killed.
I was no officer.
Get that straight right now.
Four times
they wanted to make me an officer.
Just did my job.
You think I wanted the medal?
You hear what I'm telling you?
Yeah, yeah, sure I do.
I used to think about guys like you.
Pretty soft, wasn't it?
Twenty-five yards offshore
when the shell exploded.
Four men left
when the boat hit the beach.
A lieutenant dead, not even a sergeant.
One thing I remember,
I had to get across that beach.
Sand dunes up ahead.
Not much cover but enough.
And they'd never get me!
And I saw the them.
Back off the beach.
All along the high ground.
Groups of men bringing up more guns.
I was all alone.
The ditch made a turn.
I rounded the bend.
Air support they promised us.
Strafe the beach ahead of the first wave.
Knock out the fixed emplacements.
And where are the planes?
I keep running toward them,
firing all the time.
Third man pulls the gunner's body
off the gun, whirls it towards me.
They'll never get me!
I'm Gunther Wyckoff!
I'll kill every one of them!
You did this to me.
- I knew it was wrong. I shouldn't have...
- Stop it.
I was going away with him.
That's a sin.
It's God's way of stopping us.
- Of punishing me.
Helen, cut it out.
I was lonely.
I was unhappy.
I really thought he loved me.
- He promised.
- No, I didn't.
I didn't promise a thing
and I can go back and prove it.
And you better leave God out of it too.
God's got other fish to fry besides you.
They got Ulrich out alive but he'd be lucky
if he makes it to the hospital.
Come down here right away.
We're gonna rush him.
If we can save some of those people
it's better than losing them all.
You know how that thing works?
Turn it on.
Get back over there.
How long have you been here?
- Minutes.
Then you heard the gunshot.
I didn't hear nothing.
I heard it.
You're the man I'm looking for.
Would you mind telling me your name?
Fred Backett. I'm a bookkeeper.
Mr. Backett, the police
seem to be in a bit of a dilemma.
Yeah?
- This gunman is holding five or six people.
That limits police action.
- Now, Mr...
- Are there men in there?
In the bar? Oh yes, three or four.
The police aren't quite sure.
- Why don't they rush him.
- Attack the gunman?
Well, yes. See, this man is armed
and they're not.
Well, they're four against one.
Why don't they do something?
Well, I couldn't say.
Pretty hard to tell what to do, isn't it?
Set the building on fire.
That would get them out.
Well, now, that's an idea
but we'd lose the building.
Folks, these men
who have just voiced their opinions...
...are spectators,
just as you sitting before your set...
...in your home are spectators to this
exciting spot news television broadcast...
...brought to you through the facilities
of WKYL.
We are on Spring and Second Street
where we are televising the police siege...
...of Gunther Wyckoff, the mad gunman.
And now, for the benefit of folks
who tuned in late, I should like to say...
...this is the most dramatic spectacle
I've had the fortune to witness.
And now as our cameras
cover this scene tonight...
Just a moment.
This might be interesting.
- Keep your eyes...
- Change to camera one.
That's Captain Keiver of Homicide.
At the moment,
he's talking to Police Lieutenant Tallman.
I don't seem to be able to identify the...
Who'd you say that was?
That's Dr. Faron, folks.
Yes, Dr. Faron, the police psychiatrist.
From the look on the captain's face,
I guess he could use the doctor himself.
They're gonna send Faron in.
You got your deal, now you can let us go.
We'll wait for the doctor.
I don't think any of us envy in his job.
Now that looks interesting.
Dr. Faron and the captain seem to be
in a bit of an argument.
I wish it were possible for you
to hear their conversation...
...but, of course, that's forbidden.
Well, it looks like Dr. Faron has lost
the argument, whatever it was about.
They're not gonna send him in.
I'd like to say right now no one
has more respect for Captain Keiver.
A man who has served the public for...
There's a way to make him, Wyckoff.
Higher authority.
The press. Power of the people.
My paper.
If he refused, it could break him.
If I call my city editor...
...tell him what you want,
have him turn the pressure on Keiver.
- Threaten him.
That's right, that's right.
My paper could order the police
to send in Faron.
Tell him what I want.
The boss. Nobody else.
Give me the city editor. Make it snappy.
This is Harry.
Harry.
I can't talk to anybody but Frank.
Don't argue with me.
Put him on the phone.
Whoever heard of a follow-up
without names?
Who are those people in the bar?
- What story is this?
- I'm trying to tell you.
- You can't...
- Don't give me that.
- What do you want?
- Harry's on the phone.
He sounds kind of peculiar.
He won't talk to anyone but you.
Boss, wait a minute.
He gave me that stale beef about
being washed-up, going to get loaded.
- This time he did it.
- Well he picked a fine night to get loaded.
Hey, wait a minute, chief.
You were on the desk yourself.
I heard you talk about getting plastered.
Telling the city editor off.
Do me a favor. Don't talk to him.
He won't mean anything he says.
All right, all right.
Tell him to go home and sleep it off.
He's very busy, Harry.
He'll talk to you in the morning.
Dorothy, listen.
Take some hot milk.
Get back over there.
Get back.
Let him call again. Let him try again.
No.
They don't wanna listen.
Eight fifty-eight twenty-five.
Check.
- All right.
After they pull the main switch,
wait for the man to get to the entrance.
Then blow the door.
It's strong.
Place used to be a speak-easy.
Have Ed use RDX,
enough to blow the locks and hinges.
- Right.
- Hank, that's the worst thing you can do.
The minute the lights go out,
he will become frantic and start firing.
- I demand...
- You demand nothing. I'm running this.
I demand the right to do my job.
You did it three years ago.
And that's gonna be awful hard to explain
to a policeman's widow.
Move the squad car,
put their spotlights on the door.
Get a light on that roof
across from the bar.
Borrow a floodlight but don't hit a switch
until the lights go out in the front door.
Yes, sir.
John!
John, come back!
Get over that cellar
and don't let them pull the lights.
I can't explain this, folks.
Your guess is as good as mine.
- Change to Camera 3.
Dr. Faron's going to that bar.
Camera 3, get that man crossing
the street in your camera and pan with him.
And change
to your eight-and-a-half-inch lens.
Climb up over there.
Fast!
Turn around.
Sit down.
Put your hands on the bar
and don't take them off.
Come in.
Come in, doctor.
Lock the door.
I tried to get here sooner.
Did you?
Put down the gun.
It's hard to talk over a gun.
You never had trouble talking before.
That's right.
- We've talked before.
- Don't come any closer, doctor.
We're friends.
No, doctor.
We've talked, but we're not friends.
Then why did you come back?
Why did you send for me?
Because I have to kill you.
No, you don't.
You don't have to kill anybody.
You're sick and I'm your doctor.
- And I wanna help you.
- I said stay away from me.
Stand over there.
You have to trust me, Gunther.
Trust you, doctor?
You did three years ago.
Yes.
You thought you fooled me, didn't you?
You said you could understand.
You were going to help me.
Well, you didn't fool me, doctor.
I knew you'd tell them,
and they sent me away.
But I've come back.
They'll never send me away again.
Unless you let me help you, Gunther,
you'll die.
I'm not afraid, doctor.
I wasn't afraid in the war.
Saw a lot of people die.
We've talked about that.
- Let's talk about it again.
- I don't wanna think about it.
Not with you.
- Gunther, put down that gun.
- No.
- Gunther...
- I like a gun in my hand.
They gave it to me.
Gave me a gun, told me to kill.
Now they try to stop me.
That's their mistake.
They gave me a uniform, made me a soldier.
They gave me a gun, told me to kill!
We faced this thing together before.
We must face it again.
It's wrong to kill.
You know that, Gunther.
You've known all your life.
You've known ever since
you've been a little boy.
From your parents,
from your teachers in school.
From your conscience
and from your religious training.
Everything that you've ever done
has told you that in the eyes of God...
...it's wrong to kill.
There was a war.
They gave me a uniform.
Yes, there was a war.
But you weren't in it.
Fifteen million others were in the war,
Gunther, but not you.
You never saw a uniform.
- Don't say anymore.
- You were never a soldier.
You were drafted and wanted to go
but were rejected.
- You better shut up.
- You couldn't face the reason.
You went out of your head. You killed.
Then to justify a killing you knew
was wrong, you invented a dream.
You made yourself believe
you were a soldier.
I was, I was.
Made yourself believe you were a soldier
because soldiers were the only people...
...permitted to kill
without committing a crime.
It's a dream, isn't it?
You know it isn't real, don't you?
You've gotta face it.
You've gotta face it now.
You've gotta face reality...
Let's go.
Turn around.
- The doctor lied.
- Sure, sure he lied.
No. I know, I can tell, you believed him.
I believed you. I know what it's like.
I was in the war myself. First war.
You all believed him.
No. No.
Listen to me, son. Dr. Faron's dead.
You killed him.
That's what you came for, wasn't it?
You don't have to kill us.
You heard what the doctor said.
Every one of you.
Please. Let me live.
You said you were lonely. Unhappy.
For myself, I don't care.
But my wife, my children, Wyckoff.
You said when your time's up,
you were ready.
That's the hospital.
- Don't move.
- I gotta know.
- Stay where you are.
You're all the same.
Every one of you.
You have nothing to live for.
You had no right to shoot me.
Make it snappy.
General Hospital?
Maternity ward, please.
What? Eight pounds?
And he said I got no reason to live.
How far does a man have to go
to prove that he's right?
This is Harry.
Give me the managing editor.
Not the city editor.
I want the man he works for.
The managing editor.
Here. Where have you been?
Dishing out parking tickets?
Might have known you'd be here.
You missed all the fun.
All right. And tell him to be sure
and use my full name.
Harrison D. Barnes.
I'm going. I'm going home.
My name would be on the radio.
Mother will be worried.
What was his first name?
Chuckles is the only one I have.
There was a gun in back of the bar.
- Wyckoff mustn't have been watching.
Where were you?
I gotta get to the hospital, see my wife.
All right, go ahead.
Captain would like to talk to you
when you get back.
It seems a shame to waste these
after the awful strain we've all been under.
Break the tension?
Skip.
- Skip.
- Ready? Well, listen carefully.
Sudden lightning last night...
...blasting from the guns
of Terminal City's police...
...wrote an epitaph to Gunther Wyckoff,
the mad killer...
...who held six hostages terrified
in a bar...
...for over three-quarters of an hour.
Wyckoff, who escaped
from the state asylum had overrun...
All right, on your way. Break it up.
Party's over.
Come on, break it up, come on.
...the fastest growing commercial center
of the middle valley.
Hastings, the friendly jewelers,
brings you the correct time.
When you hear
the sound of the chimes...
...it will be exactly 20 seconds
past 7:30 p.m., Central Standard Time.
And once again,
we take you to the Crystal Room...
...of the Hotel Amberson to dine
and dance to the haunting melodies...
...of Steven Lancer and his legionnaires.
That did it.
I've written that story every year
for 10 years.
I started at 30 bucks a week,
now I'm making 49.75.
I'm all through.
Sure.
I'm not gonna write
the great American novel...
...and nobody's offered me
a big salary in an advertising mill.
- I'm just walking out calmly.
- Sure.
First, I'm gonna fortify myself
with strong waters.
Second, about the witching hour tonight,
I'm calling the emperor at the city desk.
Sure.
I know he's got his own ideas...
...but I'm gonna reveal a completely
new place he can circulate this newspaper.
For the record, on your way home
to that room, you'll stop in a bar.
You'll order your sherry flip
because with your ulcers...
...a man's size shot of liquor
would kill you.
You won't call the city editor
on account of wanting to be here Thursday.
- Which is payday.
- Sure.
Helen, I don't like it.
Suddenly running off. All this mystery.
Oh, mother, please, I'm not running off
and there's no mystery.
I told you, Marianna's
been going to this place for years.
It was nice of her to ask me to go with her
for a quiet weekend.
I should think you'd get tired
of always seeing me around.
You need a change as much as I do.
Two young girls, all alone in a hotel.
Oh, mother, I'm not a young girl. I'm 28.
I'm competent
and reasonably attractive...
...but how many men
ever invite me to go out?
When do I ever have any fun?
Well, I have a right to this weekend,
and nobody's going to stop me.
I never thought I'd...
- Not even my...
Oh, mother, please.
- Well?
- Nothing happened yet.
I told you
you didn't have to come in tonight.
I've been there all day. They ran me out.
I left the phone number here.
Nobody called, did they?
- On the way over, I mean?
- No calls.
These things take time.
You know, waiting drives you crazy.
Dismiss it.
Nothing wrong with your wife?
She have any trouble?
- Only the way she was sick in the morning.
- They're all sick in the morning.
- This happens all the time.
- Yeah, but not to me.
Dismiss.
Dixieland.
Horses.
This man was wearing a light
tan gabardine suit when last seen.
- Television.
27.
6 foot 2 inches, rangy.
light brown, slight wave.
brown.
No visible scars.
Nose, mouth and jaw line
predominantly Anglo- Saxon American.
This man should be approached
with caution if recognized.
Five minute stop.
Bus leaves in five minutes.
Five minute stop.
Step lively, please.
- All right, buster. Give me that gun.
- What gun?
The gun and clip
you took out of that holster.
Will you give it to me?
Get a doctor. Get a doctor.
Tony being an optimist,
gets Fisher's ugly head under his arm...
...and expects to hold it there.
A headlock.
That may be a good hold,
but it looks to us...
...like Fisher is stretching things
a little too far.
Hitting Tony right between
the vegetable soup and the filet mignon.
Looks like Fisher's mother
was scared by a left-right.
Tony finally had so much agony,
manages to squirt out of that.
And away they go again,
just beating each other up.
Fisher twists around into what is starting
to be an arm-lock. It is a good one.
Tony is running a very bad...
Chuckles, you're a happy character.
Yeah, what have I got
to be happy about?
Sure, maybe if I had a place
with some class, carpet on the floor...
...plush around,
instead of being stuck with a crumb joint.
Look at all the nice people you meet.
Crumbs.
Beer drinkers, dames with hangovers.
Chuckles, I love you.
You don't love anybody,
you love the drink.
What's your name?
Boyd.
Yes, sir?
What's your pleasure?
- What?
- What do you want to drink?
I don't know.
Well, you can have a martini, a Manhattan,
an old fashioned, a horse's neck...
...gin, Scotch,
bourbon, Irish rye, rock and rye.
Anything.
Anything.
Bourbon high ball.
Are you happy, Boyd?
Yeah, I guess so.
Well, you don't look it.
Here.
That beer will never get you any place.
That's enough.
Stop annoying the customers.
- I'm a cheerer-upper.
- You're a crumb.
Who is she?
Just a barfly. What's the matter?
- Is your drink too sweet?
- Oh, no.
No, it's fine, thank you.
Chuckles.
We've got over an hour.
I can't think of a better way to kill it.
A few drinks to loosen up the train ride,
good talk, a beautiful girl.
- Earl...
- Now, don't be modest.
Do you know why I say that, Helen?
It's right here.
You're real people.
Real people, Helen. A lot of heart.
And believe me,
what's here shows up here.
Say, why is it we never decided
to do this before?
Not my fault, you know. I asked you.
You played it pretty cozy.
But, that's a thing I admire
in a woman, Helen.
Sincerity, good judgment,
a girl who takes her time...
...and looks a man over
before deciding to go out with him.
That's a quality hard to find in a girl
these days. I see all kinds of people...
You want the same?
- Oh, Chuckles.
Helen, this is Chuckles.
You didn't know
I had a 23 year old niece, did you?
No.
Glad to have you around.
- You dress up the joint.
Thank you.
There, you see what I was telling you?
You keep an eye on her when I'm not here.
You never have to worry
about anything in here.
- You want the same?
- A little drier. That means not so sweet.
No, this is fine for me just now.
That's a smart girl. It's better to coast
a little while, that's right.
But, for me, Chuckles,
you haven't got bursitis.
Bend it this time.
Twenty-three.
Did I hit it right?
Well, most people think I'm 25.
You see, I have a lot responsibility
in my position.
And I guess that makes one seem older.
Of course, it does.
But that's your manner.
Intellect, self-possession.
But with your face...
Where are you going? It's early.
The old lady is waiting.
You've got nice shoulders.
I'll see you around.
Skip.
Skip.
Take it easy.
Well, do you think
I ought to come back?
Well, I know it won't speed things
but I wanna be there at the right time.
Yeah.
You're sure you've got the right number?
Tell Skip to get off that phone.
I wanna talk to him.
Leave him alone. He's busy.
He's having a baby.
- Freddy.
- Hi, Harry.
- Skip.
- Hi, Harry.
- Chuckles, a boilermaker.
- Sure.
Only not in here.
- You're not gonna die in my joint.
- Why? What's he got to live for?
Dismiss it. Stop annoying the customers.
The young lady never spoke truer words.
Yeah. Well, I'll listen to your troubles,
but you get a sherry flip.
Waiter.
Be right with you, sir.
Chuckles?
- What?
Hey, Chuckles, it's gone again.
Yeah.
More trouble than it's worth.
What's the sense of having
a television if you can't see it?
You mean anybody wants to?
I do. I like to watch them
beat each other's brains out.
Fourteen hundred bucks installed,
the guy charges me.
Push button picture control,
reflected image, 3 by 4 foot screen.
What do I get on it? Wrestlers, crumbs.
Hey.
What's this an orphan?
Don't belittle wrestlers, Chuckles.
They merely illustrate the society
in which we live. We're all wrestlers.
Everybody beats each other's brains out.
You know something, Harry?
You're extremely dull.
I'm sorry. I find you very exciting.
I was about to suggest that we wind up
this drunken evening together.
You couldn't go the distance.
Hey, Harry, it's for you.
That's a moot question. I'm not here.
There's been a killing at the bus terminal.
They want you there.
You haven't seen me.
Tell them I'm not here.
You'll get yourself fired.
That's impossible.
- What's the matter? You crazy?
- Stop annoying the customers.
I'm no longer a working member
of the fourth estate.
The city editor doesn't know it yet
but he'll be duly informed.
Oh, big words.
I'll have another.
One for the road, and that's all.
- I think this is what you want, captain.
- Thanks.
- Say, isn't that...?
- Butt out.
See if she recognizes him.
No.
It's Wyckoff.
Gunther Wyckoff.
- What does she say?
- She's just scared.
Sure.
Tell her we'll protect her.
This is the man.
- She said she can't forget him.
- Good.
Rewrite, please.
Here's your lead. Gunther Wyckoff, fugitive
from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane.
Rooming house murder. Wyckoff, the guy
who slashed the waitress three years ago.
Dragnet for the killer
of the bus driver tightens.
Insane killer returns to Terminal City.
Yeah, that's right.
Gunther Wyckoff, armed, dangerous.
It should be perfectly obvious
to you by now, young lady...
...that you have been stood up.
Your young man's
forgotten all about you.
Are you kidding?
Chuckles.
Now, you take it easy.
- I wanna buy Harry another malted milk.
- Yeah?
That's an admirable idea...
...but for the moment,
you'll have to excuse me.
You know Harry's on a diet.
Leave him alone.
- He's a happy character.
- He's got ulcers.
How do you know? You ever see them?
Dismiss it.
Tell Skip to come here.
- What for?
- To mix me a drink.
You got a drink.
Hey, Skip. Table.
Right.
Of course, I don't fool myself.
A girl with my position...
A lot of men invite me out because
they think I can get them in to see the boss.
I understand, Helen.
The world's full of fellows like that,
promoters, operators.
But I admire the way you handle them.
Sometimes it's rather difficult.
Well, of course it is, and an awful strain.
That's why I thought
of this weekend up at the lake...
...away from all this heat
and a few laughs.
After all,
you've got to learn to break the tension.
I realize it.
Well, tempus fugit.
The weekend's already started.
Is there something wrong with that?
No. No, of course not.
It's just that...
Well, I think I've told you
I live with my mother.
Mm-hm.
You see,
mother's had a heart condition for years.
And whenever I go away,
I guess I can't help feeling a little uneasy.
Well, of course you can't.
That's a big responsibility for a girl.
I don't care who it is.
But you've got to learn to develop
a philosophy about these things.
Take the bitter with the sweet.
I've always felt
that when my time's up, that's it.
I'm ready. No regrets.
- I had plenty of fun.
- Well, it's not the responsibility so much.
Mother's a very understanding woman.
But in her condition,
so as not to worry her unnecessarily...
...I don't always tell her where I'm going.
You're right. Don't I know.
We all have problems in human relations.
My marriage...
Well, when we're better acquainted,
there are a lot of things I want to tell you.
This is a special police bulletin.
The police have good reason
to suspect...
...that the man who shot and killed
a bus driver...
...in the Orchard Street Depot tonight
is Gunther Wyckoff...
...a recent fugitive from the State Hospital
for the Criminal Insane.
This is a photograph
of the suspected murderer.
Gunther Wyckoff, 27 years old.
Six feet two inches tall.
Light brown hair, brown eyes.
This man is a ruthless, dangerous killer.
He is still at large somewhere
in Terminal City. He is armed.
Wyckoff may be in hiding
but he could be on the street...
...in a public place, in a hotel.
Maybe you can help me.
Because when I first saw you,
when I first walked in that office...
...I said, "There's a girl with intellect."
And believe me,
that's a rare combination...
...beauty and intellect.
Skip.
If you see this man, call the police.
- Skip, come and talk to me.
Dial 1119.
Hey, Chuckles, it's snowing again.
Want a drink?
Coming right up.
Why, Chuckles.
Why, Chuckles, I didn't think you cared.
I've always cared.
Take it easy.
How about it, mister? Another?
No.
Skip, take over.
I'm gonna get
another bottle of vermouth.
Chuckles, you're a loveable character.
I just thought of a good story.
- You know...
- It's about time.
Nobody's leaving.
Lock the door.
Put the chain on.
I tell you, it was a backfire.
Then why did that woman scream?
It's none of our business. Come along.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
There's a cop over there.
Get over there.
All of you.
Why don't you sit down.
Get to the telephone at the drug store.
Call police headquarters.
Tell them you're calling for Martin,
Beat 42.
A man with a gun barricaded in a bar
at Second and Spring.
- Tell them I've been hit.
- Right. Come on, honey.
What do you want?
Don't get up.
Look, we've got to rush him.
- Somebody could get hurt.
- He can't get us all.
Well, maybe we can talk him
into letting us go.
You can't talk to him.
Skip, how many bullets
does that gun shoot?
The gun holds eight.
He's fired two, that's six left.
He's got another clip.
That's eight more shots.
They heard a scream, so there must be
other people up there with him.
I didn't get a chance to find out.
- Do you think there will be a reward?
- I wouldn't know, ma'am.
Please stand back.
You're in the line of fire.
Get all the people out
of those apartments.
- Start a barricade down the next block.
- Okay.
What's it all about, lieutenant?
Information, please.
Information?
Would you be kind enough
to give me the number...
...of the Rialto Drug Store
on Second Street?
Thank you very much.
Is this the Rialto Drug Store?
I'm calling from the bar across the street.
Would you please tell the policeman
in charge outside your store...
...that I want to speak to him?
Who's this?
Captain Keiver, Homicide.
Oh, yes.
You remember me, captain?
This is Gunther Wyckoff.
I don't want any trouble, captain.
I've come back to see the doctor,
Dr. Faron.
Just a minute, captain.
You.
No.
Come here.
Talk to him.
Tell him what's happening in here.
Please.
A man's just been killed.
There are five of us in here.
He won't let any of us leave.
And I can't stand it.
Tell him there's another woman.
There's another woman.
He's locked all the doors.
You've got to get us out of here
or we'll all be killed.
Do something. Do whatever he says,
but get us out of here.
Get us out!
Go back.
Sit down.
Hello?
Hello.
Don't let the police come anywhere near,
captain.
All right, son.
Now, you don't wanna hurt
innocent people.
Come out of that bar
and I promise to let you talk to Dr. Faron.
No, I don't wanna do that, captain.
I'm staying here.
You just send the doctor in to see me.
You just send the doctor here by 9:00.
I won't wait any longer.
Twenty-five minutes or every one of them
will have to die.
Please, Earl.
You've got to get me out of here.
How about through the cellar?
Stairs lead to a steel fire door.
We could blow it.
Windows?
Just those in front
and one in the washroom.
Not much help with those steel bars.
We could thrown in some gas.
No.
Before they have time to work,
he'd kill every one of them.
Nine K to Control 1 calling from car 11.
Control 1 to Nine K, go ahead.
Have Homicide locate Dr. Faron.
Bring him to Second and Spring
immediately.
Control 1 to Nine K, roger.
Who's Faron?
The police psychiatrist.
What does he want him for?
Ask him.
Now, look, son.
It's...
It's obvious that you've got a problem.
After all, everybody's got a problem.
I've got a problem.
She's got a problem.
But we have to learn to master them
instead of letting them master us.
Now... Now take for instance.
I was just reading a magazine article
on a train.
And it had a lot to say about...
By...
I want another drink.
Buy me another drink, Wyckoff.
Look, mister, my wife's in the hospital.
I gotta make a call.
I think you'd better sit down.
Twenty-five minutes is a lifetime.
Maybe he'll come.
Excuse me.
Come on, stand back here, please.
What's the trouble, Pete?
Oh, Dr. Faron,
a call just went out for you.
I didn't know.
I was on my way home.
Captain Keiver wants you.
He's up at the barricade.
You'd better go back around the block.
Okay, Pete. I beg your pardon, excuse me.
I know you've got authority to be here
but keep your men out of our way...
...or you'll have to get off the street.
- I understand, lieutenant.
Lieutenants.
Have a camera set up
at the other end of the street...
...to cover that barricade down there.
Tolin, get in the alley across from the bar.
Carpenter, cover from the other end.
You'd better come in from the rear.
Say, doctor. Captain's looking for you.
- I'm looking for him.
- Right there.
I want the janitor of that building.
Find him.
Get him out of bed. Bring him here.
Right.
Hank.
- Anyone brief you?
- No.
- It's Wyckoff, John.
- Wyckoff?
In the bar with people.
I just had him on the phone.
So far, five of them are still alive.
- Maybe I can help.
- That's what Wyckoff said.
- Wyckoff. He asked for me?
- Yeah.
Wants to talk with you.
Says that's what he came back for.
What else did he say?
Send you in in 25 minutes
or he'd kill everyone else in the bar.
Better let me go in, Hank.
That makes a lot of sense.
This is not an ordinary criminal
trying to make a deal.
Wyckoff is a demented man
with a dream.
You can't handle him
by ordinary police methods.
He'll justify keeping that threat.
But he won't kill you.
He might, but I don't think so.
He knows me.
I spent considerable time with him.
My professional opinion
helped prevent his execution.
- He'll remember that.
- Yeah.
I remember that too.
In his mind, I'm his only friend.
If you talk to him, you use the phone.
You can't establish contact with a patient
over a phone, Hank.
You've gotta talk to him
like I'm talking to you, face-to-face.
He's up there now,
face-to-face with five other people.
You wanna go up and make it six
just so you can talk to him?
You use the phone.
That's for me.
It's the hospital.
They're trying to reach me.
I told you. Stay where you are.
He won't answer.
Then there's nothing more you can do.
Sixteen minutes of 9.
Do you know what's happening
right now?
Back at the office,
the emperor at the city desk...
...must be going out of his mind.
He told them to hold the presses
on the final and replate for an extra.
Everybody in the building's standing by.
Right down to the guys
on the loading dock.
Even they know something big
has happened...
...because they heard the presses stop.
Up in the city room, everybody's frozen.
Watching one rewrite man pound his brains
out at his typewriter.
There's a copy boy standing near him,
shifting from one foot to another.
The rewrite man finishes his paragraph.
He yells, "Copy."
The boy rips it out of his machine.
He's off like a shot
for the composing room.
Downstairs,
the linotyper sets up the copy.
They're bringing up the mats
of your pictures from three years ago.
The emperor himself's tearing his hair out
for a screamer head.
He'll come up with something corny.
"Gunman Berserk" maybe,
but he'll think it's good.
Then the presses start rolling again.
Two minutes after, they...
They're loading the trucks.
A minute after that, the newsies
are yelling the extra on the streets.
Just like it happened three years ago.
Remember, Wyckoff?
Three years ago,
I didn't have my shoes off for 24 hours.
You were the biggest newsbreak
this town ever saw.
Until tonight.
Now you're bigger.
Gunther Wyckoff returns.
Now, you're on the wires
to every sheet in the country.
Your picture being
telephotoed to every town.
I picked a great night
to quit the business.
I'm an eyewitness to a Pulitzer Prize story
and can't even get to a telephone.
You're dull, Harry. Extremely dull.
I've got a souped-up convertible.
Tank full of gas.
Make a deal with that policeman.
Twenty-four hour start.
Just the two of us.
That's all we'd need.
I'll show you places
the cops will never find.
Buy me a drink, Wyckoff.
If we decide on this,
what do you think about Ulrich?
Well, he's small enough
and he's a good shot.
He'd be a good man for it.
Well?
After we turn off
the air-conditioning system...
...a man enters ahead of the coils here.
We lower him to the turn,
he crawls along here to the outlet.
Then he fires through the grill.
- You've been in there?
- Several times to clean the ducts.
At the outlet, how much space
would you say there was...
...between the bars of the grill?
Inch, inch and a half.
That's plenty room for a.38.
It's a natural, captain.
Nobody's gonna talk this guy
into surrendering.
We're gonna have to blast him
out of there.
How long would you say it would take
for a man crawling slowly to reach the grill?
Couple of minutes. Not any more.
Donnelly,
clear that barricade further back.
Hey, folks. Come on.
Back up, back up.
Let me know when he's ready.
- I'll tell you when to start him down.
- Right.
Ulrich, here's what we're gonna do.
Gonna tie ropes around your feet
and lower you down.
When you reach that turn,
you crawl along and up to the grill.
Extra, extra. Read all about it.
A mad killer trapped.
Extra, extra.
Read all about it.
Mad killer trapped.
Extra, read all about it. Mad killer.
Those newspapers of yours.
They lied about me.
They wouldn't listen to me.
They didn't want the true story.
But this time, it will be different.
There's still time to put it on the record.
This time, you'll have to listen.
Everybody will have to listen.
I don't like it, Hank. If it goes sour,
it's liable to trigger Wyckoff into anything.
- He might blast those people.
- He's promised to blast them already.
A risk we'll have to take. So will they.
I know what you're up against.
I'm only asking you not to let urgency
motivate the wrong action.
What do you suggest?
Sit down and wait for him to come out?
I risked men's lives
getting Wyckoff alive once before.
I provided the district attorney
with plenty of evidence for a conviction.
Then you people stepped in.
You won. Wyckoff wasn't executed.
- He was put away for three years...
- He was put away for life.
For the safety of society
and for treatment.
We no longer execute the sick.
We're not in the Middle Ages.
I'm not arguing morality.
If Gunther Wyckoff had gone to the chair,
the life of one man, maybe two...
Maybe all the people in that bar
would've been spared.
Hank, listen to me for just a moment.
Wyckoff has always been unbalanced.
Most of us are, in one way or another.
But the pressures of tension
and circumstances made this boy a killer.
This is not news to me.
My examinations,
his subsequent hospital history...
...all give away the nature of his fixation.
Fighting his inability
to function normally...
...he's trying to overcome insecurity
by proving to a hostile world...
...that he's a hero.
Remember how we found his room
full of war books and all kinds of weapons?
Yeah.
But all those fancy words
don't help my problem one jugful.
I think they do.
Those war books gave me a clue
to Wyckoff's mind.
They gave me something to work on.
I'm not gonna let you go in there, John.
Hank, I can solve the problem.
If I talk to him, I'll break him down
as I've done before.
I'll shock him back to reality.
Yeah, it's a risk.
But that's my responsibility.
All right, Whitey, start him down.
Sorry, John, it's too late.
Blood, sweat, tears.
That's what the man said.
What good did it do?
We were gonna have a better world.
That's what they said during the first one.
That's what they told us this time.
But what happened to that world?
Look at the people's faces in the streets.
What do you see?
Sadness.
Sadness everywhere.
Gonna give us a break, they said.
And what kind of a break
did they give me?
I'm a good man with a gun.
Who gave it to me?
Who told me to use it?
Ever since I was a kid I believed people
should sit down and reason things out.
But they didn't want to.
They attacked us and when attacked,
you've got to hit back, kill or be killed.
I was no officer.
Get that straight right now.
Four times
they wanted to make me an officer.
Just did my job.
You think I wanted the medal?
You hear what I'm telling you?
Yeah, yeah, sure I do.
I used to think about guys like you.
Pretty soft, wasn't it?
Twenty-five yards offshore
when the shell exploded.
Four men left
when the boat hit the beach.
A lieutenant dead, not even a sergeant.
One thing I remember,
I had to get across that beach.
Sand dunes up ahead.
Not much cover but enough.
And they'd never get me!
And I saw the them.
Back off the beach.
All along the high ground.
Groups of men bringing up more guns.
I was all alone.
The ditch made a turn.
I rounded the bend.
Air support they promised us.
Strafe the beach ahead of the first wave.
Knock out the fixed emplacements.
And where are the planes?
I keep running toward them,
firing all the time.
Third man pulls the gunner's body
off the gun, whirls it towards me.
They'll never get me!
I'm Gunther Wyckoff!
I'll kill every one of them!
You did this to me.
- I knew it was wrong. I shouldn't have...
- Stop it.
I was going away with him.
That's a sin.
It's God's way of stopping us.
- Of punishing me.
Helen, cut it out.
I was lonely.
I was unhappy.
I really thought he loved me.
- He promised.
- No, I didn't.
I didn't promise a thing
and I can go back and prove it.
And you better leave God out of it too.
God's got other fish to fry besides you.
They got Ulrich out alive but he'd be lucky
if he makes it to the hospital.
Come down here right away.
We're gonna rush him.
If we can save some of those people
it's better than losing them all.
You know how that thing works?
Turn it on.
Get back over there.
How long have you been here?
- Minutes.
Then you heard the gunshot.
I didn't hear nothing.
I heard it.
You're the man I'm looking for.
Would you mind telling me your name?
Fred Backett. I'm a bookkeeper.
Mr. Backett, the police
seem to be in a bit of a dilemma.
Yeah?
- This gunman is holding five or six people.
That limits police action.
- Now, Mr...
- Are there men in there?
In the bar? Oh yes, three or four.
The police aren't quite sure.
- Why don't they rush him.
- Attack the gunman?
Well, yes. See, this man is armed
and they're not.
Well, they're four against one.
Why don't they do something?
Well, I couldn't say.
Pretty hard to tell what to do, isn't it?
Set the building on fire.
That would get them out.
Well, now, that's an idea
but we'd lose the building.
Folks, these men
who have just voiced their opinions...
...are spectators,
just as you sitting before your set...
...in your home are spectators to this
exciting spot news television broadcast...
...brought to you through the facilities
of WKYL.
We are on Spring and Second Street
where we are televising the police siege...
...of Gunther Wyckoff, the mad gunman.
And now, for the benefit of folks
who tuned in late, I should like to say...
...this is the most dramatic spectacle
I've had the fortune to witness.
And now as our cameras
cover this scene tonight...
Just a moment.
This might be interesting.
- Keep your eyes...
- Change to camera one.
That's Captain Keiver of Homicide.
At the moment,
he's talking to Police Lieutenant Tallman.
I don't seem to be able to identify the...
Who'd you say that was?
That's Dr. Faron, folks.
Yes, Dr. Faron, the police psychiatrist.
From the look on the captain's face,
I guess he could use the doctor himself.
They're gonna send Faron in.
You got your deal, now you can let us go.
We'll wait for the doctor.
I don't think any of us envy in his job.
Now that looks interesting.
Dr. Faron and the captain seem to be
in a bit of an argument.
I wish it were possible for you
to hear their conversation...
...but, of course, that's forbidden.
Well, it looks like Dr. Faron has lost
the argument, whatever it was about.
They're not gonna send him in.
I'd like to say right now no one
has more respect for Captain Keiver.
A man who has served the public for...
There's a way to make him, Wyckoff.
Higher authority.
The press. Power of the people.
My paper.
If he refused, it could break him.
If I call my city editor...
...tell him what you want,
have him turn the pressure on Keiver.
- Threaten him.
That's right, that's right.
My paper could order the police
to send in Faron.
Tell him what I want.
The boss. Nobody else.
Give me the city editor. Make it snappy.
This is Harry.
Harry.
I can't talk to anybody but Frank.
Don't argue with me.
Put him on the phone.
Whoever heard of a follow-up
without names?
Who are those people in the bar?
- What story is this?
- I'm trying to tell you.
- You can't...
- Don't give me that.
- What do you want?
- Harry's on the phone.
He sounds kind of peculiar.
He won't talk to anyone but you.
Boss, wait a minute.
He gave me that stale beef about
being washed-up, going to get loaded.
- This time he did it.
- Well he picked a fine night to get loaded.
Hey, wait a minute, chief.
You were on the desk yourself.
I heard you talk about getting plastered.
Telling the city editor off.
Do me a favor. Don't talk to him.
He won't mean anything he says.
All right, all right.
Tell him to go home and sleep it off.
He's very busy, Harry.
He'll talk to you in the morning.
Dorothy, listen.
Take some hot milk.
Get back over there.
Get back.
Let him call again. Let him try again.
No.
They don't wanna listen.
Eight fifty-eight twenty-five.
Check.
- All right.
After they pull the main switch,
wait for the man to get to the entrance.
Then blow the door.
It's strong.
Place used to be a speak-easy.
Have Ed use RDX,
enough to blow the locks and hinges.
- Right.
- Hank, that's the worst thing you can do.
The minute the lights go out,
he will become frantic and start firing.
- I demand...
- You demand nothing. I'm running this.
I demand the right to do my job.
You did it three years ago.
And that's gonna be awful hard to explain
to a policeman's widow.
Move the squad car,
put their spotlights on the door.
Get a light on that roof
across from the bar.
Borrow a floodlight but don't hit a switch
until the lights go out in the front door.
Yes, sir.
John!
John, come back!
Get over that cellar
and don't let them pull the lights.
I can't explain this, folks.
Your guess is as good as mine.
- Change to Camera 3.
Dr. Faron's going to that bar.
Camera 3, get that man crossing
the street in your camera and pan with him.
And change
to your eight-and-a-half-inch lens.
Climb up over there.
Fast!
Turn around.
Sit down.
Put your hands on the bar
and don't take them off.
Come in.
Come in, doctor.
Lock the door.
I tried to get here sooner.
Did you?
Put down the gun.
It's hard to talk over a gun.
You never had trouble talking before.
That's right.
- We've talked before.
- Don't come any closer, doctor.
We're friends.
No, doctor.
We've talked, but we're not friends.
Then why did you come back?
Why did you send for me?
Because I have to kill you.
No, you don't.
You don't have to kill anybody.
You're sick and I'm your doctor.
- And I wanna help you.
- I said stay away from me.
Stand over there.
You have to trust me, Gunther.
Trust you, doctor?
You did three years ago.
Yes.
You thought you fooled me, didn't you?
You said you could understand.
You were going to help me.
Well, you didn't fool me, doctor.
I knew you'd tell them,
and they sent me away.
But I've come back.
They'll never send me away again.
Unless you let me help you, Gunther,
you'll die.
I'm not afraid, doctor.
I wasn't afraid in the war.
Saw a lot of people die.
We've talked about that.
- Let's talk about it again.
- I don't wanna think about it.
Not with you.
- Gunther, put down that gun.
- No.
- Gunther...
- I like a gun in my hand.
They gave it to me.
Gave me a gun, told me to kill.
Now they try to stop me.
That's their mistake.
They gave me a uniform, made me a soldier.
They gave me a gun, told me to kill!
We faced this thing together before.
We must face it again.
It's wrong to kill.
You know that, Gunther.
You've known all your life.
You've known ever since
you've been a little boy.
From your parents,
from your teachers in school.
From your conscience
and from your religious training.
Everything that you've ever done
has told you that in the eyes of God...
...it's wrong to kill.
There was a war.
They gave me a uniform.
Yes, there was a war.
But you weren't in it.
Fifteen million others were in the war,
Gunther, but not you.
You never saw a uniform.
- Don't say anymore.
- You were never a soldier.
You were drafted and wanted to go
but were rejected.
- You better shut up.
- You couldn't face the reason.
You went out of your head. You killed.
Then to justify a killing you knew
was wrong, you invented a dream.
You made yourself believe
you were a soldier.
I was, I was.
Made yourself believe you were a soldier
because soldiers were the only people...
...permitted to kill
without committing a crime.
It's a dream, isn't it?
You know it isn't real, don't you?
You've gotta face it.
You've gotta face it now.
You've gotta face reality...
Let's go.
Turn around.
- The doctor lied.
- Sure, sure he lied.
No. I know, I can tell, you believed him.
I believed you. I know what it's like.
I was in the war myself. First war.
You all believed him.
No. No.
Listen to me, son. Dr. Faron's dead.
You killed him.
That's what you came for, wasn't it?
You don't have to kill us.
You heard what the doctor said.
Every one of you.
Please. Let me live.
You said you were lonely. Unhappy.
For myself, I don't care.
But my wife, my children, Wyckoff.
You said when your time's up,
you were ready.
That's the hospital.
- Don't move.
- I gotta know.
- Stay where you are.
You're all the same.
Every one of you.
You have nothing to live for.
You had no right to shoot me.
Make it snappy.
General Hospital?
Maternity ward, please.
What? Eight pounds?
And he said I got no reason to live.
How far does a man have to go
to prove that he's right?
This is Harry.
Give me the managing editor.
Not the city editor.
I want the man he works for.
The managing editor.
Here. Where have you been?
Dishing out parking tickets?
Might have known you'd be here.
You missed all the fun.
All right. And tell him to be sure
and use my full name.
Harrison D. Barnes.
I'm going. I'm going home.
My name would be on the radio.
Mother will be worried.
What was his first name?
Chuckles is the only one I have.
There was a gun in back of the bar.
- Wyckoff mustn't have been watching.
Where were you?
I gotta get to the hospital, see my wife.
All right, go ahead.
Captain would like to talk to you
when you get back.
It seems a shame to waste these
after the awful strain we've all been under.
Break the tension?
Skip.
- Skip.
- Ready? Well, listen carefully.
Sudden lightning last night...
...blasting from the guns
of Terminal City's police...
...wrote an epitaph to Gunther Wyckoff,
the mad killer...
...who held six hostages terrified
in a bar...
...for over three-quarters of an hour.
Wyckoff, who escaped
from the state asylum had overrun...
All right, on your way. Break it up.
Party's over.
Come on, break it up, come on.