Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) Movie Script
1
How was the take tonight?
Not bad, Mr. Hennessy.
- Almost 20 grand.
- Good.
Tell the boys I'll be with them
in a few minutes.
Mary, for deposit tomorrow.
142 one hundred-dollar bills,
100 fifty-dollar bills,
the rest five, 10...
I told you I'd come back.
Remember Buchanan?
Why, you're not Buchanan!
I don't look like him but I am him.
Don't you recognize the voice, Jim?
I promised to see you die and I will.
- Hey, boss, what's the matter?
- Hey, boss, let us in.
- Hey, boss, what's the matter?
- Hey, boss, let us in.
Hey, boss.
Come back home. Come back home.
Get in the automobile.
Get in the automobile.
The automobile.
Get inside!
Turn on the ignition.
Now, drive home.
He got hit when they shot at him.
He might not be able to make it.
If his brain is still receptive,
he can be directed.
Well, what if it isn't? What if their
bullets hit one of the brain electrodes?
As long as he has an ounce of liquid
in his veins, he will return home.
I've told you, these creatures automatically
try to return to their source of feeding
when their energies run low.
Well, your creature's helped us
get rid of the first one.
I'll see them all die before I'm through.
Oh, if I had only known when you first
offered to help me financially.
Dr. Steigg, if it weren't for my money,
you'd still be experimenting
with cats and dogs
in that flea-sized lab of yours in Europe.
I made it possible for you to prove
your theory with human beings.
That is true.
But my theory was to use these creatures
to help people live
by doing everything that was
difficult and dangerous.
You just want to see people die.
Not just people, Steigg. Particular people.
And I'll get them. Every
single one of them.
And after you do?
What?
There'll be nothing we can't do or have.
Nobody'll be able to stop us.
Can't you keep him going any longer?
No, I can't keep them breathing
longer than a few days,
then the glands deteriorate.
They just disintegrate.
Is he dead?
He never was alive.
Different parts of the body
die at different times.
My next problem is how to keep them
working as long as the heart is beating.
Does the brain still die first?
Always.
The brain always dies first.
- Why aren't you boys home in bed?
- Hello, Dr. Walker.
I gave him exactly $19,821.
All right, wait outside, will you, please?
- Oh, hello, Chet.
- D.A.
- Hi.
- Hi, Dave.
- What does it look like?
- Your guess is as good as mine.
- Robbery behind it?
- Yeah, it could be.
Yet whoever did it
left over 60 grand in the safe.
Maybe he didn't want
to get into a higher bracket.
Oh, brother.
How did he get it?
How didn't he get it?
The neck's been broken and also his spine.
Just by twisting it.
The murderer must have had
the strength of an ape.
Hennessy's guards saw him.
Said he looked like any other man.
Don't tell me he bent these bars?
That's what Hennessy's boys say.
The killer came in and got out that way.
Well, I'd hate to meet him on a dark night.
- Bullet holes, huh?
- Hennessy's boys shot at him.
Hit him, too. Look at the trail of blood.
We found some blood on the road.
You know, there's something screwy
about this whole thing.
He must've been hit bad
to lose that much blood,
yet he made it to his car and got away.
Well, whoever it was, was certainly
careless. These fingerprints are perfect.
- That's strange.
- What is?
Turn out the lights for a minute, will you?
- See it?
- Yeah.
The fingerprints are luminous.
Yes, and the footprints and the blood.
Turn on the lights again, huh?
What do you make of that?
I'm a district attorney, not a chemist.
Ask Chet.
- What about it, Chet?
- I wish I knew.
Let's take this back to the lab
and make a test on it.
I'll send the fingerprints to Washington.
Maybe they can trace them there.
- Don't let anyone in there.
- Have you any idea who did it?
- Was it robbery?
- What's the inside on this?
Got nothing to say now, boys.
Doctor, how did anybody break
through those bars in there?
Maybe he ate all his vitamins.
Vitamins?
Look, a diluted solution of hematin.
Two absorption bands between
the Fraunhofer lines.
Oh, cut the double-talk, Chet,
and break it down to plain English.
Take a look. This so-called blood
is a chemical composition.
It looks like a bunch of crystals to me.
Exactly. There are crystals
in that concoction.
Now, what do you mean "concoction"?
Here. I'll show you.
Adrenaline,
sodium hydroxide
and blood sugars.
Throws the beam to the right dextrose.
No hemoglobin traceable.
No hemoglobin? Then it isn't blood.
Right. Like I said before,
it's a chemical composition.
Here, I'll put it in the centrifuge
and we'll see what else it's made of.
Well, why is that stuff luminous?
That's right, why is it luminous, Chet?
Just as I thought.
This so-called blood is highly radioactive.
- Dangerously so?
- Plus nine.
Is that a lot?
Enough to kill a man
if he's exposed to it long enough.
Well, that's about all
we can do for tonight.
Let me know when you hear from
Washington on those fingerprints.
Well, what'd you find out?
Yeah, how about giving us
a lowdown on this?
Yeah, give us a lead, will you?
- You want the truth?
- Yeah.
All right, then, according to the evidence,
Hennessy was murdered by a creature
with atom rays of superhuman strength.
And a creature that cannot
be killed by bullets.
Creature?
You don't expect us to believe that?
- No.
- Big joke.
Just for that I'll misspell your name.
I don't blame them.
I don't believe it myself
and I was with you.
Dave. Come on in.
- Where's Chet?
- Sleeping.
Sleeping? At this hour?
Yes, at this hour. 7:30.
Well, don't blame me, Joyce.
I didn't ask him to be a cop.
Get him up, will you? it's important.
- Where's Penny?
- Having breakfast.
Uncle Dave.
Well, how's my little sweetheart
this morning, huh?
I feel fine, Uncle Dave.
There's some coffee in there, Dave.
Thanks, I can use it.
Well, Penny and me are going to have
a little tte--tte, aren't we, huh?
I never tasted a tte--tte before.
Chet.
Chet.
Chet, wake up.
Chet, not now!
- Name a better time.
- Dave's here.
Oh, he can wait till I kiss my wife.
Chet, he'll hear us.
So what? We're married.
But he's not.
Well, then let him find out
what he's missing.
Chet, he says it's important.
Important?
About that murder last night?
Yeah, must be.
You didn't tell me anything about it.
I don't believe in talking shop
when I'm home.
You'll probably read all about it anyway.
And when you do, you won't believe it.
I'll tell him you'll be right out.
Oh, this door sticks.
Remember, Mrs. Walker,
you had your chance.
Come on, open up.
Tell me a story first.
It's too early in the morning for stories.
I always tell a story to my dolly.
- Do you like her?
- Oh, I'm crazy about her.
- What's her name?
- Henrietta.
Henrietta?
I used to go with a girl named Henrietta.
What happened to her?
What happened to her
shouldn't happen to your doll.
She married a con man.
That's not the kind of
a story to tell kids.
- Hi, Penny.
- Hello, Daddy.
Hurry up, Penny. You'll be late for school.
Come on.
Atta girl. Goodbye now.
Goodbye, Daddy.
- Goodbye, Uncle Dave.
- Have fun, Penny.
That's the story of a cop's life.
"Hello, Daddy. Goodbye, Daddy."
What's up?
You'd better sit down first.
I just came from the Bureau.
They checked the murderer's fingerprints.
His name is Willard Pearce.
They let me have it from the files.
Petty theft, fraud, three months in prison,
tubercular...
How could a tubercular man have strength
enough to break those bars like that?
You think that's something?
Answer this one.
How could a dead man have strength
enough to do it?
Deceased?
Yeah, and I used to think
Scrabble was tough.
When did he die?
Well, according to that, 24 days ago.
Oh, that doesn't make sense.
You're the smart one.
If it doesn't make sense to you,
imagine how it sounds to me.
Have they got a file on this guy?
Yes, I copied it.
"Died of asphyxiation
on the 22nd of last month.
"Body delivered to the city morgue.
"Copy of coroner's report was attached."
Have you checked with the morgue?
I got two of the boys doing it now.
Does MacGraw know?
I called him at his home.
He told us to meet him at his office.
Hello.
Oh, yes, he's here.
For you, Dave.
Yes? Be right over.
Remember that cylinder we took
out of Hennessy's Dictaphone?
- Yeah.
- Like to hear it?
- Sure.
- Come on.
Bye, Penny.
- Now perhaps we can all relax for a little...
- Bye, honey.
- Call you later.
- Chet, you didn't have breakfast.
- Nope.
- Chet, it's not healthy to...
Goodbye, Joyce.
What are you doing in here?
I'm from Buchanan.
If you know that, you know why I'm here.
It's no use, MacGraw.
I said I would live to see you die.
I am watching you now.
Come back home. Come home.
Come back home.
Mary, for deposit tomorrow.
142 one hundred-dollar bills,
100 fifty-dollar bills,
the rest five, 10...
I told you I'd come back.
That's when the Dictaphone was
knocked out of his hand or he dropped it.
Anyone recognize that voice?
I do and I don't.
I just got a feeling that
I've heard it before.
Well, it'd be hard to place it anyway,
but the killer's voice sounded
more mechanical than Hennessy's.
- Did you notice it?
- Yes, it's like a...
Like a recording of a recording.
"I told you I'd come back."
Not much to tie onto there.
Well, could've been some big loser
who swore to get even
or some gambler he rousted around.
Anyone and anything.
Anyway, there's no doubt that he bent
the bars and came in through the window.
We could hear the sound
of the glass crashing.
Listen, MacGraw must be
waiting for us now.
Yeah.
Oh, but if that's the D.A.,
tell him we're on the way up.
Hello. Yeah.
MacGraw?
MacGraw was found in his garage,
murdered.
I'll meet you down there.
I want to pick up some equipment first.
Okay.
Looks like the same job
pulled on Hennessy.
- Did you find any prints?
- Plenty.
I asked the Bureau to call me here
as soon as they get a line on them.
- How long has he been dead?
- About an hour.
It must have happened just as he was
getting ready to go to the office.
Who found him?
His wife. She's in the house now.
I had to give her a sedative.
Take him away, boys.
Captain Harris, I can't figure this one.
His jaw's broken. Neck, too.
It wasn't a weapon.
The bruises look to me
as though they'd been done by a fist.
But MacGraw was a husky guy.
I've never seen a case where a man's neck
was broken by the sheer force of a grip.
Why should anyone want to kill MacGraw?
Well, he was a district attorney.
A lot of guys must have hated his guts.
MacGraw's enemies were usually
friends of Hennessy's,
and yet they were both killed
in the same way and by the same person
or thing.
Thing?
How about a statement, Captain Harris?
About time we had something official.
As soon as we have
something to say, we'll say it.
Do you tie up MacGraw's murder
with the Hennessy murder?
Not until we know more about it.
You're wanted on the phone, Captain.
It's in the house.
Geiger counter?
I want to check the car
for radioactive emanations.
Emanations?
Say, Dr. Walker, didn't you find
radioactivity in the Hennessy killing?
Well, then that would connect
the two murders, wouldn't it?
Well, yes and no.
It's not a conclusive fact.
Just an approach.
That story you gave us last night
about a creature charged with atom rays,
-it's on the level then, huh?
- I told you it was.
Hey, we had a scoop and didn't know it.
Let's get out of here.
It was the Bureau.
The prints belong to a Vernon Dunn.
He died a few weeks ago.
And that's not all. Get this.
The boys just checked the morgue.
Eight bodies have disappeared.
Call the inspector and tell him I want
to talk to him as soon as possible.
And ask him to have the Mayor there
and the commanding general
of this military area.
General?
We're going to need all the cooperation
we can get on this one.
How do you do, ladies and gentlemen?
This is Dick Cutting
with today's commentary on the news.
Well, as you know, today's big story
hinges around the killing
of District Attorney MacGraw,
whose body was found today in his garage,
murdered in much the same manner
as Hennessy was.
What connection the murder of MacGraw
can possibly have with Hennessy,
a gangland boss,
is unknown at present.
Dr. Chet Walker of the police laboratory
has given out a fantastic story,
so incredible that one can
lend it little credence.
Dr. Walker is of the opinion those crimes
are being perpetrated by dead men.
Yes, I said dead men,
restored to life in some unknown manner
by being charged with atom rays,
which give them superhuman strength
and makes them impervious to bullets.
Well, if you want to believe that story,
you can...
This Walker must be a pretty smart cookie.
He has imagination.
The kind of imagination
that may prove dangerous to us.
You mean the kind of imagination
that could prove dangerous to him.
About time to feed them, isn't it?
Hello, Walker. Captain. Mayor Bremer.
General Saunders.
This is Captain Harris and Dr. Walker.
Walker's in charge of our lab.
I hope, Dr. Walker,
you've called us here to assure us
the stories about dead men walking
our streets is only a hoax.
I wish they were.
What did you find out about those bodies
stolen from the morgue?
Well, according to the records,
they were to be cremated.
They were placed in coffins
and delivered to the city crematory.
May I ask how this concerns me?
You can be of great help to us, General,
as I'll explain in a moment.
But first, I'd like to give you and the
Mayor a picture of what's been taking place
so that you can understand exactly
what we're up against.
Couldn't those bodies have been stolen
by some of those creatures
on or before arrival?
Well, they could've. But that wouldn't
explain them coming back to life.
What makes you so sure they were alive?
What makes me so... Well, they were
walking around, weren't they?
It says you found fingerprints.
You yourself said those dead people
committed the crimes!
Yes, those are the facts.
But I'm afraid we'll have to depart
from our usual approach
to get anywhere on this case.
I wish, Dr. Walker,
you'd make yourself a little clearer.
Well, let me give you
a very primitive example.
Do you remember Faraday's experiment
with a frog's leg?
I flunked Chemistry One three times.
I remember Faraday's experiment.
Good. Then you'll remember
that Faraday applied energy,
in that case electricity, to the leg
which had been severed from its body.
It moved.
Frog legs. I don't see the parallel.
People of that day wouldn't believe
that the leg of a dead animal could move,
but Faraday proved it.
We know why.
Yes, now we know why
and take our knowledge for granted.
In our case, which is as mysterious to us
as Faraday's was in his time,
we found traces of energy.
Energy which would increase
the strength of any animal tremendously.
Radioactivity.
Well, you've lost me.
All right, Chet. What
you're trying to do now
is throw away everything we've learned
so far about life and death
and start from scratch.
And just how do you propose to do this?
Well, we have certain clues.
One very definite one.
In both of the murders,
radioactive emanations were found.
Now that's where you come in, General.
We'll have to find the source
of these emanations.
Now I want to use Air Force planes
and trucks equipped with instruments
which can track down that source.
I'll see that you get the trucks
and I'll call Colonel Roberts
at Monroe Air Force Base about the planes.
He'll give you all the
cooperation you need.
We'd certainly appreciate that.
Tell him I'll be down to talk to him at,
say, 3:00.
Goodbye, Dr. Walker. Good day, gentlemen.
Of all things to happen
under my administration.
Keep me posted on this.
And suppose we do find the source?
Then we'll be able to find the cause.
That car in front. Get it. Wreck it.
Drive into it.
What's he doing at the airfield?
Better wait and find out.
It may concern us.
Come back!
Stop.
It's you!
Well, who did you think it was?
Don't tell me strangers
are in the habit of...
I was wondering
if you'd be home in time for dinner.
That's not true, Chet.
Is it?
Better hide it from Penny.
- But how can I hide a thing like...
- Please, Joyce.
I'm tired and I'm hungry and I'm...
Frankly, I don't know how.
I don't know any more about it
than it says right there.
Look, how are we fixed
for a nice, cold martini?
Coming right up, Chet.
Penny's outside playing.
Well, what about it?
Well, is it safe?
There seems to be some sort
of a definite pattern.
Can't put my finger on it,
but I do know that Hennessy and MacGraw
were killed for a reason.
Well, it's all right then?
Well, for a while.
I don't think they've gotten around
to indiscriminate killings yet.
Yet?
- Hi, Daddy.
- Hi, Penny.
Where's the paper, Mommy?
I want to read the funnies.
Oh, it didn't come today, dear.
Oh, then I'll put on the TV.
- No, Penny.
- It's broken, Penny.
We'll have to have a man over to fix it.
Yeah.
Look, why don't you play with Henrietta?
She's a bad girl and I'm punishing her.
Well, did you spank her?
I put her in her bed and told her
she can't look at TV all week.
You're a tough one, you are.
Thanks, honey.
I've been looking forward to this all day.
I'll go.
Hello, Uncle Dave.
Hi, Penny. How are you?
Oh, it's you.
Oh, you don't seem
particularly happy to see me.
There comes a time in every woman's life
when she'd like to be alone
with her husband,
if only for a few minutes.
How come you never got married,
Uncle Dave?
He'd be a bigamist, Penny.
He's already married to your father.
- Want a drink, Dave?
- No, not while I'm on duty.
Well, I'm not on duty.
You will be when you hear
what I've got to tell you.
Penny, will you please go to your room?
Why? I didn't do anything.
I know, dear. it's just that Daddy
and Uncle Dave want to be alone.
I won't bother them.
Go to your room this minute, Penny.
All right. But I always let you listen
when I talk to Henrietta.
Okay, let's have it.
Look, I'm not a child.
And this is my house.
You're not going to put me out of it.
The only time my wife talks
is when I'm ready to go to sleep.
All right. I'll get dinner.
Remember you said this morning
that you were thrown
because Hennessy and MacGraw
were both killed
in the same way and by the same thing
yet they were always on opposite sides
of the fence?
- Yeah, what about it?
- Well, that worried me, too.
So I checked back on both of them
and found that they were on the same side
of the fence, once.
- Well, when was that?
- About 10 years ago
when you first came into the police lab.
Hennessy and MacGraw helped
convict Frank Buchanan.
Buchanan.
The name rings a bell, but not too clearly.
Buchanan was a top mobster
around these parts.
He practically ran the city.
When MacGraw became D.A.
he took out after him.
Well, where does Hennessy come in?
Well, Hennessy was Buchanan's
number-two man.
He wanted the number-one slot,
so he turned on him.
Oh, yeah.
I remember something about it now.
Wasn't Buchanan shipped off to Europe?
That's right.
He got five years and deportation.
I don't get the connection.
Listen to this.
I got it out of the newspaper files.
"No sooner was sentence pronounced
"than Buchanan leaped to his feet,
screaming to MacGraw,
"'I'll get you for this.
You and everyone who squealed on me.
"'I'll come back and see you die,
every single one of you!"' Get it?
That voice on the Dictaphone.
"I told you I'd come back."
That's right.
That's the first thing I thought of, too.
- Yeah.
- But you just said he was deported.
I'm not saying it's him, but it's a lead.
It's the only connecting link
I could come up with,
why any guy should want to kill both
MacGraw and Hennessy.
Did you check with the authorities
over there?
Well, I cabled them and
just got this answer.
"Frank Buchanan, resided in Rome.
Via Lucullo, Number 11.
"House vacated.
Left no forwarding address."
Well, he could still be anywhere in Europe.
Well, I cabled the chief of police in Rome.
Asked him to investigate further and
cable me as soon as he had a line on him.
Were there any others who helped
convict Buchanan?
Two others who were in with him
and the fellow who was the Assistant
District Attorney, Lester Banning.
He's now in private practice.
Think they should be warned?
I'm having the boys round them up now.
They should be in my office any minute.
Well, let's go.
What about dinner?
Oh, keep it warm, honey.
I'll be back in an hour or two.
- Sorry, Joyce.
- I'll bet you are.
One for the road?
Oh, not now, dear. I'm back on duty.
- Oh, nice to see you, Mr. Banning.
- Thank you, Captain.
This is Dr. Walker, head of our crime lab.
- Doctor.
- Banning.
And this is Jason Franchot.
He used to be Buchanan's accountant.
And Dunn here used to be his gunsel.
- I don't like that word.
- Paid killer. Like it better?
Look, I've been traveling straight
and I don't know what
I was brought here for, but it's a bum rap.
I want to see a lawyer.
Now tell me, Captain,
what's this all about?
I called you here to warn you
that your lives may be in danger.
Is Buchanan back?
What makes you say that?
First Hennessy then MacGraw.
He said he'd get us.
But I didn't know he was back
in the country.
His sentence wasn't changed.
How could he be back?
If he's in this country,
he's here illegally.
Now if you take my advice,
you'll all go to jail for protection
and stay there
until we can find out whether it's Buchanan
or not who's behind all this.
Not me. I worked too
hard to get out of jail.
- It's for your own good.
- Think my wife would believe that?
She'd think I went back to packing a rod.
What about you?
I have a good business now.
Tax auditor, public accountant.
If I went to jail,
my reputation would be ruined.
I don't think it's necessary, Captain.
Particularly since there's no proof
that Buchanan is back in this country.
All right. But I am going to give you
protection 24 hours a day
no matter where you are. Got that, Tom?
- Right.
- Have some of the boys drive them home.
Now if an attempt is made to get any
one of them next then we'll know for sure.
It'll complete the pattern.
It's the hard way to find out.
This is from the chief of police in Rome.
"Attention, Captain David Harris."
"...in lab operation,
who also has disappeared.
"If find any additional information,
will advise.
"Rome Chief of Police."
Dogs, cats, monkeys.
That's the way experimentation
usually starts.
Starts?
It's only one step from animals
to human beings.
Captain Harris sent me to relieve you.
A little early, but why complain?
And with the murder of Jason Franchot
last night I must apologize
for my recent skepticism regarding
these radioactive creatures.
It seems they do exist
and they are prowling the street.
Police Chief Camden assures us
that they are doing everything in their
power to get to the source of these beings.
With the cooperation of the military,
planes and helicopters equipped
with radium finders are now overhead,
and strange-looking trucks
similarly equipped
are now at this moment prowling through
the streets of our city
to track them down.
Excuse me, please.
A glass of beer, please.
Thank you.
Hey, you forgot your change.
This is a sawbuck.
Two bits in the till, $9.75 in my pocket.
Now that's what I call a tip.
You from Water and Power?
Five point two.
What's this all about anyway?
I'm probing for radioactivity.
Is there uranium around here?
I'm going to call my lawyer
and find out if I own the mineral rights.
- Who was sitting here?
- Search me.
He went out the back way.
- Do you know who he is?
- Never saw him before.
Hey! Don't wash that glass.
He never washes them anyway.
He leave anything else here?
No.
Just this.
This 10-spot hot?
Hotter than you think.
This is an international who's who
of the medical profession.
Here's what it says.
"Wilhelm Steigg,
born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1893.
"University of Berlin, Zurich, Milan.
"1948 Harman Prize for
his research in amygdala stimuli."
Amygdala stimuli, what's that?
Ultra-short wave stimulations
to specific parts of the brain,
producing involuntary movements
of the body.
- That's highly specialized stuff.
- Yeah.
A number of stories have been published
about amygdala stimulation of monkeys.
Here's one of them.
Appropriations have been made
for research and development,
and there's a doctor in Madrid
who's made great advances
since this article was published.
Have you been conducting any experiments
here at the hospital?
No. But I have a short film
that I told you about.
Would you like me to run it?
- I'd appreciate it.
- Fine.
Draw the curtains, will you?
This animal looks content, doesn't it?
You wouldn't suspect that it has
18 electrodes inserted in its skull.
Turning this switch releases
a small amount of ultra-short waves.
Those electrodes are tuned to
specific frequencies.
As long as the impulse is released,
the dog barks.
By applying another impulse
of different frequency,
the dog immediately falls asleep.
It will lie there
as long as the stimulus is active.
Another impulse will make it vicious.
Docile.
Hunger can be induced.
Or it can be made to resent its food.
Amygdala stimulations,
somatomotor and visceromotor effects.
Does this demonstration
satisfy your curiosity?
Almost.
Try my special mixture.
Thanks.
This experiment was done on live animals.
Of course.
Do you think it could be applied
to dead ones?
Dead ones?
Offhand, I'd say no.
The command impulse is so small,
less than a millionth of a watt,
that only the animal's body energies
could supply the reactions.
If you could replace the body energy
from an outside source,
say, with radioactive energies,
do you think you'd get the same results?
Well, your question is much too abstract
to be answered at this moment, Dr. Walker.
Do you think an experiment on humans
would have the same result as on animals?
We haven't arrived at that stage
of our experiment, yet.
Could it be possible
that somebody else has tried
and already succeeded?
Are you trying to connect the experiments
with animals
with mysterious events of our city?
It would answer the riddle, wouldn't it?
Remote-controlled creatures,
their brains powered by atomic energy,
roaming the streets,
directed from a central point.
Utterly fantastic.
Yes? Yes, he's here.
It's for you, Doctor.
Yes? Oh, yes, Dave.
Send the glass and that bill
over to the lab at once.
That bird must be radiating in the dark.
I don't understand how he can stay alive
with all that radium
poisoning in his system.
German accent, huh?
Better have them search every house
within a 10-block radius.
Letting them get that close to you.
What did you ever leave here for?
The pain,
the pain in my hand was killing me.
If I hadn't gotten some medicine
to relieve it, I would have gone crazy.
From now on just hide in here.
With the walls and the shutters leaded,
they'll never find us.
I'm not so sure.
Those creatures,
they leave radioactive traces.
Sooner or later they will be picked up.
The planes, how low they're flying.
Oh, I think it was a mistake not to get rid
of that Walker when we had the chance.
It's a mistake we can remedy easily enough.
I'll stop them.
I'll make them ground every plane
and pull out every truck looking for us.
Go in there and fix up that stoolie.
I want to send one of them out.
And you feel certain it's Buchanan
who's behind all this?
For my money, it is.
Killing Franchot completed the pattern.
What about those other two,
Banning and whatever his name is?
Who, Dunn? We put them in the county jail.
They'll be safe there.
It's the first time that gunsel
ever begged to be put into jail.
He was scared stiff.
He isn't the only one.
- Yes?
- Call for you, sir. Personal.
The party says it's important.
Hello. Yes, this is Chief Camden.
You will stop all planes and trucks
searching for radioactivity.
I will give you until 3:00 this afternoon
to do this.
If you do not, many people will be killed
exactly one hour later.
Who is this? Who is this?
There will be no other warning.
Hello? Hello? Hello?
They hung up before
I could put a tracer on it.
It was a warning to withdraw
all our planes and trucks
equipped with radium finders by 3:00.
Or else.
What do you mean "or else"?
He, or whatever it was, practically
threatened mass murder one hour later.
What did the voice sound like?
Sort of mechanical.
What do you think, Dr. Walker?
Could he, or they, or whatever these
creatures are, could they do this thing?
There's no definite knowledge
as to what they can or cannot do.
Then they must be stopped.
- How?
- Well...
Our only chance is to find their source.
But if we pull back all the planes and
trucks we'll never find the source.
Give into Buchanan now and there's
no telling what he'll ask for next.
You think they're bluffing, Chet?
They could be, but I doubt it.
Captain, alert the entire force. Put
every available officer on duty at 4:00.
I wonder just what they're trying to do.
We'll find out in two hours.
As Governor, I am declaring
a state of emergency.
All police facilities have been alerted
to protect us against any further crimes
by so-called atomic creatures.
The state militia will assist
in patrolling all traffic.
All scheduled transportation shall be
canceled until further notice.
If you must go outside,
have identification papers with you.
The radium-finding planes and trucks will
continue to operate
since this is our best hope of locating
the source of these beings.
Do not be alarmed as we are confident
we will soon pinpoint
the origin of these emanations.
All possible measures for your safety
are being taken...
I think we'd better dismantle the panel
right now and get out of here while we can.
Not till I'm finished.
There are two more yet, to say nothing
of that bright boy, Dr. Walker.
But you don't even know where
they have hidden Banning and Dunn.
Walker'd know.
- If we got him...
- Why, as a creature,
he would have no memory. You know that.
He's a cop, isn't he?
We can use him
to get the information for us.
Bring one of them out, right now.
Oh, hey, Dave, will you do me a favor
and take my car over to the lab?
Have one of the boys take
the Geiger counter out of the trunk.
- It needs a little adjustment.
- All right. You can drive mine home.
- Thanks.
- I'll bring it back in the morning.
Okay.
Hey, what's the big idea?
Identification.
Oh, yes. Of course. I forgot.
Franchot.
Hand me the scalpel.
I think we've made our first real mistake.
- A dangerous mistake.
- I don't think so.
What will you use Captain Harris for?
The same thing I was going
to use Walker for.
He's a cop, too, isn't he?
Get him in shape as fast as you can.
- Is he ready?
- Yes.
Let's take a look at him.
Come in.
Closer.
Stop.
Why doesn't he see us?
What's wrong?
Look at us.
See how the selen cells transmit the image
the creature sees on this screen?
And with him I have actually
succeeded in stimulating
the muscular impulse of the larynx
so that I can activate him to speak.
- With his own voice?
- Yes.
Let's hear it.
Make him say something to me.
What do you want him to say?
His name. And make him look at me.
Look at him.
Say, "My name is David Harris.
Captain Harris, Homicide Squad."
My name is David Harris.
Captain Harris, Homicide Squad.
Steigg, you may be a crackpot,
but you're also a genius.
I think we can finish up
all our unfinished business by tomorrow.
I'll go.
Penny! Ask who it is first.
Who is it?
I am Captain Harris, Homicide.
It's Uncle Dave.
Why so formal?
"I am Captain Harris, Homicide."
Hello, Uncle Dave.
Daddy isn't home.
He just left.
I'm baking a cake for Penny.
It's her birthday.
I'm seven today, going on eight.
Excuse me, will you? My
cake will be ruined.
Gosh, your hand is cold.
Sit down, Uncle Dave. I want you to see
what Mother got for Henrietta.
See? She got a new dress, panties,
socks and shoes.
Don't you think they're beautiful?
What's the matter, Uncle Dave?
Cat got your tongue?
Where is your father?
I don't know.
Ask your mother.
Mommy, Uncle Dave wants
to know where Daddy is.
He went to see Chief Camden, Dave.
Something about those two men involved
with Buchanan.
Those two you're keeping
in the county jail.
What are their names again, Dave?
You know who I'm talking about.
- Banning and Dunn.
- That's it.
You sound terrible, Dave.
Are you sure you feel well?
Penny, keep away from him.
He may be coming down with a cold.
Here. Hold Henrietta for me.
It's time to feed her.
Chet had a brainstorm this morning, Dave.
Something about giving out
phony information
as to where those two men were hidden.
He thinks Buchanan will send out
one of those creatures to kill them
and then you can capture him.
But he'll tell you all about that
when you see him.
Penny, what are you looking for?
Where's Henrietta's bottle?
Here is it.
Now please stay out of the kitchen.
I'm busy enough as it is.
Mommy!
Penny! Penny!
Mommy!
Penny, baby, what's the matter?
- Honey, what's the matter?
- It's my dolly!
I told you I'd make use of him.
They were going to trick you
with false information.
We're about to pull
a neat little trick ourselves.
Tell him to hurry up.
Faster. Faster.
Dr. Walker's trying to locate you, Captain.
He said to get in touch with him
immediately.
This is 13-F-1 calling from frequency two.
Inform Dr. Chet Walker that
Captain Harris is at the county jail.
KMA 3-6-7.
Oh, Captain Harris.
Glad to see you again.
Yeah. We're getting tired
of looking at one another.
How long do we have to stay holed up here?
Being with him is like being in solitary.
Well, if we can judge by the progress
the police are making,
we may as well resign ourselves
to spending the rest of our lives together.
That may not be as long as you think.
What's wrong, Captain?
Captain, you off your rocker?
I'm Frank Buchanan.
You're cracked! You ain't Buchanan.
You're Captain Harris.
I am Buchanan.
I told you I'd see you die.
Hi, Dave!
Joyce called me. Why in
the world did you...
Hey, Dave. Wait a minute. What's the rush?
We got Walker.
For Pete's sake, Dave. What's eating you?
Slow down, Dave.
Attention all cars.
Lester Banning and Tom Dunn found
murdered in county jail.
Police Captain David Harris, suspect.
Proceeding south with Dr. Chet Walker
in yellow convertible.
License number 27H4926.
Dave? Did they... Oh, no.
Proceeding south with Dr. Chet Walker
in yellow convertible.
License number 27H4926.
Smash up that car. Smash it up.
Did the car crash?
It must have.
Then both are dead.
Only one can die, Mr. Buchanan.
- Dr. Walker, you all right?
- Yeah.
Have Chief Camden rush a helicopter
to pick up Captain Harris
and take him to the city hospital.
Yes, sir.
And tell him to have Dr. Norton stand by.
Right.
Muscular movement extremely strong.
Extra-ocular reactions missing completely.
Reactions similar to those of animals
subjected to strong
amygdaloid stimulations.
Got that?
Thank you.
The X-rays of the skull.
These will bring us a few steps
closer to the solution.
Will you follow me to my office, please?
Doctor, stay here and let me know
should the patient's condition change.
Amazing.
What are the small protrusions
on end of the dark lines?
Electrodes.
As you see, they are grouped in patterns.
Every one is connected
with an amygdala circuit.
You used that word before.
What does it mean?
The small lobes projecting from
the underside of the cerebellum.
All our body movements
originate from there.
These nerves stimulate muscular impulses.
That's how the body gets
orders from the brain.
Muscular impulses?
The larynx is a muscle, isn't it?
We certainly move it
by muscular contraction.
That's why those creatures
are able to talk.
If the right stimulation activates
the amygdala circuit, they will speak.
There is no question about it.
But they're not aware
of what they're saying.
They are not aware of anything.
Those disks in front of the eyes
are selen cells.
What makes you think so?
Electric impulses produced by light.
They could very well be
transmitted back to...
Well, let me call it a receiving station.
What would that mean?
If the image on the retina
could be transmitted
then someone would be able to witness
whatever this creature is seeing on a screen.
But that's impossible.
- Look here.
- What is it?
You see? A few of the very fine wires
have been broken loose.
That's why the creature is impassive.
He's moving. He's trying to get away.
We can't get through to him.
See?
Some of the electrodes must have
been broken when he had that accident.
The oscillograph doesn't
register the impulse.
His eyes are open.
- Does he see us?
- I don't know.
Don't go closer in case the selen cells
can still transmit light images.
Maybe you can lead us to them, Dave.
Maybe you could...
it's just a hunch but I think he's trying
to return to his source of energy.
Look, see how he turns,
as if trying to find a certain direction?
Watch it!
Let him go. I'll follow him in
the helicopter that brought us.
Tell your men not to interfere
with Captain Harris if he takes a car,
-even a police car.
- Right.
Let's hope he leads us to the source
before his energy runs down completely.
Try to contact him.
If he has any energy left at all,
he will return to replenish it.
The radium in this tube, wherever he is,
this will attract him like a magnet.
Captain Harris leaving hospital area.
Patrol car 557 passed
First Street heading north. Over.
Camden! Come in, Camden!
- This is Camden.
- I can see 557.
Have your men keep out of his way.
He can only see what is
in front of him, clear?
- Over.
- Clear.
Over and out.
Take her down.
Fly about 500 yards behind 557.
Patrol car 557 passing Third Street area.
557 turned onto foothill proceeding south.
Caution them to follow and not interfere.
Will advise when 557 reaches destination.
Over.
Place located at end of Westholm
Boulevard. Notify all aid. Over and out.
Okay, set her down.
In a little while,
the police and soldiers will be here.
Come with me.
I've had enough bloodshed.
I will not let you commit any more.
Oh, yeah? Try and stop me.
A life of work.
But I'll destroy it first.
I'll bring up some incendiaries,
burn the place down.
No! There must be radium in there.
A fire would burn off
its protective lead shield.
Yes, once the radium is exposed,
the gamma rays might spread
over the entire city.
Then we can't even blow open
the door or the windows.
It would be too dangerous to try it
because of explosion.
Come in.
Come in.
Go out and kill them.
Kill them.
Look.
Good grief. Look at them.
Those are the bodies
that were stolen from the morgue.
Kill them. Kill them.
The bullets have to sever
the electrodes to stop them.
Incredible.
With the last ounce of energy remaining,
he's still trying to reach the source.
Are you all right?
Well, I wonder what we've got here.
Look at that,
a birthday present from Uncle Dave.
Isn't that pretty?
Oh, but isn't he coming?
No, no. I'm afraid he'll
have to be away for a while.
Why? I'm not mad at him anymore.
It's not that, Penny. it's business.
Look, Penny, why don't you name
your new dolly Henrietta the second?
No. I'm going to call her Dave.
Dave? Dave's a boy's name.
That's a girl doll you've got there.
I don't care.
I know.
I'll tell all my friends she's a tomboy.
Well, guess that ought to do it, huh?
All right, Penny.
See if you can blow these out now.
Here, Daddy, hold Dave for me.
All righty.
Take a deep breath now.
Get ready.
Come on, blow. Come on.
- There.
- Wonderful, Penny.
How was the take tonight?
Not bad, Mr. Hennessy.
- Almost 20 grand.
- Good.
Tell the boys I'll be with them
in a few minutes.
Mary, for deposit tomorrow.
142 one hundred-dollar bills,
100 fifty-dollar bills,
the rest five, 10...
I told you I'd come back.
Remember Buchanan?
Why, you're not Buchanan!
I don't look like him but I am him.
Don't you recognize the voice, Jim?
I promised to see you die and I will.
- Hey, boss, what's the matter?
- Hey, boss, let us in.
- Hey, boss, what's the matter?
- Hey, boss, let us in.
Hey, boss.
Come back home. Come back home.
Get in the automobile.
Get in the automobile.
The automobile.
Get inside!
Turn on the ignition.
Now, drive home.
He got hit when they shot at him.
He might not be able to make it.
If his brain is still receptive,
he can be directed.
Well, what if it isn't? What if their
bullets hit one of the brain electrodes?
As long as he has an ounce of liquid
in his veins, he will return home.
I've told you, these creatures automatically
try to return to their source of feeding
when their energies run low.
Well, your creature's helped us
get rid of the first one.
I'll see them all die before I'm through.
Oh, if I had only known when you first
offered to help me financially.
Dr. Steigg, if it weren't for my money,
you'd still be experimenting
with cats and dogs
in that flea-sized lab of yours in Europe.
I made it possible for you to prove
your theory with human beings.
That is true.
But my theory was to use these creatures
to help people live
by doing everything that was
difficult and dangerous.
You just want to see people die.
Not just people, Steigg. Particular people.
And I'll get them. Every
single one of them.
And after you do?
What?
There'll be nothing we can't do or have.
Nobody'll be able to stop us.
Can't you keep him going any longer?
No, I can't keep them breathing
longer than a few days,
then the glands deteriorate.
They just disintegrate.
Is he dead?
He never was alive.
Different parts of the body
die at different times.
My next problem is how to keep them
working as long as the heart is beating.
Does the brain still die first?
Always.
The brain always dies first.
- Why aren't you boys home in bed?
- Hello, Dr. Walker.
I gave him exactly $19,821.
All right, wait outside, will you, please?
- Oh, hello, Chet.
- D.A.
- Hi.
- Hi, Dave.
- What does it look like?
- Your guess is as good as mine.
- Robbery behind it?
- Yeah, it could be.
Yet whoever did it
left over 60 grand in the safe.
Maybe he didn't want
to get into a higher bracket.
Oh, brother.
How did he get it?
How didn't he get it?
The neck's been broken and also his spine.
Just by twisting it.
The murderer must have had
the strength of an ape.
Hennessy's guards saw him.
Said he looked like any other man.
Don't tell me he bent these bars?
That's what Hennessy's boys say.
The killer came in and got out that way.
Well, I'd hate to meet him on a dark night.
- Bullet holes, huh?
- Hennessy's boys shot at him.
Hit him, too. Look at the trail of blood.
We found some blood on the road.
You know, there's something screwy
about this whole thing.
He must've been hit bad
to lose that much blood,
yet he made it to his car and got away.
Well, whoever it was, was certainly
careless. These fingerprints are perfect.
- That's strange.
- What is?
Turn out the lights for a minute, will you?
- See it?
- Yeah.
The fingerprints are luminous.
Yes, and the footprints and the blood.
Turn on the lights again, huh?
What do you make of that?
I'm a district attorney, not a chemist.
Ask Chet.
- What about it, Chet?
- I wish I knew.
Let's take this back to the lab
and make a test on it.
I'll send the fingerprints to Washington.
Maybe they can trace them there.
- Don't let anyone in there.
- Have you any idea who did it?
- Was it robbery?
- What's the inside on this?
Got nothing to say now, boys.
Doctor, how did anybody break
through those bars in there?
Maybe he ate all his vitamins.
Vitamins?
Look, a diluted solution of hematin.
Two absorption bands between
the Fraunhofer lines.
Oh, cut the double-talk, Chet,
and break it down to plain English.
Take a look. This so-called blood
is a chemical composition.
It looks like a bunch of crystals to me.
Exactly. There are crystals
in that concoction.
Now, what do you mean "concoction"?
Here. I'll show you.
Adrenaline,
sodium hydroxide
and blood sugars.
Throws the beam to the right dextrose.
No hemoglobin traceable.
No hemoglobin? Then it isn't blood.
Right. Like I said before,
it's a chemical composition.
Here, I'll put it in the centrifuge
and we'll see what else it's made of.
Well, why is that stuff luminous?
That's right, why is it luminous, Chet?
Just as I thought.
This so-called blood is highly radioactive.
- Dangerously so?
- Plus nine.
Is that a lot?
Enough to kill a man
if he's exposed to it long enough.
Well, that's about all
we can do for tonight.
Let me know when you hear from
Washington on those fingerprints.
Well, what'd you find out?
Yeah, how about giving us
a lowdown on this?
Yeah, give us a lead, will you?
- You want the truth?
- Yeah.
All right, then, according to the evidence,
Hennessy was murdered by a creature
with atom rays of superhuman strength.
And a creature that cannot
be killed by bullets.
Creature?
You don't expect us to believe that?
- No.
- Big joke.
Just for that I'll misspell your name.
I don't blame them.
I don't believe it myself
and I was with you.
Dave. Come on in.
- Where's Chet?
- Sleeping.
Sleeping? At this hour?
Yes, at this hour. 7:30.
Well, don't blame me, Joyce.
I didn't ask him to be a cop.
Get him up, will you? it's important.
- Where's Penny?
- Having breakfast.
Uncle Dave.
Well, how's my little sweetheart
this morning, huh?
I feel fine, Uncle Dave.
There's some coffee in there, Dave.
Thanks, I can use it.
Well, Penny and me are going to have
a little tte--tte, aren't we, huh?
I never tasted a tte--tte before.
Chet.
Chet.
Chet, wake up.
Chet, not now!
- Name a better time.
- Dave's here.
Oh, he can wait till I kiss my wife.
Chet, he'll hear us.
So what? We're married.
But he's not.
Well, then let him find out
what he's missing.
Chet, he says it's important.
Important?
About that murder last night?
Yeah, must be.
You didn't tell me anything about it.
I don't believe in talking shop
when I'm home.
You'll probably read all about it anyway.
And when you do, you won't believe it.
I'll tell him you'll be right out.
Oh, this door sticks.
Remember, Mrs. Walker,
you had your chance.
Come on, open up.
Tell me a story first.
It's too early in the morning for stories.
I always tell a story to my dolly.
- Do you like her?
- Oh, I'm crazy about her.
- What's her name?
- Henrietta.
Henrietta?
I used to go with a girl named Henrietta.
What happened to her?
What happened to her
shouldn't happen to your doll.
She married a con man.
That's not the kind of
a story to tell kids.
- Hi, Penny.
- Hello, Daddy.
Hurry up, Penny. You'll be late for school.
Come on.
Atta girl. Goodbye now.
Goodbye, Daddy.
- Goodbye, Uncle Dave.
- Have fun, Penny.
That's the story of a cop's life.
"Hello, Daddy. Goodbye, Daddy."
What's up?
You'd better sit down first.
I just came from the Bureau.
They checked the murderer's fingerprints.
His name is Willard Pearce.
They let me have it from the files.
Petty theft, fraud, three months in prison,
tubercular...
How could a tubercular man have strength
enough to break those bars like that?
You think that's something?
Answer this one.
How could a dead man have strength
enough to do it?
Deceased?
Yeah, and I used to think
Scrabble was tough.
When did he die?
Well, according to that, 24 days ago.
Oh, that doesn't make sense.
You're the smart one.
If it doesn't make sense to you,
imagine how it sounds to me.
Have they got a file on this guy?
Yes, I copied it.
"Died of asphyxiation
on the 22nd of last month.
"Body delivered to the city morgue.
"Copy of coroner's report was attached."
Have you checked with the morgue?
I got two of the boys doing it now.
Does MacGraw know?
I called him at his home.
He told us to meet him at his office.
Hello.
Oh, yes, he's here.
For you, Dave.
Yes? Be right over.
Remember that cylinder we took
out of Hennessy's Dictaphone?
- Yeah.
- Like to hear it?
- Sure.
- Come on.
Bye, Penny.
- Now perhaps we can all relax for a little...
- Bye, honey.
- Call you later.
- Chet, you didn't have breakfast.
- Nope.
- Chet, it's not healthy to...
Goodbye, Joyce.
What are you doing in here?
I'm from Buchanan.
If you know that, you know why I'm here.
It's no use, MacGraw.
I said I would live to see you die.
I am watching you now.
Come back home. Come home.
Come back home.
Mary, for deposit tomorrow.
142 one hundred-dollar bills,
100 fifty-dollar bills,
the rest five, 10...
I told you I'd come back.
That's when the Dictaphone was
knocked out of his hand or he dropped it.
Anyone recognize that voice?
I do and I don't.
I just got a feeling that
I've heard it before.
Well, it'd be hard to place it anyway,
but the killer's voice sounded
more mechanical than Hennessy's.
- Did you notice it?
- Yes, it's like a...
Like a recording of a recording.
"I told you I'd come back."
Not much to tie onto there.
Well, could've been some big loser
who swore to get even
or some gambler he rousted around.
Anyone and anything.
Anyway, there's no doubt that he bent
the bars and came in through the window.
We could hear the sound
of the glass crashing.
Listen, MacGraw must be
waiting for us now.
Yeah.
Oh, but if that's the D.A.,
tell him we're on the way up.
Hello. Yeah.
MacGraw?
MacGraw was found in his garage,
murdered.
I'll meet you down there.
I want to pick up some equipment first.
Okay.
Looks like the same job
pulled on Hennessy.
- Did you find any prints?
- Plenty.
I asked the Bureau to call me here
as soon as they get a line on them.
- How long has he been dead?
- About an hour.
It must have happened just as he was
getting ready to go to the office.
Who found him?
His wife. She's in the house now.
I had to give her a sedative.
Take him away, boys.
Captain Harris, I can't figure this one.
His jaw's broken. Neck, too.
It wasn't a weapon.
The bruises look to me
as though they'd been done by a fist.
But MacGraw was a husky guy.
I've never seen a case where a man's neck
was broken by the sheer force of a grip.
Why should anyone want to kill MacGraw?
Well, he was a district attorney.
A lot of guys must have hated his guts.
MacGraw's enemies were usually
friends of Hennessy's,
and yet they were both killed
in the same way and by the same person
or thing.
Thing?
How about a statement, Captain Harris?
About time we had something official.
As soon as we have
something to say, we'll say it.
Do you tie up MacGraw's murder
with the Hennessy murder?
Not until we know more about it.
You're wanted on the phone, Captain.
It's in the house.
Geiger counter?
I want to check the car
for radioactive emanations.
Emanations?
Say, Dr. Walker, didn't you find
radioactivity in the Hennessy killing?
Well, then that would connect
the two murders, wouldn't it?
Well, yes and no.
It's not a conclusive fact.
Just an approach.
That story you gave us last night
about a creature charged with atom rays,
-it's on the level then, huh?
- I told you it was.
Hey, we had a scoop and didn't know it.
Let's get out of here.
It was the Bureau.
The prints belong to a Vernon Dunn.
He died a few weeks ago.
And that's not all. Get this.
The boys just checked the morgue.
Eight bodies have disappeared.
Call the inspector and tell him I want
to talk to him as soon as possible.
And ask him to have the Mayor there
and the commanding general
of this military area.
General?
We're going to need all the cooperation
we can get on this one.
How do you do, ladies and gentlemen?
This is Dick Cutting
with today's commentary on the news.
Well, as you know, today's big story
hinges around the killing
of District Attorney MacGraw,
whose body was found today in his garage,
murdered in much the same manner
as Hennessy was.
What connection the murder of MacGraw
can possibly have with Hennessy,
a gangland boss,
is unknown at present.
Dr. Chet Walker of the police laboratory
has given out a fantastic story,
so incredible that one can
lend it little credence.
Dr. Walker is of the opinion those crimes
are being perpetrated by dead men.
Yes, I said dead men,
restored to life in some unknown manner
by being charged with atom rays,
which give them superhuman strength
and makes them impervious to bullets.
Well, if you want to believe that story,
you can...
This Walker must be a pretty smart cookie.
He has imagination.
The kind of imagination
that may prove dangerous to us.
You mean the kind of imagination
that could prove dangerous to him.
About time to feed them, isn't it?
Hello, Walker. Captain. Mayor Bremer.
General Saunders.
This is Captain Harris and Dr. Walker.
Walker's in charge of our lab.
I hope, Dr. Walker,
you've called us here to assure us
the stories about dead men walking
our streets is only a hoax.
I wish they were.
What did you find out about those bodies
stolen from the morgue?
Well, according to the records,
they were to be cremated.
They were placed in coffins
and delivered to the city crematory.
May I ask how this concerns me?
You can be of great help to us, General,
as I'll explain in a moment.
But first, I'd like to give you and the
Mayor a picture of what's been taking place
so that you can understand exactly
what we're up against.
Couldn't those bodies have been stolen
by some of those creatures
on or before arrival?
Well, they could've. But that wouldn't
explain them coming back to life.
What makes you so sure they were alive?
What makes me so... Well, they were
walking around, weren't they?
It says you found fingerprints.
You yourself said those dead people
committed the crimes!
Yes, those are the facts.
But I'm afraid we'll have to depart
from our usual approach
to get anywhere on this case.
I wish, Dr. Walker,
you'd make yourself a little clearer.
Well, let me give you
a very primitive example.
Do you remember Faraday's experiment
with a frog's leg?
I flunked Chemistry One three times.
I remember Faraday's experiment.
Good. Then you'll remember
that Faraday applied energy,
in that case electricity, to the leg
which had been severed from its body.
It moved.
Frog legs. I don't see the parallel.
People of that day wouldn't believe
that the leg of a dead animal could move,
but Faraday proved it.
We know why.
Yes, now we know why
and take our knowledge for granted.
In our case, which is as mysterious to us
as Faraday's was in his time,
we found traces of energy.
Energy which would increase
the strength of any animal tremendously.
Radioactivity.
Well, you've lost me.
All right, Chet. What
you're trying to do now
is throw away everything we've learned
so far about life and death
and start from scratch.
And just how do you propose to do this?
Well, we have certain clues.
One very definite one.
In both of the murders,
radioactive emanations were found.
Now that's where you come in, General.
We'll have to find the source
of these emanations.
Now I want to use Air Force planes
and trucks equipped with instruments
which can track down that source.
I'll see that you get the trucks
and I'll call Colonel Roberts
at Monroe Air Force Base about the planes.
He'll give you all the
cooperation you need.
We'd certainly appreciate that.
Tell him I'll be down to talk to him at,
say, 3:00.
Goodbye, Dr. Walker. Good day, gentlemen.
Of all things to happen
under my administration.
Keep me posted on this.
And suppose we do find the source?
Then we'll be able to find the cause.
That car in front. Get it. Wreck it.
Drive into it.
What's he doing at the airfield?
Better wait and find out.
It may concern us.
Come back!
Stop.
It's you!
Well, who did you think it was?
Don't tell me strangers
are in the habit of...
I was wondering
if you'd be home in time for dinner.
That's not true, Chet.
Is it?
Better hide it from Penny.
- But how can I hide a thing like...
- Please, Joyce.
I'm tired and I'm hungry and I'm...
Frankly, I don't know how.
I don't know any more about it
than it says right there.
Look, how are we fixed
for a nice, cold martini?
Coming right up, Chet.
Penny's outside playing.
Well, what about it?
Well, is it safe?
There seems to be some sort
of a definite pattern.
Can't put my finger on it,
but I do know that Hennessy and MacGraw
were killed for a reason.
Well, it's all right then?
Well, for a while.
I don't think they've gotten around
to indiscriminate killings yet.
Yet?
- Hi, Daddy.
- Hi, Penny.
Where's the paper, Mommy?
I want to read the funnies.
Oh, it didn't come today, dear.
Oh, then I'll put on the TV.
- No, Penny.
- It's broken, Penny.
We'll have to have a man over to fix it.
Yeah.
Look, why don't you play with Henrietta?
She's a bad girl and I'm punishing her.
Well, did you spank her?
I put her in her bed and told her
she can't look at TV all week.
You're a tough one, you are.
Thanks, honey.
I've been looking forward to this all day.
I'll go.
Hello, Uncle Dave.
Hi, Penny. How are you?
Oh, it's you.
Oh, you don't seem
particularly happy to see me.
There comes a time in every woman's life
when she'd like to be alone
with her husband,
if only for a few minutes.
How come you never got married,
Uncle Dave?
He'd be a bigamist, Penny.
He's already married to your father.
- Want a drink, Dave?
- No, not while I'm on duty.
Well, I'm not on duty.
You will be when you hear
what I've got to tell you.
Penny, will you please go to your room?
Why? I didn't do anything.
I know, dear. it's just that Daddy
and Uncle Dave want to be alone.
I won't bother them.
Go to your room this minute, Penny.
All right. But I always let you listen
when I talk to Henrietta.
Okay, let's have it.
Look, I'm not a child.
And this is my house.
You're not going to put me out of it.
The only time my wife talks
is when I'm ready to go to sleep.
All right. I'll get dinner.
Remember you said this morning
that you were thrown
because Hennessy and MacGraw
were both killed
in the same way and by the same thing
yet they were always on opposite sides
of the fence?
- Yeah, what about it?
- Well, that worried me, too.
So I checked back on both of them
and found that they were on the same side
of the fence, once.
- Well, when was that?
- About 10 years ago
when you first came into the police lab.
Hennessy and MacGraw helped
convict Frank Buchanan.
Buchanan.
The name rings a bell, but not too clearly.
Buchanan was a top mobster
around these parts.
He practically ran the city.
When MacGraw became D.A.
he took out after him.
Well, where does Hennessy come in?
Well, Hennessy was Buchanan's
number-two man.
He wanted the number-one slot,
so he turned on him.
Oh, yeah.
I remember something about it now.
Wasn't Buchanan shipped off to Europe?
That's right.
He got five years and deportation.
I don't get the connection.
Listen to this.
I got it out of the newspaper files.
"No sooner was sentence pronounced
"than Buchanan leaped to his feet,
screaming to MacGraw,
"'I'll get you for this.
You and everyone who squealed on me.
"'I'll come back and see you die,
every single one of you!"' Get it?
That voice on the Dictaphone.
"I told you I'd come back."
That's right.
That's the first thing I thought of, too.
- Yeah.
- But you just said he was deported.
I'm not saying it's him, but it's a lead.
It's the only connecting link
I could come up with,
why any guy should want to kill both
MacGraw and Hennessy.
Did you check with the authorities
over there?
Well, I cabled them and
just got this answer.
"Frank Buchanan, resided in Rome.
Via Lucullo, Number 11.
"House vacated.
Left no forwarding address."
Well, he could still be anywhere in Europe.
Well, I cabled the chief of police in Rome.
Asked him to investigate further and
cable me as soon as he had a line on him.
Were there any others who helped
convict Buchanan?
Two others who were in with him
and the fellow who was the Assistant
District Attorney, Lester Banning.
He's now in private practice.
Think they should be warned?
I'm having the boys round them up now.
They should be in my office any minute.
Well, let's go.
What about dinner?
Oh, keep it warm, honey.
I'll be back in an hour or two.
- Sorry, Joyce.
- I'll bet you are.
One for the road?
Oh, not now, dear. I'm back on duty.
- Oh, nice to see you, Mr. Banning.
- Thank you, Captain.
This is Dr. Walker, head of our crime lab.
- Doctor.
- Banning.
And this is Jason Franchot.
He used to be Buchanan's accountant.
And Dunn here used to be his gunsel.
- I don't like that word.
- Paid killer. Like it better?
Look, I've been traveling straight
and I don't know what
I was brought here for, but it's a bum rap.
I want to see a lawyer.
Now tell me, Captain,
what's this all about?
I called you here to warn you
that your lives may be in danger.
Is Buchanan back?
What makes you say that?
First Hennessy then MacGraw.
He said he'd get us.
But I didn't know he was back
in the country.
His sentence wasn't changed.
How could he be back?
If he's in this country,
he's here illegally.
Now if you take my advice,
you'll all go to jail for protection
and stay there
until we can find out whether it's Buchanan
or not who's behind all this.
Not me. I worked too
hard to get out of jail.
- It's for your own good.
- Think my wife would believe that?
She'd think I went back to packing a rod.
What about you?
I have a good business now.
Tax auditor, public accountant.
If I went to jail,
my reputation would be ruined.
I don't think it's necessary, Captain.
Particularly since there's no proof
that Buchanan is back in this country.
All right. But I am going to give you
protection 24 hours a day
no matter where you are. Got that, Tom?
- Right.
- Have some of the boys drive them home.
Now if an attempt is made to get any
one of them next then we'll know for sure.
It'll complete the pattern.
It's the hard way to find out.
This is from the chief of police in Rome.
"Attention, Captain David Harris."
"...in lab operation,
who also has disappeared.
"If find any additional information,
will advise.
"Rome Chief of Police."
Dogs, cats, monkeys.
That's the way experimentation
usually starts.
Starts?
It's only one step from animals
to human beings.
Captain Harris sent me to relieve you.
A little early, but why complain?
And with the murder of Jason Franchot
last night I must apologize
for my recent skepticism regarding
these radioactive creatures.
It seems they do exist
and they are prowling the street.
Police Chief Camden assures us
that they are doing everything in their
power to get to the source of these beings.
With the cooperation of the military,
planes and helicopters equipped
with radium finders are now overhead,
and strange-looking trucks
similarly equipped
are now at this moment prowling through
the streets of our city
to track them down.
Excuse me, please.
A glass of beer, please.
Thank you.
Hey, you forgot your change.
This is a sawbuck.
Two bits in the till, $9.75 in my pocket.
Now that's what I call a tip.
You from Water and Power?
Five point two.
What's this all about anyway?
I'm probing for radioactivity.
Is there uranium around here?
I'm going to call my lawyer
and find out if I own the mineral rights.
- Who was sitting here?
- Search me.
He went out the back way.
- Do you know who he is?
- Never saw him before.
Hey! Don't wash that glass.
He never washes them anyway.
He leave anything else here?
No.
Just this.
This 10-spot hot?
Hotter than you think.
This is an international who's who
of the medical profession.
Here's what it says.
"Wilhelm Steigg,
born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1893.
"University of Berlin, Zurich, Milan.
"1948 Harman Prize for
his research in amygdala stimuli."
Amygdala stimuli, what's that?
Ultra-short wave stimulations
to specific parts of the brain,
producing involuntary movements
of the body.
- That's highly specialized stuff.
- Yeah.
A number of stories have been published
about amygdala stimulation of monkeys.
Here's one of them.
Appropriations have been made
for research and development,
and there's a doctor in Madrid
who's made great advances
since this article was published.
Have you been conducting any experiments
here at the hospital?
No. But I have a short film
that I told you about.
Would you like me to run it?
- I'd appreciate it.
- Fine.
Draw the curtains, will you?
This animal looks content, doesn't it?
You wouldn't suspect that it has
18 electrodes inserted in its skull.
Turning this switch releases
a small amount of ultra-short waves.
Those electrodes are tuned to
specific frequencies.
As long as the impulse is released,
the dog barks.
By applying another impulse
of different frequency,
the dog immediately falls asleep.
It will lie there
as long as the stimulus is active.
Another impulse will make it vicious.
Docile.
Hunger can be induced.
Or it can be made to resent its food.
Amygdala stimulations,
somatomotor and visceromotor effects.
Does this demonstration
satisfy your curiosity?
Almost.
Try my special mixture.
Thanks.
This experiment was done on live animals.
Of course.
Do you think it could be applied
to dead ones?
Dead ones?
Offhand, I'd say no.
The command impulse is so small,
less than a millionth of a watt,
that only the animal's body energies
could supply the reactions.
If you could replace the body energy
from an outside source,
say, with radioactive energies,
do you think you'd get the same results?
Well, your question is much too abstract
to be answered at this moment, Dr. Walker.
Do you think an experiment on humans
would have the same result as on animals?
We haven't arrived at that stage
of our experiment, yet.
Could it be possible
that somebody else has tried
and already succeeded?
Are you trying to connect the experiments
with animals
with mysterious events of our city?
It would answer the riddle, wouldn't it?
Remote-controlled creatures,
their brains powered by atomic energy,
roaming the streets,
directed from a central point.
Utterly fantastic.
Yes? Yes, he's here.
It's for you, Doctor.
Yes? Oh, yes, Dave.
Send the glass and that bill
over to the lab at once.
That bird must be radiating in the dark.
I don't understand how he can stay alive
with all that radium
poisoning in his system.
German accent, huh?
Better have them search every house
within a 10-block radius.
Letting them get that close to you.
What did you ever leave here for?
The pain,
the pain in my hand was killing me.
If I hadn't gotten some medicine
to relieve it, I would have gone crazy.
From now on just hide in here.
With the walls and the shutters leaded,
they'll never find us.
I'm not so sure.
Those creatures,
they leave radioactive traces.
Sooner or later they will be picked up.
The planes, how low they're flying.
Oh, I think it was a mistake not to get rid
of that Walker when we had the chance.
It's a mistake we can remedy easily enough.
I'll stop them.
I'll make them ground every plane
and pull out every truck looking for us.
Go in there and fix up that stoolie.
I want to send one of them out.
And you feel certain it's Buchanan
who's behind all this?
For my money, it is.
Killing Franchot completed the pattern.
What about those other two,
Banning and whatever his name is?
Who, Dunn? We put them in the county jail.
They'll be safe there.
It's the first time that gunsel
ever begged to be put into jail.
He was scared stiff.
He isn't the only one.
- Yes?
- Call for you, sir. Personal.
The party says it's important.
Hello. Yes, this is Chief Camden.
You will stop all planes and trucks
searching for radioactivity.
I will give you until 3:00 this afternoon
to do this.
If you do not, many people will be killed
exactly one hour later.
Who is this? Who is this?
There will be no other warning.
Hello? Hello? Hello?
They hung up before
I could put a tracer on it.
It was a warning to withdraw
all our planes and trucks
equipped with radium finders by 3:00.
Or else.
What do you mean "or else"?
He, or whatever it was, practically
threatened mass murder one hour later.
What did the voice sound like?
Sort of mechanical.
What do you think, Dr. Walker?
Could he, or they, or whatever these
creatures are, could they do this thing?
There's no definite knowledge
as to what they can or cannot do.
Then they must be stopped.
- How?
- Well...
Our only chance is to find their source.
But if we pull back all the planes and
trucks we'll never find the source.
Give into Buchanan now and there's
no telling what he'll ask for next.
You think they're bluffing, Chet?
They could be, but I doubt it.
Captain, alert the entire force. Put
every available officer on duty at 4:00.
I wonder just what they're trying to do.
We'll find out in two hours.
As Governor, I am declaring
a state of emergency.
All police facilities have been alerted
to protect us against any further crimes
by so-called atomic creatures.
The state militia will assist
in patrolling all traffic.
All scheduled transportation shall be
canceled until further notice.
If you must go outside,
have identification papers with you.
The radium-finding planes and trucks will
continue to operate
since this is our best hope of locating
the source of these beings.
Do not be alarmed as we are confident
we will soon pinpoint
the origin of these emanations.
All possible measures for your safety
are being taken...
I think we'd better dismantle the panel
right now and get out of here while we can.
Not till I'm finished.
There are two more yet, to say nothing
of that bright boy, Dr. Walker.
But you don't even know where
they have hidden Banning and Dunn.
Walker'd know.
- If we got him...
- Why, as a creature,
he would have no memory. You know that.
He's a cop, isn't he?
We can use him
to get the information for us.
Bring one of them out, right now.
Oh, hey, Dave, will you do me a favor
and take my car over to the lab?
Have one of the boys take
the Geiger counter out of the trunk.
- It needs a little adjustment.
- All right. You can drive mine home.
- Thanks.
- I'll bring it back in the morning.
Okay.
Hey, what's the big idea?
Identification.
Oh, yes. Of course. I forgot.
Franchot.
Hand me the scalpel.
I think we've made our first real mistake.
- A dangerous mistake.
- I don't think so.
What will you use Captain Harris for?
The same thing I was going
to use Walker for.
He's a cop, too, isn't he?
Get him in shape as fast as you can.
- Is he ready?
- Yes.
Let's take a look at him.
Come in.
Closer.
Stop.
Why doesn't he see us?
What's wrong?
Look at us.
See how the selen cells transmit the image
the creature sees on this screen?
And with him I have actually
succeeded in stimulating
the muscular impulse of the larynx
so that I can activate him to speak.
- With his own voice?
- Yes.
Let's hear it.
Make him say something to me.
What do you want him to say?
His name. And make him look at me.
Look at him.
Say, "My name is David Harris.
Captain Harris, Homicide Squad."
My name is David Harris.
Captain Harris, Homicide Squad.
Steigg, you may be a crackpot,
but you're also a genius.
I think we can finish up
all our unfinished business by tomorrow.
I'll go.
Penny! Ask who it is first.
Who is it?
I am Captain Harris, Homicide.
It's Uncle Dave.
Why so formal?
"I am Captain Harris, Homicide."
Hello, Uncle Dave.
Daddy isn't home.
He just left.
I'm baking a cake for Penny.
It's her birthday.
I'm seven today, going on eight.
Excuse me, will you? My
cake will be ruined.
Gosh, your hand is cold.
Sit down, Uncle Dave. I want you to see
what Mother got for Henrietta.
See? She got a new dress, panties,
socks and shoes.
Don't you think they're beautiful?
What's the matter, Uncle Dave?
Cat got your tongue?
Where is your father?
I don't know.
Ask your mother.
Mommy, Uncle Dave wants
to know where Daddy is.
He went to see Chief Camden, Dave.
Something about those two men involved
with Buchanan.
Those two you're keeping
in the county jail.
What are their names again, Dave?
You know who I'm talking about.
- Banning and Dunn.
- That's it.
You sound terrible, Dave.
Are you sure you feel well?
Penny, keep away from him.
He may be coming down with a cold.
Here. Hold Henrietta for me.
It's time to feed her.
Chet had a brainstorm this morning, Dave.
Something about giving out
phony information
as to where those two men were hidden.
He thinks Buchanan will send out
one of those creatures to kill them
and then you can capture him.
But he'll tell you all about that
when you see him.
Penny, what are you looking for?
Where's Henrietta's bottle?
Here is it.
Now please stay out of the kitchen.
I'm busy enough as it is.
Mommy!
Penny! Penny!
Mommy!
Penny, baby, what's the matter?
- Honey, what's the matter?
- It's my dolly!
I told you I'd make use of him.
They were going to trick you
with false information.
We're about to pull
a neat little trick ourselves.
Tell him to hurry up.
Faster. Faster.
Dr. Walker's trying to locate you, Captain.
He said to get in touch with him
immediately.
This is 13-F-1 calling from frequency two.
Inform Dr. Chet Walker that
Captain Harris is at the county jail.
KMA 3-6-7.
Oh, Captain Harris.
Glad to see you again.
Yeah. We're getting tired
of looking at one another.
How long do we have to stay holed up here?
Being with him is like being in solitary.
Well, if we can judge by the progress
the police are making,
we may as well resign ourselves
to spending the rest of our lives together.
That may not be as long as you think.
What's wrong, Captain?
Captain, you off your rocker?
I'm Frank Buchanan.
You're cracked! You ain't Buchanan.
You're Captain Harris.
I am Buchanan.
I told you I'd see you die.
Hi, Dave!
Joyce called me. Why in
the world did you...
Hey, Dave. Wait a minute. What's the rush?
We got Walker.
For Pete's sake, Dave. What's eating you?
Slow down, Dave.
Attention all cars.
Lester Banning and Tom Dunn found
murdered in county jail.
Police Captain David Harris, suspect.
Proceeding south with Dr. Chet Walker
in yellow convertible.
License number 27H4926.
Dave? Did they... Oh, no.
Proceeding south with Dr. Chet Walker
in yellow convertible.
License number 27H4926.
Smash up that car. Smash it up.
Did the car crash?
It must have.
Then both are dead.
Only one can die, Mr. Buchanan.
- Dr. Walker, you all right?
- Yeah.
Have Chief Camden rush a helicopter
to pick up Captain Harris
and take him to the city hospital.
Yes, sir.
And tell him to have Dr. Norton stand by.
Right.
Muscular movement extremely strong.
Extra-ocular reactions missing completely.
Reactions similar to those of animals
subjected to strong
amygdaloid stimulations.
Got that?
Thank you.
The X-rays of the skull.
These will bring us a few steps
closer to the solution.
Will you follow me to my office, please?
Doctor, stay here and let me know
should the patient's condition change.
Amazing.
What are the small protrusions
on end of the dark lines?
Electrodes.
As you see, they are grouped in patterns.
Every one is connected
with an amygdala circuit.
You used that word before.
What does it mean?
The small lobes projecting from
the underside of the cerebellum.
All our body movements
originate from there.
These nerves stimulate muscular impulses.
That's how the body gets
orders from the brain.
Muscular impulses?
The larynx is a muscle, isn't it?
We certainly move it
by muscular contraction.
That's why those creatures
are able to talk.
If the right stimulation activates
the amygdala circuit, they will speak.
There is no question about it.
But they're not aware
of what they're saying.
They are not aware of anything.
Those disks in front of the eyes
are selen cells.
What makes you think so?
Electric impulses produced by light.
They could very well be
transmitted back to...
Well, let me call it a receiving station.
What would that mean?
If the image on the retina
could be transmitted
then someone would be able to witness
whatever this creature is seeing on a screen.
But that's impossible.
- Look here.
- What is it?
You see? A few of the very fine wires
have been broken loose.
That's why the creature is impassive.
He's moving. He's trying to get away.
We can't get through to him.
See?
Some of the electrodes must have
been broken when he had that accident.
The oscillograph doesn't
register the impulse.
His eyes are open.
- Does he see us?
- I don't know.
Don't go closer in case the selen cells
can still transmit light images.
Maybe you can lead us to them, Dave.
Maybe you could...
it's just a hunch but I think he's trying
to return to his source of energy.
Look, see how he turns,
as if trying to find a certain direction?
Watch it!
Let him go. I'll follow him in
the helicopter that brought us.
Tell your men not to interfere
with Captain Harris if he takes a car,
-even a police car.
- Right.
Let's hope he leads us to the source
before his energy runs down completely.
Try to contact him.
If he has any energy left at all,
he will return to replenish it.
The radium in this tube, wherever he is,
this will attract him like a magnet.
Captain Harris leaving hospital area.
Patrol car 557 passed
First Street heading north. Over.
Camden! Come in, Camden!
- This is Camden.
- I can see 557.
Have your men keep out of his way.
He can only see what is
in front of him, clear?
- Over.
- Clear.
Over and out.
Take her down.
Fly about 500 yards behind 557.
Patrol car 557 passing Third Street area.
557 turned onto foothill proceeding south.
Caution them to follow and not interfere.
Will advise when 557 reaches destination.
Over.
Place located at end of Westholm
Boulevard. Notify all aid. Over and out.
Okay, set her down.
In a little while,
the police and soldiers will be here.
Come with me.
I've had enough bloodshed.
I will not let you commit any more.
Oh, yeah? Try and stop me.
A life of work.
But I'll destroy it first.
I'll bring up some incendiaries,
burn the place down.
No! There must be radium in there.
A fire would burn off
its protective lead shield.
Yes, once the radium is exposed,
the gamma rays might spread
over the entire city.
Then we can't even blow open
the door or the windows.
It would be too dangerous to try it
because of explosion.
Come in.
Come in.
Go out and kill them.
Kill them.
Look.
Good grief. Look at them.
Those are the bodies
that were stolen from the morgue.
Kill them. Kill them.
The bullets have to sever
the electrodes to stop them.
Incredible.
With the last ounce of energy remaining,
he's still trying to reach the source.
Are you all right?
Well, I wonder what we've got here.
Look at that,
a birthday present from Uncle Dave.
Isn't that pretty?
Oh, but isn't he coming?
No, no. I'm afraid he'll
have to be away for a while.
Why? I'm not mad at him anymore.
It's not that, Penny. it's business.
Look, Penny, why don't you name
your new dolly Henrietta the second?
No. I'm going to call her Dave.
Dave? Dave's a boy's name.
That's a girl doll you've got there.
I don't care.
I know.
I'll tell all my friends she's a tomboy.
Well, guess that ought to do it, huh?
All right, Penny.
See if you can blow these out now.
Here, Daddy, hold Dave for me.
All righty.
Take a deep breath now.
Get ready.
Come on, blow. Come on.
- There.
- Wonderful, Penny.