Doctor X (1932) Movie Script
Are you bad luck!
Hiya, Doctor.
Hiya, babe.
- Hey, where are you going?
- Inside, inside.
No, you ain't.
Only stiffs go in there tonight.
- No kidding.
- No kidding.
- What's keeping you out?
- I'm... What?
- Listen, we're pals, ain't we?
- Yeah.
Get a flash of that.
Yeah, well,
it won't do you any good tonight.
Now, look, I got me orders.
Nobody's going in there,
and that goes for you
newspaper guys, too. Now...
Sergeant, all I want to do
is identify a body.
Now, look, walk down the street, because
somebody might think I know you.
- Go ahead.
- That's an idea. Bones.
- Hello, Dee.
- Hello.
- Say, say, what's the hurry, big boy?
- I just want to use your telephone.
Oh, yeah? Well, there's one
down at the corner drugstore.
Listen, I haven't got time.
Will you be a sport? Come on, act natural.
All right, but step on it.
This is no telephone exchange.
Haven't I...
Say, didn't I meet you in Havana?
Yes... What?
Hello, World?
Give me the night desk, please. Yeah.
Willard Keefe. Yeah, this is Lee Taylor.
I'm down at the Mott Street Morgue.
Just now they bring in the body
of an old scrubwoman
murdered under very
peculiar circumstances.
No, they won't let me see it.
I can't get any dope. Police...
Very good. I say very... What?
I say I can't get any dope on it.
Police orders.
Just now, Stevens, O'Halloran
and a guy named Dr. Xavier arrived.
- Something's doing.
- Yeah, I've heard that one, too.
Listen, you lunkhead, I'm not clowning.
Look out the window, will you?
- What do you mean, the moon?
- Certainly I mean the moon.
I'm laying 10 bucks to a dime
it's another Moon Killer murder.
Well, that's different.
Now, listen, Lee, stick right on it.
Fine.
I thought I...
Oh, Rachmaninoff.
How about the Prelude, huh?
Hey, Mike, just a minute. Please!
Hello, Mike. Hey, listen,
what's going on across the street tonight?
I don't know a thing, Lee.
I'm walking my beat
and minding my own business.
- Well, have you got a cigarette?
- I never use them.
Here, smoke this. Paddy, the bartender
down at the corner, gave it to me.
- Oh, much obliged, Mike. Thanks!
- Yeah, no problem.
- Good gracious! What you got there?
- Nothing, just a little handshake buzzer.
You see,
fits right in the palm of your hand.
You wind it up like that, and it discourages
these professional handshakers.
I ought to have one on each hand
for my beat here.
- Well, I gotta be going now. Goodbye.
- So long.
I forgot all about that thing.
Don't ever bring any of those darned tricks
around here again.
What's your theory, Doctor?
Strangulation by
terrifically powerful hands.
You will notice how deeply the thumbs
are embedded in the sternocleidomastoid.
And what do you think of this incision
at the base of the brain?
Obviously made by some type of scalpel
used for brain dissecting.
But it's peculiar that this left deltoid
muscle should be missing.
- It's been torn right out.
- Gentlemen, it wasn't torn.
This is cannibalism.
- This portion of the body was...
- Impossible!
There's no doubt about it.
Thank you, Doctor.
I appreciate your professional opinion.
I'm only too happy to be of any service
to you, gentlemen.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I have rather an important experiment
in progress
that demands my attention
every few hours.
I hardly think I can be
of any further use to you,
so if you don't mind, I'm very, very sorry,
but I'll say good night.
Just a moment, Doctor, if you don't mind.
One thing more.
- Very well, sir.
- Yes, what?
Now, look here, Doctor,
this is the sixth murder
in the same number of months,
all committed in the full of the moon
with no apparent motive,
by means of strangulation and an incision
with a strange surgical knife.
- Yes, it is peculiar, isn't it?
- Most peculiar.
- What's your theory of the killer, Doctor?
- A neurotic, of course.
- Some poor devil suffering from a fixation.
- Fixation? What do you mean?
A knot or kink tied to the brain
by some past experience.
A madness that comes
only at certain times
when the killer is brought in direct contact
with some vivid reminder of the past.
- It's hard to believe that.
- Yes, for a policeman, I suppose it is.
But I tell you that locked in each
human skull is a little world, all its own.
Yes, well, what would these reminders be,
for instance?
Anything. The sight of the sea,
the full moon. Anything.
The poor devil, sane at all other times,
is forced to live over the scene
of the action that first drove him mad.
Very interesting.
Particularly in view of the fact
that all these murders
occur in the vicinity
of your medical academy.
Are you implying that someone
in my academy could have done this?
- I am convinced of it.
- This is preposterous!
I'm familiar with the character
of every student and professor,
and they're all men
of the highest integrity.
There are other academies in the state...
But they don't have that kind of knives.
The surgical supply house swear
they import them from Vienna
especially for your institute.
It's the only place in the country
that they're used.
Commissioner Stevens,
if you jump at a hasty conclusion like this,
you'll ruin the integrity
of an institution that has one of the finest
reputations in the world.
I'm sorry, Doctor,
but I have to start an investigation.
I tell you this first,
because I'm hoping for your cooperation.
Naturally, I shall do everything
to protect your institution.
- But the newspapers, the publicity.
- Don't worry about them.
We don't want publicity
any more than you do.
If my academy is under suspicion,
give me a chance to conduct
an investigation of my own first.
Surely, with our knowledge
of the human brain,
- we have every facility to catch a madman.
- How would you proceed?
By immediately studying
the pathological reactions
of every man placed under suspicion.
Then trap the guilty one
by a brain examination.
May I examine the records
of your students and faculty?
Why, assuredly, assuredly. You can come
to my office now, if you wish.
But, I beg of you, no publicity, please.
- No, don't worry.
- Please.
Not one newspaper in the country
shall hear of this
until you've had every opportunity
to clear your academy of suspicion.
Thank you. Thank you.
I appreciate your gesture.
What is it? What do you want?
- Father!
- Oh, it's you, Joanne.
What is it, dear?
Nothing. I just came in here
to say good night to you.
Father, what are you doing in here
in the dark? You frightened me.
I'm sorry, Joanne.
I just came here to get those records.
It's late. You're looking very tired, darling.
You're only heading
for a nervous breakdown unless...
That moon, mixed with this other light,
it's too ghastly.
Father, you worry me.
You promised me you'd take a rest.
Lately you've been so...
No, my dear, I'm all right.
Just a little nervous, that's all.
Now, I have some gentlemen
next door in the office.
- You run along. I'll be through shortly.
- But, Father...
Now, Joanne, please.
This is very important.
Good night.
But, really, gentlemen,
this investigation is useless.
The academy is closed.
The students are away on their vacations.
It surely isn't wise
to spend your time on this.
What's that?
Probably Professor Wells.
He's in his laboratory.
What's he doing here
if the school's supposed to be closed?
It's not an unusual thing for the faculty
to spend their evenings here at this time.
Vacation period
is the only opportunity they have
to do their personal research work.
What's the history of this man?
- Well...
- I'm waiting, Doctor.
Professor Wells
is a student of cannibalism.
He's written a book about it.
Why didn't you tell us this before?
It's as good as a conviction.
I hardly think so.
I'm very fond of Dr. Wells.
He couldn't possibly do a thing
of this sort.
- May I talk to him?
- Why, certainly. Certainly.
Come this way, gentlemen.
What a very strange, uncanny place
you have here, Doctor.
What are all these doors?
They are the laboratories of my faculty.
Dr. Wells, Dr. Duke, Dr. Rowitz, Dr. Haines.
And all those men are here
at this hour of the night?
They seldom leave.
They live for their work.
After all, this is a research institute.
I should like to have a little talk
with these gentlemen.
Of course.
I'm sorry to disturb you, Professor Wells,
but I would like to introduce
some friends of mine.
- May we come in?
- Of course, of course, gentlemen.
Come in. Come closer.
- This is Mr. Stevens. Mr. O'Halloran.
- Professor, how do you do?
How do you do?
That's interesting, isn't it?
If this experiment is successful,
we will be a little nearer the secret of life.
What is that?
That's a heart.
I've kept it alive for three years
by electrolysis.
Electrolysis?
Professor Wells is accomplishing
remarkable findings in nerve reflexes.
- You flatter me, Doctor.
- Oh, no, no.
I understand, Professor,
that you live just for your work,
- that you seldom leave the institute.
- Not necessarily.
I played truant a short while ago. I was
down by the waterfront for a breath of air.
- What time was that?
- You're not feeling well?
- Your arm is troubling you?
- Yes, it's very annoying.
Well, you're foolish to sit there
in discomfort.
- lf you gentlemen don't mind, I...
- Why, of course not, of course not.
I put it on just as I heard you coming.
An empty sleeve
is revolting to most people.
Well, I think we've taken up
enough of Professor Wells' time.
- Oh, not at all, Mr. Stevens.
- Thank you, Professor.
Well, gentlemen, shall we be going?
There are many other interesting
things to see.
Yes, let's be going.
- Good evening.
- Good night. Thank you for calling.
You know, this is a tough case.
There isn't much chance
of his strangling anybody with one hand.
- Oh, I agree with you.
- Well, that lets him out of the picture.
- Whose room is that?
- Professor Haines'.
Is there anything about him that might
justify my putting him under observation?
Well, of course, if you're just looking
for someone to hang suspicion on,
there's not a man on my faculty
that wouldn't come under that heading.
Then, you do know something
about this man Haines.
- No, not exactly, except...
- Except what?
- Well...
- Come on, come on.
Well, what is it?
Dr. Haines and two other scientists were
shipwrecked off Tahiti about a year ago
while making a study of the coral reefs
for the Killary Foundation.
Now what's that got to do with it?
- You say they were shipwrecked?
- Yes, they were adrift for 24 days.
Their supplies were exhausted.
When they were picked up,
Haines and one other were delirious.
The third had vanished.
There was no explanation at the time.
Haines later claimed the man had died,
and he had thrown the body overboard.
- I should like to meet him.
- Surely.
But I am sure
that he's not the guilty party.
The killer is a maniac,
and Dr. Haines is one of the most brilliant
men in the medical world.
- However, if you insist...
- I do.
Very well.
Professor Haines?
Yes. Yes, yes, come in. Come in, Doctor.
I want you to meet
Mr. Stevens and Mr. O'Halloran.
They're making a tour
of scientific investigation
and intend to honor our academy
for a short time.
- How do you do, gentlemen?
- Hope we're not disturbing you, Professor.
Not at all. I was just relaxing.
Professor Haines
is a most intensive worker.
I've just been telling Mr. Stevens
of your phenomenal experiments
in brain grafting.
Oh, Doctor, Doctor, come.
Come. I want to show you.
I want to show you a new type
of brain cell.
- That should be interesting, Professor.
- I'm sure you'll find it so.
- On the slide?
- Yes.
Look.
Relaxing.
Why did you bring the police in here?
Get them out quickly, or I'll...
Professor, do you experiment
with all these animals?
Mankind's benefactors.
Those little animals whose blood
most nearly resembles the human.
Yes. Yes, yes, of course. Of course.
But it's getting rather late, Professor,
and Mr. Stevens wants to see
the rest of the laboratories.
Now that he's met you,
he can call some other time.
- Delighted.
- Thank you, Professor.
- Glad to have met you. Good night.
- Good night.
Good night, gentlemen.
There's always a certain amount of danger
in a laboratory so...
He's certainly a strange type.
Well, such men are naturally strange,
Mr. Stevens.
Sometimes in the overdevelopment
of one part of the brain,
another part is weakened.
There's a type
who looks capable of anything.
Oh, I assure you, he's as timid as a lamb.
He's inclined to be attentive
to my daughter, so I see a lot of him.
- Who's the next?
- Dr. Rowitz.
He's the scientist who was with Haines
during the shipwreck.
If you'll step this way.
- Are you busy, Dr. Rowitz?
- Always, but it's a pleasure, gentlemen.
Oh, excuse me.
Mr. Stevens. Mr. O'Halloran.
- How do you do?
- How are you?
- Can I be of any service?
- Well, we are just looking around, Doctor.
- Oh, yes, of course.
- Good evening, Professor Duke.
- How are you feeling tonight?
- Horrible.
Well, I'm sorry to hear that.
Well, if it makes you feel sorry
to hear things like that,
then don't ask questions.
Oh, Professor Duke,
Mr. Stevens, Mr. O'Halloran.
How do you do? How do you do?
He's Dr. Rowitz's collaborator.
You're an astronomer, Doctor?
Not that, sir.
I have an interest
in the light qualities of the moon.
If you might suffer sunstroke,
might you not suffer some similar evil
- from the rays of the moon?
- Moonstruck, you mean?
Exactly, what we call lunacy,
from the word luna, meaning the moon.
Latin, you know.
However, the luna rays will never affect
you or me, sir.
- Because we are normal people.
- Sure.
It affects strangely certain neurotic types.
Yes, moon is powerful.
Why, twice a day it lifts
billions of tons of water at high tide
that wash the shores of the world,
like an eternal old scrubwoman.
Like what?
Pardon my poetic effort.
Yes, but just what do you mean by that?
I'm afraid we've taken up too much
of Dr. Rowitz's time.
Thank you, Doctor.
That was very, very interesting.
- Good night, gentlemen.
- Good night.
- Good night.
- Good night.
You know, this is the doctor's
particular hour for observation,
and the moon doesn't wait, you know.
Did you notice the face on that fellow?
That sailor who saw
the scrubwoman killed tonight
says the murderer had a face
that was horribly disfigured.
Rowitz certainly fits the description,
all right.
Gentlemen, I don't believe
that Dr. Rowitz could commit a crime.
He has such a lovely nature.
Why, he's the author
of several volumes of poetry.
Hello?
- What are we gonna do?
- We're powerless unless he helps us.
You know that as well as I do.
We've exhausted every clue.
He can help us find the murderer,
if anybody can.
And I'm gonna put plenty of pressure
on him and make him do it.
A little nervous perhaps,
but nothing more.
Oh, ridiculous.
All right. All right.
You go back to sleep, dear.
Good night.
Doctor, if I permitted you
to conduct your own investigation,
how long would it take you?
If you leave me alone,
I can conduct a series of tests,
which in 48 hours will conclusively prove
whether or not the killer is a member
of this academy.
In the meantime, I should like to check up
on all your collaborators.
Who's there?
Hey, what're you doing up there?
I'm a building inspector.
I work nights so I won't get sunburned.
I asked you what are you doing up there?
I'm a somnambulist. I probably came up
here to have my head examined.
You come down from there, or I'll...
Now, just a minute,
I'll be right down, honey. Just relax.
Everything is gonna be all right
and on the up-and-up.
I'm not used to these.
These fire escapes are a sideline with me.
Now everything is gonna be...
There's nothing to worry about.
See, Police Commissioner Stevens
is upstairs,
and I'm taking care of the outside.
- By the way, what are you doing here?
- I'm Miss Xavier.
And we're not accustomed
to having strange men
climb all over our fire escapes.
I'm not accustomed to having strange girls
sticking guns in my stomach.
By the way,
you're just the person I wanna see.
I wanna ask you a few questions.
Could you tell me the whereabouts
of your father
during the last four hours?
How do you spend your evenings?
I mean, have you ever noticed the Doctor
acting strangely?
I'm sorry,
but I can't answer those questions.
The Doctor hasn't been very well lately,
and I don't like policemen or anyone
to disturb him.
- Good night.
- Just a minute.
- Have you got a permit to carry that gun?
- Yes, I have.
Good night.
All right. I'll agree to lay off for 48 hours.
But I give you my word,
if you don't succeed,
I'll come in here, seal every door,
place everybody under technical arrest,
take fingerprints,
conduct a rigid inspection.
I don't care if the whole world knows it.
There have been six murders committed
all in the same circumstances.
The evidence points here.
- But, Commissioner, all I want is a chance.
- You've got it.
- Forty-eight hours. Good night, Doctor.
- Good night.
Good night, gentlemen.
Meddling fools.
This way out, gentlemen. If you please.
- Who're you?
- I am Dr. Xavier's butler, sir.
My nerves are all shot.
That dumb, potbellied, flat-footed cop.
I dashed that off in five minutes.
I think it's pretty swell.
- What do you think?
- It's okay.
But you stick on Dr. X's trail,
and you get a picture of the Doctor
and a statement, too.
Oh, no, not me.
Listen, I wanna get off this story.
Put me back on crossword puzzles,
covering woman's clubs,
- anything, will you?
- Say, what's the matter with you?
What's the matter with me? Nothing at all.
Only I spent all last night
laying next to a bunch of stiffs,
looking at a lot of goofy guys.
I let a dame poke a gun in my stomach,
and then I let a dumb policeman
slip me a trick cigar.
Say, you want
to draw another paycheck, don't you?
Certainly, that's my aim in life, but I'd like
to keep out of the bughouse to enjoy it.
Eddie, when is Lee Taylor's week up?
Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Can't you take a joke?
All right, keep moving,
but get a picture of the Doctor.
Here, have a cigar.
How do you do? I'm Mr. Taylor.
- You ain't a reporter, are you?
- I should say not.
Well, that's good. We've been overrun
with them all morning.
- Gee, they got us goofy.
- I know just how you feel, Miss Xavier.
- I ain't Miss Xavier.
- Well, that's funny.
I was told that she was a good-looking girl
of about 20.
I'm 21-and-a-half.
Oh, fine. Pleased to meet you.
Gee, ain't you the kidder, though.
That's another thing in your favor.
That shows that you have
a sense of humor.
What do you want the miss for?
- My grandmother sent me.
- Your grandmother?
Won't you take these flowers?
- For the miss.
- Come in.
Just a minute.
Miss Joan, there's a man down here
wants you for his grandmother.
- I beg your pardon?
- Oh, how do you do?
I didn't know you... I'm awfully sorry.
You know, I felt sure that
I'd hear you coming before you entered.
Well, I suppose I could go back and cough.
Oh, no, no, please don't bother.
Stay right here.
- You're sure I'm not disturbing you?
- Not at all. Why do you ask?
You're so obviously at home here
that I feel like a guest.
- You don't mind if I sit down?
- Oh, please do.
Oh, how nice. Thank you.
And since you're my guest, won't you...
- Won't you want a cigarette?
- No.
What I want is to know
if you're really going to take it.
- Going to take it?
- Yes, my picture.
It's sticking out of your right pocket.
Well, isn't that the funniest thing?
You know, this is really all your own fault.
You have absolutely no business
photographing so attractively.
- Thank you.
- And I have a habit of collecting pictures
- of beautiful girls.
- Yeah.
- Well, and pictures of their fathers, too?
- Pictures of their fathers...
What fathers?
My father's picture's
sticking out of your left pocket.
Well, can you beat that?
How do you suppose that got there?
Just who are you, anyway?
Because you're such a good scout,
I'm gonna break down
and confess and tell you.
I'm Lee Taylor of The Daily World.
- Then you did it.
- Me?
It was you who printed that horrible story
of Father in this morning's paper.
- Horrible? You ain't read nothing yet.
- What do you mean?
What I mean is... Well, don't you see?
Your father's a famous scientist.
He's been called in on a sensational case.
- That's news.
- But you've upset him terribly.
Now, on account of that newspaper story,
he has to go some other place
to carry on his investigation.
- He hates publicity.
- You mean to tell me he's leaving town?
Who's going with him?
What time are they leaving?
- What station...
- That's none of your business.
I refuse to say another word to you.
You're just contemptible
and impudent enough to publish it.
Oh, impudent, maybe,
but not contemptible.
- Don't call me contemptible.
- You are contemptible.
You deliberately fooled me last night
into believing that you were an officer.
Well, I merely showed you
my police press badge.
Don't you think you've been here
a very long time?
Listen, honestly, I am ashamed.
But don't you see?
This is the biggest thing
that's happened in this town
in six months.
If I don't get something on this story,
why, I'll have to join
the army of the unemployed,
- and you wouldn't want that to happen.
- I'd be very grateful to you if you'd leave.
I didn't quite get that.
Yeah, would you say it again?
A little closer.
You hard of hearing?
No, no, but don't you see?
That's the closest thing
to anything coaxing that you've said yet.
- You get out of here.
- Oh, don't be angry.
Come on, let's laugh it off.
- Won't you shake hands and be friends?
- No.
Lucky.
I've got to get something on this story,
or I'm out of a job.
Hey!
Take this home to your grandmother.
Bad luck.
There is no need to be temperamental.
We are here on a matter
of the utmost gravity.
That's why I've sent for you
so unceremoniously.
We are all under suspicion of murder.
- What?
- Absurd.
- Ridiculous.
- What imbecile thought that up?
Gentlemen, I know you're all acquainted
with these recent horrible murders.
Moon Killer murders,
as the press calls them.
The investigation has proven that,
in every case,
the killer has made use
of a surgical instrument,
a type to be found only in our academy.
- But, Doctor...
- One moment, please.
Naturally, I prefer to believe
that everyone in this room is innocent,
but circumstances point to the conclusion
that one of us may be guilty,
any one of us.
Confound it, Xavier.
Bring us up here on a night like this.
Why couldn't you have told us this
at the academy?
For a simple reason.
I wish to conduct
an investigation of my own,
alone, quietly.
And I want your help.
This is a lot of tommyrot.
Don't you realize
what the publicity of a police investigation
would mean to us?
You are quite right, Doctor.
What do you propose to do?
I want every one of you
to submit to a psycho-neurological test,
an experiment that I have devised,
which I hope will prove
each one of us innocent.
But if it should prove otherwise?
Then, my dear Doctor,
surely one's own farewell to life
is preferable to that demanded by the law.
- This is preposterous. I refuse.
- Good. Then the police will give it to you.
Gentlemen, I consider it a privilege
to have an opportunity
of proving my innocence.
- Doctor, I'm ready.
- Thank you, Dr. Rowitz.
- Dr. Wells?
- Yes.
- Professor Duke?
- I agree.
- And you, Professor Haines?
- Well, if they all agree.
- Good.
- Oh, I think it's a lot of nonsense.
Gentlemen, I suggest you all
retire to your rooms and unpack.
In 10 minutes we shall all meet
in the laboratory.
A still?
Wonder where they bottle it.
Bad luck.
You and me both.
Very well, Doctor. At once.
Your room is at the end of the corridor.
Mine's over there.
I just fixed yours for the night.
Is there anything else, miss?
Why, Mamie, what's the matter with you?
Your teeth are chattering.
This terrible house.
It gives me the horrors worse than ever.
Well, don't be absurd.
Go to bed and go to sleep.
Well, I hope you get a good night's sleep.
- Good night.
- Good night, Mamie.
Good night.
Come, Mamie. Come.
Come, Mamie.
How would you like
to meet a ghost in here, eh, Mamie?
Well, I'll tell you one thing.
He'd be a lot pleasanter than you.
Stop that, Otto.
Stop it.
There ain't anything in this room
to be afraid of.
So you can just stop
trying to make me nervous.
Well, well, Mr. Zilch, how are you?
The smells,
don't they remind you
of an embalming parlor, eh, Mamie?
The only thing in this room
that does that right now is you.
Yes, you can laugh now, if you want to,
but you won't laugh tonight when you
have to wear these for the experiment.
- Where did Dr. Xavier get that?
- From the morgue.
The old scrubwoman wore these
the night that she was murdered.
Look, Mamie, look here.
You can see some of the blood on them.
- No, Otto! No, please, Otto! No, no!
- Look, Mamie. Look, Mamie. Yes.
- I take back what I said, please.
- Look, Mamie, look.
Otto, Mamie, what's wrong with
the switchboard? What's going on here?
- Nothing, sir.
- Yes, there is, Doctor.
- He's trying to scare me.
- Otto, stop this foolishness.
- Yes, sir.
- Now, pay attention, both of you.
- You have the dress, Otto?
- Right here, sir.
Mamie, you'll kindly put it on.
- Put in on? But, Doctor...
- Now, I want your help.
You and Otto will enact the last murder
of the so-called Moon Killer
before an audience I've selected.
Otto knows all about it
and will instruct you in your part.
- What part do I play?
- The scrubwoman, of course.
- The one who was murdered last night.
- Murdered?
But, Doctor, please, please.
Couldn't Otto play it?
No, Otto has his own part,
that of the killer.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
Remember our signals, Otto.
Just as I explained.
Yes, sir.
You see, Mamie, there's nothing
to be afraid of. There's nothing...
How've you been, babe?
Now, cut it out, now, will you? Cut it out.
You're right.
There's nothing like this way.
How utterly absurd.
Good heavens, Doctor, what have
you done with your laboratory here?
It's nothing like it was at my last visit.
- I've made a few changes, that's all.
- A thousand, I should say.
Thermal tubes, huh?
A blood reaction,
by high frequency current, as well.
Dr. Xavier is still working on his theory
that strong mental repressions,
phobias, hidden in the darkest corners
of the subconscious mind
can be brought to the surface
and made to register
through certain reactions of the heart.
- Am I correct, Professor?
- Precisely.
And tonight I hope to prove my theory.
Now, gentlemen, would you kindly
be seated in these chairs?
We'll begin the experiment.
Well, if we must,
then let us get it over with quickly.
Dr. Rowitz, Dr. Haines and Professor Duke.
And now, gentlemen,
with your permission,
Dr. Wells will assist you in clamping
these contact wires to your wrists.
Are yours included?
Certainly.
As close as possible.
But, see that the connections aren't
too tight. You'll be quite comfortable.
Pardon me a moment, Doctor,
as I attach the contact clamp.
That's it. Thank you.
Did I have to come all the way down
from the city to play guinea pig for you?
I'm sure you'll forgive me
in just a few moments.
- We're ready, Professor.
- The moon.
Perfect.
- Just as though we'd ordered it.
- Close those curtains.
Give me the shivers.
Moon shining right in my face.
- Oh, no, no. No, leave them alone.
- Close them!
- Shall I?
- All right, you may close them, Wells.
Now, listen, please, to what I have to say.
One of us in this room may be a murderer.
A murderer who killed
by the light of a full moon,
leaving his victim's body mutilated.
A cannibal.
Evidence shows the killer has two hands.
Therefore, only Wells is eliminated.
So I shall ask him to work the apparatus.
Wells? Wells? How about me?
A hopeless paralytic.
Silence, please, Professor.
Wells, will you take your place outside
in the recording cabinet?
Yes, Doctor.
I'm going to leave you for a moment now,
while I check the variability
of your blood reactions.
I suggest that you remain silent
during my absence.
Wells, the young quack.
Had him for an intern
before he could grow a beard.
If you ask me, I think Dr. Xavier
is using very unethical methods.
Necessity has no ethics, sir.
Gentlemen, I am now turning on
the 100-milliampere, high-frequency coil.
Your pulses are connected
with the magnetic rotators,
and each variation
of your heartbeat reaction
is amplified 4,000 times.
The rotor of the electrostatic machine
is connected in multiple series
with a bank of glass-plate condensers,
and the discharge causes irradiations
to the thermal tubes,
which, in turn, indicate your increased
pulse rate and nerve reactions.
We can proceed now.
One moment, Doctor.
Were the murdered women attacked?
Does your mind
never run into any other channel?
What do you mean by that statement?
I mean that your sadistic tendencies
may someday carry you too far,
Dr. Haines.
- You, you...
- Silence, gentlemen, please.
Now, it is my theory
that one of us in the past,
through dire necessity,
was driven to cannibalism.
The memory of that act was hammered
like a nail into the mind of that man.
Shrewd and brilliant, he could conceal
his madness from the human eye.
Even from himself.
But he can't conceal it from the eyes
of the radio sensitivity.
Every time his heart beats
from mental excitement,
the thermal tubes will betray him.
You are all now connected
with these tubes. I am myself.
But I alone know which tube is yours.
Your heart beats are being reflected
before you.
Doctor, I protest!
As the heart beats faster and faster,
so does that red liquid begin
to pulse and rise
until terror takes hold of the subject,
and the liquid rises
to the very top of the tube.
He whose tube does that is the guilty man.
Here are a line of wax figures,
lifelike reproductions of the pitiful victims,
people whose lives were snuffed out
and whose bodies were torn
to satisfy the desires.
First, a woman of the streets,
killed in the tenement district.
Her body found late at night in a gutter.
The next victim, a middle-aged woman,
killed just before dawn
as she was on her way to market.
Her bleeding body found under a dock
by the waterfront.
Then, a dope fiend,
strangled and mutilated
in the doorway of a dance hall.
Next, a beautiful young girl,
violently killed as she lay on a hospital bed
recovering from an illness.
Oh, I'm so afraid. I'm shaking like a leaf.
Keep quiet. Get ready.
Watch.
You're about to see reenacted
the murder of the killer's latest victim.
An old scrubwoman.
She's coming home from work. It's late.
A full moon shines down upon her.
She's passing through an alleyway
when suddenly a terrible figure steals out,
starts creeping towards her.
As old Annie stoops
to pick up a newspaper,
the figure suddenly takes her throat
in his powerful hands.
Get your hands off me, Otto.
You're hurting my throat.
- Turn on the lights!
- Someone's coming in the room!
Stop it, stop it, I can't stand any more!
Xavier, turn on the lights!
I can't get my breath.
- The lights!
- Look at that tube.
It's a success. The guilty man is...
The guilty man is Rowitz.
Rowitz. Look, what's happened to him?
- He's been murdered.
- Let me see.
What's the matter? What has happened?
Stabbed in the base of the brain.
Murdered like all the other
Moon Killer victims.
- Who was sitting on his left side?
- I was, but I didn't see anything.
I was watching the experiment.
Duke, you're walking!
I walked. You saw me.
You saw me, I walked.
I walked.
- You walked? You faker, you killed him.
- Quiet, Haines.
Don't you recognize
hysteria reaction when you see it?
- Otto, help him.
- Take it easy, Doctor.
You'll need all your strength
for your work tonight.
Wells? Where's Wells?
The contacts are broken.
Why doesn't he come in?
Take him to another room.
Wells! Wells!
Wells! Wells!
Wells!
Wells! What's wrong, man?
I don't know. The lights went out.
Someone called my name.
I started for the laboratory,
and someone struck me.
Oh, this is terrible!
Easy, now. Let me help you.
I will be all right in just a moment.
Watch your head.
Are you sure you heard
no one approaching the room
when we started the test?
No one. Nothing unusual happened
until I was struck.
Father, something terrible
has happened to Dr. Rowitz.
- I just saw him...
- Now, Joanne, dear, be calm.
Dr. Rowitz has met with an accident.
- I wish you'd go back to your room.
- He's dead?
You can't do anything here, Joanne.
It's best that you go back to your room.
- Your father will explain everything later.
- Now, come, Joanne. Come.
Doctor. Doctor.
- What is it, Haines?
- There's someone hiding in this closet.
What?
Another one? Who is it?
He's the young man
who was at the house today.
He fainted.
- Some water, Otto, quickly.
- Yes, sir.
I took the liberty of having
something on hand
- for just such an occasion, sir.
- Thank you.
Here, young man, drink this.
How's that, huh?
It's not bad. How much do you pay for it?
He's all right now.
What were you doing in that closet?
- Hiding.
- Who are you?
Lee Taylor, The Daily World.
You wouldn't give me a break,
so I had to take it.
- You're lying.
- Don't be absurd.
He is a newspaper man.
He's the one who printed
the story about you in yesterday's World.
I'm sorry. You see, I had to get the story.
I was hiding in there, and everything
was going great, when all of a sudden,
well, I guess I just fainted.
It's gonna be kind of tough if I have to lug
smelling salts around with me
the rest of my life.
Yes, well, newspaper man or not,
you're an impostor.
I don't like your methods.
I shall hand you over to the police.
- Otto...
- That suits me.
I'll phone my story in
from the police station.
- You'll phone no story.
- Father, let me talk to him, will you?
I can't let this story get out now.
It'd ruin everything.
But, Father, please let me talk to him.
Mr. Taylor.
Just in case.
- You're not gonna let him go?
- Certainly not. Otto, watch him.
Don't let him get near a phone
or leave this house.
Yes, sir.
Oh, no, no. I'm absolutely all right.
Now don't...
Don't you worry about me.
I gotta dash off to my newspaper.
- See, they won't wait.
- Mr. Taylor.
You don't have to report to the paper
what you've just seen, do you?
I'm sorry, but I've got to.
You see, this is the most sensational case
that's broken in six months...
I know. But can't you wait?
Won't you give Father a chance
to find out who's doing it?
What difference does it make to the public
what happens or how he does it
so long as he catches him?
It makes a lot of difference.
The public want to read about it.
The more sensational it is,
the more the son-of-a-guns love it.
Is that all you think about?
Sensationalism?
Don't you ever think
about people's feelings?
Can't you realize what a scandal
would do to my father's institution?
Certainly I can, but don't you realize
that I'm in a hard-boiled racket?
Then, why don't you help us instead
of making it so much more difficult for us?
Aren't we going through enough trouble?
Look at the trouble I've been through
to get this story.
I lay down at the morgue
with a bunch of stiffs.
I looked at a lot of goofy guys.
I let a dumb policeman...
Will you at least stay the rest of the night
and talk it over with Father
in the morning?
I tell you what I'll do.
I'll hold off on this story, and I'll stay,
if you let me have breakfast
with the family in the morning.
I think it can be arranged.
Father usually has breakfast at 7:30.
- And you?
- Oh, I am lazy. I have mine at 9:00.
Oh, you have no idea how lazy I am.
- Could I have mine at 9:00?
- Possibly.
And will you take me
for a swim afterwards?
- A swim?
- At the beach.
If you're so helpless
you can't find the water,
you've no business in it.
But I like the water and...
I am sorry, miss,
I had no intention of disturbing you.
That's okay, Otto.
- There's old man bad luck again.
- I am sorry.
That's all right, Otto. I'm glad you're here.
Mr. Taylor's staying for the night.
I'd like you to prepare a room for him.
I have already done so, miss.
May I suggest that you do not disturb
your father any further tonight?
- He is very tired.
- That's a good idea, Otto.
Are you going swimming with me
in the morning?
No, thanks. Good night.
What will you do if I start to sink
and yell for help?
Throw you an anvil. Good night.
This way, sir.
- Do you sleep very soundly, sir?
- Like a rock.
- I'm sorry to hear that.
- Why?
Because this is a very strange house.
- You're telling me.
- This way, if you please.
Father.
Father.
Father?
Father!
Joanne.
What are you doing here?
Well, dear, I just wanted to be sure
that the incision was made
by a brain scalpel.
Come.
- Professor Haines.
- Haines, why are you here?
I couldn't sleep.
So I came down here to make a more
thorough examination of the body.
Professor, I...
Father, will you please come to bed?
All right, darling, now, you run along,
and I'll be right up.
- Good night.
- Good night, dear.
Professor, since we retired,
this body has been...
- It has been...
- I know, but I don't want her to know.
What are you laughing about?
Oh, I know. This.
"Hate, friendship, love."
I don't blame you. It's so banal.
Like those postcards you buy. You know?
- Yes.
- About "I wish you were here,"
and "Two little doves billing and cooing."
Oh, no, really.
I was just thinking of something.
Of what?
- Come on, let's go in the water, shall we?
- Oh, no, no, no. Oh!
Water and I are not very good friends.
No, listen, when was a little kid,
I was very, very delicate, see?
- But very good looking.
- Yeah?
Yeah, well,
I won a first prize in a beauty parade.
- A baby parade at Asbury Park.
- How sweet.
But my mother was constantly
dunking me in a tub of water,
and I would get soap in my hair
and in my eyes and my thing.
And water and I are not very good friends.
So, let's stay right here, huh?
Why not?
- There's somebody watching us.
- Where?
Look.
Oh, this is a terrible place.
I wish I were away from it.
If you only knew the things
that have happened.
Listen. Forget that I'm a newspaperman.
I wouldn't betray your confidence.
Don't you see the only thing
I'm concerned about is your safety?
Are you worried about your father?
Yes, I am, terribly.
I wouldn't be. He's very tired.
He's working under a terrific strain.
- He's bound to show it.
- I know.
But last night, after everyone went to bed,
I saw my father bending over
Rowitz's body.
I saw... Oh, it's a terrible thought.
Oh, snap out of it.
Let's get dressed, and we'll...
Oh, we'll have breakfast.
That's right.
Well, I'll let you know, your eyes...
Your eyes are so blue,
when I look into them...
That's right, Mamie.
You drink it, and you'll go right to sleep.
Nothing's going to hurt you.
She'll be all right
as soon as this sedative has taken effect.
But the Doctor will be mad
if I can't go through with it.
No, Father knows you're sick.
Of course he won't be angry with you.
Don't you worry about the experiment.
I'm sure the Doctor
will make other arrangements.
I can't do it. I can't.
Something tells me
if I go in that room tonight,
tomorrow I'll be in my coffin.
Now, now. You just be quiet
and forget about everything.
Oh, Miss Joan,
something horrible is gonna happen.
I feel it in my bones.
Last night I dreamed
I was walking up to a casket,
and when I looked inside, it was me.
Here, now, now, now.
You'll be getting hysterical again.
You'll be all right. Just go to sleep.
In the morning you'll feel fine.
I think we'd better
leave her alone, Joanne.
No, Miss Joan, please don't go.
I don't wanna die.
I'm too young to die.
I've got too much to live for.
No.
- How's Mamie?
- She'll be all right. Don't worry.
- Thank you, Dr. Wells.
- It's quite all right.
What's become of that newspaper fellow?
Have you seen him?
Not since dinner.
He went directly to his room.
I've been looking for him everywhere.
I have a feeling that he's sneaked out
and phoned the story of Rowitz's murder
to the papers.
Publicity of that sort
would ruin everything.
I don't think he'd do that.
He gave you his word.
I asked you
not to let him out of your sight, dear.
- Why don't we look in his room?
- Oh, will no one obey me anymore?
Bad luck.
Skull, crossbones.
Death.
Hello?
- Oh, yes.
- Did you find him, dear?
- No, not yet, Dad.
- He's right here, sir.
- For me?
- The Commissioner of Police, sir.
Thank you.
- Hello, Commissioner.
- Look here, Doctor,
I've decided to send an undercover man
up there tonight
when you start your tests.
No, there won't be any tests tonight.
You'll have to give me another 24 hours.
Well, the woman I was depending upon
was taken sick this afternoon,
and it spoils all my plans.
Well, I'm sorry, but if things have
gotten beyond your control,
I'm coming down there right away
to take charge.
I'm in a tough spot.
I've got murder enough already
to explain to the press and public.
- And if you think for a moment...
- One moment, Commissioner.
The 48 hours aren't up yet.
Well, I have to make
some other arrangements.
Hold your men up just a little longer.
Give me one more chance, please.
All right!
I'll give you until midnight.
If you haven't got your man then,
I'm coming down there
and slap the whole place under arrest.
Yank you all up to headquarters
whether you like it or not.
Father, I want to help you.
You can't count on Mamie.
- Let me take her place.
- You?
No, I couldn't ask you to do that, Joan.
But please, Dad.
You get a squad car down
to Blackstone Shoals at midnight, sharp.
Yes, sir.
Put the signal button on the control table
and attach the wires to the thermal tubes.
Yes, Doctor.
What's the meaning
of all this paraphernalia? Idiotic nonsense.
These chairs are too far apart
to protect us from each other.
The contacts have all been checked.
You'll be ready in just a moment.
- Thank you, Wells.
- Doctor,
I still think you're making a mistake
using Joanne in this experiment.
After all, gentlemen,
this is my daughter's own suggestion.
I have no fear for her safety.
She's a sensible girl
and knows what she's doing.
Yeah, and if she were my daughter,
she wouldn't be up there on a bed
in nothing but a nightgown
just to satisfy some lunatic's experiment.
Professor Duke, don't criticize Joanne
for her state of undress.
This argument is irrelevant.
Doctor, you forget that last night there
was a murderer at large in this room.
And the murderer is still here.
I'm convinced.
But I've taken precaution against that.
You will each of you
be handcuffed to your chairs,
and you'll notice
that each chair is bolted to the floor.
I refuse to submit!
You'll have us in straightjackets next!
I won't sit here handcuffed
while you're running around loose.
I intend to be handcuffed also.
That will assure us there can't possibly
be a repetition of last night's tragedy.
Oh, Wells.
They're very becoming to you, Haines.
It is time to get ready.
Aren't you afraid, miss?
There's only one thing I'm afraid of, Otto.
That's Father's health.
He's been working so hard,
and lately he seems so strange.
The human mind will only stand so much.
We are all a little strange up here.
That's why I want Father to get away
from here.
He needs a long rest.
He's promised me that just as soon
as this is over, he'll go abroad with me.
You are right, miss.
Don't be afraid tonight.
Be sure you keep your eyes closed.
And relax.
Is that all, Doctor?
Yes, everything's set.
Now, go to the electric cabinet
and do exactly as I told you.
Throw on the current
the moment you are ready.
Yes, sir.
Doctor, has it ever occurred to you
that Wells is free to do as he pleases?
I've guarded against that also.
Wells wishes to be treated
the same as we are.
- Otto.
- Yes, sir?
Bolt all the doors
so that no one can get in.
- The rest you know.
- Yes, sir.
Here are the keys.
Synthetic flesh.
Synthetic flesh.
And now you are about to witness
one of the most gruesome crimes
of the Moon Killer.
The death of Florence Johnson.
Murdered and horribly mutilated
as she was lying
weak and helpless on a hospital bed.
It's midnight,
a private room at the Arch Hospital.
The nurse leaves the room for a moment.
The girl is alone
when suddenly...
When suddenly the Moon Killer appears.
He crosses softly to his victim.
It's the killer!
- The killer!
- The killer!
Fight him off, Joan!
- Joanne!
- Wells, Wells.
Otto! Wells!
You idiots are calling for Wells?
lt'll do you no good! There isn't any Wells!
Look, the keys. Well, take them.
It's Wells.
- Wells!
- Yes, it is Wells. But a new Wells.
A Wells whose name will live forever
in the history of science.
Go! Run, Joanne! Run, run!
Joanne, get up, run!
The keys. The keys. The keys.
Look at his hand. Horrible!
Yes, look at it, a real hand.
It's alive. It's flesh.
Synthetic flesh.
For years I've been searching
to find the secret
of a living manufactured flesh.
And now I found it.
You I think I went to Africa
to study cannibalism?
I went there to get samples
of the human flesh that the natives eat.
Yes, that's what I needed.
Living flesh from humans
for my experiments.
What difference did it make
if a few people had to die?
Their flesh taught me how to manufacture
arms, legs, faces that are human!
I'll make a crippled world whole again.
Doctor, your name will be remembered.
You've given your life,
everything to science.
All but one thing, and now
you're gonna give even that to science.
Your daughter.
Oh, if only I were not powerless here
in chains.
Run!
Fight him off, Joanne!
Fight him off. Save her!
Joanne! Run! Run!
Club him! Club him!
- Joanne!
- Where'd he go?
Oh, Father! Father!
- Joanne!
- Oh, Father.
- Are you hurt?
- No, I'm not.
- Lee!
- Yes.
- Lee!
- Wells. Where's Wells?
What happened to him?
Calm down. He won't ever come back.
I hit him with a lamp.
It was a long throw, but...
You know, I used to be a first baseman
in high school.
You know, that old peg over to third.
Take a look at him.
- Are you hurt, Lee?
- I'm all right.
Are you okay?
Oh, I'm so glad. Because you... I want to...
I better keep my mind on my work.
You say you can't understand me?
I'm talking too fast?
You'd be talking fast, too,
if you'd been through
what I've been through.
Boy, am I out. Now listen, listen, Willard,
I want you to give Dr. X full credit
for trapping him.
Dr. X. Now I'll call you back in five minutes
with more details.
More to follow, more to...
Oh, Mr. Taylor.
I can't tell you how grateful I am
for all that you've done for us.
Oh, you've got my heart going
a mile a minute.
Your heart? Oh, I'm so glad.
Wait a minute.
Take this to the society editor.
It is rumored that,
on her return from Europe,
Miss Xavier will have a very important
announcement to make
concerning a very promising
and prominent young newspaperman.
More later.
Say, tell me how in the world did you ever
overpower that terrible monster?
Oh, I...
In the third round, I found out
that he was very ticklish in a certain spot.
But I haven't found your weakness.
- Don't you know?
- You don't mean...
Come here to me.
Oh, Mr. Taylor.
Hiya, Doctor.
Hiya, babe.
- Hey, where are you going?
- Inside, inside.
No, you ain't.
Only stiffs go in there tonight.
- No kidding.
- No kidding.
- What's keeping you out?
- I'm... What?
- Listen, we're pals, ain't we?
- Yeah.
Get a flash of that.
Yeah, well,
it won't do you any good tonight.
Now, look, I got me orders.
Nobody's going in there,
and that goes for you
newspaper guys, too. Now...
Sergeant, all I want to do
is identify a body.
Now, look, walk down the street, because
somebody might think I know you.
- Go ahead.
- That's an idea. Bones.
- Hello, Dee.
- Hello.
- Say, say, what's the hurry, big boy?
- I just want to use your telephone.
Oh, yeah? Well, there's one
down at the corner drugstore.
Listen, I haven't got time.
Will you be a sport? Come on, act natural.
All right, but step on it.
This is no telephone exchange.
Haven't I...
Say, didn't I meet you in Havana?
Yes... What?
Hello, World?
Give me the night desk, please. Yeah.
Willard Keefe. Yeah, this is Lee Taylor.
I'm down at the Mott Street Morgue.
Just now they bring in the body
of an old scrubwoman
murdered under very
peculiar circumstances.
No, they won't let me see it.
I can't get any dope. Police...
Very good. I say very... What?
I say I can't get any dope on it.
Police orders.
Just now, Stevens, O'Halloran
and a guy named Dr. Xavier arrived.
- Something's doing.
- Yeah, I've heard that one, too.
Listen, you lunkhead, I'm not clowning.
Look out the window, will you?
- What do you mean, the moon?
- Certainly I mean the moon.
I'm laying 10 bucks to a dime
it's another Moon Killer murder.
Well, that's different.
Now, listen, Lee, stick right on it.
Fine.
I thought I...
Oh, Rachmaninoff.
How about the Prelude, huh?
Hey, Mike, just a minute. Please!
Hello, Mike. Hey, listen,
what's going on across the street tonight?
I don't know a thing, Lee.
I'm walking my beat
and minding my own business.
- Well, have you got a cigarette?
- I never use them.
Here, smoke this. Paddy, the bartender
down at the corner, gave it to me.
- Oh, much obliged, Mike. Thanks!
- Yeah, no problem.
- Good gracious! What you got there?
- Nothing, just a little handshake buzzer.
You see,
fits right in the palm of your hand.
You wind it up like that, and it discourages
these professional handshakers.
I ought to have one on each hand
for my beat here.
- Well, I gotta be going now. Goodbye.
- So long.
I forgot all about that thing.
Don't ever bring any of those darned tricks
around here again.
What's your theory, Doctor?
Strangulation by
terrifically powerful hands.
You will notice how deeply the thumbs
are embedded in the sternocleidomastoid.
And what do you think of this incision
at the base of the brain?
Obviously made by some type of scalpel
used for brain dissecting.
But it's peculiar that this left deltoid
muscle should be missing.
- It's been torn right out.
- Gentlemen, it wasn't torn.
This is cannibalism.
- This portion of the body was...
- Impossible!
There's no doubt about it.
Thank you, Doctor.
I appreciate your professional opinion.
I'm only too happy to be of any service
to you, gentlemen.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I have rather an important experiment
in progress
that demands my attention
every few hours.
I hardly think I can be
of any further use to you,
so if you don't mind, I'm very, very sorry,
but I'll say good night.
Just a moment, Doctor, if you don't mind.
One thing more.
- Very well, sir.
- Yes, what?
Now, look here, Doctor,
this is the sixth murder
in the same number of months,
all committed in the full of the moon
with no apparent motive,
by means of strangulation and an incision
with a strange surgical knife.
- Yes, it is peculiar, isn't it?
- Most peculiar.
- What's your theory of the killer, Doctor?
- A neurotic, of course.
- Some poor devil suffering from a fixation.
- Fixation? What do you mean?
A knot or kink tied to the brain
by some past experience.
A madness that comes
only at certain times
when the killer is brought in direct contact
with some vivid reminder of the past.
- It's hard to believe that.
- Yes, for a policeman, I suppose it is.
But I tell you that locked in each
human skull is a little world, all its own.
Yes, well, what would these reminders be,
for instance?
Anything. The sight of the sea,
the full moon. Anything.
The poor devil, sane at all other times,
is forced to live over the scene
of the action that first drove him mad.
Very interesting.
Particularly in view of the fact
that all these murders
occur in the vicinity
of your medical academy.
Are you implying that someone
in my academy could have done this?
- I am convinced of it.
- This is preposterous!
I'm familiar with the character
of every student and professor,
and they're all men
of the highest integrity.
There are other academies in the state...
But they don't have that kind of knives.
The surgical supply house swear
they import them from Vienna
especially for your institute.
It's the only place in the country
that they're used.
Commissioner Stevens,
if you jump at a hasty conclusion like this,
you'll ruin the integrity
of an institution that has one of the finest
reputations in the world.
I'm sorry, Doctor,
but I have to start an investigation.
I tell you this first,
because I'm hoping for your cooperation.
Naturally, I shall do everything
to protect your institution.
- But the newspapers, the publicity.
- Don't worry about them.
We don't want publicity
any more than you do.
If my academy is under suspicion,
give me a chance to conduct
an investigation of my own first.
Surely, with our knowledge
of the human brain,
- we have every facility to catch a madman.
- How would you proceed?
By immediately studying
the pathological reactions
of every man placed under suspicion.
Then trap the guilty one
by a brain examination.
May I examine the records
of your students and faculty?
Why, assuredly, assuredly. You can come
to my office now, if you wish.
But, I beg of you, no publicity, please.
- No, don't worry.
- Please.
Not one newspaper in the country
shall hear of this
until you've had every opportunity
to clear your academy of suspicion.
Thank you. Thank you.
I appreciate your gesture.
What is it? What do you want?
- Father!
- Oh, it's you, Joanne.
What is it, dear?
Nothing. I just came in here
to say good night to you.
Father, what are you doing in here
in the dark? You frightened me.
I'm sorry, Joanne.
I just came here to get those records.
It's late. You're looking very tired, darling.
You're only heading
for a nervous breakdown unless...
That moon, mixed with this other light,
it's too ghastly.
Father, you worry me.
You promised me you'd take a rest.
Lately you've been so...
No, my dear, I'm all right.
Just a little nervous, that's all.
Now, I have some gentlemen
next door in the office.
- You run along. I'll be through shortly.
- But, Father...
Now, Joanne, please.
This is very important.
Good night.
But, really, gentlemen,
this investigation is useless.
The academy is closed.
The students are away on their vacations.
It surely isn't wise
to spend your time on this.
What's that?
Probably Professor Wells.
He's in his laboratory.
What's he doing here
if the school's supposed to be closed?
It's not an unusual thing for the faculty
to spend their evenings here at this time.
Vacation period
is the only opportunity they have
to do their personal research work.
What's the history of this man?
- Well...
- I'm waiting, Doctor.
Professor Wells
is a student of cannibalism.
He's written a book about it.
Why didn't you tell us this before?
It's as good as a conviction.
I hardly think so.
I'm very fond of Dr. Wells.
He couldn't possibly do a thing
of this sort.
- May I talk to him?
- Why, certainly. Certainly.
Come this way, gentlemen.
What a very strange, uncanny place
you have here, Doctor.
What are all these doors?
They are the laboratories of my faculty.
Dr. Wells, Dr. Duke, Dr. Rowitz, Dr. Haines.
And all those men are here
at this hour of the night?
They seldom leave.
They live for their work.
After all, this is a research institute.
I should like to have a little talk
with these gentlemen.
Of course.
I'm sorry to disturb you, Professor Wells,
but I would like to introduce
some friends of mine.
- May we come in?
- Of course, of course, gentlemen.
Come in. Come closer.
- This is Mr. Stevens. Mr. O'Halloran.
- Professor, how do you do?
How do you do?
That's interesting, isn't it?
If this experiment is successful,
we will be a little nearer the secret of life.
What is that?
That's a heart.
I've kept it alive for three years
by electrolysis.
Electrolysis?
Professor Wells is accomplishing
remarkable findings in nerve reflexes.
- You flatter me, Doctor.
- Oh, no, no.
I understand, Professor,
that you live just for your work,
- that you seldom leave the institute.
- Not necessarily.
I played truant a short while ago. I was
down by the waterfront for a breath of air.
- What time was that?
- You're not feeling well?
- Your arm is troubling you?
- Yes, it's very annoying.
Well, you're foolish to sit there
in discomfort.
- lf you gentlemen don't mind, I...
- Why, of course not, of course not.
I put it on just as I heard you coming.
An empty sleeve
is revolting to most people.
Well, I think we've taken up
enough of Professor Wells' time.
- Oh, not at all, Mr. Stevens.
- Thank you, Professor.
Well, gentlemen, shall we be going?
There are many other interesting
things to see.
Yes, let's be going.
- Good evening.
- Good night. Thank you for calling.
You know, this is a tough case.
There isn't much chance
of his strangling anybody with one hand.
- Oh, I agree with you.
- Well, that lets him out of the picture.
- Whose room is that?
- Professor Haines'.
Is there anything about him that might
justify my putting him under observation?
Well, of course, if you're just looking
for someone to hang suspicion on,
there's not a man on my faculty
that wouldn't come under that heading.
Then, you do know something
about this man Haines.
- No, not exactly, except...
- Except what?
- Well...
- Come on, come on.
Well, what is it?
Dr. Haines and two other scientists were
shipwrecked off Tahiti about a year ago
while making a study of the coral reefs
for the Killary Foundation.
Now what's that got to do with it?
- You say they were shipwrecked?
- Yes, they were adrift for 24 days.
Their supplies were exhausted.
When they were picked up,
Haines and one other were delirious.
The third had vanished.
There was no explanation at the time.
Haines later claimed the man had died,
and he had thrown the body overboard.
- I should like to meet him.
- Surely.
But I am sure
that he's not the guilty party.
The killer is a maniac,
and Dr. Haines is one of the most brilliant
men in the medical world.
- However, if you insist...
- I do.
Very well.
Professor Haines?
Yes. Yes, yes, come in. Come in, Doctor.
I want you to meet
Mr. Stevens and Mr. O'Halloran.
They're making a tour
of scientific investigation
and intend to honor our academy
for a short time.
- How do you do, gentlemen?
- Hope we're not disturbing you, Professor.
Not at all. I was just relaxing.
Professor Haines
is a most intensive worker.
I've just been telling Mr. Stevens
of your phenomenal experiments
in brain grafting.
Oh, Doctor, Doctor, come.
Come. I want to show you.
I want to show you a new type
of brain cell.
- That should be interesting, Professor.
- I'm sure you'll find it so.
- On the slide?
- Yes.
Look.
Relaxing.
Why did you bring the police in here?
Get them out quickly, or I'll...
Professor, do you experiment
with all these animals?
Mankind's benefactors.
Those little animals whose blood
most nearly resembles the human.
Yes. Yes, yes, of course. Of course.
But it's getting rather late, Professor,
and Mr. Stevens wants to see
the rest of the laboratories.
Now that he's met you,
he can call some other time.
- Delighted.
- Thank you, Professor.
- Glad to have met you. Good night.
- Good night.
Good night, gentlemen.
There's always a certain amount of danger
in a laboratory so...
He's certainly a strange type.
Well, such men are naturally strange,
Mr. Stevens.
Sometimes in the overdevelopment
of one part of the brain,
another part is weakened.
There's a type
who looks capable of anything.
Oh, I assure you, he's as timid as a lamb.
He's inclined to be attentive
to my daughter, so I see a lot of him.
- Who's the next?
- Dr. Rowitz.
He's the scientist who was with Haines
during the shipwreck.
If you'll step this way.
- Are you busy, Dr. Rowitz?
- Always, but it's a pleasure, gentlemen.
Oh, excuse me.
Mr. Stevens. Mr. O'Halloran.
- How do you do?
- How are you?
- Can I be of any service?
- Well, we are just looking around, Doctor.
- Oh, yes, of course.
- Good evening, Professor Duke.
- How are you feeling tonight?
- Horrible.
Well, I'm sorry to hear that.
Well, if it makes you feel sorry
to hear things like that,
then don't ask questions.
Oh, Professor Duke,
Mr. Stevens, Mr. O'Halloran.
How do you do? How do you do?
He's Dr. Rowitz's collaborator.
You're an astronomer, Doctor?
Not that, sir.
I have an interest
in the light qualities of the moon.
If you might suffer sunstroke,
might you not suffer some similar evil
- from the rays of the moon?
- Moonstruck, you mean?
Exactly, what we call lunacy,
from the word luna, meaning the moon.
Latin, you know.
However, the luna rays will never affect
you or me, sir.
- Because we are normal people.
- Sure.
It affects strangely certain neurotic types.
Yes, moon is powerful.
Why, twice a day it lifts
billions of tons of water at high tide
that wash the shores of the world,
like an eternal old scrubwoman.
Like what?
Pardon my poetic effort.
Yes, but just what do you mean by that?
I'm afraid we've taken up too much
of Dr. Rowitz's time.
Thank you, Doctor.
That was very, very interesting.
- Good night, gentlemen.
- Good night.
- Good night.
- Good night.
You know, this is the doctor's
particular hour for observation,
and the moon doesn't wait, you know.
Did you notice the face on that fellow?
That sailor who saw
the scrubwoman killed tonight
says the murderer had a face
that was horribly disfigured.
Rowitz certainly fits the description,
all right.
Gentlemen, I don't believe
that Dr. Rowitz could commit a crime.
He has such a lovely nature.
Why, he's the author
of several volumes of poetry.
Hello?
- What are we gonna do?
- We're powerless unless he helps us.
You know that as well as I do.
We've exhausted every clue.
He can help us find the murderer,
if anybody can.
And I'm gonna put plenty of pressure
on him and make him do it.
A little nervous perhaps,
but nothing more.
Oh, ridiculous.
All right. All right.
You go back to sleep, dear.
Good night.
Doctor, if I permitted you
to conduct your own investigation,
how long would it take you?
If you leave me alone,
I can conduct a series of tests,
which in 48 hours will conclusively prove
whether or not the killer is a member
of this academy.
In the meantime, I should like to check up
on all your collaborators.
Who's there?
Hey, what're you doing up there?
I'm a building inspector.
I work nights so I won't get sunburned.
I asked you what are you doing up there?
I'm a somnambulist. I probably came up
here to have my head examined.
You come down from there, or I'll...
Now, just a minute,
I'll be right down, honey. Just relax.
Everything is gonna be all right
and on the up-and-up.
I'm not used to these.
These fire escapes are a sideline with me.
Now everything is gonna be...
There's nothing to worry about.
See, Police Commissioner Stevens
is upstairs,
and I'm taking care of the outside.
- By the way, what are you doing here?
- I'm Miss Xavier.
And we're not accustomed
to having strange men
climb all over our fire escapes.
I'm not accustomed to having strange girls
sticking guns in my stomach.
By the way,
you're just the person I wanna see.
I wanna ask you a few questions.
Could you tell me the whereabouts
of your father
during the last four hours?
How do you spend your evenings?
I mean, have you ever noticed the Doctor
acting strangely?
I'm sorry,
but I can't answer those questions.
The Doctor hasn't been very well lately,
and I don't like policemen or anyone
to disturb him.
- Good night.
- Just a minute.
- Have you got a permit to carry that gun?
- Yes, I have.
Good night.
All right. I'll agree to lay off for 48 hours.
But I give you my word,
if you don't succeed,
I'll come in here, seal every door,
place everybody under technical arrest,
take fingerprints,
conduct a rigid inspection.
I don't care if the whole world knows it.
There have been six murders committed
all in the same circumstances.
The evidence points here.
- But, Commissioner, all I want is a chance.
- You've got it.
- Forty-eight hours. Good night, Doctor.
- Good night.
Good night, gentlemen.
Meddling fools.
This way out, gentlemen. If you please.
- Who're you?
- I am Dr. Xavier's butler, sir.
My nerves are all shot.
That dumb, potbellied, flat-footed cop.
I dashed that off in five minutes.
I think it's pretty swell.
- What do you think?
- It's okay.
But you stick on Dr. X's trail,
and you get a picture of the Doctor
and a statement, too.
Oh, no, not me.
Listen, I wanna get off this story.
Put me back on crossword puzzles,
covering woman's clubs,
- anything, will you?
- Say, what's the matter with you?
What's the matter with me? Nothing at all.
Only I spent all last night
laying next to a bunch of stiffs,
looking at a lot of goofy guys.
I let a dame poke a gun in my stomach,
and then I let a dumb policeman
slip me a trick cigar.
Say, you want
to draw another paycheck, don't you?
Certainly, that's my aim in life, but I'd like
to keep out of the bughouse to enjoy it.
Eddie, when is Lee Taylor's week up?
Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Can't you take a joke?
All right, keep moving,
but get a picture of the Doctor.
Here, have a cigar.
How do you do? I'm Mr. Taylor.
- You ain't a reporter, are you?
- I should say not.
Well, that's good. We've been overrun
with them all morning.
- Gee, they got us goofy.
- I know just how you feel, Miss Xavier.
- I ain't Miss Xavier.
- Well, that's funny.
I was told that she was a good-looking girl
of about 20.
I'm 21-and-a-half.
Oh, fine. Pleased to meet you.
Gee, ain't you the kidder, though.
That's another thing in your favor.
That shows that you have
a sense of humor.
What do you want the miss for?
- My grandmother sent me.
- Your grandmother?
Won't you take these flowers?
- For the miss.
- Come in.
Just a minute.
Miss Joan, there's a man down here
wants you for his grandmother.
- I beg your pardon?
- Oh, how do you do?
I didn't know you... I'm awfully sorry.
You know, I felt sure that
I'd hear you coming before you entered.
Well, I suppose I could go back and cough.
Oh, no, no, please don't bother.
Stay right here.
- You're sure I'm not disturbing you?
- Not at all. Why do you ask?
You're so obviously at home here
that I feel like a guest.
- You don't mind if I sit down?
- Oh, please do.
Oh, how nice. Thank you.
And since you're my guest, won't you...
- Won't you want a cigarette?
- No.
What I want is to know
if you're really going to take it.
- Going to take it?
- Yes, my picture.
It's sticking out of your right pocket.
Well, isn't that the funniest thing?
You know, this is really all your own fault.
You have absolutely no business
photographing so attractively.
- Thank you.
- And I have a habit of collecting pictures
- of beautiful girls.
- Yeah.
- Well, and pictures of their fathers, too?
- Pictures of their fathers...
What fathers?
My father's picture's
sticking out of your left pocket.
Well, can you beat that?
How do you suppose that got there?
Just who are you, anyway?
Because you're such a good scout,
I'm gonna break down
and confess and tell you.
I'm Lee Taylor of The Daily World.
- Then you did it.
- Me?
It was you who printed that horrible story
of Father in this morning's paper.
- Horrible? You ain't read nothing yet.
- What do you mean?
What I mean is... Well, don't you see?
Your father's a famous scientist.
He's been called in on a sensational case.
- That's news.
- But you've upset him terribly.
Now, on account of that newspaper story,
he has to go some other place
to carry on his investigation.
- He hates publicity.
- You mean to tell me he's leaving town?
Who's going with him?
What time are they leaving?
- What station...
- That's none of your business.
I refuse to say another word to you.
You're just contemptible
and impudent enough to publish it.
Oh, impudent, maybe,
but not contemptible.
- Don't call me contemptible.
- You are contemptible.
You deliberately fooled me last night
into believing that you were an officer.
Well, I merely showed you
my police press badge.
Don't you think you've been here
a very long time?
Listen, honestly, I am ashamed.
But don't you see?
This is the biggest thing
that's happened in this town
in six months.
If I don't get something on this story,
why, I'll have to join
the army of the unemployed,
- and you wouldn't want that to happen.
- I'd be very grateful to you if you'd leave.
I didn't quite get that.
Yeah, would you say it again?
A little closer.
You hard of hearing?
No, no, but don't you see?
That's the closest thing
to anything coaxing that you've said yet.
- You get out of here.
- Oh, don't be angry.
Come on, let's laugh it off.
- Won't you shake hands and be friends?
- No.
Lucky.
I've got to get something on this story,
or I'm out of a job.
Hey!
Take this home to your grandmother.
Bad luck.
There is no need to be temperamental.
We are here on a matter
of the utmost gravity.
That's why I've sent for you
so unceremoniously.
We are all under suspicion of murder.
- What?
- Absurd.
- Ridiculous.
- What imbecile thought that up?
Gentlemen, I know you're all acquainted
with these recent horrible murders.
Moon Killer murders,
as the press calls them.
The investigation has proven that,
in every case,
the killer has made use
of a surgical instrument,
a type to be found only in our academy.
- But, Doctor...
- One moment, please.
Naturally, I prefer to believe
that everyone in this room is innocent,
but circumstances point to the conclusion
that one of us may be guilty,
any one of us.
Confound it, Xavier.
Bring us up here on a night like this.
Why couldn't you have told us this
at the academy?
For a simple reason.
I wish to conduct
an investigation of my own,
alone, quietly.
And I want your help.
This is a lot of tommyrot.
Don't you realize
what the publicity of a police investigation
would mean to us?
You are quite right, Doctor.
What do you propose to do?
I want every one of you
to submit to a psycho-neurological test,
an experiment that I have devised,
which I hope will prove
each one of us innocent.
But if it should prove otherwise?
Then, my dear Doctor,
surely one's own farewell to life
is preferable to that demanded by the law.
- This is preposterous. I refuse.
- Good. Then the police will give it to you.
Gentlemen, I consider it a privilege
to have an opportunity
of proving my innocence.
- Doctor, I'm ready.
- Thank you, Dr. Rowitz.
- Dr. Wells?
- Yes.
- Professor Duke?
- I agree.
- And you, Professor Haines?
- Well, if they all agree.
- Good.
- Oh, I think it's a lot of nonsense.
Gentlemen, I suggest you all
retire to your rooms and unpack.
In 10 minutes we shall all meet
in the laboratory.
A still?
Wonder where they bottle it.
Bad luck.
You and me both.
Very well, Doctor. At once.
Your room is at the end of the corridor.
Mine's over there.
I just fixed yours for the night.
Is there anything else, miss?
Why, Mamie, what's the matter with you?
Your teeth are chattering.
This terrible house.
It gives me the horrors worse than ever.
Well, don't be absurd.
Go to bed and go to sleep.
Well, I hope you get a good night's sleep.
- Good night.
- Good night, Mamie.
Good night.
Come, Mamie. Come.
Come, Mamie.
How would you like
to meet a ghost in here, eh, Mamie?
Well, I'll tell you one thing.
He'd be a lot pleasanter than you.
Stop that, Otto.
Stop it.
There ain't anything in this room
to be afraid of.
So you can just stop
trying to make me nervous.
Well, well, Mr. Zilch, how are you?
The smells,
don't they remind you
of an embalming parlor, eh, Mamie?
The only thing in this room
that does that right now is you.
Yes, you can laugh now, if you want to,
but you won't laugh tonight when you
have to wear these for the experiment.
- Where did Dr. Xavier get that?
- From the morgue.
The old scrubwoman wore these
the night that she was murdered.
Look, Mamie, look here.
You can see some of the blood on them.
- No, Otto! No, please, Otto! No, no!
- Look, Mamie. Look, Mamie. Yes.
- I take back what I said, please.
- Look, Mamie, look.
Otto, Mamie, what's wrong with
the switchboard? What's going on here?
- Nothing, sir.
- Yes, there is, Doctor.
- He's trying to scare me.
- Otto, stop this foolishness.
- Yes, sir.
- Now, pay attention, both of you.
- You have the dress, Otto?
- Right here, sir.
Mamie, you'll kindly put it on.
- Put in on? But, Doctor...
- Now, I want your help.
You and Otto will enact the last murder
of the so-called Moon Killer
before an audience I've selected.
Otto knows all about it
and will instruct you in your part.
- What part do I play?
- The scrubwoman, of course.
- The one who was murdered last night.
- Murdered?
But, Doctor, please, please.
Couldn't Otto play it?
No, Otto has his own part,
that of the killer.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
Remember our signals, Otto.
Just as I explained.
Yes, sir.
You see, Mamie, there's nothing
to be afraid of. There's nothing...
How've you been, babe?
Now, cut it out, now, will you? Cut it out.
You're right.
There's nothing like this way.
How utterly absurd.
Good heavens, Doctor, what have
you done with your laboratory here?
It's nothing like it was at my last visit.
- I've made a few changes, that's all.
- A thousand, I should say.
Thermal tubes, huh?
A blood reaction,
by high frequency current, as well.
Dr. Xavier is still working on his theory
that strong mental repressions,
phobias, hidden in the darkest corners
of the subconscious mind
can be brought to the surface
and made to register
through certain reactions of the heart.
- Am I correct, Professor?
- Precisely.
And tonight I hope to prove my theory.
Now, gentlemen, would you kindly
be seated in these chairs?
We'll begin the experiment.
Well, if we must,
then let us get it over with quickly.
Dr. Rowitz, Dr. Haines and Professor Duke.
And now, gentlemen,
with your permission,
Dr. Wells will assist you in clamping
these contact wires to your wrists.
Are yours included?
Certainly.
As close as possible.
But, see that the connections aren't
too tight. You'll be quite comfortable.
Pardon me a moment, Doctor,
as I attach the contact clamp.
That's it. Thank you.
Did I have to come all the way down
from the city to play guinea pig for you?
I'm sure you'll forgive me
in just a few moments.
- We're ready, Professor.
- The moon.
Perfect.
- Just as though we'd ordered it.
- Close those curtains.
Give me the shivers.
Moon shining right in my face.
- Oh, no, no. No, leave them alone.
- Close them!
- Shall I?
- All right, you may close them, Wells.
Now, listen, please, to what I have to say.
One of us in this room may be a murderer.
A murderer who killed
by the light of a full moon,
leaving his victim's body mutilated.
A cannibal.
Evidence shows the killer has two hands.
Therefore, only Wells is eliminated.
So I shall ask him to work the apparatus.
Wells? Wells? How about me?
A hopeless paralytic.
Silence, please, Professor.
Wells, will you take your place outside
in the recording cabinet?
Yes, Doctor.
I'm going to leave you for a moment now,
while I check the variability
of your blood reactions.
I suggest that you remain silent
during my absence.
Wells, the young quack.
Had him for an intern
before he could grow a beard.
If you ask me, I think Dr. Xavier
is using very unethical methods.
Necessity has no ethics, sir.
Gentlemen, I am now turning on
the 100-milliampere, high-frequency coil.
Your pulses are connected
with the magnetic rotators,
and each variation
of your heartbeat reaction
is amplified 4,000 times.
The rotor of the electrostatic machine
is connected in multiple series
with a bank of glass-plate condensers,
and the discharge causes irradiations
to the thermal tubes,
which, in turn, indicate your increased
pulse rate and nerve reactions.
We can proceed now.
One moment, Doctor.
Were the murdered women attacked?
Does your mind
never run into any other channel?
What do you mean by that statement?
I mean that your sadistic tendencies
may someday carry you too far,
Dr. Haines.
- You, you...
- Silence, gentlemen, please.
Now, it is my theory
that one of us in the past,
through dire necessity,
was driven to cannibalism.
The memory of that act was hammered
like a nail into the mind of that man.
Shrewd and brilliant, he could conceal
his madness from the human eye.
Even from himself.
But he can't conceal it from the eyes
of the radio sensitivity.
Every time his heart beats
from mental excitement,
the thermal tubes will betray him.
You are all now connected
with these tubes. I am myself.
But I alone know which tube is yours.
Your heart beats are being reflected
before you.
Doctor, I protest!
As the heart beats faster and faster,
so does that red liquid begin
to pulse and rise
until terror takes hold of the subject,
and the liquid rises
to the very top of the tube.
He whose tube does that is the guilty man.
Here are a line of wax figures,
lifelike reproductions of the pitiful victims,
people whose lives were snuffed out
and whose bodies were torn
to satisfy the desires.
First, a woman of the streets,
killed in the tenement district.
Her body found late at night in a gutter.
The next victim, a middle-aged woman,
killed just before dawn
as she was on her way to market.
Her bleeding body found under a dock
by the waterfront.
Then, a dope fiend,
strangled and mutilated
in the doorway of a dance hall.
Next, a beautiful young girl,
violently killed as she lay on a hospital bed
recovering from an illness.
Oh, I'm so afraid. I'm shaking like a leaf.
Keep quiet. Get ready.
Watch.
You're about to see reenacted
the murder of the killer's latest victim.
An old scrubwoman.
She's coming home from work. It's late.
A full moon shines down upon her.
She's passing through an alleyway
when suddenly a terrible figure steals out,
starts creeping towards her.
As old Annie stoops
to pick up a newspaper,
the figure suddenly takes her throat
in his powerful hands.
Get your hands off me, Otto.
You're hurting my throat.
- Turn on the lights!
- Someone's coming in the room!
Stop it, stop it, I can't stand any more!
Xavier, turn on the lights!
I can't get my breath.
- The lights!
- Look at that tube.
It's a success. The guilty man is...
The guilty man is Rowitz.
Rowitz. Look, what's happened to him?
- He's been murdered.
- Let me see.
What's the matter? What has happened?
Stabbed in the base of the brain.
Murdered like all the other
Moon Killer victims.
- Who was sitting on his left side?
- I was, but I didn't see anything.
I was watching the experiment.
Duke, you're walking!
I walked. You saw me.
You saw me, I walked.
I walked.
- You walked? You faker, you killed him.
- Quiet, Haines.
Don't you recognize
hysteria reaction when you see it?
- Otto, help him.
- Take it easy, Doctor.
You'll need all your strength
for your work tonight.
Wells? Where's Wells?
The contacts are broken.
Why doesn't he come in?
Take him to another room.
Wells! Wells!
Wells! Wells!
Wells!
Wells! What's wrong, man?
I don't know. The lights went out.
Someone called my name.
I started for the laboratory,
and someone struck me.
Oh, this is terrible!
Easy, now. Let me help you.
I will be all right in just a moment.
Watch your head.
Are you sure you heard
no one approaching the room
when we started the test?
No one. Nothing unusual happened
until I was struck.
Father, something terrible
has happened to Dr. Rowitz.
- I just saw him...
- Now, Joanne, dear, be calm.
Dr. Rowitz has met with an accident.
- I wish you'd go back to your room.
- He's dead?
You can't do anything here, Joanne.
It's best that you go back to your room.
- Your father will explain everything later.
- Now, come, Joanne. Come.
Doctor. Doctor.
- What is it, Haines?
- There's someone hiding in this closet.
What?
Another one? Who is it?
He's the young man
who was at the house today.
He fainted.
- Some water, Otto, quickly.
- Yes, sir.
I took the liberty of having
something on hand
- for just such an occasion, sir.
- Thank you.
Here, young man, drink this.
How's that, huh?
It's not bad. How much do you pay for it?
He's all right now.
What were you doing in that closet?
- Hiding.
- Who are you?
Lee Taylor, The Daily World.
You wouldn't give me a break,
so I had to take it.
- You're lying.
- Don't be absurd.
He is a newspaper man.
He's the one who printed
the story about you in yesterday's World.
I'm sorry. You see, I had to get the story.
I was hiding in there, and everything
was going great, when all of a sudden,
well, I guess I just fainted.
It's gonna be kind of tough if I have to lug
smelling salts around with me
the rest of my life.
Yes, well, newspaper man or not,
you're an impostor.
I don't like your methods.
I shall hand you over to the police.
- Otto...
- That suits me.
I'll phone my story in
from the police station.
- You'll phone no story.
- Father, let me talk to him, will you?
I can't let this story get out now.
It'd ruin everything.
But, Father, please let me talk to him.
Mr. Taylor.
Just in case.
- You're not gonna let him go?
- Certainly not. Otto, watch him.
Don't let him get near a phone
or leave this house.
Yes, sir.
Oh, no, no. I'm absolutely all right.
Now don't...
Don't you worry about me.
I gotta dash off to my newspaper.
- See, they won't wait.
- Mr. Taylor.
You don't have to report to the paper
what you've just seen, do you?
I'm sorry, but I've got to.
You see, this is the most sensational case
that's broken in six months...
I know. But can't you wait?
Won't you give Father a chance
to find out who's doing it?
What difference does it make to the public
what happens or how he does it
so long as he catches him?
It makes a lot of difference.
The public want to read about it.
The more sensational it is,
the more the son-of-a-guns love it.
Is that all you think about?
Sensationalism?
Don't you ever think
about people's feelings?
Can't you realize what a scandal
would do to my father's institution?
Certainly I can, but don't you realize
that I'm in a hard-boiled racket?
Then, why don't you help us instead
of making it so much more difficult for us?
Aren't we going through enough trouble?
Look at the trouble I've been through
to get this story.
I lay down at the morgue
with a bunch of stiffs.
I looked at a lot of goofy guys.
I let a dumb policeman...
Will you at least stay the rest of the night
and talk it over with Father
in the morning?
I tell you what I'll do.
I'll hold off on this story, and I'll stay,
if you let me have breakfast
with the family in the morning.
I think it can be arranged.
Father usually has breakfast at 7:30.
- And you?
- Oh, I am lazy. I have mine at 9:00.
Oh, you have no idea how lazy I am.
- Could I have mine at 9:00?
- Possibly.
And will you take me
for a swim afterwards?
- A swim?
- At the beach.
If you're so helpless
you can't find the water,
you've no business in it.
But I like the water and...
I am sorry, miss,
I had no intention of disturbing you.
That's okay, Otto.
- There's old man bad luck again.
- I am sorry.
That's all right, Otto. I'm glad you're here.
Mr. Taylor's staying for the night.
I'd like you to prepare a room for him.
I have already done so, miss.
May I suggest that you do not disturb
your father any further tonight?
- He is very tired.
- That's a good idea, Otto.
Are you going swimming with me
in the morning?
No, thanks. Good night.
What will you do if I start to sink
and yell for help?
Throw you an anvil. Good night.
This way, sir.
- Do you sleep very soundly, sir?
- Like a rock.
- I'm sorry to hear that.
- Why?
Because this is a very strange house.
- You're telling me.
- This way, if you please.
Father.
Father.
Father?
Father!
Joanne.
What are you doing here?
Well, dear, I just wanted to be sure
that the incision was made
by a brain scalpel.
Come.
- Professor Haines.
- Haines, why are you here?
I couldn't sleep.
So I came down here to make a more
thorough examination of the body.
Professor, I...
Father, will you please come to bed?
All right, darling, now, you run along,
and I'll be right up.
- Good night.
- Good night, dear.
Professor, since we retired,
this body has been...
- It has been...
- I know, but I don't want her to know.
What are you laughing about?
Oh, I know. This.
"Hate, friendship, love."
I don't blame you. It's so banal.
Like those postcards you buy. You know?
- Yes.
- About "I wish you were here,"
and "Two little doves billing and cooing."
Oh, no, really.
I was just thinking of something.
Of what?
- Come on, let's go in the water, shall we?
- Oh, no, no, no. Oh!
Water and I are not very good friends.
No, listen, when was a little kid,
I was very, very delicate, see?
- But very good looking.
- Yeah?
Yeah, well,
I won a first prize in a beauty parade.
- A baby parade at Asbury Park.
- How sweet.
But my mother was constantly
dunking me in a tub of water,
and I would get soap in my hair
and in my eyes and my thing.
And water and I are not very good friends.
So, let's stay right here, huh?
Why not?
- There's somebody watching us.
- Where?
Look.
Oh, this is a terrible place.
I wish I were away from it.
If you only knew the things
that have happened.
Listen. Forget that I'm a newspaperman.
I wouldn't betray your confidence.
Don't you see the only thing
I'm concerned about is your safety?
Are you worried about your father?
Yes, I am, terribly.
I wouldn't be. He's very tired.
He's working under a terrific strain.
- He's bound to show it.
- I know.
But last night, after everyone went to bed,
I saw my father bending over
Rowitz's body.
I saw... Oh, it's a terrible thought.
Oh, snap out of it.
Let's get dressed, and we'll...
Oh, we'll have breakfast.
That's right.
Well, I'll let you know, your eyes...
Your eyes are so blue,
when I look into them...
That's right, Mamie.
You drink it, and you'll go right to sleep.
Nothing's going to hurt you.
She'll be all right
as soon as this sedative has taken effect.
But the Doctor will be mad
if I can't go through with it.
No, Father knows you're sick.
Of course he won't be angry with you.
Don't you worry about the experiment.
I'm sure the Doctor
will make other arrangements.
I can't do it. I can't.
Something tells me
if I go in that room tonight,
tomorrow I'll be in my coffin.
Now, now. You just be quiet
and forget about everything.
Oh, Miss Joan,
something horrible is gonna happen.
I feel it in my bones.
Last night I dreamed
I was walking up to a casket,
and when I looked inside, it was me.
Here, now, now, now.
You'll be getting hysterical again.
You'll be all right. Just go to sleep.
In the morning you'll feel fine.
I think we'd better
leave her alone, Joanne.
No, Miss Joan, please don't go.
I don't wanna die.
I'm too young to die.
I've got too much to live for.
No.
- How's Mamie?
- She'll be all right. Don't worry.
- Thank you, Dr. Wells.
- It's quite all right.
What's become of that newspaper fellow?
Have you seen him?
Not since dinner.
He went directly to his room.
I've been looking for him everywhere.
I have a feeling that he's sneaked out
and phoned the story of Rowitz's murder
to the papers.
Publicity of that sort
would ruin everything.
I don't think he'd do that.
He gave you his word.
I asked you
not to let him out of your sight, dear.
- Why don't we look in his room?
- Oh, will no one obey me anymore?
Bad luck.
Skull, crossbones.
Death.
Hello?
- Oh, yes.
- Did you find him, dear?
- No, not yet, Dad.
- He's right here, sir.
- For me?
- The Commissioner of Police, sir.
Thank you.
- Hello, Commissioner.
- Look here, Doctor,
I've decided to send an undercover man
up there tonight
when you start your tests.
No, there won't be any tests tonight.
You'll have to give me another 24 hours.
Well, the woman I was depending upon
was taken sick this afternoon,
and it spoils all my plans.
Well, I'm sorry, but if things have
gotten beyond your control,
I'm coming down there right away
to take charge.
I'm in a tough spot.
I've got murder enough already
to explain to the press and public.
- And if you think for a moment...
- One moment, Commissioner.
The 48 hours aren't up yet.
Well, I have to make
some other arrangements.
Hold your men up just a little longer.
Give me one more chance, please.
All right!
I'll give you until midnight.
If you haven't got your man then,
I'm coming down there
and slap the whole place under arrest.
Yank you all up to headquarters
whether you like it or not.
Father, I want to help you.
You can't count on Mamie.
- Let me take her place.
- You?
No, I couldn't ask you to do that, Joan.
But please, Dad.
You get a squad car down
to Blackstone Shoals at midnight, sharp.
Yes, sir.
Put the signal button on the control table
and attach the wires to the thermal tubes.
Yes, Doctor.
What's the meaning
of all this paraphernalia? Idiotic nonsense.
These chairs are too far apart
to protect us from each other.
The contacts have all been checked.
You'll be ready in just a moment.
- Thank you, Wells.
- Doctor,
I still think you're making a mistake
using Joanne in this experiment.
After all, gentlemen,
this is my daughter's own suggestion.
I have no fear for her safety.
She's a sensible girl
and knows what she's doing.
Yeah, and if she were my daughter,
she wouldn't be up there on a bed
in nothing but a nightgown
just to satisfy some lunatic's experiment.
Professor Duke, don't criticize Joanne
for her state of undress.
This argument is irrelevant.
Doctor, you forget that last night there
was a murderer at large in this room.
And the murderer is still here.
I'm convinced.
But I've taken precaution against that.
You will each of you
be handcuffed to your chairs,
and you'll notice
that each chair is bolted to the floor.
I refuse to submit!
You'll have us in straightjackets next!
I won't sit here handcuffed
while you're running around loose.
I intend to be handcuffed also.
That will assure us there can't possibly
be a repetition of last night's tragedy.
Oh, Wells.
They're very becoming to you, Haines.
It is time to get ready.
Aren't you afraid, miss?
There's only one thing I'm afraid of, Otto.
That's Father's health.
He's been working so hard,
and lately he seems so strange.
The human mind will only stand so much.
We are all a little strange up here.
That's why I want Father to get away
from here.
He needs a long rest.
He's promised me that just as soon
as this is over, he'll go abroad with me.
You are right, miss.
Don't be afraid tonight.
Be sure you keep your eyes closed.
And relax.
Is that all, Doctor?
Yes, everything's set.
Now, go to the electric cabinet
and do exactly as I told you.
Throw on the current
the moment you are ready.
Yes, sir.
Doctor, has it ever occurred to you
that Wells is free to do as he pleases?
I've guarded against that also.
Wells wishes to be treated
the same as we are.
- Otto.
- Yes, sir?
Bolt all the doors
so that no one can get in.
- The rest you know.
- Yes, sir.
Here are the keys.
Synthetic flesh.
Synthetic flesh.
And now you are about to witness
one of the most gruesome crimes
of the Moon Killer.
The death of Florence Johnson.
Murdered and horribly mutilated
as she was lying
weak and helpless on a hospital bed.
It's midnight,
a private room at the Arch Hospital.
The nurse leaves the room for a moment.
The girl is alone
when suddenly...
When suddenly the Moon Killer appears.
He crosses softly to his victim.
It's the killer!
- The killer!
- The killer!
Fight him off, Joan!
- Joanne!
- Wells, Wells.
Otto! Wells!
You idiots are calling for Wells?
lt'll do you no good! There isn't any Wells!
Look, the keys. Well, take them.
It's Wells.
- Wells!
- Yes, it is Wells. But a new Wells.
A Wells whose name will live forever
in the history of science.
Go! Run, Joanne! Run, run!
Joanne, get up, run!
The keys. The keys. The keys.
Look at his hand. Horrible!
Yes, look at it, a real hand.
It's alive. It's flesh.
Synthetic flesh.
For years I've been searching
to find the secret
of a living manufactured flesh.
And now I found it.
You I think I went to Africa
to study cannibalism?
I went there to get samples
of the human flesh that the natives eat.
Yes, that's what I needed.
Living flesh from humans
for my experiments.
What difference did it make
if a few people had to die?
Their flesh taught me how to manufacture
arms, legs, faces that are human!
I'll make a crippled world whole again.
Doctor, your name will be remembered.
You've given your life,
everything to science.
All but one thing, and now
you're gonna give even that to science.
Your daughter.
Oh, if only I were not powerless here
in chains.
Run!
Fight him off, Joanne!
Fight him off. Save her!
Joanne! Run! Run!
Club him! Club him!
- Joanne!
- Where'd he go?
Oh, Father! Father!
- Joanne!
- Oh, Father.
- Are you hurt?
- No, I'm not.
- Lee!
- Yes.
- Lee!
- Wells. Where's Wells?
What happened to him?
Calm down. He won't ever come back.
I hit him with a lamp.
It was a long throw, but...
You know, I used to be a first baseman
in high school.
You know, that old peg over to third.
Take a look at him.
- Are you hurt, Lee?
- I'm all right.
Are you okay?
Oh, I'm so glad. Because you... I want to...
I better keep my mind on my work.
You say you can't understand me?
I'm talking too fast?
You'd be talking fast, too,
if you'd been through
what I've been through.
Boy, am I out. Now listen, listen, Willard,
I want you to give Dr. X full credit
for trapping him.
Dr. X. Now I'll call you back in five minutes
with more details.
More to follow, more to...
Oh, Mr. Taylor.
I can't tell you how grateful I am
for all that you've done for us.
Oh, you've got my heart going
a mile a minute.
Your heart? Oh, I'm so glad.
Wait a minute.
Take this to the society editor.
It is rumored that,
on her return from Europe,
Miss Xavier will have a very important
announcement to make
concerning a very promising
and prominent young newspaperman.
More later.
Say, tell me how in the world did you ever
overpower that terrible monster?
Oh, I...
In the third round, I found out
that he was very ticklish in a certain spot.
But I haven't found your weakness.
- Don't you know?
- You don't mean...
Come here to me.
Oh, Mr. Taylor.