Mission Impossible (1966) s04e13 Episode Script

The Amnesiac

Good morning, Mr.
Phelps.
Two years ago, a sphere of a rare isotope known as trivanium was stolen from us.
Trivanium is invaluable as it could lead to development of nuclear weapons so inexpensive that any nation in the world could afford them.
Three men engineered the actual theft of the trivanium.
One was Otto Silff.
The second, Major Paul Johan.
The third, the leader, Colonel Alex Vorda, security chief of their country.
Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to find out where the trivanium is hidden and get it back.
As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.
Good luck, Jim.
Originally, Vorda planned to deliver the trivanium to the United Peoples' Republic in exchange for their support in the overthrow of his country's government.
But we know that on the night of the theft, Johan killed Silff and hid the trivanium for his own personal gain.
How about Vorda? Johan has convinced Vorda that Silff took the trivanium, hid it, and was then killed in an automobile accident.
Vorda thinks it's lost for good.
And we know that Major Johan is scheduled to sell it on Friday.
That gives us only 48 hours, Jim.
That's right, Monique.
Now, some of us will be coming into contact with this man, Erhard Poltzin.
He was sent by the UPR to take delivery of the trivanium and to act as Vorda's political advisor.
Paris, how was the dossier on Silff? A recording of his voice, a description of his mannerisms, everything I needed.
How about that publicity on Dr.
Lumin, Barney? Lt'll break tomorrow, Jim.
Complete coverage.
Radio, television, newspapers.
Good.
Monique? Cousin Wilhelm cancelled his trip to Amsterdam.
He's going to take a longer holiday in September.
On the riverfront.
Pier A in the hold of a ship.
Yes, yes, it was, oh, 15 countries altogether.
And did you find your trip enjoyable, doctor? Well, all I can say is I'm very glad to be back.
Dr.
Lumin, did you give any demonstrations of your new technique for the treatment of amnesia - while you were abroad? - No, no.
It was strictly a lecture tour.
Now, if you'll forgive me, I It was a long trip and I'm really very tired.
Thank you, doctor.
Where are you going with that? They told me to bring it upstairs before this section closes.
- Your requisition? - I do not have one.
Nothing leaves the file rooms without a signed requisition.
- Put it back.
- Very well.
Would you please ask the young lady at the piano if she would like to join us after this set? Thank you.
I really don't mind being ignored, major, but I was under the impression that we came here to discuss my assignment in Donengrad.
- Isn't that? - "Beyond the Shadow of Today.
" Yes.
The song which you and Otto used to dance away the long hours of the night.
Has it ever occurred to you that you might be overdoing the grief? I loved Otto.
And he loved me.
Still it has been two years.
And life does go on.
Allow me to introduce myself, Major Paul Johan.
Erica Cruzon.
This is a friend of mine, Miss Ober, a colleague in the Department of Internal Security.
Will you join us, please? I'm curious about the last number you played, Miss Cruzon.
"Beyond the Shadow of Today"? One rarely hears it anymore.
I was wondering how you came across it.
A gentleman friend of mine introduced me to it.
How long have you been working here, Miss Cruzon? Just since yesterday.
Oh, then I am delighted.
I should hate to think that you might have been here for weeks or maybe even months and I hadn't known it.
Miss Cruzon.
The gentleman who introduced you to "Beyond the Shadow of Today," what was his name? Why, it was Stefan.
- Good evening, Erica.
- I was just thinking of you.
Miss Ober, major, may I present a dear friend of mine, - Stefan Denker? - How do you do? Would you like to join us, Mr.
Denker? Thank you.
- May I? - Of course.
I was hoping you would join me for supper this evening.
Stefan, I would love to.
But she has already accepted an invitation from me.
Well, in that case, perhaps another time.
I hope you are not offended, Miss Ober.
Caricatures are seldom flattering.
But then someone once said that: "Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
" Edmund Burke.
I had forgotten.
I once had a friend who knew Burke's work by heart.
- I've heard him quote that very line.
- Really? I'd like to buy this, Mr.
Denker.
Oh, no, it's really not good enough.
- I want it.
- Very well, then please accept it with my compliments.
Thank you.
Yes.
I suppose there is some similarity of style.
Similarity.
Look at them, colonel.
The style is identical.
It's coincidence.
And the quotation from Burke, - is that coincidence too? - Miss Ober.
And the Cruzon woman's cigarette lighter? It was exactly the same as the one you gave Otto after five years with the department.
It even had the precise date inscribed on it.
March 19, 1965.
I am not imagining this, colonel.
Stefan Denker has Otto's voice, his mannerisms, his eyes.
But not his face.
You are scheduled to leave for Donengrad on assignment within the hour, Miss Ober.
Better hurry or you'll miss the train.
Aren't you going to investigate this at all? Yes, I'll look into it.
Look into it? - Is that all? - That is enough, Miss Ober.
She's a compulsive talker, your Miss Ober.
Something about seeing the ghost of Otto Silff at the Cabaret Candide.
She's a stupid, hysterical woman, Poltzin.
Perhaps not.
There's a light of certain news I have received from my country's legation in Switzerland.
What news? That someone in this country, acting through an intermediary, has made a deal with the North Asia People's Republic, promising to deliver the trivanium in Bern on Friday.
Vorda, my government has a deal with you.
Our support of your attempted coup d'état in return for the trivanium.
Now we have been waiting patiently for two years to fulfil our part of the bargain.
But as of noon on Friday, we no longer have any arrangement.
That doesn't give you too much time to find the trivanium, colonel, does it? Your new telephone directories.
Do you know Stefan Denker well? - Not really.
- Where did you meet him? About a year ago at the cabaret.
Oh, then you knew him before his accident? No, his accident happened nearly two years ago.
Then he had an accident? Do not be nervous, Miss Cruzon.
Just tell us the truth.
Tell us everything you know about Stefan Denker.
I met him at Mother of Mercy Hospital.
And you did not meet him at the cabaret? - No.
- No, then you lied.
Why? Stefan made me promise never to tell what had happened to him.
- What had happened? - It was ghastly.
At first, his face was He had been in a fire of some kind but that's all I know.
Stefan wouldn't talk about it.
He still won't.
Please.
You must believe me.
If Stefan is in trouble I know nothing about it.
What was the name of the doctor? - In the hospital? - Yes, of course.
I don't know.
There were so many.
- I can't remember the names.
- Well, try to remember.
Well, there was a Dr.
Wynson or Wyson or something like that.
Wynson? No.
I remember.
Wysart.
That was it, Dr.
Wysart.
Wysart.
Get me a Dr.
Wysart.
- May I go now? - Oh, yes.
But hold yourself available for further questioning if necessary.
Thank you.
Major.
Bring Stefan Denker in for questioning.
- Yes? - This is Dr.
Wysart speaking.
Hello, doctor.
I'm sorry to bother you but I wonder if I could get some information about a patient of yours.
Yes, colonel.
Stefan Denker.
I remember the case well.
There have been five operations over a 20-month period.
I see.
Could you determine the cause of the disfigurement? Very easily.
The man was severely burned.
There was no chance of restoring the original physiognomy, but the cosmetic appearance was markedly improved.
- Fine.
Thank you.
- You're welcome, colonel.
Fraudulent identification.
- That's ridiculous.
- Is your name Stefan Denker? - Isn't that what it says? - Is your name Stefan Denker? - Yes.
- Not Otto Silff? Otto Silff? Who is Otto Silff? You are.
Well? Thank you.
What? - What are those? - Fingerprints.
Otto Silff's? Yours.
They are identical.
Do you now deny that you are Otto Silff? Well, if I am Otto Silff, then who am I? What have I done? What are you saying? That I don't remember anything before I woke up in the hospital two years ago.
Where is the trivanium? I don't know anything about it.
- I beg you to believe me.
- You are lying.
I am not.
I beg you, believe me.
I'm not.
Vorda.
Perhaps he's telling the truth.
I am.
If I could remember where I hid the trivanium, I would tell you.
- I don't want it.
I don't want it.
- Get him out of here.
Isn't he the psychiatrist that was in the newspaper developing a new technique for treating amnesiacs? And apparently Silff has an appointment with him tomorrow.
Dr.
Wysart suggested I see him.
You know, contrary to popular belief, total amnesia such as Denker's is very rare.
But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint him.
- Why? - Wysart also sent along his x-rays.
He has a brain tumour.
My compacted technique could seriously injure him.
Dr.
Lumin, it is imperative that Denker's memory be restored within 24 hours.
- You must be joking.
- Twenty-four hours.
- I just told you, he has a brain tumour.
- Denker is a criminal.
His real name is Otto Silff.
He's going to the gallows anyway.
- Well, that's beside the point - Dr.
Lumin.
It would be regrettable if my investigators were to uncover something about you that would put an end to your brilliant career.
If you're threatening me, you're wasting your time.
I've nothing to hide.
Doctor, anybody can be provided with something to hide.
I see.
Where is this examination to take place? Security headquarters.
I will need to bring my light equipment.
I want a list of questions, the areas you want to probe.
I will need every scrap of information there is on the man.
If we're going to be successful, nothing must be withheld.
Nothing will be.
You wanted me to think it belonged to Otto Silff, but you made a mistake.
The department was still giving the wick-style lighter when Silff got his, not butane.
You're lying to me, Miss Cruzon, and I want to know why.
Before you do anything foolish, major, may I tell you that I have written a letter and given it to a friend, who will give it to Colonel Vorda if anything should happen to me.
And this was no mistake.
It was supposed to do just what it's done.
Smoke you out.
If you'll pardon the expression.
You've been expecting me.
I knew Otto before his accident.
Any man with a scheme for making a half-a-million dollars interests me.
How would he make that much money? By stealing something worth a million dollars, whatever it was.
He and his partner were going to split it fifty-fifty.
Unfortunately, Otto wouldn't tell me who his partner was, so after the accident I thought that was that until I read that no traces of Otto's body had been found.
I searched everywhere for him.
I went to every hospital.
Finally, I found him.
Naturally, his having amnesia came as something of a blow.
Why is it then, that you didn't tell him who he is? If he couldn't remember, he was no good to me, so I decided to try to find his ex-partner on my own.
It took time to eliminate all of the possibilities.
But here we are at last, major.
Do you expect me to give you Silff's half of the transaction? It's that or I tell Vorda all I know tonight.
Don't look so glum, major.
I'm sure if you give it a chance, this could be the beginning of a long and rewarding relationship for both of us.
Warm summer night, I can hear the crickets.
And the kitchen noises below.
My sisters are washing up.
And I'm in bed.
I'm warm.
And I'm safe.
And I'm happy.
Tomorrow is my birthday.
Tomorrow is my birthday.
Tomorrow I'll be 10 years old.
Go on, Otto.
Mama's there.
We laugh and we talk about tomorrow.
About all the things we're going to do on my birthday.
Mama turns out the light.
And I'm warm and I'm safe and I'm happy.
Mama's singing.
Listen.
What is it, Otto? Over there.
In the corner.
In the shadows.
He's waiting.
He's always there.
He's waiting.
Who is it, Otto? That's why he's always following me.
He wants to kill me.
He's trying to kill me.
- Mama.
- Who is it, Otto? Who? Mama, Mama, make him leave me alone.
Mama, don't let him kill me, Mama.
Please.
- Mama.
- All right, you're back in bed now.
Make him go away, Mama.
- You're warm, Otto.
- Mama, make him go away.
- You're safe now.
- Mama.
What are you doing, doctor? Why are you stopping? What do you want, colonel, the trivanium or a corpse? This is taking too long.
Do you have to go over his entire life? Yes, I'm afraid we must.
This man in the shadows, this nightmare figure obviously recurs throughout his life.
He's the symbol of every bad dream or experience that Silff has ever had, but at this point, he's half-fact half-fantasy.
An immediate problem is to get him to remember which half is real.
If we can do that, his memory will return.
Doctor, may I ask Colonel Vorda, I was told you were here and I Come in, major.
Doctor, Major Paul Johan.
Dr.
Anton Lumin.
Lumin? - Dr.
Lumin is the - I know.
The psychiatrist who is specialised in amnesiacs.
Major.
Yes? Just one moment.
It's for you, major.
- Hello.
- Erica Cruzon, major.
I must see you.
I'm sorry, but You get over here right away or I'm going to call back and talk to Colonel Vorda.
Something the matter, major? Yes, an emergency at home.
Whisky, please.
There's a man at the bar.
He followed me here.
That is why I called you.
The other one has been following me all day.
Do you know who they are? No.
But Colonel Vorda has many men who I do not know.
Otto.
The man in the shadows.
Who is he? I don't know.
I can't see his face.
Try.
Try.
I'm afraid.
I'm afraid.
All right, you rest for a few minutes.
- Doctor.
- Yes? I want to see Erica.
That is impossible.
Erica is all right, Otto.
I want to see for myself.
The woman is an emotional reality to him, colonel.
If he does not trust us, we get nowhere.
We have delayed long enough.
After two years, no one can dispute that, colonel.
However, I agree with Dr.
Lumin.
If Vorda is having us followed, then this Dr.
Lumin must have already gotten something out of Otto.
I'm not waiting to find out what.
If you're smart, you'll get out too.
It is not as simple as that for me now.
I can't sell the trivanium anymore.
I couldn't even move it 10 feet now without being arrested.
I'm sorry it didn't work out.
I wish I could help.
Does Otto have any idea where the trivanium is hidden? Oh, yes.
He did once.
He's forgotten that along with everything else.
That's a pity.
That's really all they want to know.
If he could remember it in time they would never have to know about you.
Hello.
Speaking.
Colonel Vorda.
Yes.
I see.
Yes.
Yes.
He says Otto wants to see me.
To make sure I'm all right.
- He's lying.
I'm getting out of here.
- No, wait.
You gave me an idea.
If Silff told them where the trivanium was hidden, that might be the end of it.
- He's forgotten.
- He'll remember where it is.
- Just that one thing.
- How? You'll tell him.
Now wait a minute.
If it works, I'll see that you have an exit permit and enough money to leave the country.
Otto won't understand.
Oh, yes, he loves you.
He will do anything you say.
Tell him that if he gives them the information they want, it will save your life.
They won't let me see Otto alone.
You'll embrace him.
You will whisper it to him.
I don't care what you do, but you will do something.
You will try.
What do you think I face? Do you think Vorda will shoot me? And leave it at that? If Vorda finds out about me, I will see to it that he will also find out about you.
You invited yourself into this, Miss Cruzon.
Nobody forced you.
All right.
I'll try.
What do I tell Otto? Tell him to say that the trivanium is hidden in the Fourth Army Chemical Warfare Compound.
Warehouse D.
Crate Number 144.
Yes, come in.
- Stefan.
- Erica.
You have exactly one minute.
Are you all right, Erica? I'm fine, Stefan.
I'm all packed for my trip.
Wouldn't you know they say it's raining in Dobrany.
Then you have your train reservations? I was going to take the 144, but Uncle Werner has no car, so I decided to drive instead.
That way we'll be able to drive to the lake together.
Yes.
Dobrany must be very beautiful Yes, all right.
Your time is up.
Be well, Erica.
Goodbye, Stefan.
See, Otto.
Erica is just fine.
Now, let's get back to work.
Now, Otto.
I want you to try to remember the last time you saw the man in the shadows.
There is a ship.
Now a train.
A refrigerated car.
Colonel Vorda said: "They will not stop it at the border.
" But the train is stopping.
- At the border? - No.
No, we've passed the border.
We've passed the border.
But the train has stopped and they're unloading the sphere.
And they're putting it into a truck.
I am General Dokam's wife.
They, who are they, Otto? I don't know.
I've never seen them before.
Something's wrong.
- This is not the way we planned it.
- Who? You and who else? Him.
He's trying to cheat me.
I have to follow him.
Didn't you read this? You want Warehouse C.
This is D.
Nothing goes in or comes out of this building.
Help me.
I can't move.
Mrs.
Dokam.
General Dokam's wife.
She's pinned in.
See if you can get her out.
I'll go call an ambulance.
She's pinned badly.
I'll get some tools from the truck.
Right.
Corporal? Please don't leave me.
There it is.
- There's the truck.
- Where, Otto? You see? At Warehouse D.
He's coming out.
He's coming out of the warehouse.
- The man in the shadows? - Yes.
Yes.
- Can you see who it is? - I mustn't let him see me.
- I mustn't.
- Who is it? Quiet.
Can you see who it is now, Otto? Paul.
Paul Johan.
I have to get away from here.
He sees me.
Where are you? Tell me where? Chemical Warfare Compound.
Fourth Army.
Crate 144.
Chemical Warfare.
He saw me.
He's following my car.
No, no, no.
Careful.
- Slower on the curves.
Slower.
- Otto.
Otto.
- You're all right now.
- Sixty, 70, 75.
- It's over.
- He's getting closer.
Careful.
Look out for the cliff.
No.
No.
No.
He's gonna run me off the cliff.
I'm gonna die.
- Yes? - Major? Silff remembers where he hid the trivanium.
Meet me at the Fourth Army Chemical Warfare Compound.
Warehouse D.
He's in critical condition.
Well, get rid of him.
The ambulance will be delayed.
- I'll take you to the hospital.
- Thank you.
I'm expecting Major Johan.
Congratulations, colonel.
I'll arrange to have the trivanium shipped to my country immediately.
As soon as it has been tested, you will receive your shall we say reward? Colonel Vorda is waiting for you inside, major.
Strange, isn't it, major? How a couple of kiloliters of a plain, harmless-looking liquid can mean so much to so many people.
To Silff, to Poltzin, to me and to you.
Guard.
Do you have a match?
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