There is nothing wrong
with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission.
If we wish to make it louder,
we will bring up the volume.
If we wish to make it softer,
we will tune it to a whisper.
We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical.
We can roll the image,
make it flutter.
We can change the focus to a soft blur
or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
For the next hour, sit quietly,
and we will control all that you see and hear.
We repeat, there is nothing wrong
with your television set.
You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery
which reaches from the inner mind to...
Is this the day?
Is this the beginning of the end?
There is no time to wonder.
No time to ask, "why is it happening?
Why is it finally happening?"
There is time only for fear,
for the piercing pain of panic.
Do we pray,
or do we merely run now and pray later?
Will there be a later,
or is this the day?
Gentlemen, Monday's near miss
was the fourth such incident
since the thermonuclear age began.
So long as the nations of this earth
are armed against each other,
we're bound to have more such accidents,
and eventually, soon,
one must prove fatal.
These nations must unite.
We... we must make them unite.
And, gentlemen, we can make them unite.
We're here today to proceed with our plan.
It is one of us who must submit to that ordeal.
Now, I don't care what reading of history you take.
The pattern is always the same.
Whenever a bacteria invasion strikes or a fire rages
or a wild beast roams the streets,
then, and only then,
do men stop fighting each other
and work together to save themselves.
A common enemy, a common fear.
That is the only answer.
If all the men of the earth
are threatened by an enemy from a hostile planet...
Well, gentlemen, we are going to create that enemy
out of someone in this room.
To turn a human being into a thing like that.
Suppose something goes wrong.
The leading biologists
and medical men of the world
will be examining our enemy from outer space.
And they'll be fooled.
Our studies, our surgical procedures,
our entire plan is perfected.
The man who's chosen
will be as perfect as that thing in there.
A perfect inhabitant of the planet theta.
Perfect?
Perfect.
All right, gentlemen. It's agreed.
We've all written our names.
"Allen Leighton."
Yeah, a little higher to the left.
Ahh.
You know, you could have had a great career
in a Turkish bath?
You'll want to know how we're gonna do this.
We'll call in the specialists
as they're needed.
I'm scheduled to do the basic medicine
right here on you
if you want it that way.
Well, don't just nod, Allen!
You have to have complete...
Phil, you're the only guy I choose.
Your entire system's gonna take an incredible jolt.
You have to be able to handle it physically
as well as, uh...
Emotionally.
Now, if you can't, say so.
There's no shame.
We've been through all this.
I know it!
I don't think it's sunk in yet.
Are you aware we're gonna
change every organ in your body?
Yup.
You understand that as soon as I hit you
with the calsus- phelexus-medalinc-
nuzine hormone, there's no turning back, Allen?
Yes.
Allen!
Go ahead.
Aren't you gonna let me in?
I'll be there in a moment, darling.
Go ahead.
Hi.
Did I break up something important...
I hope?
Art critic.
Something about the eyes, red and glassy.
Yeah, all right.
Aw, come on.
I can window shop here.
I'm a married woman.
Oh, isn't that pretty?
Well, it's very pretty.
It's kind of for a special occasion, though,
wouldn't you say?
Oh, do you mean, am I...
No, not yet.
Honey, Dr. Truxel has warned you
that you're just gonna have to forget about that.
Well, Dr. Truxel seems to have changed his mind.
Well, what? About what?
Oh, darling,
that's what I came in town for today...
To see him.
Everything's OK.
Heart's stopped murmuring.
It's just beating now.
I can have quintuplets if I want to.
If it only happened 5 years ago.
Oh, Allen, you talk as if we're pushing 80.
If something happened to me,
how would you raise a child alone?
Happened to you?
Mm-mmm.
Mark against evil.
Phil?
Respiration's troubled.
I'm gulping for air.
That's expected reaction, Allen.
I'll relieve pressure in a minute,
so steady yourself. You'll fall back.
I have to give you one final jolt, Allen.
Hang tight.
Pressure will go up to 7 atmospheres.
Put on your oxygen mask.
You all right?
How was it?
How was what?
It was your idea.
What was?
That I should open up a Turkish bath.
Let me see the palms of your hands.
Ah, yes, I see a long journey
in your future...
During which you will become
a small, dark stranger.
Your cell structure's
taken the nitrogen.
The transfer should go smoothly.
How long until I begin to sound like that?
Oh, I'm due at my cropogenetic seminar.
You lie here and rest, huh?
For at least an hour.
OK.
Al, I...
Al, I've been avoiding this, but...
You'd better begin winding up your activities
and decide how best to arrange your...
Death. Right.
I hate to leave you.
You have to go?
To Peru of all places?
I didn't pick it.
I know.
Sometimes I wish
you'd just take some plain old teaching job
at a college in Podunk.
A little late now, folks.
Yeah.
Still, I wish you high-powered, scientific brains
would do something about this world
instead of tackling all those others out there.
We could use a few good, normal years ourselves.
What made you say that?
What, darling?
Nothing.
You know what we really need
to stop fighting among ourselves?
Something else to fight. Somebody else.
Really. Something has to come along
that'll scare us all right out of our skins.
We stop fighting each other,
we start fighting the scarecrow, hmm?
That's a gorgeous solution.
Well, honey, we don't exactly fight it,
but we fear it,
and so we unite against it.
And if the threat continues long enough,
we gradually become used to being united.
We actually grow to like it.
Some scarecrows don't even scare crows.
One might.
Yvette.
Allen, I've changed my mind.
I am going to the airport with you.
Well, I, uh...
Honey, Phil's gotta go out to a meeting
after he drops me off,
and, uh, you'd have to come home alone,
and I'd worry.
Please?
Mark against evil.
Allen.
Doctor.
It had to be different enough
to have been conceived on the planet theta,
yet conform to sound aerodynamic principles.
What are you using for metal?
We made a spectroscopic analysis,
and came up with something
that fits theta's mineral formation.
It's 3 times lighter than aluminum,
4 times the tensile strength of steel.
Now let me show you our overall plan.
Once we get you into orbit,
you'll line up
with the Andromeda constellation.
It'll look like you're descending
directly from theta.
Then you'll move into the arc here
to give you the correct re-entry angle.
And you'll follow the flight pattern
right to the U.N.
If you're on schedule,
you should get there
while the general assembly is in session.
Where do you want me to land,
in the middle of the street?
No. No.
We want you to come down right on the terrace
in front of the secretariat.
It's wide enough.
If I miss by 100 feet, I'll be in the east river.
Don't worry.
The capsule will float,
and you can even propel it to the nearest shore.
You better start learning to pilot your ship, Allen.
Don't get too fond of that instrument panel.
You're gonna have one with an infrared display system.
Very quick, Allen.
We've got a lot of work to do
back at the lab.
In fact, we should return tonight.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...
Want a cigarette?
No, thanks.
Any unusual reactions to the treatment?
Some.
What, nightmares?
Heart palpitations?
Terrors?
Well, I can only sleep
for about 20 minutes at a time,
then I wake up in a sweat.
When I think about never seeing Yvette again,
it gets bad.
Come on. Don't sit on your fears. Uncork.
Can't see how making a fuss
is gonna help things any.
That's courage, Allen, of the highest order.
Hemingway put it into words:
"Grace under fire."
You tell her yet?
Well, you're gonna have to.
You can't keep her hanging,
not hearing from me.
I was, uh, waiting until they composed a telegram.
I'll do it today.
She's coming by for lunch.
She'll be here any minute.
Phil, help!
Oh, here.
Hey.
You haven't heard from Allen, of course.
Uh, yes, I... I have.
Ohh...
Oh, that... why didn't he write to me?
They were flying over the Andes.
Why wasn't it in the papers?
It was a secret mission,
but I suppose it will be if they ever find the plane.
No.
I don't believe it.
If he were dead...
I would know it.
No, he's not dead.
Yvette... Yvette!
Come on. Let me take you home.
Come on.
We're all familiar with kidney transplants.
Our problem here is basically the same,
except of course,
we have massive restructuring to do.
I'll do our first procedure on the digestive tract,
combining the esophagus and trachea in one tube.
Why not begin
with the blood chemistry exchange of iron to copper?
I know what you're thinking.
It would facilitate healing,
but, uh... It's too tricky.
We don't know the overall effect.
Allen? Al, what's wrong?
I was a little wobbly,
like I was seasick.
Comes in waves.
When did it start?
Just now.
Well, it could be yesterday's shots,
but it should pass.
How bad is it?
It's nothing I can't handle.
How's Yvette?
She loved you very much.
Phil...
You will take care of her?
Sorry.
Doctor?
I suggest 3 stages.
Why not all major work...
Stomach, lungs, gas diffusion
in one operation?
The healing will take weeks.
How do we keep him alive?
You're talking about respiration.
We can handle it directly through the bloodstream.
As a matter of fact, that'll give us a chance
to recycle slowly from oxygen to nitrogen.
I think it's too much.
Easier on him
than going through it 2 or 3 times.
Well, you might be right.
Getting worse?
Allen!
Listen, there's more to this levitation
than just the physical.
I am... I'm really able to fly.
Are you aware of that?
Come on, Allen, snap out of it!
Snap out of it!
It's me, Phil Gainer!
No, I know Phil Gainer.
Professor Gainer.
Dr. Gainer.
Herr Oberdoktor Gainer,
allow me to present
these mad doctors here,
constant as you are of the space-time continuum.
They're globules of solid...
Propellant.
Come on.
To send me on my long...
Journey...
Through the, um, underworld
or the overworld. Now, listen...
You gotta put, uh...
Pennies on my eyes.
OK, now.
Come on.
Come on, lie down.
According to Fector's law...
I'm sorry. Come on.
Bzzt! Bzzt!
Heh heh heh!
We'd better tie him down.
You better catch him first.
I see you all.
You have fat faces, you know that?
Baby eyes over baby pouts.
Come on.
Skitter along here on your little rat's feet.
I am Callahan...
Uh, Cal... Caliban.
with a Ph.D.
Ha ha ha!
Baa baa black sheep, have you any krell?
Upstairs, downstairs, in my lady's nightshade.
All around the town, crying through the locks,
- "are the children in their beds?"
Stay back.
You think your putty little hands can hold Prometheus?
Odysseus?
Tycho star?
Goosey, goosey gander, whither you wander?
Back. Stay back.
I turn on this X-ray machine, and it's no more you.
To heaven...
On the Roentgen rays.
Must be the nitrogen.
Could be any of a dozen things.
Go around that way,
and get his attention. Go on!
I want to talk to my son!
Hello?
Hello? Who is it?
Who is it?
Who's there?
Who's there?!
You had a schizophrenic episode.
When?
A few days ago.
We've had to keep you under sedation.
I thought it was a nightmare.
You did a lot while I was out.
No, no, no, that's normal tissue growth.
Did I hurt anybody?
No.
And it won't happen again,
so don't worry about it.
We found the cause.
It was one of the hormone extracts.
We're going ahead.
I'll prepare you for surgery.
You mustn't come in here.
I'm Mrs. Leighton.
My husband worked here.
Please stay outside, Mrs. Leighton.
What's the matter?
I want to see Dr. Gainer!
Yvette, you mustn't keep coming here.
I have to ask you something.
I came here to get Allen's things,
and the strangest feeling came over me.
I can't shake it.
I have the feeling he's here.
Yvette, you've lost someone very close, but...
You can't keep on with these morbid fantasies.
Allen is gone.
The other night, the phone...
I went to answer it.
There was no one there, but...
Yvette, now stop it!
He's dead. Accept it.
Please... go home.
You've got a baby to think about now.
Body temperature?
All right.
It's all yours.
Starting in the lung cavity.
Attach artificial lung.
Lungs removed.
Attach nitrogen system.
You'd better fix the fluid balance first.
He's coming from a dry planet.
2 microns perceptible moisture.
Move, artificial lung isn't handling the load.
Hypo!
Detach artificial lung.
Can you hear me?
It's blasting.
Sorry, Allen, is that better?
All right, you can answer us.
You're hooked into the voice box.
It'll make the sound for you.
Come on, Allen, keep at it.
Imagine how it felt to speak.
Odd sensation...
To speak...
With nothing moving.
You're doing fine.
Go on.
Very little...
Pain now,
but...
Occasional...
Bizarre...
Nerve patterns.
Toothache in arm.
Eyeballs itch.
Headache...
In back of neck.
How about psychological reactions?
At first...
Deep depression.
Lifting now,
but feel removed,
in limbo.
Thoughts primitive.
Dream of... Yvette.
Dress shops.
Allen, Dr. Herschel's been coordinating plans
for your space shot.
He wants to talk to you.
Is my mic registering?
I just spoke to our people on the atoll.
We're flying you out there.
The plan is to send you into orbit
as a weather satellite.
The flight has been cleared
with the appropriate government agencies.
They have no idea, of course,
that we're doing this.
Once in orbit,
you will be retro-rocketed
to the predesignated position,
then begin re-entry sequence
to destination.
At arrival, proceed directly
to the general assembly.
See that they realize
you're the first to come,
that more can come at any moment.
Allen...
The laser weapon.
Use it only as an emergency.
Is there...
Anything you want to say before...
Wait.
Can it...
Really work?
Allen, there are no absolutes.
You know that better than anyone,
but I put your probability
of success at...
70, 80%.
Millions of soldiers have gone
into battle in wars of hate
with less odds and with less cause.
I...
Did need that.
Thanks.
This is Carl Ford in New York.
The latest on that unknown space capsule,
knowledge of whose existence is denied by everyone.
It is now descending to earth.
It will enter our atmosphere at 11:49 A.M.,
approximately 10 minutes from now.
According to all calculations,
it should land in this vicinity.
Listeners are urged not to telephone newspapers
or the police.
Stayed tuned to this station
for the latest developments.
Is there any indication of it?
The re-entry pattern is off.
At 11:49,
the capsule entered the earth's atmosphere
and all radio contact was lost.
Officials are speculating
whether the space craft met with an accident,
or its radio transmission was cut off by design.
The capsule was last received
by the point arquello tracking station.
There he is!
But he's not on target.
Not at the U.N.
He'll return to the lab. We must be there.
Hey, you guys, come here.
Hey, Bert, you think that's that mystery thing
they've been talking about on TV?
How would I know?
Let's go take a look.
Ginger!
Come back here!
Ginger!
Let's get out of here.
What's that?
United laboratories. Hurry!
Allen... it's Allen!
Yvette!
P-please try to understand.
We thought that...
I know what you thought.
He told me what you thought.
But how could you think?!
It could've been any of us.
We drew lots.
Men like you...
Using tricks.
A scarecrow would change everything.
You killed him.
And for what?
Yvette... if he could go
so far to save us all,
maybe everywhere, people...
All of us could...
Might be shamed into stooping just a little
to save ourselves.
Scarecrows and magic
and other fatal fears do not bring people
closer together.
There is no magic substitute for soft caring
and hard work, for self-respect
and mutual love.
If we can learn this
from the mistake these frightened men made,
then their mistake will not have been merely grotesque.
It will at least have been a lesson,
a lesson at last to be learned.
We now return control of your television set to you
until next week at this same time,
when the control voice will take you to...