All language subtitles for Red.Planet.Mars.1952.576p.BluRay.H264-KG.en.no-hi

MALE NARRATOR:
This is a story not yet told.

It begins on a warm evening
some years hence.

When high on a mountain top
in southern California,

a giant telescope
searches the heavens

for the secrets
there contained.

MITCHELL: You can't
see it with the naked eye,

but the micrometer
shows it clearly.

There's no question
of the change in altitude.

Dr. Mitchell.

Hello, Chris.

Linda.
LINDA: Hello, Doctor.

Sorry to have
kept you waiting.

They certainly tuck you in
up here.

Wouldn't even let us
into the viewing room.

They've classified
the sky top secret now.

Uh, Lewis.

Ask Feldner to develop
these as quickly as possible.

Yes, sir.

Oh, uh, Boulting? This is
Chris Cronyn, Mrs. Cronyn.

My assistant,
Dr. Boulting.

Hello. How do you do?
Hello.

How do you do?
It's nice meeting you.

Come in.

I hope you don't mind
my tagging along.

Oh, not in the least.

We're very happy
to have you.

May I take your coat?

You know, I expected you
to be older.

You are the radio man?

Mmm. If you think of yourself
as the guy with the spyglass.

I really walked
right into that.

I didn't mean it
quite as it sounded.

But do you
seriously believe

that you've established
contact with Mars?

Well, you take pictures of it,
why shouldn't I talk to it?

Boulting.
Yes.

There's no question.
They have diminished in size.

There's no knowing what
tonight's pictures may show.

We may learn more about
Mars in the next few minutes.

So that's the
baby in person.

LINDA: It's so clear
it's unbelievable.

MITCHELL: This is the first
picture. We took it a week ago tonight.

See, here are the
indentations I told you about.

They couldn't be plainer.

And all going
from north to south.

LINDA:
What are they?

CHRIS: Canals, what else?
Traversing the entire planet.

LINDA: And these big
shadows, here and here?

BOULTING: Now you know how
New York or Chicago would look

if photographed from Mars.

CHRIS: Look at those
mountains at the pole.

They must be as
high as the Rockies.

How do you tell
they're mountains?

They have to be. What else
would throw such deep shadows?

Dr. Mitchell,
what puzzles me is

that you've had the
giant telescope for years.

Why are you just getting
these pictures now?

Mars' journey around the
sun is an elliptical curve.

Let me show you.

It's now at Perihelion, about
35 million miles from Earth

instead of the usual 63.

Now what's this one?

Same angle, same exposure,
five nights ago.

See any difference?

Um, should I?

Well,
what have you got?

I don't know.
I can't believe it.

Well.

LINDA: The mountains are
gone, and the poles are level.

You can't wipe out mountains taller
than the Rockies in the space of a week.

Boulting, uh,
look at the canals.

LINDA: They're different. Now
they reflect light like mirrors.

Water reflects light.

Well, so does any other...

Are you saying you think
those pole formations are ice?

And that in a week,

these Martians have melted
icecaps thousands of feet high

and used the water
to irrigate the planet?

Isn't that what
the picture says?

But that's impossible.

There's no way to...
Well, there has to be.

Why, they've done it.

If we could just
once ask them how.

I thought you'd already
established contact.

Oh, it's Mars I'm getting
my signal from right enough,

but how do I give
that signal meaning?

How do I find
a means of communication?

Come on, Lin. Let's get going.
There's still time to send a signal.

You're going to
broadcast tonight?

After seeing these?
What do you think?

One man
who takes pictures,

another who believes he
can talk over 35 million miles.

It's like having a grandstand
seat for the creation of the world.

Or its death.

CHRIS:
Where are you going, Lin?

LINDA: I just want to have
a look at the kids, Chris.

LINDA:
Everything looks peaceful.

Hi, Son.

We'll be over at the lab.
Don't stay up too late.

Chris.

Hmm?

Don't send
a message tonight.

What's got into you, Linda?

Ever since you saw
those pictures, you've...

Fear, Chris.
Always-eating fear.

The whole world's scared.

Why shouldn't I be?

Every woman in the world,
we all live in fear.

It's become
our natural state.

Fear our sons will
have to fight another war.

Or fear
they'll face worse.

We've lived on the edge
of a volcano all our lives.

One day
it has to boil over.

Me talking to Mars
won't affect Vesuvius, Lin.

Chris.

How can you be so sure?

Don't you understand?

Science has made the
volcano we're sitting on.

Nobel invented dynamite
to ease man's life.

It's eased a good many
into annihilation.

Einstein split the atom
to create energy.

Is terror energy?

Well, that's rubbish, Lin.

Scientifically, we've advanced
further in the past 60 years

than we have
in the previous 2000.

Radio, television,
automobile, aeroplane,

atomic fission,
jet propulsion.

And now, well, you,

you saw those pictures tonight
and heard what Mitchell said.

If we can once talk to Mars,

we may be talking to brains as far ahead
of ours as ours are ahead of monkeys.

In one moment, we may be able
to leap ahead another 2000 years.

And you'll have done it.

You'll be the next
to advance science

and maybe us
right into oblivion!

Linda.

I'm sorry, Chris.

But when I saw
those pictures tonight,

it all seemed
too imminent.

Well, sure it's imminent.

It's what we've worked for,
isn't it?

Why we built this lab,
assembled the transmitter.

It's why we've worked
together all these years.

They've been
good years, Chris.

Well, they've
been great years.

What do you want me
to do now?

Get a crummy research job
in some plant?

Maybe in 20 years, get a paper
published in some scientific magazine?

Now, when we're on the verge of
accomplishing everything we've worked for?

All right, Chris.

I'm ready.

What do I say?

That if I thought anything
we're doing could boomerang

against you or the kids,
I'd blow up the whole works?

You know that.
But it can't hurt anyone.

Whatever's been done
we've done together, Linda.

Well,

I don't believe harm
can come from anything

those hands have had
a part in, that's all.

All right, Chris.
Let's go.

Who am I to stand
in the way of science?

Turn it on.

CALDER:
What do you want?

How did you get here?

How did you track me down?

Get out!

ARJENIAN:
Stop acting like a fool.

Get out of here!

I told you
not to follow me.

You were supposed to keep
in touch with me by short wave.

The seal
isn't even broken.

I had nothing
to report.

What are you
doing here?

Answer me!

You said you would
establish contact with Mars.

That was your commitment.

I am trying.

We are not paying
you to try, Mr. Calder.

We expect results.

And you might
have had results,

if you had done
as I asked.

Conduct your experiments at
our laboratories at Berezovo,

where we could have supplied
you with skilled assistants.

Instead of which you buried
yourself here in the Andes. Alone.

No one to assist you.

You mean, no one
to watch over me.

Thank you.

I've had one
taste of jail.

I don't know
why you complain.

We extricated you.
We helped you.

We want scientists of
your caliber, Mr. Calder.

We treat them well

when they serve us.

Serve?

Are you talking
to me?

I don't owe you anything.

You owe us your freedom.

It was the Americans
who threw you into jail

and our men who
helped you to escape.

Not to mention all this equipment
which you have piled up.

This was an investment.
Now we demand an accounting.

I am not a bookkeeper.

We don't make investments
with no returns.

You know our policy.

Are you trying
to frighten me?

We had an agreement.

It is my responsibility to
see that it is carried out.

You're threatening me
with extermination, huh?

Is that the policy
you refer to?

You find
the idea amusing.

Highly.

You won't harm me.

You need me. You think
they have humbled me, huh?

Bringing me,
Franz Calder,

to this.

Cringing, hiding.

Just another rat in his hole.

But all this won't last.

The rat will come out,

and then
the world will listen.

You want a report?

I'll give you one.

You can tell your masters that
I have failed in my experiments.

I've not been able to
establish contact with Mars.

Their money
has been wasted.

It is not a report
they will appreciate.

Still they won't
exterminate me.

Of that
I wouldn't be too sure.

Because you can also tell
them that the Americans,

who stole my valve,

have succeeded.

They have established
contact with the red planet.

Wait outside.

Are you serious?

Newspapers will tell you
as much in a few days.

It's not in the American character
to keep silent about success.

But that's incredible.
That they should actually...

Why? You expected it
from me?

But you said that your equipment
was the best in the world,

that no one could duplicate
your developments.

I forgot the seven years
start the American had on me.

Seven years,
while I was in jail.

Seven years.

Ah, don't let's
start that again.

What shall I report?

What can you report?

That the Americans also want
the secrets of a wiser civilization,

so that they can turn them
into new methods of destruction?

How do you know all this?

Because I'm the one other
person with the hydrogen valve.

I alone can pick up
their signals

and the replies.

Then you can give us the questions they
put to Mars and the answers they receive.

Yes, exactly.

And that's why I can
laugh at your threats.

Do you still
want to kill me?

Oh, don't talk like that.
Nobody is threatening you.

You're invaluable to us.

It's not who gets
the information first,

but who first
puts it to use.

Oh, my dear friend,

you must let me send
you a less monotonous diet.

My diet is
already taken care of.

I did not spend all your
money on equipment.

Is there anything else
you need?

Yes. One thing.

Let's drink to it.

By all means,
my dear fellow.

What is it?

Your absence.

Thank you very much,
Comrade.

Considerate of you
leading us to his lair.

Clever of you,
tracking him down

all on the strength
of a single phrase.

BORODIN: He thought
himself so clever

with his "You can find me
only through finding Christ."

You dropped
your bunny rabbit.

What was that outburst?

He woke up and
couldn't find his rabbit.

Thanks. I guess I'd
better get the, uh...

Here's your carbona.

Oh.

How'd you know
we'd need this?

Did you two ever start
a project and not need it?

She's pretty smart, huh?

Hey, Mom,
I got a T.L. for you.

I could use one.

Remember when the parents
came to visit our class?

One of my
grimmest memories.

All of the fellas decided that you
were the youngest looking mother there.

Isn't that nice?

Boy, you should have
seen those other crows.

Oh, that did it.

Now clean away this
mess and get started...

On your homework.
Right.

Gosh, I've only
got my math to do.

And you know I don't
want to fuss over that.

Well, before you pin
any medals on yourself,

an extra hour on history
wouldn't hurt.

At that, you're no genius.

Well, you can't
have everything.

Oh, heavens,
who's coming?

Probably Mitchell to find out if
Mars had anything intelligible to say.

I'll get it.

Is Mr. Cronyn in?

CHRIS:
I'm Cronyn.

I'm Bill Carey.

This is no time to
barge in on you like this,

but your reports didn't reach
my desk until this morning

and I flew right out.

My reports
brought you out?

Oh, we grasp at any straw to
get out of Washington for 24 hours.

Please come in,
Admiral.

Thank you.
I'm Linda Cronyn.

How do you do, Ms. Cronyn?
Oh, forgive the mess,

but all major
mechanical projects

seem to get started
in the living room.

This is our son, Stuart.

Hiya, fella.

Sit down, Admiral.

Get some more ice,
will you, Son?

CHRIS: Stuart.

You will have a drink,
won't you?

Well, at this hour, I can't claim
the sun's not over the yardarm.

Are you the Admiral Carey
who broke the Japanese code?

My one claim to fame.

But confidentially, it
wasn't a very good code.

Come on, Stu.

Ah, you don't know
how glad I am to see you.

We didn't know if you'd even
bother with our show here.

Rose to it like a marlin.

But what beats me, if you are
getting messages from Mars,

how've you kept it
out of the papers?

We're not getting any
messages. Not yet.

Darn close to it, if
your reports stand up.

Oh, if we ever
do get messages,

understandable ones,
that is,

they'll be given out.

Four years of Navy gave me
my belly full of hush-hush.

I can understand that.

But so far, all we're getting
are repetitions of our own signals

coming back at us.

Now these answers
you get...

LINDA:
Please sit down.

These answers you get,

couldn't they be your
own signals bouncing off

some object in outer
space, some other planet?

Booming back at you? I'm no
authority on electronics, but...

CHRIS: I am.

No. This is no bounce back.

As I told you, we transform
sound into light,

and the speed of light
is 186,000 miles a second.

So you divide the distance
to Mars by the speed of light

and you get the length of time it
takes our light waves to reach Mars.

Double that and you get the time it
takes our messages to come back.

Now that could
all be mechanical.

But they don't come back in
that exact number of minutes.

It never takes less time.
Always more.

20 seconds, 40 seconds, sometimes
as much as a minute and a half.

Sometimes, like tonight, for
instance, we get no answer.

An echo will
always sound.

But sometimes,
the human brain sleeps.

But why always
the same signal back?

Why never anything
you can hang on to?

Well, because I'm too
stupid to give them a lead.

That's why I
yelled for help.

Well, this is no picnic
you've asked me on.

You don't even know what
language they speak, if any.

It's like working out a system
of communication with golliwogs.

How the devil to find
a point of contact?

How about pi?

That's hardly the
way to offer it, Stu.

And by the size of that slice,
I doubt if there's anything left.

I mean pi.

CHRIS: Now what
are you talking about?

Well, if we're
getting answers,

they have to have a
transmitter as powerful as ours.

Go on.
What are you driving at?

Well, they can't
build anything like that

unless they know how to make
a wheel. That means a circle.

And you can't make a circle
without knowing the ratio

of the diameter to
the circumference. Pi.

I still don't understand
what that has to do with...

Your son's ahead of you,
Cronyn.

What is pi?

3.1416,
as I remember.

Roughly.
That's it. Roughly.

Actually it's 3.1415926 and so
on. An infinite number of decimals.

Well, so what? We broadcast 3.1416
to Mars and what can they answer?

Nothing.

But they must be trying
as hard to talk to you

as you're straining
to talk to them.

All we're looking
for is an opening. So,

you don't broadcast 3.1416.

You broadcast 3.1415.

And if they understand,
they continue the equation.

CAREY: Right.

Where did you get that idea,
Son?

Biting into this.

Come on, let's get over to
the lab and try it on right now.

Aren't you coming?

Oh, don't mind me. I'm just
the babysitter around here.

If this comes off, I'll wake
you when we come in.

What makes you think
I'll be asleep?

3,1,4,

1,5.

3,1,4,

1,5.

3,1,4,

1,5.

Shut it off.

What do we do now?

Well, the blasted waiting's
always the worst part.

How long?

3 minutes, 8 seconds
each way.

6 minutes, 16 seconds
all told.

Plus the time it takes them
to answer, if they answer.

You know, this is going to be the longest
6 and a quarter minutes I ever spent.

You light that pipe,
Admiral.

And if Chris' hydrogen
doesn't blow you up, he will.

Always the danger of a
leak and no way of telling it.

Hydrogen is odorless.

I told you I was no
authority on electronics.

What's the hydrogen for?

Well, hydrogen sufficiently pressurized
can be brought down to a temperature

of about 451 degrees
below zero.

Nobody knows why,

but sound waves can be
picked up at that temperature

that would be otherwise
completely inaudible.

Now certain minerals also have
incredible acoustic properties.

Quartz, for instance.

That's what this valve
is made of.

And we warp it with
the pressurized hydrogen.

It gives us the energy for a power
transmission a thousand times greater

than any sound transmitter
ever conceived.

There it is,
the red planet, Mars.

For over 2000 years,
the symbol for war.

And we dare to fly
in the face of providence

and try to bring it
closer to us.

Sometimes my wife is less than
enthusiastic about this project.

I'm sorry.

Darling.

If nothing happens tonight,
don't be too disappointed.

It's got to happen.

It's just got to happen!

We've waited
so blasted long.

I know.
But if it doesn't...

Poor Linda with
all her silly fears.

You hope it doesn't
happen, really?

You know what beats me?

I just can't believe

that you people really
assembled all this yourselves.

No, we got a slight assist
from the Carnegie Foundation.

You realize if this comes
off, by this time tomorrow,

you'll be the most
famous man in the world?

Funny. None of
the credit's mine.

Actually it all belongs
to a German scientist.

A criminal.
A brilliant criminal

with nothing but
hate in his heart.

Who do you mean?

Did you ever
hear of Franz Calder?

Calder? Calder?

Do you remember
the famous quotation,

"The human being is
the best guinea pig"?

High Voltage Experiments
on the Human Nervous System.

The Nazi criminal.

He invented the valve.

And I found the blueprints
at Nuremberg.

It's taken us all
the years since then

to build a transmitter capable of
spanning the enormous distance,

and we've been
broadcasting for eight months.

First without success,
and now...

For the last
three weeks...

...we've been
getting answers.

Well, you're not going to
give Calder any of the credit.

Why not?
It's his valve.

The devil is
entitled to his due.

Two minutes to go.

I wonder what kind of a world
we're opening the door on.

CHRIS:
You'd wonder even more

if you saw the pictures of
Mars that we saw last night.

Icecaps, thousands of feet high,

melted away
in a few days.

Well, those people must use
atomic power as we use water.

If we had
that power,

why, the largest liner
would cross the ocean

on the energy contained
in one lump of coal.

Hmm-mmm?

Then what would happen to the
people who own and work coal mines?

Well, what happened
to the people

who owned or worked on
canals when the railroad started?

Still, Mr. Calder will have
had his effect on the world.

CAREY:
Wonder where he is now.

Where are all good
scientists we don't hear of?

In Russia, I suppose.

Ten seconds to go.

Switch off the lights,
will you, darling?

3, 1,

4, 1,

5.

3, 1,

4, 1,

5.

3, 1,

4, 1,

5.

Our own signal back.
The same blasted story.

Chris, look!

9!

2.

6.

Linda, we've done it.

Dear Lord,

don't make us sorry.

CALDER: So far, Cronyn is
sticking to the establishment

of mathematical
and chemical formulas.

Very ingenious.

They were able to
frame a few questions.

ARJENIAN: I read all that in
the papers. What about you?

Have you contacted
Mars yourself?

You are a fool, Arjenian.

If I can read their messages,
they can read mine.

Why should I let them know
that they have competition? Huh?

And so, what
only two weeks ago,

was a secluded laboratory
in the San Diego mountains

has become the new
center of the world.

Scientists,
code experts, newsmen,

all concentrated
on only one thing.

The first concrete
word from Mars.

MAN 1: Ladies and
gentlemen, step right up closer.

I want to introduce you
to the keyhole of Mars.

Now I have the only authentic
genuine picture of the planet Mars.

What a thrill.

What a thing to take
home to those people.

MAN 2:
Read all about it, folks.

The most amazing story
ever told on a picture postcard.

Take 'em home, folks.
The planet Mars.

They're educational
and constructive.

Hi, Mr. Cronyn. Been to town?

Yeah, just down to see how
the press camp's coming along.

They've got to put
up two more buildings.

Stuart wanted to see Admiral
Carey and his staff at work.

And so the weeks of
preparatory work are over.

Communication with
Mars is now a reality.

GRAY: Tonight has brought
us the first real information

about life on
that distant planet.

They were asked the
average life span on Mars.

Their answer,
300 Earth years.

300 years?

I hope not your mother.

Pensions for 235 years.

Who's going to pay them?

The future of the livestock
industry is at stake.

Is the government going to continue
to support the price of potatoes?

Just a minute!
How about the price of wheat?

GRAY: The hysteria which
has greeted the Martians' claims

has become a national peril.

All this after the release
of only three messages.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I cannot too strongly stress
the necessity for calmness.

Do not allow yourself to be
emotionally disturbed by those messages.

Arjenian.

This time you'd better get
your masters on the phone.

Cronyn's just received a message
from Mars that's a sensation.

The Martians have now announced
that for the past three centuries

they haven't used
coal, oil, electricity,

any form of power
on which we rely.

Theirs has all been
provided by cosmic energy,

through which they have made
hundreds of elements fissionable.

If this is true,
no miner in America,

no miner in the world
will have a job.

Our interests
are identical.

We owners represent
an investment of $5 billion.

It took Mars to make you
recognize that identity of interest.

Well, the oil men are
in the same boat with us.

Then let them bail it out.

Oil is no concern of ours.

MAN 1: That guy's
the cause of it all!

MAN 2:
We'll send you to Mars.

What are you going to do
about getting our jobs back?

What do we get out of this?

POLICEMAN:
This business keeps up,

you'll need the
Army to help you.

Quick, get going!

STUART:
Hi, Dad.

You're just in
time for the news.

I've had enough news
for one day.

NEWSREADER:
Meanwhile this morning,

every American bank had
long lines of depositors,

waiting to withdraw
their funds.

Owing to the difference in
time, the latest bulletin from Mars

had created its
effect on Europe

before we Americans
had finished our breakfasts.

In London, the Prime Minister
called a special meeting of the cabinet

at Number 10
Downing Street.

But this did not prevent pandemonium
on the London Stock Exchange.

The value of British industrials has
decreased nearly ten billion pounds

in the last two weeks.

In Paris, the third
government in two weeks

failed of
a vote of confidence,

and President Roman, hopeless
of forming a fourth government,

suspended the constitution

and called upon the Army
to establish martial law.

This, however, did not
prevent wide disorders

in Lyons, Marseilles,
and other French cities.

Meanwhile in Rome, the Holy Father
urged a policy of patience and of faith.

Turn that blasted thing off.

It's just on
another minute, Dad.

But in Milan and Genoa,
there was widespread rioting.

Turn it off, I said!

They got to
hand it to you, Pop.

When you blow the lid
off, you really blow it off.

Boy, that crowd out
there's mad enough...

I thought I told you to
stay out of the street.

I just wanted
to take a look.

Haven't you anything better
to do than lollygag around

where you haven't
any business?

There's enough work
for you to do around here.

I did the whole lawn
this afternoon.

And left the mower where everybody
could stumble over it as usual.

LINDA:
Trick or treat.

Tricks or treat.

What's he
made up for?

It's Halloween, remember?

When children like to go
out and play trick or treat.

That is, children who can
get out of the house do.

And little boys who can't, they still
like the fun of getting dressed up.

You look scrumptious, Son.

See, bottle tops?
Trick or treat?

Next year
we'll go trick or treat.

Yeah.
How'll that be?

On your way, boys.
And hands washed.

Stu, will you see
that he's polished up?

Oh, Mom, again?

Please. Be a good boy.

I'll be in in a minute,
dear.

I'm sorry, Lin.

You don't have to take
it out on the kids, Chris.

Is that what I'm doing?

I'm sorry.

Where are you going?

The lab.

Carey's ordered some
new gadget installed.

STUART: Mom,
come here quick.

Roger's splashing
water all over.

Hurry.

How is it going?

Oh, evenin', sir.

Quite an installation
you're getting here.

What is it?

That's the latest thing.

We've only installed one other
like it. That was in the Pentagon.

It's an improvement on
the cathode ray oscillograph.

As soon as we get it wired up, then
we're putting it outside in a cement vault.

It will take down your
messages right off the transmitter

and records them on film.

Go ahead. Light it.

Huh?

Be interesting to see if the
place really would blow up.

BURDETTE: You'll
recall, Mr. Secretary,

that the Joint Chief's
advised immediate control

when the first message
was received.

I recall quite well,
General.

I also recall that the
President overruled us.

Yes?

MAN:
Admiral Carey, sir.

Have him come in.

Mr. Secretary,
General Burdette.

Hello, Bill.

Sit down, Carey.
Sit down.

SPARKS: Have you
decoded any other messages?

No, sir.

We've been sweating over
a batch for nearly a week now,

but no success.

SPARKS:
Thank heaven for that.

We are closing down that
decoding room up in California.

But messages are
still coming in, sir.

They'll be microwaved
here as fast as they come in.

And they're not getting
outside this building.

Your whole staff
is coming back today.

Nothing is to be
released to the public.

Nothing. Do you understand,
gentlemen?

Nothing.

Is there
anything else, sir?

Our economic system
a shambles,

industrial production
shot to blazes,

our entire civilization collapsing
about our heads like a house of cards,

and the whole Western
world going down with us.

This Cronyn has done more to smash
the democratic world in the last four weeks

than the Russians have
been able to do in 11 years.

I can hear the laughter
in Moscow now.

No, Admiral, no.

There is nothing more.

Calling 2-BLM.
Calling 2-BLM.

BORODIN:
2-BLM here. Go ahead.

Where is Arjenian?
Where is Arjenian?

You will call him
on another wavelength.

9434 kilocycles. Broadcast band E.
Use scrambler number five.

The call number is 9 K-BLM.

Your call will be relayed.
He is waiting for you.

Calling 9 K-BLM.
Calling 9 K-BLM.

Go ahead, Calder,
this is Arjenian.

Are you all right?

Don't worry about me.
How about you?

How are you, Arjenian? Huh?

Ah, that's foolish of you to go where
those monsters can lay hands on you.

Shut up, you fool.

ARJENIAN: Are there
any more messages?

Mars seems to have run out
of messages for the moment.

What are the Americans asking,
Calder? If you can tell us that.

As nearly as
I can understand,

they want to know
how the Martians,

if they use cosmic
power for everything,

are kept from blowing
each other to bits.

Send us the messages,
as soon as you get them.

There must be no
slip-ups. Is that understood?

Haven't you got your
money's worth yet?

Is this dog, Calder,
reliable?

In English.

If I want him to understand
me, I'll speak Russian.

Why didn't you insist on
him coming here to work?

I couldn't insist. He would
have destroyed his valve.

He is a mad man.
A lunatic.

The world is
full of lunatics.

They want to start a war now.
Now, when there is no need.

Stalin did not dare
precipitate one

because he could not defeat
the free economy of the West.

Now their economy
is shattered.

The strength of the Western
world fades like a dream in the night.

Their civilization perishes.

Lenin dreamt of
the world in his hands.

Stalin tried
to get it in his.

Our Premier will succeed.

We will build our new world
on the ruins of the West.

Dr. Stokes.

Yes?

Yours is identical with
Robert's translation.

It can't mean
anything else.

How do you explain it?

I don't even try.

All the other messages deal
with such abstruse scientific data

that we can't
make any headway.

Then out of the blue,
this.

Why, it... It's...

It's inspiring, Admiral,
if nothing else.

Get me the
Secretary of Defense.

He's at the White House, sir.

Prepare a memorandum
to him.

Aye, aye, sir.

Eyes only.
Eyes only.

We can't risk the Russians
decoding those messages.

I certainly
don't want war.

But Moscow, Leningrad,

every nerve center in the
Soviet Union must be wiped out.

I cannot fly in the face of
180 years of American history.

I cannot start a war.

A month from now we may not
have the strength to fight one.

The Russians may have
in their hands the power to...

No.

This country will
not launch a war.

Mr. President...

You still know my
first name, George.

We have served a great
many years together.

And there's
never been a day

when I couldn't happily go
along with any decision of yours.

But I have a responsibility
to this country, too,

and I can't stand by
and see it destroyed.

Our difference is that I don't
believe it can be destroyed

by 13 slips of paper covered
with obscure symbols.

The Japanese empire
was destroyed

by a slip of paper
covered with obscure symbols,

once those symbols
were translated into power.

Excuse me, sir.

PRESIDENT: Yes?

You said to interrupt the
minute they arrived, sir.

Oh, yes, have them
come in, please.

Won't you come in, please?

How do you do,
Mrs. Cronyn?

How do you do,
Mr. President?

Mr. Cronyn.
Mr. President.

PRESIDENT: It was
very good of you to come.

I am only sorry you didn't
bring your boy with you.

I wanted to meet the culprit
who started this whole business.

Oh, uh,

Mr. And Mrs. Cronyn,
Secretary of Defense, Mr. Sparks.

How do you do?
Mrs. Cronyn.

Mr. Sparks.
Mr. Cronyn.

And General Burdette.

General Burdette.
Hello.

Won't you sit down,
please?

I am not gonna
drag this out, Cronyn.

I am afraid I've got
to break your heart.

You made a pretty fair
start on that, Mr. President,

when you pulled Carey
back to Washington,

clamped this
censorship on us.

Have any further messages
been decoded?

Or aren't we allowed
to know?

There have been
no further decodings.

And now there will be no
further messages to decode.

You must shut down
your transmitter.

Shut it down?
You're not serious?

I have got to clamp
the lid on this business.

Stop these communications.

Well, I suppose that lies
within your power, Mr. President.

You can declare
a national emergency.

I don't have
to declare it.

It's here and
not merely national.

You have shattered the
economy of the civilized world.

I am not interested in
economics, Mr. Secretary.

Who makes or who loses money
doesn't seem as important to me

as the chance to advance
civilization 1,000 years in one jump.

Our job isn't the
advancement of civilization.

It's to preserve the country
handed down to us.

If we believed that,

every scientist from Franklin to
Edison would have been suppressed.

Gentlemen, gentlemen.

I am sorry,
Mr. President.

If you order it, sir, of course I'll
have to shut my transmitter down.

But I'll never do it
of my own volition.

Even though it threatens
national security?

Does it threaten
national security to know

that man can look forward
to a longer life span?

That he has at his disposal the power
to eliminate 90% of the world's work?

We've learnt that from the
four messages we've decoded.

There are 13 others
that we haven't translated.

SPARKS: Plus the
one we received today.

So long as they are not decoded,
they can't threaten anything.

I said that
we haven't translated.

Carey released the bulletin on,
uh, cosmic power at 11:22 p.m.,

Pacific Coast time,
the night of the 27th.

The same bulletin was
released in Moscow at 9:30 am.

the morning
of the 28th.

Well, what of it?

We broadcast everything on
the Voice of America anyway.

But there's an 11 hour differential
between Moscow and San Diego, Cronyn.

9:30 am. in Moscow
is 52 minutes earlier

than 11:22 the night
before in San Diego.

You mean, the Russians
are intercepting and decoding?

Well, is any other
explanation possible?

Calder.
Who?

The man who invented
the hydrogen valve.

It's the very heart
of the transmitter.

Now you see
how important it is

to stop your communications
with this other planet?

I see now why they
can't be stopped.

What do you mean?

If Calder can
pick up our messages,

he can also pick up
messages of his own.

We may stop but he won't.

And then our national
security really is threatened.

Yes?

For the Secretary,
Mr. President. Eyes only.

It's a note
from Admiral Carey.

They have decoded
another message today.

Uh, Carey's outside now,
Mr. President.

Have him come in, please.

Admiral Carey.

Come in, Admiral.
Come in.

You'll forgive me,
Mr. President,

but the Secretary left orders
that, uh, no matter where he...

Have you got
another message?

Yes, we've got one.

Oh, may I, sir?

I think he's entitled
to that.

Well, this is nonsense.
It's impossible.

What is it, Cronyn?

Well, you remember, sir, we asked them,
how with their free use of cosmic energy,

they were prevented from blowing
each other off the face of the map.

If they have an answer
to that, I'll welcome it.

Well, according to this,

they submitted the question
to their supreme leader.

You say "spiritual", Bill?

I am not sure it shouldn't
be something even stronger.

"God-like" was
Dr. Stokes' translation.

What is the message,
Chris?

"You have been given knowledge
and have used it for destruction."

"Seven lifetimes ago you were
told to love goodness and hate evil."

"Why have you
denied the truth?"

The sermon on the mount,
on Mars.

Don't talk nonsense,
Linda.

"Love goodness
and hate evil."

What else
would you call it?

Well, I...

I don't understand it.

I don't either,
Chris.

But I am glad we
installed the oscillograph,

because once the messages
are recorded on film,

no one can accuse
us of garbling them.

Well, Mr. President, I said I'd never
voluntarily suppress a message.

But I was wrong.
This one can't go out.

Why not?

Well, it doesn't make sense.
It's not scientific.

Maybe it's the one scientific
truth we've forgotten.

You mean you take
this message seriously?

We took the others
seriously, didn't we?

If we were right to
release one message,

we must release this, too.

Mr. President, you know the panic
those other messages have caused?

Loose a wave of religious
hysteria on top of it

and every crackpot and his brother
will be lecturing on street corners.

Mr. President, you're
worried about national security.

Is there one word in that
message that threatens our security

or anyone else's?

"And solution,
there was none"

"Save in the rule
of Christ alone."

My father was very fond
of Emerson.

May I see that message,
please?

You are not going to
release it?

Your arguments in defense of
scientific freedom have convinced me.

This time Cronyn is right,
Mr. President.

We can't hitch our wagon
to that star.

We've switched stars,
Mr. Secretary.

Now, we're following
the star of Bethlehem.

That message is to be
broadcast all over the world

in all languages

exactly as decoded.

Yes, yes, Calder,
I heard you.

But what does it mean?

CALDER: Why ask me?

I am an expert on electronics,
not religious movements.

Are there
any other messages?

Questions by
the thousands,

there are no answers.

Bother the questions. Let
us know when they answer.

GRAY:
I know I am not alone

in being struck by the phrase
with which the message begins.

"Seven lifetimes ago"
are the words.

But we know that the
Martian's life is 300 years.

So, seven lifetimes
is about 2,100 years,

or as near as one could ask to the
era in which the carpenter of Nazareth

went forth to
preach his message.

Is it only coincidence that the
message he broadcast 2,000 years ago

should again be broadcast
from the supreme being on Mars?

If so,

then how explain
that this authority

should know what
we on earth were told

20 centuries ago?

Or is it possible that
the man of Nazareth

and the man of Mars
are the same?

Get them curlers
out of your hair.

What for?

We are goin' to church.
That's what for.

Do you feel all right?

Now, look, don't argue with me.
Get the curlers out of your hair.

Let's get dressed and
get out of here. I...

This ain't no time
to take chances.

PRESIDENT: It has brought
hope when we had lost all hope.

It has brought light
into a world of darkness.

All over the world,

regardless of
their religious beliefs,

men have found a new faith

by which to live.

No, not a new faith.

But an old one many of us
had allowed ourselves to lose.

A faith that is universal
in men of all faiths.

For, while to us
the words from Mars

seem the very essence
of the Christian doctrine,

let us not forget

that they are also the essence
of all other religions.

Christian, Mohammedan,
Jewish, Buddhist.

All are heeding
the call to prayer,

kneeling humbly in a search
for divine guidance.

I pray particularly

that behind the Iron Curtain,

where our eyes
are not permitted to see,

men will open their hearts

to the message of peace

and the promise that their
rulers have so long denied them.

Today's message reads,

"Ye have denied God's word"

"and worshipped false Gods."

"Thy torment"

"is the price
of thine own sin."

These messages are spreading
all over the country.

Poland, Romania, Bulgaria,
and no one knows how.

Villages that have never even
seen a radio suddenly erupt.

CALDER: Have you
heard the latest message?

Is there another?

The Americans released it
an hour ago.

He who follows
the tyrant's banner

shall wear
the tyrants chains.

He who carries God's banner
shall know everlasting life.

Do you expect me
to tell them that?

What you tell them
is no concern of mine.

ARJENIAN: Hello,
Calder, are you there?

Calder, are you there?

Come in, Calder.

He doesn't answer.

Comrade General,
I would not suggest...

Suggest what?

These uprisings,
is it possible that...

It is possible

that another mass transplantation
of population may be necessary.

We had fostered a famine
30 years ago.

We shall foster another.

Let 20 or 30 millions
of these sheep die

and see how long
their religious faith lives.

But if the messages
continue?

We had found
a religious revival necessary

to get them
to fight the Germans.

We will have another
and they will fight the West.

Are you sure
the valve's working?

Oh, I've checked it
a dozen times.

There must be some reason
for their silence up there.

Well, there can be
a thousand.

We've got two atmospheres
to get through.

Ours may be clear and
theirs may be impenetrable,

or maybe their transmitter
is out of whack.

Maybe the operator's
got the measles

or maybe he's finished his
allotted 300 years or maybe...

Or maybe they've said
everything they have to say.

Maybe the rest
is up to us.

Calling 2 B-7XK.

He won't answer.
Come on.

There is no need for me
in there.

You can have the honor
of telling the Premier

that your communications
have bogged down.

I don't want to
answer his questions.

Talk English, you fool.

Anything is preferable
to that atrocious accent.

I am sorry, Comrade
Premier, perhaps if I tried again.

Has the Patriarch
arrived yet?

Call the airport.

Well?

There is no answer.

Comrade Premier,
if I may suggest,

the transmitter, we could
contact the airport with it.

Hurry.

We are trying.

ARJENIAN: Look!

ARJENIAN: The lights
are still on out there.

ARJENIAN: Singing.

It was one of the favorite
anthems of the cathedrals.

That will silence
their hymns.

What do these superstitious
peasants think

they can accomplish
against our guns?

Hello.

Yes, Dr. Mitchell.

No, she and Stuart went to
town. Haven't got back yet.

The baby had the sniffles
and I...

What? Are you serious?

Well, yes, yes,
right away.

What's that?

Come on, Son.

MAN ON TV: The first
program ever to be televised

to the Western world
from Russia.

Ladies and gentlemen, the
British ambassador to Moscow.

And I have been appointed
to speak

for my fellow members
of the diplomatic corps.

In days to come,
thousands of volumes

will be written about the
miracle of these last 12 days.

The miracle of a nation
finding its soul.

As the messages from Mars
spread throughout the country,

the heart of the Russian people
began to swell with an old faith.

And spontaneous demonstrations
of that faith took place.

From the churches,
they moved on the jails.

The fortresses.

And here in Moscow,

the arrival yesterday,
of the Patriarch

of the Russian
Orthodox Church

provided the tinder that
burned down the Soviet edifice.

Thousands of the residents
of this city are now dead.

They died in the creation
of a new government

with the Patriarch
as it's provisional head.

As the new leader
of a new Russia,

he will speak
to you himself.

This morning, our armies

in occupation of other lands

have been recalled
to our own soil.

We have thrown off
our chain

of 40 years of bondage.

We now free our neighbors
of theirs.

This is the first act
of our new government.

The second is the reopening
of our churches

so that our people
may worship God

in freedom and in accord
with their own conscience.

The bells of those churches

now speak for us.

They speak only
what is in our hearts.

The prayer that all men

can henceforth live in peace.

I wish you were
a little older, Son.

I wish
you could remember this.

Now I have to go again.

You play with this.

Oh, we're famous people,
Son. Your mother and I.

Names in the papers,
decorations, scientific awards.

You know
what's really important? You.

You're our immortality,
you and your brother.

The kids you'll have
and the lives you'll lead.

You're the blessed generation.

Chris, have you
heard the news?

Mitchell called me.
I couldn't believe it.

I heard it
on the car radio.

Chris, you should see
that crowd.

You should see their faces.
Hmm.

And I didn't want the
religious messages released.

Dad, the Russians
are on the radio.

Sufferin' cowl.

Santa Claus.

STUART: Maybe you've
reformed the Russians, Pop,

but not young hopeful.

Lin.

Yes?

Suppose it's over?
Communications, I mean.

Suppose, suppose we
never make it again.

There's nothing wrong
with the transmitter.

Atmospheric conditions
won't explain it, either.

No matter how bad they
are, we'd pick up something.

Would it really matter?

We talk of their older civilization
and what have they given us?

Nothing we couldn't
have had all along.

Prayers were given us
long before wireless.

CALDER:
Good evening, Mr. Cronyn.

Who are you?

How did you get in here?

My credentials.

The hydrogen valve.
Hmm.

The original
specifications.

Where did you get these?

I drew them.

Calder? Franz Calder?

Where have
you come from?

This afternoon you parked your
station wagon in front of the post office.

Didn't look in the back
when you drove home.

Neither did the guards
that surround your place.

This is the most stupendous
joke I've ever heard.

We thought
you were in Russia,

and here you were in
this country all the time.

Only since yesterday,
Mr. Cronyn.

It wasn't exactly
a triumphant entry.

Mr. Cronyn, did you ever
have to crawl through the mud

beneath a barbed wire fence?

Hide like
a hunted animal

to avoid the border inspectors?

In heaven's name, why?

Why?

I developed
a dislike of jails.

Jail? Are you out
of your mind, man?

Have you heard nothing of
what's happened in the world?

In spite of your record,
there'd have been an open door

for the inventor
of the hydrogen valve.

Which you stole.

Well, don't talk nonsense.

Your specifications
became government property.

Anyone had
a right to use them.

That's a matter of opinion.

LINDA:
Don't worry, Mr. Calder.

Chris has given you credit for
everything that belongs to you.

Every scientific journal
has given you full credit.

If you'll forgive me,
where I have been,

the latest scientific
journals were not at hand.

I lived in a hut at
11,000 feet in the Andes.

An avalanche finished it.

But I dug myself out.

Nine days ago.

CHRIS: Well, I am
glad you got out anyway.

We're just
about to broadcast.

You might be
interested in...

You're right.
It'll amuse me.

All set, Lin?

Yes.

It's a shame you didn't get a
chance to carry on your work yourself.

In a small way, I did.

You built
a transmitter?

Naturally.

Then you might have
picked up Mars?

I tried.
I never succeeded.

All right, Lin.
Shut it off.

With your knowledge and the
valve, you should have succeeded.

Unless of course, atmospherics
played tricks at that altitude.

On some people,
Mr. Cronyn.

You won't mind if I
take off my coat, huh?

Yes, uh,

on some people.

What do you mean
by that?

Of course, I only got out
with what I had in my pockets,

but I think, uh,
this would interest you.

Our messages, and
the replies, all of them.

The ones that
weren't decoded, too.

Then you did
pick up Mars?

No.

How else
could you get these?

When did you hear from Mars
last? Nine days ago, wasn't it?

A little after 8:00.

Now you figure the
difference in time

and you'll find

it was about half an hour
before my set was smashed.

I don't believe it.

How slow you were in
thinking up that pi formula.

CALDER: And the
creation of a vocabulary.

Aren't you grateful that
I made it so easy for you?

Here you were, the whole mobilized
science of the world behind you.

And there was I, alone,
giving you answers.

You sent the messages?
The whole thing was a fraud.

That credit
I will share with you.

Why? What were you after?

Shall we say, uh, amusement?

You thought you had
created a new Earth,

and I destroy it.

A new heaven,

and that I shall destroy

once my story is told.

You can't do it!

You can see the possibilities
for entertainment, huh?

Listen to me,
Mr. Calder.

I've two children over
there in that house

and I am just
one of millions,

millions of women,
that for the first time

know their children
are secure.

You can't destroy that!

Paradise lost, Mrs. Cronyn.
Paradise lost.

That's my present
to the world.

He's lying, Linda.

Those messages
were from Mars.

They came from
outside the atmosphere.

You take me
for an amateur, huh?

I shot my signals up
to hit the heavy side layer.

They deflected down
at any angle.

Naturally, they seemed to come
from outside the atmosphere.

No.

Once I detected your signals,
the rest was easy.

I could accomplish
much more

making you believe
I was Mars

than ever getting
Mars myself.

Chris.
What is it?

He did not send
the religious messages.

Of course I didn't.
You know that.

What do you mean?

Here are his messages.

The very first few
as we received them.

But when we asked
how they kept themselves

from blowing each other
to bits,

his answer was "One
tribe must hold the power."

It had nothing to do with
the sermon on the mount.

It was the prophet
talking to us.

The prophet?

Clever of you
to create him.

You played
right into my hands.

I smashed your economic system
with a power panic.

But that still left my friends in
Moscow. I had to smash them, too.

From my hut, I could
see the statue of Christ.

I never thought of using him
against them. Thank you for that idea.

They must have
been desperate.

Who?

Carey, Sparks,
all of them.

They must have done this
in Washington.

Darling, you were there.

You spoke with Sparks
and the President.

Did you think
they were playacting?

I don't know,
I don't know.

Ah, who did it
was immaterial.

When I saw the effect
on Moscow,

I knew you had created
my weapon for me.

That's why I let you
raise the world up.

With all that muck
right up to the sky,

so I can dash it down to
hell when I tell my story.

You can't do it, Calder.

Who's to stop me?

God?

He had his chance
nine days ago.

If I hadn't
dug myself out,

you'd have gotten away
with your fraud.

It was no fraud.

You'd have won.

It was no fraud.

You don't expect me to believe
those messages were not faked.

We expect you
to believe the truth.

Just the way the rest
of the world believes.

Just the way we believe.

But here is my proof.

There've been no messages
since my transmitter was shattered.

How will you explain that
to the world, Mr. Cronyn?

Sermon on the mount.

Peace on Earth.

No, Mrs. Cronyn,

you are not dealing with
a superstitious peasant.

If those first messages
were fake, the last were, too.

The world
will believe me

just as your husband
believed me.

And then you will all be at
each other's throats again.

All of you!

And I'll have done it.

"Better to reign in hell,
than serve in heaven."

My favorite poem,
Mrs. Cronyn.

"The unconquerable will,"

"and study of revenge,"

"immortal hate,"

"and courage never
to submit or yield."

That's my God,
Mrs. Cronyn.

Satan.

Lucifer's my hero.

God beat him.

But I'll have beaten God.

And nothing
will convince you?

Nothing.

It's 8:26 according
to your clock.

I sent a telegram
in your name,

inviting the press
to be here at 8:30.

You've only to wait a few
minutes before they hear my story.

Why didn't you tell it
right away?

Why did you come here
to torture us?

Suppose someone had stolen
the fruits of your genius,

wouldn't you want to see
them humbled in the dust?

Perhaps.
It doesn't matter.

Linda,

you go back
to the house.

Do you remember what you said
to me the night of the first message?

Nothing I was connected
with could produce evil.

It won't, Chris.

We'll finish it together.

I want you with the boys.

It will only
take a minute.

Is that
what you really want?

I love you, darling.

You do
think me a fool.

You think I'll let
you walk out of here

to call those private guards
of yours?

What's the matter, man?
Cheer up.

The reporters will be
here in a few minutes.

You like publicity,
don't you?

Two minutes
before they get here.

Give me a cigarette, Chris.

I can't go through with it,
Lin. Not now.

The boys are safe.
This is their chance.

Give me the cigarette.

Funny, in all the years,
I've never seen you smoke.

You are not going to smoke
in here.

God gave us free will,
Mr. Calder.

It's what distinguishes us
from the animals.

We can choose between
good and evil.

But if we choose evil now,

that's the end
of the human story.

I can't let you do it.
Stay where you are!

It's a simple problem,
isn't it, Mr. Calder?

To let you
tell your story

and risk setting mankind at
each other's throats again.

Or see that you keep
silent and save mankind.

CALDER:
The valve!

Give me alight.

Don't! Don't!

The room's alive
with hydrogen.

A spark now would...

CALDER: Stop. Stop.
You wouldn't kill your wife.

Chris, look.

Now will you believe?

Your set's destroyed,

but there's a message
coming in.

There's your proof.

CALDER:
No, not now.

They won't beat me now.

PRESIDENT: We do
not know and never shall

what caused the destruction
of that laboratory in California.

We only know that Chris
and Linda Cronyn are gone.

And that in our time there'll
be no more messages

from Mars.

For God,
in his infinite wisdom,

has decreed

that the revelations
which came through them,

his servants,

were sufficient
to fulfill his purpose.

At the very moment, when they
were snatched up in that chariot of fire

into the bosom
of truth everlasting,

a final message
was being received.

Only the first few words
of that message were recorded

before the explosion
cut it short.

Those words were,

"Ye have done well,
my good..."

The rest is silence.

Silence.

No.

No, for as I speak, the
bells of a million churches

in every far corner
of the earth...

...ring out in salutation to
the earth's new day of hope.

The voices of the joyful

rise in a thousand hymns.

Hymns not of grief,

but of thanksgiving.

And mankind,

kneeling in gratitude
for its redemption,

prays for the spirit
of this man and this woman.

Of them,
as of no mortals before them,

it maybe said

the whole earth
is their sepulcher.

And so the message
does not remain unfinished.

The miracle we have beheld
has cleansed our souls

and wiped the scales
from our eyes.

With a new vision given us,

we, who are left,

can complete that message.

Ye have done well,

good and faithful servants.

Enter ye,

into the joy of your Lord.

Thy monument
is a world of peace.

You're lucky, boys.

You are their sons.