Original subtitles

This is a story of the future.

But not the very distant future.

It is a story that might have taken place the day after tomorrow.

Like all stories of the future, however,

its beginnings lie far back in the past,

as far back as the first man on Earth

to gaze at the stars and wonder,

someday, somehow, he might travel to them.

Travel through space.

In the years following the Second World War,

two basic patterns began to influence

the growing science of space travel.

Rockets, or guided missiles, grew larger and larger.

Atomic power plants grew smaller and smaller,

compact enough to be contained in a submarine.

And finally, in a rocket ship.

Immediately, by special order of the president,

a new agency was formed.

Civil interplanetary Flight Commission.

So, with almost unlimited funds voted by Congress,

this commission began its task:

research in new fissionable materials...

more research in non-fissionable metallic alloys

to make rocket tubes that would not be melted like wax

by their own atomic blasts.

Sometimes mishaps occurred.

And men paid for them with their lives.

But the work went on.

Experiments in celestial navigation...

astrophysics, aerodynamics,

until, finally, only one obstacle remained.

That, as our story begins, turned out to be

the oldest obstacle in the history of mankind...

the human factor.

Down! Down! Start to reduce speed!

Not too fast!

-Now see here, Dr. Harrison. -You have no right...

Steady. Slower, slower.

Really, Dr. Harrison, this is intolerable.

Dan! Dan, are you all right?

Dan, snap out of it!

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Dan, how do you feel? Okay?

Yeah, I guess so.

Must have blacked out.

Sit tight and take it easy.

Now get him out of there and over to the hospital.

You see, Doctor, he wasn't in any real danger.

Under other forms of government,

men are deliberately killed or crippled every day in experiments like this.

Well, I won't stand by and see manslaughter become policy here.

I resent that implication.

-These men are volunteers! -And that's too bad.

The commissioner was most anxious

to have this test carried out to the extreme

so that he could discuss the results with Professor Nordstrom.

Well, you can tell the commissioner and Professor Nordstrom-

Never mind, I'll tell them myself.

The commissioner's office.

Good morning, General.

Yes, Professor Nordstrom's with the commissioner now.

No, I'm sorry.

Dr. Harrison, what's the matter?

I want to see the commissioner.

I'm sorry, he's with Professor Nordstrom.

Ms. Baker, make copies of these for Professor Nordstrom, please.

-I want to see you. -In just a few minutes, Harrison.

I can't talk to you at the moment.

You don't have to. Just listen.

I resign as of now.

Harrison, what in the world's wrong with you?

I told you once before that I'm not going to stand by anymore

and watch human beings being turned into guinea pigs.

My dear Harrison, the uncovering of knowledge

must always involve risk for pioneers.

Fortunately, there are always

men and Women ready to take those risks.

Now, you know that as well as I do.

That's not the point, and you know it.

We shouldn't even be considering the use of test pilots

in this first experimental ship.

It's not only inhuman, it's unscientific and unintelligent.

That's quite enough.

We'll resume this discussion later on.

Why, you are in a state.

There's my pass, staff card, and the badge.

You can send my papers down to the hotel.

Just a moment, Doctor.

You can't leave the building without your exit pass, you know.

-Yes? -Dr. Harrison?

This is Gilligan of Transglobal News.

I'm down in the lobby.

As far as I'm concerned, you can stay there.

Now, hold on, Doc. All I want to know is what's going on

between you and Professor Nordstrom.

Nothing!

Yes?

This is The Washington Globe, Dr. Harrison.

We're trying to contact Professor Nordstrom.

Look, if this is a gag, it's not very funny.

I've never even met Professor Nordstrom

and there's no reason to suppose that I ever will.

-Dr. Harrison? -Yes.

Are you, by any chance, going to talk to me about Professor Nordstrom?

Why, yes, in a way.

Well, let me tell you this.

A, he isn't here, B, I don't know where he is,

C, I've never met him, and D, I don't want to.

Three misstatements out of four, Doctor.

That's a bad average for a man of science.

You see, I am Professor Nordstrom,

-and I'm very glad to meet you at last. -You are?

-Yeah. -Why?

Because I've followed your career with interest,

and we see eye to eye on a subject with which I'm particularly concerned.

We do? I don't get it.

Well, perhaps a little more seclusion might be a good idea.

Do you mind if I make myself comfortable?

No. Go ahead.

Well, the fact is, Doctor,

I overheard your little interview with the CIFC director this morning.

As I had just spent an hour telling him exactly what you told him

so much more cogently in a couple of minutes,

I was, well, interested, to say the least.

You mean to tell me you think they're wrong

in trying to use human beings?

I know they're wrong.

Before we can prepare men for the conditions

they're going to meet in extraterrestrial space,

We've got to know what those conditions are.

Not guess, but know.

That's what I've been telling them all along.

But the problem of getting there and back

to collect accurate data without the use of human pilots and observers

is going to be a back-breaker.

On the contrary,

I can almost say now that I have it solved.

With your collaboration, I think I can convert

that "almost" into an unqualified fact.

Your attention, please!

Your attention, please!

Skyliner Flight Number 1 for Los Angeles

will board at South Concourse,

Gate Number 5 in 15 minutes.

So we can start work the moment we arrive,

without all of those coils of red tape hampering us all the time.

Yes. I know what you mean.

I suppose that sprang from the secret nature

of the project in the first place.

Top secret?

Someday, before I'm too old,

I look forward to working on a job

Where I don't have to burn the contents of my wastebasket every night.

You never can tell who might be hiding in a wastebasket.

Don't tell me you're a security regulations quoter, too, my boy.

Okay.

You were saying you'd be able to show me

what you're working on as soon as we arrive.

I'll have to.

Every minute counts now because we have to perfect my innovation

before the commission is ready to send out its first ship.

Now, if we'd...

Well, well, if it isn't Professor Nordstrom.

I don't know whether you remember me or not.

Uh, Gilligan, Science Editor of Transglobal News Service.

You'll have to forgive me, Mr. Gilligan,

but I've met so many journalists here in Washington.

All you scientists are supposed to be absent-minded.

Me, I'm trained never to forget a face.

I'm afraid we're talking shop, Gilligan.

That's what I figured.

You're Harrison, aren't you?

Of the Civil interplanetary Flight Commission.

No comment.

Well, you were until you quit this morning.

And what was that all about, Doctor?

No comment.

You two being together here at the airport...

This anything to do with the trouble you've had

with the commission, Professor?

I'm afraid I have no comment for that, either.

Now why don't you leave us both alone?

Oh, take it easy, Doc.

Never can tell what kind of a story will gel when you big brains huddle together.

Like the one your syndicate released prematurely

about the hydrogen bomb drops in the Pacific

or the atomic aircraft carrier engine?

Look, you're in the business of smashing atoms.

I'm in the business of selling newspapers.

If Uncle Sam doesn't know how to keep his own secrets, that's his tough luck.

It doesn't matter how much aid or comfort

you give our potential enemies

or how many of our side eventually get killed.

Hold it, Ralph.

Now, listen, Mr. Gilligan...

You listen to me, Professor.

You fellas can't go on dummying up like this indefinitely.

Sooner or later you've got to talk for the record.

Look at it this way.

The prospect of space travel in the immediate future

is the biggest news story in the country today.

Years and years of research,

millions and millions of taxpayers' dollars

have been spent building that first spaceship.

Now, when it's just about ready to take off, what happens?

One of the greatest scientific minds in the world...

That's you... Comes out and disagrees

about how the ship's to be worked.

I was about to say, Mr. Gilligan,

I'd be willing to make a statement...

I don't want a statement, I want facts.

It's no secret in Washington

that the row was over your not wanting to use men

on the first space trip.

What the people of the United States

want to know is what you propose using instead.

If I were prepared with the facts you're talking about now, I'd tell you.

Only right now, I'm not.

However, I will tell you this.

Just 30 days from now, at my home in California,

Dr. Harrison and I will tell all,

or at least as much as circumstances at that time will allow.

I'll be there, Professor!

So will the science editors

of, say, 11 other press services.

Well, I thought this was an exclusive.

It ought to be.

Do the people of the United States

read only Transglobal news releases, Mr. Gilligan?

Your attention, please.

Skyliner Flight Number 1 for Los Angeles

now boarding at South Concourse,

Gate Number 5.

That's our call, Professor.

I'll, uh, see you in California, Mr. Gilligan.

Okay. Okay.

Skyliner Flight Number 1 for Los Angeles

now boarding at South Concourse, Gate Number 5.

Well, here we are.

Yes, but where are we?

You'll see in a minute.

You made good time, Karl.

The car runs good.

This is my own invention.

A combination of sonic beam and photoelectric cell.

The chance of anyone else hitting on the same code

of light and sound impulses is practically non-existent.

I have a whole series throughout my premises.

You sound as proud of them as if they'd won the Nobel.

-Darling. -Dad, it's so good to see you.

This is Dr. Harrison, Janice, my new colleague.

My daughter Mrs. Roberts,

who runs this household with a rod of iron.

Dad.

-How do you do? -How do you do?

Gramps! Gramps!

Gee willikers, you got here just in time!

Come on in the house, Gramps.

I've got it all figured out.

Gee, I'm glad you're here. Come on, I gotta show ya!

We have company.

This is my grandson Brian, better known as "Gadge."

He likes gadgets, too... Perhaps too fondly.

Dr. Harrison, who's going to work with me.

How are you, Brian? Or may I call you Gadge?

How do you do, sir?

Come on, Gramps, I gotta show you.

-Come on! -You'll have to excuse me.

This sounds urgent.

He's the grandson.

The father of the boy was killed in Korea six, seven years ago.

The boy is impulsive, but what a brain.

He'll be a greater man than his grandfather.

Look, Gramps.

I told you I had it figured out.

Only first, I gotta make myself as tall as you are.

Up until this moment I thought I had invented

the only burglar-proof lock,

with only two people in the world... Karl and myself...

Sharing the secret of the combination.

And how did you work it out, young man?

Oh, logarithms.

But I never went down there, Gramps, honest!

Not without you around.

Are you sure, Gadge?

Okay, Gadge. Come on, Ralph.

As long as he has it open,

I may as well show you what's down there.

Can I come, too, Gramps?

No, my friend, you cannot.

And I think it's time you were getting to school.

I'm afraid it is, Gadge.

What's the time?

The time is now 21 and a half minutes past 8.

Okay, okay.

Gimmickses. Always gimmickses.

Let's get out of here.

Wish I were down there with them.

I wish I knew what Gramps was doing.

I mean, this big job, why won't he tell me?

I guess it's just too important, Gadge.

Nobody knows but Karl.

And now this Harrison guy.

Must be a pretty big job for him not to tell me.

-He never... -What's that?

Listen.

What is it?

What is if?

Are you sure you Won't change your mind, Gramps?

I'm sorry, Gadge.

You know how much I'd like to have you down there tonight, but I just can't.

But why?

I know just as much about electronics and stuff

as those old guys from the newspapers.

They're not just old guys from the newspapers, Gadge.

They're very distinguished scientific journalists

representing the most important news services of the world.

I will grant you this.

You do know as much about electronics as they do.

But I still don't see why.

Well, although you have a searching mind

and the courage of a grown-up scientist,

you look like just what you are...

An 11-year-old boy.

And I'm afraid the people we've invited here tonight

under such secrecy might not be adult enough

to understand your presence here.

That's why I have to pack you off to bed.

I understand, Gramps.

Good night. Thanks, Gadge.

Well, I guess I won't be needing this anymore.

Well, I see no reason Why you shouldn't hear what's going on.

Gee willikers! Thanks, Gramps!

Go ahead.

Hey, this is worse than crashing the Pentagon.

When do we get in?

When I've checked all the papers

and written down all the numbers.

Go ahead.

All is in order.

Thank you, my friend.

Your place certainly has a lot of charm, Professor.

It certainly does.

It's an amazing location for a laboratory.

How'd you ever find it?

This old wine cellar

was precisely the reason that I bought this place.

It's ideal both for security

and to protect our delicate equipment from surface vibrations.

And now I think we'd better get started.

Won't you be seated, gentlemen?

-Mind if I sit here? -No, please do.

As you know, gentlemen,

it is my contention, as well as Dr. Harrison's,

that to man the first experimental space ship with a living crew

is a useless and unwarranted risk of human life.

The research program so far conducted by the Armed Forces

and the Civil interplanetary Flight Commission

have been well planned and executed as far as they go,

but they deal only with the easily deducible,

obvious hazards of what we call "space"-

cosmic rays, disorientation, weightlessness-

but they cannot guard against the unknown hazards.

Without the results of actual observation and recording of data,

no man can possibly know the conditions existing

outside the atmospheric envelope of this Earth.

He can only guess.

And to me, the word "guess" cannot,

in any circumstances, fit with the word "science."

Now, you say you must have the results of actual observation,

yet you're opposed to sending human pilots to get them.

Aren't you talking in contradictions, Professor?

No, Mr. Gilligan,

as you will see for yourself.

What is it?

What is it?

Well, gentlemen, meet Tobor.

A childish joke of mine...

"robot" spelled backwards.

Well, since this is your invention, Professor Nordstrom,

I suppose we can be sure this isn't just another movie Frankenstein.

You certainly can.

In fact, the term "robot" is hardly accurate,

in spite of my joke.

I would prefer to say an electronic simulacrum of a man.

Oh, gosh! Oh, gee willikers!

Are you trying to tell us that this...

This pile of tin could actually pilot a space ship?

Exactly.

Now, you control this... This thing from that box

by some sort of electronic wavelength or something, right?

At the moment, I do, Mr. Johnston.

Well, how do you know that the wavelength

will be powerful enough to work outside the Earth's atmosphere?

I don't, sir.

But that doesn't matter very much

because I'm not going to need them there.

You see, Mr. Johnston,

this control system is only a temporary expedient

to activate Tobor during the early stages of his development.

From this point on,

he will be guided by a totally different method.

How about a little fill-in on that, Professor?

You mean something new?

Something we've never heard of?

On the contrary, gentlemen,

I'm sure most of you have heard of it,

although I imagine few of you will believe in it.

ESP...

Extra-sensory perception.

You mean that stuff about projecting thought images by telepathy?

Mr. Gilligan, you're not too far off.

In here, gentlemen, is the most intricate part

of what I assure you is a highly sensitive mechanism.

When that is activated, like this...

Oh, he looks alive.

That is an illusion, my dear,

caused by reflected light in the eye tubes.

And yet, in a way, Tobor is alive,

for even though much work remains before he's completed,

he is already a sentient being.

The sentience may be synthetic, but it's there nonetheless...

A necessary adjunct to the recording of all experiences

our human space crews may later encounter.

A sentient being?

You mean this-this thing can feel?

Well, let me put it in another way.

Even in his present unfinished state,

Tobor will react to emotional stimuli.

Janice, help me with a little experiment, will you?

Gentlemen, I assure you there's no collusion here.

I'm merely going to ask Mrs. Roberts to approach Tobor

and feel friendliness toward him...

Think goodwill, as it were.

You can do that, can't you, Janice?

I'll try.

All right, then. Go ahead.

Just don't make any gestures.

Just hold the friendship thought.

I think he does look almost kind, doesn't he?

Thank you, Janice.

Could you get a reaction from some other emotion, Professor?

And from a stranger.

Say from Johnston, here.

I think we could manage to do that.

But Why don't you make the experiment, Mr. Gilligan?

Do you suppose you can contrive to...

feel enmity toward Tobor?

Yeah, I suppose so.

Yeah, sure I could.

Very well, then.

Suppose you'll get up and...

take one of those fire axes from the wall.

Now, if you will, walk around behind Tobor.

And hold the thought of enmity all the time.

Deadly enmity.

Well, there you have it, gentlemen.

This time, the emotional stimulus was danger,

the reaction fear, instantly followed by anger.

You have just witnessed the complete cycle

of a synthetic instinct-self-preservation.

I have a question, Professor.

Now, you've persistently referred to the fact that this... this robot...

Tobor, Mr. Johnston.

You'd better use his name or he might resent you.

Well, I'm sorry.

I'll rephrase that.

Why do you keep saying that Tobor is still incomplete?

For the simple reason, Mr. Johnston,

that we have not yet perfected his long-range communication system.

As you know, gentlemen, at each end of such a system,

there's a power unit... A transmitter and a receiver.

Here is our receiver, Tobor himself.

When he is switched from direct to infinite control,

he's capable of receiving thought impulses over any conceivable span.

It is only the transmitter which Dr. Harrison and I

are in process of perfecting.

How about giving us a look at his innards, Professor?

Oh, or are they top secret, too?

I don't mind if Tobor doesn't.

And now, gentlemen, I think I've said

everything I can say of importance tonight.

And it's certainly Tobor's bedtime.

I gotta see Tobor.

I just gotta.

Just a minute, Mr. Gilligan.

I'm not questioning your integrity

as a journalist, Mr. Gilligan.

I'm simply requesting again that you confine your coverage

to the facts contained in Professor Nordstrom's handout.

Now, look, Doc, we don't tell you how to run your job.

I realize that, Mr. Gilligan.

But your papers aren't exactly famous

for their conservative handling of the news.

Now just a minute.

That's the trouble with you scientists.

You won't face up to the facts of life.

Ralph, I have to put my car away.

Would you give me a hand with the garage door?

I'd like to.

Very much.

Gee, Tobor...

you're beautiful.

Glad you could make it, gentlemen.

Good-bye.

Okay. They're all out.

Very good.

I gotta figure it out.

I Just gotta!

It's Gadge! I'll bet he's doing it!

Gadge.

That little so-and-so.

Do you realize what he did?

He actually worked out all those controls

and got Tobor back in his box all within five minutes.

Oh, Dad, you're wonderful.

But he was bad, very bad.

You go to bed, Janice.

Ralph and Karl and I will get this rubbish all squared away.

-Good night. -Good night, darling.

Beats me how that kid worked out those controls.

I'd hate to try it with a slide rule.

I told you that boy's a genius.

Hey, Wait a minute.

9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

How many news services did we ask

to send representatives tonight, Professor?

Twelve, as you know.

Why?

Because there are 13 empty chairs,

and tonight every one of them was filled.

A 1953 black Ford sedan.

License number 9Y-33-26.

That's the last number on the list, Sheriff.

Professor Nordstrom's man was instructed to admit

all newsmen showing a proper letter of accreditation.

Unfortunately, the professor omitted to tell him just how many were expected,

so that 13th letter must have been a forgery.

Incidentally, Sheriff, I'd appreciate it if you'd pass

those license numbers on to the FBI.

No. No, we won't be needing your deputies to guard us.

We're taking our own precautions,

and Professor Nordstrom assures me that they're more than adequate.

Thanks again, Sheriff.

Good-bye.

Twenty-two university degrees

and I forget to tell Karl the number of letters.

No Wonder they tell jokes about absent-minded professors.

Well, that's spilled milk now.

At least we're alerted that somebody

is mighty curious about Tobor.

Let's hope that those precautions of yours are rugged enough to keep them out.

Well, that, at least, I can guarantee.

Come on, Karl. Let's check the wiring.

Gimmickses. Always gimmickses.

I wish someone would tell me

exactly who or what We're guarding against.

Well, we built the basic emotional patterns

for a constructive mission into Tobor.

Just think what would happen

if someone else... Some potential enemy...

Built destructive patterns into a few thousand like him.

What a terrifying thought.

Anything new?

They still haven't posted a guard.

Hmm. Are you sure?

It's been four days now and I haven't seen a soul.

You must have got away with it.

Might be a trap.

Well, how do we play it, then?

Wait for a break?

Unfortunately, my friend, we haven't much time.

The highest party officials are concerned.

They fear that once Nordstrom has perfected his control system,

the federal government will take over.

It will be considerably more difficult for us to get at it.

-And so? -So we get into the house...

That's better.

See, I... I rigged the telepathic pickup so that it fits behind the ear

Where it's close to the sensory brain centers.

It conveys every impulse to the control device here

Where you can increase or diminish the vibrations.

The whole thing fits as comfortably as a hearing aid.

Excellent, Ralph. Excellent.

Now, here's the transmitter receiver.

I moved the tuning band to this end.

Beautiful.

Now it's all set. You want to start?

I think you ought to operate these tests, Ralph.

This whole new system is your work.

-No, no. You go ahead. -All right.

I worked on a series of reaction tests.

Here they are.

Here we go.

All right.

That's all I could think of for him to say.

Who the devil's that?

Gadge, what are you doing down here?

I heard you Working Tobor. Can I come and watch?

You seem to be here already.

All right.

Okay, Ralph, black out the screen.

Let's see how he adapts himself to the sonar compass.

Attaboy, Tobor.

That's using your coordinator.

So far, so good.

I wonder how he'd take to the white hot meteorites.

This is a tough one, Gadge.

They're coming at him fast now. I hope he can take it.

I don't like this.

Watch 'em. Watch 'em.

The thing's gone berserk.

Cut it off.

No, stop, Tobor!

Gadge!

Are you all right, boy?

There's no fracture, just a bad bump.

Come on, son.

Easy, Gadge.

There you are.

You darn old Tobor.

You better Watch out.

Easy, Gadge. Tobor can't hurt us now.

I wonder exactly what happened?

I think Tobor suffered what in a human being

would be a nervous breakdown.

Those meteors came at him so fast that he couldn't take it.

I think you're right.

I think all we have to do is to insulate against overloading the receptors.

If we do that, maybe we'll jump the last hurdle.

What are you doing now?

I'm switching him on again.

His receptors must have cooled off by now.

Let's see if he's still functioning.

You're all right now, Tobor.

Next time, you better watch where you're going.

There's another one of Tobor's synthetic instincts,

concern for the young, race preservation.

Or to put it less academically,

human love.

Okay, Tobor.

I guess you didn't know what you were doing.

2.50 even, lady.

Thanks.

Okay, just another customer.

Will you be through shortly?

Another half hour oughta do it.

Good.

Soon I'll have to leave to fetch Dr. Gustav.

When do we make our move?

Not before midnight.

Perhaps later.

Depends on the house being dark.

Great, works fine.

Everything is ready, Doctor.

I am a man of science, not of action. I...

This is your duty.

All you have to do is to inspect and photograph this work of Nordstrom's.

Leave everything else to us.

Paul, you go first.

Max, you follow us.

Intruders now inside electrified fence.

North boundary.

Intruders now inside electrified fence.

North boundary.

Intruders now inside electrified fence.

North boundary.

Intruders now inside electrified fence.

North boundary.

Gramps! Ralph! Karl!

I brought my .22.

Hit camera number 6, Karl.

That oughta show 'em up.

Intruders approximately 100 yards north of house.

Intruders approximately 100 yards north of house.

It's amazing how this television camera of yours

can photograph at night without lights.

Not television, infravision.

Hit camera number 8, Karl.

Intruders now approaching house.

Intruders now approaching house.

Intruders now approaching house.

Intruders now approaching house.

Intruders now approaching house.

Now, Herr Professor?

Now.

What is that?

Who's shooting?

No one is.

That's a recorded soundtrack from a movie studio...

Right out of The Sands of Iwo Jima.

Let's go.

Come on.

Gadge. Gadge, come back here.

Gadge!

Too bad. They got away.

You shouldn't have pushed me, Ralph.

I would've had him.

A smart cookie, that Nordstrom.

Too smart for us, maybe.

He mustn't be.

I needn't remind you our employers

will not tolerate any more failures on your part, nor mine.

Well, what do we do now?

We think, my friend.

Or, rather, I think.

And this is what I think.

Since we cannot get in to see Nordstrom's secrets for ourselves,

we must induce him to come out and tell them to us.

It's a tall order, I would say.

Not necessarily.

There must be a vulnerable spot.

Of course.

Nordstrom worships his grandson.

The grandson worships...

Gee willikers.

Mom! Hey, Mom!

Hey, Watch it.

You better blow your horn at those intersections, Gadge.

Gee, I'm sorry, Mom, but look. Lookit.

Oh, wonderful.

What day is it?

Let's see...

It's Tuesday.

And who's going to be your friend?

Well, I'd like to invite you, Mom,

but I doubt if you understand this sort of thing.

Oh, no, I suppose not.

Well, guess Gramp's my only man.

I'll go see him right away.

Good. Now Tobor can turn his own switch

on or off when he's called.

Better he should learn to clean the house and drive the car

so I can spend all my time making toys for you to play with.

It's all finished.

A new transmitter rod built inside a pencil.

You made it beautifully, Karl.

But for what?

That you can play schoolboy tricks on very important people

when you show Tobor off tonight.

Gimickses.

Sorry to disturb you, Professor, but I thought you'd want me to remind you

about your date with Gadge for the planetarium.

What's the matter with me these days?

Gadge. Gadge, Where are you, boy?

We oughta be going.

Right with you, Gramps.

Now, don't be late.

Your very important persons will be here at 7:00 sharp, remember?

Oh, we'll be back an hour before that.

You mark my Words.

Ah, here you are partner.

Come on, let's hit the trail.

Funny. Where... Where's everyone else?

Probably inside. Come on, Gramps.

Well, Gramps, I think there's something Wrong.

You think so?

It's the right day.

Yes, young man.

The right day... for us.

If you please.

But something must've happened.

I know Dad's careless about time,

but he wouldn't be an hour late, not tonight.

I still think he had a flat tire, or he ran out of gas.

No, you don't. That's what you hope happened.

Oh, Ralph, I'm Worried.

All right, I'll phone the sheriff's office.

That's the press.

I'll phone from down in the lab.

You meet them and just tell them he'll be a little late.

Come on, now, snap out of it.

I'll be all right.

-Good evening, General. -Good evening.

-Good evening, sir. -Good evening.

-How are you? -How are you?

How do you do?

Gramps. Gramps. You all right?

Yes, I'm fine. How about you?

I'm okay.

Have you quite recovered, Professor Nordstrom?

I'm fully conscious, if that's what you mean.

And, therefore, able to understand your position?

Completely, I assure you.

Perhaps not as completely as you think.

Of course, as a man of intelligence,

you have realized that you are obviously here to talk.

But you may not have anticipated what happens if you don't.

I'm sorry, but you'll have to raise your voice a little.

I said you may not have anticipated what happens if you don't.

Something very unpleasant, I should say,

judging by the look of you and your friends.

Yes, very unpleasant.

But to whom? That's my point.

Don't you tell 'em, Gramps. Please, don't you tell 'em.

You shut your mouth.

Don't look for trouble, Gadge.

You seem to have me over a barrel.

I take it you want the formula for my extra sensory transmission method.

Very well.

Do I tell them to you or write them down or what?

You will not have the opportunity to give us double-talk, Professor.

You will have to relay your discoveries

to a colleague almost as distinguished as yourself.

How do you do, sir?

I'm sorry I can't get up to greet you.

How do you do, Professor?

Oh, please forgive me.

My doctor told me only this week that I was getting a little deaf.

Uh, my pocket, if you please.

Put that over my head, behind my ear, please.

Ah, that's much better.

And so, gentlemen, I'm afraid the question

of Whether Tobor is capable of guiding a multistage rocket

across interstellar space is highly debatable,

let alone his being able to deal

with all the emergency situations of such a journey.

I don't know, Mr. Commissioner.

After all, We've had automatic pilots

on both conventional aircraft and guided missiles

since the middle of World War II.

What do you think, Congressman?

Well, all I can say, sir, is the motto of

one of the greatest states in our union is "show me,"

and that's exactly what Professor Nordstrom will have to do.

I couldn't agree with you more.

Automatic pilots are one thing.

Intelligent direction of a billion-dollar space cruiser is something else.

Yes?

Yes, I see.

Thank you, Sheriff.

Let me know if you hear anything.

A moment, please, gentlemen.

It's no good trying to keep it from you any longer.

About Professor Nordstrom's failure to be here...

Frankly, we don't know where he is.

He and his grandson left early today,

presumably to visit a science show at the Planetarium in Los Angeles.

They were to be back at 5:30.

That was the sheriff's office on the phone.

They have no news of Professor Nordstrom, or the boy.

Neither has the Los Angeles Police Department nor the FBI

and there was no science show scheduled at the Planetarium today.

Well, isn't there something we can do instead of just standing around?

Afraid not, except wait.

Now, these principles, you must understand, had to be reduced to a Working form.

If I could jot down the basic equations, it would save us a lot of time.

Is that correct, Doctor?

Most certainly.

Very well. Paul, release his hands.

I strongly advise you, Doctor, to confine yourself to the matter in hand.

Pencil and paper.

Gramps, don't you do it! Please, don't you tell 'em!

Lie still, Gadge. Don't try to get up.

If you please.

Certainly. As soon as I can Write.

Another pencil.

I have another one right here.

Let's see, there'll be six cars altogether.

We'll assign one square to each car.

What's the matter?

-What is it? Anything wrong? -Listen.

Well, Dad must've come back.

No, I don't think so.

I don't understand this, Harrison.

What's operating the thing?

Somehow, wherever he is, Nordstrom's controlling Tobor.

It's the gimmick I fixed.

The pencil.

Let's follow him in the cars.

Something wrong, Doctor?

Yes, I think so.

This figure, it cannot be correct.

Oh, I'm sorry. Just a slip.

This is the third slip you've made, Nordstrom.

I'm very sorry.

I am trying to remember an extremely complicated formula.

I should have my notes.

Of course, I could stimulate your memory with artificial methods.

Come.

Open up his shirt.

So far it is good, Professor,

but it's only a promise.

Now we come to the big step, yes?

Yes, in a minute.

But first, hadn't we better go over the data again, to make sure?

Professor, you seem to forget that I was present

when you said that you hadn't yet perfected

the long distance transmitter for Tobor.

Could it be that you've solved that problem so soon?

You better use mine and use it quick.

I Won't stand for this any longer.

You'll give the required information immediately.

Wait! Wait!

Don't, Gramps! Don't!

All right! You win.

The transmitting power's been out off.

Isn't there anything you can do?

I don't know.

Maybe one chance.

If Gadge and the professor are near this spot,

they may be able to reach him on a direct telepathic impulse.

Tobor, please come get us.

Please come and get us, Tobor.

Now he is cooperating.

What's that?

Come on, Tobor! Come on!

-Are you all right? -Yes.

Where's Gadge?

Over there.

You were saying, Mr. Commissioner,

just as that phone rang,

that you doubted that Tobor was capable of reacting to emergency situations.

I'm afraid I was, but I Withdraw my observation.

Gee, Tobor, you're wonderful.

Good-bye, Tobor.

And good luck.