Original subtitles

(MultiCom Jingle)

(dramatic music)

(water rippling)

(whistling)

(car roaring)

(yelling)

(brakes squealing)

- Did I hit something?

Oh, no, is he badly hurt?

- He's dead.

- Dead?

- Steady, steady, steady.

You alright?

- I didn't see him.

Your headlights were in my eyes.

- You were taking that corner too quickly.

- We must get the police.

- No, no, no, no, wait.

I wouldn't do that, Miss Crane.

- You know me?

- Of course, everyone knows Barbara Crane.

Have you considered the consequences if you get involved

in this unfortunate man's death?

- Involved, I killed him.

- Only you and I know that.

There's no identification, nothing, just a hobo.

Miss Crane, I suggest we forget this accident ever happened.

- How can I forget it with this man's body lying here?

- Over there is a sheer drop.

It might be days before anyone found him.

- No, no.

- If this were to get out, it could finish your career

in the theater, and what a loss that would be.

- No, stop.

- Who's going to miss this old failure?

If you won't save yourself from the consequences,

then I must do it for you.

- What a wonderful day.

I hope you don't burn your shoulders again.

- [Invisible Man] It's a funny thing,

I've become sensitive to violet rays again,

lack of pigment perhaps.

- Oh, was that letter from Simon?

- [Invisible Man] Mm-hmm, that's right.

- How is he?

- [Invisible Man] He says he's rehearsing a new play

and wants me to call in at the theater on Thursday

and have lunch with some actress there.

- Some actress, what Barbara Crane?

She's only about the best there is, that's all.

- [Invisible Man] Then she won't want to have lunch with me.

- Oh, now you're too sensitive.

Remember you're quite a celebrity too now,

and anyway we think that you should go out and relax

and enjoy yourself sometimes.

- [Invisible Man] We, so that's it.

You and Simon cooked this up together.

I'd enjoy myself more if I was allowed to concentrate

on my work like getting myself visible again for instance.

- Peter, you're becoming a regular hermit.

You've got to face up to life and go out and have some fun.

- [Peter] Oh, I'll be the life and soul of the party

all covered in bandages.

(horn blows)

(indistinct background chatter)

- There's a Mr. Victor Hill to see you m'lady.

- [Woman] Mr. Hill?

- [Davenport] Yes, m'lady.

- Oh, yes, that's right, Davenport.

Ask him to come in.

- [Davenport] Mr. Victor Hill.

- Good evening, Mr. Hill.

- Thank you for seeing me.

- Oh, darling, it's been so long.

- Why didn't you write?

Why didn't you send for me?

- I didn't dare.

I'm never alone.

He, he, he...

I'm sorry, Simon, I simply can't remember the lines.

We'd better break for lunch.

- Okay everybody, lunch.

(indistinct chatter)

Don't worry, Tom, it'll be alright.

I'll deal with her.

- Well, you'd better because if you don't we'll have

a flop on our hands, and I'm not used to being in flops.

After all I have my reputation to think of.

- Of course, Tom, I quite understand your concern.

- Thank you.

If that's a crack, I don't think it's funny.

- Pompous young fool.

What is the matter with her, Simon?

- Oh, I don't know.

Two days ago she was word perfect.

- Well, she's a joy to act with.

See you later.

- Oh, Walter, don't hurry back.

I'm gonna rehearse Barbara and Tom for a couple of hours.

- Okay.

- Peter, nice to see you.

- See me?

I wish you really could see me.

Still I'm not the only one with troubles.

Was that Barbara Crane?

- Yes.

- She has quite a temperament.

(phone ringing)

- Yes?

- [Man On Phone] Miss Barbara Crane?

- Yes.

- [Man On Phone] Tell me, is your conscience troubling you?

- Who is that?

- [Man On Phone] You won't know me, Miss Crane.

I happened to be taking a walk on the Cliff Road to Brandon

two nights ago when I witnessed a fatal accident.

Yes, that gives you something to think about,

doesn't it, Miss Crane?

- Who is that?

- [Man On Phone] That's not important.

What is important is that you killed a man.

- You sure it's just not nerves?

- No, not with Barbara.

She's a real trooper.

- Couldn't you ask her what's the matter?

- Ask her, I've begged her to tell me.

She just shuts up like a clam.

- Well, could I help, Simon?

- Maybe you could.

- [Man On Phone] To kill a man through careless driving

is bad enough, but have to admit that you threw his body

over a cliff, and who knows, you might even be charged

with murder.

We all have to pay for our sins, Miss Crane,

and you're going to pay plenty

that is if you want me to keep my mouth shut.

- Very well, what do you want?

- [Man On Phone] 1,000 pounds.

- I have no choice, I'll have to.

(knocking at door)

Just a moment, please.

I'll have to call the bank for the money,

and I'll come to Paddington Station right away.

Who is it?

- It's me, Simon.

- [Barbara] Oh, come in, Simon.

- I've brought along an old friend of mine to meet you.

Peter Brady, Barbara Crane.

- How do you do, Miss Crane?

- Peter's the celebrated invisible man.

We wondered whether you'd like to have lunch with us.

- Oh, thank you, but I already have an engagement.

- [Simon] Oh, I brought Peter here especially to meet you.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Brady.

Oh, Simon, I'm sorry about this morning.

I know I behaved very badly.

Please forgive me.

I'll make it up to you.

- Barbara, I think you're in trouble.

Peter can help you, if only you'll let him.

- Help, who said I needed help?

- Oh, please don't be offended, Miss Crane,

but you see because I'm invisible,

I have been able to help people in a number of ways.

- Really, Simon, you come in here with a complete stranger

in that fantastic makeup and expect me to pour out

the story of my life.

I'm sorry, Mr. Brady.

- Well, we tried.

- Maybe I can still help my using my invisibility

to find out what's wrong.

- Yes, we can catch her at the bank.

- My land clothes, quick.

Where can I change?

- In there.

They'll be no one here.

They've all gone out to lunch.

- Here, catch, and unbutton it for me.

(traffic rumbling)

- I'll put it in this bag.

- Two, three.

(car roaring)

(door slams)

(door slams)

(train whistle blowing)

(door slams)

(indistinct background chatter)

(train whistle blows)

(whistling)

- [Train Announcer] Train is leaving now from platform five,

stopping at Ealing Broadway and straight through to Reading.

- [Peter] Oh, I beg your pardon.

- [Conductor] Come along there.

- [Peter] Hey, wait, open up those gates.

I must catch that train.

- What's that? - Quick.

- Who said that?

- [Peter] I'm Brady, the invisible man.

- I don't care who you are sir, you've missed it.

- [Peter] Oh.

(train whistle blows)

(train chugging)

(knocking at door)

- Yes?

You?

- You remembered me.

- How could I ever forget you?

Why are you here?

- I find myself in a little difficulty.

Not to put too fine a point on it, I'm being blackmailed.

- [Barbara] You are?

- Somebody observed your accident and my poor efforts

to help you.

- [Barbara] What are you going to do?

- Oh, unfortunately, I'm in a state of complete financial

(laughs) maladjustment.

- You mean you're broke.

- (laughs) Yes.

- So?

- It occurred to me that you might possibly let me have

the sum demanded.

- You planned this.

You're the blackmailer.

- Let's say I'm a humble cog in a smooth running machine.

My chief, by whose orders I'm here,

is more than a little displeased.

The 1,000 pounds you left, turned out to

- I went to the bank, I put the money in a bag,

1,000 pounds.

- I know, I followed you to the bank and to the station.

I can't imagine how you made the switch.

- I never made a switch.

- Unfortunately, I am suspected of having made it.

My chief I'm afraid lacks trust in me.

He's threatened to get rid of me in an unpleasantly violent

manner if I don't find the missing money.

He's waiting for it now.

- I don't believe you.

I've paid 1,000 pounds already,

and I don't intend to give you any more.

I'm not going to be blackmailed for the rest of my life.

I'd rather admit what's happened and take the consequences.

- I beg you not to.

The consequences are likely to be even more disastrous

for me than for you.

- That's just too bad.

Goodbye.

- I'm pleading for my life, Miss Crane.

- [Barbara] How very original.

No.

- It was nice knowing you.

(gun fires)

(thuds)

(knocking at door)

- Come in.

- [Peter] Here's your money back, Miss Crane, 1,000 pounds.

- What is all this?

- [Peter] It's me, Brady.

Yes, it is me.

You know you could have saved us an awful lot of trouble

if you'd told us you were being blackmailed.

- Where did you get this?

- [Peter] I was in the back of your car

when you drove from the bank.

- So that's what happened to the money.

That poor man.

- [Peter] What poor man?

- This one.

He's the one who got me into all this.

He was killed because the money disappeared.

They thought he'd taken it.

- [Peter] They?

Was he one of the blackmailers?

- I almost wish I'd have given it to him.

It would have saved his life.

(phone ringing)

Hello.

- [Man On Phone] Miss Barbara Crane?

- Oh, it's you.

- [Man On Phone] Have you seen the evening paper?

You noticed what happened to your clifftop friend?

- You murdered him.

- [Man On Phone] He was a thief.

He took your 1,000 pounds.

- [Barbara] He didn't.

- [Man On Phone] Oh, then it was you.

Pity, he was quite useful.

We'll just add that to your bill, 2,000 pounds.

Unless you pay up, you realize that you will be killed too.

- I'll pay, anything you ask.

Where can we meet and when?

- [Man On Phone] I don't like this sudden eagerness.

I'll make the date when I'm good and ready.

(phone slams)

(knocking at door)

- Oh, forgive this intrusion, Miss Crane.

I am Arthur Arthurson.

In spite of my many years as a leading

theatrical photographer, I don't think we've met before.

It is my pleasure to remedy that omission.

- Oh, please forgive me, I'm rather busy at the moment.

- I am here to take a few dressing room stills of you.

Nothing cheesecakey, mind you.

No, more of a--

- I'm sorry, but not now.

- But publicity, my dear Miss Crane.

Publicity, the life blood of our profession

and not even the greatest of us can afford

to deny its claim.

- Not now, tomorrow perhaps.

- Oh, yes.

- [Peter] Oh, just a moment, Mr. Arthurson.

- Are you by any chance a ventriloquist, Miss Crane?

- [Peter] No, it's me, Peter Brady, the invisible man.

- What, is this some kind of a joke?

- [Peter] No, look.

- Oh, my dear sir, let me shake you by the invisible hand.

And now what can I do for you?

Not a photograph, I presume. (chuckles)

- [Peter] Mr. Arthurson, you say you've been a leading

stage photographer for years.

- I do not say it, everyone says it.

It is one of the facts of theatrical life.

- [Peter] Then you must have taken many pictures

of actors in various parts.

- Thousands dear boy, tens of thousands.

- [Peter] And you've kept some of them?

- Some of them?

All of them, cross indexed, filed, preserved for posterity.

- [Peter] Mr. Arthurson, would you mind if I take a look?

I'm trying to trace a particular man.

- Oh, yes, certainly, certainly dear boy.

I'm afraid you'll have to look through

all these files, dear boy.

The fellow you describe might be anyone of a hundred

different actors.

In fact, most of them would put on face fungus

and dress themselves like that at some time or another.

- [Peter] Thank you, Mr. Arthurson.

I'll start right away.

- Okay, let's take it back to Tom's entrance.

- Mr. Victor Hill.

- [Barbara] Good evening, Mr. Hill.

- [Victor] Thank you for seeing me.

- [Barbara] Victor, darling.

It had been so long.

- Why didn't you write?

Why didn't you send for me?

- I didn't dare.

I'm never alone.

He watches me all the time.

It's the...

I'm sorry, Simon, it's no use.

It's just gone.

- If you ask me, it's time you went too.

Never in all my years in the theater have I met anybody

so unprofessional.

Who do you think you are coming here and flaunting

your inefficiency amongst artists who believe

in doing their jobs.

Listen, this play's gonna fold so quickly,

you won't see it go, and it'll be nobody's fault but yours.

- Look here, Tom, you can's speak to Miss Crane like that.

- Yeah, who says so?

- I say so.

Miss Crane is a very great artist, and we're all privileged

to be here with her.

Just because she forgets a line or two--

- The miracle will be when she remembers a line or two.

- Now look, I'm warning you.

- Out of my way, you old ham.

(thuds)

- All right, everybody, that's enough.

Keep the drama for the audience.

Back at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.

Rehearsals are finished.

- Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss Crane, but I just couldn't bear

to hear him talking to you like that.

- It was very good of you to come to my rescue.

Thank you.

- Oh, excuse me, could you give me a lift tonight?

You know I think it would do you good to have someone

with you in the car.

- That's very kind of you.

I would like that.

- Good.

- I'll see you at the stage door.

- Oh, Tom, I'm sorry about...

(phone ringing)

- Yes.

- [Peter] Oh, hello, Miss Crane?

- Yes.

- [Peter] Peter Brady.

- Oh, hello, any news?

- Yes, I've got it.

I know who it is.

- Walter, I'm being blackmailed.

- Blackmailed, by whom?

- Someone saw me in a driving accident

when a man was killed.

- Did you kill the man?

- Yes, then the driver of the other car persuaded me

not to tell the police, then he threw the body over a cliff.

- This driver fellow is blackmailing you.

- [Barbara] He was, but not anymore.

He was murdered by whoever he was working with.

- Are you going to pay him?

- No. - No?

- I'm going to trap him.

- I see.

But isn't that rather dangerous if the man's a killer?

How are you going to do it?

- Play up to him, pretend to confide.

- Very clever, and then?

- Trick him into an admission, then turn him over

to the police.

- It sounds an excellent plan.

And haven't you first got to discover who he is?

- Oh, I already know that.

- You do?

Why are you stopping?

- It was just here that the accident took place.

I want to show you exactly what happened.

- Thank you, I should be very interested.

- It was just here I was supposed to have hit the man.

- Supposed?

- Well, I didn't see him.

I only felt the bump as I went over something.

- Most upsetting.

- Then the driver of the other car came over,

found the man was dead, and threw the body

over the cliff there.

There was a ledge.

I didn't come up to the edge before.

The body would have landed there.

That makes it all different.

- How?

- The man must have been alive.

They'd have found the body soon enough if it had been there.

- Go on.

- Which means it was all a put up job to make me think

I'd killed him, so that I could be blackmailed.

- Most ingenious I must say.

- Yes, very ingenious indeed.

You ought to be congratulated on having conceived

and carried it out.

- Well, it's nice to be complimented on work well done.

- Not so well done.

You haven't got the money yet.

- Too true, and never will get it now

because I shall have to kill you.

I'm sure you understand the necessity,

but one thing I do promise you, you won't land

on that ledge.

- [Peter] Oh, no you don't.

(thudding)

- [Walter] You let go.

(trunk slams)

- [Peter] And by the way, take a look at this,

another one of Mr. Arthurson's theatrical studies.

Ever seen him before?

- [Barbara] Why yes, it's the man I'm supposed

to have killed.

- [Peter] Our old friend in the back, Walter Manton,

in one of his most successful character parts.

The police will be very interested.

- I don't know how to thank you, Mr. Brady.

- [Peter] Oh, yes you do.

Go on stage opening night and give the performance

of your career.

- You bet I will.

I'll take you up on that lunch date too.

- [Peter] Thank you, Miss Crane.

I'll look forward to that.

It will really be a pleasure.

(dramatic music)

(MultiCom Jingle)