THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD
Screenplay by
Charles Lederer
Based on the story
WHO GOES THERE?
by
John W. Campbell Jr.
RKO 1951
8/29/50
FADE IN
1 EXT. NIGHT
The snow piled streets at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. A wind
blows. The street is empty. A bundled figure moves
through the street toward a low roofed lighted building.
A sign outside the building reads:
"OFFICER'S CLUB, DUTCH HARBOR, ALASKA"
Someone has scribbled the words under the printing "No
Penguins allowed".
The figure stops in the doorway and looks at a long
thermometer. It registers twenty-five below zero. The
figure continues into the club.
2 INT. OFFICERS CLUB ROOM - MIDNIGHT
This is the social center for U.S.A. flying men roosting
in the polar regions. The air base is near Dutch Harbor,
Alaska - a commuting hop from the Arctic Circle. It is
early winter. The night in Dutch Harbor is long and
dark.
In the room two of the six gaming tables are occupied.
At one sits a four handed bridge game. At the other sit
five men playing poker. RADIO MUSIC - an American
Service Broadcast - is coming a bit feebly into the room.
All is cozy and steam-heated in the room.
Among the five poker players are three men who are to be
active in our story. One is W.O. Vic MacAuliff. He is
a tough, taciturn radio man. He has seen service
everywhere, heard nearly all the languages and drunk
nearly all the different brews of the earth.
The second is Captain Pat Henry, in his early thirties.
Captain Henry has been a flyer since he shed his first
stocking cap. He is a man of whimsey and temper and
also mood.
The third is Lieutenant Eddie Dykes, a tall, homely man
under thirty.
The overcoats, boots, ear-lapped military hats of the
aviators lie on an unused table nearby.
EDDIE DYKES
(as he shuffles
and deals)
It was about a hundred and five
in the shade in this place. The
women didn't wear any clothes at
all to speak of - which was very
intelligent of them. You lay in
a hammock and three of them stood there
fanning you. When I die, I hope
to go to Accra.
MACAULIFF
I was there.
HENRY
(looking at
his hand)
I open for one dollar.
PLAYER
I stay.
PLAYER
I'm out.
MACAULIFF
Going up.
He puts two chips on the table.
EDDIE
Scotland strikes again. I'm
in. Cards, gentlemen.
Two other players add another chip each to the pot.
HENRY
Three.
PLAYERS
Three.
MACAULIFF
These'll do.
The figure has entered the room and is surveying the
poker players as it removes its wrappings. He is Ned
Skeely, a newspaper correspondent.
HENRY
Hello, Skeely, how are you?
SKEELY
Faintly alive. Twenty-five below
and going down. It's a night for
brass monkeys.
HENRY
Care to join us?
SKEELY
As soon as I count my fingers.
I may have lost some.
HENRY
I think you know everybody here.
Players smile and say "sure."
MACAULIFF
I haven't met the gentleman, Captain.
HENRY
Ned Skeely - Angus MacAuliff.
MACAULIFF
How do you do, sir.
EDDIE
Mr. Skeely's a newspaper man, Mac.
We're going to put on a snow ball
fight for him tomorrow.
Skeely takes a seat next
to Eddie.
HENRY
(returning to the play)
One dollar is bet.
EDDIE
Against a pat hand held by a
Scotchman. Captain Henry, your
decorations for valor have gone
to your head. I'm folding.
MACAULIFF
Call.
HENRY
A pair of aces.
MACAULIFF
Beats two queens.
EDDIE
(to MacAuliff)
You ought to know better than to
try fooling my pal. Only dames
can do that.
HENRY
(quietly)
I promised you a kick in the belly.
EDDIE
(mockingly)
Forgive. Forgive. A slip of the
tongue.
HENRY
(to Skeely)
How'd you make out with General
Fogarty?
SKEELY
Your general is nursing his secrets
like a June bride.
MACAULIFF
Deal 'em out, lieutenant.
EDDIE
You in, Mr. Skeely?
SKEELY
Yes. I am always interestad in
pauperizing the air force.
EDDIE
(dealing)
I've got a big idea that involves
you, Mr. Skeely. You're not going
to get any story out of this post.
Forgarty has given us all instructions
to treat you like a Russian spy.
SKEELY
General Fogarty is going to end up
on his knees begging for my attention.
EDDIE
(intently)
This is more practical, Mr. Skeely.
There's a man in Edmonton who can
give you the whole Radar defense
story. Loves to talk. General
MacLaren. You tell the General you
want to get to Edmonton - and Pat
and I'll fly you there.
SKEELY
I know General MacLaren. He bores
me.
EDDIE
(desperately)
Don't be like that! It's warm in
Edmonton! They've got girls in
Edmonton! Without fur pants on!
SKEELY
(to Henry)
How about it, Captain?
HENRY
Let's play cards.
MACAULIFF
(to Eddie)
Ye ought to know better than to try
and shoo our captain southward -
with his heart wrapped around the
North Pole.
HENRY
That'll do, Mr. MacAuliff.
MACAULIFF
(grinning)
I open - for two dollars.
SKEELY
(casually, as they play)
What's going on at the North Pole?
EDDIE
Some scientists are holding a
convention there. Looking for
Polar bear tails. Ever hear of
Dr. Carrington?
SKEELY
The fellow who was at Bikini?
EDDIE
The same.
HENRY
They're holed in about two thousand
miles north of here, a lot of
botanists and physicists.
EDDIE
(solemnly)
Including a pin-up girl. Very
interesting type. Captain Henry
can give you any data on her you
want.
HENRY
(looking at his cards and
speaking quietly to Eddie)
Someday I hope to have a co-pilot a
cut above a high school boy - or
at least dry behind his ears -
A voice comes over the
P.A. speaker.
VOICE
Captain Henry. Captain Pat Henry.
Report to General Fogarty's quarters
at once, please.
Henry rises from the table.
SKEELY
(frowning and serious)
Twelve thirty and a general yelling
for his troops. Sounds like the
old days.
Henry starts putting on his overcoat.
DISSOLVE TO:
3 INT. GENERAL FOGARTY'S QUARTERS. NIGHT
A living room with a fire going in the fire place. The
room is fairly well furnished. Some war trophies are
on the wall, including a piece of a Japanese aeroplane,
a Jap sword, and other important war souvenirs.
Three men are in the room. One is General Fogarty, in
his forties; the second is the adjutant of the post,
Major Smith. The third is Corporal Hauser from the
post's communication center.
FOGARTY
(to Corporal Hauser)
If any more messages come in from
that base I want to be notified
personally, no matter what time.
Tell the O.D.
CORPORAL
Yes, sir.
There is a knock on the door.
FOGARTY
Come in.
The door opens and a blast of
freezing air hits the room as
Captain Henry enters. He closes
the door.
HENRY
Good evening, sir.
Corporal Hauser opens the door
and exits, letting another blast
of cold into the room. The General
shivers, scowls and grumbles.
FOGARTY
(shivering)
Freddie, any chance of the Pentagon
sending us a revolving door?
MAJOR
Could be. We got a gross of pith
helmets last week.
FOGARTY
(to Henry)
I've go something queer here from your
picnic party up north. Just came in.
(he reads from a paper)
Believe air ship unusual type crashed
in our vicinity. Please send
facilities to investigate. Most urgent.
(he looks up)
It's from Dr. Carrington. What's it
sound like to you, Pat?
HENRY
I think I'd better hop up.
FOGARTY
(dryly)
I knew you'd say that. But what do
you think you'll find, besides your
lady friend?
HENRY
(quietly)
I don't know. Any of our ships
reported missing?
MAJOR
Not a one.
HENRY
Could be a Russky. They're all
over the Pole, like flies.
FOGARTY
(smiling)
Don't get nervous. You're going.
When a double dome like Professor
Carrington says "most urgent",
small people like us have to jump.
Better take a dog team and everything
you might need for rescue work.
HENRY
I'll take off at 4:30.
MAJOR
What's the weather, Pat?
HENRY
There's a bad front moving in.
But I think there's enough time
to get there and back without
bumping into it.
FOGARTY
You can do me a favor, Pat.
HENRY
Yes, sir.
FOGARTY
Take that newspaper fella up with
you - and maroon him there.
HENRY
I'll invite him.
FOGARTY
And don't get me wrong about
who gets marooned, Captain
Henry. I would appreciate
it if you didn't smash a landing
ski and find it necessary to
twiddle your thumbs for a week
while it's being repaired.
HENRY
(coldly)
That accident was unavoidable, sir.
FOGARTY
So was Romeo and Juliet. I'll
expect you back tomorrow night -
with or without Mr. Skeely.
Good luck.
DISSOLVE TO:
4 INT. C-54 PLANE. IT IS FLYING THROUGH A DIMLY LIT
SKY. BELOW ARE CLOUD BANKS.
In the plane are W. O. MacAuliff, Ned Skeely,
Navigator Lieutenant Ken Ericson and Light
Engineer Corporal Barnes. Captain Henry is flying
the ship, Lieut. Dykes is beside him. MacAuliff
is at his radio instrument.
A dozen huskies and several sleds are in the plane,
plus a pile of other cargo tied down under tarpaulin.
SKEELY
How far are we from camp?
HENRY
Three hours. We've slowed down.
There's a breeze blowing.
EDDIE DYKES
(grimly)
A breeze, he says. It's hitting
forty miles. But you'll find
that our captain has some funny
ideas about the North Pole. He
thinks it's a garden spot. Come
and bring the kiddies.
HENRY
(grimly)
You're yapping is out of order,
Eddie. I'm not going to tell
you again -
EDDIE
Always squawking - that's me!
And for no reason! Shackleton
went to the North pole once -
and retired with a bag full of
medals. I get to go there every
three weeks - like it was lover's
lane.
HENRY
(coldly)
I'd like you to get this straight,
Mr. Skeely, if you write anything.
I'm liaison officer between our
post and the Carrington outfit.
These flights are strictly official.
Usually bring in supplies. They're
charting magnetic currents, growing
new kinds of polar plants, looking
for minerals.
EDDIE
That's right, Skeely. I was
only kidding. It's a terrific
outfit. The biggest collection
of double domes ever got together
on an ice cake.
MACAULIFF
(to the talkers)
Something's coming through.
Henry, Eddie and Navigator
Ericson put on their head
phones and listen.
EDDIE
(listening to the
ear phones)
Somebody's gooped up!
HENRY
(removing ear
phones)
Give me a new reading, Ken.
KEN
I can't understand it.
SKEELY
Who was that?
HENRY
The radio man, Hendrix - talking
for Carrington. He wants us to
correct our compass reading
twelve points East. A magnetic
disturbance is whacking away at
everything.
KEN
(working)
This is no place to make a mistake,
Pat. We were bee-lining for the
place. Hadn't we better get them
back.
HENRY
No. Carrington doesn't make
mistakes. We'll follow ground
instructions.
DISSOLVE TO:
5 INT. PLANE. A VIEW FAR BELOW OF THE SPRAWLING
POLAR SETTLEMENT.
Small dots of roofs on a flat expanse of snow.
The plane starts descending.
DISSOLVE TO:
6 EXT. POLAR PROJECT CAMP - DAY
The C-54 makes a landing on skis some two hundred
feet from the largest of the low looming buildings.
The arrivals drop out of the plane door.
A half dozen Eskimo workers belonging to the camp
hurry toward them.
DISSOLVE TO:
7 INT. LARGE ASSEMBLY ROOM OF POLAR EXPEDITION
It is 60 per cent underground. It's windows are
near the ceiling and function as transoms for
light.
The room is comfortably furnished and warm. It's
steam pipes run along the wall.
In the room are Dr. Chapman, Dr. Algari and Mrs.
Chapman.
Chapman is a forceful looking man in his forties.
His wife is a good looking woman of forty who is
also his assistant. Chapman is a minerologist.
Algari is an elderly man, white haired. He is a
botanist.
A male cook stands at a large electric stove. He
is cooking coffee and a hot lunch in a number of
pots. Chapman walks up the stairs to the door,
which is near the top of the room. He opens it.
Captain Henry and his group come dowm the stairs.
CHAPMAN
Very pretty landing, Captain.
We watched it. How was the trip?
HENRY
Nice ride. This is Mr. Skeely,
Dr. Chapman, Mrs. Chapman, Dr.
Algari. Mr. Skeely's a newspaperman.
SKEELY
Glad to know you.
CHAPMAN
(smiling)
Glad to have a newspaperman drop
in on us. We're a bit off the
beaten track.
SKEELY
(looking around)
Don't tell me I'm practically
at the North Pole! Looks more
like my old Kentucky home.
HENRY
Any further information, Dr.
Chapman?
CHAPMAN
I'm convinced it's some sort of
Russian air craft. Probably some
new jet propelled rocket.
ALGARI
I very much doubt that, Hugo.
I don't understand Russian
science, but it can't be as
far advanced as the indications
we have from the crashed ship.
CHAPMAN
If it is a ship. We're all
quite excited, Captain.
HENRY
Where's Dr. Carrington?
CHAPMAN
In the lab.
MRS. CHAPMAN
They'll all be here for lunch.
It's ready - if you'd like to
eat first. Fresh vegetables.
HENRY
(to Skeely)
From their own garden.
SKEELY
Garden?
MRS. CHAPMAN
(smiling)
Hothouse.
SKEELY
You have a hothouse! At the Pole!
EDDIE
(winking at Skeely)
They've got everything here.
Wait till you see.
HENRY
I'll join you in a few minutes.
ALGARI
I'll take you to the lab, Captain.
HENRY
Thanks. I know the way.
He starts out of the room.
MRS. CHAPMAN
Please sit down, everybody.
The group moves toward a long refectory table set with
twenty places. We follow Captain Henry out.
8 INT. A CONNECTING UNDERGROUND CORRIDOR BETWEEN TWO OF
THE CAMP BUILDINGS
Henry, enters it and walks toward a steep stairway. He
climbs it and knocks on a door. A voice calls.
VOICE
Come in.
He opens the door.
9 INT. NIKKI'S OFFICE AND SLEEPING QUARTERS
A small office-like room, lined with filing cabinets,
holding a desk, a typewriter stand, a voice recording
machine, and a couch that serves as a bed, is revealed.
Sitting at the desk, typing, is a vivid, young woman,
Alberta Nicholson. She is called Nikki. She stops
typing and rises.
NIKKI
Pat! Welcome to our igloo!
HENRY
(smiling)
Hello, Nikki. You look like seven
million dollars. How are you?
NIKKI
Wonderful. Sit down.
HENRY
I talk better standing.
He steps up to her and embraces her ardently. She
pulls out of his embrace, calmly, and without alarm.
NIKKI
Please.
(she straightens her hair)
I think Dr. Carrington is waiting
for you.
HENRY
Dr. Carrington will have to wait.
I'm busy.
He tries to embrace her again.
NIKKI
(evading him)
No, you're not.
HENRY
(frowning)
What's the matter?
NIKKI
Now, don't act surprised. We've been
all through this before. I don't like
promiscuous love making. It's meaningless.
HENRY
Who's promiscuous? We're alone, aren't we?
NIKKI
Pat, last time you were here, I spent
three days wrestling with a typical air
corps wolf. It was like playing puss-in-
the-corner with Bluebeard or somebody.
You even invaded my bedroom, claiming you
were looking for a lost pocketknife. Now,
I'm fond of you, Pat, but this time, if
you don't keep your hands to yourself,
we're through.
HENRY
You're fond of me, eh? Well, I'm fond
of you, too. What are we waiting for?
NIKKI
We're waiting until we get to know
each other.
HENRY
(grinning)
Now you're on my side. Come here.
You'll get to know me.
NIKKI
(pushing him away)
Not that way.
HENRY
What other way is there?
NIKKI
(desperately)
Didn't you ever hear the word
"conversation"? Didn't you ever read a
book, or see a movie - or - or think
about anything?
HENRY
Yeah. But you don't want to talk
about what I'm thinking.
NIKKI
No, I don't. If that's all you can think!
HENRY
I got other thoughts.
NIKKI
It would be an entrancing diversion to
hear one.
HENRY
Well, try this one. Dames are all alike.
NIKKI
That's not a thought. It's a cliche.
And a stupid cliche.
HENRY
All dames want to get married. If you
ask them to marry you, you're sincere. If
you don't you're Bluebeard, and a wolf.
NIKKI
(dangerously)
Are you saying I want you to ask me to
marry you?
HENRY
Never could figure them out. If you
buy a dame one meal and try to kiss
her, you're a wolf and a Bluebeard.
But if the same fellow promises to buy
her thirty thousand meals, then he's a
prospective husband and he couldn't
beat her off with a stick.
NIKKI
Yes, and tell a fellow your garter
belt is your own business, and he'll
think of every mean, stinking thing
in the world to say back to you!
HENRY
(calmly)
That's the war of the sexes, I guess.
NIKKI
Well, I hate war!
HENRY
On the other hand, it's my business. I
got a commission. Gimme a kiss, Nikki.
NIKKI
I'm tired of you. Now, come on. Doctor
Carrington's eager to see you.
HENRY
(gloomily)
Okay. Lead on, Miss Nicholson. I
guess I came to the wrong Pole.
He follows her out.
DISSOLVE
10 INT. DR. CARRINGTON'S LABORATORY
This is a large chamer in a separate building. Here
are concentrated the instruments used by the various
scientists in their astronomical, mineralogical and
botanical experiments.
At a large flat-topped table in the room sits Dr. Arthur
Carrington. He is a man of 43 with an alert, cheerful
face. He is good looking, well built, soft spoken.
His dominant characteristic is a smile that seems never
to leave his lips. It is present always on his face
like an extra feature. He is a genius of science and
a man whose brain is focused like a microscope on the
secrets of nature. But the intensity of his preoccupa-
tion with science is not to be heard in the easy tones
of his voice. It will be seen in the things he does,
in his point of view - but never in his manner.
Outwardly, he seems only a good looking man full of
child-like enthusiasm for a task and with a soothing,
amiable way for his fellow man.
In the room with Dr. Carrington is a lean young man
named William Stone, in charge of the camp's
photographic work and equipment.
Captain Henry stands silently in the doorway, his eyes
moodily on his scientific rival. The doctor is
studying the indicator dials of a complex instrument on
the table. Bill Stone greets the arrivals.
STONE
Hello, Nikki. Hello, Captain
Henry. How was the trip?
HENRY
(shortly)
O. K.
He remains staring at the preoccupied
Carrington who seems aware neither of
his or Nikki's presence.
NIKKI
(quietly)
Captain Henry is here, doctor.
CARRINGTON
(without looking up,
his voice amiable)
Yes, I know.
(his eyes stay on the indicator
dials and he continues softly)
Would you take these notes, please.
(he dictates to Nikki quietly.
She writes as he speaks)
November second, 2 p.m. Deflection
on screen nineteen continues -
twelve point three. No lessening
or wavering of disturbing element.
(he looks up and smiles
at Henry and adds softly)
Can we start now, Captain Henry?
HENRY
(coolly)
Mind telling me where we're going?
CARRINGTON
Forty-eight miles due east.
HENRY
Your message said an aeroplane
had crashed. Is that what we're
looking for?
CARRINGTON
(smiling)
I don't know, Captain.
HENRY
(covering his irritation
with difficulty)
I'd like to know what I'm supposed
to go looking for, Dr. Carrington.
CARRINGTON
(gently)
So would I.
(eagerly)
I think we should start while
the light holds.
HENRY
(without moving)
We'll start after you've given me
what information you've got.
CARRINGTON
(softly)
Is that necessary, Captain?
(he sees Henry's scowl
and is quickly contrite)
I'm very sorry. I was thinking
only of the vagueness of my
information. I dislike being
vague. Will you please read
Captain Henry my first notes,
Nikki?
NIKKI
(opening the note book in
her hand and reading from
it)
November 1, 11:15 p.m. Sound detectors
registered explosion due east. 11:18 p.m.
magnetic dial revealed twelve point three
deflection. Such deflection possible only
if a disturbing force equivalent to 20,000
tons of steel or iron ore had become part
of the earth within fifty mile radius.
HENRY
That sounds like a meteor, doesn't it?
CARRINGTON
(amiably)
Yes, very much. Except for our photographic
plates. Our telescopic cameras were working
last night. Here is the film taken between
11:12 and 11:15. Let Captain Henry see it,
Bill.
Stone switches on a light in a moviola
box and runs a strip of film slowly
through it. Captain Henry looks into
the box.
CARRINGTON
You will note the small dot low on the film.
It is moving from west to east. At 11:14
the dot moves upward. At 11:15 it drops to
the earth and vanishes. A meteor might move
almost horizontally from west to east, but
never upward. If the traveling object caused
the explosion we picked up, it is in the ice
48 miles from here. The sound reached us
four minutes after the object's disappearance.
This gives us the approximate distance from
here.
HENRY
(frowning)
Twenty thousand tons of steel is a lot of
metal for an aeroplane.
CARRINGTON
For the sort of aeroplane we know, Captain.
HENRY
(abruptly)
Come on, let's get going.
He walks out followed by Carrington,
Stone and Nikki.
DISSOLVE TO:
11 INT. C-54 PLANE
Captain Henry and Lieutenat Dykes are at the controls.
The rest of the crew are in their accustomed places.
A dog sled and a dog-team occupy the rear of the
passenger cabin.
Flight Engineer Barnes is scanning the snowscape below.
So are Photographer Stone and the scientists Olson,
Chapman, Vorrhees, Laurenz and Redding. Skeely is also
peering avidly out of the window. There is an air of
tension to the silence.
Only Dr. Carrington seems relaxed. He shares a seat
with Nikki.
From time to time Captain Henry turns around to scowl
at Nikki and Carrington.
NIKKI
(eagerly to her companion)
I'm terribly excited, Arthur! I'm
jumping up and down inside!
CARRINGTON
(softly)
So am I.
NIKKI
(laughing)
If the world were coming to an end, I
don't think you'd change your expression,
Arthur. You'd keep smiling - and dictating
notes - and expect me to take them down
accurately.
CARRINGTON
(nodding)
And you would.
Captain Henry has risen and left
Dykes at the controls. He has
walked back to Carrington and stood
there waiting grimly for their talk
to end. He speaks up now with
irritation.
HENRY
We're fifty miles out, Doctor, and not a
sign of anything. Those gadgets of yours
must be screwy.
CARRINGTON
(amiably)
I doubt it, Captain. They've exhibited
no signs of lunacy in the past.
NIKKI
(to Henry)
You must be off your course.
HENRY
(to Carrington, insistantly,
ignoring Nikki)
We haven't seen anything, have we?
What does that mean?
CARRINGTON
(amiably)
It means we haven't seen it. It doesn't
mean it isn't there.
Henry's response is interrupted
by a cry from Dykes.
DYKES
Hey, Pat! Look at this! The compass
is turning around!
HENRY
(starting forward)
What the holy --
CARRINGTON
(calmly)
We've passed it.
(calling to Dykes)
When did it start turning, Lieutenant?
DYKES
Just now -- fifteen seconds ago.
CARRINGTON
(to Nikki)
Mark the time, please.
(to Dykes)
Is it a complete revolution?
DYKES
Yep. Hundred and eighty degrees.
CARRINGTON
(to Henry)
Then we flew right over it about a
mile and three eighths back.
HENRY
(curtly)
Thanks.
(he calls to the cockpit)
Spin it around Eddie, and take
her down low.
Henry returns to the cockpit. Carrington follows him
and stands gazing out over his shoulder.
12 LONG SHOT OF ICE FIELD FROM SHIP'S POINT OF VIEW
A dark patch in the ice appears.
13 INT. COCKPIT
CARRINGTON AND DYKES
(together)
There - I see it - over there!
DYKES
It's buried in the ice.
HENRY
(peering at the
ground)
What do you think, Eddie?
DYKES
(pointing)
Looks pretty smooth over
there -
HENRY
(nodding)
Fasten your seat belts,
folks. We're going to land.
DISSOLVE TO:
14 THE ICE PLANE
The C-54 lands gracefully on its skis. Its occupants
disembark. Barnes and Dykes start hitching up the dog
team.
NIKKI
(standing on tiptoe)
I can't see it from here.
HENRY
It's that way. About a half
mile.
CARRINGTON
A little more south, I believe.
NIKKI
Oh, I hope we don't lose it.
CARRINGTON
(smiling at her
eagerness)
Hardly.
MACAULIFF
This'll lead us right to it.
He holds up a Geiger counter.
CARRINGTON
(surprised)
A Geiger counter. But there's
no reason to suppose it's
radioactive.
MACAULIFF
It is, though. I noticed in
the plane. See?
He holds up the counter. It clicks steadily.
DYKES
All set, folks.
HENRY
(to Nikki)
You ride on the sled.
Nikki gets on the sled. It starts off, the rest of the
party trotting along in its tracks.
DISSOLVE TO
15 THE ICE PLAIN NEAR THE DARK PATCH
The sled stops. Nikki gets off and runs with the others
to the dark patch. They stand looking down at it fron a
little hillock of snow and ice.
BARNES
That's no aeroplane.
OLSON
It's certainly not a meteor.
MACAULIFF
Whatever it is, how in the
holy name of Aberdeen, did it
get in there? Look, the ice
is smooth as glass.
There is a little chorus of agreement and wonder.
HENRY
This is the craziest thing
I ever saw!
CARRINGTON
Not really.
HENRY
(over polite)
Perhaps you'll be good enough
to explain the little mystery
to all us ordinary people.
CARRINGTON
(staring at the
dark patch)
Anything hitting the earth's
atmosphere at an astronomical
speed would be white hot in an
instant. It would melt its
way into the ice which would
then freeze over it again.
Skeely and Barnes have moved to another hillock to get a
better view of the buried object. Suddenly Skeely lets
out a yell.
SKEELY
(at the top of his
lungs)
IT'S A SAUCER! IT'S A FLYING
SAUCER!
There is an instant's silence. They all stare into the
ice.
OLSON
(softly)
Bless my soul, that's what it
is!
AD LIB
A saucer!
A flying disc!
Sure, look from over here - see?
A real, honest-to-God saucer!
See the direction vanes...
They said there were no such things...
D'ya suppose there's anyone in it?
Must be ... Sure...
SKEELY
(jumping with excitement)
Axes! Get some ice-axes!
Barnes and Dykes run for axes.
STONE
Stand back, everybody! Let me
get some pictures!
SKEELY
(widly, as Stone
starts photographing)
Where's the radio generator!
Hey, MacAuliff!
(MacAuliff turns
to him)
Scotty, come on, quick! I
want to send a message!
HENRY
(interrupting)
Nothing doing. No private
messages.
SKEELY
What do you mean, private! I'm
going to send it to the whole
world!
HENRY
Sorry, Skeely. This is army
information. I'll have to wait
for authority to let you file a
story.
SKEELY
(beside himself)
You've got your authority from
the Constitution of the United
States! It's called freedom of
the press! I'm sending my story,
Captain!
HENRY
All right, send it. But not from
my ship.
Skeely glares at him in frustrated fury. Henry ignores
Skeely's rage, and turns to MacAuliff.
HENRY (cont'd)
Call Hendrix..Have him wire Fogarty
we've found a flying disc - intact
- imbeaded in the ice - and we're
going to get it out!
MACAULIFF
Yes, sir.
He starts for the plane - Skeely at his heels.
SKEELY
(urgently)
Looky, Scotty! This is the
biggest story since the Red Sea!
A ship from another planet! You
can't cover it up! Have a heart!
Think what this means to the world!
MACAULIFF
I'm not working for the world.
I'm working for the army, and I've
got my orders.
SKEELY
(furiously)
Even the Russians wouldn't act
like this!
He starts back toward Captain Henry.
OLSON
(to Carrington)
What do you make of that,
Arthur? It certainly doesn't
look like 20,000 tons of steel.
CARRINGTON
Not even a ton, I'd say.
During the above, axes have arrived. Five of the men
start hacking feverishly through the ice. Nikki stands
beside Carrington. Captain Henry joins the men chopping
on the ice. The little group on the wind-swept snow
work silently and desperately to remove the four feet
covering of ice from the saucer.
CHAPMAN
(coming up to Carrington)
What do you think it's made of,
Arthur?
CARRINGTON
No element we know on this earth.
NIKKI
(excitedly)
I don't see any door or windows
in it.
CARRINGTON
They must be underneath.
OLSON
(peering)
I can't make out any engine.
CARRINGTON
I doubt if we'll find anything
we call an engine.
SKEELY
(arriving out of breath)
What planet do you figure it's
from, Doctor?
CARRINGTON
Not this one.
SKEELY
Must be Mars. That's the only
one that's supposed to be
inhabited, isn't it?
CARRINGTON
I'll be able to answer your
questions a little more
accurately after I've examined
the interior of the craft and
its occupants, if any.
Skeely grabs an axe and runs toward the chopping group.
NIKKI
Occupants! They must be dead,
though!
CARRINGTON
Dead or alive - we'll learn a
great many things we don't know
in the world, now.
The group is swinging axes. Captain Henry suddenly stops
digging. He looks up at the sun looks at his watch.
HENRY
(to Dykes)
We can't make it, Eddie. The
light'll be gone in an hour.
The temperature's dropping, too,
I think.
EDDIE
(looking toward the
horizon)
That storm front's moving in
fast. But we can't quit. We've
got to keep going! It's from
Mars!
HENRY
I'm not going to try an
instrument landing on skis in
the dark - and kill off everybody.
EDDIE
(eagerly)
We can dig for another half
hour, Pat.
HENRY
If they get that close - I'll
never get them back in the ship.
They're so excited now they don't
know they're half frozen.
EDDIE
(excitedly)
Look, Pat - I feel fine. I'll
stay here all night. Just
leave me a sleeping bag and some
whiskey.
HENRY
(suddenly)
I got a thermite bomb on the
sled. Go get it. We'll melt
the ice away.
EDDIE
(axe in hand)
Wonderful! What a brain!
He runs toward the sled. At the same moment one of the
diggers cries out.
BARNES
(axe in hand)
Here's a piece in the open!
We've uncovered it!
The scientists and the axe
wielders run over to Barnes.
Captain Henry comes over.
Dr. Carrington drops to his
knees and examines a two foot
metal edge protruding from the
ice.
CARRINGTON
May I have a file, please?
BARNES
Here's one.
He removes a file from his heavy
clothes. The group watches as
Dr. Carrington starts using the
file on the protruding edge of
the saucer.
CHAPMAN
What's it look like, Arthur?
CARRINGTON
(hitting the file against it)
I don't know. Probably an alloy. I'll
try and get some filings. We can analyze
them tonight.
(he looks up and smiles at the
group watching him)
We haven't much time. I suggest you all
continue with your excavating.
HENRY
No need to. We've got a thermite bomb.
CARRINGTON
(pleased)
Thermite! Oh, excellent!
He stops filing and rises. He
stands staring down at the machine
in the ice. Lieut. Dykes arrives
with a thermite bomb, a length of
wire and a plunger. MacAuliff comes
running up at the same moment.
MACAULIFF
(panting)
They're relaying the message to Fogarty now.
We ought to have an answer in an hour.
I got some news back from Hendrix. The
barometer fell down to the cellar and a
freeze is coming up like nobody's business.
He says to watch out.
HENRY
I'm watching. Drill a hole for that bomb,
Eddie.
SKEELY
(moving in to the group in
time to hear the last ramark)
A bomb? Is that safe?
DYKES
(as he digs the hole, Barnes
assisting)
It's S.O.P. Standard Operating Procedure
for removing ice. It just melts it.
BARNES
It'll uncover the whole saucer in thirty
seconds.
NIKKI
I'm so excited, I'm almost sick to my
stomach.
HENRY
(to Dykes)
That's deep enough, Eddie. The light's
going fast.
CARRINGTON
(softly, as he continues to
stare at the metal mass at his
feet)
Five minutes from now we may have the
key to the stars. A million years of
history are waiting in that ice for us.
DYKES
All set, Pat.
HENRY
Clear the field, Mac.
MACAULIFF
(calling)
Over here - everybody. Keep together.
The crew and scientists and Nikki
move across the ice, led by MacAuliff.
Eddie uncoils a hundred feet of wire
and walks with it. Captain Henry stands
in the increasing wind - surveying the
dimly outlined ship in the ice.
HENRY
(raising his arm)
Let her go, Eddie.
Eddie presses the plunger. There
is the normal thermite bomb explosion.
A glow of the thermite flares and
dies.
EDDIE
(calling out)
O.K., folks. She's clear.
Before anyone can move there is a
muffled exlosion. And a second
flare starts under the ice. Gradu-
ally the glare builds up. The
whole ice field becomes illuminated
from beneath by an unbearable light.
The onlookers are forced to turn
their eyes away, all save Carrington,
and Henry who continue to stare at
it.
A chorus of exclamations and queries
rise from the group.
AD LIB
What is it?
What happened -
Secondary explosion?
Don't look - Shield your eyes!
How can it burn - in the ice?
Chain reaction - from the thermite!
Etc.
SKEELY
(grabbing Chapman's arm)
What's happening to it. Tell me, Doc!
CHAPMAN
(slowly)
I'm afraid it's disintegrating - totally.
CARRINGTON
(his face tense)
Secrets - that might have given us a new
science. Gone!
Captain Henry stands aghast as
the wild burning consumes the
ship under the ice. He sees its
outlines run and vanish. Skeely
comes up to him.
SKEELY
(raging)
Standard Operating Procedure, you blind
ape! You've destroyed it!
CARRINGTON
I should have thought - I should have
thought...
SKEELY
You sure should! The greatest discovery
in history up flames! Fine work!
(he wheels on Henry)
The army can be proud of itself - turning
a whole civilization into a Fourth of July
piece. Even the Indians acted smarter
toward Columbus!
CHAPMAN
Not a shred left. Every bit of it gone -
and we know nothing - nothing.
CARRINGTON
We know one thing...what it was made of.
Obviously a magnesium alloy.
CHAPMAN
That's right. Only magnesium would react
to heat that way.
SKEELY
(bitterly)
Splendid! There's a story for me.
(quoting)
Scientists learn magnesium burns!
DYKES
(to Henry)
Want me to mark the spot - so we
can find it after the storm?
Captain Henry has been staring
into the wind-swept ice. He has
stood silent under Skeely's abuse.
HENRY
(to Dykes)
Later, Eddie. First, I want you to bring
up all your picks and axes. Mac, I want
your Geiger counter. And bring the dog sled.
MACAULIFF
Where to?
HENRY
I saw something under the ice about
fifty feet from here. The flare lit
it up.
He holds the Geiger counter
in front of him and starts
walking slowly. Carrington,
Ericson, Barnes, Dykes and
Skeely move along at his side.
The others straggle behind,
MacAuliff leading the dog team.
CARRINGTON
What was it, Captain?
HENRY
I don't know. It was shaped like a
man, but it might have been a piece of
the disk.
DYKES
A man! You mean somebody got out of that
saucer?
HENRY
Probably thrown out when it crashed. If
it is a man.
CARRINGTON
(gesturing toward the counter,
which is clicking)
It's radio active. I imagine it must be a
fragment fron the saucer.
HENRY
Maybe. It was sure man-shaped, though.
CARRINGTON
(with growing excitement)
Good work, Captain. We may salvage
something yet.
SKEELY
(pointing at the counter)
It's getting louder. More to your left,
I think.
DYKES
(pointing off)
There it is! There!
He points to an ice bank. Dimly
visible in the ice is a two legged
shape.
SKEELY
Is this a story! The man from Mars!
MACAULIFF
(excitedly)
It's got legs - and a head. I can see 'em.
NIKKI
It is! It's a man... It really is!
There is an ad lib chorus of
excited remarks from the others.
AD LIB
There - see it?
Look - right by that boulder!
It's an animal.
No - it's a man.
Must be eight feet long.
Etc.
EDDIE
How come it's frozen in the ice - if it was
thrown clear?
HENRY
(chopping at the ice)
Same as the saucer. Got melted in.
SKEELY
(chopping at the ice)
How about using some thermite?
HENRY
Shut up!
The men continue to swing their
axes. MacAuliff has stepped into
a small depression in the ice and
is closest to the figure they are
trying to extricate. The ice
surrounding it has become flawed
from their blows, and the figure
it contains is practically invisible.
BARNES
(chopping)
I can't see it at all now.
SKEELY
Hurry up, boys. I can't wait.
(to Henry)
Sure hope it isn't a mirage.
HENRY
No mirage. It's there all right.
BARNES
What did it look like in the flare?
HENRY
You'll believe it when you see it.
MACAULIFF
(from below)
Hey -
HENRY
What's wrong, Mac?
MACAULIFF
(staggering away
from the block
they have carved
out)
I'm sick to my stomach. I sunk
my pick right into its skull -
something green oozed out.
EDDIE
No harm done. It was dead
anyway.
ERICSON
The light's going, Pat. We
haven't got time.
HENRY
You're right.
BARNES
Hey, look. The whole block's
coming loose!
CARRINGTON
(nodding)
Recently formed ice. Separates
easily.
HENRY
All right -- everybody on it.
We'll load the whole slab onto
the sled.
They load the block onto the dog sled, and start
hauling it across the ice field.
DISSOLVE TO:
16 EXT. POLAR CAMP. THE LIGHT IS ALMOST GONE
The C-54 appears in the lowering sky. It flies
erratically in the increasing wind.
The plane makes a precarious landing on its skis, the
rising gale buffeting, and almost overturning it.
A half dozen bundled Eskimos come out of the camp and
move toward the plane.
Barnes, Eddie and MacAuliff pile out. They help Nikki
and the scientists alight. In the half dark, the
pessengers start across the wind-blasted snow toward
the camp. They move with difficulty. Words are
inaudible in the gale.
MacAuliff gestures the Eskimos toward the plane. They
climb in. Captain Henry and Eddie bring out the dogs
and a sled.
The block of ice, half covered by a tarpaulin, is
dropped from the plane's door.
Working in the icy blasts now sweeping the dark, the
men move the ice-block onto a sled. Others tie the
plane down, tethering it to stakes pounded into the ice.
With the plane tied down, the party starts for the camp.
The dogs draw the sled with the ice-block on it.
DISSOLVE TO:
16A EXTERIOR ENTRANCE TO STOREROOM
A series of steps have been cut through the snowbank
outside the storeroom entrance. The ice-block is
unloaded from the sled and bumped down the steep steps.
17 INT. STORE ROOM
It is a dimly lit room, piled with barrels of
scientific equipment. It has the look of a gloomy
well stocked cellar.
The ice-block is slid into a clear space in the middle
of the room. Barrels and boxes are moved to make more
room around it, all the group assisting.
HENRY
(to Eddie)
Send the Eskimos away.
EDDIE
They've hot footed it already.
It's going to take a lot of
coaxing to get them back.
MACAULIFF
Anyone got some whiskey?
EDDIE
(poking among
some boxes)
Here's a whole bar room.
He removes a bottle and starts opening it.
BARNES
(to Henry, nervously)
What do we do now, unveil him?
HENRY
Nothing to see through the ice.
(to Carrington)
Can you turn off the heat in
this room, Doctor?
CARRIGTON
(softly)
If it's necessary.
EDDIE
What d'you meen, turn off the
heat. It's fifty below outside.
CARRINGTON
I suggest we discuss our procedure
before we take any further steps.
HENRY
(to Eddie)
Open the window, Eddie.
Eddie stares at him and climbs up to the window.
LAURENZ
(full of tension,
his eyes on the
tarp covered block
of ice)
We're wasting time, Captain!
We must melt it out. Investigate!
Examine!
HENRY
We're not melting it out.
EDDIE
(from the ladder
top)
The window's closed.
HENRY
Punch a hole in it.
Eddie breaks the window.
LAURENZ
This is stupid! Criminal! The
secrets of a universe are in
there. We are scientists!
CARRINGTON
(quietly)
It's almost certain that we'll
be called in by the army to make
a study of it later, Captain.
LAURENZ
You can't fly the thing to Dutch
Harbor! This storm may last for
weeks. No human can walk in it.
HENRY
I'm sorry, gentlemen. I'll wait
instructions from General Fogarty.
SKEELY
(quietly)
I think you're making a crazy
decision. There's no army
precedent for how to treat a
Martian. And nobody is better
qualified to take our visitor
apart than these gentlemen of
science. You couldn't ask for
more geniuses at an autopsy.
HENRY
It's staying in the ice.
LAURENZ
You're behaving like a meddlesome
sophomore, Captain Henry! There
are organisms that survive after
death. Cold may destroy them.
REDDING
(quietly)
They may be dangerous organisms.
Disease germs from another planet.
We're not prepared medically to
cope with them.
LAURENZ
That is absolute nonsense, Redding!
REDDING
Nor do we know what effect the air
of our earth may have on the
creature's remains.
HENRY
Yes, I'd feel kind of foolish if
this thing disappeared in a cloud
of smoke like that saucer did.
LAURENZ
(to Carrington)
Arthur, you are in charge of
this post.
VORHEES
We have every right to proceed
scientifically.
CARRINGTON
(controling himself)
Captain Henry, I can only urge
you in the interest of human
knowledge to permit us to
examine the body in there -
LAURENZ
(excitedly)
We don't have to be permitted!
We have thirty men in this camp -
all armed.
HENRY
Your request is denied, Dr.
Carrington. That ice-block and
what's in it is army property.
And this is a military installation.
As head of the military here, I'm
taking over.
SKEELY
Martial law, eh!
HENRY
Until I receive instructions from
my superior officer on what to do
- we'll mark time. I'm posting a
guard to keep everybody out - and
everybody's hands off - in the
meantime.
CARRINGTON
(softly)
Captain Henry is doing what he
considers right.
(to Henry)
It's difficult for me to mark
time - with such amazing information
waiting for us - but I accept your
decision. I suggest that your guard
use one of our electric blankets to
keep warm. Will you get him one, Fred.
A mechanic present nods.
HENRY
Thanks. How do we get to your
radio room?
CARRINGTON
I'll show you.
(he starts out)
SKEELY
(excitedly)
The radio room! I'm getting
senile! I forgot all about it.
Skeely starts out.
EDDIE
Mind if I have a last peek at
our pal --
He goes to the ice-block, and pulls off the tarpaulin.
The dim two-legged shape is blurringly visible inside
the block.
HENRY
Come on, Eddie.
EDDIE
(staring at the
frosted ice-cake)
I can't quite make it out yet,
but I know one thing. They
don't bread 'em for beauty on Mars.
The rest of the group leaves through the inner door.
We stay with Ken. He stands alone in the cellar,
leaning against a barrel. He picks up a whiskey
bottle and takes a swig. Then he approaches the block
of ice. He stares into it for a moment and backs away.
He removes his gun from its holster, and resumes his
place leaning against the barrels, his eyes nervously
on the ice-block.
18 INT. UNDERGROUND CORRIDOR - CONNECTING CELLAR AND
RADIO BUILDING
Led by Dr. Carrington, the group moves down the shadowy
length. Skeely is talking as he walks beside Captain
Henry.
SKEELY
(his excitement a contrast
to the silence of the
scientists and army men)
Can you imagine what's going to happen
when this story hits the headlines!
Everybody who owns a sled is going to
start for the North Pole for a look at
the man from Mars. Gentlemen, you'll
be doing a bigger business than Coney
Island in a week! What a shame, he's
dead! An interview with a live Martian!
That would have been something, eh?
Look, Captain, you've got to let
these boys get at that corpse as soon
as possible. Our readers will be
waiting for details. You're liable
to give the whole nation a nervous
breakdown.
19 INT. RADIO ROOM
The entire communication equipment of the post is
housed here. A step-ladder leads to a trap-door which
in turn leads to a small observation tower above the
radio room. Sitting at, the radio controls is Ezra
Hendrix, the operator.
The group enters. Ezra is a stocky young man. He is
full of excitement as he turns to the arrivals.
EZRA
I'm using full power. The lousy pole
is shooting electricity all over
the place.
HENRY
I'm Captain Henry. Any messages for me?
EZRA
Yes. Came through a few minutes ago.
(he reads from a
piece of paper)
Fogarty to Henry. Remove flying
saucer from ice at once. Use thermite
bomb to melt her out. Erect temporary
structure to protect find until my
arrival with staff chiefs.
SKEELY
(beaming)
That's what I like about the army.
Smart - all the way to the top.
(to Henry)
Well, Captain, that gives you a chance
to pass the buck on that thermite deal.
HENRY
(ignoring him)
Will you send this to General Fogarty?
SKEELY
Make it short, will you, Captain? There's
a hundred and fifty million people holding
their breaths -
HENRY
(to Ezra)
Henry to Fogarty. Flying saucer completely
destroyed by thermite bomb, due to unforeseen
composition of ship. Have removed dead
passenger from wreck...
EZRA
(as he taps the key)
You got a Martian? Where is he?
SKEELY
On ice, buddy. Hurry it up - I've got a
flash for you.
EZRA
(tapping)
The static's knocking us out of the air.
HENRY
Keeping dead body in block of ice. Carrington
wants permission to remove and examine.
Waiting your instructions before further
action. That's all.
SKEELY
(eagerly)
O. K. Cosmopolitan Press Office, New York
City. You can clear through Edmonton. Try
our bureau there.
(he dictates)
With Carrington expedition. North Pole -
The world has a new visitor today, a two
legged creature from Mars.
CARRINGTON
You are being a little premature, Mr.
Skeely. That has not been established.
SKEELY
You can un-establish it - if I'm wrong,
Doctor.
EZRA
It's dead.
SKEELY
(angrily)
I know it's dead.
EZRA
I mean the sender. Nothing's going out.
SKEELY
Keep clicking, man! It can't quit on you
now!
Another telegraph clicking
sound comes through.
EZRA
Something's coming in.
He starts writing.
CARRINGTON
It will alter our situation, Captain -
if we can't get through to your General.
HENRY
The situation remains as it is - until
we do.
EZRA
(reading from the paper on
which he has been writing)
Everything grounded - can't join you. Want
you to -
(he looks up)
The rest is scrambled, Captain. Can't pick
it up.
HENRY
He didn't get my message?
EZRA
Doesn't look like it. We're a weaker
station than the one at your base,
Captain. I may be able to pick them
up - if they keep sending - but our
outgoing stuff is hopeless.
SKEELY
Lookie! You can't stop! I've got
to get this story through. Send it
anyway. Some ham may pick it up -
there's millions of them. Send it!
(to Henry)
Pat, how about heading back for
Dutch Harbor?
HENRY
I don't think we can get as far as the
plane - in this wind.
SKEELY
(desperately, as he leans
over Ezra)
Keep hitting it, pall! Somebody'll get
it - somewhere. Keep clicking...
Ezra clicks desperately away
on his instrument. The group
stands waiting and silent.
DISSOLVE TO:
20 INT. BEDROOM OF THE POST. NIGHT
This is a large dormitory with cot beds in it, lining
the walls. Henry, Eddie, Barnes and Skeely are in the
room.
Skeely is walking up and down, peering out of the window
at the storming night.
Eddie sits on a cot. Barnes is curled up on another cot.
Henry is at a window, looking out.
EDDIE
You know something? These scientists
here remind me of the time I was stuck
on Bulan Island with the Hundred and
Sixteenth. An army nurse came ashore
one day and created a disturbance similar
to this Martian.
BARNES
(from his cot)
What happened to her, Lieutenant?
EDDIE
Nothin' she didn't like. I'm just
wondering if the professors will try
to rush us, Pat.
HENRY
(grimly)
Might relieve the monotony if they did.
EDDIE
I'd hate to have to shoot down seventeen
of the world's greatest geniuses. You
know somethin?
HENRY
What?
EDDIE
They're kids, all of them. Nine year olds
drooling over a new fire engine. Scientists!
Did you notice those two double domes who
started crying - when we left the table?
SKEELY
(suddenly)
This storm is getting worse, Captain.
HENRY
Yes, it's tossing around some.
SKEELY
There's only one thing we can do - dog sleds!
We can wrap General Fogarty up and take him
along.
EDDIE
Fogarty?
SKEELY
That's my name for our pretty boy from Mars.
He has the same dubious relation to a human
being as that pot-bellied clam in Dutch
Harbor. Dog sleds, Captain, are our only
solution.
HENRY
Solution to what?
SKEELY
Getting out of here - we could make
the base in five days -
HENRY
Cut the yammering, will you. I've got
enough on my mind. It's death outside.
The storm will knock off even the Polar
bears.
The door opens and MacAuliff
enters.
MACAULIFF
He's going crazy.
EDDIE
Who?
MACAULIFF
Fogarty.
EDDIE
Which one?
MACAULIFF
Are you nuts? There's only one Fogarty.
EDDIE
There's two now. Skeely's baptized our
Martian with the same name.
HENRY
What about the General?
MACAULIFF
Incoming stuff is pretty jammed. But
I've figured it to read there's been a
leak in Washington. News of our find
has made the papers. Congress and the
President and a lot of other top brass
want further details.
HENRY
They're not picking up anything from us?
MACAULIFF
Not a crackle.
SKEELY laughs.
HENRY
(frowning)
What's the joke, Skeely?
SKEELY
(chuckling)
A picture of my editor just came
to me...tearing up and down his
office - breaking windows and yelling
for Skeely. I can almost hear him.
He's liable to shoot himself by mid-
night.
The door flings open. Navigator
Ken Ericson enters. He is in a
high state of agitation.
KEN
(loudly)
Where's Barnes?
BARNES
(sitting up)
What's up, Ken?
KEN
(violently)
It's eleven five. You're supposed to
relieve me at eleven.
HENRY
(sharply)
You've left your post!
KEN
(wildly)
He's late. He was supposed to come
at eleven.
HENRY
Shut up!
KEN
(desperately)
I can't take it any longer, Captain.
HENRY
Take what?
KEN
You can see it now! The ice has cleared
up. It's got crazy hands. No ears, and
a lot of eyes. They're all open! I turned
a flash on it - and it looked like it
was moving. And I lit out.
HENRY
Get back to your post.
KEN
(slowly)
O. K.
HENRY
Barnes will be right along.
KEN
O. K.
HENRY
Get going!
KEN
Yes, sir.
He turns and walks slowly
out of the room.
SKEELY
I'm going to have a look.
HENRY
You're staying out of there, Skeely -
along with everybody else. Put on
your flightsuit, Barnes. And get in
there before Ken starts having kittens.
BARNES
(pulling on his electrically
heated flying suit)
That's the first squawk I've heard out
of Ken since Ploesti. I don't like it.
SKEELY
All I want is to verify what I know -
about it's being four-eyed.
EDDIE
He didn't say four eyes. He said -
HENRY
Never mind what he said. I'm barring
all civilians.
SKEELY
You're being a little stuffy about this
whole thing, Captain Henry.
BARNES
I won't need the electric blanket -
if I got this suit plugged in. So
in case you care to send me any
company, I could make them
comfortable, Captain.
HENRY
I'll relieve you myself at 2 a.m.
And don't leave your post.
EDDIE
Pat's right, Barney. If you give
them a chance, those scientists
will have him out - waltzing with
him.
BARNES
O.K., Captain. I'll expect you
at 2 a.m.
HENRY
Right.
Barnes opens the door. Nikki is in the doorway. She
is dressed in a fetching looking outfit.
BARNES
(passing her)
Good evening, Miss Nicholson.
NIKKI
Hello. May I come in?
HENRY
(coolly)
We're a bit untidy.
NIKKI
(smiling at
him)
Dreadfully unsocial atmosphere
around, even for the North Pole.
HENRY
I'm sorry to have contributed to
your gloom, Miss Nicholson.
NIKKI
Miss Nicholson! Is that what
happens under martial law -
everybody loses their nicknames?
HENRY
(stiffly)
Did you want to see me about
anything in particular?
NIKKI
No. I was having a drink - all by
myself in my room...and playing the
phonograph. And I suddenly felt I
was being very selfish. All that
lovely music, only for me.
HENRY
(smiling at her)
Want company?
NIKKI
That's what I'm hinting at, Mistah Henry.
HENRY
(to Eddie)
I'll be in Miss Nicholson's quarters if
anything comes up.
SKEELY
I take it Miss Nicholson's quarters
are also out of bounds for civilians.
HENRY
During army occupation only.
He moves Nikki through the door.
21 INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE NIKKI'S ROOM
Nikki and Captain Henry approach it. They walk in
silence. Nikki opens the door.
22 INT. NIKKI'S ROOM AND OFFICE
HENRY
(a bit sarcastically)
You sure you trust me with little
you all alone in your bedroom?
NIKKI
Yes, I think I can.
HENRY
Very manly. You ought to wear
pants.
NIKKI
(giggling)
I do.
HENRY
(handing her a drink)
Outside of that news, what's on your mind.
NIKKI
I want a favor.
HENRY
Uh - huh..
NIKKI
(producing a bathrobe cord)
I want to tie your hands behind your back.
HENRY
(in a sudden temper)
Oh, for - Look, you asked me in here - I
didn't break down the door - why make a
production of -
NIKKI
Please, Pat. I said it was a favor...
HENRY
(grudgingly)
All right, then. But no practical jokes.
Promise?
NIKKI
I promise.
(indicating chair)
Here. Sit here. And put your hands around
the back.
HENRY
(obeying)
The Secretary of Defense will never
understand this.
NIKKI
(as she ties)
It's all very simple. First there's a
boogyman in a cake of ice down in the cellar.
I've got a small case of jumps, and I
want company.
HENRY
Is this the way you usually entertain
your company?
NIKKI
(she has finished tying his hands)
How about a drink.
HENRY
I'd love it. And a long straw, please.
NIKKI
(picking up a glass and holding it
for Henry while he drinks)
Second, I want you to know that out on the
ice today, I noticed the way you jumped
in between me and the exlosion...
HENRY
(patiently)
Could we get to the point? Why am I tied up?
NIKKI
Because I want to tell you how much I admire
you without getting fingerprints all over
my clavicle.
HENRY
(sourly)
Thanks for the compliment. Both of them.
NIKKI
Another drink?
HENRY
After you.
NIKKI
I'm going to have a straight one. But don't
get your hopes up. Liquor doesn't make me
amorous.
HENRY
(as she tosses off a drink)
It ought to. Nothing else does.
NIKKI
(eyeing him steadily)
I liked the way you handled yourself today,
Pat. And I liked the way you stood up to all
the big wigs, and refused to let them play
around with the - with the thing.
HENRY
You like everything about me, but me, is
that it?
NIKKI
No. I like you, too. In fact, I'm going
to kiss you.
HENRY
Untie me, honey.
NIKKI
No. I'm going to kiss you, not wrestle you.
HENRY
(muttering)
Talk about Japanese tortures -
Nikki kisses him briefly and precisely.
NIKKI
That was very nice.
HENRY
Was it?
NIKKI
Very.
(she pours herself another drink)
See what a good time we can have when
you're forced to behave yourself.
HENRY
Nikki, what you don't know about making
love would populate the whole interior
of Australia.
NIKKI
I'll learn. When I'm good and ready.
(giggling)
They say it comes naturally.
HENRY
Untie me now?
NIKKI
Not on your life.
(she kisses him again)
Admit it, Pat. This was a great idea.
Look at you - sitting talking to me like a
civilized man instead of grabbing around
like a throwback. Why, if you weren't tied
up, I wouldn't have dared tell you how
much I liked you...
HENRY
(producing a cigarette)
Got a light?
NIKKI
(automatically striking a match
and lighting his cigarette)
You see, your trouble is you don't know
anything about women. You have no - no
technique. What a woman likes is to -
She stops and stares at Henry's hands, which are resting
quietly in his lap.
HENRY
Among other things you don't know is
how to tie a knot.
(he stands up and grins at her)
It's very likely because the only knots
you have on your mind are marital ones.
Good-night, Miss Nicholson.
He goes out.
DISSOLVE
23 INT. STOREROOM
A faint light from the underground hallway comes through
a transom. Barnes enters. The electric blanket
discarded by Ken lies on a nearby packing case. It is
plugged into the electric light socket, hence no light
in the room. Barnes snaps on his flashlight and gets a
bottle of whiskey out of another case, opens it, and
takes a long swig. He leans over and plugs his flying
suit into the other half of the double-socket shared
by the electric blanket's plug. He takes another drink
and, sitting in the semi-dark, starts whistling
"Ragtime Cowboy Joe."
Suddenly he stops whistling and laughs.
BARNES
(self-mocking)
Whistling in the dark, aren't you,
Barnes?..
He lifts the whiskey bottle again, then sits staring
toward the ice-encased mummy.
BARNES (cont'd)
(suddenly)
All right, let's ses what you look
like, sonny boy -
He switches on his flashlight, and
centers its beam on the ice-block.
As Ericson said, the ice is now almost
transparent. Through it, only
partially distorted, can be seen an
unearthly horror. It has a bulbous
head, a tiny suck-hole for a mouth,
multiple eyes, no ears. Its arms
are extra-long, ending in thorny
clusters, rather than hands. It
stares malevolently through the ice.
Barnes lets out a grunt of dismay,
and turns the flashlight away.
BARNES
Whew!
He drinks again, and then starts
making himself comfortable. He
uses a bag of flour for a pillow,
and prepares to stretch out on
the floor. Abruptly he shines
the flashlight on the ice again.
BARNES
(angrily)
Quit staring at me!
He sees the blanket lying on the
nearby packing case. He picks
it up, and throws it over the
ice-cake.
BARNES
I could go nuts looking at you...
He lies down, puts his head on
the flour sack and taking a
magazine from his pocket prepares
to read. The camera moves to
the electric blanket now covering
the ice-cake, then follows the
electric connection down to the
indicator affixed to the cord.
The indicator hand points to the
"full on" position.
After a moment, the camera
moves back to the floor beneath
the ice block. A slow dripping
has commenced. The sounds of
the rising storm outside obscure
the pit-pat of the drops hitting
the floor. A small puddle starts
to form.
DISSOLVE TO:
24 THE PUDDLE
It is now a large puddle, very large.
The camera pans across the wet floor, and discovers the
puddle is close to Barnes' legs.
25 CLOSE SHOT - BARNES
He is having difficulty reading. His flashlight has
started to wane. He snaps it on and off, experimentally.
The battery is nearly dead. Barnes aims it at the
printed page once more, then decides it is useless for
the time being. He snaps it off, and stretches himself
out more comfortably.
A splinter of light from the hallway outside still
illuminates the scene.
26 CLOSE SHOT OF PUDDLE
It continues to grow. The howl of the storm outside
does not lessen.
DISSOLVE TO:
27 STAIRWELL OUTSIDE STOREROOM
The form of a sled dog appears. It stands poised at the
top of the steps for an instant, pointing eagerly at the
storeroom window. It is joined by three or four more
sled dogs. They start to bark angrily, their snouts
still aimed at the storeroom window. They run down the
stairwell and press their muzzle against the storeroom
door.
28 INTERIOR STOREROOM
CLOSE SHOT OF BARNES
He is sleeping. The barking and eager whining of the
dogs can now be heard over the storm noises outside.
The CAMERA PANS down to Barnes' legs. The puddle has
reached them, and, as we look, they stir slightly,
causing a little splatter of water. Barnes abruptly
sits up into the picture.
BARNES
(staring into
the darkness
at his feet)
What the --
At this moment, a moving shadow falls
across his face. He looks up quickly.
An expression of pure terror appears
on his face. He screams eerily, springs
to his feet, and jerks out his revolver.
He fires six times, then, still screaming,
jumps for the storeroom door, the cord from
his flying suit snapping out of the fixture
and trailing behind him. He yanks open
the door and runs into the corridor.
29 INT. CORRIDOR
Barnes races down the corridor, yelling at the top of
his lungs!
BARNES
It's alive! It's alive! It's alive!
30 INT. MAIN CORRIDOR
As Barnes appears, still yelling, doors have begun to
pop open. Captain Henry, pyjama-clad, gun in hand,
comes running out of his room and grabs Barnes.
The other inmates, in various stages of undress, tumble
out into the hallway only minutes later. Barnes
continues to shriek incoherently.
HENRY
(shaking Barnes)
Shut up! Cut it out!
(he slaps Barnes, who
stops screaming, and
stands sobbing with terror)
Now! What is it? What happened?
BARNES
(almost in shock)
It - it - it came after me!
It's alive, I tell you!
HENRY
(sharply)
Did you fire those shots?
BARNES
(staring past him)
I shot it - six times - it kept
on coming at me.
HENRY
(releasing Barnes and
wheeling to Dykes,
Ericson and MacAuliff)
Sounds like some joker's loose.
Come on. Bring your guns.
He starts for the storeroom,
Eddie, Ken, and Mac following.
CHAPMAN
(to Mrs. Chapman,
indicating Barnes)
Esther, better give this lad a
sedative. I'll be right back.
He starts up the hall. Carrington
appears in his doorway.
CARRINGTON
(joining Chapman)
Did I hear right? The boy said
it was alive?
CHAPMAN
(nodding)
Probably had a bad dream.
NIKKI
(calling after
Carrington)
Wait for me, Arthur.
CARRINGTON
You stay here, Nikki.
(he stops and faces
the group in the
corridor)
I'd appreciate it if you'd all
wait in the living room until
we can check this nightmare.
Thanks.
He continues down the corridor,
Chapman following.
31 INT. STOREROOM.
Henry leads the way into the room. He snaps on a light,
and stands staring at the electric blanket in the puddle
of water.
HENRY
(blankly)
Gone -
DYKES
Those double-domes! They
stole it.
ERICSON
No. The kid said it was alive!
I knew it - all the time I was
here - I could feel it!
DYKES
Nuts! How'd it get out of the ice?
For answer, Pat indicates the
electric blanket.
HENRY
Somebody threw a hot blanket on it.
DYKES
I know who. Those six-year old
Einsteins, that's who.
Carrington and Chapman have
appeared in the doorway.
CARRINGTON
What did we do, Lieutenant?
DYKES
(furiously)
Swiped the freak. Hustled it
off somewhere to take it apart,
that's what!
CARRINGTON
I assure you, Lieutenant --
CHAPMAN
(suddenly)
Sh - h. Listen!
All heads are turned toward the
open door. Over the whine of
the wind they hear a chorus of
savage barking and growling.
HENRY
The sled dogs -
ERICSON
He's out there -
CHAPMAN
They'll tear him to pieces!
Abruptly, Carrington brushes
through the group, and darts
out into the howling night.
He is clad only in his pajamas
and bathrobe.
DYKES
Doctor! Stop!
CHAPMAN
Arthur - are you mad!
Henry curses under his breath
and charges in pursuit. Locating
Carrington with his flashlight,
he brings him down with a flying
tackle. Carrington struggles to
escape Henry's grasp, but Henry
succeeds in leading him back
into the storeroom. The storm
noises have made their exclamations
inaudible.
HENRY
(panting)
Mac - get flying suits - hurry -
MacAuliff runs out.
CARRINGTON
(also winded)
If you please - Captain - you
may release me now -
HENRY
(doing so)
That was a pretty stupid move -
for a genius.
DYKES
You'd have been frozen to death
in five minutes!
CARRINGTON
(apologetically)
Too much zeal, I'm afraid.
Forgive me, gentlemen.
CHAPMAN
(peering into
the night)
Over there - I see something!
HENRY
Put out the light.
Dykes snaps off the storeroom
light. The four men gaze
intently into the dark night.
Henry turns on his flashlight.
Skeely enters the storeroom.
SKEELY
(excitedly)
Where is it? Is it really alive?
Can it talk? Who else saw it
beside Barnes? What are you doing?
Is it out there? Speak to me,
somebody!
HENRY
Shut up.
(he listens and
looks for
another moment)
They're still barking.
CARRINGTON
(speaking through
numb lips - his
voice shivery)
If only the dogs follow it.
We'll never find it otherwise.
SKEELY
(a howl of dismay)
Don't tell me you've lost it -
you bungling army boob. This
is worse than Pearl Harbor!
MacAuliff enters, carrying
flight suits.
MACAULIFF
Here you are, Pat.
HENRY
Grab one, Eddie.
CARRINGTON
May I have one, Captain?
SKEELY
Me, too!
HENRY
(dressing hurriedly)
Army personnel only.
SKEELY
(through his teeth)
Wait till you see what I write
about you! You'll shoot yourself!
HENRY
(zipping his suit up)
Snap it up, boys.
He grabs his flashlight, and
runs out into the storm.
MacAuliff and Dykes follow
a second later. Skeely,
Carrington, and Chapman
remain staring after them.
32 EXT. STOREHOUSE
The army officers, leaning against the iron wind, grope
their way toward the barking dogs. Their flashlights are
almost useless in the snow flurries raised by the gale.
They stop and confer for a second, their words carrying
no further than the ear they are shouted into. Henry
points with his flashlight, and the trio alters course
accordingly.
Suddenly a flashlight beam picks up some moving forms.
All three flashlights center on the activity, but snow
flurries continue to intervene. Dimly, a struggle can
be discerned.
The officers move toward it. A sudden increase in the
wind knocks them down. They continue toward the barking
and struggling, crawling on their hands and knees.
33 MEDIUM SHOT OF DOG PACK FROM HENRY'S POINT OF VIEW
The dogs are tearing at a figure in their midst. A sheet
of flying snow blots out the scene. When it reappears,
the figure is gone.
Henry, MacAuliff, and Dykes crawl into the scene. Two
dogs lie dead in the snow. A third is wounded so
hideously that Dykes shoots it.
Henry signals his pals to pick up the dead dogs. They
each take one.
Henry stops and examines the ground. He picks up two
objects, looks around, then starts back to the camp.
DISSOLVE TO:
34 INT. DR. CARRINGTON'S LABORATORY
It is crowded with nearly all the members of the
expedition. The scientists are ranged around
Carrington's table. The others stand behind him.
Carrington is bent over the table. Captain Henry,
MacAuliff and Eddie are immediately around him.
A bright beam of light is focused on the table center,
hidden from our eyes as we come on the scene.
The crowd around the table is silent and tense, as at
some overwhelming dramatic performance.
Nikki stands beside the doctor. She is dressed in
pajamas and a woollen robe. All the others in the
laboratory are also hastily dressed, some in bath robes
and slippers, some in sweaters and work pants.
Skeely's large bulk is crowded behind Captain Henry,
peering over his shoulder.
CARRINGTON
(as he works)
Can you describe what you saw,
Captain?
HENRY
(quietly)
The dogs had him down, tearing
at him.
MACAULIFF
I saw him get up, with three dogs
on his throat.
HENRY
The cold's blinding. I couldn't
make out the action. But when we
got there two of the dogs were
dead.
EDDIE
They looked like they'd been through
a chopper. Mince meat!
HENRY
I found the hand under one of them.
They must have torn it off.
SKEELY
How could dogs tear off a hand?
CARRINGTON
(softly)
This kind of a hand.
He is bent over the object
on the table, looking at it
through a powerful lens.
35 TABLE TOP
On it lies a hand and part of a forearm. The hand
has ten stringy looking fingers, twice the human
length. They are stiffened and resemble a slightly
arced set of thin knives more than fingers.
OLSON
Sharp as razors, aren't they?
CARRINGTON
(studying the
knife fingers)
Yes - a sort of chitinous
substance.
SKEELY
(tensely)
Speak English - will you!
CARRINGTON
Something between a beetle's
back and a rose thorn.
SKEELY
Thorn fingered, eh?
CARRINGTON
(trying to bend
one of them)
Amazingly strong.
CHAPMAN
They may be frozen.
CARRINGTON
I don't think so.
SKEELY
Well, we know one fact about him.
He's dead now.
CARRINGTON
What is your opinion, Captain?
HENRY
I don't know. He stayed alive in a
block of ice for twenty-four hours.
MACAULIFF
After I'd sunk a pick into his skull.
HENRY
And he got up - with twelve dogs
on him.
OLSON
(bending over
the table)
That's blood on the arm, isn't it,
Arthur?
CARRINGTON
Yes - but not his blood.
OLSON
From the dogs?
Carrington has been working
on the arm with a scalpel.
CARRINGTON
There's no blood in the arm. No
animal tissue. Have a look at this
under the microscope, George.
He hands a bit of material to
Dr. Auerback, who adjusts it
under a microscope.
CARRINGTON
(his voice soft as
he continues his
examination)
I doubt very much if it is dead.
I doubt if it can die - as we
understand dying.
SKEELY
It's bound to freeze to death outside.
EDDIE
It got along all right in a block
of ice - for twenty-four hours.
AUERBACK
(from the microscope)
No arterial structure indicated,
Arthur. No nerve endings visible.
Porous, unconnected cellular
growth.
CARRINGTON
I imagined that.
SKEELY
Sounds like you're trying to describe
a vegetable, doctor.
AUERBACK
I am.
CARRINGTON
(hunched over the hand,
his eye peering through
his lens)
Are you getting all this, Nikki?
NIKKI
(who has been writing
in her pad)
Yes, doctor.
CARRINGTON
That's why the bullets fired into
it by Corporal Barnes had no
effect. They merely punchcd a few
holes into some vegetable matter.
MACAULIFF
What about the green stuff I saw
ooze out of its head?
CARRINGTON
There is some of it in the hand.
I think we will find it has a
sugar base.
HENRY
Like - plant sap?
CARRINGTON
Yes.
SKEELY
(excitedly)
You mean - its some kind of a
super carrot, doctor?
CARRINGTON
A carrot that can construct a
ship beyond our terrestrial
intelligence, of materials we
have not yet created - and guide
it sixty million miles or more
through space.
MACAULIFF
But you don't think it has any
feelings, eh?
CARRINGTON
It has an intelligence beyond ours -
and possibly feelings equaly
refined.
HENRY
(softly)
A vegatable with a brain -
SKEELY
An intellectual carrot! The mind
boggles!
CARRINGTON
It shouldn't. Imagine how strange it
would have seemed in the pliocene age
to forecast that worms, fish, and
lizards that crawled over the earth
were going to evolve - into us. On
the planet from which our visitor
came, vegetable life underwent an
evolution similar to that of our own
animal life, which would explain the
superiority of its brain. Its
development was not handicapped by
emotional or sexual factors.
SKEELY
Dr. Carrington, you're a man who's
won the Nobel prize. You've received
every kind of international kudos a
scientist can attain. If you were
for sale I could get a million bucks
for you from any foreign government.
I am not, therefor, I going to stick
my neck out and say that you are
stuffed absolutely cleam full of
wild blueberry muffins, but I
promise you that my readers are going
to think so.
CARRINGTON
(smiling)
Not for long, Mr. Skeely. In fact, not
even for a moment if they happen to know
anything about the flora of their own
planet.
SKEELY
You mean there are vegetables right
here on earth that -- that can think?
CARRINGTON
A certain kind of thinking, yes.
Did you ever hear of the Telegraph
Vine? Or the Acanthus Century Plant?
SKEELY
Not recently.
CARRINGTON
The Centur
