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X Minus One - "The Man in the Moon" (Old Time Radio, 1955) · The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A routine nationwide missing persons bulletin is interrupted by an
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: SOS from the moon. At the Federal Bureau of Missing Persons,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: records custodian Henry Timpkin recognizes the name in that message.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: A physicist who vanished five years before. The case soon
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: draws Timpkin and his skeptical chief, Mr. Wade, toward a
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: troubling pattern involving scientific specialists and new disappearance reports. From NBC,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: this is X-1, Episode 6, The Man in the Moon.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: First broadcast May 29th, 1955. Louis Van Rooten stars as
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Henry Timpkin, with Santos Ortega as Mr.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Wade.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: George Lefferts wrote the script, and Fred Wyhe directed. Now,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: back to the golden age of radio.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: Countdown for blastoff.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: X minus 5, minus 4, minus 3, minus 2, X
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: minus 1, fire. From the far horizons of the unknown
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: come tales of new dimensions in time and space.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: These are stories of the future.
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: Adventures in which you'll live in a million could-be years
• 1:24
  Speaker 5: on a thousand would-be worlds. The National Broadcasting Company presents
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: X minus one.
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: Tonight's story, The Man in the Moon.
• 1:55
  Speaker 6: Attention, attention. This is the Federal Bureau of Missing Persons
• 1:59
  Speaker 6: calling all local agencies. Attention, this is a coded report nationwide.
• 2:05
  Speaker 6: Missing since 9 o'clock this morning the following persons. Smigly, Jonathan,
• 2:10
  Speaker 6: 5 feet 8 inches tall, brown hair, brown eyes, mastoid
• 2:15
  Speaker 6: scar behind right ear. Last seen wearing blue top coat
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: and tan cap. Wanted by Los Angeles... Hello, get off
• 2:23
  Speaker 6: this wavelength. This is a restricted band.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Hello?
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: Hello, Earth?
• 2:28
  Speaker 6: Whoever you are, you're on a coded wavelength. Tune out.
• 2:30
  Speaker 6: This frequency is reserved for the Federal Bureau of Missing Persons.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Hello, Earth? This is the moon calling Earth.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Hello, Earth? This guy is loony.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: This is Jake in transmission.
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: Jake, this is Charlie in the code room. Some crackpot
• 2:46
  Speaker 6: is on our frequency.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I heard him, Charlie. I've got CQ trying to
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: trace a source now. We should have a triangulation any second.
• 2:51
  Speaker 6: Well, hurry it up, will you? Some ham is in
• 2:53
  Speaker 6: for a good stiff fine by the FCC. Yeah, they
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: ought to take his license away.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Oh, here comes Lenny with the directional fix.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Lenny. Hey. Hey, what's this? This is impossible.
• 3:06
  Speaker 6: What's going on down there? How about it? Get that
• 3:07
  Speaker 6: ham out of my killer cycles.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, listen, Charlie, unless this is a gag, that interference
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: is being beamed from 240,000 miles away.
• 3:15
  Speaker 6: Oh, now, Jake, you know there ain't no such thing
• 3:17
  Speaker 6: as 240,000 miles away.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Yes, there is, Charlie, straight up.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: Oh, now, wait a minute.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Charlie, that signal is coming from the moon.
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: Are you nuts?
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Somebody might be bouncing it like a radar signal.
• 3:27
  Speaker 6: Radar on this frequency? Where'd you study basic radio?
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Now listen, Flathead, you asked for a fix. I gave
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: the best fix our instruments can find. Take it or
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: leave it. Somebody on the moon is calling the Bureau
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: of Missing Persons.
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 3:41
  Speaker 7: Timpkins.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Timpkins.
• 3:47
  Speaker 7: What's the sweat, Charlie? Shouldn't you be broadcasting? Listen, Mr.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Timpkins.
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: You know I'm a sober citizen, right?
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: Never once have I broadcast with the smell of alcohol
• 3:56
  Speaker 6: on my breath, right?
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: In all your 12 years here at the Bureau, did
• 3:59
  Speaker 6: I once ever.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: What's the matter, Charlie?
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: We're picking up a message on our wavelength.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: Well, did you report to the FCC?
• 4:05
  Speaker 6: I ain't got the nerve.
• 4:06
  Speaker 7: Well, what's wrong?
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: You'll scream when you hear this, Mr. Timkin.
• 4:09
  Speaker 6: You'll jump right out the window, but... We are getting
• 4:13
  Speaker 6: an SOS from the moon. Well, that's it. He started
• 4:22
  Speaker 6: on voice and switched to Morse. The way the signal
• 4:25
  Speaker 6: repeats sounds like a phonograph record or automatic sender of
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: some sort.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: What's it say?
• 4:30
  Speaker 6: Let's see here. Can you read me?
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: Help Otterburn.
• 4:34
  Speaker 6: Will contact when moon is in phase.
• 4:36
  Speaker 7: Let's have that again.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: Can you read me?
• 4:39
  Speaker 6: Help Otterburn. Will contact when moon is in phase.
• 4:42
  Speaker 7: Otterburn.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: That sounds like a name. Otterburn.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Otterburn.
• 4:47
  Speaker 7: Wait a minute.
• 4:49
  Speaker 6: Something registered?
• 4:49
  Speaker 7: Cornelius Utterburn. Holy jumping Jehoshaphat.
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: Hey, where are you going?
• 4:53
  Speaker 7: Talk to the chief.
• 4:53
  Speaker 6: Hey, wait a minute. What are you going to tell him?
• 4:55
  Speaker 6: We just got a CQ from the man in the moon?
• 4:57
  Speaker 8: That's exactly what I am going to tell him, Charlie.
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: This is just too much for me.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Washington Star Ledger.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: Let me have O'Brien on city desk.
• 5:14
  Speaker 9: A moment.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: O'Brien? Seamus.
• 5:18
  Speaker 6: Charlie Starbuck, down at the Missing Persons Bureau. You want
• 5:21
  Speaker 6: a hot one? No kidding. This'll cost you a beer, okay?
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: All right, shoot, noodle brain.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: I'll stay on your wavelength for 30 seconds. Okay.
• 5:29
  Speaker 6: We just got a radio message from the moon.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: What?
• 5:33
  Speaker 7: From the moon.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: Call me back when you're sober.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: Okay, Seamus.
• 5:38
  Speaker 6: If you don't know a story when you see one, I'll... I'll.
• 5:40
  Speaker 7: Send you the name of a good psychiatrist.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: So long, Orson Welles.
• 5:46
  Speaker 6: How do you like that? You don't believe me.
• 5:57
  Speaker 7: Otterburn, Mr.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: Wayne. Now, does that name ring a bell?
• 5:59
  Speaker 7: You're the man with the photographic memory, Henry. What about Otterburn?
• 6:02
  Speaker 8: Cornelius Otterburn, atomic physicist, reported missing from his home in
• 6:06
  Speaker 8: Baltimore on June 5th, 1945, just five years ago.
• 6:09
  Speaker 7: Vanished completely.
• 6:10
  Speaker 9: Are you trying to tell me you really think there's
• 6:11
  Speaker 9: something to this man-of-the-moon business? Henry, I'm surprised at you.
• 6:14
  Speaker 9: This is some crackpot trying to jam the airwaves. Yes,
• 6:16
  Speaker 9: but the name Otterburn is so unusual.
• 6:18
  Speaker 7: So are a lot of names.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: And I have a theory that... I was afraid of that. Henry,
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: you always have a theory.
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: Let's see, what was it last year? Oh, yes. That
• 6:28
  Speaker 7: people disappear in occupational cycles. But it's true. Please, Henry,
• 6:31
  Speaker 7: I'm a busy man.
• 6:32
  Speaker 9: You expect me to believe that this Otterburn is sitting
• 6:33
  Speaker 9: up on the moon, sending out shortwave messages?
• 6:35
  Speaker 8: Well, he might be on Earth bouncing the messages off
• 6:37
  Speaker 8: the moon, but who's to say he isn't on the moon?
• 6:39
  Speaker 9: Henry, as chief of this bureau, I have my hands
• 6:41
  Speaker 9: full trying to coordinate reports from 48 states and Alaska.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: I have no time to include the moon.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: But, Mr. Wade.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: Out, Henry! But, Mr.
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: Wade.
• 6:47
  Speaker 7: Out!
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: I'm busy!
• 6:48
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: Oh, here. Take this folder of reports for the dead file.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 6:53
  Speaker 7: And no more nonsense, eh, Henry?
• 6:54
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 6:55
  Speaker 9: I appreciate that you have a very dull job filing
• 6:57
  Speaker 9: old missing persons reports, and I appreciate that you take
• 6:59
  Speaker 9: an active interest in the affairs of the bureau.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: But no more nonsense, huh?
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: No, sir. No more nonsense.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Pardon me.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: You are Mr. Henry Timkin? That's my name. Permit me,
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: Jefferson Filo, scientific feature writer.
• 7:19
  Speaker 7: How do you do? Are you a newspaper man?
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Not exactly. I write as a hobby. Occasionally the papers
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: give me leads on an assignment. If I may have
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: a moment of your time. Certainly.
• 7:27
  Speaker 7: Just sit down at my desk over here.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you. My, that's quite a stack of papers. Filing.
• 7:36
  Speaker 8: I'm the records custodian of the Bureau, 12 years, and
• 7:38
  Speaker 8: never misplaced a record.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: Magnificent. I admire the precise mind, Mr.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: Timkin. Of course.
• 7:47
  Speaker 10: Now, Mr.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: Timkin, Mr. O'Brien, the editor of the Star Ledger, said
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: I might drop by and investigate a rumor. Only a rumor,
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: mind you. That a message from the, uh, moon... Well,
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: we aren't certain it's from the moon.
• 8:00
  Speaker 7: It may be a bounce.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: They have bounced radar waves off the moon, you know. Yes,
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: I know. I wrote the first newspaper article on it.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Really?
• 8:06
  Speaker 7: I'd be interested to read it.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: I must have a copy in my bookcase. Well, don't bother. I... Oh,
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: but I insist. Oh, yes. There you are. I'll leave
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: it on your desk. Well, thank you very much. Now,
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: about this message from the moon, Mr. Timkin... Well, now,
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: we don't know for sure, as I said.
• 8:21
  Speaker 8: But I believe that this message, wherever it originates, is
• 8:24
  Speaker 8: from Cornelius Otterburn.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: The physicist.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, do you know him?
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: I once wrote an article on his contribution to nuclear mechanics.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: A brilliant man, Otterburn. Years ahead of his contemporaries. Well,
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: whoever is sending those signals.
• 8:36
  Speaker 8: If he isn't on the moon, is at least using
• 8:38
  Speaker 8: the moon as a sounding board, bouncing the signal.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: But why, Mr. Timkin, why?
• 8:41
  Speaker 8: Well, if you will come here tomorrow night at eight, Mr. Philo,
• 8:44
  Speaker 8: we may learn the answer to that question. I've arranged
• 8:47
  Speaker 8: with Charlie, our radio man, to let me use the equipment.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: May I consider this an invitation? You certainly may. Very well, sir.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: Until tomorrow night, then. Goodbye, Mr. Philo.
• 9:01
  Speaker 7: Let's see now.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: Aiken, Abelard, Abramson, Rono, Atch.
• 9:09
  Speaker 8: That's funny. Now, where did this list of names come from?
• 9:13
  Speaker 8: Paul Ahrens, astro-mathematician. Robert Simons, electronic engineer. Carl Parker, mining specialist. Well,
• 9:23
  Speaker 8: this must have gotten mixed up with the papers on
• 9:24
  Speaker 8: my desk by accident. Peculiar list of names.
• 9:36
  Speaker 7: Oh, good morning, Charlie.
• 9:37
  Speaker 11: Oh, hi, Mr.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: Timkin. See, we made the papers.
• 9:41
  Speaker 9: Oh?
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: And how. And as the chief steamed up about it,
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: he really gave me one for it. What did the
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: papers say? Oh, mostly ha-ha.
• 9:50
  Speaker 6: Here's a herald.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: Listen.
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: Man on the moon contacts missing persons bureau. Missing atomic
• 9:56
  Speaker 6: scientists sitting on the moon, say bureau experts, etc.
• 9:59
  Speaker 7: etc., What a fanny. Well, no wonder Mr.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: Wade is hopping. Say, about tonight, Mr. Tinkin, I don't know.
• 10:04
  Speaker 7: Now, you promised you would give me a key to
• 10:05
  Speaker 7: the radio room. Yeah, but I didn't expect this. Well,
• 10:07
  Speaker 7: I'll take full responsibility with Mr.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Wade. Time for the morning broadcast. We've got quite a
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: list today.
• 10:13
  Speaker 7: Well, mind if I listen a while?
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: We may hear autoburn. Why, it's self-conscious. Just stick around.
• 10:18
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: Attention. Attention.
• 10:23
  Speaker 6: This is the Federal Missing Persons Bureau calling all local agencies.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: Nationwide.
• 10:28
  Speaker 6: This is a coded broadcast. The following persons are missing. Aaron's, Dr. Paul, 5'5,
• 10:35
  Speaker 6: brown hair, brown eyes, scar on left side of chin,
• 10:39
  Speaker 6: thick glasses. Occupation, astro-mathematician. Missing since 6 o'clock this morning.
• 10:45
  Speaker 6: Being sought by Bel Air police. Charlie. Repeat.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: Dr.
• 10:49
  Speaker 6: Paul Aaron.
• 10:50
  Speaker 7: Charlie, shut it off a second.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: Hold it.
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: A delay one minute. Listen, Mr.
• 10:54
  Speaker 8: Timkin, it's okay to stay, but you can't interrupt this.
• 10:56
  Speaker 8: This is important. Did you say Dr. Aaron's was reported
• 11:00
  Speaker 8: missing this morning?
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: 6 a.m. We got the report from Bel Air less
• 11:04
  Speaker 6: than an hour ago. Are you certain, Charlie?
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: Positive.
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: What is this?
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: Charlie, what's the next name on the list? Uh, let's see. Simons, Robert, engineer.
• 11:13
  Speaker 9: What?
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Came in less than 20 minutes ago.
• 11:15
  Speaker 7: 20?
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: What's the matter with you? You look like you've seen
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: a ghost.
• 11:20
  Speaker 8: It's nothing, Charlie, except that last night, quite by accident,
• 11:24
  Speaker 8: someone left a list of names on my desk. And
• 11:27
  Speaker 8: that list included the names of those two men who
• 11:29
  Speaker 8: were reported missing within the last hour.
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: What? Oh, that don't sound right to me.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: Well, it isn't right, Charlie.
• 11:37
  Speaker 7: It leaves a big question to be answered.
• 11:39
  Speaker 8: Who would make up a list of missing persons before
• 11:42
  Speaker 8: they were missing, not after?
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: And you say this list of names was left on
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: your desk accidentally? I believe so, Mr.
• 11:54
  Speaker 9: Wade.
• 11:54
  Speaker 7: Do you have any ideas, Henry?
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: It's hard to say. Mr. Philo left some papers from
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: his briefcase. Mr.
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: Philo?
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: A science feature writer.
• 12:01
  Speaker 7: I see. You were the leak on that story, then?
• 12:05
  Speaker 10: Yes, sir.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: I'm afraid I was. I didn't think it would be
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: treated as a laughing matter. We'll deal with that later.
• 12:10
  Speaker 7: Yes, sir. What's this Philo like?
• 12:12
  Speaker 8: Well, he's a strange old duck. Bald, thick glasses, tall.
• 12:16
  Speaker 8: He walks stooped over. Seems to know a great deal
• 12:19
  Speaker 8: about scientific data. But, of course, being a science writer, he.
• 12:22
  Speaker 7: Is there any other possibility?
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: I believe that this is all hooked up with the
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: broadcast from Otterburn. That seems to be a very remote possibility.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: The Missing Persons Bureau deals in remote possibilities, Mr. Wade.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: I do not require a statement of policy. Yes, sir.
• 12:39
  Speaker 7: What's the theory?
• 12:40
  Speaker 8: But for some time now, it has been my contention
• 12:43
  Speaker 8: that in a country like ours, where even the cleverest
• 12:45
  Speaker 8: criminal can be ferreted out and located eventually, there is
• 12:48
  Speaker 8: no such.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: Thing as a missing person.
• 12:50
  Speaker 7: I was afraid of that.
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: For 12 years now, I have kept the central files,
• 12:53
  Speaker 8: where information from all over the country is channeled and recorded.
• 12:57
  Speaker 7: I have made a private study. This is beginning to
• 13:00
  Speaker 7: sound familiar, Andy.
• 13:00
  Speaker 8: And I have discovered that each year, literally thousands of
• 13:03
  Speaker 8: persons vanish, leaving no trace.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: They are never located. Where do they go? Nobody knows.
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: And... And they disappear in interesting cycles. What sort of cycles?
• 13:15
  Speaker 8: Occupations, for example. One year, we'll have a run on, say,
• 13:18
  Speaker 8: coal miners. Next year, the proportion of engineers increases.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: And then scientists.
• 13:23
  Speaker 7: What do you think happens, Henry?
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: I don't know, Mr.
• 13:25
  Speaker 7: Wade, but I'm.
• 13:26
  Speaker 8: Beginning to suspect that somebody else has discovered the same phenomenon,
• 13:31
  Speaker 8: even to the point, perhaps, of being able to predict
• 13:33
  Speaker 8: who will turn up.
• 13:34
  Speaker 7: Among the missing next.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: Philo? Well, I don't know. Well, I would like to
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: find out.
• 13:40
  Speaker 7: And you think Otterburn may be a part of this picture? Mr.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: Wade, I definitely do.
• 13:44
  Speaker 7: Henry, do you honestly expect me to buy an idea
• 13:46
  Speaker 7: like that? It is more than an idea. The two
• 13:48
  Speaker 7: top men on this list are missing and.
• 13:50
  Speaker 9: Maybe so, but the rest of them aren't.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Parker, Watson, Gibbs.
• 13:53
  Speaker 9: Why, I saw Parker in the restaurant where I had
• 13:55
  Speaker 9: lunch today. And if you think I'm going to make
• 13:56
  Speaker 9: myself a laughingstock by accepting such.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: A cracked brain theory... Well, I.
• 14:00
  Speaker 7: Excuse me.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 14:02
  Speaker 7: Hello, Wade speaking. Yes.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 14:07
  Speaker 7: I see you. What name? Just a moment. Henry, let
• 14:12
  Speaker 7: me see that list again.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Here you are, sir. Go ahead. Let's see.
• 14:18
  Speaker 7: I'll get back to you. I guess I owe you
• 14:23
  Speaker 7: an apology, Henry. Sir?
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: Harold Parker was just reported missing. Parker?
• 14:30
  Speaker 7: Third man on your list. Holy mackerel.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 14:34
  Speaker 10: Henry.
• 14:36
  Speaker 7: For a good many years now, I've ridiculed these theories
• 14:39
  Speaker 7: of yours. I don't know. Perhaps I've underestimated you. Maybe
• 14:45
  Speaker 7: this time you've really stumbled onto something. What do you
• 14:47
  Speaker 7: intend to do, Mr.
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: Wade?
• 14:49
  Speaker 7: I don't know. I haven't thought it out yet.
• 14:53
  Speaker 8: I was planning to listen for another broadcast tonight in
• 14:55
  Speaker 8: the hope that Otterburn might try to contact us again.
• 14:58
  Speaker 7: Good idea. I believe I'll join you. I also invited Mr. Philo,
• 15:01
  Speaker 7: the feature writer.
• 15:02
  Speaker 10: Oh?
• 15:03
  Speaker 7: I'll be glad to meet him. I'm beginning to get
• 15:06
  Speaker 7: interested in you, Mr.
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: Philo. Wait, you don't think.
• 15:09
  Speaker 7: That he's mixed up in this?
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 15:10
  Speaker 7: I don't know, Henry. But it suddenly strikes me that
• 15:13
  Speaker 7: we don't know very much about him, really.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: We ought to contact the police.
• 15:17
  Speaker 7: No, Henry.
• 15:18
  Speaker 9: I think we're better off keeping this between ourselves for
• 15:20
  Speaker 9: the moment. We're dealing with the unknown. And in solving
• 15:23
  Speaker 9: an equation for the X factor, it's often easier to
• 15:25
  Speaker 9: limit the number of terms.
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: Follow me? We don't know, Mr.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: Wade.
• 15:29
  Speaker 7: There may be more danger in what you have discovered
• 15:31
  Speaker 7: than you are aware of. Let's keep it quiet.
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: You agree?
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: Maybe you're right, Mr.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: Wade. I haven't thought of the danger involved.
• 15:55
  Speaker 6: Eight o'clock.
• 15:55
  Speaker 7: I thought Mr. Filo was late.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: He said he'd be here. He strikes me as a
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: man who keeps appointments.
• 16:01
  Speaker 7: Look out the window. Yes.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: The moon is almost in direct phase. It can't wait
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: much longer.
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 16:06
  Speaker 7: Perfectly clear knife for transmission. If anybody's sending, we ought
• 16:09
  Speaker 7: to pick it up with this equipment. You'd better switch
• 16:11
  Speaker 7: on the set.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 16:13
  Speaker 8: I never realized how eerie this office could be when
• 16:16
  Speaker 8: it was empty.
• 16:16
  Speaker 7: I left a light in the hall for Mr. Fowler
• 16:17
  Speaker 7: when he comes. Are you getting anything? Just some foreign stuff,
• 16:21
  Speaker 7: I think.
• 16:23
  Speaker 11: And that concludes the British portion of tonight's programming from Johannesburg,
• 16:29
  Speaker 11: South Africa.
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: We continue in April.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: That's a peculiar transmission sound.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Earth.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: Earth.
• 16:41
  Speaker 7: That sounds like something.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: See if I can work the selector.
• 16:44
  Speaker 7: The moon is in phase.
• 16:45
  Speaker 12: Hello, Earth.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Can you hear me?
• 16:49
  Speaker 7: I'll try to return.
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: Hello? Hello?
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Hello, Earth.
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: Hello, do you hear me?
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: I get you now. Thank God.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: Who are you?
• 16:56
  Speaker 7: Can you hear me? Who are you?
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: This is Professor Cornelius Otterburn.
• 17:01
  Speaker 11: Hello?
• 17:01
  Speaker 7: Go on, I hear you.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: Not much time. They're on to me.
• 17:04
  Speaker 7: They've located my sending point.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: You hear me?
• 17:07
  Speaker 7: Go ahead. Keep talking.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: I've only enough oxygen for a few minutes more.
• 17:11
  Speaker 7: Where are you?
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: I'm on the earth side of the moon. You get that?
• 17:17
  Speaker 10: The earth side of the moon.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: A volcanic crater.
• 17:22
  Speaker 7: Start that recorder, Mr.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: Wade.
• 17:24
  Speaker 6: Go on.
• 17:24
  Speaker 7: Explain, please. Explain, please. Listen closely.
• 17:28
  Speaker 10: There is an earth colony on the moon. There is
• 17:32
  Speaker 10: an earth colony on the far side of the moon.
• 17:36
  Speaker 10: made up of renegade scientists and criminals. Professor Ernst Halsman.
• 17:42
  Speaker 7: Halsman? He died in an insane asylum in 1938.
• 17:44
  Speaker 10: Professor Ernst Halsman discovered nuclear rocket power in 1935, turned
• 17:50
  Speaker 10: his plans over to escaped inmates of the asylum. They
• 17:55
  Speaker 10: took off and set up a colony on the far side.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Of the moon in 1938. Go ahead.
• 18:01
  Speaker 7: We're recording you. Each year, they.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Recruit new colonists from Earth.
• 18:06
  Speaker 7: Slave labor, mostly. I was kidnapped in 1945. Yes, I know.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: Keep talking.
• 18:14
  Speaker 10: They wanted me to work on atomic drive for their
• 18:17
  Speaker 10: flying disc.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: Still getting you.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Go on. Last month, six others and I escaped.
• 18:24
  Speaker 7: Speak louder.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: You've got to stop them.
• 18:28
  Speaker 7: Stop them.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: Stop who?
• 18:29
  Speaker 7: The moon colony.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Planning to take over the Earth. Invasion.
• 18:33
  Speaker 7: Hang on.
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: No, no, no.
• 18:36
  Speaker 7: No oxygen.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: Hard to breathe. Listen.
• 18:42
  Speaker 7: They have agents on Earth.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: Can you hear me?
• 18:47
  Speaker 7: Agents on Earth?
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: Where? Who?
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Hello?
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: Hello?
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Hello?
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Agents can.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Henry, look out. Someone at the window.
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: Get down.
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: Henry, are you all right?
• 18:58
  Speaker 7: I think so. His shot smashed the transmitter. And the lights.
• 19:04
  Speaker 7: Strike a match.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: Careful. It was close.
• 19:11
  Speaker 7: I got a look at him. From the description, it
• 19:13
  Speaker 7: was your Mr.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: Philo.
• 19:14
  Speaker 7: We got a recording anyway, but not the most important
• 19:17
  Speaker 7: part of the message.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: Poor Otterberg, suffocating to death.
• 19:22
  Speaker 9: Henry, we've got to get you out of here. He
• 19:24
  Speaker 9: said they have agents. Philo was probably one of them.
• 19:26
  Speaker 9: He'll be looking for you now, trying to kill you.
• 19:29
  Speaker 7: The police.
• 19:29
  Speaker 9: You think the police would believe a fantastic story like this?
• 19:32
  Speaker 9: People being kidnapped to the moon as slave labor? Moon
• 19:34
  Speaker 9: colony planning an invasion.
• 19:35
  Speaker 6: Of the earth?
• 19:36
  Speaker 9: Henry, believe me, they've They'd trap us into straitjackets before
• 19:39
  Speaker 9: we could finish.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: We've got to do something. We need time.
• 19:41
  Speaker 7: Time to get through.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: You don't think my theory was bunk, then?
• 19:43
  Speaker 7: I know it wasn't, Henry. Right now, my only concern
• 19:46
  Speaker 7: is for your safety.
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: But we can't walk out of here.
• 19:48
  Speaker 7: Philo's probably waiting.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: Listen.
• 19:50
  Speaker 9: There's a service elevator that leads to the basement garage
• 19:52
  Speaker 9: yeah we can get down there there are some delivery
• 19:54
  Speaker 9: trucks parked there all night we can probably get one
• 19:57
  Speaker 9: started garage doors off the ramp work from the inside
• 20:00
  Speaker 9: we'll start the mechanism and make a run for it
• 20:02
  Speaker 9: i don't know i think if we call the police
• 20:03
  Speaker 9: by the time the police get here we'll be dead
• 20:05
  Speaker 9: you think philo will wait outside all night come on that's.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: An order okay.
• 20:11
  Speaker 8: What about the recording of Otterburn's notes?
• 20:13
  Speaker 7: We'll leave that here in the safe in my office.
• 20:15
  Speaker 7: He'll never get into that.
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: Let's go.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: You buzz the elevator while I hide the recording.
• 20:30
  Speaker 7: This is the basement. Come on.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: Keep to the side.
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: Shh.
• 20:36
  Speaker 7: Let's try that delivery truck over there. I'll get in.
• 20:44
  Speaker 7: All right, Henry. You start the mechanism to open the
• 20:47
  Speaker 7: garage door, then jump onto the truck.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 20:49
  Speaker 7: We'll make a dash for it. Where can we go?
• 20:51
  Speaker 7: I have a farm outside Chevy Chase. It's private. Miles
• 20:53
  Speaker 7: from the nearest neighbor and completely hidden by trees. We'll
• 20:56
  Speaker 7: run for that.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: Go ahead. Start the door.
• 20:58
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: Quick.
• 21:06
  Speaker 7: Jump in.
• 21:13
  Speaker 12: Cross your fingers.
• 21:28
  Speaker 7: We made it out all right. Anything doing?
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: There's a blue coupe behind us, Mr.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: Wade.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: It seems to be following.
• 21:34
  Speaker 7: I'll cut up Pennsylvania Avenue. Now route one toward Baltimore.
• 21:41
  Speaker 7: It is following me.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: He turned with us. Can you go faster?
• 21:43
  Speaker 7: Not much faster. He's gaining on us. I've got an idea.
• 21:45
  Speaker 7: Hang on, Henry. Yes. Why did you stop?
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: I'll turn off the lights.
• 22:01
  Speaker 9: It worked.
• 22:02
  Speaker 7: He shot right past us. Now we'll double back and
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: go out another route. I don't see anything. I think
• 22:17
  Speaker 7: we've lost him.
• 22:18
  Speaker 10: Good.
• 22:19
  Speaker 9: I think everything's going to be all right now. We
• 22:21
  Speaker 9: can be at my farm in less than an hour.
• 22:34
  Speaker 9: Not much longer now. Is anyone behind us?
• 22:37
  Speaker 7: I thought I saw the blue poop again, but I
• 22:39
  Speaker 7: was mistaken. Whew. This place is really hot in the wilderness.
• 22:43
  Speaker 9: You can stay here indefinitely till we figure out the
• 22:45
  Speaker 9: next move. Now, just up this third road now, there's
• 22:50
  Speaker 9: the house up ahead.
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: You're not going toward it? No, I have a better idea.
• 22:54
  Speaker 9: There's a big abandoned wheat silo on my grounds. It's
• 22:57
  Speaker 9: down a hollow where it can't be seen except in
• 22:59
  Speaker 9: the air. And even then, the oak.
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: Trees shield it.
• 23:03
  Speaker 7: It'll hide you out there.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: Now, we leave the truck here. You'll never be seen.
• 23:10
  Speaker 7: Come on.
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 23:14
  Speaker 7: How did you ever find this place, Mr.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Wade?
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: I've always liked seclusion. I bought it about 12 years ago.
• 23:19
  Speaker 9: I came up here in the summertime to get away
• 23:21
  Speaker 9: from the door.
• 23:23
  Speaker 7: There's the silo. It's certainly well hidden. There's a small
• 23:26
  Speaker 7: door around the side. Come on. Be careful of those bushes.
• 23:29
  Speaker 7: It's hard to see them in the dark.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: Do you suppose Philo will find us?
• 23:35
  Speaker 7: I assure you, Henry, Mr. Philo will never find us here.
• 23:38
  Speaker 7: Not in a million years. Here's the door. It's pitch dark.
• 23:47
  Speaker 7: Hold my arm. I know the way. Just a few
• 23:50
  Speaker 7: steps up and another door.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: Steel?
• 23:57
  Speaker 7: This is an unusual silo. Double wall, wood outside and
• 24:01
  Speaker 7: steel inside. Completely fireproof. An army couldn't wreck it. We're
• 24:05
  Speaker 7: inside the inner shell.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: Careful.
• 24:11
  Speaker 9: We're in a circular room. Stay here a moment. I'll
• 24:14
  Speaker 9: go outside and see if the coast is clear. In
• 24:17
  Speaker 9: a moment, your eyes will become accustomed to the darkness.
• 24:20
  Speaker 9: I'll bring back some food and water.
• 24:21
  Speaker 7: Don't be long, Mr.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: Wade.
• 24:24
  Speaker 7: This place gives me the willies. Just a moment.
• 24:27
  Speaker 12: Mr.
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: Wade.
• 24:30
  Speaker 12: I swear.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: I heard.
• 24:35
  Speaker 7: Something.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: Mr. Wade. What's that?
• 24:40
  Speaker 7: There is something. Good Lord. There's someone in here.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: It's locked.
• 24:47
  Speaker 7: Oh, no.
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 24:48
  Speaker 10: Wade.
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: Mr.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: Wade, let me out.
• 24:50
  Speaker 6: I'm not alone in here.
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: Wade. This must be a light switch. Thank God.
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: Oh, no.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: People.
• 25:02
  Speaker 9: Mr.
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: Wade, help.
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: It will do you.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: No good to shout, Henry.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Mr.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: Wade, where are you?
• 25:10
  Speaker 11: Outside.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Speaking over the intercom. Mr.
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: Wade, there are people in here. Fifteen or twenty of them.
• 25:15
  Speaker 8: They're... They're sitting like statues just staring at me.
• 25:19
  Speaker 11: They won't hurt you, Henry. They've all been drugged. They're
• 25:22
  Speaker 11: even more helpless than you.
• 25:24
  Speaker 7: But who are they?
• 25:27
  Speaker 11: Permit me to introduce them, Henry, since they're currently unable
• 25:31
  Speaker 11: to introduce themselves. The gentleman seated before you, the one
• 25:34
  Speaker 11: with the scar, is Dr. Paul Aarons, the astro-mathematician. Next
• 25:39
  Speaker 11: to him is Mr. Robert Simons, electronic engineer.
• 25:42
  Speaker 7: He's on the list.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: Yes, you're familiar with the rest.
• 25:46
  Speaker 11: They've all been, shall we say, recruited to work with
• 25:50
  Speaker 11: Professor Halsman's group.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: On the moon.
• 25:52
  Speaker 7: Moon?
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: Then you're one of them.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: Of course. Oh, yes. There's one whose name was not
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: on our list.
• 26:03
  Speaker 11: If you'll turn around, Henry, you'll recognize the drugged form
• 26:06
  Speaker 11: of your old friend, Mr.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: Pilate. Pilate?
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: But I thought.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: That he was part of the conspiracy. Contrary. His snooping
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: made it necessary for us to include him.
• 26:19
  Speaker 7: Please put the man in the window, the one who
• 26:20
  Speaker 7: fired the shot.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: An agent of mine. The pilot of this ship.
• 26:24
  Speaker 10: Ship?
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: What ship?
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: This silo is camouflaged for a rocket launching platform. In
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: a moment, the roof will slide back for the rocket's takeoff.
• 26:31
  Speaker 7: A rocket ship?
• 26:32
  Speaker 9: In exactly 70 hours, you and your companions will join Professor.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Otterberg on the moon.
• 26:37
  Speaker 7: But you.
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: You can't do this to me!
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: We have done it, Ted. No! You see, there was
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: another name omitted in that name. I carelessly mixed up
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: with your papers. That of Henry Timpkins.
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: No!
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: Bon voyage!
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: I won't let you do this!
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: You can't!
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: Please!
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Please let me out!
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: Let me out, please! It's unhappened!
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: Let me out!
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Let me out!
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: Attention, attention.
• 27:17
  Speaker 13: Missing since 8 o'clock last night the following persons. Timkin Henry,
• 27:23
  Speaker 13: age 45, height 5 feet 8, 165 pounds, brown eyes,
• 27:29
  Speaker 13: slightly balding, occupation records custodian.
• 27:33
  Speaker 6: Repeat, Timkin Henry, age 45, height 5 feet.
• 27:36
  Speaker 5: 8, 165 pounds, In just a moment, a word about
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: next week's adventure. Tonight, by transcription, X-1 has brought you
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: The Man in the Moon, an original radio drama written
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: by George Lefferts. Featured in the cast were Louis Van
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: Rooten as Henry, Santos Ortega as the Chief, Ross Martin
• 28:08
  Speaker 5: as Charlie, Sidney Smith as Otterburn, Bob Haig as Jake,
• 28:13
  Speaker 5: Joe DeSantis as Philo, and Ed Latimer as O'Brien.
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: Your announcer, Fred Collins.
• 28:19
  Speaker 5: X-1 was directed by Fred Way and is an NBC
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: Radio Network production. And now, next week. The sign on
• 28:35
  Speaker 5: the window said, Perigi's Wonderful Dolls. A woman and a
• 28:39
  Speaker 5: child waited outside.
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: The little girl peering eagerly through.
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: The window, and the woman glancing impatiently at her wristwatch,
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: as if expecting someone who was late for an appointment.
• 28:50
  Speaker 5: And there was nothing about Parigi's doll shop to warn
• 28:52
  Speaker 5: them that they were waiting to keep an appointment with
• 28:58
  Speaker 5: doom at X minus one.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: X minus one has concluded The Man in the Moon.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Follow the 50 greatest old-time radio shows for more classic broadcasts.