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X Minus One - "Real Gone" (Old Time Radio, 1957) · X Minus One | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Ernest Kenoy wrote this original X-1 play from an idea
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: by New York disc jockey Al Jasbo Collins, who appears
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: as himself. On February 27, 1957, NBC radio broadcast Real Gone,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: episode 90 of the series. Collins tells of his friend
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Ralph Therrien, a sculptor whose intricate miniature works have made
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: him a sensation in the Manhattan art world, with prices
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: to match. But the disc jockey's curiosity turns toward Therian's
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: unusual working method and the uneasy partnership behind the sculptures.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: John Barragray plays Therian, with Harold Huber as Larry Oss,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Kenneth McGregor directed. Here is the original broadcast.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Countdown for blastoff.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: X minus 5, 4, 3, 2... X minus one.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Fire. From the far horizons of the unknown come tales
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: of the future. Adventures in which you'll live in a
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: million could be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: presents X minus 1. Tonight, Real Gone, starring Al Jasbo Collins, playing,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: of all things, Al Jasbo Collins.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: Oh, come in. Come in. Glad to see you. Albert here,
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: your Collins friend.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Just a minute. I'll close the door.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: You know, when you run a disc jockey show, the
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: songpluggers just seem to ooze through the grain of the wood. There.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: We won't be bothered for a while. Have a seat.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: I'll take this record off the chair. Hound Dog. Exclusive
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: to me. Sung by Helen Traubel with the Vienna State
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: Symphony Orchestra. Under the direction of Felix Weingartner. Now sit down.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: You do the writing for that real gone show on NBC,
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: don't you? That X-1 with the rocket ships and the
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: three-headed men from Mars and all that jazz? Well, that's
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: why I asked you up. I ran into a little something.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: Just an idea, you know. I figured maybe you could
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: English it up and use it. It's about a friend
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: of mine, Ralph Therrien. You ever hear of him? He's
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: an artist. I don't mean records or a musician. I
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: mean an artist, artist, sculptor. I ran into him during
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: the war. He used to sit in the barracks making
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: busts of the sergeants out of GI soap. When they
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: had him on KP, they couldn't trust him to peel potatoes.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: He'd end up doing caricatures of the captain and the
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: lieutenants out of raw spuds. Man, he was the greatest.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: He got the whole company restricted for a week when
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: we were stationed somewhere near Boston. It snowed, and he
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: made a life-size statue out of snow and ice depicting
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: the captain sitting in a howdah on the back of
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: an elephant The captain didn't mind so much, but the
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: elephant happened to look like the regimental colonel, and he
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: took a dim view of the entire affair. Ralph studied
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: in France somewhere under the G.I. Bill of Rights, and
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: I used to run into him once in a while
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: on 57th Street. He's looking kind of hungry and desperate.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: Then one day, a couple of green weeks ago, I
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: ran into him on Madison Avenue, and man, he looked
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: like he belonged. He had one of them Tyrolean chapeau
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: with the shaving brush stuck on one side. An important
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: German loden coat. And he was carrying a snakeskin dispatch case. Al! Albert! Well, hello, Ralph,
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: my friend.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Well, you're looking great, Al. Hey, I like that beard.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Thanks.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Kind of gives your face the Mount Rushmore quality.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: It's generally admired, my friend. But what brings you over
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: here on this street of dreams? I was under the impression...
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: An artist was immediately downgraded three degrees of integrity when
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: he set foot on Madison Avenue.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: I was just up seeing a client.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: A client? You've given up the sculpting kick.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, no. I'm just working in a new medium.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: Well, you look real prosperous.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: How do you like the shoes?
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: Oh, very dapper. Very dapper. I don't believe I've ever
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: seen lizard-skin hirachis before.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Had them imported. Made underwater by natives of Ecuador.
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Takes about three hours to have them made. So they
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: use about 12 nadies per pair.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: Ralph, my friend, you give the general impression that you
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: are loaded with loot.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: I am. There's money in art. Money. You've just got
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: to get something new. Here, wait a minute. Let me
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: open my case. Here, Al. Take a look at this.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: What is that?
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: An ice cube? Look inside.
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: Now, man, that's real entrancing. What is it?
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: That is a detailed copy of Rodin's The Kiss.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Pretty sexy. How do you do it?
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Well, you see, I carve it from underneath the plastic block.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: Oh, it looks sort of solid to me. How do
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: you get in?
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Oh, look at the bottom. You see that little hole?
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: I work through there with my engraving instrument. Of course,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: this is just a sample. I've been doing originals mostly.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: What are the little cubes good for? Paperweights, I guess, huh?
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: This is art, Albert.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: Art!
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Do you know how much I get for one of these?
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Beats me.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: $ 5, 000.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: Oh, that's a pretty stiff price for a paperweight.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Well, you just don't understand, Al. This is the hottest
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: thing since Picasso. I just sold two original compositions to Morgenstern.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: You know, the dealer from Philadelphia? For $ 25, 000. $ 25, 000? Wow.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: Boy, I should have paid attention when Mama bought me
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: that clay when I was a little boy.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Well, it's about time the creative artist got a little
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: bit of recognition.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Recognition's not the point, man. At 25 G's, I wouldn't
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: care if people walked past me in high noon.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: That's because you're not an artist. The money's secondary.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: Money is never secondary. Money is the primariest thing there is.
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: Al, would you be interested in a fine original composition?
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: Well, I.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: I'll make a special price for you, Albert. $ 4, 000.
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: No, Ralph, my friend, I keep my papers from blowing
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: off my desk with my right foot and my left
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: piled one on top of the other, and I find
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: that quite adequate to the needs and aspirations.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Well, the trouble with you is you've got no soul.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: The trouble with me is I have not got four grand.
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: ¶ ¶.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: Ah, this sort of thing is happening to me all
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: the time. For example, I have a barber who plays
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: unaccompanied Bach chaconnes with a quarter-inch drill and a length
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: of steel pipe. I figured Ralph Therrien was stringing me
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: until I ran into Vladimir Osepsky. Now, Vladdy is one
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: of these men who leads a double life. He composes
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: concerti and avant-garde operas under his square moniker, but he's
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: better known in the Brill Building as Larry Oss. He
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: got in on the ground floor of this rock and
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: roll affair, and he took an already substantial fortune and
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: ran it up to a fantastic munificence. Larry has money
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: he hasn't even folded yet, and he collects art. I
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: was up at his house one night discussing such things
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: as Tin Roof Blues and Wazik by Albin Berg, and
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: Larry got around to showing me his collection. Now, this
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: is Picasso. Larry, that's what I call cool brushwork, my man, cool.
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: I homed it next to the Tintoretto for contrast.
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: This stuff runs into a pile of loot.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: Well, I figure since I've launched rock and roll on
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: an unsuspecting public, the least I can do is collect
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: old masters and leave them to the nation when I die.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: Figures. I mean, that figures.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Here's my latest. Look.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: Isn't it beautiful? You mean this hunk of plastic?
• 8:40
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: Look into it.
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: That design, that composition, the delicacy of that line. This
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: is the most exciting discovery in art since the invention
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: of red paint.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: Larry, was this piece of Jim Crackery executed by one
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: Ralph Therrien? That's right.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: You know him? Mm-hmm. Remarkable talent. Remarkable.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: A genius. And how much did this stroke of genius
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: cost you, if you don't mind my mentioning a crude
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: thing like money?
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Not at all.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Not at all.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: It was a steal.
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: A steal.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: I got it from Morgenstern. Oh, I outfoxed him. I
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: got it from him for only $ 30, 000.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, you outfoxed him, all right. Tell me something, Larry.
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: What makes this worth $ 30, 000? Albert, Albert, Albert.
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: What makes a Stradivarius worth $ 30, 000 and a fiddle played
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: on the street by a beggar?
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: $ 3, huh?
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: You mean his stuff is that good?
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: It's art, Albert. This is art. This is genius.
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: To work with such delicacy and such control and such
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: genius in so small a space.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: You see, that's it. This plastic block is how long?
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: About two inches?
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: And yet within this two inches is the majesty, the
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: feeling of a sculpture 20, 30 feet high. This is
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: an art which has not been known in the world
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: since the painters of miniatures in the late Renaissance.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Why, then, it's for real. For real.
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: This is the gem of my collection. The Picasso, the Renoir,
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: the Cezanne will, in time, fade into insignificance. This is
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: a new art form.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Brilliant.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: Brilliant.
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: And now let me play a new record we're putting out.
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: It's called I Love You, Baby, Cause Your Lower Lip
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: Drags on the Ground. A real cool, you bangy beat.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I love you.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: Well, I let Ralph Therrien's new art form slip my
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: mind for a while while I struggled with songpluggers, advertising salesmen,
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: account executives from the agency. And I met him again
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: a few weeks ago at a small cultural establishment on
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: the corner where I work. You might call it sort
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: of branch public library with a brass rail.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Hey, what's the idea of putting this lemon peel in?
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: If I wanted a fruit salad, I'd ask for it.
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: How do you do, Ralph, my friend? Oh, hello, Al. Ah,
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: you look like you're thriving, my man.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Well, as a matter of fact, I just signed a
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: contract with Morgan Stern to deliver $ 100, 000 worth of my
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: original compositions. I'm celebrating. In here?
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: Ah, man, this place is only fit for sweating out
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: the downhill phase on a manic depressive psychosis.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm just starting here. I intend to work my
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: way up. Alberts? Be my guest.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: Well, I just had a difficult morning with the station
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: manager who has an illusion in his little ricky-ticky mind
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: that my program is the answer to Lawrence Welk and
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: Guy Lombardo. He'd been trying to convince me to program
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: two solid hours of Wayne King, relieved by vocals by
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Frank Crummett and Julia Sanderson. I had resisted, And I
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: was in the mood for eating the lotus and forgetting.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: Several hours later, Ralph was feeling very confidential.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: Albert, Albert, my friend, I like you. Why don't you shave?
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: Ralph, love me, love my beard.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: I will try. Albert, you have the look of an
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Abraham Lincoln gone hog wild among the cream puffs.
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: Ralph, you have an artist soul.
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: Albert, I trust you, I trust you, I trust you.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: I am touched.
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: And so, Albert, I'm going to take you to my studio.
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: My secret studio.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: And I will reciprocate, my friend. Tomorrow, when I am
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: doing my disc show, you may come to my secret studio.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: With the esteem that my program is held in today,
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: tomorrow I'll be doing my broadcast from a small hole
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: with a round iron top and plenty of running water below.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: What time is it?
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: Half past something.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: I'm late. I'm late. Hurry!
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: He took me to a loft somewhere down in the
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: banana warehouse section. He had three locks on the door,
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: and he opened them with three separate keys. I stepped
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: inside and took a look around. The loft stretched a
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: whole city block. The only thing that kept the New
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: York Rangers from using it as a practice rink was
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: the lack of ice. It was empty, except in one
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: corner of the room there was a mess of machinery.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: looked as if someone had eviscerated a television set and
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: left it to die of shock. There was a weaselly-looking
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: little man in a shiny blue suit standing in the
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: middle of the floor, tapping his foot.
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: Sirian, I've been waiting for half an hour, half an hour.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Where have you been? Now, take it easy, Burson. Take
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: it easy. Plenty of time.
• 13:30
  Speaker 6: I've told you the active life of the Catalyst is only.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Who's this?
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: This is my friend Al.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Al Collins. Well, who is he?
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: And what is he doing here? I've told you, we must.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Have no one here. Now, he's my friend. I trust him.
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: Oh, I suppose you've told him all about it.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: Yes, I have.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Have you got the stuff?
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: Certainly, I have.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Three ampules.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: But it won't last.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: You've got to hurry. Roll up your sleeves.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: Oh, now, just a minute, both of you gentlemen. If
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: I've been brought down here to witness the inoculation of
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: a little happy juice into somebody's arm, I'm leaving. I
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: have no desire to tangle with the Federal Narcotics Bureau.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Now, Albert, do I look like I'm taking narcotics?
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't swear to it.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: You don't understand. In those little glass bottles is a
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: secret of $ 100, 000. And I'm going to show you how
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: I do it. First, we take a plastic cube out
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: of my pocket.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: So.
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: We put it down on the grid in the middle
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: of the floor.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: So.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Now, if you will kindly step to the outside of
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: the white line painted on the floor. Back there.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: Go ahead. Now, Mr.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Burson, we'll turn on the machinery. I take this vial
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: of catalyst, thus, and pour it over the plastic block. So. Now,
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: we wait.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: We stood there at the edges of that loft and
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: watched that tiny plastic block sitting in a frame on
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: the middle of the floor. And then suddenly it began
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: to grow. In about 20 minutes, that cute little plastic
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: block stood about 20 feet on its side. It almost
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: touched the skylight and there was about a foot of
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: clearance on each wall.
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: You see, the long organic chain of molecules in the
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: plastic is infinitely expandable under the right conditions.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: That effect.
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: By applying the right voltages in series, We can expand
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: the cube to about this size. But there's an outside
• 15:36
  Speaker 6: limit due to the cohesive charge on the molecules.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Oh, naturally. Naturally, of course. Those molecules do stick together. Well,
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: it's the catalyst that does it.
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: And I make that.
• 15:46
  Speaker 5: I make the catalyst. You hear that, Therion?
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: I make it. Now, calm down, Berson. Without me, you'd
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: just have a great big blob of plastic. I'm the
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: one who turns it into money. You see, Albert, a
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: cube this big is as soft as putty inside. I
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: take my pneumatic drill and I make a hole in
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: the bottom. And then my tools and I start to
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: carve my pretty sculptures inside.
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: Gillian, I'm warning you.
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: I won't take this kind of treatment for long.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: Now calm down, Burson. You're getting your 10% cut. 10%! 10%!
• 16:16
  Speaker 6: Why, before I brought you this process, the only artwork
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: you could get people to look at was mustaches on
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: subway advertisements.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Burson, that is the typical wailing of the non-creative technician.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: Envy?
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Pure envy for genius. Now look out. I'm going under
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: there and start work.
• 16:32
  Speaker 6: I want 50%, Therion.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: 50%.
• 16:35
  Speaker 6: That's only fair, isn't it?
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: I put it to you, Mr.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Collins.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: Just keep me out of it, gentlemen. Leave me out
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: of it.
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: I'm warning you, Therion.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: I'm warning you.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Just get out of my way, grease monkey. Let an
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: artist work.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: Ralph crawled under the giant cube and started to work.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: I could see what he was drawing, a collection of
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: lovely ladies, something like the closing number at the Union
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: City Burlesque. Didn't look very good. The lines were kind
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: of thick and muddy. Had a kind of a soft
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: and sloppy quality to it, just about as if you
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: were carving in butter. Took him about an hour, and
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: then he crawled out.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Just about in time. What does it say on that watch?
• 17:17
  Speaker 6: You've got about 20 seconds left. You cut it pretty
• 17:20
  Speaker 6: fine there, Therian.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: It's all right.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: It's a masterpiece.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Wait a minute.
• 17:24
  Speaker 5: Okay, now. There she goes.
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: Well, now, what happened was that plastic cube that was
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: blown up to about 20 feet on the side suddenly
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: popped like a balloon with a cigarette stuck in it.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: And what ended up was that tiny little two-inch cube
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: sitting in the middle of the floor. Ralph picked it
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: up and brought it over.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Look at it. Beautiful.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: Beautiful.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: The work of genius. The work of science.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: Makes a real nice paperweight.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: Albert, my friend, what you have just seen was the
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: creation of a $ 20, 000 masterpiece. Take a good look.
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: I did take a good look. The whole design was there.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: But what had looked to me like kind of a muddy,
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: buttery picture when it was 20 feet high was now
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: sharp and beautiful and clear as a snowflake. I went
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: back to the studio and demonstrated my independence by scheduling
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: two solid hours of Dizzy Gillespie. The next day, I
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: got a telephone call just before I went on the air.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: It was Ralph asking me to come over to the studio.
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: He said it was important. So... After the show, I
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: shook the last song plugger out of my lapels and
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: headed down to Ralph Therrien's loft. I found that fellow
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: Burson walking up and down at the edge of the room,
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: looking at his stopwatch nervously. They had another plastic cube
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: blown up in the middle of the room, and Ralph
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: was inside the cube working. They were having quite an argument.
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: I know you got paid off today, Therrien, $ 100, 000. I
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: know you got it, and I want my share, 50%.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Don't bother me. I'm working.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: Hi, Ralph.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, hi there, Albert. Just a minute. Wait till I
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: crawl out. I warned you. You can't say I didn't
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: warn you.
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: There'll be no more of the catalyst.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: No more. Listen to him, Al. That's why I asked
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: you over. I wanted a witness. And you're the only
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: one who knew all about it already.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: Now, look, gentlemen. I told you not to get me
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: involved in this.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Now, listen. This little worm, this test tube termite, had
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: the gall to threaten not to bring any more of
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: that catalyst.
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: But I warned you.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: I warned you.
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: I want my share of that 100,000th.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: If you'll excuse me, I'll get back into that masterpiece.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: That catalyst is only good for 2.7 hours. Hand me
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: the drill, will you, Burton?
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: Here it is.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: But I warned you.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: Boy, the plastic is tough today.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: All right. I warned him. I warned him.
• 19:49
  Speaker 6: He must have the money here somewhere.
• 19:51
  Speaker 5: Yes, it must be somewhere.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: Bills.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: Bills.
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: Your check stubs.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: What are you doing over there, Burton? Looking. Just looking. Well,
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: if you're looking for that $ 100, 000, you can stop.
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: I've got it right here in my pocket.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Now, don't bother me while I finish work.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: What?
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: What?
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: Tyrion!
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Then come out of there. Come out. Come out.
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: I've got to finish just a little more.
• 20:11
  Speaker 6: Come out. You don't understand.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Come out.
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: Get out of my way, Mr.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: Collins. With pleasure.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Hurry and hand me that money.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Quick.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Get out of my way, Burton.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: I'm working.
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: But listen, you don't understand.
• 20:21
  Speaker 6: The catalyst.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: Let go of me.
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: Let go of me.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: The catalyst. I made it up half strength.
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: Give me that money.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: Quick.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: The money.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: The money. Well, that's all there was to it. I
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: figured out that little fella from the plastic company figured
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: he'd get himself a new sculptor when he made up
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: that catalyst half-strength. The two of them were in there
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: when the roof fell in. The roof and the walls. Well,
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: that's about all there is to it. Figured you might
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: be able to use the story. I wrote a few
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: notes on it. They're here somewhere under the paperweight. Oh,
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: you'd like to see the paperweight? Little plastic cube about
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: two inches. Look in there. Two fellows with their hands
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: around each other's throats. Looks realistic, don't it? As if
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: they were squeezing. Of course, this one's an improvement on
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: the work Ralph Therrien did. This one's in full color.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: You have just heard X-1 presented by the National Broadcasting
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: Company in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, which this
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: month features The Victim from Space. A time to sow,
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: a time to reap, a time to live. All the
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: Agathians agreed with this, but not when it came to
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: a time to die. Galaxy Magazine, on your newsstand today. Tonight,
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: X-1 has brought you Real Gone by Ernest Canoy. based
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: on an idea by Al Jasbo Collins and starring Al
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Jasbo Collins as himself. Featured in our cast were John
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: Beragray as the late sculptor Ralph Therrien, John McGovern as
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: his equally late scientific collaborator, and Harold Huber as the
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: fabulous Larry Oss.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: This is Fred Collins.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: X-1 was directed by Kenneth McGregor. and is an NBC
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Radio Network production. NBC takes you across the nation around
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: the world with news on the hour and the exciting
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: hotline service all day, every day, on most of these stations.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: We return the microphone to silence after X-1's reel gone.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: Follow X-1 for more classic broadcasts.