[SLURP! GOES THE AMOEBA] [page 1] NBC ADVERTISER SUSTAINING WRITER WILLIS COOPER PROGRAM TITLE LIGHTS OUT OK CHICAGO OUTLET WMAQ (11:30 - 12:00 Midnight) (DECEMBER 4, 1935) (WEDNESDAY) PRODUCTION ANNOUNCER ENGINEER REMARKS _________________________________________________________ [2] VOICE: Lights out, everybody! SOUND: THIRTEEN CHIME NOTES BEHIND THE CHIME NOTES: WOMAN'S VOICE: (SOBBING) Oh... it's killing him - it's killing him - WIND UP ON ELEVENTH CHIME NOTE OUT BEHIND G O N G FADE IN: SOUND OF STIRRING LIQUID IN GRADUATE. SET DOWN THE GRADUATE, AND: DR. BAUMEISTER: Ready with your notes, Laferski? LAFERSKI: All ready, doctor. BAUMEISTER: Experiment Number 331. LAFERSKI: Yes sir. BAUMEISTER: Don't yell 'yes, sir' at me every time I open my mouth! Pay attention! LAFERSKI: Ye - ahem. BAUMEISTER: Experiment Number 331. Got that? LAFERSKI: Yes. BAUMEISTER: Synthetic protoplasm. Formula B-22. LAFERSKI: B-22 BAUMEISTER: Temperature 34 degrees Centigrade. Quantity four hundred and - (LOOKING AT THE GRADUATE) forty c.c. LAFERSKI: 34 degrees. 440 cc. [3] BAUMEISTER: Reactions. Original solution reacts exactly as all former solutions. (STIRRING GRADUATE) On application of formula FO11 to protoplasm,.....no reactions. LAFERSKI: No reaction. BAUMEISTER: (STIRRING SOLUTION) Application of heat...slight effervescense, followed by breaking down of entire solution into component parts. LAFERSKI: Got it. BAUMEISTER: Shut up, Laferski. I'll do the talking. Application of acid - G-two-S-O-four. LAFERSKI: Sulphuric acid... BAUMEISTER: No change. Blast the thing, anyway! Why do I fool away my time on such idiotic experiments? Answer me, Laferski! Why do I? LAFERSKI: I don't know, doctor. BAUMEISTER: Shut up! What's the number of this - 331? Three hundred and thirty-one times! And nothing but negative results! I'm done! I'm done, I tell you! CRASH AS HE SLAMS GRADUATE ON FLOOR LAFERSKI: But, Dr. Baumeister... BAUMEISTER: Shut up! Shut up! I tell you! Are you going to try to tell me - are you - are you . (HE SLOWS DOWN AS HE LOOKS AT THE STUFF HE'S THROWN ON THE FLOOR) Laferski! Do - do you see.... LAFERSKI: Huh? What? BAUMEISTER: Fool! The floor! Look at it! LAFERSKI: Yes, sir -- [4] BAUMEISTER: Idiot! Fool! Numbskull! Get me a beaker - quick! LAFERSKI: Y-yes, sir - what - what is it, doctor? BAUMEISTER: Unless I'm very badly mistaken, Laferski...unless I'm very badly mistaken - this stuff is - by gad, it is! LAFERSKI: Is what? BAUMEISTER: It's alive! LAFERSKI: It is? BAUMEISTER: Laferski, do you know what I've done? Do you know? Answer me! Do you - LAFERSKI: You spilled the stuff on the floor ... BAUMEISTER: (SLAPS HIM IN THE PUSS) You idiot! I've created life! Synthetic life! I put a lot of chemicals in a beaker! I mixed them - and they live! Laferski, they live! I did it! I did it! I'm the greatest chemist in the world! I've created synthetic life! The goal of scientists since time began - and I've done it! LAFERSKI: Gee! BAUMEISTER: Now - now, my little darling...my little beauty.. my own - (HE LAUGHS MERRILY) It can be done! It has been done! I did it! I, Paul Baumeister, that everybody said was crazy! Laferski, we're going to get drunk, you and I! Oh, but we're not - we're going to watch over this little - thing, and nurture it, and feed it, and watch it grow, and - LAFERSKI: How do you know it's alive, Doctor? [5] BAUMEISTER: Look, nitwit, look! Did you ever see movement like that in a dead chemical solution? Watch! While I jab this glass rod into it - watch! Look! LAFERSKI: (AMAZED) It - it moved .... BAUMEISTER: It feels - it's afraid - it's alive! Laferski, I tell you, it's alive! LAFERSKI: Gosh....it sure is, ain't it? BAUMEISTER: And how did I do it? Everything was just the same as before - LAFERSKI: Except you throwed it on the floor, doctor. BAUMEISTER: I did! I did! Now, what was on the floor - did I spill some chemical - did I - LAFERSKI: Something must have got mixed with the stuff when you throwed it on the floor, doctor, I bet. BAUMEISTER: Ass! Utter ass! Go out and find something for this thing to eat! LAFERSKI: Huh? What'll I get it? BAUMEISTER: Wait. I know. Let's find out something. Come here, Laferski. Come here to me. LAFERSKI: Now, doc - now what you gonna do - now - BAUMEISTER: Here, Laferski. Stick your finger into the beaker here - LAFERSKI: No - no - BAUMEISTER: Stick your finger right in there - do as I tell you! Right into the stuff - that's it! LAFERSKI: Ugh. It's slimy, doctor - (HE CRIES OUT IN PAIN) It bit me! [6] BAUMEISTER: Nonsense! How could it! Hold your hand still! LAFERSKI MOANS IN PAIN BAUMEISTER: Let's see that finger! Ha! Look at it - look at it, Laferski! LAFERSKI: The - the end of it's gone.... oooh, and look - the thing's getting bigger! BAUMEISTER LAUGHS GAILY AND A LITTLE NUTTILY INTO G O N G LAFERSKI: (SCARED) Golly, doc, what are we gonna do with the darn thing? BAUMEISTER: How big is it this morning, Laferski? LAFERSKI: Doc, honest. When I left the laboratory last night it was only about the size of a baseball. BAUMEISTER: How big is it now? LAFERSKI: You know what we gave it to eat last night? BAUMEISTER: Those white mice... LAFERSKI: Doc, their skeletons is layin' on the floor alongside the bench where the thing is - and it's big as a punkin now... BAUMEISTER: (SLAPS HIM) You lie! LAFERSKI: (ALMOST CRYING) Doc, I'm tellin' you. Come and look at it. BAUMEISTER: I will! And if you lied to me - LAFERSKI: I never lied, doc - honest I never - BAUMEISTER: Come on! THEY WALK ACROSS THE FLOOR, OPEN A DOOR. BAUMEISTER: Good Lord! LAFERSKI: You see, doc - [7] BAUMEISTER: That's wonderful! It's amazing! It's marvelous! LAFERSKI: Doc, look out now - the dog-gone thing snapped at me - BAUMEISTER: Snapped - you fool! HE WALKS OVER TO THE TABLE BAUMEISTER: By gad. I wouldn't have believed it. LAFERSKI: (OFF) Look out, doc. WE HEAR THE THING SLURPING IN ITS GLASS CAGE BAUMEISTER: Cursed thing's active. Look at those pseudopods, Laferski! LAFERSKI: (CLOSER) At what? BAUMEISTER: Look - it hasn't any definite shape of its own. But it can put out arms of protoplasm - see - look - watch now - LAFERSKI: (SCREAMS) Doc! Look out! BAUMEISTER: (A LITTLE SHAKEN) Gad, the thing's quick! It's like an amoeba but no amoeba in the world ever moved that fast! We're going to have to watch this thing, Laferski. LAFERSKI: Doc, let's go away and leave it starve. I'm scared of it. BAUMEISTER: Let it starve! After I created the thing? You're crazy. LAFERSKI: But if we keep on feedin' it - there's no tellin' how big it'll get, doc - and first thing you know it'll - oh, gosh, doc... BAUMEISTER: I know...but we'll have to take a chance... LAFERSKI: Oh, gosh, doc, I don't want to - doc, I quit - BAUMEISTER: Quit! You'll not quit! I know what you want to do - you want to bring the police here - you want to kill my - my - LAFERSKI: Yeh. What is it, doc? [8] BAUMEISTER: I'm going to call it Amoeba. That's what it is - LAFERSKI: Doc. Did you - did you notice when you said Amoeba? BAUMEISTER: What? When I said Amoeba? SLURP! GOES A PSEUDOPOD BAUMEISTER: By the - Laferski! It's intelligent! It - it knows its name! LAFERSKI: Oh, gosh, doc... BAUMEISTER: (ENTRANCED) Amoeba...(SLURP) Amoeba....(SLURP) Amoeba... (LOUD SLURP!) LAFERSKI: Look out, doc! That thing's reachin' for you! BAUMEISTER: By George! I tell you I was positively fascinated by it. That nucleus of the cell there - like an eye....it almost had me hypnotised.... LAFERSKI: Doc, let's get out of here! BAUMEISTER: Wait. Get that big - no. We'll carry it in and put it in the bathtub. It's too big to keep in this beaker...and in another day or so, if we feed it - LAFERSKI: Oh, doc, let's kill it - please, doc - BAUMEISTER: Kill it! I should say not! This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me! Kill it - go open the bathroom door! LAFERSKI: (GOING) Doc, I wish you wouldn't... BAUMEISTER: Nonsense! I think I will slap a cover on this thing, though- just to be on the safe side...(SOUND OF PUTTING COVER ON GLASS JAR) Now, my friend - Amoeba - to your new home... (HE CHUCKLES AS HE WALKS TO THE BATHROOM) [9] LAFERSKI: I'm gettin' out o' here - BAUMEISTER: Stand aside while I dump it in the tub. LAFERSKI: Gosh. GLUB! HE DUMPS IT IN THE BATHTUB LAFERSKI: Ogh...it - it just kinda flows, doc... BAUMEISTER: Look at it. Amoeba! SLURP! GOES THE PSEUDOPOD LAFERSKI: Ugh - doc, I'm gettin' sick! BAUMEISTER: Good old Amoeba! SLURP! AGAIN LAFERSKI: Doc! Doc! Look out! BAUMEISTER: Huh? Oh, I - LAFERSKI: Doc, that thing'll get you - it darn near had you that time! G O N G LAFERSKI: Oh, my gosh, doc...it's a murderer! A murderer! that's what it is! BAUMEISTER: What's the matter, Laferski? LAFERSKI: You gotta do something about it now. That's all. You gotta do something. BAUMEISTER: What's the matter? LAFERSKI: Doc, my cat. He ate my cat. BAUMEISTER: He ate your cat? (HE LAUGHS A LITTLE) LAFERSKI: He sure did, Doc. The cat - my poor cat - he sleeps in the laboratory, doc - I mean he did sleep...and he wandered into the bathroom and it grabbed him! It grabbed him, doc! And ate him! [10] BAUMEISTER: Hm. Haven't you been feeding it regularly? LAFERSKI: Sure I have. Sure I have, doc. I gave it all that raw beef you said - but it's always hungry. Doc, we gotta do something about it. BAUMEISTER: Let's go see it. How big is it this morning? LAFERSKI: (SOLEMNLY) It just about half filled the tub, doc. And it keeps snatching with them - them gooey arms all the time.... BAUMEISTER: We'll have a look at it. LAFERSKI: I don't want to see it. BAUMEISTER: Come on along! What if it should grab me? (HE LAUGHS) I'd need you to pull me out. LAFERSKI: Well, let me tell you, doc, if it keeps on hypnotisin' like it done before - I won't look at it more'n a half a second. I'm scared of it. BAUMEISTER: Come on. THEY WALK TO THE LABORATORY DOOR AND OPENS IT LAFERSKI: Notice that funny smell in here, doc? Like a - like a old slaughter-house. BAUMEISTER: The characteristic smell of protoplasm, Laferski! Notice the phosphorus smell? LAFERSKI: Like matches. BAUMEISTER: That's protoplasm. LAFERSKI: (AS THEY NEAR THE BATHROOM DOOR) Now be careful, doc. Be careful. The darn thing - no tellin' how big it is now... BAUMEISTER: (OPENS THE DOOR) Hello, Amoeba, old fellow! [11] LOTS OF SLURPING. IT'S LOTS BIGGER LAFERSKI: Guh! Makes me sick. BAUMEISTER: (LAUGHS) Amoeba! LOTS MORE SLURPING LAFERSKI: See how much bigger it's got, Doc? Gosh I bet it could eat a horse or - BAUMEISTER: Or a - man, Laferski? LAFERSKI: (SHUDDERS) Don't, doc... BAUMEISTER: Wait. Look, Laferski. LAFERSKI: I'm scared to look at it much, doc. BAUMEISTER: Look at it, Laferski. Look at it, curse you! LAFERSKI: I'm scared to, doc.. BAUMEISTER: I want to try an experiment, Laferski. Look at it - and look at it, I tell you! LAFERSKI: (WHINES) Doc, I'm scared! BAUMEISTER: You'll look at it if I have to - SLURP! SAYS AMOEBA LAFERSKI: I'm lookin' at it, doc - BAUMEISTER: Watch closely now.... A PAUSE WHILE ONLY THE SLURPING IS HEARD BAUMEISTER: (SOFTLY) Watch now...watch closely... A LITTLE MORE SLURPING. THEN THE SLURPING SLOWS DOWN AND LAFERSKI SCREAMS! BAUMEISTER: (LAUGHS) Did you see it, Laferski? Did you see it? LAFERSKI: (SHAKEN) Doc...it - it - it turned into - you! BAUMEISTER LAUGHS INTO G O N G [12] LAFERSKI: But doc....what made it look like you? BAUMEISTER: Laferski, we've discovered something amazing in this thing. An intelligent lower form of animal life. It's intelligent! LAFERSKI: I'll say it is...gosh... BAUMEISTER: I had a hunch, Laferski. A real hunch - and I was right! LAFERSKI: But what made it turn into you? BAUMEISTER: The thing has some power - I don't know exactly what it is. But it's a kind of hypnotism...an ability to visualize the object one is thinking of when you look at it... LAFERSKI: But why - BAUMEISTER: You thought it turned into me...because you were thinking of me at the time. That's what it was. LAFERSKI: But, doc, I seen it turn into you. It just growed up into - oh, gosh, doc, I can't stand it...please let's kill it! BAUMEISTER: Kill it! Kill the most interesting subject for experiment I've ever had? You're a fool, Laferski! I tell you you're an idiot! This is going to make me famous! Immortal, Laferski! Greater than all the other scientists that have ever lived! LAFERSKI: Yeh....if it don't eat you up... BAUMEISTER: How big is it today? LAFERSKI: I ain't been in there. I ain't goin' in. BAUMEISTER: Come on - we're going to visit it. [13] LAFERSKI: No, sir. BAUMEISTER: Come on, I say. LAFERSKI: I won't do it, doc - I won't - BAUMEISTER: You will - you - THE TELEPHONE RINGS BAUMEISTER: Answer that! LAFERSKI: Yeh. (LIFTS RECEIVER) Hello. Doctor Baumeister's laboratory. Yes ma'am. BAUMEISTER: Who is it? LAFERSKI: Yes ma'am, he's here. BAUMEISTER: Who is it? LAFERSKI: Your wife. BAUMEISTER: (TAKES RECEIVER) Hello, darling. Nice to hear your voice. No, I can't make it. I'm sorry, Esther. I can't possibly get home for dinner. No, I'm sorry. You play three- handed bridge, then till I get there. No, I've got an extraordinarily important experiment here at the laboratory. I must stay here. Sorry, dear, I'll bring you something nice. Of course I do. Good-by, dear. (REPLACES RECEIVER) LAFERSKI: Doc, I ain't goin' in there with you. BAUMEISTER: You're going in if I have to drag you. LAFERSKI: Doc, I - BAUMEISTER: Come on! [14] LAFERSKI: Listen, doc - BAUMEISTER: Come on! SO HE DRAGS LAFERSKI WITH HIM. DOOR OPENS BAUMEISTER: Come on, now - ESTHER: Dearest! BAUMEISTER: Huh? Why - Esther! How did you get in here? ESTHER: Surprised, darling? BAUMEISTER: Why, I - I was just talking to you on the telephone! ESTHER: About coming home for dinner and bridge? (SHE LAUGHS) I've been right here all the time. Didn't you remember the extension telephone? BAUMEISTER: Well - well - but - how did you get in? ESTHER: Through the back door. BAUMEISTER: Well, I'll be darned. I - you sure fooled me! ESTHER LAUGHS BAUMEISTER: I'd have sworn that you were home when you called - ESTHER LAUGHS AGAIN. THERE IS THE SLIGHTEST SINISTER QUALITY IN HER LAUGH ESTHER: Kiss me, dearest - BAUMEISTER: But - er - Laferski - ESTHER: Send Laferski away - BAUMEISTER: (SLIGHTLY TRANCE-LIKE) Go away, Laferski - ESTHER: Come to me, darling - kiss me - kiss me - LAFERSKI: (SCREAMS) Doc! Don't, Doc! It ain't her! It's - the Amoeba! [15] WITH A LOUD SLURPING SOUND THE AMOEBA PLOPS ON THE FLOOR LAFERSKI: I - I thought o' somethin' else for a second, Doc, an' - an' I seen it change - SLURP SLURP GOES THE AMOEBA, CRAWLING TOWARD THEM BAUMEISTER: But I - LAFERSKI: Doc - look out! Quick - it's reachin' for you! G O N G BAUMEISTER: (SOBERLY) I guess you were right, Laferski. I - I was wrong. We've got to do something about it. LAFERSKI: What'll we do, Doc? BAUMEISTER: We've got to kill it some way. LAFERSKI: How? You can't shoot it - or cut it - BAUMEISTER: Bullets would go through that jelly like - LAFERSKI: (SHUDDERS) Yeh. Oooh...it's an ugly thing. BAUMEISTER: And that trick - you saved my life yesterday. LAFERSKI: Yeh. I know it. BAUMEISTER: If you hadn't yelled - gad, it looked like Esther. I'd have sworn... LAFERSKI: And it talked, doc - BAUMEISTER: You know what I think? LAFERSKI: What, doc? BAUMEISTER: I think it has the faculty of assuming a shape - any shape that occurs to it. And I think the way it gets these - impulses is through telepathy. LAFERSKI: Through what? BAUMEISTER: Telepathy. Reading our minds.... [16] LAFERSKI: Gosh, doc, how could it do that? BAUMEISTER: We've created a devil. A devil, Laferski. LAFERSKI: You mean it can be whatever you're thinkin' of? BAUMEISTER: Exactly. LAFERSKI: Good gosh! Let's not think o' a lion or anything... BAUMEISTER: (LAUGHS MIRTHLESSLY) That's truer than you think, Laferski. LAFERSKI: Gosh....how we gonna kill it, Doc. BAUMEISTER: I - don't know. I think probably fire is the only way. LAFERSKI: Fire? BAUMEISTER: You and I are going out and get an oxy-acetylene torch. And then we're going in there and - kill it. That's what we're going to do. LAFERSKI: But what if we think o' lions, or tigers, or something, Doc? It'll - BAUMEISTER: We'll think of mice - or no - a mouse could run too quickly, and hide - LAFERSKI: A - a fish, doc! Then it couldn't breathe. There wouldn't be no water! BAUMEISTER: We'll decide that later. First thing is to go and get the torch. Come on, there's no time to waste. It's growing bigger every minute! LAFERSKI: Gee, doc, I'm scared! BAUMEISTER: You're no more scared than I am, Laferski. I - I know now what Frankenstein felt like.... G O N G [17] FADE IN SOUND OF DOORBELL. NO ANSWER. RING AGAIN. NO ANSWER. RING AGAIN. PAUSE. UNLOCK DOOR AND OPEN IT ESTHER: Paul! Oh, Paul! (PAUSE) Paul! Oh, my goodness! He's gone! (WALKING AROUND THE LABORATORY) Paul! Paul, dear! Oh, bother! He must be in the other room. (SHE WALKS ACROSS THE FLOOR AND OPENS THE DOOR) BAUMEISTER: Esther, my dear! ESTHER: Oh, Paul! I called and called! BAUMEISTER: I heard you, darling. I was busy for a moment. Come in. ESTHER: What you doing? BAUMEISTER: Oh, working on an experiment. ESTHER: What kind of an experiment, darling? BAUMEISTER: Oh, too complicated an experiment for you to understand, dear. Chemicals and things. ESTHER: I could try to understand it, darling. BAUMEISTER: Oh, no. (LAUGHS) Don't bother, darling. What have you been doing? ESTHER: Oh, shopping. BAUMEISTER: Well, sit down and tell me about it. ESTHER: I got you a new tie. BAUMEISTER: Did you? How nice! ESTHER: Want to see it? BAUMEISTER: Oh, I'd rather have you sit on my lap and tell me you love me. ESTHER: Oh, Paul... BAUMEISTER: Won't you, dear? ESTHER: Why - you're so different today, darling... [18] BAUMEISTER: Different - what do you mean? HIS VOICE BECOMES A LITTLE THICKER ESTHER: Why, Paul... BAUMEISTER: Come and sit on my - lap - dear - ESTHER: Paul, I - what's the matter - (SHE SCREAMS) AND OLD AMOEBA GOES SLURP SLURP SLURP. HER SCREAMS ARE MUFFLED AND FINALLY DIE DOWN BEHIND THE SLURPING SOUNDS INTO G O N G A DOOR OPENS. BAUMEISTER: Come in, hurry, Laferski! LAFERSKI: Gotta get this hose all in... BAUMEISTER: Here. Set the oxygen tank down here. (SOUND) That's it. LAFERSKI: You know how to hook this thing up, Doc? BAUMEISTER: Yes. Here - fasten this hose on there. That's it. SOUND OF CLINKING METAL ETC. LAFERSKI: Now what? BAUMEISTER: Fasten the nozzle on here...that's the way...Now - LAFERSKI: Doc, I'm awful scared... BAUMEISTER: It'll all be over in a minute...why, there's - there's Esther's purse! I - LAFERSKI: Gosh, doc! BAUMEISTER: I wonder - oh, I wonder if - LAFERSKI: Oh, doc - BAUMEISTER: Come on - pick up that tank. I'll take this one. Quick! THEY HURRY ACROSS THE FLOOR. OPEN THE DOOR [19] ESTHER: Oh, you found my purse, did you, Paul? BAUMEISTER: Esther! I was - I was so afraid - ESTHER: (LAUGHS) Afraid of what, dear? BAUMEISTER: I - I - oh, Esther - ESTHER: Darling, you're so funny! BAUMEISTER: You - you haven't been in that room - ESTHER: What room, darling? BAUMEISTER: That one there - ESTHER: Oh. No, I wasn't in there, dear. Haven't you got a kiss for me? LAFERSKI: (SCREAMS) Doc - doc - look! On the floor there! BAUMEISTER: What - LAFERSKI: A skeleton! Skeleton! BAUMEISTER: Oh... LAFERSKI: Look - she's turning to a skeleton too! Oh, doc, doc - what - BAUMEISTER: It's got her - it's got her - the amoeba! SLURP SLURP GOES THE AMOEBA LAFERSKI: It got her - it got her, doc - BAUMEISTER: Oh, Esther - Esther darling - ESTHER: What's the matter, dearest - BAUMEISTER: Dearest - oh, Esther, Esther, I thought - LAFERSKI: Stay away from it, doc! Don't go near it - a mouse - doc, think of a mouse - SQUEAK SQUEAK GOES THE MOUSIE [20] BAUMEISTER: It's the Amoeba - quick - the fire - the fire, Laferski - it's got us...it's got us... VOICE: (DEEP, COMMANDING) You thought to create life, Paul Baumeister - you created it, but you cannot control it. I am your master. I am your doom - LAFERSKI: You are not! You're a - BAUMEISTER: Esther - Esther - ESTHER: Darling Paul... LAFERSKI: No, no, doc - don't go near her - BAUMEISTER: Esther - dearest Esther - it got you - it got you - ESTHER: Come to me, dearest...Paul, my lover... BAUMEISTER: Esther! (HE SCREAMS) AND THE AMOEBA GOES SLURP SLURP SLURP WITH THE DOC SCREAMING UNTIL HE'S ALL EATEN UP. LAFERSKI IS WHINING AND CRYING - AND THEN! BAUMEISTER: (PLEASANTLY) What's the matter, Laferski, my boy? LAFERSKI: Doc! Doc! What happened - BAUMEISTER: Why, nothing happened, Laferski - here, give me your hand - LAFERSKI: No, no - you're not him - you're not the doc! BAUMEISTER: Why, you fool, I - SLURP SLURP ETC LAFERSKI: I know you, you devil - (SOBBING) I know you - I'll kill you - you - you devil - you - I'll kill you - you killed doc - BAUMEISTER: It's no use, Laferski. Don't try to use that torch. It won't work at all, I assure you. [21] LAFERSKI: Won't it, honest, doc - (HE SCREAMS) Fool me, would you! You're scared of the fire! You - you - GUBBY VOICE: Think of a demon, Laferski - think of a terrible demon - ten feet tall - (THE VOICE RISES IN INTENSITY) A demon, Laferski. LAFERSKI: I will not! I won't! You're an amoeba. You're not - ESTHER: Stanley, my dear - I love you...I've forgotten Paul - Stanley, be mine, my darling - LAFERSKI: I'll fix you - I'll fix you - fire - that's what'll fix you - fire - GUBBY VOICE: No - no - think of horrible things - think of demons - BAUMEISTER: It's no use, Laferski - ESTHER: I love you, Stanley. LAFERSKI: No - no - no - I've got it - fire! Fire - that's what'll kill you! Fire - ha! Hahahahahaha! WITH A ROAR THE OXY-ACETYLENE TORCH STARTS ESTHER: (SCREAMS) No - no, Stanley - BAUMEISTER: Stop it, Laferski - LAFERSKI: Kill you - kill you - THE SLURPING NOISES START LAFERSKI: Kill you - fire - kill you - AND THE SLURPING NOISES DISSOLVE INTO THE HISS OF MELTING PROTOPLASM. LAFERSKI: Die - die - die - ESTHER: (DYING) Oh, Stanley..I love... BAUMEISTER: La-fer-ski...don't... SLURP SLURP SLURP AS IT DIES G O N G [22] ANNOUNCER: Lights Out, which is especially written for radio, comes to you each Wednesday night at this time from our Chicago studios. LC:1:00 P.M. 12/2/35 _____________________________________ Originally broadcast: 4 December 1935 Home