| from The
Phantom From 10,000 Leagues (1956)
Daughter: I’ve never seen you this
detached from me – from reality.
Scientist: I’m working on breathtaking things, Lois!
Great things!
Daughter: And you still won’t tell me what it is?
Scientist: Not yet.
Daughter: You’ve got your own staff consumed with curiosity.
Even your secretary has asked me if I know what it is you’re doing behind that
tightly locked lab of yours!
Scientist: She’s a sneaking, prying female! I should fire
her! And I suppose George is quizzing you, too?
Daughter: A little. I think he feels a deep resentment because you
cut him off from your work so.
Scientist: He’s an opportunist, not a scientist!
[I find that working inside a lab is a bit more productive….]
Investigator: Oh, you’d be surprised to
know how well Washington knows you! Care to hear how famous you are? "Dr Stevens,
oceanographer. One of the leaders in his field. Author of two highly controversial books,
‘Biological Effects Of Radiation On Marine Life’ and ‘Nature’s Own
Death-Ray’."
Scientist: You have been busy, Mr Grant!
Investigator: There’s more! "Dr Stevens, in a laboratory
experiment, successfully activated the hydrogen isotopes in heavy water to form an atomic
chain reaction. He called this development the first workable death-ray." Suppose you
tell me what you were doing with that Geiger counter?
Scientist: Well, I told you I thought the boat showed radiation
burns. I wanted to verify it. I did. Scientific curiosity, you might say!
Janitor: You know what they’re saying in
town? That nothing like this ever happened until they opened this school here!
Janitor: It ain’t normal – this
carrying on!
Older scientist’s daughter: You seem a
little nervous, Mr Baxter!
Younger scientist: Why don’t you call me ‘Ted’?
‘Mr Baxter’ seems so formal, especially here at the beach!
First scientist: I saw a fisherman’s body
washed up on the shore last night.
Second scientist: These men get very careless. They think they
rule the sea, but it’s just the opposite! The sea rules us!
First scientist: You say you made a close
examination of this light?
Second scientist: Not as close as I would have liked! It was being
guarded by a – a sea serpent! A hideous beast that defies description!
Second scientist: Oh, doctor, if I didn’t know you were a
scientist of high standards, I’d say you were a victim of the ridiculous
‘Phantom’ stories that are running wild around the village!
First scientist: Since marine life lives in a
constant flow of heavy water, the effect of radiation on it would be completely different
than it is on humans.
Second scientist: That’s your theory on mutations, isn’t
it, doctor?
First scientist: Yes. And if what I believe is true, this monster
that I saw in the ocean was a mutation of some sea creature. You see, it draws its energy
from the nuclear light itself, just as plant life needs the sun to grow on!
Second scientist: Well, have you any evidence to support this fantastic
theory of yours?
First scientist: I created such a mutant in my own laboratory!
Second scientist: Oh, come now, doctor!
First scientist: I destroyed it, just as this creature must be
destroyed! And the knowledge that went into creating it!
Scientist: Ethel, I consider you an intelligent
woman. A bit bitter, perhaps. No great lover of mankind. But still, intelligent….
Male traitor: Where will I find you?
Female spy: I’ll be spending most of my time soaking up a
little sun at Colby’s Point. That’s where we used to meet, remember?
Male traitor: I remember. For quite a while we were just a man and
a woman. I didn’t know then that they could put beauty and poison together so
cleverly in one package!
Female spy: Ha, ha, ha!
Scientist: Dr Stevens is a very bright young
man. Sometimes I think he’s too bright!
Daughter: Too bright? I don’t understand what you mean!
Scientist: Oh, just an old coot thinking out loud!
[Being ‘too bright’ is obviously not an affliction that runs in this
family….]
Scientist: You know, science is a devouring
mistress! She devours all who seek to fathom her mysteries. And for every secret she
reveals, she demands a price – a price that a scientist must be prepared to pay. Even
at the cost of his life – or the life of others who stand in the way of his search!
Daughter: You say that almost as though you were threatening me!
Scientist: You? Ha, ha, ha! What nonsense!
Scientist: Knowledge sometimes has jaws, like a
steel trap! And it can destroy either the hunter or the hunted!
Daughter: You frighten me when you talk like that!
Janitor: Do you mean to say that’s one of
God’s creatures?
Scientist: No, Andy, that’s one of man’s follies –
and I pray to God there’ll never be another!
Older scientist’s daughter: I know he
meant this power to help humanity, not destroy it!
Younger scientist: I’m sure he did. And he paid for
his mistake. Nature has many secrets that man mustn’t disturb. This was one of
them! |
