[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
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