 of a mysterious traveler. This is the mysterious traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the realm of the strange and the terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip and it will thrill you a little and chill you a little. So settle back and get a good grip on your nerves. If you can, where are we going? By tonight we're going on a little excursion into the realm of pure imagination. You've all heard the old saying, believe in a thing enough and it'll come true. Well, suppose... just suppose many people came to believe in something... something that couldn't possibly be real. Such as an artificial monster growing in a scientist's laboratory. What would happen? If you want to know what might happen, listen to the story I call in a rambling old house deep in the woods. In a homemade laboratory, gray-haired Professor Jonathan Davis is peering eagerly into a large glass container that holds an odd transparent jelly-like substance. Ellen! Oh, Ellen! Yes, sir? Ellen, come quick. I'm selling, dear. What is it? Ellen, look. I think... I think I've succeeded, have I? Yes. You look, your eyes are better than mine. Yes. Isn't there movement in the protoplasm this time? Isn't it staring just a little? No, dear. There isn't any movement. No? You're positive, Ellen. I was sure I saw some sign of light. I'm quite positive, dear. Now, please, won't you admit that what you're trying to do is impossible? No, Ellen. No, I will succeed. I know it. Now come, we've got to try another feeding mixture. Hand me the salient solution of the extras now to get a solution. But while Professor Davis labored in his lonely seclusion to make a lifelong dream come true, something that was to affect him vitally was happening in the editorial room of the largest newspaper in the nearby city. Silly desk, Benson speaking. Oh, hello, Mr. McGuire. Yes? Well, yes, sure. I've been reading Dan Duncan's special features. I edit them. I see. You don't think they've been colorful enough lately, huh? Well, to tell the truth, I agree with you. I've been meaning to speak to him about it. Yes. Sure, I'll do it now. He just came in. Right. Right. Good night, Mr. McGuire. Hey, Dan. Yeah, John. What cooks? A big boy has just flown down. What's he want? Well, frankly, he thinks you're slipping. McGuire thinks I'm slipping? Well, I like that. That's what he said. And I've done everything to get hot material, except to go out and commit a murder myself. Well, maybe he's tired of murders. He won't know why you don't turn up something like that haunted house story he did last spring. Why are you done? That was a good story, wasn't it? It was on it. Yeah. Especially the description of the way the ghost of the drowned girl walked around the house leaving wet spots where it stepped. You know, I caught a heck of a cold walking around in wet socks to make those foot marks. No more than you deserve for faking a story. Yeah, faking a story. Listen, Benson, any time a million readers believe a story, it's true. And they believed in that ghost. Everyone of them. I'm not saying they didn't, but McGuire wants another story, just as good. Ah, I've got a good mind to tell the old buzzard to fly a kite. Another story like... Hey. Huh? What is it? I think I got it. Hey, Ted. Ted Jones. Oh, yeah, Dan? Final center. Ah. Yeah, what is it, Dan? All right, dump your camera on the desk and sit. Okay. Now tell me, what was that story you told me last week about some professor living up in the woods back at town? Never coming out of his private lab? Oh, you mean, uh, Professor Davis? Yeah, I saw one. Yeah. Oh, what about him? There was a fuss over something he said in the lecture one day, wasn't there? A fuss? Oh, it was more like an explosion. Hey, wait a minute. I remember that case. The professor claimed he could create an artificial man, wasn't it? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. He said that an artificial man might be produced someday. Uh, it might be. Well, the paper said he claimed he could create one. Yeah, I know. Well, that made a good story, didn't it? And drove Professor Davis out of the university into retirement. Oh, the school didn't like the publicity. Water under the bridge, kid. Anyway, here's the old professor working away secretly for the last five years. All alone? No, no, he wasn't all alone. His daughter Ellen's with him. How old is she? Whoa. She was 15 then, so... She's 20 now. Good looking? Oh, I was in Professor Davis's class. I remember as a skinny brat with yellow hair. Yeah, good, a blonde. So here's the prof secretly working with his beautiful blonde daughter. At what? All right. What? Why, he's trying to prove he was right. He's trying to create an artificial man. Say, you've got something there. Oh, no, wait a minute. You don't know Professor Davis is trying to create artificial light? Probably soon will. You know where his hideout is, don't you? Yeah. All right, then grab your camera. Let's get going. Oh, no, wait a minute, Dan. Suppose you find Professor Davis is done. Oh, I forget it. Benson, save me two collops. Come on, Ted. We're on our way. It's done. Now we must warm it ever so gently. It'll stay at blood heat until morning. And then Ellen... Oh, I hope so, Dad. But, darling, if you fail again, won't you please promise me to stop trying to create this artificial protoplasm? Well, we'll talk about that in the morning. Now, who could that be? I'll go see Dad. Yes? I'm Ted Jones, Miss Davis. I don't suppose you remember me. Ted Jones? Oh, you were one of Father's students, weren't you? Yes, that's right. I'm a newspaper photographer now. Could we come in? I have a friend with me, a reporter. And who is it? Newspaper men, Dad. They want to see you. Newspaper men, don't let them in. Send them away. I come now, Professor. We just want to ask you a couple of questions, but we can talk better inside, so... There. Now we can talk like friends. Hey, but, Dan, we weren't invited in. How dare you force your way in here? Get out, both of you. Please go. Dan, come on. Professor Davis doesn't want to talk to us. Keep your shirt on, Ted. Just a couple of questions, Professor. Now isn't it true that hidden away here, you're creating artificial life? I won't answer your questions. You just print more lies and ruin everything I'm trying to do. Then you are creating artificial life, huh? Young men, I... Tell me how far you've gotten. You're figuring on springing an artificial man on us one of these days? You fools. While I still struggle to create synthetic product plasma, you talk of artificial men. Go, go, before I throw you out. Please, go, please. Come on, Dan, we're leaving. Okay, we're going. Thanks for the interview, Professor. Read all about it in tomorrow's curtain. The imbeciles? What do they know of science? All they want is to cheapen my work, make it a sensation for the headlines. Please, Father, you must get control of yourself. They've gone now. Yes, yes, dear. Are they shining to feel with my work? Well, come, we must adjust the heat. Ellen, Ellen. Yes, Dad, what is it? Ellen, the mixture's moving. This time I'm sure of it. The protoplasm, it's a lie. Man, this is something. Behind bolded doors deep in the woods, Professor Jonathan Davis toils night and day to create the world's first synthetic man. In a great vat lies a strange caricature of humanity. It has a head, arms, legs, a body, all of them fashioned of a pale green substance like gelatin. Nice touch, huh? Day by day life stirs more strongly in this grotesque creation of science. Someday it may breathe, walk, eat. Now, look, Dan, aren't you going pretty strong? Ah, forget it. The old man wants a story, doesn't he? Besides, the professor really is working on synthetic protoplasm. Maybe he has got a pale green monster in his bathtub. How do I know? Okay, Dan, but if you're faking this story, I know nothing about it faking it. You know I never fake stories. Okay, we'll set this up and put it in the press wires. By noon tomorrow, 40 million people will be believing in Professor Davis's artificial monster. By noon tomorrow, I'll be believing in it myself. People read the story and marveled and believed while in the laboratory hidden in the woods. Oh, look, this time, this time it is alive. It is. There can be no doubt of it. Well, look, it's certainly moving, Dan. Yes, it is. And the protoplasm is breathing. You can hear it. I've created artificial light, Ellen. Look, I'm afraid, sir, Dan. Afraid? So what do you mean? I'd like to see your faces down at the university when they hear this. It's grown since last night. Yes, it has. The cell is a mother's line. I prove protoplasma. That's why I transferred it to the staff tank. Now I'm at that salt, acid, phosphorus. Oh, that must be gross, you boy. Excuse me, Dan. Oh, you. Miss Davis, I hope that you'll let me apologize. We have nothing to say to you. Please don't shut the door before I explain. Explain? There's nothing to explain. You force your way in here. I came to apologize for that, is it? Well, have you seen the morning paper? We're not interested in the paper. I'm afraid you'll be interested in this one. Look. Oh, how outrageous. That story of your father creating an artificial man is in every paper in the country. And I, well, I feel I'm to blame. And I want to make up for it. Can't I come in so we can talk? I guess you'd better, Mr. Jones. But Dad mustn't see this paper. Oh, no, no, of course not. Won't he recognize me? No, I don't think so. He's very near sighted. I'll just tell him that you used to be one of his students. And if you'll tell me the real truth, I'll try to get the paper to understand that Dan Duncan just made up his story. Who is it, Ellen? Uh, it's Ted Jones, Dad, one of your former students. He called to say hello. Hello. Jones, hey. Hey, Ted Jones. Oh, yes, yes, of course. Organic chemistry, wasn't it, Jones? Oh, yes, sir. Yes. You're the one who kept breaking things. Oh, Jones, I have something here. You'll be very interested in. Come and see. Yes, sir. It is alive. A synthetic protoplasm, my boy, is the first ever created. It's breathing, isn't it? It's also growing. It tries to become stronger by the moment. It's changing color, Dad. It's becoming a pale green. Yes, it's growing fast. Very fast. One of a green. It's like the color of a peatlet. Hi, it's Dan. I thought I'd find you here. Hi, Dan. Dan Duncan himself. Hi, Professor. What do you want here? Oh, just a few pictures. A shot of you in your lab, so far. You have the nerve to come here after what you've done. Well, I've done. You haven't seen anything yet. You and your father are big news now. You're going to be bigger. Dan, you'd better go. Better go? I don't follow you, kid. I said you'd better go. There isn't any story here for you. No story? Hey, what's eating you? Aren't you here to get a follow-up? No, I came here to get the truth. Something you wouldn't be interested in. Hey, what kind of talk is that? Are you going to go? Or will I have to throw you out? Throw me out. Now listen, kid. You want me to try it? All right, I will. All right. Okay. Okay, I'm going. Take your hands off of me. But don't think you can get away with this. You're fired. And that's all right with me. And it's for you, Professor. You and your artificial man are going to be so well-known in a day or two. You'll be getting offers from Hollywood. So, with each edition of the papers, the headlines grew bigger. The telegraph wires carried editorials condemning Professor Davis. Radio commentators spread the story to still more listening millions. It wasn't for your father, all right. And I brought the evening papers too. What did they say? Pretty bad. They're all using Duncan's story and he shot the works. Kid, how can he do such a thing? He's a very plausible writer. He has a knack for making people believe him. If anybody accuses him of lying, you'll just say that he was misled by your father. I see. I'm sorry you lost your job trying to help us. That doesn't matter. I was about ready to quit anyway. How is your father now? He seems to be sleeping quietly. Well, I'm sticking around until he's all right again. Well, you don't have to do that. Ted, I'll make out. If I hadn't gotten to that fight with Duncan, your father might not have had his stroke. No, it was just the excitement. It's his heart, but I know how to take care of him. But, Ted, I'm frightened. About your father? No. No, about it. The protoplasm. Oh. It's changed just since this morning. It's changed? But how? It's grown and... Well, come on, see for yourself. All right. It looks like green gelatin. The way Duncan described it. And look, it's a vague shape like a head and the rough outline of arms and legs. Oh. Oh, it isn't possible. It shouldn't be, but it's happening. Something terrible is taking place inside that glass tank. I don't understand. Your father certainly never intended to create this. You know, all afternoon I've been wondering if father really has created it. I don't follow you, Ellen. You mean... You mean some outside force might be responsible? Ted, you know the old saying, believe in a thing or nothing will come true. Yes, of course. Well, I think that's true. The power of belief is a tremendous thing. People begin to believe that well, that there's going to be a depression and there is a depression. But, Ellen... They begin to believe that strangers and foreigners are enemies and pretty soon they are enemies. They believe there's going to be a war and war comes. Well, that's true, but what are you getting at? How many people are reading Dan Duncan's story this very minute, right now, while we're talking? Hundreds of thousands, probably, all over the nation. Maybe a million. And they all believe it's true. Well, a good many of them. Yes, Dan has a genius for being plausible. Then don't you see, Ted? Here in this laboratory is the necessary material for a monster. And out there are all those people believing in such a fantastic monster. You mean...you mean a million people are thinking life into the photo class? Yes, Ted. I know it sounds fantastic, but that monster was never created by my father. Dan Duncan created it when he wrote about it. Well, that's true. There's no other answer. Over there in that glass tank is something that's alive only because millions of people believe it's alive. No, it is alive. There's no telling what it may become. Tell them we have to destroy it. It'll break Dad's heart, but we can't let it live. It's going bigger by the minute. We've got to get rid of it now before it grows any larger. There's acid in those bottles there. That'll destroy it. All right. Yeah, yeah, I see. Be careful, Ted. It can bring you dreadfully. Ellen, Ellen, what's happening? What are you doing? Dan, telling you're supposed to be in bed. I'm feeling better. I wanted to see how the protoflasm was. Please go back to bed, Dad. Your heart. Oh, my heart's all right, but I must be sure. Oh, it's changed. It's taken on a form. Yes, Professor, a monstrous unnatural form. It has a head, arms, legs. But it can't have. It's only protoplasm. It's all impossible. Unfortunately, it's true. I can't explain now, but we've got to destroy it. No, no, the combination of my life's work. You can't destroy it. We must, Dad. No, no, I won't let you. It's the only thing to do. Professor, look at it. It's crawling around inside the tank now. It's trying to climb out. But it can't be dangerous. It's just harmless protoplasm. Dad, Dad is right. You've got to let us kill it. It's just protoplasm, I tell you. It was just protoplasm. Stand back, Professor. I'm going to empty this acid on you. No, no, you mustn't. I will... Dad! Dad! It's a tank and broken. Does he hurt, Dad? Oh, I'll see. I've got to get him out of here. I can't find his pulse. Let me try. How can I get pictures? I can't even get into the place. I don't care. Just get them. You want me to bust in the window, I suppose. Let your conscience be your guide. And I know you haven't got a conscience. Let's make it fast. I want those shots for the late morning edition. All right. I'm going with that camera in one hand and a bunch of skeleton keys on the other. It's through the lab. It's been doing that for an hour now. Look how enormous it's grown. Suppose it tries to come up these tears to this balcony. Well, it may not. It has no eyes and no intelligence. It's just protoplasm, blindly seeking foots. But suppose it does try to come up the stairs. Well, then we'll start it. I have the gun here that I found in your father's desk. I'll use that on her. I don't think it would even feel a bullet. Well, we'll see. It's on the other side of the lab now in plain sight. Stand back, dear, and I'll try a couple of shots. You didn't even notice? No. Well, we could only reach those bottles of acid. That would fix it. But every time we've started down the stairs, it's rushed over to wait for us. It must feel the vibration. But I'm going to take one more try. Ted, please be careful. Yes, I will. Perhaps I can avoid attracting its attention this time. Lying quiet as if it was listening. I had a few seconds more. It's my foot, but I wasn't interested in getting any better acquainted. What are we going to do now? I don't know. It can be controlled from up here, can't it? Oh, yes, but what good would that do? Well, in the dark, it might become inactive. Some elementary organisms are like that. Well, we can try it. Okay, I'll turn out the lights. There. Pitch black now. But it's still moving around. Well, just wait a moment. Someone's coming in the front door. There's someone in the left. But who is? Is that you, Dan? I'm going as soon as I get a picture of this joint. But, Dan, you don't understand. It's loose. Get away quick. I'll turn on that one. Yes, Ted. You can't scare me, kid. I came to get a picture, and I'm going to get it. Get it! Well, come on. It's not moving anymore. It's not breathing either. It's starting to melt away. It's dissolving. Now that it's dead, it's turning back into the liquid it started from. The substance that the belief of millions gave an unreal life to. Well, it's gone back to a liquid now. There's nothing left of it. It's gone as if it had never existed. Except for Dan Duncan. Oh, Jesus. There's nothing we can do for him. He created the monster. Well, maybe it's true about believing in things and making them happen. Wars and depressions and the artificial monsters and things like that. I think I'll make a New Year's resolution to be careful what I believe in 1947. No more believing in bogeymen or spooks. I might meet one. Instead, I'll try believing in some of the nicer things for a change. Such as peace and goodwill among nations. Well, if I can get enough people to join me, maybe they'll come true and... Oh, you'll have to get off here. I'm sorry. But I'm sure we'll meet again. I take this same train every week at this time. The Mysterious Traveller. A series of dramas of the strange and terrifying. In today's cast were Maurice Toplund, Chuck Webster, Louise Fitch, Wendell Holmes, Edgar Staley, and Bill Smith. Original music was played by Doc Whipple. The Mysterious Traveller is written, produced and directed by Bob Arthur and David Cogart.