Out of the Unknown (1965) s01e03 Episode Script
Stranger In The Family
1 [theme music plays.]
[birds chirping.]
[car drives past.]
[birds chirping.]
[honking.]
[traffic humming.]
[Boy.]
Go away.
Go away.
Leave me alone.
Go away.
Go away, will you? [brakes screech.]
[screeching, crashing.]
[bell ringing.]
[driver.]
He walked right under me.
Right under my wheels he walked.
He didn't look.
He just walked under me [groans, wretches.]
[dog barking.]
[children's voices.]
[panting.]
[child laughing.]
[baby crying.]
[train approaching.]
[cutlery clattering.]
Where do you think you've been? I asked where you'd been! I asked you a question! Wash your hands before supper.
How often must you be told never to go out alone? Do you want us to be forced to move home again? Do you? - Iâm talking to you.
- Oh, Charles.
Don't raise your voice.
There's no harm done.
Let's have supper and forget it.
[groans.]
There was a man following me.
What happened? I made him leave me.
Well? I think he was killed.
How? I didn't mean to hurt him.
He walked into the road and a lorry knocked him over.
- Then it was an accident? - Yes.
Nobody could blame you for that.
There is another one of them downstairs.
How do you know? Was he with the man who was killed? - Did he see what happened? - I don't think so.
[doorbell rings.]
When I reached the flats, he was waiting on the steps.
I suppose we will have to move again.
Oh, God! - Yes? - Itâs a bit of cheek really.
I wonder if you could spare a drop of milk? Oh, my name is Brown, Iâve just moved in next door.
- Milk? - Itâs too late for the shops.
I can let you have it back tomorrow.
- Iâll see.
- Thanks.
Oh, it's all right, darling.
It's, er This is Mr.
Brown My wife.
- How do you do Mrs.
er - Wilson.
Mr.
Brown would like to borrow some milk.
- Certainly.
- Thank you.
Sorry to barge in while you're in the middle of supper.
We hadn't started.
Nice flats, aren't they? Nice view.
[traffic humming.]
Balcony and everything.
I reckon I was dead lucky getting that place next door.
I hadn't realised it was empty.
Oh, I know a chap who knows a chap, who knows a chap.
The word gets around in my line of business.
This looks interesting.
- A hobby? - My son's.
Gross Fertilisation.
Mendelism, forecasts and results.
He's still at school, then? No.
I help him occasionally.
You're in this line yourself? Yes, Iâm a lab assistant at a Secondary Modern school.
Important job.
Itâs one step above the caretaker.
Elm Bank is a fine school.
Our whole future is in the hands of the scientists.
It beats me how you can bear the responsibility.
And your boy's following in your footsteps.
- His soup's getting cold.
- He'll come when he's hungry.
He's old enough to look after himself.
- How old is he? - Eighteen.
Now is there anything else you'd like to know? Parentage, politics, blood group, Being neighbours, I was interested Iâm sorry Is that enough? Thank you, that's fine.
Iâll return it tomorrow.
Please don't bother.
They never stop trying, do they? [Evans.]
But this case is going to take its own time.
All we can do is follow it Exactly, sir.
By which time we may all very well be dead.
Hall.
A stupid accident.
At least it must have been instantaneous It would not have happened if he had followed instructions Oh, yes, sir.
Another man was ready to take over.
[Brown, on voice recorder.]
This looks interesting.
Hobby? [Charles, on voice recorder.]
My son's.
[Brown.]
Gross Fertilisation.
Mendelism, forecasts and results.
He's still at school, then? [Charles.]
No.
I help him occasionally.
[Brown.]
Oh, you in this line yourself? [Charles.]
Yes, Iâm a lab assistant at a Secondary Modern school.
[Brown.]
Important job.
[Charles.]
Itâs one step above the caretaker.
[Brown.]
Elm Bank is a fine school.
How are the plants coming on along, Charles? Cross-fertilisation.
Do you know, that's something Iâve never thought much about.
No joy? Looks as though we'll be walking up again.
Ah I suppose you'll be going to university next, eh, Charles? I would like to, Mr.
Brown.
I never had the chance, more's the pity.
You didn't have the brain either, Mr.
Brown.
[chuckles.]
Yes, yes.
Quite right.
Seriously though, Charles.
Why don't you drop in for a chat some time? Iâd be very interested to hear about your experiment.
I was discussing it with your father the other day, and he was telling me [tapping.]
Why this experiment again? We've been through it all so often.
Cross a giant bean with a dwarf bean.
Result, a hybrid.
The seeds of the hybrid produce one quarter pure dwarf, one quarter pure giant, and one half hybrid.
It happens every time.
Iâm waiting for the one that's different.
That's highly improbable.
Like me? I happened.
- Why? Why am I different? - I don't know.
Iâm a mutant.
Iâm an improbability that happened.
I want to know how.
You will have to wait a long time.
Your accident at Harvard How could that have affected me? I know I make mistakes.
I try not to, but it is natural for me to use my will.
Then we have to move again.
So I have to be insulated against the world.
Whatever we do is for your own good.
And what about my children? Will they have to be looked after too? They will be like me.
Like me.
A sharp cry breaks the shell, and the flowers I can't talk.
I must think.
Listen, Boy.
Outside there swarm the ordinary millions.
When they stumble across something they're not used to, they panic.
They destroy.
I don't want you to be destroyed.
This one will be different.
How do you know? It feels purple.
Or not really purple, but you'd understand purple better than, a coiled spring laughing, or Itâs a different world for these, of course.
The colours call, and the flashes of bar waves [train whistling.]
He must have gone out again.
Oh, Charles, Iâm frightened.
[Charles.]
For him? Or of him? My own son My own darling son.
You said you knew him well.
Yes you did.
You said Iâd got the job.
Not Well All I said-- [sighs.]
He didn't know who you were.
God, I felt a fool.
He obviously didn't get my letter.
I wrote to him-- You're lying.
- I am not lying.
- Why say it? To impress me? - You call yourself an agent.
- I wish I was just your agent.
I do the best I can with what you've got.
- You need me, more than-- - I don't need you.
I can sell myself, thank you.
On a postcard in the newsagent's window? Yes.
If I'm a whore, you're a pimp.
A pimp.
[shouting.]
Get your hands off me! - Hop it.
- Leave her alone.
Get back to your ice-cream cornet.
- Leave her.
- Buzz off.
Go away.
Look, sonny.
Do you want your bottom smacked? Go on, go away.
You're not allowed in here anyway.
Go away.
Yeah, well, the air's fresher outside anyway.
Thank you.
Same again, please.
[church bell chimes.]
Iâve been watching you.
I want to talk with you.
- Has he really gone? - He had to.
You must have a way with you.
What's your name? Paula Wilde.
Iâm an actress.
Haven't you seen me on television? No.
âPussyfish.
Pussyfish for pretty pussies.
â And I toss a fish to the pretty pussy.
My name is Charles.
Charles Wilson.
- My parents call me Boy.
- Oh, Boy.
Here, Boy.
Good Boy.
Perhaps Sonny could fix a commercial.
I could toss a bone to you.
Can we spend the evening together? What? You're joking.
- You're too young.
- Please.
Hmm? Come on, Iâll buy you a drink.
Sonny's going to be furious.
[indistinct bar room chatter.]
Iâll have a large gin, please.
And - Oh, half a bitter, please.
- Half a bitter for my son.
[Paula.]
Mind your head.
Here we are.
Miss Paula Wilde's penthouse.
Itâs handy.
Straight from the cooker to the table.
Or just straight from the cooker if you're in a hurry.
The bathroom's through there.
The bedroom's through there, but that's not an invitation.
Why did I bring you here? Come and have a cup of coffee.
[stove lighting up.]
May I kiss you? You're very young.
Very pretty.
[squeals, exhales.]
Come on.
[pots clanging.]
- What? - Your hands.
[trembling, gasping.]
Your nails.
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't make any difference.
[gasping.]
Iâm sorry.
Let me explain.
You can't help the way you're made.
Will you stay still and let me explain? Iâm sorry.
Please will you stay still! I don't want to hurt your feelings.
Stay still.
[Boy.]
Kiss me.
See? It doesn't make any difference.
[Paula.]
You made me.
You made me.
You made me kiss you.
- You made me kiss you.
- Miss Wilde.
- You made me kiss you.
- Please be quiet.
Be quiet! Keep quiet! [muted screams, silence.]
What on earth's going on down here, with all that noise? What's been happening? Miss Wilde? [agonised screams.]
[Charles.]
Stick your head in a noose for a girl like that? I expected a son of mine to have more self-control.
- And more sense.
- I didn't know what to say.
Oh I only hope she's too big a fool to use what she knows.
Bring the sugar.
[incoherent conversation in next room.]
Drink up.
[groans.]
l I couldn't help it.
Can't say 'no', can you, pussy? I wanted him to go, wanted to get rid of him.
But he said, âKiss meâ.
All he said was âKiss meâ, and I had to He could have made me do anything.
Iâve warned you about playing with strange boys.
I couldn't scream.
They turn nasty when you change the game.
You know what he can do, don't you? He made you leave the pub.
That's why you came straight over when I phoned.
What do you mean? ln the pub.
He told you to leave.
If anybody else had done that, you'd have kicked them in the teeth.
But you just went.
I just felt like leaving.
I was fed up with rowing with you.
Sonny, you know he can do it.
I know he can do it.
If he'd told me to go and cut my throat, Iâd have done it.
Nobody could do that.
- Hypnotism? - No.
How does he do it, then? However he does it, pussy, you ought to take lessons.
âGive your pussy her Pussyfish.
â I could sell you then, pussy.
You could write your own contracts.
Why, if anybody could do that Where does he live? I don't know.
Why? I don't really believe it.
But you never know.
[shuddering.]
He's not normal.
- We ought to tell the police.
- No! I might be making a fool of myself.
So, what? What have I got to lose? - You'll help, won't you? - Help? He likes you.
Fetch him back.
Let him touch me again? He's attractive, pleasant voice Well, you never know, pussy.
This might be something really big.
- Want some? - Yes, thanks.
They drove away in her car and I lost them.
There'll be a next time - Pepper? - Mmm.
if she's what he wants.
And I rather suspect she is.
Yeah.
The family is scared.
But then I suppose they must always be scared of something.
Why do they call him âBoyâ? What is he? Something Something rare and wonderful.
At present, we don't know how rare or just how wonderful.
- Remember Hitler? - Iâm old enough.
Every now and then, history throws up a man with unusual powers of persuasion.
On his account, steady-willed, strong-minded men behave out of character irrationally.
Remember Napoleon? Or Joan of Arc? Iâm not that old.
[light chuckling.]
There's the Don Juan legend.
The ability to influence another mind must be there in the brain.
Rather like our powers of reasoning.
But imagine that highly developed with an extra sense.
- Then you have - Him.
But there is a great deal more to him than that.
The appendix, the tonsils are two physical organs that we don't need but they give us a lot of trouble.
There are vast areas of the brain equally outdated useful only when we lived in caves.
From our observations, I would say that he was born without these defunct handicaps and that he is really a wonderfully efficient machine.
The tragedy is he is not allowed to be at present.
It is our duty to see that he is.
My bottom's getting sore sitting around.
Events may be moving towards some sort of climax.
The girl may give us our opportunity.
[birds chirping.]
[Boy speaking, indistinctly.]
Look, Iâll show you what else I can do.
Right.
Cycling [excitedly.]
Tommy Simpson, leader of today's yellow race He's gone from 36th to 6th position in the tour from Dax to here All the way, in the third stage, and the third lap, of the Tour de France [shouting in background.]
He fell out of the race today, because he found that he couldn't cycle any further! [excited mumbling.]
He sat on the side of the road, and wept, while he-- Stop! Stop it, I believe you.
And look! Iâll show you what else I can do.
[shouting in background continues.]
Just don't say anything, but just, think of your name.
Now don't tell me, just think of your name.
Georgina, is that right? Wait a minute, now think of your surname.
Cleary, is that right? Yes! Now, listen, Iâll tell you what your name is.
Don't tell me what it is, just think.
You're Alexander, aren't you? Yeah, that's right.
[mumbling.]
Now, don't tell me, what school do you go to? Think of it! Birdshead Secondary Modern! That's right, isn't it? Is that right? - Your name's John! - No.
Yes, it is.
You're lying.
You're trying to trick me! His name's John, isn't it? [children.]
Yes! And you're his brother, aren't you? Yeah! That's right, I can tell you're his brother.
What's your name? Don't tell me, just think.
- You're Ronald, aren't you? - Yes.
That's right, now tell me, where does your aunt live? Tell you what, what's your aunt's name? Amy? - Is that right? - Yes! She could be one of them.
A decoy.
Have you thought of that? Yes.
- She could make him leave us.
- Iâve thought of that too.
What happens to him then, for goodness' sake? He ends up in prison, or on an operating table.
- Yes.
- Oh, God I wish he was dead.
Charles, Iâve said this before.
We must go to Australia.
They need scientists.
A trained scientist would be welcome there.
It would be the same there.
[train rumbles on tracks.]
[train clunking.]
I think you ought to know something Iâm a mutant.
Mutant? Well, mutation means change.
Itâs a secret.
You won't tell anyone.
Then why tell me? Because I am different and you must know why Iâm different.
Don't tell me too much.
- I trust you.
- Then you shouldn't, Charles.
This is a hard world.
That's what Iâve learned.
You've got to be harder.
You've got to grab what's going while it lasts.
There won't be any second chances.
I learned the hard way.
Ants believe they own the world.
- Go on.
- You understand? No, but don't let it stop you.
You were telling me about yourself.
Oh, yes.
You see, dead men grow, like a great railway line, link by link because the spark holds steady from then till now and curves out as far again And shells and rocks and leaves and water in a kind of music - Will you do something for me? - What? The man you met with me the other night He's my agent.
He finds me work.
He'd like to meet you again.
Yes? All right.
Yes, well.
Perhaps I could do something for you.
I am always on the lookout for fresh talent.
That's why I'm here.
Iâve got an office in the West End naturally.
But, you see, I really believe in You have that something extra.
Personality? I felt it the other night.
No hard feelings, by the way? Drink? You might just have what Iâm looking for.
He's got more than that.
He's too intelligent for See? You've impressed Paula already.
[clears throat.]
Anybody with a knack like yours could have the commercials right there.
Right there.
Big money? You don't know what big money can do, Charlie.
It can buy dreams.
Mind you, let's not talk too fast.
Iâm not yet 100 percent convinced that you can, in fact, reach the standard Iâm looking for.
Paula tells me you've got it all, but she's biased.
- Iâd like a demonstration.
- No.
- Make me do something.
- No.
Very well, then.
Make me do something I wouldn't want to do.
- No.
- Show him, Charles.
Itâs too dangerous.
[scoffs.]
I knew he couldn't.
Miss bird-brain here.
Trying to help another lame dog.
Sonny, you know he can do it.
He doesn't have to prove it again.
[Paula whispers.]
Go on, do it again for me.
I ought to knock your silly head off.
- Walk.
- What? Walk into the bathroom.
- Make me.
- Walk.
What does that prove? Perhaps I need a wash.
Climb into the bath.
That doesn't prove anything.
I don't mind getting into a bath.
Put in the plug and turn on the taps.
[laughter.]
Honey, you can't be [water gushing.]
[Paula shrieks.]
[Sonny groans.]
Let's trying something else shall we? This is a little uncomfortable.
- Lie down! - [Paula.]
Oh, no! - Why? - You can't Look [laughter.]
[groaning.]
#Iâm singing in the bath # #Just singing in the bath # Ooh! [Paula laughing.]
[stammers.]
All right, you've made your point.
That's fine.
I believe you can do it.
[Sonny.]
Stop it! Please! Please, I demand you to stop it.
Oh, this is terrible now.
Please stop it.
Leave him.
[gurgling.]
Get up.
[water dripping.]
- Get me a drink.
- Are you all right? A drink.
Damn near drowned me.
- I knew when to stop.
- I didn't.
ln a stupid bath! You're a murderous bastard, Charlie, but you've got yourself a contract.
- I don't want a contract.
- Yes, you do.
You do.
Just like you want me.
[reporter on TV.]
Here's Lester on Royal Avenue who's owner, Mr.
Charleston George, who was dubious about risking him on this very firm ground at Ascot, but after consultation with his trainer, Lester agreed that he'd probably be all right.
You're a bit on edge, aren't you? A dangerous sign.
Iâve seen it happen before.
If only I knew what was happening next door.
He's still seeing that girl.
Lucky boy.
She's very attractive.
I have to watch and do nothing.
Watch them.
Week after week.
She advertises on television.
Iâve seen her.
They're trying to get Charles into the same business.
- Hello.
- He'll be making a film today.
- Yes.
- She's attractive Five to win.
It makes me sick to think of any girl with that creature.
Yes, to win.
- Somebody ought to warn her.
- Thank you.
She knows what she's doing.
If her operation goes wrong, she'll have to take the consequences just like the rest of us.
[TV blares in background.]
Expendable, eh? Like Hall.
He was ironed out by a lorry.
He made a mistake.
Mistakes aren't allowed.
He got caught in the street unprepared.
That was Hallâs idea.
So easy to pick up an unarmed boy.
I didn't mean that.
One shot would be enough.
That's a potential killer next door.
An alien.
It doesn't even need a gun.
If it had two green heads with horns, nobody would think twice before shooting, but because it looks human, it has to live.
I could put it out of the way myself, like squashing a spider.
I thought you'd last a little longer.
Iâll have to take you off the case.
I didn't mean that.
Iâm tired I didn't mean You stay here until I send a replacement.
But there's to be no violence.
That is an order.
I didn't mean I was tired, and seeing this girl I can't afford risks.
A life is precious.
That alien brat's life? No.
Yours.
Evans? - [Sonny.]
God, where is he? - [Paula.]
He'll come.
What if he doesn't? Iâm responsible for delivering him to the studio.
That boy could shoot my reputation to bits.
- You've thought about it? - Yes! Look, Mother, Iâm late.
She's waiting downstairs for me.
So you realise what will happen if you make this film? Yes.
They pay me a lot of money.
Itâs for you too.
Look, your face is going to become familiar.
People are going to recognise you.
Will money be so important once they know about you? Paula wants me to make the film.
When your father talks about the mob, he's not exaggerating.
When a mob panics, it can destroy.
Why else have we kept you away from the world all these years? I must do this for Paula.
She's the only one who even tries to understand me.
She's the only person who treats me like a human being.
Iâm not going to let you do this to us.
We've made too many sacrifices for you already.
[lock clicks.]
Open the door.
Mother! Open the door.
Mother, will you unlock the door? Iâm late.
Mother, unlock the door.
Unlock the door.
- He's not coming.
- He will.
Everything laid on.
Car.
I transport him wrapped in cotton wool.
All he has to do is meet us round the corner.
Where is he? Perhaps he's come to his senses.
What's bugging you? Him and a cheap commercial for cigarettes.
Commercials keep you fed.
[car horn honking.]
- Drive around the block.
- There's no point.
Itâs wrong for him There's something in him like like electricity.
It could light things Life! And what are we using it for? To sell cigarettes.
- There's money in it.
- Oh, sure.
If only you could sign up the Archangel Gabriel.
He'd go down great with detergents.
[groans.]
He's not coming.
They'll go mad at the studios.
[low knocking.]
[car horn beeps outside.]
Well, just dropped in for a chat? I have to Most visitors use the front door but I suppose that's too ordinary for you.
I was locked in.
You can't run through a chap's living room without as much as âHow's your father?â At least stop long enough to have a drink? I have friends waiting downstairs for me.
Another day.
There won't be another day as far as Iâm concerned.
Iâve been waiting weeks for this.
Still, better late than never, as they say.
I have friends waiting for me downstairs.
They won't have to wait as long as I did.
I must go.
You could make me let you go.
Couldn't you? Could I? Why don't you? Make me let you go.
Iâm in a hurry.
You couldn't? A big boy like you? - Please.
- Make me.
Make me.
There's something heavy in your pocket.
A gun? Don't let that worry you.
- The red-headed man with a gun.
- Iâm a traveller, you see.
I do a lot of travelling with valuable samples.
Gun comes in handy.
And, what happened to the red-headed man with a gun? - Did he shoot himself? - I don't know.
A man would have to be out of his mind to do a thing like that.
You don't think somebody else took a shot at him? No.
He shot himself.
Did he now? Why don't you sit down for a minute? - Iâm late.
- Take the easy chair.
Are you going to sit down? - You have a gun.
- Iâll let you into a secret.
This gun isn't loaded.
Which might prove to be a good thing, eh? I can't be persuaded to shoot myself if the gun isn't loaded.
But just to show there's no ill feeling, Iâll put it on the mantelpiece.
Charles, Iâve got something very important to tell you a matter of life and death, so will you sit down? Please.
Iâm late.
Will you please hurry! That's better.
I didn't know you had hands like that.
Didn't you? Nobody told me.
Well, well, well.
- Unusual.
- Unusual? That really does make you different.
None of the others had hands like that.
- Others? - Ah, I could be I could be shot for letting that out.
But I reckon you've a right to know.
I guess you thought you were the only one.
With your capabilities, I mean.
Capabilities? Well, let's say, for the sake of argument, that you have capabilities.
There are others with your capabilities.
They all live together in an old castle with lovely stone walls and towers, just like in a fairy tale.
Each one thought he was alone, until we brought them together.
Now wouldn't you like to join those others? Must be a lonely life on your own.
Iâm sure you'd be much happier, if you joined them.
Slipped up on that one.
- Better put it with the gun.
- Don't put it down.
- But I must.
- Hold it.
Don't put it down.
You can't put it down.
No, no.
Don't do it.
You see, I was trying to help you.
No, don't.
Not me.
Not with this stuff.
No, no-- Keep it going.
I want to have another look at this.
Itâs the last time I do anything for that Sonny chappy.
They are here, Jim.
He'd better be good after this.
Jim, Iâm terribly sorry.
I do apologise.
Hello.
- Well? - Suicide.
- Huh! - Any other theory, Swain? - The boy - Suicide.
That boy should be out of the way.
Agreed.
For his sake.
Hence my interest.
But the putting away must be legal.
After this? There's no law against being a fool ln this country, people just can't disappear.
They do.
Not with articulate parents behind them.
Wilson knows his rights.
An unorthodox bid for Boy, by me, and I get a writ of habeas corpus instead.
[recording of Boy and Mr.
Brown.]
[Boy.]
There's something heavy in your pocket.
A gun? [Brown.]
Don't let that worry you.
[Boy.]
The red-headed man with a gun.
[Brown.]
Iâm a traveller, you see.
I do a lot of travelling with valuable samples.
Gun comes in handy.
That's why the case takes time.
Every step has to be legal.
I hope Iâm not trespassing.
I missed my son, I think he may have come here.
He may have done.
Iâd like to have a few words with you, if I may, Dr.
Wilson.
- My name is Evans.
- Yes, I know.
Dr.
Evans, the professor of genetics.
Yes.
Just talk to me.
ln a few moments the camera will come in but don't pay any attention to that.
Just Just persuade me.
Understand? Persuade.
Half the fellows round here don't smoke make them.
Right.
Let him go then.
[director.]
Let's have a rehearsal.
I hate waste That's why I'm anxious the boy shouldn't be hurt.
- He's important to me.
- He's important to us.
I need your co-operation.
He is our son.
We can take care of him.
We have experience.
You're not the only ones.
Nor is your son.
There's the bookmaker's son from Durham.
A child of four from Northampton.
A little girl in Edinburgh.
All more superbly equipped than Charles.
And others.
It was a difficult business getting them into my department, and it's a complicated matter keeping them there.
But they are happy, because they are allowed to develop, freely.
Then other parents have had the same If it's any comfort to you your husband's accident in the research centre a year before your son was born had nothing to do with the child being a mutant.
How did you find him? Pure chance as in all such cases.
The medical report on the hand abnormality at birth found its way to me.
I have a complete record of your life since then.
Why is our son malformed? I beg your pardon? Why is our son malformed? You must be aware of something as elementary as the De Vries theory.
That evolution isn't a gradual process but takes leaps forward.
ln this present, precarious civilisation which we live, this mutation Iâm investigating is not without interest.
When the mutants were first persuaded to live together I noticed a struggle for supremacy going on among them.
But the conflict was entirely in the mind.
There was no physical struggle, as we know it the strongest will was the winner.
Ah.
Of course, once an order had been established, they settled down contentedly enough.
Well, there, it seems to me is nature's answer to the tendency of the human race to commit suicide.
If this, erm If this new species survives, then wars as we know them will end.
Of course, we'll be back numbers, you and I.
But at least there won't be the danger of the world being blown up.
There will be a future.
This new strain must have every chance.
That's why I need your son.
- Will you co-operate? - How? I need you to persuade him to enter my establishment.
- He'll be well looked after.
- A laboratory? We do our best to make them comfortable.
ln test tubes? Charles is a person, not a specimen.
That's an unfair and unjust judgement.
Condemn him to life imprisonment, while you While you have time to experiment on some new investigation.
What kind of parents do you think we are? Dr.
Wilson, you're a scientist.
You respect facts.
You must realise the only chance for Charles is to be looked after by an established authority.
You're talking like a white paper.
There's only one chance for Charles to survive and that in my laboratory.
I want to see what sort of man he'll make.
I want him to live that long.
Smoke Oakleaf.
Only Oakleaf is good enough for you.
Light one now.
Taste that special Oakleaf flavour.
Light an Oakleaf, now.
Now.
Now.
[laughter.]
Light an Oakleaf.
Now.
[cheering.]
[overlapping chatter.]
[Paula.]
Everybody in the studio is smoking Oakleaf.
Itâs fantastic.
[Sonny.]
Enjoy yourself? [Paula.]
How do you do it? Couldn't we take a chance? Stay on here? After all that Evans said? - What can he do? - Nothing at the moment.
All we can hope for is to give him the slip now.
At least we have experience and the law on our side.
Yes.
What will the law say about the dead man next door? Charles, we are not going to give in now.
We are going to do what I say, we are going to go further away and try another country.
I am so tired of it all.
[door opens.]
[Boy.]
It was a success.
There are some sandwiches in the kitchen.
As soon as you've had eaten, we're leaving.
Leaving? The man next door died this morning.
- He killed himself.
- Yes, we believe you.
You'll leave with your mother.
Iâll stay here to clear things up.
When she finds some place where we can lie low, Iâll join you.
Abroad.
Iâm not leaving.
You'll do what's best for you.
Darling, a man came asking for you today.
His name is Evans.
He wants to shut you behind stone walls for the rest of your life.
Iâm not leaving Paula now.
She's done enough damage already.
But she's the only person who's ever made any attempt to understand me.
Look, we can understand.
These things hurt at the time, but you'll recover.
You understand everything, don't you, Mother? Except me.
Oh, please.
She understands me.
She accepts me even my hands.
Iâm not something peculiar.
Who said you were? To her, Iâm not something that has to be looked after in case I make a mistake.
Iâm a real person.
Charles, will you help me with the bags? Yes, this one? I come to life when Iâm with her.
- Iâm not leaving.
- You can't throw your life away - just for some - Iâll take the risk.
Now, look.
You've got to trust us, Charles.
I trusted you this morning, Mother.
You locked the door.
You won't trust us, but you trust that girl.
Do you know what you mean to her? You're just here to make money.
She wheedled you into making that film for her boyfriend.
- He's only works - Oh, grow up, child.
He's living with her, sleeps with her! I can Crawling things eating fire.
Net pouring burning slime.
- I hate Light splitting - Where are you going? Light splitting [water rippling.]
What's so different about him anyway? He's just a kid.
It will wear off.
I told you.
I just like being with him.
You have the sweetest way of showing a chap to the door.
You'll wait while l put my shirt on, won't you? Iâm sorry, Sonny.
Sooner or later you'll be back for the old bread and butter.
You had your fun.
Pardon me while I slip into something.
[door slams.]
Itâs all right.
He's going.
Pick up that knife.
- What? - Pick up that knife.
- Why? - Pick it up.
Pick it up.
No.
I haven't hurt you.
You mustn't hurt me.
You mustn't make me.
Sonny.
Help me.
Kill him.
Kill him.
Kill him [Sonny.]
What you doing with that knife? [Paula groans and wretches.]
[Paula wretches violently.]
[knocking on door.]
[Paula retching, sobbing.]
You don't know me.
My name is Evans.
Iâve come to help you.
[Paula sobbing, groaning.]
Danger, you say.
[sobbing.]
Stone walls - We came here together.
- To shut me away.
A word from me could avert a prosecution.
I must have your co-operation.
Get away from me.
All of you.
Get away.
You'll be quite safe with me.
You can trust me.
Trust Be like me Men with crutches dancing.
I can't.
Trust no one.
I can't.
- I have to call an ambulance.
- All right.
Back into colour.
Before it snapped.
[Paula sobbing loudly.]
Iâm sorry, I hadn't realised just how Even side by side, there are universes between us.
A crack in the ice and the gap grows wider.
I accept what I am.
I didn't do it.
He made me.
He made me.
I must be completely what I am.
I accept myself as I am.
That way I can grow.
Iâm ready to go now.
[Paula's sobbing continues.]
[birds chirping.]
[car drives past.]
[birds chirping.]
[honking.]
[traffic humming.]
[Boy.]
Go away.
Go away.
Leave me alone.
Go away.
Go away, will you? [brakes screech.]
[screeching, crashing.]
[bell ringing.]
[driver.]
He walked right under me.
Right under my wheels he walked.
He didn't look.
He just walked under me [groans, wretches.]
[dog barking.]
[children's voices.]
[panting.]
[child laughing.]
[baby crying.]
[train approaching.]
[cutlery clattering.]
Where do you think you've been? I asked where you'd been! I asked you a question! Wash your hands before supper.
How often must you be told never to go out alone? Do you want us to be forced to move home again? Do you? - Iâm talking to you.
- Oh, Charles.
Don't raise your voice.
There's no harm done.
Let's have supper and forget it.
[groans.]
There was a man following me.
What happened? I made him leave me.
Well? I think he was killed.
How? I didn't mean to hurt him.
He walked into the road and a lorry knocked him over.
- Then it was an accident? - Yes.
Nobody could blame you for that.
There is another one of them downstairs.
How do you know? Was he with the man who was killed? - Did he see what happened? - I don't think so.
[doorbell rings.]
When I reached the flats, he was waiting on the steps.
I suppose we will have to move again.
Oh, God! - Yes? - Itâs a bit of cheek really.
I wonder if you could spare a drop of milk? Oh, my name is Brown, Iâve just moved in next door.
- Milk? - Itâs too late for the shops.
I can let you have it back tomorrow.
- Iâll see.
- Thanks.
Oh, it's all right, darling.
It's, er This is Mr.
Brown My wife.
- How do you do Mrs.
er - Wilson.
Mr.
Brown would like to borrow some milk.
- Certainly.
- Thank you.
Sorry to barge in while you're in the middle of supper.
We hadn't started.
Nice flats, aren't they? Nice view.
[traffic humming.]
Balcony and everything.
I reckon I was dead lucky getting that place next door.
I hadn't realised it was empty.
Oh, I know a chap who knows a chap, who knows a chap.
The word gets around in my line of business.
This looks interesting.
- A hobby? - My son's.
Gross Fertilisation.
Mendelism, forecasts and results.
He's still at school, then? No.
I help him occasionally.
You're in this line yourself? Yes, Iâm a lab assistant at a Secondary Modern school.
Important job.
Itâs one step above the caretaker.
Elm Bank is a fine school.
Our whole future is in the hands of the scientists.
It beats me how you can bear the responsibility.
And your boy's following in your footsteps.
- His soup's getting cold.
- He'll come when he's hungry.
He's old enough to look after himself.
- How old is he? - Eighteen.
Now is there anything else you'd like to know? Parentage, politics, blood group, Being neighbours, I was interested Iâm sorry Is that enough? Thank you, that's fine.
Iâll return it tomorrow.
Please don't bother.
They never stop trying, do they? [Evans.]
But this case is going to take its own time.
All we can do is follow it Exactly, sir.
By which time we may all very well be dead.
Hall.
A stupid accident.
At least it must have been instantaneous It would not have happened if he had followed instructions Oh, yes, sir.
Another man was ready to take over.
[Brown, on voice recorder.]
This looks interesting.
Hobby? [Charles, on voice recorder.]
My son's.
[Brown.]
Gross Fertilisation.
Mendelism, forecasts and results.
He's still at school, then? [Charles.]
No.
I help him occasionally.
[Brown.]
Oh, you in this line yourself? [Charles.]
Yes, Iâm a lab assistant at a Secondary Modern school.
[Brown.]
Important job.
[Charles.]
Itâs one step above the caretaker.
[Brown.]
Elm Bank is a fine school.
How are the plants coming on along, Charles? Cross-fertilisation.
Do you know, that's something Iâve never thought much about.
No joy? Looks as though we'll be walking up again.
Ah I suppose you'll be going to university next, eh, Charles? I would like to, Mr.
Brown.
I never had the chance, more's the pity.
You didn't have the brain either, Mr.
Brown.
[chuckles.]
Yes, yes.
Quite right.
Seriously though, Charles.
Why don't you drop in for a chat some time? Iâd be very interested to hear about your experiment.
I was discussing it with your father the other day, and he was telling me [tapping.]
Why this experiment again? We've been through it all so often.
Cross a giant bean with a dwarf bean.
Result, a hybrid.
The seeds of the hybrid produce one quarter pure dwarf, one quarter pure giant, and one half hybrid.
It happens every time.
Iâm waiting for the one that's different.
That's highly improbable.
Like me? I happened.
- Why? Why am I different? - I don't know.
Iâm a mutant.
Iâm an improbability that happened.
I want to know how.
You will have to wait a long time.
Your accident at Harvard How could that have affected me? I know I make mistakes.
I try not to, but it is natural for me to use my will.
Then we have to move again.
So I have to be insulated against the world.
Whatever we do is for your own good.
And what about my children? Will they have to be looked after too? They will be like me.
Like me.
A sharp cry breaks the shell, and the flowers I can't talk.
I must think.
Listen, Boy.
Outside there swarm the ordinary millions.
When they stumble across something they're not used to, they panic.
They destroy.
I don't want you to be destroyed.
This one will be different.
How do you know? It feels purple.
Or not really purple, but you'd understand purple better than, a coiled spring laughing, or Itâs a different world for these, of course.
The colours call, and the flashes of bar waves [train whistling.]
He must have gone out again.
Oh, Charles, Iâm frightened.
[Charles.]
For him? Or of him? My own son My own darling son.
You said you knew him well.
Yes you did.
You said Iâd got the job.
Not Well All I said-- [sighs.]
He didn't know who you were.
God, I felt a fool.
He obviously didn't get my letter.
I wrote to him-- You're lying.
- I am not lying.
- Why say it? To impress me? - You call yourself an agent.
- I wish I was just your agent.
I do the best I can with what you've got.
- You need me, more than-- - I don't need you.
I can sell myself, thank you.
On a postcard in the newsagent's window? Yes.
If I'm a whore, you're a pimp.
A pimp.
[shouting.]
Get your hands off me! - Hop it.
- Leave her alone.
Get back to your ice-cream cornet.
- Leave her.
- Buzz off.
Go away.
Look, sonny.
Do you want your bottom smacked? Go on, go away.
You're not allowed in here anyway.
Go away.
Yeah, well, the air's fresher outside anyway.
Thank you.
Same again, please.
[church bell chimes.]
Iâve been watching you.
I want to talk with you.
- Has he really gone? - He had to.
You must have a way with you.
What's your name? Paula Wilde.
Iâm an actress.
Haven't you seen me on television? No.
âPussyfish.
Pussyfish for pretty pussies.
â And I toss a fish to the pretty pussy.
My name is Charles.
Charles Wilson.
- My parents call me Boy.
- Oh, Boy.
Here, Boy.
Good Boy.
Perhaps Sonny could fix a commercial.
I could toss a bone to you.
Can we spend the evening together? What? You're joking.
- You're too young.
- Please.
Hmm? Come on, Iâll buy you a drink.
Sonny's going to be furious.
[indistinct bar room chatter.]
Iâll have a large gin, please.
And - Oh, half a bitter, please.
- Half a bitter for my son.
[Paula.]
Mind your head.
Here we are.
Miss Paula Wilde's penthouse.
Itâs handy.
Straight from the cooker to the table.
Or just straight from the cooker if you're in a hurry.
The bathroom's through there.
The bedroom's through there, but that's not an invitation.
Why did I bring you here? Come and have a cup of coffee.
[stove lighting up.]
May I kiss you? You're very young.
Very pretty.
[squeals, exhales.]
Come on.
[pots clanging.]
- What? - Your hands.
[trembling, gasping.]
Your nails.
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't make any difference.
[gasping.]
Iâm sorry.
Let me explain.
You can't help the way you're made.
Will you stay still and let me explain? Iâm sorry.
Please will you stay still! I don't want to hurt your feelings.
Stay still.
[Boy.]
Kiss me.
See? It doesn't make any difference.
[Paula.]
You made me.
You made me.
You made me kiss you.
- You made me kiss you.
- Miss Wilde.
- You made me kiss you.
- Please be quiet.
Be quiet! Keep quiet! [muted screams, silence.]
What on earth's going on down here, with all that noise? What's been happening? Miss Wilde? [agonised screams.]
[Charles.]
Stick your head in a noose for a girl like that? I expected a son of mine to have more self-control.
- And more sense.
- I didn't know what to say.
Oh I only hope she's too big a fool to use what she knows.
Bring the sugar.
[incoherent conversation in next room.]
Drink up.
[groans.]
l I couldn't help it.
Can't say 'no', can you, pussy? I wanted him to go, wanted to get rid of him.
But he said, âKiss meâ.
All he said was âKiss meâ, and I had to He could have made me do anything.
Iâve warned you about playing with strange boys.
I couldn't scream.
They turn nasty when you change the game.
You know what he can do, don't you? He made you leave the pub.
That's why you came straight over when I phoned.
What do you mean? ln the pub.
He told you to leave.
If anybody else had done that, you'd have kicked them in the teeth.
But you just went.
I just felt like leaving.
I was fed up with rowing with you.
Sonny, you know he can do it.
I know he can do it.
If he'd told me to go and cut my throat, Iâd have done it.
Nobody could do that.
- Hypnotism? - No.
How does he do it, then? However he does it, pussy, you ought to take lessons.
âGive your pussy her Pussyfish.
â I could sell you then, pussy.
You could write your own contracts.
Why, if anybody could do that Where does he live? I don't know.
Why? I don't really believe it.
But you never know.
[shuddering.]
He's not normal.
- We ought to tell the police.
- No! I might be making a fool of myself.
So, what? What have I got to lose? - You'll help, won't you? - Help? He likes you.
Fetch him back.
Let him touch me again? He's attractive, pleasant voice Well, you never know, pussy.
This might be something really big.
- Want some? - Yes, thanks.
They drove away in her car and I lost them.
There'll be a next time - Pepper? - Mmm.
if she's what he wants.
And I rather suspect she is.
Yeah.
The family is scared.
But then I suppose they must always be scared of something.
Why do they call him âBoyâ? What is he? Something Something rare and wonderful.
At present, we don't know how rare or just how wonderful.
- Remember Hitler? - Iâm old enough.
Every now and then, history throws up a man with unusual powers of persuasion.
On his account, steady-willed, strong-minded men behave out of character irrationally.
Remember Napoleon? Or Joan of Arc? Iâm not that old.
[light chuckling.]
There's the Don Juan legend.
The ability to influence another mind must be there in the brain.
Rather like our powers of reasoning.
But imagine that highly developed with an extra sense.
- Then you have - Him.
But there is a great deal more to him than that.
The appendix, the tonsils are two physical organs that we don't need but they give us a lot of trouble.
There are vast areas of the brain equally outdated useful only when we lived in caves.
From our observations, I would say that he was born without these defunct handicaps and that he is really a wonderfully efficient machine.
The tragedy is he is not allowed to be at present.
It is our duty to see that he is.
My bottom's getting sore sitting around.
Events may be moving towards some sort of climax.
The girl may give us our opportunity.
[birds chirping.]
[Boy speaking, indistinctly.]
Look, Iâll show you what else I can do.
Right.
Cycling [excitedly.]
Tommy Simpson, leader of today's yellow race He's gone from 36th to 6th position in the tour from Dax to here All the way, in the third stage, and the third lap, of the Tour de France [shouting in background.]
He fell out of the race today, because he found that he couldn't cycle any further! [excited mumbling.]
He sat on the side of the road, and wept, while he-- Stop! Stop it, I believe you.
And look! Iâll show you what else I can do.
[shouting in background continues.]
Just don't say anything, but just, think of your name.
Now don't tell me, just think of your name.
Georgina, is that right? Wait a minute, now think of your surname.
Cleary, is that right? Yes! Now, listen, Iâll tell you what your name is.
Don't tell me what it is, just think.
You're Alexander, aren't you? Yeah, that's right.
[mumbling.]
Now, don't tell me, what school do you go to? Think of it! Birdshead Secondary Modern! That's right, isn't it? Is that right? - Your name's John! - No.
Yes, it is.
You're lying.
You're trying to trick me! His name's John, isn't it? [children.]
Yes! And you're his brother, aren't you? Yeah! That's right, I can tell you're his brother.
What's your name? Don't tell me, just think.
- You're Ronald, aren't you? - Yes.
That's right, now tell me, where does your aunt live? Tell you what, what's your aunt's name? Amy? - Is that right? - Yes! She could be one of them.
A decoy.
Have you thought of that? Yes.
- She could make him leave us.
- Iâve thought of that too.
What happens to him then, for goodness' sake? He ends up in prison, or on an operating table.
- Yes.
- Oh, God I wish he was dead.
Charles, Iâve said this before.
We must go to Australia.
They need scientists.
A trained scientist would be welcome there.
It would be the same there.
[train rumbles on tracks.]
[train clunking.]
I think you ought to know something Iâm a mutant.
Mutant? Well, mutation means change.
Itâs a secret.
You won't tell anyone.
Then why tell me? Because I am different and you must know why Iâm different.
Don't tell me too much.
- I trust you.
- Then you shouldn't, Charles.
This is a hard world.
That's what Iâve learned.
You've got to be harder.
You've got to grab what's going while it lasts.
There won't be any second chances.
I learned the hard way.
Ants believe they own the world.
- Go on.
- You understand? No, but don't let it stop you.
You were telling me about yourself.
Oh, yes.
You see, dead men grow, like a great railway line, link by link because the spark holds steady from then till now and curves out as far again And shells and rocks and leaves and water in a kind of music - Will you do something for me? - What? The man you met with me the other night He's my agent.
He finds me work.
He'd like to meet you again.
Yes? All right.
Yes, well.
Perhaps I could do something for you.
I am always on the lookout for fresh talent.
That's why I'm here.
Iâve got an office in the West End naturally.
But, you see, I really believe in You have that something extra.
Personality? I felt it the other night.
No hard feelings, by the way? Drink? You might just have what Iâm looking for.
He's got more than that.
He's too intelligent for See? You've impressed Paula already.
[clears throat.]
Anybody with a knack like yours could have the commercials right there.
Right there.
Big money? You don't know what big money can do, Charlie.
It can buy dreams.
Mind you, let's not talk too fast.
Iâm not yet 100 percent convinced that you can, in fact, reach the standard Iâm looking for.
Paula tells me you've got it all, but she's biased.
- Iâd like a demonstration.
- No.
- Make me do something.
- No.
Very well, then.
Make me do something I wouldn't want to do.
- No.
- Show him, Charles.
Itâs too dangerous.
[scoffs.]
I knew he couldn't.
Miss bird-brain here.
Trying to help another lame dog.
Sonny, you know he can do it.
He doesn't have to prove it again.
[Paula whispers.]
Go on, do it again for me.
I ought to knock your silly head off.
- Walk.
- What? Walk into the bathroom.
- Make me.
- Walk.
What does that prove? Perhaps I need a wash.
Climb into the bath.
That doesn't prove anything.
I don't mind getting into a bath.
Put in the plug and turn on the taps.
[laughter.]
Honey, you can't be [water gushing.]
[Paula shrieks.]
[Sonny groans.]
Let's trying something else shall we? This is a little uncomfortable.
- Lie down! - [Paula.]
Oh, no! - Why? - You can't Look [laughter.]
[groaning.]
#Iâm singing in the bath # #Just singing in the bath # Ooh! [Paula laughing.]
[stammers.]
All right, you've made your point.
That's fine.
I believe you can do it.
[Sonny.]
Stop it! Please! Please, I demand you to stop it.
Oh, this is terrible now.
Please stop it.
Leave him.
[gurgling.]
Get up.
[water dripping.]
- Get me a drink.
- Are you all right? A drink.
Damn near drowned me.
- I knew when to stop.
- I didn't.
ln a stupid bath! You're a murderous bastard, Charlie, but you've got yourself a contract.
- I don't want a contract.
- Yes, you do.
You do.
Just like you want me.
[reporter on TV.]
Here's Lester on Royal Avenue who's owner, Mr.
Charleston George, who was dubious about risking him on this very firm ground at Ascot, but after consultation with his trainer, Lester agreed that he'd probably be all right.
You're a bit on edge, aren't you? A dangerous sign.
Iâve seen it happen before.
If only I knew what was happening next door.
He's still seeing that girl.
Lucky boy.
She's very attractive.
I have to watch and do nothing.
Watch them.
Week after week.
She advertises on television.
Iâve seen her.
They're trying to get Charles into the same business.
- Hello.
- He'll be making a film today.
- Yes.
- She's attractive Five to win.
It makes me sick to think of any girl with that creature.
Yes, to win.
- Somebody ought to warn her.
- Thank you.
She knows what she's doing.
If her operation goes wrong, she'll have to take the consequences just like the rest of us.
[TV blares in background.]
Expendable, eh? Like Hall.
He was ironed out by a lorry.
He made a mistake.
Mistakes aren't allowed.
He got caught in the street unprepared.
That was Hallâs idea.
So easy to pick up an unarmed boy.
I didn't mean that.
One shot would be enough.
That's a potential killer next door.
An alien.
It doesn't even need a gun.
If it had two green heads with horns, nobody would think twice before shooting, but because it looks human, it has to live.
I could put it out of the way myself, like squashing a spider.
I thought you'd last a little longer.
Iâll have to take you off the case.
I didn't mean that.
Iâm tired I didn't mean You stay here until I send a replacement.
But there's to be no violence.
That is an order.
I didn't mean I was tired, and seeing this girl I can't afford risks.
A life is precious.
That alien brat's life? No.
Yours.
Evans? - [Sonny.]
God, where is he? - [Paula.]
He'll come.
What if he doesn't? Iâm responsible for delivering him to the studio.
That boy could shoot my reputation to bits.
- You've thought about it? - Yes! Look, Mother, Iâm late.
She's waiting downstairs for me.
So you realise what will happen if you make this film? Yes.
They pay me a lot of money.
Itâs for you too.
Look, your face is going to become familiar.
People are going to recognise you.
Will money be so important once they know about you? Paula wants me to make the film.
When your father talks about the mob, he's not exaggerating.
When a mob panics, it can destroy.
Why else have we kept you away from the world all these years? I must do this for Paula.
She's the only one who even tries to understand me.
She's the only person who treats me like a human being.
Iâm not going to let you do this to us.
We've made too many sacrifices for you already.
[lock clicks.]
Open the door.
Mother! Open the door.
Mother, will you unlock the door? Iâm late.
Mother, unlock the door.
Unlock the door.
- He's not coming.
- He will.
Everything laid on.
Car.
I transport him wrapped in cotton wool.
All he has to do is meet us round the corner.
Where is he? Perhaps he's come to his senses.
What's bugging you? Him and a cheap commercial for cigarettes.
Commercials keep you fed.
[car horn honking.]
- Drive around the block.
- There's no point.
Itâs wrong for him There's something in him like like electricity.
It could light things Life! And what are we using it for? To sell cigarettes.
- There's money in it.
- Oh, sure.
If only you could sign up the Archangel Gabriel.
He'd go down great with detergents.
[groans.]
He's not coming.
They'll go mad at the studios.
[low knocking.]
[car horn beeps outside.]
Well, just dropped in for a chat? I have to Most visitors use the front door but I suppose that's too ordinary for you.
I was locked in.
You can't run through a chap's living room without as much as âHow's your father?â At least stop long enough to have a drink? I have friends waiting downstairs for me.
Another day.
There won't be another day as far as Iâm concerned.
Iâve been waiting weeks for this.
Still, better late than never, as they say.
I have friends waiting for me downstairs.
They won't have to wait as long as I did.
I must go.
You could make me let you go.
Couldn't you? Could I? Why don't you? Make me let you go.
Iâm in a hurry.
You couldn't? A big boy like you? - Please.
- Make me.
Make me.
There's something heavy in your pocket.
A gun? Don't let that worry you.
- The red-headed man with a gun.
- Iâm a traveller, you see.
I do a lot of travelling with valuable samples.
Gun comes in handy.
And, what happened to the red-headed man with a gun? - Did he shoot himself? - I don't know.
A man would have to be out of his mind to do a thing like that.
You don't think somebody else took a shot at him? No.
He shot himself.
Did he now? Why don't you sit down for a minute? - Iâm late.
- Take the easy chair.
Are you going to sit down? - You have a gun.
- Iâll let you into a secret.
This gun isn't loaded.
Which might prove to be a good thing, eh? I can't be persuaded to shoot myself if the gun isn't loaded.
But just to show there's no ill feeling, Iâll put it on the mantelpiece.
Charles, Iâve got something very important to tell you a matter of life and death, so will you sit down? Please.
Iâm late.
Will you please hurry! That's better.
I didn't know you had hands like that.
Didn't you? Nobody told me.
Well, well, well.
- Unusual.
- Unusual? That really does make you different.
None of the others had hands like that.
- Others? - Ah, I could be I could be shot for letting that out.
But I reckon you've a right to know.
I guess you thought you were the only one.
With your capabilities, I mean.
Capabilities? Well, let's say, for the sake of argument, that you have capabilities.
There are others with your capabilities.
They all live together in an old castle with lovely stone walls and towers, just like in a fairy tale.
Each one thought he was alone, until we brought them together.
Now wouldn't you like to join those others? Must be a lonely life on your own.
Iâm sure you'd be much happier, if you joined them.
Slipped up on that one.
- Better put it with the gun.
- Don't put it down.
- But I must.
- Hold it.
Don't put it down.
You can't put it down.
No, no.
Don't do it.
You see, I was trying to help you.
No, don't.
Not me.
Not with this stuff.
No, no-- Keep it going.
I want to have another look at this.
Itâs the last time I do anything for that Sonny chappy.
They are here, Jim.
He'd better be good after this.
Jim, Iâm terribly sorry.
I do apologise.
Hello.
- Well? - Suicide.
- Huh! - Any other theory, Swain? - The boy - Suicide.
That boy should be out of the way.
Agreed.
For his sake.
Hence my interest.
But the putting away must be legal.
After this? There's no law against being a fool ln this country, people just can't disappear.
They do.
Not with articulate parents behind them.
Wilson knows his rights.
An unorthodox bid for Boy, by me, and I get a writ of habeas corpus instead.
[recording of Boy and Mr.
Brown.]
[Boy.]
There's something heavy in your pocket.
A gun? [Brown.]
Don't let that worry you.
[Boy.]
The red-headed man with a gun.
[Brown.]
Iâm a traveller, you see.
I do a lot of travelling with valuable samples.
Gun comes in handy.
That's why the case takes time.
Every step has to be legal.
I hope Iâm not trespassing.
I missed my son, I think he may have come here.
He may have done.
Iâd like to have a few words with you, if I may, Dr.
Wilson.
- My name is Evans.
- Yes, I know.
Dr.
Evans, the professor of genetics.
Yes.
Just talk to me.
ln a few moments the camera will come in but don't pay any attention to that.
Just Just persuade me.
Understand? Persuade.
Half the fellows round here don't smoke make them.
Right.
Let him go then.
[director.]
Let's have a rehearsal.
I hate waste That's why I'm anxious the boy shouldn't be hurt.
- He's important to me.
- He's important to us.
I need your co-operation.
He is our son.
We can take care of him.
We have experience.
You're not the only ones.
Nor is your son.
There's the bookmaker's son from Durham.
A child of four from Northampton.
A little girl in Edinburgh.
All more superbly equipped than Charles.
And others.
It was a difficult business getting them into my department, and it's a complicated matter keeping them there.
But they are happy, because they are allowed to develop, freely.
Then other parents have had the same If it's any comfort to you your husband's accident in the research centre a year before your son was born had nothing to do with the child being a mutant.
How did you find him? Pure chance as in all such cases.
The medical report on the hand abnormality at birth found its way to me.
I have a complete record of your life since then.
Why is our son malformed? I beg your pardon? Why is our son malformed? You must be aware of something as elementary as the De Vries theory.
That evolution isn't a gradual process but takes leaps forward.
ln this present, precarious civilisation which we live, this mutation Iâm investigating is not without interest.
When the mutants were first persuaded to live together I noticed a struggle for supremacy going on among them.
But the conflict was entirely in the mind.
There was no physical struggle, as we know it the strongest will was the winner.
Ah.
Of course, once an order had been established, they settled down contentedly enough.
Well, there, it seems to me is nature's answer to the tendency of the human race to commit suicide.
If this, erm If this new species survives, then wars as we know them will end.
Of course, we'll be back numbers, you and I.
But at least there won't be the danger of the world being blown up.
There will be a future.
This new strain must have every chance.
That's why I need your son.
- Will you co-operate? - How? I need you to persuade him to enter my establishment.
- He'll be well looked after.
- A laboratory? We do our best to make them comfortable.
ln test tubes? Charles is a person, not a specimen.
That's an unfair and unjust judgement.
Condemn him to life imprisonment, while you While you have time to experiment on some new investigation.
What kind of parents do you think we are? Dr.
Wilson, you're a scientist.
You respect facts.
You must realise the only chance for Charles is to be looked after by an established authority.
You're talking like a white paper.
There's only one chance for Charles to survive and that in my laboratory.
I want to see what sort of man he'll make.
I want him to live that long.
Smoke Oakleaf.
Only Oakleaf is good enough for you.
Light one now.
Taste that special Oakleaf flavour.
Light an Oakleaf, now.
Now.
Now.
[laughter.]
Light an Oakleaf.
Now.
[cheering.]
[overlapping chatter.]
[Paula.]
Everybody in the studio is smoking Oakleaf.
Itâs fantastic.
[Sonny.]
Enjoy yourself? [Paula.]
How do you do it? Couldn't we take a chance? Stay on here? After all that Evans said? - What can he do? - Nothing at the moment.
All we can hope for is to give him the slip now.
At least we have experience and the law on our side.
Yes.
What will the law say about the dead man next door? Charles, we are not going to give in now.
We are going to do what I say, we are going to go further away and try another country.
I am so tired of it all.
[door opens.]
[Boy.]
It was a success.
There are some sandwiches in the kitchen.
As soon as you've had eaten, we're leaving.
Leaving? The man next door died this morning.
- He killed himself.
- Yes, we believe you.
You'll leave with your mother.
Iâll stay here to clear things up.
When she finds some place where we can lie low, Iâll join you.
Abroad.
Iâm not leaving.
You'll do what's best for you.
Darling, a man came asking for you today.
His name is Evans.
He wants to shut you behind stone walls for the rest of your life.
Iâm not leaving Paula now.
She's done enough damage already.
But she's the only person who's ever made any attempt to understand me.
Look, we can understand.
These things hurt at the time, but you'll recover.
You understand everything, don't you, Mother? Except me.
Oh, please.
She understands me.
She accepts me even my hands.
Iâm not something peculiar.
Who said you were? To her, Iâm not something that has to be looked after in case I make a mistake.
Iâm a real person.
Charles, will you help me with the bags? Yes, this one? I come to life when Iâm with her.
- Iâm not leaving.
- You can't throw your life away - just for some - Iâll take the risk.
Now, look.
You've got to trust us, Charles.
I trusted you this morning, Mother.
You locked the door.
You won't trust us, but you trust that girl.
Do you know what you mean to her? You're just here to make money.
She wheedled you into making that film for her boyfriend.
- He's only works - Oh, grow up, child.
He's living with her, sleeps with her! I can Crawling things eating fire.
Net pouring burning slime.
- I hate Light splitting - Where are you going? Light splitting [water rippling.]
What's so different about him anyway? He's just a kid.
It will wear off.
I told you.
I just like being with him.
You have the sweetest way of showing a chap to the door.
You'll wait while l put my shirt on, won't you? Iâm sorry, Sonny.
Sooner or later you'll be back for the old bread and butter.
You had your fun.
Pardon me while I slip into something.
[door slams.]
Itâs all right.
He's going.
Pick up that knife.
- What? - Pick up that knife.
- Why? - Pick it up.
Pick it up.
No.
I haven't hurt you.
You mustn't hurt me.
You mustn't make me.
Sonny.
Help me.
Kill him.
Kill him.
Kill him [Sonny.]
What you doing with that knife? [Paula groans and wretches.]
[Paula wretches violently.]
[knocking on door.]
[Paula retching, sobbing.]
You don't know me.
My name is Evans.
Iâve come to help you.
[Paula sobbing, groaning.]
Danger, you say.
[sobbing.]
Stone walls - We came here together.
- To shut me away.
A word from me could avert a prosecution.
I must have your co-operation.
Get away from me.
All of you.
Get away.
You'll be quite safe with me.
You can trust me.
Trust Be like me Men with crutches dancing.
I can't.
Trust no one.
I can't.
- I have to call an ambulance.
- All right.
Back into colour.
Before it snapped.
[Paula sobbing loudly.]
Iâm sorry, I hadn't realised just how Even side by side, there are universes between us.
A crack in the ice and the gap grows wider.
I accept what I am.
I didn't do it.
He made me.
He made me.
I must be completely what I am.
I accept myself as I am.
That way I can grow.
Iâm ready to go now.
[Paula's sobbing continues.]