13 Ghosts

3Come in.

William Kessel... The producer of this motion picture...

...has a question for you.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Some people believe in them.

Others do not.

Personally I do.

And I feel sure that when you leave this theatre...

...you too will believe in ghosts.

Uh...no more dictation today.

Now when you came in... you were given a special ghost viewer...

...like this.

And here's how it works.

Would you please change the color of the screen?

Thank you.

You must only use it, when the screen changes to this kind of a blueish color.

...then you raise the viewer to your eyes, and you look at the screen through it.

If you believe in ghosts, you look through the red part of the viewer.

If you do not believe in ghosts, you look throught the blue part.

Would you please change the color again?

Thank you.

Now when the screen resumes it's normal color...

...like this...

....remove the viewer from in front of your eyes... until the next time the screen becomes blue.

Oh. One more thing.

If someone sits down next to you, during the picture... it would be helpful... if you would show him or her...

...how the viewer should be used.

And remember...if you believe in ghosts...

....look through the red part.

If you don't believe in ghosts... look throught the blue.

Happy haunting.

Good bye for now.

Shall we go?

The La Brea tar pits became traps for all kinds of animals.

They would either wonder out on the tar or be driven into it by their enemies.

The tar would trap them and slowly kill them.

Now, some of you are going to ask: How did birds get into the pit?

The Vultures and condors fed on whatever had the misfortune to be trapped.

And sometimes the birds themselves got caught in the tar...

... And were pulled down to thier death.

If any of you would like to see where these birds and animals came from...

... the pits are in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles.

Go over there sometime and try to imagine...

... what it was like 40,000 years ago, when monsters like these...

... wandered around, where now expensive cars roam.

Why did huge beasts...

...so much more powerful than man...

... disappeared from the face of Earth, while man...

... a relatively puny thing, survived?

Psst.

Excuse me. Just a moment.

- What's the trouble, Mr. Van Allen? - You're wife's on the phone.

But I'm lecturing. I told her that.

Will you take over for me, Ben? Yes, of course.

Oh, Cy... where are you?

Explaining how man survived the Pleistocene Age.

How did he?

And why?

Hello honey. What's the trouble?

The moving men are here, and they're taking the furniture away, again.

Won't they wait? No, they won't wait.

Not even til tomorrow? The payments are three months overdue now.

Three months? I distinctly remember... Somehow you didn't make the payments, Cy...

...But if we can make them now, plus a month in advance....

Let's do that.

How much money do we have in the bank? About 2 dollars.

Hmm. I get paid soon.

You don't get paid for almost a month, and we owe it all anyway.

Do you suppose Mr. Van Allen...? - No.

Mr. Van Allen doesn't make much more than I do...

... And he's got three children.

Oh! What's the matter? Nothing.

Good thing we own the mattresses. Did you get Buck a birthday present?

Ah, Yeah, yeah. Don't forget to bring it. Bye.

Bye honey.

Why do they always take our furniture?

Because your father is a wonderful man....just forgetful.

Like me? Like you, Buck. Sometimes.

Well the rats and the prends are just useful anyway. Socks and things.

You gave him that one?

Oh there's nothing wrong with ghost stories, daddy.

Unless that's all you read. He's got every spooky book ever printed.

Ow! Hey!

Do you believe in ghosts, Buck? Sure.

You want some cake? Cake?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

No no no. You've got to make a wish first. I already have.

Well, how will anybody know if your wish comes true, if you don't wish out loud?

Suppose I don't want to anyone to know.

Then you wished for something bad. I have not, Medea.

Well, If you can't wish out loud, then there must be something wrong with it.

Don't you want us to know what you're wish is, darling?

I wished we had a house with furniture, that nobody could take away from us.

Mr. Cyrus Zorba?

A telegram for you.

"With regards to matter of great importance to you...

... you are requested to present yourself in the office of attorney Benjamin Rush...

... tomorrow morning at 10 oclock. Signed, Benjamin Rush"

Who? Benjamin Rush, attorney.

Well it's not anybody we owe. At least I don't think so.

Could be the lawyer from a collection agency.

Oh. Could be. What are you going to do?

Go. What else? Suppose you just run away?

Why run away, before you find out what's chasing you?

Well, I read about a man waited to find out...

... But he never did, because it ate him.

Benjamin Rush, attorney at law.

Ooh, he's in the Petro building.

You have'nt done anything you could be arrested for, have you daddy?

No.

Not lately.

So, you inherit the house, which is the bulk of the estate.

- Furnished? - Ah, yes.

It's pretty old-fashioned, but is furniture.

Is Buck pshycic or something? Ma'am?

Our ten year old son, Buck. His birthday wish was for a house with furniture.

Yeah. What sort of a house is it?

I affraid you're gonna be disappointed, Mr Zorba.

It's one of those sprawling old mansions they built 50 years ago.

Well, that's better than a third mortgage and no furniture.

Well, don't decide to move in until you've seen it.

Here's the key and the address.

This is really strange.

I thought my uncle died 10, 12 years ago in India or someplace.

No. He died here last week.

Everything about your uncle was strange. Including his will.

Is that the rich uncle you used to talk about before we got married?

Uh huh. And he's been here, in Los Angeles, all these years...

... And didn't let me know?

Well, he wanted the world to think he was dead.

He left you this, too.

What is it? I don't know.

Is this all? The house and the package? No other...

Well there's no money, if that's what you mean, Ma'am. Dr. Zorba must have been quite wealthy, at one time.

Apparently, he spent it all on his experiments.

I seem to remember he was fooling around with the occult.

Spirits from the other world. Ghosts.

Dr. Zorba collected ghosts from all over the world.

You inherit them, too.

Come on.

They go with the house.

I'll get a notary.

Cy, this is too much.

A mysterious uncle rising from the grave...

... The old mansion, complete with ghosts. Is it a gag?

I did have an uncle named Plato Zorba.

And here's his last will and testament.

I want to see what's in the package? Wouldn't it be lovely if it was just full of stocks or bonds.

Or just plain money. Yeah.

Think we ought to open it? Well, he said it was yours.

Suppose it has to do with those experiments.

You know. You open the box and all that trouble comes out.

Pandora.

It's probably a hand painted Christmas tie. Open it.

You open it.

Oh, hi. Hello. Are you Buck?

Yeah.

I'm Ben Rush. You're the lawyer.

Uh Hm. Are you all moved in?

Wasn't anything to move, except us. It's a great house.

Furniture all over....books.

There's a lot of it I haven't even seen yet. It's got ghosts.

So I hear. Know about em'?

Well, I've heard a lot about em'. You ever seen one?

No. Is your father home?

He will be soon. We got a witch too. A live one?

Go ring the bell. She'll come to the door.

Oh, shucks. What did you have to open the door for?

Couoldn't you wait for the witch?

You better stop calling her that, or she'll cut your tongue out.

Hi, i'm Medea Zorba. Hi.

Won't you come in?

I told you. She's even got a broom.

I see what you mean. You must be Ben Rush, the lawyer.

Um hmm.

Mmm. No skates. We own this house. Or do we?

It's your house. Who's boss around here?

In the "no skates" department, I am. Yeah, that's what I thought.

Was the my father's uncle?

Um hm.

He was a fine looking man.

I never saw him like that.

By the time I met him, they'd almost completely destroyed him.

They?

His ghosts.

Oh, Benjamin Rush, attorney at law. Living in the twentieth century?

Plato Zorba, scientist, same century.

Collected ghosts.

You're not serious?

I didn't believe in them any more than you do, until I'd known him a while.

You can take my word for him. There are ghosts in this house.

We're standing here talking as if you thought we were in the Middle Ages.

But if you had seen him as I did...

...back broken...

...face torn to shreds...

... lips ripped away...

You really think we inherited a haunted house?

I wish your family hadn't moved in.

Oh, hello, Mr. Rush. Hi.

Hi, honey.