Tales of Tomorrow

And now Jack Chrysler

presents "Tales of Tomorrow".

Order, order in the court!

A man is on trial for his life.

If there are any more interruptions by the public,

I shall order the courtroom cleared.

Prosecutor will continue his cross examination

of the defendant.

- Now, Mr. Kent, how much did you earn last year?

You mean from my machine shop?

From all sources.

About $3,600.

- And with this $3,600, you had to support yourself,

your mother, and buy equipment for the shop.

That's right.

But you're ambitious, Mr. Kent.

I don't understand you.

You are an inventor, aren't you?

Didn't you invent this supercharged blowtorch,

marked "Exhibit B"?

Yes.

And isn't this blowtorch more powerful

than any other similar piece of equipment

on the market today?

Yes, but I've already told you--

- This invention has a commercial value, then.

Definitely.

Is it patented?

No, but I've already--

Please answer the questions.

Did you intend to patent it?

Yes, until all this happened.

- And was it your intention to lease your patent

to a manufacturing concern,

or to build these torches yourself?

- Myself. - I see, thank you.

Now, Mr. Kent, what would it cost to patent your invention?

About a thousand dollars, they told me.

- And to equip your shop to produce it commercially?

- About-- - About $5,000, Mr. Kent?

Yes, somewhere around there.

So you stole the $5,000 from the courts

of Professor Adrian-- - I didn't steal it!

Sustained!

I will rephrase the question.

This canceled bank book shows that Professor Sykes

withdrew from his account $5,000

on the day he met you for the first time.

Your bank account shows a corresponding deposit.

Is that correct?

I guess so.

Now, Mr. Kent, how would you,

a mechanic earning $3,600 a year,

obtain such a large sum of money?

- From Professor Sykes, but I've told you how--

From his dead body after you killed him?

- No! - After you burned him

to death on his courts? - No!

- The prosecution will avoid prejudicial remarks.

With the court's permission.

Now, Mr. Kent, you have testified that Professor Sykes

gave you $5,000 as a fee for services to be performed

by you and your blowtorch.

Now I ask you, and ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

is it credible that a man like Professor Sykes,

a timid archeologist, would give you,

a total stranger, his entire life savings

to accompany him on a mission

I can only describe as fantastic?

I know it sounds fantastic,

but if you'll only-- - And the state contends

that it is.

The state contends that you deliberately invented

this story of non-existent caves and incredible machines,

to cover up a sordid case of murder for profit.

The case, ladies and gentlemen,

unusual only for the horrible manner in which

the crime was committed. - No, that's a lie!

- We allege the evidence for the existence--

I didn't kill Professor Sykes!

I didn't kill him! - Order!

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

you have heard the testimony of the witness

in the case for the prosecution and defense.

I must point out to you that the case for the state

rests solely

on circumstantial evidence. - Maybe I shouldn't have

let you take the stand.

We might have done better with a temporary insanity defense.

Don't you believe me either?

Anyway, I did the best I could.

But you don't believe me?

Well, it sounds so fantastic.

We couldn't find a cave, we couldn't find a machine.

- But it's true, everything I told you is true.

I've told them everything I know.

The police, the judge, the jury, but what's the use?

I know what the verdict's gonna be.

Guilty, and then I'll go back to that cell.

Oh, that's crazy, son, now take it easy.

Yeah, take it easy.

- Your task, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

is to determine the truth on the basis

of the facts presented in evidence.

If there exists any reasonable doubt in your minds,

you must in all conscience, acquit the defendant.

The jury will now retire and consider its verdict.

The court is recessed.

Want some coffee?

No.

Nothing to do now, you know.

I know.

Can never tell until the jury gets back.

The funny thing about juries, I remember a case once

you'd have sworn I'd lost it, and the jury--

Shut up, leave me alone.

Not guilty, they said.

Oh, you could have knocked me over with a feather.

And I found out later that the the foreman of--

Shut up, let me alone.

Okay, don't get sore.

The foreman had twins that morning, and he was 63 years old.

Let me alone.

Yeah.

Gordon, Gordon!

Please, put that away and come up for dinner!

Okay, Ma, I'll be up in a minute.

You said that an hour ago.

Mr. Kent?

Who are you?

- My name is Sykes, Professor Adrian Sykes.

I'm an archeologist, maybe you've heard of me.

Sykes, no, I don't think I have.

No matter, you will.

Before long everyone will.

Mr. Kent, I've come a very long way to see you.

I must talk to you.

Well, look, can't it wait till morning?

I'm pretty tired.

No, it can't wait.

The world has been waiting long enough.

You see, I have found the key to the past.

Sure, sure you have.

Look, why don't you come back tomorrow,

and you can tell me all about it.

You think I'm insane, don't you?

Maybe this will change your mind.

A 10 gauge wire, so what?

Try to cut it.

Well?

You'd do much better if you used that new

supercharged torch of yours.

What do you know about my torch?

- I heard about it from a colleague at the university.

That's what brought me here.

Look, just what do you want?

I need your torch.

Well, it's not for sale.

Now, if you'll excuse me.

- I don't want to buy it, I want you to help me,

to open a metal door.

Oh, another one of those, huh?

Where's your door, Professor?

Is it the First National Bank, or Fort Knox?

Listen to me.

Do you know what it means to spend your life

digging into the past and getting nowhere?

Pottery, relics, dust,

nothing until you yourself get part of that dust.

While others with less talent, but with money and influence,

make discoveries that startle the world.

The tomb of King Tutankhamun, the Rosetta Stone,

discoveries that made them famous.

And then one day you yourself,

who have always stood in the shadows of these men

are on the brink of making the greatest discovery

of them all.

That's very interesting, Professor,

but what can I do about it?

Everything.

With your torch, you can open the door to my cave.

To your cave?

I found it by accident years ago.

Inside this cave is a machine.

Oh, Kent, you have never seen such a machine.

And what makes this one so different?

- This machine has been recording on a wire

every physical disturbance that has shaken

the face of the earth for the past million years.

Oh, now, really.

- Every storm, every earthquake, every tidal wave.

It's all there on this wire.

This is a piece of it.

It took me months of work to get it.

- Sure, I suppose about a million years ago

some ape invented this contraption,

and then stuck it in a cave, huh?

Very smart monkey.

Well, now look, really, I've got to get to bed.

I've gotta get up early in the morning.