"The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)" "This is Operation Experiment." "A secret base far north of the Arctic Circle." "Experiment was the code name for this top-priority scientific expedition." "These men arrived here on X-day minus 60." "It has taken them the full two months to get ready." "Today is X-day." "It is now H-hour minus 59 minutes." "There is less than an hour left." "The plane must arrive at its rendezvous 200 miles away in exactly 58 minutes." "There can be no margin for error." "There can be no second chance." "This is the rendezvous." "The forward observation post where scientists and their aides check equipment and wait for the plane's approach." "It is now H-hour minus 81 seconds." "At H-hour minus 75 seconds, the radar antenna flashes the word." "There it is!" "Azimuth: 63 degrees." "Airplane sighted: 13 hours, 11 minutes." "Azimuth: 63 degrees." "Speed: approximately 350 mph." "Professor Tom Nesbitt and Col. John Evans, military liaison, tensely wait." "The timing is perfect, thus far." "It is now H-hour minus 56 seconds." "Every man here knows his job." "He does it quickly, efficiently, silently." "The men are ready." "The equipment is ready." "It is now H-hour minus 52 seconds." "Operation Experiment to Y-3-4-7." "Operation Experiment to Y-3-4-7." "Over." "Y-3-4-7 to Operation Experiment." "Now leveling off." "Ground speed: 360." "Approaching IP." "IP means initial point." "The next 26 seconds determine whether these men have succeeded or failed." "Now we count the seconds." "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six five, four, three, two, one." "Charlie, look!" "Col. Evans, there's something strange on the radar screen." " What's the matter, Charlie?" " Right here, sir." "A foreign object." " It's gone." " What's gone?" " I don't know, sir." " It silhouetted like 500 tons, at least." " Where is it, then?" " I don't know, sir." " Are you sure we saw it?" " We saw something." "Maybe the shock tossed something in front of the antenna." "That must have been it." "Eight weeks of preparation, and it's all over in a second." "Jack, when energy of that magnitude is released, it's never over." "What the cumulative effects of these atomic explosions and tests will be..." " ...only time can tell." " You mean scientists can't tell?" "The world's been here for millions of years." "Man's been walking upright for a comparatively short time." "Mentally, we're still crawling." "This test will add to our knowledge." "Wouldn't you say so, Ritchie?" "That's right." "Every time one of these goes off I feel we're helping to write the first chapter of a new Genesis." "Let's hope we don't find ourselves writing the last chapter of the old one." " You sound like a man who's scared." " What makes you think I'm not?" "Here are the figures, Tom." "We'll leave for the observation post in about an hour." " Good." "Loomis?" " Yes, sir?" " Get the equipment ready." " Yes, sir." "The moment your Geiger counters indicate heavy radiation, turn back." "Turn back?" "Colonel, we'll run back." "There isn't a hero in the crowd." "Post 16." "Shall we try to go around, sir?" "No, wait here for us." "We'll go up on foot." " What's your reading?" " 19.7." "We'd better get out." "I'll check post 17." "You take 18, and I'll meet you back here." "Make it fast." "Sgt. Willistead." "What?" "But they've gone on foot." "Okay." " What's the matter?" " There's a blizzard coming up!" "Tom!" "Tom!" "Tom!" "Tom!" "Tom!" "Tom, I can't move." "Something's wrong with my leg." "I'm coming down." " Have they reported back yet?" " No, not yet." "We're waiting." "Tom, Tom!" "Get out, Tom!" "A monster!" " A prehistoric monster!" " Quiet, quiet." "Don't struggle." "I'll get you out, George." "Don't worry." "Doc!" "Hey, doc!" "Put him right over here." " Give me my bag." " Yes, sir." "And get some blankets off those other beds." "How is he?" " Where's Professor Ritchie?" " Still missing, sir." " What happened?" " We don't know." "We saw the flares and rushed to post." "The whole shore was breaking loose." " We grabbed Nesbitt just in time." " We never found Ritchie." "Colonel, we have to get Nesbitt to a hospital in the States." " He's in a bad way." " Right." "Get word to the main base." "We want a plane right away." "Ritchie, I'll get you out." "I'll get you out." "The monster..." "Hurry, it's coming!" "Watch out, the monster!" "The monster!" "Hello, Professor Nesbitt." "How do you feel today?" "Fine." "Where is Col. Evans?" "Did you reach Col. Evans?" "He'll be here any minute now." "I'd like you to meet Dr. Ingersol." "He wants to ask a few questions, if you don't think it would be too hard on you." " Questions?" " I'm a psychiatrist, Professor Nesbitt." "I thought together we might get to the bottom of this." "You think I'm crazy too." "My story may sound fantastic, but" "Throughout history, people have claimed that they've seen monsters." "There was the famous Loch Lomond monster, you'll probably recall." "Then the green serpents off the shores of Ireland." "But not one of them was ever caught or even photographed." "I'm not inclined to let my imagination run away with me." "I'm a scientist." "All right." "Then it shouldn't be inconceivable to you that the mind can withstand just so much pressure." "The shock of seeing your friend dead, your own predicament was too much to bear." "So that you momentarily lost contact with reality." "It's a phenomenon which was not uncommon during the war." "But Ritchie wasn't dead when I got to him." "He tried to warn me." "Two people don't share the same hallucination." "Hello, Tom." "How are you?" " Thawed out?" " Jack, I'm glad you're here." "I'm having a hard time convincing them that I'm not an idiot." "I was in Washington making my report." "I was" "What did they say about the animal?" "I want to be in on any expedition going after him." "Tom, I didn't tell them about the animal." "Why not?" "It should've been in the report." "I went back to Post 18." "I tried to reconstruct what happened out there." "I couldn't find a thing." "No tracks." "Nothing." "Nothing?" "I'm sorry." "I wish I could say I saw something." "The blizzard." "There was a blizzard, remember?" "The snow must have blown over and covered everything." " Check me out of here." " You are in no condition to leave." "It's imperative that you have rest." " How can I rest?" " I've encountered this sort before." "You've undergone a tremendous shock." "You've got to stay in bed." "I see." "And that makes it official?" "I'm afraid it does." "So long." "Do what the doctor says." "We'll get together when you're on your feet." "That won't be too long." "What about that sound I heard?" "In your condition, it could have been anything." "The wind." "Anything." "No wind ever made a sound like that." "Captain." "Captain!" "Are you daft, man?" " Good morning." " Good morning." "What's going on in our turbulent world today?" "Death and politics." "Comics are the only thing that make sense anymore." "I take it, then, that you advise a dose of it after each meal?" " You quote me exactly." " Then I'll take your advice exactly." "Here it is." "Say." "Look at this!" "That item is right where it belongs." "On the comic page." "And that's why I came here, Dr. Elson." "I felt if you heard my story, you'd do something." "And what is it you think I can do?" "Fit out an expedition, institute a search." "The fitting out of an expedition requires a great deal of attention to detail." "Such as time, personnel, money." "How can you talk about details in the face of such a discovery?" "I'm not a paleontologist, and I have a desire to know more about this animal." "I thought you'd have such a compelling curiosity that nothing would stand in your way." "Professor Nesbitt, after waiting for 30 years I'm about to undertake my first extended holiday." "I would throw aside my plans if I thought there was the slightest chance of what your saying being possible." "It isn't." "What about that newspaper item?" "If all the items of seamen reporting monsters were placed end on end it'd reach to the moon, my boy." "You mean, I'm wasting your time?" "Do you realize you're asking me to believe you saw a creature that would be over 100 million years old?" "But you said that 100 million years ago the water of the Mesozoic age turned to ice." "Isn't it possible that an animal was trapped in that ice?" "Caught in the freezing temperatures and locked in." "Then when we released the bomb, the heat generated melted the ice in which this beast was imprisoned and freed it?" "Bringing it back to life after 100 million years?" "Couldn't it have been in a state of hibernation?" "Bears live through winters under similar conditions." "That's quite true." "A bear does live off itself for one winter from food accumulated within itself but it's hard to believe an animal could live 100 million years off its own tissue." "To put it mildly, it would require quite an appetite, don't you think?" "I don't know if this will be of any help, but you remember, doctor a few years ago, an expedition unearthed a herd of mastodons in the Siberian tundra." "Dead thousands of years, yet their fur was still intact, the meat still edible." "That's quite right, my dear Lee." "But they weren't alive." "That's the important difference." "They weren't alive." "I'm sorry, professor, but in all honesty, I can't support your story." "I guess I'll go back to the hospital." "Maybe I should ask for a transfer to the psychopathic ward." "Nonsense." "It's not as bad as all that, my boy." "Thanks for listening, doctor." "When he first came to this country, I attended his lectures on the curative properties of the radioactive isotope." "He is a brilliant man." "Isn't his story in any way feasible?" "No." "And I'm sorry." "I'd rather like to help him." "I thought that little jaunt of yours last week would knock you for a loop." "I can't find anything wrong with you." "I feel fine." "When do you think I can leave?" "Any time's all right with us." "Don't go rushing to the North Pole again." "Keep fit and warm." "Take those vitamins I gave you." "This is your hour of mirth and melody." "They say music hath charms to soothe the savage beast." "They ought to try it on these sea monsters." "From Canada comes word of a second ship destroyed by an enormous beast according to Captain LeMay." "He really ought to stop smoking that stuff and try Virginia Golds, because" "It shouldn't take me too long to catch up." " It's good to have you back." " Thank you." "Anything else, Miss Ryan?" "Oh, yes." "There's Miss Lee Hunter waiting to see you." " Miss Lee Hunter?" " She's very pretty." "Send her in." " How are you?" " Fine." "We met at the university." "I'm Dr. Elson's assistant." "Oh, yes, of course." "The verdict:" "A prehistoric animal would be presumptuous to be alive today and upset your neatly cataloged theories." "I see you don't remember I was a sympathetic bystander." "Oh, really?" "How come?" "I have a deep, abiding faith in the work of scientists." "Otherwise I wouldn't be one." " Won't you sit down?" " Thank you." "Sorry I can't offer you anything, but everything around here is radioactive." "No, thank you, anyway." "When I was in the lab yesterday I heard a report about a man claiming that his ship was sunk by a sea monster." ""If all the stories about sea monsters were laid end to end they'd reach the moon."" "But two reports coming so close together" "What makes you think two are going to convince anyone any more than one did?" "Well, it convinced me." "It got me to thinking it would be worthwhile investigating." "I've gathered all the sketches of known prehistoric animals." "If you identify" "Being considered crazy has been quite an experience." "However, I wouldn't care to go through it again." "Is this the man with the compelling curiosity?" "Afraid of ridicule?" " I'm not afraid of ridicule." " No?" "But I'm afraid that's what it sounds like." "You said sketches of all the known animals?" "What if it's an unknown one?" "That's possible." "But we'll never really know unless you look at them." "Oh, professor, think what it would mean if you were right." "Five-minute break." "It's coffee time." "Good." "I need it." "Cream and sugar?" "Better take both." "I make coffee strong enough to enter the Olympics." " One or two?" " Two, please." "I never knew there were so many prehistoric animals." "We haven't even reached the Cretaceous Period yet." "I don't know if I could identify the beast now if it looked through the window." "Maybe it's part imagination, after all." "Something I used to dream about when I was a kid." "Or read in fairy tales." "You're tired." "Why don't you just relax for a moment." "Have a sandwich." "Thanks." " Funny." " What's funny?" "Well, a girl like you, a paleontologist." "What's wrong with paleontology?" " Classifying old bones." " Old bones?" "!" "If we didn't study the past, you wouldn't know about the atom." "Dr. Elson says, "Future is the reflection of the past."" "You're fond of Dr. Elson, aren't you?" "How did you become his assistant?" "I suppose by continually antagonizing him." "I was one of his students." "To hear him tell it, all I ever did was challenge him or argue with him." "I was afraid he was going to expel me." "Instead, he asked me to be his assistant after I graduated." "So I graduated, and here I am." "And here I am." "Between us, we span the ages." "You deal with the past, I with the future." "How uncomplicated the past was." "And how bright the future can be." "Let's get back to the present." "This might be it." "I'm not sure." "Not sure?" "The head looks similar, but the front legs are too short." "Wait a minute." "Is this any better?" "Now, that's much more like it." "And what about this one?" "That's the closest!" "I think that is it." "Lee, I think that's the one I saw!" "If two independent observers saw the same thing..." "If that captain in Canada could identify the same sketch" "And tell his story to Dr. Elson." ""Capt. George LeMay, Marquette, Canada."" " Operator." " I want to make a long-distance call." "Person-to-person." "To Capt. George LeMay, Marquette, Canada." "One moment, please." " Charge this call to Circle 4-4771." " Thank you." "It's my monster." "They're speaking French." " Capt. LeMay is ready." " Thank you." "Hello." "Capt. LeMay?" "My name is Tom Nesbitt." "I'm a scientist in New York." "I have some important questions to ask you." "I don't speak English." "Captain?" " Hello." "Capt. LeMay?" " I am sorry, but the captain has hung up." "He is unhappy when anybody mentions his accident, because everyone laughs." "Please get the captain back." "I can't tell you how important this is." "I am sorry." "He will not speak to you again, I'm sure." "He is a stubborn old man." "Perhaps a little crazy." "Especially on the subject of serpents." "They think he is crazy too." " Well, it was a good try anyway." " But good tries don't pay off." "Do you suppose if you went up there you could make him understand how important this is?" "I could get a plane." "Phone me if anything exciting happens." "I'll phone you even if nothing happens." "You missed him by not more than two hours." "I thought you might tell me where he went." "His housekeeper wouldn't." "Capt. LeMay has been very touchy since his sea serpent incident." "People felt he was a bit balmy." "They laughed at him." "Too bad too." "The man had served well and faithfully for years." "I believe a man has a right to a few nips now and then, I always say." " You don't believe his story?" " I said he was balmy, not me." "He let it get out that he was headed for the interior of Canada and was not going to stop until he hit a spot uninhabited by white men." "A blooming hermit he wants to be." "He'll be back in less than a month." "I can't wait that long." " Were there any other survivors?" " No." " How far is it to St. Pierre?" " About 100 miles." "Are you going to see this other chap who claims he saw it?" "I say, you don't believe in the sea serpent fable, do you?" "What do you think I am, balmy?" "Good evening, Jacob." "You look much better today." "A man is here." "A very great scientist from New York." "No, Sister." "Take him away." "I want no one near me." "He went to so much trouble to find you." "Why?" "He says it is very important." "It's about the beast you saw." "Tell him to leave me alone!" "Tell him I saw nothing!" "Tell him I know nothing!" "Tell him it's all in my head!" "That's what everybody says." "Except me, Jacob." " Who are you?" " I saw the beast too." "You saw him?" " You're not playing jokes on me?" " No, I'm not playing any jokes." "People called me crazy too." "It stays in my mind always." "I'll never forget it." "In New York, there are scientists, friends, who will listen and believe." "Jacob, will you come to New York with me?" " Is he well enough to travel?" " I will ask the doctor." "There's something very compensating in having to wait 30 years for a holiday." "Because when it finally comes the joy of anticipation is multiplied by just that many years." "I feel like a schoolboy on the verge of departing for my first summer camp." "By the way, that reminds me, our young nuclear physicist appears to be delayed." "He'll be here any minute." "Shouldn't take him long from the airport." "Mesozoic animal alive today." "I can lose my job and my reputation listening to such nonsense." "However, I won't allow my personal opinion to interfere with a romance." "Don't change the subject." "You're just being stubborn." "Am I?" "Now, just you listen to this." "It's something that I read this morning." ""On the 21 st of October, in the year 1797, one Professor Gordon Laughton was forcibly removed, by order of the Crown from his chair of science at the University of Edinburgh." "He was firmly convinced that leprechauns were responsible for the uprooting of the ancient campus oak." "Even swearing upon oath that he had seen them remove it."" "So, you see, today, it's monsters instead of leprechauns." "How certain are you there were no leprechauns?" "Hello, Lee." "I don't recall this Dr. Laughton, but what about Galileo?" "He said the earth was round." "They made him recant." "However, the Earth is round." "And there is a monster." "And I think I can convince you." " Is this your sailor witness?" " Yes, sir." "Jacob Bowman, the helmsman on the fishing boat Fortune." "Dr. Elson, Miss Hunter." " So you saw the monster too?" " Yes, sir." "Go ahead, my dear." "This is your experiment." "Jacob, I want you to look through those sketches and pick out the one you saw." "You don't think this is a waste of time?" "Several days ago at Miss Hunter's apartment I picked out the sketch of the beast I saw." "It's right in that batch." "But, unfortunately, in paleontology, the empirics of logic isn't enough." "It isn't a question of empirics." "If a particle of the sun broke off and flew into space I wouldn't consider the man who brought that news to be insane." "As a scientist, I would examine every facet of it." "Yes, but if a particle of the sun were to break off, 100 million people would see." "If it broke off, it would make no difference if one saw it or no one at all." "It would still be." "The same with the monster." "It still is." "Perhaps I'm getting old." "Jacob, you must be quite sure about this creature you claim to have seen." "There must be no doubt in your mind." "If it's here, I'll know it." " That." " That's the one I picked." "It's the rhedosaurus, extinct for 100 million years." " A hundred million years?" " Yes." "And the direct ancestor of that little lady there." "Only twice the size, according to theory." "The only fossils of its species ever discovered were found in a drag of the Hudson submarine canyons." "A hundred and fifty miles from New York." "Didn't Professor Edmonds write a paper on that just last year?" "Yes." "Yes." "If we could only be sure, without a shadow of a doubt" "What further proof do you need?" "Things have happened again and again, and they'll continue." "I tried to get the authorities to keep the coastline under close watch..." " ...they wouldn't listen to me." " They'll listen this time." "Get them on the phone." "I'll talk to them." "Thanks." "Col. Evans, please." "Jack." "Tom Nesbitt." "I feel great." "That hallucination of mine the one that everybody was having such a good laugh about?" "Well, I've got proof the monster exists." "Now, Tom, let's not start that again." "What?" "I can see myself requesting permission to seek out a prehistoric monster." "Eagles on a straitjacket are not regulation uniform." "I'm here at the university with Dr. Elson, the foremost paleontologist in the world." "Just a moment." "He wants to talk to you." "Col. Evans." "This is Dr. Elson." "I'm convinced that Professor Nesbitt is onto something." "There have been all kinds of stories." "Stories of sea serpents stories of the world coming to an end, stories of flying saucers." "What makes you so sure there are no flying saucers?" "Nevertheless, I'm convinced by some trick of chance, this creature exists." "And I'm prepared to stake my reputation on it." "I'm sure you know what you're talking about, doctor but it would look foolish if we stick our neck out." "Will you promise if any reports come in, you'll let us know?" "I've got a friend in the Coast Guard." "I'll drop in to see him." "If he's heard of anything, I'll get in touch with you." "Okay?" "Thank you, colonel." "We'll appreciate it." "He's going to check and let us know." " We can't just sit around." " I'm afraid there's nothing we can do." "But wait." "I heard a new song at the tavern the other day." "Something about gin and wild women." " How'd it go?" " Oh, I don't remember." "I stuck five nickels in the box to hear it again and the thing busted down." "You know me, I couldn't carry a tune in a bushel basket." "I like the ballads." "The ones that warm you even when the fog is a foot thick." "Did you hear that?" "Come in." "That's all." " Jack, how are you?" " Phil, at this moment, I don't know." "Well, sit down." "Sit down." "I haven't seen you since the last Army-Navy game." "What a game that was." "What's the problem?" "AEC getting you down?" " No, not at all." " Good." "Stick around." "I'll be through in a minute." "We'll go to the club." "Phil, here it is straight." "One of the scientists in the last polar test claims he saw a monster." "The dean of the College of Natural History believes him." "Then who am I to doubt it?" "Are you trying to get a Section 8 discharge?" "A neurotic colonel." "These scientists claim that this monster or beast, this prehistoric thing and if you laugh, I'll brain you, is romping around the North Atlantic." "I guess you'll have to brain me." "You're nuts!" "Anyway, that's what they say." "Look, Phil." "Would you do me a favor?" "Check around to see if there have been any reports of any freak or unusual happenings." "Are you on the level?" "If standing on my head's on the level, I am." "You certainly sound serious." "All right, I'll check." "But so help me, if this is a practical joke" "I'll die laughing." "Well, that's it." "No storm, no earthquake, nothing but that lighthouse was destroyed completely." "Were there any other unexplained happenings?" "Yes." "Coast Guard station 37 reported minor shore wreckage along the Massachusetts coast." "Several buildings were destroyed." "And a farmer was found crushed to death." "There's a certain inexorable chronology in these disasters." "I don't follow you, doctor." "Tom first saw the rhedosaurus near Baffin Bay." "While his latest presumed presence is off the coast of Massachusetts." " May I look at your chart, captain?" " Of course." "Now, first north of Baffin Bay." "Second, the fishing ketch Fortune was wrecked here off the Grand Banks." "And another one attacked shortly thereafter." "Here." "Nova Scotia." "Third, the lighthouse off the coast of Maine." "Fourth, unexplained wreckage off the coast of Massachusetts." "You'll notice we've been following the Arctic Current all the way down." "So it's just possible that he might be making for here." "It was in these submerged canyons that the fossils of his species were found." "We could mine those canyons." "And kill the rhedosaurus?" "Oh, no." "Think what a loss to science that would be." "Oh, no." "But to capture it alive would be an achievement." "How do you propose to capture it, if it exists?" "I don't know." "But if we ascertain it's down there in the canyons I'll have to go see it before I decide upon a method of capture." "That's much too dangerous." "Yes, but then the risk would be worth it if one thinks of the benefit to science." "Captain, is it possible to obtain the use of a diving bell?" " You really want to go down there?" " Yes." "I can get a diving bell." "What do you think, Jack?" "Everything else checks out." "If you can get it, let's move." "Thank you." "I still don't see how he's gonna find it." "This canyon is 100 miles long." "As I understand, he plans to drop down at a different spot every hour till he finds it." "Hear this." "Hear this." "We are now ready to make the dive at position number one." "I don't like the idea of you going with just one man." "That's capacity." "If there's any danger, my crewman will know what to do." " I brought your Dramamine." " No, thank you." "I'm much too excited to get seasick." "Are you ready, Dr. Elson?" "Remember, at the first sign of danger, signal us." "Why will you persist in talking about danger?" "The rhedosaurus and I are old friends." " Good luck, doctor." " Thank you." " Here you are, sir." " Thank you." "Don't look so worried, Lee." "We're scientists." "This is our job." "This is a great moment for me." "Everything shipshape in there?" "Splendid, thank you." "All the comforts of home." "Lower away." "Hoist away." "Is there anything I have to do?" "Oh, no, sir." "You just relax and enjoy the scenery." "This is such a strange feeling." "I feel I am leaving a world of untold tomorrows for a world of countless yesterdays." "Lee was right." "I should have brought the Dramamine pills." "This is all very frustrating." "I do hope all our endeavors will not be in vain." " Thank you." " You're welcome, doctor." "We are having coffee now." "And some visitors." "There looks to be a difference of opinion between two of the local inhabitants." "There he is!" "It's unbelievable." "He's tremendous." "I can only see part of him the leg and the shoulder, but he is enormous." "He found it." "Shall we pull you up?" "No!" "No!" "No, put Lee on." "He wants to talk to you." "Yes, doctor." "Lee, there's no mistake about it." "It's a Paleolithic survival." "It's exactly as we pictured it except the dorsal is singular, not bilateral." "The clavicle suspension appears to be cantileveric." "But the most astonishing thing about it is" "He doesn't answer." " Get him up." " Raise the bell." "We're pulling you up!" "Dr. Elson!" "Can you hear me?" "Answer me!" "The line is dead." "Well, the report has been turned in." "The National Guard and Coast Guard have been alerted." "Evans is in charge." "This was being packed for a very different reason." "What can I say?" "I should have gone down instead of him." "I am to blame." "Nobody is to blame." "And everybody is to blame." "We all did what we thought was right." "But that doesn't bring him through the door again." "With his funny little walk, and that wonderful smile." "This place seems so empty." "He used to putter around with the specimens and call them pet names." "His death was so futile." "He went down in that bell because it was part of his job." "He used those same words just before..." "Oh, Tom." "It's coming up Nassau Street toward Pine." "Get some help fast!" "New York is like a city besieged." "A state of emergency has been declared and the entire police force put on 24-hour duty." "Civilian defense is fully mobilized and shelters have been opened in an effort to stop the mounting hysteria." "All traffic has been halted." "And Times Square, the heart of New York, has stopped beating." "The National Guard has been called out, fully armed, to repel the invader." "This is full-scale war against a terrible enemy such as modern man has never before faced." "Ordinary bullets have no effect and a method of destroying the awesome creature has not yet been formulated." "But the battlefield has been cleared." "Herald Square." "34th Street." "Broadway." "Every section of the city is guarded." "No one knows where the monster will strike next." "It was last seen on Wall Street, close to where it came ashore." "But lower Manhattan has become no man's land where the beast, at present, lies hidden." "The National Guard is barricading the area in an effort to confine the death and destruction of what is already the worst disaster in New York's history." "A screen here." "105 temperature." "Here's the blood specimen." "Get it to the laboratory quickly." "I'm afraid, Sam." "I am afraid of what that creature has brought to us." "Deadly afraid." "Think you can place it between his eyes?" "We can try, sir." " Fire when ready, corporal." " Yes, sir." "His skull it's at least 8 inches thick." " Another one, colonel?" " No." "It would take a 3-inch shell to penetrate that skull." "Bazooka squad, prepare to fire." "The high-voltage wires, it's gonna touch them!" "Bazooka men, fire!" "Under the neck, when he raises his head again." "Get those emergency search lights on!" "We're working on it." "Sergeant." "Sergeant!" " What is it?" " Blood." "Give me the walkie-talkie." "Col. Evans." "Col. Evans?" "Sgt. Wyntoni." "Now, look, proceed with extreme caution." "Wounded, the animal might be twice as dangerous as before." "There's a possibility the animal might've headed for the river." "We'll have all shore batteries alerted and naval patrol vessels." "Get me a command car!" " Col. Evans speaking, go ahead." " Look, colonel something's funny." "Most of the detail, they're" "Well, they're out." "Out on their feet, sir." "Have your sergeant contact the medics." "And report to Capt. Mitchell." "Your car is ready, sir." "Have the medical officer report to me..." " ...at area command." " Yes, sir." "He is reported somewhere in the lower bay area." " Battery A in position zero." " Battery A into position zero." " Report radar findings." " Report radar finding." "Sounding harbor bottom." "Sounding harbor bottom." " Activate mines, numbers 8 to 24." " Activate mines, numbers 8 to 24." "What's the situation, major?" "We're sounding the harbor bottom." "No indications yet, sir." "Charting room." "Col. Evans?" "Majors, there's a call here for Col. Evans." "This is Evans speaking." "Who?" "Oh, yes." "Hello, doctor." "Colonel, they've already brought in over 50 of your men and the people this afternoon." "The monster's a giant germ-carrier of a horrible, virulent disease." "Contact with the animal's blood can be fatal." "If you use shell-fire, who knows how far the air will spread the particles of it." " The entire city can be endangered." " Right, doctor." " Were the anti-submarine nets raised?" " No, sir." "Order them raised." " Raise the anti-submarine nets." " Raise the anti-submarine nets." "Flamethrowers would've cremated the beast and the plague with it." "Flamethrowers?" "The smoke would have carried the blood particles just as far." "No, it will have to be reduced so that not even a cinder would remain." "Any reports yet, major?" "No signs yet, colonel." "He may be dying at the bottom." "We'll set the drags in the morning." "Attention!" "Monster ashore at Manhattan Beach, heading to the amusement area." " On land?" " I thought we had him in a pocket." "Jack, there's only one way to beat him." "How?" "Radioactive isotope." "Shoot it into him and destroy all that diseased tissue." "Keep your men alerted." "But nobody's to fire unless ordered to." "Yes, sir." "How soon, Tom?" "Should be any minute now." "Wait for us here." " I'm Professor Nesbitt." " We've got your baby, professor." "Good." " We need your best marksman, Jack." " Right." "Have him get into these." "Here's your man, Tom." " Colonel says you need a dead shot." " Yes." " Ever use a grenade rifle?" " Pick my teeth with it." "Good." "You know what a radioactive isotope is?" " No, but if it can be loaded, I can fire it." " I'll load it." "Just remember one thing:" "It has to be shot into the wound." "And you have to make it the first time." "This is the only isotope of its kind this side of Oak Ridge, so you can't miss." "Let's get to the target." "I can't hit him from here, mister." " Ever ride one of those things?" " Yes, sir." "Jack!" "Get somebody over here who can operate that roller coaster!" "We want to get to the top in one of those cars." "Right!" " Put your hood on." " Yes, sir."