Superman Clan of the Fiery Cross, Chapter 8 Date: Jun 19 1946 CAST:
ANNOUNCER
NARRATOR
JIMMY OLSEN
PERRY WHITE
1ST CLAN
2ND CLAN
CLARK KENT/SUPERMAN
LOIS LANE
INSPECTOR HENDERSON
SGT. HEALY
and a mob of CLANSMENANNOUNCER: Faster than a speeding bullet! SOUND: GUNSHOT, WITH RICOCHET ANNOUNCER: More powerful than a locomotive! SOUND: TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS, LOCOMOTIVE RUMBLES ANNOUNCER: Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound! SOUND: LOUD RUSH OF AIR ... CONTINUES IN BG NARRATOR: Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! ANNOUNCER: It's a plane! NARRATOR: It's Superman! SOUND: LOUD RUSH OF AIR ... UP AND OUT MUSIC: FANFARE .. THEN IN BG ANNOUNCER: Kellogg's Pep! P-E-P! Pep! Kellogg's Pep, the Sunshine Cereal, presents-- NARRATOR: "The Adventures of Superman"! MUSIC: UP, FOR THEME ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: Today, with Clark Kent's admonition to remain at the Daily Planet gone unheeded, Perry White and Jimmy Olsen have fallen into the hands of enemies -- the hooded mobsters of the Clan of the Fiery Cross! MUSIC: UP AND OUT ANNOUNCER: Hello, there, gang. This is your pal, Dan McCullough. Say, if you want a breakfast treat that is a treat, latch on to a dish of Kellogg's Pep tomorrow morning. There's a dish that'll make your appetite sit up and take notice, believe me. Each tender whole wheat flake is crisp and golden. Good as gold to taste, too. Why, Kellogg's Pep is called the Sunshine Cereal. It's loaded to the brim with sunshine flavor, a breezy sort of flavor that brings every spoonful right back for another. And just ask mom about how Kellogg's Pep stacks up for nutrition. She knows you get solid whole wheat nourishment and more. Add it all up, gang, and you'll get a big total of reasons why Kellogg's Pep will make a real hit with you. See if you don't go for Pep in such a big way that almost before you know it, you've finished off every last spoonful in your bowl, which is a particularly smart idea nowadays when we're sending the cereal grains to help give good nourishment to fellows and girls across the seas. Nobody wants to waste cereal. So when mom brings Kellogg's Pep home from the grocer's, make sure that you pour it out carefully, and eat up every bit you pour out. Get the right habit, gang. Eat all your Pep! Don't waste it! MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: And now "The Adventures of Superman"! When Tommy Lee, spectacular boy pitcher and star player on Jim Olsen's Unity House baseball team, was brutally attacked by the hate-mongering Clan of the Fiery Cross because he's Chinese, editor Perry White printed a blistering editorial against the cowardly hooded band whose un-American credo is "One Race, One Religion, One Color." White's editorial was accompanied by an offer of one thousand dollars to whomever would reveal the identity of a Clansman. That night, a fiery cross was planted on White's lawn as a warning. Furious and far from intimidated, White published another editorial attack against the fanatical bigotry of the hooded clan, raising his offer to five thousand dollars for identification of its membership. Ignoring Kent's admonition to stay in the office until his return, White and Jim Olsen drove off to the editor's suburban home. En route, they are forced to stop by a large truck which, as our story continues now, is disgorging some twenty men, all garbed in long sheets and slitted hoods, who mutter angrily as they rush toward White and Jim. SOUND: CLANSMEN MUTTER ANGRILY ... CONTINUES IN BG JIMMY: Holy smokes! Look, Chief, it's - it's-- WHITE: The Clan of the Fiery Cross! 1ST CLAN: Come on, boys! You know what to do! 2ND CLAN: You bet we do! JIMMY: Quick, Chief! Start the car! Maybe we can get away! WHITE: No, no, Jim, it's too late. (TO CLAN) Take your hands off me, you--! SOUND: COMMOTION ... JIMMY AND WHITE STRUGGLE WITH CLAN JIMMY: Hey! Let go! WHITE: Let go. Let go, I said! 1ST CLAN: Let 'em have it, Joe! SOUND: WHITE CLOBBERED WHITE: (GROANS) 1ST CLAN: Good work! (LAUGHS) JIMMY: Why, you dirty rats! Just let me get my hands on you! 1ST CLAN: Give it to him, too, Joe! JIMMY: No! SOUND: JIMMY CLOBBERED ... CLAN QUIETS BEHIND-- JIMMY: (GROANS) 1ST CLAN: Ah, nice goin'! All right, boys -- pick 'em up and toss 'em into the truck! Mike, you drive their car; follow us. Let's go! MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: Throwing the unconscious Jimmy Olsen and Perry White into their truck, the robed and hooded Clansmen leap in after them and, a moment later, roar away. Meanwhile, in his guise of Clark Kent, Superman has returned to the Daily Planet. Failing to find White and Jimmy, he has entered Lois Lane's office, where the girl reporter is typing a story. SOUND: TYPEWRITER KLACKS ... CONTINUES IN BG KENT: Listen, Lois, did you see--? LOIS: Just a moment, Clark. I'm finishing a story on Dr. Lee. KENT: What? LOIS: You know, Tommy Lee's father. KENT: Oh, all right, that's fine, but will you please stop typing a moment and listen to me? This is important! LOIS: Okay, okay. SOUND: TYPEWRITER SLOWS TO A STOP LOIS: There! (EXHALES) Now, what's on your mind? KENT: Have you seen the Chief and Jimmy? LOIS: Yes, I saw them about-- Oh, a half an hour ago when I got back to the office. They were just leaving. KENT: Leaving? For where? LOIS: For the Chief's house. Why? KENT: Oh, of all the stubborn-- I told him not to leave the office without me! LOIS: You told who? KENT: The Chief! Do you mind if I use your phone? SOUND: PHONE RECEIVER UP ... THEN ROTARY DIAL BEHIND-- LOIS: Well, of course not. Look, what's all the excitement about? KENT: What do you mean? Don't you know about the cross being burned on the Chief's lawn last night? And Poco getting beaten up? LOIS: Of course I know about it, but has something else happened now? KENT: I don't know. I hope not. LOIS: You hope not?! Clark, I wish you'd explain. What's eating you? KENT: I'm worried about the Chief, Lois. That fiery cross was the Clan's warning to him to stop attacking them in the Daily Planet or else! You know that, don't you? LOIS: Oh, sure, but they were just bluffing. KENT: Bluffing?! LOIS: Well, you know they wouldn't dare do anything to an important man like the editor of the Daily Planet. KENT: Ohhh, that's what you think. (BEAT, TO HIMSELF) Oh, why doesn't somebody answer? LOIS: Who're you calling? KENT: Mr. White's house. LOIS: Well-- Well, poor Poco can't answer. He's in bed, you know, under a doctor's care. KENT: I know, I know. But the nurse, Miss Adams, is there. She-- Oh, wait a minute, here she is now. (INTO PHONE) Hello, Miss Adams? This is Clark Kent. -- Yes. Did Mr. White and Jim Olsen get there yet? -- They didn't. Well, I-- -- Yes, I know you're expecting them. -- Uh huh. Well, look, will you ask Mr. White to phone me the moment he comes in, please? -- I'm at the office. -- That's right, at the Daily Planet. -- Thank you. Goodbye. SOUND: RECEIVER DOWN LOIS: Not home yet? KENT: (NO) Uh uh. And that worries me. You said they left a half hour ago, Lois? LOIS: Well, about that. KENT: They should be home, because it doesn't take much more than half an hour to drive out there. LOIS: Now, stop worrying, Clark. For heaven's sake-- KENT: I can't when I think of the Clan of the Fiery Cross and what they'd do-- LOIS: Oh, stop it, Clark. You know those cowards attack people who can't defend themselves and whom they think they can scare into silence, like little Tommy Lee and his father. Why, they wouldn't dare attack Perry White. KENT: Ordinarily you'd be right, Lois. But they can't afford to have a big paper like the Planet blasting them and offering five-thousand-dollar rewards for information about them. LOIS: Well-- KENT: They've got to shut up the Chief or stop their dirty work. LOIS: I think they wouldn't dare touch him. KENT: And I tell you you're wrong. I'll wait another ten minutes. If the Chief isn't home by then, I'm going out to look for him. MUSIC: BRIEF TRANSITION SOUND: PHONE ROTARY DIAL BEHIND-- LOIS: For heaven's sake, who are you calling now, Clark? KENT: White's house. The ten minutes are up. LOIS: Goodness, I never knew you were such a worrier. KENT: Look, I've had too much experience with these fanatical hate-mongers not to worry, Lois. (INTO PHONE) Oh, hello, Miss Adams? This is Clark Kent again. -- Did Mr. White and Jim Olsen get there yet? -- Oh, they haven't? Well, did you hear from them at all? -- I see. -- No. No, no other message. -- All right, thank you. Goodbye. SOUND: RECEIVER DOWN LOIS: Still not home? KENT: No. I'll, uh-- I'll see you later, Lois. LOIS: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Where're you going? KENT: To look for the Chief and Jimmy. I've got a hunch they're in trouble. LOIS: Now you've got me worried. I'll go with you. KENT: No, I can work faster alone! LOIS: Don't be silly. How can you?! KENT: You'd be surprised. So long! MUSIC: TRANSITION ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: Hurrying to the deserted storeroom, Kent strips off his business suit revealing the blue costume and red cape of Superman! Swiftly, he opens the window. SOUND: WINDOW OPENS SUPERMAN: Out! Up! And away! SOUND: LOUD RUSH OF AIR ... THEN IN BG MUSIC: IN BG-- NARRATOR: Like an arrow shot from a giant bow, Superman flashes away from the Daily Planet, rocketing above the highway leading to editor White's suburban home. A moment later he is hovering above White's house, sees his friends are not there, and returns to scour the highway and the nearby countryside again. SOUND: LOUD RUSH OF AIR OUT NARRATOR: Later, more worried than ever, he has resumed his guise of Clark Kent and is in the office of Inspector Henderson at Metropolis Police Headquarters. KENT: You say you've checked with the highway police, Inspector? HENDERSON: Yes, and with all the hospitals. There's been no report of anything happening to Mr. White and Jim. Or of anyone seeing them after they left the Planet this evening. KENT: Then I'm positive the Clan of the Fiery Cross is behind their disappearance. You've got to track them down! HENDERSON: Now, wait a minute, Kent. The Clansmen are bad actors, but they pick on little people. They only try to frighten the big ones. KENT: They tried to frighten Mr. White and it didn't work, so they had to go farther. They knew if they didn't silence him, he'd silence them eventually. HENDERSON: Yes, but, Kent-- KENT: Believe me, Inspector, I know what I'm talking about. Now, we've got to work fast -- or we may never see Mr. White and Jimmy again. We've got to track down that clan! HENDERSON: Yeah? And how are we going to do that? We don't even know who those devils are. KENT: All right, we've gotta find out. Now, look, that boy who called me the other night to tell me the Clan was going to tar and feather Tommy Lee. He knows who the Clansmen are. Now, if we can find him, we-- HENDERSON: Oh, sure! If, if, if! I've had all phone exchanges trying to trace that call, and my men are asking questions everywhere. But it's no soap. Trouble is, we haven't got a description of the boy. KENT: I know. SOUND: PHONE RINGS HENDERSON: Oh, uh, just a minute. That's my phone. SOUND: RECEIVER UP HENDERSON: (INTO PHONE) Hello? -- Oh, yes, Healy? -- What?! -- You have, huh? -- Oh, that's fine. Well, where are ya? -- Third and Main? -- Right. Right, we'll be right out. SOUND: RECEIVER DOWN HENDERSON: That was Healy, Kent. KENT: Yes? HENDERSON: He's picked up a boy he thinks might be the one who phoned you the other night. KENT: Wonderful. Let's go. MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: We'll return in a moment for the tense climax of today's episode, so stand by! MUSIC: UP AND OUT ANNOUNCER: Say, gang, you probably remember from school about the pyramids, one of the wonders of ancient Egypt. Well, this week, we've dressed up a pyramid into a wonder of a breakfast dish. It's a Pep Pyramid, this week's Pep Dish of the Week. Try it tomorrow and see if it doesn't make history with your morning appetite. First, pile your serving of Kellogg's Pep, the Sunshine Cereal, in your bowl in the shape of a pyramid. Around the base, scatter juicy red raspberries or some other fruit. Top with milk and sugar. And that's it, gang! A Pep Pyramid -- a breakfast combination that stars Kellogg's Pep and its sunshine flavor. Yes, sir, that sunny golden toasted flavor sure does rise and shine! Pep's tender crispness sure does a thing or two for your appetite, too. Fact is, Kellogg's Pep is always so terrific, ya keep right on eating down to the last full wheat flake in your bowl. And you know that's the hep thing to do, particularly nowadays when the cereal grains are being sent to fellows and girls overseas. So, gang, when mom brings Kellogg's Pep home from the grocer's, make sure there's no waste at your house. If you pour your own Pep, pour it carefully and finish off every bit you pour out. Remember, eat all your Pep! Don't waste it! MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: Clark Kent and Inspector Henderson have just arrived at Third and Main Streets where Sergeant Healy reported picking up a boy who might be the mysterious youngster who had telephoned Kent the night the Clan of the Fiery Cross attacked young Tommy Lee. SOUND: CITY TRAFFIC BACKGROUND HENDERSON: Where's the boy, Healy? HEALY: I let him go, Inspector. KENT: What?! HENDERSON: You let him go? HEALY: Yeah, I called ya back, but you'd already left. This kid was acting suspiciously two nights ago when the Lee boy was grabbed by the Clan. Also, he made a phone call from a poolroom to someone -- he wouldn't say who -- about the time Mr. Kent got the call. HENDERSON: Yeah? HEALY: But when I checked back on my notes, I saw where Mr. Kent had said the kid who phoned him didn't have any accent. KENT: No, he didn't. HEALY: Well, this kid had a Southern accent. KENT: Uh oh. HENDERSON: Well, it might have been a phony one. HEALY: It wasn't. I made sure. I checked with people around here who knew him and his folks. They're from the South, all right. HENDERSON: Well, I guess that's that, Kent. KENT: Not on your life, Inspector! We've still got to find a lead to the Clan because I'm sure they've got Jim and Mr. White. I'm afraid that unless we get to them quickly, it'll be too late! MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: Clark Kent's fear is well-founded, for at this moment in the Clan's hideout, high in the craggy hills above Metropolis, Jimmy and White sit in a small dark cave, their hands bound tightly behind them with wire. Outside the cave entrance, two ghostly figures in robes and hoods keep watch. Other hooded figures stand guard elsewhere in the moonlit glade. SOUND: NOCTURNAL BACKGROUND (CRICKETS CHIRP, ET CETERA) JIMMY: What do you think's gonna happen to us, Mr. White? WHITE: Nothing, Jim. Not a thing. They wouldn't dare do anything to us. JIMMY: That's what you said last night after they burned the cross on your lawn. WHITE: Ah, they're just bluffing now. Trying to scare us. JIMMY: You can't kid me. You don't believe that any more than I do. You know these guys mean business. WHITE: Rubbish. Sheer nonsensical rubbish. JIMMY: Oh, yeah? I got a feeling we're in for the works. I heard one of the guys say their Grand - Grand Scorpion was comin' up here tonight and it was gonna be just too bad for us. WHITE: And I say it'll be too bad for him and for all of his dirty gang if they so much as lay a finger on us. I-- JIMMY: (WHISPERS) Hold it, Chief! Here comes one of the rats. WHITE: Well, let him come. I'll tell him a thing or two. SOUND: CLANSMEN'S STEPS APPROACH 2ND CLAN: (APPROACHES) All right, White, Olsen; up on your feet. WHITE: Now, look here, you--! SOUND: JIMMY AND WHITE FORCED TO THEIR FEET 2ND CLAN: Shut up and do as you're told. WHITE: Why, you--! JIMMY: Chief, please. WHITE: (INDIGNANT) Well, the idea--! 2ND CLAN: The Grand Scorpion wants to see ya. Follow me. JIMMY: The who? 2ND CLAN: You heard me. The Grand Scorpion of the Clan-- WHITE: The Grand Baloney! Now, you listen to me. If you know what's good for you--! 2ND CLAN: Look, White. If you know what's good for you, you'll shut your face and do as you're told. We don't aim to take any more from you. Y'understand? Now, come on! Move! MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN IN BG-- NARRATOR: Shoved roughly from the cave, Jim Olsen and Perry White follow the hooded ruffian across the moonlit glade to a secluded spot where Matt Riggs, the cold-eyed leader of the Clan of the Fiery Cross, awaits them. What will happen?! Tomorrow's episode is tense with action and drama! So don't miss it! Tune in -- same time, same station! MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN IN BG-- ANNOUNCER: And remember! For breakfast, it's Kellogg's Pep! MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN IN BG-- NARRATOR: For excitement, "The Adventures of Superman"! MUSIC: UP, FOR THEME ... THEN IN BG-- ANNOUNCER: Superman is a copyrighted feature, appearing in Superman-DC Comic Magazines and is brought to you Monday through Friday at this same time by Kellogg's Pep, the Sunshine Cereal. MUSIC: UP AND OUT ANNOUNCER: Say, how about being a pal to your dog like he is to you? Do him a good turn. Treat him to Kellogg's Gro-Pup Dog Food. Why, it beats all how many dogs give Gro-Pup the glad-eye. It's so full of meaty flavor. And there are three different kinds to pick from. There's Gro-Pup Ribbon, Gro-Pup Meal, and Gro-Pup Pellets. You can give your dog the kind he likes best because they all have what it takes to help keep him right on the beam. For lots of muscle, for strong bones and teeth, ask Mother to base your dog's diet on Kellogg's Gro-Pup every day. And be sure to be with us tomorrow for the thrilling adventures of Superman. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.