MUSIC:

FANFARE! ... ORCHESTRA

COMPÈRE:

Welcome to the CalTex Theatre, a full hour of dramatic entertainment broadcast over a nationwide network of stations throughout Australia. The CalTex Theatre is brought to you by CalTex Oil, marketers of over a thousand outstanding petroleum products in association with CalTex dealers and distributors everywhere.

SOUND:

APPLAUSE

MUSIC:

THEME ... LUSH, ROMANTIC STRINGS

COMPÈRE:

Tonight in the CalTex Theatre, you will hear a special adaptation of the unusual Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture "Forbidden Planet," a fascinating science fiction story set in a world of tomorrow. Starring in "Forbidden Planet," you will hear Lionel Stevens. Your producer, Creswick Jenkinson.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION ... ORCHESTRA

COMPÈRE:

The CalTex Theatre presents "Forbidden Planet"! Act One.

MUSIC:

INTRODUCTION ... WEIRD, OTHERWORLDLY, EFFECTS-LADEN, AND ENTIRELY ELECTRONIC (CONSISTING OF "BLEEPS, BLURPS, WHIRS, WHINES, THROBS, HUMS, AND SCREECHES," ET CETERA) ... THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

In the final decade of the twenty-first century, men and women in rocket ships landed on the moon. By Twenty-Two Hundred A. D., they had reached the other planets in our solar system. Almost at once there followed discovery of hyper-drive, through which the speed of light was attained and later greatly surpassed. So at last, mankind began the conquest and colonization of deep space.

MUSIC:

UP TO FILL A PAUSE ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR--

NARRATOR:

United Planets cruiser C-Fifty-Seven-D was more than a year out from Earth base on a special mission to the planetary system of the great main sequence star, Altair.

SOUND:

SPACE CRUISER INTERIOR BACKGROUND

ADAMS:

When do we get a D.C. fix, Jerry?

FARMAN:

Thirty seconds, Skipper. (BEAT) Ship on course, sir. We'll reach D.C. point at Seventeen-Oh-One. That's less than three minutes now.

ADAMS:

(TO QUINN) Chief, we'll drop back below light speed in about three minutes. Got your breakable gear stored?

QUINN:

Aye aye, sir.

FARMAN:

D.C. set and punched on, Skipper.

ADAMS:

(OVER SPEAKER) All right, attention. Captain to crew. All hands squared away to decelerate. D.C. stations.

MUSIC:

INDICATES THAT SPACE CRUISER DECELERATES OUT OF HYPER-DRIVE

SOUND:

SPACE CRUISER INTERIOR BACKGROUND

ADAMS:

All right, we're down to point-three-eight-nine-six of light speed.

FARMAN:

Skipper? There's Altair coming up on the screen. Right on the nose.

ADAMS:

Okay, Jerry, punch out an orbit on the fourth planet.

FARMAN:

Aye, aye, Skipper. (BEAT) Ship in approach, Skipper. Helical vector orientated.

ADAMS:

(OVER SPEAKER) Attention. Captain to crew. Attention. Our destination, Altair-IV, is now visible on the main view-plate. As you'll recollect from your briefing lectures, this is an Earth-type planet. Twenty years ago, the spacecraft Belerephon landed here with a prospecting party of scientists. Our mission is to search for survivors. That is all.

MUSIC:

BRIEF TRANSITION

SOUND:

SPACE CRUISER INTERIOR BACKGROUND

ADAMS:

Well, Doc, there it is.

OSTROW:

The Lord certainly made some beautiful worlds.

MUSIC:

BRIEF TRANSITION ... THEN IN BG

SOUND:

SPACE CRUISER INTERIOR BACKGROUND

GREY:

(IMPRESSED BY PLANET) Look at it, Cookie! What do you think about that, huh?

COOK:

(DISMISSIVE) Ah, another one of them new worlds. No beer, no women, no pool parlors, nothin'. Nothin' to do but throw rocks at tin cans. And we gotta bring our own tin cans!

MUSIC:

UP, FOR BRIEF TRANSITION

SOUND:

SPACE CRUISER INTERIOR BACKGROUND

ADAMS:

(OVER SPEAKER) Attention. Captain to crew. We are now entering the atmosphere of Altair-IV. No survival suits will be required upon landing. Oxygen content: four-point-seven richer than Earth standard. Gravity, only point-eight-nine-seven. Adjust your equipment accordingly. That's all.

BOSUN:

All hands, check equipment.

ADAMS:

Jerry? Can you make out anything down there?

FARMAN:

I may be missing some individual structures, but, as far as I can see, there are no cities, ports, roads, bridges, dams. There's just no sign of civilization at all.

ADAMS:

Hmm.

QUINN:

Sir, we're being radar-scanned!

ADAMS:

What? Let me see that.

QUINN:

Here it is on the electronic equipment.

ADAMS:

Yeah. Can you zero on it?

QUINN:

No, sir. But it seems to emanate from an area about twenty miles square.

ADAMS:

(CALLS) Bosun, pass the alert.

BOSUN:

Aye aye, sir. (CALLS) Combat stations! Blaster men, activate your scopes!

SOUND:

CREW MURMURS

QUINN:

Radio contact, sir. There's a voice here.

ADAMS:

Human?

QUINN:

Yes, sir. Sounds like it.

ADAMS:

Boost it on the speaker.

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Spaceship, identify yourself. You are being tracked.

ADAMS:

Cut me in, Quinn.

QUINN:

Yes, sir.

ADAMS:

(TO MORBIUS) United Planets Cruiser C-Five-Seven-D, J. J. Adams commanding. Who are you?

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Morbius, of the Belerephon.

ADAMS:

Who?

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Edward Morbius.

ADAMS:

Jerry?

SOUND:

FARMAN CHECKS PASSENGER LIST

FARMAN:

Uh-- Yep. Yep, here it is. His name's on the passenger list. (READS) "Morbius, E. --- Ph.D., Litt.D., Expedition philologist."

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) What do you wish here, cruiser?

ADAMS:

We're your relief, sir. We're very glad to find you alive. (NO RESPONSE) Dr. Morbius, are you there?

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Naturally, I appreciate your concern, but absolutely no assistance of any kind is required.

FARMAN:

(LOW, IRONIC, TO ADAMS) Well, the red carpet treatment, huh?

ADAMS:

Dr. Morbius, my orders are to survey the situation on Altair-IV.

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Let me repeat: I'm in no sort of difficulty here. Your best procedure will be to turn back at once without landing.

ADAMS:

Sorry, sir, but those aren't my orders.

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Commander, if you set down on this planet, I warn you that I cannot be answerable for the safety of either your ship or your crew.

ADAMS:

Dr. Morbius, I require landing coordinates. I'll be obliged if you'll supply me with them.

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Very well, but I wash my hands of all responsibility. You have standard charts?

ADAMS:

Yes, sir.

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) You may come in at eighty-three - seventeen - four north. One-four-eight - two-one west.

ADAMS:

Thank you. (LOW, TO FARMAN) Got that, Jerry?

FARMAN:

(SURPRISED) It's right back there -- in the desert.

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Commander, I strongly urge you to reconsider.

ADAMS:

Quinn, cut him off.

MORBIUS:

(FILTER) Please permit me to recommend--

SOUND:

CLICK! OF SWITCH AS RADIO IS TURNED OFF

OSTROW:

Eh, there's something funny going on down there, Skipper.

ADAMS:

Well, we'll soon know what it is. Okay, Jerry, I'll take her in.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION ... INDICATES THAT SPACE CRUISER PASSES THROUGH ATMOSPHERE AND LANDS ON PLANET ... THEN QUIETLY IN BG, TO INDICATE CRUISER ENGINES COOLING DOWN

BOSUN:

All clear, sir. No sign of any living being.

ADAMS:

Thank you, Bosun.

OSTROW:

(IMPRESSED) Look at the color of that sky. That fantastic greenish-yellow.

ADAMS:

(DRY) Fantastic, Doc, but I'll still take blue.

OSTROW:

(CHUCKLES) Oh, I don't know. The sky, the desert, the mountains -- I think a man could get used to this, and grow to love it.

MUSIC:

CRUISER ENGINES FINISH COOLING DOWN

FARMAN:

You, uh, better check your command mike, Skipper.

ADAMS:

Yeah, good idea. (INTO MIKE) Chief?

QUINN:

(FILTER) Sir?

ADAMS:

(INTO MIKE) You're in command now, Quinn, back there in the ship. You keep right at those instruments while we look around.

QUINN:

(FILTER) Aye aye, sir.

OSTROW:

Hey, what's this dust coming?

ADAMS:

Dust?

OSTROW:

A column of dust, sweeping towards us over the desert.

ADAMS:

Must be a vehicle of some sort.

FARMAN:

Yeah, looks like we're being met.

ADAMS:

(CALLS) Bosun, alert your men!

BOSUN:

Aye aye, sir!

MUSIC:

WEIRD ... INDICATES THAT VEHICLE APPROACHES ... CONTINUES IN BG

FARMAN:

The speed he's traveling-- That driver must be a madman.

MUSIC:

INDICATES THAT VEHICLE PULLS TO A STOP

ADAMS:

(TO FARMAN, DRY) What driver?

FARMAN:

You're right. There's a mechanical creature in charge of it.

OSTROW:

(LOW, WARY) It's coming over to us.

ADAMS:

(LOW) Take it steady, now.

SOUND:

ROBOT'S HEAVY METALLIC FOOTSTEPS APPROACH AND STOP ... (NOTE: WHENEVER ROBOT SPEAKS, ITS SENTENCES AND PAUSES ARE FREQUENTLY PRECEDED AND PUNCTUATED BY QUIET METALLIC CLANKS, CLUNKS, AND OCCASIONAL WHIRS)

ROBBY:

Welcome to Altair-IV, gentlemen.

FARMAN:

(LOW, SURPRISED) It talks.

ROBBY:

I am to transport you to the residence. If you do not speak English, I am at your disposal with one hundred and eighty-seven other languages, along with their various dialects and sub-tongues.

ADAMS:

No, uh, colloquial English will do fine, thank you. Er, this is no offense, but you are a robot, aren't you?

ROBBY:

That is correct, sir. For your convenience, I am monitored to respond to the name -- "Robby."

ADAMS:

Hm. Well, it's a nice climate you have here, Robby; er, high oxygen content.

ROBBY:

I rarely use it myself, sir. With my metallic structure, it promotes rust.

COOK:

Hey, Doc, uh, is it a--? Is it a male or a female?

OSTROW:

(CHUCKLES) Cookie, I really couldn't say.

ROBBY:

In my case, sir, the question is totally without meaning. Will you get in the vehicle, gentlemen?

ADAMS:

Er, Doc, Jerry -- come along with me.

OSTROW:

Right.

FARMAN:

Right.

SOUND:

ROBOT'S STEPS TO VEHICLE ... FARMAN AND OSTROW CLIMB ABOARD

ADAMS:

(INTO MIKE) Quinn, trace this vehicle. If I blink red back to you, you--

QUINN:

(FILTER) I'll bring the tractor in a hurry, sir.

ADAMS:

(INTO MIKE) Right.

OSTROW:

Here you are, Skipper. Just room for you.

SOUND:

ADAMS CLIMBS INTO THE VEHICLE

ROBBY:

Passengers will please fasten their seat belts.

OSTROW:

(AMUSED) Looks after us like a mother.

MUSIC:

WEIRD ... INDICATES THAT VEHICLE STARTS UP AND DRIVES RAPIDLY ACROSS DESERT TO RESIDENCE ... FOR A LENGTHY TRANSITION ... THEN FADES OUT

ROBBY:

The residence, gentlemen. If you will go in, you are expected.

FARMAN:

(SURPRISED) A garden -- blooming in the midst of a desert, if you like.

OSTROW:

(IMPRESSED) Have you ever seen a more gracious and attractive home -- exotic flowers, shady trees, pools of clear water?

ADAMS:

(LOW) And there in the doorway, if I'm not mistaken, our unwilling host.

MORBIUS:

I am Morbius.

ADAMS:

I am Commander Adams. This is Lieutenant Farman, my executive; Lieutenant Ostrow, our ship's doctor.

MORBIUS:

How ironic that a simple scholar with no ambition beyond a modest measure of seclusion, should, out of a clear sky, find himself besieged by an army of fellow creatures, all grimly determined to be of some service to him.

ADAMS:

I'm sorry, sir, if we're not welcome, but we do have our orders.

MORBIUS:

Of course. And you must stay for lunch, gentlemen. Do forgive the ill manners of an old recluse, if you can. Well, gentlemen, won't you come in?

SOUND:

SCENE FADES OUT ... TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... SCENE FADES IN

FARMAN:

Well, whatever that lunch was, it was certainly delicious.

MORBIUS:

Simply some of Robby's synthetics.

FARMAN:

He's your cook, too, huh?

MORBIUS:

He even manufactures the raw materials. (TO ROBBY) Come around here, Robby. (TO FARMAN) I'll show you how he works.

SOUND:

ROBBY'S STEPS APPROACH

MORBIUS:

Now-- One introduces a sample of human food through this aperture in the upper part of Robby's body. Down here, there's a small built-in chemical laboratory where he analyzes it. Later he can reproduce identical molecules in any shape or quantity.

ADAMS:

(WITH A CHUCKLE) Well, a housewife's dream.

MORBIUS:

Plus absolute selfless obedience. But do not attribute feelings to him, gentlemen. Robby is simply a tool. Tremendously strong, of course. He could quite easily topple this whole house off its foundation.

OSTROW:

In the wrong hands, mightn't such a - a tool become a deadly weapon?

MORBIUS:

No, Doctor, not even if I were the mad scientist of the thrillers -- because, you see, there happens to be a built-in safety factor. (TO ADAMS) Commander, may I borrow that formidable-looking sidearm of yours? (BEAT, AS ADAMS HANDS OVER GUN) Thank you. (BEAT) Now, Robby, point this thing at that fruit tree out there on the terrace. (BEAT) Fire!

SOUND:

ZAP! POW! ... RAY GUN DISINTEGRATES FRUIT TREE

MORBIUS:

(IMPRESSED) Hm! The tree has disintegrated entirely. (BEAT) You understand this mechanism, Robby?

ROBBY:

Yes, Morbius. A simple blaster.

MORBIUS:

All right. Now turn around here. (BEAT) Point it at the commander.

OSTROW:

What?!

FARMAN:

Now, wait a minute!

MORBIUS:

Aim right between the eyes. (BEAT) Fire!

SOUND:

ROBBY WHIRS AND CRACKLES AND BUZZES, BUT DOES NOT FIRE RAY GUN ... CONTINUES IN BG

MORBIUS:

(TO ADAMS) You see? He's helpless. His whole electronic being is in a most distressing turmoil. He's locked in a sub-electronic dilemma between my direct orders and his basic inhibitions against harming rational beings. (TO ROBBY) Order canceled!

SOUND:

ROBBY GROWS QUIET

MORBIUS:

If I were to allow that distress to continue, he would blow every circuit in his body.

OSTROW:

Dr. Morbius, how did you come by such a - a mechanism?

MORBIUS:

Oh, I didn't "come by" him, Doctor. I just tinkered him together during my first two months here.

FARMAN:

What? You mean you made it?

MORBIUS:

A useful enough toy, Lieutenant, but nowadays I have no time for such things.

ADAMS:

Dr. Morbius, you're a philologist -- an expert in words and languages, their origins and meanings. Yet this robot of yours is beyond the combined resources of all Earth's physical science.

MORBIUS:

My dear Commander, I think you overestimate both Robby and myself. Gentlemen, let me now show you another bit of parlor magic. If I wave my hand over this beamer--

SOUND:

RAPID OMINOUS THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP! OF GIANT STEEL SHUTTERS CLOSING CONSECUTIVELY

FARMAN:

(TENSE) Hey, we're trapped!

ADAMS:

(CALM) Steel shutters over all the doors and windows.

MORBIUS:

(MILD) Well, forgive me, gentlemen. I did not mean to alarm you. I had Robby install those steel shutters before I realized how altogether safe I am here. I just have to pass my hand over the beamer again and they return to their original positions out of sight.

SOUND:

RAPID THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP! OF SHUTTERS OPENING CONSECUTIVELY

FARMAN:

(RELIEVED) Ohhh, that's better.

MORBIUS:

Well, gentlemen, this has been very pleasant. You've seen how very comfortable I am here. No hardships, no special difficulties -- and no need at all for military assistance. And I daresay you've become impatient to get back to base.

ADAMS:

Yes, sir -- the moment we've interviewed the other members of the Belerephon party.

MORBIUS:

The others? But there are no others, Commander.

ADAMS:

What?

MORBIUS:

Before the first year was out, they'd all -- every man and woman -- succumbed to a-- Well, a sort of planetary force here. Some dark, terrible, incomprehensible force. Only my wife and myself were immune.

ADAMS:

(BEAT, SUSPICIOUS) And how do you account for your immunity, Dr. Morbius?

MORBIUS:

Well, my wife and I differed from the others in our special love of this new world, in our boundless longing to make a home here, far from the scurry and the strife of mankind. I remember how, when the vote was taken to return to Earth, she and I were utterly heartbroken.

FARMAN:

Skipper, there's no record of any wife on the list of the Belerephon passengers.

MORBIUS:

Lieutenant, look under "biochemistry," Julia Marsin. She and I were married by the skipper on the voyage out here.

OSTROW:

(CHEERFUL) I thought Robby had managed some very charming feminine touches. I take it Mrs. Morbius isn't at home today?

MORBIUS:

(STIFF) My dear wife died a few months after the others. Only in her case, it was of natural causes.

OSTROW:

(AWKWARD) Oh. I'm - I'm very sorry.

ADAMS:

Dr. Morbius, just what were the symptoms of all those other deaths? The un-natural ones, I mean.

MORBIUS:

The symptoms were very striking, Commander. One by one, in spite of every possible safeguard, my coworkers were torn literally limb from limb.

OSTROW:

By what?

MORBIUS:

By some devilish thing that never once showed itself.

ADAMS:

And the Belerephon?

MORBIUS:

Vaporized, as the three remaining survivors tried to take her off.

ADAMS:

And yet, in all these nineteen years, you personally have never again been bothered by this "planetary force"?

MORBIUS:

Only in nightmares of those times. Yet, always in my mind, I seem to feel the creature is lurking somewhere close at hand, sly and irresistible, only waiting to be re-invoked for murder.

ALTA:

(CALLS, FROM OFF) Father?

MORBIUS:

(UNHAPPY) Alta! Alta, I specifically asked you not to join us for lunch.

ALTA:

(APPROACHES) Oh, but, Father, lunch is over. I'm sure you never said a word about not coming in for coffee. (NO RESPONSE) Well, did you or did you not?

FARMAN:

(SURPRISED, IMPRESSED, LOW) A girl! And, brother, is she terrific!

ADAMS:

(LOW) Take it easy now, Farman.

MORBIUS:

(INTRODUCTIONS) Gentlemen, this is my daughter. Commander Adams, Dr. Ostrow--

OSTROW:

(GALLANT) How do you do?

MORBIUS:

--Lieutenant Farman.

FARMAN:

(ENTHUSIASTIC) Oh, how do you do?

ADAMS:

(POLITE) How do you do?

ALTA:

Oh, I've always so terribly wanted to meet a young man, and - and now -- three of them at once!

OSTROW:

That's very kind of you.

ALTA:

(EXHALES WITH PLEASURE) You're lovely, Doctor.

OSTROW & FARMAN:

(LAUGH)

ALTA:

Of course, the other two are unbelievable!

OSTROW:

(CHUCKLES, DRY) Well, that puts me in my place.

FARMAN:

(EAGER, FLIRTATIOUS) Er, could this one get you some coffee?

ALTA:

Oh, I'm quite able to get it.

FARMAN:

(MOVING OFF WITH ALTA) Oh, of course you are, but come over here and I'll get it for you.

MORBIUS:

Well, Commander, if I can be of any help to you in your preparations for the homeward voyage--

ADAMS:

Thank you, sir, but unfortunately circumstances may keep us here for quite a while.

MORBIUS:

Oh? Circumstances?

ADAMS:

My orders don't quite seem to cover the Belerephon fatalities. I'm forced now to contact base for new instructions.

MORBIUS:

But, Commander, suppose these new instructions require my return to Earth for questioning. Two years or more away from my work here? No. Oh, no, I-- Tell me, just what is involved in your making contact with Earth base?

ADAMS:

Well, fundamentally, it's a question of crude power -- how to short-circuit the continuum on a five or six parsec level. Of course, a transmitter of that sort isn't exactly standard equipment.

MORBIUS:

No.

ADAMS:

To build one we'd have to make use of about two-thirds of the ship's electronic gear, then unship the main drive to juice it. Just to construct a bunker to house the core would take us about ten days.

MORBIUS:

(UNHAPPY) Disabled here for ten days and ten nights? Tell me, would two-inch lead shielding do just as well?

ADAMS:

(AMUSED) Sure, it'd be fine -- if we happened to be carrying about a hundred square yards of the stuff.

MORBIUS:

I'll have Robby run some off for you. You'll have it not later than noon tomorrow.

ADAMS:

Well, that's very obliging of you, sir.

MORBIUS:

Obliging? Look out there, Commander, the graves of the Belerephon party. I dug those graves with my own hands. Believe me, I have no wish to repeat that experience.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

SOUND:

MURMUR OF CREW AS THEY DISASSEMBLE PARTS OF THE SHIP ... ROBBY'S FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

ROBBY:

Where do you wish the shielding stacked, sir?

ADAMS:

Uh, you can put it over there by the core, thank you, Robby.

OSTROW:

Wait a minute! That's solid lead he's carrying.

ROBBY:

Common lead would have crushed the vehicle, sir. This is my morning's run of Isotope Two-One-Seven. The whole thing hardly comes to ten tons. Pardon me, sir.

SOUND:

ROBBY'S STEPS AWAY

FARMAN:

Oh, er-- Hello, Alta.

ALTA:

Hello, Lieutenant.

FARMAN:

Does your father know you're out here?

ALTA:

(CHUCKLES) He did tell me not to go near the ship, but, uh, this isn't very near, is it?

FARMAN:

You'd be farther away still if we took a walk.

ALTA:

Robby might come back.

FARMAN:

Oh, he's occupied over there. Cookie's following him around like a shadow. (MOVING OFF) Come on; a walk's just what you need on a morning like this.

SOUND:

TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... THEN ROBBY'S STEPS ... THEN IN BG--

COOK:

(CALLS FURTIVELY) Hey, Robby!

SOUND:

ROBBY'S STEPS STOP

ROBBY:

Can I be of service, sir?

COOK:

Never mind about the "sir." Come over here where the Skipper can't see us.

SOUND:

ROBBY TAKES A FEW STEPS, THEN STOPS

ROBBY:

Yes, sir?

COOK:

Look, I'm nothin' but a cook, so you don't have to be that polite. But I'm a stranger on this so-called planet and I was just wonderin' if, uh-- Well, if you could tell me where I could get hold of some of the real stuff.

ROBBY:

"Real stuff"?

COOK:

Uh, just for cookin' purposes, y'understand. I take a big pride in my duties.

ROBBY:

Pardon me, sir. "Stuff"?

COOK:

Oh, just about one jolt left in this bottle. Ah, this is it! Gen-yoo-ine Ancient Rocket bourbon. (BEAT) Hey, wait a minute! Hey, I didn't say you could drink it!

SOUND:

ROBBY "DRINKS" THE BOURBON

COOK:

Why, you low-livin' contraption! I oughta take a can opener to you!

SOUND:

ROBBY ANALYZES THE BOURBON

ROBBY:

Quiet, please. I am analyzing.

SOUND:

ELECTRONIC BELCH

ROBBY:

Yes, relatively simple alcoholic molecules with traces of fusel oil. Would sixty gallons be sufficient?

COOK:

Gallons?! Hey, Robby, I've been from here to there in this galaxy, and I just want you to know -- you're the most understanding soul I ever met up with.

ROBBY:

Tomorrow night, sir, it will be ready. Now, if you will pardon me, Miss Alta will be waiting.

SOUND:

SCENE FADES OUT ... TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... SCENE FADES IN

FARMAN:

It's, um, nothing personal, Alta. Just a kiss.

ALTA:

Oh, but, Lieutenant, why should people want to kiss each other?

FARMAN:

Well, it's an old custom. All the really high civilizations go in for it.

ALTA:

Oh, but it's so silly.

FARMAN:

Well, it's good for you, though. It stimulates the whole system. As a matter of fact, you can't be in tip-top health without it.

ALTA:

Oh, I didn't know that.

FARMAN:

I'd only be too happy to show you.

ALTA:

Well, thank you very much, Lieutenant.

FARMAN:

Oh, it's no trouble at all. Ah-- (BEAT, HE KISSES HER)

ALTA:

(EXHALES, UNAFFECTED) Is that all there is to it, this kissing?

FARMAN:

Well, you've sort of got to stick with it.

ALTA:

Oh. Oh, could we try just once more? Do you mind?

FARMAN:

Oh, not at all. I-- (BEAT, ANOTHER KISS, EXHALES)

ALTA:

(DUBIOUS) I don't know, Lieutenant. There must be something seriously the matter with me because-- Well, honestly, I - I haven't noticed the least bit of stimulation.

FARMAN:

Honey, let's do this thing right. This time, let's really give it the works, huh? All right, honey, now just let yourself go and-- (A LONG KISS) Mmmmmm.

ADAMS:

(OFF, STERN) Lieutenant Farman!

FARMAN:

(STARTLED EXCLAMATION) Don't say another word, sir. I know there are lots of pressing duties waiting for me back at the ship.

ADAMS:

(CLOSER, ANGRY) You're right, Lieutenant.

FARMAN:

(SARDONIC) And rank does have its little privileges, doesn't it, sir?

ADAMS:

You can depend on it, Lieutenant, that those privileges won't be stretched into taking your kind of advantages.

FARMAN:

But I--

ADAMS:

Dismissed!

FARMAN:

(SULLEN) Yes, sir.

SOUND:

BEAT, AS FARMAN DEPARTS

ALTA:

(PUZZLED) Well, what's the matter? Why did you both act so funny?

ADAMS:

(AWKWARD) Well, don't you understand, Alta, that--? (NO ANSWER) No? Well, look at yourself. You can't run around like that in front of men. It's-- Bad enough anywhere. A girl like you, after a year in a spaceship-- But when you're wearing nothing but that playsuit, particularly in front of a space wolf like Farman-- Well, for Pete's sake, go home and put on something that's-- Well, put on anything.

ALTA:

What's wrong with my clothes? I designed them myself. (NO RESPONSE) Well, don't you like the way I look? (NO ANSWER) Stop looking at me that way.

ADAMS:

(EXASPERATED) Alta, get out of here before I have you run out of the area under guard; then I'll have to put more guards on the guards! Now, get out of here, Alta.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION ... THEN EERIE, IN BG, TO INDICATE INVISIBLE MONSTER SNEAKING AROUND

STRONG:

I have a funny feeling, Joe. I've stood guard over this spaceship before at night, but never with two moons in the sky.

GREY:

Yeah?

STRONG:

(BEAT, TENSE) Joe?

GREY:

Yeah?

STRONG:

Do you hear something?

GREY:

Like what?

STRONG:

Like a sort of big breathing.

GREY:

No.

STRONG:

Well, that's funny, I-- I did.

GREY:

No one around. You can see that. No sign of anyone -- or anything.

STRONG:

Funny. Like a sort of big breathing.

MUSIC:

UP, FOR A TRANSITION, THEN OUT

ADAMS:

(FADES IN, FRUSTRATED) All right, both guards claim to have been at their posts and awake. Yet the ship was entered! The heavy-duty hatch was raised and the latch back! Equipment was sabotaged! All this without anybody seeing or hearing anything!

QUINN:

Same story from everyone, Skipper.

ADAMS:

Quinn, I don't care how you do it, but this gear has got to be patched up, otherwise we'll never get the transmitter working to contact Earth base. And we'll never be able to take the ship home again when the time comes.

QUINN:

Yeah. No one actually saw or heard anyone last night. Strong says--

ADAMS:

(GRIM, SLOWLY) Yeah, yeah, I know. He thinks he heard something like - like a big breathing.

MUSIC:

EERIE CURTAIN

SOUND:

APPLAUSE

COMPÈRE:

And so the curtain falls on Act One of tonight's CalTex play, "Forbidden Planet." In a moment, we commence Act Two.

[COMMERCIAL OMITTED]

COMPÈRE:

The CalTex Theatre now presents Lionel Stevens in "Forbidden Planet," Act Two.

MUSIC:

INTRODUCTION ... THEN OUT

ALTA:

Well, you like my new dress, Commander?

ADAMS:

Well, I--

ALTA:

It's long, you see. Nothing shows through!

ADAMS:

Alta, I'm-- I'm sorry about the way I spoke to you yesterday. I was-- Well, sort of bothered.

ALTA:

I had this dress made especially for you. Though I didn't really want to see you. You still look at me in that funny way. I suppose there's just something personally about me that - that you don't like.

ADAMS:

(GENUINE) Alta, you always look quite beautiful.

ALTA:

Well, then why don't you kiss me like everybody else does?

ADAMS:

(EXASPERATED) Everybody? Hasn't your father taught you anything at all?

ALTA:

Well, he says I'm terribly ignorant, but I've had poetry and mathematics! And logic, physics, and geology -- and bi--

ADAMS:

Biology? Well, of course, that's mainly on the theoretical side.

ALTA:

Well, so far. But what's wrong with theory?

ADAMS:

(LOW, PASSIONATE) This is what's wrong with it. (BEAT, AS HE KISSES HER)

ALTA:

(EXHALES, ECSTATIC GASPS, FINALLY AFFECTED) That - that - that wasn't at all as I felt after the Lieutenant kissed me. I - I feel different altogether. Oh, how wonderful. A wonderful feeling.

ADAMS:

(ALSO AFFECTED) Let's go back to the house. I - I have to see your father.

SOUND:

SCENE FADES OUT ... TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... SCENE FADES IN

ADAMS:

This is the situation, Dr. Morbius. Last night, the ship was entered and our Klystron monitor was sabotaged.

MORBIUS:

And you suspect me? Then the time has come for clarification. Sit down, gentlemen.

SOUND:

THEY SIT

MORBIUS:

In times long past this planet was the home of a mighty and noble race of beings who called themselves the Krell. Ethically, as well as technologically, they were a whole million years ahead of mankind -- for, in unlocking the mysteries of nature, they'd conquered even their baser selves. In the course of eons, they abolished sickness, insanity, crime, and all injustice. But then, seemingly upon the threshold of some supreme accomplishment, which was to have crowned their entire history, this all but divine race perished in a single night.

OSTROW:

Perished?

MORBIUS:

Yes, Doctor. In the two thousand centuries since that unexplained catastrophe, even their cloud-piercing towers of glass and porcelain and adamantine steel have crumbled back into the soil of Altair-IV, and nothing, absolutely nothing remains above the ground. However, under the ground--

OSTROW:

(BEAT) Under the ground, Dr. Morbius?

MORBIUS:

Behind this room, there is a tunnel. Now, come with me, and I will show you wonders of which the human mind could never conceive.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

MORBIUS:

Well, gentlemen, already you've seen a certain amount. You've seen Krell metal with molecules so densely interlocked that your blasters make no kind of impact on it. You've seen mile after mile of self-servicing, self-renewing machinery, still functioning as perfectly as when it was constructed more than two thousand centuries ago.

OSTROW:

Utterly incredible.

MORBIUS:

You've seen their laboratories--

ADAMS:

What's this, Dr. Morbius?

MORBIUS:

On this screen may be projected the total scientific knowledge of the Krell, from its primitive beginnings to the day of its annihilation -- a sheer bulk surpassing many million earthly libraries. I turn this knob and, as you see, the panel lights up. Hieroglyphics appear.

OSTROW:

You're able to read this?

MORBIUS:

A little. It's my profession. I started on it some twenty years ago. Eventually I was able to deduce most of their huge, logical alphabet. So I began to learn. And the first practical result was that robot of mine, which you gentlemen appear to find so very remarkable. Child's play! Why, I've come here every day now for two decades, painfully picking up a few of the least difficult fragments of their knowledge.

ADAMS:

A thing like this, it's - it's too big to evaluate.

OSTROW:

Dr. Morbius, what's this device?

MORBIUS:

One could describe that as a "brain booster." There's a headset; electrodes at each end. You can see it was designed for something far bulkier than my human cranium.

OSTROW:

And its function?

MORBIUS:

I'll activate it. Now watch closely.

MUSIC:

WEIRD ... INDICATES MACHINE TURNED ON ... FOR A MOMENT OR TWO, THEN IN BG--

ADAMS:

(SURPRISED) A - a figure's appearing! It's Alta!

MORBIUS:

Just a three-dimensional image, Commander.

ADAMS:

But it's alive!

MORBIUS:

Because my daughter is alive in my brain from microsecond to microsecond whilst I manipulate.

MUSIC:

INDICATES MACHINE POWERING DOWN ... OUT BEHIND--

MORBIUS:

There. I remove the electrodes from my temples -- and the image vanishes. (WEARY EXHALATION) It's something of a strain.

ADAMS:

(QUICKLY) Here, let me try. I put this headset on and I pull this switch. Now, is that right?

MORBIUS:

Stop!

ADAMS:

But I want to--

MORBIUS:

Commander, you'd never survive. Our Belerephon skipper tried it. It was instantly fatal to him.

ADAMS:

(SUSPICIOUS) Oh, so you're immune to this, too, Dr. Morbius?

MORBIUS:

In my first attempt at creating a brain image here, the shock rendered me unconscious for a whole day and a whole night.

OSTROW:

Yet you came back for a second go at it?

MORBIUS:

It was a matter of science, Doctor. You can imagine my joy when I discovered that the shock had permanently -- permanently -- doubled my intellectual capacity. Otherwise, my researches would have come to nothing, poor as they may have been.

ADAMS:

So that's how it happened.

MORBIUS:

I have a great deal more to show you, gentlemen. Can you spare further time away from your ship?

ADAMS:

Yes, I believe so. I've left Lieutenant Farman in charge. I've ordered him to set up a standard perimeter with a full-scale alert.

SOUND:

SCENE FADES OUT ... TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... SCENE FADES IN

BOSUN:

(TO ALL) All right. All hands stand clear of the magnetic fence area.

GREY:

(OFF) Roger.

FARMAN:

Have you tested it yet, Bosun?

BOSUN:

Just about to do so, sir.

FARMAN:

Toss the branch at it.

SOUND:

BRANCH ZAPPED AS IT STRIKES MAGNETIC FENCE

BOSUN:

There go the sparks, sir.

FARMAN:

Fine. That'll keep any unwanted visitor from entering the camp. See that full-scale alert's maintained, Bosun.

BOSUN:

Aye aye, sir.

COOK:

Oh, Lieutenant?

FARMAN:

Huh? Well, what's your trouble, Cookie?

COOK:

Well, havin' completed my washin'-up duties after chow, I request the lieutenant's permission to take a little walk outside the perimeter, sir.

FARMAN:

But there's nothing out there.

COOK:

(THOROUGHLY UNCONVINCING) Sir, I thought it might brighten up the boys' mess a little bit if, uh-- If I could, um, find a few wild radishes or somethin'.

FARMAN:

Look, Cookie, I don't know what you're lying about, but you better get back here before the skipper checks in, or we'll both get skinned.

COOK:

Yes, sir!

FARMAN:

(INTO MIKE) Quinn, this is Farman. Kill the power on the fence. (BEAT, TO COOK) All right, Cookie -- off you go.

COOK:

Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!

FARMAN:

(BEAT, INTO MIKE) All right, Quinn, put it back on.

MUSIC:

BRIEF TRANSITION

COOK:

(OVERJOYED) Robby! I ain't never gonna forget this! Bottles -- stacks of 'em!

ROBBY:

Four hundred and eighty pints, sir, as you requested. Total: sixty gallons.

COOK:

Oh, I gotta try it! Ah, wait a minute, Robby!

SOUND:

CORK POPS ... COOK TAKES A DRINK

COOK:

(EXHALES) Gen-yoo-ine Kansas City bourbon! (TAKES ANOTHER DRINK; CHOKES ON IT, EXHALES) Smooth, too.

SOUND:

CLINK-CLINK-CLINK AS COOK GATHERS UP GLASS BOTTLES ... THEN BEHIND--

COOK:

Like I said, Robby, anything I can do-- Any time you're hard up for a couple o' gallons of lube oil, you just let me know, huh? (BEAT) Hey, what's up? You see somethin'? Somebody comin' this way?

ROBBY:

No, sir. Nothing coming this way.

SOUND:

SCENE FADES OUT ... TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... SCENE FADES IN ... INVISIBLE MONSTER IS ZAPPED AS IT STRIKES THE MAGNETIC FENCE ... ZAPPING CONTINUES IN BG

BOSUN:

Hey, Lieutenant! Lieutenant, the fence is shorting! Lieutenant!

FARMAN:

Shorting? But there's no one coming through.

BOSUN:

Shall I have the current shut down, sir?

SOUND:

ZAPPING STOPS

FARMAN:

(PUZZLED) No. No, it's stopped now. Strange that; just shorting out.

BOSUN:

Yes, sir.

FARMAN:

Yeah. Well, check over the whole system first thing in the morning, Bosun.

BOSUN:

Aye, sir.

MUSIC:

SNEAKS IN ... EERIE ... THEN IN BG

FARMAN:

(MUSES) Hey, Bosun? That - that fence; the way it was shorting--

BOSUN:

Yes, sir?

QUINN:

(BLOODCURDLING DEATH SCREAM, OFF)

MUSIC:

UP, FOR GRIM TRANSITION

MORBIUS:

(ANNOYED) Commander, you're too arbitrary. Perhaps I do not choose to be dictated to in my own world.

ADAMS:

But, Dr. Morbius, a scientific find of this magnitude has got to be taken under United Planet supervision. No one man can be allowed to monopolize it.

MORBIUS:

For the past two hours I've been expecting you to make exactly such an asinine statement.

ADAMS:

Asinine?

MORBIUS:

Just one moment, Commander. For close on twenty years now I've been constantly -- and I hope dispassionately -- considering this very problem. Now I have come to the unalterable conclusion that man is unfit as yet to receive such knowledge, such almost limitless power.

OSTROW:

(DRY) Whereas Morbius, with his artificially expanded intellect, is now ideally suited to administer this power for the whole human race.

MORBIUS:

Precisely, Doctor. Such portions of the Krell science as I may, from time to time, deem suitable and safe, I shall dispense to Earth. Other portions, I shall withhold. In this, I shall be answerable exclusively to my own conscience and judgment.

ADAMS:

Dr. Morbius, in the absence of special instructions, you leave me in a very awkward position. I--

SOUND:

TONE ... INDICATING INCOMING MESSAGE

ADAMS:

(EXPLAINS) They want a contact here, from the ship.

SOUND:

CLICK! OF SWITCH

ADAMS:

(INTO MIKE) Adams speaking.

FARMAN:

(FILTER) Commander, this is Farman.

ADAMS:

(INTO MIKE) Yes, Lieutenant?

FARMAN:

(FILTER) Skipper, the chief's been murdered.

ADAMS:

(INTO MIKE) Quinn? Murdered? What?

FARMAN:

(FILTER) He was alone in the ship, working on the monitor. The rest of us were all outside on guard duty.

ADAMS:

(INTO MIKE) But how was it done?

FARMAN:

(FILTER) Done? (BEAT) Skipper, his body's plastered all over the communications room.

ADAMS:

(BEAT, INTO MIKE) Right. Leave everything as it is. We're on our way.

SOUND:

CLICK! OF SWITCH

ADAMS:

Come on, Doc.

MORBIUS:

(BEAT, WITH DREAD) It's started again.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

ADAMS:

(DISBELIEF) Doc, that's the foot of whatever it was that killed Quinn last night?

OSTROW:

I made this plaster model from the footprints we found. Thirty-seven inches by nineteen. And the terrifying thing, Skipper-- This thing runs counter to every known law of evolution. It - it just doesn't fit into - into normal nature -- anywhere in this galaxy. It's a nightmare.

FARMAN:

(APPROACHES) Commander, are you ready to hold discipline on the cook?

ADAMS:

Yes, let's have him.

FARMAN:

Come on, Cookie.

COOK:

(APPROACHES) Yes, sir.

FARMAN:

Er, I'm obliged to remind you, sir, that I gave him permission to go out last night.

ADAMS:

Did you give him permission to get falling-down drunk, Lieutenant?

COOK:

Drunk, sir? Me, sir? (NO ANSWER) Well, anyway, why did that robot argue me into drinkin' all that whiskey in the first place?

ADAMS:

You were with the robot last night?

COOK:

Oh, yes, sir. Him and me, uh, we kind of got to toastin' each other's good health. Just for cordial interplanetary relations, y'understand.

ADAMS:

And that went on all the time? Even while the chief was being killed?

COOK:

Well, certainly, sir. You don't think I coulda got that stiff in five minutes?

ADAMS:

(DISCOURAGED) All right. Dismissed.

COOK:

Yes, sir.

FARMAN:

(MOVING OFF WITH COOK) Yeah, come on, Cookie.

ADAMS:

Well, Doc, that just about washes the robot up as a suspect.

OSTROW:

And what does that leave us with?

ADAMS:

Maybe it leaves us with the same one we've always had.

OSTROW:

Morbius. But we were with him!

ADAMS:

(DRY) Maybe you and I ought to drop over to the Krell laboratory and get our brains boosted. Then maybe we could understand.

FARMAN:

(OFF) Sir?

ADAMS:

Yes, Lieutenant?

FARMAN:

(APPROACHES) Dr. Morbius is here.

ADAMS:

(QUIETLY) Oh. (UP) Well, ask Dr. Morbius to come in.

FARMAN:

(MOVING OFF) Yes, sir.

OSTROW:

(LOW) Skipper? What do you suppose he's--? (SEES MORBIUS) Oh!

ADAMS:

(COURTEOUS) Good day, Dr. Morbius.

MORBIUS:

Well, Commander, I daresay neither of us really slept last night.

ADAMS:

That's a pretty close guess.

MORBIUS:

I warned you while your ship was still in space. I begged you not to land on the planet. Believe me, Commander, that's only a foretaste. The Belerephon pattern is being woven all over again.

ADAMS:

What?

MORBIUS:

Remain here and the next attack upon your party will be more general and more deadly.

ADAMS:

Dr. Morbius, how do you know that?

MORBIUS:

Know? (WITH A SHRUG) Well, I - I seem to visualize it. If you wish, call it a premonition. (MOVING OFF) That is all I have to say, Commander.

OSTROW:

(BEAT, EXHALES) Well, Skipper -- what do you make of that?

ADAMS:

I'd say it sounded like an ultimatum. (BEAT, SLOWLY) We'll be ready. Tonight we'll be prepared for an attack.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

ADAMS:

Bosun, I want a clear field of fire in all directions.

BOSUN:

You've got it, sir.

ADAMS:

Fine, fine. Lieutenant?

FARMAN:

Sir?

ADAMS:

Have you got your trouble squad in hand?

FARMAN:

Yes, sir, they're in hand -- but they're a little trigger-happy. They're sort of edgy to see whatever's out there tonight.

ADAMS:

Yeah. (MORE PERSONAL) Er, Jerry, look. This, er, might be a big deal comin' up.

FARMAN:

Could be the biggest, Skip.

ADAMS:

Well, I want you to know that I'm sorry if I kinda leaned on ya. You've got to understand that--

FARMAN:

(LIGHTLY REASSURING) Stop knockin' yourself out, Skip. She picked the right man.

ADAMS:

(SURPRISED) What? (UNDERSTANDS) Oh.

BOSUN:

Skipper? Radar just picked up something.

ADAMS:

Where away?

BOSUN:

At the head of the gully. Heading this way.

ADAMS:

(ON SPEAKER) Automatic control. Batteries, fire!

SOUND:

BATTERIES FIRE ... EFFECT OF GIANT RAY BEAMS ZAPPING THE GULLY

ADAMS:

(ON SPEAKER) Hold fire!

SOUND:

BATTERIES CEASE

BOSUN:

(BEAT) Dead on target, Skipper, but it's still coming.

FARMAN:

(MOVING OFF) I'll stop it!

ADAMS:

Get back, Lieutenant!

FARMAN:

(BLOODCURDLING DEATH SCREAM, OFF)

ADAMS:

(ON SPEAKER) Batteries, fire!

SOUND:

BATTERIES FIRE AGAIN

ADAMS:

(ON SPEAKER) Batteries, cease fire!

SOUND:

BATTERIES CEASE

BOSUN:

(BEAT, TENSE) Skipper, it's still coming.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

ADAMS:

Well, whatever it was, our main battery finally stopped it.

OSTROW:

You believe that, Skipper?

ADAMS:

(BEAT) No. No, it just went away for some reason. It'll be back. (HELPLESSLY) Doc, an invisible being that can't be disintegrated by atomic fission?

OSTROW:

No, Skipper. That's a scientific impossibility.

ADAMS:

Hypnotic illusions don't tear people apart. That's what this thing did to our men tonight. Doc, you saw its shape yourself, standing right there in those neutron beams.

OSTROW:

It must have been made of solid nuclear material -- renewing its molecular structure from one microsecond to the next.

ADAMS:

(CALLS) Bosun! I want the tractor!

BOSUN:

(OFF) Ready, sir.

OSTROW:

(BEAT) So now we just pick up the girl and her father whether they like it or not, do we?

ADAMS:

Section Eighty-Six-A: "Evacuate all civilians from disaster areas."

OSTROW:

Yeah. You left out two very important words: "Where feasible." Now, if you remember the Belerephon expedition, their ship was vaporized trying to lift off.

ADAMS:

Which makes it a gilt-edged priority that one of us gets into that Krell lab and takes that "brain boost." (BEAT) Well, I don't know of any other way we can hope to combat this thing.

OSTROW:

Do you remember what happened when the Belerephon's commander took that "brain boost"?

ADAMS:

(SOBER) Yes, I remember that, too. (BEAT) Doc, in case we make it into the lab, I'll take first go at the booster. (NO RESPONSE) You hear me, Doc?

OSTROW:

(QUIETLY) I hear you, Skip.

ADAMS:

(CALLS) Bosun?

BOSUN:

Aye, sir?

ADAMS:

I'm leaving you in command while we visit Dr. Morbius. Get the ship operational. Do your best to wait it out for me and the doctor, but the second that fence starts to short again, you lift off.

BOSUN:

Right, Skipper.

ADAMS:

Let's go, Doc.

SOUND:

SCENE FADES OUT ... TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... SCENE FADES IN

ADAMS:

Alta!

ALTA:

(TEARFUL) Oh, I'm so glad to see you! So glad! I've had the most awful dream -- that you--

ADAMS:

I'm all right, Alta.

ALTA:

Why are you here? Tell me what's happened.

ADAMS:

We were attacked. Three men died, including Jerry Farman.

ALTA:

(DISMAYED) Ohhh. Oh, darling--

ADAMS:

That's why I came here. Before anything else happens, I have to see to your safety.

ALTA:

How were you attacked? By what?

ADAMS:

I don't know. It was nothing human. Just some kind of big outline in the disintegrator beams. (BEAT) Alta, you can't explain it?

ALTA:

No.

ADAMS:

Anyway, we fought it, and we lost, and I believe it'll come back.

ALTA:

Well, then you must leave now.

ADAMS:

Darling, I'm not going without you.

ALTA:

I can't possibly leave father alone. I - I just can't.

ADAMS:

Then we'll take him with us.

ALTA:

By force? I can't agree to that either.

ADAMS:

Alta, you don't realize what's loose on this planet!

ALTA:

But I'm immune, like both my parents.

ADAMS:

That's what your father says, but I don't believe it. Nothing could be immune to that thing out there.

ALTA:

(GROWING HYSTERICAL) Oh, darling, darling -- please go. Please, if you love me, go.

ADAMS:

But, Alta, listen to me--

ALTA:

Oh, go, darling!

ADAMS:

Doc, can you talk some sense into this--? Hey, Doc? Well, where is he? The doc was right here.

SOUND:

ROBBY'S FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

ROBBY:

Here is the doctor, sir.

ADAMS:

(BEAT, ASTONISHED) Doc?

ALTA:

(EXHALES IN DISMAY) Lay him on the sofa, Robby.

ADAMS:

The door's open into the tunnel.

ALTA:

That's where Robby brought him from.

ADAMS:

Doc? You took the brain boost?

OSTROW:

(WEAKLY) Yes. You oughta see my new mind. Up there in lights, on the indicator. Bigger than Morbius' now. (BREATHES SHARPLY IN PAIN)

ADAMS:

Easy, Doc, easy.

OSTROW:

(CATCHES HIS BREATH, IN PAIN, STRAINS AND STRUGGLES TO SPEAK) Listen. Morbius was too close to the problem. The Krell-- The Krell had completed their final project. True creation. Creation of life.

ADAMS:

(BEAT) Well, come on, Doc, let's have it.

OSTROW:

But the - the Krell forgot one thing.

ADAMS:

(BEAT) Yes? What?

OSTROW:

Monsters. Monsters from the Id.

ADAMS:

The Id? What's that?

OSTROW:

(GASPING, WHIMPERING IN PAIN, DYING)

ADAMS:

Well, talk, Doc.

OSTROW:

(A LENGTHY FINAL EXHALATION OF DEATH)

ADAMS:

Doc?

ALTA:

(HORRIFIED) Oh--! Oh, darling!

MORBIUS:

(OFF, BITTERLY IRONIC) How romantic!

ALTA:

Father!

MORBIUS:

(APPROACHES, CONTEMPTUOUS) The fool! The meddling idiot! As though his ape's brain could contain the secrets of the Krell.

ALTA:

Father, he's dead.

MORBIUS:

(CALLOUS) He was warned, and now he's paid. Let him be buried along with the other victims of greed and folly.

ALTA:

(EXHALES, DECISIVE) Morbius, you've chosen for me. (TO ADAMS) John, I'm ready to go with you.

MORBIUS:

Alta, no! (TO ADAMS) Commander, she mustn't do this. She must be prevented.

ADAMS:

Morbius, what is the Id?

MORBIUS:

(IGNORES THE QUESTION) Young man, my daughter is planning a very foolish action. She will be terribly punished.

ADAMS:

(INSISTS) What is the Id?

MORBIUS:

(DISMISSIVE) Id! Id! Id! Id! It's-- Well, it's an obsolete term, once used to describe the elementary basis of the subconscious mind.

ADAMS:

(REALIZES) Monsters from the Id -- the subconscious mind.

MORBIUS:

What?

ADAMS:

Monsters from the subconscious. That's what Doc meant. Morbius, those machines in there -- eight thousand cubic miles of Klystron relays -- enough power for a whole population of creative geniuses -- operated by remote control, operated by the electromagnetic impulses of individual Krell brains.

MORBIUS:

But -- to what purpose?

ADAMS:

In return, that machine would instantaneously project solid matter to any point on the planet, in any shape or color they might imagine. For any purpose, Morbius! Creation by mere thought.

MORBIUS:

(PONDERS) Why haven't I seen this all along?

ADAMS:

But, like you, the Krell forgot one deadly danger -- their own subconscious hate and lust for destruction.

MORBIUS:

(THOUGHTFUL) The beast. The mindless primitive. Even the Krell must have evolved from that beginning.

ADAMS:

So those mindless beasts of the subconscious had access to a machine that could never be shut down. The secret devil of every soul on the planet, all set free at once to loot and maim and take revenge, Morbius -- and kill!

MORBIUS:

My poor Krell! After a million years of shining sanity, they could hardly have understood what power was destroying them. (MUSES) But one obvious fallacy. The last Krell died some two thousand centuries ago, but today, as we all know, there's still at large upon this planet a living monster -- a monster created by the subconscious mind -- of -- someone.

ADAMS:

(BEAT, INCREDULOUS) Your mind refuses to face the conclusion.

ROBBY:

Morbius! Morbius?

MORBIUS:

What?

ROBBY:

Something approaching from the southwest -- breaking down trees in its path -- quite close.

ALTA:

(WORRIED) Father!

ADAMS:

The monster-- That thing out there-- Well, it's you! It was your subconscious that created it.

MORBIUS:

You're insane! You must be! How else would you have led it here, where Alta must see you torn to pieces!

ADAMS:

You still think she's immune? She's joined herself to me, body and soul!

ALTA:

Yes! And whatever comes, for ever!

MUSIC:

SNEAKS IN ... OMINOUS ... FOR APPROACHING MONSTER ... CONTINUES, INCREASINGLY THREATENING, IN BG

MORBIUS:

(URGENT, TO ALTA) Say it's a lie! Shout! Let it hear you out there! Say you don't love this man!

ALTA:

Not even if I could!

MORBIUS:

(AFRAID) Stop it, Robby! Don't let it in! Kill it, Robby!

ADAMS:

He can do nothing, Morbius. He knows it's your other self.

MORBIUS:

Heavens, I'm not a monster!

ADAMS:

We're all part monsters in our subconscious! That's why we have laws and religion.

MORBIUS:

Into the tunnel, quickly!

SOUND:

RAPID OMINOUS THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP! OF GIANT STEEL SHUTTERS CLOSING CONSECUTIVELY

ADAMS:

Morbius, you listen to me. We don't have much time. Your mind was artificially enlarged. Consciously it still lacked the power to operate the great machines, but your subconscious had been made strong enough!

MORBIUS:

(IN DENIAL) I won't hear you!

ADAMS:

Twenty years ago, when your comrades voted to return to Earth, you sent your secret Id out to murder them! Not quite realizing it, of course, except maybe in your dreams.

MORBIUS:

What man can remember his own dreams?

ADAMS:

Well, at least when our ship was approaching from space, you remembered enough to warn us off. But then, when you thought we were threatening your little egomaniac empire, your subconscious sent its Id monster out again. More deaths, Morbius. More murder! Even in you, the loving father, there still exists this mindless primitive, more enraged and more inflamed with each new frustration. So now you're whistling up your monster again -- to punish her for disloyalty and disobedience! And if you don't do something about it soon, Morbius, it's going to be coming right through that door!

MORBIUS:

Solid Krell metal? Impossible!

ADAMS:

The machines are going to supply your monster with whatever amount of power required to reach us.

MORBIUS:

Alta, say you don't believe this of me! Tell me you don't! (NO RESPONSE; IT FINALLY SINKS IN) Then it must be true. (BEAT, WEAKLY) I must be guilty. My evil self is at that door, and I have no power to stop it.

ALTA:

(IMPLORING) Father, you can help us! I've known you -- brave and noble, like the Krell.

MORBIUS:

(RALLYING) Yes. Yes, I can help you. I can. (YELLS MELODRAMATICALLY, TO MONSTER) You! Out there! No further! I deny you! I give you up! I deny you!

MUSIC:

FOR RETREATING MONSTER ... SLOWLY FADES OUT

MORBIUS:

(EXHALES, WEAK AGAIN) It is finished. All finished.

ALTA:

Father--?

ADAMS:

The strain; it's been too much.

MORBIUS:

Commander, throw that switch.

ADAMS:

(OFF) This?

MORBIUS:

(DYING) Yes. Throw it. (BEAT) In twenty-four hours, you and Alta must be a hundred million miles away out in space. The Krell furnaces-- A chain reaction has begun. Can't be reversed. Go. Go, quickly.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION

SOUND:

SPACE CRUISER INTERIOR BACKGROUND

ADAMS:

Ninety-eight-million-point-six miles. We're clear now, Alta.

ALTA:

That's Altair-IV on the view-plate?

ADAMS:

Yes, the bright speck below the star. Fifteen seconds and it'll all be over. Altair-IV will be destroyed -- your father, my shipmates, all the stored knowledge of the Krell.

MUSIC:

ONBOARD INSTRUMENTS INDICATE DISTANT PLANET EXPLODING BEHIND--

ADAMS:

Five seconds, four, three, two, one. There. The explosion.

ALTA:

(DISMAY) Oh--! Oh, father.

ADAMS:

(A SUMMATION) Alta, about a million years from now the human race will have crawled up to where the Krell stood in their great moment of triumph and tragedy. Your father's name will shine again like a beacon in the galaxy. It'll remind us that we are, after all, not God.

MUSIC:

CURTAIN

SOUND:

APPLAUSE

COMPÈRE:

So ends our CalTex play, "Forbidden Planet." In a moment, we will give you tonight's cast and tell you about next week's presentation in the CalTex Theatre.

[COMMERCIAL OMITTED]

COMPÈRE:

Ladies and gentlemen, the producer of tonight's CalTex play, Creswick Jenkinson.

SOUND:

APPLAUSE

PRODUCER:

Thank you. "Forbidden Planet" was presented tonight by courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Propriety, Limited. The script was adapted for radio by Richard Lane and the special sound effects were devised and recorded for this production by Graham Montcreif. In the starring role you heard--

STEVENS:

I played Dr. Morbius.

PRODUCER:

This was Lionel Stevens.

SOUND:

APPLAUSE

PRODUCER:

The supporting cast was as follows: Robby, the Robot, Edward Hepple; Dr. Ostrow, Leonard Teale; Lt. Farman, Richard Meikle; Quinn, Stuart Finch; The Cook, John Llewellyn; The Bosun, Al Garcia; and as Alta and Commander Adams, you heard Joan Lander and Harp McGuire.

SOUND:

APPLAUSE

COMPÈRE:

Thank you, Mr. Jenkinson. Next week in the CalTex Theatre, you will hear the saga of a family and of the famous shipping line they founded and struggled to keep afloat during years of depression and war. And in particular it is the story of Caroline, daughter of old Sir Benjamin Hamilton, who with indomitable spirit and at a cost of personal happiness, fought to make the Hamilton line the premier shipping company of Great Britain. Be listening for this fine drama, "Big Ben," in the CalTex Theatre next week. Remember, too, "Crispin's Day," another outstanding production shortly to be heard in the CalTex Theatre. Now this is your compère, Rick Hulton, bidding you good night on behalf of your hosts, CalTex Oil, marketers of CalTex Super Gasoline and CalTex Gasoline, the world-famous R.P.M. Ten-Thirty Special Motor Oil, and Marfak Lubrication.

MUSIC:

ORCHESTRA ... FOR A FINISH