You, finding life pretty dull, dreaming again of exotic places, wishing you were somewhere else, we offer you escape. Escape designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. Escape with us now to the year 100,080 and a world where beauty and terror live side by side as H.G. Wells describes it in his immortal story, The Time Machine. Dudley you must be mad, a time machine. Yes my friend, a time machine. This thing. This very thing. This contraption, this framework made of quartz and bronze and ivory with its levers and its dials and its seat in the middle. This is the result of three years hard work. I promise you father that on this machine a man can go wherever he likes in time. By working these levers a man can choose his century, his year, his very day. Awful really old man. Time is only a kind of space. If we can move about in all the other dimensions of space, why not in time too? It is impossible without a question. And what of the journeys I have already taken on this little contraption? I'm afraid you've been having a bad dream. You mean I've developed into a liar. Very well, you shall have proof my friend. How? Just climb on father. Sit in the seat beside me, face these ivory dials and I'll take you for a little spin. Well you mean right now? Right now. Or just in case this thing should take off like the flying red horse, are there any... Any preparations? No father, no. You won't need any luggage on this trip, not even a toothbrush. You'll be back here in my laboratory in less than a minute. All right, I'm on. Now what? Hold tight, it sways a good deal. I'd hate to lose you. I can't be frightened Dudley. Then you're braver than I am. Tell me what time is it? It's just 12 noon. I always start to want to adjust this control a bit. Is everything ship shape? Did you notice anything just then? Only a noise, a humming noise, nothing else. And what time is it? You just asked me old man, it's 12... Well that's odd. What? My watch says 11 o'clock. I could have sworn it was noon a moment ago. There must be something wrong with it. It's only that I touched the lever to test it and we've gone forward a full day. 23 hours at any rate. Dudley. Finished scoffing father? Yes. Yes, I believe I have. Then hold tight. This will be the real article. I'm ready Dudley. Good man. Well, say goodbye father. Say goodbye to 1950. We went off with a shattering jar, with machines swaying under us. Walls of Dr. Dudley's laboratory suddenly fell away. And night was speeding after day like the flapping of a black wing. I saw the sun hopping across the sky, leaping swiftly across it every second, and every second marking a day. I saw the moon spinning through her quarters like a ball, from new to full, all in the twinkling of an eye. Trees grew and blossomed like puffs of smoke and then passed away. All the while we were going faster. Now our pace was a year a second, so that second by second the white snow flashed across the world and was followed by the bright brief spring. And still we went on into the future. How do you feel father? Very weak, very dizzy. Oh let go, don't fall off. Where are we? How far have we come? We're in 100,050. And 60,000 miles. And 70,000 miles. That's enough, stop it Dudley, I can't stand anymore. Stop it! How are you? You all right? Yes, I believe so. No broken bones. What happened? Not sure, must have stopped too suddenly. Where are we Dudley? Look around for yourself. A wide lawn, beautiful vast garden. I meant geographically. Just where we were when we started, where my laboratory stood 100,000 years ago. And the year Dudley? What is the year now? 100,080. It seemed absolutely incredible. A dream, but a pleasant one. For the garden in which we found ourselves was beautiful and summery. With an unexpected perfume about it, almost like plating. At some distance we could see a large and imposing building. And everything was quiet and peaceful. But almost too much so. And the sense of strangeness, of incredible strangeness, sent a shiver up my spine. 100,080. Father, do you want to go back? Yes, yes, I rather think I do. Let's go back. Dudley! From over there, in the bushes. It sounded human. Come on! Come on! It's a child. Seems to be a very small girl. There's been a beast here of some kind struggled with her. Look at the marks on her arms. Now my dear, you'll be all right now. You won't be harmed. Of course you won't understand English. Motioning us to go with her. What about the animal? Did you see it? No, not a glimpse. Too fast for us. Perhaps we'd better go back, Dudley. The girl seems to be all right now. Leave her like this? Yes, yes, I've had enough. Well, they haven't, old man, because they're here, all around us. They had crept up on soundless feet to surround us, the little people of this era. And the girl we had saved was not a child, but a full-grown woman. For they all stood four feet high, dressed in simple tunics, beautiful creatures, but terribly frail with a plump, soft kind of frailty. They were like eerie figures in a dream, and all we could hear was the rustling of their clothes as they served happily around us, their faces weaved in smiles. Why, why, they're not savage at all. They're very loving and gentle little people. Yes, there's something terribly wrong with them. How do you mean? They seem to have the minds of five-year-olds. How do you expect them to be? More ahead of us, of course, incredibly ahead of us in knowledge and in science. Look at them, children. They seem happy in this huge garden of theirs. Dudley, I've changed my mind. Let's stay. Maybe we shall enjoy spending a few days with our little friends. The little people led us home into their valley. They lived in colossal buildings, sleeping all together in one huge hall, eating in another, playing and frolicking together in the sunshine. And we lived with them for days in utter contentment. One afternoon, Dudley and I walked along the banks of the Great River. Little people all wear the same clothes, the same soft hairless skin, same feminine roundness of limbs. Yes. I wonder if it was because they're vegetarians. They're vegetarians because they have to be. You haven't run across any horses or dogs, cattle of any kind, have you? No, now that you mention it. With good reason. All extinct by now. Just as the dinosaur is with us. Dudley, there's something strange here, something hidden away and silent here in the year 100,080. Felt the same way. I've taken the precaution of removing the control levers of the time machine, putting a master padlock on the main switches. Not much fancy the idea of someone riding away with it into another century and leaving us here for the rest of our lives. Dudley, do you know where we are? Well, yes, this is where we landed. I thought so. I wasn't sure. Why did you ask? What's happened to the machine? What? They've taken it away. They've stolen it. This is where it was. It's right here. Look, follow the tracks. Here where they've dragged it. Over here. Come along. Down this path. Look. Right there. The monument. There's a brass door in the base. Oh, they're locked. The machine. It must be in there. Yes. Hide. We must get it. Break down the door. How? How can we? Here. Use the levers. All right. It's no good, Dudley. They're solid. We'll never break through. Never. We'll never break through. We'll never break through. We'll never break through. We'll never break through. Never? No. Never? We can't break through here. You mean stay here all our life? Try again. You mean never go home again? It must open. The machine. Oh, no. The time machine. The laughs that Red Skelton and Amos and Andy bring to CBS on Sunday nights are double tripled and quadrupled because of the friends, relatives, and strange acquaintances they bring with them. Hardly a Sunday night goes by, but you meet Shorty, the Kingfish, Sapphire, and a whole host of Amos and Andy funny friends. Red Skelton generously gives time to Willie, Clem, and the rest of his laugh provoking pals. You're invited to meet them all again tonight on most of these same stations when Red Skelton and his gang and Amos and Andy and their friends pack the house with mirth. At CBS, the Star's Address. And now we return you to Escape. We were caught in the year 100,080. The time machine was gone. The brass doors of the monument held. Our retreat was cut off. The thin line by which we could make our way back home, back to our own time and our own people, back to 1950. We had no way of communicating with the little people, of asking what they had done with the machine or how to get it back. There was nothing hostile in their attitude. They were more like simple, wandering children. Only one, the young woman Weena, whose life we had saved on our first day, had become really friendly. She went with us wherever we walked, brought us presents of garlands, flowers, slept near us at night in the hall, and we in turn had taught her a few words of English. Now we redouble our efforts, like men racing against a clock, so that we might speak to her and discover the secret of our immense loss. We were talking to her one night after the others had gone to sleep. No, not these, Dudley. No. How can you be so sure your people didn't steal the machine? Aren't there any thieves among them? Aren't they all perfect? No, no, no. Not so loud, Dudley. Awake them. The sign she doesn't understand. The thief must be sleeping somewhere in this hall. Weena, they take machine. No, Dudley, no. Who then, who? We are our friends. Yes. We must have machine. Yes, Dudley, yes. Who took machine? Other people, not yours? Other? What about those doors, Weena? Doors, open? No, no. Weena, machine in there. Must open. No, no, not open. Oh, all right, my dear. Go to sleep, get some rest. Yes, Dudley. Sleep. What's to become of us, Fowler? Are we caught here in this century? We spend our lives with the little people and their secret. We'll go back to the monument tomorrow. We'll find a way of breaking in. Good night, Dudley. Did you just... There it was again. What? Something on my face. Cold. Filthy to the touch. On my face and in my hair as cold as death. Dudley! You're right, there's something in here with us. Smells of the grave. What was it? I don't know. But look at them. Look at the little people. They're all awake. It's just only been stampeded. Let's get out of here. I want some fresh air. We went quickly through the hall and outside, away from the frantic rustling of the little people. The moon was full just overhead and it was close to dawning. There was a faint sound speeding close behind us and we turned, our nerves ragged, our muscles tensed. But it was only Weiner coming swiftly to join us. Dudley, afraid. Then there is something. What do you mean, Weiner? Dark? What? Dark thing. Dark place. Night. Why should they be afraid of the night, Dudley? It's not the night alone. Dark place, that's our cube. Perhaps it's something underground. It was another day. We had wandered into a lovely wooded place about a mile from the community. And suddenly Weiner screamed. Father! We stopped short. A pair of glaring eyes were fixed upon us as we stood there, petrified the thing, a little ape-like figure, rushed across our path and disappeared in the clearing about 30 yards away. What was it? I couldn't see it too well. It seemed to be a dull white with white hair on its head and down its back. It looked like a small ape. It was running on all fours, over its arms held very low. Weiner, Weiner, what was it? Morlocks. They, morlocks. Who are the morlocks? What are they? Weiner, tell me. No, no. Let's go over there and see where it disappeared. Come along, Fowler. In the clearing we found a round, well-like opening. Dudley and I leaned over and looked down a deep shaft. A small white creature was retreating down a ladder in the well, like a human spider. Its large bright eyes watching me as it went swiftly down. Then it disappeared in the shaft. Fowler, did you see it? Like an ape. Yes, but also like a man. So there are two species of men in this world. Yes. The little people above the ground and this obscene thing, this bleached monster below. That white look, common to animals that live in the dark. Like huge rats. Like worms that are cold to the touch. I know because they've touched me. Fowler, you can feel the air being sucked down into this shaft. Yes. The earth must be tunneled enormously here under our feet. These monsters must live in the tunnels. I think we know now who stole our time machine. Yes. Then... Then we'll go down and have a look. No, no, not go. Let go. Why not we now? Morlocks, you'll never come back. We must have our machine, my dear. You wait for us here. No, no. And so we went down, our heels ringing on the small metallic bars that were meant for creatures so much smaller than us. Down we climbed. Down. Down. Ever in darkness. Down it seemed, into the center of the earth, into the core of the world. How much longer? I won't know until we reach bottom. Can't be much further. Do you hear that? Hard machinery. We're almost there. Well, thank heaven for that. All right, Faram, on the bottom. Come along, just a few more steps. Give me your hand, Faram. Good. Good. We're here. He's in the land of the Morlocks. Do you have a match? Yes, yes, yes, here. There seems to be a large vaulted cavern at the end of this passage. What do you suppose they'll do if they catch us? I've no idea. Better take care not to be caught. Ah, another match. That throbbing noise. Probably their ventilating system pumping the air down. Must be thousands upon thousands of these Morlocks living under the earth. We haven't seen any yet except for our friend who came down ahead of us. Why do you suppose they wanted our time machine? I think they wanted us, not the machine. And we've come to them. We must. It's our only chance. Fowler, if that noise does come from air pumps... Why is it so stuffy here, so oppressive? Dudley, that smell. Blood. Light another match. Dudley, look. Straight ahead on the white metal table. Set for a meal. Yes, with a small haunch. Meat? We know that the cattle are extinct. Then what do they feed on these Morlocks? Don't you know? Yes, I know. Another match? Yes. Oh, Dudley, I have no more. I've used our last match. Oh. All right, we'll have to go back then. We know the secret now anyway. These Morlocks living here underground, they're the masters of this age. And our friends up above, fatted cattle, fed by the Morlocks, clothed, supplied and housed, until the day when they're cut out of the herd and brought underground as food. This is the future you're looking at. This is what we men of the 20th century shall come to. Dudley! What is it? I felt hands, cold hips. Take one of these levers. Use it as a weapon. Lash out! Against this wall, foul are here beside me. They're moving in. Fight them! Use the lever, man, use the lever! Dudley, they're all around us. This way! All of this way, back this way! We went back in that evil darkness, fighting every step as we went. Back to those projecting bars, kicking and clawing ourselves loose from their tallied, grasping hands, and climbing up again, up toward daylight and freedom, away from their stench and the eagerness of their icy hands. And they did not follow, for daylight was their enemy and their great fear. And we lived among the lush gardens of the little people like prisoners, like men without reprieve, like men who are dead, though they still walk the earth. For the time machine was locked away behind great brass doors, and we knew we could never force them open. Then one day, Weiner told us of an old building, an ancient sagging structure that had survived through many ages and was filled with many curious objects. A museum, that's what it must be, a museum, Fowler. Perhaps from some earlier time. I'm in no mood to go looking at a museum, don't you see? Specimens hermetically sealed in museums. Perhaps there are things, weapons, machinery, something we can use. Yes, yes, of course. If we could find some dynamite or gunpowder or something... We could blast those doors, we could get in. Where is this place, Weiner? This old building that no one ever goes near? I take you. It not far. A chance, old man, a slim one, but a chance nonetheless. All day we wandered through the great ruined halls. The building had been deserted, unused for perhaps a century. The childlike men of that time had long since ceased to care about anything but their own personal comforts. It was late afternoon and growing dark when we came upon the chemical section. We had found nothing useful to us until then and... now came the worst disappointment of all. And it's dust. All of it. Been dust for centuries. Another dead end. Ah, it's hopeless. We were out of our heads to hope that nitrates would retain their form for a hundred thousand years. We go now? If nothing here... Wait just a moment. Something in this case... You can break it with your lever. Stand back a little. Box of matches. Hermetically sealed. Wait, let me see. They're perfect. But they're not even damp. What shall we do with them? Burn down those brass doors? You'd better keep them. You can't tell... On the floor, you see them? Small narrow footprints leading away into the darkness at the end of this gallery. Dudley! We'd better go. The Queen of Vincaria will have to run for us. Don't be frightened, my dear. It'll be all right. Go on, run! We came out of the gloom of that place, into the deeper gloom of dusk. And suddenly we saw. We were trapped. All around us were the Morlocks. They were there by the thousand, surrounding us. And coming closer in the long, even line of deathly fight, their eyes blinking in the half-light, their tiny mouths alive with appetite. Owlet! The matches! I had them dipped like a fire from here. Easy! Hurry, man! The forest is dry! Hurry, man! We'll have an inferno here in a minute. The little friends don't like light or heat. The fire leaped high to the heavens and the countryside with the flames. The Morlocks turned in fear, blinded by the glare. Some of them blundered into the middle of the raging flames, and the rest faded away like a fog. Dudley had left a narrow passageway for our retreat, and we fled down a long corridor of leaping flames and blistering heat. We fled to safety toward the community of the little people. As we ran, we passed the huge monument with its great bronze doors that were locked tight in our time machine. And suddenly, in the glare of the distant fires, we saw something that stopped us short. They're open! Father, the doors are open! No! No, not go in! Dudley, no! It's a trap! They're there waiting for us inside. Waiting or not, we're going in! Dudley, it's suicide! It'll take me one minute to screw the levers on again, then I touch them and we're away! All right, I'll try to give you your one minute. Good boy! No, no, go. Not leave me. No, you, you, my dear, you hold tight around my neck. You're coming home with us. All right, all right, let's go. Witting, I'll look through the machine. They haven't harmed it. I don't see them yet. Come on now, quickly! The door is Dudley. They're closed. Get in the seat. I'll be ready in a moment. I waited for the hum that would signal our departure. There in the darkness, the Morlocks were finally upon us. Cold, persistent fingers swarmed over my body, tugging at me, sucking me away from the machine. I held tight to Weiner as a man holds fast to life, right to kick them away with my feet. Father, father! Hurry, Dudley, hurry! I'll have to get these levers quickly or we're done! One more turn and it's in! There, father, we're away, we're gone! Yes, yes, we made it. Are you all right? I'm all right, Lord. And Weiner, Weiner isn't with us. What happened? They tore her from my hands at the last minute. They got her. I tried to save her, but I couldn't. I still have a piece of a tunic here in my fist. A little piece of a tunic, Dudley. Nothing else. And so we came home again, back into the very minute from which we had left. Back into 12 noon, October 22, 1950. We were in Dudley's laboratory again, motionless, sitting on the ridiculous contraption which he has called a time machine. Was it all a dream? Did any of it happen? Could any of it happen? Of course not. How stupid. Then what of this? What of this little piece of thin green silk I hold in my hand? Escape is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald. Today we have brought you The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, adapted for radio by Irving Ravitch, and starring John Danares Fowler and Larry Dubkin as Dudley, with Georgia Ellis as Weena. The special music for Escape was arranged and played by Ivan Dittmarz. Next week, escape with us to a small fishing boat off the California coast at a night of terror and death at the hands of a brilliant madman, as Bud A. Nelson tells it in his exciting story, Seven Hours to Freedom. Hollywood star Dick Powell plays Paul Revere and takes Charlie McCarthy with him on his historic ride tonight on CBS. Charlie's flunked his history course, so Bergen has asked Dick Powell to help him out. The historic ride becomes hysteric as Charlie, Bergen and Dick try to reenact the famous ride. Listen tonight on most of these same CBS stations. Stay tuned now for Make-Believe Town. This is Roy Rowan speaking. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
