Superman The Mystery of the Walking Dead Date: Oct 29 1949 CAST:
NARRATOR
VOICE
KRISHNA, ominous East Indian
GUARD
CLARK KENT / SUPERMAN
LOIS LANE
WARDEN
OPERATOR
ABC ANNOUNCER
ATTENDANT
2ND ATTENDANTMUSIC: FANFARE NARRATOR: The Adventures of Superman! VOICE: Faster than a speeding bullet! SOUND: GUNSHOT, WITH RICOCHET VOICE: More powerful than a locomotive! SOUND: TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS, LOCOMOTIVE RUMBLES VOICE: 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! VOICE: It's a plane! NARRATOR: It's Superman! SOUND: LOUD RUSH OF AIR ... UP AND OUT MUSIC: FANFARE ... THEN IN BG NARRATOR: When the planet Krypton, home of a race of supermen, exploded into dust, the sole survivor was an infant boy who had been shot to Earth in a sealed rocket. Today that boy, grown to manhood, is known as Superman, sworn enemy of the forces of evil. To aid him in his never-ending fight for truth and justice, he masquerades as Clark Kent, crime reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper. His secret is carefully guarded. No one is aware that Kent is Superman -- no one but you. MUSIC: UP AND OUT NARRATOR: Join with us now on ABC as we embark on one of Superman's transcribed adventures -- as the Man of Steel finds himself pitted against an unseen enemy in "The Mystery of the Walking Dead." MUSIC: MYSTERIOSO INTRO ... THEN IN BG, WITH STINGS AND ACCENTS AT [X] NARRATOR: A feeble yellow light burns endlessly outside one of the death house cells of State Prison. Beyond the black steel door with its tiny barred opening, hemmed in by blank walls of ash-gray concrete, a man is seated on an iron cot. He is thin and gaunt, with great dark eyes and hollow sunken cheeks. He is an East Indian and his name is Krishna. Soon they will come to shave his head and slit the leg of his prison trousers. And soon after that, they will lead him from his cell and he will walk the last mile into everlasting darkness. [X] But now he sits quietly. The yellow light passing through the barred opening in the cell door lays an eerie pattern across his lean swarthy face. [X] Suddenly, his jaw tightens. He rises from the cot and moves to the steel door, his long sensitive fingers curling about the bars like snakes. He waits patiently while the hollow footfalls of the guard patrolling the corridor draw closer and closer. When they reach the cell, he speaks. MUSIC: UP AND OUT KRISHNA: I have a request to make. GUARD: What is it? KRISHNA: You will please to inform the warden it is my desire to speak with him. GUARD: Be along pretty soon now. KRISHNA: I cannot wait for "soon." It is my desire to speak with him at once. Do you question the wish of a condemned man? GUARD: Easy, easy. KRISHNA: You will please to inform him. MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN IN BG NARRATOR: Almost hypnotized by the huge dark eyes glaring at him through the bars, the prison guard turns and retraces his steps along the corridor. MUSIC: QUICK GLISS FOR A TRANSITION ... THEN OUT BEHIND-- NARRATOR: Meanwhile, in the editorial offices of the Metropolis Daily Planet -- now almost deserted with the last edition off the presses -- Lois Lane, the paper's star girl reporter, is anxiously pacing the floor while Clark Kent pleads with her to relax. KENT: You'll end up with a nervous breakdown if you're not careful, Lois. Look, why don't you go home and take a nice--? LOIS: What time is it? KENT: Nine thirty. LOIS: (EXPLODES) You're crazy! Your watch must have stopped. Why, it was nine o'clock--! (CATCHES HERSELF, BEAT) I'm sorry, Clark. KENT: Sorry for what? LOIS: Screaming at you. You're right. I will have a nervous breakdown if I'm not careful. KENT: It isn't worth it, Lois. LOIS: I know, but they're gonna kill a man up there tonight. He's going to die. KENT: Well, lots of men will be dying tonight all over the world. LOIS: But I'm not responsible for them. KENT: You're not responsible for Krishna, either. LOIS: I dug up the story, I had him arrested, I testified against him in court! I sent him to the chair! KENT: All of which was no more than he deserved. Now, don't waste any sympathy on a guy that-- LOIS: I'm not wasting sympathy, Clark. You don't understand. If they chained him to a wall and kept him in a dungeon for the rest of his natural life, I wouldn't give it another thought. Really! But whatever he's done, he's still a human being -- a creature of flesh and blood -- and they're going to kill him! KENT: What you're trying to say is-- LOIS: I'm not trying to say anything. I just want it to be over and done with. I sat in that courtroom for three weeks, watching him get tangled in his own web; looking at him and wondering what was going through his mind; asking myself why a cultured, intelligent, religious man-- KENT: Oh, now wait a minute-- LOIS: Yes, he was religious, in his own way. KENT: A way that gave him a license to prey on the superstitious fears of helpless women, I suppose? To steal from them, to - to pauperize them, to murder them! LOIS: Oh, of course not, but-- KENT: Krishna used his kind of phony black magic religion as a means to an end. He used it as a smoke screen. How can you possibly call him religious when you know he has human blood on his hands? And furthermore-- SOUND: PHONE RINGS LOIS: (STARTLED GASP) KENT: I'll take it. SOUND: RECEIVER UP ... WARDEN'S VOICE ON FILTER KENT: Hello? WARDEN: Miss Lois Lane, please. KENT: Who's calling? WARDEN: Warden Reid, of State Prison. KENT: Oh, hello, Warden. This is Clark Kent. WARDEN: Oh, hello, Kent. How are you? LOIS: Is it Warden Reid? KENT: (TO LOIS) Yes. (INTO PHONE) Fine, thanks. And you? WARDEN: Getting along. KENT: Good. LOIS: What does he want? KENT: (TO LOIS) I don't know yet. WARDEN: I'll tell you why I called, Kent. KENT: Uh huh? WARDEN: Is Miss Lane there? KENT: She's standing right beside me. WARDEN: Well, then you can pass it on. KENT: Okay, go ahead. WARDEN: Uh, as you know, Krishna goes to the chair tonight. The Court of Appeals refused him a new trial this morning and the governor turned him down on a stay early this evening. KENT: Yes, I know. WARDEN: Well, just a few minutes ago, he sent for me; said he had a final request to make. KENT: Oh? WARDEN: I told him we'd grant it if it were humanly possible. He said we had to grant it because it was the only way he would clear his conscience. KENT: What was the request? WARDEN: He says he wants to see Miss Lane before he dies. KENT: What?! LOIS: What is it, Clark? KENT: (INTO PHONE) Hold it a minute, Warden. WARDEN: Okay. LOIS: What's happened, Clark? Is anything wrong? KENT: Now, take it easy. LOIS: Well, tell me -- don't just stand there! KENT: Krishna wants to see you before he goes to the chair. LOIS: Why? KENT: Oh, some nonsense about clearing his conscience. Your answer, of course, is no. (INTO PHONE) Hello, Warden? WARDEN: Yes, Kent? LOIS: No, Clark! Wait! Clark-- KENT: (INTO PHONE) Just a minute, Warden. WARDEN: All right. KENT: Now, Lois, don't go off the deep end. LOIS: The man is going to die, Clark. He only has a few hours left. What difference does it make? KENT: Have you ever been in a prison death house? Have you ever seen a condemned man's face? LOIS: My feelings don't matter. Let me have the phone. KENT: Now, don't do it, Lois. Lois, I--! LOIS: Please, Clark, please--! KENT: (EXHALES UNHAPPILY) LOIS: (INTO PHONE) Hello, Warden? WARDEN: Yes? LOIS: This is Lois Lane. WARDEN: Yes, Miss Lane? LOIS: (RELUCTANT) I'll be at the prison in - in twenty minutes. MUSIC: BRIDGE SOUND: FOOTSTEPS IN PRISON CORRIDOR ... IN AGREEMENT WITH FOLLOWING-- WARDEN: Do you understand, Miss Lane, you're under no obligation to this man and consenting to accede to his request is purely voluntary on your part? LOIS: (SOBERLY) Yes, I understand. KENT: Well, I think it's ridiculous to expose-- LOIS: Clark, now, we had all this out on the way up. WARDEN: This is as far as you go, Kent. KENT: I won't allow Miss Lane in the death house alone. SOUND: DOOR UNLOCKS AND OPENS WARDEN: She won't be alone. There'll be two guards and myself. KENT: Why can't I accompany her? LOIS: Stop it, Clark, please. WARDEN: It's regulations, Kent. KENT: (DISMISSIVE) Ohhh. WARDEN: We'll be back in a few minutes. (TO GUARD) Close up, Regan. SOUND: DOOR CLOSES AND LOCKS LOIS: Sorry if Mr. Kent seemed insistent. WARDEN: Not at all. Frankly, I agree with him. This can't be a very pleasant experience for you. Well, this is the cell, Miss Lane. (TO GUARD) Miller, you and Harkin stand out here. I'll go in. GUARD: Yes, sir. WARDEN: Open up. SOUND: CELL DOOR UNLOCKS AND OPENS WARDEN: Krishna, Miss Lane is here to see you. KRISHNA: Thank you. Thank you kindly. WARDEN: Step in, Miss Lane. (BEAT) You have three minutes. KRISHNA: May I speak with the young lady alone? WARDEN: No, you may not. KRISHNA: Very well. Please to be seated, Miss Lane. LOIS: (QUIETLY NERVOUS) If you don't mind, I'd rather stand. KRISHNA: As you wish. I requested to speak with you, Miss Lane, because I do not desire that you forever carry within your heart the knowledge that you bore false witness against me. LOIS: That isn't true! I testified what I-- KRISHNA: Please! There is little time and I have much to say. I bear you no malice for what you have done to me. The body is but the dwelling place of the soul. You have spoken against only this feeble thing of blood and nerve and sinew that they will destroy -- that they will singe and burn until the flesh is no more! LOIS: (UNNERVED, INCREASINGLY HYSTERICAL) Please! KRISHNA: But neither you nor they can reach beyond the pale of death. LOIS: Please, don't--! KRISHNA: I, Krishna, will return in spirit, in voice -- yes, even in substance! I will rise like a phoenix from my lifeless corpse, like a new messiah, and you will hear my voice, you will look upon my countenance, and then you will know--! LOIS: Stop it! Stop it! WARDEN: That's enough, Krishna. KRISHNA: I have more to say! LOIS: Nooo! WARDEN: Step outside, Miss Lane. KRISHNA: Do you deny the final wish of a condemned man? WARDEN: (CURT) You had your wish. (TO GUARD) Lock up, Miller. SOUND: DOOR CLOSES AND LOCKS KRISHNA: (CALLS) There is no escape! So it is spoken in the Kabala: "And it shall come to pass that he will rise from the grave! And he shall be the walking dead! And there shall be no escape from him! Even unto eternity!" MUSIC: SNEAKS IN DURING ABOVE, BUILDS TO BRIDGE SOUND: RUNNING AUTO INTERIOR BACKGROUND KENT: I don't like to second-guess, Lois, but if you'd only listened to me, you could have avoided that horrible experience. LOIS: Please, Clark, let's not talk about it. I - I've had all I can take for the night. Do you mind if I turn on the radio? KENT: No, of course not. SOUND: CLICK! OF RADIO SWITCHED ON KENT: You're not going back to the office, you know. I'm taking you right to your apartment. LOIS: No, I've got to-- I've got to do a story on that-- KRISHNA: (ON RADIO) And it shall come to pass that he will rise from the grave-- LOIS: (TERRIFIED) Clark! KRISHNA: (ON RADIO) --and he shall be the walking dead! KENT: What's the matter? LOIS: Clark! KRISHNA: (ON RADIO) And there shall be no escape from him! LOIS: That's his voice! KENT: What? KRISHNA: (ON RADIO) Even unto eternity! LOIS: That's what he screamed at me! SOUND: SCREECH! OF BRAKES AS CAR STOPS MUSIC: SOMBER ORGAN ... ON RADIO, IN BG KENT: What are you talking about? LOIS: Krishna's voice! Didn't you hear it?! KENT: Lois, what's gotten into you? That's a radio program. LOIS: Turn it off! Turn it off! MUSIC: OUT WITH-- SOUND: CLICK! OF RADIO SWITCHED OFF KENT: Now, listen to me, Lois-- LOIS: Clark! Take me home! Please! Take me home! MUSIC: BRIDGE SOUND: APARTMENT DOOR OPENS ... STEPS IN KENT: You sure you're gonna be all right, Lois? LOIS: (BEAT, UNCONVINCING) Yes. What time is it? KENT: Uh, eleven fifteen. LOIS: Oh. Then it's all over. KENT: Huh? LOIS: He went to the chair at eleven. KENT: Oh, Lois, you've got to stop thinking about that. LOIS: I know. I will. Good night, Clark. I'm sorry I've been behaving so stupidly. KENT: Oh, forget it. I'll see you in the office. LOIS: Okay. Good night. KENT: Good night. SOUND: APARTMENT DOOR CLOSES LOIS: (TO HERSELF) Oh-- Hope I never have to go through anything like that again as long as I live. Those eyes. Those huge dark eyes. Burning holes in me. And that horrible screaming. SOUND: PHONE RINGS ... THEN IN BG LOIS: (TO HERSELF) Who can that be at this hour of the night? SOUND: LOIS' STEPS TO PHONE ... RECEIVER UP LOIS: Hello? KRISHNA: (ON PHONE) And it shall come to pass that he will rise from the grave-- LOIS: (BLOODCURDLING SCREAM) KRISHNA: (ON PHONE) --and he shall be the walking dead. SOUND: RECEIVER DROPPED KENT: (OFF) Lois?! Open the door! SOUND: RATTLE OF LOCKED DOOR KENT: (OFF) Lois?! SOUND: RATTLE OF LOCKED DOOR KENT: (OFF) Lois?! Lois! MUSIC: TOPS THE SCENE ... AGITATED BRIDGE LOIS: (TEARFUL) But, Clark, I swear to you, when I lifted the phone, his voice came over the wire and it said the same thing! The same thing he screamed at me from the cell. The same thing I heard on the radio. KENT: Now, Lois, I don't have to tell you about the power of fear. You know what it can do to people. LOIS: I - I'm not afraid of anything! You refuse to believe that! KENT: Yes, you are! You're afraid of the unknown. LOIS: Well, that is-- KENT: You exposed yourself to that half-demented fanatic and he threatened you with mystic mumbo-jumbo -- and now you're hearing things! LOIS: Clark! Look, I'm not crazy. I'm terribly upset, but I'm not crazy. The phone rang and when I lifted the receiver-- KENT: I know, I know, I know. Now you listen to me. I'm gonna call the prison. LOIS: I-- KENT: If the warden tells ya that Krishna went to the chair at eleven o'clock -- that he's dead -- will ya stop all this nonsense? LOIS: You don't have to call. It isn't necessary. KENT: Well, I think it is. SOUND: RECEIVER UP ... DIALS FOR OPERATOR ... OPERATOR AND WARDEN'S VOICES ON FILTER OPERATOR: Number, please? KENT: Operator, this is an emergency call to Warden Reid at the state prison in Malverne. OPERATOR: What is your number? KENT: Hanover Six Two-Three-Nine-Two. OPERATOR: And your name? KENT: Clark Kent. OPERATOR: One moment, please. KENT: Thank you. (BEAT, TO LOIS) Lois, I'm gonna let you talk to him so there won't be any question about it. This thing could make nervous wrecks of both of us. LOIS: Yes. KENT: Believe me, when I was standing out in the hall waiting for the elevator and I heard you scream, I thought you were being murdered. LOIS: How did you get in? KENT: Huh? Oh, I - I - I forced the door open. LOIS: But how - how could you, Clark? That door has a double lock. KENT: I know, but when you're desperate, you do a lot of things you ordinarily couldn't do. I - I guess I just sort of made believe I was Superman and-- OPERATOR: Ready with Warden Reid. KENT: (INTO PHONE) Oh, thank you. Hello? WARDEN: Er, yes? Kent? KENT: Warden, I'm calling from Miss Lane's apartment. I'm gonna put her on the phone and I want you to tell her that Krishna's execution went off as scheduled. WARDEN: I'm sorry, Kent, but it didn't. KENT: What? WARDEN: He cheated the chair. KENT: I don't understand. LOIS: Clark? What happened? KENT: (TO LOIS) Wait a minute. LOIS: What--? WARDEN: Hello? Hello? KENT: Yes, Warden, I'm here. WARDEN: I thought we were disconnected. KENT: No, no. I'm still on. You say he wasn't executed? LOIS: (GASPS) WARDEN: Er, no. We found him dead in his cell at ten minutes to eleven -- heart attack. KENT: I see. WARDEN: I'm just as well satisfied. You know how I feel about executions. KENT: Oh, yes. Yes, I know. Well, that's that. Thanks, Warden. WARDEN: That's quite all right. KENT: Bye. WARDEN: Goodbye. SOUND: RECEIVER DOWN KENT: Okay? He's dead. LOIS: You just said he wasn't executed. I heard you say that. KENT: (DELIBERATELY) He died in his cell from a heart attack. LOIS: (BEAT) Clark, I knew something like this was going to happen! KENT: What? LOIS: I just had a feeling it would! KENT: Something like what? LOIS: He isn't dead! I know he isn't! He isn't dead, Clark! KENT: Do you know what you're saying? Now wait a minute -- you're calling Warden Reid a liar and you're calling me a liar. LOIS: You don't understand! KENT: Lois-- LOIS: They think he's dead! They just think that! KENT: Lois, look at me. Look at me, I said. What's happened to you? Are you losing your mind?! LOIS: Clark, please! Try to understand this-- KENT: There's nothing to understand except that you -- a sane, logical, intelligent person in the twentieth century -- are allowing yourself to be influenced by primitive witchcraft, by black magic! LOIS: Now wait a minute! Just let me tell you something! KENT: What? LOIS: I spent a lot of time in Krishna's so-called Temple of Truth getting the story. KENT: I know you did. LOIS: And I saw an awful lot of things that couldn't be explained. This man has a kind of -- power. KENT: Well, sure! That's what I'm trying to tell ya. The power of suggestion! LOIS: Clark, that isn't what I mean. KENT: Look-- Wait a minute now, wait. If people kept telling you that you looked bad -- that - that you were sick-- If they kept harping on it over and over again, do you know what would happen? LOIS: I-- KENT: You'd get sick, Lois. You might even die. Why, good heavens, there are people who talk themselves into imaginary illnesses, let alone having anyone else do it. LOIS: That isn't what I mean. You know what catalepsis is? KENT: Sure. A state of trance. LOIS: Yes. Well, I saw Krishna put people into cataleptic trances. Their bodies stiffened as though they were dead and rigor mortis had set in. KENT: Well? LOIS: I saw that with my own eyes, Clark! And if he can do that for others, why can't he do it for himself? KENT: (AMUSED SKEPTICISM) Oh ho, now, Lois -- it's one thing to work black magic in a half-darkened voodoo temple-- LOIS: I tell you-- KENT: It's quite another thing to do it in a prison cell with a prison doctor standing by. Now, you take my word for it: Krishna is dead. Dead and gone. SOUND: PHONE RINGS ... THEN IN BG LOIS: (GASPS) Don't answer that, Clark! KENT: Why not? LOIS: Please! Please don't answer it! KENT: Lois-- LOIS: Clark, don't answer it! KENT: Lois, let go of my arm. Now don't be stupid. LOIS: Call it stupid, call it anything you want, but please don't answer it! SOUND: RECEIVER UP KENT: (INTO PHONE) Hello? KRISHNA: (ON PHONE) And it shall come to pass that he will rise from the grave and he shall be the-- MUSIC: TOPS THE SCENE ... CURTAIN NARRATOR: We'll return in just a moment to "The Adventures of Superman" and "The Mystery of the Walking Dead." But first, a word from your ABC announcer. ABC ANNCR: I'd like to talk to you now about America's Community Chest, which is currently campaigning for funds to continue its fine work. Its goal is one hundred and eighty-five million dollars and all of it will be spent for the maintenance and administration of Red Feather services through the community. These services are vital to the health and welfare of millions of our citizens. Typical of these services are: aid to the handicapped and homes for the aged, hospitals, maternity homes, neighborhood houses, visiting nurses, and children's aid. And then the Community Chest helps support such fine organizations as the Boy and Girl Scouts, Salvation Army, the U.S.O., Travelers Aid, and the Y.M. and the Y.W.C.A.'s. The Community Chest is a thoroughgoing American idea that wins a warm response from all of us. We can be sure that our nation is sound at the core when citizens unite wholeheartedly and of their own free will build a good community spirit in their own hometowns. Give freely this year to your local Community Chest. NARRATOR: And now back to "The Adventures of Superman" and "The Mystery of the Walking Dead." MUSIC: MYSTERIOSO INTRO ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: Obsessed with the thought that Krishna, an East Indian mystic, is not dead despite the prison warden's report that he died in his cell of a heart attack fifteen minutes before his scheduled execution, Lois Lane, whose newspaper exposé of the mystic's Temple of Truth helped convict him, spent a tortured, sleepless night. It is now the following morning. Clark Kent is in the warden's office at the state prison. KENT: And you say the doctor's certain beyond the question of a doubt that when he examined Krishna he was dead? WARDEN: Here's the report, Kent. Coronary occlusion. KENT: Uh huh. Was an autopsy done on the body? WARDEN: No, we're not equipped for that up here. KENT: No? WARDEN: Unclaimed bodies are sometimes turned over to medical schools or hospitals, but, generally speaking, most of them are claimed by relatives or friends for burial. KENT: What happened to Krishna's body? WARDEN: I believe it was claimed last night. KENT: Oh? SOUND: SHUFFLE OF PAPERS WARDEN: It should be in one of these reports. Ah, here. Here it is. (READS) "Claimed by Midtown Mortuary Service on behalf of a brother, Ali Yatanga Nabba." KENT: That was last night? WARDEN: Yes. Body was found around ten forty-six stretched out on the cot in the cell. KENT: Did you see it? WARDEN: Yes, of course. When the guard notified me, I went to the cell with the doctor. KENT: And you saw Krishna's body? WARDEN: Yes. Why are you making a point of that, Kent? KENT: Well, I'll tell you why. Miss Lane and I left here last night at ten fifteen. At about ten twenty-five, she turned on the car radio. WARDEN: Yes? KENT: The voice she heard -- she says -- was Krishna's. And the words he spoke were the same words he screamed at her from his cell. WARDEN: But that's impossible, Kent. At ten twenty-five he was in his cell -- either dead or alive. KENT: That's what puzzles me. She heard his voice again over the phone at eleven fifteen. And I heard it ten minutes later! WARDEN: You what? KENT: But that could be explained. WARDEN: How? Since when do dead men talk over the telephone? KENT: Well, assuming he wasn't dead -- that he was in a - a cataleptic trance-- WARDEN: (DISMISSIVE) Oh, no. KENT: If his body was claimed before eleven fifteen and he was brought out of the trance, he could have made those phone calls. WARDEN: Kent, the man died of a heart attack. Dr. Bronson has been the staff physician here for fifteen years and I assure you that when he pronounced Krishna dead, he was dead. I'm sorry he's not on duty now so he could tell it to you himself. KENT: Oh, now don't misunderstand me, Warden. I'm not questioning it for a moment. It's just that-- Well, there doesn't seem to be any other explanation. Unless you believe in the supernatural. WARDEN: If I were you, I'd forget about it. KENT: It's too late for that. Miss Lane is in a state of collapse, and frankly, I'm getting worried. No, I've got to track this down; find an explanation for it. Well, I'll stop off at the Midtown Mortuary before I go back to Miss Lane's apartment. WARDEN: They'll tell you he was dead. KENT: Well, if they do, fine. Then if the dead can come to life, I want to know about that, too! MUSIC: BRIDGE LOIS: You - you're not holding anything back, are you, Clark? KENT: Now, why should I hold anything back? LOIS: Well, I-- KENT: I told you what the warden said and I told you what I learned at the mortuary. They received the body at eleven thirty, it was embalmed this morning, and it's now lying in state at the Temple of Truth. LOIS: Yes, but then how did we hear his voice last night? You can't say it was my imagination because you heard it, too. KENT: I don't know, but we've established one thing, at any rate: he's not alive; he's dead. LOIS: Was he alive when I heard him on the radio? KENT: You couldn't have heard him. LOIS: I did! KENT: He was in his cell, Lois. Now, that was definitely your imagination. What you heard was the end of a mystery program. LOIS: Was it? Here! SOUND: RUSTLE OF NEWSPAPER LOIS: This is yesterday's paper, Clark. KENT: Well? LOIS: There were no mystery programs on between ten and ten-thirty last night. I went even further than that. I checked all the programs on at that time. They were music and a comedy show, and quiz shows, and news. There was nothing else! KENT: And you still think he's alive? LOIS: Don't ask me what I think! I'm telling you what I know, what I heard, what you heard! KENT: Okay, then there's only one thing to do. LOIS: What? KENT: Krishna's body is lying in state at the Temple of Truth. You and I are going over there to see it! MUSIC: BRIDGE SOUND: CITY TRAFFIC BACKGROUND KENT: Well, no wonder he could afford five lawyers at his trial. This place must have cost a fortune to build. LOIS: Clark, I - I'm afraid to go in there. All the attendants know me. KENT: Well, drop the veil over your face; let's see what it looks like. (BEAT) Oh, no one could possibly recognize you, Lois. LOIS: Sure it's all right? KENT: Sure. Don't worry now. Come on. SOUND: THEIR STEPS INTO TEMPLE ... TEMPLE DOOR CLOSES ... CITY TRAFFIC OUT ... REPLACED BY QUIET TEMPLE BACKGROUND ... SLIGHT ECHO ON VOICES ... EVERYONE SPEAKS SOFTLY MUSIC: FUNEREAL, SLIGHTLY EERIE ORGAN BACKGROUND KENT: So dark in here, no one would recognize you even without the black veil. LOIS: Hope you're right. ATTENDANT: Your membership cards, please. LOIS: (SLIGHT GASP) KENT: Huh? I beg your pardon? ATTENDANT: We are admitting only members of the temple today. KENT: Oh, well, er-- We're members, but we've forgotten our cards. We've come a long way to pay our respects to Krishna. ATTENDANT: May I have your names? KENT: Our names? ATTENDANT: If you please. KENT: Oh, er, Mr. and Mrs.-- (GRUNTS WITH EFFORT) SOUND: CLARK SOCKS THE ATTENDANT ATTENDANT: (GRUNTS IN PAIN) LOIS: Clark! What did you do? KENT: Knocked him out. LOIS: Oh, no! KENT: Where can I dump him? LOIS: I - I don't know. KENT: Think, think! I can't stand here holding him in my arms. LOIS: Wait a minute. Uh, uh-- Oh, there's a coat room behind that pillar. KENT: (MOVING OFF) Okay, I'll be right back. (BEAT, THEN RETURNS) All right. He's stowed away. LOIS: Yes, but look -- what'll happen when he comes to? KENT: He'll be out long enough for us to look around. Now, the casket's up front. Let's join the line passing it. SOUND: LOIS AND CLARK JOIN THE LINE ... THEY WHISPER LOIS: I'm scared to death. KENT: Why? They can't do anything to us. LOIS: I don't know. KENT: (BEAT) Where do all these people come from? Evidently, they're planning to carry on without Krishna. LOIS: Looks that way. KENT: Wonder how the police feel about that. And the D. A.'s office. LOIS: Clark? See that woman looking into the casket? She owns half of downtown Metropolis. She testified for Krishna at the trial. KENT: It's amazing how people can be deluded. LOIS: Isn't it? KENT: Okay, we're next. Get a good look at him. MUSIC: UP SLIGHTLY TO FILL A PAUSE AS LOIS AND KENT PASS THE CASKET KENT: Well? Are you convinced now? LOIS: (BEAT) Yes. 2ND ATTENDANT: (SLIGHTLY SINISTER ANNOUNCEMENT) The doors will now be locked. LOIS: (GASPS, WHISPERS) Clark? 2ND ATTENDANT: All members will please be seated. LOIS: (WHISPERS, TO KENT) What do we do now? KENT: Nothing, nothing. Let's take these two aisle seats. LOIS: Yes, but what'll happen when--? KENT: Sh! Now don't worry. (BEAT) Look! The lights are dimming over the casket. We're in for something. LOIS: Clark, you don't know these people. Please, let's get out of here. KENT: Can't get out now. The doors are locked. LOIS: Oh, why did I ever let you talk me into this? Why? MUSIC: ORGAN MUSIC GENTLY OUT KENT: Just a dim [light] by the casket now. The organ music stopped. I wonder what-- KRISHNA: And so it is spoken in the Kabala-- LOIS: (GASPS, WHISPERS) That's Krishna's voice! KENT: Easy, Lois. KRISHNA: And it shall come to pass that he will rise from the grave! LOIS: That's his voice, Clark! KENT: Sh! KRISHNA: And become the walking dead! LOIS: Where's it coming from? KENT: I don't know, but that's just the beginning. You're gonna see something in just a moment. MUSIC: ORGAN ACCENT ... THEN IN BG LOIS: (GASPS) KENT: See it? LOIS: Oh! He's rising from the casket! He's coming to life! MUSIC: ORGAN OUT GENTLY BEHIND-- KENT: This is too much. I'm going out to call Inspector Henderson. LOIS: You can't get out! The doors are locked! KENT: I'll get out. You sit tight. LOIS: No, no, don't leave me! KENT: I'll be right back. MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN IN BG, IN AGREEMENT WITH FOLLOWING, WITH ACCENTS AT [X]-- NARRATOR: Slipping from his seat, Clark Kent hurries up the aisle of the darkened temple, unnoticed by the audience who stare transfixed at the seeming miracle taking place before their eyes. Ducking into an alcove, he quickly removes his horn-rimmed glasses and strips off the dark business suit that serves as his disguise, revealing himself in the familiar blue costume and red cape of Superman! [X] Stepping out of the alcove, his eyes sweep the huge auditorium. [X] Suddenly, he stiffens. Lois is missing from the seat where he left her. On the raised platform behind the casket, the figure of Krishna stands erect now, bathed in a cold blue light, hands extended to the congregation -- but Lois is nowhere to be seen. The organ begins its deep throbbing notes again, wailing like a lost soul. Superman starts for the aisle. But, as he does, two men close in on him out of the shadowed darkness. 2ND ATTENDANT: Where do you think you're going? SUPERMAN: That's my business. But I know where you're going. To sleep! SOUND: SUPERMAN PUNCHES ATTENDANT 2ND ATTENDANT: (EXCLAIMS IN PAIN) SOUND: BODY THUDS TO FLOOR ... ANOTHER ATTENDANT'S STEPS APPROACH SUPERMAN: (EXHALES) Oh, you want some shuteye, too, eh? (WITH EFFORT) All right. Glad to oblige. SOUND: SUPERMAN PUNCHES ATTENDANT SUPERMAN: (EXHALES) SOUND: BODY THUDS TO FLOOR MUSIC: UP FOR ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: Turning to the aisle again, Superman is just in time to see a blinding flash of light envelop the figure of Krishna. Smoke billows up from the casket at his feet. When it clears, the figure is gone! MUSIC: UP FOR ACCENT ... THEN IN BG-- NARRATOR: Meanwhile, with a gun in her back, Lois is being forced down a narrow corridor behind the temple platform. As she reaches the end of the corridor, a door opens and a voice says-- MUSIC: UP AND OUT KRISHNA: Come in, Miss Lane. LOIS: (GASPS) KRISHNA: Come in, I said! LOIS: Oh, no! SOUND: DOOR CLOSES KRISHNA: You did not expect to see me again in life, did you, Miss Lane? LOIS: You - you better not try anything. I didn't come here alone. KRISHNA: Your friend is no longer in a position to help you. LOIS: Please-- KRISHNA: In fact, I might say, you are beyond all human help. LOIS: Oh, no-- KRISHNA: Your life is now in my hands. And I have sworn by all the gods of Vishnu to make you suffer for what you did to me. LOIS: Stay away from me. KRISHNA: Yes! LOIS: Stay away from me. KRISHNA: Cringe. Cringe against the wall. What would you give now to have the floor open and swallow you? What?! LOIS: (DEFIANT) Nothing. I - I'm not afraid of you. You - you don't dare to touch me. KRISHNA: (CHUCKLES) LOIS: The police know that I came here today. KRISHNA: (LAUGHS) That, Miss Lane, is a feeble threat. You are aware I cannot be destroyed. You know I am invincible. But you can be destroyed. LOIS: Ohhh-- KRISHNA: And you are going to be destroyed! LOIS: (STRAINED) Oh, no! No, you're choking me! (CHOKES AND MOANS, CONTINUES IN BG) KRISHNA: I will choke the breath of life from your body. Can you feel the blood pounding in your temples? Can you feel your lungs bursting? LOIS: (MOANS WEAKLY, IN BG) KRISHNA: This is the moment before your death. The glorious throbbing moment before death. You're getting weak now. You no longer struggle. Die. Die, I say. I will avenge thee-- SOUND: SUPERMAN CRASHES THROUGH DOOR SUPERMAN: You'll avenge nothing! LOIS: Superman? SOUND: SUPERMAN GRABS KRISHNA WHO STRUGGLES, IN BG KRISHNA: (STRUGGLES AND GRUNTS, IN BG) SUPERMAN: No, no, my friend -- no guns and no knives! The party's over! KRISHNA: Release me! SUPERMAN: I'll release you -- to the police! You all right, Lois? LOIS: Yes. SUPERMAN: All right, we'll just pin this snake up against the wall and let him talk! SOUND: SUPERMAN SLAMS KRISHNA INTO WALL SUPERMAN: There! KRISHNA: (MISERABLY) Put me down! SUPERMAN: Tell Miss Lane who you are! Tell her you're not Krishna! Tell her! KRISHNA: My arm! You're - you're breaking it! SUPERMAN: I'll break every bone in your body unless you talk! Who are you?! KRISHNA: I - I am Krishna's brother. SUPERMAN: Is Krishna dead? (NO ANSWER) Talk! KRISHNA: (DEFEATED) Yes. Yes. SUPERMAN: Where's his body? KRISHNA: Under the platform. SUPERMAN: The casket had a false bottom, didn't it? You dropped his body down and you rose up from it. (NO RESPONSE) Well? KRISHNA: Yes. SUPERMAN: You were the one who made those phone calls to Miss Lane, weren't you? KRISHNA: Yes. SUPERMAN: Anything else you want to know, Lois? LOIS: No. That's enough. SUPERMAN: Okay. Then we can go -- straight to police headquarters! MUSIC: TRIUMPHANT BRIDGE LOIS: Clark? How did Superman happen to be at the temple? KENT: (LIGHTLY) Well, now, that's an interesting question. I wish I could answer it for you. LOIS: You mean you don't know? KENT: No, that's not quite true. LOIS: Well, if you do know, why can't you tell me? KENT: That's an interesting question, too. LOIS: Honestly, you're impossible. KENT: (CHUCKLES) LOIS: You know, incidentally, we never did find out about that radio broadcast. KENT: Oh, I forgot to tell you. The Temple of Truth was on the air that night over a small local station. LOIS: No? How strange. KENT: It was just coincidence that you happened to tune in while Krishna's brother was mouthing that mumbo-jumbo. LOIS: Yes, wasn't it? KENT: Matter of fact, I missed the boat. When the warden told me his brother claimed the body, I should have put two and two together. Of course, if I'd known it was a twin brother, it would have been easy. LOIS: Well, it's all over now. Oh, incidentally, did I tell you that Superman called me Lois? KENT: Did he? LOIS: (YES) Mm hm. Twice. (DREAMILY) Oh, he's really wonderful. KENT: (GENUINELY) Thanks. LOIS: Huh? KENT: (LIGHTLY) I said, thanks -- for Superman. MUSIC: CURTAIN NARRATOR: "The Adventures of Superman" come to you now each week at this same time over many of these ABC stations. MUSIC: ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND NARRATOR-- NARRATOR: Listen again next week when Superman solves a murder and a mystery in "The Case of the Courageous Cobbler." "Superman" is a copyrighted transcribed feature appearing in Superman-DC Comic magazines and brings you radio's most fabulous character in exciting stories of action, adventure, and mystery. So be sure to listen when you hear the familiar cry-- VOICE: Faster than a speeding bullet! SOUND: GUNSHOT, WITH RICOCHET VOICE: More powerful than a locomotive! SOUND: TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS, LOCOMOTIVE RUMBLES VOICE: 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! VOICE: It's a plane! NARRATOR: It's Superman! SOUND: LOUD RUSH OF AIR ... UP AND OUT MUSIC: FANFARE ... THEN IN BG NARRATOR: The role of Superman is played by Bud Collyer; Lois Lane by Joan Alexander. Music is composed and played by John Gart. Be sure to listen next week to "The Case of the Courageous Cobbler" on "The Adventures of Superman"! MUSIC: UP FOR SAMMY TIMBERG'S SUPERMAN THEME ... THEN OUT NARRATOR: This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.