Approved | 30min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, TV Series | Episode aired 26 April 1960
Following his experiences Hurkos begins to work with parapsychologist Dr Lindsteom and the police and is credited with assisting in the capture of real-life serial killers. Hurkos himself finally appears on screen.
Director: John Newland
Writers: Merwin Gerard, Jerome Gruskin, Lawrence B. Marcus
Stars: Albert Salmi, Alf Kjellin, Justice Watson
Following his experiences Hurkos begins to work with parapsychologist Dr Lindsteom and the police and is credited with assisting in the capture of real-life serial killers. Hurkos himself finally appears on screen.
Director: John Newland
Writers: Merwin Gerard, Jerome Gruskin, Lawrence B. Marcus
Stars: Albert Salmi, Alf Kjellin, Justice Watson
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00This has been Alcoa Presents. Alcoa also brings you, on another network, the award-winning Alcoa Theatre, both shows by Aluminum Company of America and its distributors from coast to coast.
00:14Mark Taylor speaking for Alcoa.
00:23Square. Tall trees. She is not well. She has an ache here.
00:38Witnessing the recreation of an actual experiment in extrasensory perception. It is called psychometry. Peter Herkos, one of the psychic marvels of the 20th century, is in the laboratories of Dr. Lars Lindstrom, M.D.
00:56Somehow, by merely touching an object, Herkos can tune in to whoever else has also touched that object. Now, if such a process could be understood, the riddle of mind over matter could also be understood. A riddle as basic as the mystery of life itself.
01:19Alcoa Presents, a new and unusual kind of television program that takes you just beyond the world in which you live. Alcoa Presents, Aluminum, from the world's leading producer, Aluminum Company of America, who creates new and unusual uses of this wondrous metal for the world in which you do live. And now, John Newland takes you one step beyond.
01:49You're right about the psychiatrist. Uh-huh. Not bad. She went to the doctor May 7th, not early April. She thought of it a month earlier and she should have gone. She would have saved herself an awful lot of suffering.
02:16And you'd be a hundred percent right, huh?
02:21Your average for the series of tests so far is pretty respectable, Peter. Eight correct statements out of ten. Statistically, the odds against that are at least one million to one.
02:38Of course, I told you. Dr. van der Helst in Holland said that I cannot do what I do with tricks. And now you see for yourself. Mind if we wait a bit before handing out testimonials?
02:51And so began phase two. In the next series of tests, Dr. Lindstrom set out to remove whatever physical senses might account for Hercus's power. He now began a psychometrization of objects seen, but not touched.
03:08I see, uh, monuments. Telling of history.
03:16Hands off. What are you trying to do to me?
03:19What we agreed to do. See how good you are when you can't touch.
03:23In the box, I see an ornament. No, no, no, no. Not an ornament. It's, uh, uh, writing. Not writing, uh, lines like go this way and that way. Like a drawing here.
03:48Wait, I show you.
03:54Like so.
04:01So.
04:04So.
04:15So.
04:20What is that?
04:23Looks like Egyptian hieroglyphs.
04:27No, what do I know of that?
04:30Let's see.
04:32I'm remarkable. I mean, without even knowing and without even touching.
04:42Two errors.
04:44Two errors? I don't believe it.
04:47Listen, that's still fantastic. There could have been anything in that box. Dog collar, a toothpick, a key ring.
04:57Two errors.
05:00This is called a stroboscopic light. The flickering reduces the area between the conscious and subconscious.
05:08Whatever it does, it feels fine.
05:11I received this letter this morning. I haven't opened it yet.
05:16Tell me what's in it.
05:21I see a harbor, beyond it, a city with big buildings.
05:27The city is New York. The letter is from New York.
05:31I was coming closer to the big building. There's one building. The letter is from the building.
05:37From a man, 76 years old, white hair.
05:42I see everything.
05:44Doctor, I tell you, I see everything.
05:48Why?
05:50Why, why?
05:52Why should this strobe light make any difference?
05:56Well, I don't know, but it does. Right now, everything is gone.
06:01The light flickers, you flicker.
06:04What's wrong with that?
06:07I don't know.
06:09I don't know.
06:11Maybe we should be celebrating.
06:14Then I've proved it. I'm finished.
06:17The ultimate purpose of our work is to try to understand what extrasensory perception is.
06:23Well, maybe we're getting a little close.
06:27Then I think you should be happy.
06:30All by ourselves, right here in this little room.
06:34We may have just dumped man's deepest hopes into the garbage can.
06:39Instead of a psychic marvel, maybe you're no more than a radio receiver.
06:46A what?
06:48Why should the strobe light change anything?
06:51All it is, is an electrical impulse.
06:55What's ESP? An electric spark?
07:00I don't care what you call it.
07:02When I touch things, I know.
07:04And when I don't touch things, I know.
07:06And when I don't touch things, I know.
07:10Put on the light. We've got some more.
07:13You can build yourself the electrical marvel.
07:16AM and FM.
07:18And go back on the stage.
07:23I'm sorry.
07:26Peter, science has reduced everything in this world to 92 elements.
07:32Everything, except one thing.
07:35The human mind.
07:37If what we've got up here, if what we know and feel can be analyzed chemically, then...
07:48I can't rationalize it.
07:51But I want it to be more than an electric spark.
07:54Infinitely more.
07:59I guess that doesn't make sense.
08:01No, it makes sense to me, doctor.
08:07There is one way to prove if we're on the right track or not.
08:12How?
08:13You won't like it, Peter.
08:17What I'm going to turn on is called the Faraday cage.
08:32Why does it glow like that?
08:34That's 250,000 volts of electricity.
08:37250,000 volts?
08:40Oh, you'll be quite comfortable and safe inside.
08:44Me?
08:50But you're joking.
08:53No.
08:55Oh, no, doctor. Oh, no.
08:59Ed, what a hat you're wearing.
09:02I've never heard of 250,000 volts helping anyone.
09:06The current is only on the outside.
09:09Come on, I'll show you. Come on.
09:17Sit down.
09:22Now, what is this supposed to prove?
09:24If extrasensory perception is merely an electrical wave,
09:28then you should score a zero on the matching test.
09:31Because when the power goes on,
09:33no electrical impulse can penetrate these walls.
09:38With 250,000 volts, I...
09:40Will you stop worrying about it?
09:42Just sit there.
09:44Open your collar. Relax.
09:49This is the way you work the intercom.
09:51I've brought you a set of objects.
09:55I have a similar set outside.
09:58And when I point at one object, you tell me which one it is.
10:02Okay?
10:04Good luck.
10:07One moment!
10:09How do I get out of here?
10:11I'll open it for you.
10:13Why can't I open it myself to get out?
10:16You might get panicky.
10:18You might get panicky and try to leave before...
10:21before the power is down to zero.
10:23And at that moment,
10:25you touch the outside metal.
10:28Goodbye, Peter Hercules.
10:32Goodbye, Peter Hercules.
10:34I'm turning on the power now!
10:49Once the cage is electrically charged,
10:52it remains hot until I pull the switch.
11:00Water starts?
11:02I guess so.
11:07You relaxed?
11:12How can I be relaxed in here?
11:15How can I be relaxed in here?
11:22What am I pointing at now?
11:30Peter!
11:35A butterfly.
11:41And now?
11:42Enough!
11:43The what?
11:44The nope!
11:48Oh, I'm sorry.
11:51I still think in Dutch.
11:54Nope is button.
11:57And now?
11:58Extrasensory perception was not merely an electrical impulse.
12:03As a matter of record,
12:05shielding Peter Hercules from electrical impulses
12:08increased his power enormously.
12:10Bullets!
12:13Peter?
12:18Peter?
12:20Where have you been?
12:22I was doing the movies, doctor.
12:24That's every night this week.
12:26All right, come on in. I want to meet somebody.
12:28No, no, I...
12:29Peter Hercules, Mr. Kibbe.
12:31We were just discussing...
12:33No.
12:34Not a Mr. Kibbe.
12:36A policeman.
12:38Well...
12:39I warned you.
12:41What is this?
12:42Captain Kibbe is an old friend of mine.
12:44He heard about you and he phoned.
12:47Your work with the French police in that Dijon case is simply beyond belief.
12:51But I mean, how you could tell that that little girl...
12:54Peter, the captain wonders if...
12:56Yes, I know what the captain wonders.
12:58No, I'm sorry, I don't work with anyone anymore.
13:02Just the laboratory.
13:04Nothing else.
13:07Yes, it's an earring.
13:10I see...
13:12Trees.
13:13Many trees.
13:16Raining.
13:18The ground is wet.
13:20It's raining all night.
13:24A muddy road.
13:27The woman...
13:34The woman is dead!
13:40The policeman gave it to you!
13:42Peter!
13:45You tricked me!
13:48Open up! Open up!
13:51All right, Peter. Okay, I'm going to turn it off now.
13:54I'll never trust you again!
13:59Listen to me.
14:00No, I won't listen!
14:02For the 20 seconds it takes for the power to drop to zero, you're going to have to!
14:08I have Captain Kibbe of the laboratory with me.
14:11I said come back!
14:14If you know so much from the earring, you must know the terrible way she was killed.
14:18Open!
14:29If anybody had ever told me that I would be begging someone like you to help me solve a murder case, I...
14:36But I am begging.
14:39Mr. Hurgis, if you could have seen the condition of her body!
14:49I'm not going to apologize this time.
14:53I doubt that God gave such a gift.
14:56Merely to entertain in theaters.
14:59Mr. Hurgis.
15:04If you will give me the earring back, I'll be on my way.
15:12I'll help you if I can.
15:21But I'm going to need something from the men who killed.
15:25But there's nothing.
15:27A hundred times, nothing.
15:30The woman's body.
15:32Cremated.
15:37I must have something.
15:57It was here.
16:27Silver.
16:45Silver.
16:58Silver.
17:07God, this is her car.
17:28I see many lights. Colored lights.
17:33Red light. This stop light.
17:37She's sitting behind the wheel.
17:40And the car is stopping.
17:46The man...
17:51Wait.
17:54Yes.
17:56This door. The man...
17:58gets in.
18:05I feel very strongly. He has a gun.
18:08Connors woman was strangled, Mr. Hurgis.
18:11Yes, yes. I say this.
18:14He has the gun to frighten. There are no bullets.
18:18Go on, Peter.
18:20His mind is sick.
18:25What else about him?
18:27He lives...
18:29Old building.
18:311-8.
18:331-8.
18:35A hotel with 30 curtains.
18:38There must be a hundred hotels like that in town.
18:41Yes, but I...
18:43I feel strongly. 1-8.
18:461-8 what?
18:49I don't know.
18:51Vogel.
18:53Yes, Vogel. The man's name. Vogel.
18:57Vogel? Peter.
19:00In English there are two names.
19:02Vogel and Fogel.
19:04One with an F and one with a V.
19:08Which one do you mean?
19:11The V.
19:13V. Vogel.
19:15Yes, yes. I say this.
19:20I can already hear the laughter in the police locker room.
19:23Rotten.
19:28Four days later.
19:29Thirty-seven flea traps, flop houses, side street hotels later.
19:33Peter Hurgis and Party arrive in the dingy lobby of the Royal Arms Hotel.
19:38Vogel is living here.
19:40Wait a minute, mister. I ought to know who lives here and who doesn't.
19:44Peter, you said number 18. This is 127.
19:50Where is he going?
19:52Hey, is he crazy?
20:06What are you guys doing here?
20:08Open it up.
20:09There's no Mr. Vogel in this room.
20:11Open it up.
20:12Don't you cops need a search warrant anymore?
20:15Open it up.
20:17Open it up.
20:19Just as a favor to me.
20:27Tell me what's happening at least.
20:37His mind is like an animal's.
20:40It's filled with hate and fear.
20:47Women fill him with hate.
20:51With fear.
20:56He's very sick.
20:58Who's sick?
21:03I thought my room rent was paid till next Saturday.
21:05I tried to stop him, Mr. Bird.
21:07This is the captain of the detectives and the other two guys.
21:10I don't know who they are.
21:12Have you ever used the name Vogel?
21:14Vogel?
21:16The name's Bird. Like in Robin Redbreast?
21:19Walter Bird.
21:20Any identification?
21:21Sure.
21:22Where do you work? What do you do?
21:24The bowling alley on South Beacon.
21:26Just came from there.
21:28Long, hard day.
21:32Tell your friend it's not polite to stare.
21:35His name's not Vogel.
21:36Well, that's for sure.
21:41Yeah, he's the one.
21:44What one?
21:46Who is this kook?
21:48Buddy.
21:49Stare at something else for a while, huh?
21:54Would it be too nosy to ask you gentlemen what this is all about?
21:58Peter described how he looked like.
22:01There are a million guys that look like that.
22:03Oh, thanks. Loads.
22:05I'll run a routine check anyway.
22:07Well, you'll find I'm a real bad boy when it comes to parking tickets.
22:15What's he up to now?
22:17Hey, what is he? A hound dog or something?
22:20Come on, Rover. Knock off.
22:23How do you do? The name's Bird. Like in Robin Redbreast?
22:26Please give me back my hand.
22:28What have you done?
22:30Let go, will you?
22:33That woman in the picture was not the only one.
22:36What's the matter with this guy? Make him let go.
22:38There were much more.
22:40Let go my hand.
22:41Many more women.
22:42Let go my hand!
22:44Yeah.
23:03Peter.
23:04Yeah?
23:06Sometimes in the laboratory, you'd think in Dutch.
23:09Do you remember?
23:11Yeah.
23:13What's bird in Dutch?
23:16Bird is vogel.
23:33She laughed.
23:35She just laughed.
23:41She laughed.
23:55And this is the real Peter Herkos.
23:59Peter, we understand that you spent a total of two and a half years
24:03in the research laboratories of a medical doctor that we call Lars Lindstrom, right?
24:07That's correct. And the research still goes on here and in Europe.
24:10That's marvelous.
24:11Actually, an important paper was recently read on this very same subject,
24:15on this research, before a group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
24:19It will soon be published, right?
24:21So long as I live, I offer myself for any test, any studies,
24:26under any conditions that scientists may impose.
24:30Good.
24:32With the rare gift of a few men like Peter Herkos,
24:35mankind, ever so slowly,
24:38moves toward an understanding of what we human beings are.
24:42What we really are, in the universal scheme.
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