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AmusantTranscription
00:00I, my lords, I, professor Augustus Van Dusen, doctor of philosophy, of natural sciences,
00:24of medicine and so on and so forth, member of various academies and numerous scientific
00:29societies, I hereby solemnly declare that nothing is impossible for a truly intelligent
00:35person.
00:36He's dead.
00:37I have spoken.
00:38With the truly intelligent person you mean in the first place yourself, don't you, professor?
00:49Of course, my master.
00:50I know myself.
00:51Solon.
00:52Sixth century BC.
00:53I have to drink to that.
00:54Ober, another bottle of champagne.
01:01The story I would like to tell you began on a spring evening at Cirico in the Fifth Avenue,
01:10where a small but well-read society had gathered for dinner.
01:15My old friend, the famous scientist and amateur criminologist Professor Van Dusen, named
01:23the machine of thought.
01:26Next to him sat Mr. Thomas Ransom, local politician and prison director.
01:32And then there was last, but of course not least, Ransom's charming wife Vivian, the
01:39well-known Zia of the elegant New York world.
01:42The conversation that had covered the topics of the day at the beginning, the upcoming election
01:47of the mayor, the prison reform, the latest Parisian models, turned into a conversation
01:52about a problem that interested the professor the most.
01:57The question was, what of the predictions of imaginative writers about the future of
02:03humanity would actually occur?
02:06They talked about Jules Verne and Herbert George Wirtz, about airships and submarines,
02:12and in the heat of the debate, Ransom, for a man of his profession, otherwise a soul of
02:18a man, obviously insisted on provoking the professor.
02:23Here you are, gentlemen.
02:27So you really believe that man will fly like a bird?
02:32That he will float through space and visit other planets?
02:37That he is capable of splitting an atom and thus releasing enormous forces?
02:44Without a doubt, my friends.
02:46And I would even invent the possibilities myself, if I had the time.
02:51Well, admittedly.
02:53You can think a lot and invent a lot from me too.
02:56Cheers.
02:57Cheers.
03:01I don't understand that, but let's look at it the other way around.
03:06Can you...
03:07How should I express myself?
03:10Can you think of things, things that already exist?
03:17For example?
03:20For example...
03:22For example prison walls.
03:25Good idea, Vivienne.
03:26Can you think of prison walls, Professor?
03:31You mean if I can free myself from a prison by the power of my mind?
03:35Of course, my dear.
03:39Heard, heard.
03:41Allow me to introduce myself.
03:43Hutchinson Hatch, my name.
03:46Profession, journalist.
03:48Reporter at the Daily New Yorker.
03:50People who can't stand me, and there are a lot of them,
03:54claim that I would do practically anything for an exclusive story.
03:59And they are not so wrong about that.
04:02Proof, among other things, of this story here.
04:05By the way, I am not only your narrator, I am also one of your co-players.
04:09You will hear it.
04:11When it started, I wasn't there yet.
04:14That's why I had the authorities tell me in detail
04:17what was going on in Chirico's elegant restaurant
04:20and later in the prison of Chisholm.
04:25Say what you want.
04:26You wouldn't be able to think of anything from my prison.
04:31Chisholm is the safest prison in the world, Professor.
04:34No one has ever escaped from there.
04:36Well, I want to tell you something, Ransom.
04:39If I, God forbid, were to stay with you,
04:42I would be free again in a few days.
04:44Not with me.
04:45With me, as safe as two times two is four.
04:47You always say that, Professor.
04:49It's time to take you up on that.
04:52Please.
04:53Why don't we make a bet?
04:55Good idea, Vivienne.
04:57Agreed, Professor?
04:59And so it came to that historic bet
05:03that gave the Professor a box of champagne,
05:06Ransom a few sleepless nights,
05:08Vivienne a new speech agent
05:10and me a great cake.
05:13Tense conditions from me.
05:16Unique.
05:17With pleasure.
05:18No contact.
05:20That too.
05:21Cellar of death.
05:23Say what you want.
05:24Treat me like some random prisoner.
05:26Interrogate me, watch me.
05:28It won't do you any good.
05:30Professor?
05:31As you wish, sir.
05:33What date do we have today?
05:35The 17th of April, sir.
05:39Hm?
05:401899.
05:42Good.
05:43We'll meet again in a week,
05:46on the 24th of April, 1899,
05:49in this room.
05:51Shall we say at nine o'clock?
05:53Yes.
05:54Professor?
05:55Reserve the table for us here
05:57and keep a box of champagne ready.
06:00Very well, sir.
06:01And with that I may excuse myself.
06:03Tomorrow morning, dear Ransom,
06:05I'll be in your office,
06:06then you can lock me in as you please.
06:09Oh no, Professor.
06:11So that you meet your preparations this evening,
06:13machines, skewers, what do I know,
06:15is out of the question.
06:18Consider yourself from this moment on as a prisoner.
06:21I will keep an eye on you personally, dear Professor.
06:25It will be a special pleasure for me, dear lady.
06:28Oba!
06:29The bill.
06:30And let me introduce you to Troschke.
06:32Off to Chisholm.
06:35The prison in Chisholm in New York
06:37you probably don't know from your own experience.
06:40What a tremendous task
06:42Professor Van Dusen undertook
06:44would be clear to you
06:46if you had ever seen it.
06:48The dark granite building
06:50with the narrow, cracked windows
06:52isolated,
06:53only surrounded by an impassable wall
06:56and in front of it by a narrow courtyard
06:58in which day and night armed guards patrolled
07:01and which was illuminated by daylight in the dark.
07:06As he passed the gates,
07:08the courtyard and the guarded corridors
07:10Van Dusen took all this
07:13and even more into account.
07:15And in Ransom's office
07:17he didn't seem to be as sure of his case
07:20as he was with Chirico.
07:22He probably only just realized
07:24that Chisholm, as Mrs. Ransom noticed,
07:27was the safest prison in the world.
07:31You are a bit pale around the nose, Professor.
07:35One week with water and bread,
07:37do you really want to endure that?
07:39Not necessarily, dear lady.
07:41I am immediately ready to give up the bet
07:43if you and your wife declare yourself beaten.
07:45What?
07:46Well, then...
07:47You will have to sit down
07:50without mercy.
07:53Poor Professor.
07:54Ah, Ransom, I have a request,
07:57or rather two.
07:58Go ahead.
07:59I would like to have my shoes cleaned again.
08:04Always noble, isn't it, Professor?
08:07I will do it.
08:09Secondly?
08:10Some cash.
08:11Let's say 25 dollars
08:13in a 5 dollar and 2 10 dollar bill.
08:16I'm not allowed to do that.
08:18Then leave it, it's not important.
08:20Oh, Tom.
08:21All right.
08:22Here, my dear.
08:24With 25 dollars you can't do anything anyway.
08:28Not even with 25,000.
08:30My officials are incorruptible
08:33if they think of something like that.
08:35Come in.
08:37Mr. Director.
08:39Ah, O'Brien.
08:40Come to the point.
08:41This gentleman is Professor Van Dosen.
08:44He will be our guest for a week.
08:47In cell 13.
08:49Dangerous fellow.
08:50What, Mr. Director?
08:52You could say that.
08:54Take good care of him.
08:56We will, Mr. Director.
08:58He will probably try to escape.
09:01He should.
09:02I wish him a lot of fun.
09:04I'll look for him.
09:05Vivienne, would you please get out?
09:07All the best, Professor.
09:10You know, O'Brien.
09:12Take everything that doesn't belong here from him.
09:14And then...