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00:00The
00:30This is basically a very nasty tale.
00:35But if I've managed to learn one thing in my 35 years of story writing, it is this.
00:40Nastiness and horror must be handled with great circumspection.
00:44Because if left on their own, they will always taste bitter in the end.
00:49But if humour is added to the mixture, then the tension is relieved by laughter,
00:53and the bitterness is banished.
00:55In this story, we have an actress who knows a tremendous lot about the importance of humour.
01:00So I don't think you need worry.
01:09Come along now, Mrs. Palm. It's for the best. Happy release.
01:13Would you like to come into Sister's office?
01:14That's right. Quietly now, dear.
01:30In the midst of life we are in death.
01:42Of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord,
01:46who for our sins are at most justly displeased.
01:49For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy
01:53to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother he departed.
01:58Mary.
02:00My dear.
02:01Hello, Arthur.
02:02I'm sorry you'll have to forgive me.
02:04Oh, I understand.
02:06It's nice to see you again, Arthur.
02:08It's very nice to see you too, Mary.
02:11I wish he could have been under happier circumstances.
02:16You mean William didn't leave me very much?
02:19It's a joke, Arthur.
02:21Just a little joke.
02:22Oh, yes.
02:24Yes, of course.
02:26Won't you sit down?
02:28Yes.
02:29Yes, of course.
02:32Well, life goes on.
02:37Yes.
02:38Yes, of course.
02:40Poor William.
02:42I've been his lawyer and his fame for almost a quarter of a century.
02:46Great loss.
02:48Both to you and to the university.
02:51The university.
02:52Yes.
02:54Well, all that was in the obituary notices.
02:59I'm sure you must have felt extremely gratified.
03:02The greatest academic brain of his day.
03:07Academic.
03:08Yes.
03:10Well, it's all fairly straightforward.
03:14But I'm afraid you're quite right, my dear.
03:17William didn't leave a great deal.
03:19This house and about 3,000 pounds.
03:23I see I'll just have to go on living in the style to which I have been accustomed.
03:30That's another joke, Arthur.
03:31Oh, yes.
03:33Oh, yes.
03:35Yes.
03:36There is something else.
03:38A sealed letter.
03:41It's addressed to you.
03:42But I am instructed to open it and to read it aloud in your presence.
03:46I expected something to do with the college.
03:49Some wives compete with other women, Arthur.
03:51I had to compete with the university.
03:53Ah.
03:55Well.
03:57Yes.
04:01To be read to my widow, Mary Luella Pearl, by my lawyer, Arthur Baxter, exactly one week after my death.
04:08I hereby instruct my widow, Mary Luella Pearl, to telephone Dr. John Landy and to make an appointment to see the said doctor.
04:17This is to be executed in Mr. Baxter's presence.
04:21Dr. John Landy, he works at the hospital where William died, doesn't he, I think?
04:26Do you know him?
04:27No, I don't.
04:28He's some kind of neurosurgeon.
04:32Rather distinguished.
04:34I'm very odd.
04:35And Mr. Baxter is further charged with making certain that my widow keeps the appointment.
04:41Signed, William Pearl.
04:44Good gracious me.
04:45Why would William want me to see a neurosurgeon, I wonder?
04:49I've no idea.
04:50This letter was sent to me through the post some two or three days before William died.
04:58I've suddenly got a kind of nervous feeling, sort of shivery.
05:03P.S.
05:05I also urge my widow to continue to observe those precepts which have guided our life together.
05:11Do not drink alcohol, avoid television at all costs, do not use makeup, do not smoke cigarettes,
05:20keep my rose beds and rockery well weeded in the summer,
05:23and incidentally I suggest that you have the telephone disconnected now that I have no further use for it.
05:34He really did genuinely care about me, didn't he, Arthur?
05:40Well, like the dead man says,
05:45in the presence of Mr. Baxter, I have to make a phone call.
05:49Yes?
06:03Mrs. Pearl and Mr. Baxter are here.
06:05Share them in.
06:19Mrs. Pearl, it's Dr. Landy.
06:27Well, I have discharged my duty.
06:31I've seen to it that you have kept this appointment.
06:34I bid you good day.
06:43Do sit.
06:49It was, um, good of you to see me, Dr. Landy, at William's request.
07:08Would you like to tell me why he wanted us to get together?
07:11He told you nothing about me?
07:12No, he, well, yes, he may have mentioned your name once or twice.
07:16His research into criminal psychopathology brought us into contact.
07:21I had developed a new prefrontal lobotomy technique, in certain cases, to remove the abnormal portion of the brain.
07:28It was not unsuccessful.
07:30I'm glad to hear that.
07:33Did he tell you I'd been to see him about six weeks before he died?
07:38No, he did not.
07:39I admired him enormously.
07:42First-class brain.
07:45Yes, he was clever, all right.
07:47William, I said, you're just the one I want.
07:52Want for what?
07:54Mrs. Pearl, do you believe in life after death?
07:58Dr. Landy, you're making me very nervous.
08:03I didn't mean to do that.
08:05Yes, well, it's just that, um, ever since Mr. Baxter read me William's letter, I've...
08:13I've had this feeling...
08:15Yes?
08:17...about William.
08:19Yes?
08:19I've had this feeling...
08:24You'll probably laugh at me, but I...
08:27I have had this feeling that...
08:30William is...
08:33...watching me.
08:36Extraordinary.
08:44I expect it's the after-effects of grief.
08:48Perhaps.
08:49Perhaps not.
08:55You'll understand more when I...
08:57...tell you about the agreement William and I reached.
09:00Agreement?
09:01Shortly before his death.
09:04About what?
09:07What would you say if I were to tell you...
09:09...that William is alive?
09:12Huh.
09:13Well, I'd say that you were in need of one of your prefrontal lobotomies.
09:20That...
09:21That's what I'd say, I think.
09:22I'm not joking.
09:27We buried William, Dr. Landy.
09:29Remember?
09:30Nevertheless, he's alive.
09:34He's in there.
09:34He's in where?
09:35He's in there.
09:36He's in there.
09:37He's in there.
09:38He's in there.
09:39He's in there.
09:41Oh, I understand.
09:42He's in there.
09:44I didn't mean to upset you.
09:46I didn't mean to upset you.
10:07Feeling better now?
10:08Dr. Lanny, may I ask you a question?
10:10Please.
10:11If William is alive and behind that door,
10:16why don't you ask him to come in here?
10:19It's not quite like that, Mr. Poe.
10:21Don't you think you ought to tell me what it is quite like?
10:35Now, what does that look like to you?
10:38I don't know.
10:39It's a dog.
10:41On a plate.
10:43On a plate?
10:45Dog's head.
10:46It's on a plate.
10:50His name is Igor.
10:53It's Russian.
10:55The head has been completely severed from the body.
10:58Oh, gosh.
10:59But it is alive.
11:03As you can see,
11:04normal blood supply is being maintained
11:06from an artificial heart.
11:08The brain is functioning.
11:10Now, as you can see,
11:14food is being offered.
11:17The dog's tongue comes out
11:19to lick it away.
11:20Wait a minute.
11:22Wait a minute.
11:25What in God?
11:26Not so fast, Mrs. Poe.
11:27What in God's...
11:29I put it to William.
11:32I said,
11:33if it is possible for a dog's brain to remain alive,
11:37why should the experiment not be perfected upon a human being?
11:40Oh, my God.
11:43You...
11:43You've got William's head in there.
11:45I put it to William.
11:47I said,
11:47what I need is a guinea pig.
11:48A human guinea pig,
11:49of course.
11:50And he agreed.
11:52He...
11:53What he did?
11:53Yes, he...
11:54He agreed.
11:56Don't believe you.
11:57I don't believe you.
11:58William would never have agreed to anything,
12:00so he was much too...
12:01Cautious.
12:03And I put it to him exactly how I would proceed.
12:05First,
12:06I would have to enlist the aid
12:07of an artificial heart.
12:09Second,
12:09I would have to step in
12:10at the right moment,
12:12just before death,
12:13and remove the brain from the skull.
12:15Because the object, you see,
12:17was to keep the brain alive.
12:19But William is dead.
12:21How can his brain be alive?
12:23It was rather tricky.
12:23We only had three minutes
12:25to complete the transfer of blood supply
12:27to the brain.
12:29It's all we had,
12:29just three minutes.
12:31God, what about the pain
12:32when you started?
12:33William asked me that question,
12:35so I agreed to give him a shot of procaine,
12:37just in case.
12:39You gave it...
12:40You gave a dead body,
12:41an anesthetic?
12:42No, no.
12:43At that moment,
12:44the body was not yet dead.
12:46So William insisted.
12:48Well, I won't go into the vast amount
12:50of technical problems
12:51we had to overcome,
12:52but suffice it to say,
12:53that the experiment
12:54was a complete
12:55and unqualified success.
12:58But I don't understand.
13:01What is the point
13:02of just having a brain?
13:04Because it continues
13:05to function.
13:11It continues to function?
13:14Yes, he got it hooked up
13:15to an encephalograph.
13:17The slightest response
13:18is recorded.
13:18Now, I have transferred it
13:20to a basin
13:21containing what we know
13:22as Ringer's solution.
13:23It's used for irrigation
13:24in neurosurgery.
13:26The stubs,
13:27the arteries,
13:28and the veins
13:28are connected
13:29to the heart machine,
13:31and all its thinking processes
13:32are working beautifully.
13:36You mean to tell me
13:38that this brain,
13:40I mean,
13:42William,
13:43can talk?
13:45I knew I'd forgotten something.
13:47I hadn't told you
13:48about the eye.
13:52The eye?
13:53Yes.
13:53We kept one of the
13:55optic nerves intact
13:56together with the eye.
13:57William wanted an ear as well,
13:59but that wouldn't have been
13:59practicable.
14:02Now, we know it's seen
14:04because
14:05the slightest response
14:07is recorded
14:08through the deflections
14:09on the encephalograph.
14:15Now,
14:16he's in there.
14:17Yes.
14:21In a basin?
14:24Yes.
14:26I see.
14:28And now,
14:29I want you to go in
14:34and talk to it.
14:37Oh, no.
14:37No, Doctor.
14:38If we want to do all we can
14:39to keep it happy.
14:40What do you mean, it?
14:41You mean him, don't you?
14:42Oh, keep him happy,
14:43I beg your pardon, of course.
14:45Yes, yes, it would do it.
14:46Him good to see you.
14:47You could smile at him,
14:49blow him a kiss,
14:50that sort of thing.
14:50Oh, God.
14:50Look, you mustn't
14:51be too surprised
14:52by what he looks like.
14:54It's probably a little bit
14:55of a shock at first.
14:56He's not very attractive
14:57in his present state,
14:58I'm afraid.
15:00I didn't marry him
15:01for his looks, Dr. Landry.
15:02Good, good.
15:04Well, then.
15:09All right,
15:10this way, then.
15:10Look, he won't be able
15:13to see you
15:14when you come into the room
15:14until you put your face
15:17directly above his eye.
15:19The eye is always open,
15:20but he can't move it,
15:21so the field of vision
15:22is narrow.
15:25Oh, he's wise.
15:27Come along, then.
15:27No need to whisper.
15:52He can't hear a thing.
15:53All right.
15:55You should move a little closer.
15:58That's right, this way.
16:01Now, you see?
16:05His eye,
16:07right eye,
16:09out of the brain,
16:10the ring of solution
16:11in the basin
16:12is contained by this box
16:14that leads to the artificial heart.
16:17His eye is floating,
16:20ring of solution again,
16:21in this plastic container.
16:23There's a lens attached
16:24similar to one
16:25that he had
16:26in his own spectacles.
16:27So at the moment,
16:28he's looking up at the ceiling.
16:35Not much to look at it.
16:36Oh, don't worry about that.
16:38Oh, no.
16:39We're going to rig up
16:40a mirror device
16:42to widen his vision.
16:45Working out an entire program
16:47to keep him amused,
16:48books to read,
16:49television.
16:51not television.
16:54He disapproved.
16:57I mean,
16:57he disapproves of television.
17:00I'm misgrateful
17:00for the information.
17:01Don't want to upset him,
17:02do we?
17:02No.
17:03Now, shall we come quite close?
17:10There is William.
17:14Now, you'll have to put your face
17:15right above his eye.
17:17Now he can see me.
17:22Yes.
17:23And he can see you.
17:25You can smile at him.
17:27Of course, he can't smile back.
17:28Hello, William.
17:44Hello, William.
17:46It's me, Mary.
18:00He's seen you.
18:01He's recognized you.
18:02Look, look, look, looking well.
18:18He can't hear.
18:19Where'd you say it?
18:20But he can, he can see me.
18:27Perfectly.
18:33Must be wondering what's happened to him.
18:36Not at all.
18:37He knows perfectly well where he is
18:38and why he's here.
18:42You mean he...
18:43He knows he's in...
18:47in this...
18:49in this box?
18:50But of course.
18:54William is his brain.
18:57There is no difference between
18:58this William here
18:59and the one you were married to.
19:02Is that a fact?
19:04He's quiet now, isn't he?
19:13Naturally, he's quiet.
19:16Odd, William.
19:17Quiet.
19:20It's not like him.
19:24Not like him at all.
19:26You'll get used to it.
19:28I don't know.
19:29funny feeling
19:34that I
19:37still watching me
19:41after 22 years.
19:43Exactly.
19:50You know something,
19:52Dr. Landy?
19:53What?
19:57I'm beginning...
19:58I'm beginning to feel
20:00of...
20:01an affection for William.
20:04I mean,
20:05an...
20:05an enormous affection
20:07for William,
20:08like...
20:10like this.
20:13Now,
20:14does that sound strange to you?
20:16Not at all.
20:17I'm delighted to hear it.
20:22He's like a...
20:23he's like a baby,
20:24isn't he?
20:25he's just like a...
20:29like a little baby.
20:33We never had any children,
20:35Dr. Landy.
20:37William didn't like children.
20:42Did you, dear?
20:46Well, never mind.
20:48Mary's going to look after you
20:52from now on.
20:58When can I take him home,
21:00Dr. Landy?
21:02I beg your pardon?
21:04I said,
21:05when can I take him home?
21:06To my home?
21:07To...
21:08our home?
21:10Oh,
21:11he couldn't possibly be moved.
21:13I don't see why not.
21:15This is an experiment,
21:17Mrs. Bell.
21:18One man's experiment
21:20is another woman's husband,
21:22Dr. Landy.
21:23You're joking.
21:24No.
21:25No, I'm not joking.
21:27But this entire equipment.
21:29I have plenty of room
21:30in my house
21:31for all this equipment.
21:32I couldn't possibly permit it.
21:34Dr. Landy,
21:35you mustn't come
21:36between a husband
21:37and wife.
21:39But
21:39you're a widow.
21:42But that's not
21:43what you said.
21:44William is alive.
21:47There is no difference
21:49between this William here
21:51and the one
21:52you were married to.
21:54But...
21:54No more buts,
21:56Dr. Landy.
21:57He bequeathed his brain
21:58to me.
21:59Nuts,
22:00Dr. Landy.
22:03He's my husband.
22:08And I want him home.
22:10Now, come on, will you?
22:15Admit it!
22:17Perfect, isn't it?
22:19The two of us
22:20alone,
22:23here, together.
22:26Take it easy, William.
22:28You'll do yourself an injury.
22:29I don't know about you,
22:32but I feel wonderful.
22:34I mean, we don't argue anymore.
22:37You don't criticize me all the time.
22:41I don't have to wash an eye
22:43on your shirts.
22:45I don't have to cook your meal.
22:46All I have to do
22:49is to listen to the throb
22:51of your heart machine.
22:52You know, it's a rather
22:53soothing sound, actually,
22:55and not loud enough
22:56to interfere with the television.
22:58Oh, I'm sorry.
23:00There.
23:02Can you see all right?
23:04Now, don't look cross, William.
23:06It's no good-looking cross.
23:10Cheer up!
23:13Here's mud in your eye.
23:21I just have to say it, William.
23:24It's heaven having you home.
23:28Now, it's like they say.
23:30Life goes on.
23:33And on.
23:36And on.
23:44Sorry.
23:44It's en���.
23:45Sorry.
23:45Thanks, William.
23:46I'll see you next time.
23:51Here you go.
23:56I'll see you then.
23:57Bye-bye.
24:00Bye-bye.
24:05Bye-bye.
24:09Bye-bye.
24:10Bye-bye.