Ladies and gentlemen...
ladies and gentlemen, may I
have your attention, please?
Now, no birthday
celebration is complete
without an after-dinner speech.
Oh, no, Jerry.
And so, let's get
to the business at hand,
the honoring
of dr. William Stockton.
Now, Jerry Harlowe, you sit down.
Who today is one year older
and admits to being over 21.
And who, in the short space
of 20 years
has taken care of not
only us, our children,
but even our grandchildren.
Whose grandchildren?
As a matter of fact,
I doubt if there's
anyone in this room
who still does not
owe the good doctor
for a visit or two.
What about the hammering
at all hours of the night?
That's another thing
we owe him for.
Ah, yes, yes, the good
doctor's bomb shelter.
Well, I'm afraid we'll have
to forgive him for all that
despite the fact that what
he sees as farsightedness
has been a real pain in
the neck to the rest of us,
what with all the concrete trucks
and the nocturnal hammering
and all the rest of it.
That's better.
Well, at any rate,
when grace mentioned
that it was the good
doctor's birthday,
we all decided to take a hand
in the proceedings.
I had an idea
something was going on.
No, you didn't.
-Oh, yes, I did.
And doc, as a little
personal aside,
I'd like to
conclude this way.
That'll probably be the
best part of the speech.
Doc, you're a very beloved fellow
and rightly so.
And you may not have the biggest
practice in medical history...
that's true.
...but there isn't a single sawbones
in the entire 50 states
whose patients
have such a regard-
such affection, such respect-
for their man with
the little black bag
as we do for ours.
Well done!
You dirty dog.
First a surprise party,
which I abhor,
and then that sloppy,
sentimental speech.
You ought to be
ashamed of yourself.
I thought it was
pretty good, Bill.
Let's take our coffee
in the other room, huh?
Pop, pop!
Yes, paulie, what is it?
The picture went out on the tv set.
Then there was
some goofy announcement.
Hold it, everybody. Hold it.
Shh, shh!
What did you say, paul?
The announcer said something
about turn to the conelrad
station on the radio.
Are you sure
that's what you heard?
I didn't hear wrong, pop.
That's what he said.
He said, "turn to
the conelrad station"
and then everything went
completely blank.
Direct from washington, d.c.
"Repeating that:
"Four minutes ago, the president
made the following announcement.
"I quote:
"At 11:04 p.m.
Eastern standard time
"both our distant
early warning line
"and ballistics
early warning line
"reported radar evidence of
unidentified flying objects
"flying due southeast.
"As of this moment we have been
unable to determine
the nature of this object,
"but for the time being
in the interests of national safety,
we are declaring a state
of yellow alert."
"The civil defense
authorities request
that if you have
a shelter already prepared,
go there at once."
"If you don't have a shelter,
-Come on, marty.
use your time
to move supplies of
food, water and medicine
and other supplies to a central place."
"Keep all windows and doors closed.
"We repeat:
"If you're in your home,
"go to your prepared shelters
or to your basement.
What you're about to watch
is a nightmare.
It is not meant to be prophetic,
it need not happen.
It's the fervent and urgent
prayer of all men of goodwill
that it never shall happen.
But in this place,
in this moment, it does happen.
This is the twilight zone.
Fill up as many
as you can, Grace.
I'm going to check the
air filter down there.
We'll get the rest
of the stuff later.
Looks like we'll lose the power
any minute now.
Bill, there's hardly any water
coming through this tap.
Easy, honey. Easy.
Now make believe it's perfume,
and it cost a hundred
dollars an ounce.
Maybe in an hour or so,
it'll be worth even
more than that.
What else, pop?
You got all the canned goods
down, Paulie?
Yeah, all I could find.
How about the fruit cellar, Paul?
I put those in, too.
Uh, go up to my bedroom
and get my bag
and put that in, too.
Wh-what about the
books and stuff?
Paul! Your father told you
to get his bag.
There's time, Grace.
There's plenty of time.
And we'll need books and things.
I don't know how long we'll
have to stay down there.
What about lightbulbs?
Where do you keep the lightbulbs?
Oh, on the top shelf here
of this cupboard, Bill.
Oh, we don't have any.
I ran out.
Well, I was going to buy
some at the store yesterday
because there was a sale on and...
oh, Bill, I'm talking
like some idiot.
Now, how much more
time is there?
There's no telling,
Grace, honey.
Conelrad says
from the first alarm
we might have anywhere
between 15 minutes
and a half an hour.
Fif-fifteen minutes?
I'm just winging it, Grace.
I don't know for sure.
I don't think anyone does.
Now keep filling them.
Bill?!
There's no more water.
It doesn't make
any difference anyhow.
I think we've got enough water.
You bring a jug with you, Gracie.
Paul and I will get the rest.
Now, you two stay here.
I'll get the rest of the water.
No, wait a minute.
I've slipped.
Paulie, there's a small tool kit
in the garage.
Will you get it?
-Right.
I'll get the rest of the water.
Grace.
Now, if it is a bomb,
there's no assurance
it'll land near us,
and if it doesn't...
but if it does, Bill,
New York is only 40 miles away.
And New York's going
to get it, we know that.
So we'll get it, too,
all of it-
the poison, the radiation,
the whole mess.
We'll get it.
We'll be in a shelter, Grace,
and with any luck at all,
we'll survive.
We've got food and water enough
to last us for two weeks-
maybe even longer
if we use it wisely.
Then what, Bill?
Then what?
We crawl out of here like gophers
to tiptoe through all
that rubble up above?
The rubble and the ruin
and the bodies of our friends?
Oh, Bill,
why is it so necessary to survive?
What's the good of it?
Wouldn't it just be better
and easier, just quicker
if we just...
I got the tools, pop.
Anything else you
need from out here?
Grace, that's why
we have to survive.
That's the reason.
He may only inherit rubble now,
but he's 12 years old.
He's only 12 years old, Grace.
Now.
"This is conelrad, your
emergency broadcasting station."
Paulie.
I got the tools, pop.
Good- put it down over there.
I'll get the rest of the water.
"Remain tuned to this frequency."
"We repeat our
previous announcement..."
How's it going, Bill?
It's going fine, Jerry.
We're collecting water
which is what you should be doing.
Well, we collected about 30 gallons
and then the water stopped.
You better get home and get
into your shelter-
into your basement-
and I'd board up
the windows if i were you.
You got any wood...?
Bill, we don't have
any cellar, remember?
The advantages of
modern architecture.
We got the only brand-
new house on the block.
We got everything
at your fingertips-
even got an electric laundry room.
All the wonders of modern
science taken into account
except that thing
that's heading for us right now.
Jerry, come on.
Can I bring Martha
and the kids over here?
Over here?
We're sitting ducks over there-
no protection at all.
Oh, Jerry.
You can use our basement.
Your basement?
What about your shelter?
It's the only place we can survive!
I don't have any room, Jerry.
There's not near enough
room or supplies.
It's designed for three people.
Well, we'll bring
our own food and water.
We'll sleep standing up.
Bill, you've got to help me.
You've got to keep
my family alive.
We won't use any of your stuff.
What about air?
That's a 10x10 room, Jerry,
with an air filter designed
for three people.
Will you bring your own air?
Well, just give us a chance.
-No, no, no.
48 hours, Bill, then we'll get out.
When that door gets
closed and locked
it stays closed and locked, Jerry.
There'll be radiation and
heaven knows what else.
I'm sorry, Jerry, as god
is my witness, I am sorry,
but I built that for my family.
What about mine? What'll we do?
Just rock on the front porch
while we burn to a crisp?
That's no concern of mine.
Right now it's my family
I have to worry about.
Do you think
I'm going to stand by
and watch while my wife
and children die in agony?
I'm not going to do it,
you understand?
Bill, I'm not going to do it!
I'm sorry, please forgive me.
I kept telling you,
Jerry- all of you-
get ready, build a shelter.
Forget the card parties
and the barbecues
for maybe a few hours a week,
forget them, and make the
admission to yourself
that the worst was possible.
But you didn't want
to listen, Jerry.
None of you wanted to listen.
-Please, Bill...
to build a shelter was to admit
to the kind of age we lived in
and none of you had
the guts to face that.
So now you've got
to face something
far worse, Jerry.
So, god, please, god
protect you, Jerry.
It's out of my hands.
It's simply out of my hands.
It's got to be god.
It's got to be god.
They're already in the shelter.
Marty, I told you they'd been
in the shelter.
He's locked himself in.
He's got to let us in.
We have no windows
in half the basement
and I don't have anything
to plug them up, either.
And the basement won't help, anyway.
I can't help you, Marty.
He's downstairs?
-Yes. Yes.
In the shelter?
-Yeah, yeah.
Bill, Bill...
Bill, it's Marty.
We've got the kids with us.
Marty!
Bill!
Bill, please let us in.
Marty, please.
Come back and get us... please!
Bill- Bill, it's Marty.
Please let us in.
Marty, I would if I could.
Do you understand?
I swear to you,
I would.
Bill, please.
Please, Bill.
It's Marty.
I can't, Marty.
Don't stand there asking me.
I can't!
I can't and I won't!
I feel sorry for you, then, Bill.
I really do.
You probably will survive,
but you'll have
blood on your hands.
You're a doctor!
You're supposed to help people!
That was a million years ago...
a million years ago.
Marty!
Get out of here!
Do you hear me?
Get out of here, Marty!
Marty!
Then he slammed the door
right in my face.
Well, go back!
-I can't.
Jerry, ask him again.
-Let's go.
Jerry, ask him again!
Ask him again!
Please, I don't want to be here.
Please, Frank, let's go home!
There's no time!
It's no use, Frank.
He won't let anybody in.
What'll we do?
I tell you what we ought to do.
We ought to find one basement
and go to work on that.
Pool all of our stuff.
Pool water and everything.
It just isn't fair!
He's in the bomb shelter
and perfectly safe
while our kids have to sit around
and wait for a bomb to drop!
Why don't we just
go down to his basement
and break down the door!
Frank, Frank- wait a minute, Frank!
Frank, wait a minute!
We can't all fit
in that bomb shelter.
We'd be crazy to even try.
Why don't we pick out
one family- draw lots?
What difference will it make?
I keep telling you,
he won't let anybody in.
We could all go down there
and tell him the whole street
is against him. We could do that.
What good would it do?
I keep telling you.
Even if you break down the door,
we can't all fit
in the bomb shelter.
We'd be killing everybody
for no reason.
If it saves even one of my kids
I call that good reason.
Jerry, you know him
better than any of us.
You're his best friend.
Go down there again.
Talk to him, plead with him.
Tell him to pick out one family.
We'll draw lots or something.
One family...
meaning yours, Marty, huh?
Why not?
I've got a three-month-old baby.
Is your baby any more precious
than one of my kids?
I never said that.
Look, if you're going to argue
about who deserves to live...
more than next one.
you shut your mouth, weiss.
Take it easy.
-Let go!
That's the way it is
when the foreigners
come over here-
pushy, grabby,
seml-american!
Why, you garbage-brained idiot!
Marty-
Marty, please!
What's the matter with you?
Weiss, for my dough,
you're at the bottom of the list!
Keep it up, you'll
slaughter each other!
Marty...
Marty...
Marty, please.
Go down to the shelter.
Ask him, Marty, please.
I've already asked him.
It won't do any good!
Searchlights.
Let's go take a look.
Anything new on the radio?
No.
What are you doing out here?
Doc's got himself locked
in that shelter.
You know what i'm going to do?
I'm going down there and
get him to open up that door.
I don't care what the rest
of you think.
That's the only thing left to do!
Frank's right.
Come on, let's do it.
No, wait a minute!
Martha, keep those
kids in the kitchen.
Bill!
Bill Stockton!
You've got a bunch
of your neighbors outside
who want to stay alive.
Now, you can open that door
and talk to us
and figure out with us
how many can come in there
or you can just keep on doing
what you're doing,
and we'll bust our way in there!
Bill, can you hear me?
This is Jerry.
They mean business out here.
I mean business in here.
I've already told you, Jerry.
You're wasting your time.
You're wasting precious time
you could use for something else.
for figuring out
how you can survive.
Why don't we get
some kind of battering ram?
Yeah, We could go to bennett avenue.
Phil Klein has a heavy pipe
in his basement. I've seen it.
No, no- that would get him
into the act, too,
and who cares about saving him.
No, no- If we do that-
if we let all those people know
that we have the shelter
on our street-
we'd have a whole
mob to contend with.
A whole bunch of strangers.
What right have they got
to come over here?
This isn't their street.
This isn't their shelter.
Oh, oh,
this is our shelter, huh?
And on the next street,
that's another country.
Patronize home industry.
You idiots, you fools,
you're insane.
All of you.
-Maybe you don't want to live.
Maybe you don't care!
I care- believe me, I care.
I want to see the morning
sun come up, too.
But a mob doesn't have
any brains.
You're proving it!
I say let's get
that battering ram
and we'll tell Klein
to keep his mouth shut.
No, Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
I agree with Jerry.
We should stop and think a minute.
Now, i think that...
-Nobody...
Nobody cares what you think-
you or your kind.
I thought I made it clear upstairs.
Yes, but I think that Jerry has...
I think the first order of business
is to get you out of here.
Marty, Marty!
Let's get that battering ram
and break down that door.
You've had your chance,
Stockton, remember that!
You've had your chance!
Come on, Marty, come on.
Bill...
who are those people?
Those people...
those people are our neighbors,
our friends,
the people we've lived with
and alongside for 20 years.
Come on, Paulie, we better get up
some of this furniture
so we'll have some protection
in case that door goes through.
Come on, let's get it in there.
Come on, over it.
Over it.
Now!
It's through!
Put it down!
"This is conelrad.
"Remain tuned
for an important message.
"The president of the united
states has just announced
"that the previously
unidentified objects
"have now been definitely
ascertained as being satellites.
"Repeat:There are
no enemy missiles approaching.
"Repeat:There are no
enemy missiles approaching.
"The objects have been
identified as satellites.
"They are harmless,
and we are in no danger.
"The state of emergency has
officially been called off.
"We are in no danger.
"Repeat:There is no enemy attack."
Thank god.
Marty?
Marty?
I, uh...
I went off my rocker.
Well, you can understand
that, can't you?
I just went off my rocker.
I didn't mean any of those things
I said to you.
We were... we were, all of us
so scared, so confused...
well, it's no wonder, is it?
I mean, you can understand
why we all blew our tops a little.
Well, I don't think
Marty's going to hold it
against you, Frank.
Just like I don't think
Bill is going to hold all
this against us.
We'll pay for the damages,Bill.
We'll take up a collection
right away.
We... we could have a block party
tomorrow night or something.
A big celebration, huh?
I think we rate one now.
Hey, that's a great idea-
a block party.
Anything to get
back to normal, huh?
Normal?
I don't know.
I don't know what normal is.
I thought I did once.
I don't anymore.
I told you we'd pay
for the damages, Bill.
Damages?
I wonder.
I wonder if any one of us
has any idea
what those damages really are.
Maybe one of them is finding out
what we're really like
when we're normal-
the kind of people we are
just underneath the skin.
I mean all of us.
A lot of naked, wild animals
who put such a price
on staying alive
that they'll claw
their neighbors to death
just for the privilege.
We were spared a bomb tonight,
but I wonder.
I wonder if we weren't destroyed
even without it.
No moral, no message,
no prophetic tract.
Just a simple statement of fact:
For civilization to survive,
the human race has
to remain civilized.
Tonight's very small exercise
in logic from the twilight zone.