k*ller That Stalked New York, The (1950)

[bunniefuu]

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

(somber music)

(sultry music)

- [Narrator] New York,

the biggest town in the whole wide world,

and because I love it,
I think it's the best.

It's safe and secure, like
the granite it's built on.

How do I know?

I live in it, I know it.

Better than that, I
know the muscles of it.

I watched it fight for its life.

That's what this story is all about.

When we almost had a city
without any of those people,

when a k*ller stalked them in the street.

It began on a November day in 1947.

Death didn't sneak into
town riding the rods

or huddled in a boxcar.

It came in on a streamliner,
first class, extra fare,

right into the Pennsylvania
Station, big as life.

And when it finally stepped
out of its drawing room

and onto the platform, it
was something to whistle at.

It wore lipstick, nylons

and a beautifully tailored coat

that sported a silver dancing
girl, souvenir of Cuba.

Its name was Sheila Bennet.

A pretty face with a frame
to match, worth following.

And followed she was by a big-faced man

from the U.S. Customs Service.

A T-man on the make.

Not for the girl, but
for what she had done.

Oh, she knew he was there

and it made her nervous.

(metal clanking)

Real nervous.

Odd part about the whole thing is

the customs cop thought he was just

trailing a candidate for a federal pen.

Never suspected the blonde
target was a k*ller.

Oh, no, she didn't deal
death out of the end of a g*n

or off the point of a Kn*fe.

She delivered it wholesale.

Just by walking through a crowd,

climbing some stairs,
pushing through a turnstile.

Standing in the station.

Better than wholesale.

For free, no charge.

The tragedy was she didn't
know she was death either.

This is what made the jigsaw puzzle

so tough to put together.

If the T-man had known
and if Sheila had known,

my hometown wouldn't have
been punched to its knees

a short time later.

All Sheila knew, she had a headache.

- Aspirin, please.

- Sorry, we haven't any.

- [Narrator] A headache,

butterflies about the T-man
who was following her,

and a terrible hunger
to get to her husband.

I guess when a woman loves a man,

a headache is a simple thing.

Shaking a bloodhound off a
red-hot trail is worth the risk

if it means getting rid of that pain

that comes with empty arms.

So little a thing as the
sound of a lover's voice

can give a woman a lot of strength.

To get it, Sheila dropped
a nickel in the slot.

(phone dinging)

(phone ringing)

- Hello.

Sheila, where are you?

- Penn Station, I just got in.

I missed you, Matt, terribly.

- No more than I've missed you.

Is everything all right?

- I'm being followed, positive.

- Have you got them with you?

- No, I mailed them along the way.

I wasn't taking any chances.

- Smart girl.

All right, then, listen carefully.

Check into the America Hotel and--

- Don't ask me to do that, Matt.

I can't stay away any longer.

It's all I've been thinking about,

all the way from Cuba, just seeing you.

- You want to q*eer everything?

All right then, do as I tell you

and stay away for a couple of days.

Maybe a federal cop was waiting
for you to lead him here.

That's a good girl.

I'll call Francie at her office

and tell her you're back, bye, baby.

(sultry music)

Francie, your sister's back.

- I'm frightened, Matt.

- There's nothing to worry about

as long as you do as I tell you.

- Oh, Matt.

(gentle music)

- Just let me handle this.

(somber music)

(announcer chattering)

- [Porter] Porter, ma'am?

- Yes, please.

(suspenseful music)

(horn honking)

America Hotel, please.

(car rumbling)

(suspenseful music)

- Anything wrong, miss?

- Is the hotel doctor around?

- Uh-huh, he's gone, past office hours.

Dr. Findley takes his calls.

I can get him over.

- Please.

(somber music)

- $10 if he comes over here.

Five if you go there.

He's just up the street.

- [Sheila] How'd you like
to make that extra five?

- Brains, they call me, Brainy Danny.

- There's somebody waiting downstairs.

Somebody I don't want to see.

- Eh, freight elevator, out the back way.

- My friend might have
thought of that, too.

- Ah, come on, I know a different way.

(suspenseful music)

(people chattering)

- Smart boy.

- Ask anybody, Brainy Danny.

(suspenseful music)

- There now.

You'd better come along with me.

- I'll be all right, Officer.

- Will you, now?

Maybe we can get the doctor
in the Health Office here

to take a look at you.

(suspenseful music)

I know, the clinic is only
supposed to handle babies

and mothers and take x-rays,
but she's an emergency case.

- Here.

Feel better?

- Yes, thanks.

- [Nurse] I think we'd better
let the doctor see you.

- Yeah, you'd better, miss.

Well, I'll be getting back to the b*at.

- Thanks, Houlihan.

- Oh, not at all, don't mention it.

- Your name?

- Agnes Dean.

- Address?

- 621 East 10th.

I'll tell Dr. Wood.

(gentle music)

(suspenseful music)

- [Man] But, Officer, that
no parking sign wasn't here

when I drove up.

(suspenseful music)

- I'm going to the hospital.

- Is that good?

- In an ambulance.

- Great, gonna get a free
ride in an automobile.

- Do you have a little girl?

- No, but I wish I did.

Say, that's a mighty big handkerchief

for such a little girl.

- Dr. Wood gave me it for when I cough.

It keeps my germs locked up.

- Oh.

What's your name?

- Walda, that's a pretty pin.

- Here, would you like it?

There we are.

(suspenseful music)

- But I can take care of her at home.

- What about the other kids?

Alec, Timmy, the twins?

Walda's cough is contagious.

That's why the city has
hospitals like Willard Parker.

- But she's so little.

She has never been away from home.

She cries so easy.

- I'll tell you what.

I'll look in on her myself
every night, how's that?

Now, you haven't got a
thing to worry about.

Walda's going to be all right.

- Thank you.

- Good night.

- Houlihan brought you a patient.

- Another emergency?

- She fainted.

- All right, send her in.

What do you do for a living?

- I'm a singer.

- Eat regularly?

- Mostly on the run.

- Try slowing down for a while.

- [Sheila] It's nothing serious, is it?

- No, I don't think so,
but see your own doctor.

He'll make some tests.

Meanwhile take this medicine as directed.

- Thanks.

- [Nurse] Tired?

- Yeah, tired of worrying
about where people live

and how they live

and whether the water they
drink is polluted and,

I'll buy you a sandwich?

- Can't.

Have some lab work to finish.

- [Ben] Even on your own time?

- I get my bad habits from you.

You didn't have to promise

to look in on Walda every night either.

(somber music)

(gentle music)

- Matt!

(suspenseful music)

(Sheila knocking)
Matt!

- Who is it?

- It's me Matt, Sheila.

(suspenseful music)

- Sheila.

- Hey, hey, let a husband get to his wife.

Hello, baby.

- Hello.

(suspenseful music)

- I hadn't figured on
you for a couple of days.

- I lost the cop, Matt.

- Are you sure?

He may have followed you here.

- He's still waiting at the hotel.

- Matt called me right
after he talked to you.

- It's good to be home again.

- Just like old times, the three of us.

- Only I'm not sharing
my husband with anybody.

- Well, it looks like I'm a crowd.

I'll talk to you tomorrow, Sheila.

- Now we can go away.

- Are you sure the cop didn't
see you mail those stones?

- I was very careful, Matt.

- With $50,000 in diamonds,
we can go anywhere we want to

and not worry about a thing.

- And you never saw her again
after you brought her up, huh?

- No, sir.

But I thought she was up to something,

the way she was acting.

- How was she acting?

- Well, you know, shifty, kind of.

- Hm, any idea how she got out?

- No, sir, I couldn't say.

- All right, you can go.

Spread the word around
to the rest of the boys.

They'll do better to talk now.

- Gotcha.

- Find anything?

- Nothing we don't already know.

She's a singer, uses an obvious alias

and smuggles diamonds.

- Smart cop.

Follow her all the way from Cuba

to find out who she's
working with, then lose her.

- They'll probably try
to unload the stones.

Maybe that'll give us a lead.

- Ah, notify the jewelry trade.

Furnish a description of
the diamonds and the girl.

(people chattering)

- Good morning, Mr. Krane.

- Hi.

- We're running a special
today on cottage cheese.

How about me leaving some with your milk?

- I'm busy.

- Best on the market.

Some other time.

- Hey wait!
(people chattering)

- [Charlie] Morning, sir.

- Morning, have you got something for me?

A little package.

- Nothing today.

- Well, make sure, will you?

- I am sure, mister.

(children chattering)

- [Charlie] Good morning, Belle.

- Hiya, Charlie. How's your feet today?

- Oh, my feet are still k*lling me.

Went to see a new doctor.
- Oh yeah, I know, I know.

Too bad, too bad.

(suspenseful music)

- [Matt] It didn't come yet.

- It will.

- [Matt] It should have been here by now.

- Mail gets delayed sometimes.

- What about stamps?

Did you put enough on the package?

- More than enough.

- Well then where is it?

- Give it another day.

(suspenseful music)

Maybe tomorrow.

- That's pretty.

- A nice lady gave it to me.

- I'll be back tomorrow,
Walda, with lollypops.

(somber music)

- There's no doubt about it.

She had whooping cough
when I admitted her.

- Well, the whole thing's
more complicated now.

- Yes, but what is it?

I've had two of the best diagnosticians

in the city examine her.

We've run tests on every possible disease

from typhoid to mumps.

Yet the symptoms persist.

The same chronic headache,
backache and recurring fever.

- Twenty minutes ago
her temperature was 105.

Now it's back to normal.

- And we have the added
symptom now in the rash.

(Walda crying)

- One minute at play

and the next minute crying in pain.

- Well, Ben, perhaps at
tonight's consultation

we'll figure it out.

- It may be too late then.

What good is all our
modern lifesaving equipment

and all our hospitals?

As far as that child's concerned,

we might just as well be back in the days

when medicine was groping blindly.

Those things were expected then, but now,

for all our knowledge,
we're unable to add up

a group of symptoms to mean anything.

Symptoms are warnings.

What are they trying to tell us?

- Ben.

Suppose we were in those
medieval days again.

When plagues wiped out whole cities.

Before x-ray, vaccine and anesthesia.

And the symptoms were a headache,

backache, fever and rash.

What would they have meant?

- Smallpox.

- The symptoms could fit, couldn't they?

- Oh but here, in the
middle of New York City?

Why, I've never even seen a case.

- Well, I have, in Europe, as a child.

Hundreds of them.

Oh, screaming and twisting creatures.

Doomed to be fed to a huge bonfire

that was kept going for weeks.

I should have thought of it before this,

except that New York's the last place

in the world we'd expect smallpox.

We haven't had a case in 10 years.

- How could she possibly get it?

She'd have to pick it up from
someone who was already sick.

- Well, that's what
frightens me even more.

If Walda has smallpox,

then someone else in New
York has the disease.

- Do you know what that would mean?

- Only too well.

A k*ller out of the past,

loose amongst eight million people.

- Well, that's fantastic.

This is 1947

and we do have vaccine against smallpox.

- [Cooper] Was Walda ever vaccinated?

- No.

- Nurse.

Tell the head nurse to make arrangements

for all patients and personnel

to be vaccinated at once.

- Vaccinated?
- Hurry, this may be smallpox!

- Yes, Doctor.

- Get blood and tissue
samples from the child.

- Do you suppose we have a case

of smallpox here, Doctor?

- I hope not.

But Cooper's taking no chances.

That's why the vaccinations.

- Do we have a case here, Doctor?

- We won't know until the Army lab

in Washington finishes testing.

Funny, a hospital for
communicable diseases,

yet we had to send out to make the tests.

- As a matter of fact,

there are only two or three
labs in the entire country

that have specialized personnel to do it.

It's an immensely complicated procedure.

- Keep 'em crossed.

Smallpox in New York City, wow!

(dramatic music)

- [General] I'll never
forget one smallpox epidemic

in China in 1902.

Spread like a swarm of
hornets and as fast.

k*lled half a million people

before we knew what was happening.

- When I hear of a
single case of smallpox,

even in Timbuktu, I break
out in a cold sweat.

But in New York City!

(suspenseful music)

- [Colonel] Keep your
fingers crossed, General.

Maybe the test will be negative.

- [Laboratory Worker] It's ready, sir.

- [General] It's positive,
smallpox.

(suspenseful music)

- What's the mortality rate?

One out of three die?

- Yeah and if you live,
you look like this.

Get me the Commissioner
of Health, New York City.

- We're up against a disease
that spreads like wildfire.

A plague out of the Dark Ages.

Somewhere in the city is the cause,

and every second it takes to find it

means that much more spread.

That's why we've got to
work fast, Mr. Skrip.

I want anyone who even remotely

had contact with the child vaccinated.

That means everybody in the
building where she lived,

where she went to school,
where her parents worked.

I'm depending on your
staff of investigators

to locate these people.

How many vaccination teams
can you throw in, Dr. Penner?

- 10, so far.

- Investigators?

- [Skrip] About 40.

- Use every means short of a g*n

to get cooperation.

Anyone not vaccinated is
liable to get the disease.

If they still refuse to submit,
tell them what they face.

A thousand ugly sores breaking through

and a fever that burns
its victims to death.

You better get started.

- Uh, Commissioner, what do you
want to do about the papers?

They'll be asking questions.

- Better keep it out of the
papers for a while, Mr. James.

We've got enough for now without panic.

- Yes, sir.

- How much do you know
about Walda's family?

- They came in from a mining
town a few months ago.

History of poverty and neglected health.

That's why I insisted the girl
be sent into the hospital.

In a sense, I feel responsible
for what's happened to her.

- You did your job.

I'm putting you in charge, Dr. Wood.

It's your neighborhood
that's been att*cked.

Somewhere in Walda's family

and circle of friends is
a person with smallpox.

Find that person

and we stop the disease in its tracks.

- Good morning.

Well, got something for you today.

(people chattering)

(bottles clanking)

- Oh, Mr. Krane, Mr. Krane,

how about that cheese special?

Look, it comes in a painted glass

and when it's empty, it
goes right in your kitchen.

- Talk to my wife about it.
- You can use it as a--

Sure.

- Not now, tomorrow.

- The fellow who sells the most this month

gets a gold button.

(somber music)

- That you, Matt?

- Yeah.

- [Sheila] Did it come?

- No.

- Tomorrow, Matt.

- Sure, honey, tomorrow.

Now, don't get up.

You just rest there.

(somber music)

(suspenseful music)

I'm going out for a while.

- I'm not very good company.

- No complaints.

Oh, don't forget your medicine.

(suspenseful music)

- [Johnson] We'd
appreciate your calling us

if anything like that comes along.

- I certainly will, sir.

- Thank you.

- Who's that?

- Treasury Department.

Here, read all about it.

It's Sheila's description.

- Eh, suckers.

Don't bother taking them out, Matt.

You're gonna have to wait.

- Why?

- Those stones are too hot.

Give them a chance to
cool a couple of weeks.

- But he's already been here.

- He can come back.

- You put me in a spot, Moss.

I've already made arrangements to leave.

- Forget it, for at least 10 days.

- All right, 10 days.

- Don't tell me, let me guess.

You know, the Chinese tell us

that one picture is
worth ten thousand words.

If we had one of Sheila Bennet,

we could circulate it,
maybe get some help.

- [Owney] Well, she was a singer.

She must have had some
pictures taken professionally.

- Well, let's see if we can't dig one up.

- It's a cinch she didn't
have it taken here.

(people chattering)

- [Child] Nurse!

- Hey, fellas, look!

They're vaccinating
everybody in the building.

- [Child] What's that?

- They make with the
needle. (lips buzzing)

They're up at Kowalski's now.

- Look, don't even show.

- [Katie] Mary, the stew is burning.

- You say Walda's uncle took
her out a couple of weeks ago.

- Yes.

- Remember where they went?

- To the circus.

- You see, they ain't
got no kids of their own.

- Why are you asking so
many questions about Walda?

Something's happened to her.

- She'll be all right, Mrs. Kowalski.

- I'm going down to see her.

- It's not allowed at
Willard Parker Hospital.

- But--

- Come now, Katie.

Ain't you the one always
saying how you trust Dr. Wood?

- Doctor, we still have two
floors to go on this building.

- I was surprised to hear that she's sick.

She was healthy-looking like a baby-oil ad

the day I took her to the circus.

- Where was this circus?

- Up in the Bronx.

- [Skrip] Where in the Bronx?

- Brooks Avenue near Crotona Park.

- Check on that

and take a vaccination team along.

- Right.
- It ain't there now.

- It was one of them traveling circuses.

- Well, what was it called?

- Can't remember.

But I'm sure it wasn't Barnum and Bailey.

- I don't want to be vaccinated.

- You're a big girl now.

- Well, there now.

That didn't hurt, did it?

- No.

- Anybody sick at your house?

- Only my mother.

- What's the matter with her?

- She just came home from the hospital.

From having an operation.

She has a baby!

- Thanks.

- Here's my report on the rest

of the people in the
Kowalski neighborhood.

- Anything at all?

- Not a thing.

- Okay, thanks. I'll take these
to the Commissioner myself.

How'd you do?

- We finally caught up with
that circus. In Canarsie.

All healthy, all vaccinated.

Any leads from this end?

- No, nothing yet.

- Maybe there's nothing
to worry about anymore.

- Hm, that's wishful thinking.

Don't forget, whoever made Walda sick

is still roaming around.

- Maybe he's through roaming.

Maybe he's dead.

(suspenseful music)

(door clinking)

(gentle music)

- Hiya, honey.

Expecting someone?

- [Sheila] Turn that
thing down, can't you?

- I like music with my
work and you should, too,

seeing as how your husband
makes his living at it.

Only he ain't been around lately, has he?

- Nobody's asking you.

- Okay, I talk to myself.

- He'll be back.

- Oh, sure, sure he will.

Only I ain't waiting
that long for the rent.

(suspenseful music)

- [Sheila] What do you want?

- My rent.

- I'm expecting some money.

- If it's coming in a
package, forget about it.

It got here two days ago.

(suspenseful music)

Oh come, now, you ain't that dumb.

You don't know what he's up to?

He ran out on you, give you the gate.

Sure.

Men like him are all alike, I know.

(somber music)

- I don't understand, Willie.

What did he say before he left?

- Nothing.

Just that he was quitting.

- Well, he must have said something.

He just didn't leave without
saying where he was going.

- Look, I got piano
players coming and going.

- He just wouldn't walk
out on me, not Matt.

He must have had a reason.

- Your sister.

The nice kid you're always looking after.

- You're a liar.

- [Willie] She met him here every evening.

- Well, I told her to,

I told her to keep an eye on him.

- She did better.

She gave him the eye.

(suspenseful music)

- What's the hurry?

- Let me go.

- Your job's waiting for you.

You can sing those torch songs to me.

(suspenseful music)

(doorbell buzzing)

(gentle music)

- Sheila.

It's good to see you up again.

I was just about to
get back to the office.

- How's the job coming?

- Oh swell, except the timekeeper's
still trying to date me.

- I stopped off there to see you.

(suspenseful music)

They told me you quit a week ago.

- All right, I did.

- Why'd you lie?

- 'Cause I knew you'd go
into one of your routines.

Look, Sheila, I'm not a kid any longer.

- You'll never grow up.

- Maybe I will, if you'll quit

trying to tell me how to live.

- Oh, you don't need anybody anymore.

You learned a lot of
things while I was away.

Even cooking.

- You get to learn a lot
when you're on your own.

- Like running around with married men?

- I don't know what you're talking about.

- Willie does.

- He had to tell me about you and Matt.

- You're not going to believe him?

- Where is Matt?

- Isn't he with you?

- You know he's not.

- When did he leave?

- He left two days ago.

Why does it shock you?

Is it because you thought
he'd come back and get you?

Is that it?

- Yes.
- Then what?

- We were going away
after he sold the jewels.

- Neat.

My own sister.

Why?

Why?

- (sobbing) I don't know why, Sheila.

- Oh, how can I blame you?

You never had a chance with him.

Maybe it's my fault trusting him,

but I loved him.

I couldn't think of anything else.

Tell me the truth, Moss.

Did you give him money for the stones?

- I wouldn't lie to you, Sheila.

My one remaining virtue.

- Well, the stones have to be cut first.

He'd have to bring them to you.

- Quite so.

Only I sent him away.

- Since when is charity in your line?

- It isn't, but good sense is.

It might interest you to
know the police were here

looking for two registered stones,

smuggled in by a woman
answering your description.

Under the circumstances,
it would have been

most imprudent to take
the stones just yet.

- Where is he?

- I didn't ask him.

- Help me find him, Moss.

- Suppose you do catch
up with him, Sheila,

what'll it get you?

- I've got to find him.

- Consider it a bargain to be rid of him.

- Help me, Moss, I'll give you my share.

- That's being impractical, I'm a jeweler.

I appraise things.

The stones are worth
$40,000, Matt, nothing.

You'd be making a bad bargain.

- Is it a deal?

- All right, Sheila.

I just don't want you to get hurt.

- When is he coming back?

- In 10 days.

(suspenseful music)

- Thanks.

- [Anthony] Be careful, Sheila.

Remember, the police are looking for you.

- I'll be at my sister's place.

(suspenseful music)

(people chattering)

- Ain't no doctor going
to help her anymore.

- What happened?

- su1c1de.

- She lived right next door to me.

Poor Francie Bennet.

(suspenseful music)

- [Announcer] Attention
all staff personnel.

Report to your supervisor immediately.

- What's it all about, Donna?

- They've just admitted a
second case of smallpox.

- [Ben] Where do you work?

- I'm a porter, sir,
over at the Penn Station.

- [Ben] Do you remember
seeing anyone who looked sick?

- I see hundreds of people every day.

- [Ben] That's why it's
important you try to remember.

Try.

- So many people coming and going all day.

- So many.

Well, we've been through every angle

and it just adds up to one thing.

The porter at Penn Station and Walda here,

there couldn't have been
any contact between them.

Apparently there's still a third person

who gave them both the disease.

- Not a very bright prospect.

Two cases of smallpox on our hands.

Not even the beginning of a lead

as to the person that gave it to them.

A city of eight million
with every facility

for police and health protection,

yet one infected person can sneak through

and thr*aten the lives of millions.

- How do we stop it?

- I don't know yet.

- The police?

- What'll we tell them to look for?

Man, woman, child?

All we do know is that wherever he moves,

there'll be victims.

(suspenseful music)

(children chattering)

(roller skates clattering)

- [Jerry] Hey!

Get off!

(suspenseful music)

- What are you doing here?

- No law against a sister
seeing her brother, is there?

- Why the sudden interest in your family?

Oh, I forgot.

Families get together
whenever there's a tragedy.

- Don't, Sid, not now.

- The Bennet girls, pride of Brooklyn.

Well, you don't have to
worry about the kid anymore.

She's dead because of Matt.

- Don't you think I know?

- Then why didn't you
do something about it

when she was alive?

How did you expect her
to know the difference

between right and wrong

when you got tied up with a guy like Matt?

- Nobody's asking you for a lecture.

A flophouse manager, a
flunky to a lot of bums.

- Yeah, that's right, Sheila,

but it gives me an address
and I can sleep nights.

- I didn't come here
to fight with you, Sid.

I need a place to stay.

The police are after me.

(somber music)

- You can use my room if you want to.

But forget Matt, Sheila.

He'll only mean more trouble.

- There're some things
you don't understand, Sid.

- Like the m*rder burning in your eyes?

You look like you could k*ll.

(somber music)

- [Doctor] Dr. Wood.

His name is Willie Dennis.

- [Ben] I'll be in to see him in a minute.

(somber music)

Can I get you anything, Jerry?

- A drink of water, please.

- [Ben] The porter's dead.

- I heard.

- He didn't have much of a chance.

Yet a simple thing like vaccination

could have saved his life.

- Learn anything from the new cases?

- No more than we got from the others.

The boy had contact with
someone who was sick, all right.

His brother Manny had the flu last year.

- What about the fellow
who runs the nightclub?

- He shakes hands with
all of his customers

when they come into the place
(phone ringing)

and again when they leave the place.

- Yes, just a minute.

For you, Commissioner.

- Ellis speaking.

Well, what's the address?

910 Grant Avenue, thanks.

A Staten Island doctor thinks
he found a case, a milkman.

- Milkman?
- Get going.

- Last Thursday, it was.

He could hardly get to work that day.

Joe, I tell him, stay home.

But not him, not Joe Dominic.

He's gotta make a record.

- It was only a little headache, hon.

- I know you, Joe Dominic.

You gotta be half dead
before you take a day off.

- May I see your delivery list?

- Why, sure.

It's in my coat pocket, hon.

- Nobody but Joe Dominic can
deliver the milk to the babies.

Never been late in five years, he hasn't.

He's looking for a record, a gold button.

Him and his ambition.

- I'd like to borrow this.

- I'm going to need it.

- Not for a while, you won't.

You're going to the hospital.

See that he gets there, Miss Lorie.

- Total of four, all Manhattan.

- Well, you can add another
pin to the collection.

The milkman has smallpox.

That's right.

The same fellow that
delivers milk to the babies.

Keeps us awake rattling bottles.

- Any leads?

- I've got Skrip and his men
checking the delivery route.

Maybe he got it from one of his customers.

- And maybe not.

It's getting out of hand,

when it gets around to children and food.

We can't just sit by and
wait for a case to come in

and then rush vaccine over.

It's too late then.

Look at that map.

It's beginning to crawl with pins.

It's already jumped to Staten
Island, making five cases.

Tomorrow some other borough,
then 10 cases, then 20,

reaching to hundreds and thousands.

We're a threatened city.

There's no limit to it.

Every case spreading out on its own

until the very air is polluted
and breath means death!

(dramatic music)

- We have to stop it.

Get to the people first, b*at the disease.

Vaccinate the whole city!

- Eight million people, impossible!

We've got to.

This thing's getting out of hand.

- [Ellis] That would
take hundreds of clinics.

- Get them.

- [Ellis] And doctors.

- We'll draft them.

- Do it, sir, it's our only chance.

- Call the Commissioners
of Police and Hospitals.

We're going to see the Mayor.

- [Dr. Penner] It's Sunday!

- No one told smallpox it's Sunday.

(ballplayers chattering)

- He's safe, he's safe.
- Get it!

- [Mayor] You're out.

- You're a robber, Mr. Mayor.

- [Child] You're as blind as a bat.

(children shouting)

- [Child] Come on, Mr., he's safe.

- All right, you call them, Pinkie.

- Okay.
- That a boy, Pinkie!

- [Child] Pink couldn't
even call his name.

- [Child] He's safe.

(children shouting)

- [Child] He's safe.

- [Child] What happened?

(children shouting)

- [Child] Come on!

(children shouting)

- [Mayor] All right,

you have eight million arms to vaccinate.

What do you need?

- An extra thousand doctors.

- You've got them, what else?

- Facilities for vaccinations.

- You're donating your
police stations for clinics.

The same for the fire
houses in all the boroughs.

I take it the Commissioner of Hospitals

has something to offer.

- Every city hospital and
staff on call, 24 hours a day.

- All right then, we're ready.

- Not quite.

- How much?

- We'll need half a million
dollars to get underway.

Vaccinations are free.

- At six cents a life, that's a buy.

You'll start with me.

(somber music)

- [Narrator] The Mayor
didn't waste any time.

A few hours later he had his sleeve

rolled up and took the big scratch.

And after the headman set
the example for his town,

the Health Commissioner took to the air.

If you were tuned in,
you heard the opening g*n

on a fight-to-the-finish w*r,

and if you couldn't hear
it, you could read about it.

The newspapers got the
facts, the who, the what,

the where, the when and the why.

The biggest headlines we'd
seen since V-Day hit the town

right between the eyes.

- Mass Vaccination Begins,
Mayor launches campaign.

Ah, the next thing you know,

they'll be running pictures
of him brushing his teeth.

- There wouldn't be headlines
that big if it wasn't serious.

- Two cases of smallpox
don't make no epidemic.

I agree with him.

Nothing but publicity!

- And even if it ain't,
what right has the Mayor got

to spend the taxpayers' money like this?

Do you know what it'll cost,
all this free vaccinating?

Millions!

- You ever been in a
smallpox epidemic, Mac?

Ever seen one?

- No, but I don't see what
that's got to do with--

- Well, if it ever breaks
loose in this town,

look out, brother, that's all.

- But the cases are quarantined.

They ain't letting them walk around loose.

Nobody can get it unless they rub up

against somebody that's got it.

- [Customer] Oh, yeah?

Look at that guy there on that chair.

He could have picked up the pox

from one of them people in the hospital.

Have it and not even know it, see?

All right, you come along.

You sit in that same chair.

Blooey, you got the pox
from just sitting there.

- You're next, mister.

- Not me, I'm getting vaccinated!

- [Narrator] So, as the facts
sank in, the people lined up.

The rich and the poor.

Everyone was a setup for smallpox.

Some had been stricken early.

Others who had unknowingly
contacted the disease

were saved by being vaccinated in time.

Even heels like Matt Krane.

Honest folk, shady folk and
intellectuals like Brainy Danny.

Sure, there were some who didn't believe

in the city's fight.

- Now, nobody's gonna put no
germs into me or my family!

- [Narrator] But the ball was rolling,

and whether you liked it or not,

unless you grabbed for the life insurance

that only cost a 10-minute wait in a line,

you were out of fashion.

Not in style.

An aching arm told your
neighbor you had good sense.

(dramatic music)

The count went up.

One million vaccinated.

Two million.

But smallpox is never a local affair.

It concerns the world.

Washington, London, Paris,

all waited for the news our Mayor

was punching out on the home grounds.

- Be safe, be sure, be vaccinated.

- [Narrator] Sure, the T-men
went for the big scratch, too,

but vaccination to them
was only a short pause

from the main job of trying to nose

a cold trail into a hot one.

And while they worked,

the Health Department stuck
to its leg-tiring task

of checking Joe Dominic's milk route.

From dairy customers' doors
to uptown photo shops,

here were two agencies
seeking the same thing.

Yet fate continued its grim joke

and somehow kept the federal men

and the health detectives
from pooling their efforts.

(somber music)

- Yeah?

- I'm from the Board of Health, madam.

- Look, mister, I just got
vaccinated in the basement.

- You take milk from the Ace
Dairy Company, don't you?

- What about it?

- Well, is anyone in your family sick?

- Why?

Because we're looking for
someone who has smallpox.

- She gave her name as Sheila Bennet.

- That's her, all right.

Any other information?

- Referred by Willie's place.

- What's that?

- It's a little club down
in the Village, 518 Waverly.

- Mm-hmm.

Mind if I borrow this?

- Compliments of the house.

- Thanks.

(horn honking)

- Hey, what's up, Bub?

- On your way, sonny.

- [Child] Are you guys detectives?

- What's the pitch?

Willie ain't around.

He's in the hospital.

- Which one?

- Willie Parker.

On account of him I had to get vaccinated.

He's got smallpox.

- [Child] Hey, fellows, I bet
you they're government dicks!

- [Child] Hey, you guys got a siren?

(children cheering)

(door knocking)

- [Cooper] Come in.

- Dr. Cooper?

- [Cooper] Yes.

- My name is Johnson, U.S. Customs.

I'd like to talk with a patient of yours.

A man named Willie Dennis.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson,

but he's one of our
smallpox cases in isolation.

No one can see him.

- Oh, it won't take but a minute,

and it is important.

- I'd like to cooperate, Mr. Johnson,

but he's a very sick man.

- We've come a long way for this lead,

and it's our only link

with the jewel smuggler we're tracing.

- Mr. Johnson, even if
I did make an exception,

it wouldn't do you any good.

He's been delirious for hours now.

As a matter of fact, there's a chance

he will never regain consciousness.

- Well, in case it becomes
possible to talk with him,

would you call me, Doctor?

- All right, sir.

- Any time at all, night or day.

We'd appreciate it.

We've been tracing this jewel
smuggler for a long time.

- Right now, our own health detectives

are trying to trace a smuggler, too.

A smuggler who brought
smallpox into the country.

- Yes, I know.

- [Person] Hey, get out of here.

- [Person] Now wait a
minute. (horn honking)

- [Child] Hey!

- [Skrip] We're looking for the person

Joe Dominic delivered this stuff to.

- You mean Sheila Bennet.

Well, they've been there
ever since she left.

- [Skrip] You say she was sick?

- Yeah, right from the
first day she ever got back.

Always lying there and
complaining about headaches

and hardly ever going out.

- Mind if I use your phone?

- Now, look, mister, this ain't gonna make

any trouble for me, is it?

Yeah, she left about two days

after the husband walked out on her,

and you know what, she
didn't pay her rent, either.

- You're sure you wouldn't
know where she went?

- No, sir, boy, I'm sure
glad I was vaccinated.

- [Ben] Anything at all?

- Nothing so far.

- [Skrip] Nothing in here.

- Do you have a picture of Miss Bennet?

- No, we wasn't social, ever.

- Well, what did she look like?

- Oh, terrible.

- No, height, weight, color of hair.

What was she wearing the day she left?

Anything at all to distinguish her.

- Well, she was blonde
and about oh, about.

- Five-four in height,

wore a dark blue suit
at the time she left.

No distinguishing marks.

Uses the name Sheila Bennet

and is married to Matt Krane, a musician.

- [Ellis] Get that to all the newspapers.

- Not much to go on.

- It's something.

- [Man In Intercom] Yes, sir?

- Get me the Police Commissioner.

Better get that description

to all the radio stations, too.

- [Ted] Right.

- John, we've got a lead on what we think

may be the person we want.

It's a woman,

last living at 810 West
49th Street, New York City.

(suspenseful music)

- [Ellis] Come on, Owney.

- [John] What was she doing in Cuba?

- Smuggling diamonds into the States.

- No quarantine restrictions between Cuba

and the continental United States.

She could have passed
through an area of contagion

and brought the disease into the country.

- She did, she was carried into the clinic

after a fainting spell the same night

I sent Walda to the hospital.

I remember the symptoms now.

She had smallpox,

and I let her slip through my hands.

- [John] Where is she now?

- That's what I hoped to find out

from Willie Dennis at the hospital,

but they wouldn't let me in to see him.

- [John] Were you vaccinated?

- Yes.

- You'll see him now.

- [Ben] Let's go!

- Okay.

And that's the last time you saw her, eh?

Do you have any idea
where she might be now?

- [Ben] She made you sick, Willie.

- Maybe her brother Sid knows.

He runs a flophouse called The Moon

on Third Avenue.

(traffic humming)

(horns honking)

- [Johnson] You stay here with the doc.

Keep your eyes open.

I'll see what I can find out from Sid.

- I'm coming with you.

(horns honking)

- [Tom] Hi, Sid.

- Now, don't go bothering me, Tom.

- [Tom] Let me stay here
till the cops go away.

- What cops?

- Come here, look, look!

I can spot them a mile away.

They always pick me up
and throw me in the t*nk.

They see me in here, they
think I'm respectable.

- Get behind the desk.

- Who, me?

- Yeah, yeah.

Tell 'em I'm upstairs
cleaning, you understand?

Only stall them before you let them in.

You do that and I'll
give you a bed tonight.

(suspenseful music)

Sheila!

Sheila!
(Johnson pounding)

- [Johnson] Open up!

(Johnson pounding)

Open up, I tell you!

(suspenseful music)

(Johnson pounding)

- Just a minute!

- [Sid] But the police are here.

They'll follow you wherever you go.

- [Johnson] Open up!

- It's stuck, the lock's stuck!

- [Johnson] Open up!

- [Sid] Tell them the truth, Sheila.

- No.

- You can't go on running.

- I've got to.

- Sure, you've got to look for revenge.

That's all you've had to do.

Just sit here planning m*rder.

What's happened to you, Sheila?

- I'll find him, I've got to!

Help me, Sid.

- All right.

- It's stuck!

(suspenseful music)

- Go down the fire escape
and through the cemetery.

It'll get you out on another street.

- I didn't mean to make trouble.

- Neither did Francie, but
you'll wind up the same way.

- Sid.

- Now, get out of here.

- The lock got stuck, it's a bad lock.

- Where's Sid?

- Sid?

He's cleaning up for the customers.

- [Johnson] Take us to him.

(suspenseful music)

- [Tom] Policemen, Sid, policemen!

- Are you in trouble again?

- I didn't do nothing.

- It's Sheila we're looking for, Sid.

(suspenseful music)

(dramatic music)

There was somebody here all right, Doc.

Come on, you, start talking!

- I tell you, she wasn't here!

- You took long enough letting us in.

- I was cleaning.

- And that open window.

- [Ben] We're not looking
for a smuggler anymore, Sid.

We're looking for a k*ller.

- I didn't think doctors
went in for third degrees.

- I'm giving you facts.

Your sister's got smallpox.

She's the one that
brought it into the city.

Unless we find her, she'll die,

and with her a lot of
others she contacted.

- Oh, she couldn't have known that.

- She was sick, wasn't she?

- Yeah, but smallpox!

- Where is she?

- I don't know, I told her to get out.

- I gave her this bottle myself.

- How important was that medicine?

- It helped keep her on her feet.

- Then she won't get far without it.

- Well, it depends.

Some people are hit
quickly and others hang on.

- [Sid] I didn't know, I didn't know.

- Come on, you, you've got
some questions to answer.

- Get him vaccinated first.

Sheila Bennet's our girl, all right.

We found her at her brother's hotel,

but she got away from us.

We've got to vaccinate
that whole area right away.

- We can't, we're out of vaccine.

- What?

- The warehouse just called,
we're down to 1,000 units.

- With four million still to be vaccinated

and cases mounting?

- Well, they expected
new shipments all day.

Now the drug manufacturers say
they can't meet the demand.

- By tonight there won't be

a single office with any vaccine.

- Well, what about the
out-of-state companies?

- Well, they're flying in what they can

and even taking it off
the druggists' shelves.

- How long will that take?

- Four days.

- Four days?

We can't wait four days.

Not with Sheila Bennet on the
loose spreading the disease.

- [Narrator] SOS, SOS!

Vaccine for four million!

But there wasn't any more, anyplace.

Even the Army and Navy gave all they had.

And when the doors closed
at the vaccination centers,

the big fear began.

As the frightened city
felt the clammy hand

of death settle in the
streets, panic was born

and became epidemic as the disease itself.

Those without the scratch stood alone

and unprotected against
the ravenous k*ller.

The Mayor called a council of w*r

and again demanded the impossible.

- I need vaccine.

Lots of it, and you drug manufacturers

are going to supply it.

- We will, Mr. Mayor, but
it'll take several days.

- [Mayor] Tomorrow!

- That's impossible, sir.

- So is what we're doing.

This city's in a jam, and you're
going to pull us out of it.

- But, Mr. Mayor, the vaccine

has to be packaged in single doses.

That takes time.

- Then deliver it in bulk.

- We can't.

Medical regulations.

- Break them.

Send it over in beer
bottles, but get it here.

(somber music)

All right, how many units from you?

- We'll try to get out about 20,000.

- 30.

You, sir?

- Well.

- 30.

- There's still the problem of needles.

- Needles?

Get me a sewing machine company.

They make needles, we'll sterilize them.

You gentlemen don't seem to
realize we're facing death.

(somber music)

- No!

My baby!

You promised.

You made me send her away.

- We did all we could.

- m*rder*r!

(Katie sobbing)

m*rder*r, m*rder*r, m*rder*r!

(somber music)

(door thudding)

(suspenseful music)

- Sheila Bennet!

We've been looking everywhere
for you, everywhere.

And you've come back.

- I need medicine.

You've got smallpox.

(suspenseful music)

- Stay back.

- We need your help, Sheila.

(suspenseful music)

- Stay back, I tell you!

- You can't hold out much longer.

I've got to, until tomorrow.

(suspenseful music)

- No, no, don't come near me!

Don't come near me.
(g*nf*re ringing)

(suspenseful music)

Ah!

- Police Department.

(suspenseful music)

She's got to be found.

We must learn where she's
been, who she's been with.

- How could she stay on her feet?

By rights she should be dead by now.

If not that, at least flat
on her back in the hospital.

But she's still running around.

How does she do it?

- How do cripples who've
been bedridden for years

manage to get up and walk?

Because the reason for walking

is more important than their infirmities.

- I know, I know, but Sheila
Bennet's got smallpox.

- She said something to me when I told her

she couldn't hold out much longer.

She said, "I've got to, until tomorrow."

There's a drive in that girl.

Something she has to do tomorrow
that's keeping her alive.

- Tomorrow!

With eight million people looking for her,

we'll pick her up tonight.

- [Narrator] The city's
finest engraved the image

of the blonde death in their brains

and carried a spare, just to make sure.

Then set out to search for the sick animal

that might destroy them all.

If you tried to drive
in or out of New York

that night, you had to pass inspection.

If you were a female, 5'4",

and addicted to the rinse

that makes hair the color
gentlemen are supposed to prefer,

you had to prove you
weren't Sheila Bennet.

Eight million people looked
for one sick, weary girl,

who dragged herself to the
one last place to hide.

A place where newspapers and
police calls never reach.

A convent.

Dr. Wood was right when he said

there was a drive inside Sheila.

She had the strength that comes

when a woman has to settle a score

with a man like Matt Krane.

A strength to last until tomorrow,

until the 10 hideous days were up.

- I've come a long way, Mother.

If I may rest for a while?

- Of course, child.

Sister Maria will show you to a bed.

(suspenseful music)

- Thank you, Mother.

Must hang on.

Must.

Must.

- Well, how much?

- [Anthony] Should bring about 40,000.

- They're worth 50!

- Matter of supply and demand.

For me, they're worth nothing.

- What did you keep me waiting for?

- It's simple, Matt.

You need money, and I
don't want you to have any.

I don't like the deal you gave Sheila.

(fist thudding)

- [Matt] I need money!

- Got it!

- Demand and supply.

(fist thudding)

(suspenseful music)

- I've been waiting for you, Matt.

- [Matt] I've got the stones.

- Don't move!

(suspenseful music)

You're not going anywhere.

You'll never go anywhere again.

Moss!

He tried to help me.

- He wouldn't take the stones.

After what we've been through.

- What have you been through?

Look.

Look at me.

Something else I picked up
for you besides diamonds.

Not a pretty sight, is it?

The face you kissed once.

You figured things good, didn't you?

That's right, Matt.

I came here to k*ll you

for what you did to me and Francie.

- You're crazy.

(suspenseful music)

- But I don't have to, now.

They'll burn you, Matt, for m*rder.

(suspenseful music)

- [Matt] Sheila, listen to me.

- No more.

Not much time for talk now.

I'm dying.

(suspenseful music)

- You can't turn me in!

- This is Sheila Bennet.

- Sheila Bennet.
- What?

- [Johnson] Notify the Health Department.

- [Owney] Already did.

- [Johnson] Good boy.

(suspenseful music)

- The way I loved you.

I even let you make me a thief.

- You've got to believe me!

- You're frightened, Matt.

Maybe Francie was frightened, too.

Funny how things come
clearer when it's too late.

Everything Sid tried to make me see.

Sid was right.

(suspenseful music)

(Sheila thudding)
(g*n clanking)

(sirens blaring)

(suspenseful music)

(door clinking)

- [Johnson] He's up on the top floor.

Come on, Mac.

(suspenseful music)

(sirens blaring)

(sirens blaring)

- [Sheila] Matt!

(Matt thudding)

(suspenseful music)

(Sheila screaming)

(somber music)

(sirens blaring)

(crowd shouting)
- I can get it.

(sirens blaring)
(tires squealing)

(suspenseful music)

- [Fireman] Hurry up, get that ladder out.

- [Ben] What happened?

- Started out after her,
Doc, but it scared her.

She almost fell off.

- She's probably delirious.

Doesn't even know where she is.

- Take it easy, Doc.

(horn honking)

(suspenseful music)

- [Ben] Sheila, Sheila.

I'm not a policeman, Sheila, I'm a doctor.

I'll help you back, Sheila.

You can trust me.

(suspenseful music)

Remember Walda, the little
girl you met in my office?

- [Walda] Do you have a little girl?

- [Sheila] I wish I did.

- [Walda] Do you have a little girl?

- [Ben] She's dead, Sheila.

You k*lled her when you touched her.

Give me your hand, Sheila.

Unless you help me, Sheila,
lots of others will die.

All those others you touched.

(horn honking)

Give me your hand, Sheila.

(joyful music)

- All right, all right.

Break it up, break it up.

It's all over, it's all over.

Go on home, come on, go on, go on home.

Read about it in the papers tomorrow.

- [Narrator] And so, on a ledge
five stories above a street,

the city's terror came to an end.

Before Sheila passed on in a
last blinding burst of fever,

she found the strength to tell the doctors

what they had to know.

And smallpox, the ancient k*ller,

was forced back into the Middle Ages

from whence it had sprung.

There were the dead, but
eight million lived on.

A tribute to a city that had saved itself.

(joyful music)