If money was no object and a man was determined to build an interplanetary spaceship, what
would happen? Well, the answer Chrysler now brings you Test Flight, starring Lee J. Cobb.
Yes, yes, I, I agree with you completely. Well, I'll, I'll call you later. Yes. Has
the committee decided what kind of pink tea it's going to serve? Well, we've decided,
Wayne, that an undertaking like this requires a general meeting of the board of directors.
No, but Wayne, I gave you exactly two minutes to come to a decision. Now, what's it going
to be a green light or a stop sign? Well, Wayne, it's hard to conceive of this type
of venture on a moment's notice. I doubt if even you've thought this thing through enough.
Davis, I've lived this day and night for the last six months. I've read every book, every
article on space travel. I could lay my hands on spoken to every astrophysicist in the country.
I know what I'm talking about. Look at this. These charts, we've got to fly out of here
first. Break out of here. That's what we'll do on our first test flight. Break out of
the, the, this, into the stratosphere. Wait a minute. Here's a velocity chart. Shows how
fast we have to go to get beyond our atmosphere. Break out of here and we're on our way. But,
but, but Wayne, why gamble millions on, on, on space travel? Progress, gentlemen. I'm
always for progress. This is next. Here's a model of a spaceship. This is next. And
if it isn't enough, there's money. There's money. There's more wealth, more minerals,
more than anything we ever dreamed of up there. I'm going to be the first man to find them.
This is all very well theoretically. Wayne, even you with spaceship, in view of the initial
expenditure and in view of what Marty says about the ship, that it won't fly. You haven't
got the guts. Wayne, even for you, a spaceship. That's right, a spaceship. A ship to take
me into a world never before known by man. Crowder Enterprises. Controlling not just
one world, but all worlds. A mad idea, but I tell you, Davis, I'll do it if it takes
everything I own. And the corporate assets. Wayne, as controller of this company, I, uh,
I feel obligated to call your attention to the tremendous cost involved. Okay, you called
it to my attention. All right, Wayne. All right. We'll go along part of the way, but
if we should find ourselves taking all the way, Davis will go all the way. Remember that.
Well, I, I don't know, Wayne. I'll hide. I'd have to sleep on it. That's right. You do
that. You sleep on it. I start now. Marty, you wait. Well, stop barking, Wayne. This
is old toothless Marty. The villain has left the room. If the imagination they lack could
be honest, we don't know a lot of what he says is true. No advice, Marty. Not even from
you. You pay my salary, Mr. Crowder. Marty, if they line solid against me, you're the
one man I need. 20 years. A lifetime. Listen to this. Crowder's gall in tackling the impossible
at times verges on mania as witnesses introduction of superjet atomic engines on his commercial
air and water level. But this man has always succeeded. And even when the first rocket
shoots into space, Crowder will be on it. That way you're doing it, Wayne, to fulfill
a magazine's prediction. Think of it, Marty, the first man to conquer space. You've got
to get way up to reach a star, Wayne. If you fall, you're humpty dumpty. Translation. Well,
I'm your chief engineer. My opinion on the feasibility of this flight may cut no ice,
but the cost is my department and it should interest you. Sure. The initial cost of building
the rocket plant personnel research equipment construction, well over 500 million. Go on,
keep scaring me. Well, you have to shut down all other Crowder enterprises in favor of
Project Rocket. It'll take every ship, every plane, everything you want. You'll have to
scrounge in all parts of the world for material. It may take months, perhaps a year. And, you
know what? You'll be in direct competition with every nation on the globe. You'll be
bidding in the open market for steel, aluminum, manganese, tungsten. That plunks you right
into the middle of the defense work. Now, if you fight to procure those materials, you'll
be the most hated man in America. Until the ship flies. All right, then let's get down
to the big point. We spend millions to build our rocket. All right, we can do that. But
we can't fly it, Wayne. There isn't an engine in existence to power such a ship into space.
I'll find the engine. Where? Bancroft, that campaign I outlined yesterday. Whole sweep
starting tomorrow morning. I want newspaper ads, radio, TV, the works. Get on it. Marty,
money and determination can buy anything. Somewhere in this world is this man with my
engine and I'm going to find him. Start building the rocket. And Marty.
Good on, Davis. I've been expecting you. Wayne, it's our meeting a month ago. You've
spent exactly twenty and one half million dollars and still no engine to power your
ship. Glad to see you've been keeping tabs on me. I'm controller of the company, Wayne.
How do you do? I'm chairman of the board and largest stockholder. Largest individual
stockholder. Don't forget that this company is owned by thousands of small stockholders
and I'm going to see that they are protected. They're little people. Yes, but with big voices.
Wayne, you've railroaded this thing through. If you fail, you're going to be held to account
for every single penny of the stockholders money that you gambled and lost. I won't lose.
I never have. Well, don't start now, Wayne. I warn you. Don't start now.
Come in. Wayne, I think you should see this man. Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Crowder. Well, Mr. Wilkins
was highly recommended by our London office. He has something to show you. No models, Mr.
Wilkins. No designs. It's really quite simple. My motor is based on the principle of the
common magnets. Electromagnetism. Utilization of the force of gravity or its opposite, counter
gravity. I think I can show you very simply this way, Mr. Crowder. As you know, opposite
poles attract. Similar poles repair. With this principle, I can power a spaceship. I've proven
it with my working model in London. Marty? Yes, London looked into it pretty thoroughly,
and I've checked it over. I think it'll work. What do you want? I want to help you build
a spaceship. Why? You have your reasons. I have mine. The money? Perhaps. Here's a model
of our rocket. It's useless. You'll have to build a different ship. This will not house
my motor. You mean we must junk everything we've done up until now? Yes. You're mad.
Oh, am I? But that means we start all over and throw twenty million dollars out the window.
Any better suggestions? No. No, I haven't. Okay, let's get started. One thing I must
insist upon. No questioning of basic design. This I demand. This you'll get. One thing
more. I must make the test flight. Why? This is what I've been working for. Thirty years
of study and work. Space travel is all I know. It's been my life. Okay, we've got our operation
set up at my airport in New Mexico. We'll fly out there in the morning. Marty? How many
millions does this toy represent? Give it to Dave. This is a souvenir. We'll get back
to our tale of tomorrow in just a moment. But first, let's look back at the world of
yesterday. Let's go back to the days of the famous Count of Monte Cristo. In those days,
men were men. They lived daringly, dramatically, adventurously. So now Chrysler, inspired by
Monte Cristo's times, creates some dramatic new designs in men's watch bands. Each one
of these new Chrysler Monte Cristo watch bands carries a handsome coat of arms. Here, for
instance, is the Fleur de Lis crest, an emblem of nobility. And look at this one, featuring
a royal crown. Here's the costly jewelry look. Rhinestones on simulated onyx. And all Chrysler
bands have super-calibrated seven-coil springs for extra expansion, extra flexibility. Even
the Monte Cristo package is something special. It's Chrysler's unique pistol box. But best
of all, these new Chrysler watch bands cost only $12.95 tax included. Less than many ordinary
watch bands. So buy the Chrysler Monte Cristo at your jeweler. Make your watch look better
than new with Chrysler. Now, we return to the second act of Test Flight, starring Lee
J. Cobb. Yeah. Yeah, and see that the stuff gets down there on time. Right. Well, Marty,
how's everything going in New Mexico? Oh, fine. Just fine. Problems, but coming. Where's
Crowder? He'll be back in a minute. Why? Why? Are you trying to be funny, Martin? I always
thought you were a man of science. I just work here. You work for the corporation, too.
Don't be too loyal to Crowder or you're liable to find yourself as out as he is. Look at
this. This is a bit premature. What if the ship does fly? Well, it'd better fly soon.
Six months and how many millions of dollars ago Crowder decided to fly into space? Well,
we've gone along far enough. Great, Mr. Davis. Wayne, you're making our company the laughing
stock of the world. More than that, you seem bet on breaking us. If you break, I break.
That's small consolation. That's all you'll get. I warn you, Wayne, get out. There was
a meeting of a board of directors. Yes, there's no meeting of the board without the chairman
of the board. We're through. We're fed up with your phony ideas of conquering new worlds.
We forbid you to go on using the company assets for this madman's dream. This is my plant
and that's an offer. Get out. Now, get out. Starting right now, you will not shove another
voucher through without the board's permission. You try it, Wayne, and we'll put a padlock
on this dream of yours. We'll put a padlock on you. That man worries me, Wayne. He won't
stop me. He can't stop me. Marty, how soon will the ship be finished? Well, Wilkins moves
in his own mysterious fashion. The man's a scientist, an engineer, a wizard. He may also
be mad. Frankly, Wayne, I don't know what's going on. Let's go lie down there and find
out what's going on. Bancroft, get the ship ready. We're leaving for New Mexico immediately.
We're now in phase three. We were held up by the lack of magnesium. Our tensile and
stress problems also hurt us up. Now we're about to go into phase four. How soon will
the ship be ready? It's looked about the same for the last month. However long. The phase
I work at is all important. We are now in the home stretch. I ask, how soon? As soon
as you can furnish the fuel. We need a ton of mercurium-37. Marty. That'll take another
hundred million dollars. And months, many months to get what you want. I know nothing
of finance. These are your problems. Turn back, Wayne. This is too big, bigger than
any of us realized. I'm in too deep to turn back now. You'll have to fight the whole world.
Wayne, realize what he's asking. Every nation on earth needs mercurium-37. Is it right to
corner for personal use something the whole world needs? Ethics, the word gets in my way.
Wayne, it's not right. It's right if it works. No matter how I get it. If I get it and if
it powers this ship into space, it's worth it if it breaks me. If they call me villain
in every language in every country in the world, it's worth it if I can be the first
man to fly through space. How about this mercurium? Well, we may have to contact sources in the
Belgium, Congo, South America, Lord knows where. You take care of that. I'll get the
money. Crowder knows how to raise the money. I understand that, Wayne, but it's a big issue.
Well, maybe we can keep it on the QT and with your name on it, I think we can swing it.
Right. Sure. Sure. Belgian, Congo. Well, this is your big day, Wayne. I've waited for this
a long time. A long, long time. And if it doesn't fly, it'll fly. How soon are we ready
to go up? Very soon. We've fueled up now. Just a little checking on the motor. I thought
we're through with that phase. It needs rechecking. We must be precise. You said we'd be ready
to take off today. Perhaps. And again, perhaps not. We must be precise. Listen, my secret
little friend. I've played a blind game of cards with you and with a partner who won't
let me see his hand. I'm fed up. You understand? This ship better take off today. You let me
get to the ship, Mr. Crowder. I'll complete the work. I think he is. I think he stole
a billion to build this crate. It took manipulation, Marty. A mess of it. That mercurium deal broke
me. I oversubscribed our stock. Wayne, you must be mad. Oh, it's only money. You gambled.
I'll get it back in more. Wayne, it's other people's money. How many men did you break
to put this deal over? You're turning against me too, Marty. I thought you were my friend.
Wayne, that's not the point. What's all that noise? Get out. Crowder, you're through. The
corporation's taking over. I'm the corporation. You were the corporation. If I succeed, we'll
be ten times more powerful than we ever dreamed of. Not we, you. You did this for Wayne Crowder,
not anybody else. Just you. Why stop me now? The ship's ready to take off. Because there's
a half billion dollars worth of fuel and material out there that I'm not going to let you wreck.
Williams, we're taking off. That could be dangerous. I haven't checked. I said we're
taking off today. All right. I'm ready. I'll be out in the ship in sixty seconds. Prepare
to launch. The ship is not taking off. We're taking off in sixty seconds. You better pray
that ship doesn't fly because if it does, you're dead, Davis. When I get back, I'll
own this world and there won't be any room for you on it. If you're not moving out of
here, I'll stop you somehow. Stop. I told you, Bluff, Davis. We can't stop him now.
And I hope it blows into your face. Okay. All set. Let's go. Zero minus five. Rocket
vents open. The takeoff inertia will be terrific. I quit stalling. Let's get going. Zero minus
four. Generators on. Zero minus three. Internal pressure on. Zero minus two. Fuel activated.
Zero minus one. Zero.
We're in the stratosphere.
I said I'd be the first man to conquer space. I'll be the richest, most powerful man in
the world. Look at it. The earth at my feet. I'll build a bigger rocket, powerful enough
to reach Mars. We will reach Mars in this ship. Okay. I've proved it can be done. We
can turn back now. No, we'll go on. I said turn back now. We can't turn back. The course
is set for Mars. Mars and this ship, you're out of your mind. I've planned this voyage
for a long, long time. I built this ship to go to Mars. Turn back! Turn back! I'll
tell you, Mr. Crowder, if we kill me, we'll never hit anything. You can't move them, Mr.
Crowder. The controls are frozen. I'm going home to my planet Mars. Home? Mars? Yes.
You see, Mr. Carter, it wasn't wealth and power that brought me to you.
You wanted to build an empire on Mars.
I simply wanted to go home.
So, ends our tale of tomorrow.
Two weeks from tonight, look for another exciting tale of tomorrow, The Search for the Flying
Saucer, starring Jack Carter with Olive Deering.
And now, a final word from the Chrysler Kids.
Jack Chrysler, Jack Chrysler, on my hand, on your hand, crowned with royal crest to
make it look grand, so grand.
It's Chrysler, it's Chrysler, for me too, for you too, makes your watch look better
than new, quality, style and value too, it's the man they have on hand, it's Chrysler.
Makes your watch look at its best, the glamour of a royal crest, it's Chrysler.
Men, make your watch look better than new with Chrysler's handsome Monte Cristo expansion
watch band with a richly enameled crest.
And ladies, see how Chrysler's new flirtation watch band adds jeweled beauty to your watch.
And remember, look for Jack Chrysler at your jeweler, it's the name that means quality
in watch bands.
Two weeks from tonight, when Chrysler brings you The Search for the Flying Saucer, starring
Jack Carter in his first dramatic role.
Don't miss it on Tales of Tomorrow.
The preceding program, originally telecast by ABC in New York, has come to you by special
video recording.
This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.