The Invaders (1967–1968): Season 2, Episode 11 - The Prophet - full transcript

Brother Avery has seen the light of a heavenly host. They are coming, and they will bring peace. At the end of each of his services, the red glow that surrounds him reveals the divinity that inspires him! But David Vincent knows that this glow actually signifies that Avery is an alien who needs to regenerate. David's trouble is figuring out how to prove it when Avery is surrounded at all times by fanatics - not all of whom are human. The key may lie in Now magazine writer Bill Shay, if David can trust him with the truth.

Yes!

Oh, yes!

Oh, yes.

Look up.

Raise your eyes.

Cast off the earthly
dirt from your feet.

Lift up your eyes to
the everlasting light...

Amen!

To the source of
all understanding,

of all wisdom,
of faith, of love.

Amen!



The light without darkness,

life without death.

To the sacred fount of
the spirit of man and being.

To the kingdom itself.

To the host.

Amen!

The coming host of angels.

Amen!

A million strong.

Amen!

The host, the
heavenly messengers,

the radiant messengers who
shall relieve all our suffering.

Amen!

Oh, my brethren, prepare.



Prepare to receive this host.

Amen!

This multitude of
saints who love you.

Amen!

Prepare for the
peace they bring,

for they will come.

I have seen this multitude
with my own eyes.

They have spoken to me.

Amen!

I am chosen.

Amen!

I am the call of their trumpet.

I am their prophet.

I bring you proof.

I speak in the name
of this heavenly host.

Amen!

Starring Roy Thinnes as
architect David Vincent.

The invaders...

alien beings from
a dying planet.

Their destination... the Earth.

Their purpose... to
make it their world.

David Vincent has seen them.

For him, it began one lost night

on a lonely country road

looking for a shortcut
that he never found.

It began with a
closed, deserted diner

and a man too long without sleep

to continue his journey.

It began with the landing of
a craft from another galaxy.

Now David Vincent knows
that the invaders are here,

that they've taken human form.

Somehow, he must
convince a disbelieving world

that the nightmare
has already begun.

The guest stars
in tonight's story:

Pat Hingle... Zina
Bethune... Roger Perry.

David Vincent has
seen the prophet,

a saintly figure who announces
the coming of a heavenly host

whose skin begins to glow
at the climax of each service.

Evidence that Brother
Avery is an alien invader

and reason for Vincent to
contact columnist Bill Shay...

of Now magazine.

Hello.

Yes, ma'am, it certainly is
Bill Shay of Now magazine.

How are you, sweetheart?

What's on your mind?

Come in.

All right, all
right, put him on.

Come in.

Yeah, Jeff?

I know, I know.

You don't believe
it, I don't believe it.

Nobody who reads
it will believe it,

but that's what I saw.

No, no, no. The prophet
was glowing, not me.

I'm a man of rare
abstinence, as you well know.

Well, here tonight.

Tomorrow, Santa Barbara
and the great city Thursday.

By that time, I will be glowing.

Right.

Well, I was thinking
of a style slightly ironic.

Okay.

Yeah, and a good,
good morning to you.

Yes, sir?

My name is David Vincent.

I wrote a letter to
you some time ago...

No answer.

Vincent... Yeah, the bell rings.

You know, there's a
line from an old show

that stays with me...
Ray Bolger musical,

Charlie's Aunt.

Hmm, yeah. "From Brazil
where the nuts come from."

Yeah.

I think I'm going to
like you, Mr. Vincent.

Thank you. I could use it.

What do you call them?

Um, aliens, is that it?

Aliens. Anything
you want to call them.

And you've seen them?

Well, as you said
on the phone...

You don't believe
it, nobody believes it,

but I have seen them.

What do they look like?

You... or me or anybody else.

They, uh, well, some of them
have a mutated fourth finger.

They don't bleed
when they're cut.

They don't bleed?

That's passing
strange, isn't it?

In your slightly ironic style.

You want some coffee?

No, thanks.

When they die, they glow.

Mm-hmm.

They glow with an
incandescent light.

Bell ring?

Uh... This man doesn't die.

But they have
regenerating tubes.

If they're put into these
tubes immediately,

two or three minutes before,

they do recover.
Recharge the old batteries?

Right.

"Passing strange."

You said it.

You're standing on the edge

of the greatest story
a writer could want.

Yeah.

Now, what were these aliens...

Well, you see, you've
got me doing it now.

What are these space
people of yours doing

with the prophet idea?
Where does that fit?

Well, you heard the man...

"Prepare for the coming
of a million saints."

You're talking about
a mass landing?

An invasion?

That's what the
man's advertising.

Brother Vincent, you
have a serpent's tongue.

You're right.

It is one great story.

Even if there's not
a word of truth to it.

But what do I hang it on?

Can you give me something?

What if I get pictures
of the inside of that van?

The regenerating tubes.

Pictures?

Oh-oh, yes, pictures
would be just fine.

Dad, you got yourself a deal.

Brother John.

You were right.

David Vincent... he has a
fairly comprehensive idea.

I see.

Yes, of course.

Very well.

But we want young people.

That's important to
us... Very important.

And I want you to impress
that upon your friends.

Why, we could fill this
auditorium many times over,

but... but we want youth, too.

Now, you're the captains,
and we're depending upon you.

In a few months, we hope to have

a giant youth rally here.

Thank you, girls.

Bless you.

Sister Clair?

Good morning.

Good morning.

They told me you
were the one to see.

My name is Dennis Victor.

Yes, Mr. Victor?

Uh, last night, I
saw the revelation.

I don't know how to say this.

You were spiritually moved.

Yes.

Bless you, Mr. Victor.

I want to join you.

If you'll just fill
out this card.

I imagine you'll want to
be with the local chapter.

No, no. I... I'd like to be a
member of the organization.

I'd like to go along with
you as a working member.

Oh, no, we can't.

Well, we'd be swamped.

Please, Sister,
don't shut me out.

Do you know... or
have you ever known

how desperately someone
could need to belong?

The answer is I... do know.

Sister Clair?

Good morning.

Brother John, this
is Dennis Victor.

How do you do, sir?

Mr. Victor believes

he's had a spiritual call.

Can you tell me about it?

He witnessed the
revelation last night.

It was as if... I were
burning in the same flame

along with Brother Avery.

As if he gave me
part of his own vision.

Bless you.

Bless you.

We were talking about
his perhaps coming with us.

Oh, as an apprentice.

With your approval, of course.

I'm sure we are fortunate

that Mr. Victor has been
brought to us by his vision.

Let us give thanks

that he has been
led to our embrace.

Greetings, Brother Dennis.

That's him.

Let them in, please.

My children...

I am come from a sunrise prayer

to bless your great valley...

To dedicate your broad
fields and bright hills

for the coming descent.

Are you as troubled as
I am, Brother Dennis?

I bring you love

and in your faith
you bring me...

Haven't you seen something
that's caused you to doubt?

And your faith
flows around me...

Are you testing me, Brother?

And keeps away
the pain, lifts me,

buoys me, sustains me.

I saw it in your
face last night...

Onstage, when you thought
no one was watching you.

Bless you, my children.

Bless you.

You needn't say anything now,

only let me show
you what I've seen.

The first time was accidental.

I wasn't at all sure
what I had seen.

Since then, on every
move, I've followed his van.

The night before last,
it happened again.

It's... it's just over here.

Is this where you
saw the spacecraft?

Yes.

And saints don't come
in spacecraft, do they?

Thanks, amigo.

Brother Dennis?

Yes.

This way, please.

Yes?

Brother Dennis, sir.

Very well.

Brother Dennis.

Yes, sir?

Have you been with Brother John?

Yes, I have.

He instructed you
in our discipline.

Partly.

We were to continue
when he returned.

Has he returned?

We haven't seen him, sir.

Did Brother John give
you an assignment?

He suggested Sister
Clair would see to it.

Well, I daresay
she will see to you.

Welcome, Brother.

Call five minutes.

All my dear people,

I look into your beautiful faces

and I know I am doubly blessed.

I am given a sacred mission

and I am received
into your hearts.

I can feel...

yes, I can physically experience
the stimulus of your... love

and faith.

It flows up from you

into my body.

And I am humbled

before the manifestation
of this spiritual truth in man.

And in this transport...

This joining together
of our beings...

You've got to listen to me.

I can explain this.

Just listen to me.

Listen to me!

Just hold still a minute! No!

Sister Clair, listen to me!

No!

Bleeding.

Well, apparently, I am.

I'm sorry I had to go
about this the way I did

but under the circumstances,
I would have done anything.

I'm an investigator.

With a divine call?

I don't believe
in Brother Avery.

I believe in something else...

Something that might
hurt you a great deal.

That he's a charlatan?

Well, I've heard
that far too often,

and you happen to be wrong.

He's an agent for
a foreign power.

Oh, that's absurd.

Is your faith strong
enough to help me prove it

one way or the other?

Help me prove it.

What is it, Sister?

Has Brother John returned?

No, Sister.

We've started a search for him.

All the more reason

why we should discuss
this matter thoroughly

before we make up our mind.

I have a great deal to tell you.

I have seen this multitude
with my own eyes.

Amen!

They... have spoken to me.

Amen!

I am chosen!

Hey, Shay!

Bill Shay!

I just got a call from my paper.

That guy who's missing, uh...?

Brother John? Yeah.

Well, the police found his car.

They took it downtown.

There's something
funny about it.

Do you want to come?

Sister?

Sister.

Have you ever seen

the inside of that recovery van?

Why is it so secretive?

Why is it kept locked?

Why is there a special
high-voltage power line?

How can you think
that that's a trick?

I know it's not a trick,
but neither is it holy.

That glowing... that
special incandescence...

Is something that happens

to an alien being just
before he dies or reverts

unless he's put into a
regenerating tube immediately

just as they're doing to
Brother Avery right now.

I want to see those tubes,

and I want to show
them to you to prove it.

Alien beings.

Creatures from another
planet... Spacemen, if you like.

You're mad.

Sister.

Think of every
question you ever had

about that recovery van.

I know what you're doing.

You're like all
the rest of them.

You've no use for
anything divine...

Anything of the spirit
that can't be proven

without... without spaceships
or gadgets or tubes.

Help me to prove it.

Help me to get inside that van.

Put those flats over
in the corner, will ya?

Sure.

We're going to need
three baby spots

down there by the podium.

Right. Go ahead.

Okay, but they've got to work...

Sister?

I can't let you stay with us.

I haven't decided yet
whether I'll tell Brother Avery.

How long have
you been with them?

Not long.

They've given you
a lot of responsibility.

I'm a good organizer.

I had good training

on my father's
political campaigns.

Who's your father?

Doesn't matter.

We take new identities here.

Hey, Charlie, can you give
me a hand with these stands?

What's the matter with you?

Can't you see I've
got my hands full?

I'm going to tell you something

so you understand
how wrong you are.

I loved my father very much.

He was everything
in the world to me.

And then, unfortunately,
I discovered he was

nothing like the
image I had of him.

Nothing at all.

He was...

Well, let's just say
I was disillusioned.

Along came Brother Avery.

No.

Then along came another
man I loved very much,

who also turned out
a disappointment.

Well, I wanted out.

I wanted as far
out as I could get,

and I got pretty far.

I had money, I
could do as I pleased

and find the right set of
people to make the trip with.

I went pretty much
the whole route:

LSD, pot.

I'd even started experimenting
with something stronger.

Come on! Move!

Get that painter back here!

Do you have to shout like that?!

Can I get you some coffee?

One night, we thought
it would be fun...

A bunch of us...

To come down
and see the prophet.

I know how it happened.

I was about to the point
where I was climbing the walls.

And sitting there...

seeing Brother Avery...

it was a revelation.

I just couldn't take it.

When I came out of
it in the hospital room,

he was there.

Since then... he's
given me beauty...

and faith... and a
reason for living.

All that couldn't be a hoax.

What if it is?

What if it's a hoax?

What if he's really
putting you on?

Send you back emptier
than you were before.

Isn't that what
you're afraid of?

You still haven't
kicked any habit.

You're still hanging in there.

You're using this whole
thing as another trip.

You just keep right on crying.

Because there's a lot
of dirt in this world, baby.

Now, either you dig down
and find enough character

to face it or you cop out.

It doesn't make sense.

Why is just this seat scorched

just around here
and nowhere else?

Let's get back, huh?

That was when you
joined the ministry

in Norfolk, wasn't it?

Yes, of course.

I-I thought, well, I...

I mean, I somehow
had the impression

you... you once
said it was Newport.

No.

All these questions, Sister?

Places, dates...
It's just that...

every detail in your life
has a meaning for me.

I'm sorry.

You need your rest now.

Yes?

Oh, yes.

Yes.

Sister Clair?

My child, my child.

After all your
experience with us,

did you really think

I was not blessed
with spiritual insight?

Come in, Sister.

Come in, my child.

Please proceed, Brothers.

You must forgive me, Mr. Shay,

but I'm afraid we'll have
to postpone the interview.

Yes, sir.

Good night, sir.

Good night.

Would you harm us, child?

After the love we've offered,

would you connive

with the enemies of our faith?

Electro-pulsating
hospital units.

To assist cardiac recovery.

Your heart.

Has been considerably
weakened, yes.

Something we've
tried desperately

to keep from the press.

Yes?

Gone, sir.

Sister Clair, would you please
bring Mr. Victor to see me

so that I may reassure him of
these mysterious tubes of his?

You have a rendezvous
with him, I suppose?

Yes, I'm supposed to
meet him in his room

at the Granada Hotel.

Bring him here.

Use Shay.

And Sister Clair?

Are the tubes still powered?

Yes, sir.

Very well.

Sister will have a heart attack.

No.

No!

No!

No!

Hi.

How did you know
where to find me?

Oh, Sister Clair called and
said she couldn't make it.

She didn't have the
strength anyway tonight.

She did sound a bit used up.

What have you been
doing to our little saint?

Did you get the film?

I got it.

Well, hallelujah. Let's go.

I've got a guy waiting
up to process it.

It's not here. I stashed it.

Well, let's get it.

This guy's costing
me 12 bucks an hour.

How would she know you?

No quick answer?

No.

Actually, I have no idea.

I'm going to have to be sure.

No blood.

That's passing strange.

Why do you try, David?

Why do you waste your life?

Where is she?

You know you can't win.

Where?

Regenerating van.

They're waiting
for a call from me...

to see that I've got the film.

How do I know she's not dead?

It's easy enough to prove.

You prove it, we'll make a deal.

Splendid.

Move.

Why would you hide
the film in the auditorium?

I went out that way. I
didn't want to carry it.

We're running short of time.

We'll have to be moving out.

I want to see her.

Clair.

I can't tell you how sorry I am.

It's all right.

I've got the film.

I'll make a deal.

I'll give you three minutes.

11:50... precisely
11:50... Is that clear?

Hold it.

I said hold it.

Now you're stalling.

We stand right here

until you tell me where it is.

How do I trust you?

What other recourse do you have?

Clever, Dad.

Very clever.

After him!

No!

Proceed.

Move it out of here as quick
as you can. You understand?

Come in.

I thought you
were to stay in bed.

Nonsense.

Besides, there's
nothing wrong with me

that a good paddling
wouldn't cure.

No luck?

No luck.

Well, what did they think?

That the whole thing was
a result of acid stomach?

I think they'd prefer even that.

David, I'm... I'm
really terribly sorry.

The consensus of
opinion has it that, uh...

he was a humbug magician

with powers greater
than Blackstone.

And the electronic bag
of tricks got out of hand

and burned him up.

They say they'll
know more about it

when they find Shay.

Shay?

But didn't you tell them?

No.

That kind of statement
could get me locked up...

permanently.

Well, I'll tell them.

I'll help you.

Sure.

You know, I was told once

that, uh, people had
to work at things...

and face them.

Or cop out.

And what sort of
guy would cop out?

Bless you, Sister Clair.

A man and a woman--

Two alone in the world--

To resist a multitude...
a mighty host.

Two who will move
on their separate ways--

Watching, waiting, fighting
the invaders from the sky.