The Outer Limits (1963–1965): Season 2, Episode 6 - Cry of Silence - full transcript

In the not-distant future,

the sound of man will invade
those unknown depths of space.

Which, as yet,
we cannot even imagine.

In his own world, there are no places
left beyond the reach of his voice.

His neighbor is no longer
just next door,

but anywhere
at the end of a wire.

And it all began when
prehistoric man discovered.

The art of communication.

Fill it up, sir?

No, just directions. Let me
have a look at the map, here.

Now, now, now,
wild canyon road...



Oh, that's a good address.

Our friends will be dying
to come out and visit us.

The realtor said it should be about
10 miles beyond Mitchellville.

Well, that'll put it
right about here.

Unless they roll
it up for the night.

Phew!

Where'd she come from?

That side road up ahead there.

That's our road.

Must be why
they call it wild canyon.

Oh!
Ow!

Are you all right?
I'm sorry.

How the devil did
that rock get there?

Maybe it's always
been there.



No, the pickup got by.

Perhaps they put it there
to keep people out. Listen...

What do you hear?

Nothing.

That's right.
Not one sound.

It is kind of lonesome here.

Oh, no, we're not alone.

There's something here.

Come on now, will you?

Let me take a look
at that rock.

Andy!

Oh, honey.

Are you all right?

Take it easy,
take it easy, don't...

Oh, stupid me!

I hurt my ankle.

Oh, it'll be all right.

Take it easy, take it easy. Now
stop, now stop, you're all right.

My god!

Shh!

There's nothing wrong
with your television set.

Do not attempt
to adjust the picture.

We are controlling
transmission.

For the next hour, we will control
all that you see and hear.

You are about to experience
the awe and mystery.

Which reaches
from the inner mind to...

The outer limits.

How does the ankle feel?

Isn't better. Honey, I don't think
I'm gonna be able to walk on it.

Don't try.

The car won't start.

From hitting that Boulder?

I don't know,
it won't turn over.

I don't think I could carry
you back up there, anyhow.

I'm afraid
we're stuck here.

Oh, Andy!

What are we gonna do?

Well, here.

First thing I'm gonna do is

try to get you some place that's
a little more comfortable.

This is comfortable.

Ooh!

Phew!

So empty.

What?

Must be a farmhouse
around here somewhere.

In a cathedral you whisper,

because to raise your voice
would be sacrilege.

Here...

I don't know...

I think if I shouted,
the sound would die.

Andy!

Andy, maybe there are birds
singing, only nobody can hear them.

If there were birds around,
you'd hear 'em, all right.

Then where are they?

I don't know.

I'm an engineer,
not an ornithologist.

No wind.

Hasn't been any wind all day.

Then what's
moving that tumbleweed?

Hmm?

Oh!

Just takes a breath of air
to roll those things along.

Andy, they're following us.

Now, would you cut it out?

Look, I'm gonna get out of
here and see if I can't...

No, don't!
Don't leave me, Andy!

Please don't
leave me alone here!

Be logical now!

What's logical about that?

It's gonna be dark
in an hour.

If I don't get some help, we're
gonna spend the night right here.

Please.

Please.

Here take these.

We'll get back to town

and I'll give up the idea of
living on a farm, honey. OK?

Andy!

Andy!

That thing...

That thing,
it tried to...

It's all right,
I got it.

Please sit down.
Please, just...

It tried to attack me,
Andy.

It's just your nerves. Take it easy.
It's all right.

Look, I won't
leave you alone.

No, I'll stay here.
I'll build a fire.

Maybe somebody will see it
and come to the rescue, huh?

Fire, fire, they hate it.

That's why it attacked me. To
keep me from striking that match.

You see them flinch? They're
afraid... afraid of fire.

Yeah, yeah, they'll all run
away and hide now.

Andy, look,
they're all around us.

They won't come any closer.

As long as the fire lasts.

Well, you know
they're only tumbleweeds.

And when it burns out,
they'll attack.

It's as simple as that.

There's plenty of
firewood out there.

Out there, yes.

We can't reach it,
we're trapped.

Aw!

Don't you believe it.

Watch now.

Andy!

Andy!

Andy, wait!

Andy!

What is it?

Don't leave me.

Look, I'm just going
after some wood.

Don't you see what's going
to happen, Andy?

You won't get back in again.
They'll close that opening.

And then I'll be left
all alone here, Andy.

Look, will you
stop this nonsense?

These are just weeds.
Russian thistle, saltwort...

They're not alive!

Look, Andy, they've already
closed up the opening.

Something's moving them.

What do you think it is?

I don't know.

But it's a force.

I told you I felt it up on the road, I
told you so. Don't you remember, Andy?

Yes, yes, I remember.

I don't know where
it's coming from.

But I feel it.

The rock on the road,

the tumbleweed.

First they tried to drive us out, and
now they won't let us go at all.

How's your ankle?

I've almost
forgotten about it.

Well, I thought if you
could walk on it,

we might make it
back up to the car.

No, it's too late now.

The fire's almost out.

Pretty soon
they'll swarm all over us.

Look, I'll have it blazing
in a second here now.

These things burn like paper.

No!

No, there's another one!

Andy!

It was just like an octopus.
There was living strength in it.

That doesn't make sense.

I could... I could feel
the power it gave off.

Where did all that
energy come from?

How can you
animate a dead weed?

Oh!

Hand me another
burning branch.

That's the last one.

Andy, the fire's
almost gone out.

Is anybody there?

Hello!

Where are you?
Hurry up!

Just outside.

I can see you.

Yeah, we're having a little trouble here.
Can you help us?

Don't touch the weeds.
They're dangerous.

Yes, I know, we
can't get through them.

We could burn our way through
if we had some dry wood.

They don't burn like
regular tumbleweeds.

I know, but they burn,
that's all that matters.

See if you can find us
some dry branches.

Oh, Andy!

Andy, he isn't going to help us.
Look, he's going away.

No, no, please, why would
he do a thing like that?

There's something
strange about him, Andy.

Didn't you hear
the way he talked?

Shh!

Well, hello!
We're sure glad to see you.

My name's Andy Thorne.
This is my wife, Mrs. Thorne.

The name is Lamont.
I got a farm down the canyon.

Used to be a farm, anyway.

You... you mean
the weeds are there, too?

Worse than any locust.

I got a farm down the canyon.

Yeah, you... you
already said that.

Did I tell you
there's nothing left?

Nothing that's any good.

You'd better
come along with me.

There's no place else to go.

W- w-wait a minute.

Uh...

Something I don't understand.

If these weeds caused all this
damage, why did you stay?

Curiosity.

They didn't act like
natural tumbleweeds.

So I watched them.

But I stayed too long.

Now do you understand?

You mean, now you can't leave?

You, me, your missus,

nobody can leave.

There just isn't any way
of gettin' out.

Lookin' back,
it seems it all happened

the night that thing
landed in the canyon.

About 2 weeks ago,
as near as I can figure now.

What was it?

I don't know,
a meteor, maybe.

I saw a blindin'
light come down

like a thunderbolt
and then it crashed.

Didn't you go
out to investigate?

Oh, I walked down to the
end of the canyon next day.

Nothin' there,
not even a hole in the ground.

Was that when all those weird
things started happening?

Well, that's...

That's what I think now.

I didn't pay any particular
attention to it at first.

Seemed there's more tumbleweeds
around than usual.

But that's all.

Then they started
to gettin' bigger.

About the time my wife started
missin' some chickens.

You don't mean
that they, uh...

Maybe.

Didn't occur to me
at the time.

Figured it was a fox.

But a fox couldn't have made
off with a full-grown sow.

Well, didn't you report it? Did you
talk it over with your neighbors?

Aren't no other farms
within 10 miles of here.

Anyway,
they wouldn't believe me.

I didn't believe it myself

till the milk cows
disappeared.

Oh, now, come on...

Mr. Lamont,

where is Martha, now?

She wanted to leave.

Kept after me to go.

Then last week, after
the cows disappeared,

she went away.

I like to think she got out
of the canyon.

It's a miracle you've
held on to your sanity.

Did those things
ever try to attack you?

Only the time
I tried to leave.

Since then,
I've been a-stayin' inside,

till I saw your fire.

Listen...

Oh!

Every night, they scratch at
the door tryin' to get in.

What about the telephone?

Went dead a week ago.

Then the electricity went off.

Martha used cooking gas, so
I've been able to fix a meal.

You said you tried
to get out of here once.

Blocked the road.

Tried goin' up the side
of the canyon.

They dragged me down.

Well, why didn't you try
burning your way out?

I thought about it
at one time.

Then I seen
what they could do,

figured nothing
was goin' to work.

At least we know
fire will do it.

We'll make some torches,
you lead us out.

Worth a try, I guess.

After your ankle gets better.

We'll have to run.

I'll be all right
in the morning.

I'll... I'll fix you up
a place to sleep.

What a horror!

Yes, if you believe all that.

What?

I believe that man's lying.

I don't understand you.

Out there, you were
absolutely petrified.

Well, in here, I'm pretty
shaky, if you want to know.

But it doesn't
change the fact that

that man is not
telling the truth.

About what?

He said Martha left over
a week ago, didn't he?

Yeah, about a week ago.

I believe she left
not more than a few hours ago,

in that pickup truck.

How do you arrive
at that conclusion?

Oh, Andy, look around.
Everything is so neat.

Most men are
terrible housekeepers.

If Martha had been gone over a
week, this place would be a mess.

Well, some farmers are probably
very good housekeepers.

If he is a farmer.

Listen to this,

"7th day,
the lord rested after creation

"but here there is no rest.

"Now I'm certain there is a malignant
intelligence behind the weeds.

"No, not behind them, in them.

"Where it comes from or what
it wants, I cannot fathom.

"Perhaps if I
could reason clearly,

"I might understand,

but my grip on sanity
grows weaker by the day."

Now, an educated man
wrote those lines, Andy,

not a backwoods hillbilly.

Andy, we've just got to leave
here tonight, while he's asleep.

Shh!

Here he comes.

You can take Martha's room.

Where will you sleep,
Mr. Lamont?

Right here.

Feel better?

Thank you.

Fine.

Huh?

We gotta figure this
thing out logically.

I know we're faced with
something that defies logic,

but it's all we
got to work with.

I... I didn't say anything.

Something entered this canyon
2 weeks ago.

Now we've got no
concept of what it is.

Lamont thinks it's a form of
pure mind, pure intelligence,

no physical
properties at all.

But those tumbleweeds...

This intelligence hitchhiked a ride
on them because they're mobile.

And number 2:

It motivates these weeds, but only
within their natural limitations.

It makes them roll.

And attack.

No.

Well, in a sense.

They did entangle themselves
around our hands and our feet.

They showed unusual strength.

But otherwise they acted
just like tumbleweeds.

Our own fear
supplied the rest.

The way they burn.

Well, any dry weed will burn.
These explode.

But that could be because of that
induction of that pure force.

Lamont's still awake.

Unless he fell asleep
with the light on.

Andy, please.

Please, Andy. Let's get
out of here, right now.

I want to go,
and if he tries to stop us...

Why would he try to do that?

I don't know,
I don't know anything.

But I do know he's part of this.
He accepted it, didn't he?

Yeah, he's really cracking up.

Maybe he sold his soul
to the devil,

or whatever that thing is.

Otherwise he could have left.
He admitted that, didn't he?

Well then, why didn't he go?

Andy!

Come here.

I can't see any weeds.

They're gone!

What?

The weeds are gone!

Andy, listen, listen.

Frogs croaking.

Andy, that's the first
natural sound we've heard

since we've been
in this awful canyon.

Yeah.

Do you suppose that
could mean...

Maybe.

We're free?

Maybe it's gone away.

Come on!

Lamont?

He's gone!

He wouldn't take off
without us.

Lamont!

Lamont!

Hello?

Andy!

Andy,
he's made some more notes.

"The long night
is almost vanished."

"The waiting
will soon be over."

"I sense this
without knowing why."

"What feeble candle
of comprehension informs me?"

"All my other faculties are
flickering out, one by one."

"When I am truly
dispossessed,

"what use then,
the empty shell?

"How will it serve them?

"Who is out there?
Does no one hear me?

I yield..."

He stopped in
the middle of a line.

Well, that doesn't sound like
anybody who ran away.

Oh, Andy, that's
what I want to do.

I want to run and run until I get
to a world I can understand.

Andy, please!

Come on.

Andy, I'm frightened.

What?
The frogs.

Listen, I've never heard
so many frogs in all my life.

This way.

There must be thousands
of them, Andy.

Stop! Don't go
any further!

Lamont!

Go back!
Go back!

No, we're leaving.

You can come with us
or not.

You can't get through.
Go back to the house! Hurry!

He's trying to scare us.

Oh, I...

Oh! Oh!

It's all right!
It's all right!

We're safe!
We're safe!

Shh, they can't get in!
They can't get in!

There were thousands,
thousands of them!

It's a plague.

It sometimes happens. It gets
so dry, they go mad for water.

No! No, that isn't it.
It's that thing.

That thing's
entered the frogs.

Oh, no, no.

There's some
reasonable explanation.

That's... that's why
the tumbleweed disappeared.

That's the reason.
It had a better carrier.

It's entered the frogs,
don't you see?

Andy, we're never gonna get
out of here alive, I know!

Sit down,
sit down, stay here.

We'll get out of here.

We'll figure out a way,
don't worry.

I think I ought to go out
and help Lamont.

Ahhh!

Andy, look! Oh!

Kill him, Andy!
Kill him!

No, I want to find
out what makes it go.

You stay there.

Oh!

Maybe it's like I said,
they're frantic for water.

Oh.

It acted just like acid.

Why, Andy?

Why?

For the same reason those weeds
exploded when we lit them.

Whatever this force is,

it can't live with fire
or water.

Oh.

I think I'm going
out of my mind.

No, no, no,
no, take it easy.

No, no, shh.

Maybe we've found a way out.

We'll drive 'em back
with water.

They can't stand water.

So we're all right
and we'll come through.

We'll drive them back
with fire and water.

No, no, no, I'm not gonna go out
there, I'm not going out there.

No, not now, not now.
When it gets light.

No, never, never!

Shh.

Never, never, never.

Then we'd better pray
for rain.

Let me in!

Open the door!

I saw the weeds
move away.

Went out to see
if we could get out.

Then the frogs came.
Thousands of them!

Thousands of mad frogs!

Mr. Lamont?

Feel any better
this morning?

Andy! Andy!

Mr. Lamont,
where's Andy?

I'm in here, honey.

I'll be right out.

Are you all right?

Oh, leave him alone,
he's not here, anymore.

What's that?

They use it for
spraying insecticides.

I want to fill it with water.

Are they still out there?

Just dead ones.

And the tumbleweed?

A couple of them went by,
moved by the wind.

Things look
pretty good out there.

Nothing moving.

Everything's quiet.

But we're not
taking any chances.

I got a blowtorch
back there.

With that and a couple of gallons
of water, we can go anywhere.

What about him?

Oh, we can't leave him here
and we can't carry him.

Mr. Lamont.

Mr. Lamont.

We're gonna try
to get out of here.

Do you think you
could walk?

Let me give you a hand.
Let me get you to your feet.

Up.

Oh, that's good.

That's fine.

Yeah, that's great.

You're doing fine,
Mr. Lamont.

Don't let him
lag behind.

Honestly, Andy,
he's going to be all right.

I think once we get him out of
here, he'll snap out of it.

We'll get him
to a doctor.

Look out!

Lamont?

He's dead.

Andy!

Andy, it's the end,
isn't it, Andy?

We'd better get back to the farm,
for a little while anyway.

Meaning forever... you
mean forever, don't you?

No, no, there's always
an answer.

This is just
fire and water.

What do you want?

If you're intelligent,
act like it!

Where are you from?
What do you want?

Andy, please come.

It thinks
and it reasons.

Why doesn't it try
to communicate with us

instead of playing
a lot of stupid tricks?

At least act logical!

No!

It's all right.
Listen to this.

You know, this is a very
valuable notebook.

He's a sharp observer,

but I think
I found his error.

Now, listen to this.

"I am certain

that there is a malignant
intelligence in the weeds."

Now, I think that's wrong.

I don't believe
it was malignant.

Anything that's that powerful,

anything that destroys cows
and... and chickens...

No, no!
The livestock disappeared,

we really don't know
what happened.

Now, I think
that this thing,

this intelligence... whatever you wanna
call it... came here from somewhere...

So many light years
out in space

that it could never
make it physically.

Now,
here it is in this strange,

and perhaps hostile, planet.

Pure mind,

trying to find a means of communicating
with some alien form of life.

Us!

Oh, I don't want us
to communicate with it.

Well, we'd better
or we're going to rot here.

Why didn't it communicate
with Lamont?

It did.

But he didn't understand.

Listen, the human mind,

it works
with electrical impulses.

Now, this thing, whatever
it is, to travel so far,

must be a current
of such tremendous voltage...

That's what happened to his lights,
his telephone... an overload!

And that's what happened to our car!
The battery.

And that's what
happened to Lamont.

You see, his mind was
gradually being pushed aside

by this... this force.

It needed a human carrier.

Unfortunately, he resisted.

And so it killed him.

No, no, I think
that was an accident.

I think it was just trying to keep him
here. You know, to take occupancy.

What is that?

I don't know.
Another rock, I guess.

No, it's...

It's coming for us.

Then we'd better
try to communicate.

Oh, how?

How?

Andy, listen...

Footsteps.

Oh.

Somebody... somebody's coming
to help us, Andy.

Oh, no, no, it would never let
anybody else in the canyon.

Maybe...

Maybe the force is gone.

Yes, that's it.

That's it, Andy,
the...

Mr. Lamont.

Thank heaven, we thought...

We thought you were dead.

Andy.

Andy, he...
He isn't breathing.

No.

He...

In the name of heaven,
what is it?

He's still dead.

Oh, Andy, it was...
It was a bad dream, wasn't it?

Oh!

Oh, we're still here!

Lamont?

He's in the kitchen.

He can't be dead.

He's as dead as
those tumbleweeds.

The muscles move and the joints
function, but that's all.

Otherwise, he's
just a zombie.

Ooh.

What good can a dead body
be to that... that thing?

Not very much.

I don't think that... that
it really understands.

Maybe it can't
conceive of death.

What a tragedy.

Finally it gets
a human carrier

and still it
can't communicate.

What's it doing now?

Nothing.

Lamont is just
still at the table.

The notebook!

What?

Lamont's notebook.

Why not?

If it can activate
Lamont’s muscles,

maybe Lamont can write for it.

I'm gonna find out.

You want to come?

No!

Yes, I... I don't want
to be left alone here.

Andy, must you do this?

Yes, don't you understand?

If Lamont can write,

it can tell us secrets
we can't even imagine.

Help me up.

Get me the pen
and the notebook.

Andy.

Oh, that's it!

That's it.

That's it.

No, I can't, I...

Shh.
I can't watch.

These are just symbols.

I can't read these.
This is not Lamont’s writing.

He's transcribing it
into its language.

Oh.

I was hoping
he'd translate

the thoughts
into his own terms.

He would, though,
if he were alive.

Come on, write.

Write enough symbols so that we
can establish a pattern. Come on.

There'll always be somebody to decode.
Come on, write, write!

What did it...

Oh, nothing,
nothing, nothing.

Just some meaningless symbols.
About 4 lines of them.

Did you notice how stiff and
mechanically the body moved?

Rigor mortis had set in.

The muscles responded but just barely.
The arm couldn't write.

What about the symbols?

There's not enough of them.
They don't repeat.

There's no way
to learn the key.

Just not enough of 'em.

What do you suppose
it is doing now?

Well, it's probably making
an estimate of the situation.

It must realize by now that it's
got a carrier that can communicate

with members of
its own species.

But even if you
could make contact,

it couldn't understand you.

The language.

Thought has no language.

We think in pictures
and sensations.

And then we
translate these ideas

into our own words
and sentences.

Now,

suppose, this... this thing,
has a concept,

and it wants to put it
into a living brain,

mine.

I get the thought,

but then, wouldn't I translate
all these ideas, this thought,

into my own words,

into my own language?

If you do let it enter,

what guarantee do you have
that it will ever go?

And if does go,

leave you...

Mindless, soulless,
like... like...

That's the gamble
we have to take.

We're prisoners here. It can
do anything it wants with us.

I think our only chance
is to make contact,

to reach an understanding.

Look out, Andy!

What you're asking for
is my blessing, isn't it?

And... and if I don't give it to
you, you'll blame me, won't you?

Oh, no, no,
I won't blame you.

All right. I dissent.

But I'll try. I will, I'll try
to help you in every way...

That's my girl.

You ready?

Now, all you have to do

is to write down anything I say.
Everything...

Lamont.

Oh, I've moved him,
come on.

Now, these are the questions.

You may think of others to
ask, depending on what I say.

But at least ask those.

I understand.

Now, then.

Lamont resisted, his mind
just fought against invasion.

I've got to make
my mind a blank.

Induce a kind of
a self-hypnosis.

Leave plenty of room
for it to enter.

Turn up the lamp.

But we're... almost out of fuel now.
Andy...

And don't speak.

Don't even move.

Oh, oh...

This...

This long journey...

This very stone,

th-this chaos,
this flux

surrounded my being.

There is life here.

There is life here,

but what form...
How does it communicate?

We call out
but no one hears!

I can hear you.

Why does no one answer?

Listen to me.

I have questions to ask.

We know now

that the solitude
of infinity is abolished.

That is our triumph.

Consciousness does exist

on this strange pebble
in the drift of space.

But its nature
is a mystery.

Whoever you are,
listen to me, please!

Perhaps,

voyagers of some
future millennia

will reach here

and find no evidence
of our visit.

Oh, wait, I hear you!

There's one possibility left.

Perhaps this...

This consciousness,
which we sense here,

needs time to develop,

to evolve.

And in some thousands of years

will awaken to an awareness,

a racial memory

of our being here.

This is the only flag

we can plant

as we depart.

Ahhh!

Andy, Andy, no!

Go away
and leave him alone.

Andy, come back.
Andy, come back.

Andy, come back to me.

Andy,

come back to me.

The lights are on.

It's gone.

It's gone.

Oh, it didn't work.

Oh, yes, darling,
yes, it did.

Look, look, I took it down.
Part of it, anyway.

The only thing is
it couldn't hear me.

Hello? Yes.

Yes, the phone
has been out of order.

No, everything
is all right now.

Yes, thank you.

Nothing, just nothing.

But, Andy,
those are its words.

You don't talk like that.
It did communicate.

Where are the answers?
"Who are you?

Where do you come from?
What's the energy involved?"

Anybody with 6 drinks in them
could write this kind of junk.

Now it's gone...

And done.

You know,
it just gave up.

There's no other
explanation.

Even after it took over my brain,
it still couldn't communicate.

It was as if it could send,

but it couldn't receive.

So it just went back.

I wonder where it came from.

We'll never know.
Not now.

You know,

the tragedy of all this is

nobody will ever believe us.

But, Andy, we have
Lamont’s notebook.

Oh.

Ramblings
of a deranged mind.

Meaningless symbols
nobody can decipher.

People will walk away
from us.

Oh, Andy, I'm sorry, I
tried, I tried, it's just...

Come on.

See if we can
get the car started.

You know,

we're only 30 miles
from home.

I wonder how many millions of
light years it has to travel.

And the light
shineth in the darkness.

And the darkness
comprehended it not.

The sound of man probes
the dimensionless.

Range of space,
seeking an answer.

But if it comes,

will he hear?

Will he listen?

Will he comprehend?

We now return control of
your television set to you.

Until next week at
this same time,

when the control voice
will take you to,

The Outer Limits.