When Jerry Hall, Mrs. Gregory, and Captain Bradford sailed from Los Angeles in search of a mysterious hidden island,
they found Mrs. Gregory's long-lost little girl, Joan.
The rest of their discoveries are almost unbelievable.
The Gregory yacht was pulled to the island by a powerful magnetic force and is now tied up there,
with all on board prisoners of the mad scientist G-47.
Mrs. Gregory and Joan are in one cabin on the yacht,
while Captain Tex Bradford and Jerry talk excitedly in the radio cabin.
Yeah, I got it all right, but I still don't see where it's going to do us any good.
Joan didn't come to the door of the cabin, did she?
I mean, so that anyone could see she had her mother's dress on.
No, she was so scared of what old G-47 would do to her when he found out we had the dress,
well, that she was ready to hide under the bunk.
Well, we'll see to it that G-47 doesn't have a chance to do anything to her.
We'll have to work fast, because by now someone on the island probably knows we have the dress
and heard all we said about it.
So hurry and get your head into it.
No, no, not that way. Just pull the skirt over your head.
That's better. Now I'll get under it, too.
Good thing these dresses are plenty big and loose,
but it's going to be mighty hot in there awful quick.
We'll be done with our little job, mighty quick.
What good can we do with this dress?
You said just now they'd know we had it.
We've got to hurry, so listen closely while I explain it.
This is the nuttiest thing I ever heard of.
What would people think if they could see us with a girl's dress wrapped around our heads,
using it for a hood?
Well, it may sound foolish, but the material of this dress of Jones' is the first ray of hope we've had.
Now we can talk in safety and make a few plans for the first time since we hit this island.
I knew there must be some way to talk in privacy here.
You mean the stuff this dress is made of will keep out the sound waves,
or whatever it is they use to hear everything that goes on around here?
Yes, Jerry, I'm sure of it.
You know, a good scientist never compounds a poison without knowing the antidote
for his own protection if nothing else.
Likewise, a good scientist would never devise a weapon, gas, beam, or ray,
one that would be almost universally penetrating or destructive,
without first protecting himself should his own invention ever be turned against him.
But those sound waves they hear through walls and clothing,
well, they're not destructive, but they don't hurt anybody,
even if they do let old G-47 hear all we say.
That's true, but it makes everyone on this island virtually a prisoner.
No one has any privacy.
Even in your own room, every sound and action is recorded somewhere in their laboratories.
Nevertheless, we may safely reason that G-47 and his leading assistants,
the brains of this mad setup must have privacy.
They conduct their experiments and discuss plans without the remainder of the call of hearing them.
They must.
But how do you figure the cloth this dress is made of is the stuff they do it?
Every suit and dress on the islands, every bit of cloth I've seen here is the same stuff.
But G-47 put Jones asleep with that harmless ray just as easy as he did me.
And her dress is made of that stuff.
Yes, but if you had been awake to see her get the ray,
you would probably have seen him point at her head or hands.
What is this cloth anyway? I mean, where did he get it?
We'll find out in time, but let's hurry with this plan.
Someone might decide to board the yacht just to make sure we're behaving ourselves.
Okay, Tex, what are we going to do?
All right, here's a setup. When we get out from under this dress,
we'll take it and put it over the radio.
Be sure it's under and around the whole thing.
I got it. Then one of us can put our head inside the dress and work the set.
And G-47 can't tell we're doing it.
I'm going to let you do this. You know what to say to Johnson if you get him.
Give him our position and say to stand by for information on how to rescue us.
Tell him not to attempt rescue without instructions.
Gee, then what can Johnson do if I do get word to him?
He can't do anything now, but we've got to figure how to get control of the power on this island.
We could use their knowledge for the greatest scientific age in the world,
but I feel sure that their intentions are not to aid the world, but to destroy it.
Oh, Collie, let's get going.
Now operate the set on the usual wavelength,
and I'll set the directional beam reflector due north.
We're outside of the listening post around the inner circle of the island,
and this beam won't make the slightest disturbance anywhere except due north.
The set is all warmed up now.
Already now?
Already, son.
Now we'll just slip out from under this thing and cover the set with it.
Then I'll go out on deck and stroll near this cabin door in case everyone gets curious.
Go to it, and don't talk to me again.
Don't say anything until you're covered up with that set.
Inside this dress now, then send the message.
Now, out we go.
Gee, it's a mighty tight squeeze in here.
I guess I'm ready to go.
J-12C, J-12C, J-24Y to J-12.
Jerry Hall on J-24Y calling J-12C.
Hello, Johnson. Hello, J-12.
Oh, Golly, something's wrong. I can't raise him.
Well, guess I'll just have to try again.
J-12C to J-24Y. Hello, J-24.
Go ahead, Jerry. Go ahead.
Boy, here he is.
Hello, J-12C. This is Jerry Hall on J-24Y.
Captain Bradford wants you to get this. Copy it. Repeat.
Then stand by. Here it is.
Our position, latitude 29 degrees south, longitude 124.30 west.
Danger here, but do not attempt rescue.
Stand by for information on how to rescue us.
Get that? Do not attempt rescue without information.
Repeat, J-12.
J-12C to J-24Y. Repeating.
Your position, 29 degrees south, 124 degrees 30 minutes west.
You are in danger.
Standing by for information how to rescue. Confirm. Repeat.
Okay, J-12. Repeat, okay.
Jerry Hall standing by for Captain Bradford. That's all, J-12.
Now I can get out of this dress.
Oh, boy. That feels better.
Hello, kid. How did you enjoy your rest?
Oh, I had a swell sleep, Tex.
I dreamed I'd use this radio set again, but nobody was spying on me.
I talked to Johnson in Los Angeles, and he knows we're here.
I had a dream, son, but there's no chance of it ever coming true the way we're watched.
G-47 knows all we say and do.
I wonder.
Maybe it's one of the crew.
No, they're all asleep.
Shall I... Well, shall I open it?
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I'll hide the dress.
Oh, heck.
I might have known it.
You must pardon my rudeness in entering unbidden.
As long as anyone could have seen and heard all you were doing through the portholes you so kindly left open in every cabin,
I surmised you were not discussing anything secret.
Just discussing our situation here and wondering how long it'll be before we can get away from this island.
You knew we would be discussing that without my telling you.
Precisely. And even if I could not see that you have Cleostra's dress there,
I would know that the material of the dress had been used for some purpose.
How would you know that?
Never mind that, Jerry. It's enough that he knows we were using it.
And of course he knows why we were using it.
You displayed some small intelligence in your ideas about the material, Captain.
And you have undoubtedly discovered that the fabric is impervious to beams and rays of our sound and light transmission spectrum.
I have. That didn't take much figuring.
Tomorrow you may visit the laboratories where the fabric is made.
You may have enough of it to drape the inside and outside of this boat.
If you wish, I have no desire to intrude upon your privacy.
I merely came to warn you that while your childish and unsuccessful attempts to reach the outside world merely amuse me,
your first successful attempt will mean your end.
Well, we're going to try just the same. You can't get away with this forever, and you know it.
Steady now, Jerry. No use losing your head about it.
Well, G-47, I want to tell you plainly that if there is any way I can get my friends out of your grasp, I'm going to attempt it.
You are a fool, Captain. A brave one, possibly, but nevertheless a fool.
Your life would mean nothing to me.
I happen to know better, for I have something you want.
Yes, you clever meddler, you have, and you know that I will keep you alive until I rest your secret from you.
The only thing in the universe we Euclideans have failed to master, and as long as you live,
I know that in some way, at some time, I will get your secret.
Well, you can't torture it out of me, and you're not a magician. How will you do all this?
The time will come when you will be glad to exchange your secret for the freedom of your friends and yourself.
Nothing doing on that. If Captain Bradford has something you want, we'll stay right on your island for the rest of our lives.
All of us, but you'll never get it.
You see how it is, G-47? You're just wasting your breath.
Yes, and Joe wants to stay with her mother and the rest of us.
She belongs to our world, and she's going, well, she's going back to it with us.
Cleostra may stay with you, and she will save you a lot of worry by telling you as much about the island in an hour
as you could learn by watching us work for a month, but she will have to be content with your descriptions of the world.
She will never see it, except as a loyal subject of Euclidia when we Euclideans rule the universe.
Do you mind going now? We've got things to do, and your boasting and bragging gets on my nerves.
It is a pleasure to leave such hopeless company.
Well, maybe we're not as hopeless as you think.
Quiet, Jerry.
You need not warn the boy, Captain. I heard his little radio message to Johnson.
Gee, the dress was no good, Tex.
So, the dress didn't work, eh?
The material of the dress worked perfectly, but your radio beam was intercepted as it passed through our magnetic fog.
Well, then, if you heard my message to Johnson, why did you let me give him our position and warn him of our danger?
Don't you know that radio message will bring a fleet of battleships down on you if anything happens to us?
On the contrary. You have protected me nicely. Johnson will take orders and execute them accurately.
You ordered him not to move in your rescue. Your position means nothing.
You had previously given him that as the yacht was held to the magnetic fog.
If you had not tried this wild scheme tonight, there was a chance your Los Angeles agents might have acted on their own incentive to rescue you.
But you have blocked that yourself. You have prevented your own rescue, and I...
I will prevent your escape.