The strange Dr. Weird.
Good evening.
Come in, won't you?
Why, what's the matter?
You seem a bit nervous.
I'm not nervous.
I'm just a little nervous.
Why, what's the matter? You seem a bit nervous.
Has there a cemetery outside this house upset you?
There are things far worse than cemeteries.
For instance, being lost in an arctic storm,
as in the story I want to tell you tonight.
The story I call
Survival of the Fittest.
My story, Survival of the Fittest,
begins in the cold, bleak wastes of Alaska,
stretching endlessly as far as the eye can see
in one vast, white expanse.
The fierce winter wind hurls itself at a small cabin
almost buried by the snow.
In the cabin, four men huddled around the embers of a fire.
Mike, what are we going to do?
We're leaving the first thing in the morning for Goldfield.
In this storm?
It's either make a try for Goldfield or die here of starvation.
Mike's right, Paul.
If we stay here, our food will be gone in five days.
Much better we try to get to town.
Deanna, how's the weather look to you?
You think it'll blow over by tomorrow?
Storm bad, not blow over soon.
All right, that settles it.
We're getting out of here first thing in the morning.
How far do you think we've come in these four days, Mike?
I should say about 70 miles.
That means 50 more miles to Goldfield.
It's going to be a hard 50 miles too.
Dogs are all worn out.
We only have food enough for one day.
Mike, you don't think we'll have any trouble making it, do you?
In this country, you always have trouble.
Only the strong and ruthless survive.
Halt! Halt!
Here!
Deanna, come here.
Here I come.
Why are you calling Deanna, Mike?
Deanna's having trouble breaking trail for the dogs.
He's slowing us down, eating food that might pull us through.
He's no longer useful to us.
Where I'd be here.
Deanna!
What do you want?
I'm afraid we don't need you anymore.
You need not to understand, huh?
Maybe this will make you understand.
Mike!
No, don't!
You've killed him.
Yeah, I had to.
I told you only the strong can survive.
We need the food here to beat me.
Paul, you start breaking trail for the dogs.
We're going on.
Come on!
Push! Push!
Hurry up!
Push!
Mike, it's been two days since we've eaten anything.
We can't go on without food, Mike.
Why don't we kill one of the dogs?
Because we need every dog we have to pull the furs on the sled.
All right, Paul, start breaking trail for the dogs.
We've rested enough.
No, I can't.
I'm too tired.
The dogs can break their own trail.
You young whelp out there.
Go ahead, shoot me like you did Kiana.
You're not worth wasting a bullet on.
If you're too tired to break trail, you can remain behind.
Well, Mike, you can't leave him here to die.
Oh, can I?
Are you ready, Victor?
Yes, I'm ready.
Paul, run along behind the sled.
All right, Victor.
Mush!
Mush, you hear?
Hey!
Hey!
Mike, Mike, why don't you let me throw away this bundle of furs I'm carrying?
Then I could break trail for the dogs.
Throw away $500 worth of furs?
Say not.
Come on, mush!
Paul, Paul, don't stop behind.
Keep running.
I will, Victor.
As long as I can.
Mike, Mike, look!
The dogs are disappearing.
Victor, let go of the sled.
Mike, the dogs and sled are banishing that crevasse in the ice.
Yeah, a year's furs lost in a few seconds.
What do we do now?
Now we'll start floundering through the snow towards Goldfield.
If our strength holds out, we'll make it.
If it doesn't, we'll die.
Right now, Doctor, I've got a quickie mystery of my own I'd like to solve.
A mystery?
A mystery of two men.
You see, these two gentlemen are both nice-looking fellows, act alike, talk alike, even wear similar clothes.
Yet there is a difference.
The appearance of one somehow seems more distinguished than the other.
You've guessed it.
The solution to the mystery is simple.
One man always wears an Adam hat.
Yes, gentlemen, the perfect style and quality of an Adam does make a difference.
A difference that all well-dressed men recognize at a glance.
Made of rich-looking, all fur felt, the new Adam hats come in a wide variety of distinctive styles and shapes,
and are priced at only $3.45 to $10 at Adam hat stores and authorized dealers from coast to coast.
Mister, if you want to look your best always, always wear an Adam.
Now, Doctor Weir.
And now I'll finish my story, Survival of the Fittest.
It is early the next morning.
Three figures, mere specks on the vast white expanse, make their way slowly and painfully across the snow.
Finally, one, unable to go any further, stops and sinks into the snow.
Mike, Mike, wait!
Paul's falling down!
Paul, you must get up and keep going.
If you don't, you'll freeze to death.
I can't walk another step, Victor.
I'm too tired.
Ah, so he's falling down, eh?
Well, Paul, you'll either get up and start walking or stay behind and die.
Mike, if each of us took him by the arm, we could help him along.
Nothing doing. It's every man for himself.
I'm not going to waste my strength.
Paul, Paul, you must get up.
Here, let me help you.
No, leave me alone.
I can't go any further.
Mike, we can't leave him here to die.
Why can't we?
Because it's inhuman.
It's common sense.
The weak die and the strong live.
Now, are you going on with me or are you going to stay behind to die with him?
Paul, Paul, you must get up.
Can't you see nothing can save him? Now he's half-frozen already.
Are you coming, Victor?
Yes, I'm coming, Mike.
Goodbye, Paul.
May the Lord have mercy on your soul.
As the two men continued on their way,
the snow swept over Paul's body and soon hid it from sight.
Hour after hour, Mike and Victor struggled along.
For the first time in days, they saw the sun and its warmth
help them to withstand the cold.
Late that afternoon, Victor began to fall behind.
Mike, Mike, wait for me.
Hurry up.
I'm coming as fast as I can.
You'll never get the gold field at this rate.
Must be at least another ten miles.
Ten miles?
I'll never make it without food.
My stomach feels as though...
Mike, you're eating something.
Yeah, that's right.
You're eating pavikas. Where'd you get it?
Get it? I had it all the time in this pouch.
You mean the food didn't run out four days ago?
It ran out for you and Paul, but not for me.
I just finished eating the last of it.
So you stole the food that might have saved Paul and myself.
You're nothing but a dirty murderer.
A murderer and a thief. Do you hear?
Yeah, but when all's said and done, Victor,
I'm gonna live and you're gonna die.
One day, Mike, you'll pay for your crimes.
And when that day comes...
Hey, listen, a plane.
Where is it? My eyes.
Everything's a little blurrier.
Oh, yeah, yeah, there it is. Look.
A plane.
It's coming this way. They see us.
It's an army plane.
They dropped something.
A package.
Food. That's what it is.
Yeah, and look. Look, it landed in the snow.
Only a hundred yards from us. Yeah? Where?
Darn, that's some of my eyes I can't see.
Yeah, yeah, I see it now.
That package will do me nicely until I reach Goldfield.
I'll make it for sure now.
There's plenty for both of us in it, Mike.
You are gonna share it with me, aren't you?
All you're gonna get is this one.
I won't have you telling any tales about me later.
After I pick up that package, I won't be back.
Mike, Mike, I'm back.
Don't leave me here to die.
Where did that package drop? I thought I...
Oh, there it is, over there, half burying the snow.
Funny. First I can see it, then I can't.
My eyes.
They feel as if knives are being stuck into them.
I can't see. What's happening to me?
My eyes. I'm snow blind. That's it.
I can't see the sun all day. I'm snow blind.
Victor! Victor, where are you?
I'm back here, Mike.
Victor, you gotta help me.
I can't see a thing. I'm snow blind.
You mean you can't see anything?
No, no. My eyes hurt so I can't stand it.
It's the sun, the glare all day. That's done it.
My eyes feel as if they were full of needles whenever I open them.
What do you want me to do, Mike?
Look, crawl over to that package.
You still have enough strength, and bring it over here.
It'll keep us alive.
In a day or two, I'll be able to see again,
and then they'll get us both in the goldfield.
I can't, Mike. My legs are too stiff.
What? I can't move them.
We'll both die here.
No, no. No, I won't die. I won't.
I'll find that food myself.
I know which direction it was in.
I can find it if I hunt long enough.
That's what you think.
You're just trying to confuse me.
It's in this direction.
I know it is. I can feel the sun on my face.
Mike, Mike, come back. Stop. Come back.
I am going right.
Or you wouldn't be trying so hard to stop me.
I'll show you, Victor.
I'm gonna live, you hear?
I'm gonna live, and you're gonna die.
No, no, Mike. Come back, Mike.
There's a crevasse in the ice ahead of you.
You'll fall into it.
You expect me to fall for a sucker trick like that?
The crevasse was behind me.
I remember that.
Mike, look out!
Too bad about Mike, wasn't it?
Or was it?
It was really his own fault he fell into the crevasse.
Because, you see, Mike,
being the kind of man no one could trust,
he felt he could trust no one.
Victor? Oh, yes, Victor lived.
He finally managed to get to the package of food
and survived until a rescue party could reach him next day.
So if you're ever tempted to sacrifice your friends
to save yourself,
just remember that the...
Oh, you have to go now?
Perhaps you'll drop in again soon.
Just look for the house on the other side of the cemetery.
The house of Dr. Weird.