A strange Dr. Weird.
Good evening. Come in, won't you?
You seem a bit nervous.
Perhaps it would help if I told you a story about a friend of mine who had a most unusual experience.
You see, he was executed first and then committed murder afterwards.
I call his story, The Man Who Lived Twice.
The Man Who Lived Twice
My story, The Man Who Lived Twice, begins on the gallows,
where Professor Karl Muller, world famous scientist, is about to die for murder.
As the executioner finishes adjusting the rope around the condemned man's neck, the warden speaks.
Well, Muller, is there anything you wish to say?
Only this. You are hanging me for a crime I did not commit.
Very well. Then I shall become a criminal, a murderer.
And you, warden, you shall be one of the first to feel my vengeance.
Proceed with the execution.
Professor Williams.
Yes, John. Come quickly.
Of course. Everything is ready and waiting. Right here.
Good. Start the artificial heart pumping.
Of course.
Thanks to the governor's special order, everything went smoothly.
Look, John.
So you got it.
Yes. The law has Professor Muller's dead body, but we have his head.
The head containing the wonderful brain of Karl Muller.
The governor thought I wanted to dissect it, but we'll bring it to life.
We must work fast. In ten minutes, with luck, we'll have brought back to life the genius that was Karl Muller.
We've won, Professor. Look. His eyes, they blink.
Yes.
Now they're opening.
They're staring at us. His brain lives and knows what we're doing.
Now, John, we must find some way to let that mighty brain we rescued from the grave speak to us, so that its great work may be carried on.
Come, John. We must work fast.
For many days, Professor Williams and John tried to build some kind of vocal apparatus which would enable Karl Muller's still living head to speak to them.
But each effort failed until at last they became desperate.
Another failure. John, I'm afraid we're beaten.
There must be some way, Professor. Look, Muller's eyes are watching us. He knows what's happening.
I'll bet he could tell us what to do if he could talk.
Yes, but he can't.
What was that?
Something in the road outside. An automobile accident, perhaps.
Oh, of course. John, we may not be able to keep Muller's head alive much longer.
Unless we can communicate with him, I need his advice.
There must be some answer.
Muller's notes give full details. Someone's at the door. Quick, lock it. No one must enter this room.
Help me. I...
It's someone who's hurt. He's bleeding. That crash we heard.
Please help me. Accident. Can I hit the tree? It's thrown out in front of...
Catch him, quick. I've got him.
He's fainted.
Put him down on the couch here.
Let me look at him.
What is it?
This fellow's dead. A bit of steel has apparently entered the temple here and pierced the brain.
I'm surprised that he even lived to reach the door.
Dead?
Well, then I'd better phone the police to send the morgue wagon.
Yes, I... No. Wait.
Yes, Professor?
John, look at this stranger whose dead body fate has brought us.
His head is the same size and shape as Carl Muller's.
Professor Muller's brain should fit into this stranger's head almost exactly.
Yes, but listen. Here we have a sound body with a damaged brain.
Over there is Muller's brain alive, but with no body.
John, we're going to do it.
We're going to put Muller's brain into this stranger's body and truly bring Muller back to life again.
Say, Doctor, tonight's story has me a little worried.
Do you think you could give us a little idea of what happens next?
Certainly.
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Now, back to Doctor Weird.
And now to continue my story, The Man Who Lived Twice.
For an hour, Professor Williams and John worked swiftly to carry out the task of transferring the living brain of Carl Muller into the body of the stranger.
So, providentially brought to them by fate.
At the end of that time...
Look, John, he's breathing.
The operation was successful.
Yes, I can feel a pulse beat.
Put off the pumps.
See? He lives. He lives!
The body, yes, but the brain.
Will that live, too?
Time will tell us.
For weeks, the two scientists tended their amazing patient day and night.
And then one day, the stranger's body moved, a sign that the transplanted brain had taken control of its new home.
But after that, it was only a matter of days before Carl Muller was able to get up and dress and inspect in a mirror the new body that had become his.
Yes. Yes, Professor Williams, you have done well, excellently.
I find it hard to believe this is truly me, Carl Muller.
But it is. And how the world will marvel when it learns the truth.
The world, yes. Tell me, this body that is now mine, to whom did it belong before our little transfer?
You were named Larry Johnson, Professor. That's about all we know. You see, there was an accident in...
Yes, I know. I witnessed the arrival of Mr. Johnson, remember.
But you know nothing of this Larry Johnson who staggered in so fortunately that day to present me with his body?
No, we never made any inquiries. We didn't want to attract attention.
You are wise. It does not matter who I was. What does matter is that I am now Carl Muller, a genius with 50 years of life still ahead of him.
But of course I cannot use the name of Muller.
What do you mean?
Carl Muller was convicted for the crime of murder because the subject died in an experiment. So Carl Muller must stay dead.
But as Larry Johnson, a new scientific genius will arise to storm the world.
What that means?
It means that no one must ever know what happened in this laboratory.
No one ever know?
It must be a secret, always. And for another reason too. Those fools who convicted me, they must be made to pay and they shall with their lives.
What are you saying?
I was convicted of murder. I shall become a murderer. The judge, the prosecutor, the jury, they shall all feel my vengeance.
That's madness, Muller. Listen to me. Your brain has been affected by what happened.
My brain is clear and stronger than ever. I shall have my vengeance secretly, cleverly. My victims, they will call in terror the thought I am striking, begging them from beyond the grave.
I have been making my plans as I come to last.
No, we'll stop you.
Will you? I think not.
John, look out. He's got a scalpel in his hand. He's got a...
You killed him.
Yes. Now it is your turn.
No, no, no. Stay away from me.
You must die so my secret will remain safe.
You're mad.
I'm a genius. A world that will cover my feet before I am through. But enough of talking.
All who stand in my way shall suffer the same fate.
Now no one in the world knows that Karl Muller, who died on the yellow sleeves again.
A few hours later, Karl Muller left the house. His plan was simple.
He would take over Larry Johnson's identity, claiming that the accident he had been in had given him amnesia and he could remember nothing of his past.
Confidently, he walked into town and then stopped to ask the first policeman he met the way to the address he had found in last night.
Pardon me, officer. Which way is Michigan Avenue, please?
Why are you... Larry. Larry Johnson.
Yes, of course I'm Larry Johnson. Stop it.
What of it? I'll show you what of it. There, put up your hand throughout. Plug it.
Just a moment. What is this? I have done nothing.
You have done nothing?
Look, officer, I've been in an accident. My men were...
You'll be in a worse accident if you don't stop.
I don't understand. You'll understand when the judge sentences you to hang, you murdering rat.
Hang? No, this can't be. You'll find out.
No, I've done nothing. Let go of that gun. Let go. I'll plug it.
Give me that gun. I'll shoot it. I'll shoot it.
I warned you. Well, you had it coming. I've only saved the state the price of a trial.
Yes, yes, you have. What was Larry Johnson wanted for, anyway?
What were you wanted for?
For holding up a bank messenger and then killing Officer Clancy in your getaway, that's all.
Yeah, and for stealing a getaway car which you wrecked and abandoned out in the suburbs.
No, no. Wanted for murder.
Well, I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
No, no. Wanted for murder.
The body I took was wanted for murder.
No.
Poor Professor Muller.
To think that after being executed he should get a brand new body
only to find himself wanted for murder all over again.
It looks as if fate was determined he should stay dead, doesn't it?
And he has since then.
In fact, he's buried in the cemetery outside.
He's the only man in the world who has two graves and is buried in both of them.
Would you like me to show them to you?
Oh, you're leaving. I hope you'll drop in again soon.
Just look for the house on the other side of the cemetery.
The house of Dr. Weir.