Original subtitles

[airplane engine rumbling]

♪ Supercar ♪

♪ With beauty and grace, as swift as can be ♪

♪ Watch it flying through the air ♪

♪ It travels in space or under the sea ♪

♪ And it can journey anywhere ♪

♪ Supercar ♪

♪ It travels on land or roams the skies ♪

♪ Through the heavens' stormy rage ♪

♪ It's Mercury-manned, and everyone cries ♪

♪ It's the marvel of the age ♪

♪ Supercar ♪

♪ Supercar ♪

[loud booming]

[ethereal music]

[monkey chattering]

- No, Mitch, we can't go in there.

[chattering]

With all that special equipment

and Colonel Lewis too,

Dr. Beaker says there just isn't any room for us.

[disappointed grunting]

Tell you what, though.

We could go and watch on the monitor

in the control room.

[animated chattering]

Come on, then.

We'll be able to see just exactly

what they're doin'.

[electronics beeping, static crackling]

- Well, gentlemen, so far, so good.

She'll gain a little more altitude

over the next hour or so, but it'll be slow.

- Present altitude reading is somewhere

in the region of um, 105,000 feet.

- Yes, that's about the average

for one of our balloons.

She's carrying a heavier load than usual,

but well, she's up all right.

- I guess you're right, Colonel,

but what goes up, must come down, check?

- Oh, oh no, not this baby,

not on your sweet life.

She's okay up there in the stratosphere.

But we don't want her down here again.

No sirree, not with that... [dialogue fades out]

- There, Mitch.

Now you can see most everything.

It's like being at the movies.

[chattering]

I know, if we were at the movies

you would have a bag of popcorn.

Here you are, then.

[excited screeching]

- Hello, Jimmy.

You have a ringside seat, I see.

- Guess so, professor.

When does the big picture start?

[laughs]

- Not yet, Jimmy.

There is still just routine checking.

- Hello, South Dakota.

South Dakota, do you read?

- [Man] South Dakota here, reading track clear.

- [Mike] Canaveral, do you read?

- [Man] Canaveral clear.

- Patterson Field, do you read?

- [Man] Patterson Field here.

Yeah, free is clear.

- That's it, then.

All subsidiary tracking stations

reading clearly, Colonel.

- Oh, thank you, thank you.

In that case, with your permission, Professor,

and your help, Dr Beaker,

we'll continue readings for another hour,

and then blow her.

- What do you mean blow her, Professor?

- Um, explode the canister, I mean.

Destroy it. - Yeah, that's right, Jimmy.

Make a bang that'll be seen for miles,

with a telescope of course.

Fireworks in the stratosphere.

That's why we call the project Fourth of July.

[grunting]

- Maybe you get it, Mitch, but I don't.

Why're you gonna explode it, Colonel?

Why can't you bring it down somehow?

Say on a parachute?

- Well, we could, Jimmy, easily.

But it would be too dangerous.

- It packs a whale of a punch, right?

- You see, Jimmy, that capsule up there

contains more than seven liters

of the Colonel's new rocket fuel,

quite apart from all the instruments

transmitting readings to Dr. Beaker.

- Don't the instruments cost an awful lot?

- Well, I'm afraid they do, but we just

can't risk bringin' 'em down,

just the same.

- Why, tap it with a rubber mallet,

and I should think it would go off like a bomb.

- Oh, he's right, too.

It's okay up there at 100,000 feet,

but down here-

- It might still explode?

No matter how gently you put it down?

- That's about the size of it.

- And that's entirely neglecting the possibility

that it has received quite a considerable

amount of radiation.

Not too much, I hope.

- So instead, Jimmy,

we explode it up there where it harms no one.

- But in any case, it won't be wasted.

- The Colonel will by then

have received much valuable information.

- Thanks to your cooperation, gentlemen.

- I don't know, Mitch.

I guess it sounds safer up there, at that.

[grunting]

Not for me, Mitch.

Reckon you're more interested in popcorn than balloons.

[excited chattering]

- Time for another check.

- There, um, appears to be

quite a sudden rise in the capsule's

internal pressure, Colonel.

- Yes, uh, that's okay, Doctor.

It used to do that sometimes in the preliminary tests.

- Oh, really?

I'm glad to hear it. Very glad.

And I'm bound to say,

I put little faith in your stabilizer.

- It seems that Dr. Beaker thinks

that on account of we're the Air Force,

we aren't likely to be chemical geniuses.

- My dear fellow, I imply, uh,

nothing of the kind.

[electronics whirring]

It's up 2.4 atmospheres.

- That's still within theoretical normal limits,

you know, Dr. Beaker.

- Somethin' wrong, Mike?

- Just can't tell, Jimmy.

Half of it's way over my head.

- Sounds like the safest place for it to be.

- In any case, Doc, if she does blow now,

it'll save you the trouble of using

your little radio trigger, won't it?

- Not my little radio trigger, I assure you.

The Air Force's.

I am bound to say,

that I put very little confidence in that either.

- Well, okay, Dr. Beaker.

We grovel. We are military apes, all of us.

[chattering]

- No, Mitch, he didn't mean any offense.

[grunting]

- Don't mind the Doc, Colonel,

he's like that with all of us here.

Nobody is really up to his level.

- External temperature minus 55 Centigrade.

- Calling South Dakota, do you read?

- Internal minus ten and normal.

- [Man] South Dakota here. Trace steady.

- Internal pressure now down again.

My apologies, Colonel.

Reading 1.2 atmospheres and normal.

- Canaveral, do you read?

- [Man] Canaveral, trace clear.

- Radiation, fuel strength, mmmmm.

- Normal? - Uh, yes.

- Patterson Field, do you read?

- [Man] Patterson, trace steady.

- And the volume, they are steady too, Doctor?

- Uh, 7.46 liters, no expansion there.

Well, Colonel, everything would seem

to be satisfactory.

- Oh, fine, Doctor. Have you the recordings okay?

- Perfect, thank you.

- Well, in that case,

again with your permission, Professor,

I think we're just about ready to call it a day.

[grunting]

- Gee, Mitch, I think they're getting ready

to blow up the capsule.

Should be exciting.

Won't be anything to get steamed up about, Jimmy.

- Why, Mike. What happens?

- Doc, you care to lecture your audience

on what you're gonna do?

- All that will happen is that

I shall press this button,

and the radar trace

will disappear from the screen.

Provided, that is, if the Air Force

will permit me another [laughs]

small dig at them, provided it works.

- You sound like you thought it mightn't, Doc.

What then?

- I was only being uh, humorous.

Of course it would work.

If it didn't, then a warning, uh, siren would sound.

- And then we'd be in a gosh-awful mess.

Let's face it.

But it won't happen, we can be sure of that.

She's up there just waitin' to blow.

- All set, Mike? - Roger.

Calling all tracking stations.

Calling all tracking stations.

This is Project Fourth of July.

This is Project Fourth of July.

We are ready to blow.

I repeat, we are ready to blow,

in 60 seconds from now.

Repeat, 60 seconds, please check your screens.

[ethereal music]

- There she is, steady as a rock.

- Roger, Colonel. Ready to blow.

- The floor is yours, Dr. Beaker.

Ready when you are?

- [Man] Canaveral, calling all stations,

stand by for countdown.

- Then, if everyone is uh, prepared,

I shall press the firing button in 40 seconds

from now.

- [Mechanical Voice] 40, 38, 36, 34,

32, 30, 28, 26,

24, 22, 20, 18

16, 14, 12, 10,

eight, six, four,

two, zero. - Fire!

[button clicking] [popcorn bag bursting]

- What in tarnation? [animated chattering]

- Mitch!

- That wretched monkey.

[ethereal music]

The trace is still on here.

- Then it is still up there.

- [Man] Emergency one,

the capsule has failed explode,

stand by for emergency instructions.

Repeat, stand by for emergency instructions.

[alarm blares]

Canaveral to all stations, stand by on [voice fades].

[dramatic music]

- Well, there you are, Mitch.

I've gotta keep you shut in here.

That's orders.

[grunting]

It's your own fault, you know.

Burstin' that bag and scaring everyone.

[chattering]

Guess you are sorry, at that.

But Dr. Beaker says you gotta be

kept from underfoot.

Now Mike's goin' up, and things are gettin' serious.

- Well that's it, Colonel. That's Supercar.

- Well, say, I've never seen anything like it.

- Neither has anyone else, we hope.

Right, Professor?

- Well, strictly speaking, it is top secret.

- What he means, Colonel,

is we shoulda done a security check on you.

- But Mike, we've never tried Supercar

at such altitude.

- Well, there's a first time for everything.

- True, but I wish there was some other way.

- Well, if there was,

I wouldn't be so worried, believe me.

But conventionally, our craft can't reach it.

- [Dr. Beaker] 105,000.

- What?

- Yes, I fear she has, um, risen somewhat.

- There's your answer, Colonel. What you say?

- Colonel, could you not use a homing orbit?

- Well, I guess not, Professor.

It's on the fringe as far as range is concerned,

and it might just as easy home on the

metal foil of the balloon covering.

That would bring the canister down, but where?

- Um, somewhere in the middle of um,

uh, the city.

- Well that's just dandy. If it comes down there,

it'll be the Chicago Fire all over again.

Do we need any more argument?

- [Dr. Beaker] Well, um- - Better get organized, then,

before she gets right out of range.

[ethereal music]

- [Dr. Beaker] Good, the climb appears

to be temporarily halted.

- I guess you're pretty sure Supercar

can do it, are you Doc?

- Well, yes, yes, perhaps the operative word

when one is venturing into the unknown,

but I have confidence in both machine and pilot.

The question is, this um, uh, that

the Air Force has so kindly provided,

will that work?

- [Mike] Well it's mounted pretty firm,

it should be okay.

- I agree, that it will cause no concern, Mike,

but there are so many other factors up there.

Factors we have no time to consider in practice.

- Such as?

- Such as the whole basis of aerodynamic control.

As you know, in horizontal flight,

Supercar uses wing fins and rudder for steering.

Up there, where there's virtually no air,

these will be useless.

Forward flight will have to be controlled

by firing the port and starboard engines

at different rates.

- Guess it'll just have to come to me

when I get there. - And there's another thing,

if you hit the canister,

and remember this rocket launcher

holds only one round.

- I'll hit it okay, Professor.

- It'll explode into so great a fireball,

you will not be able to swerve out of its path.

- So, I'll fly straight through it.

- The radiation field strength

drops off at that altitude.

But, uh, Mike will still have a

considerable amount of cosmic activity

to contend with on the way up.

- I thought that would be the case.

So we've got Mike a suit made of foil.

It's not as good as a space suit,

but it'll help deflect radiation.

[majestic music] - Okay, here I am,

all foil-wrapped for instant freshness.

I feel like a chicken just going to be

popped into the oven.

- Not the oven, Mike. Where you're going,

it will be more like a deep freeze.

- I'll be all right, Professor.

I borrowed Doc Beaker's winter underwear.

- Well, let's hope the cockpit pressurization

will look after you.

Ready to test?

- Ready. Testing now.

[air whooshes] Seems okay.

- Reading one atmosphere. - Check.

One atmosphere, it is. Let's keep it that way.

- We'll do our best. Armaments mechanisms all right?

- Want me to test it?

I can blow the side of the lab

clean across the desert in the next state.

- Not yet you won't, Mike. The safety switch is on this end.

- Okay, then. Just to get the feel of it.

- Range 1600.

- That's too close.

Mike, whatever you do,

don't come in closer than 2,000.

- Roger.

[static crackling]

[buzzing]

Range 2,000.

Fire! - Good, Mike. Good.

- Direct hit on number three

rectifier, Professor.

You won't be needing it, will you?

[laughs]

- All right Mike, if you've got the feel of the rocket,

we'll slip the cowling over for streamlining.

Otherwise, you'll feel the resistance

of high speed.

- I guess they're about ready to start, Mitch.

Mitch?

You're asleep, Mitch?

[snoring]

Might as well leave you to it.

It's gonna get exciting,

I'm going down to see.

[ethereal music]

- [Dr. Beaker] Altitude steady at 108,000.

But it um, appears to be drifting again.

- Cowling in position, Mike.

- Okay, I'm rarin' to go.

- There Colonel, the telemetry system

is now geared over to read for Supercar.

All that remains now, I suppose, is-

- Takeoff. - Correct.

- I shot Mitch off out of harm's way, Professor.

- Fine, Jimmy.

- Ready to charge, Mike? - Ready, Professor.

- Charging port engine.

[click, whirring]

- 6,000, 9,000,

11,000.

- Sounds like a mighty powerful machine, Doctor.

- It is Colonel.

- 14,000, 15,000.

- [Dr. Beaker] Interlock on. Fire one.

- Fire one! [engines firing]

Starboard 5,000, 7,000,

10,000,

12,000,

15,000.

- Interlock on. Starboard charge.

Fire two. - Fire two!

[engine firing]

Good, everything ready, Dr. Beaker?

- Satisfactory. Uh, most satisfactory.

- [Professor] Right!

Roof doors open.

[doors whirring]

All clear for takeoff.

- Good luck, Mike.

[engine humming]

[radar beeping] - [Colonel] Oh, great,

Supercar sure is showin' up now.

That little blip near the center.

- Pilot to console, pilot to console,

Do you read? - Console to pilot, we read.

How do you feel, Mike?

- Just fine. Altitude, 17,500.

[engine roaring]

Pilot to console.

Altitude 35,000.

It's bucking a bit, Professor. - That's all right, Mike.

You're running into tropospheric air currents.

Once you get through that,

and above the tropopause, they'll decrease.

- Yeah. And so will aerodynamic control.

- External temperature, minus 50.

Internal plus 30 Centigrade.

Uh, how does it feel, Mike?

- Like a cool, clear New England winter's day.

[radar beeping]

- Hey, he's gettin' nearer.

- Yes, altitude 70,000.

- He's went up in the stratosphere now, Jimmy,

and from here on, it gets difficult.

- Pilot to console,

seems clear of air currents now, Professor.

But you'll have to help me with the steering.

- Can you give us a bearing, Dr. Beaker?

- Yes, I would suggest climbing

at 11:00, 72 degrees.

- [Professor] Console to pilot,

half-boost starboard engines, three seconds.

- [Mike] Roger.

[hissing]

[ethereal music]

99,000 now.

Don't know what it's like outside, but it's mighty chilly in here.

- According to Dr. Beaker,

it's minus 55 Centigrade,

and only eight millimeters of mercury,

so don't spring a leak, or you'll really know it.

- Is Mike in danger, Professor?

- No, so long as the cockpit

pressurization system works right.

- I'm not sure I like it, Dr. Beaker.

I'd never send one of my boys out there

without a full pressure suit.

- We had not intended to perform altitude trials

for several months yet.

Next time we shall see that Mike is,

uh, correctly attired.

- So meanwhile, we trust to the cockpit seal.

- Yes. But let us substantiate this trust.

Professor?

- [Professor] Yes, Dr. Beaker, what is it?

I think it would be advisable to

ask Mike to perform a brief cockpit check.

- Roger, Dr. Beaker.

Console to pilot.

- [Mike] Hello, console. - Dr. Beaker would like you

to check the cockpit conditions for us.

Just to be in the safe side.

- Roger, console.

Feels cold, but comfortable.

Cockpit temperature nine degrees.

- Is that all right, Dr. Beaker.

- I am inclined, under the circumstances,

to accept nine degrees as within normal.

- Cockpit temperature normal, Mike.

Beaker says carry on.

What about your oxygen equipment?

- No trouble at all, professor.

I'll check how much there is left.

Couple of hours, at least.

Normal flow rate,

cockpit's internal pressure ...

Low, Professor she's low.

I'm losing pressure someplace.

- Dr. Beaker, the cockpit seems to be leaking.

- All right, there is no immediate emergency.

- No immediate emergency!

- I hardly think so.

It cannot be a fast leak,

and Mike's oxygen mask, assuming it fits well,

it will protect him from

immediate lack of oxygen.

But he will have to find

where it is escaping from.

Professor?

- Yes, Beaker?

- [Dr.Beaker] Ask him to try and find the source

of the uh, leakage, will you?

- Doctor Beaker says find the leak if you can.

- [Mike] Not gonna be easy, but I can try.

I'll check the cockpit cover.

Where it seals.

That's the most likely place.

I must say Dr. Beaker's mask is doing its stuff,

I can't feel a thing.

I got it!

The canopy must have cracked

where it seals against the metal of the cockpit.

What do I do about it?

- Well, you have to try and mend it, Mike.

- Swell idea, Professor. Only I didn't bring

my puncture repair kit with me.

- Actually, he did, Professor.

I put one down by the right of the seat.

- Thank you, Doctor.

Down by the seat, on your right-hand side, Mike.

- Well, well, that's what I call being prepared.

Okay, I got it.

[dramatic music]

First time I ever mended a puncture

from inside the tube.

That's it, folks.

Show is over for the moment.

Business back to normal. - [Professor] You're sure

it's all right now, Mike?

- Fine, Professor.

Hey, I must be gettin' close by now.

- Well, that was a near thing.

- Not really, my dear Colonel.

These things are all in a day's work.

Everything was, uh, under control.

- Doctor Beaker? - [Dr. Beaker] Yes?

- Mike appears to be approaching the target.

Can you give him a position?

- [Colonel] Hey, the blips are almost on top of one another.

- And, uh, the altitude is now 101,000.

[suspenseful music]

- I can see it! - Can you, Mike?

Where? - At 10:00.

- [Dr.Beaker] Bring him down. Five degrees, Professor.

- Console to pilot, reduce on port engine,

one second only.

- [Mike] Switching on clear view now.

There she is. There's our baby.

- Yeah, but uh, rather a dangerous baby.

- Right, Mike, select wide-angle lens.

Mike? Mike?

Hold it steady. - [Mike] Yeah but how?

- [Professor] Starboard boost, one-half second.

[beeping]

- It's not so easy, is it?

- You can uh, say that again.

Range 5,000, decreasing.

- [Mike] I must say, that canister

looks kinda peaceful just hangin' there.

Hard to believe it's the menace it is.

- [Professor] Console to pilot, range 3,005.

- Roger.

- Range, 3,000.

- [Mike] Got it in my sights, Professor.

- 2,800.

- [Mike] I'm losing it.

- Half-boost port, one second.

2,005.

- [Mike] Roger.

Yeah, that's better.

- 2,200.

- Nothing more for us to do, Colonel.

- Yeah, that's true. I guess he's on his own now.

- 2,050, 2,025.

2,000.

- What's happened?

Mike?

- Mike? Are you still there?

You're into 1,875.

- I'm going in further, too.

- [Professor] Mike? Mike, no.

- I can't hold steady and guarantee a hit at that range.

I haven't brought Supercar

all the way out here to miss.

- [Professor] For heaven's sake, Mike. You're into 1,200.

I'm gonna fire at nine, Professor.

- But Mike, you won't get through yourself.

- Won't I? I'm going pretty fast?

900.

Here goes. [button clicks]

[rocket firing] [balloon exploding]

[triumphant music]

- Ah, he's made it!

[triumphant music]

- [Mike] You won't mind me sending you

the bill for a new paint job?

- Oh, certainly not, certainly not.

I guess that's the least the Air Force can do.

- Not at all, it was a great opportunity

to run an altitude test.

- Gee, I'm sorry Mitch wasn't

in on the excitement, though.

- Well, Jimmy, we couldn't risk him

sticking a paw into that operation.

[lively music]

[chattering]

You can see what I mean.

He's, uh, meddlesome.

[engine humming]

[engine roaring]

♪ Supercar, Supercar

♪ With beauty and grace

♪ As swift as can be

♪ Watch it flying through the air ♪

♪ It travels in space

♪ Or under the sea

♪ And it can journey anywhere

♪ Supercar, Supercar

♪ It travels on land

♪ It roams the skies

♪ Through the heaven's stormy rage, ♪

♪ It's Mercury-manned

♪ And everyone cries

♪ It's the marvel of the age

♪ Supercar, Supercar, Supercar