Original subtitles

Faster than a speeding bullet.

More powerful than a locomotive.

Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound.

Look, up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman.

Yes, it's Superman.

Strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities

far beyond those of mortal men.

Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers.

Bend steel in his bare hands.

And who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great

metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice,

and the American way.

And now, another exciting episode in The Adventures of Superman.

Can I help you?

Possibly. We'll look around.

Hey, what's the big idea?

How much are they?

Fifty cents apiece, but that's no... I count ten.

That'll be five dollars.

Nothing.

Hello, Miss Lane. Greetings.

Good heavens, what happened?

Craziest thing.

Two fellas walked in. One was a nice-looking gent carrying a cake.

I just can't believe it. It's like in a dream where everything gets smashed up.

You mean someone did this deliberately?

The fella stood right here smashing them on the floor.

Ten of them.

Here's the money.

You mean he paid for them and then smashed them? No. The little one smashed

and the big one paid.

It's cuckoo.

Oh, you want your picture, huh?

I had a little trouble with the handle, but if you lift it carefully, I think

it'll hold.

Thank you.

Glad to do it.

By the way, I'm sorry about the breakage.

All I'm sorry about is they didn't smash some of the $50 pieces.

Oh, by the way, do you have any China egg cups?

China egg cups?

No, I'm afraid not.

Try Edwards in Front Street. He'd have them.

There was no bull in the china shop, lady. Don't tell me, I'll tell you. Two

men walked in the shop, a tall one and a short one. The short one smashed him and

the tall one paid for the statues.

How did you know? I read minds. Thanks.

And that was about 4.30.

I see.

Yes, you told me.

Busy? Come in, Mr. Kent. You're just the man I want to see.

Nine. Uh-huh. Well, thanks a lot. Bye.

You look like you just won the Pulitzer Prize.

Mr. Kent, I have just stumbled onto the wackiest story this side of a nuthouse.

Now, get this.

At 3 o'clock this afternoon, two men walked into Benelli's art craft shop...

And smashed a lot of cheap plaster statuettes.

Well, how do you know?

Oh, I get around.

Now, don't be difficult, Clark. They've done the same thing in seven places, and

I have a list of 12 more here still to check.

Is there a Davis Brothers 416 Kingsley Drive on your list?

Yes. Well, Mr. Davis called.

It seems they went into his place to smash 14 statues, and he wants us to

send a photographer and shoot the wreckage for free publicity.

What do you make of it?

Well, obviously, they're looking for something.

How big are these things?

Oh, not very big.

White plaster, real cheap.

All the same?

Sort of. Animal subjects. Horses, cows, dogs, cats.

Clark, will you be a good sport?

Mm-hmm.

I have a hunch there's a story behind this statue-breaking bin.

Now, let's buy some of them and see what's inside.

Here, you cover five of the places and I'll cover six.

Oh, Lois. Where's your spirit of adventure?

This is silly. Now, look, I'll be home after I check my place. If you hear of

anything exciting, let me know.

That's the game, boss.

Follow her.

Wait a minute.

If we're going to follow her, we'll have to get Pete and Charlie to cover the

rest of the shots.

We'll lose her if we don't move fast. It'll be getting dark.

Go ahead.

We'll call from wherever she stopped.

That's her car. This must be where she lives.

There's a drugstore on the corner.

Call Pete.

Have him cover the rest of the places with Charlie.

I'll wait here for you.

Right.

Clark, I found something. You did?

I bought 15 of the statues, and guess what? In the last one, I found a small

brass key. And that's not all.

They'd already been to two of the places on my list.

Huh?

Now, it doesn't make much sense, but at one of the places, McVeigh's, the owner

saw them pick up a small acorn and a little toy automobile.

And at another... Now, wait a minute, Lois. I want to write that down.

Yes, and a little toy automobile.

And at the other place, I think it was the art mart, they found a safety pin

and a small dried-up onion.

Just a minute now. Safety pin and a small onion.

Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

Maybe not.

How did you make out?

They've been to four places I checked.

I haven't checked the fifth one yet.

It's clear across town. I'll call them as soon as you hang up.

Oh, getting interested, huh?

Mm-hmm, sort of.

They find anything at your places?

Yes, they found a dollar bill and a little plastic cow.

It gets crazier and crazier.

I want you to hide that key that you found.

I'll get back to you later.

Okay.

Elite gift shop.

This is Clark Kent of the Daily Planet. We're checking on two men that are going

around town smashing statuettes.

Oh, yes, they're here now.

Having a wonderful time.

I have 19 of those horrid little things, and if they hadn't smashed them sooner

or later, I would have... Call the police and have them arrested.

Oh, now, really, they're not committing any crime.

They've paid... for the little monstrosities. Let them smash him.

Very well.

That was a newspaper reporter.

He told me to have you arrested. For what?

Oh, don't worry. You can smash every solitary thing in the shop so long as

you pay for it.

Okay, let's go. Thanks, John.

Mention a gentleman to come again when you're in a destructive mood.

My name is Kent. I'm a newspaper reporter.

I'd like some questions answered. Out of the way, John.

Call Inspector Henderson to police headquarters.

Goodness gracious.

But what am I going to hold him on?

I don't care.

Disturbing the peace, willful destruction, anything.

There's one thing you newspaper boys have got to learn. You can't take the

law into your own hands. Now, look, Inspector. This time, Kent, you pulled a

real boner.

Those two guys may beat their crippled grandmothers five times a day and ten

times on Sunday.

They may be murderers and second-story men, but in this case, so far as the law

is concerned, they haven't done a thing.

Just smashed 19 statues.

They paid for them. And what about the three cents they found in one of them?

Big deal.

Those statues cost them nine bucks and they get back three cents.

Oh, they can get real rich that way.

Sorry, Kent, I have to release them. Now, just a minute.

Even if it's certain from the descriptions we got from various

shopkeepers that the tall, smooth one is Paul Martin, one of the top confidence

men in the world?

No, Kent, the law.

What has he done to break the law?

We don't know.

Yet? Until we do, we can't hold them.

Yes, sir. Release those two guys we just booked.

Fill out form 114 and tell O'Brien to see to it.

Great Scott!

Get me police headquarters.

After you, Miss Lane.

Sit down, Miss Lane.

Believe me, I deeply regret exposing you to these, shall we say, disreputable

surroundings. But I'm afraid you have no one to blame but yourself.

Never mind the sweet talk. Get to the point.

There is only one point.

Where is the key you found in one of those statuettes?

Aren't you tired of asking me that same question?

You'll discover that I don't tire easily, Miss Lane.

Nor does my associate.

You interfered in something that was none of your business.

You stuck your pretty inquisitive nose into a matter that concerned you not one

whit. I know. Curiosity killed the cat.

We may have to kill more than a cat before we're through.

Don't threaten me.

Don't. Leave her alone.

Look, let's get one thing straight.

That key belongs to me. I paid for the statue it was in, and I own it. And you

and your friend here can threaten me until the cows come home, but it won't

do you one solitary bit of good.

Nick, Paul Martin, get the plane ready. We're going up to the mobs to do a

little persuasion job.

Right.

Yes, what is it?

Fingerprint report on Miss Lane's apartment, sir.

Now bring it in.

I'm sorry, sir. There were no prints.

You mean to say... Oh, never mind.

Well, how do you like that?

Martin's too smart to leave fingerprints around.

That place looked like a cyclone, hit it.

You'd think there'd be a print somewhere.

What difference does it make? We know it was Martin and his men.

Fingerprints won't help us locate Lois.

And I have a horrible feeling if we don't find her soon, it may be too late.

Cops. On the floor.

You folks need any help?

No, thanks. The wire to the distributor head popped out. It's okay now.

All right. Good night.

Good night.

That was a cold one.

Get moving.

Now, we know that all the statues were shipped from one European factory.

We also know that Martin found seven objects in the statues.

And they were an acorn, a safety pin, a toy automobile, a little plastic cow, an

onion, a dollar bill, and three pennies.

Doesn't make any sense.

Must be a code of some sort.

I haven't had a chance to work it out yet, but I've got an idea.

Yes? We've got one of Martin's men, Inspector.

Oh, bring him in.

Bring that chair out.

Okay,

leave him here.

Now, sit down.

Hey, ain't you guys getting a little tired looking at me?

Sit down.

Take off your hat.

Where's Martin?

How would I know?

You're a two-time loser.

Armed robbery in 39, felonious assault in 44.

You know what happens if we clip you now.

Well, I didn't do nothing. You broke into Miss Lane's apartment.

That wasn't me. Who was it?

I don't know.

Okay, punk.

You want to play tag?

We'll play tag.

You'd better take the south gate and drive right up to the plane. Okay.

Once more, where does Martin go when he holds up? I told you, I don't know.

Okay, you asked for it, you're going to get it.

You'll be a three-time loser and go up for Mike or she'll have to frame you for

it. No, you can't do that.

Where's Martin?

Well, he's got a place up in the mountains.

Where?

Rock Hollow. Is he there now?

I don't know. Told the guy around his plane that... Plane?

Yeah. Where's he keep it?

Ramsey Airport.

Hey, Kent, wait a minute. Kent, wait. No time.

Keep Miss Lane up at the lodge until you hear from me.

If you're nice to her, she might play canasta. Should be.

Happy landings.

There. Well, we have an artist in our midst, Inspector.

At least it'll give you an idea.

Now, the objects Martin and his men found in the plaster statuettes make up

what's known as a rebus. And here's how it works.

That's an acorn.

Plus pin.

Now, we subtract car.

Now we add move for cow.

Now we subtract onion.

O-N-I-O-N.

Now we add a dollar.

And we subtract three cents.

Which leaves 97.

Now what have we got left?

P-M-O-97.

P-M-O...

P-O-97.

Let's kick that around a little bit.

P-M-O-97 doesn't seem to mean anything.

What about M-P-O-97?

Don't look at me.

I flunked simple arithmetic.

What about P-O-97? Let's see the M out for a moment.

Well, it could be post office 97.

Either a box or a substation.

Well, good girl. Now we'll add the M.

It is a box.

Post office box 97, main branch.

That's right.

There's something in post office box 97 at the main branch that Martin has gone

to a lot of trouble to get.

Well, what are we sitting here for? He's got the key.

Because the post office doesn't open until 7 o'clock in the morning. And I'll

be there in person to help, Mr. Martin. Open that box.

Inspector, must you take so long? Let me do it.

Relax, Lois.

We need a screwdriver.

Well, break it open.

No, no, no. Wait, wait.

Oh, no.

Is this what we've been beating our brains out for?

No, Inspector.

This.

It's a ruby. The Rensselaer ruby. That's right. The largest ruby in the world.

Stolen three years ago from the London Museum.

What a story.

Thanks to Kent here.

And to Superman.

Like I always say, two heads are better than one.