Original subtitles

You're about to see the rarest kind of human experience:

one man's adventure into the world of the unknown.

You may question, you may challenge what follows.

Nevertheless, it is the personal record

of someone who took that...

one step beyond.

She was standing right here!

I saw... It was no hallucination!

"Hallucination."

According to Webster: Noun.

"Illusion; apparent perception

of an external object not actually present."

That's what the dictionary says.

But inside that room, that well-ordered definition

just won't do.

Sometimes, repeating over and over again

what we think we have seen...

You want to hear it again?

You just tell me, you want to hear it again?

You want to hear it a thousand times,

I'll tell it to you a thousand times!

But when do we stop?!

When that which cannot be is removed from that which was.

Okay, Doctor.

Same story.

Six weeks ago, I was released from a sanitarium

for chronic alcoholism.

I went to Nevada to find my wife.

She was getting a divorce.

Hi, Dad.

Well... It's been a while, son.

You know something, son?

I missed you.

Me, too, but Ma said it would be

better if we didn't bother you.

Well, she's right.

She's right.

That's no place to go visiting people.

How is she?

She's okay.

Hey, what's the matter, huh?

Nothing.

Oh.

Well, I'm not, uh, drunk, if that's

what you're wondering. Dad...

That was it, wasn't it?

She told you to find out if I was.

Well, now, that's nothing for you to be ashamed of.

She's absolutely right.

She shouldn't see me unless she makes sure.

You're never going to have to

worry about that again, Steve.

You believe me?

Sure, I do.

Thanks, Steve.

Now, let's go see

if we can convince your mother.

I hope she believes you.

I hope so, too.

Hey, hey. Wait a minute.

Helen... Hello, Carl.

Put this out in the station wagon, will you, Steve?

You're still going?

Mm-hmm.

Dad, too?

Well, you run along now, huh?

Steve.

See you later.

How'd you like the flowers?

They're lovely.

It's a much bigger bouquet than last time.

I see you didn't care much for the note, either.

I meant every word of it.

You always do.

You were always sweet and thoughtful, Carl.

Except when I was drunk and looking for somebody to punch.

I just can't help it anymore.

I used to be able to forget, but now I can't.

Oh, why did you come all the way out here?

The answer is no.

Helen... No, Carl!

Absolutely no.

See, all the other times you were away,

I used to be able to think of you

the way you were when we first got married...

The good times... But this last time...

All I could see was you drunk and shouting

and fighting, and...

And those two policemen...

the way they looked at me.

Carl, I've just forgiven and forgotten so many times

that it-it's just all gone out of me,

the forgiving and the forgetting.

I can't, that's all. No!

Helen, I don't want you to forget.

Carl, what you're doing is not fair to any of us.

You're upsetting Stevie...

I... listen to me, Helen.

I want you to remember.

We've both got to remember just how terrible it was,

because that's what's going to keep it from happening again.

I can't go through this again, Carl.

I just can't.

Why did you have to come out here?

Why couldn't you just leave us alone?

Helen...

You remember where they put me the last time?

It was pretty awful.

I was never so scared in my whole life,

not even when I was a little kid.

Oh, I... I hated you

for letting them put me there.

Well, what was I supposed to have done?

I hated you at first, but I'm grateful now.

Gave me a lot of time to think.

And when I got out, I realized

that I'd never take another drink as long as I lived.

But how do you know?

Because now I know what made me drink.

It was fear.

Fear?

Of what?

You had a wonderful job and...

We had Stevie, and...

You knew how much I loved you.

And I was afraid

that I wasn't good enough for you.

That doesn't make much sense, I guess.

How can I make you understand?

Well, I drank to forget the fear

and when I was drinking,

I really wasn't good enough for you.

Well, the fear got worse, I drank some more

and I lost my job.

I hated myself for that, and I drank some more.

Hated myself some more...

And all the time, I was afraid.

But I'm not afraid anymore.

Take me back, Helen.

What do you say?

You were always such a good salesman.

You make it sound so right.

It is right.

I... I want to think about it.

And not here.

When I'm with you, whatever you say seems right.

I'm glad I still have that effect on you.

I... I promised Stevie I'd take him sightseeing this afternoon.

Could I go with you?

No. We'll be back before supper.

While you're deciding...

would you wear this?

I'll never put that ring on again, Carl, unless I mean it.

If it is "no," I promise I won't argue.

Thanks, Carl.

Just in case it is "no,"

I want you to remember this:

I do love you.

♪ ♪

What's the matter, Steve?

Nothing.

You don't sound like nothing's the matter.

It's not your fault, Mom.

What isn't?

That I don't enjoy anything

as much as I did when... Oh, I don't know.

When what?

When I was a little kid, I guess.

Now, that's not what you meant, is it?

You mean that

nothing's as much fun without your father.

Isn't that what you're trying to tell me?

Maybe I feel the same way.

Maybe?

Maybe.

When are you going to decide?

I don't know.

Why not?

Because it isn't that easy.

It is to me.

You want to, don't you?

Oh, yes, I want to.

But, uh, I thought we came out here to look at a silver mine.

Wasn't that the general idea?

Come on.

Hey, wait a minute, you're going to need your flashlight.

Come on, come on!

Here. You better carry this, honey.

Stevie?

Stevie?

I'm over here, Mom!

Oh, you scared me half to death.

I'm sorry.

Look down there.

I wonder how deep it is.

Got a piece of paper?

A piece of paper's no good.

We'll use a rock.

There's water down there!

I guess that's why they abandoned the mine.

Gee, I don't know.

Dad would.

Will you give a lady a little time?

Haven't you had enough time?

Yes, Stevie, I guess I have.

Then let's go back and tell him.

No, not right now.

Run on.

Mommy! Mommy!

Mommy! Mommy!

Helen?

Helen?!

Oh, Helen, what happened?

He's trapped.

W-Where's Stevie? He's trapped.

Where?! He's trapped!

Where?! Where?! He's trapped in the mine!

Oh, Helen! Hurry!

Hurry!

Hurry!

There! There!

He's underneath!

No! No! Over there!

There! Where?

Hurry!

Hurry! Hurry!

Try and get some help, Helen.

Please, try and get some help.

Steve?

Stevie, boy, you in there, boy?

Stevie?

Lady?

Lady? Lady?

Where are you?

Right here! Right here!

Where's the trouble?

Here!

Where's the trouble, man?

Right here. My boy's in there. My boy...

Your boy? Someplace he's in here.

You know, he's... Stevie? How'd he get in?

Stevie. Oh!

Watch it. Watch it.

Watch it, watch it. Take it easy, now.

I see him. I can see him.

I can see him.

Can you get through?

I gotta try.

Stevie?

Easy, now.

Stevie?

Is he alive? Stevie?

Stevie?

Stevie... Stevie... Oh, Stevie. Oh, Stevie.

Oh, Stevie boy.

Watch it.

I'll get him up here.

I'll take him.

I got him.

Watch it.

Let him through.

Help him through.

Where is he? Here.

Sir, give him to me. Give him to me, sir.

Oh, Stevie boy.

Stevie? Stevie?

You okay?

Mom! Mom! Mom!

What's the matter? Mom!

Hey.

Stevie.

Mommy!

Daddy! Daddy!

Daddy! Stevie, no.

Daddy! Daddy!

Oh, God.

Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!

Daddy! Oh, no.

Daddy!

Daddy!

Daddy! Daddy!

Daddy! Daddy!

Oh, no, Helen!

No. No.

Helen! Helen!

Helen. What's the matter?

What's the matter?

Let me go! Let me go!

Helen! Helen! Hey, mister... Mister! Daddy!

Are you all right? Yeah.

Helen!

Hey, mister, hey, hey.

Hey, mister.

Helen?

Helen? Helen?

Helen?

Hel...

Helen!

Well, that's it.

That's it.

Not quite.

Your wife died instantly when that mine collapsed, Mr. Archer.

That's a medical fact.

Go ahead, state the other medical fact.

Tell me I'm out of my mind.

There's nothing wrong with your mind.

But there are certain facts you have to face.

For instance, do you have any idea

how your wife got from the mine to the motel?

Her station wagon never left that mine.

You know that, don't you?

It was an extremely hot day.

You were fatigued from the long drive.

And you were under considerable emotional stress.

Now, isn't that true?

Isn't that true?

Yes, it is, yes.

Your wife was gone longer than you thought she would be.

You were worried that perhaps she would never come back.

So you invented reasons why she was gone.

I saw her!

She was standing right here!

All right, come on.

Sit down.

You saw what you wished to see.

You have to believe that.

The mirage is quite real to the man

who's dying of thirst, you know.

I didn't wish for that mine to cave in.

How could I have known about that?

Well, out of the thousands

of wild hunches that people get

for one reason or another,

some are bound to be accurate.

You wouldn't believe me if I was...

Mr. Archer, as a doctor,

I also have certain facts to face.

Among them, that I'm dealing with a man

who has a record of chronic alcoholism.

I knew you'd get around to that.

Yes, if that will help you to understand.

Now, you were recently released

from an alcoholic sanitarium.

I told you that.

One of the most common symptoms

of the seriously ill victim

of alcoholism... Is hallucinations.

Well, be honest, Mr. Archer...

In the past, haven't you had hallucinations?

Yes, yes, but this is different.

Look, Archer...

it would be the simplest thing in the world

for me to let you hang on to this...

This fantasy of yours.

Some people might even say it was good medicine...

And maybe it would be for a while...

But in the end,

if you really came to believe it,

if it became, as it could,

one of the most important things in your life,

you'd end up a very sick man.

And later on, if you had to give it up,

if your very sanity depended on it...

well just believe me when I say

it's a lot easier to give it up now.

You've got a son, Mr. Archer.

He's been waiting outside there for a couple of hours...

Waiting for his father...

Because now that's all he's got to hold on to

for all the years ahead when he needs somebody strong.

And you're going to fail him

if you're a neurotic

who has to hang on to a...

to a mirage for a crutch.

I'm sorry I had to say it that way.

Oh, don't be.

Is it all right if I go home right away now?

Yeah, of course.

Look, uh...

it's not going to be easy for you.

When you have a bad night, I want you to take one of these.

I thought you didn't like crutches.

They're all right if they wear off in a couple of hours.

Well... thanks, sir.

You know, I don't... I don't have all the answers...

Not by a long shot, but...

I hope I've helped a little.

I guess so.

How much do I owe you?

Nothing.

This is on the house.

Come in.

Uh, how you feeling?

On my way to work.

I thought I'd drop by and say howdy

and see how you were getting along.

Yeah, well, hello. How are you?

Fine.

I, uh, didn't get a chance to thank you last night.

This is one of the men

who helped pull Stevie out of the mine.

I don't even know your name.

Sam Harrison.

Jim and I both are very glad we could be of help.

I can't tell you how grateful I am.

How the two of you ever happened to be there when I needed you

at the mine, I'll never know.

Mr. Archer, when we heard those screams,

we couldn't get there fast enough.

What screams?

Well, Jim says now that it must have been the wind

hitting the telephone wires,

that that's all it could have been.

What did you think it was?

Well, I guess I'll go along with Jim.

What did you think it was?

What did you really think it was?

It wasn't the wind.

It was a woman screaming for help.

Well, I guess I'd better be getting along now.

Jim's waiting on the truck.

That's a fine boy you've got, Mr. Archer.

Good luck to you, and God bless the both of you.

So long now.

I don't think I'll need these.

Wind in the wires?

Illusion?

Hallucination?

Certainly you have your own very personal explanation...

Or rejection.

But is it possible that love knows no boundaries...

Not even death?

That sometimes a loving hand beyond life itself

can reach out to shield the living?

Is it possible?

In a moment, something about next week.

Doesn't look much like a weapon of war, does it?

It is, though.

This, pitchforks, bird guns, all sorts of things

were used by England's home guard

as they faced the threat of Nazi invasion after Dunkirk.

There was another weapon, too.

Psychic power... very potent.

Next week we'll show you how it worked.