[ Dixieland jazz]
TIME TRAVELERS
[ March]
[Siren Wailing]
We drove in right behind you, got a
look at her when you were unloading.
What happened? -She
just fainted. That's all.
But when the parade ambulance came by,
I thought I ought to bring her here.
Excuse me, Doctor. My orders were to bring
you directly to Doctor Stafford's office.
All right, Sergeant. You brought
me here. I know where to find him.
The youngsters get so excited
marching in a Mardi Gras.
And of course they never eat
properly so far away from home.
What you think it is, the
flu? -Wait a minute. You said something.
"So far away from home." She's
from New Orleans, isn't she?
Well, I am, but Betty
here is from Oregon.
Our service club
has an honor band.
Two music honors students
from each state of the union.
From each state?
Why? What's wrong?
I'm Dr. Clinton Earnshaw
from the university.
I want you to run a blood
test on her immediately.
Don't be scared, Betty. They're
gonna take good care of you here.
I want you to put her in the X.
B. room. I want him in there too.
And don't forget, fumigate
her clothes. Thank you.
Is it? -Looks like you have
another one, Dr. Stafford.
That's 14 here at Bayou
and six more at St. Mary's.
How many are still alive? -The
last report I gave the governor...
said there was only
a 40% mortality rate.
"Only 40%."
I suppose you don't know how
many are still being diagnosed...
as scarlet fever, or snakebite
or sunstroke? -No way.
Let me tell you something, Doctor. lf l
were public health director of this state-
If you were public health director of this
state, I know, you'd quarantine the city...
and lock up a halfa million
visitors from all over the world.
Well, you can't let them scatter.
Not until we've found some way to
isolate that virus, if it is a virus.
Not until we've found
some way to stop it.
Sure, sure. With a quick and easy cure
for a deadly disease that's so obscure...
it isn't even in the
textbooks anymore.
And all you specialists have been able
to do is to give it a new name, "X. B."
What do you suggest we
name it, panic, hysteria?
Oh, I'm sorry, Clint.
I am too.
Only, why did you have to send a police
sergeant to drag me all the way over here...
just when I have every lab
at the university working.
Clint, Washington called.
They've sent us some
high-powered help, so they claim.
Thank God. Who did they
send? -A fella named Adams.
[Snoring]
Are you there?
Handy little trick, instant sleep.
Particularly when you haven't
had it in the last couple of days.
This is Dr. Clinton
Earnshaw, the pathologist...
who first recognized the
symptoms of our epidemic.
Oh, yes. I know all
about Dr. Earnshaw.
Graduated from medical school
at 23- -I think we can skip that.
Hello, Dr. Adams.
[Chuckles]
I'm no doctor. You can just call
me jeff. I've barely got an M. A.
This may come as a surprise
to you, Mr. Adams...
but we told H. E. W. our biggest need
was for bacteriologists and virologists.
Yeah, well, uh...
I had an athletic scholarship once to this
little cow college, if you can fathom that.
But, uh, never mind that.
We haven? got much time.
Let's go. -I'm not going
anywhere, Mr. Adams.
He just wants your attention
for a few hours, Clint.
I can't even spare minutes, Doctor.
With all due respect,
I doubt very much...
if there's any way at all
that Mr. Adams can help us.
Your problem is X. B., right?
Symptoms similar to "cardinalia,
"woods fever, "scarabus toxicana, "
All thought to be as extinct
as the passenger pigeon.
But now the disease is back again.
So unless you've found a cure
in the last couple of hours-
Well, have you? -No, we haven't.
Hmm. Well, then, let's
do it together maybe, huh?
Come on.
There's a jet waiting
at the airport.
It's a White House jet,
Doctor. Please don't argue.
All right, now that we're alone,
maybe you'll explain all this.
Adams?
- [Snoring]
That is a handy little trick.
[Continues Snoring]
We'll be landing soon.
Two more hours.
That instant sleep
stuff really works.
I learned it during
astronaut training.
What happened, you flunk out?
When I discovered I was too young for
the moon program, and too old for Mars...
I applied for something a
little more exciting, that's all.
Like what? -Well, it's, uh...
a science foundation thing.
Pretty specialized.
Now we only have this one
little research center.
You'll see. -What does all
this have to do with my problem?
With a blossoming epidemic that may
soon threaten this whole country?
Did you ever hear of a
G. P. named Henderson...
Dr. joshua P. Henderson?
-From Illinois.
He's one of the few doctors who ever accurately
described these same symptoms of X. B.
And he's the one who called
it woods fever, right?
He lived over a hundred
years ago, Mr. Adams.
They blamed the dense forest for a
lot of things they had in those days.
I know. But he described
the symptoms of 27 cases.
And he also managed to keep all
but two of those cases alive, right?
That's what other
doctors claimed, yes.
Unfortunately, all of
Dr. Henderson's records...
were burned up in the Chicago
fire in 1871 , so-
Wouldn't it help you to know
what was in those records?
To know how Dr. Henderson
cured those cases of X. B. ?
Of course it would. For your
information, medical historians...
have been digging into that puzzle
for years without any luck at all.
So unless somehow, miraculously...
you have discovered Dr. Henderson's
diaries in the last couple of hours-
Well, have you?
I'm afraid the only personal effect
of Henderson's that was ever found...
was... this gold watch.
It was given to him
by his wife in 1854.
The Chicago Museum loaned it to me.
It has a rather beautiful
inscription on the back.
"To my beloved, my
most beloved husband."
Adams, I'm really not interested in the mementos
of a man who's been dead over a hundred years.
Of course.
But wouldn't you like
to talk to Dr. Henderson?
Ask him a few medical
questions, perhaps?
[ Doorbell Rings ]
Hi, come on in. We're
just about ready for you.
Dr. Earnshaw, Dr. Sanders.
-Helen. Nice to meet you.
How do you do?
He likes degrees. She's got five.
Caltech, Oxford-
-Cut it out jeff.
Would you like some coffee, uh,
Clint, is it? -No, thank you.
I had some on the plane. -Good.
We're on a tight schedule anyway.
I was gonna put a Thermos in here,
but- -That is a thing of beauty.
The boys certainly have
worked fast. -What is that?
Why, it's a medical bag.
Look, everything's Victorian.
The 1870s, exactly as
it should be. Only, uh...
see in here?
It's transistorized. It has
enough power to run for five hours.
A miniaturized centrifuge? -And we thought
you might want to do a blood analysis...
so we put a special
microscope in there too.
Only, for heaven's sakes, don't let
anyone back in Chicago get a look at these.
Back in... Wait a minute.
What's going on here?
When you made that crazy crack about talking to
man who's been dead for over a hundred years...
I thought you meant in a sance or
some other nutty spiritualist thing.
He didn't tell you that
we do time research here...
that you're going to
travel back in time to 1871?
I'm what?
[Sighs] Oh, jeff, really.
I'm sorry, but I was afraid you
might just jump out the plane.
I mean, I know if I were in your shoes,
and somebody I never heard or'...
said we're gonna go back a hundred years
-
I think it's time
he meets the boss.
Dr. Earnshaw, Dr. Cummings.
I guess you have heard
of Dr. Amos Cummings.
I was under the impression that
you'd moved to Africa, Doctor.
No, no, no.
I just moved out of NASA.
Ran away from my chair in
physics. Oh, what a relief.
That's a strange reaction
from a Nobel Prize winner.
Not at all.
I just got rid of
specialization... that's all.
Now I can start at the beginning...
examine the whole tree of knowledge.
Dr. Cummings. [Chuckles]
Are you actually claiming
that you can transport me back?
Well, I'll be with
you. I'm going too.
Snoring all the way,
I suppose. Now, look...
I'll go along with any
experiment if it makes any sense.
But this is absolutely ridiculous.
I, uh, think l heard him
say "yes", didn't you?
Yes, I did. Dr. Earnshaw, my
computers are on a very tight schedule.
[Adams ] These are
the memory banks.
The main part of the city back in those
days was down here on the South Side.
Everything quite
close to Lake Michigan.
There might be great value in
going back in time, I suppose...
if we could correct
our mistakes. -No.
That's the one thing you can't
do. You can't change history.
Dr. Henderson lived up
here on the North Side...
a nice, quiet rural
area back then.
That's where we'll be arriving,
the first thing we'll see.
Just tell me one thing.
Has anybody ever done this before?
Have they? -Of course.
Four of us have gone back already,
a lot farther than Chicago.
There's nothing to it.
Jeff, I, uh, think it's time
we tell him the whole story.
Only three of those
men came back alive.
What happened to the fourth?
He came back 20 minutes late.
He was decomposed...
with an arrowhead
embedded in his back.
30.000 years old.
Don't ask me how or why...
because I don't even know yet.
So we're really
just guinea pigs. -No.
We're all just human beings.
And all we have to face the future
with... is the experience of our past.
Unfortunately, there are
only remnants left...
of our history,
our knowledge.
Wouldn't you like to find
some of that lost knowledge?
We go through here.
Hey, fellas.
Safe journey.
Four days.
We'll have four days there.
That should be plenty of time.
From October 4- - lf we lose
four days, that epidemic-
We could be in the past a whole month and it
wouldn't take away any time from the present.
How could it?
- [Cummings On P. A.] Gentlemen...
we are 1 O seconds from the start
of countdown. -We're ready, sir.
Dr. Earnshaw? -Yes, I'm still here.
He'll be fine, sir.
Let's go.
[ Whirring ]
[ Beeping ]
[ Beeping ]
So is this it? A nice, quiet
rural area on the North Side?
Where are we, downtown
what? New York, Cleveland?
It can't be Chicago. It's
too hot for this time of year.
They had a heat wave
in October of 1871.
No, this is Chicago, all right.
"CB & Q."
"Chicago, Burlington and Quincy".
And that sign. "Great Lakes Dry
Goods." That means Lake Michigan.
So the computers
made a little mistake.
A couple of miles' error in
latitude and longitude, that's all.
Sure, Randolph Street.
State Street maybe.
We'll have to leave from the
exact same spot where we arrived...
back there at the railroad station.
Did you hear me, Clint? -What?
We'll have to leave back there
from the railroad station.
We'll get a room
at the Palmer House.
We've only got four days to
get all the information we want.
Well, that should be plenty of
time once we find Dr. Henderson.
Well, just remember, you're Dr.
Clinton Earnshaw of Washington D. C.
If you tip your real identity-
-They'll put us in a padded cell.
Leff, I don? believe it.
We're really here. I don't believe it.
- [Chuckles]
Maybe now you'll understand
why I quit the astronauts.
I fell in love with history.
It's where the people are.
Jeff, look at this.
The latest dispatch from Stanley. He's in
Africa on his way to look for Livingston.
What's the matter? -Is
this date a misprint?
No, no. That's today's
paper, just out.
Today is Saturday, October
7th? -Well, sure, mister.
Jeff, what's the matter? -Those
computers, I should've guessed...
when they dumped us
in the wrong place.
We should've been here
October 4, remember?
What difference does that make? We still
have four days to find Dr. Henderson.
No, you're wrong, Clint.
In less than 29 hours, this
whole city is gonna be in flames.
He wants an ice?
-There's chicken in there.
I don't want it to spoil
before he gets a chance to eat.
And I know he won't eat unless
you get, uh, reminding him.
I just don't know if there's any
ice left in the whole hospital today.
Oh, hold on, gentlemen.
You mustn't go in there.
I'!! be over in a moment.
Dear, there's always ice on the
second floor of medicine storage.
Well, go on. See what they want.
Jane, we're waiting. -Poor girl.
They leave her all alone
on a Saturday afternoon.
No training, practically
brand-new from the old country.
Go back there, because it's
restricted. It's very contagious.
Jane, I thought you said you only
wanted to stop by and leave the food.
Shh. That man said "Henderson",
didn't he? Excuse me.
Lakeside Hospital, Dr.
Joshua P. Henderson.
Excuse me. I'm his
niece Jane Henderson.
You're a doctor too, aren't you?
Yes, I am. How did you guess?
Oh, I don't know.
Your bag. -Oh. [Chuckles]
[Adams ] Well, is he
here? It's urgent.
The surgeon general sent us all the way
from Washington D. C.just to see him.
This is Dr. Earnshaw. My
name is Adams. -How do you do?
General. Oh, yes, gentlemen.
This way, sirs. I'll see
if I can find him. -No.
You really shouldn't, dear. Uncle
josh is with his fever patients.
That's where he's been
for the past 24 hours.
Fever patients?
-Woods fever, it'; cal/ed.
There's been a small outbreak here.
But many of the doctors
referred their cases to my uncle.
They all claim that it's the
terrible heat and walked away...
but of course it's because they really
just don't know what to do about it.
If you could just tell us
where he is. We're in a hurry.
And so are we, jane.
Oh, I'm sorry, Clarence.
I'm terribly sorry, but I knew I shouldn't
have left my uncle all alone today.
Please tell the others...
forgive me.
I'm a nurse, gentlemen. Come along,
and I'll show you the way myself.
[Spits]
I told you to swallow that stuff.
Liquor. There's liquor in there.
Red liquor, the blood of the devil.
That was a pill in there.
Leave me, temptation. For
the Lord sayeth unto me-
He wouldn't waste
his breath. Now open.
Now whistle your hornpipe, sailor.
[Gagging]
[Chuckles] There now. That
didn't hurt a bit, did it?
May the Lord forgive you.
His name's Sharkey, Doc. Told me he went to
one of them camp meetings the other night.
"Joined in grace", he said.
-Don't try to talk, son.
I heard the worn'. I
seen the light Hallelujah.
Sir, it helps me to talk, Doc.
Keeps me from thinking about things,
like my wife and kid back in Texas.
I used to be a sinner
like all the rest of you.
And then I learned
the evils of women...
and whiskey and chewin' tobacco.
Sharkey, you'll be a corpse
if you don't quit yowlin'.
Yeah, shut up, you old bum.
-Shame on you, all of you! Stop it!
What in the hell are
you doing back here?
Never mind, ma'am. For
he that useth profanity...
shall burn in the flame eternal!
Oh, shut up.
I know you don't want water.
These gentlemen would
like to see you, Doctor.
All right, all right. Soon as I
get rid of this last pill here.
They're from Washington. The
surgeon general sent them.
Oh. [Chuckles]
Well, I won't hold that
against you, gentlemen.
How is the old busybody?
Fine, sir. He sends
you his best wishes.
Uncle josh, this is
Mr. jeffrey Adams.
How do you do? -Pleasure, Doctor.
And this is Dr. Clinton Earnshaw.
How do you do,
Doctor? -How do you do?
Oh, one of those new...
disinfectant nuts
to boot maybe, huh?
Your niece did say this was an
emergency contagious ward, Doctor.
That's right, all
woods fever in here.
All but me, I'm immune.
-Do you know why, Doctor?
How you got your immunity, that's one
of the things we came here to find out.
I don't claim to know. That sailor
over there would probably say...
it has something to do with my
relationship with the devil maybe.
And, uh, that reminds me.
Couldn't they have found their
way up here by themselves?
I told that young man of yours to keep you out
of this hospital during this blasted heat wave.
Make you go out and have
some fun for a change.
Oh, you did? And all just
because Clarence told you...
that he may run for
alderman, I suppose.
My uncle, you see, has visions of
marrying me to someone respectable...
like a lawyer or a politician.
And of course, it is quite improper for a
single lady to be nursing in a hospital...
where she might meet other
sorts of men, even doctors.
- [ Scoffs ]
-[Man] Doc, Doc.
I'm coming, Mr. Younger.
You'll have to excuse my niece,
gentlemen. She's inclined...
to have a little bit of
a big mouth sometimes.
It runs in the family. -I
kind of like it, Doctor.
Oh?
Oh?
Doctor, we don't have much time.
We can only stay here one day.
Yes, Doctor...
what medications do you
use to effect your cures?
What was that pill you
just gave that man?
[Chuckling]
A little bit of quinine and calomel.
Puts a little buzzing in their ears,
makes 'em rest somewhat easier maybe.
That wouldn't do anything.
Doctor, you sound like a chef who doesn't
want to give away his favorite recipe. Why?
Please, help us, Doctor. It's vital.
All right, sure, sure.
Sure, I'll help you.
Bed rest and sleep,
that never hurt anybody.
Quinine, calomel washed down
with a little elderbeny wine...
now there's three old favorites to keep
folks from realizing how sick they really are.
With maybe a little liver remedy,
snake oil thrown in for good measure.
What the hell, do you
think I'm hiding something?
Gentlemen, I'll show you anything...
help anyway I can.
I just wish to God I could do more.
You see, I-
I just plain don't know...
why my patients live.
There you are. I don't know,
but maybe this will help.
It's all he wants.
Well, first he makes
blackberry syrup...
like they used to for
cholera and summer complaint.
And then he soaks the
currants, adds citron, angelica-
Wait a minute. I missed something.
Does he make a poultice of this?
No, this, the cake.
I just said that he makes
the recipe up himself.
I'm sorry, I-
"A good doctor", he says, "should also be
able to paint a picture or shoe a horse."
I guess I don't qualify then.
I'm not very good with horses.
[ Rooster Crows]
Or chickens either,
as a matter of fact.
[Chuckles]
Where do you come
from? Besides hospitals.
I think we should
get back downstairs.
Clinton, tell me. What do
you do besides medicine?
I mean, do you climb
mountains, go sailing, fishing?
Exploring in the wilderness?
None of that.
I guess there are quite a few things
I've just never taken the time for.
How about you?
What do you mean? -Like Clarence
that your uncle wants you to marry.
What? No.
That's just because when
I was a little girl...
I had such silly dreams about a young
surgeon who went off and joined the army.
What I mean is Uncle josh is just
absolutely scared to death that-
Well, that I'll marry
a doctor someday.
Well, I'm all ready.
Let's go.
-[ Bell Telling]
Wait a minute. What's that?
Oh, it's matins. Time
for early church services.
God, we've taken a
whole half hour. -Taken?
I thought I'd just been
given a whole half hour.
[ Tolling Continues]
Good, good.
Well, you're looking a lot less
feverish this morning. How do you feel?
Well, you're gonna
be all right.
Gonna be all right.
All right, young man. I'll take
over here. You go get some rest.
I'm all right, Doctor. -Yeah?
Yep, that's what I told
the surgeon general.
The surgeon general? -Yeah, I just
sent the old busybody a telegram...
saying thanks for sending
you and your friend here.
You've been a big help, son.
I'd wish you could stay around
Chicago a little while longer.
Well, I'm afraid we
can't, Doctor. -Well.
All right, scoot,
scoot. Get some rest.
I did want to put another cold
pack on the johnson girl, Doctor.
I'll do that.
By the way, uh...
have you checked with your
niece down in the men's ward?
It seems that she's having a little
problem with that noisy sailor.
He wants to get out and go to a camp meeting someplace.
- [ Scoffs]
Blasted nuisance. I'll go
down there and kick him out.
He's almost cured anyway.
Well? -So far, he hasn't
missed on one diagnosis.
Everyone I've checked
has X. B., all right.
You mean that's all you've learned?
How many times do I have
to say it? Today is Sunday.
Between 8:30 and 9:00, that
fire's gonna start. That's tonight.
Tell me something. How many cures for
woods fever have you come up with...
in the last couple of hours
going through Henderson's records?
I've found nothing in
his records. -Right.
So far, I've checked
20 blood samples...
from a patient already dead
to the newest, a little girl.
Do you know how to take blood
samples? -Part of my training.
What I don't have is a sample from
somebody who's already been cured.
The comparison. That's
how I'!! find our answer.
That sailor Sharkey walked out of here a couple
of minutes ago. He was completely recovered.
Give me the syringes.
Where was the sailor headed? -He
was going to another camp meeting.
I overheard somebody saying in a
part of town called "The Patch."
I know where that is.
I.' [ Piano]
[Barking]
[No Audible Dialogue]
[No Audible Dialogue]
[No Audible Dialogue]
Well, well, Mr. Sharkey, I believe.
What a pleasure to find you, sir.
Perhaps you saw me at the
hospital, remember? My name is-
Never mind, mate. I'm in a hurry.
I'm on my way to glory.
Well, then, so am I.
Don't mind if I walk along
with you, do you? -l do.
The road to salvation should
be traveled alone, sir.
Oh, amen to that, sir.
Will it stop now and
then for a drink maybe?
Like back there at a
place called Barney's?
I only had water in that vile place.
What are you doing, man, following
me? -Sharkey, I need your help.
No, no, let me go. Let me go. I'm late for
- for hymn singing.
Now, listen to me. I have
a proposition for you. -No!
Sharkey-
Does money mean anything to you?
Now, that is a pretty sight.
What is it you'd
be wantin' me to do?
I could always use a little bit
more gold for the collection plate.
Now, I'm a doctor, you understand.
So you've nothing to worry about.
And you've been miraculously
cured of a very dangerous disease.
So now, I'm gonna give you a
chance to help save a thousand-
maybe even a million
souls. -What's that thing?
You're the only one
who can do it, Sharkey.
I'll pay you anything you like.
Sharkey, I'm sure some doctor
must have bled you at some time...
for the pox, or some other disorder?
Now, this is simply a new form of-
Sharkey!
[ Dogs Barking]
Need some help?
Oh, uh, yes. Yes,
Officer, I was just, uh-
This man seems to be
in some sort of trouble.
Can't you get him to his feet?
Or did you put him
there? -Of course not.
I suppose we better
ask him about that.
Seems out cold. Gimme a hand, will
ya? -Yes, he did seem to be drunk.
What's that in your hand?
[ Policeman Whistling]
[ Whistling Continues]
[ Whistling]
Did you see him? The gent. -He
turned in here. What'd he do?
He murdered a man. There's a
sailor back there, and he's dead.
[ Whistling Resumes ]
- [Whistling]
- [ Grunts, Sighs]
No. No! I ca
- I can't. No.
[ Muttering ]
No, you can't. No. No.
No, f- -Clinton,
wake up.
- [ Muttering]
-It's all right. Wake up.
What?
- [Chuckles] You must have been having a terrible dream.
You were sleeping so soundly. -Oh.
I was dreaming about
this little girl.
She was burning up with fever, and
I couldn't do anything about it.
Her name is Betty. -If you mean the
little girl upstairs, her name's Nancy.
Nancy johnson. I'm sure
she'll be all right.
No. She was in a parade.
She plays in the
band. She fell down.
She-
-She what?
Never mind.
The sun's going down.
-Well, of course.
Now maybe finally it'll
cool down a little.
I told you, I only wanted to take
a nap, not sleep all afternoon.
But you spelled Uncle josh last
night. He said to let you sleep.
Don't you see? It's Sunday evening.
I'm sorry, Doctor.
But you were so exhausted,
I saw no harm, and-
You certainly don't
look very well right now.
Where's Mr. Adams? -I-l
don't know. Don't you?
He went on an errand for me.
It shouldn't have taken this long.
It couldn't have. -Well, I'm
sure he's come to no harm.
[Sighs] He probably just
went out for a bite to eat.
Well. [Sighs] I guess
I'll get back to work.
Wait a minute.
Please forgive me.
I was very confused.
You've changed your clothes.
You look very, very pretty.
Uncle josh said that I should
also take you out for a good meal.
And then we can get back to
work. -No, I have to find jeff.
I'm gonna need your help. Now, I
know what direction he went in...
and where he was going
- let's go.
I'm sorry. I didn't
mean to bump you.
[Laughing] Are you sure
you're wide awake yet?
I'm all right. How faraway
is this Patch place?
Oh, a good mile or
more. -I'm sorry.
Maybe we better
take a taxi. -A what?
One of those buggy things.
[Sighs] Clinton, be careful!
Can I find you a hansom cab,
Miss Henderson? -I'm all right.
It's just so hot here.
-Yes, joe. Please.
Who was that? Who
were you talking to?
Clinton? What's wrong with you?
Clinton! Get help, Katherine!
[Chuckling]
What? -I'll bet this is something
those computers never counted on.
[Laughing]
I've got it, jane. [Laughing]
X. B. I've got woods fever.
[Shushing] It's all right.
[Blowing Nose]
- [ Fire Roaring]
-[ Horses Neighing]
[Gasps]
Oleary. wake up! O' Leary!
Mrs. Oleary, your
barn's on fire!
[Sirens Wailing,
Bells Clanging]
[ Horses Galloping]
[Neighing]
[ Man] "my "n, will ya?
Here. Lakeside Hospital.
Fast as possible.
Yes, sir.
Let's go. Come on!
Raise your head. Open
your mouth, Clinton.
Unclejosh. -Here. Tastes
better with a little wine, son.
Is he going to be all right?
Don't worry, honey. I'll
pull him through for you.
For me?
Well, I couldn't help noticin'
the way you looked at him.
I think he does look
a little like that...
young surgeon got himself killed
at Vicksburg back when you were 75.
Unclejosh, that has nothing
to do- -l know, I know.
I know.
[ Door Opening] -Sorry.
[ Door
Closing] -You're sorry!
And whatever for?
For mixing you up.
For mixing myself up.
Please just get well. For me?
[Softly] Please.
Don't go away for a while.
All right?
Whoa, boy. Whoa! -All right, look.
No matter how long it takes, I want you
to wait here. Now, do you understand?
Yeah. -I know I'm
gonna need you soon.
Will do, guvnor.
Whoa! Whoa. Whoa, baby.
Woods fever! -I'm sorry, Mr. Adams,
but we didn't know where you were-
we didn't know what to do.
- [ Muttering]
It's all right, Clinton.
Right now, what he
needs most is sleep.
So you better leave now. -No. l-l'm
sure that what he'd want is a, uh-
cortisone injection. -A what?
Your uncle is upstairs
at the moment, right?
Go up and get him, please. -But he's
busy with one of the women patients.
And he told me not to leave
Dr. Earnshaw. -Hurry, nurse.
There's no time to waste. It's perfectly
obvious that Clint wasn't able...
to tell Dr. Henderson about
his lymphatic allergies.
His what? -And if you're
adding calomel and quinine...
to the antibodies already in his system
- Well!
Hurry up! Get out of here.
Go! Go, go, go! Quick!
Clint! Clint! Wake up! -What? What?
I've got it! -Got it?
Got it? Got what? Wh-What-
The blood. The answer
you said you needed.
Sharkeys. Where's your bag?
Here. Here we are.
For comparison. You said it might
be what you needed for the answer.
[Softly] Where is it?
Here. Set it up on this.
- [Softly] Careful.
I couldn't get verymuch.
Chased him. He fell. He was killed.
I didn't mean to. -To kill him?
Jeff, don't you remember, you
said you can't change history?
But the cop said Sharkey was dead.
[Sighs]
Ifhe died...
he died from woods fever before
you took the blood sample.
I was wrong, j eff.
This doesn't mean a thing, except
maybe that Henderson was wrong, too...
and Sharkey wasn't cured at all.
[Sighs]
All right. So now what?
So now, just leave
me alone, all right?
No, Clint!
The Chicago Fire is already started!
[effi we failed. I can't save
Betty, I can't save anybody.
So what do you want to do? Die
before you've even been born?
Come on, Clint. Get up. [Grunts] I'm
gonna get the rest of your clothes on.
In less than two hours, this
hospital is gonna be on fire.
Okay -What'd
you say about a fire?
It's all rightjust take it
easy. -Where is this fire?
[Sniffs] I been
thinkin' I smelled smoke.
You better get back to bed.
Oh. my God!
That's west of here, ain't it?
-From here, about southwest.
What are you doing? -I
want you to see this.
[ Man ] Where them
holdin' pens are.
And me, I got 500 white-faced Herefords
just a-sittin' down there someplace.
My whole life.
Back in New Orleans, you've
got a hundred, or a thousand...
or maybe a million human beings! -What
can we possibly do in a matter of minutes?
That's a question I
never ask myself, Doctor.
If we get back to that railroad station, every
record out of Henderson's office downstairs...
is going with us!
Here, have a pillowcase. You
grab the patients' records.
Maybe computers back home could
find something we couldn't.
Jeff, this whole
thing has gone wrong.
We're supposed to leave
from the North Side, right?
How do you know that station will
even be there at the right time?
I don't know.
I gotta go find my clothes.
[Uncapping Bottle]
[ Scoffs ]
Dr. Henderson?
Nurse Henderson?
Just a moment, Nancy.
-Please? The fire.
Honey, the fire's a long way off.
There's nothing to be
afraid of. -It's so bright.
Well, it's just because of
the reflection from the sky.
Now, you be a good girl.
I'll be back.
Sir? Dr. Henderson?
Uh, I thinkyou'll find him up
in the women's contagious ward.
I was just up there.
What are you doing?
Fire's gettin' worse.
Joe, you lookin' for me?
It's all right. He knows I'm here.
Sir, what is this? I come in, find
this man rifling your whole desk.
Oh, no, no. I told him he could
look at anything he wanted to.
I certainly didn't think he'd
take any of my papers.
Doctor, I-l can explain this.
It's really quite simple.
Doctor, you'd better
look at this, right now.
It's the answer to that telegram you
asked me to send out this morning...
to the surgeon general. -Who?
Who?
Yes, who?
That's a very good question.
Who the devil are you, sir?
I don't understand.
If you'd just let me see that, sir.
I sent him a little thank you for
sending such helpful assistants...
and here he says he's
never even heard...
of anyone named Earnshaw or Adams.
There you are, stealin'
all my patients' records.
Takin' every paper I
own. -Doctor, please.
I asked you a question. Who are you?
Sir, if I were to answer that-
If you were to answer it? [Scoffs]
Joe, d- T-Take that
stuff away from him.
Mister, maybe I don't
care who you are.
After the dumb way I've
trusted you and your friend.
[ Explosion]
- [Joe] My God! What was that?
The first use of
dynamite, I believe.
Fire Marshall Williams is
trying to build a firebreak.
How do you know that? -I
know, Doctor, because...
I know everything that's
gonna happen tonight.
In the next few minutes, the Union
Bank building will be dynamited...
in an effort to
stop the fire.
Doctor, I desperately
need your records!
I've got to have them!
Chicago's burning!
The whole city'll be on
fire. This hospital, too.
[Explosion]
My God! The Union Bank,
about 1 O blocks over.
Yeah. Yeah, over that way. [Grunts]
A few more seconds, another building,
several blocks to the west, was dynamited.
Gas pipes are
rupturing. Gas pockets.
Buildings exploding into flame.
Since you seem to know so much...
uh, but what about me?
Am I maybe gonna catch on fire, too?
I'm sorry, Doctor. I don't
know how it'll happen, but...
sometime tonight,
you're going to die.
[Laughing]
That does itljust like
any two-bit soothsayer.
First you scare the suckers, then-
Dr. Henderson-
-Shut up!
Joe, he's all yours. Tie him
up and put him in a padded cell.
[Explosion]
Clint! -Those explosions! The fire!
Where's Clint? -I just
got back. He's not here.
Where'd he go? -I don't know.
I've got to know where he
is. -I just said I don't know.
Both his clothes and
his medical bag are gone.
Medical bag. The lab! Yea
- The lab?
It's this way. What would
he be doing in the lab?
There you are. You should be
in bed. -What are you doing?
Never mind thatjane, do you
have any more of this wine?
L-I don't know. Uh, there were only a couple
of bottles left in the hospital this afternoon.
I thought you checked
the wine earlier. -I did.
But down at the bottom of this
bottle are traces of- - [j0shua]jane?
Yes, Unclejosh. -jane!
You all right? -Of
course I'm all right.
Dr. Henderson, I need you.
Where does this wine come from?
-Now, why the devil should I tell you-
[Jeff] Please, sir!
Please listen to him.
The wine. Where does it come from?
The wine, well, I make it myself.
From elderberries.
Do you bottle it
yourself, Doctor? -Mm-hmm.
I need more. There were only a
few traces here on the bottom...
and a few more on the cork.
-Traces? Traces of what?
Take a look at this, Doctor.
[ Dr. Henderson] The light!
Where does that light come from?
It's a tiny battery. Sodium.
An electric light bulb.
Here, I'll show you something else.
A centrifuge.
For the sedimentation of
blood and other substances.
Louis Pasteur hasn't even
imagined that yet. -Oh, yeah.
L-I met Pasteur. Koch, too.
Doctor, never mind that. Look in
this thing and tell me what you see.
Turn these until the
image is sharp to your eye.
[Clears Throat]
I Clint] Huh?
Well, I don't know. I-
I have never seen
anything like it before.
Never. [Chuckles]
Waving fronds of... moving bits.
Fungus? Spores? -Maybe
a new antibacterial...
which works on woods fever.
"Antibacterial?
-"Anti-infectant", uh...
a product of fermentation,
like penicillin, like-
[Chuckles] Doctor
- Doctor, I don't have enough there yet to analyze it.
I need at least one more bottle.
Where's the rest of it? -Antiinfection,
the product of fermentation?
Unclejosh has more
bottles at the house.
That's way over on the North Side.
The fire's between here and there.
Clinton, did that Texan take
a bottle with him when he left?
Yes, he did. -Well, he's
headed for the cattle pens.
That's closer. -The sailor refused
to drink the wine, and he's dead.
The Texan drank the
wine, and he's alivejeff?
Do you think we can find him?
Wait here.
- [Joe] Take him! -
[Jeff] Aw, come on-
Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Hold on.
Who are you? What do
you want here, and...
where are you 290m? -Doctor,
you wouldn't believe me if I told you.
We've gotta get that other
bottle, and take it back with us.
Take it back where? Wha-
Clinton? - [Explosion]
Jeff, we're running out of time.
-[ People Screaming]
Doctor, I told you I know everything
that's gonna happen tonight.
The explosions, remember? -Yes,
you told me I was going to die.
Josh-
-Your watch.
Your pocket watch. Someday,
it's gonna be found.
I'll pick it up, open it...
and read the inscription
on the inside.
Your wife must have given it to you on the
last anniversary she could share with you.
November 1 O, 1854.
"To my beloved...
my most beloved husband", she said.
No one-
No one in the world but me...
and my wife knew.
All right.
All right. All right, clear
the way. Let this man out!
Now, move! Leave him alone!
The rest of you get busy. I want wagons,
ambulances, anything you can find.
We're moving everybody out of here
right now! -Right away, Unclejosh.
- [ Clamoring]
-Cab! Cab!
[Grunts]
"To my beloved husband"
- [Chuckles]
Yes, Martha, my dear.
It was your last present to me.
My 49th birthday. [Scoffs]
My God, my darling, have
you been gone that long?
And am I really to join you tonight?
[Cattle Mooing]
I guess you thought
you'd never see me again!
But here I am! You're
gettin' outta here!
Come on, now. Come on!
Go on! Get outta here! Come on, now!
Get outta here! Get out! Hyah!
[ Mooing]
I'll never get my money back!
I could never face my wife again
if I hadn't got those critters out.
Listen to me. jim! What did
you do with the wine bottle?
What did you do with it?
- [ Laughing]
- [ Laughing Wildly, Hooting]
[Chattering]
[Fire Bells Ringing]
Clint! -Jeff.
This one practically has hair
growing in it. -Oh, thank God.
Look, we're gonna have to work
our way around the lake shore...
to get back to that
railroad station.
You know something? Her father
died at Chancellorsville...
her brother at Gettysburg-
then some young surgeon-
and now it's gonna be her Unclejosh.
He'll die, too. Everybody leaves
her, but still she goes on believing.
What are you talking about?
You have the answer
to X. B., right there.
They'll know what to
do with it back home.
I'm gonna stay hereJeff.
I'm gonna learn how
to paint a picture...
and I'm gonna learn
how to shoe a horse.
You what? -I can do
more good hereJeff.
I've never had anybody who
needs me the way she does.
She's a ghost out of the past...
and you're nothing but a
specter from the future!
No. No!
Wait, wait, wait!
Where's-Where's thejohnson girl?
[Sighs] I thought
she was already out.
No. No, they forgot her.
She must be still inside.
Uncle Josh... let someone else go.
- [Explosion]
[Sighs]
Thejohnson girl. -I'll help you.
[Jeff] Come back, Clint!
Clint, no! We have to
leave! -l can't. I love her.
But she's already
dead! -Let go of me!
You haven't even been
born yet! -Let go of me!
Clint, you can't change what's already
happened. -You don't know what happened.
It's 105 years ago!
[ Women Screaming]
jeff, isn't there anything
we can do to help? -No.
[Jeff] We gotta get up
there before she goes, Clint!
[Train Whistle Blowing]
[ Beeping ]
Well, feeling better?
Much better, thank you.
What are you doing here?
-We came to see you.
And to give you a personal
letter from the White House...
congratulating you
on your discovery.
You mean, the cure
works? -I'll show you.
Our very first recovery.
She's going home. She just
wanted to say good-bye.
Come in, Betty.
Hello!
-H1; Betty.
I bet you don't remember me, do you?
Well, not really, I guess. But I
know you're the one that saved me.
No. Not me.
Not just me. But thank you,
anyway. Good luck, honey.
Bye. -Bye.
But you're being cured, too. And the
question is, when were you infected?
In the past, or the present?
Helen, where is Jeff?
-As a scientist...
doesn't that fascinate you?
-I spoke to him this morning.
He's doing what you asked him to
do. -In a way, we could say...
you had a fever for 1 O4 years
- imagine!
Then, on the other hand, if your
infection first occurred in the present-
Dr. Cummings, I really don't think
he's much interested in that yet.
[Chuckles] You will
be, son. You will be.
Perhaps you'd like to run some
more medical experiments for us.
The black plague. -I'd what?
Clint, we desperately need
someone with your qualifications.
Now, wait a minute!
Well, you've already broken
so much new ground for us.
Like bringing you back here to New
Orleans instead of to our ranch house.
Do you mean you
never did that before?
Well, we had to, Clint,
for the sake of speed.
You didn't even know it was gonna
work, and you didn't warn me?
You'vejust been slapping
us around in time...
like a pair of white
mice in your laboratory?
[Phone Ringing]
Hello? Oh, yes, put him on.
It's Chicago.
What happened?
Wonderful! Yes, I'll tell him!
Oh, we all will.
Right away. Okay. Bye.
[ Placing Receiver In Cradle]
That wasjeff. He found it.
[Clint] That White House letter's
more for him than anyone else.
He'll think it was a phony.
It wasn't signed by President Grant.
[Chuckles] Well-
Where is she?
It's nice, it was paid
for by an alderman.
Clarence
somebody-or-other.
October 9.
That same night. She
did die that same night.
You couldn't have saved her, Clint.
No.
I guess I just fell in love
with history, that's all.
[Fire Roaring]
The end