May 23, 2025 • 29 mins
This anthology series presents dramatized stories from the world of medicine, highlighting the dedication and challenges faced by healthcare professionals. Each episode offers a glimpse into the human side of medical practice.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
The Shenley Laboratories, producer of penicill and Shenley and Shenley Pharmaceuticals,
presents the OnCore Theory, The on Core thea of play Tonight,
Doctor Elix's Magic Bullet.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Our star is Charles Becker.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The Night Shenley Laboratories presents another and a new series
of great dramatic programs. Some of our stories are fact,
the struggles and accomplishments of great men of medicine. Others
of fiction, stories of devotion to an ideal individual, heroism
or great courage. By these programs, Shenley Laboratories would remind
you that medical science and progress is not cold in
(00:57):
personal research or pages of statistics, but a warm human
story told in living terms, whether it's the life of
one of medicine's immortals or the everyday record of service
rendered by the lone physician. Now Doctor Elick's Magic Bullet
(01:25):
starring Charles Bickford as Doctor Eric.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
The facts are history. Now the words have been recorded
for all to read. The man has been set in
his rightful spot of honor among those designated by science
and medicine for immortality. Listen to his story, the story
of a man against a microbe. Let us go back
to his younger years, when he was working in the
(02:04):
Kaiser Wilhelm Hospital in Berlin. A man with a poor,
undernourished body, sustained and driven by inner fires. In those days,
he was not thought much of and his laboratory experiments
were ridiculed. But he became friendly with another young doctor
and through him he received the most important invitation, Doctor Perring.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I can't tell you how I'm delighted to see you.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Professor Coke has called this meeting to announce the most
exciting discovery.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Very kind of you to ask me.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
That was a very important minute here today there is
alt off over there, the Minister of Science. No, no,
over there, the one with the muttonshoff whiskeys. Come on,
we'd better sit down. It comes Professor Coke under the platform.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Now, gentlemen, it has long been my belief that tuberculosis
is caused by a living microbe. Today I am able
to announce that the search for this microbe has.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Come to a successful conclusion.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
I have discovered the cause of tuberculosis and the corp
of person suffering from this disease.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
It is a living germ with a long rod like shape.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
I invite you all to come forward and you a
specimen of it under the microscope. Unfortunately, the bacilli do
not stand out clearly. Only those whose eyes are trained
and the use of the microscope will be able to
see them. That, of course, makes my discovery of little
or no value to the average doctor in diagnosing the
(03:27):
causes of the berculosis.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It might be possible to see the basili by staining. Earlik,
what's that? Who spoke? It was? Ihir? Professor? What did
you say it? Come down front? These I can't hear you? Yes, sir?
Speaker 5 (03:41):
Did you say stain the BASILEI?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yes, sir. We must compound a die which combined with
the substance of this microbe. Then the microbe will be
plainly seen for it and nothing else on the slide
will be stained.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
Did you ever stain a microbe and nothing else on
the slide?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Well? No, As a matter of fact, that I have
reasona believe it's possible. It's it is possible.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
I advise you to do so your fame in science
will be guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
May I have a culture by.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
All means, But be careful of the contents of this cube,
young man.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
They're very dangerous. Thank you, doctor coach, and good luck,
young man. You'll need it.
Speaker 6 (04:27):
Oh, Paul, that cough has me worried.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Oh I'm all right, Sadie got backing so much like
a wife.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
You were saying, Amiel, have you been working on those
slides for months without getting anywhere?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Paul? Maybe you should give up. Perhaps your theory is wrong.
Don't say that, Amel. I know my theory is right. Paul.
Speaker 6 (04:46):
That cold too cold for you in your laboratory. I
made a fire.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
What did you say, you lit a fire?
Speaker 5 (04:52):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Oh no, what's a pole ruin my slide? That's what
I've told you to stay out of here. I've told
you a dozen times.
Speaker 6 (05:00):
I'm sorry, Paul. Please forgive me.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Look at them, a week's work gone for not give
me that towel. Headaches. We'll get them off the stove.
Maybe they won't be spoiled. Yeah, put them here on
the table. We'll look at them, and I have much hope,
am Look the microbe, it's tame. The heat. The heat
must have fixed the guy. You see them a meal?
Of course I see them. The red rod like shapes
(05:22):
are the tubercobacilli.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Anyone can see them now, well, this is marvelous, Paul, marvelous.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
My dear dear missus Ilich. Will you marry me.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
My darling, doctor Erlick, Of course I will.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Here you are, Professor Coke, my my microbe a bright red,
My dear early how did you do it?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
By applying fusion red, eating the slide and watching it
for alcohol. It's the heat that does the trick. Oh,
this is a great contribution.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
The doctors, little doctors everywhere will be able to diagnosed
tuberculosis with one accuracy. I owe you an apology, Dr Elich.
My attitude taught you at the meeting.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Why you make me very happy, Professor.
Speaker 5 (06:11):
Coche, Doctor Eli, I want you to join my staff.
What I said in Irony holds good. Your place in
science is guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Man against the microbe.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
It was the beginning of the fight for him, and
he would still be fighting when he died. They sent
him to Egypt before they let him work to get
rid of his cough, and while he was there he
began to study the effects of snake fights on people,
and they began to wonder why snake bites were fatal
in some cases and not in others.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
So when he came back, and this is your laboratory,
Doctor Elichh. I hope you find it's satisfactory. Now you
can go ahead developing new staining methods.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I'm very grateful, but with your indulgence, I'd rather not
work on dies at present.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Indeed, well, in that case you might join your friend
doctor Barring in his diphtheria experiments. The number of new
cases is alarming, most alarming it. It looks as if
we're in for an epidemic.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I'm afraid diph theory is not what I'm looking for either.
What in heaven do you want to do right now?
I want to work on snakes.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Well, I may. I laughed at you before, and I
was wrong. If it's snakes you want, very well, you
shall have snakes.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Get three more snakes and prepare them for me to
collect the venom. These are depleaded. Oh yes, doctor Eman.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Halloa amil, but not oh every child I tried the
diphtherious ceremon died.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It didn't work at all. I can't figure it out, Paul,
But the guinea pigs had worked perfectly. And I'm in
the midst of an experiment another time. I'll be glad
to listen another time. Perhaps all the children in Germany
will have choked to death by then. But of course
your own experiment must comfort Amy. Listen to me, you
don't know what you're talking about. When I was in Egypt,
a man and a boy were bitten by an adder
(08:16):
the same snake. The boy died horribly, but the man
wasn't even made sick. I'm only interested in dip theory.
Please a Mael. Here's the point. Three times before he
had been bitten three times. Each time the venom had
less effect, the symptoms became less and less severe. This
last time he wasn't even sick. I muna for weeks now,
(08:36):
I've done the same thing, experimentally infecting animals with gradually
larger doses of snake venom until they were getting shots
that would ordinarily kill a hundred of their species to one,
all of which proves that immunity is not the quality
of the blood, but something in the blood, specific substances
that are formed by the cells, a chemical army which
(08:56):
destroys bacteria and poisons. I'm beginning to see what you're
getting at. Look. This graph represents the development of immunity
to snake venomon. It shows how you can increase the
quantity of antibodies to neutralize any given amount of poison. Yes? Yes,
do you think in diph theory A, You're not. We
have only to store a sufficient quantity of antibodies and
an animal by injecting it not once, but ten, twenty
(09:20):
thirty times. You mean that the blood of a horse,
perhaps which had withstood twenty increasingly large doses of diphtheria toxin,
would cure a child. It's my theory, Paul, PAULA. I
want to beg your pardon, Amil. There's never any need
for apologies between friends. Friends become friends because they understand
one another. Here, let's get to work.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
There's no use bringing any more children to this hospital.
We can't do anything for us. They might as well
die at home.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I have given orders to put up beds in the corridors,
in the offices. We can't let them die in the streets.
Come in, doctor Eric, doctor Berrying, what are you doing here?
We have a new serum we're going to try.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
We were set over by Professor Koch at the specific
urging of Minister oltof bearing.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
What's the use you tried your serum several times before
and it feels the laboratory, this new serum showed itself
one hundred times as effective as the old bearings. Old
serum was good in the laboratory too. Nothing can stop
the epidemic unless it is this serum. You cannot ignore
the possibility. You are right, doctor Eliic, We cannot ignore
any possibility. We will give the serum a last and
(10:39):
final test. I will give you a ward with forty
theory of patients in it. You will give the serum
to twenty patients and withhold it from the rest. If
there is a higher percentage of recovery among the patients
treated than among the untreated ones, we will know the
serum has some value. As long as there's a chance
the serum may work, I think we should give it
(11:00):
to everybody. Only with a controlled experiment can we establish
the value of your serum once and for all. So remember,
twenty get the serum, and twenty do without alcohol. New needle,
too much? Check again? Another syringe? All right, prepare this boy, Paul,
(11:25):
he would make twenty one. Look at his eyes. If
you do, I am a chance to live. No, but
Hartman said, I Am going to inject them all. Whyre
you with me. I'm with you, Paul.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
You may be familiar with penicillum as a light colored
powder dissolve in sterile solution. You may have experienced the
benefits of penicillin treatment by injection when you were suffering
from a serious infection. Through a recent development, penicillin can
now be administered in nebulized form as well, which means
another step forward in medical progress. Among the firms who
produce penicillin for administration in various forms is Shenley Laboratories.
(12:12):
Shenley is to day devoting its resources to the production
of superior penicillin products, some of which are penicillin trophies
and tablets to be taken by mouth, Penicillin ointment for
application to affective skin surfaces, and Penicillin of FALM appointment
for treatment of certain eye infections. In addition, Shenley Laboratories
(12:33):
maintains a continuing research program for the study and development
of other drugs derived from many sources and processes, so
that tomorrow your doctor may have even more and better
pharmaceuticals to aid him in his fight against disease. Now,
the second act of Doctor Elick's Magic Bullet, starring Charles Bickford.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Alec had a bitter quarrel with Hartman after they'd finished
the injection, and he and Barring left the hospital with
the knowledge that if their serum failed there would be
objects of ridicule. They went to Alec's small house and
began to pace the hours until they should hear and
at last an orderly came with an ominous message that
his excellency, Minister Aldhaff was waiting to see them at
(13:29):
the hospital.
Speaker 7 (13:31):
Seen swim do young research mean? Ignore the instructions of
distinguished physicians. In all my experience, I have never heard
of such a thing.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I was wrong, your excellency, I know, But if you
could have seen the faces of these children as they
fought for breath.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
And if you had known that there was even a
chance they might be saved.
Speaker 7 (13:48):
You may consider yourselves very fortunate indeed that things turned
out as they did.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Why, your Excellency, is the news from the DIPI award.
Speaker 7 (13:56):
Is it possible that you haven't heard heard what every
one of the children you injected is recovering. The antitoxin
saved them. I am issuing orders that bachelors of the
serum be made up and sent to every city in Germany. Gentlemen,
have a cigar all life.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I think i'd better sit down.
Speaker 7 (14:16):
I'm going to see that both of you young men
get the recognition you deserve. Doctor Erlik for you, I
am going to create a research laboratory where you can
be your own master.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
What do you say, well, there is an idea, a
theory that I want to experiment on a theory. Yes,
I believe it will be possible one day manufacture immunity
to disease and a test tube, mold little magic bullets
to shoot into the bloodstream and destroy invading micro And what.
Speaker 7 (14:43):
Disease are you specifically going after with this magic bullet?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Sephalis ten years.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Of study, experiment, experiment study ten years.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Gentlemen, we have two factors to reckon with the poisonous
effect on the sons of the micro which of course
would affect a cure, and the poisonous effect on the
cells of the body, which would be fatal to the patient.
Each shall be represented by a lion on this chart.
The further apart we can push these two lines, the
closer we shall be to success. When they are the
(15:26):
width of this chart apart, we shall have found the
magic bullet. It may take heaven.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Ten years of concentration and labor, disappointment and progress, ten
years at the end of which Bearing now a distinguished
professor came to see him, and an old friendship seemed lost.
For Bearing an Alick found themselves stranger.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Oh, I have come here administer Olof's request. He's been
having difficulty with the budget committee. They don't want to
grant your appropriation. Altop has asked me to express an
opinion as to the value of your work. He believes
it would have sufficient weight to overbalance the opposition. Well, well,
it places me in a very unpleasant position. The idea
(16:09):
of shooting chemicals into the veins of human beings fills
me with horror. If you will not, my friend, I
would attack it publicly.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I'm not asking you to be silent. Put it in
writing so that one day I can wave it before
your nose. No, no use doing that, because you can't
see beyond your nose. I'm sure you know how much
our friendship means to me. No, we were friends ten
years ago when your mind was open to new ideas,
but we could never be friends with your present attitude.
Good day, Paul, goodbye, Amiel.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Perring went back with his unfavorable report, and Airlex funds
were cut in half, but funds were secured for him
from private sources and the work went on.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Gentlemen, we have discovered beyond any shadow of doubt that
arsenic is the key that fits the molecules to which
the microbe is composed. But it also fits the molecules
of which the brain and nerves are composed. We must
now shape our key so that it fits only the microbe.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
The days became weeks, the weeks months, and the numbers
on his great chart representing experiments mounted into the hundreds,
and gradually the lines grew farther and farther, until the
numbers on the chart reached six or six and the
lines were the width of the chart apart.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Doctor Elick, board of Directors of the German Medical Association
has delegated us to ask you when you will submit
your drug for recommendation. You must realize, doctor Erick, that
every position throughout the world is eager to use your
new specific. No, gentlemen, I'm sorry, but I cannot release
the specific at this time. First I must find out
(18:02):
how the preparation affects people with complications with diseases, with
high blood pressure, but nervous conditions. You must give me
more time.
Speaker 8 (18:10):
Gentlemen, I have a patient, to a young girl. It
would be a tragedy if she should die of this
horrible thing.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
With six or six her life can be saved. I
am an old man, doctor Eleck.
Speaker 8 (18:21):
And you will forgive me if I speak freely. I
recall that some years ago there was a deterior epidemic,
and a young doctor unknown and transcended the scientific attitude
to relieve some suffering children. If there is a remedy
in the name of humanity, surely that doctor will release
it to the public.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
There is nothing I can say an answer to so
eloquence a flea doctor. I will see that you, gentlemen,
get the specific as you require it.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
It was the gesture of the humanitarian, not the wise
of motiontionless decision of the man of science.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
And he was in trouble very fast. In how many
gifts will fit? Do you have absolute proof that Erlich's
come pun with the cause? Thirty eight?
Speaker 7 (19:12):
As publisher of the most influential newspapers in the country,
it is your duty to reveal the truth about this
damnable drug.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I have here an article of my own writing which
will serve to launch the attack. I'll read you part
of it. The victims of six oh six were as
surely murdered as if they had been stabbed from behind.
How can such a dangerous drug be distributed in enormous
quantities in our country? The reason is that its discoverer,
Paul Erlick, and the rhyin chemical industries incorporated, through their
(19:41):
influence with persons in high station, have been able to
put pressure on physicians health offices. We publish that Erlick
will sue you for libel. I wouldn't ask anything better.
A trial would bring everything into the open. It would
be the finish of Erlic and his so called specific
One of the biggest names of science would testify in
our behalf Amiel von Behring himself.
Speaker 9 (20:12):
Before resuming, the court must once more remind all parties
concerned that this is a trial of libel and that
the sole question which concerns us at this time is
did doctor Erlik distribute a poisonous product which caused the
deaths of numerous individuals? And did he continue to market
the product for personal profit after he had knowledge of
(20:33):
these deaths, as stated by the defendant of Wilfrid in
his article A defense attorney will continue.
Speaker 10 (20:38):
Please, doctor Lynch, you have heard the previous witnesses in
this case testify to the deaths of thirty eight persons.
Were the symptoms in all these instances precisely similar to
those of your patient Freedom MESCA. Yes, And in your opinion,
what was the cause of Freedom Metzker's.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Death, awsenic poisoning your honor. Of course, arsenic is a poison.
There can be no question but that arsenic killed them.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
I object doctor Aerlick is injuring himself to testifying without
legal advice.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I want no legal advice. It's a question of truth
to a great extent. I am responsible for these deaths.
It would not have occurred had I withheld six O
six until I was able to test every reaction to
the drug. These fatalities, however, have taught us that in
certain rare instances, a chemistry occurs within the body which
breaks down the compound and releases the arsenic. And now
(21:45):
we know also that each of these individuals flies a
danger flag, an intense itching of the skin, which manifests
itself in ample time to discontinue treatment in the future.
The preparation may be prescribed to any sufferer without risk.
Speaker 10 (22:00):
We are not concerned with the rosy future which doctor
Erlick paints. The relevant point is his admission that six
those six cause the deaths of thirty eight people.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I am only trying to help the court understand the
real nature of these deaths.
Speaker 10 (22:13):
The court understands well enough without your assistance.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I demand that the counsel for the defense show respect
toward my clients. Gentlemen.
Speaker 9 (22:19):
Gentlemen, I'm afraid that your observations are irrelevant for this issue,
Doctor Elick.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Irrelevant. Next witness, all Metal, dud. It's the books of
the Erlick Institute, mister Metal.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Is there a special fund devoted to further work on
six h six?
Speaker 11 (22:43):
Yes, it operates on the sums I received from the
Rhine Chemical Industries Incorporated.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Does doctor Erlick take money from this fund for his
personal use at any time?
Speaker 11 (22:53):
No, that would be impossible. It is a trust fund
which can be used only for test animals, laboratory equipment,
and salaried assistance.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Your honor, Yes, Doctor Wolford. In view of this testimony,
I feel called upon to make a public apology to
doctor Elick for accusing him of capitalizing on his specific
It must be remembered, however, that the main issue is
in no way affected by the present revelation. My original
statement that six O six is a poison and not
a cure remains unchained. I'm sure that Professor von Bring
(23:24):
will corroborate this statement.
Speaker 9 (23:33):
Will Professor Emu von Bering take the stand, please, Professor Bearing,
Is there any scientific means of proof by which it
is possible to determine whether or not six oh six
performs lasting cures?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Only time which tries all truth?
Speaker 9 (23:53):
In your opinion worthy thirty eight deaths mentioned in the
evidence here due to six O six.
Speaker 12 (23:59):
In my opinion, they were so that while no cures
can be attributed to six six, thirty eight deaths resulted
from its use thirty nine thirty nine. You know of another, yes, Siphlis,
But her Professor, you have written and lectured against the
(24:23):
arlic theory of chemical therapy. Doctor Wolfrid must realize that
it is the task of science to discover the truth
and that there is no shame attached to recognition of errors.
In the past six months.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I have studied hundreds of cases, and I am now
convinced that six O six is a complete success. Six
O six stops infectiousness. The individuals who are treated with
it are no longer capable of passing on the disease
to others, and if there is no transmission of the infection,
the disease must necessarily die out. Two thirty eight individuals
(25:02):
are dead from six o six, but those dead must
be thought of his martyrs to the public good. If
ten times their number had fallen, I would still say
it is all for the best or through it, and
only through six o six, or possibly some new drug
not yet discovered, can the fight against this dread disease
(25:22):
be won.
Speaker 9 (25:34):
A court is satisfied from the evidence that six oh
six is recognized by the medical profession as the best
remedy yet developed for syphilis. And it is the court's
hoped that this trial will not only serve to vindicate
doctor Arlick of the accusations made by the defendant, but
also that it will impress upon the world the full
value of his great contribution to mankind. Therefore, in accordance
(25:54):
with paragraph one eighty six of the Code, the defendant,
doctor Hants Wolfrit stands convicted of criminal libel and this
sentence to one year in prison. In view of the
fact that he's not previously been convicted of any crime,
the prison sentence will be suspended and he'll be placed
on probation.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Amiel, I don't know what to say to you, how
to thank you for your testimony. Don't thank me, Paul.
For the rest of my life.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
I am going to be thanking you, and so will
all doctors and all people, not only in our time,
but in all the times to come. You're an honor
to your profession, your country, and your century.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
In a moment, we'll bring our star Charles Bickford back
to this microphone. But first we leave this thought with you.
Is it serious, doctor you ask when you are ill.
Whatever your physician's answer, common sense dictates that the sooner
you consult him about any disturbing symptoms, the more certain
the control or cure of your ailment will be. Shenley
Laboratory suggest you consult your physician when you're worried about
(27:16):
your health, have a regular physical check up even when
you feel all right, and your chances of a long
and health filled life will be far greater for it.
Now Here is the star of to Night's play Charles Beckford, Ladies.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And gentlemen, to sum up the spirit of this Shenley
Laboratories program. This simple and beautiful prayer of the physician,
written centuries ago by my modernly deeds, seems to me
to be apt and fitting. The eternal Providence has appointed
me to watch over the life and death of all
thy creatures. I always see in the patient a fellow
(27:52):
creature in pain. Grant me strength an opportunity always to
extend the domain of my craft. This is the of
the physician. It is ages old, yet today it is
as new as the hope for a peaceful way of
life for all the world. May we invite you to
listen again next week at this same time, when Shenley
Laboratory presents Dark Victory, starring franch Art Tone and Susan Peters,
(28:18):
two great stars in a great story. Good Night.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Doctor Alex's Magic Bullet was produced and directed by Bill
Lawrence and was presented to the courtesy of Warner Brothers,
who this year is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Sound Pictures.
It was a Gene Holloway adaptation Charles Bickford will soon
be seen in the Dory Sherry RKO production Katie for Congress.
This is Frank Graham speaking for Shenley Laboratories, producer of
(28:48):
penicillin Shenley and inviting udism next Tuesday at the same
time when you will hear Franchotne and.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Susan Peters in Dark Victory.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
This is CBS the Columbia Broadcast Existen
The Shenley Laboratories, producer of penicill and Shenley and Shenley Pharmaceuticals,
presents the OnCore Theory, The on Core thea of play Tonight,
Doctor Elix's Magic Bullet.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Our star is Charles Becker.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The Night Shenley Laboratories presents another and a new series
of great dramatic programs. Some of our stories are fact,
the struggles and accomplishments of great men of medicine. Others
of fiction, stories of devotion to an ideal individual, heroism
or great courage. By these programs, Shenley Laboratories would remind
you that medical science and progress is not cold in
(00:57):
personal research or pages of statistics, but a warm human
story told in living terms, whether it's the life of
one of medicine's immortals or the everyday record of service
rendered by the lone physician. Now Doctor Elick's Magic Bullet
(01:25):
starring Charles Bickford as Doctor Eric.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
The facts are history. Now the words have been recorded
for all to read. The man has been set in
his rightful spot of honor among those designated by science
and medicine for immortality. Listen to his story, the story
of a man against a microbe. Let us go back
to his younger years, when he was working in the
(02:04):
Kaiser Wilhelm Hospital in Berlin. A man with a poor,
undernourished body, sustained and driven by inner fires. In those days,
he was not thought much of and his laboratory experiments
were ridiculed. But he became friendly with another young doctor
and through him he received the most important invitation, Doctor Perring.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I can't tell you how I'm delighted to see you.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Professor Coke has called this meeting to announce the most
exciting discovery.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Very kind of you to ask me.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
That was a very important minute here today there is
alt off over there, the Minister of Science. No, no,
over there, the one with the muttonshoff whiskeys. Come on,
we'd better sit down. It comes Professor Coke under the platform.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Now, gentlemen, it has long been my belief that tuberculosis
is caused by a living microbe. Today I am able
to announce that the search for this microbe has.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Come to a successful conclusion.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
I have discovered the cause of tuberculosis and the corp
of person suffering from this disease.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
It is a living germ with a long rod like shape.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
I invite you all to come forward and you a
specimen of it under the microscope. Unfortunately, the bacilli do
not stand out clearly. Only those whose eyes are trained
and the use of the microscope will be able to
see them. That, of course, makes my discovery of little
or no value to the average doctor in diagnosing the
(03:27):
causes of the berculosis.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It might be possible to see the basili by staining. Earlik,
what's that? Who spoke? It was? Ihir? Professor? What did
you say it? Come down front? These I can't hear you? Yes, sir?
Speaker 5 (03:41):
Did you say stain the BASILEI?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yes, sir. We must compound a die which combined with
the substance of this microbe. Then the microbe will be
plainly seen for it and nothing else on the slide
will be stained.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
Did you ever stain a microbe and nothing else on
the slide?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Well? No, As a matter of fact, that I have
reasona believe it's possible. It's it is possible.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
I advise you to do so your fame in science
will be guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
May I have a culture by.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
All means, But be careful of the contents of this cube,
young man.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
They're very dangerous. Thank you, doctor coach, and good luck,
young man. You'll need it.
Speaker 6 (04:27):
Oh, Paul, that cough has me worried.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Oh I'm all right, Sadie got backing so much like
a wife.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
You were saying, Amiel, have you been working on those
slides for months without getting anywhere?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Paul? Maybe you should give up. Perhaps your theory is wrong.
Don't say that, Amel. I know my theory is right. Paul.
Speaker 6 (04:46):
That cold too cold for you in your laboratory. I
made a fire.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
What did you say, you lit a fire?
Speaker 5 (04:52):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Oh no, what's a pole ruin my slide? That's what
I've told you to stay out of here. I've told
you a dozen times.
Speaker 6 (05:00):
I'm sorry, Paul. Please forgive me.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Look at them, a week's work gone for not give
me that towel. Headaches. We'll get them off the stove.
Maybe they won't be spoiled. Yeah, put them here on
the table. We'll look at them, and I have much hope,
am Look the microbe, it's tame. The heat. The heat
must have fixed the guy. You see them a meal?
Of course I see them. The red rod like shapes
(05:22):
are the tubercobacilli.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Anyone can see them now, well, this is marvelous, Paul, marvelous.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
My dear dear missus Ilich. Will you marry me.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
My darling, doctor Erlick, Of course I will.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Here you are, Professor Coke, my my microbe a bright red,
My dear early how did you do it?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
By applying fusion red, eating the slide and watching it
for alcohol. It's the heat that does the trick. Oh,
this is a great contribution.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
The doctors, little doctors everywhere will be able to diagnosed
tuberculosis with one accuracy. I owe you an apology, Dr Elich.
My attitude taught you at the meeting.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Why you make me very happy, Professor.
Speaker 5 (06:11):
Coche, Doctor Eli, I want you to join my staff.
What I said in Irony holds good. Your place in
science is guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Man against the microbe.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
It was the beginning of the fight for him, and
he would still be fighting when he died. They sent
him to Egypt before they let him work to get
rid of his cough, and while he was there he
began to study the effects of snake fights on people,
and they began to wonder why snake bites were fatal
in some cases and not in others.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
So when he came back, and this is your laboratory,
Doctor Elichh. I hope you find it's satisfactory. Now you
can go ahead developing new staining methods.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I'm very grateful, but with your indulgence, I'd rather not
work on dies at present.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Indeed, well, in that case you might join your friend
doctor Barring in his diphtheria experiments. The number of new
cases is alarming, most alarming it. It looks as if
we're in for an epidemic.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I'm afraid diph theory is not what I'm looking for either.
What in heaven do you want to do right now?
I want to work on snakes.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Well, I may. I laughed at you before, and I
was wrong. If it's snakes you want, very well, you
shall have snakes.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Get three more snakes and prepare them for me to
collect the venom. These are depleaded. Oh yes, doctor Eman.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Halloa amil, but not oh every child I tried the
diphtherious ceremon died.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It didn't work at all. I can't figure it out, Paul,
But the guinea pigs had worked perfectly. And I'm in
the midst of an experiment another time. I'll be glad
to listen another time. Perhaps all the children in Germany
will have choked to death by then. But of course
your own experiment must comfort Amy. Listen to me, you
don't know what you're talking about. When I was in Egypt,
a man and a boy were bitten by an adder
(08:16):
the same snake. The boy died horribly, but the man
wasn't even made sick. I'm only interested in dip theory.
Please a Mael. Here's the point. Three times before he
had been bitten three times. Each time the venom had
less effect, the symptoms became less and less severe. This
last time he wasn't even sick. I muna for weeks now,
(08:36):
I've done the same thing, experimentally infecting animals with gradually
larger doses of snake venom until they were getting shots
that would ordinarily kill a hundred of their species to one,
all of which proves that immunity is not the quality
of the blood, but something in the blood, specific substances
that are formed by the cells, a chemical army which
(08:56):
destroys bacteria and poisons. I'm beginning to see what you're
getting at. Look. This graph represents the development of immunity
to snake venomon. It shows how you can increase the
quantity of antibodies to neutralize any given amount of poison. Yes? Yes,
do you think in diph theory A, You're not. We
have only to store a sufficient quantity of antibodies and
an animal by injecting it not once, but ten, twenty
(09:20):
thirty times. You mean that the blood of a horse,
perhaps which had withstood twenty increasingly large doses of diphtheria toxin,
would cure a child. It's my theory, Paul, PAULA. I
want to beg your pardon, Amil. There's never any need
for apologies between friends. Friends become friends because they understand
one another. Here, let's get to work.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
There's no use bringing any more children to this hospital.
We can't do anything for us. They might as well
die at home.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I have given orders to put up beds in the corridors,
in the offices. We can't let them die in the streets.
Come in, doctor Eric, doctor Berrying, what are you doing here?
We have a new serum we're going to try.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
We were set over by Professor Koch at the specific
urging of Minister oltof bearing.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
What's the use you tried your serum several times before
and it feels the laboratory, this new serum showed itself
one hundred times as effective as the old bearings. Old
serum was good in the laboratory too. Nothing can stop
the epidemic unless it is this serum. You cannot ignore
the possibility. You are right, doctor Eliic, We cannot ignore
any possibility. We will give the serum a last and
(10:39):
final test. I will give you a ward with forty
theory of patients in it. You will give the serum
to twenty patients and withhold it from the rest. If
there is a higher percentage of recovery among the patients
treated than among the untreated ones, we will know the
serum has some value. As long as there's a chance
the serum may work, I think we should give it
(11:00):
to everybody. Only with a controlled experiment can we establish
the value of your serum once and for all. So remember,
twenty get the serum, and twenty do without alcohol. New needle,
too much? Check again? Another syringe? All right, prepare this boy, Paul,
(11:25):
he would make twenty one. Look at his eyes. If
you do, I am a chance to live. No, but
Hartman said, I Am going to inject them all. Whyre
you with me. I'm with you, Paul.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
You may be familiar with penicillum as a light colored
powder dissolve in sterile solution. You may have experienced the
benefits of penicillin treatment by injection when you were suffering
from a serious infection. Through a recent development, penicillin can
now be administered in nebulized form as well, which means
another step forward in medical progress. Among the firms who
produce penicillin for administration in various forms is Shenley Laboratories.
(12:12):
Shenley is to day devoting its resources to the production
of superior penicillin products, some of which are penicillin trophies
and tablets to be taken by mouth, Penicillin ointment for
application to affective skin surfaces, and Penicillin of FALM appointment
for treatment of certain eye infections. In addition, Shenley Laboratories
(12:33):
maintains a continuing research program for the study and development
of other drugs derived from many sources and processes, so
that tomorrow your doctor may have even more and better
pharmaceuticals to aid him in his fight against disease. Now,
the second act of Doctor Elick's Magic Bullet, starring Charles Bickford.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Alec had a bitter quarrel with Hartman after they'd finished
the injection, and he and Barring left the hospital with
the knowledge that if their serum failed there would be
objects of ridicule. They went to Alec's small house and
began to pace the hours until they should hear and
at last an orderly came with an ominous message that
his excellency, Minister Aldhaff was waiting to see them at
(13:29):
the hospital.
Speaker 7 (13:31):
Seen swim do young research mean? Ignore the instructions of
distinguished physicians. In all my experience, I have never heard
of such a thing.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I was wrong, your excellency, I know, But if you
could have seen the faces of these children as they
fought for breath.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
And if you had known that there was even a
chance they might be saved.
Speaker 7 (13:48):
You may consider yourselves very fortunate indeed that things turned
out as they did.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Why, your Excellency, is the news from the DIPI award.
Speaker 7 (13:56):
Is it possible that you haven't heard heard what every
one of the children you injected is recovering. The antitoxin
saved them. I am issuing orders that bachelors of the
serum be made up and sent to every city in Germany. Gentlemen,
have a cigar all life.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I think i'd better sit down.
Speaker 7 (14:16):
I'm going to see that both of you young men
get the recognition you deserve. Doctor Erlik for you, I
am going to create a research laboratory where you can
be your own master.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
What do you say, well, there is an idea, a
theory that I want to experiment on a theory. Yes,
I believe it will be possible one day manufacture immunity
to disease and a test tube, mold little magic bullets
to shoot into the bloodstream and destroy invading micro And what.
Speaker 7 (14:43):
Disease are you specifically going after with this magic bullet?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Sephalis ten years.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Of study, experiment, experiment study ten years.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Gentlemen, we have two factors to reckon with the poisonous
effect on the sons of the micro which of course
would affect a cure, and the poisonous effect on the
cells of the body, which would be fatal to the patient.
Each shall be represented by a lion on this chart.
The further apart we can push these two lines, the
closer we shall be to success. When they are the
(15:26):
width of this chart apart, we shall have found the
magic bullet. It may take heaven.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Ten years of concentration and labor, disappointment and progress, ten
years at the end of which Bearing now a distinguished
professor came to see him, and an old friendship seemed lost.
For Bearing an Alick found themselves stranger.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Oh, I have come here administer Olof's request. He's been
having difficulty with the budget committee. They don't want to
grant your appropriation. Altop has asked me to express an
opinion as to the value of your work. He believes
it would have sufficient weight to overbalance the opposition. Well, well,
it places me in a very unpleasant position. The idea
(16:09):
of shooting chemicals into the veins of human beings fills
me with horror. If you will not, my friend, I
would attack it publicly.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I'm not asking you to be silent. Put it in
writing so that one day I can wave it before
your nose. No, no use doing that, because you can't
see beyond your nose. I'm sure you know how much
our friendship means to me. No, we were friends ten
years ago when your mind was open to new ideas,
but we could never be friends with your present attitude.
Good day, Paul, goodbye, Amiel.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Perring went back with his unfavorable report, and Airlex funds
were cut in half, but funds were secured for him
from private sources and the work went on.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Gentlemen, we have discovered beyond any shadow of doubt that
arsenic is the key that fits the molecules to which
the microbe is composed. But it also fits the molecules
of which the brain and nerves are composed. We must
now shape our key so that it fits only the microbe.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
The days became weeks, the weeks months, and the numbers
on his great chart representing experiments mounted into the hundreds,
and gradually the lines grew farther and farther, until the
numbers on the chart reached six or six and the
lines were the width of the chart apart.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Doctor Elick, board of Directors of the German Medical Association
has delegated us to ask you when you will submit
your drug for recommendation. You must realize, doctor Erick, that
every position throughout the world is eager to use your
new specific. No, gentlemen, I'm sorry, but I cannot release
the specific at this time. First I must find out
(18:02):
how the preparation affects people with complications with diseases, with
high blood pressure, but nervous conditions. You must give me
more time.
Speaker 8 (18:10):
Gentlemen, I have a patient, to a young girl. It
would be a tragedy if she should die of this
horrible thing.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
With six or six her life can be saved. I
am an old man, doctor Eleck.
Speaker 8 (18:21):
And you will forgive me if I speak freely. I
recall that some years ago there was a deterior epidemic,
and a young doctor unknown and transcended the scientific attitude
to relieve some suffering children. If there is a remedy
in the name of humanity, surely that doctor will release
it to the public.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
There is nothing I can say an answer to so
eloquence a flea doctor. I will see that you, gentlemen,
get the specific as you require it.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
It was the gesture of the humanitarian, not the wise
of motiontionless decision of the man of science.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
And he was in trouble very fast. In how many
gifts will fit? Do you have absolute proof that Erlich's
come pun with the cause? Thirty eight?
Speaker 7 (19:12):
As publisher of the most influential newspapers in the country,
it is your duty to reveal the truth about this
damnable drug.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I have here an article of my own writing which
will serve to launch the attack. I'll read you part
of it. The victims of six oh six were as
surely murdered as if they had been stabbed from behind.
How can such a dangerous drug be distributed in enormous
quantities in our country? The reason is that its discoverer,
Paul Erlick, and the rhyin chemical industries incorporated, through their
(19:41):
influence with persons in high station, have been able to
put pressure on physicians health offices. We publish that Erlick
will sue you for libel. I wouldn't ask anything better.
A trial would bring everything into the open. It would
be the finish of Erlic and his so called specific
One of the biggest names of science would testify in
our behalf Amiel von Behring himself.
Speaker 9 (20:12):
Before resuming, the court must once more remind all parties
concerned that this is a trial of libel and that
the sole question which concerns us at this time is
did doctor Erlik distribute a poisonous product which caused the
deaths of numerous individuals? And did he continue to market
the product for personal profit after he had knowledge of
(20:33):
these deaths, as stated by the defendant of Wilfrid in
his article A defense attorney will continue.
Speaker 10 (20:38):
Please, doctor Lynch, you have heard the previous witnesses in
this case testify to the deaths of thirty eight persons.
Were the symptoms in all these instances precisely similar to
those of your patient Freedom MESCA. Yes, And in your opinion,
what was the cause of Freedom Metzker's.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Death, awsenic poisoning your honor. Of course, arsenic is a poison.
There can be no question but that arsenic killed them.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
I object doctor Aerlick is injuring himself to testifying without
legal advice.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I want no legal advice. It's a question of truth
to a great extent. I am responsible for these deaths.
It would not have occurred had I withheld six O
six until I was able to test every reaction to
the drug. These fatalities, however, have taught us that in
certain rare instances, a chemistry occurs within the body which
breaks down the compound and releases the arsenic. And now
(21:45):
we know also that each of these individuals flies a
danger flag, an intense itching of the skin, which manifests
itself in ample time to discontinue treatment in the future.
The preparation may be prescribed to any sufferer without risk.
Speaker 10 (22:00):
We are not concerned with the rosy future which doctor
Erlick paints. The relevant point is his admission that six
those six cause the deaths of thirty eight people.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I am only trying to help the court understand the
real nature of these deaths.
Speaker 10 (22:13):
The court understands well enough without your assistance.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I demand that the counsel for the defense show respect
toward my clients. Gentlemen.
Speaker 9 (22:19):
Gentlemen, I'm afraid that your observations are irrelevant for this issue,
Doctor Elick.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Irrelevant. Next witness, all Metal, dud. It's the books of
the Erlick Institute, mister Metal.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Is there a special fund devoted to further work on
six h six?
Speaker 11 (22:43):
Yes, it operates on the sums I received from the
Rhine Chemical Industries Incorporated.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Does doctor Erlick take money from this fund for his
personal use at any time?
Speaker 11 (22:53):
No, that would be impossible. It is a trust fund
which can be used only for test animals, laboratory equipment,
and salaried assistance.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Your honor, Yes, Doctor Wolford. In view of this testimony,
I feel called upon to make a public apology to
doctor Elick for accusing him of capitalizing on his specific
It must be remembered, however, that the main issue is
in no way affected by the present revelation. My original
statement that six O six is a poison and not
a cure remains unchained. I'm sure that Professor von Bring
(23:24):
will corroborate this statement.
Speaker 9 (23:33):
Will Professor Emu von Bering take the stand, please, Professor Bearing,
Is there any scientific means of proof by which it
is possible to determine whether or not six oh six
performs lasting cures?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Only time which tries all truth?
Speaker 9 (23:53):
In your opinion worthy thirty eight deaths mentioned in the
evidence here due to six O six.
Speaker 12 (23:59):
In my opinion, they were so that while no cures
can be attributed to six six, thirty eight deaths resulted
from its use thirty nine thirty nine. You know of another, yes, Siphlis,
But her Professor, you have written and lectured against the
(24:23):
arlic theory of chemical therapy. Doctor Wolfrid must realize that
it is the task of science to discover the truth
and that there is no shame attached to recognition of errors.
In the past six months.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I have studied hundreds of cases, and I am now
convinced that six O six is a complete success. Six
O six stops infectiousness. The individuals who are treated with
it are no longer capable of passing on the disease
to others, and if there is no transmission of the infection,
the disease must necessarily die out. Two thirty eight individuals
(25:02):
are dead from six o six, but those dead must
be thought of his martyrs to the public good. If
ten times their number had fallen, I would still say
it is all for the best or through it, and
only through six o six, or possibly some new drug
not yet discovered, can the fight against this dread disease
(25:22):
be won.
Speaker 9 (25:34):
A court is satisfied from the evidence that six oh
six is recognized by the medical profession as the best
remedy yet developed for syphilis. And it is the court's
hoped that this trial will not only serve to vindicate
doctor Arlick of the accusations made by the defendant, but
also that it will impress upon the world the full
value of his great contribution to mankind. Therefore, in accordance
(25:54):
with paragraph one eighty six of the Code, the defendant,
doctor Hants Wolfrit stands convicted of criminal libel and this
sentence to one year in prison. In view of the
fact that he's not previously been convicted of any crime,
the prison sentence will be suspended and he'll be placed
on probation.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Amiel, I don't know what to say to you, how
to thank you for your testimony. Don't thank me, Paul.
For the rest of my life.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
I am going to be thanking you, and so will
all doctors and all people, not only in our time,
but in all the times to come. You're an honor
to your profession, your country, and your century.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
In a moment, we'll bring our star Charles Bickford back
to this microphone. But first we leave this thought with you.
Is it serious, doctor you ask when you are ill.
Whatever your physician's answer, common sense dictates that the sooner
you consult him about any disturbing symptoms, the more certain
the control or cure of your ailment will be. Shenley
Laboratory suggest you consult your physician when you're worried about
(27:16):
your health, have a regular physical check up even when
you feel all right, and your chances of a long
and health filled life will be far greater for it.
Now Here is the star of to Night's play Charles Beckford, Ladies.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And gentlemen, to sum up the spirit of this Shenley
Laboratories program. This simple and beautiful prayer of the physician,
written centuries ago by my modernly deeds, seems to me
to be apt and fitting. The eternal Providence has appointed
me to watch over the life and death of all
thy creatures. I always see in the patient a fellow
(27:52):
creature in pain. Grant me strength an opportunity always to
extend the domain of my craft. This is the of
the physician. It is ages old, yet today it is
as new as the hope for a peaceful way of
life for all the world. May we invite you to
listen again next week at this same time, when Shenley
Laboratory presents Dark Victory, starring franch Art Tone and Susan Peters,
(28:18):
two great stars in a great story. Good Night.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Doctor Alex's Magic Bullet was produced and directed by Bill
Lawrence and was presented to the courtesy of Warner Brothers,
who this year is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Sound Pictures.
It was a Gene Holloway adaptation Charles Bickford will soon
be seen in the Dory Sherry RKO production Katie for Congress.
This is Frank Graham speaking for Shenley Laboratories, producer of
(28:48):
penicillin Shenley and inviting udism next Tuesday at the same
time when you will hear Franchotne and.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Susan Peters in Dark Victory.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
This is CBS the Columbia Broadcast Existen
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