- An ex-con bears a grudge against the city of Los Angeles. He wants to blow up city hall unless his demands are met. He has a powerful bomb. The police find 28 sticks of dynamite in his apartment. Only Sergeant Friday has the power to stop this 1950s terrorist attack.—susanj50@juno.com
- Synopsis - The Human Bomb Airing 12-16-51 Sergeants Friday and Romero are working the early watch out of Central Division, Detective Bureau, Friday gets an emergency call to return to HQ, a threat to destroy the building by a distraught individual has put the entire city block in peril. Friday narrates they have less than a half-hour to stop this man from blowing up the building; this is the story of those twenty-six minutes.
Early watch out of Central Homicide is what Sergeants Friday and Romero had been working, the boss is Thad Brown, Chief of Detectives. Friday enters the building, it is city hall, police station-jail included. The elevator operator calls out his name, flags him down, telling him they have to take this car, it is the only one in service. He brings him to the floor where his partner, Sgt. Romero, and Chief Brown meet him.
Brown tells the Sergeants, fifty-five minutes ago, a man walked in here with a home-made bomb under his arm, threatening to set it off unless his brother was released from jail by nine o'clock this morning. Friday looks at the man's police jacket. He has a been in and out jail for the last five years, name is Vernon Carney; his brother, Elwood Carney, is serving a year for car-stripping.
A time check off of Friday's watch is 8:34. Chief Brown asks if they are in on this case, simply a volunteer decision. A single man, Friday, chooses to handle the totally voluntary case. Romero has a family, says Friday, as Joe volunteers for the assignment. Romero says he can't go home, his wife wants him to paint the bathroom today. Romero stays. Chief Brown's instructions are simple, there's a man with a bomb in the next room, take it away from him. The Chief goes to check if everyone else is out of the building, he will be back in a minute, warning the men, Carney knows what he is doing, he is no pushover.
Friday narrates the two big questions: was Vernon Carney holding a real bomb or a harmless gadget; was Carney willing to set the bomb off by nine if his demand was not met. One thing for certain, they had only twenty-four minutes to talk him out of it. Friday looks at his watch, it was eight-thirty-six; both Sergeants enter Carney's location, labeled board room on the door. As they approach, Carney says that is far enough; the ticking sound is the bomb or the clock on the wall. Carney's stare, while seated with the bomb box in his lap, reflects he means business; a very cold stare. Romero tells him we are not going let your brother out of jail. Carney states you have until nine o'clock to change your mind, twenty-two minutes; the camera pans the clock on the wall.
The conversation intensifies among the two police officers and the perpetrator. By now, the Sergeants believe it is a real bomb Carney now has on the table, with his hand on the bomb mechanism. The clock showed nineteen minutes to go as the men leave to room joining the Chief in another area. Brown takes a call, the men listen, they found twenty-eight sticks of dynamite in Carney's apartment. Eighteen minutes before nine, the tension mounts for an answer. The screen goes to black.
Friday says the bomb is real, they can see through the glass window one end of the box. They didn't know if he had the nerve to pull the trigger, if it would go off if he did, but the sticks in his room at least validated dynamite was in his possession. Friday says his watch showed sixteen-and-a-half minutes to nine. The Sergeants and Chief talk in an adjacent room. Friday has an idea for someone to slug Carney entering from the outside window, the bomb squad could help with disarming the bomb afterward. They open their window to look at the ledge, eighteen inches wide, a strong wind could have the person torn away from the building, plummeting to certain death. Chief Brown says it is too risky, but with the help from the fire department's ladder, there might be a possibility of an alternative plan.
The dictagraph needs to be activated without Carney seeing the set-up. Friday heads for Carney's room. They convince Carney the dictagraph is needed for him to talk to his jailed brother, Elwood, there are no operators left in the building. The bomb-box remains in Carney's lap. The officers leave the room to help speed up the meeting between brothers. Carney mentions the receiver of the dictagraph is off the hook; Friday narrates the failure of the ruse. Friday and Romero exit the Carney room.
Sam Erickson, Fire Battalion Chief, Lt. Lee Jones, crime-lab, are in the room with Chief Brown. The new plan is to lower a man on a life line to the window. Somebody enters through the window, knocks Carney taking his hand away from the bomb-trigger. The bomb is placed in a bucket of water, Jones says the man elected will get the bomb out of the building as quickly as he can. Romero is picked to slug Carney, knocking him out; Friday is grab the bomb, placing it in the water-filled bucket. The Chief is getting Elwood on the phone to talk to his brother Vernon. Friday checked with the elevator operator, making certain the car is ready at their floor, then he dismissed him out of the building.
The Sergeants tell Carney they are getting his brother on the phone. Carney doesn't buy their story, picking up the phone, throwing it through the glass door, ordering the men to get Elwood out of jail. The Chief comes in, sees the broken glass, telling Carney it is his show, outside the Carney room is Chief Erickson, Lt. Jones with the water, set next to their door where Carney sits. Romero is outfitted with the ropes and belt. Chief Erickson says there is a twenty-mile-per-hour wind out there that could effect the plan.
Chief Brown asks Friday if he is scared; Friday says yes, the Chief replies that makes it even. The intention is to keep Carney's attention, while Ben lowers himself to the window, entering and slugging Carney. Friday answers Brown's time check, we got eight minutes left. A call is placed to the jail asking for Elwood Carney to appear. Vernon Carney orders the two to sit, they glance at one another, keeping Carney's attention away from the window behind him. The clock reads four-and-a-half minutes before nine. Romero's shoes makes a noise on the window, Carney notices, ordering the man be pulled back up. Request met, as Elwood enters the room, Carney greets his brother, after he latches the window shut.
Friday is told to get a car waiting for the brothers; Elwood tells Vernon we are going to need a gun when we get out of here. Romero decides to walk the ledge trying to knockout Vernon with his sap. He starts for the ledge, with Friday telling him to go the other window, Carney locked the one behind him. Elwood is going for the Chief's gun, Brown backs away from Elwood, Romero enters, hits Vernon with the sap, Brown slugs Elwood, Friday grabs the bomb, puts it in the bucket of water, runs to the elevator, operates it to the main floor, where he dashes for the door. Lt. Jones yells, down here Friday, he slips on the steps, losing his footing, falling, covering his head with his hands, the bomb falls out from the bucket. The bomb battery fizzles from being immersed. Lt. Jones hold the broken trigger mechanism, saying it would take a good yank to set off the bomb, being rigged for a strong trigger pull. Romero picks up a dynamite stick, one of many in the bomb box, now broken on the steps. Joe remains sprawled on the base of the steps, Brown crouches behind him, noticing the men are alright.
The suspect was examined by five different psychiatrists. They found him to be mentally incompetent. Vernon Carney is now confined in the State Mental Institution for the Criminally Insane. Elwood Carney served the balance of sentence with no time off for good behavior.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of The Human Bomb (1951) in Australia?
Answer