Minute 026: Open This Door!

Summary

A heavily-bandaged Wilmer, in a bed, in traction,  in County General’s Room 323, is explaining to Lothar what happened to the rocket pack.

“I pulled a switch, see?” says Wilmer, as Lothar looms over him in the hospital bed. “I got the package stashed real good! It’s at the airfield – – Hangar Three — in some old plane!”

Meanwhile, the nurse and the hospital guard in the hallway listen to a comedy radio show on a table set. The characters on the show are yelling at each other as the show goes to commercial. The nurse takes a sip of her coffee and looks at the guard. Both suddenly realize the yelling isn’t coming from the show, but from Wilmer’s room. They rush to the locked door of Room 323.

Inside the room, the shadow of Lothar grapples with the shadow of Wilmer and his traction pulleys.

The guard and the nurse are yelling “Hey!” as they both struggle to open the door. The guard finally manages to shove the jammed door open, and both he and the nurse stumble into the darkened room.  Wilmer, now twisted into a pretzel shape, hangs limply from the traction belts. The nurse screams. The guard, pistol drawn, runs to the open window, but sees no one outside.

Next to the open window and unseen by the hospital guard, Lothar’s giant feet scrape along the building ledge.

The scene shifts to an English bulldog walking along a dirt road. The dog is headed to the Bull Dog Cafe, as explained by a large neon  road sign with the diner’s name and the word “EATS” below it.  The Bull Dog Cafe is a bulldog-shaped building, that of a large dog with a pipe in its mouth and the words “TAMALE” and “ICE CREAM” written on its front legs. Between the giant legs is a lighted doorway, the entrance to the cafe.

Inside, the proprietress, Millie, carries a bowl of soup and an order of hamburger and french fries to Jenny and Cliff’s booth.  Cliff is explaining the plot of “Wings of Honor” to Goose, Skeets, and Malcolm, who are seated at the lunch counter.

“… and then, get this, fellas,” says Cliff, “At the end of the movie, he flies over the enemy trenches and he drops a bottle of champagne!”

In This Minute

Max Grodénchik as Wilmer
Tiny Ron as Lothar
Kim Sebastian as Nurse
David Pressman as Hospital Guard
Margot Martindale as Millie
Don Pugsley as Goose
William Sanderson as Skeets
Eddie Jones as Malcolm
Bill Campbell as Cliff Secord
Jennifer Connelly as Jenny Blake