The Night of the Glowing Corpse - Recap

Nighttime at a large and imposing mansion, the site of the French Consulate General. Inside the French anthem plays faintly as powerful men mill about. James West greets Senator Hastings at the door. Consul General Potez appears and escorts the Senator into another conversation.

Artie walks downstairs with Lieutenant Armand Renard of the Surete, the French National Police department. Renard expresses concern about the contents of a safe; Jim assures him that the theft of that safe’s contents would cause both governments difficulty; accordingly the United States takes its obligation to France seriously.

Dr. Jean-Paul Ormand talks to a small knot of scientists about his discovery, Franconium. A man emerges from a nearby door and tells Jim the presentation will begin shortly. Jim enters the room to find a woman arranging flowers. She is Cluny Ormand, the doctor’s niece and a botanist. Jim inspects the flowers; she asks if he’s a flower enthusiast or simply searching for a bomb. He replies that one can never be too careful, and scientists begin filing in. Artie speaks briefly with a scientist who refuses to believe they have not met; finally, Artie gives in and plays along with the man’s faulty recall.

In the foyer, the butler hastens to answer a knock. He opens the door and a woman enters; as he tells her she is late her companion, a very tall man, enters. The man kicks the butler hard in the stomach, killing him. The assailant drags the butler outside and then follows the woman upstairs.

In the auditorium, Dr. Ormand mentions the Franco-Prussian War as the reason why France elected to transfer its precious Franconium to the United States for safe keeping. He continues saying that he is proud to introduce the substance to the men of the American scientific community...

Upstairs, the tall man kicks the door to the security room from its hingers. Clumping to the security cage, he begins kicking it. Each kick loosens or breaks more of the thick metal straps that form the cage.

Downstairs Dr. Ormand begins lecturing about uranium and radiation. Jim sees the ceiling shake and dust fall. Leaving Artie to keep an eye on the lecture, Jim races out and up to see what caused the shaking. Immediately he sees smoke pouring from the security room and enters. Inside the large man kicks Jim across the room, but a glancing blow that does not disable him. Recovering, Jim slaps aside several kicks before getting inside the man’s radius and pummeling him. It almost seems Jim will win the fight when the man’s companion steps from the wall and strikes Jim with a chopping blow that knocks him to his knees. Before he succumbs, he turns to see his attacker, an older woman. Semi-conscious, Jim grips her ankle until she kicks her way free.

In a room filled with plants, a woman gazes through a microscope. This is Cluny Ormand, niece of Dr. Ormond, the discoverer of Franconium. Jim enters behind her and she looks up; he examines the slide and notes orchid spores. She asks after the Franconium and Jim admits he has no better idea where it is today than he did yesterday.
She tells Jim she plans to cultivate, toughen and to some extent acclimate various plants from the United States before sending them home to France. Jim confesses he does not understand the technical details of her work. She tells him a woman is not a woman without surprises and Jim agrees that he like surprise, within limits.

Cluny explains that the consulate was once a tannery, and rumor has it the vats remain beneath the floor. Jim muses that he might check those vats and Cluny wonders if he thinks the Franconium remains within the consulate. Jim merely says that the container is lead-lined, heavy, and difficult to move. Her uncle waits for Jim; she joins him as he leaves. They are met at the door by Artie, who needs a little of Jim’s time; Cluny goes on ahead. Jim confirms that Artie has put a security check in place so that no one can leave the consulate without coming under surveillance. Artie asks if that includes the lady and Jim says he’ll handle her. He has theater ticket...

In another room a key lying on a mat glows eerily. The previous evening a lead canister containing 100g of Franconium rested within the safe, and the ordinary key exposed to the “effluvium” of the substance glows. The power of Franconium is fantastic, almost beyond imagination. A mere drop could kill a roomful of people. Dr. Ormand has fashioned a detector; leaves within a sealed globe rotate in the presence of Franconium or objects exposed to it. The faster the leaves spin the more intense the source. Franconium, Ormond concludes, could be a terrible weapon, and the world’s entire supply rested within the safe. The theft is a catastrophe for France.

Renard of the Surete is angry. He believed it was a tragic mistake to send the Franconium to the United States, where he felt it could fall into Prussian hands because of bungling. Jim becomes irate, asking if the Surete claims clairvoyance only after a crime has been committed. Cluny steps in to quell the verbal barrage, reminding both men that their only concern should be getting the Franconium back into the hands of its rightful owners. Jim wonders where Renard was during the theft; Renard counters by speculating how the United States could generously allow storage, assign its top agent, and yet the Franconium could vanish without a clue how.

A young woman enters; she is Amelie Charlemont, secretary to the Consul-General, with papers for him. Jim identifies her as part of the team that stole the Franconium, disguised as an old woman. She claims Jim is delusional until he hoists her into the air and identifies a set of finger prints on her ankle as his. The consul-general asks about her accomplice and the Franconium. Jim suggests that she might reveal that information. Renard wishes to question her, pointing out that a French national committed the crime on French soil against France, but Jim pulls rank and takes the girl for questioning. Renard follows but Jim insists on questioning her alone.

In the office Jim orders the girl to sit and tells her she’s in a lot of trouble – her heavy-footed friend killed the butler and set her up for serious charges. He tells her she’s beautiful and asks what she thinks she’ll look like after twenty years in the prison workshop. She spots Jim’s gun and begins to scheme. She says she’ll cooperate and then kisses Jim! That’s not the sort of cooperation he had in mind but Jim allows that it’s a good start. But during the lip lock Amelie grabbed Jim’s gun, and she shoots him five times!

Renard and Artie burst in to find Jim laid out on the floor. Then... Jim opens his eyes and gets up! He planned the escape so Amelie would flee to her masters. Jim even provided the gun, since Amelie did not have one of her own. A bulletproof vest saved his life. A secret service man will follow her and report. Renard at first does not believe they planned this, and then resents not being taken into their confidence; Jim apologizes by saying there wasn’t time. Dr. Ormand and Cluny cannot believe Amelie was a thief, but Cluny does realize the Prussians have a lot of money. Jim assures all present that the Secret Service will recapture Amelie, prompting Dr. Ormond to “almost hope” she isn’t. Renard hopes he doesn’t have to remind the doctor of the importance of recovering the Franconium. Cluny suggests that until the thieves are caught no one can feel safe or know who to trust. Jim hands he the show tickets; she says she will wait to go until he is free.

Jim returns to the train only see Artie apparently hanging! Jim quickly realizes he’s hanging by one hand that clutches a cord embedded in a new adhesive. Artie calls the compound a chemical leech and claims it will hold the weight of a man for ten seconds; all one need do is mash it against any surface. Artie tells Jim he ordered a general overhaul of the train, so they’ll need rooms at the hotel for a few days.

The telegraph chatters, reporting that the agent followed Amelie Charlemont to the Hannibal Amusement Park. Jim orders Artie to run a security check on all the embassy personnel, and goes to the Hannibal Amusement Park himself to see who Amelie meets.

On the Midway Jim spots Amelie as she purchases a ticket to the “Castle.” Jim purchases a ticket and follows her in. Exhibits light as he nears them; an alien to the left and skeletons to the right. Farther in, severed heads light and smoke pours from their mouths and noses.

Farther in, Amelie explains how she escaped, and her contact upbraids her as a dupe, explaining how Jim tricked her! And her contact should know, for it is Cluny Ormand! Amelie sees something she doesn’t like and backs away; behind her a witch in a rocker lights with a screech.

Jim passes a ghost that lights and moans. He hears a scream; a gunshot shatters a mirror near him. Ducking away from it, he pulls his own weapon and hastens farther in. He passes the witch in her rocker and finds a macabre platform with an addition: the dead body of Amelie Charlemont! Clutched in her hands are two orchids.

Cluny pins an orchid on the lapel of Lieutenant Renard as they sit together in a restaurant. Nearby a tall man drops his napkin; as he bends to retrieve it his heavy boots stand revealed...

Jim joins Cluny and Renard and explains that he found Amelie, but that she won’t talk, ever again. Then he asks Renard where he got the boutonnière, which exactly resembles the orchid he removed from Amelie’s hand a half-hour earlier. Cluny asks whether West considers the flower a clue and he says merely that he asked for dossiers on all the embassy personnel. Cluny offers him the names of several ladies who could provide gossip – some of it true – about her. Renard wonders idly who will investigate Jim and Jim tells him not to be sure someone isn’t doing exactly that. The heavy footed man leaves as the trio drinks to... suspicion.

Back at their room, Jim calls Artie but gets no response. Walking into the bathroom, he finds Artie face down in the tub! Moving quickly, Jim hauls his friend from the water and discovers Artie is quite alive, and wearing a kind of rubber mask with a bladder attached. Jim has interrupted Artie’s test of a new kind of artificial lung that holds five minutes of oxygen, enabling someone to remain underwater for five minutes! Jim goes back into the front room and begins examining dossiers while Artie extols the virtues of his new invention from the bathroom.

A knock on the door heralds the arrival of the bellhop with a suit. He hangs the suit on a book and tucks a small timer device into a pile of discarded clothing! Unaware of the peril, Jim tips the man and he leaves. Jim remains pre-occupied by the theft; the Franconium could be a worse killer than the thief who stole it. Then Jim finds something in the files: Lieutenant Renard is missing the ring finger at the second joint on his left hand. Except that Jim remembers that Renard is not missing a finger!

As the timer continues to count down, Jim remembers that Renard also had an orchid like those found in Amelie’s hand. Jim examines the clothing and discovers the timer. He darts into the bathroom and hustles Artie in with him, seconds before the device explodes and destroys most of the outer room!

Certain there’s a connection, Jim returns to Cluny’s plant laboratory with Dr. Ormand’s detector and a bull’s eye lantern. The detector spins slightly. West moves farther into the room. Suddenly the detector begins to spin much faster, and Jim discovers a crate! Opening it, he pushes aside straw to discover the body of Lieutenant Renard. The corpse’s left ring finger glows softly from the second joint to the tip!

A voice breaks into Jim’s train of thought, telling him that now he knows the whole story. Looking up, Jim sees Cluny. Jim comments that her French accent has left her and she says she no longer needs it. Putting the pieces together, Jim realizes Renard had an artificial finger contaminated by the emanations of the Franconium until it glowed. He further speculates that there is a lead lined container of Franconium somewhere in the crate, but he does not know why Cluny murdered Renard. She tells Jim that Renard found out things. He suspected her from the very beginning, something Jim didn’t realize because he didn’t give Renard that much credit. Renard even pretended to fall in love with Cluny to get evidence, but this ploy did not fool her because, she says, she does not make mistakes. Jim asks about the orchid in Amelie’s hand and Cluny tells him that was no mistake – it brought him her.

Heavy footsteps make Jim look around warily. He has heard that heavy tread before. He backs away and elsewhere a hand operates a lever. A steel panel slams down behind him, cutting off his retreat! As he looks to the sides more panels slam down and in a second or so, a steel box has formed around Jim! He tries to climb but a heavy slab drops atop the sealing him on all sides.

Inside, Jim lights a match and then a flare. He looks for ways to escape but the box is solid on all its sides save for a small port – too small to allow a man passage. Cluny opens that port and explains the box: made of heavy gauge steel, it has no doors and offers no escape. She uses it to fumigate orchids with the vapors of prussic acid to protect them from parasites. Suddenly Jim hears a hissing – a gas enters the box from a pair of vents near the back of the box! She tells Jim he’ll suffocate as the gas drives the oxygen from the box and then slams the port shut.

Inside Jim uses Artie’s breather and begins probing the walls for weak spots. Then he removes wad of putty from his boot and sticks it to the wall. From elsewhere he pulls some fuse cord and sticks that into the mass of putty, then lights it and races to the other side of the box. But the cord only burns for a few seconds before going out.

Outside, Ironfoot closes the crate and stomps nails in his massive feet. Cluny, very nervous, tells him to be careful; the slightest crack in the lead container could poison both of them.

Someone raps on the door to the laboratory. Cluny answers and Artie enters, disguised as an express man and affecting a thick Irish accent. He claims he has come for a crate and Cluny assures him there are no crates here. He responses by pulling a work order that identifies the address and specifies a crate for pickup, gradually working his way into the room.

Inside the box acid fumes roil and thicken as Jim shortens the fuse, relights it and again ducks back into the corner. It sputters out before setting off the explosive.

Outside Artie claims to be a patient man, but says that even the most patient man eventually loses his patience and then claims his is about worn out. He asks again for the trunk and Cluny insists again that she has no truck for pickup. Artie says he’ll find it himself and marches into the room.

Inside the box Jim cuts the fuse to almost nothing.

Artie discovers the crate and points it out to Cluny with an air of vindication, but then he notices the detector spinning atop it. Then Ironfoot appears. Arties tries several body punches without effect, before Ironfoot brutally clubs him down with several blows to the shoulders and upper body. At Cluny’s direction Ironfoot drags Artie behind the box. While they’re back there, an explosion rips open the box. Before Jim can fully emerge Cluny and Ironfoot reappear!

Surprised and amused the Jim managed to escape the fumes, Cluny explains further that she was born in Prussia and remains loyal to that state, despite her uncle’s national affiliation. She says further that France may have developed Franconium but Prussia will be the first to put it to use for the national good!

Ironfoot approaches Jim. Jim clicks his foot and a blade snaps from his toe. Attempting to disable Ironfoot, Jim swipes the blade across at calf level and it snaps completely off! Cluny says something in German and Ironfoot lifts his trouser legs. His feet and legs aren’t merely iron hard, they’re actually made of metal, the consequence of a train accident.

Cluny tells Ironfoot to shoot Jim, but Jim belittles his manhood in an attempt to taunt him into hand to hand combat. It works! Ironfoot attempts several kicks that Jim manages to parry before Cluny tries to grab the gun from Ironfoot and he slaps her aside, then tosses the gun away. Jim tries several punches but these only permit Ironfoot to get close enough to hit back, slamming Jim into a staircase. From halfway up Jim tries a kick with little effect, then climbs up the stairs with Ironfoot thumping along after him.

Below, Cluny pulls a rope and a table of plants slides aside to reveal a pit filled with caustic lye, a remnant of the old tannery reactivated, and all for Jim! Ironfoot kicks Jim into the railing and it collapses. Jim hangs from the edge as Ironfoot stomps on his fingers. Finally, Jim seems to fall but manages to attach Artie’s ten second goo underneath the balcony. Ironfoot, confused, leans over to see why Jim didn’t fall into the vat, and Jim grabs his hair and pulls hard! Overbalanced, Ironfoot cannot save himself from pitching over the edge into the lye! Jim manages to pull himself back up before the goo detaches, and climbs back downstairs. Cluny attempts to escape but a revived Artie corners her. She breaks down in tears...

Back at the consulate-general, a rescheduled presentation will soon begin. Jim inspects the auditorium and there sees – Cluny arranging flowers! But when he gets closer he discovers a woman, Cecile, who happens to resemble Cluny. She is the consul-general’s new secretary. As men file in, Jim chats her up. Near the door Artie once again meets the man who refuses to believe they have not met previously and once again Artie yields to avoid an argument.

The consul-general is overwhelmed with happiness at the return of France’s national treasure. As he begins to introduce Dr. Ormand, Jim mentions theatre tickets to Cecile, but alas, she cannot go and leave her assistant behind. Fortunately, Artie has another pair of tickets and gladly offers to escort the petite, lovely blonde assistant! As the leave the consul-general notices and says sotto voce, “Les Yankees... formidable!”

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