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Transcript

The Actor and the Alibi: A Theatre Murder, Too Many Alibis | Father Brown · Father Brown | G. K. Chesterton Detective Stories

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We present The Actor and the Alibi, adapted by John Scottney,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: with Andrew Sachs as Father Brown.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Um, excuse me?
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: Sorry, sir, the box office is shut at the moment. Oh, no, no,
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry, I don't want to see the play.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: No, not many do, I'm afraid.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: Well, what can we do for you? I had a
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: message from your Mr.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Jarvis.
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: Ah, well, I'm afraid he's rehearsing on stage at the moment.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Well, he said a Mr.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Mandeville needed my help. Of course, Father, it went out
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: of my head, it did.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: What with all the bother of the first.
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: Night, Mr.
• 0:42
  Speaker 5: Mandeville's at the back of the house, through here.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Ah, thank you.
• 0:46
  Speaker 6: And they, be.
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: As quiet as you can. They're in the middle of rehearsing.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, of course.
• 0:54
  Speaker 7: It's Father Brown for you, Mr.
• 0:56
  Speaker 8: Mandeville.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Oh, hello, Father Brown.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: Thank you for coming so quick.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Well, if you'll excuse me, James. How do you do, Mr.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: Mandeville? A modern Mandeville, Father.
• 1:05
  Speaker 7: So, licensee and proprietor of the Hippolium Thief. Well, really,
• 1:10
  Speaker 7: the name is Potter. Only you've got to call yourself
• 1:12
  Speaker 7: something posh in this business, haven't you?
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: I suppose so. Mr. Jarvis said you needed my help, Mr.
• 1:17
  Speaker 9: Mandeville.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: That I do, Father Brown, that I do.
• 1:21
  Speaker 7: It's Miss Moroney, a very beautiful, very talented little lady, but, well,
• 1:25
  Speaker 7: you know, Italian background and the old Latian.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: Temperament, they're all mad, I reckon.
• 1:30
  Speaker 9: Doctor, dear guest, we'd be awfully grateful if you'd be
• 1:34
  Speaker 9: a little quieter. We are trying to rehearse, and it
• 1:38
  Speaker 9: does affect the concentration, so.
• 1:41
  Speaker 7: Sorry, dear heart, only it's Father Brown, the priest, he's arrived.
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: Oh, Father Brown, it's.
• 1:46
  Speaker 6: Very good of you to come. All right, everybody, wait
• 1:51
  Speaker 6: for five minutes.
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: You bring Father Brown up here, Mother, will you?
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Yes, my love, this way, if you would, Father.
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: Oh, I meant to ask, how come that you know Ashton?
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Ashton?
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, Mr Jarvis. Well, he's a Catholic.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: He comes to Mass sometimes.
• 2:05
  Speaker 7: Now, Father, Mr.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: Ashton isn't Catholic, is he now? Oh, Father Brown, do
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: please come up.
• 2:11
  Speaker 6: My steps? They're only temporary.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Yes, thank you so much.
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: Careful now, Father Brown. That's it.
• 2:18
  Speaker 6: I really don't know why my husband troubled you, Father Brown,
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: but thank you for coming.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: Oh, you've met Mr Jarvis, of course.
• 2:26
  Speaker 9: Yes.
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: Morning, Father.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: Morning.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: You got my telephone message? Oh, indeed.
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: I do hope you get help, Father Brown. I really do,
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: I tell you.
• 2:33
  Speaker 10: Yes, well, so do I.
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: But I do need to know what exactly your problem
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: is with Miss Moroni.
• 2:37
  Speaker 6: She's been in a most peculiar mood ever since we
• 2:41
  Speaker 6: started rehearsals.
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: She came to me highly recommended. I assure you, my dear,
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: very highly recommended.
• 2:47
  Speaker 6: Yes, she is a very pretty girl.
• 2:50
  Speaker 10: I gave her every advantage, and she does this to me.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Does what?
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: Oh, yes, excuse me.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: Good looks do not.
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 2:56
  Speaker 8: Jarvis, she has locked herself in her dressing room, Father,
• 2:59
  Speaker 8: refuses to come out, and has spent the last three
• 3:02
  Speaker 8: hours alternately sobbing and shouting through the keyhole in Italian.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Well, none of us speaks Italian, and you do, and
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: she refuses to speak English. Ah, now I understand.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: I suppose there is some reason for her flying off
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: the handle like this. Does anyone know what it is?
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: dissatisfied with her part, I believe.
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: I can only say, Father Brown, that she has been
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: quite impossible all week. And I gave her what ought
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: to be the best part. It's supposed to be what
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: stage-struck young women want, isn't it? To act the beautiful
• 3:36
  Speaker 6: young heroine and marry the beautiful young hero in a
• 3:40
  Speaker 6: shower of bouquets and chairs from the gallery. But she
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: is far from grateful. Women of my age naturally have
• 3:48
  Speaker 6: to fall back on playing matrons. And I was careful
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: to confide myself to that.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: Oh, my dear, you're most unfair to yourself, you really are.
• 3:59
  Speaker 7: But if you wouldn't mind, Father Brown, we ought to
• 4:01
  Speaker 7: go and see if you can get through to Miss Moroney.
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: This way. If you'd just come this way.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Aren't you needed here?
• 4:07
  Speaker 10: No, it's all above my head, this stuff.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: The classics.
• 4:10
  Speaker 10: I'll leave it to the wife.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: She's the clever one. Now, through here.
• 4:14
  Speaker 10: Watch this. Oh, good heavens. Yeah, it's clever, isn't it?
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: Demon King used to pop out through there. Come on, Will.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: Let him get on with it. The Demon King, you said? Yeah.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: I miss all that, you know. I've had this theatre
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: 20 years on since 92.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, 1892.
• 4:36
  Speaker 10: I was what?
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: 28 then.
• 4:39
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: I used to love the Pantos. We did them all.
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: Had the stage rigged out with trap doors, every trick
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: in the book.
• 4:54
  Speaker 7: And a few that weren't in the book. I still
• 4:57
  Speaker 7: keep all the old sets down here under the stage.
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: Here, have a look at this.
• 5:03
  Speaker 7: Oh.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: Why, it looks like Bluebeard's castle.
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: So it is. Of course, the mice have got out
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: of it now. But look at that.
• 5:15
  Speaker 7: Lovely bit of work. Ah, the laughter of children, Father Brown.
• 5:19
  Speaker 7: The laughter of the kiddies. Nothing like it.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes. Oh, we had all the evidence in the
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: old days.
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: Little Titch.
• 5:28
  Speaker 11: Who?
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Mr.
• 5:29
  Speaker 10: Ralph, he always had to be called.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: George Eastwood. Vesta Tilly. We even had poor old Dan
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: Lido himself. Did you really? We did indeed. It was
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: in a panther when I first met Mrs. Manterville. Eight
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: years ago. I brought her in as principal board. Of
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: course we don't do that sort of thing now. The
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: wife has raised the tone a bit.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I guess you're putting on school for scandal.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes.
• 5:51
  Speaker 7: Well, the wife likes these, what she calls, classical comedies.
• 5:55
  Speaker 7: Just between you and me, I reckon they're a sight
• 5:57
  Speaker 7: more classic than comic. Still, not that we didn't have
• 6:02
  Speaker 7: the classics here before, you know. We had Henry Irving
• 6:05
  Speaker 7: one time.
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: Sir Henry Irving and the Bells.
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: It was.
• 6:08
  Speaker 7: Really?
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes.
• 6:10
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: Right, here we are. This is my little den.
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: Ah.
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: If you listen, you can hear them all acting away
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: on the stage above us.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Eh? Oh.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, someone's singing.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 6:23
  Speaker 11: Ah.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 6:24
  Speaker 9: Hey.
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: That's it, yeah?
• 6:29
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Now, Miss Morelli.
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: Yes, now, her dressing room is bang opposite, down that
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: little corner. See? Oh, yes, yes.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: And who's the woman outside?
• 6:42
  Speaker 7: Oh, that's Mrs Sands, my wife's dresser.
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: Bit of an old tartar, but loyal as you like.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: And the gentleman?
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: He's our leading man, Norman Knight. Bit of a star,
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: isn't that what they call them nowadays? Yeah. Anything up,
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: Mrs Sands? I beg your pardon, sir. Any sound from
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: the prima donna? I haven't heard anything. Not for some time, sir.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: And you, Norman... Oh, by the way, this is Father Brown.
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: I'm sure you recognise Norman Knight, Father Brown. Oh, I... Anyway,
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: you heard anything from La Maroney, old chap?
• 7:16
  Speaker 11: Earlier on, there were a few what sounded like curses,
• 7:19
  Speaker 11: but then the rest, shall we say, was silence.
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: Oh, bloomin' heck. Do you think she could have done
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: herself in, Father Brown?
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: Well, if she'd been a German, gone away to think
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: quietly about metaphysics and weltschmerz.
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: Sorry?
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: Yes, weltschmerz.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: I should have been all for breaking the door down.
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: These Italians don't really die so easily and are not
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: liable to kill themselves in a rage.
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: Somebody else, perhaps.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, possibly.
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: It might be as well to take ordinary precautions if
• 7:46
  Speaker 5: she comes out with a leap.
• 7:48
  Speaker 10: Oh, blimey, that's just what we need.
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: Hello? Who's there? It's me, Governor.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: There's someone here who wants to see you.
• 7:56
  Speaker 10: Well, tell him I'm busy, will you?
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: Mundy!
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: Oh, God.
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: Hello, Lady Miriam. How kind of you to call. Allow me,
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: Lady Miriam. What a divine costume. Don't tell me you're
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: playing cannon chairs, you all. Or is that some other play, Mundy?
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, poor dear Oscar.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: My mother knew him, you know, when he was all
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: the rage before... No, no, Father Brown's not an actor.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: He's a real.
• 8:18
  Speaker 6: Now, it's... Wait a minute.
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: Don't tell me. It's Norman Wright, isn't it? Norman Wright?
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Knight, Lady Milliam.
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: Knight.
• 8:26
  Speaker 10: Not Wright.
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: What's not Wright? No, he's not.
• 8:30
  Speaker 7: He's... A night, my lady.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Oh, what a gaffe.
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: A night.
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: I'm so sorry, Sir Norman. Now, you do forgive me,
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: don't you, Sir Norman?
• 8:40
  Speaker 12: Yes, Lady Mirabelle.
• 8:41
  Speaker 9: Mundy, I can't come tonight and I don't want to.
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: I like writers and I especially like actors, eh, Sir Norman?
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: But I don't like plays. They're a bore.
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: As I say, I can't come tonight and I don't
• 8:53
  Speaker 6: want to.
• 8:54
  Speaker 11: But.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: I've never seen a rehearsal in ordinary clothes. Might be
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: a bit funny, you know. You simply must let me
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: see a rehearsal. That'll be different. All those funny people
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: in the wrong clothes.
• 9:08
  Speaker 9: Somehow nowadays, Sir Norman, one can never find a thing
• 9:11
  Speaker 9: one's never seen.
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: Well, I cannot.
• 9:13
  Speaker 7: I'm sorry, gents, if you'd excuse me just a minute
• 9:16
  Speaker 7: or two. Of course, Lady Miriam, I can give you
• 9:18
  Speaker 7: a box for the rehearsal if you wish it.
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: And topping, Mandy. Thanks awfully. Perhaps your ladyship would come...
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: This way?
• 9:27
  Speaker 11: I wonder whether Mandeville can be so much of a cad.
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: He actually prefers that sort of woman.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Prefers her to.
• 9:34
  Speaker 12: Yes.
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: Perhaps we'd better relieve Mrs.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Sands, Mr.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: Knight.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: Yes. It's all right, Mrs.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Sands.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: You can have a rest now. Oh, very generous of you,
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: I'm sure.
• 9:45
  Speaker 6: Pity no one thought of letting me off earlier, and
• 9:47
  Speaker 6: I might have got about to eat.
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: Goodbye, then, gentlemen. Our Mrs. Sands is rather a rough diamond.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: Has she been with Mrs.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: Mandeville long?
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: Oh, yes. She was with her touring the classics before she...
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: met Mandeville.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: I think Mrs.
• 10:02
  Speaker 10: Sands thinks this place is rather a comedown for.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Her mistress, as between ourselves it is.
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: Oh?
• 10:08
  Speaker 11: I certainly wouldn't dream of playing here if it wasn't
• 10:10
  Speaker 11: for the opportunity of acting with someone of Mrs. Mandeville's
• 10:13
  Speaker 11: talent and, I may say, character.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: What she's doing married to the sort of.
• 10:17
  Speaker 10: Man who brings in little Italians.
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes.
• 10:20
  Speaker 5: Speaking of little Italians, I feel I really ought to
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: perhaps try to make some sort of contact with Miss Moroney.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes, go ahead.
• 10:27
  Speaker 13: Yes.
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: Scusi, signora. Scusi, signora Moroney.
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: Scusi.
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: Sono un amico di signora Mandeville. Porca putana! Vandana all'esperno
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: e lasciami in pace!
• 10:47
  Speaker 11: Eh.
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: What's she saying?
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: I think that's rather not translated, but at least we
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: know she's alive.
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: Oh!
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: And kicking, it seems.
• 10:58
  Speaker 10: Kicking?
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: Well, she seems to be breaking glass with her feet.
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: Looking glass, perhaps. Oh, dear.
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: Ah!
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Mr.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: Mandeville. Hello, Father Brown. Sorry about that. What news from
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: in there? Well, we've established she's still alive.
• 11:11
  Speaker 11: She hasn't committed suicide.
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: Oh, well, that's a relief. As old Baden Powell said
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: on Mafficking Night, eh?
• 11:18
  Speaker 12: Yeah.
• 11:19
  Speaker 7: Well, do you think I should get Sam, the stage.
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: Carpenter, to get the door off its hinges?
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: No, not if you want her to act in the play.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: No? If you force the door, she'll raise the roof
• 11:28
  Speaker 5: and refuse to stay in the place. If, however, you
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: leave her alone, she'll probably come out from mere curiosity.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: You're a clever man, Father Brown.
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: But, of course, he is, dearest.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: Come along, Jarvis.
• 11:40
  Speaker 11: Yes, Mrs.
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: Manor.
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: Dear Father Brown, I'm sorry we had to abandon you.
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: Jarvis and I had to finish that scene. We couldn't
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: go any farther without Maria, of course. Have you had
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: any success with our little Italian tamagotchi?
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Yes, Father, did you manage to communicate with her? Yes, Mr. Jarvis,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: we did exchange a few words.
• 12:01
  Speaker 7: Father Brown thinks we should leave her alone for a
• 12:03
  Speaker 7: bit more, you know, let her stew a bit.
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: In that case, I'll get Mrs.
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: Sands to keep watch again, and we'll get on with
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: rehearsing the scenes in which she doesn't appear.
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: It was a pleasure to meet you, Father Brown. Oh,
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: thank you, thank you. Well, I'll get back to the
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: office then. Thanks for the trouble, Father Brown. I'm sorry
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: to have dragged you out here.
• 12:20
  Speaker 6: I must insist that at least you let us give
• 12:23
  Speaker 6: you lunch.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: Yes, most kindly.
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: There's a capital chop house right next door. They know
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: me there. You tell them to charge it to me. Oh, no,
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: I couldn't. Oh, it's the least we could do, Father Brown.
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: Oh.
• 12:32
  Speaker 9: Mr.
• 12:33
  Speaker 6: Jarvis, we'll be rehearsing the fourth act. I'll get someone
• 12:37
  Speaker 6: to read in for you. Would you take Father Brown
• 12:39
  Speaker 6: to lunch.
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: As our guest?
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: It would be a pleasure, Mrs.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: Mandel. Oh, that's settled, then.
• 12:44
  Speaker 6: Now, everybody, the fourth act, not a dress rehearsal.
• 12:49
  Speaker 11: Very well, then, dear lady, not a dress rehearsal.
• 12:51
  Speaker 7: Good.
• 12:53
  Speaker 11: I could wish the costumes of this infernal period weren't
• 12:55
  Speaker 11: quite so elaborate.
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: Oh, see you later, then, Father Brown. Enjoy your meal.
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: I must get stuck in this on paperwork. Cheerio, all.
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: Anything else, sir, gentlemen?
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: We've some very tasty stew.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, thank you. I couldn't eat anything else. Yes, Mr.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: Mandeville was right.
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: This is an excellent place, and really it is most
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: generous of him to pay for the meal.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: He's a strange one, Mandeville.
• 13:24
  Speaker 12: He used to be as jovial a philanderer as ever
• 13:26
  Speaker 12: sauntered down Piccadilly. But now there's some sort of shadow
• 13:32
  Speaker 12: in his life, maybe something on his conscience. And I
• 13:36
  Speaker 12: doubt whether it has anything to do with his fashionable flirtations. Well,
• 13:41
  Speaker 12: look at the way he treats his poor, neglected wife.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: Neglected?
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: Oh, yes.
• 13:46
  Speaker 12: It's pathetic the way she sometimes admits she wished she
• 13:49
  Speaker 12: had a more intellectual life.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Yet, she always does her duty. But I'm afraid I
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: must be getting back.
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: Waiter!
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: Yes, Mr.
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: Johnson.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: This is to go on Mr. Mandeville's bill. Yes, sir. Waiter,
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: you know Mr.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: Mandeville well? Oh, yes, sir.
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: Though he doesn't come in as often as he used
• 14:09
  Speaker 5: to before he was married.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: But then we don't go to the theatre nowadays. Not
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: since he's stopped doing pantos.
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: Ah, yes.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: Wonderful they were, them pantos.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: They had Dan Lino as the dame once, Father. Oh, yes, yes.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: My wife was in that. She was the princess. Was she, sir?
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: Afraid I can't recall her, sir.
• 14:29
  Speaker 7: We only had eyes for the old dame.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: How marvellous she was.
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: He was.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Of course. That's it.
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: That's what's the matter with our Italian friend. Is Miss
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: Moroni a good actress, Mr Jarvis?
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Yes, I'd say she is, rather.
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: She has quite a reputation, in fact.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Yes, we must get back. Did I have my umbrella
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: with me?
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: Just get it, sir.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 14:52
  Speaker 5: You know, there is generally a perfectly good reason for
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: mad Italian rages. The Latins are far more logical than
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: we are.
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: Hello!
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: Hello!
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: I think this gentleman wishes to see you, sir.
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: Why, Inspector Bagshaw, what are you doing here?
• 15:06
  Speaker 10: I consider some of you, Father Brown. You seem to
• 15:08
  Speaker 10: get everywhere.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: We do consider ourselves the Catholic Church, Inspector.
• 15:13
  Speaker 13: I'm sorry, I don't quite follow. I'll tell you why
• 15:15
  Speaker 13: I'm here. That theater you were at this morning has
• 15:18
  Speaker 13: been a murder.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Not Miss Maroney.
• 15:20
  Speaker 10: No, not Miss Maroney, Mr... I don't believe I've had
• 15:23
  Speaker 10: the pleasure.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: This is Mr Jarvis. He's one of my parishioners. He's
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: also an actor.
• 15:27
  Speaker 10: Ah, Mr Jarvis, the actor.
• 15:31
  Speaker 13: Well, Mr Jarvis, can I ask you, where were you
• 15:34
  Speaker 13: between the hours of 12.30 and 1.30 today?
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: He was having lunch with me.
• 15:39
  Speaker 10: Was he?
• 15:41
  Speaker 13: Oh, well, one would have crossed off the list of suspects.
• 15:43
  Speaker 13: No offence meant Mr Jarvis, but... You were my last hope.
• 15:47
  Speaker 10: Inspector, will you please let us speak?
• 15:48
  Speaker 13: And I can tell you it's not Miss Moroney who's dead,
• 15:51
  Speaker 13: though she has gone missing.
• 15:53
  Speaker 7: What?
• 15:54
  Speaker 10: When Mr Knight found the body, they decided to break
• 15:57
  Speaker 10: her door down. Well, it's understandable. Anyway, they found she'd gone,
• 16:00
  Speaker 10: smashed a window and climbed out.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Good Lord.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: Then who is dead, Inspector?
• 16:05
  Speaker 10: It's Mr Mandeville, sir.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Mr Mandeville?
• 16:08
  Speaker 10: Mandeville stabbed in his office when the door was locked
• 16:11
  Speaker 10: and everyone apart from you, sir, was on stage. as
• 16:15
  Speaker 10: witness per Lady Miriam Talbot, who was watching them. Never
• 16:19
  Speaker 10: come across anything like it. And that old cow in
• 16:22
  Speaker 10: the corridor.
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: Mrs.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Satt.
• 16:23
  Speaker 10: Oh, yes, that's right, that one.
• 16:24
  Speaker 13: She swears blind no one went near his office. Anyway,
• 16:29
  Speaker 13: I'd be glad if you gentlemen would come back to
• 16:31
  Speaker 13: the theatre with me.
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 16:32
  Speaker 13: I'd rather take your statements there. I left a young
• 16:35
  Speaker 13: constable in charge, and you can't trust him, these are.
• 16:42
  Speaker 11: But I've already told you all this before, Inspector.
• 16:45
  Speaker 13: If we could just go through it again, Mr Knight,
• 16:48
  Speaker 13: in case we missed anything.
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: Very well.
• 16:52
  Speaker 11: As I said, we were all on the stage when
• 16:54
  Speaker 11: this dreadful thing happened beneath our feet, as it were.
• 16:58
  Speaker 11: We just finished rehearsing Act Four with poor Mrs Mandel.
• 17:02
  Speaker 7: There, there, dear.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: Well, all of us except Mr Jarvis. Yes, I've spoken
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: to him.
• 17:07
  Speaker 10: Please continue, sir.
• 17:09
  Speaker 11: We couldn't do much more without Miss Moroney, so Mrs.
• 17:12
  Speaker 11: Mandeville knocked on her husband's door to ask him to
• 17:14
  Speaker 11: do something.
• 17:15
  Speaker 10: And what happened then, Mrs. Mandeville?
• 17:19
  Speaker 6: I looked several times, Inspector, but could get no reply.
• 17:24
  Speaker 6: I was naturally concerned that my husband might have been ill.
• 17:27
  Speaker 7: Yes, yes.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Mr.
• 17:28
  Speaker 6: Knight gallantly volunteered to break the door down.
• 17:31
  Speaker 13: Which you then did and found the corpse, and I quote, lying...
• 17:36
  Speaker 13: forward on his desk, stabbed in the neck with an
• 17:39
  Speaker 13: old property dagger.
• 17:40
  Speaker 11: Inspector, have a care for the lady's feelings.
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: I'm very sorry, Mrs.
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: Mandeville. I'm very sorry to distress you further. But is
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: there any other entrance to Mr. Mandeville's office?
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: How do you mean, Father Brian?
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: Well, is there, for instance, another door?
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: Oh, no. It was just a sort of wooden box
• 18:00
  Speaker 6: built under the stage where we stopped doing those awful pantomimes.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sorry.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: I'm afraid this has all been rather a shock. Would
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: you excuse me?
• 18:12
  Speaker 13: Oh, of course, Mrs.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: Manor.
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: Mrs.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: Manor.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Oh, Mr.
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: Knight.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: I'm afraid I came over a little faint.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: Mr.
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: Knight, perhaps you would be kind enough to.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: But of course, dear lady. If this inspector will allow
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: me to leave.
• 18:30
  Speaker 10: Yes, go on.
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: Now, that is very strange, Inspector.
• 18:41
  Speaker 10: Oh, Lady Miriam. Now, what's that? What's strange?
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: I'm sure Mundy told me his name was Wright, not Knight.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: I say, do you think that's significant?
• 18:53
  Speaker 10: I doubt it, Lady Miriam.
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: When exactly did you leave your box, Lady Miriam?
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: The very moment they finished that thing they were doing.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: I mean, it was all jolly interesting.
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: But I was getting a teeny bit bored.
• 19:07
  Speaker 6: So I popped down to say thank you and bye-bye
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: to poor Mandy.
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: If I were you, Lady Miriam, I'd go and have
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: a rest. It's all been a nasty shock. If Inspector
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: Bagshaw has finished.
• 19:19
  Speaker 10: Oh, yes, yes. You go and have a Thank you.
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: Poor old Monday.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: Poor old thing. What about me? Can I go too?
• 19:34
  Speaker 10: Ah, dear Mrs. Sands, just one thing.
• 19:38
  Speaker 12: What?
• 19:40
  Speaker 10: You are quite sure that no one went into Mr.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Mandeville's office?
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: Like I said, I was outside all the time. Nobody came.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: I didn't fall asleep.
• 19:49
  Speaker 10: Yes, please.
• 19:50
  Speaker 13: Before you ask me again, that Italian thing didn't come
• 19:53
  Speaker 13: out neither.
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: And I didn't hear no scream from him.
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: Satisfied?
• 19:58
  Speaker 10: Thank you.
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: Now can I go?
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Don't leave the building.
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: Ah, very much, I must say.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: My opinion is that Mrs. Sands is a grumpy, gloomy
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: sort of card.
• 20:14
  Speaker 10: You think she's lying? Is that what you mean?
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: No, no, I think I meant it more or less
• 20:19
  Speaker 5: as a detached study of character.
• 20:23
  Speaker 10: Well, if it's not her, it's got to be the
• 20:25
  Speaker 10: Moroni woman, though, how she did it. What a conundrum.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: Oh, dear, I've just realised.
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: I'd rather fear I myself was a witness to Miss
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: Moroni not being the murderer.
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: What?
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: Yes, it's very foolish of me. Oh, I should have realized.
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: You see, an hour or so before the murder, I
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: heard her smashing something. I stupidly thought she was breaking
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: a mirror. But I'm sure an actress would be much
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: too superstitious.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: To smash a mirror.
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: Of course.
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: Yes, she must have been making her escape by breaking
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: the window well before the murder.
• 20:55
  Speaker 10: So it has to be Mrs.
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: Sands.
• 20:59
  Speaker 10: Then God knows what she's doing.
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: I'm sure God would know if she had done it. But,
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: Father Brown, you said she was an unpleasant character. I
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: certainly said that Mrs.
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: Sands' sulky look was a study in character, but not
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: in the character of Mrs.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: Sands herself.
• 21:15
  Speaker 5: If you want to know what a lady is like,
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: don't look at her, for she may be too clever
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: for you. Don't look at the men around her, for
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: they may be too silly about her. But look at
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: some other woman who is always near her, and especially
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: one who is under her. You will see in that mirror...
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: Her real face. And the face mirrored in Mrs. Sands
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: was very ugly. The true face of her mistress was
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: mirrored there.
• 21:43
  Speaker 10: Surely you don't mean Mrs. Mandeville.
• 21:46
  Speaker 12: Everybody regards her as a person of the most exalted ideals,
• 21:49
  Speaker 12: almost moving on a higher.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Plane than the rest of us.
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: I suspect that, like her servant, she is perhaps, as
• 21:57
  Speaker 5: the inspector would say, something of a cow.
• 22:00
  Speaker 12: A cow.
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: Oh, come on.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: I'm sure Mrs. Mandeville's behavior towards the Italian girl was beautiful.
• 22:06
  Speaker 10: Oh, on the contrary.
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: It struck me from the very first that she was
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: being unfair to that poor Italian. And it was brought
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: home to me in the chop house. Do you remember?
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: The waiter had forgotten your wife as the beautiful princess,
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: but only remembered Dan Lino as the old dame.
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: Wait a minute.
• 22:22
  Speaker 10: What's Dan Lino got to do with it?
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: Well, Dan Lino had the star part. Isn't that the word?
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: The matronly dame?
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: And besides him, the beautiful princess was comparatively unimportant. Now,
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: in the school for scandal, the star part is also
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: the matron Lady Teasel, the part Mrs. Mandeville so charitably
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: gave herself, while the part of the beautiful young heroine,
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: as she called it, must be Maria, which is hardly
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: a part at all.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's true.
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: Yes, if the Italian was, as you say, a first-rate
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: actress who had been promised a star part, she really
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: had some excuse for her Italian rage.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: Father Brian.
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: I can't accept your view of Mrs.
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: Mandeville.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: In all the time I've worked with her, she never complained. Oh,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: what you mean is Mrs.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: Mandeville told you she never complained?
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: As she told Norman Knight, she never complained, and probably
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: every other man in the company. But in private, oh, yes,
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: she complained. And yet, really, what did she have to
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: complain about? Nobody pretended that her husband drank or beat
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: her or left her without money? And though he may
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: have been something of a philanderer before he met her,
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: I suspect he was so much in awe of her
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: as to have been completely faithful as a husband. If
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: one looks at the facts, apart from the atmospheric impression
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: of martyrdom she contrived to spread, the facts were really
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: quite the other way. Mandeville left off making money on
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: pantomimes to please her. He started losing money on classical
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: drama to please her. She wanted to play Lady Teasel
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: in the School for Scandal, and she got to do so.
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: And no doubt she arranged the scenery and furniture as
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: she wanted.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Yes, but what's that got to do with it?
• 24:03
  Speaker 10: Oh, you've lost me again. What are you getting at,
• 24:07
  Speaker 10: Father Brown?
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: Can we go down to Mr. Mandeville's office, Inspector?
• 24:13
  Speaker 10: Well, if you want to. You want to.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: View the corpse?
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: No, I want to view the ceiling.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: Ah, yes, look up there.
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: I thought so. You see, Mr Jarvis?
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, I do see. Good heavens.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: Well, I don't.
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: This used to be a pantomime theatre, Inspector. This office
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: is built under the stage. It's full of all sorts
• 24:37
  Speaker 5: of tricks and devices. Immediately above us is one of
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: the trapdoors. That was how the murderer got in, down
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: from the stage.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: But everyone was on stage.
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: You think someone popped out in full view of everyone else?
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: No.
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: No, the plan could only work in the fourth act
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: of School for Scandal.
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: Of course.
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Of course, the famous fourth act.
• 24:59
  Speaker 10: Look, I only went to a board school. Will somebody
• 25:02
  Speaker 10: please explain?
• 25:03
  Speaker 12: In the fourth act of the play, Lady Teasel spends
• 25:05
  Speaker 12: a very long time hidden behind a screen when her
• 25:08
  Speaker 12: husband arrives at an embarrassing moment.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: She's technically on stage, but.
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: But this is Mandyville.
• 25:15
  Speaker 13: Had fixed for the screen to be around this here trap,
• 25:18
  Speaker 13: so she could nip.
• 25:19
  Speaker 10: Down, catch her old man on the words, pretend she
• 25:23
  Speaker 10: had something to say.
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: To him, and.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: Yes, and that was Mrs. Mandeville's alibi.
• 25:29
  Speaker 10: I think I'd better go and have a word with Mrs.
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: Mandeville.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: What about motive, Father? Oh, I suspect we need look
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: no further than Mr.
• 25:40
  Speaker 13: Knight.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: You think she's in love with him?
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: I do hope so, for really it would be the
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: most human excuse.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: But I have my doubts.
• 25:49
  Speaker 5: She wanted to get rid of her husband, an old-fashioned, vulgar,
• 25:52
  Speaker 5: suburban hack, not even making much money. Yes, she wanted
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: a career as a brilliant classical actress married to a
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: rapidly rising actor.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: She was always dogging her husband in.
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: Private, hoping to use one of his former liaisons as
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: an excuse for a divorce.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: He died because he wished to remain faithful to her.
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: And she could not bring herself simply to run away
• 26:14
  Speaker 5: with her lover. Her ladylike values demanded respectability, and she
• 26:21
  Speaker 5: was prepared to kill for it.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: In The Actor and the Alibi by G.K. Chesterton, the
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: part of Father Brown was played by Andrew Sachs, Munden
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Mandeville by Peter Jeffrey, Mrs. Mandeville by Sheila Grant, Inspector
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Bagshaw by Bill Wallace.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: Ashton.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Jarvis by David Brierley, Norman Knight by Charles Bailey, Lady
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Miriam Talbot by Fleur Chandler, The House Manager and the
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Waiter by Jonathan Scott, Mrs Sands by Pauline Letts, and
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Miss Moroney by Karen Asko. The actor in The Alibi
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: was adapted by John Scottney, and the director from Bristol
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: was Alec Reid.