Latest / Suspense | Old Time Radio / Suspense - "Yellow Wall-paper" (Old Time Radio, 1948)

Transcript

Suspense - "Yellow Wall-paper" (Old Time Radio, 1948) · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Agnes Moorhead stars as the unnamed woman at the center
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of this adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1892 short story.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: On July 2nd, 1948, Suspense presented Episode 9, Yellow Wallpaper,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: an Anton M. Leder production for CBS, sponsored by Autolite.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Her character, recovering from what her physician husband calls a
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: temporary nervous depression... is brought for the summer to an
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: isolated rented house by the bay. In a large upstairs
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: former nursery, discouraged from writing, she keeps a private journal
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: while her attention settles on the room's yellow wallpaper. John's sister, Jenny,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: is also in the household. Paul Freese is your host
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: for this installment of Suspense, and now, the original broadcast.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: In just a moment, Suspense, starring Agnes Moorhead.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Hi, Hap.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Hello, Adam.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: How are things? Couldn't be better.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: Except walking 12 blocks to your service station just isn't
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: for me.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: You got my new spark plugs in?
• 1:07
  Speaker 5: Just finished putting those brand new Autolite resistor spark plugs
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: in your car. Guess she takes a big load off
• 1:12
  Speaker 5: your arches, eh, Hap?
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Sure does. My feet have the pep but not the pickup.
• 1:16
  Speaker 6: Hmm.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: And what are you listening to tonight? Well, it's Thursday, Hap.
• 1:19
  Speaker 5: I'm listening to the Autolite Suspense Show. Never miss it.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: Well, here's where I rest my weary bones and listen
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: to Agnes Moorhead.
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: Hey, Hap, here comes Frank Martin, the Autolite salesman, to
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: join us. Hello, Frank.
• 1:30
  Speaker 7: Hi, Ed.
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: Meet Hap Horton. Autolite spark plugs, batteries, and ignition systems.
• 1:34
  Speaker 5: The lifeline of your car.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Well, thanks, Mr.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Horton, for the assist. And wait until I give you
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: the real lowdown on those brand-new Autolite resistor spark plugs
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Ed just put in your car.
• 1:44
  Speaker 8: Say they.
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: Say it later, Frank. Here comes Agnes Moorhead.
• 1:55
  Speaker 9: Suspense. Autolite and its 60,000 dealers and service stations bring
• 2:05
  Speaker 9: you radio's outstanding theater of thrills. Starring tonight, Miss Agnes Moorhead.
• 2:11
  Speaker 9: in a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Today, everybody's switching to Autolite, and tonight, Autolite takes pleasure
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: in presenting.
• 2:22
  Speaker 9: Anton Leder's production of the famous short story, The Yellow Wallpaper,
• 2:27
  Speaker 9: starring Agnes Moorhead.
• 2:40
  Speaker 6: I've never seen a worse wallpaper in my life.
• 2:43
  Speaker 8: All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and fungus growth
• 2:46
  Speaker 8: seem to shriek with derision.
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: When we came to this house, the minute I saw it,
• 2:58
  Speaker 6: I made up my mind secretly to start writing again
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: in spite of them.
• 3:01
  Speaker 8: But I don't dare let John know I'm keeping this journal.
• 3:04
  Speaker 8: It's difficult being married to a doctor. John's an excellent doctor,
• 3:07
  Speaker 8: I'm sure, but he's so inconsistent about me.
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: He says I'm not really sick, that I'm only a
• 3:12
  Speaker 6: little run down from caring for the baby, that I
• 3:15
  Speaker 6: have a temporary nervous depression. Yet he prescribes phosphates or phosphites,
• 3:20
  Speaker 6: I don't know which, and tonics and exercise. And he
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: absolutely forbids me to work until I'm well again. He
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: hates for me to write a word. But writing is
• 3:28
  Speaker 6: such a relief to my mind. I can write down things,
• 3:31
  Speaker 6: tell things here that... No, John says I'm not to
• 3:35
  Speaker 6: brood about those things... I confess they make me feel bad,
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: so I'll only write about the house.
• 3:41
  Speaker 8: I saw it for the first time today. It's the
• 3:43
  Speaker 8: most beautiful place.
• 3:45
  Speaker 6: John rented it for the summer, and we drove up today,
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: a perfect June morning. The bay and the white sails
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: and people already and swimming, and then the shaded lane
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: and the riotous old-fashioned flowers and the gnarly.
• 3:56
  Speaker 10: Trees and the house.
• 3:58
  Speaker 8: The house standing alone in the summer stillness. I could
• 4:03
  Speaker 8: never tell John, but you know, The house spoke to me.
• 4:07
  Speaker 8: It was only because he rattled on so that I
• 4:09
  Speaker 8: couldn't hear what.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: Reminded me of those English places you read about. Gardeners, cottages,
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: and everything, and had only 200 a month.
• 4:15
  Speaker 8: Hedges and walls and gates that lock, and there's a ghostliness.
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: Remember, I rented it just for you, darling, and you're
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: going to let Jenny do all the work while you
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: live like, well, like a prince.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: You like it, darling? Speak up.
• 4:28
  Speaker 8: Yes, John.
• 4:29
  Speaker 11: Yes, it's lovely, but it's strange, as though it Might
• 4:32
  Speaker 11: be haunted. Darling, you've got that look on your face again.
• 4:36
  Speaker 11: That dopey look. Well, Jean is home.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Has a station wagon.
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: And if I know my dear sister, she's already turned
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: the place inside out and cleaned it top to bottom.
• 4:46
  Speaker 8: John, is it haunted, do you think?
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: What, the house? At 200 a month? Well, that's asking
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: too much of fate.
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: Come on, how about.
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: You always laugh at anything you can't touch or see
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: or put down in figure.
• 4:58
  Speaker 8: There is something strange about the house.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: I feel it. If you weren't always imagining... I'm not imagining.
• 5:04
  Speaker 8: One reason I don't get well is that you don't
• 5:05
  Speaker 8: believe me. You don't even believe I'm sick. You tell
• 5:07
  Speaker 8: my friends and relatives. I've heard you. I've heard you,
• 5:10
  Speaker 8: that there's nothing wrong with me.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: There is nothing wrong with you.
• 5:13
  Speaker 8: I see you saying it again.
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm sorry, but please don't cry. Now, come along.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: Let's go inside.
• 5:22
  Speaker 8: And so I came into this house in tears. It
• 5:25
  Speaker 8: was wrong.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: It was all wrong.
• 5:27
  Speaker 8: Maybe the house saw me crying, or this room.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: I got so.
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: Unreasonably angry with John. I shouldn't, I know. He's so
• 5:34
  Speaker 6: careful and loving, and I repay him so badly.
• 5:37
  Speaker 8: I should control myself, at least in front of him.
• 5:40
  Speaker 8: But it makes me so tired not to show what
• 5:42
  Speaker 8: I feel.
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: Jenny met us at the door. Naturally, she saw I'd
• 5:47
  Speaker 6: been crying, but she took pains to ignore it.
• 5:49
  Speaker 10: Well, hello, you two. You're early. You must have started
• 5:52
  Speaker 10: at the crack of dawn. How was the trip?
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: Made it in less than two hours.
• 5:55
  Speaker 6: They're like as peas in a pod, Jenny and John,
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: both efficient and kind.
• 6:00
  Speaker 8: And how did you bear up, pet? Oh, very well,
• 6:02
  Speaker 8: thank you, Jenny. Both kind and both somehow.
• 6:06
  Speaker 6: Cruel, but I don't really think that. Well, you're just
• 6:10
  Speaker 6: in time for lunch. I bought a flounder down at
• 6:12
  Speaker 6: the wharf and cooked it with capers and cream.
• 6:14
  Speaker 10: Sound good?
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: Wonderful, Jenny.
• 6:16
  Speaker 8: May I see the house first? The whole grand tour? Oh, pet,
• 6:19
  Speaker 8: the flounder will cook to death. Well, at least my room.
• 6:22
  Speaker 11: Our room.
• 6:24
  Speaker 10: All right, if you insist. But if that fish is spoiled,
• 6:27
  Speaker 10: don't blame me.
• 6:28
  Speaker 8: Why would I blame her?
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: Whose room is this, Jenny? Yours?
• 6:31
  Speaker 12: Uh-huh.
• 6:31
  Speaker 10: It's small, but it's near the door and the telephone.
• 6:33
  Speaker 5: Oh, John.
• 6:34
  Speaker 9: John, look.
• 6:35
  Speaker 7: What?
• 6:35
  Speaker 6: Let's take this one for you and me. I love
• 6:37
  Speaker 6: those roses over the window. I've already put your things upstairs, pet.
• 6:40
  Speaker 10: Well, this has a little.
• 6:41
  Speaker 8: Porch and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangs.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: Let's take this. Oh, you'll love the room upstairs, darling.
• 6:45
  Speaker 10: And you can see there's no room in here for
• 6:47
  Speaker 10: two beds.
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: And I won't hear of being in separate rooms. I'm
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: going to make you rest and take your tonic.
• 6:52
  Speaker 8: John and I have talked it all over.
• 6:54
  Speaker 10: And the room at the top of the house has
• 6:55
  Speaker 10: so many windows.
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: And you know, darling, you must absorb lots of fresh air.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: Get your appetite back.
• 7:01
  Speaker 8: They smother me with concern.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: They crush me with kindness.
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: Come along.
• 7:05
  Speaker 10: There's a good girl.
• 7:07
  Speaker 13: All right.
• 7:07
  Speaker 8: You know what's best.
• 7:09
  Speaker 10: And you're going to like that nursery.
• 7:11
  Speaker 8: It gets loads of sunshine.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: Hmm.
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: Up the steep, narrow stairs. Two stories up to the
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: very top of the house. There's a gate at the
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: top that locks.
• 7:31
  Speaker 8: I wonder why.
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: And beyond the gate is the nursery room.
• 7:35
  Speaker 8: This room. It is big and airy. Nearly a whole
• 7:38
  Speaker 8: floor with windows that look every way. They say it
• 7:43
  Speaker 8: was a nursery. But what was it, really?
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: Open the door, Jenny.
• 7:48
  Speaker 12: Wide.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Well, darling.
• 7:50
  Speaker 8: Why the windows barred?
• 7:52
  Speaker 10: For the little children. Otherwise it wouldn't be safe.
• 7:54
  Speaker 11: Oh, yeah.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: I suppose.
• 7:56
  Speaker 6: Children climb around so, don't they? What are those rings
• 8:00
  Speaker 6: and things in the walls?
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: Oh, I expect they made it into a gymnasium when
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: the children got older.
• 8:05
  Speaker 10: A sort of playground.
• 8:06
  Speaker 8: Oh, they must have hated the wallpaper.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: Well, they were rough on it, that's for sure.
• 8:10
  Speaker 6: The way they've stripped it off in patches.
• 8:12
  Speaker 8: I don't blame them. It's hideous.
• 8:13
  Speaker 10: Oh, who wants to look at the wallpaper with this view? My,
• 8:17
  Speaker 10: you can see the whole bay.
• 8:19
  Speaker 8: It's a revolting color.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: It's unclean.
• 8:21
  Speaker 8: Such a strange, sickish yellow there where the sun's faded
• 8:24
  Speaker 8: at night. I never saw a newspaper in my life.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: Don't dramatize it, darling. You must be hungry, and I
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: know you're tired.
• 8:30
  Speaker 8: I'm not tired. Why do you both act this way?
• 8:32
  Speaker 8: I say the wallpaper's ugly, and you look at each other.
• 8:35
  Speaker 6: Your eyes shuttle back and forth, and suddenly you both
• 8:37
  Speaker 6: act as though I'd lost my.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: Darling. That was something we weren't going to say.
• 8:42
  Speaker 10: Be a good girl, Pet. We don't act anyway.
• 8:46
  Speaker 8: We just don't want you to worry. We want you
• 8:49
  Speaker 8: to be well. It's true, that's all they want. John
• 8:59
  Speaker 8: laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: And he says I have foolish fancies and he sometimes
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: can talk them away, but not this time. No matter
• 9:08
  Speaker 6: what he says, it's a smoldering, sulfurous, unclean, it's hideous wallpaper.
• 9:14
  Speaker 6: No wonder the children scratched at it and stripped it down.
• 9:17
  Speaker 6: No wonder they gouged the plaster with their little fingernails.
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: No wonder they hate it. I hate it myself.
• 9:24
  Speaker 8: And somehow... I feel.
• 9:40
  Speaker 6: It hates me.
• 9:43
  Speaker 9: For suspense, Autolite is bringing you Miss Agnes Moorhead in
• 9:47
  Speaker 9: The Yellow Wallpaper, Autolite's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Say, isn't she terrific?
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir. Agnes Moorhead is always terrific.
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: She sure is. Say, car sure sounds good. Couldn't resist
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: stepping on the starter. These new Autolite Resistor Spark Plugs
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: sure make this a contented car.
• 10:20
  Speaker 5: Yep, and you got the first set in town.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Well, right now you can get Autolite Resistor Spark Plugs
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: almost anywhere in the United States. It's sensational. Why, no
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: other spark plug will give and maintain such performance.
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: Sounds like a good sales story. Where did the name
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: Resistor come from, Mr.
• 10:35
  Speaker 13: Morton?
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Autolite worked with leading car and truck manufacturers, and they
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: ignition-engineered a 10,000-ohm resistor right into the Autolite spark plug.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: That permits a wider spark gap setting and maintains it
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: far longer than any other spark plugs.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: Actually, Mr.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Horton, when you replace your narrow-gap spark plugs with a
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: set of wide-gap Autolite resistor spark plugs, you can tell
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: the difference in your car.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: That's right from the book, I'll bet, eh, Mr.
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: Martin?
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Well, I guess so. But here's the simple lowdown. As
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: a result of the wide gap in the resistor spark plug,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: your engine idles smoother. You have better luck with lean
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: gas mixtures and save gas. And within established limits, you
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: reduce spark plug interference with radio and television reception. Yes,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: and today you can get the resistor spark plug from
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: almost any of Autolite's 60,000 dealers. That's the biggest spark
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: plug news in years.
• 11:23
  Speaker 9: And now Autolite brings back to our Hollywood soundstage Miss
• 11:26
  Speaker 9: Agnes Moorhead. as star in The Yellow Wallpaper, a tale
• 11:31
  Speaker 9: well calculated to keep you in suspense.
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: We've been here two weeks, and I haven't felt like
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: writing again since that first day. I'm sitting by the
• 11:54
  Speaker 6: window now, up in this frightful nursery room. There's nothing
• 11:57
  Speaker 6: to stop my writing as much as I please. John
• 12:00
  Speaker 6: is away all day and sometimes even at night if
• 12:02
  Speaker 6: he has a serious case. I'm glad my case is
• 12:05
  Speaker 6: not serious. But these nervous troubles can be depressing all
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: the same. I cry at nothing and cry most of
• 12:13
  Speaker 6: the time. John doesn't know how much I suffer. He
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: knows there's no reason to suffer and that satisfies him.
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: I suppose John was never nervous in his life. He
• 12:22
  Speaker 6: laughs at me so about this wallpaper.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: No, I won't let you have your way, you silly goose.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: If we'd taken the room downstairs, you'd be seeing faces
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: in the chin straights.
• 12:31
  Speaker 8: Not faces. Look at that spot, John. And that one
• 12:35
  Speaker 8: over there.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: Yes, I see. It's a repeating pattern.
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: It's a broken neck with two bulging eyes staring at
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: me upside down.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: And to me, it's climbing ivy or some kind of
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: a vine. Take your choice. Could be anything. Besides, I
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: can't repaper a room just for a three-month's rental.
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: Well, then let's move downstairs. Take me away from it.
• 12:53
  Speaker 8: Don't you see, John? It hates me. I wish I'd
• 13:03
  Speaker 8: get well faster.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: Just use your will and your good sense, darling.
• 13:06
  Speaker 13: I'm afraid.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: But you're so much better.
• 13:08
  Speaker 8: When I married you, I meant to be such a help,
• 13:10
  Speaker 8: but I'm only a burden.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: You are a help to me. You're my comfort.
• 13:14
  Speaker 8: I can't even be with my baby. It makes me
• 13:17
  Speaker 8: so nervous. Will I ever be well enough to see
• 13:21
  Speaker 8: him again?
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Of course you'll be well, if you try.
• 13:24
  Speaker 8: Then I'll try, I promise.
• 13:28
  Speaker 6: From now on, I won't look at the wallpaper, and
• 13:30
  Speaker 6: I'll stop seeing things out of the windows.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: Out of the windows?
• 13:34
  Speaker 8: I see people walking up and down the paths and
• 13:36
  Speaker 8: in the arbors.
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: I know it's silly, and it's only in certain lights
• 13:39
  Speaker 6: when I look at the wallpaper from the bed that
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: I see.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: See what? Nothing.
• 13:45
  Speaker 12: Nothing.
• 13:47
  Speaker 8: No, you're right.
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: There's nothing except a pattern. A front pattern and an
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: under pattern in a different shade of yellow. It dwells
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: in my mind so. I lie on that great immovable bed.
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: It's nailed down, I believe, and follow that pattern about
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: by the hour. And then where it isn't faded and
• 14:09
  Speaker 6: when the sun is just so, I see a strange, faint,
• 14:12
  Speaker 6: formless sort of figure lurking, waiting behind.
• 14:15
  Speaker 8: That front design.
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: The End.
• 14:23
  Speaker 8: I don't know why I should write like this day
• 14:25
  Speaker 8: after day.
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: I don't want to.
• 14:27
  Speaker 13: I don't feel able.
• 14:29
  Speaker 6: And I know John would think it absurd, but I
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: must express what I feel and think in some way.
• 14:33
  Speaker 8: It's such a relief. There are things in that wallpaper
• 14:37
  Speaker 8: that nobody knows about but me. You know, there's a.
• 14:42
  Speaker 13: Woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. Last
• 14:52
  Speaker 13: night it was moonlight and the moon shines in all
• 14:54
  Speaker 13: around just as the sun does. John was asleep and
• 14:57
  Speaker 13: I hated to wake him so I kept still and
• 15:00
  Speaker 13: watched the moonlight on the wall.
• 15:01
  Speaker 6: Till I felt creepy. The woman behind the paper began
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: to shape the pattern as if she wanted to get out.
• 15:11
  Speaker 8: I got up softly and went and felt the paper
• 15:14
  Speaker 8: to see if it did move. It moved.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: It moved, I'm sure of it.
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: And the poor woman cried out as though her voice
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: came a long way over water.
• 15:26
  Speaker 11: Jonathan, look at me.
• 15:27
  Speaker 12: Jonathan, look at me.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: Jonathan, look at me. Oh, the poor thing.
• 15:39
  Speaker 8: Then I went back to the bed.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: John was awake. What is it, darling? Why are you up?
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: You shouldn't go walking around like that. You'll catch cold.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: I won't, Light Walker. getting better.
• 15:54
  Speaker 8: Won't you take me away?
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: Our lease will be up in three weeks, darling. I
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: don't see how we can leave before then. Of course,
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: if you were in any danger, I would, but you
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: really are better, dear, whether you see it or not.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: I'm a doctor, and I know.
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: Oh, my appetite may be better in the evening when
• 16:11
  Speaker 6: you're here, but it's worse in the morning when you're gone.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Why, you're gaining flesh and bone.
• 16:14
  Speaker 8: I don't weigh a bit more, not even as much.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: Well, bless your little heart. You shall be as sick
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: as you please. But let's go to sleep, huh? and
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: talk about it in the morning.
• 16:24
  Speaker 8: You won't go away?
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: How can I, dear? And why should I, since you're better?
• 16:29
  Speaker 8: Better in body, perhaps, but.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: Darling, for.
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: My sake and your sake and for the sake of
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: our child, I beg you not to let that idea
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: enter your head, not for an instant. Can't you trust
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: me as a doctor when I tell you it's a
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: false and foolish idea?
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: Answer me, darling. Don't you trust me?
• 16:47
  Speaker 8: Yes, of course I trust you only.
• 16:49
  Speaker 13: What?
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: I'm sleepy. Let's go to sleep. But I didn't sleep.
• 16:59
  Speaker 6: I lay there for hours trying to decide if the
• 17:01
  Speaker 6: front pattern and the back pattern move together or separately.
• 17:11
  Speaker 8: At night, in the moonlight, the front pattern becomes bars.
• 17:17
  Speaker 8: And the woman behind it shakes the bars.
• 17:21
  Speaker 12: Yes, she shakes the pie as she creeps around.
• 17:33
  Speaker 8: I lie down ever so much now. John says it's
• 17:36
  Speaker 8: good for me and to sleep all I can. But
• 17:38
  Speaker 8: you see, I don't sleep. And that cultivates deceit, for
• 17:42
  Speaker 8: I don't tell them I'm awake.
• 17:44
  Speaker 7: Oh, no.
• 17:45
  Speaker 8: Fact is, I'm getting a little afraid of John.
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: He seems very odd sometimes, and it strikes me that
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: perhaps it's the yellow wallpaper. I like this room now,
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: and life is much more exciting than it used to be.
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: I have something more to expect, to look forward to,
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: to watch. And I really do eat better, and I'm
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: quieter than I was. John is pleased to see me improve.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: You see? You're flourishing like a weed in spite of
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: your wallpaper.
• 18:21
  Speaker 13: Yes.
• 18:23
  Speaker 8: In spite of the wallpaper. In spite of it.
• 18:31
  Speaker 6: Because of it. But I had no intention of telling
• 18:33
  Speaker 6: him that. He might want to take me away, and
• 18:36
  Speaker 6: I don't want to leave now until I've found out.
• 18:38
  Speaker 12: There's one week more, and I think that will be enough.
• 18:47
  Speaker 8: There's a funny mark on the wall low down.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: Near the mop board.
• 18:52
  Speaker 8: A streak that runs around the room. Goes behind every.
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: Piece of furniture except the bed. A long, straight, even
• 19:01
  Speaker 6: smudge as if it had been rubbed over and over
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: and over.
• 19:05
  Speaker 8: How was it done?
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: Who did it?
• 19:10
  Speaker 8: What did they do to it?
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: Round and round.
• 19:14
  Speaker 8: Round and round. Wrong makes means easy.
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: I've really discovered something at last. There are a great
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: many women behind the pattern, and sometimes only one, and
• 19:35
  Speaker 6: she creeps around fast, and her creeping shakes the pattern.
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: She's trying to climb through and can't because the pattern
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: strangles everything. But she does get out in the daytime,
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: I know because I've seen her. When a car comes, she.
• 19:48
  Speaker 8: Hides in the blackberry vines. I don't blame her. I'd
• 19:50
  Speaker 8: hide too.
• 19:53
  Speaker 6: I always lock the door when I creep by daylight.
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: There are only two days left to tear this paper
• 20:04
  Speaker 6: off and let the woman out in the room. And
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: John's beginning to take notice. I don't like the look
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: in his eyes or the way he talks with Jenny
• 20:11
  Speaker 6: about me. I overheard them.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: She isn't sleeping nights, Jenny. She's quiet, but I know
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: she's awake.
• 20:19
  Speaker 8: It's a little wonder she sleeps the whole blessed day.
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: Maybe I ought to call in another doctor.
• 20:25
  Speaker 10: No, it's just stubbornness, John. She's determined to prove you're wrong.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: I suppose you're right. Though I'm sure she'll improve.
• 20:34
  Speaker 8: Oh, darling.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: Hello, pet.
• 20:37
  Speaker 10: Oh, you creep about.
• 20:39
  Speaker 8: Well, that's a funny thing to say, Jenny. It isn't
• 20:41
  Speaker 8: I who creeps.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: Jenny says you stay in your room too much. You
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: don't take your exercise.
• 20:46
  Speaker 8: You tell me to rest, and then you tell me
• 20:47
  Speaker 8: to take exercise. I can't do both.
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: Well.
• 20:50
  Speaker 8: As though I can't see through them.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: Tomorrow's our last day here.
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: We'll talk about exercise when I get you back to town.
• 20:56
  Speaker 10: I'll have to rile you out of bed pretty early, Pet.
• 20:59
  Speaker 8: You know, some of that furniture up there belongs downstairs,
• 21:01
  Speaker 8: and the movers will be here at nine.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: Maybe, uh.
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: Maybe you'll sleep upstairs tonight, Jenny... So you won't be alone, darling.
• 21:08
  Speaker 8: You won't be here tonight, John?
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: Well, not until tomorrow evening. There's a difficult case.
• 21:13
  Speaker 8: If you're going to feel lonesome... Oh, no, Jenny. I'll
• 21:15
  Speaker 8: rest better alone, I'm sure. Thank you all the same.
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: That was clever of me. The sly thing. I won't
• 21:27
  Speaker 8: be alone a bit.
• 21:29
  Speaker 6: As soon as the moon shone in, the poor thing
• 21:33
  Speaker 6: behind the paper began to crawl and shake the patterns.
• 21:37
  Speaker 8: I ran to her. I pulled, and she shook. I shook,
• 21:43
  Speaker 8: and she pulled. In my morning, we'd peeled.
• 21:46
  Speaker 6: Off yards and yards of yellow wallpaper, a strip about
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: as high.
• 21:50
  Speaker 8: As my head and half around the room. When Jenny
• 21:53
  Speaker 8: came up in the morning, she looked at the wall
• 21:55
  Speaker 8: in amazement.
• 21:56
  Speaker 10: You know why I did it, Jenny? Just to spite
• 21:58
  Speaker 10: the vicious thing.
• 22:00
  Speaker 8: Why are you so surprised?
• 22:02
  Speaker 10: Oh, I'm not. Why, I wouldn't mind doing it myself.
• 22:09
  Speaker 8: But you mustn't tire yourself yet. She wouldn't mind doing it.
• 22:13
  Speaker 8: Why don't you come downstairs and lie down?
• 22:18
  Speaker 6: How she betrayed herself, that Jenny.
• 22:26
  Speaker 8: She wouldn't mind doing it. But I'm here and no
• 22:29
  Speaker 8: person touches this paper but me. Not alive.
• 22:38
  Speaker 6: I've locked the door and thrown the key down into
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: the front path. I don't want anybody to come in
• 22:42
  Speaker 6: till John comes. I want to surprise him. And I've
• 22:45
  Speaker 6: got a rope up here. Even Jenny doesn't know that.
• 22:48
  Speaker 6: If the woman gets out from behind the pattern and
• 22:50
  Speaker 6: tries to run away, I can tie her securely to
• 22:52
  Speaker 6: one of the rings in the wall. There.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: There she is.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: There.
• 22:59
  Speaker 8: See how the pattern moves? Like wallowing seaweeds. Oh, it'll
• 23:04
  Speaker 8: strangle her unless I help. Wait, wait, wait, I'll help you.
• 23:09
  Speaker 8: I'll peel off the paper all I can. Wait, wait,
• 23:12
  Speaker 8: be patient. You, you, you push. You push it, I'll pull. Oh,
• 23:18
  Speaker 8: it sticks horribly to the plaster. I can get it
• 23:22
  Speaker 8: off with my teeth.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Oh, it hurts.
• 23:26
  Speaker 8: But I'm getting it.
• 23:28
  Speaker 10: I'm getting it. Just a little bit more.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: I'm getting it.
• 23:34
  Speaker 8: A little bit more.
• 23:35
  Speaker 7: A little bit more.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: A little bit more.
• 23:44
  Speaker 6: I wonder if they all came out of the wallpaper
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: as I did.
• 23:48
  Speaker 13: I think.
• 23:51
  Speaker 9: They did.
• 23:53
  Speaker 8: But I have you securely tied by my rope now.
• 23:57
  Speaker 8: You'll never get away.
• 24:00
  Speaker 10: But I don't want to get away.
• 24:03
  Speaker 7: It's so pleasant to be out in this great room
• 24:05
  Speaker 7: to creep about as I please.
• 24:11
  Speaker 8: It's so pleasant. But I suppose I'll have to get.
• 24:16
  Speaker 7: Back behind the pattern when night comes.
• 24:21
  Speaker 8: That will be hard to do. Well, it's better than
• 24:31
  Speaker 8: going outside. I won't go outside, even if Jenny asks
• 24:35
  Speaker 8: me to.
• 24:37
  Speaker 7: For outside, I have to creep on the ground where
• 24:40
  Speaker 7: everything is green instead of yellow.
• 24:46
  Speaker 8: And here, I can creep smoothly on the floor.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: Listen.
• 24:53
  Speaker 7: Listen, she's coming now.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: Darling, open the door.
• 24:58
  Speaker 10: Do you hear me?
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: Open the door.
• 25:00
  Speaker 10: Oh, it's John at the door.
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: Open the door, darling.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: Open it, please, dear.
• 25:06
  Speaker 8: How he does pound and shout. It's no use, Dr. John.
• 25:11
  Speaker 8: You can't open it.
• 25:12
  Speaker 5: Open it, do you hear me, dear?
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: Open it.
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: Jenny, bring me the axe.
• 25:17
  Speaker 7: Oh, no, he'll break down that beautiful door.
• 25:20
  Speaker 8: John, dear, the key's down in front of the house
• 25:23
  Speaker 8: under a plantain leaf. Yes.
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: My darling, please.
• 25:28
  Speaker 8: It's down by the front door, John.
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: Open the door for heaven's sake. Open it.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: I can't.
• 25:33
  Speaker 8: I can't. The key's downstairs, John. It's under a plant
• 25:37
  Speaker 8: and leaf by the front steps. It's under a plant
• 25:40
  Speaker 8: and leaf. Go and see. Go and see. You'll find
• 25:44
  Speaker 8: it if you look.
• 25:46
  Speaker 10: You'll find it.
• 25:49
  Speaker 6: There.
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: There. He's gone to look.
• 25:54
  Speaker 7: The wallpaper has stopped laughing.
• 25:57
  Speaker 8: The evil thing. Now I can creep.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: Slowly, smoothly on the floor.
• 26:05
  Speaker 7: Round and round and round and round and round. And
• 26:11
  Speaker 7: my shoulder just fits into that long smudge on the
• 26:15
  Speaker 7: wall so I can't lose my way. Oh, he's coming back.
• 26:21
  Speaker 7: He's running on the stairs. How astonished he'll be.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: I'm darling.
• 26:30
  Speaker 14: Oh my dear my dear what is this what's happened
• 26:35
  Speaker 14: i've got out at last john out yes out in
• 26:39
  Speaker 14: spite of you and jenny i pulled down the paper
• 26:42
  Speaker 14: i i shook the pattern and pushed and pulled it
• 26:45
  Speaker 14: down hey it stuck horribly but you'll never you'll.
• 26:50
  Speaker 10: Never put me back you'll never put me back.
• 26:55
  Speaker 8: You're so pale john Why do you close your eyes?
• 27:00
  Speaker 8: You watch.
• 27:01
  Speaker 7: Watch how swiftly I creep around in this lovely yellow room.
• 27:12
  Speaker 8: Fainted?
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: Now, why should that man have fainted?
• 27:20
  Speaker 8: But he did.
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: And right across.
• 27:24
  Speaker 8: My.
• 27:25
  Speaker 7: Path by the wall, so that I have to creep
• 27:29
  Speaker 7: over him every time.
• 27:30
  Speaker 12: Round and round and round and round and round.
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Agnes Moorhead, for a magnificent performance. Miss Moorhead
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: will be back in just a moment.
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: Oh, what a show. That Agnes Moorhead is really some actress. Well,
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: I guess I better head for home and mother in.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: Okay. Oh, say, Mr.
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: Martin, can you give me those simple words of yours again?
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: My boy Billy pesters me with slogans.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: You bet, Mr.
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: Horton.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: When you replace your narrow-gap spark plugs with a set
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: of wide-gap autolight resistor spark plugs, you can tell the
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: difference in your car. For example, your engine idles smoother.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: You have better luck with leaner gas mixtures and save gas.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: And within established limits, you reduce spark plug interference with
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: radio and television reception. So, switch to Autolite because... Autolite
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: means resistor spark plug.
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: Ignition engineered spark plugs.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: Autolite means batteries.
• 28:44
  Speaker 8: Stay full batteries.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Autolite means ignition system.
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: The lifeline of your car.
• 29:01
  Speaker 9: And now, here again is Miss Agnes Moorhead.
• 29:03
  Speaker 6: It's always a great pleasure for me to appear on Suspense.
• 29:07
  Speaker 6: I've thoroughly enjoyed this appearance this evening. And next week,
• 29:10
  Speaker 6: when I turn listener again, I'll join the rest of
• 29:13
  Speaker 6: you to welcome Mr. Charles Lawton's return to these microphones
• 29:16
  Speaker 6: in a role written especially for him.
• 29:19
  Speaker 8: Next week, then... An Honest Man, starring Charles Lawton, on.
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: Suspense.
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: Agnes Moorhead may soon be seen in the Warner Brothers production.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Johnny Belinda. Tonight's suspense play was adapted for radio by
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: Sylvia Richards from an original story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: Music was composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: The entire production was under the direction of Anton M.
• 29:56
  Speaker 13: Leder.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Mr. Charles Lawton
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: in An Honest Man.
• 30:10
  Speaker 8: This is the Autolite Suspense Show saying goodnight. Switch to Autolite.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: This is CBS, where 99 million people gather every week,
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: We've been listening to Suspense and Yellow Wallpaper. Follow Suspense
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: for more classic broadcasts.