Latest / If You Please, Himan Brown’s Radio Mystery Theater / S2E5: Three Women

Transcript

S2E5: Three Women · If You Please, Himan Brown’s Radio Mystery Theater

0:00
>> Welcome to the second season of "If You Please...
0:03
Himan Brown's Radio Mystery Theater."
0:05
On this series, we are offering rebroadcasts
0:07
of a select group of programs
0:09
created by this legendary producer
0:11
for CBS between 1974 and 1982.
0:15
Brown reimagined radio drama for contemporary times.
0:19
Our new series offers some of these exciting works again.
0:22
In season one, we delivered riveting tales of foul play,
0:26
betrayal, greed, and misguided love.
0:28
We foiled a murder, considered reincarnation,
0:31
pondered the nature of guilt, and traveled through time.
0:34
We heard Himan Brown's troupe of seasoned audio actors
0:37
embody a wide range of characters
0:39
and deliver thrills time and again.
0:42
And for season two, they are all set to keep our headsets on
0:46
and our fingers tapping play.
0:48
Before each program, commentator John Slavney
0:51
shares details about the cast, the writer, and the plot.
0:54
Your job -- listen.
0:56
"If You Pease..." is produced in loving memory
0:58
of Robert Isaacson.
1:00
♪♪
1:07
>> Hello, all. Welcome back. I'm John Slavney.
1:09
In this episode of "If You Please..."
1:11
we'll hear a tale called "Three Women" --
1:13
not to be confused with the Robert Altman film
1:15
of the same name, which was still three years away.
1:18
Despite the title, the story revolves
1:20
around one man, Steven Lake,
1:21
a writer who spent the past seven years
1:23
working on his debut novel.
1:25
The three women of the title are his patient wife, Loretta,
1:28
his mother-in-law Adelaide, and a charming seductress, Clarissa.
1:32
Early on, we learned that Clarissa is merely a character
1:35
in Steven's novel, but she still manages
1:37
to cast a life-sized shadow
1:39
over the flesh-and-blood people in this drama.
1:41
Our story opens on a blustery winter's day
1:44
when Albert Higgins of the publishing firm Higgins and Hart
1:47
knocks on the door of the rundown,
1:49
one-room schoolhouse on the mountainside
1:50
where Steven and his family live.
1:52
Higgins wants to publish Steven's novel.
1:54
I like it a lot, he says,
1:56
and he thinks the book's central character, Clarissa,
1:58
is a marvelous creation of fiction,
2:00
one that reminds him of Scarlett O'Hara.
2:02
But Higgins has one condition before he'll publish the novel,
2:05
requiring a change that Steven believes would ruin his work
2:08
and perhaps his marriage, as well.
2:10
Ruth Ford heads up the cast as Steven's wife, Loretta.
2:13
Ford began her career as a model
2:15
and was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre,
2:18
the company that brought us the infamous 1938
2:20
radio broadcast "War of the Worlds."
2:22
Welles was also godfather to the actress's daughter.
2:25
Along with her acting career, Ford was a celebrated
2:27
New York City salon hostess,
2:29
holding court at the Dakota just down the street
2:32
from Himan Brown's roomy apartment on Central Park West.
2:35
There, she hosted the likes of Truman Capote,
2:37
William Faulkner, and Andy Warhol.
2:39
Steven Sondheim, a longtime friend,
2:41
said it was a chance meeting with playwright Arthur Laurents
2:44
at one of her parties that led to his writing
2:46
the lyrics for "West Side Story."
2:48
The real star of the episode, however,
2:50
is Joan Lorring as Clarissa,
2:51
her third role on "Radio Mystery Theater."
2:54
Lorring was born in Hong Kong in 1926
2:57
to a Russian Jewish immigrant mother.
2:59
Later, at the start of World War II,
3:00
she and her mother fled to California.
3:02
Lorring earned an Oscar nomination for her work in
3:04
the 1945 film "The Corn is Green"
3:07
and played the college boarder Marie
3:09
in the 1950 Broadway production of "Come Back, Little Sheba,"
3:12
along with Shirley Booth.
3:13
She also appeared as Lizzie Borden's older sister
3:16
in a 1956 episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."
3:20
Also in the cast is Chicago native Roger De Koven
3:22
as publisher Albert Higgins.
3:24
On Broadway, De Koven appeared in the plays of Bertolt Brecht,
3:27
Shakespeare, and Chekhov,
3:29
and he originated the role of Florenz Ziegfeld
3:31
in 1964's "Funny Girl."
3:33
He also managed to make time for some 16 episodes of "RMT,"
3:36
the last of them in 1978.
3:38
Elspeth Eric, whom we've met before, wrote the script.
3:41
Eric was one of the most talented
3:43
and varied of "RMT" script writers,
3:45
contributing some of the series' most frightening stories.
3:48
In this episode, she also plays Steven's
3:50
long-suffering mother-in-law, Adelaide.
3:52
"Three Women" was recorded at CBS Radio Studios
3:55
on Tuesday, December 18, 1973,
3:58
and first aired on January 28, 1974.
4:02
So, please have a canapé, find a seat,
4:04
and stay for the after-party.
4:06
You never know who you might meet.
4:08
♪♪
4:13
>> The "CBS Radio Mystery Theater" presents...
4:17
[ Door opens, creaks ]
4:26
[ Dramatic music playing ]
4:33
>> Come in.
4:37
Welcome.
4:39
I'm E.G. Marshall.
4:41
Welcome to the sounds of suspense,
4:44
to the fear you can hear.
4:47
I have a story for you about a writer, a writer of books.
4:53
We all know what it is to read a book.
4:55
We all read, sometimes to learn,
4:58
sometimes to pass the time,
5:01
sometimes to experience a life unrelated to our own,
5:05
and sometimes to surrender ourselves to the fantasies
5:09
of a person we have never met and will never meet.
5:13
But what is it to write a book?
5:16
Ah, that's another thing altogether.
5:19
>> But what difference does it make?
5:21
>> All the difference in the world.
5:24
>> Well, it's not as if it were real.
5:25
>> It is real. Don't you see that?
5:27
>> Well, I mean, it's not real life.
5:29
>> It is real life.
5:31
It's a life more real than yours or mine
5:34
or any life than anyone will ever live.
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>> How can you say that? It's just a book.
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♪♪
5:48
>> Our mystery drama "Three Women"
5:51
was written especially for the "Mystery Theatre"
5:53
by Elspeth Eric and stars Ruth Ford.
5:57
I'll be back shortly with act one.
5:59
♪♪
6:08
♪♪
6:16
What is a book?
6:18
200, 300, 400 pages of words lying side by side in rows.
6:23
That's all.
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Words we all know.
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Many of them we use.
6:28
Nothing mysterious about the words themselves.
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But they are not thrown helter skelter on the pages, are they?
6:35
No, they lie there in a certain order,
6:39
each one following on the one before.
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And who prescribed that order?
6:44
Who put this word here and that word there?
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A writer.
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And this is the story of a writer named Steven Lake
6:52
and the book he wrote.
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[ Wind howling ]
6:57
[ Knock on door ]
7:01
[ Door opens ] >> Yes?
7:03
>> Does Mr. Lake live here?
7:05
>> Yes. >> Is he home?
7:07
>> Yeah, he's home. >> Um, could I see him?
7:11
>> Well, he's working.
7:13
>> Could you tell him, please, it's Mr. Higgins to see him.
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>> Higgins? >> I'm a publisher.
7:18
Look, could I step inside? It's terribly cold out here.
7:22
>> Yeah, I guess so. [ Door closes ]
7:24
[ Keys clacking ]
7:26
>> He really is working, isn't he?
7:27
I mean, I hear him, his typewriter.
7:29
>> You're a publisher, you say?
7:31
>> Yes, that's right. If you just tell him --
7:33
>> You can go on up. >> Up?
7:35
>> Yeah, up that ladder. That's where he works, up there.
7:38
>> Oh. Thank you.
7:40
[ Footsteps ]
7:43
>> You get to the top, just bang on the trap door.
7:46
>> Uh, yes. Thank you.
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>> Bang hard so he'll hear you.
7:50
>> Yes. All right.
7:52
[ Knock on door ]
7:55
>> He heard you.
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[ Door opens ]
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>> Mr. Lake, I'm Albert Higgins.
8:01
>> Albert Higgins. Not from --
8:03
>> Yes, from Higgins and Hart.
8:05
All right to come up the rest of the way?
8:08
>> All right? Well, I should say.
8:11
Can you make it? Can I help you? >> I think I can.
8:14
[ Footsteps ]
8:15
Yes. Here we are.
8:18
>> I can't believe it. [ Door closes ]
8:20
Mr. Albert Higgins. >> The very same.
8:23
This is where you work? >> Yes.
8:25
It's the only place I can get away.
8:26
I live with my wife and my mother-in-law.
8:28
That was my mother-in-law who let you in.
8:30
>> Well, it's nice and secluded up here anyway.
8:33
>> May I take your coat, Mr. Higgins?
8:35
>> Oh, thank you. No, actually, I --
8:37
I think I'll keep it on. >> You're cold?
8:39
>> Well, it's awfully cold outside.
8:42
>> Well, I think it's even colder in here.
8:43
[ Both laugh ] I get where I don't notice it.
8:46
>> You have a stove, I see.
8:48
>> Yes, but sometimes I forget to put wood in.
8:50
Just a second. I'll get it going again.
8:52
>> That's a real old Franklin stove, isn't it?
8:56
>> Genuine article.
8:57
>> I haven't seen a Franklin stove in years.
9:00
>> They're great -- if you remember to keep them lighted.
9:02
Please sit down, Mr. Higgins. >> All right.
9:05
[ Footstep ]
9:07
Well, now, I'd better explain what I'm doing here.
9:11
>> I'd sure like to know.
9:12
>> My secretary handed me your manuscript just
9:15
as I was leaving the office for the weekend.
9:18
We have a little ski lodge up here, my wife and I,
9:20
right up the road from you, as a matter of fact.
9:23
>> Yes, I think maybe I've seen it.
9:24
Right off route 7, about a mile north?
9:26
>> Yes, that's it.
9:27
Well, I was coming up by myself,
9:29
and on the train, I read your book.
9:32
When I got to the lodge, I read it again.
9:35
I like it a lot, except for one thing.
9:39
>> What's that?
9:40
>> You've made one grievous error, Mr. Lake.
9:43
Or may I call you Steven?
9:44
>> Call me anything. What's the mistake?
9:47
>> You've killed off the most attractive
9:49
character in the book.
9:52
>> You mean Clarissa?
9:53
>> [ Chuckles ] You can't do that, my boy.
9:56
Why, 9/10 of the book's appeal is the charm of that girl.
9:59
She's another Scarlett O'Hara.
10:02
You can't spend 200 pages
10:04
making us fall in love with this marvelous creature
10:07
and then -- poof, just like that -- have her die on us,
10:10
go out of our lives.
10:12
Well, you -- you just can't do that.
10:15
>> But I have to.
10:17
>> Well, you don't have to at all, Steven.
10:20
You've written a marvelous book.
10:21
I want to publish it.
10:23
All I want from you is 10 new pages.
10:27
The last 10.
10:28
Write me 10 new pages at the end and let Clarissa live.
10:33
>> I can't. I can't.
10:36
>> Now, Steven, that isn't asking much.
10:38
>> It's everything. I can't do it.
10:41
She has to die. She has to.
10:43
>> Why does she have to die?
10:45
>> Because...
10:47
Because if she doesn't die,
10:50
I don't know what'll happen to me.
10:52
♪♪
10:58
[ Wind howling ]
11:01
[ Door opens ]
11:02
>> Mama? >> That you, Loretta?
11:05
[ Door closes ] >> Mm, it's me.
11:07
>> Well, get your boots off. >> [ Chuckles ]
11:09
Is dinner ready? >> Just about.
11:12
>> Have you called Steven?
11:13
He gets so wrapped up in his writing.
11:15
>> Well, he's not wrapped up now.
11:17
Listen to him. [ Footsteps ]
11:18
>> He's thinking, Mama.
11:20
He's walking up and down to help him think.
11:23
Well, he can't be putting words down every single minute.
11:25
>> He's been walking up and down like that
11:27
ever since that man left.
11:29
>> What man? Was somebody here?
11:32
>> A Mr. Higgins. >> Higgins?
11:35
Albert Higgins? From Higgins and Hart?
11:38
>> I believe he did say he was a publisher.
11:40
>> Oh, Mama! It was our last hope.
11:44
You know, every other publisher turned down Steve's novel,
11:46
and he sent it to Higgins and Hart.
11:48
But Mr. Higgins was here?!
11:50
>> They were up there together for about 15 minutes.
11:53
And then the great Mr. Higgins came tumbling down the ladder
11:56
like the devil himself was after him, very red in the face.
12:00
Looked at me like everything was my fault
12:02
and catapulted out of here.
12:03
>> You didn't ask Steve what happened?
12:05
>> Loretta, when have I ever asked
12:07
Mr. Genius Type Novel Writer Steven Lake anything?
12:11
If he feels like telling me,
12:13
he'll tell me, which he never does.
12:15
>> I'm going to find out.
12:17
>> Well, good luck is all I can say.
12:20
>> Steven?
12:22
>> It's impossible. Absolutely impossible.
12:25
>> Steven! [ Door opens ]
12:28
>> Impossible, Clarissa. I can't --
12:29
>> Darling, are you all right?
12:32
>> Loretta? [ Door closes ]
12:34
>> Hmm? >> Oh.
12:35
You just get home?
12:37
>> Mrs. McGuinness wanted her windows washed.
12:40
Darling, Mama said --
12:42
>> I don't want you washing windows.
12:44
>> Steven, Mama said there was a man here today, a Mr. Higgins?
12:49
>> Albert Higgins. >> He really was here?
12:52
>> He has a ski lodge up the road.
12:54
>> He didn't just, um, drop in, did he?
12:57
What did he want?
12:59
>> He read my book. He wants to publish it.
13:03
>> Oh, Steven! Why didn't you say so?
13:08
>> He wants me to change it.
13:10
>> Well, does he want you to change it a lot?
13:12
>> Completely. >> Oh.
13:15
Well, would that be a lot of work?
13:17
>> The last 10 pages. He wants me...
13:21
He wants me to let Clarissa live.
13:24
>> Is that all? Oh, Steven!
13:27
>> What do you mean, is that all?
13:29
Clarissa is supposed to die.
13:31
It's all been decided. She has to die.
13:34
I can't let her go on living just to please Mr. Higgins.
13:36
>> But it's not just Mr. Higgins.
13:40
Oh, Steven, I-I wasn't going to tell you yet, not for a while.
13:45
But I can't go on doing housework
13:47
for other people much longer.
13:49
>> I never wanted you to do housework for other people.
13:51
>> But pretty soon I won't be able to.
13:55
I'm --
13:57
I'm going to have a baby, Steven.
14:01
>> You're not.
14:02
You -- You -- You must be wrong.
14:05
>> Oh, no, I'm not wrong, not about this.
14:09
>> You must be.
14:11
>> Well, Steven, aren't you glad?
14:13
J-Just a little bit?
14:15
And coming right now,
14:17
what with Mr. Higgins wanting to publish your book.
14:19
Why, in the spring, we'll both be having babies.
14:23
You'd be having your book, and I'd be having --
14:25
>> I can't let Clarissa live.
14:27
I can't do it. She has to die.
14:29
Just the way I wrote it, she has got to die.
14:32
>> Steven, you're frightening me.
14:34
>> I'm sorry. >> Well, what difference
14:37
would it make if you let Clarissa live?
14:39
>> All the difference in the world.
14:42
>> It's not as if it were real. It's just a book.
14:44
>> It's not just a book!
14:46
[ Sighs ] Loretta, I -- I --
14:50
I can't talk about it anymore right now.
14:52
>> Well, you'll think about it, won't you?
14:54
About rewriting it?
14:56
>> I'll think about it. >> [ Chuckles ]
14:59
Well, Mama says dinner's almost ready.
15:01
>> I'll be right down. [ Door opens ]
15:02
>> Well, don't be long. >> I won't.
15:05
[ Door closes ]
15:06
Clarissa.
15:08
Clarissa, I can't let you live.
15:11
>> Oh, yes you can, darling.
15:13
>> I can't. >> You can do anything
15:15
you put your mind to, Steven, anything at all.
15:18
[ Rotary phone dialing ]
15:20
You're such a great man, darling.
15:22
You can do anything, absolutely anything at all.
15:26
You know you can.
15:29
>> Mr. Higgins, this is Steven Lake.
15:31
I have to see you, sir.
15:33
No, right away, if that's possible.
15:36
I'll come to your place. Yes, it's better that way.
15:39
In an hour?
15:41
All right, sir. I'll be there. [ Phone hangs up ]
15:43
>> Oh, that's my sweet Steven.
15:46
My dear love.
15:48
My own brilliant boy.
15:51
My Steven.
15:53
♪♪
15:59
>> I'm glad you called me, Steven.
16:01
I must say, I was a trifle perturbed
16:03
at your outburst this afternoon.
16:05
It seemed such a little thing I was asking.
16:07
To kill off a character like Clarissa in the last 10 pages
16:10
when you've spent the entire book constructing her --
16:13
her magnetic personality, it's not right.
16:17
>> I have to do it, sir. >> But it's cheating.
16:20
Leading your readers up the garden path.
16:23
I'll tell you something,
16:25
which perhaps I shouldn't, but anyway...
16:28
I discussed with my wife
16:30
the possibility of a sequel to this book
16:33
using the same central character.
16:36
>> Clarissa? >> It's a shame to waste
16:39
a character like that on one book.
16:40
There should be another and perhaps another.
16:43
How can we do that
16:45
if you kill her off at the end of your first book?
16:47
>> Mr. Higgins, I've been writing
16:49
for seven years steadily.
16:51
I've never sold anything.
16:54
Six years ago, I got married.
16:56
My wife, Loretta, has been working
16:58
as a domestic all these years.
17:00
And her mother goes out every day
17:02
to do other people's laundry.
17:04
I haven't brought in one red cent in all that time.
17:07
>> But now you will. Lots of red cents.
17:10
>> The house we're living in --
17:12
that's an abandoned one-room schoolhouse.
17:14
We bought it a year ago with every cent
17:16
we had in the savings bank.
17:18
$400 at a county auction.
17:22
The room where I work used to be the place
17:24
where they stored supplies.
17:27
We got the Franklin stove from a junkyard.
17:29
If you want the truth, we stole it.
17:31
>> Young writers never have it easy, Steven.
17:34
>> My wife has never complained, never once.
17:37
She scrubbed other women's floors.
17:40
She's washed their dishes and dusted their furniture
17:42
and scoured their bathtubs and polished their silver.
17:44
>> Well, in view of all this, I should think you'd jump
17:47
at the chance to have your novel published.
17:49
>> I do jump at it. I am jumping at it.
17:52
Only...
17:55
I can't let Clarissa live.
17:58
She's got to die 10 pages from the end of the book.
18:01
>> But that's unreasonable.
18:03
>> Don't you think I wanted her to live?
18:05
Don't you think I kept her alive as long as I could?
18:07
You think I wanted to kill her? I had to!
18:09
>> I can't for the life of me see why!
18:12
>> Because --
18:14
Because...
18:16
I'd fallen in love with her.
18:19
>> [ Chuckles ] Oh, come now, Steven.
18:22
>> Deeply, hopelessly, irrevocably in love.
18:27
>> Now, now, my boy, I've been a publisher a long time.
18:30
I've talked to dozens of authors.
18:33
They all fall in love with characters they've created.
18:36
Happens all the time.
18:37
>> Clarissa isn't just a character.
18:39
>> Well, of course she is.
18:41
She didn't exist before you created her, did she?
18:44
>> She exists now.
18:46
>> Good heavens, man, she came out of your mind!
18:49
She has no life except the one you gave her.
18:52
>> Maybe she did come out of my mind,
18:54
but now she's got a life of her own.
18:56
>> Well, in a manner of speaking, of course she has,
18:59
and I want to prolong that life, Steven.
19:01
I predict great success for Clarissa and for you.
19:05
You and Clarissa are one, you might say.
19:08
>> No. No, we are not one.
19:11
We must never be one.
19:14
I want her dead
19:17
and out of my life. >> [ Sighs ]
19:20
On my word, I can't follow you.
19:22
>> Mr. Higgins...
19:25
if Clarissa is allowed to live,
19:28
I shall desert my wife.
19:31
>> Desert your wife?
19:34
>> My wife is going to have a baby.
19:37
>> Well, then why on earth would you desert her?
19:40
>> Because I love Clarissa.
19:43
I love her with a kind of love I never knew existed,
19:46
a love that has more power over me than I have over myself.
19:50
I can't fight it. I can't escape it.
19:52
It haunts my waking hours and my dreams, as well.
19:57
Those last 10 pages of the book
19:59
weren't easy to write, Mr. Higgins,
20:01
but I had to write them.
20:03
I had to free myself somehow
20:05
from a love that was destroying my soul, my life.
20:09
>> I don't think you're quite sane, Steven.
20:12
>> [ Breathing heavily ]
20:15
Neither do I.
20:17
>> Suppose...
20:19
Suppose we were to publish the book as it is.
20:21
>> Oh, if only you would.
20:22
>> And Clarissa dies. What then?
20:26
>> Why, then she'd go back to being a character in a book.
20:30
>> And if you let her live?
20:33
>> Then...
20:35
Then I would follow her.
20:37
My life, my body,
20:39
even my talent would belong to her.
20:42
I myself would belong to Clarissa and to her alone.
20:48
♪♪
20:57
>> Everybody talks about love,
21:00
but nobody does anything about it.
21:02
Now, here, for the first time,
21:04
we have a man who wants to do something.
21:07
He wants to kill the lady.
21:09
It may not be the perfect solution,
21:11
not one to be universally recommended.
21:13
Still, it's something.
21:15
We'll be back shortly with act two.
21:20
>> Like what you're hearing so far?
21:22
Are you curious about the history behind radio programs
21:25
just like this one
21:26
and the dramatic genius who created them?
21:29
In the nine-part, award-winning documentary "Audio Maverick,"
21:32
we explore the Golden Age of Radio
21:35
through the life of Himan Brown.
21:37
You'll hear the history of radio come to life
21:39
as we travel from the birth of audio drama
21:42
to the programs that brought millions of families
21:44
into their living rooms every night.
21:46
"Audio Maverick" is available anywhere you get your podcasts.
21:53
[ Dramatic music playing ]
21:55
♪♪
22:04
>> It was an American writer who said it, and not so long ago --
22:09
novelists, whatever else they may be, are also children
22:13
talking to children in the dark.
22:18
Listen with me now to the second act of "Three Women."
22:21
Steven is talking to Clarissa,
22:24
a character he created in one of his books, in the dark.
22:29
>> Clarissa, I can't let you go on living.
22:31
>> But I want to, Steven. >> Of course you want to.
22:34
We all want to. >> But I want to so badly.
22:37
And it's your fault, Steven.
22:39
>> [ Chuckles ] Why is it my fault?
22:41
>> Because you gave me such a wonderful life in your book.
22:44
I enjoy it so much.
22:46
I can't bear the thought of giving it up.
22:49
>> Neither can I.
22:52
Neither can I.
22:53
>> To have had a life like that and then to die
22:56
10 pages from the end of the book...
22:57
>> I know, I know. When the book is published,
23:00
you'll be dead.
23:02
>> I don't see why, Steven. I really don't.
23:04
>> Because till now it's just been you and me
23:08
and this room and words on paper,
23:11
but after the book is published...
23:13
>> What will it be then?
23:14
>> It'll be...
23:16
something that sells for $7.95.
23:19
$1.50 in the paperback edition.
23:21
>> My goodness, you're counting on a big sale, aren't you?
23:24
>> Just hoping. >> But it won't have a big sale
23:26
if you kill me off, sweetheart.
23:28
>> It might. [ Door closes ]
23:30
>> What was that? Who came in?
23:33
>> Probably my mother-in-law.
23:34
She gets home early to get dinner ready.
23:36
>> Will she come up here?
23:37
>> I don't think so. She hardly ever does.
23:39
>> Oh, then let's talk some more about how much you love me.
23:42
[ Footsteps approaching ] >> She is coming up here.
23:44
>> Oh, bother.
23:46
Well, we'll talk some more later.
23:49
I am not going to let you kill me off, Steven.
23:52
[ Knock on door ] It's too cruel.
23:53
>> Uh, just a minute.
23:55
[ Door opens ]
23:57
>> All right to come up? >> Of course, Mother.
23:59
Give me your hand. >> What a place.
24:02
How do you stand it?
24:04
>> I like it. >> It's cold, too.
24:07
Your fire's gone out.
24:09
You've been working?
24:11
>> Uh, no, not much.
24:13
>> Well, what have you been doing?
24:15
Figuring something out?
24:17
>> Well, trying to.
24:19
>> Figuring out what to do with the last 10 pages of your novel?
24:23
>> More or less.
24:25
>> Steven, it's not up to me to tell you what to do.
24:29
>> Then don't.
24:31
>> I don't know one book from another,
24:33
but this book of yours --
24:36
it's a novel, isn't it? >> It's a novel.
24:39
>> About made-up people, right?
24:41
>> Yes.
24:42
>> So, what's the difference?
24:44
You can do what you want with made-up people.
24:46
They can live as long as --
24:49
as long as you're alive to write about them.
24:51
True? Is that true?
24:53
>> [ Sighs ] Yes, yes, that's true.
24:55
>> So, if Mr. Higgins says you should let this character,
24:58
this, uh, Clarissa, go on living,
25:01
what's the difference?
25:02
Let the lady live. Who cares?
25:05
Also -- and I don't mean this as a reproach --
25:09
we can use the money.
25:10
>> Believe me, I know that.
25:12
>> So, if the little lady is worth more alive than dead,
25:15
I say let her live. >> Yeah.
25:18
>> It's not a lot of work,
25:19
the way I understand it from Loretta.
25:21
I mean, you don't have to write the whole book over.
25:24
>> Just the last 10 pages.
25:26
>> Well, what's that?
25:27
You can knock that off in no time.
25:31
Well...
25:34
I better be getting on down to get dinner started.
25:37
It'll be ready in about half an hour.
25:40
>> I'll be down.
25:42
[ Door closes ]
25:45
[ Keys clacking ]
25:49
>> Oh, darling.
25:51
Darling, yes.
25:54
Yes, sweetheart.
25:57
"The cold hand I held, wet with my tears --"
26:01
oh, Steven, that's beautiful --
26:03
"stirred ever so little.
26:06
The fingers moved faintly in mine."
26:09
Oh, Steven, yes!
26:13
♪♪
26:18
[ Silverware clinking ]
26:21
>> That was a very good dinner, Mother.
26:23
>> How would you know? You hardly tasted it.
26:25
>> Well, what I did taste was awfully good.
26:28
>> Mm, if nobody's going to eat any more, I'll clear.
26:31
>> Let me help, dear. >> Oh, don't be silly.
26:32
Mama and I will finish up.
26:34
You go back to work if you want to.
26:36
>> Well, all right, I -- I guess I will.
26:39
[ Footsteps departing ] [ Door opens ]
26:41
>> Poor Steven. He looks awful.
26:45
He hardly eats anything anymore.
26:47
[ Door closes ]
26:51
>> I had a talk with him today about changing the book.
26:54
>> What did you say?
26:56
>> I said, what's the difference?
26:58
A character in a book can be alive or dead.
27:00
Who cares? >> Steven cares.
27:02
>> Well, why should he? >> Oh, Mama, he's a writer.
27:06
Writers care about these things.
27:08
It has something to do with, um, artistic integrity.
27:14
>> You think maybe somebody's
27:16
putting things into Steven's head,
27:18
artistic notions, things like that?
27:20
>> Well, who would do that?
27:22
Mr. Higgins wants him to change the book.
27:25
>> I wasn't thinking of Mr. Higgins.
27:27
I was thinking of...some woman.
27:31
>> What woman? >> I don't know what woman.
27:35
And I don't suppose I should say this,
27:37
but lots of times I hear him talking up there.
27:40
>> Oh, Mama, Steve talks to himself all the time
27:45
when he's trying to work things out.
27:47
>> This isn't talking to himself.
27:49
This is talking to somebody.
27:51
There's a big difference. And another thing, that --
27:54
that mattress he has up there,
27:56
it looks to me like there's two people been lying on it.
27:58
>> Mama! >> All right, all right,
28:00
all right, all right.
28:01
>> I told you I shouldn't say it,
28:03
and now I'm sorry I did.
28:04
>> He didn't seem very happy about the baby.
28:08
>> I should have kept my mouth shut.
28:10
>> Oh, that's all right. You finish up the dishes.
28:13
I'm going up to talk to him.
28:14
>> Don't say I said anything.
28:16
Don't tell him we've been talking.
28:17
[ Footsteps ]
28:19
>> I won't.
28:21
[ Knock on door ]
28:23
>> Yeah, just a second.
28:25
[ Door opens ]
28:26
>> I'm not disturbing you, am I? >> Of course not.
28:30
>> Well, I didn't hear the typewriter, so, uh...
28:34
[ Sighs ] Stephen...
28:36
do you love me?
28:39
>> What kind of question is that?
28:41
>> It's the kind of question wives are always asking,
28:44
even if they never say the words.
28:47
>> Yes. I love you.
28:50
>> Are you glad we're going to have a child?
28:54
>> Yes. Yes, I'm --
28:57
I'm glad we're going to have a child.
28:59
>> [ Chuckles ] Well, ask a straight question,
29:03
and you get a straight answer.
29:05
>> That's the way it should be.
29:06
>> So I'll ask you another one.
29:09
Why don't you want to change the book?
29:11
>> [ Sighs ] Loretta, I -- I just don't.
29:15
>> Well, that's not a straight answer.
29:17
>> I know it isn't. I -- I just can't.
29:20
>> Steven [sighs] I'm going to ask you
29:22
another straight question.
29:25
Are you interested in...
29:29
some other woman?
29:31
>> Interested?
29:33
No.
29:34
>> Because if you are, I'll go away.
29:38
>> I don't want you to go away.
29:41
>> I'll go away and have the baby someplace else
29:44
till you get over this other woman.
29:47
Then I'll come back.
29:49
Or if you don't get over her, I'll stay away.
29:52
>> Oh, Loretta -- >> Steven...
29:55
can you swear to me
29:57
that there's no other woman in your life except me?
30:00
Can you promise me that?
30:04
>> Loretta, I swear to you.
30:07
I promise you that I love you,
30:11
that I love you, that I want you for my wife for always,
30:14
for as long as we live.
30:17
>> I guess I'll have to be satisfied with that.
30:20
>> It's the truth. >> [ Chuckles ] All right.
30:23
I'll let you work now.
30:26
[ Door closes ]
30:28
>> Oh, I thought she'd never leave.
30:30
>> Please, Clarissa.
30:32
I don't feel like talking to you right now.
30:34
>> Why didn't you tell her about me?
30:36
>> How could I tell her about you?
30:38
She wouldn't believe me. Nobody would.
30:40
>> Darling, you know what I was thinking
30:42
while Loretta was going on and on about herself and you
30:45
and the baby she's going to have?
30:48
I was thinking, why don't I have a baby?
30:52
Oh, not in this book, of course, but later on in some other book.
30:55
I'll have this perfectly gorgeous child
30:58
who'll have my sweet disposition and your marvelous brains.
31:03
How about that?
31:05
♪♪
31:09
[ Silverware clinking ]
31:11
>> Mama, I asked him if there was somebody else.
31:16
Another woman. >> Well?
31:18
>> He said he loved me and wanted me for his wife
31:22
for as long as we live.
31:24
>> I still hear him talking up there,
31:26
and it certainly sounds to me like he's talking to somebody.
31:28
[ Knock on door ] >> Well, who do you suppose
31:30
that is? >> Only one way to find out.
31:33
[ Footsteps ] [ Door opens ]
31:35
>> Oh, Mr. Higgins.
31:37
Come in before you freeze to death.
31:39
>> Winter's closing in on us. [ Door closes ]
31:41
>> It sure is.
31:42
How are you, Mr. Higgins?
31:43
>> Fine, fine.
31:45
I thrive on the cold.
31:47
Uh, Mrs. Lake, your husband's in, I hope?
31:50
>> Mm-hmm, he's up there, working, I guess.
31:53
>> Has he talked to you about, uh, you know --
31:55
about Clarissa, keeping her alive?
31:58
>> He just says he doesn't want to.
32:00
>> All right to go up and see him?
32:02
>> Oh, I'm sure it is.
32:04
>> Good luck, Mr. Higgins.
32:05
>> Thank you. [ Footsteps ]
32:08
[ Knock on door ]
32:11
[ Door opens ]
32:12
>> Oh. M-Mr. Higgins.
32:15
>> Okay to talk to you for a few minutes, Steven?
32:18
>> Uh, I-I guess so, sure.
32:21
>> [ Grunts ]
32:24
I, uh -- I thought I'd like to see how you're getting along.
32:29
>> I'm not. >> You haven't done any work?
32:32
None at all? >> Oh, a few pages.
32:35
They're over there next to the typewriter.
32:37
>> Okay, to have a look?
32:38
>> If you want to.
32:41
Mr. Higgins, if you're here to talk to me
32:43
about letting Clarissa live --
32:45
>> I most certainly am.
32:46
>> I'm not sure I can take it anymore.
32:48
My mother-in-law is talking to me about it.
32:50
My wife talks to me about it.
32:52
>> Steven, this is very good so far.
32:55
>> And the hardest thing of all is Clarissa
32:57
talks to me about it.
32:58
Do you know what she wants now?
33:00
She wants a baby. My baby.
33:03
>> Well, you could probably work in a baby later on.
33:06
>> Mr. Higgins, if Clarissa has a baby,
33:11
am I going to love it more than Loretta's baby?
33:14
>> Steven, these pages are very good.
33:19
Now write the last couple of pages.
33:21
>> I've got to kill her off, Mr. Higgins,
33:24
and never write about her anymore, never!
33:26
>> Oh, now, Steven, stop it.
33:27
Calm down and try to be reasonable.
33:29
I can't be reasonable.
33:32
I love my wife, Mr. Higgins.
33:34
I want to live with my wife and our child.
33:38
I can't live with her and Clarissa, too.
33:42
No, Mr. Higgins, Clarissa has to die
33:46
just the way I wrote it in the first place.
33:49
If she dies in this book, then I can't write about her anymore.
33:52
And if I don't write about her anymore, she won't exist.
33:55
>> Steven, I won't publish the book if Clarissa dies.
33:59
I've put it to you straight.
34:01
Don't you think you owe it to your wife,
34:02
to your mother-in-law, to yourself
34:04
to make this little concession?
34:06
>> Concession?
34:08
What will happen to them if you don't?
34:10
>> What will happen to them if I do?
34:14
♪♪
34:20
>> Money is the root of all evil,
34:24
and killing is certainly evil.
34:26
Yet here we have a man who wants to kill
34:30
and is letting himself be talked out of killing for money.
34:34
It leaves us with the perplexing question -- what is evil?
34:39
Maybe we'll find out when we return shortly for act three.
34:45
>> Like what you're hearing so far?
34:47
Are you curious about the history behind radio programs
34:50
just like this one
34:51
and the dramatic genius who created them?
34:54
In the nine-part, award-winning documentary "Audio Maverick,"
34:58
we explore the Golden Age of Radio
35:00
through the life of Himan Brown.
35:02
You'll hear the history of radio come to life
35:05
as we travel from the birth of audio drama
35:07
to the programs that brought millions of families
35:10
into their living rooms every night.
35:12
"Audio Maverick" is available anywhere you get your podcasts.
35:18
[ Dramatic music playing ]
35:20
♪♪
35:28
>> Pity the poor novelist alone with his thoughts,
35:33
his visions, his conceits, his fancies,
35:38
his only solid, substantial companion -- his typewriter.
35:42
[ Keys clacking ]
35:43
>> Steven. >> [ Sighs ]
35:46
What is it, Clarissa?
35:48
>> Everybody wants me to live except you.
35:51
>> I know, I know.
35:53
>> And you're the one who loves me.
35:55
>> I know. >> Nobody else even knows me,
35:57
except from reading the book, and that's not really knowing.
36:00
>> Clarissa, I wish you'd let me work.
36:02
>> How am I doing? [ Keys clacking ]
36:05
>> You're living. >> [ Sighs ]
36:07
>> Just barely, but you're living.
36:09
>> I thought I was because I was feeling so warm
36:12
and loving about you.
36:15
I know the only reason you're keeping me alive
36:18
is for the money.
36:19
You can't fool me, Steven.
36:21
If there was a way to kill me and still make the money,
36:23
I bet you'd take it.
36:25
>> There ought to be a way.
36:28
Clarissa, you've given me an idea.
36:31
>> Oh, it makes me very happy if I've given you something.
36:34
[ Rotary phone dialing ] You've given me everything.
36:36
It's about time I gave something back to you.
36:39
>> Ah, Mr. Higgins. Steven Lake.
36:42
Yes. Uh, I have an idea.
36:44
I have to talk to you about it right away.
36:45
Can I come to your house?
36:47
Well, that's all right. I have snowshoes.
36:49
I'll be there in, say, uh, half an hour?
36:53
Thanks, Mr. Higgins. [ Phone hangs up ]
36:55
>> What kind of an idea have you got?
36:59
>> Never you mind.
37:01
>> I'm coming with you. >> No, I don't want you
37:03
tagging along. >> I want to tag along.
37:05
>> Where are my snowshoes? >> Right there.
37:08
Now, what's this big idea you have to tell Mr. Higgins?
37:12
>> None of your business. >> Is it about me?
37:15
>> As a matter of fact, it is.
37:17
>> Well, then it is my business.
37:20
Steven, you're not going to kill me off, are you?
37:23
I thought that was all decided.
37:26
Are you?
37:28
♪♪
37:33
>> Now, my idea is this, Mr. Higgins.
37:35
I'll finish up the book just the way you want it.
37:38
>> Good, good. >> Clarissa stirs
37:40
and comes to life.
37:41
Whatever it was she was dying of,
37:43
she only went into coma, et cetera, et cetera.
37:45
I'll work it out.
37:47
I'll give you the book in a couple of days,
37:48
maybe by tomorrow. >> Good.
37:50
>> Then, if you still like it...
37:52
>> Oh, I'll like it. >> ...it's yours.
37:54
Only I want it in my contract
37:57
that whatever money the book makes goes to my wife.
38:00
I want her to get all the proceeds.
38:03
>> But it's your book.
38:04
>> Why, I just happened to write it, that's all.
38:07
And writing it...
38:09
I nearly ruined my wife's happiness and my own.
38:12
I don't want any money for that.
38:14
>> Steven, it seems to me that you're simply feeling guilty
38:18
about your feelings for Clarissa.
38:20
>> I am. Guilty as hell.
38:24
And about the other books, the ones after this one --
38:26
>> You're not going to tell me you don't want
38:28
any of that money, either?
38:30
>> I want somebody else to write those things, not me.
38:33
>> You're joking. >> Mr. Higgins,
38:35
I've got to get Clarissa out of my head.
38:38
And the only way to do that is to put her
38:40
into somebody else's head.
38:41
Let somebody else keep her alive, not me.
38:44
>> Well, uh, I suppose we could find a ghostwriter,
38:48
but at least let me have those last 10 pages
38:52
with Clarissa alive.
38:54
>> Mr. Higgins, you'll have them tonight.
38:58
♪♪
39:01
[ Keys clacking ]
39:04
>> My, you are busy, aren't you?
39:07
>> Very. >> You're working on the new
39:08
ending to the novel, aren't you? >> That's right.
39:11
>> And I get to live and live
39:14
and live and live... >> Clarissa, it's cold in here.
39:17
Why don't you do something useful
39:18
like putting some wood in the stove?
39:20
>> I don't know how. >> [ Sighs ]
39:22
You don't know much, do you?
39:24
>> [ Chuckles ] Enough. >> Okay, I'll do it.
39:27
>> Make a nice big fire.
39:28
Then we can sit and talk about what's going to happen next.
39:31
>> What do you mean by next? >> With all the other books,
39:34
the ones you're going to write after this one.
39:36
>> Now, blow on this fire, will you?
39:38
>> Oh. >> At least you can do that.
39:40
>> Okay. [ Blows ]
39:43
Go on. Tell me about the other books.
39:45
>> I don't know anything about the other books.
39:49
>> Would you like to hear some of my ideas?
39:51
>> Not really. >> [ Blows ]
39:52
>> Well, that's enough. You can stop blowing.
39:54
It's caught fire. [ Fire crackling ]
39:56
Ah. That feels good.
39:58
>> I think the next novel ought to be in Venice.
40:02
>> Clarissa, I have made a deal with Mr. Higgins.
40:06
When I finish these 10 pages, thereby keeping you alive.
40:11
I shall turn them over to him to replace the original 10,
40:14
and then I shall write
40:17
no more books. >> Well --
40:19
>> No more books about you, anyway.
40:21
>> But Mr. Higgins thinks I'm wonderful.
40:23
He wants lots of books about me.
40:25
>> He's going to get lots of books about you,
40:27
but they won't be written by me.
40:29
>> But who'll write them?
40:31
>> A ghost.
40:33
>> A ghost?
40:35
I don't want to be written by a ghost.
40:38
I'm part ghost myself.
40:39
>> Oh, he'll be a real live man, a ghost writer.
40:42
That's what they are called in the publishing business.
40:45
>> But it won't be you?
40:47
>> Definitely not me.
40:49
>> But it will be a real, live man.
40:51
>> Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me,
40:53
I'd like to get back to work.
40:55
[ Keys clacking ]
40:57
>> I wonder --
40:59
will he be as handsome as you?
41:02
>> Handsomer, probably.
41:04
>> I wonder -- will he love me the way you do?
41:07
>> For his sake, I hope not.
41:10
>> I wonder -- will I love him?
41:13
>> Why should you love him?
41:15
>> Why not? >> You never loved me.
41:18
>> Oh, that's the way you wrote it.
41:21
I couldn't love anyone. >> Except yourself.
41:24
>> But he might write me differently, mightn't he?
41:26
>> He shouldn't.
41:28
He should follow the character exactly
41:30
as I've set it down in the first book.
41:31
>> But if he falls in love with me,
41:33
he might want it changed so I could fall in love with him.
41:38
It would be so much more convenient for everybody.
41:40
>> Clarissa, you wouldn't.
41:43
>> Wouldn't what? >> Fall in love --
41:46
Fall in love with the ghostwriter.
41:50
Would you?
41:51
>> How should I know?
41:53
>> Well, you -- you wouldn't have his child.
41:56
You wouldn't do that?
41:59
>> I think I'll put another piece of wood on the fire.
42:01
Or would you rather do it?
42:03
>> Clarissa, would you have his child?
42:07
>> There. Oh, look, that's a nice fire.
42:12
Lovely. >> Answer me!
42:14
Would you have his child?
42:16
>> Well, Steven, if that's the way he writes it,
42:20
I guess I'll have to.
42:22
[ Paper rustling ] Steven, what are you doing?
42:25
>> Oh, no, no, you're not going to have his child, no.
42:27
>> Steven -- >> You're going back to where
42:29
you were in the original.
42:30
You're going to die 10 pages from the end of the book.
42:32
>> You're not going to burn the new pages, Steven.
42:36
You're not. Don't!
42:38
>> Ahh! Help! Help! [ Fire crackling ]
42:41
Someone help me! I'm on fire!
42:44
Help me!
42:45
The quilt! Give me the quilt, please!
42:49
Help me!
42:50
Ahh!
42:53
♪♪
43:02
[ Knock on door ]
43:04
>> I'll get it, Mama. [ Door opens ]
43:06
>> Mrs. Lake. >> Mr. Higgins.
43:08
>> It's Mr. Higgins, Mama. >> Oh.
43:11
I haven't seen you since the funeral, Mr. Higgins.
43:14
Thank you for the beautiful flowers.
43:16
>> May I come in for a minute? >> Why, of course. Come in.
43:19
>> Would you, uh, like a cup of tea, Mr. Higgins?
43:22
I was just about to put the kettle on.
43:23
>> Thank you, no, Mrs. Lake. I, uh --
43:26
I haven't wanted to intrude before this on your grief.
43:31
Such -- Such a terrible accident.
43:33
>> Mama and I can't figure out how it happened.
43:36
You know, Steven knew that Franklin stove so well.
43:40
He'd used it for years. And then --
43:43
>> It was like it sort of blew up in his face.
43:46
>> Mrs. Lake, he was working on the new ending
43:49
for the novel when he -- uh, when it happened.
43:53
At least, I think he was.
43:55
>> Well, I don't know for sure, Mr. Higgins.
43:58
>> He'd promised me I'd have the new pages that same night.
44:02
He -- He acted as though he couldn't wait to get started.
44:06
>> Oh, then I imagine that's what he was doing.
44:08
>> Mrs. Lake, would you mind, if I'm not intruding --
44:12
could I go up and take a look?
44:14
You see, if I can find them,
44:16
I can just substitute them for the original last 10 pages
44:21
and we can go right to work.
44:23
I think we might be able to publish the book this spring.
44:26
>> Why, that would be wonderful.
44:27
>> At least you'd have a little money coming in.
44:30
>> Steven would have liked that.
44:32
>> So, is it all right if I take a look?
44:35
>> Why, surely.
44:36
You don't mind if I don't go up there with you?
44:39
I haven't wanted to somehow since the fire.
44:43
>> No, no, no, that's quite all right.
44:45
I'll go up by myself.
44:48
>> Trap door is not locked, Mr. Higgins.
44:52
Make it all right?
44:53
>> Yes. Thank you. Fine.
44:56
>> Oh, I suppose I should have cleaned up that place,
44:58
but I just couldn't.
45:01
>> No hurry. When the time comes, I'll do it.
45:03
>> It never entered my head to look for those 10 pages.
45:07
>> No, nor mine. >> Mama, if he --
45:09
if he finds the pages and publishes the book,
45:12
and if it's a success, that'll be nice, won't it?
45:16
>> Mrs. Lake. [ Footsteps approaching ]
45:18
>> What is it, Mr. Higgins? You found them?
45:21
>> I found something. [ Paper rustling ]
45:23
I found these, these 10 pages.
45:26
>> Oh, thank the good Lord.
45:28
>> All neatly stacked beside his typewriter.
45:30
>> Oh, I'm so glad, Mr. Higgins. >> Glad?
45:33
Have you read them? >> Why, no.
45:36
>> Well, listen.
45:38
"Lovely, gorgeous Clarissa lifted her beautiful head.
45:42
She wasn't dead after all."
45:44
Well? >> B-But tha--
45:47
that's not the way Steven writes.
45:49
>> "I could hardly believe my eyes.
45:52
That creamy complexion was beginning to pinken."
45:56
"Pinken"?
45:57
>> There's no such word as "pinken."
45:59
>> "My adorable sweetheart had only fainted
46:02
and wasn't dead at all.
46:04
My goodness, but I was happy."
46:08
Now, I ask you -- >> Steven didn't write
46:10
that way at all. >> Nothing like that!
46:12
>> Then who did? Who did write this awful trash?
46:15
>> Mr. Higgins, y-you don't think that...?
46:19
>> Well, somebody wrote it. It's typed on his typewriter.
46:23
You -- You don't suppose
46:26
it is possible that Steven went mad
46:30
and wrote this awful stuff while he was unbalanced?
46:32
>> Mr. Higgins, if Steven was a certified lunatic,
46:35
he couldn't write 10 pages like those there.
46:38
>> Do you want them to keep for any reason?
46:40
>> Oh, I don't think so.
46:42
>> Well, I'll take them home with me and burn them.
46:45
>> Mr. Higgins, does this mean that, uh --
46:48
that there won't be any book at all?
46:51
>> Why, uh, I hadn't thought...
46:55
>> I would so like to have a book of Steven's published.
46:59
>> Tell you what we'll do, Mrs. Lake.
47:01
We'll go ahead and publish the original version,
47:03
the one where Clarissa dies.
47:05
>> Ohh!
47:07
>> You say something?
47:09
>> No. >> Sounded like a ghost kind of.
47:11
>> Noooooo.
47:14
>> [ Chuckling ] >> Noooooo.
47:16
>> It really does sound like a ghost.
47:19
>> Must be the wind. >> Huh.
47:21
Well, I'll be getting along.
47:23
And don't you worry, you two.
47:25
There'll be a little money coming in.
47:27
It's still a good novel, even with Clarissa dying.
47:29
>> [ Moaning ] >> Too bad, though.
47:32
I'd hoped Clarissa would have a long and happy life,
47:35
but...such is fate.
47:37
♪♪
47:45
>> And the moral of the story is...
47:48
What is the moral of the story?
47:51
How's this?
47:53
Lie if you like, but never believe your own lies.
47:57
Or, the man who fools himself is a fool indeed.
48:03
Well, something like that.
48:05
You figure it out.
48:07
I'll be back shortly.
48:09
♪♪
48:17
♪♪
48:25
The gift of youth is ours for just a little while.
48:29
Fame is capricious, and money slips through our fingers.
48:35
Health is a godsend subject to recall.
48:39
Even the benison of love can elude us.
48:42
Or it can wither in our hearts.
48:44
But the blessings of imagination --
48:47
Ah, they belong to us forever and ever.
48:54
Our cast included Ruth Ford, George Petrie, Elspeth Eric,
48:58
Joan Lorring, and Roger De Koven.
49:01
The entire production was under the direction of Himan Brown.
49:05
This is E.G. Marshall inviting you to return
49:08
to our "Mystery Theater"
49:09
for another adventure in the macabre.
49:12
Until next time, pleasant dreams.
49:16
[ Door creaking ]
49:22
[ Door closes ]
49:24
[ Dramatic music playing ]
49:27
♪♪
49:36
♪♪
49:44
♪♪
49:52
♪♪
49:58
♪♪
50:05
>> "If You Please... Himan Brown's Radio Mystery Theater"
50:07
is produced and directed by Sarah Montague.
50:10
Our executive producers are Melina Brown and Sarah Montague.
50:15
CUNY TV's executive director is Chiqui Cartagena.
50:18
The director of production is Susan Iger
50:21
the associate producer is Corinne Wallace,
50:23
and our audio production intern is Sofia Cedeno.
50:27
Margot Avery is the voice
50:29
of the series' introduction and credits.
50:31
The program commentaries are by John Slavney.
50:35
Our technical team at CUNY TV includes
50:38
senior audio engineer Richard Kim
50:40
and broadcast audio engineers Jackie Mitchell and Kevin Wolfe.
50:45
Our staff photographer is Laura Fuchs.
50:48
Our archivists are David Rice and Catriona Schlosser.
50:52
Our closed caption coordinator is Amy Monte.
50:55
The "If You Please..." program mix engineer
50:57
is Lisa Gosselin-Vincent.
50:59
Tink Media handles our publicity and marketing.
51:03
Our director of social media is Karen A. Brown,
51:06
in collaboration with StardustBlue PR.
51:09
"If You Please... Himan Brown's Radio Mystery Theater"
51:12
is a production of Cuny TV and Radio Drama Network.
51:17
If you enjoyed the show
51:19
and are curious about the history of these radio programs,
51:22
listen to "Audio Maverick."
51:24
In this award-winning, nine-part documentary,
51:27
we explore the Golden Age of Radio
51:29
through the life of dramatic genius Himan Brown
51:32
and then explore the work of contemporary audio dramatists
51:35
who are part of his legacy.
51:37
"Audio Maverick" is available anywhere you get your podcasts.