Latest / Suspense | Old Time Radio / Suspense - "The Long Wait" (Old Time Radio, 1949)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: From November 2nd, 1949, comes Suspense, Episode 4, The Long Wait.
- 0:07Speaker 1: In Manhattan, Dan Verrill has just been released from prison,
- 0:10Speaker 1: carrying a grievance over the death of his brother, Richie.
- 0:14Speaker 1: His path leads to Lois Williams, a troubled woman connected
- 0:18Speaker 1: with Richie's final days, while Police Lieutenant Len Bush keeps watch.
- 0:23Speaker 1: Burt Lancaster stars as Dan Verrill, with Betty Lou Gerson
- 0:28Speaker 1: as Lois in an original radio play by Fred Freiberger,
- 0:32Speaker 1: produced by William Speer and directed by Norman MacDonald.
- 0:37Speaker 2: Settle in for.
- 0:38Speaker 1: Late 40s New York, where old associations and difficult choices await. Now,
- 0:44Speaker 1: back to the golden age of radio.
- 0:58Speaker 2: Suspense.
- 1:05Speaker 3: Autolite and its 96,000 dealers present Mr. Burt Lancaster in
- 1:10Speaker 3: The Long Wait, a suspense play produced and edited by
- 1:13Speaker 3: William Spears.
- 1:19Speaker 4: Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house
- 1:22Speaker 4: we go.
- 1:22Speaker 2: The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh.
- 1:25Speaker 5: Hey, that's not the way hurrah for Thanksgiving Day goes.
- 1:28Speaker 2: What do you mean? Why I wrote it?
- 1:29Speaker 4: No matter. The 1950 version is different.
- 1:32Speaker 6: Listen.
- 1:33Speaker 5: Over the river and through the woods the snow is
- 1:35Speaker 5: soft and white. Grandpa is happy with his jalopy. His
- 1:39Speaker 5: spark plugs are autolite. Over the river and through the
- 1:42Speaker 5: woods blow high, ye winds blow low. The car is
- 1:45Speaker 5: as snappy as Grandma and Pappy. Because Autolite resistor spark
- 1:49Speaker 5: plugs get it going faster in cold temperatures. Give smooth,
- 1:52Speaker 5: even spark all along the line of fire. Let your
- 1:55Speaker 5: engine idle smoother, run better on leaner gas mixtures.
- 1:58Speaker 4: Save gas. Wait a minute. These last lines don't rhyme. Why,
- 2:01Speaker 4: sure they do.
- 2:02Speaker 5: Your car and Autolite resistor spark plugs are always in rhyme.
- 2:06Speaker 5: In fact, you're always right with Autolite.
- 2:09Speaker 3: And now, with the long wait and with the performance
- 2:12Speaker 3: of Burt Lancaster, Autolite hopes once again to keep you in... Suspense!
- 2:25Speaker 2: When I stepped off the train at Grand Central, I
- 2:27Speaker 2: spotted Len Bush waiting for me. All the heat of
- 2:30Speaker 2: my body sucked into my head. I knew that feeling.
- 2:33Speaker 2: I felt that way every time I wanted to kill
- 2:35Speaker 2: a man. He waved to me. I turned my back
- 2:38Speaker 2: and I started up the ramp to the upper level
- 2:40Speaker 2: in the street. He caught up to me and he
- 2:42Speaker 2: kept pace with his long, shuffling look.
- 2:45Speaker 4: Don't get me wrong, Dan. I don't want to hound you.
- 2:48Speaker 2: Then why begin, Lieutenant?
- 2:49Speaker 4: Something you said to the warden before you left.
- 2:52Speaker 2: You want to repeat on it? I told him I'd
- 2:54Speaker 2: be back for the limit.
- 2:55Speaker 7: In this town, we don't even like guys to steal
- 2:57Speaker 7: apples off pushcarts.
- 2:59Speaker 4: So when it comes to murder.
- 3:00Speaker 2: You can't touch me. I served my full time.
- 3:02Speaker 6: I'm clean.
- 3:03Speaker 2: We just got to sit back and wait for it
- 3:05Speaker 2: to happen.
- 3:06Speaker 7: Your brother died two years ago. Everybody's cooled off. Why
- 3:10Speaker 7: don't you let it lay?
- 3:11Speaker 2: I don't cool so easy.
- 3:13Speaker 4: If Richie could come back, he'd say forget it.
- 3:15Speaker 2: Don't tell me what my brother would say.
- 3:16Speaker 6: All right, all right, I won't.
- 3:19Speaker 7: I don't know why I butt into other people's affairs anyway.
- 3:22Speaker 7: It's not my job to worry about things before they happen.
- 3:25Speaker 2: You'll be the first to know, Lieutenant.
- 3:26Speaker 7: You're a jerk if you put your neck in a
- 3:28Speaker 7: noose to rub out a dame like Lois Williams.
- 3:31Speaker 4: So long, Dan.
- 3:36Speaker 2: I waited until he was swallowed in the crowd. Then
- 3:39Speaker 2: I went across and downed Park until I made the
- 3:40Speaker 2: Coronet Hotel on 40th Street.
- 3:42Speaker 8: Downed Park?
- 3:44Speaker 4: Oh, yes.
- 3:44Speaker 2: Mr.
- 3:45Speaker 8: Thompson reserved a room for you.
- 3:47Speaker 9: Here.
- 3:47Speaker 8: 423.
- 3:49Speaker 2: The elevator was an old cage that pulled itself upwards
- 3:52Speaker 2: like an old man with asthma climbing stairs. I caught
- 3:55Speaker 2: the reflection of my face in the panel mirror of
- 3:57Speaker 2: the cage. Three years housekeeping where the state had left
- 4:00Speaker 2: a mark. A little paler, maybe. Serene was the word
- 4:03Speaker 2: for me. That's the way the reporter put it. The
- 4:06Speaker 2: serene countenance of an alabaster saint showing no trace of
- 4:09Speaker 2: the killer rampant under the shield. Only I hadn't killed anyone.
- 4:14Speaker 6: Yet.
- 4:18Speaker 2: I got out of the elevator and I found 423.
- 4:21Speaker 2: Inside I made for the bathroom. I felt under the washstand.
- 4:24Speaker 2: The gun was there. Shorty Thompson had a tape neatly
- 4:27Speaker 2: in place just like he'd promised. I pried it loose.
- 4:32Speaker 2: I heard someone at the door. I yanked it open.
- 4:35Speaker 2: Lois Williams came in. Not exactly came in. She sort
- 4:40Speaker 2: of slid in along the wall and hung there like
- 4:42Speaker 2: a busted balloon. The little rat was as beautiful as ever.
- 4:45Speaker 2: The scared look in her eyes made them brighter and greener.
- 4:49Speaker 2: She was wearing one of those curved gowns that she
- 4:51Speaker 2: used to design for herself and was pointed up neat
- 4:53Speaker 2: and tidy. She stared at the gun in my hand
- 4:57Speaker 2: in a kind of a glad, hungry way.
- 5:00Speaker 10: I'd save you the trouble of coming for me.
- 5:02Speaker 2: I'd have found you. But thanks anyway.
- 5:06Speaker 10: What are you waiting for?
- 5:06Speaker 2: I don't know.
- 5:08Speaker 4: Go ahead.
- 5:09Speaker 10: Kill me.
- 5:10Speaker 2: Don't hurry me.
- 5:11Speaker 10: Go ahead. You want me dead and I don't want
- 5:13Speaker 10: to live.
- 5:16Speaker 2: You want to die. That's why you came to me.
- 5:19Speaker 11: Just one thing, Dan, about Richie. I didn't think he'd
- 5:21Speaker 11: kill himself.
- 5:22Speaker 2: You figured he'd enjoy looking at his wife and kids
- 5:23Speaker 2: through bars for the next ten years, huh?
- 5:25Speaker 12: I've lost every friend I had because of that. Nobody
- 5:28Speaker 12: will speak to me, have anything to do with me.
- 5:30Speaker 12: I can't get a job either. No club will hire me.
- 5:32Speaker 10: They're all afraid of me.
- 5:33Speaker 9: What do you expect?
- 5:34Speaker 2: They all knew how I felt about my brother. By
- 5:37Speaker 2: the way, how is Tim Grady? I'm going to look
- 5:40Speaker 2: him up, too.
- 5:41Speaker 10: That's a kick.
- 5:42Speaker 12: I ratted on Richie to save Tim, and then he
- 5:44Speaker 12: shook me loose. He didn't want anything to do with
- 5:47Speaker 12: a squealer, he said.
- 5:48Speaker 2: And you still love that dirty... It took him to
- 5:52Speaker 2: make you miserable enough to want to die, huh?
- 5:54Speaker 11: All right, so now you know. No job, no friends,
- 5:57Speaker 11: no Tim. I got nothing to live for.
- 5:58Speaker 2: My brother had everything to live for, and you... He
- 6:01Speaker 2: killed himself.
- 6:02Speaker 11: I'd save the post-mortem till after you do the job.
- 6:06Speaker 2: This was the day who caused my brother's death. But
- 6:09Speaker 2: she wasn't scared. She was begging for it. Something was wrong.
- 6:13Speaker 2: She came closer to me. She looked up at me
- 6:15Speaker 2: with that haunted thing all over her. Desire for an
- 6:19Speaker 2: end of life. I thought of her suddenly dead, still
- 6:22Speaker 2: looking at me like that. I couldn't do it. It
- 6:27Speaker 2: wasn't right. I put my gun back in my pocket.
- 6:29Speaker 2: She saw me do it.
- 6:30Speaker 11: Even when I try to get myself killed, I fumble.
- 6:33Speaker 10: I'll take care of it myself.
- 6:34Speaker 9: Hey, watch it, you crazy little.
- 6:36Speaker 8: Come here.
- 6:37Speaker 2: I'm allergic to people jumping out of windows. Especially out
- 6:40Speaker 2: of a room registered in my name.
- 6:42Speaker 10: Why?
- 6:44Speaker 11: Why did you stop me?
- 6:46Speaker 2: You always were a high-strung game.
- 6:48Speaker 9: Now go on, go home.
- 6:50Speaker 2: Go home and sleep it off like it was a jag.
- 6:51Speaker 10: I don't have a home.
- 6:55Speaker 2: You really don't, huh?
- 6:56Speaker 9: I got nothing.
- 6:57Speaker 10: I told you, I got nothing.
- 6:59Speaker 9: No.
- 7:01Speaker 2: No, it's no fun this way.
- 7:05Speaker 6: Oh, well.
- 7:06Speaker 2: Wait a minute. I'll stake you to a room in
- 7:08Speaker 2: the hotel. Here. Here, have a drink. You'll feel better.
- 7:11Speaker 9: Thanks.
- 7:17Speaker 2: Lois. Lois, I'd like to help you.
- 7:21Speaker 10: You help me?
- 7:23Speaker 9: Why?
- 7:25Speaker 2: To tell you the truth, I don't know. But I
- 7:28Speaker 2: know what Richie meant to me. I was with him
- 7:29Speaker 2: when he died. I heard the way he called your name.
- 7:32Speaker 10: Dan, listen to me.
- 7:33Speaker 2: Before you became a singer, you were a dress designer.
- 7:36Speaker 10: Oh, what does that prove?
- 7:37Speaker 2: Well, it proves your troubles are over if you want
- 7:38Speaker 2: them to be.
- 7:39Speaker 10: The only way my troubles will be over is for
- 7:41Speaker 10: you to use a gun.
- 7:42Speaker 2: There's a way that doesn't hurt so much. The nerve
- 7:44Speaker 2: doc says there's nothing like starting your own business or
- 7:46Speaker 2: cracking a safe to get your mind off troubles.
- 7:50Speaker 10: What do you know about psychiatry?
- 7:51Speaker 2: Nothing. But I know plenty about cracking safes. And I
- 7:55Speaker 2: understand business is almost the same thing. Go into business.
- 7:59Speaker 10: I haven't got a dime.
- 8:02Speaker 2: I'll supply the coin. We'll be partners.
- 8:05Speaker 10: Yeah?
- 8:05Speaker 4: In what?
- 8:07Speaker 2: The dress business.
- 8:08Speaker 10: The dress business.
- 8:11Speaker 11: The boys would laugh you out of town.
- 8:13Speaker 2: Nobody laughs at Dan Varel. Well, come on. What do
- 8:16Speaker 2: you say? Partners?
- 8:17Speaker 10: I haven't designed a dress for years.
- 8:20Speaker 2: Oh, it'll come back to you? Once you're in business,
- 8:22Speaker 2: you're sure to make a lot of new friends. Get
- 8:24Speaker 2: a new slant on life. I'll tell you what I'll do.
- 8:26Speaker 2: I'll talk to the old gang into giving you a
- 8:27Speaker 2: break again. If things go on smooth, you'll be happy again.
- 8:30Speaker 10: You think so?
- 8:32Speaker 2: I looked at her a minute, and then I put
- 8:34Speaker 2: across the clitor. Lois, I'll bet even Tim Grady comes back.
- 8:41Speaker 2: I was always baffled by the effect a guy could
- 8:43Speaker 2: have on a dame. I watched Hope push some of
- 8:46Speaker 2: the unhappiness off her face. Mentioned the guy, and the
- 8:49Speaker 2: dame's heart changes places with her brain. She hesitated a second.
- 8:54Speaker 10: I'll give it a try.
- 8:56Speaker 2: Good. Now, do you think you can make it past
- 8:59Speaker 2: bridges and open manholes, or do you need protection?
- 9:02Speaker 10: I'm all right now. After all, we're partners.
- 9:12Speaker 2: I raised 20 grand, and Lois went all out spending it.
- 9:14Speaker 2: She threw herself into the job with all she had,
- 9:16Speaker 2: and she had plenty. She was going to open on
- 9:18Speaker 2: Madison Avenue. I spent a lot of time with Lois,
- 9:20Speaker 2: talk and dress shop. She took me to spots to, well,
- 9:23Speaker 2: you know, to check styles. Dog show, the art galleries,
- 9:25Speaker 2: the opera. She was beginning to show signs of wanting
- 9:27Speaker 2: to live again. A month after we became partners, she
- 9:30Speaker 2: told me.
- 9:30Speaker 10: We can open tomorrow, Dan, except that, well, I.
- 9:33Speaker 2: Let's have it, Lois.
- 9:34Speaker 12: The money's all run out, and Dan, we have to
- 9:36Speaker 12: advertise and get a sales force.
- 9:38Speaker 2: What'll it take?
- 9:39Speaker 10: Five thousand. Oh, three thousand.
- 9:42Speaker 2: I'll get it.
- 9:43Speaker 10: Oh, Dan.
- 9:46Speaker 2: She kissed me. I fought down the chill that sent
- 9:49Speaker 2: along my spine. I said, I want you to be happy, Lois.
- 9:58Speaker 2: I went over to the Emerald Club on 6th. 60th
- 10:00Speaker 2: to raise the money. I'd stayed away from the old
- 10:02Speaker 2: spots till now. Lou Henry, who owned the place, glad-handed
- 10:04Speaker 2: me when I walked in.
- 10:05Speaker 6: Hey, Dan Barrow. Where you been, boy?
- 10:08Speaker 2: All around and about.
- 10:09Speaker 4: Yeah, you're awful early, Dan.
- 10:10Speaker 9: Tables don't open till 10.
- 10:12Speaker 2: I need five grand, Lou.
- 10:13Speaker 6: Five grand?
- 10:15Speaker 9: Without even a hello to soften me up?
- 10:16Speaker 2: I need it, Lou. I figured you'd let me have it.
- 10:20Speaker 2: For past favors.
- 10:23Speaker 6: Oh, sure, Dan. Don't mean no more to me than
- 10:26Speaker 6: my right arm.
- 10:28Speaker 2: Thanks. Be seeing you.
- 10:30Speaker 9: Say, Dan, buddy of your brother's is out there at
- 10:32Speaker 9: the bar.
- 10:33Speaker 4: Shorty Thompson.
- 10:34Speaker 2: Oh, thanks again. I'd like to see Shorty.
- 10:38Speaker 8: Another one, bartender.
- 10:41Speaker 2: Hello, Shorty.
- 10:42Speaker 8: Oh, you, huh? Hey, you're in business, Dan. Something real imaginative.
- 10:49Speaker 2: Yeah, legitimate, too. Ladies' gowns.
- 10:52Speaker 8: Ain't that a riot?
- 10:56Speaker 2: Shorty was drunk. I don't like to talk to drunks.
- 10:59Speaker 2: I was going to leave when I saw who the
- 11:00Speaker 2: guy was on the other side of Shorty. It was
- 11:03Speaker 2: Lieutenant Len Bush. Shorty turned his back on me and
- 11:06Speaker 2: spoke to him.
- 11:06Speaker 13: This guy is Richie Farrell's brother, as though you didn't know.
- 11:09Speaker 13: A few years ago, the joke was on you, Lieutenant.
- 11:13Speaker 13: You put Dan away for sticking up a jewelry store.
- 11:16Speaker 13: You didn't really believe Dan Verrill would pull anything as
- 11:18Speaker 13: crude as that. It was Richie who'd done it. But
- 11:22Speaker 13: Big Brother here took the rap.
- 11:24Speaker 2: Shut up, Shorty.
- 11:25Speaker 8: Used to be sort of a gag with the boys.
- 11:27Speaker 13: If Richie got shot, Danny Boy would do the bleeding
- 11:30Speaker 13: for him. Everybody knew that Richie was one in a million.
- 11:35Speaker 13: Everybody knew that Danny Boy would die for the kid.
- 11:37Speaker 8: Yeah, I'm gonna let you in on a secret, Bush.
- 11:41Speaker 13: Danny Boy's partner is the dame who killed Richie Varo.
- 11:45Speaker 2: You're drunk, Shorty.
- 11:46Speaker 8: Get away from me, you rat.
- 11:50Speaker 2: I turned back to the bar and I kept my
- 11:51Speaker 2: temper in my pocket. If Shorty kept talking like that,
- 11:53Speaker 2: it wouldn't be healthy for him and I didn't want
- 11:55Speaker 2: to do anything to him. He was Richie's best friend.
- 11:58Speaker 2: Two more of Richie's friends walked in while I was
- 12:00Speaker 2: downing my drink. Gus Manning and Tommy Argo. I put
- 12:03Speaker 2: my glass down and I started to leave.
- 12:05Speaker 9: Just a minute, Dan.
- 12:07Speaker 2: What's on your mind?
- 12:07Speaker 6: The way I get the news, you and Lois are
- 12:09Speaker 6: teamed up.
- 12:11Speaker 2: Yeah?
- 12:11Speaker 6: That's all I want to know, you think?
- 12:13Speaker 2: Hey, hold it, Gus, hold it.
- 12:14Speaker 4: Maybe Dan's got it scrambled. Lieutenant, Lois Williams is a
- 12:17Speaker 4: dame who pinned the rap on Richie, ain't she? Any
- 12:19Speaker 4: newspaper morgue will give you the answer.
- 12:21Speaker 2: Look, I know she testified against him.
- 12:23Speaker 5: And you know she lied about your brother to save
- 12:24Speaker 5: Tim Grady.
- 12:25Speaker 2: I know.
- 12:26Speaker 3: Well?
- 12:28Speaker 2: All right. Lieutenant, the boys and I want to have
- 12:32Speaker 2: a little talk.
- 12:33Speaker 6: Okay, Dan, it's your funeral.
- 12:36Speaker 2: We all watched Len put on his hat and walk out.
- 12:39Speaker 2: I put my back up against the bar so none
- 12:40Speaker 2: of them could get behind me.
- 12:42Speaker 6: Well, what are we waiting for? Cut it out, you guys!
- 12:50Speaker 4: Cut it out!
- 12:52Speaker 9: Dan, you okay?
- 12:53Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 12:54Speaker 5: What happened?
- 12:55Speaker 2: Boys don't like me just now. They want to keep
- 12:58Speaker 2: me from making a girl happy.
- 12:59Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, the girl responsible for your brother's death.
- 13:02Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right.
- 13:17Speaker 3: Autolite is bringing you Mr. Burt Lancaster in The Long Wait,
- 13:21Speaker 3: tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
- 13:32Speaker 5: And now it's time for my Thanksgiving fairy tale. Last night,
- 13:35Speaker 5: my car called me out to the garage.
- 13:37Speaker 9: Harlow, I don't think... I think you ought to do
- 13:41Speaker 9: something about it.
- 13:42Speaker 4: Well, open your hood and say ah.
- 13:44Speaker 12: Ah.
- 13:45Speaker 5: Oh, your spark plugs need replacing. I'll buy you a
- 13:47Speaker 5: new set of Autolite resistor spark plugs with the exclusive
- 13:50Speaker 5: Autolite 10,000-ohm built-in resistor.
- 13:52Speaker 9: Gosh, Harlow, would you? That's better than turkey on Thanksgiving.
- 13:56Speaker 9: Just think how I'll run.
- 13:58Speaker 5: Yes, you'll start faster in cold temperatures with Autolite resistor
- 14:01Speaker 5: spark plugs. Give smoother idling and better performance on leaner
- 14:04Speaker 5: gas mixtures, which means you'll even save me gas. And
- 14:08Speaker 5: the neighbors will be thankful because they know Autolite resistor
- 14:11Speaker 5: spark plugs reduce spark plug interference with radio and television reception.
- 14:14Speaker 9: I know all that, so why wait?
- 14:17Speaker 5: Well, I hustled up a set of Autolite resistor spark
- 14:19Speaker 5: plugs and those eyes, I mean those Autolite bullseye headlights,
- 14:23Speaker 5: lit up with joy.
- 14:24Speaker 9: You're a good boss, Harlow.
- 14:27Speaker 5: Now, the moral is, if you want your car to
- 14:29Speaker 5: thank you for helping it run better, see your Autolite
- 14:31Speaker 5: spark plug dealer and have him replace old worn-out narrow-gap
- 14:35Speaker 5: spark plugs with a set of the sensational new wide-gap
- 14:38Speaker 5: Autolite resistor spark plugs. Remember, you're always right with Autolite.
- 14:44Speaker 3: And now, Autolite brings back to our Hollywood soundstage our
- 14:48Speaker 3: star Burt Lancaster with Betty Lou Gerson in The Long Wait,
- 14:52Speaker 3: a tale well-calculated to keep you in.
- 14:55Speaker 4: Suspense!
- 15:00Speaker 2: I sent the five grand to Lois so that she
- 15:02Speaker 2: could open the doors while I went after business. And
- 15:04Speaker 2: I knew where to get them. Nobody spends dough on
- 15:07Speaker 2: a dame like a hood when he's loaded. On Thursday,
- 15:09Speaker 2: the Third National Bank was held up. Friday morning, I
- 15:13Speaker 2: knocked on a door on 8th Avenue.
- 15:14Speaker 11: Who is it?
- 15:15Speaker 2: Me, Dan Farrell. Busy now, Dan.
- 15:19Speaker 4: Some other time?
- 15:22Speaker 2: Hello, Tony. Oh, hello, Glenda.
- 15:25Speaker 10: Hello.
- 15:26Speaker 4: What do you want, Dan?
- 15:27Speaker 2: You knocked over the third national. What is this, a hijack?
- 15:30Speaker 9: No.
- 15:31Speaker 2: Your dame looks like she needs a lot of clothes.
- 15:33Speaker 11: After last night, I figure I'm getting plenty of that.
- 15:36Speaker 2: What are you two talking about? I'm in the dress business, Tony.
- 15:39Speaker 2: Tell the other boys, too. I want all the dames
- 15:41Speaker 2: buying their clothes from Lois Williams. Sure.
- 15:45Speaker 4: What do I care where they buy them?
- 15:52Speaker 2: The next day, I ran into Numbers Johnson. He ran
- 15:54Speaker 2: the policy record on the east side.
- 15:56Speaker 6: I don't have a dame, Dan. You know that.
- 15:58Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. It's about time you gave your wife
- 16:00Speaker 2: a break.
- 16:01Speaker 6: If I buy her clothes now, she'll expect me to
- 16:03Speaker 6: every time I hit.
- 16:04Speaker 2: That's the idea. Do you see it my way, or
- 16:07Speaker 2: do I.
- 16:07Speaker 6: I don't figure it. You, in the dress business.
- 16:10Speaker 2: Well, if I keep having you in the dress business,
- 16:12Speaker 2: I'll stay out of the numbers business. Which way do
- 16:14Speaker 2: you want to play?
- 16:16Speaker 6: The doll will get some new duds.
- 16:23Speaker 2: Once the ball started rolling, it became a mountain. Lois
- 16:26Speaker 2: knew all the angles on female thrills. Her clientele was
- 16:29Speaker 2: strictly 10th Avenue, but she turned them out on a
- 16:30Speaker 2: long island, and they loved it. One dame tells another,
- 16:33Speaker 2: and in no time at all, the shop is jammed
- 16:35Speaker 2: with customers. It was a crime the way the dame
- 16:38Speaker 2: spent the dough the hoods go to to make so
- 16:39Speaker 2: much trouble to collect. Lois glowed like a firefly. She
- 16:43Speaker 2: was the complete businesswoman. She loved being surrounded with dolls
- 16:46Speaker 2: who bounced in and out with business of the shop,
- 16:48Speaker 2: business that must have madame's attention. I asked her during
- 16:51Speaker 2: a lull, You happy, Lois?
- 16:54Speaker 10: Yes, Dad. Almost completely.
- 16:57Speaker 11: I do miss the old gang, though.
- 16:59Speaker 10: Come in.
- 17:00Speaker 11: Pardon me, Miss Williams. There's a Mrs.
- 17:02Speaker 10: Verrill outside.
- 17:03Speaker 11: She wants to see Mr.
- 17:04Speaker 9: Verrill.
- 17:05Speaker 2: Mrs.
- 17:05Speaker 10: Ver... Oh.
- 17:08Speaker 2: Richie's wife, June. She was supposed to be in the
- 17:11Speaker 2: mountains with the kid. That's why I sent her money.
- 17:13Speaker 2: I didn't want her to know about this. She was
- 17:16Speaker 2: waiting for me on the street. She had a roll
- 17:18Speaker 2: of bills in her hand and she threw it at
- 17:19Speaker 2: my feet. The roll bounced against the storefront. I saw
- 17:23Speaker 2: the rubber band snap off it and the bills unwrapped
- 17:25Speaker 2: like a sigh of relief.
- 17:26Speaker 11: You think I'd take your money now?
- 17:28Speaker 2: Now? What do you mean?
- 17:29Speaker 10: You and Lois.
- 17:31Speaker 2: Okay, so it's tainted money, but you got a kid.
- 17:33Speaker 2: You need it.
- 17:34Speaker 11: You thought a lot of Richie, didn't you?
- 17:35Speaker 2: As much as you did.
- 17:37Speaker 11: Oh, no, much more. When Richie had pneumonia, I remember
- 17:40Speaker 11: how hard you took it. During the crisis, you wouldn't
- 17:42Speaker 11: eat or drink or talk. I remember thinking it If
- 17:46Speaker 11: Richie dies, Dan will.
- 17:48Speaker 10: Die, too.
- 17:49Speaker 2: Take the money for the kid.
- 17:50Speaker 10: You loved Richie.
- 17:52Speaker 11: And now you're sponsoring that woman with his blood.
- 17:54Speaker 6: June, wait!
- 17:56Speaker 11: I'll kill you both!
- 18:03Speaker 2: Nobody was going to keep me from doing what I wanted.
- 18:05Speaker 2: Not Lynn Bush following me around, or Shorty Thompson hating
- 18:08Speaker 2: my guts, or Richie's wife itching to kill me. I'd
- 18:11Speaker 2: given Lois back an urge to live. I swore I
- 18:13Speaker 2: was going to make her happy. and I was on
- 18:15Speaker 2: first base. She had a going business. Lois's old gang
- 18:22Speaker 2: hung out in the village, the bolo room. Richie, Lois,
- 18:25Speaker 2: and Tim Grady used to pal around with the musicians
- 18:27Speaker 2: who played the spot. They used to wait until closing time,
- 18:30Speaker 2: then huddle with the jive artists until morning. When Lois
- 18:32Speaker 2: and Tim double-crossed Richie, the other kids cut Lois out
- 18:35Speaker 2: of their hair, and Tim Grady left town. That night
- 18:39Speaker 2: I went down to the bolo room to get Lois's
- 18:41Speaker 2: friends back for her. I walked in just as the
- 18:47Speaker 2: last paying customers left. The kids were getting set for
- 18:50Speaker 2: a jam session when they spotted me. The place became
- 18:54Speaker 2: full of hush. They glared at me, hating me, for
- 18:57Speaker 2: not daring to open their mouths. I picked a menu
- 18:59Speaker 2: up off the table and I laid it on the bar.
- 19:01Speaker 2: I pulled a pencil out of my pocket. I said,
- 19:05Speaker 2: I'm giving a party for Lois Williams. You're all invited.
- 19:08Speaker 2: Saturday night, Gold Room, Coronet Hotel. Whitey Jones?
- 19:12Speaker 9: Yeah?
- 19:12Speaker 14: Yeah.
- 19:13Speaker 2: I'm putting you down, plus your dame and three guests.
- 19:17Speaker 4: Suppose I can't make it.
- 19:18Speaker 2: Then throw away your piano. You'll never play it with
- 19:21Speaker 2: broken hands. Phil Blass, you, your dame and three friends,
- 19:26Speaker 2: and your horn.
- 19:27Speaker 6: Well?
- 19:29Speaker 9: Okay, yeah, sure, Danny, sure.
- 19:30Speaker 2: Jerry Barton, Mel Folley.
- 19:32Speaker 15: What?
- 19:32Speaker 2: Joe Ward, Les Seltzer, your dames and three friends.
- 19:36Speaker 8: Okay.
- 19:38Speaker 2: And make sure that Lois knows that you're all tickled
- 19:39Speaker 2: to death to see her. I'll be checking you off
- 19:41Speaker 2: as you come in. I'll be seeing you. It was Friday,
- 19:54Speaker 2: the day before the party. Hello?
- 19:57Speaker 9: Hello, Dan.
- 19:58Speaker 6: Yeah?
- 19:59Speaker 9: This is Lou Henry, down at the Emerald Club.
- 20:00Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 20:01Speaker 9: Look, I don't want you to think I'm butting any
- 20:03Speaker 9: of your affairs, Dan, but we'll know how you feel
- 20:05Speaker 9: about Lois. Yeah?
- 20:06Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 20:07Speaker 9: Well, June, your brother's wife's been down here talking to
- 20:09Speaker 9: Shorty Thompson. So what? She talked Shorty into rubbing out Lois.
- 20:12Speaker 2: What?
- 20:12Speaker 9: He's on his way now. Remember who told you, Dan?
- 20:17Speaker 2: I dialed my body call on the fly. If Shorty
- 20:19Speaker 2: touched Lois now, being a buddy of Richie's wouldn't help him.
- 20:21Speaker 2: The same went for June.
- 20:24Speaker 9: Hello? Lois Williams dresses.
- 20:26Speaker 2: Give me Miss Williams.
- 20:27Speaker 9: I'll connect you with her office.
- 20:30Speaker 2: Come on, snap it up, snap it up.
- 20:31Speaker 9: I'm ringing, sir.
- 20:32Speaker 2: Come on, Lois, answer. Come on.
- 20:35Speaker 9: Miss Williams' office.
- 20:35Speaker 2: Put Lois on.
- 20:36Speaker 14: She's not in.
- 20:37Speaker 9: Who's calling me?
- 20:38Speaker 2: It's me, Dan Farrell. Where'd she go?
- 20:39Speaker 10: Mr.
- 20:39Speaker 5: Farrell?
- 20:40Speaker 9: You just called, Mr. Farrell.
- 20:42Speaker 2: What do you mean, I just called?
- 20:44Speaker 14: Well, someone called, said it was you, and spoke to
- 20:46Speaker 14: Miss Williams. I wonder why they'd do that.
- 20:48Speaker 2: Well, never mind that.
- 20:48Speaker 14: What did she, what did he say? Miss Williams always
- 20:51Speaker 14: goes to the Museum of Art at this time of
- 20:52Speaker 14: day to copy designs. She made an appointment to meet you.
- 20:56Speaker 14: I mean, the man who called at the museum.
- 20:58Speaker 9: She just left.
- 21:01Speaker 2: I didn't wait for the elevator. I took the stairs
- 21:02Speaker 2: three at a time going down. I came out on
- 21:04Speaker 2: the street. A cab was idling on the other side
- 21:06Speaker 2: of the avenue. I cut through the traffic to get
- 21:08Speaker 2: to it. I hopped into the cab, and for five bucks,
- 21:10Speaker 2: the hacky crashed lights all the way. I was at
- 21:12Speaker 2: the museum and nothing flat. The main thing of the
- 21:14Speaker 2: building was quiet as a wall. I cursed myself for
- 21:16Speaker 2: not asking what room Lois would be in.
- 21:19Speaker 6: Here, here, you can't run here.
- 21:21Speaker 2: Did you see a girl with drawing papers and crayons? Tall, beautiful, well-stacked?
- 21:24Speaker 2: I see hundreds of them. Well, where would she go
- 21:26Speaker 2: to draw designs?
- 21:27Speaker 9: The armor room, maybe.
- 21:28Speaker 6: The Egyptian room or the famous paintings. Second floor.
- 21:34Speaker 2: I had visions of her dead in some corner. I
- 21:35Speaker 2: thought of her all twisted in the heap. I hit
- 21:37Speaker 2: the Egyptian room on the run and I stopped short.
- 21:40Speaker 2: Lois was standing at the other end. She was behind
- 21:42Speaker 2: a mummy case. And on the other side of it
- 21:43Speaker 2: was Shorty. He had a knife in his hand. They
- 21:45Speaker 2: didn't see me. I sneaked up on them and I
- 21:47Speaker 2: watched Lois fighting to move her lips.
- 21:49Speaker 8: You ain't fit to live.
- 21:51Speaker 10: Please, Shorty.
- 21:53Speaker 5: Lois, run.
- 21:53Speaker 2: Run for me.
- 21:55Speaker 10: Dad.
- 21:55Speaker 6: I hate to do this, Shorty.
- 21:58Speaker 15: He came this way, Lieutenant.
- 22:01Speaker 11: Dad, he tried to kill me.
- 22:03Speaker 4: Tough to keep up with you, Dan.
- 22:04Speaker 2: Still with me, Lieutenant?
- 22:05Speaker 4: I always keep an eye on my friends. Who's this
- 22:08Speaker 4: laying here? Shorty Thompson.
- 22:11Speaker 2: You better take him in. He tried to kill Miss Williams.
- 22:13Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess it better.
- 22:15Speaker 2: Come on, Lois. By the way, Bush. You better pick
- 22:18Speaker 2: up June Barrel, too. She was in on it. In
- 22:21Speaker 2: case you don't know who she is, she's my sister-in-law.
- 22:32Speaker 2: With June and Shorty out of the way for a while,
- 22:33Speaker 2: nothing was going to upset things now. The party Saturday
- 22:36Speaker 2: night in the gold room was a big success. Every
- 22:38Speaker 2: time somebody tried to make a break for home, I
- 22:41Speaker 2: beat them to the exit and insisted they stay. The
- 22:43Speaker 2: place was full of smiles and heart-of-dudes, and only Lois
- 22:45Speaker 2: didn't know they were phoning. She was a dream in
- 22:48Speaker 2: a green, backless evening gown, held up by a deep
- 22:51Speaker 2: breath and an anxious look. She bubbled around, greeting people.
- 22:56Speaker 6: Lois?
- 22:57Speaker 1: Dan!
- 22:57Speaker 11: Where have you been hiding?
- 22:59Speaker 2: No place. Tell me, Lois, you happy?
- 23:01Speaker 4: Dan.
- 23:02Speaker 2: Just be happy. That's all I ask. Just be happy.
- 23:05Speaker 10: I'm doing my best, Dan.
- 23:07Speaker 2: Is there any guy here you like?
- 23:09Speaker 4: Anybody?
- 23:09Speaker 11: There's just one guy for me, Dan.
- 23:13Speaker 10: He's not here.
- 23:14Speaker 2: But he is. He's back in town. He's at the
- 23:17Speaker 2: Sphinx Hotel. Tim. Yeah. Lois, I think I'll drop over
- 23:22Speaker 2: and see him now.
- 23:22Speaker 10: Dan, you're not going to do anything?
- 23:24Speaker 2: Don't worry, Lois. I'm going to fix everything. She had
- 23:34Speaker 2: her job, her friends. Just one thing more. Just Tim
- 23:38Speaker 2: Grady to make the picture complete. The Sphinx Hotel was
- 23:41Speaker 2: over on 6th Avenue. I walked. I wanted time to
- 23:45Speaker 2: cool off. I wanted to do things right.
- 23:48Speaker 8: Yes?
- 23:49Speaker 10: Mr.
- 23:49Speaker 2: Grady's room?
- 23:50Speaker 14: One moment, please.
- 23:56Speaker 8: Hello?
- 23:57Speaker 2: This is Dan Barrow. Dan. Yeah, remember?
- 24:02Speaker 9: It's 3 a.m., Dan.
- 24:03Speaker 2: I won't take much of your time.
- 24:05Speaker 9: Won't tomorrow do?
- 24:06Speaker 2: I'm coming up now. I pushed open the door and
- 24:15Speaker 2: I went in. I was standing by the bed. He
- 24:18Speaker 2: was wearing a monogrammed black robe over some flashy yellow pajamas.
- 24:22Speaker 2: He glad-handed me.
- 24:22Speaker 4: Come in, Dan. Come on in.
- 24:25Speaker 9: Have a cigarette?
- 24:26Speaker 2: I took one and I watched him going through hard
- 24:28Speaker 2: times trying to light it for me. I let him
- 24:31Speaker 2: sweat for a while and then pulled out my lighter,
- 24:33Speaker 2: lit my cigarette and shoved the lighter under his face
- 24:34Speaker 2: so I could light his. He couldn't stand still. He
- 24:38Speaker 2: moved around the room like a... like a cat on
- 24:40Speaker 2: hot coals. He was a big, good-looking chap. Broad shoulders
- 24:43Speaker 2: with all the trimmings. Pearly hair, dimple on his chin.
- 24:46Speaker 15: I just got back out on the coast. That's the
- 24:48Speaker 15: place to be, Dan. You never saw anything like it. Boy,
- 24:51Speaker 15: the things that go on in L.A.
- 24:53Speaker 6: Someday.
- 24:54Speaker 2: Light someplace. Anything you say, Dan. Lois is a great dame.
- 25:00Speaker 15: She sure is, Dan.
- 25:01Speaker 6: She sure is.
- 25:02Speaker 4: Anybody says different should get slugged.
- 25:04Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 25:05Speaker 15: Listen, Dan, there never was anything between me and Lois.
- 25:07Speaker 15: Anybody says different's a no-good liar... We were just good friends.
- 25:10Speaker 15: We hardly ever even.
- 25:11Speaker 4: Relax.
- 25:13Speaker 15: Hey, you and Lois are partners?
- 25:15Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 25:16Speaker 15: She must be pretty near the happiest girl in town.
- 25:18Speaker 2: Pretty near. You know, when I first saw Lois a
- 25:21Speaker 2: few months ago, she was all set to kill herself.
- 25:23Speaker 15: Oh, wait a minute, Dan. I tell you.
- 25:24Speaker 2: Sit down, Tim. You make me nervous. Nobody's blaming you
- 25:28Speaker 2: for the way she felt. And Amara... Amara, I pull
- 25:32Speaker 2: out of the partnership. And Lois will be alone again.
- 25:35Speaker 2: I don't want her to be alone. It's not good
- 25:36Speaker 2: for her.
- 25:37Speaker 15: Anything I can do, you know.
- 25:39Speaker 2: She's in love with you. I'd like to see her
- 25:41Speaker 2: get married. A woman with... with $ 75, 000 business, well... She
- 25:48Speaker 2: needs someone to look after her interests. The mention of
- 25:52Speaker 2: the 75 grand, his eyes lit up like Broadway after dark.
- 25:55Speaker 2: Reading his mind was like looking through a dirty window
- 25:58Speaker 2: into a filthy room. It hurt to think a foul
- 26:00Speaker 2: ball like Tim Grady could make a girl do anything
- 26:02Speaker 2: for him. Well, damn it. It's about time she got
- 26:05Speaker 2: a proposal for marriage.
- 26:06Speaker 15: Yeah.
- 26:07Speaker 2: Yeah. Why don't you call her up, Tim?
- 26:11Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 26:12Speaker 15: Good idea, Dan.
- 26:12Speaker 2: I mean right now. Stuyvesant 1541.
- 26:17Speaker 6: Now?
- 26:18Speaker 2: Well, sure, sure.
- 26:19Speaker 6: If you think.
- 26:22Speaker 15: I won't know what to say. It's been so long.
- 26:26Speaker 2: Say you want to marry her.
- 26:28Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 26:29Speaker 15: Yeah, sure.
- 26:31Speaker 3: Lois?
- 26:32Speaker 6: Hello, baby.
- 26:34Speaker 4: Well, I see you knew the old voice.
- 26:40Speaker 2: I closed the door. I didn't know if I'd be
- 26:43Speaker 2: able to control myself, if I'd listen to any more.
- 26:46Speaker 2: I got to the dress shop at 10 o'clock the
- 26:48Speaker 2: next morning. Lois was floating around like a... like a
- 26:51Speaker 2: waft of loveliness. She touched the inkstand on her desk,
- 26:54Speaker 2: moved a chair, straightened a picture. Wasn't conscious of what
- 26:56Speaker 2: she was doing. She talked fast and happy about things
- 26:59Speaker 2: that didn't mean a thing. She flung open a window
- 27:01Speaker 2: and hugged the inrush of air. She spoke with her
- 27:04Speaker 2: back to me.
- 27:05Speaker 11: Oh, Dan, it's wonderful, it's wonderful, isn't life beautiful?
- 27:08Speaker 2: You're happy, huh, Lois?
- 27:09Speaker 11: Tim was waiting when I got here this morning.
- 27:11Speaker 10: He proposed.
- 27:12Speaker 11: He said you wanted it that way, too. I guess
- 27:15Speaker 11: I'm the happiest woman in the world.
- 27:17Speaker 2: Can I use your phone?
- 27:18Speaker 4: Sure.
- 27:19Speaker 6: Sure.
- 27:19Speaker 11: Call Paris, Bombay, Shanghai. Imagine, Tim.
- 27:25Speaker 9: Homicide, Lieutenant Bush.
- 27:27Speaker 2: Dan Verrill talking. I'm at Lois' shop. If you get
- 27:29Speaker 2: here in five minutes, it'll be about right.
- 27:31Speaker 11: Yes, Dan, I'm the happiest woman.
- 27:34Speaker 10: In the world, and I owe it all to you.
- 27:37Speaker 4: Oh.
- 27:39Speaker 2: She turned from the window and saw the gun in
- 27:40Speaker 2: my hand. Now you're worth killing!
- 28:00Speaker 3: Suspense, presented by Autolite. Tonight's star, Burt Lancaster, with Betty
- 28:05Speaker 3: Lou Gerson.
- 28:08Speaker 9: Thanks again, Harlow.
- 28:10Speaker 4: That's my car talking, folks.
- 28:12Speaker 9: I ran great today, didn't I? With those new Autolite
- 28:15Speaker 9: resistor spark plugs.
- 28:17Speaker 5: Like a charm. Friends, if you want your car to
- 28:20Speaker 5: run better, switch to Wide Gap Autolite resistor spark plugs.
- 28:23Speaker 5: The spark plugs that get you off to fast starts
- 28:26Speaker 5: in cold temperatures. Made by Autolite, they're one of more
- 28:28Speaker 5: than 400 products for cars, trucks, planes, and boats produced
- 28:32Speaker 5: in 28 Autolite plants coast to coast. These include complete
- 28:36Speaker 5: electrical systems used as original equipment on many makes of
- 28:39Speaker 5: America's finest cars. Spark plugs, batteries, generators, coils, distributors, starting motors,
- 28:44Speaker 5: bullseye sealed beam headlight units. All engineered to fit together perfectly,
- 28:49Speaker 5: work together perfectly, because they're a perfect team. Don't accept
- 28:53Speaker 5: electrical parts supposed to be as good. Ask for and
- 28:56Speaker 5: get Autolite original factory parts at your neighborhood service station,
- 29:00Speaker 5: car dealer, garage, or repair shop. Remember, you're always right
- 29:04Speaker 5: with Autolite. Next Thursday for Suspense, James Stewart will be
- 29:18Speaker 5: our star. The play is called Mission Completed, and it is,
- 29:22Speaker 5: as we say.
- 29:23Speaker 4: A.
- 29:24Speaker 3: Tale well calculated to keep you in.
- 29:27Speaker 4: Suspense!
- 29:32Speaker 5: Tonight's Suspense play was produced and edited by William Spear
- 29:37Speaker 5: and directed by Norman MacDonald. Music for Suspense... is composed
- 29:40Speaker 5: by Lucian Morawieck and conducted by Lud Bluskin. The Long
- 29:44Speaker 5: Wait is an original play by Fred Freeburger. Bird Lancaster
- 29:48Speaker 5: is the star of The Hawk and the Arrow, a
- 29:50Speaker 5: Norma F.R. production soon to be released by Warner Brothers.
- 29:54Speaker 5: In the coming weeks, you will hear such stars as
- 29:56Speaker 5: Mickey Rooney, Lana Turner, and Eddie Cantor. Don't forget, next Thursday,
- 29:59Speaker 5: same time, Autolite will present Suspense, starring James Stewart. Meanwhile,
- 30:05Speaker 5: see the very informative story about Suspense in the current
- 30:08Speaker 5: issue of Quick Magazine.
- 30:16Speaker 9: You can buy Autolite.
- 30:17Speaker 14: Resistor spark plugs, Autolite safe-full batteries, Autolite electrical parts at
- 30:21Speaker 14: your neighborhood Autolite dealers.
- 30:22Speaker 9: Switch to Autolite.
- 30:24Speaker 4: Good night. Freedom is everybody's job.
- 30:27Speaker 5: Take an active part in national, state, and community affairs
- 30:30Speaker 5: to protect your liberties. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
- 30:41Speaker 5: For now, we leave suspense and the long wait. Follow
- 30:45Speaker 5: suspense for more classic broadcasts.