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Transcript

Suspense - "The Thing in the Window" (Old Time Radio, 1946) · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joseph Cotton stars in a radio play by Lucille Fletcher,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: directed and produced by William Speer. On December 1st, 1946,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Suspense presented episode nine, The Thing in the Window. Cotton
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: plays actor Martin Ames, who sees what appears to be
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the silhouette of a dead man in a facing apartment window.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: When police find nothing there, Ames is left with a
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: sight no one else can confirm and turns to Vivian
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: and Elaine Landis for answers. Jerry Hausner, Kathy Lewis, and
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Jeanette Nolan are also heard in the cast. Here is
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the original broadcast.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, Roma wines taste better because only Roma selects from
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: the world's greatest wine reserves for your pleasure.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: And now... Roma Wines. R-O-M-A. Roma Wines presents... Suspense.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: Tonight, Roma Wines bring you Mr. Joseph Cotton in The
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: Thing in the Window. A suspense play produced, edited, and
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: directed for Roma Wines by William Spear.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Suspense.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Radio's outstanding theater of thrills is presented for your enjoyment
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: by Roma Wines.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Those better tasting California wines enjoyed by more Americans than
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: any other wine. For friendly entertaining, for delightful dining. Tonight
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: in our suspense theater, we bring you the premiere of
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: the newest suspense play written by Lucille Fletcher, the author
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: of such distinguished radio dramas as Sorry, Wrong Number and others.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: But before we ring up the curtain on tonight's play
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: and on the performance of our star, Joseph Cotton, let
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: me make a suggestion. Why battle last-minute Christmas crowds downtown
• 1:58
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• 2:00
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• 2:06
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• 2:10
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• 2:14
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• 2:19
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• 2:23
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• 2:28
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• 2:33
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• 2:37
  Speaker 2: and America's finest winemaking resources. This Christmas, for good giving,
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: for good living, offer all five Grand Estate California wines.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: When entertaining, serve medium sherry, ruby port, or golden muscatel.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: For gracious dining, burgundy or sautern. Say your Merry Christmas
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: smartly with Grand Estate wines. The crowning achievements of Vintner skill. Yes,
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: right now a glass full would be very pleasant, as
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Roma Wines bring you.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: Joseph Cotton as Martin Ames in The Thing in the Window.
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: A tale well calculated to keep you in.
• 3:17
  Speaker 5: Suspense!
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: Suspense! Mary? Yes, Mr.
• 3:34
  Speaker 6: Red?
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: Turn that vacuum cleaner off for a minute, will you?
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: And come over here. I want to show you something.
• 3:38
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 3:40
  Speaker 8: Right here, out this window. Now, look across the street. No,
• 3:43
  Speaker 8: directly across, the opposite apartment.
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: See that window?
• 3:45
  Speaker 8: About three windows in from the left, with a kind
• 3:48
  Speaker 8: of blue draperies?
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: Uh-huh.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: There's someone sitting there in a chair. He hasn't moved
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: all night. I think he must be dead. Dead? Dead.
• 3:56
  Speaker 7: Lord have mercy, Mr.
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: Ames. Take a good look at him and tell me
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: what you think, Mary. Okay, but I.
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: Don't favor looking at a corpse, Mr.
• 4:02
  Speaker 8: Ames.
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: It's unlucky.
• 4:04
  Speaker 7: Now, which window did you say?
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: Third one over.
• 4:07
  Speaker 7: Oh, I wish I had me glasses with me.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: Over there, right there, where my finger's pointing.
• 4:12
  Speaker 7: I'm afraid I don't see it yet, Mr. Ames.
• 4:14
  Speaker 8: Oh, look, the window with the blue draperies, he's wearing
• 4:17
  Speaker 8: a sort of a gray suit.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: The arm. Can't you see the arm hanging down over
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: the side of the chair? No, sir.
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: But you've got good eyes, Mr. Ames.
• 4:27
  Speaker 7: If you see it, I'm not arguing with you. What
• 4:30
  Speaker 7: are you going to do about it?
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 4:32
  Speaker 8: I began to notice it last night. I guess I
• 4:34
  Speaker 8: first have to be sure the man is really dead.
• 4:37
  Speaker 5: That's right, Mr.
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: Ames.
• 4:38
  Speaker 7: You don't want to get yourself into any trouble. Maybe
• 4:41
  Speaker 7: he's only sleeping, or maybe he's incapacitated. Maybe the poor
• 4:45
  Speaker 7: soul's a stricken invalid, huh?
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: Maybe.
• 4:48
  Speaker 8: Hmm? Yes?
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Martin Ames. Are you the superintendent of this
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: apartment house?
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: That's what it says on the door.
• 5:07
  Speaker 8: I've come to inquire about one of your tenants.
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: What is it you want to know?
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: I live across the street and... Well, I'll be frank
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: with you, sir.
• 5:15
  Speaker 8: I've been looking out of my window across to this
• 5:17
  Speaker 8: building now for two and a half days and... There
• 5:20
  Speaker 8: seems to be someone dead in one of the windows.
• 5:23
  Speaker 6: Eh?
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: Which window?
• 5:24
  Speaker 8: It's the tenth floor. I've counted up from the street,
• 5:26
  Speaker 8: and it's ten stories up. There's a window with blue
• 5:29
  Speaker 8: draperies about three windows in from the left, facing toward me,
• 5:32
  Speaker 8: that is. And there's a man sitting there, slumped down
• 5:35
  Speaker 8: in a chair.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Ah, just a minute.
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: I'll get out my chart. Tenth floor up from the street, eh? Well,
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: that's really the ninth floor. A lobby counts one. We
• 5:43
  Speaker 6: got two apartments there along the front of the house.
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: It's in the front, yeah?
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Ah, now.
• 5:49
  Speaker 6: Three windows in from the left, uh, that'd be 9B,
• 5:53
  Speaker 6: a four room. Uh, that couldn't be right. 9B is
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: two ladies. You say this is a man?
• 5:58
  Speaker 8: Yes, the face isn't clearly visible, the head slumped forward,
• 6:02
  Speaker 8: but he's wearing a gray suit and he's sitting in
• 6:04
  Speaker 8: a high wingback chair.
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: Uh, I don't place him.
• 6:07
  Speaker 8: Maybe he doesn't belong in the house. Maybe he was
• 6:09
  Speaker 8: visiting somebody. As I say, this is all conjecture, of course.
• 6:12
  Speaker 8: He may not be dead, but I've watched him a
• 6:14
  Speaker 8: good deal. Uh, I'm home a lot in the daytime
• 6:17
  Speaker 8: My profession, the stage, doesn't take up too much of
• 6:19
  Speaker 8: my time And it looks quite suspicious Okay, I'll check
• 6:23
  Speaker 8: on it Mind if I stick around?
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: Oh, no, no, sit down I'll give 9B a ring
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: first on the house phone.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: Hello?
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: Oh, Miss Landis?
• 6:37
  Speaker 7: Yes, this is Miss Landis Who is this?
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, this is Mr.
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: Anson, the super Everything all right up there, Miss Landis?
• 6:44
  Speaker 7: Everything all right? Oh, yes.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: Yes, of course.
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: Okay, Miss Landis. Thanks very much.
• 6:51
  Speaker 7: Thank you.
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: Well, that's that.
• 6:54
  Speaker 6: No soap on 9B. 9A is in the country. Well, anyway,
• 6:58
  Speaker 6: if I got the window straight, like you said, it ought.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: To be 9B. The two single ladies?
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: Yeah, only it couldn't be them. They're real old maids.
• 7:05
  Speaker 6: They've been living in the house for years. Real old-fashioned type,
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: you know. Say, if they knew you thought there was
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: a man in that apartment, oh, the two of them
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: would just about jump out of their skins.
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: Well, I.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: I don't know what to say. You're sure it must
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: be that apartment?
• 7:16
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, yeah, that's a place, all right, but you
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: probably just made a little mistake. You know how your
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: eyes can play tricks on you? After all, it is
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: a pretty wide street.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: I don't think I made any mistake.
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: Anson speaking.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: Oh, uh, hello, Mr. Anson, uh, This is Mr.
• 7:41
  Speaker 6: Ames.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Again?
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: It's not there.
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: But, Mr. Hanson.
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: I checked up on the two apartments this morning. 9A
• 7:46
  Speaker 6: is back from the country. Everybody's okay. And 9B is
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: out walking the dog. No dead bodies in the whole place.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: But I can see it. It's still there.
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: Okay, just where? Will you just tell me where?
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: In the same window. The one you said was 9B.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: Have you gone inside 9B?
• 8:01
  Speaker 5: No, no.
• 8:02
  Speaker 6: But I asked them if anybody was sick or dead,
• 8:04
  Speaker 6: and they said no.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: You asked them? Well, why don't you search that apartment?
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: What do you mean? Break in while they're out?
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: No, search it while they're there. Ring the bell, walk in,
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: and do it.
• 8:12
  Speaker 6: Yeah, not without a search warrant from the police. These apartments,
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: you know, don't belong to me. I just take care
• 8:17
  Speaker 6: of the building for the company.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Then let's call the police.
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: Oh, not me, mister.
• 8:20
  Speaker 6: I didn't see no dead body up there.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: But I will. After all, somebody's got to do something.
• 8:34
  Speaker 6: I still maintain, officer, these two sisters are as refined
• 8:37
  Speaker 6: ladies as you could find anywhere.
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: High class, nice, church-going ladies. They used to teach school
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: up here at P.S.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: 33.
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: That don't mean a thing.
• 8:45
  Speaker 8: As it happens, there's a play on Broadway right now
• 8:47
  Speaker 8: in which two nice old ladies commit murder after murder.
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: They got a dog in there.
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: Now, will you tell me one dog that would stay
• 8:53
  Speaker 6: for almost a week in a flat with a dead person?
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: I'm not telling you anything.
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: All I know, this gentleman, Mr. Ames here, reported a
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: stiff over here. And if he says there is one,
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: there is. Until it's proved different.
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: Right, Mr.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: Ames?
• 9:04
  Speaker 8: Well, I keep seeing the thing day in and day out.
• 9:07
  Speaker 8: I'm not working at the moment and being home so much.
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: None of the other neighbors have complained.
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: Dead bodies ain't exactly... It's right this way, please.
• 9:17
  Speaker 6: I hope they're home. If they ain't home, you got
• 9:19
  Speaker 6: a passkey, haven't you? Well, yeah, we're not supposed to
• 9:21
  Speaker 6: use it, though, unless for an emergency. This is an emergency.
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: Dog bite? Sometimes.
• 9:29
  Speaker 6: Yes?
• 9:32
  Speaker 7: Who is it?
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: I'm awfully sorry, Miss Landis, but there's been some kind
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: of mix-up. These two gentlemen want to look over your apartment.
• 9:39
  Speaker 7: But why? It's not for rent.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: Oh, I know.
• 9:42
  Speaker 5: It's just, well, they want to search around and check
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: up on... Come on, come on. Cut out the palaver.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: Hey, look, lady.
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: A dead body's been reported sitting in one of your windows.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: What?
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah. This guy lives across the street, and he's
• 9:54
  Speaker 5: been seeing it over here for a week.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: Oh, so come on. Now open.
• 9:57
  Speaker 7: Up.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: A dead body.
• 9:59
  Speaker 7: But that's impossible. My sister and I live here all alone.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know all about it.
• 10:03
  Speaker 7: Excuse me a minute. I'll call my sister.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: Oh, come on. It's the police!
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: Hey, look, lady, I'm not standing out here all day.
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: Come on, give me the Pazki, Hanson. It won't do
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: no good. They got a chain on the door from
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: the inside.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Open up, in the name of the law!
• 10:23
  Speaker 7: How do you do? I am Vivian Landis. May I
• 10:26
  Speaker 7: ask what this is all about, please?
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: Certainly, lady.
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: I got a search warrant here made out by this
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: gentleman to search your place.
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: He says you got a dead body in there.
• 10:33
  Speaker 7: A dead body? Why, that's perfectly ridiculous.
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: Yeah, isn't it? But it's been reported. Then kindly take
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: that door off the chain and let us through.
• 10:40
  Speaker 7: Of course. First, may I ask, how did this peeping
• 10:44
  Speaker 7: Tom see into our apartment?
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: I thought, Mr.
• 10:47
  Speaker 7: Anson, that we were quite private.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: Well, you see.
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: Look, he lives across the street on the same level.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: I just happen to be... Oh.
• 10:53
  Speaker 7: Well, then we shall have to keep our shades down
• 10:55
  Speaker 7: in the future. Although one would think a grown man
• 10:58
  Speaker 7: would have something better to do. Do come right in, gentlemen.
• 11:03
  Speaker 7: Make yourselves right at home.
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: Thanks.
• 11:06
  Speaker 7: He coming in here, too, Mr.
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: Busybody? No, he doesn't have to, if you don't want
• 11:10
  Speaker 5: him to.
• 11:10
  Speaker 7: Well, I most definitely don't.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: Okay, Mr.
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: Ames, you better stay outside.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Officer, I.
• 11:14
  Speaker 7: Oh, he does want to poke around in our private rooms,
• 11:17
  Speaker 7: is that it? Maybe he had some ulterior motive in
• 11:20
  Speaker 7: worming his way in. Maybe he's come to get the
• 11:22
  Speaker 7: lay of the land so he can break in someday
• 11:25
  Speaker 7: to rob us.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: Okay, okay, he's not coming in. Now, let's take a
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: look at your window, Eddie.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Okay.
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: Hey, hey.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, officer.
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: Now, what's the big idea?
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: You didn't find it? No. That's very strange. Yeah?
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: The only thing strange about it is your eyesight. You
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: want to get your glasses changed.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: There wasn't anything in 9B?
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: No.
• 11:55
  Speaker 8: I don't understand it. How could I have seen it
• 11:58
  Speaker 8: so distinctly and it not there? Perhaps it isn't in
• 12:01
  Speaker 8: the window now. Perhaps they hid it while we were
• 12:03
  Speaker 8: waiting outside the door.
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: Hid it?
• 12:05
  Speaker 6: Now, where do you hide a dead body in a
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: four-room flat? I looked in all the clothes closets, under
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: the sofas, in the chairs.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: Perhaps they got it out of the back, into the
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: service elevator.
• 12:12
  Speaker 7: Single-handed?
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: With all the garbage cans and laundry going up and down?
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: Perhaps they had accomplices. Perhaps... Oh, you probably think.
• 12:21
  Speaker 8: Oh, it's so terrible to keep seeing it and seeing
• 12:25
  Speaker 8: it and feeling it slowly decaying there in secret. Why,
• 12:29
  Speaker 8: the thing could be there for weeks. It's so high
• 12:31
  Speaker 8: above the streets. Perhaps it'll never be found, but perhaps
• 12:36
  Speaker 8: it's already being destroyed.
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: Well, then, if it's gone, what have you got to
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: worry about? You don't have to sit and look at
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: it no more.
• 12:41
  Speaker 8: No, I hope it is. I tell you, it's really
• 12:45
  Speaker 8: getting me down. I haven't slept for nights keeping vigil.
• 12:49
  Speaker 8: I'm in a nervous state. I haven't been this nervous
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: in years.
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I can see that.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: Well, look.
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: Why don't you try forgetting it for a while, huh?
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: Try not to look over into that window. Or go
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: away for a change. You've done what you could, Mr.
• 13:01
  Speaker 7: Ames.
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: If there is a stiff over there, well, that's my business,
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: ain't it?
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: And if there isn't... You mean, you think I'm... I
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: may be.
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: I'm not saying nothing, Mr.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: Ames.
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: But if I was you, I'd try catching up on
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: my night's sleep.
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: Miss Landis, I.
• 13:35
  Speaker 8: I'm sorry to disturb you at this time of night,
• 13:37
  Speaker 8: but I really... I'm desperate. I... I haven't anywhere else
• 13:40
  Speaker 8: to turn.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: What?
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: Who is it?
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: This is Mr. Ames, Martin Ames, your neighbor, the one
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: across the street.
• 13:45
  Speaker 8: I was in your apartment yesterday morning with the police, or.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: Rather, I was almost in your apartment. Your sister wouldn't
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: let me in.
• 13:51
  Speaker 8: Oh. Now, please don't think me a pest, Miss Landis. I...
• 13:54
  Speaker 8: I don't mean to annoy you. It was only because
• 13:55
  Speaker 8: I was... I was so desperate that... that I initiated
• 13:58
  Speaker 8: that search.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: It's quite all right.
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: Goodbye.
• 14:01
  Speaker 9: No, no, no.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: Please don't hang up, because... It's worse now than it
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: ever was.
• 14:05
  Speaker 8: Miss Landis, I've been sitting here opposite your apartment staring
• 14:09
  Speaker 8: into your windows and I.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: I'm only asking you to help me, Miss Landis. Help
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: me just a little. Help you? It's still there, Miss Landis.
• 14:19
  Speaker 7: What is still there?
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: The dead body in your window.
• 14:23
  Speaker 7: Oh, but there isn't... How dare you? When the police.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: I know, I know.
• 14:27
  Speaker 8: I know now it hasn't anything to do with you.
• 14:31
  Speaker 8: But would you do me just one favor, Miss Landis?
• 14:33
  Speaker 8: Would you go into your living room and just check
• 14:35
  Speaker 8: once more?
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: Oh, I won't.
• 14:38
  Speaker 7: I'll do nothing of the kind. You're out of your mind.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Oh, perhaps I am, Miss Landis. That's what I'm trying
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: to find out. Then perhaps your sister Vivian would help me.
• 14:48
  Speaker 7: She's not at home.
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: Oh, Lord.
• 14:51
  Speaker 7: And anyway, I don't see how you can see in.
• 14:55
  Speaker 7: I pulled the shades down in there yesterday morning.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: I know. They're all down still.
• 15:01
  Speaker 7: Well, then how can you see?
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: I can't.
• 15:03
  Speaker 8: At least not the actual body. It's just the silhouette.
• 15:07
  Speaker 8: I'm not maligning you or your sister, Miss Landis. If
• 15:09
  Speaker 8: there's someone dead in there, it's not you who are
• 15:12
  Speaker 8: doing it.
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: But think of me.
• 15:14
  Speaker 8: If you could just be here and look over there
• 15:17
  Speaker 8: and see the shadow of those quiet fingers, that shoulder,
• 15:23
  Speaker 8: that head.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: Oh, please. Stop it.
• 15:25
  Speaker 7: Stop it. It's not here.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: It isn't. Tell me just one thing, Miss Landis.
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: What?
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: There is a chair by that window, though, isn't there? Yes.
• 15:33
  Speaker 7: There's a chair.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: A high-backed wing chair. Mm-hmm. And have you anything on it?
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: Anything piled up? I mean, like curtains or cushions or
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: dressmaker's dummy? Of course not. Or do you have a
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: plant in the window in front of it? Some kind
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: of an odd table? Anything?
• 15:49
  Speaker 8: Anything that would cast a shadow like a man's head
• 15:52
  Speaker 8: slumped forward or an arm hanging limp?
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: No. No. There's nothing.
• 15:57
  Speaker 7: Nothing but the chair.
• 15:59
  Speaker 8: Then would you do me just one more favor, Miss Landis?
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: Please, please.
• 16:03
  Speaker 8: As an experiment, would you just go into the living
• 16:05
  Speaker 8: room and move that chair from the window, please? I.
• 16:10
  Speaker 7: If I do it, will you stop pestering us?
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 16:14
  Speaker 7: Will you let us alone forever?
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, if it works.
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: If it works?
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: What do you mean?
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: Do you mean.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: I can't tell, Miss Landis, until you move the chair.
• 16:24
  Speaker 6: Oh!
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 16:32
  Speaker 8: Hello.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 16:38
  Speaker 7: I moved it away from the window. It's at the
• 16:41
  Speaker 7: other end of the room. And there's nothing in it.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: It's empty. Oh, I see.
• 16:48
  Speaker 8: Well, thanks very much, Miss Landis. I know what I
• 16:52
  Speaker 8: have to do now. Yes, Miss Landis. It's still there.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Miss Landis.
• 17:17
  Speaker 7: Where is it? I want to see it at once.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: Oh, yes, Miss Landis. Come in. Come in. I hope
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: you'll excuse my appearance. I've just passed another sleepless night.
• 17:26
  Speaker 7: So has my sister. And so have I. What do
• 17:29
  Speaker 7: you mean by all this business, Mr. Ames? You have
• 17:32
  Speaker 7: frightened my poor sister nearly to death. I... Seeing things
• 17:34
  Speaker 7: that aren't there when you... You know that they're not.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: I know they're not. Oh. Oh, I wish there were.
• 17:42
  Speaker 8: I wish to heaven I'd never looked out that window.
• 17:44
  Speaker 8: I wish those walls were solid stone and your walls... Oh.
• 17:49
  Speaker 7: You are a sick man, Mr.
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: Ames.
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: Oh, am I?
• 17:53
  Speaker 8: I wish I were, but I'm perfectly sane and well.
• 17:56
  Speaker 8: I went to a psychiatrist yesterday, and guess what he
• 17:59
  Speaker 8: told me?
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: That there's nothing wrong with me, nothing.
• 18:02
  Speaker 7: I can't believe that.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: But to you, I suppose it's.
• 18:04
  Speaker 8: A form of madness to persist and persist in seeing
• 18:06
  Speaker 8: this hideous image.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: But not me, Miss Landis. No.
• 18:13
  Speaker 8: I've finally come to an entirely different conclusion.
• 18:16
  Speaker 7: And what is that?
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: The supernatural.
• 18:19
  Speaker 7: The supernatural? Yes. A ghost? What nonsense strange.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: Yes, I suppose it is nonsense to you. You've been
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: a schoolteacher.
• 18:26
  Speaker 8: You believe in logic and common sense, the things that
• 18:28
  Speaker 8: give a pretense of solidity to this frail little life
• 18:31
  Speaker 8: of ours.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: But I'm an artist.
• 18:35
  Speaker 8: I've always had a feeling for the thing beyond, the intangible,
• 18:39
  Speaker 8: the shadowy. We're children, Miss Landis. Children playing along the
• 18:44
  Speaker 8: edge of the ocean. We laugh and toy with the
• 18:47
  Speaker 8: waves and mock fright. But sometimes... Sometimes one of us
• 18:52
  Speaker 8: slips down into the darkness. Sometimes the depths rise and
• 18:58
  Speaker 8: we glimpse the yawning fangs of the Eternals.
• 19:03
  Speaker 7: You put things rather oddly, Mr.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: Ames.
• 19:06
  Speaker 7: Just exactly what do you mean?
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: Simply this.
• 19:09
  Speaker 8: I checked on that building with the real estate agents
• 19:11
  Speaker 8: yesterday afternoon after I'd left my psychiatrist.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: And there was a murder.
• 19:17
  Speaker 7: In our apartment?
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: Well, the report didn't say.
• 19:19
  Speaker 8: You know how they try to hush those things up at...
• 19:21
  Speaker 8: was a man, a young man, the lover of one
• 19:24
  Speaker 8: of the tenants, a Miss Sweetser.
• 19:27
  Speaker 7: Sweetser? That's the name of the people who lived there
• 19:31
  Speaker 7: before us. They were an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Sweetser.
• 19:36
  Speaker 7: I never saw any Miss Sweetser.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: She died.
• 19:38
  Speaker 8: She was the daughter. She killed herself afterwards by jumping
• 19:42
  Speaker 8: out one of the windows.
• 19:43
  Speaker 7: Oh, that's perfectly awful.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Rather a ghastly coincidence, isn't it?
• 19:50
  Speaker 7: Was it out our window?
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: Who knows?
• 19:53
  Speaker 8: She must have been a very neurotic person, though, this
• 19:56
  Speaker 8: Miss Sweets. Half-crazed almost with love or jealousy. I checked
• 20:01
  Speaker 8: on the details in an old newspaper. She cut his throat,
• 20:06
  Speaker 8: nearly decapitated him. It's said that when they lifted his
• 20:09
  Speaker 8: body out of the chair later, his head almost rolled.
• 20:13
  Speaker 7: Excuse me.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 20:15
  Speaker 7: Ames, I'd rather not hear. I still can't believe it.
• 20:19
  Speaker 7: If there is something, if there could possibly be something,
• 20:21
  Speaker 7: why haven't we seen it too?
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: Why should you be... Haven't you seen it, Miss Landis? No.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: You sure? Never? Perhaps in the middle of the night,
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: getting up and passing that room.
• 20:32
  Speaker 8: seeing that chair outlined against the window just in passing, perhaps?
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: You've never had a glimpse? No, no.
• 20:40
  Speaker 7: I really must be going.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: No, no, no. Please stay and look at it. I
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: want you to see it out of my window.
• 20:46
  Speaker 7: My sister Elaine, she's very nervous. I can't leave her
• 20:49
  Speaker 7: so long alone.
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: Then how will I know how? Miss Landis, I thought
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: you came here especially. It'll only take a minute. It's
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: right in here in the bedroom. I just have to
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: let up to Venetia's line. Oh, Miss Landis!
• 21:01
  Speaker 8: Don't go.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: It's... Splendid.
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: Hello.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: Oh, hello, Sergeant. This is Ames, Martin Ames.
• 21:18
  Speaker 8: I just called to let you know I think you're
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: right about that good night's sleep. Yes, I'm going away
• 21:25
  Speaker 8: tomorrow for a long rest, shutting.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: Up my apartment.
• 21:29
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: I'm all tied up in knots. I don't know what
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: to think. Oh, they did. Yes, I saw the moving
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: van in front of the house, but I didn't know
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: it was those sisters. Couldn't take it, eh? Well, I
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: can't take it much longer myself.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: Whoa, Marty.
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: Bravo, bravissimo, boy.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Shh, not so loud.
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: Why all the mystery?
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: The superintendent doesn't like me.
• 22:06
  Speaker 9: I should think he wouldn't like you grabbing this beautiful
• 22:09
  Speaker 9: apartment right from under his nose.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: He probably had it promised to a friend. But you've
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: got it now, Ronald, just as I said. Oh, so
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: I have, old boy, so I have. And it's beautiful.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: You're not crazy about it. Marty, you've outdone yourself.
• 22:22
  Speaker 9: You've been more than generous.
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: I'll take nothing of it, Ronald. I'm glad to do
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: it for... Such a distinguished colleague. Well, it certainly was
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: nice of you.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: And I wish I could do something in return, Marty.
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: I really do.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: Perhaps that play I'm doing next season.
• 22:35
  Speaker 9: You know, there's a part in it, a rather small part,
• 22:38
  Speaker 9: but very necessary.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: Thanks, just the same. But I'm doing pretty well just now, Ronald.
• 22:43
  Speaker 9: I don't know how you found him, Martin. In his
• 22:45
  Speaker 9: housing shortage. You know, why, even the superintendent is nervous
• 22:48
  Speaker 9: for rent. When your call came to my manager, I
• 22:51
  Speaker 9: left rehearsal. I wouldn't trust it, or anyone but myself.
• 22:53
  Speaker 9: I left the whole cast just standing there when I
• 22:56
  Speaker 9: came over. And when I asked this gloomy character, Anson,
• 23:00
  Speaker 9: he said he'd heard nothing about it.
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: I insisted, of course.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: I told him who I was. Finally, he called up.
• 23:05
  Speaker 9: Sure enough, it seems these two sisters who live here
• 23:07
  Speaker 9: just decided to move on.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: Really? I hope you didn't mention my name, though, if Anson.
• 23:12
  Speaker 8: You know, I'd tip you off.
• 23:14
  Speaker 6: Oh, no, no, no.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: You ask me not to. Anyway, I think my own
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: name is enough. Seriously, Marty, how did you know? Were
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: they friends of yours? Oh, no, no. It's a rather
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: long story. Here, let's sit down, shall we, in the
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: living room. Oh, no, no, no. You take the chair.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: I guess they must have left that when they moved out. Oh,
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: thank you.
• 23:33
  Speaker 8: Well, to be frank, Ronald, I got this apartment by
• 23:36
  Speaker 8: a ruse.
• 23:37
  Speaker 7: A ruse, Marty?
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: What kind of a ruse?
• 23:38
  Speaker 8: Oh, a pretty nasty one, I... I frightened the last
• 23:41
  Speaker 8: tenants away. I told them I saw a dead man
• 23:44
  Speaker 8: sitting here in this window.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: No, no, no, not really. How clever of you. Of
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: course there was one.
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: Oh, no.
• 23:51
  Speaker 8: You see, I live across the street, directly across, in
• 23:53
  Speaker 8: that apartment there with the striped curtains.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: Oh?
• 23:57
  Speaker 8: One night, just sitting there late, I got an amusing thought.
• 24:01
  Speaker 8: There was a kind of shadow across this chair, the
• 24:03
  Speaker 8: one that you're sitting in. It reminded me a little
• 24:06
  Speaker 8: bit of a corpse.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: And it came to me that.
• 24:09
  Speaker 8: It might be fun to create a great part, a character,
• 24:12
  Speaker 8: a corpse that wasn't there.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: I don't follow you. Why?
• 24:17
  Speaker 8: Some actors need a play, Ronald, to create a role. Others,
• 24:20
  Speaker 8: the great ones, work out their own dramas. I proceeded
• 24:23
  Speaker 8: to invent a part for myself. I was the eyewitness,
• 24:25
  Speaker 8: the innocent bystander across the street who saw a corpse
• 24:29
  Speaker 8: in here. And I kept seeing it and kept seeing it.
• 24:32
  Speaker 8: And finally, by the power of suggestion, it became real
• 24:35
  Speaker 8: enough to frighten them away.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Very clever.
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: Wasn't it rather drastic?
• 24:41
  Speaker 8: I'd always hoped we'd be neighbors, Ronald. As a matter
• 24:44
  Speaker 8: of fact, the whole idea for this thing came to
• 24:46
  Speaker 8: me that day in October... when you turned me down
• 24:49
  Speaker 8: for that park outside of Sardis, remember? You said you
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: were looking for a place then.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: Did I? Oh, yes. It was then I thought how
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: nice it would be to see you... right across the street,
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: sitting in this window... I simply had to bring it about.
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: Oh, I.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, Ronald. Don't get up yet. I'm
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: not through.
• 25:08
  Speaker 9: Really, old boy, I'm afraid the gang at the theater,
• 25:10
  Speaker 9: you know, they don't even know that I'm here.
• 25:11
  Speaker 8: They'll wait. People always wait for you, don't they, Ronald?
• 25:15
  Speaker 8: I could call them for you, of course, but the
• 25:17
  Speaker 8: phone's been disconnected.
• 25:18
  Speaker 9: Well, I'm afraid that I'm... Which way is the.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Door, old boy?
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: Now, really, Marty, it's been very time... What's the matter?
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Don't you like the apartment, Ronald?
• 25:25
  Speaker 8: Aren't you going to take it after all my work?
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: Oh, yes, yes, I like it very much, but... The
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: door's locked. Yes, Ronald. I'm afraid you'll have to find
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: your way out alone. There. That'll keep you.
• 25:49
  Speaker 8: Silence always became you better than all that ratting and
• 25:53
  Speaker 8: glibness and charm, Ronald.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: And now I've got the part for you.
• 25:59
  Speaker 8: A part to end all parts. You play it entirely
• 26:03
  Speaker 8: in a chair. There's not much action, not a line
• 26:06
  Speaker 8: to figure. Just sit, Ron.
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: Just sit in this chair by the window. It'll be
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: the greatest performance of your career. You like to hog
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: all the fattest roles for yourself, didn't you?
• 26:20
  Speaker 8: Well, this is a part that's been talked about up
• 26:22
  Speaker 8: and down the street for weeks. You'll play the part
• 26:26
  Speaker 8: of a ghost, a corpse that never was. A hallucination
• 26:31
  Speaker 8: in my brain. And who'll be your audience? I will. I,
• 26:36
  Speaker 8: the insignificant, outmoded ham... who wouldn't... wasn't fit to appear
• 26:40
  Speaker 8: in your precious plane.
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: But good enough to put you here, Ronald. Who's the
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: better actor now, Ronald? Goodbye, Ronald. See you across the street.
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: Suspense.
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: Presented by Roma Wines. R-O-M-A. Roma, America's favorite wine.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: And now this is Ken Niles with a curtain call
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: for the star of tonight's play, that perennial suspense favorite,
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: Joseph Cotman. Joe, tonight marks your seventh appearance on Suspense
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: in less than three years, making you our all-time champion guest.
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: No cotton shortage on Suspense, I guess.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: And no shortage of suspense when cotton's on hand, either.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: In appreciation of those seven stellar performances, here's a Christmas
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: present for you, Joe. Please accept this gift basket of
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: grand estate wines. from your host, Roma, America's greatest vendor.
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Ken.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: And you're an outstanding host this Christmas when you serve
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: these magnificent Grand Estate wines. For Grand Estate wines reflect
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: the host's desire to offer only the finest. Grand Estate
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: wines delight the most discriminating guests, whatever the occasion.
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: I'll remember that, Ken.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: And don't forget, Grand Estate wines make ideal gifts, friendly,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: thoughtful gifts, in perfect taste. Yes, for gift or guests,
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: America offers no finer wines than distinguished Grand Estate wines.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: For the holidays, keep on hand all five Grand Estate
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: California wines. When entertaining, serve medium sherry, ruby port, or
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: golden muscatel. For gracious dining, burgundy or sauternes. Each limited
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: bottling of Grand Estate wine, carefully selected by Roma, is
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: a wine outstanding in rare taste pleasures. So this Christmas,
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: give or serve the finest. Grand Estate Wines, the crowning
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: achievement of Vintner skill.
• 29:02
  Speaker 8: Well put, Ken, but I must know one more thing.
• 29:05
  Speaker 8: What about next Thursday's show?
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: Well, it's a double threat show with the honors going
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: to two distinguished ladies.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: It's called Philomel Cockney.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: The author is England's number one feminine mistress of the
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: art of suspense, Agatha Christie. And our star will be
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: the most provocative European leading lady to visit our shores
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: in many a moon, Miss Lily Palmer.
• 29:26
  Speaker 8: Well, I've never missed a suspense show yet, and certainly
• 29:29
  Speaker 8: next week sounds even more intriguing than usual.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: Good night.
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: Good night, Joe.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: We're all looking forward to seeing you and David O.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: Selznick's production, Duel.
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: In the Sun.
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Miss.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: Lily Palmer as star of Suspense.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: Produced and directed by William Speer for the Roma Wine
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: Company of Fresno, California.
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: Stay tuned for the thrilling.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: Adventures of the FBI in Peace and War, following immediately
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: over most of these stations. This is CBS, the Columbia
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: Broadcasting System.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: Our presentation of Suspense, The Thing in the Window, has
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: come to an end. Follow Suspense for more classic broadcasts.