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Escape - "Border Town" (Old Time Radio, 1949) · The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Jack Webb stars in a CBS escape drama written by
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: John and Gwen Bagney and produced and directed by William N.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Robson.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: He plays an actor traveling by bus toward Hollywood who
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: discovers $ 15, 000 in counterfeit money planted in his coat. Trying
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to rid himself of it sends him across the Mexican
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: border where a simple errand becomes a criminal adventure. William
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Conrad and Jeanette Nolan are heard with Webb in the cast.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: First heard on December 13th, 1949, this is Escape, Bordertown,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: episode 89. And now we return to the original broadcast.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: Tired of the everyday routine?
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: get away from it all?
• 0:54
  Speaker 5: We offer you.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Escape!
• 1:01
  Speaker 6: Escape!
• 1:02
  Speaker 5: Designed to free you from the four walls of today
• 1:05
  Speaker 5: for a half hour of high adventure.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Escape! It all started on the bus just outside of Dallas.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: The sailor who had snored beside me since Memphis got
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: off and the big fat guy got on. He overflowed
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: into my half of the seat, and for sound effect,
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: he ate one apple after another. He must have bought
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: them by the sack. Hey, fella, do you mind?
• 1:28
  Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: My top coat?
• 1:31
  Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: I'd like to have it pressed, but I prefer a
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: tailor to do it.
• 1:34
  Speaker 9: Mm-hmm.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. I pulled the coat out from under him. He'd
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: smashed my carton of cigarettes almost flat. From then on,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: I held the coat in my lap. In my mind,
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: he was symbolic of everything connected with this trip and
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: with my life. Second rate, middle class, mediocre. I was
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: on my way to Hollywood. Yeah, I'm an actor. Under
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: personal contract to Henry Slafta, big director. Oh, it sounds impressive,
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: but it isn't. It's one of those insignificant stock contracts
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: with short options and shorter dough. I should have turned
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: it down, but I was flat broke, on my heels.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: That's why, when I found the money, I did what
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: I did.
• 2:16
  Speaker 10: Okay, folks, we're stopping here for 15 minutes.
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: Another stop, a chance to stretch. Well, I had a
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: cup of coffee and a spud nut in the depot,
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: and I was starting back to the bus when I
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: saw him, my apple-chewing friend. Two men with cop written
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: all over them were leading him out of the bus.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: It was a pinch. I wondered why they'd picked him up.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: I really didn't care why they took him as long
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: as he didn't come back. Now I had the seat
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: to myself. But he'd done me a final courtesy. He'd
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: knocked my top coat onto the floor and walked on it.
• 2:49
  Speaker 9: Okay, everybody on. Let's go.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: From then on into El Paso, he was the topic
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: of conversation. look like a criminal to me.
• 2:59
  Speaker 11: My dear, didn't you hear what the bus driver said?
• 3:02
  Speaker 11: The man's a counterfeiter, one of the smartest ones in
• 3:04
  Speaker 11: the country. The police have been after him for ages.
• 3:07
  Speaker 9: A counterfeiter? How exciting!
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: I must get off at El Paso and send a
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: postcard back to Madge.
• 3:11
  Speaker 11: Won't she be thrilled for me?
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: Counterfeiter? Well, that's the last thing I would have paid
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: him for.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: El Paso.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: El Paso. And Hollywood's still 24 long hours away. Well,
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: economy or no economy, I wasn't going to go on.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: I was dead tired, saddle sore from three days and
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: nights on that bus. So I switched my ticket to
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: the following day and I hunted up a cheap hotel.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: The bellhop there was full of helpful ideas on how
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: I could spend the evening.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Well, how about Juarez, mister?
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Juarez, yeah.
• 3:54
  Speaker 7: Yeah, old Mexico, just across the International Bridge.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'd forgotten that this is a border town. No,
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: no thanks. I just want to get some sleep.
• 4:03
  Speaker 7: Sure, mister.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: It's up to you.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: I tipped the kid and stretched out on the bed.
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: I dug in my pocket for a cigarette, but I
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: was out, so I reached into my top coat for
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: the carton. That's when I found it. A package of money.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: A lot of money. All in fifties and hundreds. Nice, clean,
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: fresh bills. I counted them fast. Fifteen thousand dollars worth.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: So that's why I found my coat on the floor
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: of the bus. Fatso had stashed his homemade money in
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: my pocket.
• 4:34
  Speaker 7: Why, the lousy.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: I'd fix his wagon, planning it on me. Operator, give
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: me the FB.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: Uh, no.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: No, never mind. Wait a minute. Why should I? If
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: I turned it in, I might get involved and I
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: couldn't afford to. When I got to Hollywood, I... Hollywood. Hollywood. Boy,
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: what an entrance I could make into that town if
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: all this dough were only real. I could just picture
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: the look on Henry Slapp's face if I flew into
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: Hollywood with a new wardrobe, stopped at the Ambassador, took
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: a suite, made a big splash. Yeah, if only the
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: dough were real. Well, I couldn't sleep now. I was
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: too stirred up, so I took a shower and changed
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: my clothes and went out. I didn't have anything particular
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: in mind, but since the hotel was near the International Bridge,
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: I went over into Juarez. And I wasn't quite sure
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: why I did it, but in my pocket was one
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: of the $ 50 bills. I went up and down the
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: cheap main drag, sampling tequila and brushing off vendors of
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: hirachis and leather dolls, just like the rest of the tourists.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: But all the time, that $ 50 bill was burning a
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: hole in my pocket. I was in a small bar,
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: a crummy place called El Serapi, that I finally took
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: a chance. I'd had a couple of tequila daisies, and
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: each time I'd given the waiter a half a buck.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: This time, I handed him the $ 50 bill. I held
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: my breath. Suddenly, I knew I'd been a fool. He
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: didn't put it in the cash register as he had
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: the other money. Instead, he went down to the end
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: of the bar and handed it to a man sitting there,
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: obviously an American. He took it, looked at it, and
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: then had the waiter point me out. I got up
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: out of the booth and started for the street, but
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: the American caught me at the door.
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: I'm Chuck Rice. I'm the manager.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Hiya.
• 6:30
  Speaker 7: You give this $ 50 bill to the waiter?
• 6:32
  Speaker 12: Oh.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot to wait for my change, huh?
• 6:36
  Speaker 7: You don't want to go around forgetting money like this.
• 6:40
  Speaker 7: Just visiting?
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Tourist.
• 6:43
  Speaker 7: You know you're taking a big chance. You're setting yourself up.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: Like a pigeon. What are you talking about? What do
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: you mean?
• 6:49
  Speaker 7: Don't get excited, amigo. This is border town.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: That's all.
• 6:54
  Speaker 10: The wrong people might get the idea that you're carrying
• 6:57
  Speaker 10: more bills like this.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I'm not.
• 6:59
  Speaker 7: Yeah, sure, sure.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: But if you were, I.
• 7:03
  Speaker 10: I could put you in touch with most anything. Maybe
• 7:06
  Speaker 10: a little gambling. We could fix you up with a
• 7:08
  Speaker 10: little game. Anything you want to buy, I can get
• 7:11
  Speaker 10: it for you.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: No, I don't want to buy anything. But suppose I
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: wanted to sell something.
• 7:17
  Speaker 7: Sell? That's a little tough. I'd have to see a sample.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: You got it, mister, right there in your hand. I
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: was taking a crazy chance, but I've kicked around Broadway
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: long enough to know a contact man when I run
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: into one, and Chuck Rice was definitely shady. He stood
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: there scowling, turning the bill over and over in his hand.
• 7:36
  Speaker 7: Oh, so that's why you wanted to walk out on
• 7:37
  Speaker 7: your change, huh? Thought I had it spotted. You, uh,
• 7:42
  Speaker 7: you got more like this?
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: On you?
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: No, I'm not that much of a pigeon.
• 7:48
  Speaker 7: How much more?
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Enough. You want to dump it? Maybe, with the right
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: kind of a deal.
• 7:54
  Speaker 7: Uh-uh. Here's your 50 back. I don't know for nothing
• 7:59
  Speaker 7: about this kind of commodity.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: Well, I didn't pay for the drink.
• 8:02
  Speaker 7: It's all right, son of the house. Your money's no
• 8:05
  Speaker 7: good here.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: I took the 50 and put it in my pocket.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: I shrugged and hoped my indifference went over. I was
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: almost to the street when he called after me.
• 8:13
  Speaker 7: Hey, amigo. Huh? I, uh, just wondering. How much you got?
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 8:21
  Speaker 7: Well, if you got enough, maybe Nieves would be interested.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: Nieves? Who's Nieves?
• 8:27
  Speaker 10: Down here, we don't ask questions like that. You go
• 8:30
  Speaker 10: to the cab stand on the corner.
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: Ask for Miguel. Tell him you want to see Nieves.
• 8:35
  Speaker 7: Tell him Chuck Rice sent you.
• 8:36
  Speaker 10: Only this time, amigo, if you want to do business,
• 8:40
  Speaker 10: you better have the dough on you.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: Miguel. Hey, I'm talking to you.
• 8:56
  Speaker 9: What's the idea?
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: You keep going around in circles.
• 8:58
  Speaker 9: Can't sabi, senor.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: Can't sabi my foot. I want to go to Nieves.
• 9:02
  Speaker 7: Si, senor.
• 9:03
  Speaker 9: Si, Nieves.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: Well, let's get going. Never mind the sightseeing. Miguel was
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: driving down dark back alleys and dirt roads. I couldn't
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: tell which direction we were going, and I'm sure that
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: was the idea. But we were getting further and further
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: out of town. I was beginning to wish I didn't
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: have the money on me. I hadn't gone back to
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: the hotel for it when Miguel suddenly pulled off the
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: road into a ruddy gopher hole courtyard of a broken-down hacienda.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: It was littered with debris. I stumbled over a pig.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: His squeals woke a bunch of chickens roosting on a fence.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Then I saw her. She was lying in a canvas hammock,
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: one bare foot hanging over the side, deep in the
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: enjoyment of an oversized cigarette. She seemed to sleep except
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: for the rhythmic puffs of smoke. She never opened her
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: eyes all the time I was there, Nervous? Chuck Rice
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: sent me. He thought we might be able to work
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: out a deal. I got some money. I want to
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: sell it. Chuck Rice said that you might handle it.
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: You hear me?
• 10:14
  Speaker 11: Yeah.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: I got $ 15, 000 American in 50s and 100s. On what
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: you want. Well, what'll you give me?
• 10:24
  Speaker 11: How much?
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: Well, I figure 5,000 would be fair.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: No touch.
• 10:30
  Speaker 8: What?
• 10:32
  Speaker 11: If that's all you want, I no touch.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 10:36
  Speaker 11: Too hot.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: Well, if you think it's worth more.
• 10:39
  Speaker 12: No touch.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: Okay, no touch. Come on, Miguel.
• 10:42
  Speaker 9: Si, senor. Senor?
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 10:45
  Speaker 8: O2.
• 10:47
  Speaker 12: What was that? O'Toole, maybe he buy.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: O'Toole? Where's O'Toole?
• 10:56
  Speaker 9: Miguel, no.
• 10:57
  Speaker 7: Si, senor, come, I will take you.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: Well, your English is improving, Miguel. Maybe your sense of
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: direction will improve, too. And it did. As the crow flies,
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: so did we, straight to O'Toole's dine and dance. A
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: gaudy tourist trap hypoed on the outside with neon signs
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: advertising the best food and music in Juarez. While inside,
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: five Latin beboppers were making hash out of Embraceable You.
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: Miguel okayed me to a squint-eyed character who reluctantly led
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: me down a hall, up a steep flight of stairs.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: We stopped in front of a door.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Come in.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: Behind a huge red lacquered desk sat a handsome Chinese
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: in a dinner jacket smoking a long black cigar.
• 11:50
  Speaker 12: Ah, good evening. What can I do for you?
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: A drink, perhaps? No, no thanks. I came to see O'Toole.
• 11:59
  Speaker 9: Yes?
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: I am O'Toole. You? O'Toole?
• 12:04
  Speaker 12: It's one of those tricks of nature. I wear my
• 12:07
  Speaker 12: mother's face and my father's name.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: Oh, well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything.
• 12:12
  Speaker 12: Don't think nothing of it, Mr.
• 12:15
  Speaker 12: Smith?
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Smith.
• 12:18
  Speaker 12: Now, you have something you wish to sell?
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 12:22
  Speaker 12: May I see the money?
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Money? How did you know?
• 12:26
  Speaker 12: Fifteen thousand dollar, as I understand it. How much do
• 12:29
  Speaker 12: you want for it?
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Six thousand.
• 12:33
  Speaker 12: You told Nieves.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: Five. Nieves?
• 12:37
  Speaker 12: Oh, you're surprised I know about that, huh? Chuck Rice
• 12:41
  Speaker 12: always sends them out to the country to see Nieves
• 12:44
  Speaker 12: before they come to me. Now, let me see the money.
• 12:49
  Speaker 12: All of it.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: Sure. Here. Look, I'll take the five.
• 13:00
  Speaker 12: I'll give you.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: Oh, now, wait a minute. There's 15,000 there. You won't
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: have any trouble passing it in Mexico.
• 13:05
  Speaker 12: I know that. I also know that when this kind
• 13:08
  Speaker 12: of money turns up in this part of the world...
• 13:11
  Speaker 12: It means only one thing. I am your last resort. Well, Mr.
• 13:18
  Speaker 9: Smith?
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Give me the $ 4, 000. He went to the safe,
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: got the money, and paid me. I got out of
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: his office. Well, maybe I should have held out for more,
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: but he gave me the creeps. Besides, any way you
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: look at it, $ 4, 000 is a lot of money. I
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: could knock Henry Slapp's eyes out with less than that.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: downstairs in the club the floor show was on when
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: a Daggio team was going through its calisthenics. I was
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: just passing the bar when she bumped into me.
• 13:50
  Speaker 11: Hello, Charlie.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: No, I'm not Charlie.
• 13:52
  Speaker 11: Oh, sure you're Charlie. You gotta be Charlie.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Go on, beat it.
• 13:55
  Speaker 11: Oh, come on. Don't be a sucker. We're being watched.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: So what am I supposed to do?
• 14:01
  Speaker 11: Be smart. Buy me a drink.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: Look, I told you, I'm not interested.
• 14:04
  Speaker 11: Interested in getting out of here alive?
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: What kind of a crack is that?
• 14:09
  Speaker 8: You see Squint Eyes over there by the entrance?
• 14:11
  Speaker 11: Well, he's not the doorman.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Come on, look. What's this all about?
• 14:15
  Speaker 8: O2.
• 14:17
  Speaker 11: He wants back whatever it is he gave you.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: I'll buy you that drink. Come on.
• 14:21
  Speaker 11: Make it scotch.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Bartender, two scotch and sodas. All right. Now tell
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: me why you're interested.
• 14:31
  Speaker 11: I'm supposed to knock you out.
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: Your what?
• 14:33
  Speaker 8: Those two drinks you just ordered. Yours will be loaded.
• 14:36
  Speaker 8: And not with Romo Quinone to cure your cold. Ever
• 14:41
  Speaker 8: hear of knockout drops, tourist?
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sure, but I don't get it. What are you
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: telling me for?
• 14:45
  Speaker 8: I don't know.
• 14:48
  Speaker 11: Maybe because you're from my side of the border.
• 14:51
  Speaker 8: Maybe because you don't look like the kind of scum
• 14:53
  Speaker 8: that usually comes in this joint.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: So my drink's going to be loaded. And Squint Eyes
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: is over to the front door to make sure I
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: don't get away. I don't have much choice, do I?
• 15:03
  Speaker 11: Yeah, you do. I'm going to help you.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: Help me.
• 15:07
  Speaker 8: After the drink hits you, I'm supposed to get you
• 15:08
  Speaker 8: out the back door into the alley.
• 15:10
  Speaker 11: And then roll you.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: Well, now, that'll be a big help.
• 15:12
  Speaker 11: But I'm not going to. Quiet. Here come the drinks.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: All right, what do I do now?
• 15:22
  Speaker 11: When I reach around you for the ashtray, they won't
• 15:24
  Speaker 11: be able to see you. Switch the drinks. You drink mine.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but how about you?
• 15:28
  Speaker 11: They don't expect me to drink it.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but you.
• 15:30
  Speaker 11: Now, switch them. Get it down.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Drink it.
• 15:32
  Speaker 8: In a minute, pretend you're dizzy. I'll help you get
• 15:34
  Speaker 8: to the alley. And when you get there, you better run, brother,
• 15:38
  Speaker 8: and run fast.
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: Squid Eyes had left the door and was coming toward
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: the bar, so I did what she told me. After
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: I'd gulped the drink down, I sat on the stool
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: a couple of minutes, and I pretended to get dizzy.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: She helped me off the stool, put my arm around
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: her shoulder. We were almost to the door, almost to
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: the alley. It was just perfect, except for one thing.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: I was dizzy. My stomach turned over and over, and
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: I passed out cold.
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: In just a moment, we will continue with Escape. But first,
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: a lot's been said about the Sunday night entertainment on CBS,
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: and rightly so. But take a look down the CBS
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: listings during the entire week, and you'll find there's no
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: let-up in the parade of all-star shows. Tomorrow, Wednesday night,
• 16:31
  Speaker 5: and every Wednesday night, Bing Crosby, Groucho Marx, Burns and Allen,
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: and Gene Hirshholt as the beloved Dr. Christian are heard
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: on most of these same CBS stations. Dick Hames and
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: the Andrews sisters, Jack Smith and Dinah Shore, are also
• 16:46
  Speaker 5: on hand in their early evening quarter hour programs. Make
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: a habit of listening to CBS all through the week.
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: And now we return you to the second act of Escape.
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: The smells were the same. Beer, tequila, stale black tobacco.
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: But the sound had changed. There'd been music before. My
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: stomach burned and my head throbbed. Somebody was lying across me.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: I raised up, tried to focus my eyes, but I couldn't. Gradually,
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: I placed the sound. It was some kind of a car.
• 17:29
  Speaker 10: Bus?
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: No, a truck. I was lying on the floor in
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: the back of a truck and there was a man
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: lying across me. From the stench of him, he must
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: have been drunk for a week. But from the inert
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: way he lay, he could have been dead. I pushed
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: him off and shook him.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Hey, hey.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: Where are we going?
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: What is this?
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: Hey, hey, come on, wake up, will you? Listen to me.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: Then I suddenly remembered the money. The $ 4, 000. It was gone.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: I was clean broke. I'd been rolled all right and
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: by a dame who even told me before she did it.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Then I saw the rest of them. The truck was
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: a big van and it was loaded, packed with the
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: dregs of Bordertown, a sodden human cargo. All of them filthy, bleary-eyed.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: But one of them looked awake and reasonably sober. Hey, you,
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: you over there. You speak English? Si, senor. What happened?
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: What are we doing here?
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: We are full drunk, senor. It's no good to fall drunk.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: You go to Hensler's.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: Henslers?
• 18:39
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: What are you talking about?
• 18:40
  Speaker 9: Oh, caray.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: No es bueno.
• 18:44
  Speaker 7: I have been there before.
• 18:46
  Speaker 10: I should know not to fall drunk.
• 18:48
  Speaker 7: Oh, one whole month I.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Have been there.
• 18:51
  Speaker 7: Ese lugar es muy feo.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: You've been where before? Where are they taking us? Tell me.
• 18:55
  Speaker 7: To Henslers. Oh, he's a very bad man.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: Henslers? Well, who's Hensler?
• 19:01
  Speaker 7: Oh, you're going to see, senor.
• 19:04
  Speaker 9: You will see.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: That's all I could get out of them. We were
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: going to Hensler's and it wouldn't be good. And it
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: sounded like I was about to find out.
• 19:15
  Speaker 9: All right, you guys.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: Come on.
• 19:17
  Speaker 9: The party's over.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Hey, Miller. Move these crips along. You guys don't look
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: like no bunch of daisies, but we'll make you bloom,
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: won't we, Miller?
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: He was a brute of a man, and he carried a.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: 45 and a holster. He and the driver, Miller, herded
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: us out of the truck like so many cattle. It
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: was some sort of a road gang. I saw a
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: sign blocking the road that read, Under Construction, Hensler Construction Company. Well,
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: I had no idea where we were. how far away
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: from the border. The landscape was dry, dusty, barren.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: Well, Gonzales, you with us again? Didn't we learn you
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: not to get drunk, huh?
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Come on, you guys, step on it. All right, quit shoving.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Come on, come. Now, what are you doing here?
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what I'd like to know.
• 20:06
  Speaker 12: Miller!
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: How many times I got to tell you to be
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: careful who you pick up?
• 20:10
  Speaker 9: Now, wait a minute, Jake.
• 20:11
  Speaker 12: Don't get sore before I tell you.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Don't you know we can get in plenty of trouble
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: picking up the wrong guys?
• 20:15
  Speaker 12: I didn't pick him up. O'Toole threw him in.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: O'Toole.
• 20:18
  Speaker 9: Shut up, you.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: What O'Toole wish him on us for? Little Hensler hears
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: about you.
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: Well, O'Toole has already talked with Hensler. He says this
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: fellow will not give us any trouble. He is an embezzler.
• 20:29
  Speaker 12: The police are looking for him.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: You're crazy.
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: He came across the border to sell some money he
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: had stolen from a bank or something. He must be
• 20:36
  Speaker 6: plenty hot. He was willing to drop 15,000 real dough
• 20:40
  Speaker 6: for 4,000 cash.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: Real dough? What are you talking about? That was counterfeit
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: I sold O'Toole.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: Listen, buddy, I don't know what your racket is, but
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: nobody fools O'Toole about money.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: But it can't be real money. It was counterfeit, I
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: tell you. It had to be. Look, I want to
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: see Hensler.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: You talk to me or you talk to nobody?
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: But I got to see Hensler. I got to get
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: back to Juarez. Oh?
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: Did you hear that, Miller? He's got to get back
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: to Juarez.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: All right, look, you can't push me around. I'm an American.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, he's an American. Well, send this to your congressman. Okay, American.
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: Get on your feet.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: Get a pick and start working.
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: Hensler Construction Company. Just another name for a chain gang.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: I never saw Hensler. He wasn't there. But in the
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: next week, I got to know Jake all right. I
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: got to hate him. He drove us from dawn till dark,
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: digging a roadbed by hand, pick and shovel, in the
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: hot sun, in the dust, without rest. But worse than
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: the physical torture was the thought that gave me no rest.
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: I'd sold O'Toole real money. For now, I realized I'd
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: never really had any proof that the fat man was
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: a counterfeiter. I just jumped to that conclusion. The bus driver... No,
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: not the bus driver. A woman on the bus said
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: that the bus driver said it, and it drove me
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: crazy just thinking about it. Real money. $ 15, 000. I'd had
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: it in my hand, and I'd thrown it away. I
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: had to escape. I had to. There'd been a man
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: in the truck who said he'd been here before, so
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: he must have gotten away somehow. He could help me. Uh,
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: you're the man that was here before.
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: I am Gonzales.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: All right, you got away the other time, didn't you?
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: I see. But I am back. And this time I
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: don't try to go. Well, how did you go? How
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: did you get out?
• 22:36
  Speaker 7: There is a highway.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: There is? Where?
• 22:39
  Speaker 7: Four mile, five mile. Many cars pass there. Just four
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: or five miles.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: That's nothing.
• 22:44
  Speaker 9: Oh.
• 22:45
  Speaker 7: Maybe it sound nothing to you, senor. But those are
• 22:49
  Speaker 7: bad miles to go.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: Oh, caray. Only four or five miles. Over that way,
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: he told me. Through the ravine. Well, I thought about
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: it all that day and I planned that I'd try
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: it that night. But when we got back to camp,
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: I was too dog-tired even to eat. I just flopped
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: on the hard earth and fell asleep. It seemed that
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: I'd just closed my eyes when I was shaken awake.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Hey.
• 23:10
  Speaker 9: Huh?
• 23:11
  Speaker 12: Hey!
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Get up, American. Get on your feet.
• 23:16
  Speaker 8: Huh?
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: I got a little job for you.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: Oh, leave me alone, Jake. I'm tired.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Get up!
• 23:22
  Speaker 7: You're on overtime.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: He was murderously drunk. He had a bottle of whiskey
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: in one hand and his. 45 in the other. So
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: I got up off the ground. All around me, the
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: men were sleeping. If they heard him, they didn't pay
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: any attention. He marched me down to the roadbed and
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: threw a pick at me. There.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I'll start digging.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: But it's the middle of the night.
• 23:42
  Speaker 9: Look, I'm dead.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: I've got to finish the road.
• 23:45
  Speaker 9: Start digging, I said.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: What are you picking on me for, Jake? Why me?
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: You're going to start digging or I start shooting.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: So I dug. I dug till my hands were bleeding
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: and my lungs were scalded with the effort of breathing.
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: He sat alongside the road, knocking off that fifth of
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: whiskey and riding me every time I faltered. He was
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: just mean drunk enough to kill me if I stopped.
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: So I dug and I dug. Finally, I couldn't go
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: on anymore. I was too tired to care. I dropped
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: the pick and fell onto the road. My face was
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: in the dirt. I lay there, panting, waiting for the
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: bullet when it didn't come i turned my head and
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: what i saw gave me new life jake was sprawled
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: out dead drunk and the 45 had slipped from his
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: hand onto the ground it was my chance i hardly
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: had enough strength left to move but i knew if
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: i didn't go then it'd be too late i'd never
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: get away i crawled over to him and i got
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: the gun and somehow i got down the road and
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: through that ravine stumbled and crawled those hideous miles to
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: the highway And then I heard it way down the road.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: It was a car. I ran out like a madman
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: and flagged it down.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: Come on to your stead.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: Give me a ride, will you?
• 25:06
  Speaker 7: Oh, you're an American, huh?
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Going back to the States?
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 25:10
  Speaker 12: Well, hop in.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: I leaned back against the seat, shut my eyes, and
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: slept all the way into Juarez.
• 25:23
  Speaker 9: Well, here you are.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: You said O'Toole's dine and dance.
• 25:27
  Speaker 9: Sure I can't wait for you?
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: No, no, thanks just the same, but I got some
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: business to take care of.
• 25:31
  Speaker 7: Okay, good luck.
• 25:32
  Speaker 8: $ 15, 000.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Worth of business and Jake's 45 in my pocket to
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: guarantee the deal. I went around to that back door
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: and slipped in quietly and then crept down the hall
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: and up the stairs that squint-eyes had led me before.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: This time I entered O'Toole's office without knocking. Hello, O'Toole.
• 25:49
  Speaker 12: Oh, I didn't expect you back so soon. Sit down.
• 25:54
  Speaker 12: Can I get you something?
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you can. Fifteen thousand bucks.
• 25:57
  Speaker 12: I'm afraid I don't understand. We made a deal.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: Why didn't you tell me the money was real, not counterfeit, huh?
• 26:03
  Speaker 12: Well, you seem to know what you were doing, and remember,
• 26:06
  Speaker 12: you placed a value on the money.
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: I did not. Yeah, well, I've just revalued it. I
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: want it back, all of it.
• 26:11
  Speaker 12: We made a deal, and I paid you, and I'm
• 26:13
  Speaker 12: through with you.
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: And you rolled me.
• 26:15
  Speaker 12: How you lost the money I paid you is no
• 26:17
  Speaker 12: concern to me.
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: All right, then, look, then maybe this will be some
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: concern to you. I took enough punishment to get this gun,
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: not to hesitate to use it. Now get the money
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: while you're still alive.
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: Huh?
• 26:25
  Speaker 12: That won't be necessary. How about 10,000?
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: Look, don't stall.
• 26:31
  Speaker 12: 15. But I should be allowed to realize some profit.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: Hurry up, O'Toole. I haven't got all day.
• 26:36
  Speaker 12: I'll have to open this.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: Then open it.
• 26:39
  Speaker 12: Will you take it in tens and twenties?
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: Now, look, you, I don't care how you give it
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: to me, so long as it's American money. Now quit
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: stalling and get it. I didn't trust him. I expected
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: any minute he'd pull something fast, but he didn't. He
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: gave it to me. I never realized before the power
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: of a gun. It makes short men tall and tall
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: men strong.
• 26:57
  Speaker 12: Here you are.
• 26:59
  Speaker 8: Thanks.
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: Now I could fly to Hollywood and have that suite
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: at the Ambassador and throw a cocktail party, a big party.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: I'd show them. First, I stopped at the best men's
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: shop in Juarez and got myself outfitted. An important English
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: tweed suit, cashmere top coat, couple of dozen shirts, and
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: I threw away my old clothes.
• 27:21
  Speaker 12: There will be something else, senor.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: I'll take that alligator suitcase, too.
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: Si, senor, but you must remember when you go through customs,
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: you must declare the clothes you are wearing.
• 27:30
  Speaker 7: I have to report this.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: Oh, sure, sure, don't worry. And these neckties?
• 27:33
  Speaker 12: Si, senor.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: I paid him. It was more than I'd spent on
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: clothes in ten years. I put $ 500 in my wallet
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: and stashed the rest of the money away in my suitcase.
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: Then I went to the American club for a good dinner.
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: Now I was all set to make my entrance. All
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: I needed was a plane reservation for Hollywood. I was
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: just going through customs when he ran up.
• 27:55
  Speaker 12: That is the man. Stop him.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: It was the clerk from the men's shop, gesturing wildly.
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: The customs official listened, and then he came back to me.
• 28:01
  Speaker 9: I'm sorry, sir, but I have to detain you.
• 28:04
  Speaker 7: What?
• 28:04
  Speaker 9: Your wallet, if you please.
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: Wait, I didn't buy the wallet from him.
• 28:07
  Speaker 9: If you please, sir, give it to me.
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: Okay, but it's just an American Hickok wallet, I tell you.
• 28:12
  Speaker 9: I'm not interested in the wallet itself, sir. Now we
• 28:15
  Speaker 9: shall see. There, you see? Didn't I tell you?
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: Look, look, all of it. What are you guys doing
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: with my money?
• 28:21
  Speaker 9: You admit this is your money, mister?
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: Of course it is.
• 28:24
  Speaker 9: Then I'm sorry you'll have to come with me.
• 28:26
  Speaker 12: Why?
• 28:26
  Speaker 9: Because, mister, all the money in your wallet is counterfeit.
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: Escape is produced and directed by William N.
• 28:42
  Speaker 7: Robeson.
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: Tonight we have presented Bordertown by John and Gwen Bagney.
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: Featured in the cast were Jack Webb as Evan, Bill
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: Conrad as Jake, Ben Wright as O'Toole, Tony Barrett as Rice,
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: and Jeanette Nolan as Nieves. Also heard were Ted DiCorsia,
• 28:57
  Speaker 5: Paul Freese, Bea Benederit, Jerry Hausner, and Harry Bartell. Special
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: music was arranged and conducted by Del Castillo.
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: Next week....
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: You're on a train from Rajahore to Calcutta. With you
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: is a fabulous jewel, the most sought-after emerald in the world,
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: in whose depths are mirrored terror and violence.
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: And for you, there is no escape.
• 29:29
  Speaker 5: It's a proven surefire formula for better living. If we
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: all work together to produce more per man per machine
• 29:35
  Speaker 5: per hour, we all move together toward the benefits in
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: living that are possible only under the For your free
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: copy of the booklet Miracle of America, write Box 10,
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: Times Square Station, New York. Stay tuned now for Hit
• 29:34
  Speaker 5: the Jackpot, which follows immediately over most of these stations.
• 29:37
  Speaker 9: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: Escape has reached its close with Border Town. Follow the
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: 50 greatest old-time radio shows for more classic broadcasts.