Now, Roma Wines present...
Suspense!
Black Path of Fear, starring Brian Donlevy.
Suspense is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines.
Those excellent California wines that can add so much pleasantness to the way you live.
To your happiness and entertaining guests. To your enjoyment of everyday meals.
Yes, right now a glass full would be very pleasant as Roma Wines bring you...
Suspense!
This is the Man in Black, here for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.
Who tonight from Hollywood bring you as star, Mr. Brian Donlevy.
And so with the performance of Mr. Donlevy as Bill Scott in the Cornell Woolrich bestseller...
The Black Path of Fear. We again hope to keep you in...
Suspense!
It was our first day in Havana. We'd taken a hack, an open horse-drawn carriage...
And spent the afternoon driving around to see the sights. She was always crazy about jade.
So, in Chinatown we stopped in a little curiosity shop the driver steered us to.
So we bought a few gadgets there and started back towards the main part of the town.
It was getting dark and she snuggled up close to me and the carriage...
It's been a wonderful day, Scotty.
Yeah.
I was scared at first. A couple of times I thought I saw him in the crowds there. Chinatown.
I guess it was just my imagination.
Sure it was. He wouldn't try any rough stuff this far from his home base.
He may be a little Caesar around the night clubs back in Florida, but here in Cuba...
He's just another alien who'd better not get caught packing a rod.
He said he'd get me if I ever left him. No matter where I went.
Well, he sent us a radiogram wishing us luck.
That's what worries me. He didn't say which kind of luck.
I told you!
Hey, what's this driver?
A sloppy joe, senor. Big attraction of Havana.
Of course. Sloppy joes. Want to go in, darling?
Why not? We can only die once.
So I paid the coachman and we went into Sloppy Joe's.
The place was jammed to the sidewalk line and so noisy you couldn't hear yourself think.
It was like a football scrimmage when you moved and like sardines in a can when you stood still.
Then suddenly the crowd divided in front of us like the Red Sea and a little photographer came through...
using an old-fashioned tripod for a battering ram.
He set up his camera and pointed it in our direction.
Senor and the lady would like a picture for to show their friends back in the estate.
Oh, please, Scotty. We've never had a picture taken together.
Together? With 40,000 people jammed up against us on all sides?
Well, it's that maybe to come to my studio. Calle Barrios. Calle Barrios. It's not far.
No, no. Go on. Shoot it here. Go ahead.
Make pose, please. Mucho love. Si, como no?
Hold it. No. That is all. I have the picture.
Well, he's taking us now, darling. Oh, come on, honey. Everybody's looking at us.
Don't rush me, Scotty. Huh? Give me time.
What is it? Why are you so limpy? I knew we wouldn't make it.
Why do we care? Part of a night's better than none of all.
Eve! Just stay with me a minute.
Or take long. Darling, what happened? What happened?
Scotty, that was the first picture we ever had taken together. Huh?
Let me know how it turns out.
Eve. Eve, darling. She's dead.
She doesn't move anymore. Somebody do something. Would you?
She's been knifed right here in my arms.
Murder in Sloppy Joe's.
Murder that is the start of man, twisting and turning down the black path of fear.
Brian Don Levy is our star this evening.
You have heard him in the prologue to tonight's tale of...
Suspense.
In Havana, one gathering place of fashionable people is the charming Pan American Club.
A dinner party is in progress, and a Cuban host has just risen to return a compliment,
which has been paid him by a guest from the United States.
Lifting his glass, he says, thank you, my friends.
Thank you also for telling us about the perfect climate and soil of California,
from which come these delightful Roma wines.
Now we can understand how such perfection is possible,
such magnificent quality as we enjoy in Roma wines.
Well, such praise of Roma wines in foreign lands can only mean that they are truly magnificent in quality.
But remember, you here in the United States can enjoy these distinguished wines at remarkably low cost,
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Roma wines bring you a unique combination of California's perfect soil and climate,
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Discover for yourself the delightful flavor and goodness
which have made Roma wines America's largest selling wines.
Ask for R-O-M-A, Roma wines, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
And now it is with pleasure that we bring back to our sound stage Mr. Brian Donlevy,
who in The Person of Bill Scott continues his narrative of the Black Path of Fear,
tonight's tale of suspense.
Havana is a fast town for anything, love, life, and death too.
A minute ago I'd been half of a honeymoon couple getting their first picture snapped
by a little Cuban photographer in sloppy Joe's.
Now I'm in the middle of a
The Person of Bill Scott
Havana is a fast town for anything, love, life, and death too.
A minute ago I'd been half of a honeymoon couple getting their first picture snapped
by a little Cuban photographer in sloppy Joe's.
Now I was alone with a corpse in an empty saloon.
But that didn't go on for long either. There were cops there in half a minute and finally a detective.
This woman is dead.
Yeah, I know.
You were the man with her?
I was the man with her.
Your name?
Scott, Bill Scott.
Mr. Scott, how long have you been in Havana?
Four hours.
You quarreled with this girl here in this bar?
No, no.
You were traveling together?
Yes, that's right.
Her name on her tour card is Mrs. Edward Espanelli.
Yeah.
Where is Mr. Espanelli?
Not where I'd like him to be, which is roasting.
You are not being very cooperative, Mr. Scott.
Okay, okay. I'll tell you the whole story.
She was a singer in a nightclub in Tampa, Florida.
Espanelli owned the nightclub.
He was a killer.
He gave her the choice between getting killed and marrying him.
So she married him.
And how did you meet her?
I worked for Espanelli too. I drove his car.
You are not a chauffeur by profession, are you, Mr. Scott?
No, no.
I took the job to get her away from him.
Is there anything wrong in that?
The murder weapon, this knife. What do you know about it?
What are you driving at?
Is this your knife, Mr. Scott?
No, but it's a pretty close match.
I bought one just like it this afternoon in a curiosity shop.
Wait a minute. I'll show you. I've got it in my pocket right here.
Cuidado, carlo.
Wait a minute. Don't get so excited.
All right, it's in that pocket right there.
Fish it out yourself if you want to.
There is no knife here.
But there's got to be.
It was a knife with a jade handle like this,
one with a monkey carved on it,
but the monkey on the one I bought was holding its hands over its ears.
There were three of them in the shop.
You know, the type, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
I only know that you bought a knife this afternoon,
that you no longer have a knife
and that a knife has been used to stab this woman.
But it's not the same knife, I tell you. I can prove it.
Give me a chance to prove it, will you?
All right, Mr. Scott. I will give you a chance.
So we went back to the shop where I bought the knife, back to Chinatown.
Inspector Acosta, that was the Cuban detective's name,
questioned the old duck who sold it to me.
You remember this man buying something in here this afternoon, Viejo?
Yes.
Gentleman buy knife, ornamental knife,
knife with jade handle.
Describe the jade handle.
Jade handle have many different names.
Describe the jade handle.
Jade handle have monkey.
We know that. Describe the monkey.
Pretty sure of monkey hiding eyes, a soul, see no evil.
You're crazy. What's the matter with you?
What are you trying to do to me?
I bought the one holding its ears. You know it.
Viejo Chin, this man's life may depend on what you are saying,
but you are absolutely sure.
Come by trees. First one is sold to this gentleman,
others still got. Can show you.
Can lie in your teeth.
Listen Acosta, so what if he shows you the set with that one missing?
He's probably got a hundred sets in the store room.
Only one set imported. Can show customs invoice.
How did this man and this woman act when they came into the shop?
Oh, they act scare, very scare.
I told you she was afraid Spinelli was going to have her bumped off.
Well, he did it. And this guy has been paid to frame me. Can't you see that?
I am sorry Mr. Escort, but I must place you under arrest
for the murder of Mrs. Eve Spinelli.
As we threaded our way back through Chinatown in the police car,
I thought the whole thing over. I came to a decision.
The car fitted in the narrow lane like a cork in a bottle.
If it should come to a halt in front of the door of a building,
and finally it did, just that, I bolted.
They came after me fast. The door I ducked into opened into a pitch black hallway.
I groped around until I found a flight of stairs and I started climbing.
Out, out, I shoot.
Fire and shoot.
I ducked back in the shadows.
Turned the knob at the nearest door.
I tossed my hat over at the foot of the roof ladder
to make it look as if I'd lost it while climbing.
I backed through the door into a room.
I shoot. I shoot.
In the dark room I stood very still and listened.
They were separating the case, the roof along the block.
I was safe for a few minutes anyway.
Tried to figure out where I was.
Room, a dark room.
I strained my eyes into the blackness.
Then something cold and metallic found the side of my neck.
It was the business edge of a knife, blade.
A light snapped on.
Bueno.
I, uh, no hablo espanol.
No se mueva.
Oh, take it easy, take it easy, will you?
I can't talk your language. Put that knife down, will you?
Te quiero estar aquí.
Polizia.
Understand? Understand?
Compré?
Look, out there on the stairs, I don't know how to say it.
Polizia. They're after me. Cops.
Cops? Why didn't you say so before?
I hate cops.
Oh, you talk English?
I ought to have been in enough of your jails to take out naturalization papers.
Hey, get over here. I do what I can for you.
They're coming back. I better get out of here.
Don't be a fool.
There's 20 of them down in the street now.
They sure must want you bad, Chico.
They say I killed my girl.
They say wrong?
They say very wrong.
Another man took her away from you?
No, I took her away from another man.
Ah, then any fool of a policeman knows you did not kill her.
You never kill what does not belong to you.
Only what does.
You tell them that.
Oh, here comes Patey.
Quickly, get into the car there.
Cover yourself up.
What? But...
Do as I tell you. Take off that shirt.
Don't stop for the buttons. Tear it off.
Well...
Now then, face the wall.
Wait a minute. What are you doing?
Keep perfectly still.
Don't rub against the covers.
Now, don't move.
Dispense, senora.
Ha visto usted un hombre alto, macizo, americano?
No he visto a nadie.
Quien es ese?
Mi hombre, mi marido.
Via Moslo.
Está muy enfermo.
Vuela.
Vuela?
Sí, vuela.
Ve a la cuarentena.
He's a real vual.
Dispense, senora. Buenas noches.
Buenas noches.
What was all that about?
Shh!
What are all these red spots on me?
I put them there with lipstick.
I told the cops you were my husband.
You have smallpox.
And they believed it?
Why not?
I showed them the quarantine sign on the door.
Manolito, that was my man.
He died of smallpox in this room.
Huh?
Oh, do not be alarmed.
It has been disinfected.
Oh, let's see.
Thank you.
Oh, let's see.
Thanks.
But why did you go to bed for me like that anyway?
Different reasons.
Flowers on a grave, I guess.
Flower?
What do you mean?
It's hard to explain.
It's my way of doing something for somebody that's not around anymore, I guess.
It's the only way I have.
I do not know any other way.
You see, I know what it is to lose someone you love, too.
Just like you.
Manolito?
He got smallpox in jail.
Then he come back here to me.
To die.
Hey, what is your name, wapo?
Bill Scott.
A Scott?
No, no, no, Scott with an S.
It's too hard to say.
I call you wapo.
Wapo?
That means handsome.
Well, thanks.
What'll I call you?
Around this neighborhood they call me Medianoche.
Medi-er...
It means midnight.
Try it that way.
Okay, midnight.
They call me that because now I always hang around late by myself since he's gone.
Well, midnight I don't know what to say to you except thanks.
Another flowers on a grave.
Yeah.
Well, I guess I better get going.
What do you want to throw away all my hard work for?
They spot you at the next corner.
Well, I can't hang around here for the rest of the night.
Was the matter with it here?
You know, if I could only get hold of that photographer.
Photographer?
Yeah, I was a photographer in Sloppy Joe's.
He was snapping a picture of us just when it happened.
Oh, you think maybe in this picture is the man who killed your sweetheart?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure of it.
Think, Wapo.
What do you remember about this photographer?
Oh, he's just a typical cheap photographer of tourists.
Wait a minute.
He said something about having a studio somewhere near Sloppy's.
Callebaryos?
That's it, Callebaryos.
Look, do you know this guy?
Sales go there with the girls to get their pictures taken.
His name is Pepe Campos.
I've got to get that picture midnight.
I'll have to risk it.
Un momentito.
I first get you some other clothes.
Here.
I think this fit you.
What?
Manolito was one big sailor.
And now listen.
I tell you how to get from here over to the Callebaryos,
so maybe the police don't see you.
You go down to the mouth of the alley.
You turn to the right.
That is this hand here.
Just a few steps from there.
It was so dark, I almost had to feel my way along the streets.
Suddenly out of nowhere came a voice.
There were two of them there, keeping the alley covered.
I looked back the way I had come.
Someone was coming toward me through the blackness.
I waited there paralyzed.
What's up, Marinetto?
What?
Out of your lonesome?
Yeah.
Hey, you want a drink, sister?
Look, walk close to me like this.
Huh?
No, no, lean up closer.
Get your face up under mine, honey.
That's it.
Give me a little more affection.
Yeah.
That's the stuff.
Now look.
Walk down this way with me.
Just past the corner.
You said it, big boy.
You said it.
What do you want to drink, honey?
You said it.
That's good.
Here's the turn.
Goodbye, sister.
Chip, skip. Chip, skip.
Sister, no.
They are gone.
I was afraid of yelling.
I had to track the cops, so I took off down the street,
and then I ducked into the alley to catch my breath.
I looked up.
There was a sign on the shop.
Campos, retratos, y fotografías.
At first, I didn't get it.
Then, all of a sudden, I knew.
I was there.
I opened the door and walked in.
Sí, señor.
Look.
You took a picture this evening of me and a lady in sloppy Joe's.
I want that picture.
Cuando me recuerdo, es de una dracolsa.
Now look, there was trouble right afterwards.
You know, a lot of noise.
Oh, sí, sí.
I remember.
I am just developing the pictures I have taken today.
Come with me.
This is my dark room.
The very latest equipment.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But where is that picture?
Oh, right here.
In the bath.
Oh.
Yeah.
It's beginning to come through.
Sí, sí.
Yeah.
Yeah, that size.
Oh.
Someone leans over the lady's shoulder, no?
Yeah.
Yeah, let's have some more light on the subject, will you?
Sí, sí.
This is someone you know, señor.
It's someone I know, all right.
His name is...
Never mind the name, Scotty.
I'll introduce myself.
Spinelli.
Stand over against the wall, Scotty.
You too.
Well, I'm glad you found this picture, Scotty.
I was kind of nervous about having a thing like this floating around.
You can understand my feelings.
You've surprised me, Spinelli.
I didn't think you even had the guts to stab a woman in the back
without your gorillas around to protect you.
Don't make me angry, Scotty.
I'm in a bad mood.
I didn't know you were smart like you are either, Spinelli.
I apologize.
You know, that was a cute trick, hiring a cab driver
to steer us into that shop in Chinatown,
but what I still can't figure out is how you switched those knives.
I didn't.
I still have the knife you bought.
I first got out of your pocket.
Now I'm going to give it back to you.
Would you like to see it first?
There.
It's pretty, ain't it?
You've always had an eye for jades.
This is definitely the best of the three.
It's a pity to spoil such a pretty knife,
but the revolver, that makes too much noise.
Yeah, I think I'll use the knife on you too.
I like things symmetrical.
Like Romeo and Juliet, ain't it?
What's that? Don't move, Scotty.
Guapo.
Guapo, are you in here?
His sweetheart not dead an hour and already he has another.
Midnight. Get out of here quick. This man is a killer.
Oh, I'm not afraid of you, big boy.
Keep away from me and don't try any funny business.
Oh, my hombre, he was just like you.
He talk very mean.
But you don't hurt me.
Not one little bit.
I don't only talk, big sister.
I got a job to do here.
I'll talk to you when I shut your boyfriend's trap for good.
My boyfriend? Are you kidding?
Go ahead, finish him off.
He took a powder on me.
I come after him only to collect.
On the cuff, huh?
Oh, Scotty, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.
On the cuff.
Hey, you are rich, huh?
You got big diamonds.
Say I like you, mister.
Stop mooching around.
Midnight, I tell you, this guy is a killer. Watch out.
Ah, shut up.
How about it, big boy?
Come on.
Stick around, baby.
I can use talent like yours.
Kiss me, big boy.
Later, later.
Now. All right, yell very loud.
Make big trouble.
You're pretty hot stuff, ain't you?
You don't know the half of it, big boy, huh?
Come here.
Now, you scum.
You dirty little stupid.
Shut up, Spinelli.
I've got the gun now.
Scotty, I was only
throwing a scare into you.
I would have knocked you off right away.
That's what I meant to do, wouldn't I?
What's it worth to you to stay alive, Spinelli?
Scotty, a hundred thousand dollars.
In the bank right here in the van.
Just let me go over that table there.
Check the bearer. No strings.
Spinelli, I want Eve
back again.
Two hundred thousand. Chicago account thrown in.
Two hundred and fifty thousand. That's a quarter of a million, Scotty.
I want Eve.
You can't bring the dead to life, Scotty.
But you can be rich.
Kill me and you get nothing but a murder rap.
The picture don't show me sticking the knife in there.
The knife don't mean anything. Chin and the driver never talk.
You're just fixing up a nice
murder rap for yourself, Scotty.
Stand over
under the lights, Spinelli.
I don't want to miss.
Scotty.
Don't do it, Scotty. Scotty.
Ah!
Wind...truck!
So, that's the story,
Inspector. I...
I've come to give myself up
for the murder of Ed Spinelli.
Well,
what are you going to do about it, Inspector?
About what?
About what I just told you, the murder.
I don't speak English so good.
I often miss hearing things that are said,
especially when they are said too fast.
All right, I can say it slower.
I just killed a man
named Ed Spinelli.
My English stinks today.
I don't understand.
You don't understand? I said...
I don't know what you said.
Why should you get word from the Commissioner
to all the man named Scot for murder?
That would be different. It would be in my language.
Unless that should happen and it isn't,
please, would you mind not coming in here and mumbling
in this English of yours that I don't understand?
But,
Signior Scot, this girl,
this Medianocci...
Mid...midnight?
What about her? Do you know where she is?
That girl, that woman,
she's been raising cane in my jail all night,
all day yesterday.
What she charged with? My foolish over this questioner
and then they didn't know any better that they put down
some charge other than the book.
Signior Scot, we have been stuck with her
ever since. She's like a hurricane.
Well, I'll agree with you there.
Signior Scot, if you have not enough
to bail her out, I'll pay another
to my own pocket anything to get her out.
Well, midnight,
it's all over.
Yes, guapo.
It is over.
Have you any
idea where we're headed for?
Es la pey jos.
The feet of an American in Havana
walk always
in the direction of es la pey jos.
No?
Yeah.
Yeah, I can hear it already.
I...
I'd like to ask in for a drink
midnight. No, guapo.
You go in
alone. Oh, won't you
just have one with me, please?
No. Why not?
There's someone
waiting for you in there.
Oh, that's crazy. Midnight
I don't know anybody in Havana, except
you. Someone is waiting for you
in there, guapo.
How do you say
flowers on a grave?
No?
Flowers on a grave?
And sloppy joes?
Love makes any place beautiful.
Even a sloppy
joes. Go on,
guapo. Buy her a drink
at the bar and tell her how
that picture you took together turned out.
You promised you would.
Remember?
How do you tell something to somebody
that's dead?
In your mind, guapo.
Where she will always be.
Oh.
I'll try and tell her
midnight. I'll tell her about
you, too. No.
No, she will be jealous. Oh, no. Not when
I tell her. Oh, you do not know women,
guapo. Well,
maybe not.
Well,
adios,
guapo.
Goodbye, midnight.
And so closes the Black
Path of Fear, starring Brian
Donlevy. Tonight's study in
Suspense.
Suspense is
produced and directed by
William Spear. Have you
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This is Brian
Levy. Our government has
asked us to bring to the attention
of women listeners a very important message.
In spite of our wonderful
victories on all the fighting fronts,
we must remember that the war is by no
means over or nearly over.
Hundreds of thousands of women must
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Go to the United States
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Brian Don Levy will soon
be seen in the starring role of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Technicolor Production,
An American Romance.
Next Thursday,
same time, Olivia
de Havilland and Reginald Gardner
will be your stars of
suspense.
Presented by Roma Wines,
R-O-M-A,
made in California
for enjoyment
throughout the world.
This is CBS,
the Columbia Broadcasting System.