Now, Roma Wines present...
Suspense!
Tonight, Tale of Two Sisters, starring Claire Trevor and Nancy Kelly.
Suspense!
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 co-stars, Miss Nancy Kelly and Miss Claire Trevor.
Both are currently being seen in RKO productions.
Miss Trevor in Murder, My Sweet.
And Miss Kelly in Betrayal from the East.
There is a phrase of Walt Whitman's, the sisters death and night.
Incessantly, softly wash again and never again this soiled world.
And so with the tale of these two sisters.
And with the performance of Claire Trevor as Clara.
And of Nancy Kelly as Adele.
We again hope to keep you in...
Suspense!
Everyone is so good to me.
I like being here, but some of the others don't, I guess.
Do you hear?
They scream sometimes like that in the night.
Maybe they scream because they remember things.
But I remember things too.
Especially when people come out from town to see me.
To bring me things.
But there's nothing that I want.
They can't bring back my sister.
My beautiful sister Adele.
Today was Thursday and they came.
And now they've gone.
And when they came, they brought back memories of Adele.
When we were children.
The night that mother died.
The night we made the promise.
Don't cry anymore, Adele.
I'm afraid, Clara.
We're alone.
We're not alone.
But if something happened to you...
Nothing's going to happen to me.
I'm going to take care of you.
But that's what mother said.
And now she's left us too.
But Adele, mother didn't know that she...
She wouldn't have left us if she could have helped us.
Promise me you won't die, Clara.
And that whatever I do, you'll do.
And that you'll never leave me.
I promise.
And we'll be together.
Always and forever.
I promise.
And for years I kept that promise.
Adele and I were as close as anyone could be.
We had few friends and I didn't mind as long as she was happy.
But sometimes I was frightened at the way she clung to me after we were grown.
I was afraid of what would become of her in case anything ever happened to me.
And then something did happen.
I met Douglas Foley.
Adele liked him until she realized that I'd fallen in love with him.
Then she hated him in a childish, vicious way.
He tried to win her over but it was no good.
And then he asked me to marry him.
And I said yes.
That night after he'd gone, Adele was waiting for me in my room.
Adele! Clara!
Douglas told me.
Adele, you're so white darling. You're ill.
But you promised me.
But Adele, I'm not leaving you.
You're going to live with us. No, no it won't be the same.
You promised always and forever.
But we were children, Adele.
You promised! You promised!
We'd be together always and forever.
I...
Adele, you see...
I'm not going to marry him.
I'll never speak to you again.
But we were married.
And we believed that Adele would forgive us in time.
But she didn't.
She refused to see us.
Then when we learned that my husband's new job was to take us to Europe,
our first thought was of Adele.
If she would only go with us.
But when we drove to her house, she refused to come to the door.
She was forced to sail without us.
My son Doug was born in Europe.
And I wrote Adele a long letter telling her about him.
But the letter was returned, unopened.
When Doug was just 10, we returned to America.
I went directly from the station to Adele's home.
She was working in the garden when we drove up.
I was shocked at her appearance.
Her hair had turned almost white.
And there was a strange look about her.
I sent Doug to the gate to introduce himself.
She looked at him in a puzzled manner.
Then she saw us sitting in the car and she turned and walked into the house.
The next thing I remember was that day, one month after my return home,
when I was put on trial for murder.
For my husband's murder.
Mrs. Foley, will you tell us again what happened the night of your husband's murder?
My husband was working in the garden all day.
When it began to grow dark...
Will you please speak up?
Well, my husband had been working in the garden.
And when I called him in, he insisted that he had something to finish.
I called him several times after that.
But then I became irritated and I gave up.
I had my dinner alone and I went up to my bedroom.
Then you admit that you quarrelled with him the night of the murder.
No, we didn't quarrel.
I was irritated.
I said nothing to my husband.
Your husband's death was caused by a deep, narrow wound in the vicinity of the heart.
It is the opinion of this court that the instrument used might have been an accident.
Mrs. Foley, do you have any other ideas as to what might have inflicted this wound?
No.
Had your husband any enemies, Mrs. Foley?
No.
And so I was acquitted that day because of insufficient evidence.
I thought Adele would come to me during those awful days, but she didn't.
I saw her in the courtroom, but she never looked my way.
I believe it was about two months after the trial that my son Doug and his friend Roy
went on an all-day hiking trip to the beach.
They were light skating back.
It was almost dark when I saw Roy coming up the street.
He was alone. He was running.
Mrs. Foley! Mrs. Foley!
Roy, where's Doug?
He's down at the beach with her.
With who?
Your sister.
My sister?
For heaven's sakes, Roy, will you tell me what this is all about?
Well, you see, Mrs. Foley, Doug and I...
It seemed that Roy and Doug had forgotten to take along their drinking water,
and they hadn't missed it until they'd come to a very deserted place
of the beach.
Come on, Doug. Maybe we can get water at that little house over there.
Funny place for a house, isn't it?
Oh, yeah. Come on.
Looks like nobody lives there.
All the better. We can just drink out of that faucet in the yard.
We won't have to ask nobody. Come on.
Sure run down, isn't it?
Maybe the faucet isn't working.
The garden's all dead.
Oh, sure it's working. See?
Hmm. Someone's just plain lazy.
Well, maybe no one lives here.
Oh, sure they do. There's a mailbox.
Maybe there's a name on it.
Look. Miss Adele Norris.
That's my mom's sister.
Yeah? Oh, let's drop in and see her.
Well, she wouldn't even know who I was.
Oh, you could tell her, couldn't you?
Say, maybe she'd give us some cake or something.
No, she's mad at me and Mom.
Come on, let's get out of here.
Say, Doug, look at all the dead leaves on the porch.
Let's have a look around.
No, she might come out.
Aw, she can't hurt you, can she?
Let's peek in the window.
No. Roy!
Look, Doug.
The place is all upset. It's all dirty and everything.
Let's look in the rest of the windows.
There's no one around.
Oh, here's the kitchen.
Look at all the dirty dishes piled up.
Say, maybe my aunt is sick.
Hey, look. Somebody's coming to the window.
Oh, my gosh.
What do you want?
We wanted to see if you were all right.
Go away.
Don't you recognize me?
No.
Are you sick?
No.
I'm your nephew, Douglas Foley.
Go away, whoever you are.
I'd like to help you.
Go away, I said.
Mother wouldn't want me to leave you here like this.
Who's your mother?
I told you. Don't you remember?
She's your sister.
I have no sister.
My sister died when I was 18.
Roy, you go home and get Mother.
My aunt is sick. I'll climb through this window
and see if there's anything I can do.
You stay out of this house.
Let's both go. She doesn't want you here.
She's sick. You go for my mother.
If you come into this house, you'll be sorry.
If you dare to...
You say your name is Douglas Foley?
Yeah, that's right. You see, I'm...
Douglas Foley is dead.
Forever and ever.
No, don't you see? The one who died was my father.
Douglas Foley came between two sisters.
And then he died.
Yeah, but I'm trying to tell you, my mother and yours...
Of course you see, isn't he dead?
Then I guess he'll have to die again.
Yes.
That's it. Yes.
He'll have to die again. He'll have to die again.
Look, you're sick. You need help.
I'm sick?
Yeah. Don't you want me to come in?
Yes.
Oh, yes. Come in, Douglas Foley.
Tonight for Suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Nancy Kelly and Claire Trevor...
In Mel Deneli's radio play, Tale of Two Sisters.
Tonight's study in Suspense.
We have an interesting idea for you tonight from the keen and sensible mind of America's famed expert on parties and smart entertaining, Miss Elsa Maxwell.
And we quote...
Serving a nice table wine when friends come to dinner or with everyday meals is one of the smartest, most sensible and truly moderate pleasures of which I know.
And one which any family can regularly enjoy since the cost of delicious Roma Burgundy is very little.
Just serve your Roma Burgundy well cooled.
Enjoy it with any food and don't worry about special glasses.
Any glasses available are perfectly correct.
The goodness of the wine, the added enjoyment of your food, these are the things that count.
Miss Maxwell expresses perfectly what we of Roma believe.
In Roma California Burgundy, in all Roma wines, you enjoy the glorious color, aroma and flavor of superb, sun-ripe grapes.
Our noted wineries located in California's choicest vineyard areas assure you of flavor and quality which are always good, never varying, always delightful.
And so Roma quality is preferred everywhere.
And you are able to enjoy these fine Roma wines at modest prices, only pennies a glass full.
Remember, more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wines.
R-O-M-A, Roma wines.
And now it is with pleasure that we bring back to our soundstage Nancy Kelly as Adele and Claire Trevor as Clara who resumes the recital of this tale of two sisters,
a narrative well calculated to keep you in suspense.
You see how clearly I remember things?
I remember so well the horror of that moment when Doug's little friend finished telling me how he had left Doug there alone with my sister Adele.
And I even remember what Roy said at the end.
So I came back to tell you Mrs. Foley, on account of Doug made me.
But now I wish I hadn't left him there with her.
I know she's your sister and all, but I saw her face when she came to the window.
She looked awful Mrs. Foley.
She looked awful crazy.
I followed Roy's direction and I went by foot north along the ocean.
I must have walked a good mile before I came to the house.
I ran quickly up the pathway.
The front door was standing open.
There was a lamp burning on the table.
Adele!
She lay on the bed.
I couldn't see her very clearly by the candlelight, but I could see that she was fully dressed.
Her hair was undone and it spilled down over the pillow.
For a moment I thought she was dead.
What are you on?
Adele.
What are you on?
It's me, Clara.
Where's Douglas?
He's dead?
Adele.
Your husband is dead I tell you.
I don't mean my husband.
I mean my son.
Where is he?
Oh, he was murdered by a long shark.
Be still.
You don't know what you're saying.
Where is my son?
I haven't seen him.
You have.
He was here.
I know that.
I haven't seen him.
Yes, you have.
Try, try and remember.
Where is he?
I don't know.
Yes, yes you do know.
What have you done to him?
Was he your son?
Yes, Adele.
Please.
I hated him.
I know, but where is he, Adele?
He went away.
Where?
Where did he go?
He went to the village for a doctor.
Are you telling me the truth?
Yes.
How long ago did he leave?
I don't remember.
Will you stop questioning me?
Can't you see that I'm sick?
I tell you he went for a doctor.
Oh, what have you done here, Clara?
After ten years.
I've come to help you.
I don't need your help.
Adele, did Doug really go for the doctor?
You think I'm lying?
I don't know, but if he isn't back soon, I...
I'm going for the police.
The police.
Fat fool.
I'm so sick, Clara.
I'm going to take your things off.
You'll be more comfortable.
No, don't touch me.
Adele, you're sick.
Let me take your things off.
No, no, can't you leave me alone?
Leave me alone.
How do you know what's good for me after all these years?
I'm in pain, Clara.
I have a heavy pain near my heart.
When I'm tightly laced, I can almost bear it.
All right, all right.
We'll leave it till the doctor comes.
Will the doctor help me, Clara?
Yes, of course he will.
Douglas Foley came between two sisters.
Shh, Adele.
He worked in the garden.
He was bending down low.
I'm so tired, Clara.
Yes, try and rest, Adele.
Close your eyes.
Oh, but he was working in the garden,
and I was on my way home from the sewing club.
I saw him there, Clara.
He looked the same after 10 years
because he had your strength to draw from.
But I was alone.
I had grown old, and he had stayed young.
And then she seemed to doze off.
Her breathing was so labored, and I thought,
perhaps she'll rest more easily if I undress her.
And I went over to the bed.
She was wearing a corset.
I reached over and began to unhook it.
She started mumbling something in her sleep.
You broke your promise.
Always and forever, you said.
But she didn't wake up,
and I finally managed to take her corset off.
But as I went to place it on a chair,
I noticed something protruding from the material.
At first I thought it was a broken stay,
but it was round, and one end was sharp.
I looked closer.
It was a steel knitting needle, a long steel one,
and there was rust on it.
Or was that brown stain rust?
Adele had concealed the knitting needle,
and there was proof of what I guess I'd known all along.
Adele had murdered my husband.
With a shudder, I dropped to the floor,
and then something caught my eye.
There was a hand sticking out from beneath the bed.
It was white and steel.
It was a child's hand.
I fell swiftly to my knees.
Dad! Dad!
And just as I reached out for him,
I felt a sharp blow on the back of my head,
and I fell to the floor and cut.
I dreamed.
I dreamed that Adele and I were children again,
that she was laughing,
and we were playing an old game of ours
where we tied each other up with our bathrobe cords,
and then we waited for a knight in armor to rescue us.
It was the only way to save us.
I was so afraid.
It was the odor of kerosene that brought me to...
The room was filled with it.
My head was pounding, and I couldn't seem to focus my eyes.
I tried to raise myself to my feet,
but I couldn't seem to move my arms and legs.
Suddenly, I realized why.
I was tied with a bathrobe cord.
I was a child again.
Adele and I were playing our games again.
My husband, everything that had happened
to me had been nothing but a bad dream.
A feeling of relief swept over me,
and then suddenly I heard footsteps.
And the door creaked so reopen,
and suddenly I knew that what had happened had not been a dream,
for Adele stood in the doorway,
not Adele the child who would rescue me,
but Adele with gray hair who hadn't spoken for all those years.
She wore a long dressing gown.
Her long hair screaming about her shoulders,
and there was a vacant, stupid smile on her face.
She carried a bucket in her hand,
and the odor of kerosene filled the room.
She didn't seem to notice me as she went past me,
and she threw the liquid from the bucket onto the bed.
There! Adele! No, Adele!
She paid no attention to me as she left the room again.
I struggled wildly, but it was no use.
I was tied securely,
and then I saw a still figure on the bed.
It was Doug. His face was white.
He was unconscious,
and there was a deep gash at the side of his head.
And then Adele came into the room.
She had filled her bucket to the brim,
and she walked towards the bed again.
Adele!
Clara?
Adele, untie me.
Untie you? Why?
Adele, listen to me.
This is your son, Clara.
Yes, Adele, untie me.
You were looking for him,
and he was here all the time.
Please untie me, Adele.
I never knew your son.
For years, I never knew him.
How old is he, Clara?
He's only ten. He's just a boy.
Adele, Adele, you're sick.
Untie me, and you'll go for a doctor.
You want me to be well, Clara?
Oh, yes, untie me.
Are we friends again, Clara?
Yes, yes, we're friends.
I want to help you.
Oh, but I can't forget the years, Clara.
I must wash those years away
before we can really be friends again.
Adele, forget those years.
Let me help you. Untie me.
Oh, no.
No, we can't forget them, Clara.
We must wash them away.
That's what I was doing.
I was washing away the years.
Your husband's gone,
and your son is all that remains of me.
And then we can be sisters again.
You don't know what you're doing.
Untie me, Adele.
But this isn't water that I have in this bucket.
No, no, you see, you're sick, Adele.
It's what I put into the lamps to make them burn.
Oh, no.
Perhaps I could burn away the years.
Oh, yes, that'd be better.
Much better.
No, no, Adele.
Adele, for the love of heaven, untie me.
If I could burn away these years that remain on the bench...
Oh, no, no, Adele.
If I could do that with this candle...
Oh, well, then you and I could really be friends again,
like when Mother was alive.
We could be sisters again.
Always and forever.
We're sisters now, Adele.
Oh, no.
Now, you're lying.
We're not sisters.
Adele, listen to me.
We're children,
and you've tied me with this cord, you see.
And now you must untie me, like you used to do
when you left me too long and I cried.
Oh, no. No, you're lying.
We're not sisters, and we haven't been for years.
And now, now I'm going to punish you for lying,
just as Mother used to punish me when we were children.
Then she started walking and steadily told me,
a lighted candle in one hand,
a bucket in the other,
the liquid slapping over her dressing gown as she walked.
Clara, do you remember the time Mother washed out my mouth
with soap when she caught me in a fib?
Well, that's what I'm going to do to you now.
Or perhaps it would be better if I burned it out.
No, no!
No, now, Clara, don't scream.
He'll waken your precious son,
and we mustn't waken him now.
Adele, I'm tired.
I promise you that I'll take Doug away.
We'll both go away.
You'll never have to see us again.
Oh, no, Clara.
And she kept moving towards me,
holding a lighted candle close to her breast.
You mustn't ever lie to me again, Clara.
Adele, you're ill.
You don't know what you're doing.
Wash away the years.
Burn away the years.
Suddenly I saw a tiny flicker of flame on her breast.
The frilly dressing gown.
She'd held the candle too close.
Her entire dressing gown was a mass of flames.
It spread swiftly to her hair.
In a moment she was a blazing torch,
and the odor of burning filled the room.
I could see a face, surprising,
a contorted pain.
She turned and looked out the bed as if
the bucket flaming in her hands,
and then she went screaming out the front door.
I was so scared I could see a face.
Help!
Mrs. Foley.
Yes?
You mustn't scream like that.
I wasn't screaming.
That was my sister, Adele.
Yes, I know.
You knew my sister was burned to death,
didn't you, Mrs. Willis?
She was very beautiful.
Yes, I know.
Try and rest.
Is there anything I can get for you before I go to bed?
No, thank you.
Well, go to sleep then.
I will. Good night.
That's right. Go to sleep.
Oh!
Was that my sister, Mrs. Willis?
No, no, Mrs. Foley.
It was one of the others.
They scream because they remember things.
Yes, yes, I suppose they do.
Good night.
I remember things, too.
I remember.
Promise me you'll never leave me, Cruella,
and that whatever I do, you'll do.
I promise.
Always and forever.
I promise.
And so closes Tale of Two Sisters,
starring Claire Trevor and Nancy Kelly.
Tonight's study in Suspense.
Suspense is produced, edited, and directed
by William Spear.
The other day, Elsa Maxwell told us about a friend
who had lived many years in wine-loving countries
around the world.
I gave him some of our delicious Roma California
Burgundy at dinner, and he confessed to me
that he thought it every bit as enjoyable
as any he had ever had.
So I say, you people who do not regularly serve
Roma wine are missing one of the most delightful
treats daily living can offer.
It's so good, so smart, and yet so very simple.
Take Miss Maxwell's advice.
Enjoy Roma wine regularly.
It's always good, unvaryingly fine in flavor
and quality, and only pennies a glass.
Remember, more Americans enjoy Roma
than any other wines.
Roma, R-O-M-A, Roma wines.
Ladies and gentlemen, next Thursday,
same time, you will hear Mr. Lee Bowman
as star of Suspense.
Presented by Roma wines, R-O-M-A,
made in California for enjoyment
throughout the world.
We join with Americans everywhere to salute
the Boy Scouts of the world on the occasion
of the 35th anniversary celebration of a great
movement pledged to the ideals of brotherhood.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.