1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 The defense. 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Tonight, we present to you, Jackie Cooper, as star of The Clock and the Rope, a defense 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:14,000 play produced, edited and directed by William Spear. 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:19,000 Would you like to hear the old story about the innocent man facing execution and his 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:24,000 last minute attempt to kill his wife? 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:34,000 Would you like to hear the old story about the innocent man facing execution and his last minute attempts to get a pardon, how it feels when he doesn't get it? 7 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,000 Well, I can tell you all about it, because that's my story. 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,000 There's a couple of different twists to it, of course. 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,000 There always are. 10 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,000 For one thing, it happened to me. 11 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,000 And now, I keep away from people. 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,000 I keep away from cities and buildings. 13 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:55,000 Buildings with the cells they call rooms and doors that don't always open. 14 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,000 I never button my collar. 15 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,000 You'll find out why. 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,000 I earn my living as a guide for hunting parties. 17 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:08,000 Me, who couldn't find my way across the city park without asking a cop for directions. 18 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:10,000 I never sleep indoors. 19 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,000 I can't. 20 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,000 And I can't stand clocks. 21 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,000 Most of all, I can't stand clocks. 22 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,000 It happened so fast. 23 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,000 I told them it wasn't murder. 24 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:24,000 It was self-defense. 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,000 Involuntary self-defense. 26 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,000 You know, like putting up your arms to protect yourself. 27 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,000 But it didn't work out that way in court. 28 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,000 That's the other different twist I told you about. 29 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,000 They convicted me. 30 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,000 They sentenced me to be hanged. 31 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:54,000 And they hanged me. 32 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:55,000 I was night man. 33 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Sell a little gas, do the rough strip down for some repairs that had to be done the next day. 34 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 Take care of any tranch and overnight parking. 35 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,000 Then these girls started dropping in for gas every other night or so. 36 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:08,000 Late. 37 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,000 I liked her style, but I was too shy to say anything. 38 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,000 And I guess she figured it. 39 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:19,000 She was stiff with a sort of little smile half turned in her teeth to watch me when I filled the tank. 40 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,000 Then she'd pay me and pull away with a funny look in her eyes. 41 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,000 As if she was getting a kick out of the way I acted. 42 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,000 Then one night, instead of pulling away, when she paid me, she spoke. 43 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,000 Aw, come on. Open up. 44 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:32,000 What? 45 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,000 Say something. 46 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,000 I've been here 20 times. 47 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,000 You can say a word or two, Panky. 48 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,000 Hello, we're at the nice night. 49 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:40,000 I didn't. 50 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,000 Well, I didn't know that you wanted me to. 51 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,000 You're a funny fellow. 52 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 I didn't look like I didn't want you to, did I? 53 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,000 Don't I know my looks anymore? 54 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:52,000 Oh, sure. 55 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Tell me, did I hear somebody call you a hunk the other night? 56 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:56,000 I guess you did. 57 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,000 My name is Henry. Henry Gilford. 58 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Did your girl call you a hunk? 59 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,000 Well, haven't you got a girl? 60 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,000 No, steady girl, if that's what you mean. 61 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,000 What would you be doing with a steady girl, working here every night? 62 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,000 Oh, I get one night off, go to her dance or something. 63 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,000 Oh, yes. 64 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:14,000 Sure, I... 65 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,000 Hey, say, do you like to dance? 66 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,000 I have, Henry. 67 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,000 Well, I'm off tomorrow night. 68 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,000 You ever go to the Arcadia? 69 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,000 They've got a good band there. I forget who it is this week. 70 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,000 Oh, I'm sorry. Tomorrow night isn't my night off. 71 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:28,000 Oh. 72 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,000 But I get off at midnight tonight. 73 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,000 And see, the Arcadia closes at midnight. 74 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,000 All the big dance places close at midnight. 75 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,000 Well, you don't have to have a big place, do you? 76 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,000 Oh, no. Oh, no. 77 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,000 No, there's the Owl Inn out on Tapscott Avenue. 78 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,000 They run late and have a pretty good little band 79 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,000 and the booze and everything. 80 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:51,000 That would be fine. 81 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Well, I could pick you up at your job. 82 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,000 No, no, I, um... 83 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,000 I'm way at the other end of town and I have to drive my car back anyway. 84 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,000 Suppose I meet you at the Owl. I'll be there in a little after midnight. 85 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:02,000 I'll be there. 86 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:03,000 Okay, see you. 87 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,000 Oh, say, what's your name? 88 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,000 It's a long night. Goodbye. 89 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,000 That next night around 11.30, 90 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,000 I caught the trolley going out along Tapscott Avenue. 91 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,000 The mortarman was old Steve Hoffman. 92 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,000 He had known me since I was a kid and he'd written me about my new gray suit, 93 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,000 especially by wanting to get off at the Owl Inn. 94 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,000 Said I was stepping out in fast company. 95 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,000 We got there in about 20 minutes and I started up the driveway, 96 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,000 kind of thrilled at the idea of a midnight date. 97 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,000 I was just starting up the steps at the inn when I heard voices 98 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,000 coming from a grove of trees to one side. 99 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:43,000 Nobody, I tell you. 100 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,000 Don't give me that stuff. 101 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,000 I followed you all the way out there. Who you meet? 102 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:48,000 Nobody. 103 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,000 Okay, for giving me that, you'll get bit. 104 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:51,000 Ow! 105 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:52,000 Get back here. 106 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:53,000 Hey, hey, what's this? 107 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,000 I told you this is the guy you're gonna meet. Hans Weld. 108 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:56,000 I'll take care of both of you now. 109 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:57,000 Hey, what's going on anyway? 110 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,000 What did you hit him for, Joe? He's got nothing to do with it. 111 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,000 Get up, Hank. Run. This guy's crazy. 112 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,000 Crazy? Why don't you call somebody? I'll handle him till he comes. 113 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,000 No, no, you get out of here. Now run. 114 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,000 You want more, huh? Well, I got it right here for you. 115 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,000 Get the black... Run, Hank! 116 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:12,000 No, you don't. 117 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,000 Hey, now let go of it. No, you don't. You don't grab this. 118 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:23,000 You got him, Hank. Hit him again. Hit him. Hit him again. 119 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,000 Well, I did it, I guess. 120 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,000 Say, who... who is he? 121 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,000 He would have done worse for you. 122 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,000 We used to go together. 123 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,000 I didn't know you had a steady fella. 124 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,000 I thought when we made our date... 125 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:38,000 You didn't ask me. 126 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,000 Besides, we were breaking up. 127 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,000 He had no right to interfere. 128 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,000 Well, what do we do now? 129 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,000 What do you mean about him? 130 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,000 You tell me, Chloe. I'll take care of him. 131 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,000 You mean, leave him here with you? 132 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,000 Well, he'll... Please go. 133 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,000 There'll be more trouble for you, you two. 134 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Go ahead, Hank. I'm gonna leave here right away, too. 135 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,000 He'll be all right. 136 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 But he wasn't all right. He was dead. 137 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,000 I knew about it hardly two hours later. 138 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,000 No, she didn't come and tell me. 139 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,000 The police came and got him. 140 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,000 And they didn't learn about me from her, either. 141 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,000 They didn't know anything about her, 142 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,000 and they acted like they didn't want to know. 143 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,000 Why did you walk home? 144 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,000 You rode out there on the trolley. Why didn't you ride back? 145 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,000 Well, I just wanted to think, that's all. 146 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,000 Sure. Because you weren't thinking about 147 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,000 how maybe the motorman wouldn't remember taking you out there 148 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,000 if you didn't ride back. 149 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,000 No, why would I do that? I've known old Steve Hoffman all my life. 150 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Is that how you found out? 151 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:36,000 You're not very smart. 152 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,000 I'm not trying to be smart. 153 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,000 Okay. So you hit him in self-defense 154 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,000 and to save a girl. Now, what's her name? 155 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,000 Her name? 156 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,000 I never got it. 157 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,000 She didn't tell me. 158 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,000 You had a date with a girl and you didn't even know what her name was. 159 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,000 Well, yes. I asked her. 160 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,000 I've seen her often, but she didn't tell me. 161 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Are you sure there was a girl? 162 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,000 Of course. Who would I have the date with? 163 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,000 Maybe just with the guy you killed. 164 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,000 I never met him before. I don't even know him. 165 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,000 You just don't know anything, do you? 166 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,000 Well, I'll ask you a very simple question. 167 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,000 I'm sure you can answer this one. 168 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,000 I'll try. How much money did you take off the man you murdered? 169 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:12,000 How much? 170 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Yeah, how much. And where is it? 171 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,000 His pockets were turned inside out. 172 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,000 You went from self-defense to help yourself. 173 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,000 They pushed me around some after that. 174 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,000 They'd take me to court and then back to myself. 175 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,000 Half the time I didn't know what was going on. 176 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,000 They gave me a lawyer, Mr. Hall, Bailey Hall. 177 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,000 He'd do the talking. 178 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,000 He kept asking for things like reduced bail, 179 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,000 time for further investigation, 180 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,000 continuances to find witnesses. 181 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,000 Just sort of stalling all the time. 182 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,000 I don't know why. 183 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,000 I told him I didn't have the money for any bail. 184 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,000 And witnesses. 185 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,000 There was only one I wanted, that girl. 186 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,000 But he kept on. 187 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,000 I was trying to hold up things. 188 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,000 And one day he told me I'd been indicted. 189 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,000 I knew what that meant, Harold. 190 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,000 It meant I had to go in trial. 191 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,000 For murder. 192 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,000 That's bad, boy, bad. 193 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,000 I've done all I could to delay indictment and trial. 194 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,000 And I hope that something will turn up, but we're in for it now. 195 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,000 I wish they'd give me something more to work on. 196 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:21,000 What do you mean? 197 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,000 This girl, you can't even name. 198 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,000 I can't go into a court with just that. 199 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,000 The police feel certain there never was a girl. 200 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,000 And there's no trace of her anywhere. 201 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,000 Well, maybe she'll show up. 202 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,000 My boy, you've got a lot to learn. 203 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,000 Mr. Hall, that's all I know. 204 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,000 I can't help it. 205 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:42,000 You never mentioned the girl and just claimed self-defense or a fight. 206 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:46,000 The girl thing, that's so bad, it makes your whole defense fooling. 207 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Good Lord, boy, if you made up a girl, why didn't you make up a name? 208 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,000 Look, I've been all through that with the police. 209 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:55,000 Now, if you're going to talk that way, too, maybe we'd better forget the whole thing. 210 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,000 Maybe they'll give me another attorney, Harold. 211 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,000 None at all, for I care. 212 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:00,000 Easy, boy, easy. 213 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:05,000 I'm sorry I popped off, but it isn't a new attorney you need. 214 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:06,000 It's a new story. 215 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:12,000 That's right. 216 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,000 Guilford rode out to the inn that night in my trolley. 217 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,000 It was on the fourth or the fifth. 218 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,000 Face the jury, please, and talk louder. 219 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Oh, louder? 220 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:25,000 I say I took Guilford to the inn that night. 221 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,000 It was about 10 after midnight. 222 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,000 He got out and started for the inn. 223 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,000 Did you notice anyone else around, any girl, for instance? 224 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,000 A girl? 225 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,000 No, no, nobody else. 226 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:40,000 That'll be all, thank you. 227 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,000 The defense may have the witness. 228 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:51,000 And as soon as we started to talk to Guilford, he confessed to spiking the blows. 229 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:57,000 He talked about doing it in self-defense and about a girl he had a date with who witnessed the fight. 230 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,000 Have you been able to trace this girl whose existence is claimed by the defendant? 231 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:02,000 No. 232 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:03,000 No trace of her at all? 233 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,000 No, sir, no trace of her at all. 234 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,000 And then we come to the actual evidence, gentlemen of the jury. 235 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,000 Where do we get the evidence? 236 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,000 From the witnesses. 237 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,000 And who is the state's principal witness? 238 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,000 None other than the defendant himself. 239 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,000 But the defendant can prove his story. 240 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,000 He has a witness. 241 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,000 The girl who saw it all. 242 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,000 The girl he saved from a bad deal. 243 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:40,000 Would any girl be so heartless as to leave such a benefactor in the lurch when just a word would save him? 244 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,000 Why doesn't she appear? 245 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,000 Why isn't she found? 246 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,000 No, there is no trace of her. 247 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,000 Not even a small size note. 248 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:57,000 In other words, she is behaving exactly as you would expect someone to behave who is not real. 249 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:01,000 But just a figment of a desperate man's imagination. 250 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,000 The defendant will rise. 251 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,000 Gentlemen of the jury, have you reached the verdict? 252 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:13,000 We have. 253 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:14,000 What is your verdict? 254 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:20,000 We the jury find the defendant Henry Guilford guilty as charged of murder in the first degree. 255 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,000 I... 256 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:50,000 Yes. 257 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,000 My boss at the garage and the fellows who worked their days chipped in some money. 258 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:01,000 I had an uncle in West Virginia who sent Mr. Hall $50 in cash and a promissory note for another $50. 259 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,000 And I guess Mr. Hall put up the money himself for his spending. 260 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,000 Anyway, he kept appealing the case all the way up to the state Supreme Court. 261 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,000 But it didn't do any good. 262 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,000 Kept coming back to the original decision sustained, Mr. Hall said. 263 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,000 All this time the court had kept changing the date. 264 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,000 The date I was supposed to be hanged. 265 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,000 Now all of a sudden I knew there weren't going to be any more changes. 266 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,000 The last date set was it. 267 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,000 I think I started to suffocate right then. 268 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,000 There was something growing in my throat that wouldn't let me breathe. 269 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:41,000 The evening of the next day, McGill, your deputy warden, came into my cell with a couple of guards. 270 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,000 He told me I was moving. 271 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:44,000 I knew where. 272 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,000 It was down on the main floor. 273 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,000 A row of only three cells. 274 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,000 It was the last stop. 275 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,000 Just row. 276 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:03,000 They have a team of two guards who live right in the cell with you the last few days. 277 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,000 One time a prison breaks down and shows a human touch. 278 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:12,000 McGill, or else they just want to make sure you don't go ahead and carry out the sentence on yourself. 279 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,000 Anyway, whatever it was, I was grateful. 280 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,000 Because now I was lonely. 281 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,000 I was afraid. 282 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:23,000 Not afraid like a man, but afraid the way a child is afraid. 283 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,000 I was going someplace. 284 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:26,000 The last place. 285 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,000 And I was going alone. 286 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,000 The last hour of the day. 287 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,000 The thing you feel most the last hours of the time. 288 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:48,000 A clock. 289 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:55,000 Remembering how often you wished it would hurry so you could get off work or out of school or see your girl or go fishing. 290 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,000 You remember a million hours like that when six hours is all you got left. 291 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,000 Outside, you know, they're watching the clock too. 292 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,000 Not like you are, but they're watching it. 293 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,000 All the usual people concerned with an execution. 294 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,000 Doing the usual things. 295 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,000 The lawyer, the warden, the governor maybe. 296 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,000 Newspaper men, guards, the executioner. 297 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,000 I know what every one of them was doing as they watched the clock that night. 298 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,000 They told me afterwards. 299 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,000 And now I'll never forget it. 300 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,000 Clock all over the state. 301 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,000 Ticking away my life. 302 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,000 You ought to get some sleep warden. 303 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,000 It's only five hours away. 304 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,000 Yes, I know, McGill, I know. 305 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,000 I wish I could lose this pain in my chest. 306 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,000 I think I'll lie down here on the couch for a little while. 307 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:56,000 Yes, do that. 308 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,000 When shall I call you, warden? 309 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Oh, make it an hour beforehand. 310 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,000 Five a.m. 311 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,000 Hello? 312 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,000 This is Bailey Hall. 313 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,000 Yes, I'm beautiful this evening. 314 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,000 You're who? 315 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Where have you been all this time? 316 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,000 What? 317 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,000 Look, you're not dead. 318 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,000 You're dead. 319 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,000 You're dead. 320 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,000 I'm dead. 321 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,000 I'm dead. 322 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,000 I'm dead. 323 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,000 I'm dead. 324 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,000 Hey, hey, look, you're not just some crook that's after pubs. 325 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,000 I know, I know it's for sick this morning. 326 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:38,000 Where are you? 327 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:39,000 All right, wait for me. 328 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:40,000 I'll be right down. 329 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,000 We've got about two hours. 330 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,000 I take my reputation on, Governor. 331 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,000 This is the girl. 332 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,000 At least it deserves a stay of execution. 333 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,000 It's true, sir. I swear it's true. 334 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,000 I've been in the East. 335 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,000 I just haven't heard about it till tonight, 336 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,000 but it's just as East had it was. 337 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,000 And the money that was taken out of the dead man's pocket? 338 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:08,000 I took it. 339 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,000 I need it with my head. I'll be right, kid. 340 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,000 He's been my husband. 341 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:13,000 Very well. Richard. 342 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:14,000 Yes, Governor? 343 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,000 Type out a stay of execution on the Guilford case for three weeks. 344 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,000 Bring it in and out. Sign it and you can take it down. 345 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,000 All right. You'd better phone the warden to make sure, though, Governor. 346 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:30,000 That boy's only got about a half hour left. 347 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,000 Warden's office. 348 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,000 Yes, this is Warden Barnes. 349 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,000 Huh? 350 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,000 Oh, yes, Governor. 351 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,000 Young Guilford? 352 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,000 Oh, you don't say so. 353 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,000 Why, that's splendid, Governor. Splendid. 354 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,000 Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'll let them know right away. 355 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,000 Yes, sir. Oh, McGill. McGill. McGill. 356 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,000 I guess, Warden. 357 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,000 Harry, Jack, come here, quick. 358 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:15,000 What's the matter? 359 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,000 Something happened to the warden. Help me get him up on the couch. 360 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,000 Yeah. 361 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,000 Looks like a stroke. 362 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,000 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Call the doctor, will you? 363 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,000 Sure. Hey, the phone's off the hook. 364 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,000 Oh, mind that. Call the doctor. 365 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Yeah, must have been a strain of his execution. 366 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:29,000 I think he kind of liked the kid. 367 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,000 Yeah. 5.30. 368 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,000 Well, I'll have to take over for the execution. 369 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,000 Gentlemen. Gentlemen. 370 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,000 Now 10 minutes to 6. 371 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:44,000 In a few moments, you will be admitted to the ground floor of Blockhouse A 372 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,000 where the scaffold has been erected 373 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,000 and where the execution, which you are to witness as 374 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:52,000 newspaper men and members of the medical profession, will take place. 375 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:58,000 We'll find rows of banknotes and 376 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:05,000 please take your seats quietly in any of the rows except the first, 377 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,000 which has been reserved for members of the medical examining committee. 378 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,000 We ask you to cooperate with us in our duties 379 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:16,000 and to respect the solemnity of the occasion by moving quietly, 380 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:20,000 refraining from any loud conversation from the moment you enter until you leave. 381 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:28,000 That's all. Thank you. 382 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,000 The minister was reading from the Bible when 383 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:50,000 I knew it was time they were coming for me. 384 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,000 This was it then. 385 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,000 There was a group of guards. 386 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,000 The deputy warden was with them. 387 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,000 They opened my cell door. 388 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,000 One of the guards came straight up to me. 389 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:08,000 He was carrying a leather strap with a big buckle on it. 390 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,000 I stood up. 391 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,000 I saw them strapping my arms behind me. 392 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:17,000 The minister stopped reading for a moment to say something. 393 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,000 We'll go now, Guilford. 394 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,000 I started to say something to the deputy, 395 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:27,000 but he nodded his head at the men and we started to move. 396 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,000 The two guards who had been in the cell with me stood back 397 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,000 and one of them reached over to me, 398 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,000 and he put his hand on my shoulder for a second. 399 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,000 I tried to say goodbye. 400 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,000 I walked and realized I couldn't breathe very deeply, though I wanted to. 401 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,000 Just short breaths were all I could take. 402 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,000 The deputy turned around and looked at me. 403 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,000 He seemed nervous. 404 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:57,000 That bothered me. 405 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,000 I wish he wasn't so nervous. 406 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,000 Then we got to a door in the corner. 407 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,000 Through that, then another door. 408 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,000 That was already open. 409 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:06,000 I walked through. 410 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,000 I was in a room full of men. 411 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,000 But my eyes looked at something else. 412 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,000 They were the steps just ahead of me. 413 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,000 Untainted wooden steps. 414 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,000 They led up to the platform. 415 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:25,000 From above that, there, up there, I saw the rope. 416 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:34,000 Yes. 417 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:39,000 The guard who was waiting worked fast and moved me into position. 418 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,000 The men in the room below me now, they were looking up. 419 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,000 There was a movement among them. 420 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:56,000 One of them had fainted, fell off the bench, and landed hard. 421 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,000 It was like in a dream. 422 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,000 I wondered if he had hurt himself. 423 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,000 Then I felt something over my head. 424 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,000 And I knew the rope was being adjusted. 425 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,000 Then another guard was in front of me. 426 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:07,000 He had a hood. 427 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,000 He lifted it and it came down over my head. 428 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,000 Somewhere inside of me, screams began, but my lips were closed. 429 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:19,000 And I was saying to myself, hurry, hurry, hurry. 430 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:22,000 Hello. 431 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,000 Tom, don't you know better than to ring the phone now. 432 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,000 Guilford's on the scaffold. 433 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:28,000 What? 434 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,000 The governor's missing? 435 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:31,000 What? 436 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,000 Are you sure? 437 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:34,000 The cops have sprung. 438 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:35,000 McGill! 439 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:36,000 McGill, stop! 440 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:37,000 There's a pardon! 441 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:38,000 Stop it! 442 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,000 Stop it! 443 00:21:39,000 --> 00:22:01,000 No, a man doesn't always die right away when he's hanged. 444 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,000 They talk about the neck being broken and death coming instantly. 445 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:06,000 No, not always. 446 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,000 Death doesn't come for a long time. 447 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,000 For some men it's nearly 20 minutes. 448 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,000 For others it may be less. 449 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,000 But never under 12 minutes before the heart stops. 450 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,000 You can check on that. 451 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,000 Me? 452 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,000 I was up only a few seconds. 453 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:26,000 They cut me down and the doctors worked on me right on the wheel stretcher that was waiting to carry my body out. 454 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,000 No, I didn't lose consciousness. 455 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,000 I sometimes wish I had. 456 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:37,000 I sometimes wish I'd gone then instead of being brought back to remember every bit of those last hours. 457 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,000 There was a new trial after I was on my feet again. 458 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,000 But I don't know what was dead. 459 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,000 I was free. 460 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,000 I saw the girl, Judy. 461 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,000 I know her name now and I thank him. 462 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:54,000 Neither one of us knew what to say after that, so she just went. 463 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:58,000 Yes, I never sleep indoors. 464 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,000 I never button my collar. 465 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,000 I don't like buildings, any buildings. 466 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,000 They drop stone and steel and hold you in. 467 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:11,000 I want to be out here where I can see the sky anytime I open my eyes. 468 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,000 And I open them often. 469 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,000 I think too much when they're closed. 470 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,000 I hear the clock. 471 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,000 The clock. 472 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:47,000 The clock. 473 00:23:51,000 --> 00:24:14,000 This is the Armed Forces radio service. 474 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:42,000 The Armed Forces radio service. 475 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:59,000 The Armed Forces radio service.