Yes, Roma wines taste better because only Roma selects from the world's greatest wine
reserves for your pleasure.
And now, Roma wines, R-O-M-A, Roma wines present Suspense.
Tonight, Roma wines bring you Mr. Wally Mayer in Dead Ernest, a suspense play produced,
edited and directed for Roma Wines by William Spear.
Suspense, Radio's outstanding theater of thrills, is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines.
That's R-O-M-A, Roma wines, those better tasting California wines enjoyed by more Americans
than any other wine.
For friendly entertaining, for delightful dining.
Yes, right now a glass full would be very pleasant, as Roma wines bring you Wally Mayer
in a remarkable tale of Suspense.
Accident reports submitted to Police Inspector Blandon from Lieutenant Steve Healy.
Place 15th Street and 4th Avenue, time 2.45 p.m. March 11th.
Remarks.
Ernest Bowers, age 34, was crossing the intersection as signal light changed from green to red.
A car driven by Theodore Tobey made legal right turn from 15th Street into 4th Avenue.
Hey, hey, look out!
We hit him!
Hey, officer!
Look at those trauma!
Here's a guy like him!
Please!
All right, all right.
Give him some air.
Come on now, let me throw here.
All right, stand back.
Let's have a look.
Is he hurt, bad officer?
I didn't see him, honest, I didn't.
I had the right of way.
He's passed out.
One of you people called for an ambulance.
Yeah, you.
Okay, move back, move back.
He's bleeding.
Here, I'll prop up his head.
Yeah, use his jacket.
Here, I'll hold him.
Golly, he's limp.
Feels just like he's dead.
Yes, Ernest Bowers felt like he was dead.
Ernest Bowers suffered from catalepsy, a strange disease.
He carried at all times a note in his inside coat pocket stating that he was a cataleptic
and that in the event of seeming death his wife should be immediately notified or his
doctor in the event his wife is unavailable.
The letter also requested that no autopsy or embalming should be performed on his body
for 72 hours, although in his particular case the duration of the attacks were usually four
hours or less.
Ernest Bowers also wore a sterling silver bracelet with an inscription reading, do not
embalm me.
I am not dead.
Catalepsy is a disease of the nerves and mind.
The physical condition of the cataleptic when he is under a spell closely resemble death
in all aspects, including the primary stages of rigor mortis.
Officer Rabbit was at the scene of the accident.
He administered first aid to the injured man before making out his report.
There, that ought to stop the bleeding.
Looks like just a cut on his forehead when he hit the ground, nothing much.
He can't be hurt bad, officer.
I didn't hit him hard.
That's right, officer.
I saw it.
It looked like just a little bump.
All right, now clear back, clear back.
Let's have a little air here.
I'll have to take down some information.
What's your name?
Theodore Tobey.
Here, here's my license.
Hey, hey you kids.
I want to know what you're doing.
I'm going to tell you something.
Well, here it comes.
I hope he's all right.
It doesn't look like he's breathing.
I told you to get back.
Now come on, he's back.
All of you here.
All right, let us through here, please.
Hello, Doc.
Glad you got here.
He's not cold.
I don't say he is.
No.
Have a look.
Well, let's get him away.
He's dead.
Well, anyway, it didn't happen in the coach.
Okay, we'll take him away.
Keep them back, officer, will you?
Okay, keep back.
Come on, clear out.
Show's over.
All right.
It's the second one today.
Yeah.
Well, let's go.
Whose jacket was that when he was laying on?
I don't know.
Did you pick it up?
Nope.
Hey, officer.
Yeah.
Where's the jacket?
What?
The jacket, the guy's jacket.
Oh, uh, oh my gosh, it's gone.
Well, okay.
All those kids are gone.
Yeah, they're gone.
Well, I'm going to go get a new jacket.
I'll be right back.
All right.
I'll go get one of those kids.
Never mind.
Let's go, baby.
All right.
Ernest Bowers had lost the identification of his condition.
The letter was in the inside pocket of his jacket.
The silver chain he wore on his left wrist had snapped and fallen to the pavement.
Two youngsters picked up the chain, Robert Minnelli, age nine and a half, and Tommy Stoner,
age nine, and a half.
Hey, that cop yelled at us.
Did you hear him?
Yeah.
Maybe we should give it back.
No, what for?
So he can keep it?
Let's go around the back to your father's shop, Bob.
Sure is a nice chain.
Hey, there's writing on it.
Maybe it's a guy's name.
Will he hurt bad?
Hey, what's it say?
Oh, just a second.
We'll be out of the alley.
Yeah, Pop's gone home to eat.
Can you read it now?
Wait a second, will you?
It says, do not im...
ball...
do not...
im...
ball...
do not something me I am not dead that's scrawly what will come with it so that they'll
invite well so the bar it ain't stealing with sound didn't wait when we tried it out
I'll ask as well we got it what will we tell them nothing
I'll use your head you know what we'll do what will use pop's welding torch he'll your
länger but he told us not to use it popping here is he no well come on
Oh, there it is.
Now here, you put it on that brick.
Okay?
Yeah.
There, be careful.
What are you kids doing?
Huh?
Oh, hello, Pop.
Nothing, Mr. Minnelli.
We ain't doing nothing.
Nothing, eh?
I told you kids not to go need the torch.
Well, we want to melt this down.
Come on, come on, give me the torch.
Now, what's it all about?
Well, we found this chain, Pop, and we want to melt it down and sell it.
Chain and melt?
Who's easy?
We don't know.
Do we, Tommy?
No, no, no, we don't.
Well, where you get it?
We found it.
Well, come on, come on, let me have it.
Well, there's nothing wrong, Pop.
We just found it, see?
It's ours.
Oh, shh, shut up.
Do not embalama me.
I am not dead.
Ma, what's that?
It's screwy.
Well, where you find it?
In the street.
Honest, Pop, ask Tommy.
All right, go on, get out of here.
Well, how about melting it down, Pop?
We can sell it and buy some baseball.
All right, ma, keep back.
Look at Tommy, you see it?
Yeah, it's starting to melt.
You see how he does it?
Keep away, I told you.
It's all melted.
They sold the melted chain for a dollar thirty to a dealer.
One dollar and thirty cents.
But the coat, the coat was the principal thing.
In the coat, in the inside pocket was the letter.
The information about Ernest Bauer's condition was in the letter.
The instructions that could save his life.
The coat was picked up from the street by Honest Jerry Murdoch.
Now, there's a big sign near the corner of 15th Street.
It says, Honest Jerry Murdoch, swap shop.
He brought the coat into a store, rummaged around on his shelves until he found some cleaner.
Then started to clean the blood stains.
I'm looking for a sport jacket.
Just a moment, what kind?
Conservative.
Come over here, please.
Yeah, something on that order.
Yeah, just pick out what you want.
How much you want to spend?
About five bucks.
These cost more.
How much?
From eight to twelve.
Now, over here we got some cheaper.
These don't look so hot for eight bucks.
From eight to twelve.
Over here.
Well, I'll take a look.
No, these don't appeal to me.
And what size do you wear?
Forty.
Oh, here, try this one on.
Nice and conservative.
There.
Yeah, it's kind of tight around the shoulders.
Yeah, tight.
It looks cheesy.
Well, I guess you ain't got what I want.
Wait, wait, wait a minute.
Wait, what's your hurry?
I'm just putting a new one in stock over here by the county.
Huh?
Now, that looks all right.
What size is it?
I don't know.
Here, let's try it on you.
All right.
Now, how's that?
Yeah, that feels all right.
All right.
It's kind of stiff in front here.
It's almost new, Wayne.
If you'll break it in.
It feels like cardboard or something.
Look, you want it?
Five dollars.
Okay.
There might be still a couple stains on it.
I had enough time to take them out.
You use some cleaner on it to bring it to the Taylor's Hill spot.
It'll be better than new.
Yeah.
Here.
Here's the five.
Ernest Bowers was brought to the receiving room of the Vedder General Hospital.
The time, 410.
If Bowers was going to awaken, it would probably be before 645.
Intern on duty, Dr. Weldon made out his report.
He wrote it down while he was standing near the telephone switchboard.
Hello?
This is the Vedder General Hospital.
Is there anybody by the name of Bowers at home that's Bowers?
B-O-W-E-R-A.
No, nobody home.
Is Mr. Bowers married?
His wife thinks so.
Where can I reach her?
There's been an accident.
I don't know.
She's out.
Will you tell her to call the Vedder General Hospital?
Yeah.
What happened?
Mr. Bowers is dead.
That's funny.
Just a superficial cut on forehead.
Well, that's cardiac, Macomb.
When they go, get me the orderly room, honey.
Okay, you use that phone there.
Right.
Yeah?
This is Dr. Weldon.
There's a delivery for you to go to the morgue.
The morgue now?
Yeah.
I ain't had anything to eat since-
Yeah, I know.
Since lunch.
Go on now.
It's down in the receiving room.
The papers are down there, too.
Can I get a sandwich first?
No.
Go on.
Get going.
Why can't I wait a few minutes?
It's got to go now.
They'll want to start the embalming so they can go home.
It was then 422 in the afternoon.
Dr. Theodore J. Weldon left honey at the switchboard and walked upstairs to the intern quarters
and settled down to reading the sports page of the afternoon paper.
At that moment, if anyone had been in receiving room B of the Vedder General Hospital
where the body of Ernest Powers lay on the patient carriage,
they would have seen a fly crawl slowly across the face of the dead man,
and they would have seen his nose twitch.
For Suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you an all-star cast of Hollywood radio players
headed by Wally Mayer in Dead Ernest,
a radio play by Celie Glester and Merwin Gerard.
Roma Wines presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Between the acts of Suspense, this is Truman Bradley for Roma Wines.
In Roma Wine, you enjoy an important difference.
Yes, Roma gives you an extra dividend of enjoyment.
A fuller bouquet, richer body, and better taste.
To bring you better tasting wines every time, Roma selects from California's choicest grapes.
Then, with ancient skill and America's finest wine-making resources,
Roma master ventners guide this grape treasure to tempting taste perfection.
These choice wines are placed with Melo Roma wines of years before,
and from these reserves, the world's greatest reserves of fine wines,
Roma later selects for your pleasure.
That's why more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine.
That's why you will find Roma California Wine your best buy in good taste.
So, whether you prefer Sherry or Port, Muscatel or Toquet,
insist on Roma Wine, R-O-M-A, Roma, the greatest name in wine.
And now, Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage, Wally Mayer,
who as police lieutenant Healy, heads an all-star cast of Hollywood radio players in Dead Ernest,
a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Henry Prince had purchased the coat in which was the letter that could save the life of Ernest Bowers.
When Henry Prince left Ernest Jerry Murdoch's second-hand store,
he stopped to have a chat with some friends, made some purchases at the grocery store,
and then started home, the time a few minutes after five.
He lived about two blocks from the scene of the accident, and his wife was waiting for him.
Turn around a little bit, will you?
I didn't like it for five blocks.
Oh, it looks all right. You lose some of that weight, it looks better.
Wait a minute, wait a minute, what's that, a spot?
Where?
Take it off for a minute. Here.
Yeah?
Yeah. I wonder what that is.
Oh, he said there were a couple of spots. Cleaner will take them off.
Yeah, it looks like it might be. What's this in the pocket?
Hmm? I don't know.
Heaven's sake. To whom it may concern, please open and read.
Well, that's what must have felt stiff, huh?
Yeah.
Hmm.
This note is carried on my person wherever I go.
Hmm.
It is to advise responsible parties that I am a cataleptic,
that if it appears as though I am dead, I am not,
and that my body is not to be molested for a period of 72 hours,
neither by autopsy nor by embalming,
although the maximum periods of my attacks usually do not exceed four hours.
Please telephone my wife, Mrs. Margaret Bowers, at Fulton 11231.
This is a boarding house, address 841 1 Half West 25th Street.
If she is not there, please try to ask Mr. 43422.
This is the number of Dr. Benton.
It is of vital importance. It may mean my life.
Thank you, Ernest Bowers.
Yeah, that's a funny one.
Where'd you get that jacket, Harry?
Right on it's Jerry Murdoch.
Gee, I wonder what we can do.
Well, nothing is probably forgotten already.
Somebody sold the jacket to him, forgot to take the letter off.
You sound like something a guide forgets.
No, the devil.
Well, it might be important.
I said, look at that, Harry. Those spots look like blood.
No, too dark.
That's the color that blood turns. I'm going to telephone that number.
Well, go ahead, but I think you're wasting your time.
Oh, hush. Will you a minute?
Oh, for crying out loud.
Keep still.
Hello.
I'd like to talk to Mrs. Bowers.
She ain't in.
Well, how do you know? You didn't even go to find...
She went out and you ain't the first after her.
Who else wanted to get in touch with her?
Oh, somebody. I don't know who.
Oh, well, thank you.
There, you see, you're wasting your time.
I'll try that doctor.
Oh, for heaven's sakes.
I'm turning into a regular busybody.
Well, think of somebody else.
Well, I'm getting hungry.
Oh, hush. Will you?
How about some dinner?
It's cooking. It's cooking.
Honestly, I can't get it out of my head.
That guy, whoever he is, just lying there and people thinking
him dead when he ain't. Maybe doing things to him.
Gee. What's him bombing?
Oh, they do that at the morgue.
It's preparing his body for burial.
I think they take all the blood out of his veins.
For heaven's sakes, that'd kill him if he wasn't already dead.
Couldn't kill him any deader.
Harry, I'm going to find out about that coat.
Now, where's this place you're going?
Now, wait a minute, Frances.
I put in a good day's work. I'm tired.
I don't want to run around the city looking for something
I don't even know about.
Well, I'll go myself.
How about me at home here while you go out?
I want to eat. I'm hungry.
Well, dinner won't be ready for another 15 minutes anyway.
Where's the place?
Oh, all right. I'll go with you.
Pardon me.
Sure. What do you have?
We want to find out about the man next door.
Do you know when we'll come back?
Oh, honest, Jerry?
Yeah.
No. Are you there?
No, he isn't.
Harry, listen, go take another look.
I'll try that number again.
Oh, Fran, for heaven's sake, I'm hungry.
I'm using this...
Oh.
Well, he ain't back yet.
What does this sign say, 10 minutes?
Yeah, but those guys put up signs like that if they're going to wait for an hour.
Well, we'll just wait a couple of more minutes.
Oh, come on, Fran.
Hello?
Wait, wait. Is Mrs. Bowers in?
No.
Uh, is Mr. Bowers?
He's dead.
He is?
That's what they tell me.
Well, look, listen, will you please...
You're bothering me, lady. I got a meal set up on the table.
I can't be answering a million questions.
All I want to know is when Mr. Bowers died.
How do I know? Ask Mrs. Bowers. She'll be home soon.
Yeah, well, thanks.
Well?
Mr. Bowers is dead. I found that out.
Oh, you see? I told you.
Well, what about the letter, then? What if he ain't dead?
What if they only think he's dead?
Well, what do you want to do, wait here all night?
If I have to.
Well, without me, then.
Well, just do as you please.
I'll be home. I'm hungry. It's after six.
If you think more of a crazy letter than you do of feeding your own husband, then that's all.
What do you mean, that's all?
Just what I said. That's all.
Oh, Harry, the trouble with you is you haven't got any imagination.
No, I haven't got any imagination. I'm just a home-loving guy. That's all.
I don't go sticking my nose where it don't belong.
Oh, well, for heaven's sakes, go home, then. I'll find out about it.
I'll find for you.
I think it's something beside your stomach once in a while.
Officer, officer.
Yes, ma'am?
Do you know where the fellow who owns that swap shop lives, Honest Jerry Murdock?
No, ma'am, I don't.
Oh, dear. Gee, I want to get in touch with him. And there's a sign on his door saying...
Why don't you ask him, ma'am? There he is now.
Huh?
Just going in over there.
Oh, gee, thank you. Mr. Murdock?
Yeah?
Mr. Murdock, oh, gee. I'm sure glad you came back.
Come in, come in. Just out having a bite to eat.
Yeah, listen, you sold my husband a jacket, a sports jacket this afternoon.
Did I? What kind?
Well, a light blue one with little red boxes in it. It had a few stains on it.
Oh, sorry. I can't take anything back once it's sold.
No, no, no. I don't want to give it back. Listen, where did you get it, Mr. Murdock?
How can I remember where I got it?
Long ago. Was it very long ago?
I don't see why it's any of your business where I got it.
Well, it may be important. I've been trying to reach the numbers.
The doctor's number's always busy and his wife isn't home yet.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Look, tell me one thing, just one thing. Did you have the jacket in here a long time?
Well...
Oh, please, listen, it's very important.
Well, no, no. I just got it in this afternoon.
Well, where did you get it?
Look, you said one question, you asked it, I answered it. That's all.
There was blood on it.
Well, that I can't help. I...
Listen, if that man's alive and they do anything to him, I'll just never get over it.
I'll never be able to live with myself.
What are you talking about?
Listen to me. There was a letter in the inside pocket of that jacket.
You see, it said that Ernest Bowers was a cataleptic.
What's that? He goes into fits?
No, no, no. A cataleptic is somebody who looks like he's dead at times and he isn't.
He goes into a spell and it looks as though he's dead.
You see, sometimes they take dead bodies to the morgue, they embalm them.
That means they take all the blood out of their veins.
Now, this fellow Bowers is a cataleptic.
I don't know whether he's dead or alive or even if he's worrying about this letter, but I've got to find out.
I...
There was...
What? What?
An accident before...
Where? Who was in it?
I don't know. Believe me, lady, I didn't know anything about all this.
You think that this guy was taken away in ambulance, was a catalepsy?
That coat, was it his?
Yeah, lady, but it was left there in the street. They drove away and left it.
Who?
The ambulance.
What ambulance?
I don't know. It was on the corner. The cop was there.
He told somebody to call an ambulance. It came and took away the man.
Is that the cop out there right now?
Yeah, yeah, but look, look, you've got to protect me. I ain't done anything wrong.
I didn't know anything like this had happened. I've never taken a coat of...
Officer! Officer!
Ernest Bowers lay on a slab at the morgue.
If he were alive, probabilities were that he would regain consciousness before 6.45.
The two bombers on duty at the time had decided to get a bite to eat when the phone rang.
Yeah, but we're going out to eat.
Yeah, I know another one just came in. We got it here.
Well, what's the rush?
No, no, we just want to grab a cup of coffee. We'll get right on it.
Well, is it our fault if it comes in just when we want to have a...
Oh, well, we can go home after?
Ah, that puts a different complexion.
Okay, yeah.
Hey, what time is it, Anthony?
6.30.
Good. Doc says if we embalm this one now, we can go home.
Well, let's start in then. I'm hungry.
Okay, I'll start the motor.
Young guy, ain't he?
Yeah. I was saying to the wife about that yesterday.
Oh, get the injector out, will you, Tony?
She was saying more and more people die older and older.
Here.
Yeah, looks like we can open through the neck.
Yeah. Give me a piece of that gauze.
I said to Velma, she should be around this place a while. We get them all ages.
You want me to do it?
No, no, you get the injector ready.
Look at him.
You'd never think that such a little thing like his heart stops beating could make him dead and not alive.
Yeah, okay. I'll hold it steady, will you?
Yeah.
Ready?
Just a second.
Yep.
All right. Here we go.
Hmm.
What's that?
My glasses. They're clouding up.
Take them off.
That's all right. I'll just clean them.
What'd the wife say to that?
What? Oh, about all ages?
Yeah.
Oh, she didn't have anything to say.
Only that most of the guys we deal with probably come to a violent end.
There's something in that.
Yeah. Okay, I got my glasses cleaned. Let's see here.
Hmm.
What's the matter?
They're steamed up again. That's funny. Every time I bend over and it... I wonder.
What?
Ah, it must be my imagination.
What?
I could have sworn this guy was breathing on my glasses.
Is he?
No, how could he?
Well, come on, then, let's go. It's a quarter to seven already, yeah.
Hold it. I'll get the phone.
No, no, let's get this started first.
Okay.
We'll just start.
Huh?
I... I...
What's the matter with you?
I... I thought I saw this guy's hand twitch.
Oh, don't be silly.
Phew. That gave me a scare.
Let's wait a second. I'll get the phone.
No, no, it'll probably be another job and we'll never get out of here. Now, let it ring.
But the doc said we could go home after...
Oh, all right. Well, come on, let's get this thing over with.
Now...
Okay, now, give me the knife again.
All right. Now, I'll make a nice, neat little incision right...
Hey, Tony.
Yeah?
Look, I'm bent over like this, see. I ain't gonna move. My glasses are full of steam again.
Oh, Lord. Is... is he alive?
Hey, look at me. I'm shaking all over.
Look at him, Hal. Look at his lips.
Huh?
Listen.
Shut that thing off.
Huh?
Apparently, the life of Ernest Bowers was worth $1.30 for a silver bracelet to the boys who ran away with it,
and $5 for a blood-stained jacket to Honest, Jerry Murdock.
Their petty thefts brought a man to the brink of death.
As for the busy telephone in the doctor's office, it wasn't busy at all.
The good doctor had unwittingly replaced the receiver on the phone stand incorrectly.
There is, um... there's just one more episode which perhaps does not belong in an accident report, but which I would like to include.
After regaining full consciousness, Ernest Bowers put in a telephone call from the morgue.
Hello?
Hello, Mrs. Brawley. Is Mrs. Bowers in?
I don't know. I'll see.
Josie, see if Mrs. Bowers is home.
Who is it?
This is Mr. Bowers.
Who? Mr. Bowers?
They told me you was dead. The hospital called and said...
I know, Mrs. Brawley, but they made a mistake.
Oh, well, here she is.
Hello. Ernest, where are you?
Well, darling, it's quite a long story.
Well, never mind, you get right home, you hear? Your dinner's getting ice cold.
Suspense!
Presented by Roma Wines. R-O-M-A. Roma. America's favorite wines.
In just one moment, we'll have a special announcement of interest to our suspense listeners.
This is Truman Bradley reminding you that Roma wines taste better because Roma selects better tasting wines from the world's greatest wine reserves.
Yes, in Roma wine, you enjoy an extra premium goodness in fuller bouquet, richer body, and better taste.
That's why more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine.
So insist on Roma, a premium wine in everything but price.
Tomorrow, enjoy the ruby richness of Roma California Port.
Delicious after dinner, ideal for entertaining.
Now, it is my pleasure to introduce Mr. Don Thornburg, Vice President of the Columbia Broadcasting System.
Ladies and gentlemen, your regular suspense listeners will, I'm sure, be pleased to know that your suspense program has won the 1946 George Foster Peabody Award for outstanding excellence in radio drama.
On behalf of the Columbia Broadcasting System, I congratulate Producer William Spear, the actors, the musicians, sound effects men, technicians, announcers, and the sponsor Roma Wines,
whose combined efforts have earned for suspense the well-deserved title of Radio's outstanding theater of thrill.
Dead Ernest Heard this evening is one of the plays upon which the Peabody Award was based.
It was repeated by popular request.
Next Thursday, same time, Roma Wines bring you Mr. Robert Mitchum as star of Suspense, Radio's outstanding theater of thrill.
Produced and directed by William Spear for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.