In just a moment, Auto Light presents Suspense, starring Margaret O'Brien.
Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go.
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh.
Why, Hap, Hap, that's not the way to sing hurrah for Thanksgiving Day.
What are you telling me, Harlow Wilcox? Why, I've said that so...
No, no, Hap, this is the way it goes today.
Over the river and through the woods and never mind the snow,
Grandpa is happy with his jalopy, his battery's never low.
Over the river and through the woods blow high, ye winds blow low.
The car's as snappy as Grandma and Papi with an Auto Light stay-full, you know.
But Harlow, that's not...
Why, you see, Hap, Auto Light stay-full batteries have changed a lot of things today.
Harlow, isn't anything sacred anymore, it's Thanksgiving Day.
Let's listen to Margaret O'Brien on Suspense.
Suspense.
Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations bring you
Radio's outstanding Theatre of Thrills.
Starring tonight, Miss Margaret O'Brien in Anton Leder's production of
The Screaming Woman.
A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
I'm Margaret Leary and I've got to tell you how it happened.
It was Thanksgiving Day and it was nice and sunshiny.
Almost like summer except cooler.
Mama was cooking the turkey and I was watching.
And Mama said to me, Good heavens, I forgot.
Your Aunt Cynthia's made some cranberry relish for us.
Run over and get it, Margaret, so her feelings aren't hurt.
And hurry, this turkey's down to a turn.
So I ran to Aunt Cynthia's and on the way back I took a shortcut through Mr. Kelly's lot.
It's a big lot, more like the side of a hill that slides down to Monument Creek.
It's a swell place to play Indians and cowboys or explorers are hunting for treasures
because trucks dump all kinds of stuff there.
Loads of dirt and junk and even big things like old cars and big pipes and chunks of concrete.
Well, this day, coming back from Aunt Cynthia's, I saw that a lot of new junk and dirt had been dumped there since Saturday.
They'd even covered up our swell big concrete pipe that us kids called our fort.
Covered it clear up.
I was looking around to see where it used to be when all of a sudden...
I stopped and listened.
The sound was coming up out of the ground.
A woman was buried under the junk and dirt and glass
and she was screaming all wild and horrible for somebody to dig her out.
I started to run. I fell down and got up and ran some more.
It was an awful, awful long way to our house that day.
Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!
Oh, Margaret, haven't I told you not to slam the door?
Is that the relish?
Listen, Mama, there's a screaming woman in the lot.
Wash your hands, Margaret.
She was screaming and screaming and screaming.
Mama, listen to me. We've got to dig her out.
She's buried under tons and tons of dirt.
I'm sure she can wait till after dinner.
Oh, next year I swear I'm going to buy a bigger platter.
Mama, don't you believe me? You've got to believe me.
Margaret, I've got a million things to do.
Good gosh, look at you.
How'd you get your knees so dirty?
Well, when he backs in the lot, I...
Never mind. Scoot and tell your dad we're about to eat.
He's in the front room reading his paper.
Yes, Mama.
Daddy! Oh, Daddy, I've got to tell you something.
Getting hungry, baby?
Daddy, there's a screaming woman in the lot.
I never knew a woman who didn't.
Smell that turkey.
We've got to get picks and shovels and dig her up
like we're an Egyptian mummy. Oh, Daddy!
I don't feel much like an archaeologist today, Margaret.
I can't think of anything but food.
Let's have an expedition next Sunday and dig her up.
But we can't wait that long.
Oh, Daddy, she'll die if we don't do it now.
I'll give you some money.
Oh, so it's a business proposition.
Well, how much do you pay by the hour?
I've got five whole dollars. It took me a year to save.
Come here, boy. You know I'm touched.
Oh, but Daddy...
You want me to play with you and you're willing to pay me for my time.
Oh, but...
Why, dear, you're shaking. Calm down.
Oh, Daddy, please.
After our Thanksgiving dinner,
I'll come out and listen to your screaming woman.
How's that?
Oh, no, now, Daddy.
Maybe she'll die if you don't come out now.
Oh, you've got to come now.
Margaret.
If you believe me, you wouldn't wait.
You never believe me.
Mama doesn't believe me.
Nobody believes me.
Margaret, quiet down right this minute.
Or I not only won't go with you,
but you'll go to your room and stay in without your Thanksgiving dinner.
Oh, is that clear?
Yes, sir. It's clear.
I always like Thanksgiving.
Almost next best to Christmas.
But that was an awful one.
Dinner was a million years long.
Everybody moved so slow, like a slow motion movie.
Forks and knives and spoons move slow.
And Dad's cheek muscles moved slow when he chewed.
I won't try to make things faster.
Margaret, you heard your mother now.
Don't eat so fast.
But, Daddy, the screaming woman, we've got to hurry.
My dear young lady, this is Thanksgiving dinner.
An occasion when we do not hurry.
I intend to eat four or five helpings of everything
until I can't eat anymore.
And I'm going to make an extra effort
and find room for pumpkin pie, a few walnuts, stuffed dates.
Oh, please, please, Daddy.
If you pester me anymore, if you mention her again,
this screaming watsis, I won't go out with you to hear a recital at all.
Am I understood?
Yes, sir, it's understood.
I wanted to yell.
Oh, please, rush, get up, run around, come on, hurry.
But I had to sit still while out there in the lot
with the sun shining down, all alone with nobody to hear or to help her.
It was the screaming woman.
I could hear in my mind screaming.
Mom and Daddy couldn't hear.
They just kept on eating and talking.
Well, now that I can be thankful for a full stomach,
I guess we should consider what other things we have to be thankful for.
Well, we're all healthy.
Prices are sky high, but we're not in debt.
Yet.
Those are mundane things, my dear.
I am thankful for my big daughter.
Right, Puss?
Yes, Dad.
And for my loving wife, who is still the most romantic woman I know.
Oh, silly.
I'm thankful I didn't marry somebody else.
Who nearly married Dora Lampelle.
Even gave her a ring.
I never meant a thing.
No one.
No.
You're the only one who's been the serious competitor since we were all kids.
Oh.
There's only one. One other.
Who?
Helen Nesbitt.
Oh.
Helen was my first love.
When she was about as old as Margaret, I gave her a present one Christmas,
and she gave me one, but I still have it.
Oh, that paperweight on your desk.
Funny how we hang on to things that were important when we were kids.
Daddy.
Just a little longer, Puss.
Want to open my coffee, will you, dear?
You know what I'm thankful for, dear?
Seriously.
That we stayed here in this same town where we grew up.
Here you are, dear.
Thank you.
The same friends.
Even the same street.
It's been a peaceful life.
Not very exciting, but...
Daddy!
Margaret finds it pretty exciting.
Yes.
You better take her out to the lot before she collapses.
All right, now, where is your screaming woman?
Lead me to her.
Over here, where our fort used to be.
Fort?
The big concrete pipe.
It's all covered up now.
Kelly's really getting this lot filled in.
All right, where's the lady?
Right about here, Daddy.
Listen.
Don't hear a thing.
Except the wind.
Better button up your sweater, Puss.
Shh!
Listen.
That's the trolley over on Aspen Street.
Hey, there!
Screaming woman!
Hey!
Looks like the Dolans are starting out for a drive.
Well, I guess your screaming woman's let you down, Puss.
But she was here, Daddy.
Right under here where they dumped all this dirt.
I heard her screaming and screaming like she was underneath the fort.
Somebody's dumped tons and tons right on top of our fort.
Yeah, too bad they buried your fort, Margaret.
I saw two of Kelly's big trucks back in here last evening.
There was a dump truck in here this morning, too.
It isn't because they covered the fort.
That must be your screaming woman doesn't like grown-ups.
Only delivers her solo for kids, I guess.
Maybe she can't scream anymore.
Well, I'm going back and take a nap.
Let my dinner settle.
Well, aren't you going to help me dig?
Now, listen, my dear, don't you think this is a sort of a silly game?
But it's not a game.
Now, don't stay too long, dear.
Mama probably likes some help with those dishes.
Daddy!
I know I heard her scream.
I know it.
Oh, darn, darn, darn!
You're there!
You're still there!
Hey, screaming woman!
Why did you scream before?
Why didn't you scream so Daddy could hear you?
Don't just scream for me.
I can't help you all by myself.
Daddy!
Daddy, where are you?
Up there, my dear.
Daddy!
Daddy, she's screaming again.
Right after you left, she started to scream.
You've got to come back.
Oh, there, now.
Come here.
Let me feel your head.
Please, Dad.
Why, you've got a fever.
You're going to lie down, young lady.
We can't leave her down there, Dad.
We just can't.
Come on along.
Come on into your room.
That's right.
It's awful, Dad.
It's awful for her to be screaming and nobody listening.
Nobody caring.
You lie down, folks.
Lie down.
Now, come on.
She'll choke where there isn't any more air and she'll die.
Now, you're going to lie down the rest of the afternoon before you make yourself sick.
No, I've got to dig.
I've got to dig her up.
All those comic books you read.
Now, I forbid you to leave the house.
Close your eyes now and take a nap.
That's my good girl.
Oh, what am I going to do?
What am I going to do?
For suspense, Auto Light is bringing you Miss Margaret O'Brien in radio's outstanding theater
of thrills, Suspense.
I have a hunch you're going to give me another Auto Light stay full battery Thanksgiving
song.
No, not me, Hap.
No?
No, sirree.
By Cornelius, I'm going to tell a Thanksgiving story.
It's a fable.
Couldn't be anything else if you told it.
Now, listen to this, my trigger tongue trooper.
Last year at this time, my car called me out to the garage.
Quite a car too, Hap.
Once a year she overhauls me.
Wow, and on Thanksgiving Day too.
Harlow, she said, I have an empty feeling and I'm so confounded thirsty all the time,
I think you ought to do something about it.
I'd like to end up Thanksgiving Day with that fine fool feeling that lulls you to sleep
as soon as the mince pie disappears.
Well, how, my pretty, says I, can all this be accomplished?
Easy, she chimes.
I need to switch to an Auto Light stay full battery.
Why, with an Auto Light stay full battery, I'll never be thirsty, and if you use me normally,
I'll need only three drinks a year.
And what's more, with the oversized electrical capacity and fiberglass insulation of that
Auto Light stay full battery, I'll have more power, stay lively longer, and save you time,
trouble, work, and worry.
And Harlow, for a fellow as lazy as you are, think what all this means.
Well, when she came up with all those points in my favor, I hurried, I hastened, I hurdled
till I was exhausted, and by Christopher, I got an Auto Light stay full battery and
gave it to Clarissa, I call my car Clarissa, Thanksgiving morning.
We took a spin, and I could tell she was happier than a penguin with skis.
Sounds like Harlow in Wonderland.
Well, now, let's get back to Margaret O'Brien and the Screaming Woman.
And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage, Miss Margaret O'Brien as Margaret
in the Screaming Woman, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
After a while, I stopped crying.
I had to get back to the lot where that woman was screaming, but I was locked in.
I tied a sheet to the bed and let it out the window and shunned down to the ground.
Then I ran to the garage and got shovels and ran to the empty lot.
The sun was almost down and it was getting cold.
I started to dig fast.
Hiya, Maggie.
It was Dippy Smith who was 10 years old, the same as me.
He goes to my school.
What you digging for?
For a screaming woman.
She's down in the ground and I'm going to dig her up.
You can help me dig, Dippy.
There's an extra shovel.
I don't hear nothing.
And I don't dig unless I hear a scream.
Then listen.
I don't hear nothing.
Just wait.
You will.
There.
Did you hear it?
Hey, that's okay.
Do it again.
Do what again?
Scream.
Do it again.
Go on.
I'll give you this Aggie to teach me to do it.
Hot dog, did you get that Ben Trilliquist book for a dime from that magic company?
You got one of those 10 things in your mouth?
I won't tell unless you help me dig.
Okay, swell.
Give me the shovel.
Hot dog.
And you got to dig fast.
Like this, Dippy.
Boy, you think she will right under our feet.
You're wonderful, Aggie.
Say, what's the screaming woman's name?
You must have made her up a name.
Oh sure.
Her name is Wilma Schwager and she's a rich old lady, 160 years old.
And she was buried by a crook named Spike.
Come on, Dippy.
Dig.
I can't.
OK?
Yeah.
I can't.
Now look, Dibby, I'll go way over here, and then you listen.
Okay.
Listen.
Hey, there really is a woman here.
That's what I told you.
Come on, let's dig.
How's she breathing, do you think?
I think she's in the fort, remember?
Sure, that's where she must be.
Five or six of us kids could get in it so it's big enough.
I sure hope it isn't just a radio or something.
Well, a radio would be nice too.
Here, here, what do you kids think you're doing?
Oh, hello, Mr. Kelly.
I'm tired of chasing you out of this lot.
If one of you gets hurt, it may be your folks at Sue Me.
But Mr. Kelly, there's a woman screaming.
You kids beat her, do you hear?
Yes, sir.
But listen, Mr. Kelly, don't you hear?
There.
I don't hear a thing, and neither do you now.
Now beat it.
Come on, Maggie.
Mr. Kelly, somebody's got to dig her up.
Don't argue with me or I'll phone your folks.
This is my property.
Do I have to put up a fence?
Why should I spend money to keep people off my own property?
Dippy, it's him. He's the one.
Huh?
He murdered Mrs. Kelly.
He hit her on the head and stuck her in the fort
and dumped loads of dirt on top.
But she wasn't dead. She came, too.
Why, you saw him.
He stood right there when she screamed
and wouldn't pay any attention.
Hey, that's right.
He stood right there and lied to us.
What'll we do, Maggie?
There's only one thing to do.
We'll phone the police and tell them
to come and arrest Mr. Kelly.
Hey, they sure got here fast, Maggie.
Shh. Don't make a sound.
Is Mr. Kelly in the house?
Yes. He went right home from the lot.
Yes, officer.
You, Mr. Kelly?
Yes, sir.
What can I do for you?
Is Mrs. Kelly at home this evening?
Why, sure.
Can I see her, sir?
Why, sure.
Hey, Anna.
What's up?
We got a call.
Oh, good evening, ma'am.
What did he do?
Oh.
I'm sorry, folks.
We got a call that Mrs. Kelly was buried alive
in an empty lot.
Sounded like some kid calling,
but we had to make sure.
Always check, you know.
Oh, yeah, I can't understand what you're...
It's those blasted kids.
If I ever catch them, I'll break their necks.
Maggie, jeez it!
Boy, if Mr. Kelly telephones my dad,
I'll get a lickin'.
What'll we do about the screaming woman?
What the heck with her?
I'm not going near that lot again.
Wait, Dippy.
Huh?
I know why he didn't hear the screams.
Kelly's sort of deaf.
Mama says he's hard of hearing.
He heard us, didn't he?
He heard the cop.
He reads people's lips,
but he couldn't hear the screaming woman
because he couldn't see her.
Dippy, come on.
We gotta dig some more.
No, sir.
But we've got to.
We're already in a peck of trouble
over your darn old ventriloquist voice.
I'm not going to get in any more trouble.
No, sir.
And he went off and left me alone.
I wanted to crawl down under the ground
with the screaming woman and die, too.
It was dark now,
and Dad would be hunting for me.
If he found me, I'd get a licking and be put to bed.
And then nobody would help the screaming woman at all.
There was only one last thing to do.
So I did it,
to go all over the neighborhood from house to house
and find out who's missing.
Why, hello, dear.
Hello, Mrs. Griswold.
Is anybody missing from your house?
Is your sister from Detroit still here?
Yes, she's sitting right over there by the radio.
Don't you see her?
Em, little Margaret Leary wants to...
No, I only wanted to see her, Mrs. Griswold.
I was just wondering.
I just wanted to know if she was here.
Hello, Mrs. Pikes.
You're looking good.
I'm glad to see you're at home, Mrs. Pikes.
I'm awful glad.
Mr. Hyde, is your wife still here?
Dora, aren't you out pretty late, Margaret?
Yes. Oh, hello, Mrs. Hyde.
What is it, Margaret?
I just wanted to see you, Mrs. Hyde.
That's all.
The hours were just rolling along
and I rang bells and knocked and I rang bells.
I was about to give up when I came to the Nesbitt's house.
The house was quiet like nobody was at home.
But I saw a dim, spooky light inside somewhere.
So I just kept knocking and knocking.
Oh.
What do you want?
Oh, nothing, Mr. Nesbitt.
I only wanted to see Mrs. Nesbitt.
She's not here. She's gone to the store.
At night?
Besides, it's closed today, I think.
The drug store down on Clark Street.
Oh, well, then she ought to be back pretty quick.
I'll come in and wait.
Hey, wait, wait a minute.
I'll just sit down here and wait.
I sure like this rocking chair.
Go right ahead and do whatever you were doing, Mr. Nesbitt.
I wasn't doing anything.
Oh, looks like you were packing or something
with all those boxes and trunks around.
Going away?
Oh, Helen's been sorting things out,
getting rid of a lot of stuff.
Oh, burning it up in the fireplace.
Yeah, that's right.
Dad always burns our junk out in the alley.
Clothes smell awful when they burn.
Look, Helen may have gone on from the store to visit a friend.
Well, if she doesn't come back soon, I'll leave.
Yeah, I'll tell her you were here.
What do you want to see her about?
Oh, nothing much.
Hey, that's too bad.
What?
I guess you lost the key to that box.
You had to break the lock.
No, no, it was broken already.
Yeah, I bet your folks don't know where you are, kid.
No, sir, they think I'm in bed.
What friend did Mrs. Nesbitt go to visit?
I don't know what...
I mean, look, kid, I ought to tell you, she won't be back tonight.
Oh?
No, she went to the store, like I said,
but she was going from there over to Beechwood to visit her mother on a bus.
She'll be gone in two or three days.
Oh, that's a shame.
Why?
Well, Mama was expecting Mrs. Nesbitt to come over tomorrow, maybe to sell.
You better not tell your mother.
You see, it's kind of secret about Helen going away.
She doesn't want people to know for a while.
Oh.
You know how to keep a secret, kid?
I guess so.
I'll give you something for not telling.
I'll give you a reward.
Let's see.
Hey, here, here's something for a kid.
A doll.
A doll?
Yeah, Helen was going to give it to you.
I heard her say when she was sorting the stuff, she said,
I'll give this to the little leery girl.
Mrs. Nesbitt always calls me Margaret.
Well, sure, that's what she said.
Margaret.
That's quite a doll.
Old-fashioned.
It's made of leather.
It faces China or something.
See?
Mm-hmm.
Thank you, Mr. Nesbitt.
It's a reward for not saying anything about Helen being gone.
Understand?
Now, come on.
I'll snap on the porch light.
Mr. Nesbitt, did you finish your driveway?
What do you mean?
Did you get all the dirt hauled off to make it smooth?
Sure.
Now, come on.
I saw your dump truck in the lot this morning and...
What do you mean?
Were you in the lot this morning?
No, no, I was at home.
I looked out the window.
Please, Mr. Nesbitt, let go of my arm.
You've been playing out there today?
Answer me.
Oh, don't, that hurts.
I wasn't playing.
It's no fun now with our fort all covered up and...
The fort?
What's that?
Nothing.
Nothing, Mr. Nesbitt.
Tell me what you're talking about.
Nothing but that old concrete pipe.
You know something.
That's why you came here.
You've been snooping around that lot and you found out something.
What do you know?
I don't know anything.
Let me go, Mr. Nesbitt.
If you don't let me go, I'll...
Ow!
Bear!
Come back!
Come back, kid.
I'll give you something else.
Come back, kid.
Come back.
Mr. Nesbitt yelled because I kicked and bit his hand.
Then I ran, but I heard him running after me.
It was dark and quiet and scary on the streets, and more scary out there in the lot.
I ran straight across the place where I heard the screaming, and it was so quiet.
And all of a sudden there was a man in the lot, right in front of me.
Stop, Margaret.
Oh.
Margaret.
Oh, Daddy.
Margaret, where have you been?
Do you have any idea how your mama's worried?
Do you know how late it is?
Daddy, Daddy, he's after me.
We've been up and down alleys and clear down to Clark Street.
I was about to call the police.
The screaming woman.
It's Mrs. Nesbitt down there.
I'm going to give you a good licking.
Mr. Nesbitt killed her, and now he wants to kill me.
I've had all of that idiotic talk.
I can stand.
It's true.
You've got to be with me.
Margaret, I'm going to lick you right now, right here.
I've had enough.
What have you got there?
Where did you get that doll?
Well, I gave it to her, Leary.
The kid stopped by the house.
I remembered Helen said she wanted to throw it away.
Helen said to throw it away?
He's lying, Dad.
He gave it to me so I wouldn't tell about her.
It was locked up in a box.
He didn't have the key.
He broke it open.
She's a high strung kid, Leary.
All the stuff she was telling me.
He's lying, Dad.
Yes, he is lying.
Why are you lying, Charlie?
Lying?
How do you get that, Leary?
Helen never let you have that doll.
It was locked up.
It was a present I gave her a long time ago.
She wouldn't throw it away anymore,
and I'd throw away the paperweight she gave me.
Why are you lying, Charlie?
I'm not.
Don't look at me that way, Leary.
As God is my witness, I...
It's her.
Dad is the screaming woman.
As God is your witness.
No, Leary, don't.
Oh, God.
Margaret, run to the house.
Phone the police and tell them to hurry.
Tell them we've got to dig.
Hello?
Hi, Dippy.
Everything's fine.
Everything's worked out keen.
The screaming woman isn't screaming anymore,
and they've got a lot of people down there digging her up.
Hey, that's swell. Hot dog.
And you know what else, Dippy?
They're going to uncover our fort again.
Oh, Dippy, wasn't it a keen Thanksgiving?
Thank you, Margaret O'Brien, for a splendid performance.
Miss O'Brien will return in just a moment.
Oh, no, that autolite stay-full-battery fable wasn't bad,
coming from a fairly fabulous fiver.
Ah, but you haven't heard all of it, Hap.
Why, bye, Cornelius.
Clarissa, that's my car, spoke to me again this morning.
Thanks to you, she said, and that autolite stay-full-battery,
this has been the happiest year of my life.
Why, even these cruel cold mornings, I've got that autolite pep,
that stay-full-battery, get up and go.
Well, Clarissa, I says to my gas buggy, you're the Queen of the May,
the last with the delicate air, and the pride of Wilcox Alley all in one.
What do you want now, my Thanksgiving precious?
And she says, just to go to sleep out in the garage once again.
Why, Harlow, you can even use my autolite stay-full-battery for a pillow.
Happy slumber and good night, everybody.
And remember...
Autolite means batteries.
Stay-full-battery.
Autolite means spark plug.
Ignition-engineered resistor spark plug.
Autolite means ignition systems.
The lifeline of your car.
And now here again is Miss Margaret O'Brien.
It's been just wonderful being on suspense,
and I hope you let me come back again sometime.
We will, Margaret.
And now let me tell our listeners about next week.
Claude Rains and Vincent Price in the famous mystery story,
The Hands of Mr. Ottermole.
Another gripping study in...
Suspense.
Margaret O'Brien appeared by arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
producers of the Technicolor picture, The Three Musketeers,
starring Lana Turner, Gene Kelly and June Allison.
Tonight's suspense play was by Ray Bradbury,
adapted for radio by Sylvia Richards,
with music composed by Lucian Morawak and conducted by Lud Gluskin.
The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Lieder.
In the coming weeks, Suspense will present such stars
as Rosalind Russell, James Cagney, Ronald Coleman, William Bendix
and many others.
Make it a point to listen each Thursday to
Suspense, Radio's outstanding theater of thrills.
And next Thursday, same time, hear Claude Rains and Vincent Price
in The Hands of Mr. Ottermole.
This is the Autolite Suspense Show signing off.
Good night. Switch to Autolite.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.