Now, Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations present Suspense.
Tonight, Auto Light brings you Mr. Ralph Edwards in Ghost Hunt, a suspense play produced and
directed by Anton M. Leder.
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Remember, you're always right with Auto Light.
And also remember the Auto Light suspense show is now on television every Tuesday night
in many parts of the country.
And now, Auto Light presents Ralph Edwards in a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Yeah, didn't that leave you high, huh?
Left me feeling treetop tall.
That was Louis Armstrong's I Can't Give You Anything But Love.
And that's all we have time for on the Hot and Mellow Hour tonight.
Yes, yes, yes, this is Smiley Smith, your favorite disc jockey.
I hope a hope booting the Hot and Mellow Hour home for this evening.
I'll be back again tomorrow night minus the music, but with a little surprise for you.
Tomorrow night, Friday night, as you know, is stunt night here at station WXP.
And have I got a stunt for you.
Last week, if you remember, I planted my wire recorder in the steam room at a ladies Turkish
bath and let you listen in on the playback, remember?
Well tonight, as soon as I leave the studio, do you know where I'm going?
Your friend Smiley is going to spend the night in a haunted house on a spook hunt.
You heard me, a spook hunt in a haunted house.
I'm bringing my little old wire recorder along with me.
And if you tune in tomorrow evening at this time, you'll learn what it's like to spend
the night in a haunted house.
Ain't that something?
Yeah, a real haunted house.
No kidding.
Four people are known to have committed suicide there.
So tune in tomorrow night and share a real thrill with your old pal Smiley.
I must be crazy.
Smiley, good night.
Care for a cigar, Mr. Thorpe?
I got some cigars in the dice there.
No.
Well, no reason for you to carry a chip on your shoulder, Mr. Thorpe.
Oh, really?
Well, I don't like this fool's stunt.
Well, I don't see it as a fool's stunt at all.
I really don't.
I think it's the only way you're going to unload this house.
Ordinary selling methods won't work in a case like this.
I don't forget the reputation saddling this house for suicide since 1939.
You know what people call it?
The death trap.
Yes.
It's a lot of nonsense.
Sure, but try to convince people of that.
Anyway, when this disc jockey offered me this chance to kill all the rumors about the death
trap, about the property, I just naturally jumped and took him up at it.
Especially since it don't cost a cent.
You sure about that?
I'm not liable for a penny.
Not a cent.
We're doing him a favor, letting him use the place, he said.
Thank me for the chance last night when I drove him out here.
So one end washes the other, as the feller says.
He got a chance to pull off a stunt, and the wire recording will prove to the people the
property is A-number-one, and we increase the chance of selling the place.
Well, as long as it doesn't cost me anything.
Not a thing.
He's using his own recorder, and I'm paying for the rental of a couple of walkie-talkies
he hooked up to it.
Well, what about this reed?
He charge anything?
He comes gratis, too.
Dr. Reed is a, whatchamacallit, a psychic investigator.
Belongs to a couple of societies that do nothing but hunt ghosts.
He showed me articles he's written about it in a magazine.
Well, here's the house.
Yeah, looks real nice in the sunshine, don't it?
Yeah, man, smell that sea breeze.
You don't have to sell me.
Well, let them know we're here.
Yeah, probably asleep up all night and everything.
Why don't they come out?
You think they've gone?
Well, I told them last night I'd pick them up around 11.
Smith!
Hey, Smiley!
Dr. Reed!
Yeah, fast asleep, I guess.
We better go and wake them up.
Of course, they may have taken the bus back to town.
Oh, no, no, it's a two-mile hike to the main highway.
Smith!
Hey, Smiley!
Where are you?
Wake up!
You don't suppose do you?
Oh, no, no.
Smith!
Dr. Reed!
What's that clicking noise from in there?
Well, it's his wire recorder he left at run-in.
These machines cost a lot of money.
Doesn't he care if he uses up his batteries?
Well, where is he and where's this Reed?
Probably they're upstairs.
Smith!
Hey, anybody home?
They must have walked to the highway and taken the bus.
Well, he wouldn't have left these machines.
Well, where are they then?
Where are they?
No, no, no, don't get excited, Mr. Thorpe.
Don't tell me not to get excited.
If something's happened to them in my house, I'm liable.
You try this side, I'll try that one.
All right.
Smith!
Hey, Smiley!
Smith!
Oh, McDonald's.
Come here.
What?
Oh, no.
Reed.
Dr. Reed.
No, no, don't touch him, Mr. Thorpe.
You'll get your hands off.
Look, blood.
Is he dead?
I can still feel his pulse.
We'd better get him to the hospital fast.
Care for a cigar, Mr. Thorpe?
No, no, thanks.
Why not try to relax?
Nurse said Reed would be all right as soon as he's had a blood transfusion.
You told the radio station to be sure and call us as soon as they had any word about
Smith?
Yes, I told them.
Why don't you sit down?
No, I'm all at sixes and sevens.
What do you suppose happened out there last night?
We're going to know in just a second, just as soon as I can get this recorder set up.
You don't suppose Smith and Reed got into a fight, do you?
Yeah, there.
Huh?
A fight?
I don't know.
Well, what's wrong?
Won't it work?
Yeah, it works.
Take it easy.
Testing.
One, two, three.
Testing.
One, two, three.
All set, Dr. Reed?
Mr. McDonald?
Hey?
Okay, here we go.
This is Smiley Smith speaking.
Smiley Smith, the ghost hunter.
I don't know whether to hope this will turn out to be a success for the sake of the program
or a failure for my own sake.
Anyway, all the preparations have been made now and it's up to the spooks.
I better tell you where we are.
Right now, we're standing on the lawn of a house about 12 miles above Malibu Beach.
The ocean is a hundred feet away, straight ahead of us.
We're going to be able to see the ocean.
so they won't think you're a ghost.
Standing with the doc and me is a real estate agent,
Mr. Charles McDonnell.
He handles this property,
and he can tell you a lot more about it than I can.
Well, the house was built by a man named Marcus,
Toby Marcus, an orange grower.
Built the house as a wedding present for his wife.
A month after they moved in, she took her own life.
On the day of her funeral, he committed suicide the same way.
There have been two other cases since then, and I'm sure...
Did they all jump in the ocean?
Yeah, all four of them, right over there.
The last one was actually seen doing it.
About three years ago, he was seen running like all get out
the edge of the cliff, and he was shouting and laughing
and yelling as though there was people at his side
running right along with him.
You kidding?
No, it's fact.
He was laughing and yelling and running,
and when he got to the edge, right over there,
he jumped and never came above water.
As good an argument against cold baths as ever I've heard.
Since then, people just refuse to live in this house.
Silly, I call it.
Anyway, if you and Dr. Reed find any sign of a spook,
I'll advise the owner to pull the house down and rebuild.
But if you don't find anything, I'm hoping this will convince
folks that here's a real bye.
Yeah, okay, Mr. Smith, you and the doctor on your own.
I'll be by in the morning to pick you up around 11.
Goodbye, Mr. McDonald.
I hope there's something left for you to pick up
in the morning.
Well, it's almost pitch black, folks, and I guess,
Dr. Reed and I ought to begin.
I don't believe in ghosts, never have, but what I say is this,
if you're dead set on looking for them,
this is a dandy place to do it.
So long.
Mr. McDonald just checked out, and then there were two.
Well, three.
Oh, my dog, yeah.
Folks, I have my dog Jeff with me.
He's a wire-haired terrier, three years of age,
and he can talk.
Yeah, say hello, Jeff.
Come on, Jeff, say hello.
Come on.
Well, anyway, he's a wire-haired terrier,
and he's three years old.
Shall we go inside now, Dr. Reed?
I was about to suggest it.
Now, how do we hunt ghosts, doctor?
How do we do it, huh?
We don't really hunt them.
If there should be any in the house, they will come to us.
How cozy.
And please, not ghosts.
Do not refer to them as ghosts.
We know them as apparitions.
I'll remember.
I have no desire to hurt their feelings.
If ghosts are concerned, I say live and let live.
Well, we've opened the front door now.
Maybe you heard the hinge squeak a little.
Now we're standing here looking in.
Can't see much.
Smells sort of musty and damp.
What's the matter, Jeff?
What's the matter, boy?
Jeff.
Oh, come on now.
Come on.
My dog seems to have jacked entering this house.
He has all four feet braced, and he's
straining against the leash.
Perhaps he senses something we don't,
like apparitions, maybe.
Perhaps.
It's not unusual.
Animals lack the veneer of sophistication we humans possess
and are more sensitive to such ammunition.
Yeah, come on, Jeff.
Now, stop this nonsense.
He probably smells a mouse or rat or something.
Come on, Jeff.
We're going in whether you like it or not.
Oh.
There's a short entrance hall, and over there at the end of it
is a flight of stairs leading to the second floor.
Jeff.
And over here at the left is what seems
to be a large reception room.
We're entering this large room now.
There are windows over there, French windows.
And through them, I can see the ocean.
The electricity hasn't been turned on,
so all I have to see by is a flashlight.
Not a very powerful one at that.
Dr. Reed is now adjusting his walkie talkie.
It's hooked up to my recorder so that he
can cut in while he's hunting and tell us what he's found.
Here's a few words from Doc before he sets forth
on his investigation through the house.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Smith has introduced me
as a ghost hunter.
He spoke, I think, in a spirit of skepticism and levity.
I'd like to assure you all that my purposes here are serious.
I have spent my entire life seeking
reliable proof of the appearances of apparitions.
Have you ever seen any, ever?
I have seen phenomena which lead me
to believe in the possibility of their existence,
although I have never seen any.
I account myself sensitive to the evidence
of their existence.
This house, for example, affects me profoundly.
It doesn't seem to affect you in the same way.
I'm not too happy about all this, if that's what you mean.
You are not psychic and therefore not sensitive
to these matters as I am.
I imagine the question in the minds of those of you listening
to us is, shall we find apparitions?
I don't know.
But I feel they are here and that they are evil.
I sense danger.
I shall soon know.
Dr. Reed's leaving the room now to make a tour of the house.
First thing I'm going to do is open the windows
and let some fresh air in.
It feels better already.
Cooler anyway.
I know that.
Ow!
Oh, it's a bat.
A bat just flew into the room.
I think it's a bat, not a bird.
I didn't actually see it.
It's shadow as it fanned my face.
There it is again.
It touched me as it passed.
Ow!
Jeff!
Jeff, come back here!
Jeff, you fool dog!
Come back here!
Dr. Reed?
For suspense, Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Ralph Edwards
in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Then.
Hello.
Snap out of it.
Oh.
Oh, I'm reading a letter about the new Wide Gap Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs app.
It's from Mrs. Clark Perry right here in Hollywood.
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Finally, the garage man said all the difficulty was spark plugs,
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Now the car runs on the left lane.
And the car is in the middle of the road.
And he installed a set of Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs.
Now the car runs beautifully.
The very first time my husband has been really pleased.
Well, smart garage man.
Smart people to take his advice.
Happ, you know, as more and more people learn about Wide Gap Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs,
and how they make an engine idle smoother,
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Any more letters like that, Harlow?
Plenty, Happ, plenty.
Why, here's another one from New York City.
Oh, read it to me later, Harlow.
We haven't time because here's suspense.
And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage,
Ralph Edwards as Smiley Smith in Ghost Hunt.
A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Jeff, Jeff, Jeff, come back here.
Jeff, you fool dog, come back here.
Dr. Reed, Dr. Reed, Dr. Reed.
Reed speaking, what is it, Smith?
Jeff has run off, my dog, he jumped through the window and ran off.
Oh, so, I told you he said something about this house, didn't I?
Yeah, you want to come and see if you can determine what it was exactly that set him off?
Soon. I'm making my way slowly up the stairs toward the second floor now.
I'm halfway up. I'll be done with you soon.
Folks, my dog's run away. You probably heard him howling.
He jumped through the window and took off.
Never did anything like that before.
Frightened by the bat, I guess.
Personally, alone here in this big room, I can understand how he must have felt.
This isn't a cheerful spot by any means.
I may not be psychic, but I sure have a feeling this house doesn't want us here.
Reed again.
Excuse me. I have something of great interest to report.
I'm now standing in an alcove on the second floor trying to recover my breath.
As I reached the head of the stairs, I felt what I think is a definite psychic manifestation.
I felt suddenly as though I had been punched in the solar plexus.
That's the only way I can describe it.
At the same time, I began to perspire.
My head is still swimming slightly, and I have difficulty in swallowing.
My pulse rate is around 110th of a minute.
The sense of evil is very strong.
I feel very, what shall I say, profoundly depressed.
Do you want me up there?
No. I prefer to remain up here alone.
The presence of a disbeliever such as you might interfere with my investigation.
Folks, I'd like you to get a picture of what it's like here.
It's very quiet, for one thing.
I've never been in such a quiet place, and it's pretty dark.
No light except my flashlight.
Tell you what, you go now and douse all the lights you have on.
Go ahead, put out the lights, and that'll give you a clearer feeling of how it is here with me.
Go ahead, put out the lights.
Hey, did you hear that?
Real estate agent told me I'd probably hear rats and mice in the walls.
I can certainly hear them now.
Even you can hear them, I think. It's as though...
Dr. Reed speaking. I've been working my way toward the front room,
the one directly above the one in which Mr. Smith is now.
The vibrations have become stronger, and more and more pronounced as I approach it.
I think I am on the verge of an important discovery.
Important discovery? Did you get that?
Now I can hear Dr. Reed moving about in the room above.
I don't suppose you can. Have a try anyway, huh?
Hear him?
I hope he finishes his investigation soon, because, quite frankly, I'd like to get out of here.
I can well imagine people becoming unhinged in this place.
Right now I find myself pretty jumpy.
I'm not being very brave, am I?
It's being alone in this room down here, the desert, this darned old house.
It's so very... I mean, you know, the atmosphere, it's so very...
I wish only to make this hurried report before continuing with the investigation in this room.
I have carefully sounded out all the parts in this room,
and the emanations are most strong from what appears to be a closet,
before which I am now standing.
As soon as I open the door to this closet, I will have, I think,
a thing of great interest to communicate.
I find no key to the lock, and so I will attempt to remove the hinges with my pinknife,
and I will tell you what I find when I open it.
I'll tell you what it would cost to get me to open that door.
In the basement at Fort...
There's that bat again! It seems to like me!
The way it keeps... Each time it passes, it touches my face or my neck with its wings.
Smelly things, bats.
I don't suppose they bathe very often, if at all.
I wonder how... Get away! You bat! That bat'll be the death of me!
It's like a jingle, isn't it?
Bat'll be the death of me, the death of me, the death of me, bat'll be the death of me.
It isn't far from London... No, that isn't the way it goes.
It's come down to Q in lilac time, in lilac time, in lilac time.
Come down to Q in lilac time, it isn't far...
I haven't thought of that since I was a kid in grammar school.
See, I had a lonely childhood when you come right down to it.
I mean... Oh, that's my affair, isn't it? Yes, it is. It certainly is.
I have succeeded in removing the hinges to the door, and I find inside it is not a closet, but much larger.
It is, I think, a dressing room.
I have not yet been inside, but I am about to enter.
What was I talking about?
Oh, yeah, bats. Well, the bat flying back and forth in this room...
Did you hear that? Did you hear it?
Dr. Reed must have knocked something over in the dressing room.
A chair, a chair, yeah, a heavy chair, by the sound of it.
The chair, whatever it was, must have fallen right over my head.
That's the way it sounded.
I can see a small stain forming right on the ceiling, right over my head.
Something ran across my foot, just a rat, I think it was.
I've always hated rats. Most people do, of course.
That stain up there bothers me. It's gotten so big so soon.
I think I'll take a chance and bother Reed and ask him what it is.
Dr. Reed. Reed, can you hear me? Are you all right? Hello?
Well, he didn't answer. I think he's just a little bit deaf. I think so.
What do you suppose he's found, huh?
I'm afraid this is rather dull for you listeners. I'm not finding it so, of course.
There. I heard him cough. Did you hear that cough? Hope he's all right.
He got out of a sickbed to come here this evening, you know.
He was gassed in the First World War and this place is beginning to get on my nerves a wee bit.
Just a teensy-weensy bit.
Reed speaking.
Hello? He switched off. That's the bad cough he's got. I feel so lonely.
I've been alone so much in my life. Not so much now, of course, but when I was younger, I was alone so much at the time.
You know, struggling to get ahead, living in a hall, bedroom, wondering where my next meal is coming from.
I get the blues just remembering it.
It seems sad, young people having to spend so much time alone.
Sad for old people, too, of course. I'm saying, of course, a lot. Of course, I am.
Hey, that stain on the ceiling, it's grown amazingly. It's actually beginning to drip. I mean, form bubbles.
They'll start dropping soon. Colored bubbles, they seem to be.
Odd-shaped stain, like a body lying on its back with its arms stretched out.
It's cheerful.
I'll certainly advise Mr. McDonald to have this place pulled down.
I'll go upstairs in a minute or two to see how Dr. Reed's making out.
You know, listeners, I really believe I'd go completely crazy if I had to stay here much longer.
Where's your down? That's exactly what it does. It wears you down.
It's so close and musty in here, I feel sort of trapped.
I don't know why I said that. That's what they call this place, you know, the death trap.
There, what did I tell you? That stain started to drip drops, drip drops, drip drops, drip drops.
I'll catch the next one with my hand. Let's go.
Reed? Dr. Reed?
I'm going upstairs now, listeners. I'm afraid something has happened to Dr. Reed.
I'm not kidding now. I mean, this is on the level. Which room could it be now? Right? No, right, right. This is it, I think.
Well, good evening, gentlemen. And madam? I'm so glad to see you.
I was just aching to see somebody, anybody. I've been so lonely down there.
What have you done with the doctor? I know, I know he's been hurt.
See the color of the bubble on my hand? What have you done with him?
Make way, please, gentlemen. Make way.
Well, this isn't the funniest darn thing.
This can't be Dr. Reed lying here. He didn't have a red beard.
Don't crowd me, gentlemen. Don't crowd me, please.
You want me to go where with you? You want me to do what?
Speak up, gentlemen. To the cliffs. Down to the cliffs? You mean right now?
Well, all right, if you'll come with me. I don't want to be alone anymore.
You will come with me? All of you? All four of you? You too, ma'am?
Oh, good. Come on, then. To the cliffs. To the cliffs. To the cliffs. To the...
He jumped over the cliff. He jumped over the cliff, McDonald. He jumped over...
Mr. McDonald, Mr. Thorpe, you may come in to see Dr. Reed now.
What? Uh-huh. Dr. Reed is conscious. You may see him now.
Is... is he able to talk? Just for a few minutes. In here.
Come in. Come in, gentlemen.
How are you, Dr. Reed? We've been waiting to see you.
Yes, and I must apologize, gentlemen. I had a most unfortunate accident.
Hemorrhage.
A hemorrhage?
Yes. My lungs, you know. Now, gentlemen...
Hemorrhage? Dr. Reed, what happened in that house? What happened to Smith?
We've just been listening to a playback of the recordings you made out there.
Smith? Isn't he with you?
We've just heard the recording, Dr. Reed. Smith jumped over the cliff. Into the ocean.
Oh, that poor boy.
Dr. Reed, will you please tell us what happened? We heard on the recording there were ghosts in that house.
Ghosts? I didn't see any ghosts.
But Smith, what about him?
If he went over the cliff, it was fear that drove him over.
But, Doc...
Gentlemen, I didn't see any ghosts. As for that unfortunate young man, who can say now what he saw?
Or thought he saw?
Thank you, Ralph Edwards, for displaying your versatility by appearing as guest star on Suspense.
See, Harlow, that Edwards does everything.
Oh, half. No, does. Don't use that word on our auto light show.
Oh, come now, Harlow, I can make you use that word, as you call it.
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Yes, but...
And your car gives better performance on leaner gas mixtures. Saves gas.
Sure does. I mean, do. I mean, does.
Aren't we devils?
Ha ha, Ralph, you tricked me. Well, anyhow, it does my heart good to tell people that auto light resistor spark plugs are ignition engineered by auto light,
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And now here again is Ralph Edwards.
I want to thank Tony Leeder and his great cast of actors for helping to make my appearance on Suspense a very pleasant consequence.
Like all of you, I'm a great Suspense fan and I'm looking forward to next week when radio's outstanding theater of thrills brings you Joseph Cotton in The Day I Died.
Another gripping study in Suspense.
Tonight's Suspense play was adapted for radio by Walter Newman from an original story by H.R. Wakefield with music composed by Lucian Morrowek and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Leeder.
Make it a point to listen next Thursday to Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills.
Remember next Thursday same time here at Joseph Cotton in The Day I Died.
You can buy auto light resistor spark plugs, auto light staple batteries, auto light electrical parts at your neighborhood auto light dealers.
Switch to auto light. Good night.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.