WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:10.000 Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers present... 00:10.000 --> 00:12.000 Suspense! 00:18.000 --> 00:22.000 Tonight, Auto Light presents transcribed, A Murderous Revision. 00:22.000 --> 00:30.000 The story about a man who made a recording of a violent death, starring Mr. Richard Widmark. 00:34.000 --> 00:36.000 Hi, Hap! Meet the team. 00:36.000 --> 00:37.000 Where? 00:37.000 --> 00:40.000 Why, right under your car's hood, Hap! 00:40.000 --> 00:43.000 The Auto Light Electrical System, the family team of precision-made units, 00:43.000 --> 00:47.000 including the coil distributor, starting motor, and the other parts, 00:47.000 --> 00:50.000 that make up the complete Auto Light Electrical System, 00:50.000 --> 00:55.000 used as original factory equipment on many leading makes of our finest cars, trucks, and tractors. 00:55.000 --> 00:57.000 Well, what does this team do, Harlow? 00:57.000 --> 01:01.000 Why, Hap, it goes to work for you every time you press the starting switch, 01:01.000 --> 01:03.000 sound your horn, 01:03.000 --> 01:06.000 or play your radio. 01:07.000 --> 01:11.000 The Auto Light Electrical System does all that, huh, Harlow? 01:11.000 --> 01:14.000 Right, Hap, because all its units are related like a family team, 01:14.000 --> 01:18.000 by Auto Light engineering design and manufacturing skill, 01:18.000 --> 01:21.000 for the smoothest performance money can buy. 01:21.000 --> 01:25.000 So, friends, when your Auto Light-equipped car needs replacement parts, 01:25.000 --> 01:28.000 insist on Auto Light original factory parts, 01:28.000 --> 01:34.000 because from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. 01:34.000 --> 01:40.000 And now, with a murderous revision, and the performance of Mr. Richard Widmark, 01:40.000 --> 01:44.000 Auto Light hopes once again to keep you in... 01:44.000 --> 01:48.000 suspense. 02:02.000 --> 02:04.000 Yeah? 02:05.000 --> 02:07.000 What did you want to see me for? 02:07.000 --> 02:10.000 Oh, Chris, come in, sit down. 02:10.000 --> 02:12.000 Do you get to hear the show Sunday? 02:12.000 --> 02:14.000 I don't like to listen to the show. 02:14.000 --> 02:16.000 Why not? Because I don't, that's all. 02:16.000 --> 02:17.000 You missed a good one. 02:17.000 --> 02:20.000 I put some zip in that closing scene. I want you to hear it. 02:20.000 --> 02:22.000 I've got the playback ready. 02:22.000 --> 02:25.000 Hand me that record marked Part 2, will you? 02:25.000 --> 02:27.000 Thanks. 02:27.000 --> 02:29.000 I don't know, Chris, I don't make you come to rehearsals. 02:29.000 --> 02:32.000 You don't have to sit in the control room all day. 02:32.000 --> 02:35.000 The least you can do is listen to the show at home. 02:35.000 --> 02:38.000 Well, listen to this now. 02:38.000 --> 02:41.000 George, honest, I didn't mean it, George. 02:41.000 --> 02:43.000 Get this, Chris, get this. 02:43.000 --> 02:47.000 Do you mean to say that you didn't really mean it when you told my brother you didn't love him? 02:47.000 --> 02:51.000 You forget, Doris, that I heard you every word while I was hiding behind the Davenport the night my mother was here. 02:51.000 --> 02:53.000 George, I beg you, don't do this thing. 02:53.000 --> 02:55.000 Put down the gun, George. 02:55.000 --> 02:57.000 This is only what you deserve. 03:01.000 --> 03:03.000 You tricked me for the last time, Doris. 03:03.000 --> 03:08.000 You tricked me for the last time. 03:13.000 --> 03:15.000 What did you change it for? 03:15.000 --> 03:17.000 What was wrong with the ending the way it was? Why did you change it? 03:17.000 --> 03:20.000 I'll just take it easy, Chris. I'll tell you why I changed it. 03:20.000 --> 03:23.000 Because it was wordy and repetitious. It didn't tell the story. 03:23.000 --> 03:25.000 The boys upstairs? 03:25.000 --> 03:28.000 The boys upstairs, yeah, that's just what I thought. The boys upstairs. 03:28.000 --> 03:30.000 They do everything but breathe for you. 03:30.000 --> 03:34.000 Did it ever occur to you that maybe people are wordy and repetitious? 03:34.000 --> 03:37.000 Chris, I'm trying to tell you the scene the way you wrote it. 03:37.000 --> 03:40.000 Just didn't play. Yeah, that's right. All the trade cliches. 03:40.000 --> 03:42.000 Drag them out. It didn't live. It didn't play. 03:42.000 --> 03:45.000 It didn't make the right goose bumps come out on your left elbow. 03:45.000 --> 03:49.000 How did you ever get into this business? Whoever lets you into a radio studio? 03:49.000 --> 03:52.000 I'll tell you what's wrong with you. What you need is a good psychiatrist. 03:52.000 --> 03:54.000 Don't you tell me I need a psychiatrist. 03:54.000 --> 03:57.000 Let go of me. I said let go. 03:57.000 --> 03:59.000 Why, you're nuts. 03:59.000 --> 04:01.000 Now you listen to me. 04:01.000 --> 04:04.000 For two years now I've turned out a murderer week for you. 04:04.000 --> 04:06.000 Week in and week out. A murderer week. 04:06.000 --> 04:10.000 I eat murder. I talk murder. I dream murder. And for what? 04:10.000 --> 04:13.000 Every time I turn in a decent script, you chop the heart out of it. 04:13.000 --> 04:16.000 Your contract's up next week, Chris. 04:16.000 --> 04:19.000 You've got only one more script to do. 04:19.000 --> 04:20.000 Well, write it and get out. 04:20.000 --> 04:23.000 You'll get better than a script. You'll get everything you deserve. 04:23.000 --> 04:26.000 I'm going to show you what a real murder sounds like. 04:26.000 --> 04:29.000 I'm going to show you if I have to kill you to do it. 04:43.000 --> 04:45.000 Good evening. 04:45.000 --> 04:48.000 This is a recording of an actual murder. 04:48.000 --> 04:51.000 The first, as far as I know. 04:51.000 --> 04:55.000 Not written, not rehearsed, but well planned. 04:55.000 --> 04:59.000 It is respectfully dedicated to Mr. Ken Avery, 04:59.000 --> 05:04.000 editor and producer of the radio program, Murder Please. 05:04.000 --> 05:07.000 This is my last show, Mr. Avery. 05:07.000 --> 05:10.000 I'm delivering it to you in its entirety. 05:10.000 --> 05:12.000 Cast, music, everything. 05:12.000 --> 05:16.000 The events and persons are absolutely real. 05:16.000 --> 05:19.000 It's going to be a great show, Mr. Avery. 05:19.000 --> 05:22.000 You'll hear everything but the climax. 05:22.000 --> 05:25.000 I'm speaking into a microphone concealed in my desk, 05:25.000 --> 05:29.000 concealed with the other recording equipment I've rented for the occasion. 05:29.000 --> 05:34.000 The music you hear is coming from a high fidelity phonograph at my side. 05:34.000 --> 05:38.000 This program is produced, edited, directed, narrated, engineered, 05:38.000 --> 05:40.000 and plotted by Christopher Turner, 05:40.000 --> 05:45.000 whose only claim to immortality is this single half hour. 05:45.000 --> 05:49.000 And now, Mr. Avery, the leading characters in order of appearance. 05:49.000 --> 05:53.000 The murderer, Christopher Turner. 05:53.000 --> 05:57.000 The catalytic agent, your daughter Lois. 05:57.000 --> 06:01.000 The victim, yourself. 06:01.000 --> 06:04.000 And now, please to begin. 06:04.000 --> 06:12.000 Murder Please. 06:29.000 --> 06:30.000 Hello? 06:30.000 --> 06:34.000 Hello, Ken. This is Chris. 06:34.000 --> 06:38.000 I hate to bother you at home, but I wanted to apologize for the way I acted. 06:38.000 --> 06:40.000 Could you drop over to my office right away? 06:40.000 --> 06:42.000 Sorry, Chris. No go. 06:42.000 --> 06:45.000 I put up with your little insanities for two years now. 06:45.000 --> 06:47.000 Temper tantrums, insults, coming in stewed to the gills. 06:47.000 --> 06:49.000 Two years of that was plenty. 06:49.000 --> 06:51.000 I see. You won't change your mind. 06:51.000 --> 06:53.000 Not a chance. 06:53.000 --> 06:55.000 Maybe you can find somebody more patient than I am. 06:55.000 --> 06:56.000 Good luck. 06:56.000 --> 06:58.000 Thanks, Ken. 06:58.000 --> 07:00.000 Thanks a lot. 07:00.000 --> 07:04.000 Lovely opening scene, Mr. Avery. Thank you. 07:04.000 --> 07:07.000 You did exactly what I wanted you to do. 07:07.000 --> 07:10.000 You just threw away your last chance to save your life. 07:10.000 --> 07:13.000 Good work and excellent performance. 07:13.000 --> 07:16.000 Well, if you won't come up to my office by invitation, 07:16.000 --> 07:19.000 which I suspected you wouldn't, there's still another way. 07:19.000 --> 07:21.000 The telephone book. 07:21.000 --> 07:23.000 Listen, Mr. Avery. 07:23.000 --> 07:26.000 The sound of the flipping pages. 07:26.000 --> 07:29.000 Your daughter's phone number. 07:31.000 --> 07:33.000 Here we are. 07:48.000 --> 07:49.000 Hello? 07:49.000 --> 07:51.000 Hello, Lois. 07:51.000 --> 07:54.000 It's been a long time. Bet you don't even know who this is. 07:54.000 --> 07:56.000 I don't recognize the voice. 07:56.000 --> 07:58.000 This is Christopher Turner. 07:58.000 --> 08:00.000 Oh, sure, Mr. Turner. How are you? 08:00.000 --> 08:02.000 Fine, just fine. 08:02.000 --> 08:04.000 Well, how do you like living alone? 08:04.000 --> 08:06.000 It's all right, I guess. 08:06.000 --> 08:08.000 Rather be living with the folks? 08:08.000 --> 08:10.000 No. It's kind of independent this way. 08:10.000 --> 08:12.000 Yeah. How's the writing coming? 08:12.000 --> 08:15.000 Oh, not so good, Mr. Turner. 08:15.000 --> 08:19.000 I've written five scripts so far, and every one of them has been rejected. 08:19.000 --> 08:21.000 I don't know what's the matter. 08:21.000 --> 08:24.000 The problem is, your dad and I had a talk this afternoon about you. 08:24.000 --> 08:27.000 He thought maybe I could pass on a few tips. 08:27.000 --> 08:29.000 Oh, I wouldn't want to bother you. 08:29.000 --> 08:31.000 Oh, now, this isn't an obligation on my part, Lois. 08:31.000 --> 08:33.000 I like to help young people. 08:33.000 --> 08:35.000 Say, what are you doing this evening? 08:35.000 --> 08:36.000 Well... 08:36.000 --> 08:38.000 You see, here's the point, Lois. 08:38.000 --> 08:40.000 This is the only free night I'll have this week. 08:40.000 --> 08:42.000 Things are sort of piling up. 08:42.000 --> 08:44.000 And maybe you're doing some little thing with your writing 08:44.000 --> 08:46.000 that I could straighten out in an evening. 08:46.000 --> 08:48.000 Well, all right, Mr. Turner. 08:48.000 --> 08:50.000 Good. You know where my office is? 08:50.000 --> 08:53.000 Across from the broadcasting studios, the Brown building, room 208. 08:53.000 --> 08:55.000 I'll be right over. 08:55.000 --> 08:57.000 Fine. And bring your scripts with you, huh? 08:57.000 --> 08:59.000 I will. I certainly appreciate this. 08:59.000 --> 09:01.000 Not at all. Bye. 09:01.000 --> 09:03.000 Bye. 09:05.000 --> 09:08.000 I'll be right over and bring your scripts with you. 09:08.000 --> 09:11.000 I certainly appreciate this. Not at all. 09:12.000 --> 09:15.000 You see, that's how people talk, Mr. Avery. 09:15.000 --> 09:17.000 Let's see. What else? 09:17.000 --> 09:19.000 Oh, your sound. 09:19.000 --> 09:21.000 Draw opens. 09:21.000 --> 09:23.000 Gun taken out. 09:23.000 --> 09:25.000 Click of breach. 09:26.000 --> 09:28.000 Whirl of chamber. 09:29.000 --> 09:31.000 Bullets inserted in chamber. 09:32.000 --> 09:37.000 Three, four, five, six. 09:38.000 --> 09:40.000 Gun in drawer, drawer closed. 09:41.000 --> 09:43.000 And now we must wait. 09:45.000 --> 09:47.000 You see, Mr. Avery, 09:47.000 --> 09:49.000 fate is a better dramatist than either of us. 09:49.000 --> 09:52.000 Just when things start getting dull, the phone rings. 09:54.000 --> 09:55.000 Hello. 09:55.000 --> 09:57.000 Hello, Chris. Hank. 09:57.000 --> 09:58.000 Oh, what's up? 09:58.000 --> 10:01.000 I tried your place all night. I tried your sister's place. 10:01.000 --> 10:03.000 Finally, I called your office. 10:03.000 --> 10:05.000 I wouldn't let myself believe it, but here you are, 10:05.000 --> 10:07.000 slaving away for old man Avery again. 10:07.000 --> 10:10.000 Say, when are you going to tell him to go take a flying leap? 10:10.000 --> 10:12.000 I did that just today. 10:12.000 --> 10:13.000 No kidding? Yes. 10:13.000 --> 10:15.000 Well, congratulations. 10:15.000 --> 10:17.000 You've gone in nothing but bigger and better things. 10:17.000 --> 10:18.000 Yeah. 10:18.000 --> 10:21.000 Say, there's a rip-roaring poker game going on over here. 10:21.000 --> 10:23.000 Just room for one more sucker. What do you say? 10:23.000 --> 10:25.000 No, I can't tonight. I'm doing my last show. 10:25.000 --> 10:28.000 Oh, forget it for one night. Why don't you? 10:28.000 --> 10:29.000 Live a little. 10:29.000 --> 10:30.000 Thanks, Hank, but I can't. 10:30.000 --> 10:32.000 I'm coming over and get you away from that typewriter 10:32.000 --> 10:33.000 if I have to use force. 10:33.000 --> 10:35.000 No, I can't, Hank. The show's Sunday. 10:35.000 --> 10:37.000 Look, I got a script due tomorrow. 10:37.000 --> 10:39.000 You don't see me knocking myself out. Let him wait. 10:39.000 --> 10:42.000 Listen, Hank, you can't come over here. 10:42.000 --> 10:44.000 Don't you get it? 10:44.000 --> 10:47.000 Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, Chris. 10:47.000 --> 10:50.000 Honest. If I'd suspected. Sure thing. 10:50.000 --> 10:53.000 Well, take it easy. Call me for lunch or something. 10:53.000 --> 10:54.000 You bet. 10:54.000 --> 10:55.000 Sorry, boy. Bye. 10:55.000 --> 10:56.000 Bye. 10:56.000 --> 10:59.000 Phew. That was close. 10:59.000 --> 11:01.000 Good scene, though. 11:01.000 --> 11:05.000 Lois Avery is just driven up in front of the building. 11:05.000 --> 11:08.000 She's getting out of the car carrying her scripts. 11:08.000 --> 11:12.000 She wears a cardigan sweater, tweed skirt, flat shoes. 11:12.000 --> 11:15.000 She's young. She's very pretty. 11:15.000 --> 11:19.000 A girl with everything to live for. 11:19.000 --> 11:21.000 Now she's disappeared into the building 11:21.000 --> 11:24.000 in a moment of silence. 11:24.000 --> 11:26.000 She's gone. 11:26.000 --> 11:28.000 She's gone. 11:28.000 --> 11:31.000 Now she's disappeared into the building. 11:31.000 --> 11:34.000 In a moment, she'll knock on my door. 11:34.000 --> 11:39.000 And then you'll see for yourself how youth resists the threat of death. 11:39.000 --> 11:59.000 And this, Mr. Avery, would be the proper dramatic moment to end Act One. 11:59.000 --> 12:04.000 Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Richard Wittenmark in A Murderous Revision, 12:04.000 --> 12:10.000 tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 12:22.000 --> 12:25.000 Hey, Hap, better turn on your lights. 12:25.000 --> 12:26.000 Rest doin' their own. 12:26.000 --> 12:29.000 Thank you. And thank Auto Light. 12:29.000 --> 12:30.000 Why, Harlow? 12:30.000 --> 12:34.000 Because in your Auto Light-equipped car, the lights as well as the power for your radio 12:34.000 --> 12:39.000 and power to crank your motor are all provided by the Auto Light Electrical System. 12:39.000 --> 12:41.000 It has to be good, huh, Harlow? 12:41.000 --> 12:44.000 You bet, Hap. And that's why complete Auto Light Electrical Systems are used 12:44.000 --> 12:49.000 as original factory equipment on many leading makes of our finest cars, trucks, and tractors. 12:49.000 --> 12:51.000 And that's good enough for me, Harlow. 12:51.000 --> 12:55.000 You bet it's good, Hap. And that's why it pays to treat your car's electrical system 12:55.000 --> 13:02.000 to a periodic checkup at your authorized Auto Light Service Station or the dealer who services your make of car. 13:02.000 --> 13:06.000 You can quickly locate your nearest authorized Auto Light Service Station 13:06.000 --> 13:09.000 in the classified section of your telephone directory, 13:09.000 --> 13:14.000 or by calling Western Union by number and asking for Operator 25. 13:14.000 --> 13:20.000 And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. 13:20.000 --> 13:26.000 And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage Mr. Richard Widmark 13:26.000 --> 13:31.000 in Elliot Lewis's production of A Murderous Revision, 13:31.000 --> 13:36.000 a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 13:36.000 --> 13:53.000 Act Two 13:53.000 --> 13:55.000 Act Two. 13:55.000 --> 13:59.000 This is Christopher Turner once again, Mr. Avery, bringing you by transcription 13:59.000 --> 14:04.000 the first recording of an actual murder ever made specifically for broadcast. 14:04.000 --> 14:07.000 The setting, my office. 14:07.000 --> 14:10.000 The music, recorded. 14:10.000 --> 14:14.000 The time, night. 14:14.000 --> 14:18.000 The victim, yourself. 14:18.000 --> 14:22.000 Your daughter has just entered the building. 14:22.000 --> 14:28.000 And so concludes the usual resume with which we begin the second act of every murder-please program. 14:28.000 --> 14:31.000 I hear footsteps in the hall. 14:31.000 --> 14:36.000 Your cue, Lewis. Sound, knock on door. 14:36.000 --> 14:38.000 Come in. 14:38.000 --> 14:40.000 Hi, Lewis. Come on in. 14:40.000 --> 14:42.000 Thanks. 14:42.000 --> 14:44.000 I brought the scripts with me. 14:44.000 --> 14:47.000 Wonderful, wonderful. Sit down. 14:47.000 --> 14:50.000 I hope I'm not putting you out. 14:50.000 --> 14:53.000 I always tell Dad to stop imposing on my behalf, but I guess he'll never learn. 14:53.000 --> 14:58.000 Now, look, you're here because I want you here for no other reason. 14:58.000 --> 14:59.000 Cigarette? 14:59.000 --> 15:02.000 This is a nice office. 15:02.000 --> 15:06.000 It serves. Just a hole in the wall, but quiet, nothing fancy. 15:06.000 --> 15:08.000 I like it. 15:08.000 --> 15:10.000 Well, how long have you been scribbling? 15:10.000 --> 15:13.000 Six months, Mr. Turner. 15:13.000 --> 15:16.000 Let's just make it crisp. 15:16.000 --> 15:17.000 What sort of things? 15:17.000 --> 15:21.000 Murder, mostly. Somebody told me that's what sells best. 15:21.000 --> 15:23.000 True, true. 15:23.000 --> 15:27.000 Well, let's just start talking about murder. 15:27.000 --> 15:30.000 Maybe something interesting will come up. 15:30.000 --> 15:32.000 Question number one. 15:32.000 --> 15:35.000 Why do you think people kill? 15:35.000 --> 15:38.000 Lots of reasons, I guess. 15:38.000 --> 15:42.000 Money, love, revenge. 15:42.000 --> 15:44.000 Not really. 15:44.000 --> 15:46.000 Only for survival. 15:46.000 --> 15:49.000 They kill for money only when money means life. 15:49.000 --> 15:51.000 Their idea of life. 15:51.000 --> 15:54.000 They only kill for love when life depends upon that love. 15:54.000 --> 15:58.000 They only kill for revenge when life is intolerable without it. 15:58.000 --> 16:00.000 You see? 16:00.000 --> 16:02.000 That's very interesting. 16:02.000 --> 16:03.000 Could you kill? 16:03.000 --> 16:05.000 I don't think so. 16:05.000 --> 16:07.000 Well, maybe you could. 16:07.000 --> 16:09.000 Here. 16:09.000 --> 16:10.000 See? 16:10.000 --> 16:11.000 A gun. 16:11.000 --> 16:13.000 And loaded. 16:13.000 --> 16:14.000 Please put it away. 16:14.000 --> 16:15.000 Take it. 16:15.000 --> 16:16.000 No, I'd rather not. 16:16.000 --> 16:18.000 It's very obedient. It won't fire unless you press the trigger. 16:18.000 --> 16:20.000 Take it. 16:20.000 --> 16:22.000 That's it. 16:22.000 --> 16:23.000 Now point it at me. 16:23.000 --> 16:24.000 Please, I... 16:24.000 --> 16:25.000 Think now. 16:25.000 --> 16:26.000 Think. 16:26.000 --> 16:28.000 One touch of your finger and you kill me. 16:28.000 --> 16:30.000 One little touch. 16:30.000 --> 16:33.000 A very delicate instrument to trigger. 16:33.000 --> 16:35.000 There's a sense of power there. 16:35.000 --> 16:36.000 You feel it? 16:36.000 --> 16:37.000 I'm afraid. 16:37.000 --> 16:39.000 Fear, yes, but exhilaration too. 16:39.000 --> 16:41.000 Like the second drink. 16:41.000 --> 16:43.000 I feel it, yes. 16:43.000 --> 16:45.000 All right. 16:45.000 --> 16:47.000 You can give it back to me now. 16:47.000 --> 16:50.000 Well, so much for the murderer. 16:50.000 --> 16:53.000 Now, what about the victim? 16:53.000 --> 16:55.000 Afraid of death? 16:55.000 --> 16:57.000 Sometimes. 16:57.000 --> 16:59.000 What is death to you? 16:59.000 --> 17:01.000 Death? 17:01.000 --> 17:02.000 I don't know. 17:02.000 --> 17:05.000 No idea? 17:05.000 --> 17:07.000 Emptiness. 17:07.000 --> 17:09.000 Blackness. 17:09.000 --> 17:10.000 Nothing. 17:10.000 --> 17:12.000 Is that so terrible? 17:12.000 --> 17:14.000 Yes, because you really don't know. 17:14.000 --> 17:15.000 Like the dark. 17:15.000 --> 17:17.000 That's it. 17:17.000 --> 17:20.000 Do you know any more about death than you do about me? 17:20.000 --> 17:21.000 You? 17:21.000 --> 17:22.000 Yeah. 17:22.000 --> 17:24.000 Well, I know you work for Dad. 17:24.000 --> 17:26.000 Yes, but you've never even spent one hour with me. 17:26.000 --> 17:29.000 Once at lunch, you and your father sat down with me. 17:29.000 --> 17:31.000 Yet you come up here alone. 17:31.000 --> 17:33.000 How do you know you can trust me? 17:33.000 --> 17:35.000 I suppose I don't, really. 17:35.000 --> 17:37.000 Look at this. 17:37.000 --> 17:38.000 Please put it down. 17:38.000 --> 17:40.000 It makes me terribly nervous. 17:40.000 --> 17:41.000 Do you have any money? 17:41.000 --> 17:42.000 A little. 17:42.000 --> 17:43.000 How much? 17:43.000 --> 17:44.000 Ten dollars, maybe, some change. 17:44.000 --> 17:47.000 Give it to me. 17:47.000 --> 17:48.000 Here. 17:48.000 --> 17:50.000 Why did you give me the money? 17:50.000 --> 17:52.000 Because you asked me for it. 17:52.000 --> 17:55.000 No, because you were hoping I'd put down the gun. 17:55.000 --> 17:59.000 And if I'd said, a kiss, one kiss, and I'll put down the gun, 17:59.000 --> 18:01.000 what would you do? 18:01.000 --> 18:03.000 I suppose I... 18:03.000 --> 18:04.000 I suppose I'd give it... 18:04.000 --> 18:07.000 But a kiss, that would be harder to give, wouldn't it? 18:07.000 --> 18:09.000 Yes. 18:09.000 --> 18:13.000 Kiss me. 18:13.000 --> 18:15.000 There. 18:15.000 --> 18:16.000 Thank you. 18:16.000 --> 18:19.000 Now put down the gun, please. 18:19.000 --> 18:22.000 I know it's a lesson in writing and all that, but it scares me. 18:22.000 --> 18:23.000 No. 18:23.000 --> 18:24.000 But you said you would. 18:24.000 --> 18:26.000 I said nothing of the kind. 18:26.000 --> 18:29.000 And if I had said it, you'd have been foolish to believe me. 18:29.000 --> 18:32.000 You can't trust a man with a gun. 18:32.000 --> 18:34.000 You feel helpless, don't you? 18:34.000 --> 18:35.000 Yes. 18:35.000 --> 18:37.000 While you could give me money, there was hope. 18:37.000 --> 18:39.000 While you could give me love, there was hope. 18:39.000 --> 18:42.000 But if all I wanted was revenge, 18:42.000 --> 18:45.000 there'd be nothing you could do to save yourself. 18:45.000 --> 18:46.000 Nothing. 18:46.000 --> 18:48.000 And if I told you that right now, right this moment, 18:48.000 --> 18:51.000 I'm gonna pull this trigger and blow you to bits, 18:51.000 --> 18:53.000 tell me, what would you say? 18:53.000 --> 18:55.000 I'd try to talk you out of it. 18:55.000 --> 18:56.000 What would you say? 18:56.000 --> 18:58.000 I wouldn't know what to say. 18:58.000 --> 19:00.000 Then I'd shoot. 19:00.000 --> 19:02.000 I'd tell you about the electric chair. 19:02.000 --> 19:04.000 Very little threat to a man about to kill. 19:04.000 --> 19:06.000 Later, maybe, when he's running away, 19:06.000 --> 19:08.000 then he'd think about consequences, but not now. 19:08.000 --> 19:10.000 Now it's only kill. 19:10.000 --> 19:12.000 Now what else, what else would you say? 19:12.000 --> 19:13.000 I'd beg him. 19:13.000 --> 19:15.000 He wouldn't listen. 19:15.000 --> 19:16.000 I'd plead with him. 19:16.000 --> 19:18.000 I'd say, please don't kill me. 19:18.000 --> 19:22.000 And if he still wouldn't listen? 19:22.000 --> 19:26.000 Then I'd die. 19:26.000 --> 19:40.000 Hello. 19:40.000 --> 19:42.000 Bet you don't know who this is. 19:42.000 --> 19:44.000 I can't place the voice. 19:44.000 --> 19:45.000 Try. 19:45.000 --> 19:47.000 I haven't the slightest idea. 19:47.000 --> 19:50.000 Remember San Francisco and the Italian pizza 19:50.000 --> 19:52.000 and the cigarette holder? 19:52.000 --> 19:55.000 Vaguely. Who is this? I hate guessing games. 19:55.000 --> 19:56.000 Harriet. 19:56.000 --> 19:58.000 I know at least 18 Harriots. 19:58.000 --> 19:59.000 Harriet who? 19:59.000 --> 20:00.000 Crawford. 20:00.000 --> 20:01.000 Oh. 20:01.000 --> 20:02.000 I just came in. 20:02.000 --> 20:04.000 I thought maybe you could meet me for a drink. 20:04.000 --> 20:07.000 I don't know a single solitary soul in town. 20:07.000 --> 20:09.000 How did you happen to call here? 20:09.000 --> 20:11.000 I shouldn't tell, I suppose, but Hank said 20:11.000 --> 20:12.000 you were working late at the office. 20:12.000 --> 20:13.000 Hank, huh? 20:13.000 --> 20:15.000 He gave me the number and said to be sure to call. 20:15.000 --> 20:16.000 Bless his heart. 20:16.000 --> 20:17.000 What was that? 20:17.000 --> 20:20.000 I said, bless his heart. 20:20.000 --> 20:22.000 Yeah. 20:22.000 --> 20:23.000 Well, I'll call you tomorrow. 20:23.000 --> 20:25.000 Yeah, you do that. 20:25.000 --> 20:28.000 Well, bye. 20:28.000 --> 20:30.000 I guess I'd better get going. 20:30.000 --> 20:32.000 Why? We're not even started yet. 20:32.000 --> 20:35.000 Well, if you don't put down that gun, I'm going. 20:35.000 --> 20:36.000 I don't like it. 20:36.000 --> 20:37.000 Sit down. 20:37.000 --> 20:39.000 I want to tell you a story. 20:39.000 --> 20:40.000 Now listen. 20:40.000 --> 20:41.000 Please. 20:41.000 --> 20:45.000 Please sit down. 20:45.000 --> 20:47.000 Now, now this is just a sample plot. 20:47.000 --> 20:50.000 You can have it if you want it. 20:50.000 --> 20:52.000 It's about a writer who had great novels in him, 20:52.000 --> 20:57.000 great plays, but he was broke. 20:57.000 --> 21:00.000 So for the sake of a place to stay and a meal to eat, 21:00.000 --> 21:03.000 he started turning out radio mysteries. 21:03.000 --> 21:06.000 He turned them out until every drop of originality 21:06.000 --> 21:08.000 was squeezed out of him. 21:08.000 --> 21:11.000 And all the greatness he might have been ate into him 21:11.000 --> 21:13.000 because he'd leave nothing to the world, 21:13.000 --> 21:15.000 nothing but scripts to be swept up by studio janitors 21:15.000 --> 21:18.000 after the broadcast. 21:18.000 --> 21:22.000 Well, the writer made his decision one day. 21:22.000 --> 21:24.000 He'd do a last radio play, 21:24.000 --> 21:26.000 a radio play with an actual murder, 21:26.000 --> 21:30.000 the only chance he had for permanent survival. 21:30.000 --> 21:32.000 And he selected as his victim the man who would 21:32.000 --> 21:35.000 ground him into the dust. 21:35.000 --> 21:38.000 He selected his editor and producer, Ken Avery. 21:38.000 --> 21:39.000 Please. 21:39.000 --> 21:40.000 I like you. 21:40.000 --> 21:43.000 I like you very much. 21:43.000 --> 21:48.000 I wish this could be happening to almost anyone but you. 21:48.000 --> 21:49.000 Get to the phone. 21:49.000 --> 21:50.000 What? 21:50.000 --> 21:51.000 The telephone. 21:51.000 --> 21:52.000 What for? 21:52.000 --> 21:53.000 You're going to call your father. 21:53.000 --> 21:54.000 No. 21:54.000 --> 21:55.000 No, I won't do it. 21:55.000 --> 21:57.000 You'll call your father and you'll tell him 21:57.000 --> 21:59.000 to come up to my office. 21:59.000 --> 22:01.000 Now pick up the receiver. 22:01.000 --> 22:02.000 No, wait. 22:02.000 --> 22:11.000 I'll do it. 22:11.000 --> 22:12.000 Now take the phone. 22:12.000 --> 22:13.000 Tell him. 22:13.000 --> 22:14.000 It's ringing. 22:14.000 --> 22:15.000 Take it. 22:15.000 --> 22:16.000 Hello? 22:16.000 --> 22:17.000 Hello? 22:17.000 --> 22:18.000 Dad? 22:18.000 --> 22:19.000 Lois? 22:19.000 --> 22:20.000 Lois, what are you calling this time of night for? 22:20.000 --> 22:21.000 Something the matter? 22:21.000 --> 22:22.000 No, nothing. 22:22.000 --> 22:23.000 You want him to take you home and you don't feel well. 22:23.000 --> 22:24.000 Lois, something's the matter. 22:24.000 --> 22:25.000 Where are you? 22:25.000 --> 22:26.000 You home? 22:26.000 --> 22:27.000 No, I'm at Mr. Turner's. 22:27.000 --> 22:28.000 Turner's? 22:28.000 --> 22:29.000 His apartment? 22:29.000 --> 22:30.000 No, I'm at his apartment. 22:30.000 --> 22:45.000 His office. 22:45.000 --> 22:46.000 I don't feel very well. 22:46.000 --> 22:47.000 Come and take me home. 22:47.000 --> 22:51.000 Come and take me home. 22:51.000 --> 22:52.000 I don't feel well. 22:52.000 --> 22:54.000 Here, give me the phone. 22:54.000 --> 22:55.000 Hello, Ken. 22:55.000 --> 22:56.000 Yes, Chris? 22:56.000 --> 22:59.000 Yeah, Lois came up tonight to discuss some scripts she wrote, 22:59.000 --> 23:00.000 but she doesn't feel very well. 23:00.000 --> 23:01.000 You better come and get her. 23:01.000 --> 23:02.000 I'll be right over. 23:02.000 --> 23:03.000 Sit down. 23:03.000 --> 23:06.000 We haven't got very long to wait. 23:06.000 --> 23:15.000 Twenty minutes have gone by. 23:15.000 --> 23:20.000 I hear the steps in the hall. 23:20.000 --> 23:24.000 The sure plodding steps of her father, Mr. Ken Avery. 23:24.000 --> 23:28.000 The climax, ladies and gentlemen, of the listening audience I address to you. 23:28.000 --> 23:33.000 Mr. Avery will never hear this portion of the entertainment. 23:33.000 --> 23:35.000 Come in. 23:35.000 --> 23:37.000 Lois, are you? 23:37.000 --> 23:39.000 What is this? 23:39.000 --> 23:40.000 Sit down. 23:40.000 --> 23:42.000 There's a chair reserved for you. 23:42.000 --> 23:44.000 Lois, what's been going on here? 23:44.000 --> 23:45.000 Tell him, Lois. 23:45.000 --> 23:47.000 He's going to kill you. 23:47.000 --> 23:49.000 He's going to kill both of us. 23:49.000 --> 23:50.000 Close the door. 23:50.000 --> 23:53.000 Chris, put that thing down. 23:53.000 --> 23:55.000 Somebody's liable to get hurt. 23:55.000 --> 23:56.000 What's the matter with you? 23:56.000 --> 23:57.000 Drinking again? 23:57.000 --> 23:58.000 Nothing to drink. 23:58.000 --> 23:59.000 Very sober. 23:59.000 --> 24:00.000 Sit down. 24:00.000 --> 24:02.000 Chris, are you crazy? 24:02.000 --> 24:03.000 Good line. 24:03.000 --> 24:04.000 Perfectly in character. 24:04.000 --> 24:07.000 The inane cliché from the mouth of the great producer. 24:07.000 --> 24:10.000 You see, Ken, everything is being recorded right now. 24:10.000 --> 24:12.000 Your voice, Lois's mine. 24:12.000 --> 24:13.000 Sit down. 24:13.000 --> 24:14.000 Recorded for what? 24:14.000 --> 24:17.000 For posterity for the show next week. 24:17.000 --> 24:21.000 You'll have the honor of appearing on your own program as the murder victim. 24:21.000 --> 24:22.000 Here, let me show you. 24:22.000 --> 24:25.000 Right here in the desk. 24:25.000 --> 24:28.000 You see, it's a recording machine. 24:28.000 --> 24:30.000 I've stopwatched every second. 24:30.000 --> 24:32.000 It's been running exactly 25 minutes. 24:32.000 --> 24:35.000 You always made it a rule to plan the climax for 2630 24:35.000 --> 24:37.000 so you could have room for a final commercial. 24:37.000 --> 24:39.000 Well, that's just what I'm doing. 24:39.000 --> 24:44.000 According to my timing, you have about one minute and 30 seconds to live. 24:44.000 --> 24:47.000 All right, Chris, that's enough of the phony dramatics. 24:47.000 --> 24:49.000 Now, give me that thing before somebody gets hurt. 24:49.000 --> 24:50.000 Stand back. 24:50.000 --> 24:53.000 I wouldn't want to mistime the climax of the show. 24:53.000 --> 24:54.000 This won't make a show. 24:54.000 --> 24:58.000 You won't have much editorial power, Mr. Avery, after a few seconds. 24:58.000 --> 25:01.000 There's the agency. They wouldn't put this thing on the air. 25:01.000 --> 25:02.000 No, why not? 25:02.000 --> 25:04.000 You planned to kill me. 25:04.000 --> 25:05.000 From the beginning. 25:05.000 --> 25:08.000 There's the trouble right there, Chris. There's no twist. 25:08.000 --> 25:10.000 Oh, yes, the twist. 25:10.000 --> 25:12.000 Right, the surprise ending. 25:12.000 --> 25:15.000 You told the audience to expect the murder to be successful. 25:15.000 --> 25:19.000 Our shows have to have some kind of surprise for the audience, Chris. 25:19.000 --> 25:20.000 You know that. 25:20.000 --> 25:21.000 Where's the twist? 25:21.000 --> 25:24.000 Still the editor right to death's door. 25:24.000 --> 25:29.000 All right, Ken, perhaps you can provide the surprise ending that's going to save your life. 25:29.000 --> 25:30.000 I don't have to. 25:30.000 --> 25:31.000 Oh? 25:31.000 --> 25:33.000 You provided the twist yourself, but you didn't know it. 25:33.000 --> 25:36.000 And yet the twist was part of the story all the time. 25:36.000 --> 25:38.000 Where, Mr. Editor Avery? 25:38.000 --> 25:40.000 You, you, Chris, you're the twist. 25:40.000 --> 25:41.000 Me? 25:41.000 --> 25:43.000 That's right. You're a flop, Chris. 25:43.000 --> 25:48.000 You're so used to dreaming on paper you can't live anymore. 25:48.000 --> 25:50.000 You wrote about love because you never had it. 25:50.000 --> 25:53.000 You wrote about fortunes and you're still two bits. 25:53.000 --> 25:57.000 You wrote about murder, but you, you haven't got the guts to pull the trigger. 25:57.000 --> 25:59.000 Now give me that gun. 25:59.000 --> 26:00.000 You think I won't shoot? 26:00.000 --> 26:02.000 I know you won't. 26:02.000 --> 26:04.000 Give me that gun, you hack. 26:04.000 --> 26:05.000 What did you say? 26:05.000 --> 26:06.000 I said you were a hack. Now give me that gun. 26:06.000 --> 26:07.000 Stay away! 26:07.000 --> 26:08.000 Give me that gun, you hack! 26:08.000 --> 26:09.000 No, I'm not! 26:09.000 --> 26:10.000 Dad! 26:10.000 --> 26:12.000 Let go! Let go of my hand! 26:12.000 --> 26:13.000 Grab it, I said! Grab it! 26:13.000 --> 26:14.000 Let go! 26:18.000 --> 26:19.000 Chris. 26:19.000 --> 26:20.000 Chris! 26:24.000 --> 26:30.000 Do you always like to change the ending? 26:31.000 --> 26:32.000 Dad. 26:33.000 --> 26:34.000 It's all right, Lois. 26:35.000 --> 26:37.000 Dad, take me home. 26:37.000 --> 26:40.000 The records. They're all we have to clear us. 26:40.000 --> 26:42.000 Take me home, please. 26:42.000 --> 26:45.000 As soon as I see what's on those records. 26:45.000 --> 26:49.000 Oh, this must be part one. 26:50.000 --> 26:51.000 Let's see. 26:59.000 --> 27:00.000 Good evening. 27:01.000 --> 27:04.000 This is a recording of an actual murder. 27:04.000 --> 27:06.000 The first, as far as I know. 27:06.000 --> 27:28.000 Not written, not rehearsed. 27:30.000 --> 27:32.000 Suspense. 27:32.000 --> 27:36.000 Presented by Auto Light, Tonight Star, Mr. Richard Widmark. 27:37.000 --> 27:45.000 Friends, this is Harlow Wilcox again to remind you that Auto Light is the world's largest independent manufacturer of automotive electrical equipment. 27:45.000 --> 27:52.000 In 28 plants from coast to coast, Auto Light makes over 400 products for cars, trucks, tractors, planes, and boats. 27:52.000 --> 28:00.000 These include complete electrical systems, a complete line of ignition engineered Auto Light spark plugs, both standard and resistor types. 28:00.000 --> 28:04.000 Auto Light batteries, including the famous Auto Light Stay Full. 28:04.000 --> 28:11.000 Auto Light also makes automotive wire and cable, bumpers and hubcaps, electric windshield wipers, and many more. 28:11.000 --> 28:18.000 All are backed by constant Auto Light research and are precision built to highest standards of quality and performance. 28:18.000 --> 28:23.000 So remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. 28:23.000 --> 28:29.000 Next week on Suspense, our star will be Mr. Victor Matur as a man who made his living as an assassin. 28:29.000 --> 28:32.000 A tale we call Black Jack to Kill. 28:32.000 --> 28:40.000 In weeks to come, we shall also present Mr. John Hodiac and Mr. Herbert Marshall, all on Suspense. 28:42.000 --> 28:49.000 Suspense is produced and transcribed by Elliot Lewis, with music composed by Lucian Morawick and conducted by Lutte Gluskin. 28:49.000 --> 28:55.000 A murderous revision was adapted for Suspense by David Ellis from a story of S. Lee Pagostin. 28:55.000 --> 29:03.000 In tonight's story, Kathy Lewis was heard as Lois, Joseph Kearns as Ken, Charlotte Lawrence as Harriet, and Jerry Hausner as Hank. 29:03.000 --> 29:09.000 Tonight's appearance of Richard Widmark was made possible through the kind permission of 20th Century Fox Studios. 29:09.000 --> 29:14.000 Mr. Widmark may soon be seen in the Technicolor production, Red Skies of Montana. 29:16.000 --> 29:21.000 For the location of your nearest Auto Light service station or your nearest Auto Light spark plug or battery dealer, 29:21.000 --> 29:27.000 phone Western Union by number and ask for operator 25. Switch to Auto Light. Good night. 29:27.000 --> 29:55.000 This is the CBS Radio Network.