Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers bring you Mr. John Hodiac in a story taken from life.
Tonight's presentation of Suspense.
Tonight, Auto Light presents a dramatic report from the roaring twenties about a man whose way of life destroyed him.
A factual document we call The Case History of a Gambler, starring Mr. John Hodiac.
Hello, Harlow.
Well, it's Oscar, the loquacious limousine. Why so down in the dumps, Oscar?
My battery went dry and I can't get started.
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And now, with The Case History of a Gambler and the performance of Mr. John Hodiac, Auto Light hopes once again to keep you in...
Suspense!
It's not easy to walk when you're weighted down with a bullet in your body. But keep walking, because six blocks away, less than half a mile, there's a hospital.
Think. Think about something, anything, anything to get your mind off the pain.
Think about the beginning, the beginning of this.
When was it? A thousand years ago? A hundred?
No. No, it's closer than that. Three years. Three years ago. In the kids dressing room at the arena.
It began with a fight. A prize fight.
Look, Matt, when you called me and asked for ten thousand, I sent it over and didn't ask any questions.
Then why start now?
I think I got a right to know why you wanted the dough.
I'll tell you when the fight's over.
Fight? You mean you put my ten grand on a fighter?
Yes.
Give me back my dough.
Now, wait a minute.
Give it back.
But you don't know what...
I don't want to know. I want my money.
Relax for a couple of minutes, Frank.
Don't get cute with me, angle boy. Tell me the score or give me ten thousand dollars now.
You won't wait, huh?
Now!
You should know me better than to think I'm going to throw away your ten grand.
I thought I did.
I've been booking bets long enough to know that you can't beat the fights.
Well, then why...
But I know you can beat one fight.
How do you figure?
Because the boy I bet on is my fighter.
I planned this match a year ago, and when I win, I'm through with prize fighting.
There's got to be an angle.
There is. I bought a fighter last year, a kid.
So?
I saw this boy in some amateur bouts, and I bought him and trained him and booked fights for him.
What's he done since?
Lost 12 fights, four by knockouts, three by TKOs, and five by unanimous decisions.
And how do you know he can win tonight?
Up to now, I've had him fighting pretty good. Not the way he can.
I've had him training at a little private camp up in the mountains, going five, six rounds.
They're the best boys I could find. He's knocked them all out.
That's all? You mean you took my ten grand and put it on this wonder boy just because he's been knocking out bums in training camps?
Ha ha. No, you're kidding me, Matt. You got the other boy to take a fall.
You think I'd stick my neck out and try to fix a fight?
You would if you thought you could do it.
Well, even if I could, there'd be too many people taking a cut of the pie. My pie.
Better to take a piece than try for it all and get none.
Not me, Frank. I'll roll for the bundle.
When you loaned me 10,000, it made an even hundred grand I've spread all over the country.
Why the big deal all of a sudden?
I want money, real money. I'm tired of nickel and dime operations.
What are you going to do if you win?
When I win, I'm going to open up the biggest, safest gambling casino this side of the Mississippi.
Ha ha! We did it! We did it!
Shut the door, Lou.
Oh, but I...
Shut the door!
Okay, okay.
What round?
Knock out the fifth.
A 20 to 1.
That's right. Two million bucks. Matt, you just won two million bucks.
Get in touch with the boys, Lou. I want Al to pick up the dough in Frisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
Tell Willie to cover Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, and El Paso.
And go to Ciaga.
63rd Street. Five blocks to go.
Walk. Keep walking. And think.
That was the beginning. What came after the beginning?
The casino.
The suburban gambling casino.
My reward for fixing one fight.
Then came the friends.
Matthew Miller's giving money away. Get some of it.
But be sure you give it back when you're through.
And always the gratitude.
Always the benediction.
Much obliged, Matt. I was real short on operating capital.
That's all right, Charlie. Glad I could help.
I'll see you on the 15th of next month to get my IOU back.
See that you do, Charlie. You know how I feel about Welsh's.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, good night, Matt. Thanks again.
Good night, Charlie.
Well, maybe you know what you're doing, Matt, but sometimes I think you're too loose with your dough.
You mean Charlie?
No, him for one, and other guys I've seen you lend money to.
What's wrong with lending now and then?
Oh, nothing. Only any grifter or hood that runs out of money in this town knows they can get to you for a touch.
All right, bookkeeper. How much money have I lost since I started helping the less fortunate of my fraternity?
Well, there was Richie Fowlow from Detroit. He nicked you for 80 grand.
Where's he now? And incidentally, where's anyone who ever Welsh'd on a loan or a gambling debt?
So they're not around anymore.
Cancels out, doesn't it?
Just because a guy knows better than to try to Welsh on you is no excuse to be Mr. Soft-Touch.
Why not?
It's not businesslike.
I'm not in the lending business.
Well, the amount of dough you got spread around, you might just as well be.
Now supposing Charlie goes out of here and gets knocked off, where's your dough then?
That's a chance I have to take.
You shouldn't have to take chances. Charlie's wife isn't taking a chance. If Charlie gets knocked off tonight, she's rich tomorrow. He's got enough insurance to...
Say that again about Charlie's wife.
Why? What'd I say?
What happens if Charlie gets knocked off tonight?
Well, I said she'd be rich tomorrow. Why?
That's what I thought you said.
Hey, Matt, what are you gonna do?
Luke, call my lawyer.
What are you gonna do?
I'm about to become an actuary.
A what?
An actuary. According to Webster, one who is skilled in life assurance.
Oh, Matt, you're out of your mind. You'll never get away with it. If the state would be on your neck so fast, the stock issue would never clear the broker's office.
Stay down, counselor. You're wearing the nap off my carpeting.
Oh, all right.
First of all, is it possible to form a dummy corporation for the purpose of the
floating a stock issue?
Well, yes, it is.
Answer with a yes or no. Don't embellish your sentences.
Oh, sorry.
To go on. Since the stock issue will be thrown open to the public, there'll be no necessity for me to control more than 25% of the issue, right?
Right.
And when I sell a policy to a client, the majority of the first premium will go to me as the selling agent.
That's right.
Now we come to the important point. Is it perfectly legal for me to be named a beneficiary of any policy I may issue?
Well, in the event...
Is it legal, yes or no?
Yes, yes, it's legal.
Then why are you fighting me? What can the state possibly do to me?
Now, since that question can't be answered by a yes or no, have I your permission to elaborate?
Sure, go ahead.
All right. Now, what guarantee have you that these men to whom you lend money will continue to pay the premiums after they have repaid the loan?
Why none, of course. I don't care if they keep up the policy or not. All I'm interested in is protection for myself.
And with that protection, if I can make an extra dollar by issuing the policy, I don't see how that can be construed as fraud or any other illegal practice.
You know what happens with the company in the long run?
Frankly, I don't care. By that time, I expect to have gotten what I wanted out of it.
The stockholders would cause you trouble if they got together.
If, Chris, people don't help each other. They're too busy helping themselves.
Yeah, like you.
Maybe. The difference is most of them don't know what they want.
Do you, Matt?
Of course I do. That's why I don't need any help. I'm just going to do it all by myself.
Any more question?
Oh, no, I suppose not.
Then how about a drink?
I can use one.
Lou?
Coming right up.
Don't pout, Chris. Losing this decision to me won't hurt your reputation.
It's not me I'm thinking about. It's you.
Me?
You're reaching. One of these days, you'll reach out too far, and it'll be a long, long fall to the bottom.
It'll break every bone in your body.
Dramatic, but unnecessary. No matter what happens, people will gamble.
And the only safe place in the state is right here. This casino is my bumper, and it can cushion any fall I may take.
Here they are. Help yourself.
Well, Chris, let's drink to our new venture.
A toast, if I may.
You may.
To Matt. May the long fall never come.
Amen.
64th Street. Four blocks from the hospital. Why am I trying? Why do I want to live? There must be a reason. A reason.
Ellen. I want to live for Ellen. I want to kiss her and be kissed. I want to give her all the things I promised her.
So I'll keep walking. Keep walking. Walking. Walking.
You look tired, Matt. Anything wrong?
No, no. I'm just trying to get Chris back in line. Sometimes I wonder if he's really on my side.
You don't mean it, do you?
He's a fine lawyer, Ellen. I have to admit he's gotten me out of a couple of tight spots, but I wonder sometimes if he's interested in me or the retainer I pay him.
Matt, what's wrong? Chris is your friend. You don't think about friends that way.
I know, but tonight was different. Tonight I felt that Chris wasn't on my side. Forget it.
I'm here with you and that's all I care about right now.
Matt. When are you going to quit?
Quit? Quit what?
All this figuring and scheming and gambling. What do you know?
No, I don't know. Tell me.
Matt, you've got enough money to have a safe, wonderful life away from here. Away from all the hoodlums and sharpies and thieves and murderers.
Why don't we just pack up and go?
I'm so afraid. I love you too much to worry about you from day to day.
You know, you can't live the kind of life you're living without making enemies.
One of these days somebody's going to hate you enough to...
Oh, Matt.
Don't you understand that it's because of you that I don't quit?
Because of me?
Yes. I promised myself I'd give you the city for a wedding present and I'm not going to Welsh on a promise.
But I don't want the city. I want you.
I want to forget that there are fighters and cards and dice and roulette and all the other things you can't depend on.
But I can depend on them. I can depend on them because I know the weaknesses of people.
Mass man is the biggest sucker in the world and the only way to punish him for it is to take his money and that's what I'm doing.
But for how long?
Come with me and I'll show you.
What do you see?
The city.
That's right. The city.
I'm going to take suckers money until I have enough to buy it.
Auto Light is bringing you Mr. John Hodiac in the Case History of a Gambler. Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, South Spence.
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And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage, Mr. John Hodiac.
In Elliot Lewis' production of The Case History of a Gambler, a story of the roaring twenties.
Well calculated to keep you in...
...suspen...
65th Street. How long can it take a man to walk six blocks?
How heavy can an ounce of lead be?
Two more blocks to the hospital.
And when I get there, what then?
Is all this worth a gamble?
A gamble.
Matthew Miller, the gambler.
The man who lived for the gamble.
The good loser.
The gracious winner.
The man who hated a Welsh.
A good gambler.
A gambler.
Gambler.
I think I'll stretch my legs for a second.
What do you know? It's daylight again.
Must be Monday.
We'll send out for some more food.
Not for me. How about you guys?
I've had it. Two days of poker is just about my limit.
Let's make this the last hand, huh?
Right for me.
Okay.
Handy up.
Jacks are better to open. Any limit on this last hand, Matt?
No. Why?
You've been hit pretty hard this session.
Afraid of your money?
I know you're better than that.
We think the same about bad losers, don't we, Matt?
So I've noticed.
Open for 5,000.
As my mother would say, a stranger from every village is better than a good loser.
As my mother would say, a stranger from every village.
My mother.
Matt.
5 and up 10.
Me? I'm up.
Call you, Matt.
Cards?
2.
Never keep a kicker.
I'll take 1.
Check.
And?
Up 25.
Call.
King's Fool.
No kicker.
I guess my flush isn't good enough.
Guess not.
What's the damage?
Including the 66,000 on this hand, it comes to 483,000.
That's a little more than you lost to me last month, isn't it?
Uh-huh.
I'll have Lou drop the dough off tomorrow, okay?
Fine.
How do you want it? A check or cash?
Cash.
Checks don't feel like money.
All right, I'll send Lou over with cash.
It'll be on your desk at exactly noon tomorrow.
In bills of small denomination.
I like the bulge it makes in my tailored suit.
Anybody else know about this game?
No.
Of course not.
Thanks, son.
Chris, Lou, what are you...
Matt, we're in.
Oh, I didn't know you had company.
It's a friendly little game. I think you know most of the boys.
Oh, uh, Matt, Matt, we gotta talk private.
What's the matter?
Get rid of the boys so we can talk.
Sure.
Sure, we just finished anyway.
So long, fellas. Thanks for the game.
So long, Matt.
Remember, small bills.
See you, Matt.
Yeah, see you.
Okay, what's on your mind?
The casino was raided Saturday night.
Saturday? This is Monday. Where have you guys been?
I got picked up when the joint was raided.
Well, I was out of town for the weekend.
I got Lou out on a habeas corpus as soon as I returned this morning.
How did the cops find out about the location?
What happened to the alarm system?
The grapevine has it that somebody in the organization
tipped off the police.
There's more than one man in this town that doesn't like you, Matt.
What about the books?
The cops got them, too.
They were in the joint so fast I didn't have a chance to dump them.
Well, guess they got me nailed.
Okay, I'm getting out.
Chris, dump my insurance stock on the market.
I can get enough out of...
No, Matt.
What do you mean, no? I'm telling you to get rid of my stock...
Matt!
There is no insurance company.
Are you crazy?
The company is in receivership, and the state is conducting an investigation.
But how? Why?
Well, one of the stockholders thought enough of his investment
to go around gathering up enough proxies to vote you out of control
and to have the books checked.
So what?
So this.
Every dime in the company is frozen,
and I doubt that you'll ever get to see any of it again.
What about the courts?
Well, intent of the fraud is pretty tough to prove in a court.
I think I can beat the rap on that count.
But that's all I can promise you.
Oh, I'm sorry, Matt, but...
If you say I told you so, I'll kill you right now.
No, Matt, no.
That's not what I was gonna say at all.
I'm your friend.
Even though I haven't very much to give, I regret...
I don't want your money, Chris.
I don't need it.
You see, I half expected this to happen, I guess.
So I planned for it.
I have a key ring in my office.
On this key ring, I have ten keys,
and these keys open ten safety deposit boxes
with about 100 grand in...
Lou?
What are you looking at me like that for?
Come on, speak up.
Matt, I...
Well, yeah, they got the key ring, too.
Chris, you once told me I'd reach out too far.
Well, I did.
It looks as if the fall broke every bone in my body.
Hiya, Matt.
Decided to come yourself instead of sending Lou, huh?
Come on in.
You can lay the door right here.
This is a pretty big desk.
I don't have the dough, Gus.
Don't play games with me.
I don't have any sense of humor when somebody owes me money.
This isn't a game. I'm broke.
How broke?
I'm not going to be able to pay you what I owe you right now.
You're going to have to wait a little while.
What do you mean, I'm going to have to wait?
Just what I said, I haven't got the money right now.
Better get it.
Where?
That's your problem.
All I know is you're half an hour overdue,
and I don't like to be kept waiting.
But I've got to have a little time.
All right.
I'll give you until midnight tonight.
If I don't have it by then, I'll send one of my boys to see you.
What are you trying to do, frighten me?
No.
Just letting you know where I stand.
Like you once told me,
if you can't pay, don't play.
Well, I'm telling you that now.
You shouldn't play without dough to back you up.
But this is different. I had the money when I started to play.
And I won it all.
I don't think you like to lose, Matt.
Why, you two-bit pitch-pinny.
Hold it!
I don't like to see blood on my carpet.
You're going to be sorry you pulled that gun on me.
By the time I get through with you,
you'll be back peddling punch boards for a nickel a crack.
As long as you don't forget you got till midnight to pay me the 483 grand.
After that, you can start breaking me.
But I got a hunch you're not going to do very much breaking in this town.
You stepped on too many hands on your way up.
And there are a lot of guys really eager to give you a push on the way down.
Now get out of here.
I'm tired. So tired.
66th Street.
One more block.
I know I'm going to make it.
Because of Ellen.
Ellen would want me to.
Ellen would help me.
But she isn't here now.
And I don't want to be alone.
I won't be alone.
Ellen will be there.
She's always there.
And I don't want to keep her waiting.
I must hurry.
Walk. Walk.
It's midnight.
Yes, I know.
What are you going to do?
What is there to do?
Wait for Gus, I suppose.
I'm afraid I have to welsh in another promise.
What promise?
The one I made to myself to give you the city.
Oh, Matt, darling, I don't care.
I told you once before I didn't want anything but you.
And now I...
Oh, Matt.
I wish I was somewhere starting all over again.
Do you really mean that, Matt?
Of course I do.
Here.
What's this?
I had them appraised today.
They're worth almost $175,000.
With these we can go to Mexico, South America,
where they never even heard of you or Gus
or any of the whole rotten mess in this town.
You mean you want me to run away?
To class myself with all the cheap welshers I hate?
Do you know what you're asking?
Yes, I know what I'm asking.
Matt, I love you.
I want you alive with me.
I've been afraid all this time and I'm tired of being afraid.
Oh, please, Matt, before it's too late.
Ellen.
Where do we go?
Mexico or South America?
South America. It's further.
South America it is.
I'll go down and get your car.
But then I...
Don't worry.
I'll be safe.
Nobody knows where I am.
I want you to wait here for about eight minutes,
then leave and meet me in the garage.
Then we're off to the west coast of South America.
Oh, Matt, I'm so happy.
Yes.
I think I'm going to like South America.
That's what happens to welshers.
68th Street. Hospital.
I've made it.
It's cold now. So cold.
A few more steps. Got to hurry.
Ellen has been waiting so long for me.
Don't want to keep her waiting.
When I get there, she'll take me in her arms.
I'll feel the strength of her love.
Chris will be there too.
And Lou.
I want to tell him that I didn't break every bone in my body.
Nurse.
Yes.
My...
My name is Matthew Miller.
And I guess...
Didn't make it after all.
Suspense.
Presented by Auto Light.
Tonight's star, Mr. John Hodiac.
And here once again is our personable young star, John Hodiac.
Thanks, Harlow.
John, it's always a treat having you on Suspense,
and tonight was no exception.
We all enjoyed your performance as Matt very much.
That's very nice, Harlow.
And if I may, I'd like to urge everybody in our audience
to be sure and hear next week's unusual show,
The Night Before Christmas.
A great suspense story starring Miss Greer Garson.
That's my good advice for tonight.
And I'll join you, John, with good advice for motorists everywhere.
I know, Harlow.
You're always right with Auto Light.
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Auto Light makes over 400 products for cars, trucks, tractors, planes, and boats.
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All are backed by constant Auto Light research
and are precision-built to highest standards of quality and performance.
No wonder from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
Music
Next week on Suspense, our star will be Miss Greer Garson in a special Christmas program,
the unusual dramatization of Twas the Night Before Christmas.
In weeks to come, we shall also present Mr. Herbert Marshall, Mr. Jeff Chandler,
and the First Lady of Suspense, Miss Agnes Moorhead.
All on Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis,
with music composed by Lucian Morawek from a New York theme by Fred Steiner,
and conducted by Lud Gluskin.
The case history of a gambler was written for Suspense by Ross Murray.
Featured in tonight's cast was Lillian Bief, Bill Boucher, Joseph Kearns, Lou Merrill,
Herb Bygren, Martha Wentworth, Charles Calvert, and Clayton Post.
John Hodiac can be seen in the soon to be released The Sellout.
And remember next week on Suspense, Miss Greer Garson in a special Christmas broadcast,
Twas the Night Before Christmas.
For the location of your nearest Auto Light battery or spark plug dealer,
or your nearest authorized Auto Light service station, phone Western Union by number
and ask for operator 25. Switch to Auto Light. Good night.
This is the CBS Radio Network.