Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers bring you Mr. Joseph Cotton in tonight's presentation
of Suspense.
Tonight, Auto Light presents Carnival, the story about a man whose only emotion became
hate, starring Mr. Joseph Cotton.
Hello, Harlow.
Well hoist my hubcaps, it's Oscar Auto.
See my new ignition engineered Auto Light spark plug?
Why, sure Oscar, and spark plugs are the very heart of a car's ignition system, and they've
got to be right for quick starts, gas economy, and smooth performance.
Well mine are now.
Thanks to my Auto Light spark plug dealer's exclusive plug check indicator.
Yes, the Auto Light plug check indicator tells whether your spark plugs are right for your
style of driving.
And if they need cleaning, your Auto Light spark plug dealer has modern equipment to
do the job.
And if replacements are needed, he will install world famous ignition engineered Auto Light
spark plugs for smoother performance, quick starts, and gas savings.
Right, Harlow.
So friends, see your nearest Auto Light spark plug dealer soon.
He services all makes of spark plugs, and you can quickly learn his location by calling
Western Union by number and asking for operator 25.
And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now with Carnival and the performance of Mr. Joseph Cotton, Auto Light hopes once
again to keep you in suspense.
Eight feet, nine inches tall, I weigh 343 pounds, married and no children.
I joined the sideshow at the age of 22.
And if you would like a photograph of me, I have them right here for sale.
All right, over here to the next stand, ladies and gentlemen, to the star attraction of the
sideshow.
That's right, that's right, right over here.
Gather around real close.
That's it, right up front.
Yeah, sure, little boy.
You get right up close here.
See something you never saw before.
Ladies and gentlemen, Renee the robot, Renee the magnificent.
Handsome, isn't he?
Beautiful man.
How elegantly he stands.
The elegant clothes, the gloved hand, just so.
The mouth smiling, the noble head poised for all to admire.
Renee the robot, Renee the man without emotion.
Lift your hand, Renee.
Like on pulleys and wheels, ladies and gentlemen, like a mechanical doll.
You and I lift our arms this way, ladies and gentlemen.
But Renee, lift your other arm, Renee.
Bow.
Can't you forget his flesh and blood, doesn't he?
Walk, Renee.
Like a mechanical doll, ladies and gentlemen.
And now with your permission, we'll have Renee do a little dance for us.
Put your drum on, Renee.
Look at him, look at him, ladies and gentlemen.
The way he responds to me, to O'Mara, is if I were pressing a button.
No question, no argument, no emotion.
He hears my voice and responds.
Are you ready, Renee?
Dance.
Wouldn't you like to have a beautiful mechanical doll like Renee to take home, girls?
Of course you would.
And he even talks.
Listen, tell us about yourself, Renee.
I am Renee Orlando.
I was born in Louisiana, a small town near the Gulf.
My father was a fisherman.
I do not remember my mother.
I was 15 years old when we moved to Baton Rouge.
There I discovered my talent.
My talent is to control all emotion.
My talent is to live as a machine, as well-ordered and without emotion as a machine.
They stare at me.
The faces looking up at me, idiot faces, fool's faces who see in me their own reflection,
who stand with open mouths before the image of the robots that they are.
They are the puppets.
They are the mechanical dolls, the effigies without emotion.
And I, the torrents within me, the ecstasies, the floods, the pure singing passions that
wash over me.
And Gabrielle, my wife Gabrielle, she knows, she knows the man who makes a fuss of himself
before an audience is no robot, knows when the day's mockery of carnival is ended.
It is a man who comes to her, a man who loves, hates.
Do my hair, Renée?
Black.
It coils over your shoulders like dark fire and lies against the secret hollows of your
throat.
Black.
Say my name.
Gabrielle.
Again, say it.
Who else knows these secrets?
What?
O'Mara.
How many times, Renée, how many times do I have to tell you O'Mara is nothing?
You walk and O'Mara's eyes follow you, you perform on the trapeze and O'Mara stands
below and watches your flight and his fingers stretch out for you.
Listen, Renée, how many ways must I prove to you I love you?
You're with him often.
Why?
We discuss matters of costumes and new ways of doing a trick.
And me also, you talk of me?
No.
You lie.
You lie, Gabrielle.
He says my name to you and tells you I am a mechanical man, isn't that so?
Renée, you're jealous.
Yes, jealous.
And happy for it.
I know that I am not a mechanical man but a man of emotion, one who loves and is jealous.
What will make you believe me?
There is a way.
If...
If what?
If there were no O'Mara.
What?
If O'Mara were dead, Gabrielle.
Now, no more words, my darling.
No more.
And that is why they call me Renée the Robot.
And if you'd like a token of your visit with me, I have some photographs.
They are for sale.
They are autographed.
Don't be bashful, ladies and gentlemen.
Come on, buy.
Or maybe you still don't believe, don't believe that Renée is a mechanical man.
Oh, a little boy.
A little boy, come here.
Come here.
Little boy, come here.
Here.
I'll lift you up on the stand.
Here we are.
Now, slap him, little boy.
Slap the mechanical man's face.
Slap him.
And Renée doesn't move a muscle.
Nor does he even blink.
Buy his pictures, ladies and gentlemen.
Buy from Renée the Robot.
Renée, come in, come in.
I know why you've come to my trailer, Renée, for my compliments on your last performance.
You were brilliant.
Amara, you must listen to me.
Oh, not for compliments, then for what?
It's what happened in there in the tent, in the sideshow.
Oh, then you resent the little boy who slapped you.
I thought it was quite a nice touch, Renée.
You're going too far, Amara.
Tonight was the last indignity.
You're quitting?
It must stop.
Then you've come to say goodbye.
Yes.
How many times have you said goodbye?
Twenty times?
A hundred and fifty times?
This time, this time I actually...
A thousand times?
How many times in fifteen years, Renée?
You can't leave.
I won't permit it.
All right, I gave you that much, Amara.
Fifteen years, that long of dancing with toy drums.
It's done now, over-finished.
For a mechanical man?
Oh, but I always forget.
You're not a mechanical man.
You're a person of passion, you always tell me.
You've got feelings.
Yes.
Yes, this is true.
I always forget.
Fifteen years a man can forget in that length of time.
You... what was that girl's name?
No, no.
You know the one I mean.
I told you, Amara, I warned you.
What was her name?
Her name was Celia.
Yes?
I killed her.
You strangled her, Renée, with her hair.
Her name was Celia Barton, and I killed her.
Of course.
And you saw it, and you told no one.
I'll never tell anyone, you're my major attraction, Renée.
Why should I tell anyone?
You're not going to leave, are you?
No.
You'll stay.
And so will Gabrielle.
Yeah.
That puzzles me, a man like you and a woman like Gabrielle.
So different.
What do you do?
What do you talk about?
We're not different.
A robot, cold without heart and no soul.
Like Gabrielle, a flame.
You're wrong, Amara.
You have no understanding.
You do not know what's inside of me.
Cold without heart and no soul.
I know what's inside of you, Renée.
Pulleys and strings and wheels.
Someday, someday, Amara, you'll...
Kill me?
Yes.
Yes, I'll kill you, Amara.
I'll kill you.
Renée!
Bow!
Turn around.
Get out.
There is a reason why I did that for Amara, bowed for him, left him 15 years and listened
to his voice that long, performed for him.
Habit becomes strong.
Because all of it had become habit.
Amara, the carnival, the moving from here to another village to yet another and another
and perform, perform.
And the nights of the mist like tonight walk through it.
The wet desert, pale reflections of light, the pockets of wind that swirled up the confetti
had drifted away.
Empty rides, the carnival that had run down.
And shadows on peeling paint and shadows on shadows.
And Gabrielle in our trailer waiting, waiting for me.
Renée.
I saw what he did to you today.
That child slapping you.
It amuses him.
Everything I do amuses him.
The boy slapped you here?
Yes.
There.
The shame is gone.
Oh.
Now only your lips are gone.
The shame is still there.
Why do you permit it, Renée?
No more.
Yes, no more.
We'll go away from this place, from Amara.
He'd find us.
Far from here, Renée, to a place where you...
I said it, he'd find us.
Well, let him.
What difference does it make?
You don't understand.
Understand what?
Understand how he makes a fool of you 10 times a day?
Understand how he...
Gabrielle.
Gabrielle, my darling.
What?
What is it?
Amara, he...
Yes?
Kill him.
Kill him for me, Gabrielle.
You kill him.
What?
Kill him, kill him.
Don't you see it's the only way?
Kill him?
I...
Gabrielle, listen to me, believe me.
It's the only way we can be happy.
Amara has to die.
He must die, Gabrielle.
And then we can be together.
Always, always together.
But, kill him.
You must do this for me.
Just now I tried and I cannot.
You hate him and you want us to be together and you can't kill him.
Why?
Because...
Because 15 years on the platform performing for him, moving according to his demand and
now just talking to him.
He speaks my name and I perform.
I could not get close enough to kill him.
I can only perform.
Then you are...
You are the mechanical man.
Everything Amara says about you, it's true.
He loves you.
Dance with him.
Drink with him.
Poison him.
Kill him.
Renée, the robot.
Does a robot hate?
Does a robot know jealousy?
Does he love?
Am I a robot?
Gabrielle.
Oh, I love you.
Love you.
Kill him.
Yes.
Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Joseph Cotton in Carnival.
Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Say Harlow, Auto Light spark plugs aren't just made, are they?
No sir Oscar, Auto Light spark plugs are ignition engineered and that means they're designed
by the same skilled Auto Light engineers who designed the coil, distributor and all the
other important parts of complete ignition systems used as original equipment on many
leading makes of our finest cars, trucks and tractors.
And we love them.
Auto Light makes a complete line of spark plugs including the famous Auto Light resistor
spark plug that gives double life, greater gas savings and quicker starts.
Auto Light also makes a special transport spark plug for heavy duty use in tractors
and trucks and a complete line of spark plugs for marine and all other types of internal
combustion engines.
And you get them at your nearest Auto Light spark plug dealer.
So friends, see your nearest Auto Light spark plug dealer soon.
Have him compare your spark plugs with the exclusive Auto Light plug check indicator
so you can be sure your spark plugs are right for your style of driving.
And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, Mr. Joseph Cotton in Elliot Lewis's
production of Carnival, a dramatic report well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Get your tickets here for the spectacular attractions that you will see inside.
Rollo the Giant stands eight feet nine inches tall, his little finger as big around as your
wrist.
Rene the Robot, the man who walks and talks and thinks like a machine.
Rene the Mechanical Man, yes, you'll see them all and many more inside.
One ticket takes you all the way through, so step right up.
It was sunlight when we listened to him, when Gabrielle and I listened to Omara.
Late of the day, he was going to die.
The carnival stood red and gold and green and bronze against the heat-shivering sky.
And through the dull glinting dust, the crowd funneled to the stand of that, to this novelty,
to that attraction that kept on all day.
The procession of seekers.
And later when the sun went down, thirst misdescended.
And later when it was night and it was shadows again.
And then it became a certain time, a time of importance, the hour interval before my
last performance.
The hour when Omara would die and Gabrielle would kill him.
I'm frightened, Rene.
Yes, but you must wipe the fright from your face when you are with him.
Be gay, Gabrielle, frivolous for a while, then warm.
I know.
Here, here near the cage, let there's no one will see us.
You will be warm for Omara, Gabrielle.
You will wait on him and be beautiful for him.
He will drink a toast to your beauty with this.
Where did you get it?
I got it.
A few drops from this bottle into his glass.
Take it.
Take it, Gabrielle.
All right.
And when Omara dies, Rene the robot will die with him.
Yes.
My last performance is at 11.
My last performance will not happen, will it?
No.
Because in a few minutes you will meet Omara in our trailer.
He will be there, won't he?
You asked him there.
Yes, yes.
Rene.
What?
What is it?
Rene, nothing.
I will do it.
Now go to him.
Kill him.
You cage the leopard, wait with me.
You behind your bars, I behind mine.
Wait.
Walk with me.
Wait with me.
Oh, leopard, forgive me.
I am more fortunate than you.
Time passes and the minutes go and my prison will dissolve.
A man will die and with his dying I will be free.
And time passes, leopard.
A man is dying and I am coming alive.
The things I feel now, you would understand if those bars were being torn aside for you.
A crouch.
A little longer.
Little longer.
And then exhilaration, the joy, the leap.
Omara is dead.
Rene, where have you been Rene?
Omara.
I have been looking for you.
There are people in there in the tent.
They are waiting for you.
Omara.
For Rene the robot.
Come on.
Bow Rene.
Makes you forget his flesh and blood doesn't he ladies and gentlemen?
Walk Rene.
Like a mechanical doll.
Like a puppet on strings.
And now a divertissement.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have here in my hand a bottle.
A small bottle.
A brown bottle.
You sir in the audience, would you mind holding it for me?
Oh sure.
Give it to me.
Now hold it up.
Let everybody see it.
A small brown bottle ladies and gentlemen.
Sir, what does it say on the label?
Says poison.
Poison.
That's right.
Unscrew the cap.
There is nothing to be afraid of.
Thank you.
You crazy.
You don't respond when I tell you to do something, do you sir?
Drink it.
You crazy.
Then you believe it's poison, do you not?
If it says poison, I'm not taking any chances.
Here's your bottle back mister.
No, no.
Hand it to that girl.
That lovely girl there who just laughed.
Take it from me miss.
All right.
If I asked you to drink it, would you drink it?
No.
And why not?
Because it's poison.
Poison.
A young woman gave me this bottle a little while ago.
Her name is Gabrielle.
Oh but this is of no interest to you ladies and gentlemen.
What's of interest to you is Rene the robot.
Rene I have the bottle back please.
Thank you.
Would you drink from this bottle Rene?
Yes, I would.
Even though you know it's poison?
Yes.
Because I tell you to.
Yes, because you tell me to.
Drink.
You see, you see ladies and gentlemen.
He drank it.
Drained it.
But Rene it wasn't poison.
Once the bottle held poison but that's another story.
It was only colored water that Rene drank.
And now with your permission we will have Rene do a little dance for us.
Put on your drum Rene.
You dance very well tonight Rene.
Oh beautifully.
Dance Rene, dance and listen.
I went to Gabrielle.
Spoke love to her.
I was right about her.
She is a flame.
Unforgettable.
Love and wine.
When she handed me the glass her hand shook.
Dance Rene, the people love you.
Her hand shook and then she dropped it.
She dropped the glass.
Wouldn't you like a beautiful mechanical doll like this to take home girls?
Gabrielle, he's alive.
Hold me, just hold me.
What happened?
Why is he alive?
Love me Rene, tell me it's all right.
Mara's alive, why?
I tried to do what you told me.
I permitted him to hold me in his arms.
I permitted him to kiss me.
I laughed.
I was gay.
Then from the bottle.
From the bottle Rene, the poison.
I poured him a drink.
Your hand shook and you dropped it.
Yes, how could you know?
How could I know?
Your hand shook and you dropped it.
Why?
You kissed him.
It was so pleasant that you...
No, no, I love you Rene.
Even now that I know everything about you, I love you.
What do you know?
Why you wanted Amara dead.
What did he tell you?
About a girl, a girl named Celia.
A girl you killed.
How you killed her.
She was beautiful.
Like me?
Like you.
So many things I understand now Rene.
Why you are what you are, why you do what you...
What am I?
To me, my love.
To the world what Amara has made of you, a robot.
You could have ended it for me Gabriella.
I cannot, ever Rene, I cannot kill.
More and more and more what Amara does to me, a word from Amara, a movement of Amara's
mouth, a gesture from him and a response.
Rene.
You told him everything, gave him the bottle of poison, confessed you could not kill him.
Why?
Wait.
No, with you I was alive a little bit.
I could be jealous.
Now I'm lost.
No, wait.
My hair Rene.
Touch it.
See, you're not lost.
You're here with me, with Gabriella, with Gabriella.
You should have killed him.
I couldn't.
Because you love him.
You and Amara, the puppet of both of you, a mechanical doll.
No, no, listen.
A mechanical doll to play with like a toy.
That other one too.
Celia too, like her, you.
I'm Gabriella, I love you.
Like her?
Rene, no, don't.
Like her.
She lay there, Gabriella, her hair a veil across her mouth against her throat where
I had twisted it.
I brushed it aside, leaned over, whispered a name on her lips.
She didn't answer me.
She lay still, Gabriella lay still.
I lifted her, held her in my arms.
A pale light from outside touched her cheek, held, and through the window outside was mist
and the carnival and the seekers still there for the last show.
Here and there the carnival lights die one by one and the light on Gabriella's cheek
dies too.
No, Gabriella.
She's dead, Rene.
You killed her.
Put her down.
No, Amara.
Put her down.
Rene, walk.
Turn left, Rene, to the tent.
They're waiting for you.
You'll strangle tonight, Rene.
Again, strangle.
Rene, walk.
Rene.
I weigh 343 pounds, married and no children.
I joined the sideshow at the age of 22.
I am Rene Orlando.
I was born in Louisiana, a small town near the Gulf.
My father was a fisherman.
I do not remember my mother.
I was 15 years old when we moved to Baton Rouge.
There I discovered my talent.
My talent is killing.
Long ago, I killed Celia.
Tonight I killed Gabrielle and Amara.
Now I will dance for you.
Suspense.
Presented by Auto Light.
Tonight's star, Mr. Joseph Cotton.
This is Harlow Wilcox speaking for Auto Light, world's largest independent manufacturer of
automotive electrical equipment.
Auto Light is proud to serve the greatest names in the industry.
That's why during the early months of 1952, the Auto Light family will join together in
saluting the leading car manufacturers who install Auto Light products as original equipment.
Our Auto Light family is made up of the nearly 30,000 men and women in 28 great Auto Light
plants from coast to coast and in still other Auto Light plants in many foreign countries.
Our family also includes more than 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their
savings in Auto Light, as well as 96,000 Auto Light distributors and dealers throughout
the world.
Our Auto Light family will salute Willis Overland on the next Auto Light suspense television
program.
If you live in a television area, check the day and time of Suspense on Television so
that you will be sure to see this program.
And remember, be with us next week for another thrilling Auto Light suspense program on radio.
Next week our star will be Mr. J. Carroll Nash as a man who searched for and found buried
treasure and a curse, a tale we call The Treasure Chest of Don José.
In weeks to come we shall also present Mr. James Mason, Miss Barbara Stanwyck and Mr.
Richard Widmark.
All on Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with music composed by Lucian Morawekin
conducted by Lud Gluskin.
Carnival was written for Suspense by Morton Fine and David Friedkin.
In tonight's story Mary Jane Croft is heard as Gabrielle and Joseph Kearns as Omara, featured
in the cast were Dick Ryan, Charles Calvert and Sylvia Sims.
Joseph Kearns, Joseph Cotton is currently starring in the MGM production Man with a Cloak.
And remember next week on Suspense, Mr. J. Carroll Nash in The Treasure Chest of Don
José.
This is the CBS Radio Network.