Auto Light and its 98,000 dealers bring you Miss Dinah Shore in tonight's presentation
of Suspense.
Tonight, Auto Light presents the recreation in song and story of an American legend.
You're about to hear what happened to Frankie and Johnny, our star Miss Dinah Shore.
Hey, Harno, weren't those circus acrobats wonderful?
Yes, sir, Hap.
You know, they remind me of the Auto Light electrical system in every Auto Light equipped
car, working together, just like the coil distributor, generator, starting motor, battery,
spark plugs, and all the other important parts of the complete Auto Light electrical system.
Well, there's one big difference, Harno.
You bet there is, Hap.
Those acrobats perform for only a few minutes at a time, but the electrical system in your
Auto Light equipped car goes to work the second you turn the switch to start your car, and
it keeps right on working every second your car is used.
That's why with Auto Light, you can be sure every unit and every component part of the
electrical system is related by Auto Light engineering design and manufacturing skill
to give you the smoothest performance money can buy.
Hey, pays to keep the Auto Light team together, eh, Harno?
It sure does, Hap.
So, friends, if your Auto Light equipped car needs replacement parts, be sure to insist
on Auto Light original factory parts.
And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, with Frankie and Johnny and the performance of Miss Dinah Shore, Auto Light hopes once
again to keep you in suspense.
Bring out your long black coffin, Miss Dinah.
Bring out your funeral clothes.
Johnny's gone and cashed his check to the graveyard, my Johnny goes.
He was my man.
Johnny?
Johnny, honey.
Put away that clarinet and talk to me, Johnny.
What?
You love me, honey?
Sure, sure.
Johnny?
Johnny.
What do you want now?
Talk to me, baby.
That's all I want.
All right, come here.
That's what you want, isn't it?
You're my man, Johnny.
That's right.
I'm your man.
Except sometimes.
What are you talking about?
Except sometimes, Johnny, when you go away.
Where do you go when you go away?
Oh, baby.
Where do you go, Johnny?
The kookaloo is on Basin Street, you know that.
They don't serve nothing there.
I can't make you, Johnny.
What's there's a back room.
Back room and a place to play my music.
A place to sit and play.
Nobody bothers.
Me and a couple others.
You know that, baby, don't you worry.
You can play your music someplace else and get money for it.
I worry about that.
Get away from here, Frankie.
Take yourself a walk.
The whole town of New Orleans.
So many places to play your music and you sit in a back room.
You go away from me and...
I told you something, baby.
You don't like it, you can take that long walk to Georgia where you come from.
You leaving?
No.
A couple of girls I used to know never bothered me about not going down to kookaloo's.
I won't bother you, Johnny.
Got any money, Frankie?
I got some.
I saw me a suit walking down Basin Street.
I saw me a suit in a store window.
I need me that suit, honey.
I'm sure it looked good in it.
What's it cost, Johnny?
I mean, a cheap suit?
I didn't say that, Johnny.
I just asked how much...
A hundred dollars?
You got a hundred dollars, baby?
I got it.
Well, that's good.
That's fine.
We walked real slow along Basin Street.
The girls all calling by name.
But I walked real close to my Johnny.
I'm sure he's got a good eye.
This one, pay him, Frankie, while I put it on.
Johnny and me, we went walking here.
And Johnny had a brand new suit.
I paid out all of that money just to make my man look cute.
He was my man.
Show me off, Frankie.
Sure, honey.
We'll walk down here to Esplanade and down Esplanade where the lights are and everybody
can see you fine.
Hey, the lights are right in there, baby.
We won't have to walk so much.
I kind of like it where the lights are inside, anyhow.
Anywhere you want, Johnny.
Sure.
Hi, Johnny.
Hi.
Hi, Nellie.
You're here, huh?
Yeah.
Frankie bought it for me.
Fits you good, Johnny.
You look real nice.
I need me a beer, Frankie.
Get you one?
Oh, I ain't thirsty, honey.
I'm thirsty.
I'm real thirsty.
All I got's nine dollars.
I ain't that thirsty.
Just give me one of them.
All right.
Here.
All right, come on.
I'll sit you down near the piano.
You wait here, Frankie.
I'll bring me back my beer and sit with you.
Hiya, Frankie.
Want me to play you a song?
Just do what you're doing, Tiso.
I like it.
Dreamy like, huh?
Yeah.
I feel dreamy.
Hey, how are you and Johnny getting along, Frankie?
Like that music you're playing?
I'm glad.
I'm mighty glad.
I...
Ever get homesick, Frankie?
Oh, first I did.
I never think about home no more.
Georgia's a real nice place.
A girl can do real nice there.
I'm doing nice.
I got Johnny.
Yeah?
Sure, I got Johnny.
He comes back to the table from the bar you asked him.
I'll do that when he comes back.
He ain't at the bar, Frankie.
Bartender.
Yeah, what you want, man?
Where's Johnny?
Your name, Frankie, ma'am?
Yeah.
Where's Johnny?
He told me to tell you something.
He said he had to leave.
He said don't wait up for him.
He said not to worry.
Where'd he go?
I don't know.
I just don't know.
I ran to the street in a hurry.
My Johnny was nowhere around.
A gal who leaned in a doorway, made a soft laughing sound.
You're looking for your man?
Your Johnny's gone.
Walk up and down on the table.
Knock on a mid-lock door.
Keep on asking for my loving Johnny in the weeping corridor.
Guys tried to sell me some nighttime.
Tried to kiss away tears and hit.
Come along, pretty Frankie.
I'll love you for years and years.
Forget your man.
But I just walked toward North Rampart, searched the dark night in between.
Keep on looking for loving Johnny.
Right down to Old Darfee.
He was my man.
Evening, Frankie.
Oh, hello, Miss Willie.
Pretty evening, ain't it?
Haven't noticed.
It's a real pretty evening, Frankie.
You out strolling all alone?
I guess I am.
Come on inside.
We'll have us a chat.
No, I'm going to walk some more.
We'll have us some beer.
No thanks, Miss Willie.
We'll have us some whiskey, Frankie.
I gotta walk some more.
Who you looking for?
It don't matter.
I got something to tell you, Frankie.
What?
I sit here all day long, all night long.
I never sleep.
I see all sorts of things.
People.
Things going on.
You see Johnny come by here, Miss Willie?
He waiting for you?
Have you seen him?
Oh, he sure a good looking boy.
Black hair plastered down like that.
My, my.
The way he walks.
Yeah, you notice the way he walks.
People step back and let him come past the way he walks, my Johnny.
What's your interest in him, Frankie?
He's my man.
Uh-huh.
You see him come by here lately?
I seen a gal come by here lately.
Well, I gotta go look for Johnny.
Oh, this gal wasn't alone.
Ain't a night for a gal to be alone.
Real pretty gal.
Who was she with, Miss Willie?
Had gold hair and red lips.
And her name was Nellie Bly.
Nellie Bly?
He said hello to a gal named Nellie in a place we were in.
He was with her, Frankie.
Where'd they go?
To show off his new suit, I guess.
Where did they go?
Up the street.
Down that way, Frankie.
Down to Jelly Cakes, please.
I leaned out the window and I think I saw them go into Jelly Cakes.
I ain't sure now, but I think they did.
Where are you going, Frankie?
Jelly Cakes the other way.
I'm gonna find me a pawn shop.
Why, Frankie?
Gotta buy me something.
What?
Gotta buy me a gun.
What are you gonna do with a gun, Frankie?
I'm gonna kill Johnny.
I'm gonna kill him, cause he's doing me wrong.
Auto Light is bringing you Miss Dinah Shore in Frankie and Johnny.
Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Hey, Harlow.
Takes a lot of experience to be an acrobat.
And a lot of skill, too, Hap.
That's why Auto Light Electrical Systems are such successful performers.
They've long been used as original equipment on many leading makes of our finest cars, trucks, and tractors.
And every unit and component part is related by Auto Light engineering design and manufacturing skill
to give the finest performance money can buy.
And acrobats need to rest hard.
Ah, but not the Auto Light Electrical System.
It goes to work the second you turn the switch to start your car and run your engine.
Use your light's horn, radio, heater, or electric windshield wiper.
And an acrobat has to be in perfect shape.
Same with the Electrical System, Hap.
So, friends, treat your car to a periodic checkup at your car dealer's or authorized Auto Light service station.
Make sure the electrical system is always in top shape for top performance.
You can quickly locate your nearest authorized Auto Light service station
in the classified section of your telephone book, or 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.
Now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, Miss Dinah Shore,
in Elliot Lewis's production of Frankie and Johnny,
a true story well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Music
Hey, boys, come on there. Come on, boys, come on.
Ah, you like that, boy.
I got another one here for you.
But first, boys and me are going to take five.
Be with you soon.
Jellycake?
Ah, hiya, Miss Frankie.
Can I talk to you a minute, Jellycake, please?
You.
Be big. Please sit down.
Can I get you something to drink?
Has Johnny been in here?
He's been here.
With a girl?
He was calling her Nellie.
What did they do here?
They were sitting over there. They got up and danced for a while, a couple of times when we played them soft.
But mostly they just sat.
He kiss her?
You wouldn't ask me things like that, Miss Frankie.
I want to know what he did.
He had a little fight while he was in here.
It wasn't much of a fight. Just hit a man, that's all.
Johnny never hit a man on account of me.
Oh, it wasn't that, Miss Frankie.
Some man walked up and spilled a little gin on Johnny's new suit.
It was an accident. Man didn't mean nothing, but Johnny hit him.
Said the man that drew in this suit.
Johnny might have killed that man except for the lady, the one he called Nellie.
She fixed it.
Fixed it? How?
Took Johnny out of here for a little while.
Then they come back.
Johnny was smiling.
Johnny was smiling and leaning close to the one he called Nellie.
Telling her things.
Then she'd be smiling too.
Man a hit up against Johnny's new yellow suit.
Yellow suit? I didn't buy him a yellow suit.
That's the kind of suit he's wearing when he come back in here, Miss Frankie.
Soft kind of yellow.
Not the kind that screams at you.
Whispery kind of yellow.
The one I bought him cost a hundred dollars.
Oh, you couldn't buy that yellow suit for no hundred dollars.
This was five pearl buttons on the coat.
And the vest was silk.
And there was a big gold chain across the front.
Ah, that Johnny lighted up the place with a soft, pretty light.
I'd have bought him a suit like that.
If he'd have asked me to, I'd have bought him anything he wanted.
He never asked you for no diamonds, did he?
Diamonds?
Like the one he's wearing on his little finger.
Miss Frankie, that was the biggest diamond in the whole world.
The brightest one too.
That Johnny ain't never gonna need a light to find his way around.
Not with that diamond on his little finger.
I guess Nellie bought him that too.
And the pattern of his shoes and the cane.
I guess she likes him real well.
I guess Danny got himself a woman.
Where'd they go, Jelly Cake?
Out of here some time ago.
Must have been an hour.
Where?
Well, he gave me a dollar to play him a tune.
Called me a tune, said play it before I take my lovely Nellie home.
You know where she lives?
Where Earthline crosses Charteris, Miss Frankie.
Third house down, left side.
Thanks, Jelly Cake.
What you gonna do?
You know what I'm gonna do.
You gonna kill him?
Well, good night, Miss Frankie.
Come on, Jelly Cake.
Cap!
That man took all of my money.
That man took all of my love.
He left me so sad and so lonely.
My heart's a broken winged dove.
He is my man.
But he's doing me wrong.
Got a big rock on his finger.
And a yellow suit on his back.
Making love to that Nellie Bly.
So drive her over all this heck.
Gonna kill that man.
What'd you say, lady?
Gonna kill that man.
Turn here.
Three houses down and stop.
I guess you wanna go someplace after you leave here, lady.
You want me to wait?
You can wait.
What do you want?
Where's Johnny?
I know what you're talking about, lady.
Nellie Bly live here?
She's gone, lady.
She ain't never coming back.
A man with her wearing a yellow suit and a gold chain and a diamond ring?
Name's Johnny, huh?
Gent, real gent.
He's gone too.
He's gone with Nellie Bly.
They talk about where they were going?
They talked about Memphis and St. Louis.
About riding the river boat come morning.
That Johnny's a real sport.
Lady, five dollar bill right here.
Where my hand at?
I only got two dollars.
Right here where my hand at.
Thank you kindly.
What'd he buy for five dollars, mister?
What, I'm going to sell you for two?
Johnny sent me to his place to pick up something.
You're lying, Johnny.
He ain't got nothing except what's on his back.
Got a clarinet?
That's what he told me to get, that's all.
What'd you want, Jennifer?
I got something to give him too.
What's that?
A gun.
You find him, lady?
I know where he is, I know for sure where he is.
Is that where we're going?
To Coocaloos.
On Basis Street?
That's right.
Well, I know where that is.
Won't take long.
Cabbie?
Yeah, lady?
I got no more money.
Oh?
I can't pay you for this ride, Cabbie.
You weren't kidding, were you, about what you said before?
About what?
About killing a man.
I wasn't kidding.
I'm going to kill him.
This ride won't cost you nothing.
I wish I had me a gal like you.
Love me so much she'd kill.
I wouldn't do a gal like that no wrong.
Where you going, Frankie?
Get out of my way, Nellie Blythe.
You can't go in that back room.
Johnny won't even let me go in there, so he ain't going to let you.
I got no argument with you, so get out of my way.
You got an argument with my sweet man, you got an argument with me.
You want to go to Memphis, Nellie?
I'm going.
You want to go to St. Louis?
I'm going there too.
Maybe you're going, and I ain't going to stop you.
But you're going to find another sweet man to go with, not Johnny.
Honey, he don't love you no more. He's tired of you.
He told me.
He told me lots of things.
He told me about my gold hair and my red lips.
He told me...
You ain't going with Johnny.
No.
No, I guess I ain't.
Get out of here, Nellie.
The way you hold that gun, I guess I better.
Get on the bike.
I guess I better.
Get on that river boat and never come back.
I ain't never coming back, Frankie.
Honest.
I'm ashamed to kill him, Frankie.
He ain't much of a guy, but Johnny plays a lot of clarinet.
Get out, you son.
I'm sorry, Frankie.
I'm sorry.
You oughtn't to kill him, Frankie.
When you leave here, mister, close the door.
Johnny?
Goodbye, Johnny.
Johnny.
Roll them over easy, boy.
Roll them over slow.
How do you feel, Johnny?
I guess you don't hurt no more, Johnny.
What happened to him?
He got shot. He died.
You do it, Frankie.
I gotta take you to the jailhouse, Frankie.
We better go.
I brought you a chair to stand on, Frankie, in case you want to look out the jail window.
You want to look? You want to look, Frankie?
What do you see?
I see a long black coffin.
There's people in funeral clothes.
Johnny's gone and cashed us checks.
To the graveyard, my Johnny goes.
There goes that rubber-tied carriage.
There goes that rubber-tied hack.
Twelve men going to the graveyard.
And eleven coming back.
Johnny was my man.
But he done me wrong.
Suspense. A true story presented by Auto Light. Tonight's star, Miss Dinah Shore.
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.
They are members of the Auto Light family, as are the 98,000 Auto Light distributors and dealers in the United States, and thousands more in Canada and throughout the world.
Our family also includes 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, as well as the 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their savings in Auto Light.
Every Auto Light product is backed by constant research and precision built to the highest standards of quality and performance.
So remember, from bumper to taillight, you're always right with Auto Light.
Next week, a man leaves his home, drives to work, talks to his friends, excuses himself for a moment, and is never seen again.
The story is called The Missing Person, the star Mr. McDonald Carrey.
The program will be presented next week on Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with music composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted by Ludd Luskin.
Tonight's Frankie and Johnny was written for Suspense by Morton Fine and David Friedkin.
In tonight's story, Lamont Johnson was heard as Johnny. Featured in the cast were Alvina Temple, Martha Wentworth, Sidney Miller, Joseph Kearns, Roy Glenn, Harry Bartel, and Jack Ruchin.
Dinah Shore may be seen each Tuesday and Thursday in her own television show on another network.
And remember next week on Suspense, Mr. McDonald Carrey in The Missing Person.
For the location of your nearest authorized Auto Light service station or your nearest Auto Light battery or Auto Light spark plug dealer, phone Western Union by number and ask for operator 25. Switch to Auto Light. Good night.
This is the CBS Radio Network.