WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:10.280 Auto Light and its 98,000 dealers bring you Miss Agnes Moorhead in tonight's presentation 00:10.280 --> 00:14.400 of Suspense. 00:14.400 --> 00:25.540 Tonight, Auto Light salutes the American Automobile Association and its traffic safety program 00:25.540 --> 00:32.840 as we present a dramatic report called, The Empty Chair, our star, the first lady of Suspense, 00:32.840 --> 00:40.400 Miss Agnes Moorhead. 00:40.400 --> 00:44.360 This is Harlow Wilcox speaking for the worldwide Auto Light family. 00:44.360 --> 00:51.960 Since 1922, the American Automobile Association, with the cooperation of 276 affiliated clubs, 00:51.960 --> 00:57.960 has been active in helping schools develop educational programs designed to protect children 00:57.960 --> 01:04.520 on their way to and from school, and to make them careful drivers upon graduation. 01:04.520 --> 01:07.880 Traffic safety is, as you know, everyone's business. 01:07.880 --> 01:13.880 So our story tonight will dramatize how we all can help ourselves and our children by 01:13.880 --> 01:19.640 driving carefully and by cooperating with traffic safety instructions. 01:19.640 --> 01:24.380 Here in the program, we will hear from Mr. Royce G. Martin, chairman of the board and 01:24.380 --> 01:29.400 president of the Electric Auto Light Company, and Mr. Ralph Thomas, president of the American 01:29.400 --> 01:32.320 Automobile Association. 01:32.320 --> 01:39.080 And now, Auto Light presents transcribed, The Empty Chair, starring Miss Agnes Moorhead, 01:39.080 --> 01:45.200 hoping once again to keep you in suspense. 01:45.200 --> 01:55.200 Now, are we all settled down? 01:55.200 --> 01:58.120 That's good. 01:58.120 --> 02:00.500 Miss Barbara Warner. 02:00.500 --> 02:04.520 You may call me Miss Barbara or Miss Warner, either one, which gives you young ladies and 02:04.520 --> 02:08.080 gentlemen at least two choices when you wish to attract my attention, so that there'll 02:08.080 --> 02:11.320 be no need to yell out, hey, teacher. 02:11.320 --> 02:20.320 Besides, 10B3, 10B3, and your homeroom, high school at last. 02:20.320 --> 02:22.640 And today's the first day. 02:22.640 --> 02:26.100 Young ladies and gentlemen, truly, and today's the day it really starts. 02:26.100 --> 02:28.800 So now let's get to know each other, shall we? 02:28.800 --> 02:31.720 All of you will get up and go to the back of the room, please. 02:31.720 --> 02:34.440 I have your study cards here, and I've arranged them alphabetically. 02:34.440 --> 02:38.440 We'll start with the first row and the first seat, and as I call your names, you'll be 02:38.440 --> 02:39.440 seated. 02:39.440 --> 02:45.680 Sidney Aronson, Mary Avanti, right in back of Sidney. 02:45.680 --> 02:47.400 Yes, that's right. 02:47.400 --> 02:51.240 David Coop, George Darley. 02:51.240 --> 02:52.240 Just a minute, George. 02:52.240 --> 02:56.480 Leave an empty seat, Jessica Bromley, and then skip one, and then you, George. 02:56.480 --> 02:58.360 An empty seat for David Cooper. 02:58.360 --> 02:59.360 For now. 02:59.360 --> 03:16.480 How'd you like that, Miss Warner? 03:16.480 --> 03:17.480 Bobby. 03:17.480 --> 03:18.480 What? 03:18.480 --> 03:19.480 Nothing. 03:19.480 --> 03:20.480 I didn't say anything. 03:20.480 --> 03:25.480 Don't worry about a thing, Miss Warner. 03:25.480 --> 03:29.680 Home. 03:29.680 --> 03:30.680 And how'd you like your ride? 03:30.680 --> 03:32.640 Well, I'm glad it's over. 03:32.640 --> 03:35.080 And I was just getting a compliment ready for you. 03:35.080 --> 03:36.080 Oh, you were? 03:36.080 --> 03:38.240 I've never had a teacher in my car before. 03:38.240 --> 03:39.240 And? 03:39.240 --> 03:42.880 I wanted to see how one of them would react to going 65 miles an hour. 03:42.880 --> 03:46.420 Nearly 70, Bobby, and in a residential section, too. 03:46.420 --> 03:48.880 Just for the last six blocks, Miss Warner. 03:48.880 --> 03:53.120 I was going to say how I was surprised you didn't scream at me or get hysterical. 03:53.120 --> 03:56.720 I was going to say I'm glad, since you're that kind of person, I'm glad you're going 03:56.720 --> 03:58.080 to board with my mother and me. 03:58.080 --> 03:59.520 Now you're sorry about the whole thing. 03:59.520 --> 04:00.520 Oh, no, no. 04:00.520 --> 04:02.120 I didn't mean that. 04:02.120 --> 04:03.520 I'm a good driver, Miss Warner. 04:03.520 --> 04:04.960 Yes, I'm sure you are. 04:04.960 --> 04:05.960 And this is a good car. 04:05.960 --> 04:06.960 Yes, it's beautiful. 04:06.960 --> 04:07.960 You mean it? 04:07.960 --> 04:10.960 Yes, of course I do, Bobby. 04:10.960 --> 04:16.280 But what about school, the traffic classes, and the sessions on safety? 04:16.280 --> 04:17.280 What about them? 04:17.280 --> 04:18.800 Well, didn't they impress you? 04:18.800 --> 04:22.680 Most of the boys and girls learn to drive through school classes, didn't you? 04:22.680 --> 04:23.800 Yes, ma'am. 04:23.800 --> 04:28.320 And reaction times, you were taught about those and how no one's reaction time is really 04:28.320 --> 04:32.200 fast enough to cope with an emergency at high speed. 04:32.200 --> 04:36.640 You drive as if you'd forgot all about that as soon as you walked out of class. 04:36.640 --> 04:37.640 And you sound like a- 04:37.640 --> 04:38.640 Bobby! 04:38.640 --> 04:39.640 Miss Warner! 04:39.640 --> 04:40.640 That's my mother. 04:40.640 --> 04:42.640 Well, what are you two out here for? 04:42.640 --> 04:43.640 Come on in. 04:43.640 --> 04:44.640 I've got tea made. 04:44.640 --> 04:47.200 Oh, I'm so glad you're here, Miss Warner. 04:47.200 --> 04:52.200 I wasn't sure when you'd arrive. 04:52.200 --> 05:01.760 Mrs. Morrison, mother of Bobby, a woman in her forties perhaps or younger, in a plain 05:01.760 --> 05:06.040 cotton house dress that hung loosely about her and her hands were almost delicate and 05:06.040 --> 05:08.920 quite thin and worn. 05:08.920 --> 05:13.280 And her fingers quickly and nervously pushed strands of graying hair tied against her temples 05:13.280 --> 05:18.120 and on her face the trace and not yet deep of lines of strain. 05:18.120 --> 05:20.280 Don't let Miss Warner carry her bag herself, Bobby. 05:20.280 --> 05:21.280 You take it. 05:21.280 --> 05:24.280 Take it to her room. 05:24.280 --> 05:25.600 Bobby! 05:25.600 --> 05:30.840 And then her touch on my arm and Mrs. Morrison led me into her house, into her home and showed 05:30.840 --> 05:35.680 me the living room, neat, sparingly furnished and said that I was welcome to use it any 05:35.680 --> 05:39.120 evening for my guests if I just let her know beforehand. 05:39.120 --> 05:43.520 She would arrange to go to a movie or call on a neighbor, just let her know beforehand. 05:43.520 --> 05:47.120 And the kitchen and where she kept the toaster and the coffee canister and the sugar and 05:47.120 --> 05:51.400 the other things I'd need for breakfast or a snack whenever I pleased. 05:51.400 --> 05:53.040 She didn't mind a bit. 05:53.040 --> 05:54.040 And then my room. 05:54.040 --> 05:59.280 I, uh, I had Bobby fix up the little radio on your bed table. 05:59.280 --> 06:01.000 I thought it might be nice. 06:01.000 --> 06:02.720 A pleasant room. 06:02.720 --> 06:06.320 A summer blanket neatly folded at the foot of the bed. 06:06.320 --> 06:09.840 A window open to a small wire fence vegetable garden. 06:09.840 --> 06:14.800 A desk, a chair, a pleasant room. 06:14.800 --> 06:18.880 Unpacked now and change and lie down and rest. 06:18.880 --> 06:21.600 Listen to the radio. 06:21.600 --> 06:22.600 And doze. 06:22.600 --> 06:23.600 Lay off me, Ma. 06:23.600 --> 06:24.600 Leave me alone. 06:24.600 --> 06:25.600 Just lay off me. 06:25.600 --> 06:26.600 Do you hear me? 06:26.600 --> 06:31.000 And wake in then to summer evening and do something more harsh. 06:31.000 --> 06:32.000 I'm fed up, Ma. 06:32.000 --> 06:33.000 Fed up. 06:33.000 --> 06:34.000 Do I reach your mind? 06:34.000 --> 06:35.000 Is it getting through to you? 06:35.000 --> 06:36.000 Listen to me, Bobby. 06:36.000 --> 06:37.000 I've had it listening to you, Ma. 06:37.000 --> 06:38.000 Bobby, she'll hear you. 06:38.000 --> 06:39.000 Miss Warner will hear you. 06:39.000 --> 06:40.000 Let her hear! 06:40.000 --> 06:41.000 You hear me, Miss Warner? 06:41.000 --> 06:42.000 You're listening real good? 06:42.000 --> 06:45.000 Hey, Warner, wake up! 06:45.000 --> 06:46.000 Hit the deck! 06:46.000 --> 06:49.000 Wake up and get an earful! 06:49.000 --> 06:50.000 All right. 06:50.000 --> 06:51.000 We'll do that, Bobby. 06:51.000 --> 06:58.000 We'll let Miss Warner listen so you won't have to yell at her. 06:58.000 --> 06:59.000 Miss Warner? 06:59.000 --> 07:00.000 Miss Warner? 07:00.000 --> 07:01.000 Yes? 07:01.000 --> 07:02.000 Would you come out, please? 07:02.000 --> 07:03.000 I want you to... 07:03.000 --> 07:04.000 Would you please? 07:04.000 --> 07:05.000 Yes, Mrs. Martin. 07:05.000 --> 07:12.000 Good evening, Bobby. 07:12.000 --> 07:20.600 Can you flip or something, Ma? 07:20.600 --> 07:24.920 My son was yelling and screaming at his mother and then at you. 07:24.920 --> 07:28.360 And he said he didn't care if you heard. 07:28.360 --> 07:29.360 Go on, Bobby. 07:29.360 --> 07:32.800 Tell me and tell Miss Warner how fed up you are with your mother. 07:32.800 --> 07:36.400 I told you and told you, Ma, just lay off me. 07:36.400 --> 07:41.220 You've had experience, haven't you, Miss Warner, with boys like Bobby and the others he runs 07:41.220 --> 07:42.760 around with? 07:42.760 --> 07:48.360 They must confide in you and tell you their things that they won't tell their mothers, 07:48.360 --> 07:52.960 that their mothers can't possibly understand or know or share. 07:52.960 --> 07:57.800 You're younger and more experienced and they must. 07:57.800 --> 08:00.300 Bobby? 08:00.300 --> 08:02.760 You're getting it blow by blow, Miss Warner. 08:02.760 --> 08:06.000 You stick with Ma and me and you'll get it every night, all night. 08:06.000 --> 08:07.480 Where are you going tonight, Bobby? 08:07.480 --> 08:09.120 Who will you be with tonight, Bobby? 08:09.120 --> 08:11.200 Where will I find you if I need you, Bobby? 08:11.200 --> 08:14.200 If you need me, Bobby? 08:14.200 --> 08:21.000 Look, I'm 17 and there's a joint that's got a jukebox in it and girls with pockets full 08:21.000 --> 08:22.920 of dimes and me, I got a car. 08:22.920 --> 08:25.560 I got a car, hot, real hot. 08:25.560 --> 08:28.760 Are you on the high school teacher here, Ma? 08:28.760 --> 08:33.760 You put your heads together and maybe it'll come out mathematical where your baby boy is 08:33.760 --> 08:36.160 nice. 08:36.160 --> 08:42.600 Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Warner. 08:42.600 --> 08:44.560 Forgive us, please. 08:44.560 --> 08:45.560 Don't mention it. 08:45.560 --> 08:46.560 He's... 08:46.560 --> 08:50.240 No, I want to tell you about my boy. 08:50.240 --> 08:53.000 He's had no father since he was eight. 08:53.000 --> 08:56.800 When he was 13, Bobby got some work around the garage after school. 08:56.800 --> 09:00.600 It helped, it helped out a lot and I was glad to see it. 09:00.600 --> 09:03.680 He loved working around motors and... 09:03.680 --> 09:08.760 Well, you saw that car he built and a boy's 17 to have built such a car. 09:08.760 --> 09:09.760 Mrs. Morrison. 09:09.760 --> 09:10.760 Yes? 09:10.760 --> 09:13.400 Has Bobby ever told you about Mr. Douglas? 09:13.400 --> 09:14.400 I don't think so. 09:14.400 --> 09:17.400 He's a teacher at our school, a manual arts teacher. 09:17.400 --> 09:18.400 No. 09:18.400 --> 09:21.760 He takes special interest in boys like Bobby. 09:21.760 --> 09:25.320 He's also our driver education teacher, we call him. 09:25.320 --> 09:30.000 He works with the boys and girls and the local automobile club helps him. 09:30.000 --> 09:31.000 Sometimes I... 09:31.000 --> 09:34.480 I just think my son is wild, that's all. 09:34.480 --> 09:36.120 That's just what I'm telling you. 09:36.120 --> 09:39.160 Mr. Douglas teaches safety and sanity in driving. 09:39.160 --> 09:40.640 He tries to tell the young people... 09:40.640 --> 09:41.640 Mrs. Morrison. 09:41.640 --> 09:42.640 Hey, Mrs. Morrison. 09:42.640 --> 09:43.640 Oh, oh, hello, David. 09:43.640 --> 09:44.640 Come in. 09:44.640 --> 09:49.680 Oh, David, this is Miss Warner. 09:49.680 --> 09:52.920 She teaches at the high school where you're going to go this year. 09:52.920 --> 09:55.720 Miss Warner, this is David Cooper, a neighbor boy. 09:55.720 --> 09:56.720 Hi, Miss Warner. 09:56.720 --> 09:57.720 Hello, David. 09:57.720 --> 09:58.720 I'm glad to know you. 09:58.720 --> 09:59.720 Me too. 09:59.720 --> 10:01.480 Where's Bobby, Mrs. Morrison? 10:01.480 --> 10:02.480 He's not here, David. 10:02.480 --> 10:04.200 Oh, out in the garage, huh? 10:04.200 --> 10:06.080 Working on that super neat job of his, I'll bet. 10:06.080 --> 10:07.080 I don't think so. 10:07.080 --> 10:08.640 Well, where'd he go, Mrs. Morrison? 10:08.640 --> 10:09.640 I don't know. 10:09.640 --> 10:11.760 He promised me. 10:11.760 --> 10:14.160 He promised me for sure this time. 10:14.160 --> 10:15.160 Promised you what, David? 10:15.160 --> 10:18.280 Well, he said next time he was in a race, I could ride with him. 10:18.280 --> 10:20.480 And I know there's one tonight. 10:20.480 --> 10:22.560 He welshes out on me. 10:22.560 --> 10:25.520 Well, he's the best, Mrs. Morrison. 10:25.520 --> 10:26.520 Real absolute best. 10:26.520 --> 10:28.520 Well, he's got all those other guys... 10:28.520 --> 10:29.520 How old are you, David? 10:29.520 --> 10:30.520 Huh? 10:30.520 --> 10:32.520 I ask how old you were. 10:32.520 --> 10:33.520 Thirteen. 10:33.520 --> 10:36.000 What's that got to do with it? 10:36.000 --> 10:37.000 Bobby promised me. 10:37.000 --> 10:40.040 He said I was old enough now for him to break me in. 10:40.040 --> 10:44.680 Well, good night, Mrs. Morrison. 10:44.680 --> 10:50.160 Miss Warner. 10:50.160 --> 10:52.360 David's our neighbor boy. 10:52.360 --> 10:56.480 Not many years ago, I used to babysit for his mother. 10:56.480 --> 11:00.960 Read to him, he and Bobby. 11:00.960 --> 11:14.960 Could I fix you something to eat, Miss Warner? 11:14.960 --> 11:17.600 And here, this picture was taken at Lake Louise, too. 11:17.600 --> 11:19.760 You can hardly tell I'm the one in the middle, can you? 11:19.760 --> 11:21.600 The way Miss Reba and I dressed up there. 11:21.600 --> 11:23.440 It must have been very expensive. 11:23.440 --> 11:24.440 Oh, and restful. 11:24.440 --> 11:28.040 I've got a lot of reading done that I've been promising myself to get... 11:28.040 --> 11:29.680 Oh, sit still, Mrs. Morrison. 11:29.680 --> 11:30.680 I'll get it. 11:30.680 --> 11:31.680 Good evening. 11:31.680 --> 11:32.680 Good evening. 11:32.680 --> 11:33.680 Does this young man belong here? 11:33.680 --> 11:34.680 Yes, he does, officer. 11:34.680 --> 11:35.680 Please come in. 11:35.680 --> 11:36.680 Who is it? 11:36.680 --> 11:37.680 Now, don't get excited, Mom. 11:37.680 --> 11:38.680 Oh! 11:38.680 --> 11:39.680 I said don't get excited. 11:39.680 --> 11:40.680 Are you Mrs. Morrison? 11:40.680 --> 11:41.680 Oh, yes. 11:41.680 --> 11:42.680 Yes. 11:42.680 --> 11:43.680 I'm Officer Cleaver. 11:43.680 --> 11:44.680 The man who was in the room. 11:44.680 --> 11:45.680 I'm the man who was in the room. 11:45.680 --> 11:46.680 I'm the man who was in the room. 11:46.680 --> 11:47.680 I'm the man who was in the room. 11:47.680 --> 11:48.680 I'm the man who was in the room. 11:48.680 --> 11:49.680 I'm the man who was in the room. 11:49.680 --> 11:51.600 I'm Officer Cleaver. 11:51.600 --> 11:55.840 The only reason your son isn't in juvenile court right now is because, as far as I know, 11:55.840 --> 11:57.760 it's the first time he's pulled a trick like he did tonight. 11:57.760 --> 11:59.400 What are you talking about? 11:59.400 --> 12:00.400 In his car. 12:00.400 --> 12:02.680 Him and another one speeding down Presbury Street. 12:02.680 --> 12:06.320 Your son headed north and the other one south, headed toward each other. 12:06.320 --> 12:09.640 Front wheels on the white dividing line to see who'd give way. 12:09.640 --> 12:11.040 Going over 70 miles an hour. 12:11.040 --> 12:12.040 Oh, Bobby. 12:12.040 --> 12:13.840 Who the other kid was, I don't know, ma'am. 12:13.840 --> 12:15.560 We can only catch one of them. 12:15.560 --> 12:16.560 Him. 12:16.560 --> 12:32.920 Auto Light is bringing you Miss Agnes Moorhead in The Empty Chair, tonight's presentation 12:32.920 --> 12:43.560 in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 12:43.560 --> 12:50.320 We'll continue with Suspense in a moment. 12:50.320 --> 12:54.880 Now here is Mr. Royce G. Martin, Chairman of the Board and President of the Electric 12:54.880 --> 12:58.440 Auto Light Company, to introduce our special guest. 12:58.440 --> 13:07.040 Tonight, the worldwide auto light family is privileged to salute the American Automobile 13:07.040 --> 13:11.960 Association and its traffic safety program. 13:11.960 --> 13:19.880 To tell us how this practical safety program is helping to reduce traffic accidents by 13:19.880 --> 13:24.600 teaching future drivers how to be careful drivers. 13:24.600 --> 13:33.560 Here is the President of the American Automobile Association, Mr. Ralph Thomas. 13:33.560 --> 13:34.560 Thank you, Mr. Martin. 13:34.560 --> 13:38.840 We at the American Automobile Association are grateful for the interest shown in our 13:38.840 --> 13:43.560 work by the auto light family, as evidenced by this program tonight. 13:43.560 --> 13:48.240 The problem presented in this dramatization is unfortunately a very real one and a very 13:48.240 --> 13:49.560 common one. 13:49.560 --> 13:54.840 However, cooperating with school and community authorities, we are engaged in stimulating 13:54.840 --> 14:00.600 and aiding an active educational program to teach our young drivers and pedestrians safety 14:00.600 --> 14:01.880 first. 14:01.880 --> 14:07.000 This year alone, 3A materials and services are being widely used in grammar and high 14:07.000 --> 14:09.040 school class instruction. 14:09.040 --> 14:12.520 Indeed, will help over 12 million students. 14:12.520 --> 14:15.200 This of course is important to all of us. 14:15.200 --> 14:20.240 If you have a son or a daughter in school, ask about this program and set a good example 14:20.240 --> 14:23.760 yourself by practicing safety behind the wheel. 14:23.760 --> 14:28.440 If you are a student, take an active part in class and when you are behind the wheel, 14:28.440 --> 14:31.520 be the best amongst the young drivers. 14:31.520 --> 14:34.440 Be a sportsman-like driver. 14:34.440 --> 14:36.680 Thank you, Mr. Thomas. 14:36.680 --> 14:47.280 And as an 8-year-old boy said when he was asked what safety meant, safety is thinking 14:47.280 --> 14:51.280 not to get hurt or to hurt. 14:51.280 --> 14:55.920 There is a definition we should all remember. 14:55.920 --> 15:02.120 And now, auto light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, Miss Agnes Moorhead in Elliot 15:02.120 --> 15:22.280 Lewis's production of The Empty Chair, a dramatic report well calculated to keep you in suspense. 15:22.280 --> 15:26.920 Friday night in a quiet room and a window that opens onto the silences of a town already 15:26.920 --> 15:28.240 asleep. 15:28.240 --> 15:33.160 Friday night and an end to summer, last weekend before school's opening and the last book 15:33.160 --> 15:36.960 you've promised yourself to read before summer's closed. 15:36.960 --> 15:48.840 And read now to the undercurrent of voices from another room in Mrs. Morrison's home. 15:48.840 --> 15:54.720 The night stillness and Mrs. Morrison's search through it for the words to speak to her 17-year-old 15:54.720 --> 16:00.160 son. 16:00.160 --> 16:03.880 Saturday morning and Mrs. Morrison has made breakfast and over coffee. 16:03.880 --> 16:08.240 Will you try and do something about my boy, Miss Warner? 16:08.240 --> 16:10.820 Maybe you could do something, please. 16:10.820 --> 16:13.800 And dress then and go to the school. 16:13.800 --> 16:14.800 Try to save a boy. 16:14.800 --> 16:15.800 Doors open. 16:15.800 --> 16:16.800 Come on in. 16:16.800 --> 16:23.960 Oh, hello, Miss Warner. 16:23.960 --> 16:25.560 I don't want to interrupt, Mr. Douglas. 16:25.560 --> 16:26.560 I just... 16:26.560 --> 16:27.560 No, you're not. 16:27.560 --> 16:29.680 I'm just getting everything ready for when school opens Monday. 16:29.680 --> 16:32.120 What are you doing here today? 16:32.120 --> 16:33.280 Anxious to get back in honors? 16:33.280 --> 16:34.280 I don't know. 16:34.280 --> 16:36.640 I think so. 16:36.640 --> 16:37.640 Mr. Douglas. 16:37.640 --> 16:38.640 Yes? 16:38.640 --> 16:40.360 Do you know a boy named Bobby Morrison? 16:40.360 --> 16:42.120 Why, yes. 16:42.120 --> 16:43.120 What about Bobby? 16:43.120 --> 16:44.320 I'm boarding with him and his mother. 16:44.320 --> 16:45.320 I wanted to... 16:45.320 --> 16:48.360 I heard the police picked him up racing last night. 16:48.360 --> 16:50.400 Some of the boys came in and told me about it. 16:50.400 --> 16:52.600 I'm sorry to hear... 16:52.600 --> 16:54.360 His mother is very troubled. 16:54.360 --> 16:57.680 She asked me to help. 16:57.680 --> 16:59.160 Bobby's very bright. 16:59.160 --> 17:02.520 A real bright, intelligent boy. 17:02.520 --> 17:05.640 And sensitive. 17:05.640 --> 17:09.760 You were going to say something else, Mr. Douglas, about Bobby. 17:09.760 --> 17:11.600 He's a boy without a father. 17:11.600 --> 17:13.480 When he was eight. 17:13.480 --> 17:16.040 Bobby's a boy who's looking for something. 17:16.040 --> 17:20.340 And he finds it in speed and in danger, in ways that could kill him. 17:20.340 --> 17:21.360 We try, Miss Warner. 17:21.360 --> 17:23.220 We try real hard. 17:23.220 --> 17:25.440 We cooperate with the auto clubs. 17:25.440 --> 17:28.000 You know about the classes I give in driver instructions. 17:28.000 --> 17:29.000 Mr. Douglas... 17:29.000 --> 17:32.440 And I tell the kids, you kids drive like that, I say one out of a thousand of you'll be a 17:32.440 --> 17:34.360 corpse before the year's out. 17:34.360 --> 17:36.720 One out of 45 hurt crippled. 17:36.720 --> 17:38.840 We tell them why traffic laws are made. 17:38.840 --> 17:41.640 For the protection and survival of the community. 17:41.640 --> 17:45.800 By actual demonstration, we show them what a tremendous force they're handling when they're 17:45.800 --> 17:47.800 behind the wheel of an automobile. 17:47.800 --> 17:50.440 We go out and demonstrate the different conditions. 17:50.440 --> 17:55.880 The distances it takes to stop a car on a dry and slippery pavement from different speeds. 17:55.880 --> 18:01.720 Together, we study accident reports and actual photographs of what happens when you're arrogant 18:01.720 --> 18:04.240 or careless with a car. 18:04.240 --> 18:07.400 Smashed cars from head-on collisions. 18:07.400 --> 18:08.800 Smashed people. 18:08.800 --> 18:11.600 We give them visual and muscular coordination tests. 18:11.600 --> 18:15.360 So they'll understand what speed and hundreds of horsepower can do to them. 18:15.360 --> 18:19.160 And how to face emergencies behind the wheel. 18:19.160 --> 18:24.520 We try to make sportsmen-like drivers out of them. 18:24.520 --> 18:25.520 Miss Warner. 18:25.520 --> 18:26.520 Yes? 18:26.520 --> 18:28.920 Boys like Bobby. 18:28.920 --> 18:32.600 Whatever their reasons, they won't listen. 18:32.600 --> 18:36.280 Nights they gather and go out to the hub in their souped-up cars and they dance to the 18:36.280 --> 18:40.360 jukebox and they won't listen. 18:40.360 --> 18:41.360 The hub? 18:41.360 --> 18:44.520 A place out on State Highway 52, south side of the bridge. 18:44.520 --> 18:46.080 Used to be a kind of general store. 18:46.080 --> 18:48.080 A fountain and hamburgers. 18:48.080 --> 18:52.320 The kids picked it up, had Charlie Phillips, the owner, put in a jukebox and a big neon 18:52.320 --> 18:54.120 sign. 18:54.120 --> 18:55.600 They gather their nights. 18:55.600 --> 18:56.600 For races. 18:56.600 --> 18:58.640 Will you take me there, Mr. Douglas? 18:58.640 --> 18:59.640 What? 18:59.640 --> 19:01.120 I want to see for myself. 19:01.120 --> 19:02.880 Tonight, around nine. 19:02.880 --> 19:05.240 I'm at Mrs. Morrison's on Benton, 853. 19:05.240 --> 19:06.240 Will you call for me? 19:06.240 --> 19:07.240 Why, of course. 19:07.240 --> 19:08.240 Thank you. 19:08.240 --> 19:22.320 And later, when I got back to the house, Mrs. Morrison said Bobby hadn't been home all day. 19:22.320 --> 19:24.760 But it wasn't unusual, she said. 19:24.760 --> 19:25.760 He'd show up for dinner. 19:25.760 --> 19:26.760 But he didn't. 19:26.760 --> 19:33.000 And Mrs. Morrison picked at her food and got up from the table too often and walked around 19:33.000 --> 19:36.360 and made excuses which could cover Bobby's not being there. 19:36.360 --> 19:38.560 A double feature Bobby had to see twice. 19:38.560 --> 19:41.840 A friend had him to dinner and Bobby forgot to call. 19:41.840 --> 19:45.920 The ordinary excuses we all make to hold back the truth for a while. 19:45.920 --> 19:51.320 And after dinner, dishes and her trying to chat brightly, but somehow sentences trailing 19:51.320 --> 19:52.800 off and not being finished. 19:52.800 --> 19:57.760 And glances through the window onto the night street and the head cocked to the sound of 19:57.760 --> 20:00.560 every passing automobile. 20:00.560 --> 20:07.320 And when the doorbell rang, a mother hurrying for news of her son. 20:07.320 --> 20:08.320 And the disappointment. 20:08.320 --> 20:10.520 Please come in, Mr. Douglas. 20:10.520 --> 20:11.520 Thank you. 20:11.520 --> 20:12.520 Oh, Miss Warner. 20:12.520 --> 20:15.160 Mr. Douglas is here. 20:15.160 --> 20:21.160 And the ride down State Highway 52, south through good countryside of Sycamore and Birch, 20:21.160 --> 20:23.200 across a wooden bridge. 20:23.200 --> 20:29.120 And the intrusion now upon a time of evening quiet of a thing, a wheel, an enormous wheel 20:29.120 --> 20:31.000 of red neon. 20:31.000 --> 20:37.320 A wheel whose each spoke displaced a tube of sky when it lit, one spoke after another. 20:37.320 --> 20:41.920 And when the huge and clever wheel was finally complete, a thing happened. 20:41.920 --> 20:47.600 The word hub announced itself at the split second when the center of the wheel appeared. 20:47.600 --> 20:48.600 This is the place. 20:48.600 --> 20:49.600 Let's go inside. 20:49.600 --> 20:57.040 You and your friend can have this booth right here, Mr. Douglas. 20:57.040 --> 20:58.040 Thanks, Charlie. 20:58.040 --> 20:59.560 Oh, don't go away. 20:59.560 --> 21:02.600 I want you to meet a friend of mine, Miss Warner, Charlie Phillips. 21:02.600 --> 21:03.600 How do you do, Mr. Douglas? 21:03.600 --> 21:04.600 Hello. 21:04.600 --> 21:05.600 The hub belongs to Charlie. 21:05.600 --> 21:06.600 Yes, ma'am. 21:06.600 --> 21:09.080 Our things, Charlie. 21:09.080 --> 21:11.600 Last night, that kid over there, you see him? 21:11.600 --> 21:12.600 That one near the music box. 21:12.600 --> 21:13.600 Gordon Matthews? 21:13.600 --> 21:14.600 Who knows what his name is? 21:14.600 --> 21:16.080 Well, that's Gordon, all right. 21:16.080 --> 21:17.440 He was in my homeroom last year. 21:17.440 --> 21:21.000 You should have made him write a few hundred times, don't play with matches. 21:21.000 --> 21:24.120 He would like to set fire to the place last night. 21:24.120 --> 21:26.520 Why, that boy's barely 15 years old. 21:26.520 --> 21:30.720 What's he doing out here five miles outside of town this late at night? 21:30.720 --> 21:33.480 Listen, he's got a pair in a toon can ask that question, I mean. 21:33.480 --> 21:35.360 Oh, why don't you just tell him to go home, Charlie? 21:35.360 --> 21:36.800 Why don't you keep him out of here? 21:36.800 --> 21:41.640 For the same reason you're teaching school, to eat, to make a living. 21:41.640 --> 21:43.280 Once this was a nice place. 21:43.280 --> 21:46.440 Why, there's David, David Cooper. 21:46.440 --> 21:47.440 David? 21:47.440 --> 21:48.440 David? 21:48.440 --> 21:51.440 Oh, hello, Miss Warner. 21:51.440 --> 21:54.080 What are you doing here, David? 21:54.080 --> 21:56.160 David, I'm talking to you. 21:56.160 --> 21:57.160 I know you are. 21:57.160 --> 21:58.160 How did you get out here? 21:58.160 --> 21:59.160 I hitched. 21:59.160 --> 22:01.760 Mr. Douglas and I are going to take you home. 22:01.760 --> 22:03.760 I'm sorry, Miss Warner, but I... 22:03.760 --> 22:04.760 Oh, hi, Bobby. 22:04.760 --> 22:05.760 You ready, kid? 22:05.760 --> 22:06.760 What is this, Bobby? 22:06.760 --> 22:07.760 School opens Monday. 22:07.760 --> 22:12.760 Then you ask questions and ask for hands. 22:12.760 --> 22:14.680 Saturday night don't belong to you, Miss Warner. 22:14.680 --> 22:15.680 Come on, kid. 22:15.680 --> 22:16.680 Please, Miss Warner, let me go. 22:16.680 --> 22:17.680 What's the trouble? 22:17.680 --> 22:21.360 Look, you'd better stay out of this, Mr. Douglas. 22:21.360 --> 22:22.760 David is going someplace with Bobby. 22:22.760 --> 22:24.280 I want to know where. 22:24.280 --> 22:25.280 Where, Bobby? 22:25.280 --> 22:26.280 Where? 22:26.280 --> 22:28.200 All right. 22:28.200 --> 22:29.840 Outside is my car. 22:29.840 --> 22:31.320 And outside is two other cars. 22:31.320 --> 22:33.440 And the boys in them are impatient. 22:33.440 --> 22:35.120 That's how we tell each other we're impatient. 22:35.120 --> 22:37.240 You're going to race, Bobby? 22:37.240 --> 22:38.240 Yeah. 22:38.240 --> 22:40.280 And down the road a few yards is a bridge. 22:40.280 --> 22:41.280 You get the picture? 22:41.280 --> 22:42.280 You're crazy. 22:42.280 --> 22:43.280 What's he going to do? 22:43.280 --> 22:44.280 Tell her. 22:44.280 --> 22:48.040 The three of them will line up abreast on the road. 22:48.040 --> 22:49.920 Then they'll race to the bridge and over it. 22:49.920 --> 22:53.280 But there's only room for two cars across that bridge. 22:53.280 --> 22:54.280 That's right. 22:54.280 --> 22:55.280 And the three of us will have to drop back. 22:55.280 --> 22:56.280 Come on, Davey. 22:56.280 --> 22:57.280 Okay. 22:57.280 --> 22:58.280 Oh, you stay here, David. 22:58.280 --> 22:59.760 Now listen, you can get killed. 22:59.760 --> 23:01.080 Let go of me. 23:01.080 --> 23:03.920 I would if I were you, Mr. Douglas. 23:03.920 --> 23:06.440 I'd really let him go. 23:06.440 --> 23:07.440 Mr. Douglas, hey. 23:07.440 --> 23:08.920 What do you want, Charlie? 23:08.920 --> 23:11.880 These kids, they turn into a wolf pack. 23:11.880 --> 23:13.400 Don't get yourself into any trouble. 23:13.400 --> 23:15.120 These boys wouldn't dare to. 23:15.120 --> 23:19.600 Listen, Miss Warner, last month an older brother, there must have been a man about 30, very 23:19.600 --> 23:22.840 hefty fellow with muscles on his forearm. 23:22.840 --> 23:25.880 This fellow came in here and tried to pull his kid brother out of here. 23:25.880 --> 23:27.920 He landed in the hospital. 23:27.920 --> 23:28.920 Cut. 23:28.920 --> 23:32.160 There's 16 kids here, Miss Warner. 23:32.160 --> 23:36.240 But what Bobby is going to do, that race over the bridge with David, both of them can be 23:36.240 --> 23:37.240 killed. 23:37.240 --> 23:40.080 The way they handle those cars, you don't know. 23:40.080 --> 23:41.800 Come on, Davey. 23:41.800 --> 23:43.800 You coming? 23:43.800 --> 23:45.800 Sure. 23:45.800 --> 24:03.880 name, Mr.Douglas & Mr.panzee as the prices are,21 24:33.880 --> 24:40.600 And Mary Wheeler, you start the last row, Mary, will you please? 24:40.600 --> 24:42.220 Take the seat down front. 24:42.220 --> 24:43.840 Then Judy Wilton. 24:43.840 --> 24:46.680 Then John Young, the third seat. 24:46.680 --> 24:47.960 And Martin Young. 24:47.960 --> 24:48.960 Your brothers, aren't you? 24:48.960 --> 24:50.760 I can tell. 24:50.760 --> 24:53.600 And next to the last, Audrey Zant. 24:53.600 --> 24:55.400 And George Zimmerman. 24:55.400 --> 24:56.400 There. 24:56.400 --> 24:59.400 Now, young ladies and gentlemen, here we are. 24:59.400 --> 25:02.440 10B3 at Alexander Hamilton High School. 25:02.440 --> 25:04.960 Oh, come right in, Bobby. 25:04.960 --> 25:10.000 And so, class, this is the first day of our new school year, and this is where we'll meet 25:10.000 --> 25:12.960 to start each day and to end it. 25:12.960 --> 25:17.560 The young gentleman who just came in to visit is a senior, and his name is Bobby Morrison. 25:17.560 --> 25:20.440 He asked if he could talk to you, and I said he could. 25:20.440 --> 25:21.880 All right, Bobby. 25:21.880 --> 25:23.960 Thank you. 25:23.960 --> 25:29.840 I guess, first of all, I want to apologize to you. 25:29.840 --> 25:31.160 All of you. 25:31.160 --> 25:37.560 Miss Warner, and, well, all of you, because of that empty chair. 25:37.560 --> 25:39.440 It's my fault. 25:39.440 --> 25:41.320 I guess you know about it. 25:41.320 --> 25:43.720 I guess you've heard. 25:43.720 --> 25:46.580 But I want to tell you how sorry I am. 25:46.580 --> 25:48.560 It was my fault. 25:48.560 --> 25:54.480 Now, soon you'll be taking those driver training courses, and that way you're going to learn 25:54.480 --> 25:56.660 what safety means. 25:56.660 --> 25:59.040 That it means respecting the lives of others. 25:59.040 --> 26:04.400 Now, that's something I didn't do, and that's why you've got that empty chair instead of 26:04.400 --> 26:06.680 David Cooper. 26:06.680 --> 26:08.760 But David's going to be all right. 26:08.760 --> 26:14.920 I've been spending a lot of time at the hospital, and today they told me that. 26:14.920 --> 26:18.480 That's about all, Miss Warner, and thank you for letting me say it. 26:18.480 --> 26:19.480 Thank you, Bobby. 26:19.480 --> 26:22.800 And that's why we'll save David's seat for him. 26:22.800 --> 26:25.440 He's coming back. 26:25.440 --> 26:29.600 I want to wish you all a fine, productive, and safe school year. 26:29.600 --> 26:33.200 And if there's anything you want to talk to me about, I'll always be here. 26:33.200 --> 26:56.560 You may go to your first class. 26:56.560 --> 26:58.000 Suspense. 26:58.000 --> 27:03.720 Brought to you by Auto Light, tonight's star, Miss Agnes Moorhead, will return in just a 27:03.720 --> 27:04.720 moment. 27:04.720 --> 27:08.680 Tonight, our worldwide Auto Light family has been privileged to salute the American Automobile 27:08.680 --> 27:12.320 Association and its traffic safety program. 27:12.320 --> 27:17.640 In fact, everyone who helps bring traffic safety and driver training programs to boys 27:17.640 --> 27:21.560 and girls in their school classrooms throughout the world. 27:21.560 --> 27:27.760 You too can aid in promoting safety by driving carefully at all times, and by making sure 27:27.760 --> 27:33.440 that schools in your community are teaching traffic safety in their classrooms. 27:33.440 --> 27:38.760 Full information on programs available can be secured from your local automobile club 27:38.760 --> 27:45.000 affiliated with the American Automobile Association or from the American Automobile Association, 27:45.000 --> 27:55.720 Washington, D.C. 27:55.720 --> 28:00.320 And now I'd like to present Agnes Moorhead and our producer director, Elliot Lewis. 28:00.320 --> 28:01.320 Thank you, Harlow. 28:01.320 --> 28:05.720 Agnes, I'm happy to inform you that you have been voted Auto Light's Golden Mike Award 28:05.720 --> 28:09.520 for the best female performance of the year on Suspense. 28:09.520 --> 28:12.080 Congratulations, and here, this is for you. 28:12.080 --> 28:13.880 Oh, thank you, Elliot. 28:13.880 --> 28:18.200 As you know, Suspense has always been my favorite radio show, so receiving this award is a double 28:18.200 --> 28:19.200 honor. 28:19.200 --> 28:21.520 Thank you very, very much. 28:21.520 --> 28:27.440 Next week, a story based on fact as we recreate the excitement and violence of a fire in an 28:27.440 --> 28:28.720 oil field. 28:28.720 --> 28:31.680 The story is called Hellfire. 28:31.680 --> 28:34.840 Our star, Mr. John Hodiac. 28:34.840 --> 28:45.600 That's next week on Suspense. 28:45.600 --> 28:50.680 Suspense is transcribed and directed by Elliot Lewis with music composed by Ranny Garragenk 28:50.680 --> 28:53.240 and conducted by Lud Gluskin. 28:53.240 --> 28:57.920 The Empty Chair was written for Suspense by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. 28:57.920 --> 29:00.920 In tonight's story, Sam Edwards was heard as Bobby. 29:00.920 --> 29:06.920 Featured in the cast were Michael Chapin, Paula Winslow, Joseph Kearns, and Herb Butterfield. 29:06.920 --> 29:12.360 Agnes Moorhead will soon be seen in the magnificent obsession. 29:12.360 --> 29:21.840 And remember, next week, Mr. John Hodiac in Hellfire. 29:21.840 --> 29:27.040 And now, this is Harlow Wilcox saying good night for the Autolite family with this reminder. 29:27.040 --> 29:35.320 You're always right to be careful. 29:35.320 --> 29:50.960 This is the CBS Radio Network.