And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Tonight the terrifying story of a young couple and a mad woman and what happened to them.
So now, starring Harry Bartel and Virginia Gregg, here is tonight's suspense play, On
a Country Road.
Relax, David, there's no hurry to get home.
Who can relax in this mess of traffic?
Must be a wreck or something up ahead.
If this keeps up, we'll get caught in the rain.
Yeah, looks like a big storm building up too.
Hey, you remember that shortcut?
Which one?
The little tarred road that goes across through Santa Mariches and comes out on the other highway.
The one we took last summer?
Yeah.
I'll turn out there and duck this pile up.
I'd like to get as far as possible before that storm.
Why don't you put out your hand?
Oh, don't get angry, Dave.
Well, he cut right in front of me to turn into that gas station.
Maybe he needed gas.
Stupid thing to do.
Do we have plenty?
No.
I'll have to stop and get some.
Turn on the radio, will you?
See if you can get the news.
Police this afternoon issued two warnings to all residents of Long Island to be on the
lookout for Nellie Gohler, a middle-aged woman described as dangerous and insane.
What?
She escaped this morning from Restview Mental Hospital after fatally butchering a doctor,
a nurse, and a ward attendant with a meat cleaver.
Oh.
This is the same Nellie Gohler who a year ago murdered three persons on a Brooklyn street,
also using a meat cleaver as a weapon at that time.
This station will broadcast a full description of our regular newscast, which follows in just
a few moments.
My mother-in-law?
Dave, what are you doing?
No, I'm good.
At least we aren't the only crazy people on Long Island.
Why'd you change it?
I didn't want to listen to it anymore.
Why don't they put her to sleep instead of just locking her up where she can escape and
kill more people?
Who?
The woman they were talking about on the radio.
She can't help what she does.
She's sick.
What good is that to the people who get chopped up with a meat cleaver?
I don't know.
The laws were made before the doctors knew very much about the human mind.
Still don't know much.
I see what it is.
There's a roadblock up ahead.
What's happened?
I don't know.
There are cops all over the road.
I bet they're looking for that crazy woman.
I guess so.
Hold it a minute.
Hey, what's up, officer?
Just a checkup.
Anything in the backseat?
Just a blanket and some fishing tackle.
We went surf fishing.
Yes, ma'am.
Seen any hitchhikers?
No, just traffic.
Okay.
Move right along, please.
Are you looking for the crazy woman?
Move it along.
Let's go.
He's busy.
All residents of Motor Sun Long Island are warned to be on the alert for the escaped
insane woman who is somewhere on the island.
What are you doing?
She is described as tall, broad-shouldered, gray-haired, and rather heavy.
She may still be armed with a meat cleaver.
One hundred men are searching the area, and they are prepared to shoot on sight.
Here's another bulletin on the case which just came in.
Just a few minutes ago, the decapitated bodies of an elderly man and woman were found by police
near center morages on Long Island.
Where is that shortcut?
We haven't found her yet.
This will get us out of the traffic.
Motorists are cautioned to stay off the lonely roads and not to pick up any heavy equipment
All residents are asked to be on the lookout for this woman.
Here's her description again.
She is tall, gray-haired, with broad shoulders and long arms.
We haven't found her yet.
No.
Turn that off, will you, Dorothy?
I thought you wanted to hear it.
Once and not for all.
Shortcut will save us a lot of time.
We turned off the highway.
Well, sure.
I told you when I did it.
We've come over a mile already.
We'll save a lot of time.
Didn't you hear what the radio said about staying off lonely roads?
We just have to go across to the other highway.
It won't take long.
Are you sure?
Of course.
We go past Santa Moriches and then take the left road and come out right by the highway bridge.
Santa Moriches?
It's where she just killed those two people.
Oh, you're acting like a child.
What can happen to us while we're driving?
Besides, the whole island's full of men looking for this lunatic.
They'll catch her.
Oh.
It's just the storm, honey.
You're jumping.
Oh, I guess I'm silly.
David.
What?
The gas gauge says empty.
There's still a couple of gallons left when it points to empty.
How long is it set empty?
I don't know.
I'll get gas when we get across to the other highway.
David, I'm scared.
Relax, honey.
I wish we'd stayed on the highway.
If I'd known you'd act like this, I would have.
It's not my fault.
Well, it's not mine either.
I'm having trouble enough just trying to see through the storm.
David, what are we fighting about?
I don't know.
Driving through these burned out woods in this kind of weather
is enough to give anyone the willings.
God, they are so fast.
Now, if you see ahead, even in the headlights.
There's something up there.
Don't stop, David.
It's only a sign.
A crazy woman could be around here.
Look, I'm not picking up anyone.
I just want to know where I am.
Well, don't get out of the car.
I'm not getting out of the car.
Now, calm down, will you?
I see the mortgages that way.
We'll take this road.
The mortgages.
This must be the road that she killed those people.
Dorothy, please.
I'm sorry, I'm jumping.
Turn on the radio.
We haven't passed the house yet.
Miles of woods on both sides.
Look, it's so dark, we wouldn't have been able to see anything
if it was there.
This rain season is getting worse.
Those strangers and motorists in the area
are warned not to open their car doors.
David.
Now, stop that, Dorothy.
That's why the police had a roadblock by this road.
The crazy woman might be anywhere in these woods.
But not necessarily where we are.
David, what's the matter?
Oh, fine.
What a place to run out of gas.
No.
You mean we're stuck here?
I don't know.
Well, we're here for the time being anyway.
The crazy woman is in the woods.
She'll kill us.
She's nowhere near us.
Now, will you calm down?
David.
Quick.
What?
Turn off your headlights.
Why? Did you see something?
David, I don't know.
I don't know.
I'm scared.
I should have got scared.
Don't put the headlights on, please.
Why?
She'll see us if you do.
Oh, for Pete's sake.
I'm putting them on.
David, please.
Please turn them off.
Listen, Dorothy.
I don't want this silly thing to get to you now.
Just look at the headlights.
Poking into darkness at nothing but wet bushes and trees.
And rain falling, please, David.
All right.
There.
They're off.
Do you feel any better sitting in the dark?
If only this pandering lightning would stop.
The rain.
Look, Dorothy.
There's no sense in sitting here all night.
It's only a few minutes past 10.
I'll walk up the road a bit.
There might be a house or something.
You're not going to leave me here.
I won't let you go.
But Dorothy, we can't sit here in the middle of nowhere
for the rest of the night.
We're safer here than out there.
David, she's probably hiding in the woods
just waiting for a chance to kill us.
Oh, come on.
Why should she be right where we've run out of gas?
Why can't she be here?
Oh, please stay in the car.
Well, it's silly, but all right.
Quick.
What?
Lock the doors from the inside.
Why? What is it?
She can't get in here.
She's nowhere near us.
Don't be mad at me, David.
I'm so scared.
I know I'm acting very silly, but I can't help it.
I'm sorry.
Come here.
Let me put my arms around you.
There.
Oh, David.
Come on, sweetie.
Put your head on my shoulder.
Please, don't.
Please forgive me, David.
Go ahead and cry.
It'll make you feel better.
Isn't there some popular music?
I don't know. I'll see.
...who are pressing their search for the escaped insane woman
who has killed five persons since fleeing from a Long Island mental hospital.
Rain and darkness are hampering their search.
In making her escape this morning,
the mad woman killed a doctor, a nurse, and an attendant.
You'll leave it off for a while.
It's so quiet and lonely here.
I wish it were morning.
Look, Dorothy, suppose I run up the road.
There might be a house.
No, David, no. Please.
David.
What?
Listen, do you hear that?
I don't hear anything.
Listen, there it is.
I don't...
Oh, it's a dog.
A little dog bark.
David.
I guess it's only a lost dog.
Maybe there's a house nearby.
Or the crazy woman.
David!
There's something at the back of the car.
The door! She'll kill us!
Is the door locked on your side?
Yes. Yes.
What if she breaks the window?
She's got a cleaver.
That flash of lightning, I saw somebody.
Isn't the crazy woman? Can you see her?
Is she still there?
Too dark to see.
She'll kill us!
Now calm down. Calm down, please.
What's she doing?
I don't know.
She's at the window. Right next to me.
Get away from that window!
David!
She's trying to get in the car.
That face in her hair.
Go away!
Let me in!
I'm not crazy!
The crazy woman is after me!
David, don't let her in.
Go away!
We've got a gun. We'll shoot.
It worked.
It worked. She's staring at me.
I'm warning you.
I'll shoot.
Please don't leave me out here. Please!
That woman will kill me!
Please!
David, take your pipe.
Hold it like a gun. It'll look like a gun to you.
Now look.
I've got a gun.
I'm going to shoot.
She's backing away.
Keep going before I start shooting.
Oh, David.
Oh, she's gone.
Oh, she disappeared.
We can't get out now.
All we can do is sit here all night and wait for help.
Did you see her?
Where'd she go?
I don't know.
She's out there though.
Probably planning on how to get in this car.
David.
David, what are we going to do? She's the one. I know it.
She didn't have a cleaver.
She must have dropped it when she ran into the car.
Her face was all twisted. Her hair was hanging down.
She must be back there looking for that cleaver now.
She'll kill us.
Oh, she'll kill us.
Dorothy, stop it.
She'll kill us.
Oh, David.
David.
You are listening to On a Country Road.
Tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
Suspense.
During World War II, the skies of Europe were broad highways of terror for bombardment.
Your opportunity to guard our skies against surprises comes in parcels of time,
amounting to no more than two hours a week, volunteer hours spent as ground observers.
Two hours a week. If enough of us give the time, means security.
Ask at your local Civil Defense office. Earn your silver wings with the ground observers.
And now we bring back to our Hollywood soundstage, Virginia Gregg and Harry Bartel,
starring in tonight's production of On a Country Road,
a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
The window, David. She broke the window.
Get away from here. Stay out of the car.
I'm coming in. I can't stand it out here.
Stay out of the car. I warn you, I've got a gun.
You wouldn't shoot me.
Go away. You're crazy. We know all about you.
No, I'm not the crazy woman. Believe me. Let me in.
You do it, David. She's trying to trick us.
Listen to me, please. I've been running in this awful storm.
My car is stuck in the ditch back there.
How far back?
I don't know. It seems like miles.
I heard about the crazy woman on the radio. I was afraid to stay in the car alone.
Let me in.
No, David.
Go back to your own car.
No. It's so dark and so lonely in this storm.
I locked the doors, but I was afraid.
I could see things and hear things in the darkness.
I couldn't stand it anymore. I got up and ran.
It's the rain. That's why I look like this.
I'm not the crazy woman. Let me in, please. Let me in.
Maybe she isn't the crazy woman. Maybe she's just scared and exhausted.
No, David. She's the one.
The crazy woman had a cleaver. I'm not armed.
The three of us will be safer together.
I don't know. She makes sense to me, Dorothy.
We would be safer with one more person.
David, I don't know.
Let me in, please. I'm wet to the skin.
I'm going to unlock the door, Dorothy.
David, I...
All right. Come on. Get in.
But you make one move and I'll shoot you.
Oh, it's good to sit down.
There's a blanket on the floor back there.
Try to dry yourself off with it.
The darkness and the rain.
It was enough to drive me out of my mind.
I ran and ran.
All I could hear was feet chasing after me, hunting me.
You, um...
You live near here?
Farther out, near Restview.
I used to live in Brooklyn.
We had to use the mental hospital.
I know. I'm used to the crazy people.
But not at night in a lonely place like this.
Not the kind of kill people.
You live at Restview?
No. Just near there.
David, we can't sit here not knowing.
If we can get to a phone.
A phone? Why?
Call the police. Get some help.
No. No, don't do that.
Why not? Why don't you want the police?
I do. But you'll be killed.
What do you mean?
The woman. She'll kill him if he goes away from this car.
David, it's that dog again. Do you hear it?
Somebody's out there.
There might be a house nearby. Maybe it's barking to be let in.
It senses somebody. There's somebody out there.
The crazy woman's creeping around out there.
Quick. Let's get away before we're caught.
Look out, David.
Go away. What are you trying to do?
Start the car. Quick. We'll get away.
We're out of gas.
Out of gas?
You don't think we parked here for the fun of it, do you?
David. It stopped barking.
What does it mean?
David, David, we're so helpless.
She can kill us easily.
You can't just sit there. We've got to get away.
I'm not a magician, lady. I can't make gasoline out of rain.
We can't stay here the whole night. You'll hear me.
Let go of me. There's nothing I can do.
Try something, anything. Don't just sit there.
You're scaring me, David. Stop her.
Now, you cut it out. You'll have us all in hysterics.
All right. All right. I'm sorry.
I've got an idea. Give me your gun.
Why?
Why? I'll tell you I want it. Give it to me.
David, what's the matter with her?
Listen to me. I'm all right.
But I can't sit here all night. I go crazy.
Give me the gun and I'll go.
I won't be afraid of the dark and the noises and the feet following me.
I'll go, I promise you. But give me the gun.
No, sit down.
Please, I'll go. I promise. I can't stand sitting in the dark like this.
Can't you stop her, David?
I told you to shut up.
If you don't, I'll make you get out of the car.
You wouldn't.
You're not unarmed, not into the woods again.
You're nice people, aren't you?
Or do you want me to leave so you can shoot me, assassin?
Stop it.
We're not going to shoot you. We don't have a gun. It's only a pipe.
Dorothy!
A pipe?
David.
A smoking pipe?
Oh, David, I'm sorry.
Then you're not armed.
I'm sorry, David.
It's all right.
Why did you tell me you had a gun?
Why does it make a difference to you whether I'm armed or not?
I don't know you.
Maybe you two are more dangerous than the crazy woman.
I'll tell you what I think.
I think you're the crazy woman, the way you grabbed David when you wanted him to start your car.
Now, Dorothy, stop it. Don't excite her.
Don't excite me? Why?
Maybe you think I'm dangerous, an old woman you took into your car.
Two of you and you're afraid of me.
We're not afraid of you. Now, sit back in the seat and don't try anything.
I'm watching you all the time.
David, the storm is stopping.
Maybe now's the time.
The time for what?
What are you going to do? You two are up to something.
Oh, shut up.
My wife meant now is the time to go for help.
I did not. I meant now is the time for us to escape.
David, can't you see it?
She's the one. She'll kill us.
You little...
Stop it. Sit back in that seat.
You haven't got a gun.
No, but I have got a knife.
David.
It's my jackknife, but it's sharp and it's strong. Now, don't try any tricks.
All right. Threaten me. Watch me.
While that woman is out there, all you can do is sit and wait for her to make the next move.
She can kill us like that old man and woman.
Must have been on the same road.
They were in their car too. They must have let her in.
We'll leave then. The three of us. We'll walk.
We'll stay close together and we'll be quiet.
Anyone hiding in the woods won't hear us.
Don't let her out of the car, David. We'll be killed.
How would we find our way? It's too dark.
We'll find our way.
Look out there. The road's full of shadows.
Get her out of the car, David. She wants to kill us.
Kill?
Look, if you want to go, why don't you leave? You don't need us.
We're willing to stay here until help comes.
I'd be helpless alone. If I had a gun or something.
What?
Your knife.
Nobody'll come. Where are the police? I can't stand this.
Nobody'll come. There's no one in these woods. They're burned out and deserted.
Honey, please.
It was your idea to use this road. You wouldn't listen to me and stop again.
I couldn't help it. I got lost.
You should do something, not just sit there waiting and waiting.
Do something before we're murdered. Are you so helpless?
All right. All right, I'm going to do something. I'll go for help.
That's it. Get help.
David, in her hand.
What?
I saw it in the moonlight. It's glittering.
What is it?
Your wife is hysterical.
She's holding a long piece of broken glass. Long and pointed.
See? She doesn't answer. She's just watching us.
What's she waiting for?
From the broken window. That's where she got it.
So what if I have it? I'm not going to sit here defenseless.
She's going to attack us.
Don't be silly. It was all right for you to have a knife.
Why can't I be armed for whatever may come?
Give me that broken glass.
Give it to you? Do you think I'm crazy?
Give it to me.
You couldn't protect us from anything.
David, what are you doing? Why are you climbing over the seat?
Now, I warn you, I'm through letting my wife be terrified. Give me that glass.
Stay away from me.
Once I left the car, you were going to butcher my wife with that broken glass.
No, no.
David.
Give me that glass.
You're crazy.
Leave me alone. Hold her. Hold her. Don't let her free.
She got my arm.
You'll kill me.
Drop that glass.
She dropped it. She dropped it, David.
Have you both gone crazy trying to kill me?
Like you were going to murder us.
I wasn't.
Don't let her get free.
David, if you have a knife, then I'll have glass.
Hold it, David. Hold it.
I can't take much longer.
I'm not crazy. Please believe me. Just give me that knife. That's all.
You got my throat. You're joking.
Your knife.
David, use your knife.
You killed her.
David, you killed the craziest woman.
I couldn't help it.
She was choking.
You covered her with blood.
She was going to kill us.
David.
Look, lights.
The car's coming. The help's coming.
Everything will be all right, honey.
Hey there. You in the car.
Why are you parked here?
It's the police. It's the police at last.
We ran out of gas.
The crazy woman.
Couldn't have picked a better spot.
What with that woman running around loose?
Officer.
We wanted to tell you.
The bomber up the road called us.
Said his dog's been barking at something.
We caught her.
Who would you catch?
The crazy woman.
She's in the back seat. Dead.
What?
No.
No, she's alive.
Badly hurt, though.
She was trying to kill us. We fought.
We'll get her to a hospital. You come with me.
Lucky it didn't kill her.
We captured that crazy woman half hour ago.
I don't know who this lady is.
Come on. Give me your hand with her.
Suspense.
In which Harry Bartel starred as David and Virginia Greig as Dorothy with Helen Klebe as the woman.
Next week, the story of a young girl who was able to win her way with all men, save one.
We call it simply Pretty Girl.
That's next week on Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald with music composed by Lucian Morawick and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
On a country road was specially written for Suspense by Walter Bazar, also appearing in tonight's cast for Tom McKee and Jack Carroll.
Gun smoke is heard twice every Saturday on the CBS Radio Network.