And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Tonight, we bring you a story about a man whose name was synonymous with death.
We call it, The Groom of the Ladder.
So now, starring Hans Conrede, here is tonight's Suspense play, The Groom of the Ladder.
Evening, Mr. Price.
Evening, William.
Oh, it's cold enough.
A day for you, Mr. Price.
I must say I'm fair wore out.
What you need is a bit of the old warming for the cockles.
Ah, true, ah, true.
It's cruel work for a man in this weather.
You up down to the blue ball, Mr. Price, have yourself a dollop.
Oh, I thought of that, but I happen to be a little short of fun tonight, William.
I wonder.
Oh, and one for me, Mr. Price.
Oh, that's very nice of you, I must say.
Well, you're very nice.
Good night.
Good night, Mr. Price.
My kindest regards to your wife, Mr. Price.
Thank you, William.
Oh, what a dirty dog.
I hope so give him what for, the blue ball.
Nasty little rat, that William Hartley.
I've got to keep an eye on him.
Hartley.
What right's he got to look at me like that?
I know what he's thinking.
Get my job.
If there's a chance of that, I'll see him turned off first.
Go, I've got to thirst.
Should go home, I suppose.
Better be grousing out of all neck.
Oh, let her grouse.
I got me rights.
Blue ball for me.
Evening, one and all.
Evening.
Evening, Mr. White, Mrs. White.
Mr. Lowell.
Oi, Brenny, you spryers ever.
What's this all about?
Somebody dead.
That's the way it is, is it?
Keeper, ale.
I said, ale.
Ale.
Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time.
Can you pay for it?
Yes, I can pay for it.
And more, don't you worry about me.
I can pay for anything.
You hear that, all of you?
I don't need a bloody one of you.
You'll all come to me one of these days.
I heard the watchman are out looking for somebody.
He don't pay his debts and he's going to Marshall C. Prism for it.
Who said that?
Who said it?
I wonder who's gone to get Jack Ketchy's job when he's out of office.
Who called me that?
John M. Price. John Price. John Price.
John Price. Hear what I say?
John Price.
I have such an horrible pain in my throat, Mr. Ketchy, dear.
Do you have a cure?
Got any old clothes for sale today, Mr. Ketchy?
Shut your face, there's a lot of you.
Stop! I'll do you a mischief, that's what.
You hear? You! You! Stop it!
That's enough! There'll be none of that in here.
If you want your ale, come over to the table and drink it.
Otherwise, out!
Well, I'm sorry I lost my temper.
I'm sorry, I got very tired tonight.
Accept my apologies, keep it.
I don't accept nothing from you, except your money.
I have to serve you, me charter says so.
But no trouble for you, or out you go.
And that's a fact, and don't forget it.
Why do they do it?
Why, it's always like this.
Either they don't say a blinking word, or they even that awful way.
Can't they understand? I'm just like anybody else.
I do me job, same as anyone.
It gets lonely, a man sitting by himself, swilling ale, all by himself.
Wish I had some money.
I mean, some of the actual, not coppers, oh, I'd have friends then, lots of them.
What was it they were saying about the watchmen looking for me?
Oh, they can't do that.
I'll pay the debts, what I owe, if I can only get a good job at them.
Why don't they let the man alone? Not fair!
Not fair.
What ain't fair, Mr. Price?
Who is it? Oh, William.
William Artley, huh? You, huh?
You got off late tonight, didn't you?
That's right, Mr. Price.
Having a bit of a guzzle, eh?
I will not stand familiarity, William Artley.
I hardly remember your place and station.
Oh, no offence intended. An untaken, I hope.
Granted.
Eh, mind if I sit down with my mug?
I don't mind.
Oh, dear!
Long hours, short pay, that's the way of it.
William Artley, why do you talk to me?
Why not, Mr. Price? You're my superior, ain't you?
In a way, I ask to talk to you.
I don't want you to have to. I want you to want to.
Nobody wants to talk to me. Nobody wants me.
Could be worse, you know.
I don't beat my wife or the kid. I try to do what's right.
You're just misunderstood, Mr. Price.
Misunderstood. I sympathise.
I want a friend. I want people to smile at me in the streets, talk to me, to like me.
Oh, you've got a burden, Mr. Price, and no mistake.
William, how'd you like to lend me five sovereigns?
I could pay you back with interest. I got one or two odd debts to pay, you know.
I heard about that, Mr. Price. Harry White was...
Harry White, what's he know? He's after me job, just like you, William Artley.
You don't pull a wool over my eyes. I know, I know.
How could you think such a thing, Mr. Price?
Why, you remember this. I'm not out of office yet. Remember.
You stay nice to me, William, because I have a position.
How about a couple of sovereigns? I know you've got it, so there's no use denying.
Well, I'd like to oblige, Mr. Price, so help me. I will, but my wife's expecting again.
And you know how it is with another mouth to feed.
How about a copper's worth of ale, then?
You know, I was going to buy one for you, Mr. Price, but when I reached into me pocket,
I found I had just enough for me own mug.
William Artley, you are a dirty, sneakin' little liar.
Mr. Price.
Don't you ever find yourself in trouble, because if you do,
it's John Price who's going to be there taking loving care of you.
Oh, Harry, you are a wad. Stop it, anyone. It's secret.
Hello, Mr. White, Mrs. White.
Good, come on, Elizabeth. Time for us to be going home.
Oh, I'll be all right, Harry.
I said, allow, that's all. I didn't do no harm, just allow.
It's me, John Price, you know me.
Can't you say allow? Allow, that's all.
William Artley, he come to the Blue Bull to laugh at me.
That's how he gets his pleasure. They all do.
And when I get home, it's going to be the same.
Oh, I wish I was dead.
John Price, that you?
Where you been? I had a piece of matna on the table at six o'clock.
Hello, Beth. Where's the kid?
Where you been? I've told you for the last time I ain't going to...
Oh, Betty, Betty, love, I had a very difficult job today.
I'd like to have broke me poor arm. I swore like a pig.
How much did you get?
For usual.
Earned it over?
No, Beth.
Ah, I should have known. You've been boozing at the Blue Bull.
Spent every blessed penny.
I was tired, but I thought a sup would help.
Sup? I've said, for the look of you.
Sweetheart, we got a few shillings put by, haven't we?
Oh, no, you don't.
No, it's desperate, Beth, girl.
They'll have me in debtors' prison. I heard them talk tonight.
Do you good?
Don't say that, love, love. It'll only be for a week, two at the most.
I got to raise every penny I can.
That money's for me and the kid. You don't touch one thub.
I'll lose my job.
Don't make me laugh. Your job. Call that a job?
I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed to have people know me name.
Now, Beth, I'm your husband. It's your duty to obey me.
You give me what money we got in the house, or I'm going to...
Or what? What'll you do, Jack Ketch?
Now, Betty.
What'll you do to Mrs Jack Ketch, you murderer?
Murderer!
Murderer! My husband. What's he do for an honest living?
Why, he's a murderer.
No, no, no, don't touch.
Mother, what does daddy do?
He's got a lovely job, sonny.
Don't you try me, now, Betty.
Now, your dear old dad turns people off for our bread.
Betty.
He's Jack Ketch, the public ankhman.
Betty.
Ankhman.
Oh, smash her!
Smash her!
You are listening to The Groom of the Ladder, tonight's presentation in Radio's outstanding
theater of thrills, Suspense.
There are twice as many radios in the United States today as there were ten years ago.
And the radio is the only one that can make a difference in the lives of the people who
are in need of it.
There are twice as many radios in the United States today as there were ten years ago.
Every minute of the broadcast day, millions are listening to radio, most of all to CBS
Radio, which has all of the top 25 daytime programs and eight of the top ten once-a-week
half-hour evening shows.
Yes, leading the way as it goes and grows are the CBS Radio shows.
And now we bring back to our Hollywood sound stage, Hans Connery, starring in tonight's
production, The Groom of the Ladder, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
I suppose it was wrong to beat her like that.
What's a man to do?
So, what with me dancing, what I done to bat, here I am in Marshall C. Prison.
Not the first time I've been here ever.
What a stinkin' hole.
All of us together, the muck of London, men, women and dogs.
There's one lad though that ain't so bad, he come in yesterday.
He's got learnin', a gentleman you can see there, Thomas Lovelace's name.
He's in debt to his eyes, £2,000.
I'll be here until I rock, Price.
Oh, I wouldn't say that, sir.
There's always hope.
You've been here before?
Three times, sir.
This is my fourth.
And all was for debt.
Of course, there was the matter of my wife, Betty, this time.
What did you do for a living, Price?
What's the matter?
Hadn't you noticed?
The others there, they never talk to me.
Hadn't you noticed?
Not particularly.
I'll tell you why.
Because I was in the employ of His Majesty.
In service to the Crown, that's why.
That's why they don't talk to you?
Well, I suppose you won't either when I tell you.
You'll find out in a day or so, anyhow.
What's the news?
I'm...
The Angman.
Angman?
But I thought that Jack Ketcham...
That's what they call me.
Oh.
I thought so.
Go on, sir.
I won't trouble you.
You're a gentleman.
You know what the likes of me.
You haven't got a very savory reputation, you know, Price.
It was my job. Somebody had to do it.
I've heard that you rather enjoyed it.
That's a lie.
What about the poor devils who paid you to put them out of their misery quickly?
I was happy to oblige, poor souls.
Sometimes they give me a few pants to help them through the awful passage to heaven.
But, Lord bless them, I did my best.
And if they didn't have any money?
I wouldn't hold it against them.
Of course I'm not denying that a nice rack or press job was worth a few shillings extra.
But wouldn't you have taken the money?
I ask you, wouldn't you?
I wouldn't have had your job, Price.
Not for a million pounds.
Oh, well.
That's the way of it.
Each man to what he knows.
Right, Mr. Lovelace?
My profession is Angman.
Yours is to be a gentleman.
Am I right, sir?
And we're both of us in debtors' prison.
That gave him something to think about.
He wasn't so eye-and-mighty after that.
Mr. Lovelace never had visitors.
I didn't either.
That is, not till one day, three months after I first come here.
And it was William Hartley.
And I didn't like the nasty weasel smile on him.
Well, Price, I heard about your misfortune and I came to sympathise.
How thoughtful, William.
How do they treat you in here?
Treat? Oh, like a blooming earl, can't you see?
Nasty smell down here.
They haven't brought in the fresh roses yet.
What about your debts, Price? Any luck?
No. It's only a matter of five pounds.
William?
William Hartley, you did...
Did you come here to help me?
You're going to lend me the money.
Have I misjudged you, William? Good friend.
No, you haven't misjudged me, Price.
I didn't come here to lend you nothing.
I've come here like a good Christian to see you add your elf and spirits.
And I've brought you a prayer book for your poor soul feeder.
Oh, blow on me.
Change your ways, Price. Change your ways before it's too late.
I challenge you to change the shape of your head.
I'm going to turn you off for a while, Mr. William Hartley.
Price, let him go. Let me let him go.
Get away from him, Price. Stop it.
Have you gone mad?
You know what they'll do to you with this.
You shouldn't have done that, Price.
I won't forget.
You're paid for that.
I paid 30 lashes and slum goyim for a month.
I wasn't going to forget William Hartley.
Never in all my life.
It was Mr. Lovelace who saved me a crust of two a bread when I was brought up from the black hole.
It was the best meal I ever had.
And then things were the same again. The weeks went by.
I wrote a song ballad.
Mr. Lovelace did the words in writing for me.
I called it...
A man of destiny's hard fortune whereby his hopeful harvest is like to be blasted.
And nobody bought it, though, though I still didn't have the money to pay me debts.
Then I heard about Betty and the kid. They'd run off and left me.
And that's when I made up my mind to get out of Marshallsea.
That and William Hartley. Oh, I'd play a little court on him.
I told my idea to Mr. Lovelace one night.
Mr. Lovelace? Yes?
Come closer, sir.
Listen, I'm getting out, see?
Now, you've treated me right. I'm willing to take you with.
How can you? We've got these chains. It's impossible.
No, we don't. They take them off in the afternoon when we exercise, don't they?
All right. That's the time.
You leave that to me. You want to go with?
I'd rather die trying than stay. All right, sir.
Now, here's what we do.
There's a woodshed next to the gate of the yard.
Door's always open. When we have our constitutional tomorrow,
we hop in there and wait till it's dark.
One of the keepers will see us.
Now, now, there's a new one on. I've been watching him.
He's been drunk for a week. Easy as pie. You wait.
We did it. Stayed hide and burn the wood till night.
Felt funny without the chains on after so long.
And then about ten o'clock, we started out of the shed.
I took a thick stick from the woodpile.
Come on. It'll be locked.
Have to do a bit of climbing, eh?
Look, keeper. He's asleep.
I'm supposing he wakes up. He won't.
Look, he's waking up.
Hurry up now.
Give me an hand up first, and then I'll pull you over.
Right.
All right. Now, give me your hand.
There. Up you come.
Hey.
And there's London.
Ain't that a lovelier sight?
All your markleys out there in it.
Come on.
We stayed together till we was well out of sight of the present.
And then Mr. Lovelace said goodbye.
I'll leave you here, Price.
I can't thank you enough for helping me.
You shan't meet again, I suppose.
But I'll always remember you.
Goodbye.
And he went his way.
Couple of minutes later, I found a broom-maker going home from selling his wares.
And after a short argument, I had two silver shillings in me pocket.
I tossed for it William Artley, now or later.
My first one.
And that took me to the nearest alehouse in Bunhill Fields.
Artley'd have to wait, but not for long.
Or I was going to do him a mischief.
Pay the little scot back before the night was out.
It was two hours later that I left the alehouse with a lovely swishin' in me belly and happiness in me head.
Funny thing, I couldn't on the lot for me remember what I had to do.
But there was something.
Oh, his groans was dreadful for to hear, as the stones they pressed upon him.
And Jack stood solemn, not shedding a tear when the...
Hello, sir.
It's me, Elizabeth White.
Is that you, John Price?
I thought you were in Marshall's scene.
Elizabeth White? Well, I never.
What you doing in Bunhill Fields this time of night?
I had an order of gingerbread to deliver.
You frighten me.
Me frighten?
Oh, I'm all right, you know that.
Well, I've had one or two, but nobody can say John Price can't behave like a gentleman.
You are wicked.
Oh, I wish I was married to a sweet woman like you, Elizabeth.
Oh, I envy your husband.
No, no, Mr. Price.
I apologize.
Umbly.
Do you hate me?
Of course not. I never hated you.
It was Harry who didn't want me to talk to you.
I mean, because I'm Angman.
You're not anymore, anyway.
I'm really very gentle at heart, you know.
I'm just misunderstood by one and all.
I suppose.
Elizabeth, I've always had a liking for you.
Mr. Price.
Have you got a little money put away?
We could make it a business arrangement.
Just you and me, huh?
And I'll pay you next month, I suppose.
I haven't got anything, Mr. Price.
Hold on, I may be a shiver in a two.
You must have copped something for the gingerbread.
Please, Mr. Price, my Harry.
It ain't honorable for a man in my position to be in debt.
There's no one to turn to.
Come on, I'll pay you back. I swear it, I'm desperate.
No, no, Mr. Price.
Will you keep it?
Stop it, you'll have to watch one down. Stop it now.
Give it over. You hear me?
I need this, you see. I need it.
I told you I'd pay you.
Shut it up! Shut it up!
Well, here we are again.
Newgate this time.
The watchman got me.
But he was too late for Elizabeth White.
I'm afraid I done her in, poor soul.
I'm too hanged for it, sir. There you are.
I can hear him coming for me now.
I'd like a last swig of something to see me on my way.
Oh, William Hartley.
Are you ready, John Price?
You nasty little winkle.
You mean you're the Yangman?
I am.
Oh, blot. I was coming back to turn you off, you maggoty wimp.
And I forgot. You wouldn't be here now.
I bear you no malice, John Price.
You're a wimp, John Price.
You know malice, John Price.
You won't make no Yangman.
Not for long, you wank. You wait.
They'll start calling you Jackcatch. You wait.
It's my duty.
I always knew that someday I'd find my calling
to protect the people from such poor riches as you.
I have found it.
Go on, blimey. I might anode.
I might anode. Bar meter.
Well, I for one haven't got a brass farthing for you. My clothes?
They won't fetch stuff in. So blast you.
I don't want neither. It's me job, John Price.
Turning you off is me job.
And that's what I'm going to do.
You've come to a wicked end, as I knew you would.
If I'm going to nab the Stifles, and it's William Hartley
what's going to do it?
I'm better off dead.
William, you write something for me on the wall, will you?
Yeah, yeah. I've got some charcoal. Yeah, right here.
All right, now you write this.
Right, uh, here died John Price,
Angman of London.
He was turned off upon the gallows,
which he had served so well in his day.
God save the King in the year 1696.
Suspense.
In which Hans Conreid starred in tonight's presentation of The Groom of the Ladder.
Be sure to listen in again next week when we bring you another presentation of Radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed in Hollywood by Anthony Ellis, who also wrote tonight's script.
The music was composed by Lucian Morrowak and conducted by Wilbur Hatch.
In tonight's story, Ben Wright was heard as Hartley.
Featured in the cast were Raymond Lawrence, Richard Heal, Bill James, and John Price.
The musicals were composed by the great
and the wonderful,
the wonderful,
and ferret them out of hiding.
You can hear another startling drama revealing one more of those clever plans and its ultimate
defeat on that popular CBS radio program, the FBI in Peace and War, over most of these
same stations tomorrow night.
Remember the FBI in Peace and War, tomorrow night.
Stay tuned for five minutes of CBS News to be followed on most of these same CBS radio
stations by the Jack Carson Show.