Suspense.
Presented by Roma Wines, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
Salud.
Your health, signore.
The world toasts Roma, and Roma toasts the world.
The wine for your table is Roma, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
This is the Man in Black, here for Roma Wines to introduce this weekly half hour of Suspense.
Tonight in Hollywood, we are honored and happy to have with us one of the entertainment world's
most distinguished gentlemen, Mr. Cary Grant.
The Suspense play, which stars Cary Grant, and which is produced and directed by William
Spear, is the exciting and tense bestseller by Cornell Woolrich called The Black Curtain.
Suspense is compounded of mystery and suspicion and dangerous adventure.
In this series, Roma brings you tales calculated to intrigue you, to stir your nerves, to offer
you a precarious situation, and then withhold the solution until the last possible moment.
And so, with The Black Curtain, and with the performance of Cary Grant, we again hope to
keep you in Suspense.
It began, or rather life began again for me, I guess you'd say, that day, on that street.
My head was pounding terribly.
I could hear all the noise and the people milling around.
Everything was a jumble at first.
All right, gangway there.
Now let the doctor through.
I seen it happen, Mr. Policeman.
He was running.
Boy, he really gave himself a clunk on the beam.
All right, sir.
Now get back there.
Everybody back.
Oh, my head.
His wallet fell out of his pocket, and a big boy grabbed it and ran away.
He went away.
All right, now back, everybody.
Let the doctor through.
Give him air here.
I'm okay.
Never mind, Doc.
I'm okay.
Seems to be not a much of a matter with you, sir.
No, I'm all right.
Yes, I can talk to him now, Doc.
Just a bad bump on the head, I think.
That's right.
We can walk, all right, can't you?
Yeah, I think so.
Sure.
Here, now let me brush you off.
Thanks, thanks.
I'll be fine.
Hey, wait a minute.
What am I doing with an overcoat on?
All right now, mister.
Just so they got it on the bladder.
What's your name?
Where do you live?
Townsend, Frank Townsend, 820 Rutherford Street.
You want a cigarette?
You're still shaking.
No, thanks.
I don't smoke.
Well, while we're getting back, then, drop in at the receiving hospital if you want us
to take you off.
Yeah, I will.
Hey, here's your hat, mister.
High five.
Oh, thanks, kid.
All right, so now come on.
Move along.
Guy's all right.
Come on.
Oh, well, thanks.
I'm sorry about the fellow that got your wallet.
Anyway, here's your cigar case, Mr. Townsend.
Guy found it right alongside of you.
Hey, wait a minute.
This isn't my hat.
D.N.
Those aren't my initials, D.N.
Sure that's your hat.
I seen it roll off you when you went down.
Try it on.
You see, it fits.
Looks good.
Yeah.
But, what's that?
Looks good.
But what am I doing with the cigar case?
D.N.
Same initials as the hat.
Don't you even know your own hat, mister?
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
I'm trying to think.
Where is this?
What?
This street.
You're on Tillery Street.
Tillery Street?
What am I doing on Tillery Street?
He's lost.
All right, now, sir.
My suggestion is that you go on home and go lie down.
It's cold and starting to snow.
No, no, please.
Wait a minute.
Don't leave me.
Tell me.
What's the matter?
Well, you slipped on this icy sidewalk.
Fell down and hit your head good and hard on the curb.
You're out for about 20 minutes and then you...
Wait, wait, wait.
Ice on a sidewalk?
Well, look at it.
That street cleaning department ought to clear the way the snow...
What?
Snow and ice?
Sure, why?
Snow?
In July?
July?
It's December.
December 1943.
December 1943.
December 1943.
December 1943.
December 1943.
December 1943.
1943.
You better go on home, son.
Good night.
1943?
December 1943.
The last I remember was July 1940.
Three years, just gone.
I was in Amnesia.
A black curtain comes down over your mind.
That black curtain had been over mine for three years.
Where had I been?
Who had I been?
I hadn't been Frank Townsend.
I'd been someone else.
D.N.
Someone whose initials were D.N.
I walked along Tillery Street thinking about it those three years.
I could have been married.
I could have been a thief.
I could have...
Something made me turn around on the street for a moment.
That was when I first saw him.
Grey eyes.
He'd been talking to the cop who took my name.
He looked up as I did.
And then he started to walk rapidly in my direction.
And backed away instinctively.
Something about him spelled trouble.
He called to me as he came forward.
Hey, you, stop!
Townsend!
Instinctively I knew I should run and get away from him.
Hey, you!
I looked back as I rounded the corner.
He had a gun in his hand.
He raised it.
And I turned, ran for my life.
What lay behind that black curtain
which separated Townsend from his past?
With this remarkable story
and with Hollywood's distinguished Cary Grant as our star,
the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California,
tonight assumes the sponsorship of Suspense,
radio's outstanding theater of thrills.
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And now it is with pleasure that we bring back to our sound stage Mr. Kerry Grant
and The Black Curtain.
A story well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Why was he following me? With a gun.
What did Grey Eyes want with me? I must have done something.
I beat it on the subway and hid. I had to think it all out carefully.
I knew I was on the spot for something. Grey Eyes meant business.
What could it be? Who had I been?
During those last three years with that black curtain in front of them.
Well, maybe I'd been a gangster and he was one of them mobbed and one to rub me out.
I didn't know. No identification, my wallet stolen.
Nothing in my pockets that would help.
Just D-N in the hat and D-N on the cigar case. D-N!
My head was aching with worry. My stomach had panic in it.
I had to find out who I'd been, what I'd done.
But how? Where?
Tellery Street. That's where I'd been when I woke up. Tellery Street.
Well, maybe Grey Eyes would go back there too looking for me.
But I had to take that chance. Tellery Street.
Yes?
Oh, good evening, Pop.
Oh, hello there. Couldn't see you under that hat at first.
Oh, you know me?
Sure. What can I get you, son?
Well, you got any evening paper I could look at?
Nope. Sorry. Never read them. Too much trouble in the world these days anyhow.
Say, how you been? You haven't been around two or three weeks.
Oh, well, I've been kind of busy.
Uh, look, Pop.
Yeah?
I made a bet with a guy that even though you see so many customers,
you'd walk right up and give me my full name.
Oh, well, I'm sorry. I don't know it. I don't think I ever heard your name.
Oh.
But I know your girl.
My girl?
Uh-huh.
You do, huh?
Yeah.
Well, now, maybe I can still win my bet if you'll give me her name.
Gee, I...
I've heard you mention it. I...
I'd know it if I heard it.
You what?
Well, uh, see if I can steer you a little.
Now, is it Mary?
Nope.
Uh, Alice? Lillian?
Ah, Margaret.
No. Wait a minute. Wait.
I know. Ruth. That's it. Ruth.
Ruth?
Yeah.
Well, sure, you got it.
Now, now, what's Ruth's last name?
Gee, I don't know her... I know where she lives, though.
You do?
Yeah. Right across the street. Attillery Apartments.
Well, it's right.
Ah, but now, now, what apartment?
What's the number of Ruth's apartment?
Hmm...
3C. Apartment 3C.
Say, that's pretty good if I do say so.
I was only there once, remember? The night I brought the Sam's...
Well, thanks.
Will you win your bet, mister?
Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. I think I will.
Uh, what's your name? So I'll know it next time.
Oh, I'll tell you tomorrow. I hope.
So long.
So long, Pop. Thank you. I'll be...
What's the matter?
Nothing. Nothing. I... just tied him a shoe.
I'd just been going to walk out when I saw him standing across the street, gray eyes again.
I ducked down behind the store window and watched him.
He looked over in my direction and then up and down the street.
Oh, then he did a cigarette and stalled down the corner.
The minute he disappeared, I yanked the door open, dashed out,
went across the tillery apartments and went in.
Who is it?
Ruth?
Yes?
It's me.
Dan! Oh, Danny, where have you...
Get in here.
Oh, darling, it's really you.
I thought you...
Hello, Ruth.
Oh, Danny, why did you come here?
He's been around here twice today.
He may be in the neighborhood right now, for all you know.
Who?
Oh, well, Fattery, of course.
Has he got gray eyes?
What? Yeah.
Did you ever see a detective that didn't?
Oh, I see. Sure, sure.
Danny, what's the matter with you?
You're acting so strangely.
Well, I... I just want to look at you.
You seem so different, so far away.
You haven't kissed me.
Well, that's easily fixed.
Oh, darling, where have you been for three weeks?
All around. Miss me?
You know I did.
Oh, Danny, you suppose...
Do you think we could get away tonight?
I've got $3,000 saved up.
We could go to Mexico or South America.
We could get married.
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Nearing. Tour of the world.
Daniel Nearing?
Yeah, and wife?
Sounds plenty good to me.
You'll never know how good.
We'll get out of here tonight.
I'll call up and tell him I'm quitting my job.
I'll say I'm sick.
All my stuff's here.
Nothing's out there but a couple of uniforms.
I'll make Alma and Franklin a present of those.
Alma and Franklin?
Don't you bother your pretty head about those two charmers.
Maybe they weren't glad when it happened.
Couple of vultures.
I'd buy to them.
All with you back, Danny.
Just think with my $3,000 we could...
Oh, dear.
Do you think you ought to quit your job?
Absolutely, I think so.
I was never cut out to be a nurse anyway.
I guess you weren't.
Any more than I was cut out...
Any more than you were meant to be a secretary.
That's right.
Well, I never wanted to be a secretary.
Just drifted into it, I guess.
Kind of got on my nerves, especially toward the end.
You know, the boss was no cinch to work for.
He certainly wasn't.
He was a rat.
The whole Dakerid bunch are mean, rotten.
The whole family.
Yeah, that's right.
Well, except the old man.
Oh, yeah, the old man.
I sort of liked him, didn't I?
He loved you, Danny.
I think he wished you'd been his son.
Poor old man.
He's the only reason I've stuck around out there this long.
How are things out there?
Oh, they've been questioning all of us.
They've laid off lately, though, since you...
Oh, Danny, don't let's talk any more about it.
You're back. That's the main thing.
I just want to forget new Jericho and the whole family.
You're forgetting new Jericho and the whole family?
New Jericho, huh?
Yes.
Oh, Danny.
Danny, if only it hadn't happened.
What hadn't?
You know what?
Oh, Danny, what's going to become of you and me?
I wish I knew.
Danny, get away from that window.
Leave that shade down.
He's down there.
Who?
Grey Eyes.
He's standing in front of the hydrant.
He's coming in here, in the building.
Did he see you?
Ruth, will you help me?
What are you going to do?
I'm going to give myself up.
No, no, you're not...
Well, it's better than getting shot at.
What can they do to me?
You crazy fool, they can send you to the chair.
The chair?
What do you think happens to a man when he's guilty of murder?
Murder?
Ruth, listen to me.
I'm not a murderer.
The whole world says I committed murder.
I say I didn't.
The me that's in me says I didn't.
I never said you were, Danny.
I always said you didn't do it.
I'll be ahead and run away.
So that's it.
All right, nearing. Open up.
Why did you come here, Danny? Why?
Ruth, wait.
We've got to get out of here.
How about the fire escape shaft?
Dumb waiter.
Dumb waiter.
Here.
All right, get in.
I'll stand on top and work the ropes.
I don't think it can hold us both.
Got to.
Can you hear me?
Yes, yes, Danny.
Danny, what do we do?
We're going back there to New Jericho.
New Jericho?
No, Danny, don't. Please, for me.
Got to.
I've got to find out.
We're going together.
No, Danny, no. I've got the money.
We can get out of here and we...
Stop it.
Danny, ouch, my arm.
You're hurting me.
From here on in, we're sticking together.
You're going to take me back there,
back where it happened.
All right, darling.
It's crazy, but I'll go wherever you go.
I can't lose you again.
On the train, Ruth and I said very little to each other.
While I hid in the telephone booth
at the Pennsylvania station,
she bought us a couple of cheap overcoats.
I sat hunched up in mine, thinking, thinking.
Ruth had brought along the newspaper clippings.
I looked at what they said for the 20th time,
trying to see if there was anything there
that would help me.
Deep tricks slammed into my head.
I was so scared.
I was so scared.
I was so scared.
I was so scared.
I was so scared.
I was so scared.
I was so scared.
I was so scared.
Dietrich Slayer's saw it, it said.
The secretary wanted him brutal slaying
at Suburban Estate.
Police are pressing the search for Daniel Nearing,
secretary and the employer of the late John Dietrich, 58,
member of a well-known local family
who was shot and killed
in the drawing room of his new Jericho estate
on the morning of November the 7th.
Nearing disappeared November the 7th
on the morning of which date
he is known to have had a bitter quarrel with the deceased.
This last was attested to at the inquest
by Elmer and Franklin Dietrich,
widow and brother of the murdered maid.
Well, I had all the facts now.
Wanted for murder.
And yet everything that was in me
told me that no matter who I'd been,
however many memories I'd lost,
that I was no killer,
that I couldn't have.
Jericho! Jericho!
I had to get into that Dietrich house
and stand again in the room
in which it had all happened.
Maybe something would come back to me.
Maybe there would be...
Jericho!
Danny! Danny!
Over here, Ruth.
It's dark. I couldn't see you.
Elmer and Franklin just left.
They drove down to the village.
Did they say anything about you being out here on your day off?
Yeah. Elmer said something.
But I said I had nothing to do in town.
He came out to write some letters.
Let's go, then.
Oh, Danny, I'm scared.
Please, let's not stay out here.
I thought you said you loved me.
I do, Danny, I do.
That's why I'm scared.
They're only going to the village.
They'll be back in half an hour at the most.
Go on, open the door, Ruth.
Hurry.
I've got to see the inside.
That room, the place where it happened.
It's wrong, Danny.
I'm telling you, you're wrong.
You know, find...
Open the door, Ruth.
Quickly.
All right.
Now, let's have a look at that room.
Please, Danny, please, don't talk about it.
Oh.
So this is where I'm supposed to have murdered John Dietrich, huh?
Danny, please.
Where was it?
Show me exactly where it was, Ruth.
I've got to know.
It was there.
Right there.
He was standing by the grandfather's clock when...
Why are you going crazy, Danny?
If they get you, you'll hang.
By the clock, huh?
You still believe in me, don't you, Ruth?
I still believe in you.
You still believe in me, don't you, Ruth?
I believe you, Danny, but I'm scared.
I love you.
Ruth, wait a minute.
What's that?
Listen.
It's only the old man.
He's asleep in that room up there.
Don't go in there, Danny.
You'll wake him.
I want to see him.
No.
No, don't, Danny.
He can't help you.
You know he's paralyzed and he can't talk.
Turn on the light.
I want to see him.
Here, you woke him.
It's me, Mr. Dietrich.
Ruth.
This is Danny.
You remember Danny, don't you?
Hello, Mr. Dietrich.
See how his eyes are shining?
Yeah.
Was he here when it happened?
You know that, Danny.
Why do you ask such funny questions?
He's been in bed here for five years.
That mirror.
On the wall there.
The clock.
Look.
You can see the grandfather's clock in the other room.
What are you getting at, Danny?
He could see it.
The old man could see the murder through the mirror.
Oh, if only he could talk.
He can't talk.
You scare me, Danny.
He saw the man who killed John Dietrich.
Look, look.
He understands what I'm saying.
He's blinking his eyes.
Oh, stop torturing him, Danny.
Can't you see what you're doing?
He's trying to say something.
Look.
Look.
His eyes are blinking.
He's going to help me.
Go outside and watch, Ruth.
Go on.
Now watch out at the entrance way.
Be careful, Danny.
Please, they'll be back any minute.
All right, leave me alone with them.
I'll call if I hear them coming.
Look now, Mr. Dietrich.
Don't be afraid.
I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to answer me.
Are you trying to tell me something about the murder?
Now blink your eyes.
Blink twice if you are.
And that's it.
Once.
Twice.
That's good.
Did you see it happen?
Here in your mirror.
Blink once if the answer is no.
Twice if the answer is yes.
Once.
Twice.
You're dead, huh?
You saw it.
Now then, is the murderer in this house?
Danny, Danny, they're coming.
Franklin and Alma, get out of here.
Run, Danny, run.
Is the murderer in this house?
Blink once for no.
Twice for yes.
Yes.
In this house.
Danny, Danny, they're coming.
Wait, wait, I've almost got it.
Now, Mr. Dietrich, was it me?
Once for no.
Twice for yes.
Was it me?
Get out of here, Danny.
Into the big room behind the curtains.
I'll talk to them.
All right, all right.
All right.
Thanks, Mr. Dietrich.
I'll be back.
Ruth?
Ruth, is that you in Father's room?
Yes.
Are you here alone?
Oh, yes.
Why?
Well, we thought we heard voices.
What are you so jittery about, Ruth?
I'm just tired, that's all.
May I go to bed now?
Father's still awake, Ruth.
You'll go to sleep all right.
I'm going upstairs, Mr. Dietrich, now.
Good night, Ruth.
And take your flashlight with you.
Oh, I'm sorry.
It was dark on the road tonight.
Good night, Ruth.
Good night.
She's brought him back here with her.
Hey, my thing.
Who? Dan?
Oh, Franklin.
Take it easy.
If he's here, we'll get him.
After the evidence we gave against him at the hearing,
I...
Oh, I'm frightened.
Let's get out of here fast.
I'll go to the village for the police.
Call the police.
No, I'll do it.
Hello?
Hello?
It's too late. It's dead. The wire's cut.
Come on, we'll both drive to the village.
But he may be waiting for us out by the car.
Uh-uh. Oh.
What?
Eh.
What are you doing there, Franklin?
I think I just might need my gun.
Come along.
The moment they left the house, I made for the old man's room.
I called for Ruth, but she was gone.
Maybe Franklin and Alma had caught her after she cut the telephone wire.
But I couldn't wait.
My life was hanging on minutes now.
I shot the flashlight on the old man's face.
Now, Mr. Dietrich, you're helping me fine.
You know I'm trying to save my life, don't you?
Now, the murderer.
Was it me?
Was it me who did it?
Me, Danny Nearing.
Blink once for no.
Once.
Once!
Oh, you're sure.
You're sure it wasn't me.
Oh, you're smiling, Mr. Dietrich.
Smiling.
Now, it was somebody in this house.
Then who was it?
Oh, can't you make a sound?
Help me, you've got to.
Was it Alma?
Twice for yes, once for no.
Once.
Not Alma.
All right, then.
Was it Franklin?
I'll just put the hands, Nearing.
You'll never go to trial.
Franklin, look, you've got to listen.
Shut up and drop that flashlight.
Trying to kill the old man, too, huh?
The murderer returns the scene of his crime.
You know I didn't kill him.
Why don't you tell that to the police?
Alma will have him here in a couple of minutes.
Where's your girlfriend, Ruth?
She's not here. I don't know where she went.
Never mind. They'll find her.
You're a dead duck, Nearing.
You killed my brother and beat it.
Where'd you get out of it?
That's always puzzled us.
You killed your brother, and now you're going to kill me.
You've gone nuts, too. Why should I kill my own brother, you idiot?
To get his share of the estate and his wife Alma,
amongst other things.
But you can't stop with killing me.
Someone else knows the truth.
The old man saw it in the mirror.
You'll have to kill your own father, too.
The old man saw it? How do you know?
He told me.
Oh, you're lying. He can't talk. He can't even move.
He can hear.
And he can blink his eyes.
Come over here and look.
I'll look here, all right?
Ruth!
He'll be all right.
I heard him. He was going to kill you.
Here's the gun, Danny. Take it.
Oh, Ruth, you shouldn't have. In another minute.
I'm not sure it was Franklin.
Oh, Dan, darling, please. Let's run for it.
They'll be here in a second.
It's your last chance. They'll all swear you did it.
Not if I can be with the old man another half minute.
Mr. Dietrich. Mr. Dietrich.
It's Danny again.
No, Danny, don't. Don't.
Tell me, Mr. Dietrich. Was it Franklin?
Did Franklin kill your son John?
Think once if he did. He's afraid.
Why are you afraid?
Oh, there's this gun.
Here, take the gun, Ruth. You take it.
He's afraid.
I'm not going to hurt you, Mr. Dietrich.
What's the matter?
Why don't you answer me?
Who killed John Dietrich?
It wasn't me. It wasn't Elmer. It wasn't Franklin.
But someone in the house.
Was it?
What?
Ruth. Ruth. You.
I told you. I told you not to come.
Oh, I love you, Danny. I wanted you.
I wouldn't have let them get you.
Why? Why, Ruth? Why did you kill him?
He was always after me. Wouldn't leave me alone.
I hated him.
Then that night he came at me, threatened me, said he'd kill me.
If he couldn't have me, nobody could.
He had a gun. I got it away from him.
He hit the clock. He leaned against it.
I thought he'd never fall down and die.
It was the day you ran away and I was crazy.
They thought it was you. They started looking.
I love you, Danny. I still love you.
I begged you not to come back here.
Ruth. Put down that gun, Ruth.
No. Stand back, Danny.
Stay over there.
I just want to look at you.
I was hoping we could get away together.
But you've been through enough, Danny.
And all because of me.
Now you're clear, Danny.
And this is going to clear me.
Darling.
Ruth.
Well, I guess that's about all there is to tell.
I tried to put it all behind me.
To resume my life where I left off over three years ago.
Sometimes when it gets dark evening, I go and walk along Tilleries Street.
Once in a while somebody, somebody I don't know, will say,
Hello, Danny.
I just say hello and walk on.
I don't want to find out anything anymore.
I want it all to die away and be still.
And it will.
All except Ruth.
Because somewhere behind that black curtain I was loved.
And loved someone.
We must have known a love that I'll never know again.
And so closes The Black Curtain starring Mr. Cary Grant.
Tonight's tale of...
Suspense.
Since the beginnings of history, people have enjoyed wine.
Ages ago our ancestors found that wine made any food taste better.
Wine is a simple pleasure that anyone can enjoy.
That is why Roma has devoted all its wine making skill
to producing wines of fine quality at a price that means you can enjoy them often.
Just a few cents a glass.
Don't feel that you need fine crystal or a special occasion to serve Roma wine.
Next time you have a quick supper, serve Roma wine in plain tumblers
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Serve Roma wine often, cool or chilled.
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Yes, Roma wines are true to type.
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Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
Our thanks to Cary Grant for his suspenseful performance here tonight.
And Mr. Grant wants us to say that he will be listening with you
next week at the same hour to Mr. Robert Young
in the story called The Night Reveals.
Don't forget then, next week same time for Robert Young in...
Suspense.
Presented by Roma Wines.
R-O-M-A. Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.