In just a moment, Suspense, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Now let's stop in at Ed Jones for a moment, Billy.
Okay, Dad.
Hello, Ed.
Hello.
How's the world's greatest ignition service station tonight?
I have.
Hi, Billy.
Hi.
I'm busy on a couple of cranky ignition jobs.
Hey, how's the car running?
Never better. Take a look.
Sure. Glad to.
Hey, Dad, Ed's got his radio on. Is it the auto light show?
That's it, Billy.
Suspense is my Thursday night special.
Ignition systems, spark plugs, batteries.
Ed, you've got everyone in town switching to auto light.
Billy, your dad's trying to take over the auto light announcers' chores.
Hey, Doug Fairbanks, Jr. is on Suspense tonight.
You like him, Billy?
Yes, sir. He's a self-starting, smooth-running humdinger.
Why, he's got the pep of an auto light ignition system,
a set of spark plugs, and a stateful battery combined.
Oh, here's the show.
Suspense.
Auto light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations bring you
radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
starring tonight, Mr. Douglas Fairbanks,
in a tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
Today, everybody is switching to auto light,
and tonight, auto light takes pleasure in presenting...
Anton Leder's production of Deep Into Darkness,
starring Douglas Fairbanks.
This is a story about fear, and I'm an expert on fear.
Me, Ken Matthews.
That cheap, broken-down hotel room is as good a place as any to start.
It was all I could afford.
New York, the city of bright lights,
and the city of light.
The city of light.
The city of light.
The city of light.
It was all I could afford. New York, the city of bright lights,
and me, stretched out on a squeaky bed,
watching a spot change shape on the ceiling.
It's a kind of game to keep a man from going crazy.
For seven years, I watched another spot,
changed it into a million shapes,
got to know it better than I knew myself.
That spot on the ceiling of my cell at Joliet Penitentiary.
When it was over, when they were finally ready to let me go back into the world,
the warden had something to say to me, some advice.
Matthews, you're leaving us early because of your good behavior record.
Now, if I were you, I'd stud fresh on the outside,
stay away from Chicago, go someplace new where they don't know you.
I sort of figured on doing that, warden.
Good. You'll find it easier.
I'd find it easier. I wonder how it is when it's tough.
Nobody knew me in New York. Nobody wanted to know me.
As for a job, well, did you ever wash dishes?
I washed a million.
Now, any dirty jobs nobody wants to do, I did them all.
That's how I built up my fortune.
17 dollars and 50 cents, United States currency.
That's how much I was worth this one morning when I saw a sign out in front of a construction job.
Men wanted the sign, said I, believed it. I looked up the form.
Bill, what's that compressor? Come on, Jim, keep it moving.
Looking for something, bud?
Yes, you have a sign out there. Are you hiring men?
Could be. What do you do?
Oh, just about anything. I can keep books, handle your time.
I used to be an accountant.
But if that's not what you're looking for, well, I can swing a shovel too. I just want a job.
I like that attitude. Got your discharge certificate with you?
Discharge?
Yeah, honorable discharge. You always like to give a break to egg service guys.
Oh, well, I wasn't in the service.
Oh, for it?
No, no, I sat out the war. I was in jail.
Oh, looks tough. Got a little mixed up in your account, huh?
No, it was manslaughter. I killed a man.
What about the job? I really need it.
Look, buddy, I don't want you to think this is my idea, but...
But you can't use me.
No, no, I can't. You see...
Yes, I see. Start fresh, you say?
I got my orders. See, you know how that is.
Bosses figure there's a lot of vets looking for jobs. I got to give them the first crack at things.
Well, if I was to...
It's all right. It isn't your fault. Maybe... maybe some other world.
Somehow that was the last straw. I started to hate. I hated everything and everyone.
And then I thought of my fortune, my $17.50.
And suddenly I knew there was something I wanted to buy.
What do you want to use the gun for, mister?
I don't know. I just want to have it.
Well, we're supposed to put something down there, along with your name and everything.
Oh, well, put down Target Practice. That's good enough, isn't it?
I guess so. What's the name?
Put down Smith.
Smith. Oh, it's like that, huh?
Look, mister, I don't want to get into any trouble.
I run a respectable place of business here.
You want to sell the gun, don't you?
Well, sure, but...
You want the $14, don't you?
Okay, okay, so it's Smith. And you're going to do some Target Practice.
Give me the 14 bucks and get lost, huh?
Thanks. Thanks a lot. Funny thing, I still don't know why I wanted that gun.
I swear I don't. Kill myself, rob a bank or a filling station, I haven't any idea.
I suppose I just thought that having it would make me feel better.
Only it didn't. It hung in my pocket heavy as lead.
Cold, dead, just like its owner.
I turned into a side street, 52nd, 51st. I wasn't sure.
I stopped to light a cigarette.
When a car pulled up to the curb, it was a big car with a chauffeur.
A black car, smooth and shiny.
Then I looked at the man getting out, just one look,
and wheels started spinning around in my head.
I got dizzy. The sidewalk twisted and bounced around like it was having a convulsion.
But when he spoke, the shock of hearing his voice straighten it all out.
Made it cold and clear as hard crystal.
Just a few words to that chauffeur.
Wait for me, Davis. I won't be long.
He turned and walked past me, right by me into the bank.
But he couldn't walk. He couldn't do anything.
That was Lee Burke I was staring at.
Lee Burke, the man I'd killed seven years ago.
For Suspense, Autolite is bringing you Mr. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
in Deep Into Darkness.
Autolite's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Sure looks like young Doug's got it, eh, Billy?
Boy, I'll say he has. What a chip he's got in his shoulder.
Billy, stop chipping and chirping like your mother.
Oh, by the way, Ann, that ignition system of mine score a bullseye?
She's completely on the beam.
My jobs usually are, especially when they're autolite.
Yes, sir. Money can't buy better ignition equipment for your car.
Autolite parts are made by the world's largest independent manufacturers
of automobile electrical equipment.
And autolite service stations are equipped with highly trained men
and specialized machines to give your car the best in automobile service.
That autolite ignition system sounds intelligent enough to take an IQ test, eh, Ed?
Stop pulling edge leg, Billy. I'm used to it happening.
But I'll tell you this. Autolite makes original equipment
for many of the finest cars in America.
Ignition systems, batteries, spark plugs, generators, lots more.
So it's only natural that autolite ignition is...
Well, it's a perfectly timed team with smooth, on-the-dot performance.
So when your car's electrical system needs attention,
drive in to your nearest autolite service station
or the dealer who sells your make-up car and asks for original factory parts.
RINGING
Autolite? Autolite service stations are listed in your classified telephone directory
under automotive electrical service.
And now autolite brings back to our Hollywood sound stage
Mr. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as Ken in Deep Into Darkness.
A tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
In those few moments of watching a man walk across the sidewalk into a bank,
I lived it all over again, the way it happened when I killed him
seven years ago back in Chicago.
There wasn't anything about it I couldn't remember.
Ken, darling. Do you love me, Ken?
Do I love you? Oh, no, not at all.
I just sit in that goofy nightclub night after night because the food's so good.
Oh, Ken, you're sweet.
Lila, why don't you forget that place? Give it up.
Where's it going to get a girl like you dancing in a cheap honky-tonk?
You have something better to offer, darling?
I've offered it a half a dozen times. Marry me.
I got a good job. It'll get better.
Hand me my drink, will you? Sure. Here.
What do you say?
I've told you, Ken, over and over again, I'm not getting married.
Not to you, anyway.
You're a sweet guy, sure, and I'm very fond of you,
but little Lila isn't burying herself in any house with a bunch of squalling kids.
That's for suckers. I don't think you mean that at all.
No? Well, you just watch, darling.
I'm going to wind up with a diamond so big,
it'll take a two-ton truck to deliver it to me.
I'm going to have so many mink coats, I'll use them for pajamas.
That's the way to talk, sis. You tell him.
Hello, Lee.
You're beginning to sound like you're getting good sense.
What are you doing up here with this bookkeeper, anyway?
And a good evening to you, too, Lee. Never mind.
I thought I said I didn't want you wasting your time with him.
He's all right. Get out of here, Matthews.
Wait a minute. If Lila wants me to go...
Not satisfied with my suggestions, huh?
Well, I have a good mind... Lee, stop it. Put that gun away.
Every time you have a few drinks, you start waving that gun around.
Really, Lee, you better put it down. Stop acting like a kid.
Acting like a kid, huh? I'll show you who's acting like a kid.
Give me that gun. Lee!
Come on, Lee. Give it to me. I'll break your arm.
Let go of my...
Lila, it went off.
I was only trying to take it away from him.
You killed him. Ken, you killed my brother.
I didn't mean it, I tell you. You saw what happened.
I was only trying to get the gun.
The police will find you. Get out of here.
Hurry, I tell you. Get out!
I got out all right in a hurry.
It was pouring that night and I ran down the street with a rain slapping me in the face.
I ran up a back alley into the darkness and then...
Then I stopped. I didn't want to run.
Not for the rest of my life.
I went to the nearest police station, turned myself in.
They took me back to the Burks and we found Lila sitting in a chair, glassy-eyed,
just staring down at her brother, Lee.
He... He was right where I'd left him, sprawled on the floor, face down.
Lee Burke was dead and they gave me ten years for killing him.
Only now he wasn't dead. He couldn't be.
I'd just seen him walk into a bank.
Uh... A nice car you got.
Yeah.
Must be an important man to have a car like that, eh?
Yeah, he's a big guy.
Lots of money, I suppose, eh?
Yeah, he's crawling with it. Does that make you happy?
His name... Doesn't happen to be Burke, does it?
No, Wilson. Keith Wilson. He also happens to be a stockbroker.
Anything else you want to know?
Keith Wilson?
Yeah, now beat it. The boss is coming.
The boss? Now, isn't that something?
All right, Davis. I'll go straight to the office now.
Yes, sir.
You in a hurry, Lee?
Well, there must be some mistake. My name isn't Lee.
Oh, pardon me.
But it was Lee. There wasn't any doubt about it.
And he knew me, too. I could see it in his eyes,
and in the way his face went white.
I didn't understand it. I couldn't figure out why or how,
but Lee Burke was alive.
The rest of the fortune went for a taxi ride, but it was worth it to me.
And I guess if I hadn't had enough money to follow Lee's car wherever it went,
I'd have forced the cab driver with that gun I'd bought.
But it wasn't necessary. We went out to Long Island. Way out!
And then the car swung into a place with a big half-circle drive.
Lee Burke, now Mr. Keith Wilson, was doing very well for himself.
And so was Lila.
What's the matter, Lila?
Ken.
Is it like seeing a ghost?
Ken. Ken, it's really you.
I saw a ghost just now, too, only he was very much alive.
So that's what he was so excited about.
Lee?
Yes, he came in, rushed upstairs, told me to call the airport,
get him a plane for Miami.
Did you?
Not yet.
It won't do any good.
Ken. Ken, what do you want?
Why did you come here?
I just wanted to be sure, Lila, absolutely sure.
What are you going to do?
I'd like to kill him. I ought to kill you both.
No, Ken, don't talk like that.
It wasn't me. I didn't plan it.
But it was a plan, wasn't it, Lila? Wasn't it?
Yes.
You want to tell me about it or do I have to choke it out of him?
I'll tell you.
What's the difference?
You didn't kill Lee. You didn't kill anybody.
Huh?
It was a frame-up.
Then how could I have seen him like that?
Lee was on the floor, dead.
No, that wasn't Lee.
He found the man, Ken, a stumbled bum, a drunk,
and the man looked just like him,
close enough for what Lee had figured out.
It was the crookedest scheme you ever heard.
Took out insurance with every company in town,
half a million dollars with me as beneficiary.
Was going to kill this drifter and disappear,
let me collect the money.
It was as simple as that at first.
Keep talking.
I told him it wouldn't work, Ken,
that they'd never pay off, not that much.
Not till they checked fingerprints, teaked everything,
but he had that figured too.
They wouldn't check a thing if a fall guy pleaded guilty
to a murder charge.
So that's how it was.
You were the fall guy.
I let you take me home that night, remember?
I remember.
Lee had his gun loaded with blanks.
It was an act, the whole thing.
Then when you ran, he finished the job.
He had the drunk in the bedroom dressed in his clothes.
He brought him into the living room,
killed him right in front of me.
That's who you saw when you got back.
Good Lord.
That's why I hate my brother,
why I don't care what happens to him.
Thanks, Lila.
That's going to make it easier.
Lila?
Lila, did you call the airline?
No, Lee, not yet.
But I told you not to waste any time.
You don't know what this means.
She knows what it means, Lee.
We all do.
What do you want?
Why'd you follow me here?
Look, I think you'd better get out of here.
I'd stay away from that telephone, Lee.
I'd stand still if I were you.
You'd better do as he says, Lee.
He's got a gun.
Ken, listen to me.
You can't do this, not now.
You don't want any more trouble.
Why, if the police found out...
The police?
If you told them I was going to kill you,
it wouldn't make sense, Lee,
because I've already done that, remember?
Look, Ken, I can explain the whole thing.
It was a mistake.
I'm glad you know that now.
I've made a lot of money, Ken.
I've been very lucky.
I'll split with you.
You looked like you could use some money.
Yes, I could.
Sure, that's good.
Only forget the gun, huh?
And stop acting like you want to kill me.
You wouldn't gain anything that way.
Come on, Lila, fix some drinks or something, huh?
We'll talk this over friendly-like.
Ken, you know Lila was always crazy about you.
I was always crazy about her.
Oh, Ken, I...
But let's talk about something else right now, Lee.
Let's talk about America.
You know, this is a wonderful country,
the way the laws are set up to protect a man.
Ever hear of double jeopardy, Lee?
It brings up a rather interesting fact
that you can't try a man twice for the same crime.
Seven years I spent paying for killing you,
seven years at Joliet, and you weren't even dead.
That means I've paid for something I haven't done yet.
I still have the right, Lee, to kill you once more.
Oh, Ken, stop it. You're talking crazy.
There must be something you want.
I only want to kill you, Lee,
because you deserve to be killed.
We both know that, don't we?
Only I don't think I'll kill you now, not right away.
Oh, we'll be reasonable, is that it, Ken?
Be reasonable, I say.
I'm going to stay right with you, 24 hours a day,
right up to the time you deal.
I know exactly when and how I'm going to kill you.
And you won't know.
You'll never know, Lee, until it happens.
You'll just wait. Just sit and wait and wait.
I never left the Berks mansion, never let them leave.
I was with Lee from the time he got up until he went to bed.
I stayed with him every waking hour,
and I never stopped twisting his life like a piece of putty.
Putting fear in his mind until, well,
until there didn't seem to be anything else left there at all.
Just a trembling, driving fear in everything he did,
everything he said.
Lila, Lila, can't we do something?
Get to somebody.
Oh, Lee, what can I do?
You could have said something to the servants.
You had a chance before he sent them away.
I didn't. It all happened too fast.
Got rid of them as easily as he cut the telephone wires.
We've got to do something.
Get in touch with somebody.
With, with Madeleine, maybe.
Oh, yes? What will your blue-blood fiancé think of you now
when you suddenly stop calling two days before your wedding
and then don't show up?
The wedding? Oh, Lila, don't you see?
If anything should happen to the wedding now, I'd be ruined.
Oh, he can't get away with this.
He'll let down some time. He's got to sleep.
So do we. Lila's right, Lee.
Ken, you were there by the door.
You heard about your wedding? Yes, Lee.
I got back just in time tonight.
Can I pour you a Manhattan?
Oh, no, no, I don't want any. Your funeral...
Oh, don't, don't say that.
You're falling apart much faster than I thought, Lee.
It wasn't taking long at all.
Lee couldn't sit still for a minute, couldn't take his eyes off me.
Of course, little things like this didn't exactly help.
Who, who, who is it?
Ken? Yes, Lee, it's Ken.
Got the gun?
I have the gun, Lee.
Oh, this... this is the time, huh?
No, Lee, no, I don't think so.
Here, drink this.
What is it? Milk, warm milk.
It'll put you to sleep.
For good, you mean? No, no, no, just until morning.
You see, I wouldn't think of killing a man on his wedding day.
Huh?
Don't tell me you've forgotten your wedding to the blue-blooded Miss Dehaven.
You've come a long way, Lee, marrying into the social register.
Oh, don't, Ken. Come on, drink up.
You'll need your strength for the wedding.
No, no, that's all off. I haven't even called her, Ken.
Lila has. I made her call.
She made some very pretty excuses for you, and the wedding will go on as scheduled.
What... what are you going to do?
Nothing, only behave yourself tomorrow.
Do as you're told, and you might live through the ceremony.
Will thou, Keith, take this woman to thy wedded wife,
to live together after God's ordinance in the holy state of matrimony?
Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health,
and forsaking all others, keep thee unto her so long as ye both shall live?
Say no, Jen, say no.
I will not.
I will not.
I will not.
I will not.
I will not.
Uh-uh, say no, Ned.
Indeed I will.
I will not.
Much, much, quietly.
Watching revolving things.
ominous incantations.
Dolphin at the arrive.
An Spielberg from
I wasn't sure how much it mattered.
That depended on Lila.
When I was sure Lee was asleep that night,
I met her in the living room.
Got right to the point.
Something on your mind, Ken?
Yes.
Mousy.
Who's Mousy?
Ken, you look so tired, so thin.
Tell me, Lila.
Tell me about Mousy.
What do you know about him?
Lee's been talking about him in his sleep,
talking about Mousy and you, Lila, and me.
You'd better tell me all about it.
Ken, you're hurting my arm.
I don't know anything about Mousy.
Maybe he was there at the wedding.
Maybe you saw him.
Maybe you gave him the message.
Did you, Lila?
Ken, stop it.
You know I promised I wouldn't do anything like that.
Don't you trust me?
Trust you?
Should I, Lila?
Do you really think I should?
But you know how I feel about you.
Surely you don't think...
Oh, Ken.
Ken, darling.
Get away from me.
Ken!
So that's it.
It was all just a gag to keep the little girl in line.
How did you expect me to feel after all this happened?
That's right.
I was naive, wasn't I?
Sure.
OK.
Well, I won't be naive anymore.
You can bet on that.
Lila.
Good night, Ken, darling.
When I cooled off, I realized I'd gone too far.
She wouldn't be on my side anymore,
unless I could talk to her again and make it all
seem like a mistake, a joke, maybe.
Yeah, that'd be the thing.
But when I went to find her, she wasn't around.
I didn't see her again till next morning.
Every morning, I went out to the gate for the paper.
But this time, I waited for Lila to get up and come down.
So I could talk to her before Lee came in,
try to fix things.
And standing there in the hallway, I fixed things all right.
Fixed them good.
Lila.
Yes?
I want you to know that, well, that I'm
sorry about last night.
It's all right.
No, it isn't.
No, I didn't mean what I said at all.
I guess I'd built up so much hate that, well, I was upset.
I was blind to how you feel about me,
how I really feel about you.
Ken, you're asking me to be naive again.
Yes, I guess I am.
I like you that way.
I looked for you last night to tell you you weren't around.
Where'd you go?
I, oh, Ken.
It's all right.
I don't care where you went.
Anyway, now you know how I really feel.
Ken, you don't know what you're saying.
Yes, I do, Lila.
I've been thinking.
That's the way it ought to be.
We've been a couple of lost souls,
but maybe by forgetting the past, trying
to find some peace of mind.
Ken.
Think about it, will you, Lila?
I went out then, out the door and down the driveway,
left her standing there staring after me.
Suddenly, as I was almost to the gate,
I heard her coming, running fast.
Ken.
No, Ken, come back.
And then I saw it, a car that had been parked down the road.
It was moving now, gathering speed,
coming right past the gate.
Ken.
Ken, look out.
And then she was there.
She threw herself right in front of me.
Ah!
Oh!
I heard the shouts.
I felt her thrown heavily against me,
and then I heard the sound of a gunshot.
Thrown heavily against me, and then, and then
her body went limp in my arms.
I held her close for a second, and then I lowered her
to the ground.
I walked back up the drive, alone.
Lee was out in front of the house,
sitting on a bench in front of a big tree.
He'd heard the shots, I'm sure, but he was just
sitting there, probably waiting for Lila to come back
and say that, that Mousie had taken care of me.
He turned and looked up as I walked toward him.
Lila?
Oh, no.
His eyes seemed to look right through me somehow.
He was that full of fear, I guess.
His fingers gripped the tree in back of him,
dug deep into the bark.
He was waiting for me to kill him.
Lila's dead, Lee.
Your gunman got her instead of me.
Lila?
Lila?
I'm sorry, because there was something I didn't have time
to tell her.
I never intended to kill you, Lee.
I was just showing you how seven years looked crowded
into a few days.
Seven years?
Yeah, that's right.
I guess you know now.
I guess you know why and what you did.
Lee.
Lee, this is Ken.
I'm talking to you.
Ken?
Ken?
Ha.
Ha ha ha.
Ha ha ha.
I don't know any Ken.
And he didn't.
He didn't even know himself.
The way his eyes looked, I don't think he ever will again.
They weren't Lee Burke's eyes anymore.
They belonged to someone else.
Funny.
The man who tried to be somebody else had finally made it.
And it was not good to look upon.
Thank you, Douglas Fairbanks, for an outstanding performance
on Suspense.
Talk about performance, Dad.
Auto light ignition is good, but what about Doug Fairbanks?
He's really got it, Billy.
Well, let's get going.
Your mother and I.
Mom will be as full of suspensions.
Your auto light ignition system is full of pip, purr, power,
and pistol point performance.
That boy knows his auto light peas,
and he doesn't miss any cues, eh, Hap?
Yes, an auto light is your cue to real motoring enjoyment.
So remember, wherever you go,
auto light means spark plugs, ignition engineered spark plugs.
Auto light means batteries, stay full batteries.
Auto light means ignition system, the lifeline of your car.
And now here again is Mr. Douglas Fairbanks.
I've enjoyed this appearance on Suspense very much.
And I've noted with great interest as a Suspense fan that Agnes
Moorhead will return to the sound stage next week,
the scene of her splendid performances of the past.
As one of the many who applauded her portrayal in the Suspense
classic Sorry, Wrong Number, I'll be listening with anticipation
next week for Agnes Moorhead in The Yellow Wallpaper,
a powerful study in...
Suspense.
Douglas Fairbanks may soon be seen in his own production,
The O'Flynn.
Tonight's Suspense play was written by Edward James
with music composed by Lucian Morawick and conducted by
Ludd Luskin.
The entire production was under the direction of Anton M.
Leader. Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Ms.
Agnes Moorhead in The Yellow Wallpaper.
This is the Auto Light Suspense Show signing off.
Good night.
Switch to Auto Light.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.