In just a moment, suspense with Ann Southern.
Dilly, turn that radio down. How can we play bridge?
Okay, Ma.
I like the auto light show, but not too loud. Whose deal is it, May?
Mine, Mary. My husband Ed always listens, too. When he's home on Thursdays, our house
sounds just like his service station.
I know what you mean.
Tonight's probably spark plug night. You'd think the announcer with his commercials would
be enough, but no. It's switched to auto light resistor.
Spark plug. I know. Batteries and ignition systems.
Well, Dara, what are you dreaming about?
Oh, auto light? You mean the show with Ann Southern? Oh, Mary, tell Billy to turn up
the radio again. I wouldn't miss the suspense for a...
Billy, will you turn the radio up? Your Aunt Dara went...
Yes, ma'am.
Suspense. Auto light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations bring you Radio's outstanding
theater of thrills, starring tonight, Miss Ann Southern, in Anton Leder's production
of The Quiet Man, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
What do you have?
Vermin and soda with a twist of lemon.
Okay, coming right up. Say, your name Margie?
Yeah. How'd you know?
You generally come in here with a heavy set guy, black wavy hair, wears a big diamond?
Yeah.
Yeah, he was in a while ago. Said to tell you he'd be late, but for you to be sure and
wait for him.
But I can't wait. I gotta get home to my... I gotta get home. How late do you say he'd
be?
Oh, pardon now.
Oh, for crying out loud. Okay, give me some nickels.
Here.
Here you are.
Thanks.
Hello? Mr. Banning, please. Yeah, Mr. Arthur Banning.
Arthur? Margie. I'm gonna be late for supper. Yeah, I ran into a girl I used to know at
Lincoln High. She wants me to have a drink with her. Yeah. And say, will you pick up
some hamburger on the way home and start the potatoes? I'll be there as quick as I can.
Bye.
Here's your drink.
Well, here's mud in your eye.
Um, there's a young fellow down at the end of the bar wants to buy you one.
No, thanks.
Well, it looks like a nice guy.
That tall blonde fellow over by the mirror?
Another. And you got a whole lot to kill.
Is he... he isn't drunk, is he?
Nah, he's had a few, but he always carries it good. It might help pass the time.
Say, what's it to you, anyway?
Five bucks. I'd sure appreciate it.
He offered you five bucks to get me to have a drink with him?
He is kind of good-looking. Well, okay. Sure, what the heck, I'll have a drink with him.
Okay, so you're married. Nothing wrong with having a drink together. So what? I figure
what your old man don't know won't hurt him.
I said I'd have a drink with you. If you've got any other ideas, I'll buy my own.
Oh, now, don't get me wrong, honey. I spotted you as a good kid the minute you ankle in
here. You just like excitement, that's all. And I'm the guy that can dish it out.
Yeah. Yeah. You see, I'm a private eye. Yeah, no kidding,
like you hear about on the radio. Gee, what a break for me.
You just stick around me, honey, and you'll get plenty of excitement.
Yeah, I'll bet. You know, you take this new client of mine
now, bet you anything he makes the headlines tomorrow. Ten to one, he'll murder his wife.
Oh, yes, sure. He hired me to find out if his wife's been
stepping out. I felt kind of sorry for the guy. He probably doesn't have the money to
take her out himself. He's a bank teller at Second National.
Bank teller? Bank teller? My... What's his name?
Honey, no, no, that stuff's confidential. Matter of fact, I'm not supposed to talk about
cases at all. Oh, go on. I won't tell anybody.
Well, you don't look like the kind of babe that blabs everything she knows. How about
that drink? Sure.
Hey, Charlie, two over here. In the works. You know, he sort of gave me the creeps. This
guy sat there eating his lunch calm as you please and all the time figuring how to kill
his wife. How'd you know what he was figuring?
Well, for one thing, he didn't want evidence for a divorce. He sort of looked at me funny
and said, I just want to know, that's all. If Margie is stepping out, I'll take care
of it my own way. Margie?
Yeah, yeah, that's his wife's name, Margie. Hey, what's the matter?
Nothing. Nothing at all. Hey, you don't look so good. Maybe you drank the last one too
fast. No, no, I'm fine. I'm just naturally pale, that's all. You were saying about this
client you figure he's going to murder his wife?
Oh, sure, sure. It's in her back. Either that or suicide.
Suicide? But he's more the type for murder.
Oh, one of those big, brutal guys. Sort of mean looking, huh?
Quiet, Marcie. Kind doesn't have much to say. Those are the guys you got to watch.
But why? Because they never let you know what they're
really thinking. Not until it's too late. They don't?
You know, most guys, when they find their wives stepping, they'll raise cane. Maybe
they'll even get a divorce. But they don't get sore enough to murder.
Yeah. But these quiet fellas, you know, they put
the little woman on a pedestal. You wouldn't catch them out with other women, not in a
million years. And when they discover they're one and only has been kicking up her heels.
The whole brother, watch out. The worst of it is they go on acting like
nothing's wrong, you see. And all of a sudden, wanko. They explode.
They explode? Yeah. You know, like I always say, beware the
quiet man. Like this new client of mine, for example. Calm. You never met anybody calmer.
But I'll bet. What does he look like?
Oh, well, just about average, I guess. Brown hair, getting sort of thin on the top.
A little bit stoop-shouldered. Medium height? Wear glasses?
Yeah. Yeah, you know him? No. No, I don't know any of the boys.
Excuse me. Hey, where you going?
I gotta make a phone call. Just remember something. Don't go away. I'll be right back.
Oh.
Jesus.
Oh.
Ralph?
Margie.
I can't see you this afternoon.
No, I'm not sorry about you being late. But whatever you do, don't come into Charlie's
place. Yeah, that's where I am now. You bet there's something wrong. There's plenty wrong.
Either this guy I'm talking to is crazy, or else Arthur's planning to murder me.
For suspense, Auto Light is bringing you Miss Anne Southern in Radio's outstanding
theater of thrills, Suspense.
Well, Dora, we're down 200 on that hand.
Oh, are we? It's easy to see there's no playing bridge with you girls with Suspense on.
So let's stop playing and switch to Auto Light spark plugs or whatever for the rest of the
half hour, huh? Oh, Mary, I could kiss you. You're such an understanding sister-in-law.
And I don't want to miss a single word. What about you, May?
Dora, did you know that my husband knows Frank Martin, the Auto Light salesman?
He does? Well, then let's listen to Mr. Martin.
Right now you can get Auto Light resistor spark plugs almost anywhere in the United States.
They're sensational. Why, no other spark plug will give and maintain such performance.
Auto Light worked with leading car and truck manufacturers, and they ignition engineered
a 10,000 ohm resistor right into the Auto Light spark plug that permits a wider spark gap
setting and maintains it far longer than another spark plugs.
Actually, when you replace your narrow gap spark plugs with a set of wide gap Auto Light
resistor spark plugs, you can tell the difference in your car.
Oh dear. And I think that I'll hear every word of that again from Ed when I get home.
Now here's the simple low down. As a result of the wide gap in the resistor spark plugs,
you can change an idle smoother, you have better luck with lean gas mixtures and save gas.
And within established limits, you reduce spark plug interference with radio and television reception.
Yes, and today you can get the resistor spark plug from almost any of Auto Light's 60,000 dealers.
That's the biggest spark plug news in years.
And now Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage, Miss Anne Southern as Margie,
in Beware the Quiet Man, a tale well calculated to keep you in.
Suspend.
I stood there in the phone booth a minute after I hung up. I wasn't scared exactly,
but I had to let those words sink in. Either this guy I'm talking to is crazy,
or else Arthur's planning to murder me. I went back to the bar. I had to find out.
Oh, beautiful. I thought you got a lot. Sit down, sit down.
Thanks. Now about this fella, the one who's going to murder his wife.
Oh, let's scan the shop, Tuck. I want to hear about you. I don't even know your name.
Did he say what made him think she was stepping out?
Ah, she's supposed to belong to some bridge club the bank tell his wife's got up.
But friends of his saw her downtown a couple of times on our bridge days.
Is that all?
You know, honey, you're pretty smart. You make like you're really interested in that guy's work.
Oh, but I am.
You know, I had a little doll once I thought plenty. I would have married her maybe,
but only every time I started talking about her case, she shut me up.
Never mind about your little dolls. What about this guy?
Hey, you're jealous. What do you know?
I'm not jealous. I only want to know.
It's okay, honey. It's okay. Sure, a cute little doll like you
doesn't want to hear a guy spouting off about another dame.
Yeah, maybe I had a few too many.
I just want to hear about this bank teller. Have you met his wife maybe?
No, but he showed me a picture of her.
Oh, then you know what she looks like.
Hey, what's so funny?
Never mind the jokes on me.
Maybe you better not have many more to drink. You're acting kind of screwy.
Oh, I feel wonderful. Well, here's to you.
A long life. A long, long life.
Yeah, down the hatch.
Yeah, poor little Margie.
You know, you showed me a snapshot of her in her bathing suit.
Oh, boy, was she stacked.
As a matter of fact, about your height and build,
you're blonde like you too.
Was she as pretty as I am?
I couldn't see her face. It's kind of blurred.
He's bringing me a better picture of her tomorrow.
Oh, I think I'd like another drink.
You know, honey, you better start taking vitamins or something.
You're pale as a sheet.
I said I wanted another drink.
Oh, sure. Hey, Charlie, two more the same, huh?
Yeah, poor little Margie.
You know, that's one thing I could never figure out.
The cute little dolls with flirtatious eyes
always pick some homely, quiet gink when it comes to settling down.
And the handsome he-man who has to beat off the James with a club,
what does he do?
He marries a drab little pigeon.
Yeah, that's why we get so many axe murders, I guess.
Axe murders?
Only in this case he'll use a gun.
But he doesn't have a...
I mean, most bank clerks don't own guns.
Oh, well, this one does. Now.
Give me a light, will you?
Yeah, sure.
There you are.
Hey, maybe if you lay off for booze, honey,
take a tonic or something, you'll feel better.
Look at your hands, they're trembling.
How do you know he has a gun?
Oh. Oh, I get it.
Why don't you tell me?
Tell you what?
You got a squeamish stomach.
All this talk about guns and shooting.
No, honey, I'm sorry.
I won't say one more word about it, I promise.
I'm not squeamish and I don't need vitamins.
I want to know how you know this bank teller guy has a gun.
All right, so I'm going to a pawn shop and buy one.
You know, honey, I could really go for you.
It's a funny thing we never even introduced ourselves.
That's something we got to do.
My name's Clusen, Lem Clusen.
What's yours?
You mean that man bought a gun and now he's home
waiting to murder his wife in cold blood?
Oh, no, no.
He won't do anything until he gets my report.
Oh.
You see, tomorrow I check with her friends to see
if she's been going to Bridge Club like she's supposed to.
Yeah.
And I meet my client for lunch and get a picture of him,
aren't you?
Mm-hmm.
And I take it around to the downtown bars
to find out if she's been seen with anybody.
And then I give my client the report when he gets off work.
Yeah.
And then?
And if his suspicions are right, and they usually are,
it's all over but the shooting.
The shooting?
Yeah.
Bang, bang, honey.
That's all.
Bang, bang.
Say, what'd you say your name was?
I've got to get home.
Hello, dear.
Hello, Arthur.
I was beginning to worry about you.
Well, I really couldn't help being late for dinner.
I wanted to leave, but May Belle, that's her name,
you know the girl I used to go to school with,
she kept talking yatcha to yatcha,
and I just couldn't walk out on her in the middle of a sentence.
That's all right.
I didn't mind.
Say, the potatoes are all ready, like you told me.
Shall I...
No, no, I'll hurry dinner.
You just sit down and read the paper.
Well, why, thank you, dear.
You all right?
You look a little flushed.
Oh, I'm fine.
I was just rushing, that's all.
Be ready in a minute.
Did you have a hard day, darling?
Oh, usual.
People are taking out more money these days than they're putting in.
Yeah, prices are awful, aren't they?
Hmm.
Nothing unusual?
I mean, nothing happened today?
Oh, a funny thing.
The man came rushing in this morning,
first thing the doors were opened,
wanted to withdraw all the money from their joint account
before his wife beat him to it.
Seems she was leaving him for another man.
Oh, how awful.
Oh, yeah.
While he was there, she appeared.
You should have heard her carry on.
Ha!
She was a real shrew.
Well, what happened?
Oh, nothing.
He didn't say a word.
He was a gentleman.
But I'll bet if he'd had a gun, he'd have killed her.
Oh, well.
Seems things like that happen all the time.
Newspapers full of it.
Are you mad at me, Arthur?
Hmm?
Are you mad at me?
Am I mad at you?
Oh, I know.
Should I be?
Arthur, darling, I've got something to confess.
Well, fire away.
I didn't go to Bridge Club last week.
No?
I thought you'd die before you gave up Bridge.
Oh.
Really, honey, you look awfully seedy.
No, I'm fine.
I feel fine.
I had sort of a quarrel with Lorraine.
I didn't want to tell you because you're always talking about
how women can't get along with each other.
Instead of going to Bridge Club, I went shopping.
Instead.
Fine.
Only I hope you didn't go over the budget.
Oh, no.
That's good.
I always said Bridge was a waste of time.
Then you're not angry about anything?
Why, no.
Why should I be?
Oh, Arthur.
What's the matter now?
I don't deserve a swell husband like you.
Oh, I'm not so hot.
You always do the dinner dishes
and bring me my breakfast in bed on Sunday mornings.
The only morning you have to sleep.
Arthur, I'd feel terrible if anything ever happened to us.
What's going to happen?
Suppose some day you got real mad and exploded.
Exploded?
Yeah.
What if you got a gun and shot me dead?
Oh, for heaven's sakes, Margie, where do you get those crazy ideas?
You mean no matter how mad you got,
no matter what I did to make you mad, you wouldn't shoot me dead?
Margie, you know I'd rather die than hurt one hair on your head.
Oh, Arthur, not suicide.
Say, how many drinks did you and Maybel have?
Arthur, I want you to know I'm going to change.
I'm going to be a better wife from now on.
I'll stay home all the time and darn your socks.
You?
Darn your socks?
You just wait and see.
I'll get up every morning and make you breakfast.
Oh, Margie, you know you won't do any of those things.
I will, too.
Nonsense. Women like you never change.
I will, too. I'll change right away. Tomorrow.
Besides, I don't want you to.
Oh, come here, baby.
I want you to stay just exactly the way you are right now.
Just exactly, Arthur?
I love you very much. Just the way you are.
Oh, Arthur.
That reminds me, I made an appointment for you tomorrow at 10.
You're having your picture taken.
My picture?
I shot a photo of that old snapshot of you today.
The one we took at the beach.
It was so dog-eared he couldn't see what you looked like,
and I realized we didn't have a single decent picture of you at all, so...
But why have it taken tomorrow?
Well, the studio next to the bank is having a special advertising the new 60-minute service.
60-minute service?
Yeah. That way I can pick up the finished picture before I go to lunch.
I don't want my picture taken.
Well, now you're being silly.
I won't. I won't do it.
Oh, honey, what's the matter?
Don't touch me. I won't have my picture taken. I won't.
Good night.
Sort of gave me the creeps, this guy.
Sat there eating his lunch, calm as you please.
All the time figuring how to kill his wife.
Quiet, Marcy.
That's the kind you gotta watch.
Never let you know what they're really thinking.
All of a sudden, wangle, they explode.
Bang, bang, that's all.
Bang, bang.
Oh, no. There must be some mistake.
Arthur wouldn't hurt me. He wouldn't.
I won't think about it.
I'll take a sleeping powder and go to bed.
The gun. He did buy a gun.
It's all true.
Every word of it's true.
Hello? Ralph.
I told you never to call me here.
No, no, it isn't all right.
Arthur bought a gun hole.
Arthur bought a gun home last night.
Yes, a gun.
He claimed he was keeping it for a friend.
That's all he'd say.
Here, I think so.
Just a minute, I'll look.
Ralph, the gun's gone.
He must have taken it to work.
Oh, well, don't you see?
As soon as he finds out for sure, he'll kill...
No, no, no, no, no.
I never want to hear from you again.
I've got to think. I've got to think.
Oh, not the doorbell.
Oh, Lorraine.
Well, who'd you expect, darling?
Frankenstein.
Aren't you going to invite me in?
I was just going out.
Don't be silly. You're not dressed.
I'm in a hurry, Lorraine.
So am I. I'm late at the beauty shop now.
But I was driving past anyway, so I thought I'd drop in
and give you the latest on the girls at the bridge club.
Well, some other day.
Honestly, Margie, this is choice.
You know what I heard about Mrs. Dentler?
You know she's the wife of Ben Dentler,
the new teller at the bank, the one from Chicago.
Lorraine, if you don't mind...
Oh, that's right. You haven't met her.
Of course, you haven't been around lately.
Well, she's kind of a pretty little thing
in a plucked eyebrow sort of way.
But you should hear what her husband told my husband.
Lorraine, I...
Of course, I promised Ed I wouldn't breathe a word.
You're trying out loud, Lorraine.
Well, what brought that on?
I haven't time to stand and gossip.
What's wrong with you today anyway? You're as nervous as a cat.
I'm all right, perfectly all right, but here it is, 10.30.
10.30? Good heavens, I'm a half-hour late.
Well, good-bye.
I've got to run.
Oh, darling, be sure and read the Gazette tomorrow.
They're running a story about our bridge benefits.
Okay, good-bye.
Pictures and everything.
They didn't have time to take a new picture,
but I gave them one we took at the Valentine party.
The one I was in? They're publishing it?
Why, sure.
And it won my picture in the paper.
But yours was the only flattering one in the group.
The reporter picked you out right away.
He seemed quite smitten.
He?
Oh, yes, yes, he asked all about you.
Of course, I told him that you didn't come to meetings very often.
The Gazette doesn't use men reporters for society.
Well, they do now, dear.
He didn't sound much like a reporter, though.
He kept calling me, honey.
Tall, blonde, fast talker?
Well, yes.
And you gave him my picture?
Well, of course.
What was his name?
Oh, well, that's the funny name.
I think it was Clusen, Lem Clusen.
But, Charlie, it's a matter of life and death.
I've got to get a hold of Lem before noon.
Well, like I said, he ain't been in.
You sure he never told you where he works?
No, he's come short for some private detective outfit.
Oh, give me some nickels, lots of nickels.
I got some telephoning to do.
At me, detective agency.
You have a man named Clusen working for you.
Lem Clusen?
No.
Thanks.
Brandon agency, I want Mr. Clusen, Lem Clusen.
Oh, yeah, I guess I have the wrong number.
Hawkshawks, detectives, I'm looking for a man named Lem Clusen.
No, I don't want to hire you to find him.
But you're the last one in the book he's got.
Okay, sorry.
No luck?
No.
I just remembered, Lem said the guy he worked for just opened up in town.
Probably ain't no phone book yet.
Go on, kid, get out of here.
Ah, that fresh kid, just because I won't let him in here peddling his papers, he yells in the door.
Did he say banks to you, son?
He yells in here every darn day.
Hey, wait, wait, hey, you didn't finish your drink, huh?
Newsy, Newsy.
Oh, I told him.
Hey, boy, hey, newspaper, boy.
Give me a, boy, boy.
Hey, you, boy.
Paper, lady?
Did you say suicide?
Right in the second national bank.
You want a paper?
Yeah, here.
Guy's wife steps out with another joke.
So the poor dope says goodbye, Margie, and pulls the trigger.
Here you are, lady.
Bank suicide.
Read all about it.
Well, well, if it isn't Margie.
Get away from me, Lem Clusen.
Heard you were looking for me.
Well, here I am.
Boy, have I got a lot to tell you.
Let me alone.
I want to read.
Oh, that write-up's no good.
Here, give it here.
There, that's better.
Now, come on into Charlie's, and I'll give you the inside.
Give me back my paper, you murderer.
Murderer?
Hey, wait a minute.
Oh, I get it.
You figure he bumped himself off on account of my report.
That's a screwy part.
He didn't even wait for the report.
I got it right here in my pocket.
Take your hand off my arm.
Oh, look, honey, now, come on.
You're coming into Charlie's if I have to drag you.
Why don't you leave me alone?
I figured you'd be so.
Nice popping off the way I did in Charlie's yesterday.
But how did I know who you were?
Here we are.
Hey, Charlie, two bourbon highs, double.
I don't want a drink.
Should have seen my face this morning when that screwy friend of yours gave me the picture of your bridge club.
Oh, never mind.
And there you were, as real as life and just as cute.
I says to myself, why, you dumb ox, you got that little doll worried sick.
And then when I read in the paper about my client giving your husband the gun to keep for fear he'll use it on himself, I think, holy cow.
What did you say?
And then I think I bet she figures I planned the whole thing just to scare her.
What do you mean?
Oh, now, don't try to kid me, Margie.
You know you figured that client of mine was your husband, that he was going to bump you off.
You mean he wasn't?
No, no, your name's Banning, isn't it?
Yeah.
But my client's name was Dendler, Benjamin Dendler.
Funny thing, his wife being named Margie, too.
Yeah, I never thought he'd do it anyway.
Oh, I think I'd like that drink after all.
Well, here's to us, honey.
So that's the gossip Lorraine was trying to tell me.
Dendler, the teller from Chicago.
You know, I've been thinking a lot about you, Margie.
And Arthur really was keeping the gun for a friend of his.
I'll tell you what, honey, I know a quiet little spot across town where we can eat, dance, anything we want.
You might have told me about Dendler.
It's a cute little place, baby. They've got a knocked-out band and what a floor show.
I wonder why Arthur wouldn't talk to me about it.
Well, what do you say?
Say? To what?
Well, you and me, honey, our date.
Oh, you're asking me to step out with you?
Well, why not?
How about my husband?
Oh, that mousy little guy. We got nothing to worry about from him.
But I thought you always said, beware the quiet man.
You never know what they're really thinking.
But, listen...
No buts.
If you'll pardon me, Mr. Lemclouson, I'm going home and start his supper.
Thank you, Anne Southern, for a splendid performance.
Miss Southern will be back in just a moment.
Dora, I apologize. That show was better than a sixth No Trump had.
Why, Mary, first thing you know, you'll be in Ed's class,
quacking about auto-light resistor spark plugs like Donald Duck.
Deal me a great big hand, Mary, and watch me get back that 200 we went down.
You know, I must get me a set of those spark plugs.
Why not? Ask Ed tomorrow to put a set of those auto-light resistor spark plugs in your car.
Oh, well, then, May, will you tell Ed I'll be over tomorrow?
I certainly will.
My old car is going to get auto-light resistor spark plugs, too.
Yes, switching to auto-light is safe, sane, sound, sober judgment,
and a sure way to spark plug satisfaction.
That's why everybody's switching to auto-light.
Auto-light means resistor spark plugs.
Ignition engineered spark plugs.
Auto-light means batteries.
Stay full, batteries.
Auto-light means ignition systems.
The lifeline of your car.
And now here again is Miss Anne Southern.
I've enjoyed this appearance on Suspense very much.
And as a regular Suspense listener, I'm looking forward to next week
when Martha Scott stars in Crisis, a powerful study in...
Suspense.
Anne Southern appears by courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios,
producers of Julia Misbehaves, starring Walter Pigeon and Greer Garson.
Tonight, Suspense play was written by Toby Hall,
with music composed by Lucian Morawick and conducted by Lud Bluscombe.
The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Lieder.
Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Martha Scott in Crisis.
This is the auto-light Suspense show calling the people of the USA.
Here's your potty, sir.
Thank you. This is Care, Incorporated.
It's been nine years now, nine years, since Europe's people have been able to live decently,
buy clothes to wear, get enough to eat.
That's a long time. It's far too long.
Our government is doing something about it.
Its long-range program will help restore economic prosperity.
But there won't be any immediate direct help for the people who are hungry today.
They can look only to us, to you and me.
We can send help through Care.
The 40,000 calories of food, good food, in a Care package goes a long way.
Because Care is non-profit, government approved,
it will deliver your package in Europe for just $10.
$10 sent to Care will supplement rations of a family of four Europeans for a month.
Won't you help? Remember the name and address, Care, C-A-R-E, New York.
Good night. Switch to auto-light.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.