In just a moment, Suspense with Burt Lancaster.
You just sit down and make yourself at home, Doc.
Mary! Yes?
Look who's here, Doc Lewis.
Oh my goodness, who's sick?
Oh golly, can't a poor doctor make a simple social visit like ordinary folks?
I just finished my last call, so I stopped by to steal Hap's easy chair, relax and listen to the auto light suspense show.
Well, sit right down.
My car and I have had a tough day. We have to keep in shape too, you know.
I suppose you've got a sure fire prescription for keeping your car in shape, Doc.
Oh, you bet. Auto light resistor spark plugs, auto light batteries and auto light ignition systems.
I wish every case was as easy as that one.
Well, you sound like Frank Martin. Is your prescription for tired doctors the auto light suspense show?
Oh, yes, again. Let's listen.
Suspense.
Auto light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations bring you Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills.
Starring tonight, Mr. Bert Lancaster in Anton Leder's production of The Big Shot by Brett Halliday.
A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
You've got to be tough to be a big shot, especially when you're cursed with yellow curly hair and a pretty baby face.
I learned about that early when I was a kid and the other kids started razzing.
I learned that if you bounced a brick off somebody's head, the razzing stopped and you were somebody.
It was a very profitable lesson, which paid off as I grew up.
And I found it pays dividends whether you're on East 10th Street or down in Mexico.
Martin, Charlie Martin. Yeah, yeah.
Well, welcome to Mexico. Well, thanks. You're Quinn, I suppose.
Right. Glad to meet you. Same here.
Well, it's lucky you were the only American on the bus or I'd never have recognized you.
No? No. Collins wrote he was sending a young fellow out just from engineering school, but I didn't expect that.
Listen, Quinn, never mind my looks. You asked for a mining engineer and you got one. Any complaints?
Well, of course. Well, if there are, you can pay me off my guarantee and I'll get back on that bus.
Now, wait a minute, Martin. I didn't mean to offend you. I got no complaints as long as you can do the job.
I can do the job. Yes, I guess maybe you can.
Now, how about a drink? Sure. Right over here at the corner.
In Mexico, there's always a bottle of tequila not too far away. That's one thing makes it attractive.
Must be the only thing then. Oh, I don't know. Some of us like it down here.
Is that so? Why'd you come then?
That's easy. They told me there was money in it. Yeah. Yeah, there is.
In here.
Ah, bienvenidos, señores. Que quieren ustedes?
Dos tequilas, por favor. Dos tequilas, si.
I hope you like tequila, Martin. It's about all they have around here.
It'll do. Are all the bartenders like that? No, no, that's Lolita. Her father owns the place.
She ought to be plenty good for business. You're so.
Say, your stuff is all arrived. Last box of equipment came in last night, so you can start setting up the mill as soon as we get back.
Don't worry, I'll get it up. I'm not worried, but time is important.
Dos tequilas, señores. Si, gracias, Lolita. Yeah. Thanks, beautiful.
Be beautiful? Si, baby. That's you. From top to bottom.
Is okay, señor? Is plenty okay, baby. Plenty.
Gracias, señor. Gracias.
Maybe I'm going to like Mexico after all. Look, Martin, I don't know how much Collins told you about the setup.
Not much. Said there was a chance for some money and plus a little excitement.
He didn't tell you there might be more than excitement. Jail, maybe, or worse.
He mentioned it. Oh. Okay, then. You understand that we've got a tequilas proposition on our hands.
We've got to be careful, especially with these people. If they knew what we were planning.
Okay, what are we planning? We struck a rich vein of gold quartz in the remote mountains about 20 miles from here.
I've got my crew mining as fast as we can before anybody around here finds out about it. So?
The tough part comes in getting it out of the country. There's a wave of Mexico for Mexicans right now,
and if we haul the ore out to the regular stamping mill in town, the government will confiscate most of the gold.
I see. So you bring me in to set up a small stamping mill at the mine and mill the ore there.
Right. We figure that in the next month we can sluice out maybe a half million dollars worth of free gold,
then get out quick before anybody gets wise.
Half a million dollars? Yes, but we'll still have to smuggle it out of the country. It's going to be a tough job.
Kid stuff. Yeah, it's not just the law we've got to worry about.
Well, what else? The leader? Sure. These people would inform us if they found out,
but they wouldn't tell the government. They'd tell some bandit gang around in the hills somewhere.
Bandits. I suppose they got a Robin Hood down here, too.
Okay, Morton, maybe you'll learn. Well, at that a half a million would tempt anybody.
And a 20th of that is your share. Maybe 25,000. That's not hey.
Senor. Careful, Morton. Senor.
Senor. Quiero ustedes otra vez? No, no, gracias.
Cuanto? Un peso.
Gracias, senor. Hello, leader.
Sí, senor. You understand comprender English?
Sí, senor. I speak Inglés muy good. Oh, so I see.
Never mind, baby. A little is enough. Your old man never give you any time off?
¿Qué, senor? No comprendo.
Well, let's put it another way. Are you doing anything Saturday night?
Wait a minute, Morton. I do not make any dates.
Why not? A guy can't work all the time, especially with stuff like this around.
You don't expect me to stay up there. Be quiet, you fool.
Okay. Never mind, beautiful. See you later. Comprende?
Sí, senor. See you later.
Yeah, you get the idea.
Hasta luego.
Look, Morton, I warned you. Be careful.
I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself and her.
Just remember, there's a half a million involved.
Yeah, half a million.
Maybe, all together, for the company. 25,000 for you.
Half a million dollars. Listen, Morton.
And 25,000 for me. That's not enough for you?
It'll do for a start.
You think you're a pretty big shot, don't you, Morton?
And you don't like it, is that it?
I don't like you.
That boss is still out there.
And you could get another engineer down here in maybe six weeks.
Something tells me I ought to take you up on that, but I don't have to like you.
As long as you do your job and stay out of trouble.
Okay, then let's leave it at that.
Whatever happens, it won't be me who'll have any regrets.
The setup was just like Quinn said.
Except that the ore was even richer than I'd expected.
There was a pile of it already mined, and I put them into work right away assembling the stamping mill.
You know, hard rock miners are funny.
They hate being bossed by an engineer who's learned all his mining out of books.
And they didn't like it either that I was getting a bigger share of the net than they were.
And of course, to add that, my looks, the yellow hair, and the baby face.
I knew that sooner or later I'd have to show them that they couldn't draw any wrong conclusions from my face.
Well, it didn't take long for the showdown to come.
Come on, Hank, let's knock off. Charles is ready.
Wait a minute, Logan.
Yeah?
That sluice is not tight.
You better get down there and tighten up those bolts.
You can wait till tomorrow. Charles is ready.
I said get down there and tighten up those bolts.
Who's going to make me? A dude engineer?
Oh, yeah.
My, you measly little...
Yeah, but you're not tough enough, little man.
Leave me, will you?
Look out. Look out. You're too close to the gully.
Morton, look out.
Morton, you knocked him over the cliff. He went down on the gully.
I saw him.
Hurry up. Get down there, man. He's probably hurt bad.
Must have fallen 30 feet.
Morton, where are you going?
Somebody said supper was ready.
You didn't have to do that. You didn't have to knock him over the cliff.
Yeah, I only asked for it.
But you didn't have to fight like that, like you meant to kill him.
They wouldn't take orders, and I had to show them.
OK, Morton.
Quinn. Hey, Quinn.
Yeah?
He's dead. His neck's broke.
So, you got to show us all how tough you are, don't you, Morton?
Even if it amounts to murder.
If nobody else wants any supper, I do. I'm hungry.
For suspense, Autolite is bringing you Mr. Burt Lancaster
in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Oh, my. I wouldn't call suspense very relaxing, Dr. Lewis.
Well, suspense is certainly no sedative, Mary, but I like it that way, full of ginger.
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I guess it's pretty important that you doctors have spark plugs
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And now Autolite brings back to our Hollywood sound stage
Mr. Burt Lancaster as Charles Morton in The Big Shot.
A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
You gotta be tough. It's a tough world.
You gotta be tougher than the next guy.
I was tougher than Joe Logan, that's all.
I beat him in a fair fight.
If he slipped and fell over that cliff, well, it's just too bad.
While they buried him, I ate my supper.
After that, I had no more trouble with the men.
The first Saturday that everything was running smoothly, I went up to Quinn's tent.
Quinn!
Yeah? Oh, come in, Morton.
We're just looking over the take so far. What's your guess?
Maybe a hundred thousand?
Yes, maybe. We'll pull at least two hundred and fifty.
We'll get that half a million, don't you worry.
If nobody bothers us.
Ah, don't be so jumpy. Nobody's gonna bother us.
Ah, hope not.
Say, Morton, I gotta admit you've done a whale of a job so far.
Forget it.
Don't worry, Morton. I don't like you any better.
But I can appreciate it when a man knows his job and does it well.
Okay, okay. Look, I'm going into town. You want any supplies?
I'm sending Andy in for him.
Well, there's no use of the two of us going.
Morton, I'm the boss here.
Are you?
Yes.
You told me as long as I did the job, that was all you cared about.
That's right.
Okay, I've done the job. It'll take the crew two days to catch up.
I'm going to town.
I'll tell Andy you'll get the supplies.
Here, dear. More tequila?
Si, si, baby. Come here.
Senor charm.
Love me, baby?
Oh, here I'll see you, kid.
I have never met one like you.
Like those double, baby. Your sensation.
You'd knock them dead in the States.
I'd like to take you back there.
I'd like you to dress you up in fancy clothes with diamonds in your hair.
Diamonds? Oh, senor, you must be very rich.
Not yet, not yet. But give me time.
It's very interesting. Tell me more, querido.
Later, baby, later. Right now, let's blow this joint.
But, senor Charlie, is it not you must go back to wherever you go?
Ah, they can do without me for a while. I like it here better.
Okay?
Okay, senor.
¡Cállate del chico! ¡Cállate del chico!
¡Vaya, vaya! ¡Ándale!
Well, what was that? What did the kid say?
It's nothing, senor Charlie. It's a game they play.
Well, what'd he say? He say, ¡Veware el chico!
Oh, who's el chico?
It's nobody, senor. You must not mind.
Sounds like a Mexican goblin or something.
El chico is, they say, a bandido.
He not like Americanos. He rob, kill them.
They see me with Americanos, they say, ¡Veware el chico!
It's a game. I get it.
He's the Mexican equivalent of Superman, eh?
An imaginary Robin Hood and a sombrero.
Oh, no comprendo, senor.
Well, never mind, baby. Forget the fairy tales.
That kid ought to be home in bed anyway
instead of running around a saloon.
He's my little brother.
Oh, I get it now.
This is the family game to scare off the Americanos, eh?
No, no, senor.
Well, I don't scare easily, baby.
I don't scare at all.
Ah, bueno.
No, sorry, I...
Say.
¿Qué?
What is the matter, senor Charlie?
Nothing, baby, nothing.
I just had a great idea, that's all.
Thank your little brother for me, baby.
He's just given me a great idea.
Yeah, a great idea.
For a long time I've been thinking,
why just 25,000?
Why not the whole half a million?
There's something wonderful about those little bags of free gold, you know?
They're so negotiable.
You don't have to exchange them for anything else
before you can get the cash.
With a half a million and a liter,
life could be beautiful.
And now the plan was shaping up in my mind.
I started putting it into effect as soon as I got back to the camp.
Quinn was waiting there for me as I rode up,
and I could see he was boiling.
Where in thunder have you been?
You were due back two days ago.
Ah, I got drunk.
I didn't feel like hitting the trail this morning.
Oh, just like that.
Take it or leave it.
Well, that's it.
I don't blame a man for getting drunk.
Once.
But I'll send somebody else in for supplies next week.
I'm going in.
I got a date next Saturday night.
Listen, Morton, I told you...
You don't want to fire me now?
You got anybody else that can keep the mill going?
I haven't and you know it.
All right, then. Let's get to work.
Morton, maybe we'd better speed up a little, too.
Why?
Well, they're talking in town about this El Chico.
El Chico?
Yeah, Bandito thinks he's going to run all the Americanos out of Mexico.
He's making war on the Americans.
He's been raising cane up north.
Up north?
Yeah.
The talk in town was that he's heading down this way.
I was afraid of something like that.
You'd better tell me about it, Morton.
Tell me all about it.
It was a cinch.
From the very first he swallowed it all.
By the next Saturday, he was begging me to go back to town.
Keep my ears open. Find out all I could.
Of course, I heard plenty.
Then Quinn was hurrying the men, trying to figure out a way we could get out.
But the way I told him, El Chico had complete control of the province of the north
and blocked our way back to the states.
The only other way was across the mountains to the west,
and they were impassable without native guides.
Now, he knew that, but I reminded him.
And then the next time I went into town, I brought back the map.
A greasy, crumpled, dog-eared pencil map, scrawled on butcher paper.
It was a masterpiece. It should have been.
It took me a whole night to draw it.
And it showed an old wagon road going out over the mountains to the coast.
I told Quinn I bought it from an old Mexican.
It was the prelude for my trump card.
Okay. Map looks genuine, all right.
And if it is, that road can't be more than 10 miles due west of here.
I figure less than that. Straight over there in that low pass.
My golly, I think you're right.
Sure. All we gotta do is to get across this one. This one canyon right here.
And how do you figure we'd do that? With wings? It's 300 feet deep and 100 wide.
No, it's easy.
Yeah? That tequila you've been swilling in town's got you goofy.
I wanna throw a bridge across.
I love the way you say that. Like, why not have another flapjack for breakfast?
Look, I'm an engineer, remember? I'll put a bridge across there in three days.
Morton, you do that and I'll take back everything I ever said about you.
The next morning I tied a 200-foot-length rope around my waist.
Took a pulley with me and started down to the bottom.
It took me all day to make it up to the other side.
I tied the pulley to a jack pine and pulled the rope through tight and tied it off.
And then I came back hand over hand.
After that it was simple to finish the slickest suspension bridge you ever laid eyes on.
Plenty strong enough to hold all our men and mules fully loaded.
It was so good that even Quinn had the grace to admit it.
I gotta hand it to you, Morton.
I've seen a lot of engineers that can work things out on paper, but not many that can do the job themselves.
Thanks.
What do you say we take a look over there tomorrow for that road?
No need to. I'll take a little walk the day I ran the cable across.
The road's there, all right. Just where the map shows it.
Oh. All right, if you found it, I guess that takes care of that.
Sure. We're all set.
Thanks to you.
I guess I owe you an apology, Morton.
Maybe we all owe our lives to you.
That's the only time before or after that I had a qualm when he said that.
But you gotta be tough. I couldn't forget that.
It was too late now to back out. Everything was ready.
We were all set to leave on short notice.
Quinn wrote a letter to Collins in the States telling him to meet us on the coast with a boat.
Quinn gave me the letter to mail in town.
But of course, I never mailed it.
I spent my time in town getting the necessary mules and the gear.
And then I went to Lolita.
Querido mio. I have missed you.
Well, it's the last time you'll have to miss me, baby.
This is it. The diamonds, the fancy clothes, all of it. Yours.
Mine? Querido, you are rich now?
By this time tomorrow we'll both be rich.
With more gold than we'll know what to do with for the rest of our lives.
Gold? You have found much gold?
Si. And it's ours, thanks to El Chico.
El Chico? What?
Remember, beware, El Chico, the game you played with your brother?
Oh, si.
Well, that's what gave me the idea. And it worked perfectly.
We'll have to thank El Chico if we ever run into him.
Oh, I do not think that will happen.
After all, El Chico is only in a game. Remember?
Well, never mind the games now, baby. We've got work to do.
Now, get some clothes, but keep it light.
We'll plot here at midnight. And tomorrow, tomorrow we're rich.
Oh, there, alto.
We are here, already, querido?
No, but you stay here with the mules while I go in the camp with Quinn's train.
It'll be dawn in an hour, then you start up.
Si.
And remember, raise as much dust as you can. It's part of the plan.
Si.
By the time you get there, everything will be ready. Comprende?
Si, si, querido. You are sure there will be no mistake?
Not with me running this clam-bake, honey. Now give me a kiss.
And a girl. Hostile awake, baby.
Good luck, querido.
But I wasn't depending on luck.
You don't need luck when you got everything figured.
If I knew an elitore and I would be on our way back to the States with a trunk full of that yellow stuff.
And the men?
Man, I didn't even give them a thought. Not even Quinn. Dumb lugs.
Too stupid to reach for what they wanted. They deserved whatever life handed them.
Just before I rounded the last bend in the camp, I stopped the pack.
It's awful quiet in the mountains just before dawn.
I took a deep breath and...
Quinn! Quinn!
Get going, you magic cuckers. Try to look like you've been running for 20 miles.
Quinn! No, Quinn!
Who is it?
What, is that you? What is it? What's the matter?
Alta.
Ah, we'll have to get out in a hurry. El Chico's on his way here with 20 men.
He'll be here in two hours.
How'd he find out about us?
Oh, it's all my fault. I was a fool to trust the leader.
I thought she was okay. She sent word to El Chico about the gold.
You blaster, did he? And I told you to keep your mouth shut.
I know, I know. You can kick me anywhere I've been kicking myself all the way up here.
I'd like to kill you.
Well, I wouldn't blame you, Quinn.
All right, men, get those mules back. We're getting out.
The gold first. Two saddlebags for each mule.
I work like a demon alongside the men, getting the stuff packed.
And then just as the last mule was getting his diamond hitch, I grabbed Quinn's arm.
What do you want?
Quinn, I've been thinking. I've got to do something.
Looks to me like you've done enough.
Don't you see? It's my fault. It's up to me to do something now.
This is no time to beat your breast. We're getting out. Getting out of here as fast as we can.
No, no, look, look, I got an idea. You've got to let me square myself.
Make it snappy. We can't waste time.
Well, listen, I placed a dynamite charge under the eyeballs at this side of the bridge.
Uh-huh.
Now, I'll stay on this side and wait till you're safely across.
Then blow the bolts clean so there'll be no trace left.
I see.
You cut the cables on the other side with a hacksaw,
and the whole bridge will drop to the bottom where the brush will hide it.
You'll be out of sight when El Chico comes.
And I'll tell him you've outslicked him, gone north.
He'll wait several days riding after you before he realizes the truth,
and by that time, you'll be safe on the coast.
What about you?
Well, I don't matter.
This wouldn't have happened if I had shut my mouth off.
Come on, you fellas get going.
No, it's we'll stick together.
Cutting the cables on the far side's a good idea.
You'll lose a day going back to where you can cross the canyon.
But a day is not enough.
His horses will catch your moves.
We've got to destroy every sign of the bridge
and make him think you've gone the other way.
I'm staying.
I don't know.
That's the only way, Quinn.
Look, look.
You can see the dust cloud over there on the trail.
He's coming.
You haven't got much time to get out of sight.
All right, Morton.
Maybe I was wrong about you.
Let me shake your hand.
Good luck.
Good luck.
That's all the guys like Quinn can think about.
They don't understand a man who's tough enough to make his own luck.
All of them lined up and they shook my hand.
They all hated me since I came on the job.
Now they were shaking my hand.
And in a minute...
Ha ha ha.
The lead mule started.
Soon they were all strung out on that long swaying bridge.
Quinn stayed till last, spacing them out.
I waved to him and waited for him to step out on the bridge.
My hand inched toward the plunger.
Then the stupid fool started back toward me.
Go on, Quinn, hurry.
There's no time.
I can catch up with him.
Listen, I've been thinking, Morton.
Sunday, while you were in town, I looked around for that road.
I couldn't find it.
It's there. All right.
You'll find it. Hurry, Quinn.
Maybe so.
But I was just thinking.
Why'd you plant the dynamite under this end of the bridge?
Well, I...
Why couldn't you have strung wires and blown it out from the other side?
I just didn't.
I made a mistake.
All right, I'll take the consequences.
You can still do it, Morton.
We've got plenty of wire.
No need for you to fall into El Chico's hands.
Go on, you fool.
Go on.
In a minute, it'll be too late.
Too late for what, Morton?
Look at that dust.
He's coming.
You know what I think?
I think El Chico isn't anywhere within 500 miles up here.
What?
I think you plan to blow up this bridge with the men on it,
drop us all at the bottom where you could pick up the pieces.
Get away, Quinn.
You can't stop me now.
I'll take care of you later.
Get away from that bludgeon.
Stop it.
Morton, get your hand off that.
Stop it.
The concussion had my head railing for a few seconds.
When the landscapes went back into focus, I could see the bridge was gone.
The bridge and the men and the mules.
But I couldn't seem to figure out what happened.
Quinn lay beside me, very still, and I could see blood.
How did...
I seem to remember hearing a shout.
But where did it come from?
Charlie?
Señor Charlie?
Lolita!
You did it!
You shot him!
You're wonderful!
We did it, baby.
We did it!
Look it down there.
A half a million bucks, baby.
Three million pesos in gold.
And all we gotta do is go down and pick it up.
It's indeed a good job, señor.
I stared stupidly at the little man in the big sombrero who stepped out of the manzanita
and grinned at me.
A smoking revolver dangled from one hairy paw.
And the other...
The other was pulling Lolita toward him.
My Lolita.
She put her arms around him and kissed him in a way that she never kissed me.
We will pick up your gold for you, señor.
You are a very smart man, señor Charlie.
I should like to be your friend.
Except...
You are gringo.
And you mistake to make the love to the sweetheart of El Chico.
Thank you, Burt Lancaster, for a splendid performance.
Mr. Lancaster will return in just a moment.
D-D-D-Doc, what do you do for an acute case of goose pimples, huh?
Well, if I knew, I'd prescribe some for myself.
What you both need are some cool, calm, carefree autolight words from Frank Martin.
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And now here again is Mr. Bert Lancaster.
My thanks to the fine cast of radioactors who appear on tonight's show.
Suspense is always one of my favorite programs, whether I'm acting on it or listening to it.
And you can be sure that I'll be glued to my radio next Thursday evening when Gregory Peck appears in a story called Hitchhike Poker.
Another gripping study in suspence.
Bert Lancaster will soon be seen in the normal production Kiss the Blood Off My Hands.
Tonight's suspense play was written by Brett Holliday and adapted for radio by Lawrence Goldman with music composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Leeder.
In the coming weeks, Suspense will present such stars as Robert Young, Virginia Bruce, Edward G. Robinson, Ray Milan, and many others.
And a special note, our star tonight, Bert Lancaster, may currently be seen in the film version of Sorry Wrong Number.
That great suspense play, soon to be repeated on this program with Agnes Moorhead in her original role.
Make it a point to listen each Thursday to Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills.
And next Thursday same time, hear Gregory Peck in Hitchhike Poker.
This is the Auto Light Suspense Show.
Drive slowly. Death and danger travel in fast company.
Good night. Switch to auto light.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.