Now, Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations present...
Suspense!
Tonight, Auto Light brings you Van Heflin in Cornel Woolrich's famous Three O'Clock,
a suspense play produced and directed by Anton M. Lieder.
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And now Auto Light presents Van Heflin in a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Francie signed her own death warrant.
She signed her own death warrant, didn't she?
You're a good husband to her and yet she's too time in you with another man, isn't she?
And you made up your mind weeks ago to kill her, didn't you?
When out the last second, what are you waiting for?
You've got everything down here you need to do the job.
Box near the wall filled with explosive tube copper wires already capped.
This alarm clock, what's holding you back?
Memories of your honeymoon?
She's too time in you with another man, weigh that in your hand.
All right then, get to work.
First set the alarm.
And she gets back from shopping around 2.30.
You better set it for three o'clock.
Good.
Now then wind it up.
Now then put the cap end of the wires into the little holes you drilled in the box.
Oh no, no, no, wait.
That explosive's kind of tricky, temperamental.
Don't touch that box any more than you have to.
First attach the wire to the alarm clock.
I wonder why more people haven't thought of this.
Probably wouldn't know how to go about it if they did.
There.
Now the cap end of the wires into the box.
Careful now, careful.
There it is.
Check it over.
Check it over now, you don't want any slip ups.
At three o'clock the alarm goes off, it sets up a spark.
The spark runs along the wires to the detonators in the box and that's all there is to it.
Don't just stand here, get back downtown to the shop.
What are you doing in my house?
Hey Duke, somebody is home.
That'll hold him a couple of seconds.
Suddenly we're standing here.
Must have been down the cellar all the time we was here.
You sit your case this place for three days.
Get me something to tie him up and let's go.
No, no, no, no, don't tie me up, don't.
Slug him again.
Again.
Okay.
You had the cellar down there?
Yeah.
See if there's any rope around.
Coil a rope on his shelf down there, I'll get it.
No, no, we'll carry him down, tie him up there.
No, don't tie me up, this house is.
Shut up you.
See if you have some handkerchief.
Roll it up in a ball.
Listen to me, this house is.
Alright, shove in this mouth, shove it in.
Take off his belt and buckle it between his teeth too.
Fast.
Okay.
What's he putting up such a fight about?
This place is a lemon, nothing in it.
Take his legs.
Okay.
I did my last stretch just on a count of leaving a guy in the open where he could put a squad
car in my tail too quick.
Okay, it's up to me.
Now give me that rope, I'll hold him.
What's he putting up such a fight about?
Look mister, we ain't gonna hurt you.
Just leave you here in the cellar.
He still ain't convinced, I can't figure him.
Okay, that does it.
Alright, I'm tying to this pipe.
Otherwise somebody's liable to come home right after we leave and hear him thrashing around.
These houses are like matchboxes.
I wonder what he's trying to say.
Don't leave me tied up down here.
I won't call the cops, I swear it.
This place is gonna blow up, don't you understand?
Explode, this house is gonna explode.
Who cares what he's trying to say, let's go.
We'll pull another job tonight.
This time I'll do the picking.
Well it looked like a good setup, standing way off like it is.
Hey mister, will you relax?
You'll never get out of them nuts.
What's he so bug-eyed about?
What is it mister?
There's a alarm clock over here?
What do you care what time it is, you ain't going anyplace.
Hey, should we take the clock Duke?
Nah, couldn't raise a buffalo nickel on it.
Ordered it soon, let's go, we got work to do.
Wait, come back, don't leave me here.
This house explodes at three o'clock, listen to me.
It blows up in an hour and a quarter, come back, come back, come back, come.
All set, let's take a back way.
Gone, they're gone.
The only people in the world who know where I am.
I've got to get out.
For suspense, Auto Light is bringing you Van Heflin in Radio's outstanding theatre of
thrills, Suspend.
Can you help me with my income tax?
Why I'm just the guy.
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Remember, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, Van Heflin as Paul in Three O'Clock,
a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
I can't get out.
Nobody knows I'm here.
Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine.
Twelve minutes to two.
It goes so fast, that second hand goes so fast.
Five, six, seven.
Less than seventy-two minutes.
Help me.
Somebody help me.
Help me.
Help me.
Eleven minutes to two.
Only seventy-one minutes.
Not even that now.
Three, four, five, six.
Francie, Francie, come home and get me out of this.
I love you.
I can't help being jealous, can I?
I'm sorry I tried to kill you.
It's because I love you so much.
I'm jealous.
But you deserve it.
You deserved it.
I've what you've done to me.
Can't you imagine how I felt that day last month when I came home?
That, that you, Paul?
Paul, you're home so early.
Are you sick?
Another one of your headaches?
Oh, I feel fine, honest.
Why, why are you home so early?
Well, I don't know.
I just got lonely for you and I said to myself, well, you're the boss, old boy.
It's your watch repair shop.
Now, if you want to close ahead of time, who's to say no?
Come on, hold still a second.
Your lipstick is smeary.
It is?
Well, I was lying down.
I guess I...
Well, it's all right.
Now, come on, pucker up.
Well, you're smeared again.
I'll fix it.
As long as you're home early, why don't you rest a while?
The morning paper's still in the den.
I guess so.
Well, I had a heavy lunch, pot roast and potatoes and apple pie.
What'd you do today, honey?
Oh, all the usual.
Cleaned the house.
Went marketing.
Wish we could afford a car.
I mean, isolated the way we are.
Walked in eights...
I sat down on the couch and there it was in the ashtray on the end table.
A cigar butt, still moist on one end, still warm on the other.
Any visitors today?
What'd you say?
I said, any visitors today?
No.
None.
Not even a peddler.
You're a liar, Fancy.
You lied to me that time.
Time.
Forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five.
No clock has ever gone this fast.
Of all the thousands I've looked at and sat right in my shop, not one has ever gone so
fast.
It's quarter hours go around like minutes and it's minutes like seconds.
Three minutes to two.
That's cheating me.
It's not keeping the right time.
That second hand's whirling like a pinwheel.
Make it stop somebody.
When the clock says three, the house explodes.
Make it...
Oh, somebody's at the door.
Come in, please.
Please, please come in and find me and let me out of here.
Please, please, please.
Gas company.
Gas company.
The one calling all the day's routine from the earliest morning to the latest night that
can possibly bring anyone down here to the cellar.
Anybody home in there?
Gas company?
Anybody home?
I am.
I am.
I'm down here.
Don't wait for somebody to answer the door.
It's not locked.
Come in, come in.
Please, please.
He's gone.
He's gone.
No, no, no, no, no.
He's coming around to the back.
Why don't we what?
I said why don't we go in and read the meter anyway?
Even if nobody's home.
Yes, yes.
Company policy.
We never go in to read the meter unless somebody's home.
Until we find somebody.
But I am home.
I am.
I'm right down here.
I can see your legs through the window.
All you have to do is to bend down and look in and you'll see me.
No, no, no, no.
Don't go away.
Stay.
I'll kill you if you go so help me.
I'll kill you.
No, no, no, no.
No, I didn't mean that.
No, no, no, no.
I'm not going to kill you.
Please stay.
Look at the timer.
One minute past two.
Fifty nine minutes left.
Not even an hour.
Fifty nine minutes less.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
Eleven.
How long?
Fifty nine minutes seems when you're waiting for someone.
Like the night I waited for Francia to come home from a movie and she was like, oh, I
And she was late.
The night Francie was late coming home from a movie.
Yes, in a pig's eye she was at a movie.
She was with her boyfriend.
Well, sure, I was worried. What did you think?
You said you'd be home before 11, and here it is almost midnight.
I was about to call the hospitals and the police.
Oh, Paul, I'm sorry. Really, I am.
All those short subjects, and then the bus was late.
I'm sorry you were worried.
Forget about it. How was the movie?
It was all right. Nice western.
Oh, a western? I thought you were going to see Three Musketeers.
Well, I was, but I changed my mind.
I saw Red River instead.
Well, I didn't know that was playing in the neighborhood.
I went downtown. I thought as long as I'm out of the house...
I might as well do a little shopping.
Were the stores open tonight?
No.
Did I say shopping? I meant window shopping.
Oh.
What was the movie about?
You know, a western.
A lot of shooting and riding.
How was Gary Cooper's performance?
Oh, good. I've always liked him.
No, I didn't mean Cooper. Cooper's not in.
I meant John Wayne.
Oh, was that John Wayne?
You know, they all look alike to me.
Those big hats.
That was the night that she signed her own death warrant.
Little things put the official seal on it,
like the cigar butt in the living room,
like the gasoline drippings on the street in front of our house,
and we don't even own a car.
And it wasn't a delivery truck either,
because the drippings showed that it stood there a long time,
an hour or more, and like the time last week when...
The time.
12 minutes after 2? No.
Oh, no, that can't be. It was just 2 o'clock.
It can't be that late already.
12 minutes past 2.
Only 48 minutes and...
Less than 48 minutes. It's 47, 56, 55, 54.
Look at that second handle.
Francie, Francie, Francie, Francie!
She's in the kitchen. She's putting down her parcels.
How can I make her hear me? There must be some way.
And now she's at the hall closet, and you must be hanging up her coat.
Oh, Francie, thank you so much for coming home early.
I love you so, and I need you.
How could I have thought of hurting you?
I must have been crazy, but I'm not now.
Back to the kitchen.
Why doesn't she come down here to look for something?
She might stay up there all afternoon, lie down.
She might wash her hair.
She might stay up there till it's time to get supper ready.
What she does is no supper, no Francie, no me.
Francie, Francie, come down here.
I know that you can't hear me, but come down here, please.
Please come down here.
Hello? Yes, Dave.
I just got in this minute.
Oh, Dave, I'm all upset.
I have $11 table money in the kitchen, and it's gone.
The wristwatch called me, and it's gone too.
We must have been robbed.
She knows we've been robbed.
I should get to police now, and they'll search the whole place,
and they'll look down here.
I'll look again, but I know it's gone.
We'll have a fit.
No, no, no, I won't. I won't, honest.
No, I haven't reported it yet.
You have to be so careful.
You're not kidding.
I called Paul at the shop while I was out, and there was no answer.
I hope nothing's wrong.
Can't you guess there's something wrong if I'm not in the shop?
Maybe you'd better come up.
Okay, good-bye.
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
Sure, come on.
If I go, both of you go with me.
What time is it?
Oh, no, no, it can't be 19 past 2.
Only 41 minutes left.
33, 34, 35, 36.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Oh, there I go, there I go.
Stop it, stop it, and think.
Think fast.
Think like you did last week when you came home,
and she threw her arms around you and hugged you,
and, where, that little liar.
Hi, Paulie.
Hello.
No kiss?
No, sure, why not?
Oh, what's the matter?
Hard day?
So hard you can't even force a smile?
I'll make you smile, I'll make you laugh.
Kissy, kissy, coo.
Come on, smile, smile.
Cut it out.
Stop tickling.
Wait, wait, cut it out.
What's this in your pocket?
Frenzy, don't.
A present for me?
I said don't.
All right, you don't have to grab.
What is it?
Well, it's fertilizer, that's what it is.
Fertilizer?
Yeah, a sample package.
I figured maybe we'd start a little garden in the back,
a few flowers maybe.
Oh, well, that's a nice idea.
That's just what I'll do.
Yeah, well, I'll keep it down in the cellar.
The fellow gave it to me, said that it should be kept
in a cool, dry place.
I'll buy the seed just as soon as you make up your mind
what you want.
Fertilizer.
She never even suspected that it was an explosive.
I brought other things home last week, too.
Every day, something else.
Some more sample packages of fertilizer,
which I carefully packed into a soapbox
that I had in the cellar.
And copper wire and dry cell batteries.
And this clock.
And she never suspected a thing.
She was so flustered trying to cover up the fact
that she had a caller that I could have brought in
a grandfather's clock under my arm,
she probably wouldn't even have noticed it.
Oh, but, Francie, that doesn't matter now.
If you just come on downstairs.
He's here.
Her boyfriend's here.
Hello, Dave.
Well, did it turn up yet?
No, I haven't heard anything from Paul, either.
The police will think I did it, I suppose.
Well, don't say things like that.
Come on into the kitchen.
Coffee's ready.
What do they get?
Dude, just sit there.
Don't they know that it's 28 minutes to 3?
Only minutes left now.
Minutes, not even a full half hour anymore.
Don't you think we ought to tell Paul about us?
I don't know.
How will he take it?
If Paul isn't now reminded, we can't keep on like this.
It's better to go to him ourselves
and tell him about you than wait till he finds out.
He's allowed to think something else entirely.
What's she talking about?
I know he didn't believe me that night
when I helped you find the ferny straw
and told him I'd been to a movie.
I'm so nervous and upset all the time.
I feel as guilty as if I were one of those disloyal wives
or something.
Didn't you ever tell him about me at all?
I told him you'd been in one or two little scrapes,
but I let him think I'd lost track of you
and I didn't know where you were anymore.
Well, that was her brother.
She said that about.
I'm coming things up for you all right.
An escaped convict for a brother.
Oh, Francie.
Francie, I didn't know.
Why didn't you tell me it was your brother?
Why didn't you tell me?
Let's go downtown and talk it over with Paul.
No.
No, no, stay here.
Don't go downtown.
Stay here.
You shouldn't be seen with me.
You could get into trouble yourself.
Tell a phone call to come here and stay.
Yes, yes, yes, stay here with me.
Please stay.
I'm not afraid.
What can I do?
What can I do?
This pipe, this pipe leads upstairs.
Hit it with something.
With what, though?
What?
My head.
What was that?
What?
I didn't hear anything.
I thought I heard a noise in the cellar.
Yes, you did.
You did.
It's me.
It's me.
Want me to take a look?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
No.
I guess I was wrong.
Let's go, Dave.
Francie!
Francie!
Come down here and look.
22 minutes left.
Francie!
Francie!
Mama.
Mama, mama, mama.
It's gained another minute.
Help me, mama.
Help me, mama.
Help me, mama.
Help me.
Did you hear what you're doing, Bobby?
What?
Oh, that's a kid bouncing his ball against the house.
Yes, it's a little kid.
Bobby, come away from that cellar.
Oh, no, no, no.
Let him stay.
Stay there, Bobby.
Don't move.
Did you hear what I said, Bobby?
Bobby, just turn your head this way and you'll see me.
A little more, Bobby.
That's it.
He's looking right at me, but he doesn't see me.
Don't you see me turning my head from side to side, back
and forth, back and forth, back?
He sees me.
Bobby, what are you doing there?
Mommy, look.
Does he understand what he sees?
Oh, if he were only just a few years older, a child of seven
or eight could understand that.
Bobby, are you coming?
I'm waiting.
Stay where you are, Bobby.
Make her come to you.
Did you hear what I said?
When I call you, I want you to come to me.
Mommy, look.
Funny man.
Why, Mommy can't peek into strange people's houses.
Come on, dear.
Funny man, tied up.
Yes, yes.
Well, say goodbye to the funny man tied up.
Bye-bye, funny man tied up.
Bye-bye, funny man tied up.
Let it blow up.
What do I care?
No, no, no.
How much time is left?
10 minutes?
Well, someone could come down here now or even six minutes
from now or seven, and I could still escape.
42, 43, 44.
The clock's beginning to look like people like Mama.
Oh, my head hurts.
Mama, I'm sorry for what I've done.
Paul's sorry.
He won't do it again, honest.
Just let him go this time and not punish him.
He's learned his lesson.
He'll never do it again.
Poor Paul.
Poor Paul.
Oh, that must be Francie.
Must have found the shop closed, trying to find out
if I came back here while she was gone.
When no one answers, will that tell her
that something's wrong?
Why does she think I'm stretched out down here in the cellar
if I don't answer the phone?
Bye-bye, Francie.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Tick-tock.
Bye-bye.
Tick-tock.
Seven minutes to three.
In seven minutes, the alarm goes off.
Seven minutes to three.
The alarm rings for me.
That's a poem, Francie.
It's a funny poem.
Seven.
Please let time stand still.
Seven.
Not six.
What a precious number.
Six.
So round, so comfortable.
Let it be six forever.
Not five or four, but six for all eternity.
Let time stand still at six.
That's five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Four.
Four.
Bye-bye, five.
Polly says bye-bye, five.
Good morning, Polly dear.
Good morning.
Wake up, sleepyhead.
Wake up.
Do you know what time it is?
No.
What time is it?
Take your head out from under the pillow
and see for yourself.
All right.
It's exactly one minute to three.
One minute to three.
I was dreaming.
One minute to three, not even a minute.
Barely 50 seconds.
50 seconds to go.
50 seconds to live.
Help me, Mama.
Help me.
Francie, Polly needs help.
He dies in 40 seconds.
39, 38, 37.
He's not a bad little boy.
He always means well, so help him.
Help, little boy.
Mama, Mama, where are you?
Quick, I haven't got much time.
I have 40 seconds.
19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Take it easy, Ma'am.
The doc's working on him.
In the meantime, just a couple more questions.
All right.
I'll write off.
You see, when you came in, he was all tied up
and this alarm clock here was ringing.
Yes.
I see.
Nancy.
Yeah, Doc.
Dead.
It was heart failure.
Paul.
I'm sorry, ma'am.
Now, look, just one minute.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Now, look, just one more thing.
In this box, there was some wires going to it from the clock
and I pulled them out.
You know what was in it.
This box?
Yeah.
Nothing.
It used to have some fertilizer in it,
but I took it out this morning and used it.
I've been trying to raise flowers in the back of the house.
Paul.
Paul loved flowers.
Thank you, Van Heflin, for a splendid performance.
Hello.
About my income tax report.
Oh, forget it.
Happen, be happy.
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And now here again is Van Heflin.
First, I'd like to say that it's always great fun
and a lot of work.
And second, come on out here, Tony.
That's right, come on out.
Ladies and gentlemen, Radio Mirror magazine
has asked me to call Tony Leeder,
the producer director of Suspense,
down out of his glass cage up there
for a very special reason.
What's it all about, Van?
Tony, I'd like you to meet Ms. Ann Daggett,
Western editor of Radio Mirror magazine.
How do you do?
How do you do, Mr. Leeder?
As a Suspense fan of long standing,
I'm very happy to have the privilege of presenting
to you this scroll.
It is in recognition of the fact that Suspense
has been chosen Radio's outstanding mystery show
by Radio Mirror magazine,
which will be on the newsstands tomorrow.
Well, that's wonderful.
And on behalf of our writers and our actors
and musicians, and Lud Gleskin in particular,
and technicians without whom Suspense
couldn't even begin to suspend you,
I want to say thank you very much.
My congratulations too, Tony.
And I'll be tuned in next week to hear Gregory Peck
in Murder Through the Looking Glass,
another gripping study in...
Suspense.
Van Heflin appeared by arrangement
with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
producers of the Technicolor picture,
Little Women, starring June Allison,
Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien,
and Elizabeth Taylor.
Tonight, Suspense play was written by Cornel Woolrich
and adapted by Walter Newman.
Music was composed by Lucien Moraweck
and conducted by Lud Gleskin.
The entire production was under the direction
of Anton M. Morsky,
and the production of the production
of Anton M. Lieder.
Remember, next Thursday, hear Gregory Peck
in Murder Through the Looking Glass.
You can buy auto light electrical parts,
auto light resistor spark plugs,
auto light staple batteries
at your neighborhood auto light dealer.
Switch to auto light. Good night.
Here's great news.
Suspense on television may be seen
in many parts of the country
every Tuesday night.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.