Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers present Suspense.
Tonight, Auto Light brings you a transcribed tale of violence and tenderness.
A story we call the Gift of Jumbo Brannigan, starring Mr. William Bendix.
Before our play begins, here is a word about Auto Light from a good friend of ours.
Hello everybody, this is Harlow Auto Light Wilcox, singer of superlatives about those sturdy, stout, supremely scintillating stars of action and accuracy,
world famous Auto Light spark plugs. The spark plugs that are ignition engineered to work as a team with your car's ignition system.
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He'll check your spark plugs with the exclusive Auto Light plug check indicator.
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And remember too, your Auto Light spark plug dealer is the only one who can offer you your choice of Auto Light standard or resistor type spark plugs.
So go to your Auto Light spark plug dealer soon, because you're always right with Auto Light.
And now with the gift of Jumbo Branigan and the performance of Mr. William Bendix, Auto Light hopes once again to keep you in suspense.
Come on Jumbo, come on, hurry it up. Shut up, you act like an amateur, talking, talking. Oh, that lousy no good bit.
I knew I should have picked it myself instead of letting a stupid kid do it. You pushed it too hard, that's why, Pro.
I never pushed a drill too hard in my life, come on, the other bit. Come on, Froggy, we ain't got all night.
Here, here Jumbo, don't get nervous. You're the ones having catfights. It's the last bit we got. I'll handle it like a baby.
We almost through anyhow. A couple of minutes, we're going to be three of the richest men in town.
Froggy, watch how you juggle that soup. Don't worry, if I drop it you won't see a thing.
Maybe I ought to hit the new watchman again, he might come around. Ain't you never been on a job before?
I've planned it. Well you don't sound like it. Now we're starting to come through.
I'll pour some more water in, can't break now. Don't worry. Jumbo, hold it a minute.
What's the matter now? I think I heard something, listen. I don't hear nothing.
Well come on, come on, let's finish up. You wasted ten seconds talking. Come on baby, get through it, get through it.
The alarm, the alarm. Jumbo, you set the alarm off. We'll never get out of here now, we're fried.
I dropped the drill and listened. The alarm was sounding in my head like cannon fire.
And I knew the next thing we'd hear would be size 12 Brogans pounding up the stairs with cops' feet in them.
You'd think that with 25 years at the business behind me I'd know better than a tripping alarm, wouldn't you?
Three weeks of freedom was all I'd been able to snatch. It didn't feel like three weeks, but more like three minutes ago somebody called my name out.
Francis Augustus Brennigan.
Alright, alright, knock off you guys. Knock off.
Binzy, you've been a trustee a long time. So maybe you'd trust me to rearrange your face.
The name's Jumbo, Jumbo Brennigan.
Don't get so excited, Jumbo. Only use your whole name for a joke. This is quite an occasion.
Oh, okay, Binzy, I guess this is the one day I should let you have your fun.
Warden sent me to get you. He's waiting.
You hear that, you failures? The warden's waiting for me.
So long, guys. Take care of yourselves. So long, Tigers. So long, Peanuts. So long.
Greatest bunch of no-good bums in the world.
Yeah.
Oh, how I've been waiting for this. For all my papers, writing, everything.
You're as clean as a snowflake, Jumbo. You release a sign, train tickets on the warden's desk.
All you gotta do is tell him to buy.
Goodbye, warden. Goodbye, warden.
You know, I might even say something nice to the creep.
Insult him for me, will you? I'm in no position to do it myself.
Alright, inside.
Just a second.
Alright.
Yes, what is it?
Branigan's ready to leave, sir.
Ah, Branigan.
Hello, warden. Nice day, huh?
Beautiful. That'll be all, Binzy.
Goodbye, Jumbo. I'll keep a can in the window for you.
No, don't bother. Great guy.
How old are you, Branigan?
51, I think, warden.
How many years have you spent in prison?
Well, counting reform school and everything, 25 years.
Half your life. Don't you think you've been a failure long enough?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, warden, you're right.
Those long nights back in there really pounded a lesson into this thick skull.
From now on, I'm going to be known as Honest Jumbo Branigan.
Well, you'll have a chance to prove that. I wonder if you can.
What do you mean by that crack?
Have you forgotten about your boy?
Oh, yeah, the kid.
Well, I haven't heard much from him, and I don't even know what he looks like.
How he looks isn't important. It's how he feels.
Put yourself in his place. He's only 14 years old.
He spent 10 of those 14 years as a ward of the state.
Never had a family or a chance.
Poor kid. Too bad his mother didn't live.
I wish there was something I could do for him, but I guess there ain't.
Well, now here's where we start putting some lies back together, Jumbo.
There is something you can do for that kid.
I'm going to tell you just what it is.
When you get outside, you're going to take that kid,
and the two of you are going to live as father and son.
But wouldn't I?
We've already got an apartment for you. The rent's paid for six months.
We've gotten you an honest job.
Doing what?
Working in a department store.
Mr. Bishop, who does rehabilitation work, has agreed to take you on.
Oh, that's... that's... wow.
The parole office, the child welfare bureau, and the police department
are going to keep tabs on you both until you straighten out your life.
Brannigan, you step out of line once, and you'll wish you'd never been born.
Oh, Warden, I told you. I'm going out of here, and I'm going to go straight.
I'm planning to make a decent home for myself,
and I'll be glad to make a home for that kid.
He won't have to worry, and you won't have to worry. Nobody will.
Because Jumbo Brannigan's going to live an honest life from here on out.
Is that clear?
That's clear, Brannigan. You have my best wishes.
We walked to the gate, arm in arm,
and I could see that he really fell for that big speech of mine.
I should have been a politician. I almost fell for it myself. It was so good.
I wasn't going to go to work in any department store,
at least any longer than I had to.
I was heading right back where I belonged, over to the south side of town,
and I was going to go into business for myself.
Jumbo Brannigan for hire. Knights.
Then all of a sudden I was outside, free.
I spit on the sidewalk, stretched my arms out wide,
and took a good deep breath of that sucker's air.
Jumbo, Jumbo.
It's me, the kid.
What? The kid? Mine?
Sure. Didn't they tell you I was going to be waiting for you out here?
Well, no. I guess they forgot.
Well, you think I'd let you down? My old man, Jumbo Brannigan?
You're kind of skinny.
Oh, I've been a little off my feet.
You know, the excitement you get now.
Nothing to get excited about. I've been out before.
We're going to live together, huh? Have our own place, huh?
You're all right, kid, so we're going to live together.
But get this straight. I'm making the rules.
You keep out of trouble. You get in by 10 o'clock at night.
If you call me Daddy once, I'll loosen a few of those baby teeth.
Okay, Jumbo, we'll do anything you say. Anything you say.
You don't know how good it is to see you. My old man.
We took the train into town.
I never seen a kid so excited or anybody so taken with me.
He looked at me like I was an all-American fullback
who just scored the winning touchdown for Poe Dunkle.
The next morning, I reported for work at Peterson's department store.
Big, lush joint.
I met the manager, Mr. Bishop, the jerk the warden had told me about.
Well, Brannigan, it's nice to have you join our little family.
Thank you, sir. It was nice of you to do something for me.
I'm not doing much for you, Brannigan, but you're doing something for me.
You're filling a necessary job in my department store.
I don't know much, but I'll do my best.
I'm sure you will.
I believe in the basic honesty of the human being.
And so far in this little rehabilitation venture,
I haven't been disappointed.
The parole board felt that if you had some definite responsibility,
you and your boy would make out all right.
I'll do my best, sir.
You don't have to call me sir. Just call me Bishop, as everyone else does.
I'm going to put you down in the shipping room to start. Suit you?
Oh, fine, sir.
Then you can move up into any job you want.
Who knows? Someday you might have my job, manager.
Oh, just any job would make me happy, sir.
Uh, Bishop, as long as it's honest.
That's the kind of talk I like to hear.
I'm pitting my faith on you, Brannigan.
Any time you have a problem or get the urge to, you know well,
come to me directly.
And remember, we work on the honor system.
Eh, honor system. It suited me just fine.
Inside of an hour, I'd case the layout and found the main safe.
It was on the second floor, and it was so beat up,
I could have opened it left-handed with a sectional jimmy.
Oh, what a setup.
It was the first time I'd ever been paid to case a joint by the very people
I was going to knock off.
Well, for the rest of my life, I've been a good man.
Well, three weeks went by while I tossed crates and boxes around
in the shipping room playing the innocent-eyed ex-con.
What I was really doing was mapping the place,
right down to the tacks and the rugs.
And then I decided it was time to operate.
The kid? I didn't even think about him.
I broke my parole by going down to the Roundhouse,
a bar I used to hang out in.
Jumbo!
You wanted me to hear you all the way down to the parole office, nuthead?
Oh, yeah, yeah. I got excited seeing you, Jumbo.
Well, don't lose your head.
The usual, Jumbo.
Yeah. What happened to Stinger McClure?
The Stinger?
Yeah.
He was picking somebody's pocket on the subway
and the door closed on his arm.
The way that undertaker fixed him up,
you wouldn't think he had a scratch on him.
Ha! It's good to see you back, Jumbo.
Julius, I've been kind of out of touch with things.
Maybe you can help me.
Try.
I need a couple of guys, Julius.
A good electrician who knows the wires,
a lookout, and a small guy who can squeeze in through a ventilator.
Let me see.
Anybody special in mind?
I was thinking of Ralph Petrucci and Froggy Quinn.
Those guys are around. They haven't been down here.
Not in the dog's age.
Any chance of getting a line on them?
Yeah. I got some ears I can mutter into.
Might be kind of hard, but I'll try.
Okay, Julius. I'll take care of you.
How about another splash in the glass?
Coming up. Also on the house.
Jumbo, I've been looking all over for you.
Kid, what do you think you're doing here?
What's important?
Well, it's after 10 o'clock,
and you're supposed to be in bed. That's what's important.
So are you, too. You're on parole.
But I'm going right home, Jumbo. Honest.
I just want you to come with me.
I, uh, I got a surprise for you.
What surprise?
I can't tell you here, but it's really big.
All right, kid, let's get it over with.
He led me out of the bar and up the street
like he'd just discovered oil in our kitchen.
I couldn't figure out what the surprise could be.
When we got to the apartment and opened the door,
you could have knocked me over with a baby's rattle.
Two guys I asked Julius, the bartender, to scout for me
were sitting on the sofa, big as the ears on a bull.
Ralph Petrucci and Froggy Quinn.
Oh, here he is, fellas.
How are you, Jumbo? Welcome home.
Oh, hello, Ralph. But how did...
Give me a minute, Jumbo. Froggy Quinn.
I can't believe it. How did you guys get here?
How did you know?
I got him, Jumbo. I knew you was looking for him.
You knew I was looking for them?
Sure, for the job.
What a kid, huh?
What job, kid?
Come on, tell me, what job?
The one we're gonna pull.
Oh, wait a minute. Let me get this straight.
We're not pulling any job.
Sure we are, Jumbo.
Let me tell him, Ralph.
Who do you think got you the parole?
Who do you think got you that job in the department store?
This apartment.
Who?
Me, that's who.
I went up to that creep Mr. Bishop
and cried my eyes out like a little baby,
telling him how much I needed my old man
and wouldn't he help me?
Kid, you don't know what you're talking about.
And furthermore, we're not gonna knock off
the department store the way you've been thinking.
Who says we're not?
I do.
We're clipping the loan company next door.
That's where they keep their money nights.
And that's where the real pile is.
Now, here's the plan.
Now hold on a minute, kid.
You going crazy or something?
He knows what he's doing.
Well, there's not gonna be any job like this.
And there's not gonna be any kid like that in on it.
Yes, there is, Jumbo, with or without you.
I've been planning this job three years.
And I'm gonna go on it.
Are you?
I stood there looking down at that 90-pound skinny little kid.
My own flesh and blood.
Planning a job like a hard guy
who'd been in the rackets all his life.
I felt like batting him right down through the floor.
But everybody stood there staring at me,
waiting for my answer.
And all of a sudden I knew what it was going to be.
Because I didn't like the looks of this job.
What was that, Jumbo?
You heard me, Froggy.
Count me out.
I don't want any part of it.
Jumbo, you're nervous.
You just got out.
Now, we'll all pretend we didn't hear what you said.
Chance to say something else.
Jumbo, I thought you'd be proud.
I planned it.
I said I want no part of it.
I don't waste time beating your gum.
What's the matter, Jumbo?
Don't you trust your own kid?
Save that drug guy for some stupid cop
when you're standing in a line-up.
Jumbo Brennigan don't trust nobody.
Jumbo, you're forgetting the kid here's got a real head on him.
He even sprung you.
I've already sank him.
So long.
Oh.
Oh, it's going to be that way, huh, Ralph?
Yeah, Jumbo, it's that way.
Now, while you're watching the gun,
let me explain something to you.
Before the kid could get in front of that parole board,
he had to hire a longmouth,
and that longmouth charged five grand.
Me and Froggy got it up,
and that means we sort of got an interest in you.
Is that right, kid?
Sure it is.
We got you out to pull this job tonight.
And it's gonna be pulled tonight.
We can't get nobody else to stand in for you.
I mean it, Jumbo.
Five grand don't grow on trees,
so just try to walk out of here, I'll kill you.
Right in front of your own kid.
Autolite is bringing you Mr. William Bendix
with Tommy Bernard
and the gift of Jumbo Branigan,
tonight's production in radio's outstanding
theater of thrills, Suspense.
I was hooked.
Oh, I wasn't worried about the heater
Petrucci was dangling around on his finger
or the way Froggy was sliding around
and backing me holding his shiv with a trick blade.
I could have given both of them plenty of trouble.
But I began to look at it another way.
All right, Jumbo, what do you say?
Well, you can put the Betsy away, I'm in.
What did I tell you guys?
He's the best girl in the business, my old man.
You'll have a chance to prove it.
Jumbo, there's 75 grand stashing that loan company safe,
just waiting for you to blow it out.
And that's what we have to do tonight, Jumbo.
They got all the receipts in for the tax people.
Come on, come on, let's get out of business.
Here's the layout.
Let me look at it.
How do we get in who's going to do the skylight part?
That's where the kid fits in,
only we don't need a skylighter.
I just get out of the Adams Street entrance, see?
And I stand there and blow my eyes out.
The watchman will see me through the glass.
There's only one on duty at 11.30.
What are you giving me?
Jumbo, I've been selling papers on that corner for three months.
It's a cinch, like I said.
The watchman will come out and wonder what's the matter with me.
And you guys will go in.
How's that for an angle, Jumbo?
Well, I've got to get some tools.
Don't worry, Jumbo, I already got them.
Look.
Silk drills, fuses, touch, everything.
I'll all right you guys case on out of here.
What?
I said breeze, I want to talk to my kid.
Okay.
But don't make the mistake of changing your mind.
Ralph, you can push me only so far and I'll beat it.
Jumbo, I think the luckiest thing that ever happened in my life was being your son.
You think so?
Well, I'm bound to be a big-timer like you before I'm 17.
Think of all the things I'm going to learn from you.
Will you show me how to do a jam blast tonight?
Yeah, sure.
Sure, kid, anything.
Something on your mind?
Huh?
Oh, no.
No, I'm just thinking over this job.
You always got to think them out good.
I'm learning already.
Maybe I'll grow up to be just like you, huh?
Would you like that?
Would I?
Why, you got everything.
Think of all the big dough you handled in your time.
Look at the friends you got.
Yeah.
For Ralph and Froggy says there's no one can touch you in your line.
They're right, no one.
Tell me about the Siemens National, will you?
The Siemens National.
You heard about that?
Sure I heard about it.
And I heard about the Daily Smith thing in Denver.
And the neat switch you pulled up in Montreal.
Sounds like a history book on me.
Wait till you see this.
Scrapbook, Jumbo.
I got all your clippings.
From the first time they nailed you on the St. Louis thing.
St. Louis?
I was 15.
Yeah, and right down to the Akron, Ohio, caper.
Boy, was that something.
Yeah.
Kid.
What?
You believe me when I tell you something?
I know what kind of guy you are.
You wouldn't kid me.
Sure, I believe you.
Well then pay attention tonight on the job.
Do like I say.
Sure, Jumbo.
You're the boss.
Anything you want.
This is your first time.
No mistakes.
No mistakes.
Wait till you see me in action.
You'll be proud of me.
Like I'm proud of you.
Just watch.
Yeah, kid.
I'll be watching.
I'm glad you aren't sore about me lining up this thing.
Getting hold of Froggy and Ralph and all.
No, no hard feelings, kid.
I'm not sore one bit.
We all started out at a quarter after 11.
Ralph and Froggy were nervous.
The kid acted like an old trooper on opening night.
We stood in a doorway where he went into his act.
The watchman opened the door.
What's the matter, sonny?
What are you crying for?
I got no place to go.
No place to go?
But you only get where's your mother and father?
I don't have any, mister.
I'm all alone.
I'm afraid.
Well, I shouldn't do this, but...
Shut up.
Get back inside.
Make one sound and I'll blast your head off.
Froggy.
Yeah.
His gun.
Got it.
Now inside.
The street's all clear, Jumbo.
You sure?
Like a dance hall Sunday morning.
Let me take care of this guy.
I'll do it.
Now look here.
You hit him kind of hard, Jumbo.
What's the matter?
No guts?
Froggy, tie him up.
Okay, Jumbo.
And gag him.
Right.
Ralph, the shades.
Okay.
Where's he alone?
I told you, you don't have to worry a thing about that, Jumbo.
You let me do the thinking.
It's by the office door.
I wonder if he's dead.
The guard just made his call in.
We got 15 minutes to crack it.
Do you think we can do it, Jumbo?
You think we can?
All right, yellow belly, this is where you get off.
Get off?
Yeah, outside.
Go on, get out of here.
But Jumbo, what's the matter?
What did I do?
You dumb little bonehead.
Anybody could have set this cracker box up.
Now get out of here.
I waited a long time for this.
I won't go.
I thought we were pals.
And you hit me.
You're kind of hot on a kid, ain't you?
Keep your mouth shut or you'll get the same thing.
We can't have him hanging around.
I won't go.
You can kill me first.
Oh, no.
You won't.
You won't throw me out.
I want to be in on the job.
I want to be in...
Now get away from here or you'll
burn up the whole thing with your ball and...
Jumbo.
Now let's get to the men's work.
The tin can was an antique, but it was tough.
I worked as fast as I dared.
Ralph and Froggy helped me, but the drills kept breaking off.
Ralph was nervous and Froggy was juggling the nitroglycerin
in a way that set us all on edge.
I was using my last drill bit
when the job came to a sudden end.
The alarm.
Jumbo, you set the alarm off.
We'll never get out of here now.
Froggy, put that nitro down.
Okay, but I'm blind.
All right, everybody, put up your hands.
Stay where you are.
Nobody's going to take...
Froggy, put that gun down.
You won't buy me that easy.
Ralph.
Get out of my way, Jumbo.
Get back.
Ralph.
Ralph, you...
You really lost us.
Up.
Is that all, Brannigan?
That's all, Father.
There you go.
Take of Salvo.
And I'm going to...
Let me through.
Let me through.
That's my old man there.
Jumbo.
What's the matter, kid?
Ain't you ever seen a guy lie in a gutter and die?
I thought...
I thought you'd been around.
It happens lots of times to guys like me.
You can do it yourself someday.
Just keep on the way you're going.
Jumbo, I was going to learn things from you.
You can still learn things.
After I'm gone, study that scrapbook.
Look at the pictures in it of me in and out of jail.
Pictures like the ones they've taken of me right now.
They ought to be swell for you.
Go on.
Get away from me.
Get away from me.
Don't forget the way you saw me dying, will you?
Don't forget.
Because if you're as dumb as I've been,
you're going to end up the same way.
Kid!
Take a good look at me.
Was that the best way?
It was the only way.
Maybe he understands now.
Hi, Captain Cross.
Thanks for answering my phone call.
You wouldn't have been hit, Jumbo,
if the truth she hadn't tried to run.
It's all right.
I just saved everybody out of trouble.
Jumbo, why did you tip me off in advance
that you were going to pull a job?
The Padre here can tell you, Captain.
It was a little gift I arranged for my...
my kid.
In the name of God, the Lord, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Suspense, presented by Auto Light.
Tonight's star, Mr. William Bendix.
This is Harlow Wilcox again to tell you that Auto Light
makes over 400 fine products for cars, trucks, planes, and boats
in 28 plants from coast to coast.
These include complete ignition systems
used as original factory equipment
on many leading makes of our finest cars.
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Remember, you're always right with Auto Light.
Next week on Suspense, our star will be Mr. Ronald Coleman
in Vision of Death.
And in weeks to come, you will hear such famous stars
as Mr. Van Johnson, Miss Joan Crawford, and Mr. Jack Carson.
It's all on Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis,
with music composed by Lucian Moraweck and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
Portions of this program were transcribed.
In tonight's play, Tommy Bernard was young Branigan,
Jane Avello was heard as Froggy, and Ed Max was Ralph.
Others in the cast were Leo Cleary, Joseph Kearns, Herb Butterfield,
Junious Matthews, and Charles Calvert.
The gift of Jumbo Branigan was written for Suspense
by E. Jack Newman and John Michael Hayes.
William Bendix may be heard on his own show,
The Life of Riley, sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.
And remember, next week on Suspense, Mr. Ronald Coleman
as a mind reader who discovers his nightclub act is not a fake,
a story we call Vision of Death.
You can buy world famous auto light resistor type or standard type spark plugs,
auto light staple batteries, auto light electrical parts
at your neighborhood auto light dealers.
Switch to auto light. Good night.
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