You are about to hear a story based on actual events.
To protect the innocent, names and places have been changed.
Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers bring you the popular young motion picture star,
Mr. Tony Curtis, in a story taken from life.
Tonight's presentation of Suspense.
Tonight, Auto Light presents the McKay College basketball scandal,
a story taken from the headlines and concerning the bribes offered to college athletes,
starring Mr. Tony Curtis.
Hi, Harlow. Where you been?
I've been fishing, Hap, and here's my catch.
Well, that's just a bunch of worn out spark plugs.
Yeah, but they sure caused plenty of trouble before I landed them.
I went fishing with a friend of mine and his car was slow on the pickups,
sluggish on the hills and a toughie to start.
And what did you do, Harlow?
Well, I had him see his Auto Light spark plug dealer who compared his spark plugs
with the famous Auto Light plug check indicator that shows the exact condition of your spark plugs
and whether they're right for your style of driving.
Well, suppose they're not right, Harlow.
Well, if cleaning or adjustments are needed,
your Auto Light spark plug dealer is equipped to give you the finest spark plug service.
Well, suppose he finds that new ones are required.
Well, then he'll install standard or resistor type ignition engineered Auto Light spark plugs
to give you smoother performance, quick starts and gas savings.
Good reasons to visit your Auto Light spark plug dealer.
Right you are. Just call Western Union by number and ask for operator 25.
She'll tell you without charge the name of your nearest Auto Light spark plug dealer.
And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now with the McKay College basketball scandal and the performance of Mr. Tony Curtis,
Auto Light hopes once again to keep you in...
South Spence.
And so, sport fans of America,
while there's still a minute or two before game time,
I'd like to tell you something about the man most of us are here to see in action tonight.
And of course, I'm speaking of Fred Hudson, a great ball player when the chips are down.
What a lie that's going to turn out to be. I know. I'm Fred Hudson.
Twenty years old in his junior year as a McKay student, he's a six feet tall...
That's a laugh.
Hudson has been the recipient of many trophies and awards...
You put them all together and you add it down and you can stand on the Main Street bus.
Including seven Loving Cups and three All-State Trophies.
Eight. Eight. My old man uses them for ashtrays.
But there's the referee's whistle and the game is on.
The center steps into the circle, the ball's tossed up the jump.
And it's McKay's ball with Rudd University falling back into a zone defense.
Ah-ha. They've got two men guarding Fred Hudson.
And believe you me, they'll need him.
Now McKay's working the ball in, passing sharp.
French dribbles close to the deck, passes to Hudson and cuts fast down the court.
Clear, wide open under the basket and Hudson loses the ball.
That's right. Loses the ball.
It's hard though playing this way.
Why? I wish I knew the answer.
But it's all knotted together with the school and the town and the people in it.
You see, McKay is an ordinary college.
It's like a school song.
The last two lines.
But the game that's at the top of all the students is the basketball brigade of old McKay.
Get that, brigade.
Anywhere else it's a team, but at McKay it's a big deal.
Same way in town.
Basketball isn't a game in my town.
It's a way of life.
The End
But you promised, you promised.
Sorry, I'll tell you I'm fresh out.
But the magazine's just arrived.
Two minutes after their ride I was fresh out.
Look, you want a subscription?
No, I want this week's copy.
I can order you one. I'm ordering for 60, 70 people.
Well, how about your copy?
Well, I'll lend it to you.
Oh, gee, fine. Boy, thanks, Bar. Thanks a lot.
Fine, take good care of it.
Yes, gentlemen?
What's all the excitement?
Nothing. May I help you?
Yeah, you can help me. You can tell them what's all the excitement.
Well, it's just there's a big spread in the magazine about a fellow who lives here, a basketball player.
You hear that, Stanley? My, my.
A fine boy named Fred Hudson.
He fell his new in town.
Fred Hudson, the all-American boy.
He's all state. That means more than all-American around here.
And me, I'd like to meet him. You, Stanley?
No one I'd like to meet more.
Where's he live, this Hudson?
Elm Street, next to the corner on the right.
Anything else you fellas want? Cup, coffee, bottle of pop?
You got a two cents plane?
Uh, what?
Forget it, farmer. I haven't got time.
The king has asked for a timeout.
The score with the nine minutes remaining in the first half is Rough University 22, McKay College 12.
What's bothering you, Fred?
Nothing.
What you doing?
Nothing, nothing, I tell you.
Okay, buddy.
Look, look, I'm sorry, French.
Let's go. There's the bell.
I mean the whistle. You said bell.
I must have been thinking of something else.
Oh, Fred, what's the matter?
Did you forget your key or something?
Yeah, I'm sorry, Ma.
You'd forget your head if it wasn't shaped like a basketball.
I was way in the back of the house.
We got anything to eat around here?
It's too early for supper.
Think this is a restaurant or something?
Look, Ma, all I want is...
There's some bologna in the icebox.
You can make it yourself if you're not too much of a big shot.
I got ironing to do.
Don't I make my sandwiches every day?
You eat like a horse every day.
Freddy boy, you seen this? You read about yourself?
Yeah, pop.
You make me proud, boy. I tell you, I'm proud.
Your father's always proud about something.
Twenty-three years he's been too proud to work.
Fred, will you tell your mother not to start that again?
Will you ask your father where the next meal's coming from?
Put it out, won't you?
You give me indigestion, you two.
I'd like to give you indigestion.
And maybe you wouldn't play basketball.
Maybe you'd get a job, bring some money into the house.
She don't understand, Freddy. She don't appreciate.
What's to appreciate? Your son is a basketball bum.
My son's one in a million. He'll have his picker jobs.
What kind of jobs? He don't know a trade.
He never opens a book. Less than it's a basketball manual.
You don't understand. Best paying jobs in America go to the athletes.
Everybody wants them for publicity or what you call goodwill.
I know.
Sure you do. Being a big athlete yourself.
Who ever wanted you?
Fred's different. He's the biggest...
Biggest basketball bum. Some on him.
You got a tongue like that?
Shut up, shut up. I'm sick of it.
Every day the same thing for twenty years.
Twenty-three years.
Always a fight. Even when something good happens.
What's so good about your picture in a magazine?
You get paid for it?
I'm getting out of here.
Fred, there was two gentlemen here to see you and I...
Now look what you did. He's gone.
He'll be back for supper.
Here, take this laundry over to the Caldwells and make sure you collect.
I could kill you.
You don't have the knife.
And there goes the gun.
At the end of the first half, Rudd leading thirty-three to twenty-five.
K's squad looks tired. Very tired as the team walks off the court.
Particularly Hudson.
Never saw him perform like this before. Even the fans are against him.
Well, that's the way it goes folks in the world of sports.
A few days ago, Fred Hudson was king of the campus.
Hiya Freddy.
Hiya Freddy. How's it going?
Fine, fine.
Hudson. Oh, Hudson.
Yeah. Oh, oh. Hello Dr. Kellogg.
Hudson, I'd like you to drop in on me during office hours. I want to talk with you.
Well, is it something bad? I mean, can you tell me what it's about?
It's about your exam paper.
Don't tell me I'm flunking history.
On the contrary, it seems to be the only course you're not flunking.
That's what my colleagues tell me.
They tell me the same thing. I did okay on your exam?
Well, you didn't stick to the facts, but that's all right.
Too many minds are mortgaged to facts and facts themselves are comparative.
Then what is it? I mean...
Have you ever read Spengler Hudson?
Who?
Oswald Spengler. Wrote a book called The Decline of the West.
Never heard of him.
It's very interesting. You see, in your exam you expounded a theory about Western civilization that parallels Spengler's.
You went off half cock, but it's still very interesting.
I did that?
It seems that along with all your physical splendor, you have a brain.
Does that surprise you?
Well, I... Frankly, it surprised me.
But now that we've made the discovery, what do you intend to do about it?
I don't know what you mean.
I mean, Hudson, you might spend your time more profitably by majoring in history rather than basketball.
What's wrong with basketball?
Nothing as a sport, but as a career. It could be dangerous.
Dangerous? How?
Let's be honest, Hudson.
Now, you might be one of those sad young men who reach such an acute, limited excellence at 20 that everything afterwards savers of anticlimax.
Basketball isn't the most important thing in the world.
What is?
It isn't even a very significant occupation, although it may seem that to you right now.
Look, I've got nothing else. It's the only thing I'm good at.
How do you know? What else have you tried?
You're getting me all fouled up.
I'm trying to unfoul you, Fred.
I've seen too many campus heroes who discover too late that there's more to life.
Oh, this sounds so corny.
Well, there's more to life than, well, muscular coordination.
But basketball, it's like my anchor. Without it, I...
It's an anchor of driftwood.
In five years, 25 years, you'll still be drifting, still be seeking a little wistfully for the excitement of some irrecoverable basketball game.
You think I should give it up?
Why, no, no, of course not. Play basketball, Fred. Get all you can out of it.
But don't make it your life's work.
Why make it sound so bad? I feel like whatever I do is wrong.
Well, maybe I'm too blunt, Fred.
Or maybe I resent athletes and I'm taking it out on you.
Why should you do that?
Maybe because I've always had spindly legs and a scrawny neck and no chest at all.
Well, either way, Fred, don't take it too hard.
I'm just a tired old windbag in a cow college, or should I say a cow hide college.
Isn't that what basketball's made of?
Well, if you're interested in Spengler, I have a copy in my office.
Well, not now, sir. I've got to go see my girl.
Anytime, Fred.
It's funny. You know, she thinks sort of like you do about basketball.
She thinks I've got no ambition.
Well, Fred, I hope you haven't taken our talk too seriously.
Oh, it's all right, sir.
Anyway, my girl, she's got enough ambition for the both of us.
Listen to me! The way you've been playing is a reflection on me as coach.
So get the lad out, Hudson. You've got to hustle.
You're feeding the ball like slow motion. You...
Fred! How do you like that he's not even listening?
Fred!
Fred.
Yeah?
Fred, you happen to realize you've been pacing for an hour, up and down, over and over again.
Really, it's a bore.
I'm thinking, Jeannie. Anyway, you've been wrapped up in that magazine.
The magazine's all about you, as if you didn't know.
Hey, you read where it says, Handsome Hulk Shouldered Fred Hudson?
Get that. Handsome.
Well, I haven't exactly read it. I've sort of been scanning the ads.
You and your advertisements.
Advertisements, sweetie. Advertisements is so...unchic.
I guess that's just one of the things that's wrong with me.
Oh, don't be so serious. It was perfect.
What is wrong with me, Jeannie?
Please, Fred, don't start that.
I mean it. Look, let's take those guys and the advert...advertisements.
Now, what have they got I haven't?
Well, for one thing, they wear neckties.
Oh, now there's something really important.
Why must you be so morbid? Come on over here and relax.
Jeannie.
Not that way. Now, cut it out, Fred.
That's better. Just sit quietly and look at the pictures.
Jeannie.
Look at that car. Isn't it dreamy?
Yeah, but...
Hey, you know Charlie Mason?
That phony?
He's not. You see his new car?
Yeah, how could you miss it?
Just like this one. Only convertible.
Listen, Jeannie. Look, instead of a movie tonight, couldn't we just talk?
Look, there's something...
Well, Fred, as a matter of fact...
You got a date?
Yes, as a matter of fact...
Charlie Mason.
He asked me ages ago. I was going to tell you.
That's all right, Jeannie.
Well, you don't have to be so big about it.
Look, I'm fed up, Jeannie. I'll see you.
Well, after all, Fred, you don't own me.
That's why I'm fed up, kid. I don't own anything.
No neckties, no convertible.
Fred, you...
I'll be seeing you, kid.
Fred!
I don't know anything.
Fred. Hello, Fred.
Eh, don't rush off, Freddy. We've been waiting a long time.
For me?
Sure. Who else?
You guys.
You can call us a couple of your fans.
I call you a couple of wise guys.
Awful tough, ain't he?
A big man on a little campus.
From the magazine piece, I thought maybe he was a regular Joe.
What do you want?
Oh, how about your autograph?
You guys make funny jokes.
Or maybe you'd like my autograph.
I bet that's it. You want his autograph, Freddy?
I bet he would, on a fat check.
You want that, Freddy?
What are you talking about?
See, he's interested. I knew it.
Then talk or get out of the way.
How'd you like to make $2,000?
$2,000?
Two G's, Freddy. All yours.
How?
Well, we figure you work pretty hard at basketball.
We figure you ought to get paid for all that work.
Particularly if you don't work too hard.
I don't get it.
We want you to work for us, Freddy, this Friday night.
I got a basketball game.
Yeah. We want you to dump the game.
For $2,000?
What do you say?
I don't know. $2,000.
Hang up your mind.
I gotta think.
There's no time.
You want to be an amateur all your life?
It's four days to Friday.
You got till midnight. Four hours.
Well, I'll let you know.
All right. We're at the Drake Hotel.
Yeah.
Oh, just one thing.
Keep an open mind and a shut mouth.
Get the picture?
Yeah.
Because we wouldn't want to hurt a nice, clean-cut boy like you.
Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Tony Curtis
in the McKay College basketball scandal.
Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Say, Harlow, getting back to fishing,
you know, the only fishing you do is for compliments on auto light spark plugs.
Well, sure, half, because when you replace worn-out spark plugs
with ignition-engineered auto light spark plugs,
you get smoother performance, gas savings, and quick starts.
What do you mean, Harlow?
Why, half, with those mighty mites under the hood,
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Tell the folks why, Isaac Walton.
Because, friends, auto light spark plugs are designed
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and all the other important parts of the complete ignition system
used as original factory equipment on many leading makes of cars.
That's why ignition-engineered auto light spark plugs are world famous
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Lead me to them, Harlow.
So, friends, see your auto light spark plug dealer soon.
Have him replace worn-out spark plugs with resistor type
or standard type ignition-engineered auto light spark plugs.
And remember, from bumper to tail light,
you're always right with auto light.
And now, auto light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage
Mr. Tony Curtis in Elliot Lewis's production of
The McKay College Basketball Scandal.
A dramatic report well calculated to keep you in...
suspense.
What'll I do? What'll I do?
You cut till midnight.
He's a basketball bum. He's won an Amelia.
Get a job. Dump the game.
Bring some money into the house.
Best paying jobs in America go to the athletes.
Neckties, convertibles, dreamy.
Two G's. Dump the game.
It seems you have a brain. Dump the game.
You make me proud, boy, proud. Dump the game.
Get all you can out of it. Dump the game.
Operator, give me the number of the Drake Hotel.
On the rebounds, miss the ball now and then.
You got that? Yeah.
Throw hook shots over the basket.
When you get rebounds, don't pass so quick.
This way, you might flub two points.
Yeah, don't try too hard to block the other guy's shot.
Don't cover too close.
All right, all right.
When do you want to see me again?
We don't.
Well, how about the dough?
Here it is.
We'll take it.
But suppose something goes wrong?
Look, Hudson, you got to stop acting like a hick.
There'll be more than a million bucks spent on this ball game from New York to L.A.
If something, anything goes wrong, we're going to kill you.
Get the picture?
I just wonder if you guys get it.
What do you mean by that?
I mean, well, you guys think we're a bunch of hicks.
What do you think?
Could be.
But we know basketball.
Even grammar school kids, they know the game.
So what?
So I hope we get away with it.
It's your problem, Freddy.
Just remember, don't try anything.
Don't stink up the joint or you'll be dead.
Well, they seem to have Hudson pretty well bottled up.
He sunk one free throw in a field goal all evening.
And time's beginning to run out.
Just 11 minutes to go and the score, Rudd 51, McKay 46.
Take it, Mom.
Go on, use it for the house.
$25?
Where'd you get it?
I won it poppin' a basketball pool.
What luck.
Skill, that's what it is.
That boy knows basketball.
You feel good, Freddy?
You gonna play Good Friday Night?
Yeah, I feel okay.
Freddy, don't you want some of this?
Well, I already took a few bucks.
I bought some neckties.
Well, why don't you wear them?
I don't like them.
They're uncomfortable.
Uncomfortable? A necktie?
Please, Ma, please, cut it out.
All right, Freddy, all right.
Hello, Jeannie.
Well, where have you been?
Around. Here's some flowers for you.
Oh, they're dreamy.
I've missed you, Freddy.
I thought you were still thrashing around with Charlie Mason.
Oh, I gave him the brush, that phony.
And what'd I tell you?
You know where he gets all his money?
He steals it from his father.
Steals it?
Yeah, he told me.
But it's detestable.
Come on in.
Jeannie, I gotta be going.
But you just got here.
I know.
Bye, Jeannie.
Dr. Kellogg?
Oh, hello, Fred. Come in.
Thank you.
Dr. Kellogg, what was that poem you were talking about yesterday?
The one Lincoln kept on his desk?
It's an old one.
I mean, how does it go again?
It goes,
Do what thy manhood bids thee do,
From none but self expect applause.
He noblest lives and noblest dies,
Who makes and keeps his self-made laws.
Is that what you mean?
Yeah, that's what I mean.
Thirty-three seconds left to play, and Rudd leading 60 to 59.
It's McKay's time out.
Believe you me, this has been a ball game.
Although half the fans here are disappointed they came to see Hudson,
and all night they've been riding him.
Fred seems to be off his feet, he's playing ragged ball.
And there's the whistle.
Stern brings the ball into play, passes to French.
Twenty seconds, French makes to Hudson.
Fred, wake up.
You dreaming?
It's detestable, detestable, detestable.
I'm proud of you, boy.
Do what thy manhood bids thee do.
Don't stay up and join, or you'll be dead.
Now you're moving, Freddy.
He passes to Hudson in mid-floor, Freddy shoots, the ball's in the high arc,
and it's in, it's in.
And the game is over.
Hudson pulled that one out of the fire, believe you me.
Great ball player, Freddy, when the chips are down.
This is their room, Fred.
I'm going in with you.
No, no, no, this is a personal...
But...
I think they ruined my life.
I'm going to ruin theirs.
Fred, I'm going to get the hotel cop.
Well, the all-American boy.
This saves us the trouble of coming after you.
Here's your money.
I bought a couple of ties, I gave my mother $25.
And I'm going to kill you both with my bare hands.
Stay away from that gun.
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you.
Fred, quit it, will you?
Cut it out, Fred.
You want to murder them?
Okay, okay.
Well, the bus will be here any minute.
Dress warm, Freddy.
Get enough to eat.
I will, Mom.
I'll send you some money as soon as I get a job.
Oh, Fred.
Yes, Dr. Kellogg?
I'd like you to have this book.
It's Spengler.
I want you to know I did all I could.
I know.
They had expelled me.
Where are you going, Fred?
As far as $27 will take me.
Eight loving cups and a varsity sweater.
Hocked, $27.
I'll wait for you, Freddy.
Honest, I will.
I'll wait for you, Freddy.
Honest, I will.
I'll wait for you, Freddy.
Honest, I will.
I'll wait for you, Freddy.
Honest, I will.
I'll wait for you, Freddy.
Honest, I will.
Well, I'll be seeing you in the advertisements.
Advertisements, darling.
I looked it up.
One's as good as the other.
Fred.
You're a good boy, Freddy.
Yeah, Pop.
I'm one in a million.
Suspense.
Attempted by Auto Light, tonight's star, Mr. Tony Curtis.
And here he is again, stepping out of his role as the All American basketball player,
Universal International's handsome young star, Tony Curtis.
Thank you, Harlow.
And thanks to Auto Light for this opportunity to appear on suspense.
Tony, the pleasure was ours.
You played a splendid game of basketball.
I was nothing, coach.
Just had a good support.
It was teamwork, Tony.
Now, take that famous Auto Light team.
I know, Harlow.
The Auto Light spark plugs, the Auto Light staple battery, designed to work as a team
by the same Auto Light engineers who design complete ignition systems.
I know, Harlow.
In 28 plants, Auto Light makes over 400 products for cars, trucks, tractors, planes, and boats.
I know, Harlow.
It's a great team.
Right you are, Tony.
In fact, you're always right with Auto Light.
Next week on Suspense, our star will be Miss Jean Crane in another story based on actual
events concerning a wife who discovers she is married to the murderer among us, a dramatic
report we call the Case Study of a Murderer.
In weeks to come, we shall also present Mr. Herbert Marshall, Mr. Cornell Wild, and Mr.
Ray Milan, all on Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with music composed by Lucian Morrowick
and conducted by Ludd Gluskin.
The McKay College basketball scandal was written for Suspense by Millard Kaufman.
Featured in tonight's cast were Joseph Kearns as Dr. Kellogg, Martha Wentworth as Mrs. Hudson,
Lou Merrill as Mr. Hudson, Barbara Eyler as Jean.
Also heard were Jack Moyles, Bill Foreman, Jack Crouchon, Gil Stratton, Jr., and Leo
Cleary.
Tony Curtis can now be seen in The Prince Who Was a Thief, an international Universal
Technicolor production costarring Piper Laurie.
For the location of your nearest authorized auto light service station or your nearest
auto light spark plug or battery dealer, phone Western Union by number and ask for operator
25.
Switch to auto light.
Good night.
This is the CBS Radio Network.