Suspense.
And the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, the master of mystery and adventure,
William N. Robeson.
They say there's a thin line between love and hate.
And if it's true that it's love that makes the world go round, perhaps hate could bring
it to a standstill.
It's been tried with rather tedious frequency for the past several thousand years.
And if the haters keep at it, they may finally make it.
Unless, as in the upcoming play, love wants more triumphs.
Listen then, as Charles McGrath stars in 227 Minutes of Hate, a tale well calculated to
keep you in...
Suspense.
You look at the calendar hanging on the wall and you wonder if it's you or the day that
makes it look so uninspiring.
And you decide it's the calendar.
They just aren't making good calendars anymore.
You squirm around in your chair and take a look at the clock.
Eleven forty-four.
Eleven forty-four of a Friday morning that shouldn't have happened.
It's that dull.
You swing back to your desk and pick up the phone.
Detective Bureau, Lieutenant McDougal speaking.
Hello, Lieutenant.
This is Bill Rand out at the Hillway Airport.
Yes, Mr. Rand.
What can we do for you?
Well, I want to report a stolen plane.
I see.
A what?
An airplane.
It's been stolen.
I want to report it.
Well, now look, Mr. Rand, we take reports on stolen articles here, cars, things like
that, but a stolen airplane...
I know there isn't much anyone can do about a stolen plane, but the trouble is it's in
the air.
Well, that figures.
The man who's flying it can't fly.
Well, in that case, you have nothing to...
What?
You have nothing to stop him, but he had a gun.
Oh, now just a minute, Mr. Rand.
Suppose we begin at the beginning.
Well, this guy, he goofs around the field all the time, one of those hanger pliers, but
today he showed up around 11 o'clock and said he decided to start taking lessons, so...
Hold up, Mr. Rand, just a moment.
Mike?
Yeah, Mac?
Get on the extension and take this report.
Okay.
Now, Mr. Rand, what was the man's name?
Reagan.
Charles Reagan.
His address?
423...
Excuse me, Mr. Rand.
My other phone's ringing.
You go ahead and give the report to the sergeant.
I'll be back with you in a minute.
Okay.
Hello.
Detective Bureau Lieutenant McDougal speaking.
Oh, yes.
Yeah.
Now, wait a moment.
Where are you calling from?
Yeah, I see.
Yeah.
Yeah, all right.
Yeah, all right.
Fine, Mrs. Stevens.
We'll see what we can do right away, and thanks for calling.
Mr. Rand?
Yes, Lieutenant?
I think we found your plane.
Oh, that's great.
Where is it?
Well, the lady I just talked to wasn't too accurate, but according to her, it was flying
up and down in front of her house on Delaware Street.
Flying up and down?
Well, that's the lady's way of putting it.
I figure what she meant was that it was buzzing the street in front of her house.
Good Lord, Lieutenant, he's liable to crash that thing.
You gotta do something.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think you're right, Mr. Rand, but there's only one thing I'd like to ask you.
Yes?
What would you suggest?
Yeah, the man's right.
You gotta do something.
But what?
Reach out with a long arm and pull the trigger.
What?
You gotta do something, but what, reach out with a long arm and pluck the plane out of
the sky?
Put out a call to the radio cars and tell them to bring in an idiot in a stolen plane?
You look at the report that Frank's taken and you try to figure out your first move.
Any move.
Here's a fellow's name and address.
Yeah, it's probably a phony.
No, I don't think so, Lieutenant.
Rand said he got it off the man's driver's license.
Yeah, well, we can take a run out there, I guess, but it isn't gonna help us to get him
down.
Did Rand say anything to you about why he thought the guy wanted the plane?
No, no.
He said he acted fine until I got out to the takeoff line and warmed up the engine.
And he said the guy suddenly pulled his gun out and shoved it in his ribs and told him
to get out.
So he got out.
What would you do, Lieutenant?
I'd get out.
I'll get it with Frank.
Yeah.
Detective Bureau Sergeant Kelly speaking.
Yes, sir.
Yes, we've already got a report on that, sir.
Where are you calling from?
The courthouse.
Yes, sir.
Yes, we'll do all we can, sir.
Thank you.
Now what?
The plane just rolled its wheels on the roof of the courthouse.
They got a panic on their hands down there.
All right, Frank, get out a bulletin to the Civil Defense people.
Alert the fire department, the sheriff's office, all of our cars.
Tell them what we've gotten to expect anything.
I'm gonna see if the Air Force can help us.
You grab your phone and call the air base on the edge of town.
It takes a little doing, but finally you get a colonel who's interested but firm.
Look, Lieutenant, I assure you we'd like to help, but what can we do?
Well, I thought maybe you could scramble a couple of your planes and, well, sort of head
him off, make him go away from the city.
I'm afraid our jets can't fly that slow, Lieutenant.
Yeah, yeah, I see what you mean.
Only somebody's got to do something to get this guy down before he kills a lot of people.
Has he got a radio on his plane?
I don't know.
Wait a minute, hold on a minute, Colonel.
Did Rand say anything about a radio in the plane?
He didn't mention it, Lieutenant.
We don't know, Colonel.
Well, I was thinking that if he had a radio and he had it turned on the tower frequency,
we could contact him from here.
At least talk to him.
Well, look, can you try it?
If you can get him, maybe we can make him see what he's doing.
What's the number and make of his ship?
Wait a minute, I got it here in the report somewhere.
Oh yeah, here it is.
It's a Cessna single engine, number N4091.
Is that what you want?
That's it.
If you want to wait on the phone, I'll have the tower put on a call right away.
Yeah, yeah, fine.
I'll wait.
You sit there waiting for the Colonel to come back and the minutes tick by and you try to
figure out some way to do this thing right and you can't.
If he has a radio, if he has the radio turned on, if, why would he have it on?
You listen to the phones and you hear Frank and the other people in the office taking
calls.
They're coming in faster now and they're all about the same thing.
An airplane with a fool in it who seems to be trying to kill himself.
He's trying to kill himself, of course.
But you can talk suicides out of it.
You've done it more than once.
Then the Colonel's back on the phone again.
No luck, Lieutenant.
He either doesn't have a radio or he doesn't have it turned on.
We called him on all the frequencies and there was no answer.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, well, thanks for trying anyway, Colonel.
You might keep calling.
I'll do that.
And if we raise him, where can we reach you?
Call the detective bureau and ask for me.
They can get me in my car if I'm out.
And thanks, incidentally, very much.
Hillway Airport, Bill Rand speaking.
Hello, Mr. Rand.
This is Lieutenant McDougal.
Oh, yeah, Lieutenant.
You got a line on my plane yet?
Now, listen, Rand, did that ship have a radio in it?
Yes.
Well, good.
Was it turned on?
Well, sure, I'm sure.
I turned it on myself.
Well, the air base tower's been trying to reach the plane.
It doesn't answer.
It doesn't answer?
Oh, wait a minute.
I remember.
While we were taxiing out to the flight line, I turned it down.
Why?
Well, I'd already gotten tower clearance.
Oh, but if it's on, why can't this character hear it?
The engine noise would be too loud.
Oh, great.
Okay, Mr. Rand, thanks.
Frank.
Yes, Lieutenant.
We can't do anything here but answer phones.
Let's take a ride out to the guy's address and see what we can find.
Maybe he's got a wife that can tell us something.
Such as what?
Such as how do I know such as.
We can't sit around here waiting until he's crashed.
At least we might find out why he's doing what he's doing.
Okay, Lieutenant.
Come on, let's go.
Nice looking place.
Yeah, I hope someone's home.
Yeah.
Yes?
Mrs. Regan?
Yes.
I'm Lieutenant McDougal. This is Sergeant Kelly.
Police?
We're from the Detective Bureau. Your husband is Charles Regan?
Yes, that's right, but...
I wonder if we could talk to her for a moment, Mrs. Regan, about your husband.
Well, yes, of course, but is something wrong? Is he hurt?
No, not yet, Mrs. Regan, but tell me, has he ever flown an airplane?
Charles? Why, no.
Oh, he sometimes goes out and hangs around the airport out at Hillway, but...
Oh, but he's never flown a plane. I don't think he's even been up in one.
Can you think of any reason why he might want to take a plane?
Take a plane?
Fly one, Mrs. Regan. You know, take it up into the air.
Now, what's this all about? These questions don't make any sense.
Well, what's happened doesn't make sense to us, either.
Your husband went out to the Hillway airport less than an hour ago, Mrs. Regan,
and took an airplane away from the flying instructor, and he flew off in it.
What? He could kill himself?
No any reason why your husband would want to kill himself, Mrs. Regan?
No.
Everything all right between the two of you?
I resent that, Lieutenant.
I'm sorry, ma'am, but sometimes we have to ask questions like that.
Of course everything is all right between us, only...
Only what?
Well, Chuck... Chuck doesn't like people much.
He sort of feels everyone's against him. He's so full of hate.
And then this morning...
What happened this morning?
He was fired. He came home around 10.30 and told me he was fired.
Where did he work?
At the television station.
What kind of work did he do there?
Well, he's sort of an idea man. He thinks up scripts and ideas and all.
He has a lot of talent.
I'm sure he has, ma'am.
Somehow they just don't appreciate him.
When they fired him this morning, it was the last straw.
He was like somebody I didn't know.
I'll show them, he said. I'll show them. I hate them. I hate them all.
Does he hate you, Mrs. Regan?
Oh, no, Lieutenant. No, Chuck loves me.
Oh, no, I can't believe it.
Of course my husband was upset, almost sick maybe, but he wouldn't do anything like this.
Wouldn't he?
Look up there. N-4-0-9-1. That's the plane, Lieutenant.
Is that your husband, Mrs. Regan?
Yes. Yes, I can see him. He's waving to me. Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!
Fifteen f-
And now we continue with 227 Minutes of Hate, starring Charles McGraw.
A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Now you have a little more to go on. Not much, but a little.
Now you know that Charles Regan is sick with hate.
A hate that has given him the nerve to steal an airplane and the courage to fly it.
Hate that may destroy him and who knows how many other people.
You have to know more about this sick man before you can even begin to help him.
And you haven't much time. His gas tank is racing the second-hand right toward death.
So you tell Mrs. Regan to stay near her phone in case you need her.
And your next stop is the television station where Regan was employed up until this morning.
The picture becomes a little more clear as you talk with the station manager, Carl Van Alder.
He must be crazy. He's got to be.
Why did you fire him, Mr. Alder?
I didn't fire him. I let him go.
Why?
Well, don't you try to implicate me in this insanity.
But why did you let him go?
He couldn't cut the mustard.
I understand from his wife that he had a lot of talent.
Well, I'm the judge of talent around here.
And in my book, if I ran this station on the judgment of housewives, I wouldn't be in business very long.
Has Regan been back around here yet?
Back here? You said he was up in the air.
Well, that's exactly what I mean. Back around here in that plane.
Why should he come back here?
Well, I've got the impression that Regan's awfully sore at someone.
And my hunch is that that someone is you.
A man has the right to run his business as he sees fit.
Oh, of course, Mr. Van Alder.
And a man has a right to get mad about the way you run your business.
Now, if the man is mad enough to go out and steal a plane, he can't...
Crazy enough, you mean?
Perhaps.
If the man is that mad, I've got a funny feeling he wouldn't stop there.
What are you driving at?
I have a feeling that a man that full of hate would...
Well, he would go for the man who hurt him.
Hurt?
Yeah, hurt. Like the guy who fired him.
If I were that mad, I might even fly my airplane into the building where he worked.
Nonsense.
Well, maybe.
But if I were you, I'd start thinking about evacuating this place.
Evacuate? Evacuate the building? Why, that's absurd.
Not if someone's thinking about flying an airplane down your throat.
Lieutenant McDougall, you're a policeman.
Naturally, you think of things from your point of view.
But think of mine for a minute.
I thought I was.
Oh, I don't mean my personal safety.
I have a public trust. I must stay on the air.
And then, well, think of the miserable publicity the station would get if all of a sudden,
in the middle of a broadcasting day, I shut down and ordered everyone to leave the building.
Why, it could be embarrassing.
It could be pretty embarrassing, Mr. Van Alder,
if you didn't order your people out and your former employee flew his airplane right through your roof and killed them all.
He wouldn't dare.
He might.
Well, I won't do it, Lieutenant.
I will not be intimidated by a crazy man.
Besides, I don't think he has the nerve.
He had the nerve to steal the plane and he saw it you.
And he's flying around over the city like a punch-drunk moth.
You don't think he'll do it? Well, I do.
And I hope above everything else that I'm wrong.
I'll put out some bulletins, Lieutenant.
Warn the people about what's going on.
I'll use what facilities I can.
I'll do a public service job, but I will not order an evacuation.
That I will not do.
Okay, at least it might happen.
Good Lord!
You got an antenna on the top of this building, Mr. Van Alder?
Yes, of course.
Two of them, as a matter of fact.
Well, I think your friend just flew between them.
He flies pretty good for a guy that doesn't know how to fly.
But he can't do that. He might hit them. He might...
He might even want to, if he's a sore Jew as I think he is.
Well, you've got to do something!
Yeah, yeah, I know.
In fact, I heard that somewhere else today, and you know what, Mr. Van Alder?
What?
I'm beginning to get a little tired of it.
Yeah, you're getting a little tired of it.
And very tired of Van Alder.
You can almost begin to feel sorry for Regan.
But then he makes another pass in hours.
You forget about being sorry for him.
As a matter of fact, you start thinking about getting out of there.
Then Van Alder's secretary fuzzes him and says there's a phone call for you.
Pick up the phone and... the Colonel of the Air Force.
I'm glad I found you, Lieutenant. We've made contact with the plane.
You have?
Yes, we got on the radio.
He answered our call and we've got him on the tower frequency.
Look, look, that's great. Now just keep him occupied.
Keep him talking. Say anything to keep him from thinking up new stunts in that thing.
Look, can you do that?
We can try, Lieutenant.
I'll be there as fast as I can make it.
Air Force 306, you're clear for straight in approach.
Traffic 3F86 outbound.
1T33 on final. Over.
Roger, clear for straight in approach. Air Force 306.
Hello, Lieutenant. I'm glad you got here so fast.
You still got him, Colonel?
Yeah, we've been talking to him. He's not too receptive.
How'd you get him to turn around?
He's got a good sense of direction.
He's got a good sense of direction.
He's got a good sense of direction.
Yeah, we've been talking to him. He's not too receptive.
How'd you get him to turn up his radio?
Must have been a fluke.
Evidently he made a fairly steep dive on something and when he pulled up his knee hit the volume knob.
First thing we knew he answered one of our calls.
Well, look, I want to talk to him. Can you get him for me?
Sure. Try the Cessna again, will you, Sergeant?
Yes, sir.
Hello, Cessna. 4091.
This is Air Force tower calling.
Calling Cessna 4091.
This is Air Force tower calling.
Hello, Air Force. This is me. What's on your mind now?
Let me have that mic.
Hello. Regan, can you hear me, Regan?
Yeah, sure I can hear you. Who are you?
I'm Lieutenant McDougal of the Detective Bureau.
Now listen, Regan, I want you to fly that plane away from the city.
Sorry, Lieutenant. I'm kind of getting the like in up here over the city and I'm going to stay here.
Look, Regan, you've got to think of the people who are going to get killed if you crash that thing into a building.
I've been thinking of them, Lieutenant. And I'm sorry for them, but I've got something to do that's more important.
Listen to me, Regan. Go ahead, kill yourself if that's what you want to do.
But don't kill a lot of innocent people while you're doing it.
Lieutenant, you're wasting your time.
I'm getting so, I can aim this plane pretty well.
As soon as I get tired of flying around the city, I'm going to fly right into those towers on top of the television station.
I've been pretty close a couple of times.
When I get ready, I won't be close. I'll be right on target.
Regan.
Regan, you're acting like a kid who lost his lollipop.
So you got fired. A lot of people get fired. A lot of people get fired and don't deserve it.
But they don't go out and try to kill everybody.
If you say you can aim that plane pretty well, okay.
Aim it towards the Air Force Base on the edge of town. You ought to be able to find it.
We'll get the crash trucks out and we'll do everything we can to...
Save it, Lieutenant, save it.
If you want to use those crash trucks, send them over to the television station.
I'll give them a show they won't forget for a long time.
Now, knock it off. You bought me.
Regan. Regan! Listen, Regan, answer me!
His radio's still on, sir. I can hear the carrier hum.
Yeah.
Frank.
Yeah, Lieutenant.
Get on the phone and tell the boys to start evacuating the television station immediately.
Right.
And ask Radio Central to get a car to Mrs. Regan's house and bring her out here. Tell them to hurry.
Maybe she can talk some sense into him.
You light a cigarette and stand in the control tower listening to the babble of voices from the sky.
And you try to think what you've left undone.
The clock says 2 14.
Two hours and 29 minutes since that phone call that started this nightmare.
And you're no better off now than you were then.
You suddenly think of Rand's report and the words gas aboard.
Approximately three hours.
He'd only run out of gas in the country somewhere, but you know he won't.
You know he means what he said about flying down into the towers.
And you begin to get scared.
The clock moves around at 2 45.
You've called Regan regularly and he's answered twice.
And his answers haven't helped.
And then at last Mrs. Regan arrives.
Lieutenant, have you talked to him?
Yes, Mrs. Regan, but he won't listen to me. Maybe he'll listen to you.
What can I tell him?
You can tell him you love him.
You can tell him whatever a woman tells the man she's in love with that'll make him listen.
There's very little time left. You're the last chance we have.
Mrs. Regan, before you talk to him I think you ought to know something.
Yes.
We've offered to help him land the plane here.
We can do that. We've done it in bad weather with people who have very little experience.
The truck's never flown before.
I know Mrs. Regan, but the main thing is to get him to come over here and make his try where we can help him.
I want you to understand that we can help him if he'll let us.
Yes, yes, thank you.
We're going to call him now Mrs. Regan. And if he doesn't answer me I'll give you the mic.
You can call him, okay?
Yes, yes, yes, all right. All right.
Hello, Regan. Regan, this is Tower calling you, Regan. Can you hear me?
Regan, your wife is here and wants to talk to you.
You try, Mrs. Regan.
Maybe he's not even up there anymore. Maybe.
Maybe. But all we can do is try, Mrs. Regan. Now please.
Like this?
Yes, that's right. Just talk into the mic and ask him to answer you.
Yes.
Chuck.
Chuck, please. If you hear me, please answer me.
I hear you, Lil. But I won't listen, honey. Just go away, please. Let me work this out my own way.
Chuck, they can help you land your plane if you let them. Chuck, please. Please, darling, do what they tell you.
Lil, baby, I'm sorry. I told you how I felt about the job. I told you what they were trying to do to me.
Darling, they weren't doing anything personal to you. Maybe they didn't understand you, but...
They talked, but they never come through. Well, I'm going to come through for them, Lil.
I'm going to put this thing right down their throats. I'll give them something to remember Charlie Regan for.
He's getting hysterical, Mrs. Regan. Make him mad or something. Say something to get him back.
Chuck. Chuck, please. You can work somewhere else. You can get another job. You've got talent. And you're young. And I love you. I love you.
Lil? Lil, baby. Listen, baby, I don't want to hurt you. I never wanted to do anything to hurt you. I've got to do this now. Don't you see? I can't quit this time.
You won't be quitting. You'll be winning, Chuck. Don't you see, darling? You'll be winning.
Oh, baby, I don't want to hurt you. Bring the plane over here, Chuck. Please let them help you. Please.
But I... I don't know whether I can do it. I don't know whether I can get the thing down even if I can find the field.
You can try, Chuck. You can try.
Oh. Okay. Okay, I'll try it. And... and honey.
Yes. Yes, darling.
I'm not mad anymore. I'm just scared. And if I don't make it, please know I didn't want to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you.
I know. I know. I don't think you ever wanted to hurt anybody.
We better try to get him over here. He hasn't got much gas left.
Right. Take over, Sergeant. Talk him down.
Yes, sir.
Hello, Regan. Can you read me? Can you hear me all right?
Yeah. I can hear you.
Okay. Now I want you to do just as I tell you. First, climb slowly up to 3,000 feet. Can you do that?
Uh... yeah. I can't, sir. The thing says 1,500 now. Is that the right one?
It should be. Watch it as you climb and see if it goes up.
Yeah, I've been watching it. It goes up and down like I do.
Okay. That's the one. Now, can you see the field from where you are? Look around carefully and see if you can see a big spread out field with several runways. Long concrete strips.
Yeah. Yeah, I can see it. You're pretty far away, but I think you're what I see.
Okay. Now keep climbing and steer towards us. Just take it easy and I'll tell you what to do.
Now I want you to get used to some of the things you're going to have to do when you start letting down for your landing.
First, there's a small lever or a wheel.
You watch in complete fascination as the sergeant speaks. When you find it, calmly, quietly, almost hypnotically, it makes it sound easy, almost like driving a car and you begin to have hope.
You actually begin to dare to hope that you'll work this thing out, get this kid down out of trouble.
You look at the clock and it's 3.07.
Yeah, it's sort of scattered houses and what looks like a dry river bed.
Fine. You're about halfway here. Now when I tell you, I want you to slow down and pull that lever down. I'll tell you when, but think about it so you can do it.
Hey, the engine's buttering. I think it's quitting.
Listen to me, Regan. If it quits, keep the nose down and don't slow down under 80.
It's quit. It's just all finished.
Head for the river bottom. Keep the speed at 80 and head for the river bottom. If you can get there, slow down by easing back on the wheel and let her lose speed when you're right on the sand.
I can't do it. I don't think I can do it.
Chuck, please try. Please. I love you.
What's his chances, Sarge? He could make it. He could make it if he remembers to kill his speed. I don't know.
Don't worry, he'll make it, Mrs. Regan. I'm sure he'll make it.
You say the words, but you don't feel them. You wish you could believe them, but who's kidding?
A guy in an airplane crash landing in a river bed. You know there's not much chance. And you stand there waiting.
And time keeps running, but for you and Mrs. Regan, it's run out.
And then the colonel picks up a phone that suddenly rings and he's excited. And he hands the phone to you and you listen to a voice on the other end.
He's gone right down over my house and banged down on Alpha Alpha. I thought he was going to take the roof off.
How about the pilot? Does he hurt?
I don't figure he is. Won't get out of the plane, but he don't seem to be hurt. Just sits there staring out the window.
Plane ain't hurt much neither, as far as I can see. It just come down and skidded around a little and stopped.
Must be the right good pilot to bring that thing down like that. Real good.
Yeah. Even better than you know. We'll be right out to get him and thanks for calling.
Well, you hang up the phone and reach for a cigarette. And you take the first real breath you've had since 1144 that morning.
Three hours and 47 minutes of fear and terror for hundreds of helpless people because some guy let his hate get away from him.
227 minutes of hate. And you look at Mrs. Regan and you remember the way she sounded when she talked to her husband.
Somehow you feel that it will work out okay for Chuck Regan now that he's got rid of his hate.