Stars' Friends.
I'm the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
a master of mystery and adventure, William N. Robeson.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
When that woman is a reigning movie star,
who has her contract canceled at the height of her career,
the fury can indeed be lethal,
as Miss June Lockhart proves in Shooting Star,
which begins exactly one minute from now.
Miss June Lockhart as Gay Lancer in Shooting Star,
a tale well calculated to keep you in...
suspense.
These contract players, Dave,
Martin, Richard, Doc, cancel them.
Richard?
Uh-huh, but I thought you were...
So I play Jane with him and he goes with my daughter.
I don't do business that way.
Well, I just meant I thought the boy was pretty good.
I can't use him.
That's all, Dave.
Yeah.
Okay, James.
Oh, Jeff.
Now, see here, Jeff,
I don't want to hear any more trouble about Dark Lady.
If it's the day of my funeral,
that picture starts rolling on the 17th.
I know Laura Bevin's is expensive,
but get her for this picture.
And bring the papers to my place in the desert.
I'll sign them there.
All right.
Goodbye.
Eh...
Yes?
Mr. Benjamin Crown to see you, Mr. Zimmer.
Oh.
All right, send him in.
Mrs. Davis?
Yes, Mr. Zimmer?
Tell Haynes to bring my car around.
Yes, Mr. Zimmer.
Well, good afternoon, J.D.
Hello, Ben.
How's the arthritis?
Not so good.
That's too bad.
Going to the desert for the weekend.
That's a place.
Bake it out.
Yeah.
I, uh, wanted to talk to you about Gay Lansing, J.D.
You ever thought about it?
For Dark Lady?
Yeah.
I thought about it.
And?
She's not a type.
Not the type,
listening with an Italian hair cut.
She can't act.
How would you know?
Have you ever given her a chance?
Loss of bandage,
graze and sequins and feathers,
she's got the bill for it,
even if she don't sing so good.
But that ain't what the public wants these days.
Now they want James in sweatshirts
and Levi's in no makeup.
James like Laura Bevin.
Don't ask me why.
That's the way it is.
But if I don't give them what they want,
I ain't gonna be in business very long.
Gay's got what it takes, J.D.
Then take it somewhere else.
Aren't you being a bit...
Now listen, Benny, you got no beef.
You've had a piece of Gay from the beginning.
15%, they tell me, instead of the usual 10.
That's got nothing to do with it.
And who delivered her to you?
Who told her you were the only agent for her?
Who, her?
You did, J.D.
Okay, now I'm telling you, she's at the end of the line.
This is gonna be rough on her.
Yeah, and on me, too.
Listen, pal, I'll tell you what I'll do.
I'll make it up to you, see?
I'll deliver Laura Bevin.
Mickey Harrow, it's handled.
They won't after I tell her you're going to handle her.
Well, that's awful nice of you, J.D.
I still don't feel right about Gay.
Are you going soft or something?
There ain't no room for sentiment in this business.
You'll be taken care of.
You'll get yours.
So what do you got to worry about?
Turn the blinds up, turn the blinds up.
Everyone looks up, everyone looks up, everyone looks up.
Cops at the print, get a lily rip it up, then hit me.
Gay!
Oh, Ben, hello.
I gotta talk to you, J.D.
Oh, come on into my dressing room where I can sit down and take my shoes off.
Oh, I've never been so tired.
It's harder every time, Benny.
Thank heavens this dance marathon is nearly over.
And thank heavens this is my last musical.
Gay, I've just seen Zimmer.
Oh, Benny, what did he say about Dark Lady?
He said no, Gay.
No?
They're signing Laura Bevin.
Laura Bevin?
Look, what kind of an agent are you?
I'm sorry, Gay, that's the way it is.
So my next picture will be another super multicolored musical mishmash.
Gay, they're not renewing.
They're not what?
They're dropping your options.
But I...
Oh, you must be kidding.
Look, I've been with this studio since I was 16.
Half my life.
I've blown all my pictures out.
J.D. thinks the musical cycle is over.
He thinks my cycle's over, is that it?
He didn't say that, Gay.
Just like that.
Look, ZSP isn't the only studio in Hollywood.
Just this morning I was talking with Harry Westerfeld out of Modern Pictures.
He says...
Look out, give me my coat.
Where are you going?
Now, Gay, take it easy.
Look, look, look.
You change and I'll drive you home.
You'll feel better.
Feel?
How would you know how I feel?
Gay, I'll figure something.
I'll call J.D. at Palm Desert over the weekend.
Don't bother.
I'll handle this myself.
Yeah?
Jerry?
Yeah.
Hello, Iris.
I've been calling you all over.
What are you doing at the desert?
Right now I'm having a high ball.
In a couple of minutes I'm going to take a sunbathe.
But your brother and his wife are coming to dinner tonight.
Yeah.
That's why I'm here.
Oh, Jerry, you could be a little more considerate.
You could have let me know.
Listen, Iris, I stopped punching a time clock a long time ago.
I'm not checking up on you, honey.
Only...
Only what?
Who's down there with you?
Nobody.
I sent Haynes back with the car.
But he'll take care of you.
Get your food.
I'll have my meal sent in.
Honey, are you angry with me?
No.
I just don't want to be around when that leech of a brother of mine shows up.
You know, I can't stand him.
I can't either, really.
I'm just trying to be polite.
Okay, so be polite.
And let me know when he and his wife check out.
I'd much rather be with you, Jerry.
Well, you know where I am.
Wouldn't you like that?
Just the two of us this weekend, a sort of second honeymoon?
Yeah.
Sounds great.
You don't seem very enthusiastic.
Oh, listen, honey, will you get off my back?
I've got to get some sun before it's all gone.
All right, Jerry.
I'll talk to you later.
Okay?
Okay, Jerry.
Hello, J.D.
Gay?
What are you doing here?
I just drove down for a little conference.
I understand you want to drop my contract.
Oh.
Bet he told you already, huh?
I'm sorry about that, Gay, but the stockholders feel...
I've heard that routine before.
You're not dropping me, J.D.
You're drawing up a new contract for $3,000 a week.
Seven years and no options.
And you're giving me the lead in Dark Lady.
Now, look, Gay...
I want you to call the studio now and arrange it.
Now, Gay, you're being ridiculous.
After all, in today's market, the exhibitors...
I mean what I say, J.D.
Gay?
Quite a conversation piece, isn't it?
So small, and the little pearl handle.
But it shoots real bullets.
I'd advise you to respect it.
But this isn't like you, Gay.
Perhaps you just don't know me very well.
Go on, get on that phone, J.D., and be careful.
Let's see how good an actor you are.
Go on.
All right.
Hello, operator.
Get me Hollywood 6-2424.
Now, you know how foolish you're being, gay wife.
I even hinted to Screen Actors Guild what should...
No, you can't scare me.
Legal department?
Mr. Mitchell, please.
Now, if I tell Owen to go ahead with this,
Legal is going to have a mess on their hands with Laura Bevin.
I couldn't care less.
Hello, Owen. This is J.D.
I...
I want you to draw up a new contract for Gay Lansing.
For seven years.
That's what I said.
Three thousand a week.
No options.
The part. Put it in the contract.
She's to star in Dark Lady.
Put that in the contract.
Right.
When you work it out...
Very good, J.D.
How far do you think you can go with this, gay?
Monday morning I'll cancel that contract
and you'll be blackballed by every studio in town.
No. Oh, no.
Because now, J.D., I'm going to kill you.
Huh?
Yes.
I'm going to kill you, but not right away.
Oh, you don't deserve that.
I can't let you die with your complacency unshaken,
your smugness unbroken.
Stay back.
Give me that...
Oh, oh, my arm.
Oh, my arm. Oh, I think it's broken.
No, it isn't. It's just twisted.
You have yourself to thank for that, J.D.
You had an expert teach me judo, remember?
For that wax musical.
Go on, get up.
J...J...
Why don't you sit down and...
and we'll talk this over?
You think I'm crazy, don't you?
No, no, no. I...I think you're...
tired.
I'm quite sane, J.D. I want you to understand that.
Now, let me see.
Last year, you used a folding wheelchair when your knee was bad.
Where is it?
I don't know. The hall, maybe?
We'll have a look, then.
Go on, J.D. Walk.
Open the door.
Oh, here it is.
All right. Open it up and wheel it out here.
Now, sit down.
Go ahead.
Now, look.
The belt off my jacket should do nicely.
Now, this should hold you.
And if I need you in another room, I can just wheel you there.
And I won't have to keep the gun pointed out. That's rude, I know.
There.
Are you comfortable?
J, this is a very poor joke.
Oh, I don't like to do this, J.D. I am not a criminal.
I made a phone call. Your contract is being drawn up. Now...
Now, let's have a drink and...
You remember the first time you saw me?
You...
You were in the chorus of one of Daly's reviews.
Not the chorus. I had a specialty.
Even at first I had a specialty.
Forty dollars a week. Oh, I thought I'd arrived.
I was just sixteen.
And then Zimmer Productions signed you up ten times, that figure.
And I made the Sunshine Girl.
Do you remember how things were with ZSP in those days?
The studio was bankrupt. But I saved you.
Oh, they liked the Sunshine Girl.
And little by little I climbed to success.
With Zimmer Star Productions on my shoulders...
The favor worked both ways, Gay.
How many girls attend premieres of their own picture before they're seventeen?
And did you know how I worked for those premieres and contracts?
I've danced my heart out.
I even risked my life for you.
You were never asked to do that.
And when you had the bright idea of a dance routine on a thirty foot globe, I did it.
Oh, I still have nightmares about it.
The lights in my eyes.
I whirl. I smile.
The music goes faster and faster.
I look down.
I fall.
It was eight months before I danced again.
Gay, you've always been our most reliable star.
Oh, I have, haven't I?
No undue husbands, scandals, or temperament.
Why break your record?
You use me up and then throw me out.
You've done enough to me in my career.
Tomorrow you'll be the headline.
An unfortunate accident.
Huh? What are you talking about?
You don't swim, do you?
A villa in Palm Desert with a pool.
A cottage at Carmel with a private beach.
A ranch in Oregon with a private lake.
But you don't swim, do you, J.D.?
You wouldn't.
No, not yet.
Tonight I'm going to set a time.
Say nine o'clock.
That'll give you three hours and forty odd minutes to think about it.
They'll arrest you. You'll go to jail.
What's that?
I don't know.
I thought you weren't expecting any.
Well, I'm not.
Who is it, J.D.? Now let's not play games.
Maybe it's the delivery boy. I ordered some liquor.
Well, I'll handle him.
How?
Oh, never mind.
Now, look, I'm going to put you in the den and gag you.
If I were you, J.D., I'd be very, very cooperative.
It wouldn't bother me in the least to kill the delivery boy
and then make it look as though you did it.
In a moment, we continue with...
Suspense.
We continue with Miss June Lockhart in Shooting Star.
A tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
Coming.
Oh, hello.
Delivery for Mr. Zimmer.
Can you bring him in?
Yes. Come in.
Where do you want this stuff?
Over here in the bar.
You mind?
No.
It's sort of hot this late in the afternoon, isn't it?
Could you use a drink?
Sure. Why not?
Is Scott okay?
Yeah, he's fine.
Say, I thought Mr. Zimmer was here alone this time.
He is, technically. I'm his secretary.
You know, say...
Mm-hmm. Here you are.
Thanks. Hello. Bottoms up?
Why not?
You know, you're awfully cute.
I get around.
I'll bet you do.
How'd you like to get around me?
Yeah. Yeah.
You gonna be here long?
Well, I...
What's that?
Nothing.
It must be something in the refrigerator I'm defrosting.
Maybe you'd better go now.
Go? Now?
Well, you'd better.
Oh, that's a quick switch.
Okay.
You bet I'll see you again, maybe?
Maybe.
Yeah.
Well, goodbye.
And, uh...
Give my compliments to the old man.
I should be very angry with you, J.D., for knocking over that vase.
I'll remember that at nine o'clock.
Meanwhile, we can take this gag off.
You witch!
That delivery boy!
You not only want to kill me, but my reputation as well!
Your reputation?
Shall I tell you something about your reputation, J.D.?
You're known as a heartless, grasping, slave-driving tyrant.
That's rubbish!
I'm a hard-working man who got ahead by his own effort.
Have you? All by yourself?
How about that brother of yours who lent you $400 to get started?
A rather small-time brother you don't even talk to now.
I happen to know one of the reasons you're here this minute is because he and his family are visiting at your house in Beverly Hills, and you don't want to see him.
Why should I? I've paid that leech back a hundred times.
Then there was the time you took your own partner's wife away from him.
He was making her life miserable.
And what are you making it? You left her alone on your honeymoon, and she's hardly seen you since.
That's not true. I'm a busy man, but I'm a family man, and I won't have you trying to...
You won't be considered a family man after the publicity you're going to get.
Producer dies in love-missed killing.
But then you always taught me any publicity is good publicity.
Even when Eric Allen elopes with someone else on the eve of our wedding, you had the publicity department make a front-page ball of my broken heart.
But Gay, you can't keep down a story like that.
You could have tried. You could have tried.
All right, Gay, look, look. Look, let's say you win. Let's say I've made mistakes.
But I can always do better.
Now, right now I'm tired and hungry, and if you'll just untie me, I'll agree to forget all about tonight.
What do you say? What do you say?
And have you go to the police the moment you're free? Oh, no.
I won't. You have my word. Look, I'll put it in writing.
Well, I think it over. I'll let you know at nine o'clock.
But you do have a point, J.D.
Of course.
About being hungry, that is. I am too starved.
We'll have some dinner sent over from the hotel.
Ah, let's not. No, they'd send a waiter.
And I hate crowds, don't you?
Let's see if your larder is as well stocked as your bar.
If you'll join me?
I'll be right back.
Why, anyone would know you were a member of the gourmet society, J.D.
Cornish game hens, hearts of palm, and brandy peaches.
Quite a snack.
And it's only $7.24.
You have plenty of time to enjoy it.
Will I untie you so you can eat?
Certainly, I'm not hungry.
Oh, but you must eat something.
Dave, you were going to consider my offer.
Oh, yes. Oh, I wouldn't count on it, J.D.
I'm afraid it's a little too late for mercy. Coffee?
No.
Well, let me slice you some of this Gruyere.
What's that? What's what?
There's a car turning in.
Who do you know who drives a pale blue cab convertible?
My wife. It's Iris.
So?
She must have driven down.
And Iris knows you, Gay, you might as well give up the game right now.
Oh, not necessarily.
Twilight. It's dim, dark in the front room.
What are you going to do?
First, gag you. Again.
Don't you lay a finger on my wife.
Don't you touch her, I swear, Gay, I'll learn.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Now I'll wipe off my lipstick and take this broom with me.
Yes, Mom?
Oh, hello. Who are you?
Junaid, Mom, from the hotel. Mr. Zimmer, he wanted some cleaning up done.
Oh, I see.
I'm Mrs. Zimmer. I forgot my keys.
Where is Mr. Zimmer?
Out.
Out?
To dinner. But I thought...
Where was he going, did he say?
Oh, I wouldn't be knowing.
Oh, some club somewhere.
A palm club? Tennis club?
Oh, that might be it. Oh, this is a tennis club.
Oh, well, I'll drive over and join him.
After a drink of water that drives through the desert and simply parks...
Wait, I'll get it for you, Mom.
Oh, no, don't bother. I'll just run out to the kitchen.
Oh, I was that worried I was about his going out.
Him with the mark of the grave on him.
The mark of the...
What are you talking about?
Him with a shadow in his eyes and the pain not ten minutes gone from his heart.
And will he get to bed and let me bring him something?
Who? Not him.
A telephone call and off he goes.
Are you trying to tell me my husband had a heart attack?
It was just a slight one.
When did this happen?
Why not ten minutes after I got here, Mommy?
Oh, I knew it this morning.
I was born with a call and I had the feeling.
The minute I opened my eyes, I said, there'll be trouble this day.
I said...
Oh, do be quiet. I'd better get over there.
Just leave the latch off the door. We won't be late.
Hoping you're not too late, Mom. Goodbye.
Well, J.D., you can talk again now.
What have you done to my wife?
She's gone.
Where is she?
I sent her into town to search for you.
She thinks I'm the maid.
And she thinks I'm a little odd.
The maid?
Why, with the napkin round my head and my lipstick wiped off.
You know, lipstick makes a remarkable difference to a woman.
You know, lipstick makes a remarkable difference to a woman.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Lipstick makes a remarkable difference to a woman.
She'll be back.
When she can't find me, she'll be back.
Not in your lifetime, J.D.
Shall we go into the living room?
Allow me.
The kitchen clock must have been a little slow.
Twenty-two minutes for nine.
Twenty-two minutes, J.D.
Want anything special to pass the time?
J, I...
I...
No.
Nothing.
No?
No entertainment, J.D.?
Then how about a little music on the radio?
Hmm?
Then I'll sit down.
We shall have twenty-one minutes to wait.
I'm really very tired.
It's odd how much planning a murder takes out of one.
One more nut.
Just one.
Oh, my hands free.
There.
Get me the police.
Quickly.
Too late.
Put down that phone.
You thought I was asleep, but I wasn't.
You might say that I was acting.
It's nine o'clock, J.D.
No.
Get up and walk towards the pool.
No.
Get out of that chair.
J, please.
Listen to me.
J, I've been wrong, but I'll make it up to you.
You can have anything.
Money, parts, anything.
J, don't.
Not my life.
Don't take my life.
I beg you.
I beg you.
Don't.
All right, J.D.
The audition's over.
It was rather drastic, perhaps.
And I'm sorry, but it was the only way I knew.
J?
Just an act.
It was all an act, J.D.
The threat.
And that.
The pathos.
The madness.
Even the sexy scene with the delivery boy.
After all, I had to prove to you that I could be something more than a song and dance girl.
You think about it, J.D., while I see who's at the door.
Maybe it's Iris back again.
Why, Liedl, my favorite director and Benny.
Say, what is all this?
I was all set with Laura Bevin for Dark Lady when I got word you were to do it.
I came down to corner J.D. and find out what goes.
He's right in there.
You can ask him.
Why, good evening, J.D.
What's the matter with him?
He's unconscious.
Unconscious?
But he was all right a minute ago.
I'll get some brandy.
Don't bother.
He's dead.
Dead?
Dead.
But he can't be.
He can't.
J.D.
Look at the expression on his face.
Yeah.
He looks scared.
Scared to death.
Suspense.
In which Miss June Lockhart starred in William M. Robeson's production of Shooting Star by Ruth Bourne.
Listen.
Listen again next week when we return with Jeff Chandler and the Mother Tale, well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Supporting Miss Lockhart in Shooting Star were Ellen Morgan, Joe DeSantis, Shepard Menken, Dick Krenna, and Hans Conrad.
This is the CBS Radio Network.
CBS Northeastern Pennsylvania, WGBI AM FM Scranton.