Suspense. And the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, the master of mystery and adventure, William N. Robeson.
Back in the early days of suspense, more than a decade ago, we would not have dared present the story you are about to hear.
You would have said it was implausible, too far-fetched.
But a lot of things that we thought never could happen are commonplace in this age of flying saucers and satellites.
The fantasies of yesterday's science fiction writers are today's humdrum household realities.
It's a long way from the family doctor's sugar-coated pill to the psychiatrist's raw wolfia capsule.
And tomorrow's pharmacology holds for us miracles yet undreamt of.
Our story concerns one of these wonder drugs, which who knows may even now be in the experimental laboratory stage.
Listen, listen then as Barry Kroger stars in It's All in Your Mind, which begins in just a moment.
Another visit with Joe and Daphne Forsythe.
Joe? Joe? Joe, stop reading that paper and talk to me.
I'm listening. Go ahead.
Well, I was talking to Mrs. Snyder today. You know, she's the one whose boy had 31% less cavities.
Uh-huh.
Well, she thinks that we should buy bigger savings bonds.
Uh-huh.
She says that when people can afford it, it makes more sense.
Oh, she says there are a lot of different denominations. They start at $25, but then there are a 50, a 100, 200, and even $500 bonds.
Is that so?
And then with the ones we've already bought through the payroll savings plan, we'd have quite a nest egg.
Uh-huh.
Are you listening to me?
Uh-huh.
Did you know that the total accumulated compounded semi-annual interest of the Series E savings bond will amount to 93 and a third percent of the original purchasing price?
Uh-huh.
I thought so. Joe, what did I say?
Uh, you said that United States savings bonds are a safe, easy way of investing.
I did?
That they help guard our country's freedom.
And?
They're the best investment in America's future.
I said something else, too.
Oh, yeah. You said that the total accumulated compounded semi-annual interest of the Series E savings bond will amount to 93 and one third percent of the original purchase price.
Well, now how did you do that?
Husband's trade secret.
And now...
It's all in your mind, starring Barry Kroger, a tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
For some time, I'd had the feeling that our three lives, the Laramie's and mine, were on a collision course.
If we went on this way, one of us was sure to get hurt.
Perhaps all of us.
But I couldn't stop.
This evening, as I arrived at their house, I felt a strange reluctance to go in, an ominous certainty that the crash was close.
Jack!
Darling.
Hello, Anne. Guess I'm a bit late.
Oh, it's all right. Howard was late getting home, too. He's upstairs changing.
Oh.
How about mixing us a drink?
Sure.
How is Howard?
How is he ever?
New dress?
Mm-hmm. You like?
It's exciting. You're exciting, Mrs. Laramie. Anne, darling.
Oh, there you are, Jack. I thought I heard you.
Hi, Howard. Sorry I'm late.
Oh, I was late myself. Jack, tonight I have something really big to celebrate.
What happened? The company made you a vice president?
Oh, better than that. Remember the experiment I told you about last month?
Which one? You keep so many going at once.
The mental telepathy drug. Here they are.
You mean you've really done it?
Mm-hmm.
Those are your do-it-yourself telepathy pills?
You might put it that way. When absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the brain,
the chemical in these capsules sensitizes the brain to the thought waves of others,
just as the flick of a switch tunes a radio set to a broadcast.
Have you tested these pills, Howard?
Well, no, no. Not completely. That's why I brought these first two home.
I'm going to take one, and the other is for you.
For me? Why me?
Howard, this could be dangerous.
Oh, nonsense, Anne. It's perfectly safe. I've tested the pills on animals.
They're absolutely harmless.
Of course, a monkey can't tell me whether it's reading my mind.
For that, I need a human pig.
It sounds pretty risky, tinkering with the brain.
Why? I dare say you've often tinkered with yours.
Oh, not me. I stay away from black magic.
Ever take a sleeping pill?
Oh, yes, but...
Tranquilizer?
Oh, a couple of times.
Well, you see.
But, but, Howard, reading people's minds...
Oh, why not, Jack? Duke University's experiments have established telepathy as a fact.
Some people can read the minds of others.
I guess so. I don't see how.
Take this capsule, and you will.
You're sure it'll be all right?
Jack, would I subject my best friend to a test if I thought it was dangerous?
Anyway, I have an antidote prepared just in case.
Jack, please don't.
Besides, I'm taking one myself.
Well, I might as well give it a try.
That's the spirit. All right? Bottoms up.
Oh, Howard, this is insane. No telling what it might do to Jack.
Well, how about me? I've taken one.
Oh, I didn't mean that.
Jack, how do you feel?
You notice anything?
No. What should I notice?
Well, if the capsules do what I think they will, you will be aware of our thoughts.
I'm sorry, Howard. I don't get anything like that.
Of course, I'm forgetting it'll take some time for the chemical to reach the brain.
Look, why don't you two go ahead and have dinner, and I'll go back to the lab and prepare equipment for the tests.
You needn't come down for an hour or so.
You mean I've got to take some tests?
Well, naturally. Just a few controlled experiments. It won't take long.
Howard, dinner's almost ready.
Science is more important than dinner, my dear.
An hour, all right, Jack?
Well, okay.
Too bad playing with pills isn't grounds for divorce.
Darling, are you sure you're all right?
All right. I feel wonderful. We have got a whole hour alone together.
Music. Let there be music.
Will you dance, madame?
I'd rather kiss.
Oh, Jack, I never knew what a kiss was before you.
Darling.
When I'm in your arms, it makes me remember I'm a woman.
I come alive all over.
I know. I know.
Darling, kiss me again.
Oh, darling, I can't go on like this. It's unbearable.
Have you asked him for a divorce?
No.
Why not? You promised.
Oh, it's no use, Jack. I know he'd never agree to it. It's too stuffy. Besides, it'd be bad for his career.
This is insane. Three adult people should be able to work this out logically.
Reduced to its simplest equation, three people are one too many. One must go.
One must go.
Yes. One must go.
But how?
Meanwhile, here at home, in the latest of a series of dope deaths, a large drug and research laboratory...
And listen....with rob early this morning of nearly $50,000 worth of narcotics.
Police Chief Hayes assigned ten extra officers...
That's it.
What do you mean? That's what?
Howard is working tonight alone. What if something happened to him and it looked like another dope robbery?
What if something...
If he got in the way of the burgers, they'd have to kill him, wouldn't they?
Why, yes. Of course they would. They'd have to kill him.
In a moment, we continue with the second act of...
Suspense.
Memo on medals. Information about our military awards and decorations.
The awarding of American medals had its beginning during the Revolutionary War.
Certain military and naval commanders were presented gold medals to commemorate their victories.
The first medal in our nation's history was given to General George Washington...
After he had forced the British to evacuate Boston.
That medal is now in the Boston Public Library, where it was placed on exhibit in 1876...
100 years after the historic event it commemorates.
Technically, early medals were not decorations in the strictest sense.
They honored both the victorious event and the officer in charge.
Also, they were not designed to be worn, as later medals were.
Therefore, they were presented in a suitable case for safekeeping.
What we now know as the Purple Heart Medal was originally a badge of cloth material...
specified in Washington's establishing order to be a figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk...
edged with narrow lace or binding.
Foreign decorations and medals are worn to the left of all American decorations.
They are never worn alone, but must appear with at least one American medal.
Few tributes are as meaningful and as cherished as the awards and decorations of our armed forces.
And now, starring Barry Kroger, act two of It's All in Your Mind.
It was after eleven when I got to the Murdoch Laboratories, down by the waterfront...
where the damp air smells of salt and sewage and dead fish.
Looking up through the fog, I saw light on the third floor, the window of the lab.
For a moment, I thought I would be sick, but it passed and I clutched at the gun in my pocket.
I climbed quietly up the stairs and entered the lab.
Was that you, Jack?
Yeah. Ready for the tests?
No, no, not quite. You sit right there. I'll be with you in a moment.
As Howard muttered, I casually questioned him and learned that the lab's supply of narcotics was kept in a locked cabinet in the next room.
The setup was perfect. The police would find the dope missing and Howard dead.
The gun felt cold as my fingers closed on the butt.
I would have sworn. Howard, for a moment I could have sworn I heard you whispering, but I was watching your lips and they didn't move.
Well, it's beginning to work then.
Success. Real success at last. A milestone in science.
Can you get my thoughts, Jack?
Must concentrate. Make it easier for him. Do you read me, Jack?
Yes. Yes, I do. I can read your mind.
The capsule works. You're telepathic.
It was mad, insane. I could read his mind. I stared at Howard as he bent over his notes.
And then it came to me. If I could read his mind, he could read mine.
Jack, I got it. I got that. You're thinking I can read your thoughts. I can.
My God, he's doing it.
I am.
He knows I'm going to kill him.
Kill? Kill?
What are you thinking, Jack?
What's the matter? Has something gone wrong?
Why do you want to kill me, Jack?
I've got to hurry. Don't give him a chance.
He's mad. He's going to kill me. But he's my best friend. I've got to get out of here.
Howard, stop!
He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me.
In the lab next door, I broke open the cabinet and cleaned it out, emptied everything into Howard's briefcase, and quietly left the building.
Along the wharf outside, I slipped the case and the gun into the water. The tide was going out. In an hour, they would be lost forever.
Then I drove back to my apartment. Killing Howard had unnerved me, but the telepathy experience was worse.
It shocked me again as I walked across the lobby. A flood of thoughts reached out for me, clamouring to be heard,
tumbling over and over each other like ants in my mind.
The barrage confused me. It was difficult to think. I hurried to my room.
It's eerie, knowing all those people's thoughts.
Call Anne in the morning. Probably not safe now.
Now I'll know all her thoughts, all of anybody's thoughts, and do anything, get anything.
Better try to get some sleep. I'm tired, so tired.
I'm afraid. Run. Hide. Help me. Gotta get away.
Huh? What's that?
I can't move. Can't move. Can't get away.
What the? What's going on? Oh, who could that be?
Oh, the guy next door. A nervous little fellow.
Oh, no. Must I dream other people's nightmares, too?
In a moment, we continue with the third act of...
Suspense.
We have together ample capacity and freedom to defend freedom.
This is NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Day after day, month after month, since April 4, 1949, the activities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have moved steadily forward on many fronts.
This complete cooperation must and will continue because the concept of national self-sufficiency is out of date.
Countries of the free world are interdependent, and only in genuine partnership, and by combining their resources, sharing tasks in many fields, can progress and safety be found.
The United States of America is a part of NATO.
You should be aware of and alert to the objectives and programs of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
And now, starring Barry Kroger, Act 3 of It's All in Your Mind.
When the alarm went off at seven, I was still tired.
The nightmares of the guy next door had kept us both awake half the night.
I realized that I couldn't take much more of other people's thoughts.
I needed the antidote.
Anne would know where Howard kept it.
Wonderful thing telepathy Howard had said.
Too bad he didn't live long enough.
You've learned it's like living in a madhouse.
Hello?
Anne?
Jack, darling.
Everything all right?
Of course, yes. The police were here.
They've gone?
Yes, they're convinced it was the dope gang.
Good. I'm coming over.
Isn't that dangerous?
I'll decide that.
Jack, you've never used that tone before?
I've never felt like this before.
What's wrong?
I'll tell you when I get there.
She wondered what was wrong, let her live other people's nightmares, and she'd find out soon enough.
Suddenly I realized that Anne's thoughts hadn't come to me over the phone.
I remembered Howard saying something about the effect diminishing with distance,
that I'd have to be near people to pick up their thoughts.
But I kept hoping that the drug had worn off during the night.
The instant I stepped into the apartment lobby, I found out.
Good morning, Mr. Benton.
Hi, Joe. Got a morning paper left?
Yeah, sure, Mr. Benton. Read all about the big dope murder.
Man, what a night this church bent must have spent.
What did you say?
You're looking great today, Mr. Benton. You got a big deal on?
Was I talking about the line?
Why, you...
What's the matter, Mr. Benton?
Forget it, I'm in a hurry.
He acts like he knew what I was thinking.
But I guess a good thing that he doesn't...
On the street I stopped, looked back at Joe.
He was still staring after me.
Got to watch it. Almost gave myself away.
Used to wish I knew what people were thinking. What an advantage I'd have.
Can't keep this up. I need the antidote.
I couldn't stand listening to other people's troubles.
Their gripes, complaints, psychotic hates.
The evil and filth that spawn in the minds of men.
It was almost like a punishment. Like retribution.
I couldn't shut out the thoughts. They were all around me.
By the time I slammed the door at Anne's, I knew I couldn't face them again.
Anne! Anne, help me!
Jack, you shouldn't have come here now. The police will think...
You've got to help me, Anne.
Help you? What's wrong? Does anyone know?
No, no, it's the pill. It worked, it worked!
The pill. The telepathy drug.
Could it have worked? Is he sick?
Sit down, darling.
I don't want to sit down. Just help me get rid of these thoughts, these voices.
He doesn't know what he's saying. He's losing his mind.
I'm not losing my mind. You see, I know what you're thinking. It's real.
We laughed about it. But Anne, the antidote. Where did Howard keep the antidote?
Why, he kept that sort of thing with the narcotics for safety. Didn't you see it?
With the narcotics? I didn't look at labels.
I just grabbed everything in the cabinet, threw it into the harbor.
It's washed up to sea by now. Anne, Anne, we've got to get away.
Jack, we can't. The police would be suspicious.
Oh, let them be. I don't care so long as I get away from people.
Look, we'll get married right away and get out of here.
Oh, no. I don't want to go away. I don't want to get married.
I don't need Jack anymore. I can do better.
I could tell the police. I didn't kill Howard. They can't arrest me.
Anne, you wouldn't tell. You said you loved me. Anne, you've got to help me.
I'll help you, darling. In a pig's eye. I'm free.
I want to stay that way. Must call police. Tell them he did it. Get rid of him.
You do mean it. Anne, stay away from that phone.
Jack, no. Jack, no. Help. Don't touch me.
No, you don't.
Jack, are you joking me?
Yes, my darling. You won't talk to anyone ever again.
Please, Jack, don't.
Can't breathe? I'm dying and I can't do anything about it.
Stop, Jack. Jack, I won't tell.
There's somebody at the door. I've got to get out of here. Out the back way.
I've got to get away.
There's so many people. I can't stand it. I can't think.
Get out of my way. Leave me alone. Stop thinking.
Stop thinking, all of you. Stop thinking. I can't stand it.
Leave me alone. Stop it. Stop it.
Honest, officer. He ran right out in front of me.
How could I know he was gonna? You expect me to read his mind?
Suspense.
In which Barry Kroger starred in William and Robeson's production of It's All in Your Mind.
Written by Morris Lee Green and William Walker.
Supporting Mary Kroger and It's All in Your Mind were Shirley Mitchell,
Mary Alice Rivard, Lou Krugman, Lawrence Dobkin, and Sam Pearce.
Listen. Listen again next week when we return with the Steel River Prison Break.
Another tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
This is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
Music.