Suspense.
And the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
the master of mystery and adventure,
William N. Robeson.
Some years ago,
Ernest Hemingway's great short story, The Killers,
was made into a movie.
Anyone who saw it will never forget the menace and brutality
of the two gunmen in the opening sequence.
Two nastier heavies have rarely been seen in a movie.
The first one, the second one,
and the third one are the most important in the sequence.
Two nastier heavies have rarely been seen together on the screen.
Feeling that their type of tough guys
should not be allowed to languish in limbo,
we have brought them together again
in a rather different kind of story,
yet still a story of heavies.
Listen.
Listen, then,
as William Conrad and Charles McGraw
are on the road.
Where are we now, Joe?
You've been asleep?
Yeah.
Where are we now?
I don't know for sure.
Some place in Arkansas, I think.
Sure is a big country, ain't it?
Yeah.
Hey, you want me to drive?
No, I'm all right.
You get some more sleep.
I got enough.
Sure you're all right?
I'll stop in the next place for coffee,
and you can take it from there.
Okay.
Hey, what time is it?
Must be past midnight.
You know, I keep wondering.
Yeah, wondering what?
Ah, if we're doing the right thing,
cutting out like this.
What else could we do?
New York is dead.
Chicago and New York.
You think the coast will be any better?
It's gotta be.
There's plenty of action on the coast.
Ah, I hope you're right.
But all we got lined up is that job for Rocky.
What about after?
We do the job good for Rocky.
He'll take care of us.
Yeah.
When we get there, you think?
Well, we come nearly halfway in 24 hours.
If we go right through, we ought to make it by...
yeah, tomorrow afternoon.
Yeah, it don't seem possible.
It's such a big country.
If Rocky wasn't in such a hurry with that job,
we could see some of it.
Nah, nothing between New York and the coast but scenery.
All this Vegas.
Yeah, but that's practically the coast.
Yeah.
You've seen one superhighway, you've seen them all.
Yeah, cities too.
I was in Boston once for a tryout.
Nothing.
Truck Haven.
Huh?
A joint up ahead there.
Let's stop for coffee.
Okay.
You know what they say, if the truck drivers stop at a joint,
the food's gotta be good.
I don't see any trucks.
And all I want is coffee.
I can't go wrong on coffee.
This place might as well close up for the night.
No cars parked outside.
No customers inside.
Yeah, there's one.
Look at that doll at the counter.
Yeah, not bad.
What she's doing out here all alone in the middle of the night.
Nah, waiting for a bus maybe.
Haven.
Hi.
Two coffees, make mine black.
Yeah, same here.
Two coffees.
Hey, Mac, what's the matter with your TV?
It's about the loziest picture I ever saw.
Best we can do, we ain't close enough to Little Rock
and we're too far from Memphis.
Must drive your nuts all fuzzy like that.
You get used to it.
Hiya, boy.
Hi.
Hello.
Say, ain't I seen you fellas before?
I don't know how, we ain't never been here before.
Neither have I, I'm from Memphis.
We went through Memphis this evening.
Funny.
I'm sure I seen you someplace.
No, in New York maybe.
Uh-uh, I never been east of Chattanooga.
We never been west of Weehawken.
Well, excuse me for butting in.
Not at all, not at all.
Hey, Joe, she's not bad, not bad.
Yeah, she seems better.
Yeah, yeah, I knew I'd seen you before.
Where?
Right there on the TV, ain't that new?
Huh?
I can't tell through all that snow.
Hey, Charlie, look, how about that?
It's an old Kenny of the plain clothes.
Well, that is you, ain't it?
Sure looks like you.
Yeah, it's like, yeah, but do you mind reaching up and turning it off?
It stinks even when you can see the picture.
Gee, you're actors.
Yeah.
I always watch your program.
Ah, glad to know we got an audience in Arkansas.
What you fellas doing?
What you fellas doing way out here?
Driving to the coast.
Hollywood?
Yeah, that's right.
Hey, you want a lift?
Sure.
Why?
Why not?
Well, we're driving right through.
It wouldn't be very comfortable for us.
Oh, I don't mind.
I won't take up hardly any room at all.
And I don't have any luggage, just this purse.
Well, I don't know.
I got a little money.
I'll pay for my share of the gas.
Well, it ain't that.
Ah, come on, Joe, let's give the kid a lift.
Huh?
Haven't you heard about picking up strangers on the highway?
You don't mean you're afraid of me.
Well, no, but you gotta admit, it's a little cook
finding a girl out in the middle of nowhere
without any baggage wanting to go to the coast.
All right, it's like this.
I'm running away from home.
Why don't you run back?
We don't want your husband gunning for us.
Oh, no.
I'm running away from my old man and my old lady.
Tonight we had a big beef and I walked out.
Got a ride out of Memphis as far as here.
What's so funny?
You worry about giving me a ride?
I'm the one that's got the worries.
This fellow that gave me a lift out of Memphis
wanted me to pay for the ride.
The price was too high.
That's why I'm out here in the middle of nowhere.
What a dirty, no good...
But you guys don't look like that type.
We're not.
So I trust you and I'll accept your invitation.
Well, okay.
You finished your coffee, will Fario?
Oh, yeah, sure.
All right, let's hit the road then.
In a moment, we continue with the second act of...
Suspense.
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Now you just push a button and go on your way to the most fun-filled
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See your Plymouth dealer.
Take your fun drive in the 59 Plymouth real soon.
And now, starring Charles McRaw and William Conrad,
Act Two of Two for the Road.
I can't get over it.
What?
Me on my way to Hollywood with two famous actors.
Oh, we're not so famous.
Not famous?
Why, I bet the Playing Closement is the most popular TV show in Memphis.
Everybody knows Joe Harris and Charlie Bloom.
You're Charlie, aren't you?
That's right.
And you're Joe.
Yeah.
How come you're going to Hollywood?
They killed us. We're dead.
Dead?
Yeah, but what Joe means is we got too big for the Playing Closement, see?
And the star of the show, Hubert Bromley?
Oh, I can't stand him.
Yeah, well anyway, he's a star and he didn't like how big Joe and I was getting,
so he had the writers get us killed in last week's episode.
Oh, that was mean of him.
Well, that showbiz.
And being as how we were typecast as hoods,
we couldn't get any good parts in New York.
Actually, Joe and I are pretty serious actors.
Oh, I know you are.
Yeah, we just look like hoods.
That's what I liked about you and the Playing Closement.
Yeah.
Well, we got this pal in Hollywood, Rocky.
Rocky Lamont, he used to hang around Walgreens,
but he's a director now,
and he's got a couple of swell parts for us and a pilot he's shooting.
The Three Musketeers.
Well, I thought that was a kid show.
Musketeers, not Mouseketeers.
Oh.
Well, we're in such a hurry, Rocky starts shooting day after tomorrow.
Say, honey.
Yeah, Joe?
You got any idea where we are?
Hmm.
I'm going to be too far from Little Rock.
Hey, Joe.
Joe, look, must be a wreck up ahead, all those flashing red lights.
Police cars.
It's a roadblock.
They're signaling us to stop.
What do you suppose they want?
Who knows?
Don't stop, Joe.
What do you want me to do, barrel right through?
Yeah.
Are you crazy?
It's something that'd shoot us full of holes.
We'll shoot back.
With what?
With this.
Hey, Joe, look, she's got a rod.
You nuts, you put that out of sight.
Help!
What's the matter with her?
Help!
Well, don't ask me.
She was your idea.
What's the trouble, Al?
Thank heaven you stopped us, officer.
These two men are kidnapping me.
Okay, you two are.
They brought me into the club of emphasis.
Hey, now listen, officer, this broad's flipped.
Yeah, we just met her up the road.
Hold your hands up.
Bye.
Now, look, Sergeant, I'm sure we can explain everything.
You better.
Now, you, young lady.
Hey, Sam.
Yeah?
The gal ain't here.
The door on the other side's open.
She must have got out that way.
Hey, you, young lady.
Hey, Sam.
Yeah?
The gal ain't here, the door on the other side's open.
She must have got out that way.
There she is.
She's on J.Sickle.
Hey, stop.
Stop or I'll shoot.
Look out, she's got a gun.
Son of a...
Son, hang on, Valdorf.
Look at that, son.
My house Chevrolet has fallen on Arkansas, shooting at women.
It'll be children next.
All right, mister.
It's my duty to tell you that anything you say may be used against you.
Frisk him, Sam.
Aye.
Where you from?
New York.
Where you going?
Hollywood.
Yeah, Sergeant, we're just driving through.
They're both clean.
Check them against those descriptions.
You in Memphis tonight?
Yeah.
Doing what?
Just driving through.
Here, see your driver's license.
Okay.
There you...
It's gone, my wallet's gone.
So's mine, Joe.
That broad, she's a pickpocket.
Yeah, she stole my wallet.
You gotta arrest her.
Oh, don't you worry.
We'll arrest her as soon as we can catch her.
Descriptions fit, Riggs.
So's the car.
Blue and white convertible, New York license plates.
Check their registration.
What's your name?
Joe Harris.
And what's yours?
Charlie Bloom.
Whose car is this?
Mine.
The car's registered to Yus...
Yusuf Horowitz.
Now, come again.
What's your name?
Joe Harris.
And that's your car?
That's right.
And how come it's registered to Yusuf Horowitz?
You see, Joe Harris is short for Yusuf Horowitz.
Why'd you steal the car?
Look, I didn't steal the car.
It's mine, all of it, it's paid up.
That's my name, Yusuf Horowitz.
Joe Harris is my stage name.
That's right, officer.
Hey, listen, you don't believe that crazy broad, do you?
You don't think we kidnapped her?
Nope, not for a minute.
I think she was in this here thing with you from the beginning.
I think she drove the getaway car.
Getaway from what?
The holdup of the Cotton State National Bank in Memphis this afternoon.
What?
Snapped the cuffs on him, Sam.
Now, look here, you're making a terrible mistake.
You haven't got any charges.
Oh, yes, we have.
Armed robbery and murder.
That bank teller you shot died an hour ago.
In a moment, we continue with the third act of...
Suspense.
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And now,
Starrick William Conrad and Charles McGraw,
Act Three of Two for the Road.
Hey, Tanki!
Hey!
Knock it off down there!
I gotta talk to you!
I said knock it off!
You got no right to wrap him across the knuckles.
If I got any right, I want to take it.
Now listen, where's the sheriff?
I told you I want to talk to the sheriff.
I know you did.
What did you tell him?
Maybe I did, maybe I didn't.
Now you can't keep us in jail like this.
You're in, ain't you?
Where's the sheriff?
I wouldn't know.
Now look, listen, we gotta get out of here.
We got an appointment in Hollywood.
You better cancel it.
All right, Sam, you can bring in the prisoners.
Yes, sir.
This way.
Sit down, boys.
I hear you want to talk to me.
You're darn right we do, Sheriff.
Well, good.
Because I want to talk to you.
What about?
Can't you guess?
That cop last night said something about a bank robbery in Memphis,
but we don't know nothing about it.
Yeah, we're just a couple of actors.
Well, it looks like you're a couple of bad actors.
Look, you can check it.
I'm Joe Harris.
Yeah, I'm Charlie Bloom.
We've been playing the heavies in the TV series, A Plain Closement.
Yeah, we were on last night on Channel 2.
I don't look at TV very much, but I look at descriptions of wanted men,
and you fit the description of the man who robbed that bank in Memphis yesterday.
Well, that was just a coincidence.
Is it a coincidence that the girl who was with you last night when you were arrested
fits the description of the girl who drove the getaway car at the bank holdup?
Yeah, that's a coincidence, too.
I want to talk to an attorney.
You can.
Now, we've got to write the consul.
You can't hold us like...
I can, and I am.
In Communicata for 72 hours, and that's a lot.
Oh, listen, Sheriff, be reasonable.
We've got an important date on the coast.
We're late as it is.
And you're going to be much later.
You can't prove that we robbed that bank.
Can you prove you didn't?
Sure, ask anybody who saw the Plain Closement last night.
Yeah, ask that girl.
She saw us on TV last night.
I'd like to ask her a lot of things, like what about the kidnapping?
Sheriff, there was no kidnapping.
She asked us for a lift, and we gave it to her.
Well, until I question her, we'll just forget the kidnapping charge, huh?
Thanks a lot.
But you can make it easier on yourself if you cooperate with us about that bank robbery.
You must be kidding.
I don't kid.
Now, let's have the story.
Look, I told you we're actors.
Yes, oh, yes.
Well, then act.
What?
I've got plenty of time.
You say you're actors.
Well, go on, act.
Will you believe us if we prove that we're actors?
Well, I'm not making any promises.
The burden of proof lies with you.
Hey, Joe, Joe, let me.
I'll prove it to him.
Remember that closing speech in the Plain Closement that got me the Emmy?
All right, you listen to me, Copper.
You put the roust on me for the last time.
I hate cops.
I was born hating cops.
And cops ain't done nothing all my life to make me like them.
I've always promised myself that someday I'd kill me a cop and today's the day.
Will you shut up?
Let him go on.
I believe him.
Well, I believe every word he says.
Oh, go on, boy.
What are you going to do after you kill you a cop?
That's all.
That's the end of the speech.
So you hate cops.
Well, that makes us even because I hate punks.
Now, wait a minute, wait a minute.
He didn't mean that.
He was acting.
He convinced me.
That he's an actor?
No, that he's a bank robber.
All right, listen.
Now, if you don't understand Charlie's acting, you listen to this.
It's a different kind of acting.
Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I.
Is it not monstrous that this player here, but in fiction and a dream of passion,
could force his soul so to his own conceit and all for nothing?
For Hecuba, what's Hecuba to him or him to Hecuba that he should weep for her?
Well, now, who's this Hecuba?
Oh, of course, Hecuba's that broad that swiped that motorcycle.
That was from Hamlet Act II Scene II.
That was acting.
Oh, that was acting.
All right, now, are you ready to talk about that bank job?
Look, once more real slow.
We don't know nothing about no bank job.
Well, like I said, we've got plenty of time while we're waiting for you to make a confession on that bank robbery.
Maybe we can find some other charges against you.
Oh, but this is crazy. What charges?
Well, I don't know yet. I'll know better after the lineup.
Lineup?
Yeah, a couple of acting fellows like you claim to be, oh, my, you ought to enjoy the lineup.
I'll put you up there on the stage with the footlights on you, and I'll give you an audience.
Look, you don't have to do that. That girl, she knows who we are. Ask her.
No, I can't. Not until we pick her up.
But it'd be nice to have her in the lineup, too, now, wouldn't it, boys? Yeah.
That'd add a little sex appeal to your show.
Sam?
Yeah, Chief?
Got anything on that girl yet?
Yeah, Chief. A teletype just came in a couple of minutes ago.
Oh, they got her?
We might say they have. Found her an hour ago in a gully north of Greenville.
Oh, she didn't get far, then?
Far enough. She's dead.
Dead?
Yeah. Guess she didn't know too much about driving a sickle.
Skidded the thing right through the guardrail last night.
Well, thank you, Sam.
You hear that, boys?
Yeah.
Oh, you gotta believe us.
I don't gotta do anything.
You gotta get a new alibi.
In a moment, we continue with the fourth act of...
Suspense.
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And now...
Starring Charles McGraw and William Conrad.
Act four of Two for the Road.
All right.
Get up there on the platform.
Stretch out there.
Arms length apart.
Hit the lights.
Wow, they're bright.
Yeah, they could use some scrimps.
Okay, chef, we're ready here.
We're gonna get out of this, Joe.
I don't know, Charlie, I don't write the scripts.
I just act.
All right, folks, will you please come in now?
That's it.
Just take a chair there anyways.
Right there, that's all right.
Just sit down right there.
Now, that's it.
Now, we're holding these men as suspects.
I don't know about that, D.
Well, it's hard to say, chef.
The holdup happened so fast.
Well, maybe if you heard them speak.
What was it that the gunman said to you?
Uh...
This is a stickup.
Don't move or nobody will get hurt.
Something like that.
All right, you men.
Now, you men up there, let me hear each one of you say that.
That this is a stickup.
Don't no one move and you won't get hurt.
Ahem.
This is a stickup.
Don't no one move,
and you won't get hurt.
Next.
This is a stickup.
Don't no one move, and you won't get hurt.
Next man.
This is a stickup.
Don't no one move and you won't get hurt.
Last man.
This is a stickup.
Don't no one move, and you won't get hurt.
That's him. That's him.
I'll never forget that voice as long as I live.
No, in my bedroom. He crept in through the window,
and he stood over my bed, and I could hear him breathing.
And then he spoke.
He didn't say those words, of course.
And then I screamed.
Yes, well, you can testify to that in court.
Oh, yes.
Well, thank you, Missy.
It's Miss. Miss Freidenhausen.
Oh, I see. Well, thanks, ma'am.
Yes, now, Mr. Johnson, about the bank robbery.
Well, I'd like to hear that second man again.
Okay.
You, number two.
Huh?
Speak your piece again.
Uh, that's a stickup.
Don't no one move, and you won't get hurt.
Well, Mr. Johnson?
Yes, I'm fairly sure that's the voice.
He was the only one who spoke.
That other one there stood by the door and covered him.
He was the one who shot the teller.
Yes, yes, I'm positive now.
There's no doubt about it. They're the ones.
Good.
I want to thank you folks for doing your duty
as citizens, taxpayers, and voters.
Take her back to jail. Book her.
Well, boys, I guess we can stop the play-acting.
You ready to confess?
We haven't got nothing to confess, sheriff.
We heard the people.
Mr. Johnson will testify in court that you stuck up the bank.
And we got you on a break-in, entering, and attempt...
I wouldn't go near an old bag like that
if I was alone with her in a desert.
Of course they seen us before and they heard us before.
Every week on our TV set.
I'm satisfied with their identification,
and the court will be too.
But I'd like to save the county a lot of time and money.
And you can make it a lot easier on yourself
by just giving me a full confession.
You can save yourself a false arrest suit by letting us go.
On your own, say so?
No, you got our fingerprints.
Why don't you send them to Washington?
We don't need to help the FBI in this county.
We solve our own crimes.
Excuse me, sheriff.
Yes, Sam.
They just brought in a body of that girl.
Here's her purse.
Guess there's no doubt she was the one who drove the getaway car.
She was carrying $2,500 of the bank's money in this purse.
See?
Hmm.
That's one-third of the stolen money.
What'd you do with your cut, boy?
Oh, knock it off.
Hey, wait a minute. Look, Joe.
What?
Our wallets. Look, she had our wallets in her purse.
What?
Your hands off that stuff.
Well, look at them, sheriff.
You'll find our driver's licenses
and all sorts of I.D. cards there.
Hmm, sure.
It says Joe Hares.
That won't prove a thing.
You've been identified by the victim.
Oh, but sheriff!
Uh, yes?
Your wife's outside, sheriff.
Well, tell her I...
Ah!
Oh, no, that wasn't really good.
I'm afraid not, sir.
She's on her way in.
Elmo, why didn't you tell me you were entertaining celebrities?
Huh?
Clarabel Froily hasn't called me.
Oh, poor thing.
She was all confused when she was down here.
She was sure she'd seen him somewhere before.
And after she got home, she realized where?
On T.V.
Well, aren't you gonna introduce me?
Now, look here, Ellie. I'm very busy.
Oh, don't bother. I'd recognize him anywhere.
You're Joe Hares.
That's right, ma'am.
And you're Charlie Bloom.
Yes, ma'am.
Oh, my. This is an honor.
Here, Elmo. Elmo, give me a piece of paper and a pencil.
Yes, ma'am.
There.
Now, would you please give me your autographs?
I'd be delighted.
You don't know how delighted, ma'am.
Well, what brings you to our fair city?
Your husband.
Why didn't you tell me, Elmo?
We could have had a parade and a civic celebration.
Hope it's not too late for an impromptu reception, at least.
I'm afraid we couldn't make it, ma'am.
You see, we're under arrest.
Arrest? What for?
Your husband thinks we're bank robbers, ma'am.
He wants to send us to prison for the rest of our lives.
Elmo, have you lost your mind?
Don't you know that these two gentlemen are famous actors?
Not until now.
We tried to tell him.
Do you want to make yourself the laughing stock
of Jackrabbit County and just before election, too?
No.
Well, you let them go this instant.
But, Ellie, how can I be sure that...
Just take my word for it.
Oh, honest, I don't know what'd become of you
if it weren't for me.
Yes, Ellie.
Well, boys, here's your wallets.
I guess you can go.
Oh, my goodness.
I don't know how I can make this up to you.
But I'd be tickled pink if you'd come out to the house for supper.
Well, thank you, ma'am, but we're in sort of a hurry.
Yeah, you see, we gotta make a picture in Hollywood,
and we're a little late.
Well, don't forget us.
I don't think that's possible, ma'am.
And when you come back again this way,
do drop in to see us.
Yes, ma'am.
We'll think about that, ma'am.
We'll think a long time about that.
Suspense, in which William Conrad and Charles McGrath
starred in Two for the Road, written, produced,
and directed by William N. Robeson.
In just a moment, the names of the supporting players
and a word about next week's story of suspense.
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supporting Mr. Conrad and Mr. McGraw in two for the road were Paula Winslow, June Foray, Howard McNeer, Evan Thompson, Barney Phillips, Sam Pearson, Jack Crouchon
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