Suspense. And the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, the master of mystery
and adventure, William N. Robson.
Not many of us rob banks, or traffic with a supernatural, or commit murder, or indulge
in the other forms of mayhem and madness of which our suspense plays are concocted. Yet
most of us are destined to play our parts in one of the most suspenseful dramas man
can experience, the birth of a baby. That's what our story is about, that and the Hollywood
freeway, that swift and terrifying facility built by man not for the convenience of men,
but for the convenience of machines. It is the most heavily traveled road in the world.
It knows death intimately, almost daily, and joined in this writhing, lethal mase alliance,
it is a blind and callous stranger to life. Listen, listen then, as Mr. Frank Lovejoy
and Ms. Joan Banks star in Ivy is a lovely name, which begins in just a moment.
Mutual of Omaha, celebrating its 50th year of service, has important news for men and
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a neighbor of yours and his phone is listed in the yellow pages of your directory. Or
write for details to Mutual of Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska. It's the new low-cost senior security
protection for men and women aged 50 and over. Write today to Mutual of Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska
for details. And now, Ivy is a lovely name, starring Frank Lovejoy and Joan Banks. A
tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. It wasn't as though this was our first baby.
Bobby was eight going on nine. It was just that Linda was out of practice and it made
her jumpy. We planned this thing like Eisenhower planned the Normandy landings. And yet, every
hour on the hour, Linda wanted to run down the checklist. I know it's silly, Tom, but
is the car full of gas? To the top. And you called Marion about coming over to stay with
Bobby. Yesterday, the day before yesterday, and also today, twice. It's a wonder your
sister answers the phone at all. Did you call Dr. King today? Yeah, I called him and I told
him he felt fine. You told him I thought I might have to... Yeah, I told him your built-in
calculating machine said tonight was the night and he said not to knock it. Mothers-to-be
usually had inside information on such things. Oh, please, no jokes. So he gave me the phone
number where I could reach him if he wasn't home or at the office. Tom, I'm sorry I'm
such a nag about this, but I just don't want anything to go wrong. Oh, honey. I keep reading
about people running out of gas on the way to the hospital or losing their way or getting
there and not being able to find the doctor. Yeah, I know. I just figure I couldn't take
it if something like that happened to me. I guess I'm not much of a mother. Look, you're
a wonderful mother. You've done a magnificent job with Bobby and you'll do okay with this
new one. Say, where is Bobby? Oh, if we have to leave in a hurry, I don't want to have
to start looking all over the neighborhood for him. He's out in the backyard. He isn't
climbing the ivy to the garage roof again, is he? Tom, I have asked him not to play in
the ivy a hundred times. He says, okay, Mom, and goes right on doing it. Well, I think
you ought to speak to him. I mean, you're his father. Oh, now, listen to me. Bobby's
an eight-year-old boy. He's a healthy, normal boy with an urge to climb. Every kid has had
since boys were invented. That ivy on the garage is as strong and safe as a rope ladder.
He's not going to hurt himself. He could fall and kill himself. He could fall. He'd probably
bounce right back up again. Tom, I want you to go call him in and I want you to tell him
not to climb that ivy anymore. Well, I need it. Okay, baby. I'll call him. Looks like
rain anyway. Hey, you know, I just had a great thought. If the new one's a girl, maybe you
should name it Ivy. Yeah, Ivy Peterson. That's a pretty name. That's a horrible name and
I don't think you're funny. I don't think you're funny at all. Oh, baby, come on now.
I was only kidding. All right, I'll go out and get Bobby. Bob. Bobby. Hi, Pop. Where
are you? Up here on the garage. Oh, well, come on down. You're not supposed to play
on the garage, Roof. Okay. Watch. I'll show you how I can slide down the ivy. Yeah, okay.
Okay. You better hurry up. It's starting to rain. I can do it in the rain, Pop. I've done
it. Watch. Now, take it easy now. Your mom doesn't like your climbing things. Watch.
I can climb right down like a lateral. See? I'm down. How's that, Pop? Oh, that's great,
son. But only your mom doesn't want you to do it. You might lose your grip and fall.
You'd get very badly hurt. Now, you wouldn't want that, would you? Oh, I fell lots of times
and I didn't even hurt myself at all. I can climb easy. Yeah, I know. Well, now, before
we go in, I want you to listen very carefully. I don't want you to mention the ivy or the
garage to your mother. Okay. No, no. I'm serious about this. Your mom is a little, well, she's
not exactly herself. She's nervous. She worries about little things because... Well, she's
going to have a baby. Isn't that right, Pop? Yeah, that's right, son. I couldn't have put
it better myself. I sure hope it's not a girl. What's wrong with girls? Oh, they cry all the
time. They dress in dresses. They can't climb or anything. Well, your mother wants a girl
and I kind of like one myself. You're enough boy for one family. Now, come on in the house.
It's really beginning to rain. Tom. Yeah, we're here, Linda. Tom, please hurry. What
is it, baby? Tom, I think you'd better call Dr. King. I think it's time to go. Oh, okay.
Okay, I'll call him right now. Look, Bobby, you can help. Go in your mother's room, get
her overnight bag. It's at the foot of the bed. Okay, Pop. You'd better call Marion.
Yeah, now take it easy, sweetie. I'll call her first. They've got to call the doc. Then
I'll call your sister. Let me see. It's almost dark. We can get out of here, say, in 15 minutes.
We should get to the hospital by time. Oh, hello. Hello. Dr. King there. Oh, it's you,
Doc. This is Tom Peterson. Linda, my wife... Yeah, Linda. Yeah. Oh, she's fine, fine.
But she's going to have the baby and... Yeah. Yeah, well, she thinks we'd better go pretty
soon, Doc. She says... Tell him now, Tom. Please tell him now. She says now, Doc. Yeah,
I know. I know. Okay. Yeah, I'll drive her over there as soon as we can get away and
you'll be there. Okay, and thanks, Doc. Thanks a lot. Did he say go right over to the hospital?
Oh, yeah, that's right, baby. He'll be there now. All I got to do is get your sister Marion
over here and we can go. You get Marion on the phone and that's the first hitch. She
says her husband Gus had their car and it blew a gasket or something and now she's about
to have hysterics because she has no way of getting over to take care of Bobby. And you
make the only move you can. You tell her to forget it and you'll take Bobby to the hospital
with you. Bobby. Yeah, Pop? Now, look, we're going to have to change things a little. You're
going with us. Oh, Tom! Well, I can't help it, honey. Your sister got loused up with
a car and she can't get over here so we got to do it this way. It'll be all right. Bobby
won't be any trouble. Will you, Bobby? No, I won't be any trouble. I promise. Okay. Now,
you all set, Linda? Yes. Bobby got the bag? Yep. Car's out front? Yeah. I can do without
this rain but you can't have everything. Tom, let's go. Oh, yeah. Yeah, okay. We're off.
And don't worry, baby. Plenty of time. I know the way to the hospital like a book. Just take
it easy and relax and don't worry, okay? Let's go. In a moment, we continue with the second
act of suspense. The following message is from American Telephone and Telegraph. So long!
Have a nice trip. Don't forget to phone. Getting away at last. It's a great feeling, isn't it?
Looking forward to a carefree weekend or vacation, especially if you've planned ahead by long
distance. Now, let's see. You did phone about the cabin. Right. What about the Johnsons?
I called them too. They're expecting us. Oh, good. Well, I guess that takes care of everything.
Yes. A little vacation planning ahead of time by long distance does a lot toward making
a holiday carefree and fun. Right now is a good time to call while long distance rates
are lowest. Remember, whenever, wherever you go this summer, go first by long distance.
And now, starring Frank Lovejoy and Joan Banks, act two of Ivy is a Lovely Name. You've gone
over the route so many times in your mind you could drive it blindfold, but you hadn't
planned on a San Fernando Valley rainstorm. A half an hour of rain and the streets are
running knee deep and your windshield is covered with mud and water before the wipers can clear.
The only thing that's really on your side is time. Because you had everything ready to
go and Linda said she could tell sooner with a second child. Well, that's what she said.
Tom, how long will it take to get there? Well, you know we planned it for about 20 minutes,
half an hour at the outside. With this rain, I mean. How long with this rain? I don't know,
honey. Maybe a few minutes longer than we planned. Oh, please! I thought that car went through
a puddle and it splashed us. Puddle? More like a lake. Don't be like this when we get on
the freeway. Water doesn't stand on the road there. You think we should take the freeway
with the storm? Well, you want me to drive through these lakes all the way to the hospital?
Look, we get off this street in about three blocks and we get up on the freeway. From
there on in, it's easy sailing. They drive pretty fast on the freeway. Oh, holy mackerel,
honey. Will you relax? I drive the freeway to work every day of my life. I know it like
a book. We'll get there on time and relax. You make the turn off Laurel Canyon Boulevard
and climb the long ramp and you're on the freeway. You hollered right along with the
next guy about the crazy mixed up Hollywood freeway system, but right now it looks great.
Four wide velvet smooth lanes inbound, four lanes outbound, and a lovely strip divider
down the middle. Of course, on this section of freeway, the divider isn't a steel fence
like on some. It's sort of a raised parkway, asphalt on top, about 10 feet wide, with boxes
every hundred yards or so planted with shrubs. But it keeps you separated from the cars on
the opposite lanes. And in a rain like this with the glare from your headlights mixing
crazily with the others, it's a comforting feeling just to know it's there. Daddy, are
we almost there? Almost. How much further is it? Oh, stop bothering your daddy, Bobby.
It's a little ways yet. Bobby, that's the Hollywood Pole over there on the right. You
can't see it, of course, but that's where it is. And those are the lights of Hollywood
right ahead of the sun. Will we get to the hospital pretty soon? Sure we will, Bobby.
We go along the freeway here until we get to the Vermont off ramp, then we go down Vermont
a few blocks and we'll be there. Do you know that we're doing almost 60 miles an hour,
Tom? I do. Boy, 60! Let's go faster, Pop! Well, 60 is the average speed along the freeway,
Bobby. You go faster, you run into the cars ahead of you, and if you go slower, you get
clobbered by the cars behind you. There's an awful lot of traffic for this time of night,
isn't there? That's nothing unusual. They begin to jam up all the way to the interchange,
but they all move. How do you feel? I'm all right, but I wish we'd get there. I thought
you said the second ones were, well, a little more predictable. This one's in an awful hurry.
Well, I'm sorry, Tom. Oh, come on now, baby. I didn't mean anything. Tom, will you see
if you can get us there as soon as you can? I'm all... Oh, please, please, not yet. Honey,
just hang on. I'll see if I can. Tom! I'm tired. I'm tired. Tom, we're swerving! We're
going up on the divide line. I know. Oh, my God. You all right, baby? Yes. Bobby? I will
drive up here, Pop. Why'd you drive up here, Pop? The tire blew out. Oh, we're lucky. No
one hit us. We didn't go across the divider and there was a car coming the other way. We're
okay. Tom, I can't stay here very long. Take it easy, Linda. Hold on. I'll get out and flag
down a car and get them to take us to the hospital. Now, you just sit tight. I'll get you there
okay. Hey! Hey, slow down, will ya? We need help! Hey! I won't stop, honey. Or rather,
they can't stop. Everybody's going too fast to stop. What are we going to do? Well, I
want you and Bobby to stay right here. I can't get across those four lanes of traffic. I'd
never make it. I'll walk down along the divider to the next overhead street crossing. Can
you get off the divider there? Of course you can. They gotta have some steps up the inside
of the big cement post or a steel ladder up the outside. Tom! They probably even have
a phone at the base there in a box or something. After all, nobody built a freeway with a
divider stripped down the middle of it. With no way off, they'd be completely crazy. Can
I go with you, Dad? No, no. I want you to stay here with your mom. I'll be back before
you know it. It can't be too far. Please hurry, Tom. I'd be careful. Please. Oh, don't
worry, baby. I'll be back in a jiffy. You mean to walk ahead to the next overhead. But
then you remember that you passed one back about a quarter of a mile, so you walked back
along the divider instead. You walk and you begin to fight a crazy urge. It's like the
feeling you had when you were a kid and you used to walk along the railroad tracks, as
if you were balancing on a narrow tightrope. And you were going to fall off, step off into
space. And then, after what seems like an hour, you're at the overhead crossing. You
look at the cement pillar rising 60 feet above you to the road bottom, with the decorative
vines climbing thinly up the wet cement. And you look for the stairs of the ladder of the
phone. And there are no stairs. There is no ladder. There is no phone. There's just you
and the raised divider. You're standing there. And the cement pillar and the jigsaw splashing
headlights hurtling by you on both sides, not seeing you, not doing anything about it
if they do see. And you've never felt so alone in your life. You've never felt so trapped.
You've never felt so scared.
In a moment, we continue with the third act of...suspense.
Remember the terrible forest fires that threatened whole communities along the Pacific Coast
last year? Or have you been in the vicinity of Bar Harbor, Maine and seen miles and miles
of beautiful forest land ruined by fire some years ago? Fires that destroy valuable timberland,
wipe out whole towns and endanger lives must be avoided. And it is possible, because nine
out of every ten forest fires are man-made. Made, that is, through man's carelessness.
A match tossed away when it's not quite out. A lighted cigarette butt flicked out of the
window of a passing car. The smoldering ashes of a campfire left to burn itself out. These
can and do cause costly fires. Summer and early fall are forest fire time. Not so much
because trees and underbrush are affected by the intense heat, but because more people
are using the woods for hikes, picnicking and camping. And more people are driving near
or through wooded areas. This summer and all year long, make it a habit to be careful with
fire whenever you're in or near the woods.
And now, starring Frank Lovejoy and Joan Banks, Act 3 of Ivy is a Lovely Name.
You stand on a narrow concrete divider in the rain and you know you have to get off. You've
got to get off, if you watch closely and brake for it just right. Yes, that's got to be the
trick. Get a brake and run for it. Now! You don't get two feet before the hairdo, you
make it back and that's all. Now you know you can't get to help that way. You hurry back
through the rain a long quarter mile to the car. Hi, honey. Well? I didn't make it. I'm
That's the only thing that I can do.
I...
Where's Bobby?
Why, he's with you.
No, I left him with you.
I told him to stay with you.
But I let him go look for you.
I thought I was going to have the baby
and I asked him to go get you.
I thought...
But he didn't get me.
I came back to the car, he wasn't on the divider.
Well, he has to be.
He went the same way.
What, back?
Back towards Hollywood?
No, no, you said you were going forward
to the next overhead.
Oh, but I didn't go forward.
I went back.
Linda, Bobby's out alone on that divider somewhere.
I'll go get him.
Hurry, Tom, please hurry.
I can't hang on much longer, I can't.
I'll be back, baby, I'll be back as soon as I can.
Start off running now, running down that tiny strip
of wet-ass water till your life depended on it.
And you know it isn't your life, it's Linda's
and a little new one and Bobby's.
An eight-year-old, he could get bewildered,
he could get dizzy and step out into that traffic.
You keep running until you reach the overhead bridge
and there's no Bobby.
Nothing but rain and concrete and headlights and fear.
You're just about to make another cry
when you run across the traffic, when you hear a siren
moving coming along the freeway.
Maybe you can stop it.
Maybe you can jump out in front of it and stop it.
But you know before you even consider it
that you wouldn't live long enough
to tell them what you wanted.
Now you can see it, a revolving red light
on the moving car coming up the fast lane.
You stand there like a madman,
waving your arms and screaming, stop!
Hear him, the divider, stop!
Stop!
You watch it crippled by you
and you hate them for not seeing you.
You wonder if there is a way off this
with this miserable, thin, wet divider.
And then you realize the siren is dying down,
not fading away but stopping.
You look down the divider to see the revolving red light
on the top of the police car and it's stopping by your car.
It's stopping!
And then you run back towards the car, back towards Linda
and you'll run and you'll run and you'll run
and at last you're there.
You're back at the car.
There's a policeman with flares standing behind the police car.
Inside the car, there are two policemen with Linda.
And Bobby is there too.
Hi, Pop.
Bobby, where were you?
Where did you go?
I went up the ivy, Pop.
I thought maybe you climbed the ivy up to the bridge
so I climbed up there to find you.
Mom said to go find you.
Okay, Bobby, you okay?
I guess you're the father here.
Mother and child are doing fine.
Mother and child?
Linda, I...
I'm okay, darling.
It's a little girl.
Bobby brought the policeman back with him.
Bobby's quite a boy.
Popped up over the edge of the overhead bridge
just as we were crossing.
I thought I was seeing things.
I wouldn't have climbed it, Pop,
but I thought you were up there.
It's okay, son.
You did the right thing.
Oh, it was easy.
The ivy was just like it is on the garage.
Linda?
Yes, Tom.
I couldn't get off.
I couldn't find any way off.
I could ride it.
If it wasn't for Bobby.
I know, Tom, I know.
You know something else I know?
What?
I've changed my mind.
I think ivy's a lovely name for a girl.
Yeah?
Ivy.
Ivy Peterson.
That is a lovely name.
Hi, ivy.
Hiya.
Hiya.
Hiya.
Suspense.
In which Frank Lovejoy and Joan Banks
starred in William and Robson's production
of Ivy is a Lovely Name,
written by Sam Pearce.
In a moment, the names of tonight's supporting players
and a word about next week's story of suspense.
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Fill it up, sir?
Yeah, regular's good.
Say, that engine of yours sounds like real tire and iron.
Thanks.
Improved case site tune up, the tune up in a can.
You got a valve stickin' too.
What do you get to a gallon?
Not much.
Improved case site tune up, the tune up in a can.
Want a tune job?
Haven't got time.
You don't need time.
How can a tune job not take time?
Improved case site tune up, mister.
One can in your gasoline and one can in your oil
will clean your motor, your carburetor, your plugs.
The works.
And case site tune up will unstick those valves.
Get you more power and smoother performance.
Quicker starting too.
Okay, but how much?
Dollar and a quarter a can.
Results guaranteed or double your money back.
Would you start her up, please?
Still sounds lousy.
I haven't added it yet.
Improved case site tune up, the tune up in a can.
Supporting Frank Lovejoy and Joan Banks
in tonight's story were Dick Beals, Sam Pearce,
and Jerry Hausner.
Listen.
Listen again next week when we return with Mr. Jack Carson
starring in Analytical Hour.
Another tale well calculated to keep you in.
Suspense.
The latest news follows,
then Have Gun Will Travel on CBS Radio.