 presents Rosalind Russell and Richard Denning. From Hollywood, the mutual network in cooperation with Family Theater presents The Fence, starring Richard Denning. And now, here is your hostess, Rosalind Russell. Family Theater's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives. If we are to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families, and peace for the world. Family Theater urges you to pray. Pray together as a family. Now to our transcribed drama, The Fence, starring Richard Denning as Vic. Oh, Vic. Yeah, Jerry. How are you coming? Almost through. I just talked to Phil down the composing room. He says his story sets up a little long. Got anything in this last part you think ought to be pushed up higher? No, no, this is mostly colored. There you go. Let's see. Weberated dinner of fried chicken, corn on the cob. Typical last-mile menu. Murders all seem to follow the same gustatorial pattern. I wouldn't say Billy Weber fit just any pattern. Run of the mill, hoodlum. Maybe. What's this paragraph about a fence? Just a little editorial speculation. I was trying to figure out who he was talking about. Who, who was talking about? Weber. Hey, what did you do? Send the other stuff downstairs without reading? I read it. Maybe a little fast. Oh, you've got the makings of a great editor. OK, so I was rushed, and I didn't read it so carefully. What's this about a fence? The entire quote was in the lead paragraph. Look, Victor, my boy, maybe I don't measure up to Horace Greeley in your estimation, but I do the hiring and firing around here. All right. Simmer down. I'm just giving you a rib. Well, save it for later. There's been a hard night. Now, what's this quote about a fence? Well, it was something Weber yelled out just before they put him in the chair. There was some kind of a delay about bringing him in. We'd been told the execution was scheduled for 10 o'clock sharp, and those witness benches start getting a little hard after you've been sitting on the edge of one for 20 minutes. I think it was five or six minutes after 10 when the door finally opened and the warden came in with Billy Weber behind him led by two guards and then the chaplain. That's the moment I always find myself thinking, this is where they'll break. This is where it'll finally hit him. I know for a fact all of us were waiting for that to happen with Weber. He was an arrogant punk. Probably deserved what he was getting three times over. Nothing would have pleased us more than to see him go completely to pieces. But it didn't work out like that. The minute Billy saw us sitting out there on the benches, he turned to the warden and asked if he could say something. The warden told him it would have to be brief, and Billy nodded and then swung around to faces. All I want to tell you is I don't have to be. These two guards, I could have busted loose from them. I just didn't, that's all. But I could have, like a lot of things, like with the fence. It's the same thing, I don't have to be here at all. OK, warden. The guards strapped him into the chair, pulled down the headpiece, and three minutes later, the doctor certified that his heart had stopped beating. That's all there was to it. And I'm still trying to figure out what he meant. Oh, fence. I suppose a guy like Weber would know a dozen fences. He's done time for hijacking, jewel robbery. Yeah, but why would he pick the minute just before he died to start talking about one of them? You sure he didn't mention any name? Sure as I'm sitting here. Funny, I don't seem to remember any testimony in his trial that had connected robbery to the killing. Well, there wasn't any. It was a gang job, open and shut. Did Weber show any remorse tonight? No, not a bit. He behaved as if the whole thing wasn't real, wasn't even happening. Well, he's not the first guy who's gone to his grave, leaving a lot of unanswered questions behind. Well, by the way, this feature you're going to do on the bar association. Jerry, I have a call from Judge Evans. Look, give me a few more days on this Weber yarn, will you? A few more days for what? Just to dig into it. Vic, look, by tomorrow afternoon, Weber won't have as much news value as last week's laundry. You could be wrong. He's a punk who killed another punk, and tonight he got the chair. Where can you go from there? Why did he die saying he didn't have to be there? Who knows? And who's the fence he was talking about? Vic, this is a paper we're running, not a clinic. I've scheduled a series on the bar association to start running next Wednesday. Look, first article, two-thirds finished. But Judge Evans, all I need from him are a few statistics. I can line those up in an hour. Jerry, give me a little Monday on this Weber thing. That's only three days. Well, you don't even know what you're after. I'll know when I find it. You don't even know where to start. He's got a mother over in Jersey. Every hoodlum in the world's got a mother over in Jersey. So we had a girlfriend. Name of what? Mary, I think. Well, well, that sure narrows it down. Well, if nothing else, I can start with that guy Cromer. They've got locked up over in the tombs. Oh, the state's corroborating witness. And what do you figure he'll know about Weber? Well, he knew enough to send him to the chair. Mr. Cromer? I know who you are. What do you want? Seen a paper yet this morning? Sure, I've seen a paper. Also, I've seen my lawyer at a Cromick crook two weeks after the trial he said I'd be out of here. I've made you a deal, he tells me, Cromick crook. Well, what do you want? Did you happen to read the account of Billy Weber's execution last night? Sure. So what? I got troubles of my own. What did you think of that little farewell speech you made? About when he starts yelling don't have to be there? Yeah, that's the one. I could laugh myself sick. Then there's no question in your mind that Billy deserved to get the chair. Deserved it? Look, every day for the next week they could set him on that thing he'd still be out in front. You and he used to be good friends, didn't you? Friends? Did you see him get up and caught and try to make me an accessory at shooting? Yeah, but I saw you get up first and pin the job on him. Rock, pin it on him, he did it. He makes me drive the car. Lucky, I got a smart lawyer. I wouldn't be here talking to you. Any idea what Billy meant when he made that remark about a fence last night? Well, it could be two, three guys, no names. I didn't expect any. Well, thanks anyway. That other thing, though, him yelling he don't have to be there, Billy was always going on like that, always big wheeling it. How do you mean? I pretend he didn't have to do what we were doing, you know, to hustle a buck. I remember one night about two years ago, we was driving home from a collection job over in Brooklyn, and Billy was going on about this. Garley just met a waitress in a neighborhood coffee shop. He asked her for a date a couple of times, but no dice. Maybe she had a line on how he made his money. I don't know. Anyway, he was going on about it when all of a sudden he swings into an alley and he turns the car around. Hey, what are you doing? I think we'll stop over and see her. Maybe have a cup of coffee. Pinky said to come by as soon as we was finished. We'll call him. Quit worrying. It's just down the block here. You better drop me at Pinky's first. I don't want no trouble. We went to collect and a man didn't have the money. What if he owes copper? After what we gave him? Well, if he does, we'll need an alibi. He won't call anybody because what happened was his fault. When we come by tomorrow, he'll have the money. Pinky ain't going to like this. What do I care what Pinky likes? I don't have to fool with him if I don't like it. Sure, any time you don't, I don't. I know, I know. You could be a big guy. I could. Oh, sure. You make one more crack. I'll stop this car and knock your teeth out. Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy, will you? I was just kidding. Then keep that funny look off your face from now on. Sure, sure. Look, don't get sore. I know who I am. OK, Bill. And what I can do any time I want. But Billy had a real temper when he got worked up. But it was mostly about how he was a great athlete. That's what had set him off. If anyone didn't believe her out of way. Well, a couple minutes after he stopped the car that night, though, he was all cooled down. And we drove over to coffee shop. The waitress finally gave him a date, too. And then they started going together. You wouldn't happen to remember her name. Oh, sure. Tana, Mary Tana. Did he ever say what was behind all this athlete talk? Not too much. He was a funny guy. I think Billy had to offer to play pro baseball once he turned it down. He never opened up much to me about it. But I got the feeling he was a kid when it happened. I wonder why he didn't take it. Beats me. By the time I got to know him, he was doing pretty good in the racquets, and maybe by any figure he'd do better to hang on to what he had. Do you know where this Mary Tana lives? No. Look, why don't you try the coffee shop, the place over on Third Avenue. It's called The Nest. Yeah, they might know. Thanks. I'll do that. Oh, say, on your way out, will you ask if my lawyer's left any calls for me? You bet. They said he'd have me out of here two weeks after the trial, crummy crook. Miss Tana? I'm Mrs. Norris. My name is Victor Hill. I'm with the Herald. Could I come in and speak to you for a minute? About what? Well, I understand you were acquainted with Billy Weber. I don't know. You won't be named or quoted if you don't want to be Mrs. Norris. I'll only take a few minutes. How'd you find out where I live? Well, I traced you from where you used to work. Look, mister, I've been married almost a year. My husband doesn't know I ever heard of Billy Weber. Well, he won't find out from me. I just like a little information. All right. But I can't talk long. Well? Did you read the account and the papers about Billy's execution? Of course I did. Those last words of his make any sense to you? I mean about being able to escape from the guards if he wanted to. Just another lie was the biggest liar I ever met. Is that why you broke up with him? That? He does another reason. He lied to you about being in the rackets? He bet he did. Oh, I knew there was something. He had too many nice clothes, too much free time. But I, well, I'd kind of fallen for him. And I kept thinking if he'd take that baseball offer, he might straighten out. But then after we'd been going together for about four months, phone call came for him one night over at the nest where I worked. Billy wasn't there, so I took the message. It was from Pinky Stroh, and I'd heard about him. Billy must have told him I could be trusted. Anyway, I wrote it downward for word, and when Billy came in just before closing, I showed it to him. Hi, baby. Don't hi, baby me. What kind of trouble are you in? Keep your voice down. There's nobody here. What's this message from Pinky about? What message? Here. And think fast. Hmm. What does it mean? Why do you have to leave town? It's just a misunderstanding. Nelson Talkty says, is that the old man in the cleaning shop who got beat up the other night and had acid poured all over his clothes? What are you talking about? You're a liar. That's what I'm talking about. You said you did a little gambling. I do. Now listen. You're nothing but a thug pushing people around. You don't know what you're talking about. Why do you fool with a crook like Pinky? You could make something of yourself. I'm doing OK. I know what I'm doing. Billy, you could be playing baseball, a professional. No. No, it's a bad shaker. Bad? They own you in those clubs. You can't call your soul your own. You're like dirt. They trade you here and trade you there. But it's honest. Maybe it could be a starter. No, sir. One little mistake. They trust you out on your ear. I'm not getting into a bind like that. You'd rather be running out of town for Pinky Strom. That's better. I told you it's just a misunderstanding. Then we've got a misunderstanding. I don't want to see you anymore. Don't talk crazy. You just won't see what's right. I know you could be a great player. That's what I mean. That's why we can't break up. We've broken. Oh, Mary, you're the only one who knows who I am. Not anymore, I don't. Yeah, I'll be back. I have to leave town for a while, but it'll only be for a few weeks. How you wait for me? Everything will work. No, Billy will. It will! Now you wait for me! That was the last time I ever spoke to him, more than a year ago. I was gone from town almost four months, and by then I'd taken another job. That's where I met Frank, the man I'm married to now. I see. Did you ever meet any of Billy's business associates personally? Well, that fellow Cromer once or twice. He used to come into the coffee shop. How about Pinkie Strom? No, I just knew him by reputation. When I read about the murder in the paper, I figured Billy must have killed Strom over some business argument. They knew each other as kids. Did Billy ever tell you the name of the baseball club that made him the offer? One of the New York teams, he said. I'm not sure which. I see. I used to plead with him to go and see them. He was still a young man. But he wouldn't do it. Might have made a big difference. He said he wouldn't play for them now if they begged him. Give me the desk. Jerry, Vic. Well, I saw Cromer yesterday morning and finally caught up with the tanner girl about an hour ago. No, not much. The girl says he was a chronic liar, and Cromer tells me the fence could have been anybody. Who called again? Judge Evans. Oh, all about that information for the bar association series. Well, who wants me to stop by his office this afternoon? What's the rush? Well, I'm just on my way over to see Mrs. Weber, Billy's old lady. Sure, sure, I've gone this far. I might as well finish it. But no, no, somewhere over in Corona. Yeah, OK. Tell the judge I'll drop by his office about four. No, I didn't know what he was doing for money. If his father had been alive, he might have been able to see it. I didn't see it. I understand, Mrs. Weber. When I heard he was going around with that Strom fellow, I knew something was wrong. You knew Pinky Strom? Oh, years ago, when they were both boys, he was bad influence for Billy. They used to play on the same teams together, baseball and football. But I was glad when Billy stopped seeing him. Oh, Mr. Hill. Yes? The things you wrote in the paper that my Billy said before he died, I don't understand them. But there is also something else I don't understand. Maybe I can help. It says in all the papers that the execution was delayed a little while. Why would that be? Well, I don't know. Now that you mention it, it was delayed about 10 minutes. None of the papers say why. I look into it, if you like. I suppose it does not matter now. I only wondered. Mrs. Weber, a moment ago, you said you were glad when Billy stopped seeing Pinky Strom. You mean when they were boys? Oh, yes, just into their teens. It was not until years later that they took up again. Why did they stop seeing each other? Billy never told me. But it was around the time of the baseball game when the man from the Yankees was watching. What man from the Yankees? All the kind they sent around to find good young players for their teams. Oh, a scout. That is the word Billy called him, a scout. I remember how he looked forward to the game that day. He'd been practicing all week out in the vacant lot, hitting the ball. I waved to him here by the window that afternoon when he went off to the game. It was just what they call, I guess, a sandlot game. But he had his green jersey on and his baseball cap. And he was so eager to play as well as he could. I sat here all afternoon waiting for him to come home. And then finally, it was almost 6 o'clock and getting dark when the front door opened. Billy? I'm home. I wondered where you were. I made potato pancakes. Did your team win? No. Oh, that is a shame. Well, I'm sure you will do better next time. Here, let me take your cap. Wash up your hands now. Did the man from the Yankees come? Yeah. Billy, you mustn't cry. He was up in the stands. Oh, Billy. I hit a hole in the run. I would have been the only one in the game. Then you should be very proud. I want to die. He cried after night because his team had lost. And he never played with them again. He was so disappointed. And that was when he stopped seeing paper stones. Yes. He never told me why. Look, let me show you. I still keep it here in the drawer. Keep what? His baseball jersey. He threw it away, but I found it and kept it. Look. That's very nice. That was his number. Nine. This printing on the back, that was the name of some young politician who bought the jerseys from the team to give himself some advertising. He used to come to all the games. The Evans boosters. I think he's a judge or something now. Yes, your honor. Very well, sir. Mr. Hill. Yes? Judge Evans will see you now. Right this way, please. Oh, thank you. Mr. Hill to see you, sir. Oh, come in, Mr. Hill. I have assembled as much data as I could for you on the bar association, but a good bit of them need explaining. Oh, I think I'll be able to wade through it, your honor. Well, just on the off chance, you can't. I wanted to take this opportunity to run you over the rough spots. I'm flying down to Florida for a week starting tomorrow, and I thought. Judge Evans. Yes, sir? Why did you visit Billy Weber in the death house two nights ago? How on earth did you learn that? I guess you could call it an educated guess, plus a coincidence, maybe not even a very big coincidence. I don't think I follow you. Back during the years when you were sponsoring neighborhood baseball teams in this town, how many jerseys do you estimate you bought for kids overall? Must have run into the hundreds. Oh, that makes it a small coincidence. It just happens that Billy Weber's mother kept his. I paid her a visit this afternoon. I see. While I was there, she asked me how come Billy's execution was delayed, and then it occurred to me that the warden hadn't explained it. And then you made your educated guess? Let's face it, your honor. Not just anybody can barge in at the last minute and hold up an execution. I wasn't trying to hold it up. I just wanted to speak to Billy once more. Why? I suppose I'm talking for publication. You're not if you don't want to be. That's considered, have you, Hill? Well, I don't think it can do much harm now. For all I know, it might even do some good. I don't imagine you know why Billy killed Pinky Strom. I guess I don't. The state didn't dwell much on his motive at the trial. It was cut and dried. He was guilty, and that was that. Well, Strom teased him about something for years. That's why I went up to see Billy in the death house. Well, he was guilty all right, but I felt some responsibility in the matter myself. You? Yes, yes. You see, I did something myself to Billy a long time ago without meaning to, but shook him up pretty badly. I don't say it was the one thing that ruined his life. In fact, it wouldn't have touched any well-adjusted boy. But all his troubles seemed to start from that point, that ball game. And I felt responsible because I'd had a part in it. Mrs. Weber told me something about this less than an hour ago. The day that Billy hit the home run and the scout from the Yankees was there. I should guess that's how his mother would remember it. But that isn't how it happened. And two nights ago when I went to visit Billy in death row, I tried to make it clear to him that he was shortly going to be facing something very real and that he must stop deluding himself, stop living in a world of fantasy, and realize the truth of what he'd done. Gee, Judge, I never expected to see you again. Hey, screw. Didn't I tell you I had friends, big friends? Billy. OK, don't answer me. A lot I need with you. Billy, you've only got 15 minutes to live. I'm trying to tell you something very important. Important? Years ago at that baseball game, do you remember what happened? Sure. Sure, I remember. You played shortstop and Pinky Strom was at first. He was not. He wasn't here at all. He played first base. No. He was laughing at me all those years. Billy, he was there. No. But that guy from the Yankees was. Up in the stands, watching me. Billy, there wasn't anyone from the Yankees there. There was. I know. I'd told you all two days before the game that maybe there'd be a scout in the stands. Every manager tells every sandblock player that. So they'll play as hard as they know how. I saw him in the stands. He wasn't there. Believe me, Billy, that's why it doesn't matter about the home run. I hit a home run. What do you mean it doesn't matter? Almost, Billy. You almost hit a home run. And if you had, and if the man from the Yankees had been there, maybe you would have had an offer to play on one of their farm clubs. But you can't go to your death hating the world because it didn't happen that way. You're crying like pinkies. I hit a home run and the scout saw me. The wind took it. He went up, went up, went up. It might have been a home, or Billy. And the guy from the Yankees would have signed me. Maybe. Just maybe. That's what you've got to understand. But the wind did take it. And it hit the fence. The fence. The dirty, lousy fence. Five minutes later, they walked Billy into the execution chamber. You know what happened after that. So I'm afraid my visit didn't do any good after all. You might be wrong, Judge. Oh? One of the last things Billy mentioned was that fence. Apparently by then, it had gotten to be pretty real for him. I wonder. Seems to me if he was willing to face that before he died, he might be able to face anything. This is Rosalind Russell again. An interesting question to ask oneself is this simple little one. What was the best prayer I ever said in my whole life? The most sincere one. The one that came out most naturally. The reason I mention this is because we often hear it said that we, all of us, tend to dramatize prayer where it ought to be as natural as breathing. We're inclined to think that prayer should be accompanied with mood music, that it should be like a tender and romantic moment, or on the other hand, the last desperate stand when only a miracle will save the situation. It is for these times, but these are special times. The best prayer, like the best love, is the constant one. It burns brighter at times, but it always burns. It comes into the mind like the recollection of the constancy of a beloved friend or a husband or a wife. It asks a petition simply as a child, asks his father or mother for another little piece of bread or cake. It is the rise of gratitude within us for the sudden realization that we are fortunate in what life has given us. It's like an exclamation and appreciation of the sudden appearance of beauty, as when the sun rises in purple to light a new day, or sets in crimson and gold to mark the close of a finished day. The best prayers are like that, natural movements of the soul of all of us, and family prayer that is a natural and a familiar thing in a family is one of the best of the best prayers because it illuminates the very reason of the family. And by eliminating it, it binds it together so that the family that prays together stays together. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. The family theater has brought you transcribed The Fence, starring Richard Denning. Rosalind Russell was your hostess. Others in our cast were Sam Edwards, Vic Perrin, Jack Trushin, Joyce McCluskey, and Hedwigah Riker. The script was written and directed for family theater by John T. Kelly, with music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman. This series of family theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type of program, by the mutual network, which has responded to this need, and by the hundreds of stars of state screen and radio who give so unselfishly their time and talent to appear on our family theater stage. And to them and to you, our humble thanks. This is Tony LaFranco expressing the wish of family theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home and inviting you to join us next week when family theater will present The Sob Sister, starring Frank Lovejoy and Joan Banks. Bill Campbell will be your host. Join us, won't you? Family theater is broadcast throughout the world and originates in the Hollywood studios of the world's largest network. This is Mutual, the radio network for all America.