 Suspense Tonight suspense brings you miss June Havoc as star, but first may we remind you that in America's smartest homes and clubs where fine wines are truly appreciated and enjoyed regularly the choice is CRESTA B-L-A-N-C-A Cresta Blanca Cresta Blanca From the finest of the vines come Cresta Blanca, California wines Patiently created to please the knowing tongue Let the proudest name in wine Cresta Blanca enrich your daily living add luster to your hospitality Poor Cresta Blanca souvenir sherry or port or any Cresta Blanca wine There's one for every occasion for every taste Shanley's Cresta Blanca wine company Livermore, California And now Shanley brings you Radio's outstanding theater of thrills suspense Presented by Roma Wines. That's r-o-m-a Roma Wines of Fresno, California and starring June Havoc in Subway a suspense play produced edited and directed for Shanley by William Spears The Subway always gets me. I have to stand back from the edge of the platform of a train coming in because Heights don't bother me or closed any places or any of those other things that gives some people a release No with me, it's the Subway. The shining tracks and the train roaring in out of the black But I always make myself stand way back when I'm waiting That's how it started that night Instinctively drew back when I saw the gleaming white headlight appear in the tunnel Rushing toward me out of dark. I made myself draw back But what I really wanted to do is to throw myself in front of that train The lights on the shining rails hypnotize me like the gleaming eyes of a snake Step backwards in a panic, but that mob that five o'clock mob poured in behind me and shoved and pulled me with it I've been pushed around all day, and I I had this awful cold I hated everybody That's a terrible thing to say. I guess but That's the way I felt like committing murder felt glued to my shoes And of all the people in the world I didn't want to see wouldn't that just have to be the night? I was shoved right next to root carney Where have you been keeping yourself? I haven't seen you since the academy. Hello, what are you doing these days? Nothing, I worked in a drugstore for a while I'm afraid I have you well, I can't seem to find anything Did you try some a star try oh, I've tried to get an all right, but yes I know I had to pay for the privilege of appearing in the summer theater I did the Westport season Oh, it's wonderful fun Well worth it to me to be able to say I'd had professional experience. Well, it's fine if you can afford it Oh, it's awful the way you have to have money for everything these days. Yes, it is. Oh, don't don't get too close to me Ruth I have the most awful sore throat. I don't know if you don't have money. You have to have poor don't you No, I haven't general understanding for nightlaster the producer John C. Ritner. Yes Yes, he was no friend of dad He used to come over to dinner when I was little I'd hear them talk about the theater And I thought there'd be nothing in the world like being an actor such fun All that glam and all the sensational parties and everybody's such fun Not the acting not the thrill of working at something you wanted to do so much that not doing it makes you not want to live No, oh, no, it's such fun and parties Wearing expensive suits like the one she had on Ruth chattered on and I looked at the subway stop more people got on still more Seemed as though they'd never stop getting on someone would grab the door and hold them open And I kept trying to close them a fat man chewing a horrible cold cigar stub pushed me still close to her room But I jumped as something sharp stuck into my side I was puzzled for a moment and then I remembered the scissors mother had asked me to get for her They were very sharp and they'd ruin my purse But it didn't make any difference was old like everything else I I closed my hand over the scissors and I held them tightly so they wouldn't do any more damage and then I don't know why I found myself staring at Ruth's hat It was so smart so expensive So everything that mine wasn't I found myself hating After dad died mr. Rittner stopped coming over so often so when I got bored with the academy I hopped right down to his office, and I said Mr. Rittner, do you remember Henry Connors? Well, I'm his daughter I want to be an actor Of course, I don't expect big parts right away, but maybe if I could get a walk on Oh But anyway, that's what I did and you know what he said to me. No, no, what did he say? He said Ruth I admire your spunk and if you have a good an actress as your father with a set designer You'll be all right, and he hired me just like that and your general understudy. That's me But no one's ever been sick Confidentially, I'm glad you're glad. Oh, yes You see I've never gotten up in any of the parts like I'm supposed to if I ever had to go on actually go on I tell you murder I couldn't look at her face I didn't even want to look at any of the passengers faces And when I raised my eyes, I saw still more faces simpering down at me from advertisements overhead I hated everybody and everything I turned and looked outside the windows The wet slimy darkness was roaring past like black death One foldy switch one obstruction on the tracks could bring it crashing in on all of us And who would be the losers not Ruth with her silly chatter Not these other passengers with their tired blank faces and not me Well, certainly not me My own tired blank face was reflected in the window paying gray and thin And it didn't seem out of place shimmering in that air of black death just outside Well, I hadn't meant to tell you this I didn't want to build your hopes up, but I've told him about you About me? Yes You know, I always did think you had loads of talent So I told him one day I told him mr. Rittner if anything ever happens to me I mean, uh, should you decide to give me a real part in your new show I don't worry about who general understudy night laughter. I know just the girl Paula Stevens You told him that the time ever comes and I have to leave Well, he knows your name and everything Uh, but don't build up your hopes honey. He hasn't a part for me in the new show And as far as anything happening to make me quit while there isn't a slightest turn My throat burned like fire And the fat man with that cigar was leaning against me and I lashed out like a drowning person Watch this lady watch it. I took it out on him Who I really wanted to knock out of my way was Ruth Ruth standing between me and the break I dreamed of Understudy in a hit show But she had said well, don't build up your hopes honey. There isn't the slightest chance But wasn't there the slightest chance? I thought the slightest chance of something happening to her She didn't start it up again She wanted me so that I was thrown sickeningly against Ruth My fingers were testing the points of the scissors in my bag No one could see me. We were packed in too solidly The scissors were sharp and cold and long Yes, this seems long y'all I kept my eyes on the dim lights and dirty concrete and tiles of the station We said she was the train throbbed along our town I was holding the scissors as though they were a weapon I was suddenly sure that at some time or another scissors had been used as a weapon The scissors in my bag seemed to grow bigger with an idea Idea and scissors Scissors and idea They were increasing in size The ink in my throat had gone up into my ears too Throbbing keeping time with the throbbing of the subway I looked away from the blackness outside and stared up the white light of the ceiling The electric fan overhead was suspended like like a spider Suspended like a spider Like the spider that was spinning, no No, not not spinning as a spider should spin, but Whirling Yes, that that was a whirling Like my brain was whirling on Sundays, don't you? Oh, yeah No show tonight then Ruth. Why don't you come home and eat with me? There's just mother and me will be all alone. I love to parlor Frankly, I didn't have anything to look forward to but a boring evening I'm glad now. I couldn't find a taxi. Well mother will be very glad to see you Oh, it's very sweet of you to ask me. I have never home cooked meal in a long time A casual invitation after a casual meeting No one knew that Ruth was coming to my house for dinner. Ruth didn't even know where I lived Get her off the subway a few stations early Many empty lots up this way Then one thrust of these sharp scissors ordinary scissors brand new scissors And a body in an empty lot And after a few days after the funeral A humble application to mr. John C. Ritner for my girlfriend's job He'd remember I'd been recommended by Ruth herself Oh And I'll show them I'll know every line perfectly and one night the star will not go on No, that will be it The noise outside didn't seem like the roar of a subway anymore It was like tremendous applause applause For me Suspense roma wines are bringing you dune havoc in subway roma wines presentation tonight in radios outstanding theater of thrills suspense Suspense radios outstanding theater of thrills is presented by roma wines. That's r. O. M. 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A roma wines america's largest selling wines And now roma wines bring back to our hollywood soundstage june havoc starring as paula stevens with lyrene tuttle as ruth in subway A play well calculated to keep you in suspense We passed sun station 116th street i guess was I remember i studied ruth with new cold interest I was certainly stronger than she She wouldn't be expecting anything Besides she wouldn't know how to struggle things that always come easily to her She was so wrapped up in her own fairs. She just chattered away Oh, it's been the most fun getting those checks every week and never having to lift a finger to earn them If they ever catch up the brakes go to girls like ruth Who think that being an actress is great fun? And others others who really truly love the thing I never get a chance. There's no way for me to make their own breaks not very often anyway But I had a way in my purse that night I could get ruth's job Belong to an actress not her It belonged to me To me Oh, we got the local year. We're coming in now They pushed an elbow and jostled our way out of the car But the last one's out So we had to turn around and face the tracks with a solid mob at our back I hated to stand so near the edge But there was no way to get to the middle of the platform without bullying my way through And I I didn't want to have to explain to Ruth how I felt But I managed to get my feet placed an inch or so in back of her as we stood wedged in the crowd I've made me feel a little better Ruth between me and the tracks Ruth between me and my destiny Ruth Always in the way a little push I thought Maybe it would be easier a little push just before our train came in and Look at that man over there. Doesn't he remind you of bill? Well, oh, yes Yes, he does. Oh, where's bill by the way? Oh Bill's fine. He's still going with him. Oh, yes. Oh, he's a wonderful guy that bill I remember one time I remembered two I remembered how Ruth had tried to take bill away from me once She'd done everything in her power And therefore while I I thought she was going to succeed too But she hadn't He was too nice He wasn't the type to care of a girl couldn't dress in the latest styles and If she didn't have the smartest hats, I knew him first, you know Yes, I know you did he used to date me before he knew you He was just a kid, of course and I got interested in another boy But believe me when I ran into bill about a year ago I couldn't help thinking that maybe I'd made a mistake in giving him up so easily You didn't give him up too easily Oh, yes, I did Much easier than I would now if I had it to do all over again Be serious about him, aren't you? Yes, very You take everything pretty seriously, don't you Paula? Ruth was standing on the edge And she wasn't laughing anymore She was staring at me in a very peculiar way She moved around in the back of me And now I was on the edge In spite of myself I looked down at the gleaming rails Two long silver ribbons pointing toward the black hole where the platform broke off on the walls closed in And the train was approaching I watched the tracks fascinate it I waited for the hypnotic gleam of the headlights to make the rail sparkle and shine and beckon to me And then the headlights beamed at me out of the void at me, me It was a great warm spotlight And I swayed over the edge to meet it and I couldn't stop myself I was shaking Ruth's arms were only holding her tight She pulled me back just before I might have What have I should have done What's the matter Paula? You nearly fell right in front of that train All right now Thanks for holding me Ruth I don't think I really would have fallen though. Come on. Let's let's get in the car You look like you were weak or something You could do with some food. I'll bet you didn't have lunch No, I didn't I forgot But we'll be home soon I'm starved myself. I'll certainly be glad to get your place Oh, I hated her worse than ever What right did she have to pull me back if I wanted to jump? What business is hers? I felt I felt for the scissors in my purse I wrapped my handkerchief around the handle No fingerprints no clues no motive Nothing that would be connected with me a friend that hadn't seen her in ages and what motive could I have? While I wanted was her job and nobody would ever think that I had committed murder to get a job People just didn't do things like not unless they were desperate and bitter with nothing to lose I think we can grab a couple of seats in a minute. Those two men are getting off Wouldn't you think they'd have offered them to us in the first place? Really men in new york? I followed her leave we got the seats And I sat down there was carefully Like an old woman I hadn't sat down all day Just walked from one office to another Oh your muscles in my back and legs ached I had to sit in an upright position My warm blood came rushing upward as I lifted first one foot and then the other gingerly off the floor The arches ached with relief And my head swam I was so grateful just to be able to sit Oh grateful The think of the simple act of sitting down could mean so much to me Paula Stevens the most promising actress at the academy a few years ago Now nobody would even give me a walk on me I turned and I stared at Ruth I thought Maybe I won't wait for the empty lot Paula What's the matter with you? Here we are sitting down and comfortable and you're frowning like a bear with a sore tooth What are you frowning about? I looked around desperately for something I could be frowning at A man across the aisle was reading a newspaper and I saw a headline that could be making me frown I indicated it Oh you mean the headline? Yes Um Kitten run driver kills child Oh that is nasty Makes me sick to see things like that I'll ever read them Does it affect you that way? Yes Lowest form of humanity Train shot out of the underground under the trestle Out of darkness into the twilight of a tenement street In a moment before nothing could be seen through the dirty car windows with reflection of your own drawn face But then the ramshackle apartment buildings flashed by outside Showing intimate glimpses of bare kitchens and dim bedrooms Gray wash and cheap living rooms Families going through the functions of living Poor families Tragic living From the blackness of the tunnel to the twilight of poverty From death to life First death then life To peace with the subway Not life then death but death to life Death brings another kind of life Not necessarily sorted life like this but new life Death makes room for somebody else to live One death for another life Bruce death for my new life Thinking about that headline too I mean the one about the hit and run driver I suppose I do get panicky Well there's still a lost form of humanity Still in all I think I can understand how it could happen to anybody You're driving along maybe thinking of something else Maybe going a little too fast You know what I mean You're just anxious to get someplace in a hurry and you aren't watching what's ahead And all of a sudden Does that mean you shouldn't stop and Well you don't know what you can't Maybe it's just an old crate or a pile of junk It isn't necessarily a kid or a dog even You just don't know And if you stop and look you may find you're a murderer Yes but if you keep on You can tell yourself it was just an old piece of junk and go on your way Now I can understand a hit and run driver Yes I can Oh well why was she brailing about a hit and run driver But you wore the subject ragged Well I thought anyway it won't be much longer than that I won't have to listen to her much longer anyway One more station and we'd get out She wouldn't know it wasn't my station yet And then we'd walk over for the lot Cut across it in the dark The scissors One hard plunge And back to the subway for the rest of my ride Alone Why I wouldn't even be late for supper Subway empty to me Seem to be flying through the night carrying me on dark wings toward my first chance at being something We were going awfully fast Too fast You know what I mean You're anxious to get some place and bingo you're something A pile of junk it has to be junk An obstruction to be cleared away for something more important passing by But if I should stop and look Like me But it's a girl dead in an empty lot This was our station this was it Do we get out here Paula I was looking at her roof An obstruction in my path I had stopped and I had looked at her What's the matter Paula? I thought this was it Don't forget out here I had stopped to look And I had seen that She was a girl A human being Paula was supposed to get off here Yes Yes well Yes a train started away without us Somehow it seemed to run more smoothly As though its wings were light instead of dark And I was strangely rested My mind was blank and I rolled the blankness around and I tasted it I swallowed in And my mouth And my throat I felt better Falls of yesterday's newspapers Great old platformer Flattened themselves in the corners and I'll be glad to get there Oh yes I'm starved Ruth was a girl She was a human being Everybody on that subway was an individual Human being And I had to drive according to the rules I couldn't hit and run Of could I have ever thought that I could If I had to get there the hard way Well I could take it This way Paula Yes Yes this way Ruth Into the light I climbed the ramp to the street exit With a new bounce in my feet But I fell in my pulse Only to wrap my handkerchief carefully Around the scissor points Not the handles I couldn't afford to completely ruin my already damaged bag And Ruth was chattering again Soon we'd be home And as she chattered I thought Ruth's older than I But she seems like a child She'll probably never grow up But I did that night Arm in arm with you We walked past an empty lot And I never even thought of looking back Starring June Havoc Resided by Roma Wines That's R-O-M-A Roma Wines Those better tasting wines Enjoyed by more Americans Than any other wines This is Truman Bradley Reminding you that when you enjoy Roma California wines You enjoy the goodness of natural juices Pressed from choice Full ripe California grapes Then with ancient skills And the world's greatest wine making resources Roma Master Ventners Guide this grape treasure Unheardly To tempting taste perfection These better tasting Roma Wines Are placed with other Mellow Roma Wines And from these reserves The world's greatest reserves of fine wines Roma later selects for your enjoyment With another weekend of football And fun coming up It's a good idea to lay in an assortment Of better tasting Roma Wines Such as golden amber Roma sherry Ruby red Roma port Or flame bright Roma muscatel Then you'll be sure of pleasing friends And neighbors who drop in As well as your family Because these delicious Roma Wines That's R-O-M-A Roma Wines Are America's favorite wines Tonight's suspense play Was by Eileen Douglas-Walser And Mel Denali Next Thursday same time You will hear radio's inimitable Henry Morgan As star of suspense Produced and directed by William Spear For the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California Listen again next week at the same time For suspense Tonight's suspense came to you transcribed This is CBS The Columbia Broadcasting System