 The Clyde Beatty Show! The world's greatest wild animal trainer Clyde Beatty with an exciting adventure from his brilliant career. The circus means thrills, excitement, snarling, jungle beasts. The circus means fun for young folks and old. But under the big top you see only a part of the story. The real drama comes behind the scenes, where 500 people live as one family. Where Clyde Beatty constantly risks death in the most dangerous act on earth. This master of the big cat has journeyed to Africa and India hunting down his beast in their native jungle. All of this is part of the Clyde Beatty story. It is entitled Man-Eater of Burma. Many men find the routine of their business often becomes boring, leading them to seek excitement in other fields. But when a man's business is wild animals, excitement, danger and adventure are everyday occurrences. One such adventure for Clyde Beatty started in far off Rangoon, Burma. A couple of years before the war. Yes, Harriet and I and our business manager Phil Donovan were stopping over in Rangoon and route to the province of Bengal, India where we were hoping to capture some young tigers. We disembarked from a small coastal steamer and an ancient taxi finally transported us safely to the center of Rangoon. This is trying to hotel shop. Come on Harriet, Phil, this is as far as we go for now. How much driver? Four rupees, sir. Here you are. See that the bearer brings in our bags, will you? The lime, sir. It will be soft. All right folks, let's go in. So this is the strand hotel. The way you've been talking, Clyde, I expected something like the Waldorf. I just hope they have a bathtub in the place. Oh, I can promise that all right. I wish you could promise some air conditioning too. I'm afraid that's out of the question. I'll tell you what, our bags won't be in for a minute. Let's go right in the lounge here and have a tall, cool lime or something. We can register later. Mr. Beatty, that's a wonderful idea. What are we waiting for? Let's go. Looks like the tea time business is still good. My eyes weren't deceiving me. Beatty, you rascal, it's good to see you again. Sanders, I was wondering if you were still around. How have you been? First-rate thanks. And you? Oh, fine. Excuse me, Harriet, this is Elliott Sanders, manager of the Imperial Tea Company, my wife Harriet Sanders. I'm delighted, Mrs. Beatty. How do you do, Mr. Sanders? And our friend Phil Donovan, Elliott Sanders. Glad to meet you. Thank you. I say, may I buy you all a drink? Thanks, Sanders. Sit down. We're just about to order something cool. Waiter, uh, limes all around? Fine. That'll be four, waiter. Yes, I... This is like old times. I thought I must be seeing things when you walked in, Beatty. What brings you to Rangoon? Why, we're just stopping over for a couple of days on our way to Bengal. We're gonna try and round up some young tigers. Hmm, I see. Why, so thoughtful, Mr. Sanders. Well, I was just thinking. Oh, I go all the way to Bengal for tigers. We've got more than enough of the blasted things right here in Burma. As a matter of fact, our teak plantation up near town grew has had quite a plague with one in particular. Really? What's the trouble? Whitley, our foreman up there, reports that there's a giant tiger on the rampage in that district. Says it's the biggest the natives have ever seen. Only not many of them have lived to tell about it. You see, he's turned man-eater. Why doesn't somebody shoot it? I can see that you've never hunted a man-eater, Mr. Donovan. They've tried to shoot it. But so far, I haven't had much luck. Maybe you'd like to have a crack at it, Beatty. I'm afraid that's a bit out of my line. You see, we're after young tigers for our circus and our time's getting short. Hmm, you know, this tiger has so disturbed work of the plantation killing natives that I... Well, what's on your mind, Sanders? Supposing I were to authorize my plantation form and to turn over all the natives and equipment you might need for capturing a dozen young tigers at no cost to you, whatever. What would you say to that? I'd say there's a catch in it somewhere. There is. First, you'd have to rid the place of that man-eater. How about it? I'll have to check with the boss. What do you say, Harriet? When do we start? Looks like you've made yourself a deal, Sanders. Good. There's a riverboat going upstream in the morning. I'll go and arrange everything and send word to Whitley. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll see you a bit later on, eh? Nice to meet you. Right, Sanders? Bye, Miss Sanders. Ah, things happen fast in the Orient, don't they? Just like that, a tiger's death warrant is signed. Clyde, what does that faraway look mean? I was just thinking if that tiger's as big as they say... You're not thinking of... Exactly. I'm not signing his death warrant. I'm gonna take him alive. We will continue with Man-eater from Burma in just a moment. And now, back to the Clyde Beatty Show and the thrilling adventure, Man-eater from Burma. Clyde and Harriet Beatty, accompanied by their friend Phil Donovan, are in Burma, en route to India in search of young tigers. Elliott Sanders offers to turn over the resources of his company's teak plantation in central Burma to aid the hunt if Clyde will first dispose of a giant man-eating tiger which has been plaguing the district. Clyde agrees to the plan, except instead of killing the tiger, he plans to capture it alive. Now, two days later, a small river steamer has just docked a tangoo on the Irawati River. Here comes the Chamber of Commerce, Clyde. Oh, I'm glad somebody's here to meet us. I don't think I care to be stranded here for long. It would be the Beaties and Mr. Donovan. Right, and you're Whitley? Right again. I got word from Sanders that you'd be arriving today. Welcome to tangoo. Well, thanks, Whitley. Yeah, this almost calls for a celebration. Isn't often we see a beautiful woman up here in these parts, Mrs. Beatty. Oh, thank you very much. I'm glad to be here. Sanders tells me you're after tigers, Beatty. Yes, that's why we came. Well, you've certainly come to the right place. We can discuss that later, I guess. Well, now we'd better be on our way to the plantation. How far is it? Oh, it's only about 20 miles, but it's through the jungle most of the way. And I, for one, don't care to travel it after dark. That makes two of us. Don't tell me we have to walk 20 miles through the jungle. Oh, good heavens, no. I have an auto of sorts. There's a trail, although it's a bit rough, I'm afraid. Well, I guess we're ready when you are, Whitley. Good. We'll have a bearer bring your bags and be off. In about three hours, you'll be able to get some rest. How does that sound? Couldn't sound better. Let's go. You set their bags inside, monger. Well, here we are. These bamboo bushes aren't much to look at, but I trust you'll be comfortable. Oh, that's perfect, Mr. Whitley. And so close to the edge of the jungle, too. I'm going to love it, I know. If you ask me, it's too close to the edge. Oh, I'm sure you won't be disturbed by anything, Mr. Donovan. Unless a monkey steals your shirt, sometimes the little devils get quite bold. Well, I imagine you'd like to turn in now, wouldn't you? Oh, I think we'd better. That tiger will keep till tomorrow. I'm afraid you're right. I'll arrange for all the elephants and mahouts and beaters you'll need in the morning. Well, that won't be necessary, Whitley. All I'll want for the time being is one elephant and mahout. I would appreciate it if you'd have some of the natives make a big ratan net and an extra strong cage, though. Net? Cage? Good heavens, man. You're surely not going to try and take that man either alive. Well, yes, that's my intention. Any objections? Well, no, I suppose not, except I don't think you'd stand a chance of doing it. This is no ordinary tiger baiting. It'll weigh over 500 pounds. I've seen it. I know, Sanders told me, and that's why I want it alive. Think of the attraction it'd make in the States. The biggest tiger in captivity, man-eater from Burma. Well, I suppose it's up to you, old man, and I wish you luck. I'll get some natives started on what you want first thing in the morning. Thanks, Whitley. I'll see you then. It's almost finished, baby. That net ought to hold a full elephant. It looks perfect, but it'll have to be to hold him. How's the cage coming along? It practically finished, too. That's swell. Say, Whitley, what are those things some of the natives are wearing around their wrists? All those are supposed to protect them from the tiger or some such fool thing as that. They're a superstitious Lachano. They're probably all convinced that if the one who was killed yesterday had been wearing one of those charms, he'd be alive today. Well, let's hope we'll be able to make their charms unnecessary. Yeah, let's hope so. By the way, just what is your plan? Well, as soon as the net's finished, I want to go into the jungle near where the native was killed yesterday. We'll find a small clearing and set our snare. I'll need a live goat to bait it with, and I'd like to take along a couple of natives to build a moshan in a tree nearby. Whitley, why do you want a shooting platform? I intend to spend the night watching for your man-eater. And if the snare doesn't work, then I'll shoot. Well, you may have all the men or anything else you need. Oh, Bimmer! Mirror moment! Bimmer's our head, Mahut. Best elephant man at Burma. He'll take you wherever you want to go and see that your wishes are carried out. He rules the natives with an iron fist. You'll call Scythe? Yes, Bimmer. This is Bady Scythe. He's come to catch Big Tiger. I want Bimmer to stay with him and help. Understand? As you command, Scythe. No buts now. You'll do as I ask. See that he has all the help he needs. Do what he says to do. Yes, Scythe. Go now and put Houda on your left. Then fetch him here. Bady and Scythe. Harriet and Donovan are coming along quickly. Care to join us? I'd like to, Bady, but I have a hundred other things I must do. I've been looking for your tea time, though. Fine, we should be back by then. That is, if we have any luck finding a clearing. I never knew the jungle could be so green and beautiful. It almost seems unreal. Oh, it's real enough, Harriet. It's very close to hear that that native was killed yesterday. This clearing is just what we're looking for, too. All right, Bimmer. Stop him. Let us down. As you wish, Scythe. Hi, Mocha. Wait a second. I'll give you two a hand. All right. Hand me the rifle first, Phil. Yeah. Got it? Okay. Jump down now. Good. Oh, boy. Am I glad to get off that blamed elephant. I was beginning to get seasick. All right, Bimmer. Tell the men to bring that net over here. Yes, Scythe. Sir, now what do we do, Scythe? Ah, now comes the interesting part. This is where we see if we can be more clever than our tiger. First, I'll have the men spread the net out right over there. You see that big bamboo tree? It'll make a perfect spring for our snare. We'll bend it over after we get the net covered carefully with leaves. You'd never know there was a trap within miles. I just hope the tiger doesn't know it. Anyway, it's all done. We'll stake out the goat when we come back tonight. And if the tiger goes after the goat, it'll spring the trap and snatch him up in the air in the net. Right? That's the idea, Phil. I just hope something else doesn't come along and trip it. I want that big tiger. Well, they've got the tree platform finished, Clyde. I must say it doesn't look too comfortable, though. Probably won't be, either. But, of course, you two don't have to come along. Oh, I was only kidding. You know, I wouldn't miss it for anything. Yeah, me too, Clyde. Yes, I gotta see, as long as it's from a safe spot. Fair enough. Now let's get back to our basha at the plantation. There we are. Old faithful's ready for action. Aren't you going to give Phil a rifle, too? Oh, no. No, not me. I'd probably hit myself with it if I ever had to use it. You know, I get to asking myself sometimes, Donovan, what in blazes are you doing here in the middle of a Burma jungle? What do you answer yourself? That's just it. There isn't any answer. It must be nuts. Maybe we all are. I think I'll rest for a minute, Clyde. I'm rather tired. Well, that's a good idea, Harriet. We've got a long night ahead. Wait a second. I'll get these gun cases off your bed. Oh, never mind. I'll just lie on your floor. I'm kind of tired, too. Must be this heat. You know, Harriet, if I were you, I... Stop stammering, Phil. You'd what? Clyde, look. The foot of the bed there. Wait, Scott. It's a King Cobra. Harriet, don't move a muscle and don't answer me. There's a cobra at the foot of your bed ready to strike. Don't move. We return to Clyde Beatty after this message. And now back to Clyde Beatty and Maneater of Burma. Deep in the jungle of Burma on a teak plantation, Clyde and Harriet Beatty and their friend, Phil Donovan, are resting before returning to the trap they have set for the giant man-eating tiger. In their basher, Harriet lay down on Clyde's bed and immediately thereafter, Phil sees something which makes his hair stand on end. There at the foot of the bed and ready to strike was a King Cobra, deadliest of jungle snakes. Clyde, what are we going to do? She makes a move. It'll kill her, sure. She's been in tight spots before. She won't move. Steady, Harriet. Hand me that small rifle, Phil. Slowly. Clyde, you're not going to try to shoot it. If you should miss... It's her only chance, Phil. I can't afford to miss. Keep that rifle moving slowly. I will. Got it? Yeah. Thank him, and it's loaded. Stay still, Harriet. Good grief. Clyde, hurry up and shoot. Take it easy, Phil. I don't dare make a sudden move. Quiet now. You got him, Clyde. You got him. Harriet, it's all right now. Oh, God. That awful snake. No, no, no. It's all over now. Try and relax. Holy smoke, Clyde. What a shot. You took his head clean off. Phil, get a glass of water. Hurry. We had a visitor, Whitley. Look on the floor there by the bed. Hey, Scott, a cobra. He didn't strike anyone, did he? Luckily, he didn't. Here's the water, Harriet. Drink it down. Thank you. I'm all right now. This is peculiar. I haven't seen a cobra around the plantation here in months. Look at the size of that fella. Wait a minute, Whitley. Hold it over closer here. What? What's the matter? You notice anything strange about him? I know. Looks like any other cobra I've ever seen. Hey, I think I see what you mean, Clyde. The skin along his sides looks sort of funny. Exactly as if he'd been rubbing up against something. Unless I miss my guess, that's just what he's been doing. I don't follow you, baby. This cobra didn't just wander in from the jungle. Whitley, it's been a captive in a box or a basket for some time. And somebody that wanted to kill me must have put it on my bed. Oh, come now, baby. Why should anyone around here want to kill you? I wish I knew the answer to that, Whitley. And I intend to find out just as soon as we get back in the morning. All right, Bimmer, we're all set now. You go back to the plantation. Don't come after us until you hear shots. As you wish, Todd. But it's useless to try to kill big tigers. Never mind that. You go back now. We've got to get up on our platform. All right, go, sir. Look out! Boy, now I know what it is to feel alone, but no offense intended, of course. It is a lonesome feeling here, isn't it? Yeah. Yet I have a strange sensation of being watched. Don't worry, we're probably being watched by half the animals in the jungle. I hope that tiger isn't one of them, though. Come on, let's get on up in the tree. There you go. Come up. Need a hand, Phil? Yeah, you don't have a ladder handy. Thanks. Come in, Clyde. Right behind you. Pull that rope up now, Phil. We don't want to leave our guns in canteen down there. Oh, that poor little goat. I feel sorry for it. Well, it's better to sacrifice a goat than some more human beings. I guess we're all set now. The tree's there. Did you ever see such a moon? Nope, never did. And here sits Donovan, up a tree. I think we'd better quiet down now. Make yourselves as comfortable as you can. It's liable to be a long night. Well, what do you think, Clyde? Maybe tonight's just not our night. Well, let's wait another hour, though. The sun won't be up till then. Maybe Demo was right. Maybe that tiger's too smart to be caught. Well, that's nonsense, Harriet. I'll try something else if this trap doesn't work. Who was that? That, my friend, was a tiger. And it sounded like an old one. I'll be quiet so he may be heading this way. I think the goat's in danger. Sounds like he's just beyond the edge of the clearing. He's coming, all right. Wait a minute. Look, Jupiter, look at the size of him. Quiet, Phil. Look, he's sneaking toward the goat. There he goes. He's up in the net. Yeah, I hope that net holds. He's even bigger than I dream. Come on, let's take the flashlight and get a close-up look. All right, slide on down, but keep your eyes open. Harriet, you wait till I'm down. Look out below, Phil. Okay, come on. Toss my rifle down, Harriet. Here it comes. Got it? All right, come on down. I'll grab you. Oh, I can build. Well, he's right. Oh, he couldn't wait. There he goes. He's running over to... Good lord, another tiger. Stay back, Harriet. Come on, Harriet. Phil, Phil, are you all right? That this brood had gone another three feet. He'd have fallen right on top of me. Well, baby, my hat's off to you. Actually, I never thought you'd take that tiger dead or alive. Oh, we were pretty lucky, Whitley. But he won't be bothering you anymore. Now, honey, it's my problem. And you're welcome to him. Well, where's your wife and Donovan? Will they be along for lunch? Well, they ought to be here soon. They were just waking up when I left the bar shop. But before I do anything else, I want to go down to the shed and have another look at that cat. Can't that wait? I'd rather do it now. I want to check that cage and make sure it's holding all right. Would you like to come along? Yes, I might as well, I guess. Let's go. Not much doubt about which shed he's in. Nothing's wrong, Whitley. Come on, let's hurry. Well, what do you mean? The way he's roaring. I'll bet my boots are somebody near that cage. And I left orders for nobody to go in the shed. You may be right. The gate's open here. Wait a minute. Let me have a look. Whitley, one of the natives is pulling with the cage door. Hey, you get away from there. No way. It's Bimmer. Grab him, baby. What's the rush? Bimmer. Maybe that'll hold a sneaking high enough for a while. Good work, baby. Bimmer, what the devil were you doing? Bimmer, you're doing nothing silep. You call that nothing? Look over there, Whitley. He was loosening the ratan on the cage door so the tiger'd be able to break out later on. Here he comes now, Mrs. Beatty. I'm sure he can explain it better than I. Well, I hope he can. The whole thing doesn't make sense to me. Well, we got the cage fixed, Whitley. I put a couple of your men to guarding it, although it's probably not necessary now with Bimmer locked up. What's it all about, Clark? It's really quite simple. Remember those odd-looking charms some of the natives have been wearing around their wrists? Sure, but what have they got to do with Bimmer? Well, Bimmer, being Chief Mahout, was sort of the head man among the plantation natives. When this man-eating tiger went on the rampage, they looked to Bimmer for advice and protection. He took advantage of it by playing medicine man. You mean he gave them the charms to protect them from the tiger? No, that's just it. He sold them those charms. A couple of the natives I just talked to paid ten rupees a piece for them. And to a native, ten rupees is a small fortune. Well, I'll be. How do you like that? Shades of Chicago. All this going on right onto my very nose and I knew nothing about it. Well, Bimmer had everybody convinced that if they bought a charm from him, the tiger wouldn't touch them. But when we arrived and he found out we were either going to capture or kill it, well, he had visions of his business folding up. And he tried to kill you to keep that from happening? That's right. When that failed, the next best thing was to fix it so the tiger could escape. I'm terribly sorry about all this, baby. I'm afraid your opinion of this plantation is probably pretty low. And I couldn't blame your bid if you left immediately. Left immediately? But, Whitley, you seem to forget. We have a dozen different reasons for not going yet. A dozen reasons? What are you talking about? I'm talking about tigers, Whitley, twelve of them. And we start hunting them right after lunch. Clyde Beatty will be back in just a moment with an exciting preview of next week's adventure. But first, an important message. Here is Clyde Beatty with a preview of Tiger Escape. Gracie was loose somewhere in the Shrine Temple. Yes, Gracie, six hundred pounds of murderous tiger and she was roaming a building where more than two hundred defenseless guests lay sleeping. I'd reached the fifth and top floor of the Shrine Temple when Harry had caught up with me. You haven't found her yet, Carly? No, thank heavens. Thank heavens? What do you mean? That means she must be up here, Harriet, above the sleeping rooms. What do you mean? In the dark? In there? This stairway's a fire stairs. I've checked every floor from the basement up here to the fifth. All the other landings have one-way doors. One-way doors? The doors won't open from this stairwell into the temple proper. That stood us in luck. Oh, you mean Gracie's had to come right up here to the top? As if she'd been in the runway shoot to the big performing cage in the show. And in there cried. What in there? I walked in in the dark, leaving Harriet protected behind the door that opened outward into the landing. I saw that I was in the unfinished swimming pool of the temple. In the light that spread out from the door, there were tumbled concrete blocks, timbers, porcelain objects, and beyond the light, blackness, in which Gracie the Tigress was hiding. You have just heard a preview from Tiger Escape, our next Clyde Batey drama. Be sure to tune in for this thrilling incident that occurred in the city of Detroit. All stories are based upon incidents in the career of the world-famous Clyde Batey and the Clyde Batey circus. The Clyde Batey show is produced by Shirley Thomas. Manny to a Burma was written by R. T. Smith. All names used were fictional, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This is a Commodore production.