 Autolight and its 96,000 dealers present. Suspense. Tonight, Autolight brings you a transcribed tale of violence and tenderness. A story we call the gift of Jumbo Branigan, starring Mr. William Bendix. Before our play begins, here is a word about Autolight from a good friend of ours. Hello everybody, this is Harlow Autolight Wilcox, a singer of superlatives, about those sturdy, stout, supremely scintillating stars of action and accuracy, world-famous Autolight spark plugs. The spark plugs that are ignition engineered to work as a team with your car's ignition system. When you replace worn-out spark plugs with ignition engineered Autolight spark plugs, that fickle, finicky and faltering engine will happily hum and gleefully give smoother performance, quick starts, gas savings, all mighty important advantages to every car owner. That's why we say spark plugs should be regularly and carefully checked by your friendly Autolight spark plug dealer. He'll check your spark plugs with the exclusive Autolight plug check indicator. That's a special device that tells the right story for your type of driving. If cleaning or adjustments are needed, he has the equipment to do the job quickly and efficiently. And remember too, your Autolight spark plug dealer is the only one who can offer you your choice of Autolight standard or resistor type spark plugs. So go to your Autolight spark plug dealer soon, because you're always right with Autolight. And now with the gift of Jumbo Branigan and the performance of Mr. William Bendix, Autolight hopes once again to keep you in suspense. Come on, Jumbo. Come on. Hurry up. Shatter. Get back and amateur. Talking, talking. That lousy, no good bit. I know I should have picked it myself instead of letting a stupid kid do it. You pushed it too hard. That's why, bro. I never pushed a drill too hard in my life. Come on, the other bit. Come on, froggy. We ain't got all night. Here, here, Jumbo. Don't get nervous. You're the ones having catfits. It's the last bit we got. I'll handle it like a baby. We almost threw any help. A couple of minutes, we're going to be three of the richest men in town. Froggy, watch how you juggle that soup. Don't worry. If I drop it, you won't feel a thing. Maybe I ought to hit that watchman again. You might come around. Ain't you never been on a job before? Plenty. Well, you don't sound like it. Now we're starting to come through. I'll pour some more water in. We can't break now. Don't worry. Jumbo, hold it a minute. What's the matter now? I think I heard something. Listen. I don't hear nothing. Come on, come on. Let's finish up. 10 seconds talking. Come on, baby, get through it. Get through it. The alarm. Jumbo, you set the alarm off. We'll never get out of here now. We're fried. I dropped the fuel and listened. The alarm was sounding in my head like cannon fire. And I knew the next thing we'd hear would be size 12 Brogans pounding up the stairs with cops feeding them. You'd think that with 25 years at the business behind me I'd know better than a trippin' alarm, wouldn't you? Three weeks of freedom was all I'd been able to snatch. It didn't feel like three weeks, three minutes ago somebody called my name out. Benzie, you've been a trustee a long time. So maybe you'd trust me to rearrange your face. The name's Jumbo, Jumbo Brenigun. Don't get sore, Jumbo. Only use your whole name for a joke. This is quite an occasion. Oh, okay, Benzie. I guess this is the one day I should let you have your fun. Warden's something to get you. He's waiting. You hear that, you failures? The warden's waiting for me. So long, guys. Take care of yourselves. So long, Tigers. So long, cleanups. So long. Greatest bunch of no good bums in the world. Yeah. Oh, how I've been waiting for this. Throw all my papers right and everything. It was clean as a snowflake, Jumbo. You release aside crane tickets on a warden's desk. All you gotta do is tell him goodbye. Goodbye, Warden. Goodbye, Warden. You know, I might even say something nice to the creep. Insult it for me, will you? I'm in no position to do it myself. All right, inside. In just a second. Branigan's ready to leave, sir. Hello, Warden. Nice day, huh? Beautiful. That'll be all, Benzie. Goodbye, Jumbo. I'll keep a can in the window for you. No bother. Great guy. What are you, Branigan? 51, I think, Warden. How many years have you spent in prison? Well, counting reform school and everything. 25 years. Half your life. Don't you think you've been a failure long enough? Oh, yeah. Yeah, Warden, you're right. Those long nights back in there really pounded a lesson into this thick skull. From now on, I'm gonna be known as Honest Jumbo Branigan. Well, you'll have a chance to prove that. I wonder if you can. What do you mean by that crack? Have you forgotten about your boy? Oh, yeah, the kid. Well, I haven't heard much from him, and I don't even know what he looks like. Well, how he looks isn't important. That's how he feels. Put yourself in his place. He's only 14 years old. He spent 10 of those 14 years as a ward of the state. Never had a family or a chance. Well, poor kid. Too bad his mother didn't live. I wish there was something I could do for him, but I guess there ain't. Well, now here's where we start putting some lies back together. Jumbo, there is something you can do for that kid. I'm gonna tell you just what it is. When you get outside, you're gonna take that kid and the two of you are going to live as father and son. But wouldn't. We've already got an apartment for you. The rents paid for six months. We've gotten you an honest job. Doing what? Working in a department store. Mr. Bishop, who does rehabilitation work, has agreed to take you on. Oh, that's, uh, that's well. The parole office, the child welfare bureau, and the police department are going to keep tabs on you both. Until you straighten out your life. Brannigan, you step out of line once and you wish you'd never been born. Oh, Warden, I told you I'm going out of here and I'm gonna go straight. I'm planning to make a decent home for myself and I'll be glad to make a home for that kid. He won't have to worry and you won't have to worry. Nobody will, because Jumbo Brannigan's gonna live an honest life from here on out. Is that clear? That's clear, Brannigan. You have my best wishes. We walked to the gate, arm in arm, and I could see that he really fell for that big speech of mine. I should have been a politician. I almost fell for it myself. It was so good. I wasn't gonna go to work in any department store, at least any longer than I had to. I was heading right back where I belonged over to the south side of town and I was gonna go into business for myself. Jumbo Brannigan for hire, knights. Then all of a sudden I was outside, free. I spit on the sidewalk, stretched my arms out wide and took a good deep breath of that sucker's air. Jumbo, Jumbo, it's me, the kid. The kid? Mine? Sure. Didn't they tell you I was gonna be waiting for you out here? Well, no, I guess they forgot. Well, you think I'd let you down, my old man, Jumbo Brannigan? You're kind of skinny. Oh, I've been a little off my feet. You know, the excitement you get now. Well, nothing to get excited about, I've been out before. We're gonna live together, huh? Have our own place, huh? You're all right, kid, so we're gonna live together. But get this straight. I'm making the rules. You keep out of trouble. You get in by 10 o'clock at night. If you call me daddy once, I'll loosen a few of those baby teeth. Okay, Jumbo, we'll do anything you say. Anything you say. You don't know how good it is to see you. My old man. We took the train into town. I never seen a kid so excited or anybody so taken with me. He looked at me like I was an all-American fool back who just scored the winning touchdown for Poe Dumper. The next morning I reported for work at Peterson's department store, a big lush joint. I met the manager, Mr. Bishop, the jerk the warden had told me about. Well, Brannigan, it's nice to have you join our little family. Thank you, sir. It was nice of you to do something for me. I'm not doing much for you, Brannigan, but you're doing something for me. You're filling a necessary job in my department store. I don't know much, but I'll do my best. I'm sure you will. I believe in the basic honesty of the human being. And so far in this little rehabilitation venture, I haven't been disappointed. The parole board felt that if you had some definite responsibility, you and your boy would make out all right. I'll do my best, sir. You don't have to call me, sir. What else does? I'm going to put you down in the shipping room to start. Sochoo? Oh, fine, sir. Then you can move up into any job you want. Who knows? Some day you might have my job, manager. Oh, just any job would make me happy, sir, Bishop, as long as it's honest. That's the kind of talk I like to hear. I'm putting my faith on you, Brannigan. Anytime you have a problem or get the urge to, well, you know well, come to me directly. However, we work on the honor system. Honor system? It suited me just fine. Inside of an hour, I'd case the layout and found the main safe. It was on the second floor, and it was so beat up I could have opened it left-handed with a sectional jimmy. Oh, what a setup. It was the first time I'd ever been paid to case a joint by the very people I was going to knock off. Well, three weeks went by while I tossed crates and boxes around in the shipping room, and I'd ex-con. What I was really doing was mapping the place, right down to the tax and the rugs, and then I decided it was time to operate. The kid, I didn't even think about him. I broke my parole by going down to the roundhouse. A bar I used to hang out in. Jumbo! I wanted to hear you all the way down to the parole office, not head. Oh, hey, I got excited seeing you, Jumbo. Oh, well, don't lose your head. The usual, Jumbo. What happened to Stinger McClure? The Stinger? He was picking somebody's pocket on the subway and the door closed on his arm. The way that undertaker fixed him up, you wouldn't think he had a scratch on him. It's good to see you back, Jumbo. Julius, I've been kind of out of touch with things. Maybe you can help me. I need a couple of guys, Julius. A good electrician who knows the wires, a lookout, and a small guy who can squeeze in through a ventilator. Let me see. Anybody special in mind? I was thinking of Ralph Petrucci and Froggy Quinn. Those guys are around. They haven't been down here. Not in the dog stage. Any chance of getting a line on them? Yeah, I got some ears I can mutter into. Might be kind of hard, but I'll try. Okay, Julius, I'll take care of you. How about another splash in the glass? Coming up, also in the house. Jumbo, I've been looking all over for you. What do you think you're doing here? What's important? Well, it's half to 10 o'clock and you're supposed to be in bed. That's what's important. So are you, too. You're on parole. But I'm going right home, Jumbo. I just want you to come with me. I got a surprise for you. What surprise? I can't tell you here, but it's really big. All right, kid. Let's get it over with. He led me out of the bar and up the street like he just discovered oil in our kitchen. I couldn't figure out what the surprise could be. When we got to the apartment and opened the door, you could have knocked me over with a baby's rattle. The two guys I asked Julius the bartender to scout for me were sitting on the sofa, big as the ears on a bull. Ralph Petrucci and Froggy Quinn. Oh, here he is, fellas. How are you, Jumbo? Welcome home. Oh, hello, Ralph. But how did you meet me, Jumbo? Froggy Quinn, I can't believe it. How did you guys get here? How did you know? I got him, Jumbo. I knew you was looking for him. You knew I was looking for him? Sure, for the job. What a kid, huh? What job, kid? Come on, tell me what job. The one we're going to pull. Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. We're not pulling any job. Sure we are, Jumbo. Let me tell him, Ralph. Who do you think got you the parole? Who do you think got you that job in the department store? This apartment. Who? Me. That's who. I went up to that creep, Mr. Bishop, and cried my eyes out like a little baby. Telling him how much I needed my old man and wouldn't he help me? Kid, you don't know what you're talking about. And furthermore, we're not going to knock off the department store the way you've been thinking. Who says we're not? I do. We're clipping the loan company next door. That's where they keep their money nights, and that's where the real pile is. Now here's a plan. Now hold on a minute, kid. You going crazy or something? He knows what he's doing. Well, there's not going to be any job like this, and there's not going to be any kid like that in on it. Yes, there is, Jumbo, with or without you. I've been planning this job three years, and I'm going to go on it. Are you? I stood there looking down at that 90-pound skinny little kid, my own flesh and blood, planning a job like a hard guy who'd been in the rackets all his life. I felt like batting him right down through the floor. But everybody stood there staring at me, waiting for my answer. But all of a sudden, I knew what it was going to be, because I didn't like the looks of this job. What was that, Jumbo? You heard me, Froggy. Count me out. I don't want any part of it. Jumbo, you're nervous. You just got out. Now, we'll all pretend we didn't hear what you said. Chance to say something else. Jumbo, I thought you'd be proud. I planned it. I said I want no part of it. I don't waste time beating your gums. What's the matter, Jumbo? Don't you trust your own kids? Save that drug guy for some stupid cop when you're standing in a lineup. Jumbo, Brennan, don't trust nobody. You're forgetting the kid here's got a real head on him. He would sprung you. I've already sacked him. So long. Wait a minute. Oh. Oh, it's going to be that way, huh, Ralph? Yeah, Jumbo, it's that way. Now, while you're watching that gun, let me explain something to you. Before the kid could get in front of that parole board, he had to hire a longmouth, and that longmouth charged five grand. Me and Froggy got it up, and that means we sort of got an under arrest in you. Is that right, kid? Sure it is. We got you out to pull this job tonight. And it's going to be pulled tonight. We can't get nobody else to stand in for you. I mean it, Jumbo. Five grand, don't grow on trees. So just try to walk out of here. I'll kill you. Right in front of your own kid. Mottolite is bringing you Mr. William Bendix with Tommy Bernard in the gift of Jumbo Branigan. Tonight's production in Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills Suspends. I was hooked. I wasn't worried about the heater. Petrucci was dangling around on his finger, or the way Froggy was sliding around and backing me, holding his shiv with a trick blade. I could have given both of them plenty of trouble. But I began to look at it in another way. Jumbo, what do you say? You can put the Betsy away. I'm in. What did I tell you guys? You're the best girl in the business, my old man. You'll have a chance to prove it. Jumbo, there are 75 grand stashing that loan company safe. Just waiting for you to blow it out. And that's why we have to do it tonight, Jumbo. They got all the receipts in for the tax people. Come on, come on. Let's get out of business. Here. Here's the layout. Let me look at it. How do we get in who's going to do the skylight part? That's where the kid foot's in. Only we don't need a skylighter. I just get under the Adam Street entrance, see? And I stand there and pour my eyes out. The watchman will see me through the glass. There's only one on duty at 11.30. What are you giving me? Jumbo, I've been selling papers on that corner for three months. It's a cinch, like I said. The watchman will come out and wonder what's the matter with me. And you guys will go in. That's that for an angle, Jumbo. Well, I gotta get some tools. Don't worry, Jumbo. I already got them. Soup, drills, fuses, torch, everything. I'll all right you guys, case on out of here. What? I said grease. I want to talk to my kid. Okay. But don't make the mistake of changing your mind. Ralph, you can push me only so far and I'll beat it. Jumbo, I think the luckiest thing that ever happened in my life was being your son. I think so. Well, I'm bound to be a big timer like you before I'm 17. Think of all the things I'm going to learn from you. Well, you show me how to do a jam blast tonight. Yeah, sure. Sure, kid. Anything. Something on your mind? No, I'm just thinking over this job. You always got to think about good. I'm learning already. Maybe I'll grow up to be just like you, huh? Would you like that? Would I? Why, you got everything. Think of all the big dough you handled in your time. Look at the friend you got. Ralph and Froggy says there's no one can touch in your line. They're right, no one. Tell me about the Siemens National, will you? The Siemens National. You heard about that? I'm sure I heard about it. And I heard about the Daily Smith thing in Denver. And the neat sweatshirt you pulled up in Montreal. Sounds like a history book on me. Wait till you see this. Scrapbook, Jumbo. I got all your clippings. From the first time they nailed you on the St. Louis thing. St. Louis. I was 15. Yeah. And right down to the Aquino-Hio caper. Boy, was that something. Yeah. Kid. What? Can I tell you something? I know what kind of guy you are. You wouldn't kid me. Sure, I believe you. Well, then pay attention tonight on the job. Do like I say. Sure, Jumbo. You're the boss. Anything you want. This is your first time. No mistakes. No mistakes. Wait till you see me in action. You'll be proud of me. Like I'm proud of you. Just watch. Yeah, kid. I'll be watching. I'm glad you aren't sore about me lining up this thing. I'm getting hold of Froggy and Ralph and all. No hard feelings, kid. I'm not sore one bit. We all started out at a quarter after 11. Ralph and Froggy were nervous. The kid acted like an old trooper on opening night. We stood in a doorway while he went into his act. The watchman opened the door. It's a matter, sonny. What are you crying for? I got no place to go. No place to go? But you're only a kid. Where's your mother and father? I don't have any, mister. I'm all alone. I'm afraid. I shouldn't do this. Shut up and get back inside. Make one sound and I'll blast your head off. Froggy, his gun. Got it. Now, inside. The streets all clear, Jumbo. Like a dance hall Sunday morning. Let me take care of this guy. Kinda hard, Jumbo. What's the matter? No guts. Froggy, tie him up. Okay, Jumbo. Ralph, the shades. I don't have to worry a thing about that, Jumbo. You let me do the thinking. It's by the office door. I wonder if he's dead. The guard just made his call in. We've got 15 minutes to crack it. Do you think we can do it, Jumbo? You think we can? All right, yellow belly, this is where you get off. Get off? Yeah, outside. Go on, get out of here. But Jumbo, what's the matter? What did I do? You dumb little bonehead. Anybody could have set this cracker box up. I won't go. You hit me. Keep your mouth shut or you'll get the same thing. We can't have him hanging around. I won't go. You can kill me first. Oh, no. You won't. You won't throw me out. I want to be on the job. I want to be on the job. Now get away from here. Or you'll burn up the whole thing with your ball and... Jumbo! Now let's get to the men's work. Tin can was an antique, but it was tough. I worked as fast as I dared. Ralph and Froggy helping me, but the drills kept breaking off. Ralph was nervous and Froggy was juggling the nitroglycerin in a way that set us all on edge. I was using my last drill bit. When the job came to a sudden end. Kill'em. Kill'em. Jumbo, you set the alarm off. We'll never get out of here now. Froggy, put that nitro down. Okay, but I'm blowing. All right, everybody, put up your hands. There we are. Nobody's going to take it. Froggy, put that gun down. That's all, Father. Let me through. Let me through. That's my own man. Jumbo. What's the matter, kid? Ain't you ever seen a guy lie in a gutter and die? I thought... I thought you'd been around. It happens lots of times to guys like me. You can do it yourself someday. Just keep on the way you're going. Jumbo. Jumbo. I was going to learn things from you. You can still learn things. After I'm gone, study that scrapbook, look at the pictures in it of me in and out of jail. Pictures like the ones that are taken of me right now. They ought to be swell for you. Go on, get away from me. Get away from me. Don't forget the way you saw me dying, will you? Don't forget. Because if you're as dumb as I've been, you're going to end up the same way. Kid! Take a good look at me. Was that the best way? It was the only way. Maybe he understands now. Hiya, Captain Cross. Thanks for answering my phone call. You wouldn't have been hit, Jumbo, if the truth she hadn't tried to run. It's all right. Just saved everybody a lot of trouble. Jumbo, why did you tip me off in advance that you're going to pull a job? That Padre here can tell you, Captain. It was a... a little gift I arranged for my... my kid. Suspense. Presented by AutoLite. Tonight's star, Mr. William Bendix. This is Harlow Wilcox again to tell you that AutoLite makes over 400 fine products for cars, trucks, planes, and boats in 28 plants from coast to coast. These include complete ignition systems used as original factory equipment on many leading makes of our finest cars, generators, coils, distributors, electric windshield wipers, voltage regulators, wiring cables, starting motors, and many more. They're all engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly, because they're all part of the AutoLite team. So, friends, don't accept electrical parts supposed to be as good. Ask for and insist on AutoLite, original factory parts at your neighborhood service station, car dealer, garage, or repair shop. Remember, you're always right with AutoLite. Next week on Suspense, our star will be Mr. Ronald Coleman in Vision of Death. And in weeks to come, you will hear such famous stars as Mr. Van Johnson, Ms. Joan Crawford, all on Suspense. Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with music composed by Lucian Moraweck and conducted by Ludblustkin. Portions of this program were transcribed. In tonight's play, Tommy Bernard was young Branigan, Jane Avello was heard as froggy, and Ed Max was Ralph. Others in the cast were Leo Cleary, Joseph Kearns, Herb Butterfield, Junius Matthews, and Charles Calvert. The gift of Jumbo Branigan was written for Suspense by E. Jack Newman and John Michael Hayes. William Bendix may be heard on his own show, The Life of Riley, sponsored by Papst Blue Ribbon Beer. And remember, next week on Suspense, Mr. Ronald Coleman has a mind reader who discovers his nightclub act is not a fake. A story we call Vision of Death. Famous AutoLite resistor type or standard type of spark plugs, AutoLite stateful batteries, AutoLite electrical parts at your neighborhood AutoLite dealers. Switch to AutoLite. Good night. 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