 Hi radio fans, welcome to Behind the Mic from otrpodcast.com. I'm your host, Austin Vaughn, and on this podcast we explore the history behind many of Oltime Radio's greatest performances. We jump around from series to series, picking one episode each week, and together we learn about the actors, producers, sponsors, and more before listening to that full episode as it was originally broadcast. If you have feedback for today's show, or have a great idea for a future podcast, please send me an email at contactotrpodcast.com. You can also send me a voice message by clicking the link in the show notes, or if you're watching this on YouTube, just leave a comment down below. Today's episode will begin after a brief message from our sponsor. In 1946, CBS Radio debuted a new anthology series called Academy Award, which presented 30-minute adaptations of plays, novels, and films. Rather than always adapting Oscar-winning films, the series offered, quote, Hollywood's finest, the greatest picture plays, the great actors and actresses, techniques and skills, chosen from the honor roll of those who have won or been nominated for the famous Golden Oscar of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. With that as a guideline, any drama could be presented as long as the cast included at least one Oscar-nominated performer. The series began March 30th, 1946, with Betty Davis and Jezebel. On that first show, Jean Herschelt spoke as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, welcoming E.R. Squibb & Sons, a pharmaceutical company that would later become part of Bristol Meyers Squibb as the program's sponsor. The show was expensive to produce and cost the sponsor $4,000 a week for the movie stars and another $1,600 each week to pay the Academy of Motion Pictures for the use of their name in the show's title. This eventually became a factor in Squibb's decision to cancel the series after only 39 weeks. This episode is the 25th in the series and features an adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story and holds a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Joseph Cotton, one of the lead actors in that film, reprises his role of Charlie in this adaptation. The episode was originally broadcast on September 11th, 1946, the same day the Brooklyn Dodgers and the visiting Cincinnati Reds played the longest, scoreless tie in Major League Baseball history. This was screened for 19 innings and 4 hours, 40 minutes, before the game was canceled because of darkness. Please enjoy Shadow of a Doubt from Academy Award. This is the story of a weary traveler who had journeyed far, peered into the dark corners of life and with the breath of phantoms on his neck, took off pursuit for a few days and sought refuge in the only light-filled bit of the world he had saved to hide in, the placid home of his next of kin. Here at least he can relax, for here he is of the nobility, salt of the earth, the proverbial wealthy and mysterious Uncle Charlie. It wasn't the biggest yacht in the world, but it had a nice little fireplace in the library and the bar was paneled in bleach mahogany, you pressed the button and... What am I talking about? All that's over. Let's talk about you, my beautiful niece and namesake, Charlie. That's the prettiest dress I ever saw. I think so too, Uncle Charlie. Charles, don't you remember? Remember? Remember what? Well, Uncle Charlie, you sent it to me. I did? Don't you remember? Of course I've grown. I had to sort of fix it. Say, I've been forgetting something all this time. Here, I've been saving these under my chair. For you, Joe, a little present. Oh, you didn't have to think of me, Charles. The presents are all right for the children. Look at this beautiful wristwatch. Say, fellas at the bank will think I'm quite a sport. Oh, Charles. Charles, how beautiful. Silver foxes for you, Emmy. Oh, I've wanted one all my life. Oh, Charles, you are the kindest brother in the world. Oh, nonsense, Emmy. I can afford it. I get more pleasure out of giving than receiving. And now, these, Emmy, these miniatures of our mother and father. Charles, did you have these all along? All along. All these years I've been away, safe in a deposit box, stored away safe, no matter where I was. Grandpa and grandma? Yes. 1888, 58 years ago. My, she was pretty, and he is sweet. Everyone was pretty and sweet then, Charlie, the whole world. A wonderful world. Not like the world today. It was great to be young then. But we're happy, no, Uncle Charlie? Look at us. For once, we're all happy at the same time. And now, for your little present, Charlie. No, no, I don't want anything. Right now I have enough. Before you came, I didn't think I had anything, but now, now I don't want another thing. No, what could be the matter with her? Oh, she's all right, just exciting. I'll go into the kitchen, whether she'll like this when she sees it. Nothing. Why did you follow me? I meant it. Please don't give me anything, Uncle Charlie. Nothing? I can't explain. You came here and mother's happy, and I'm glad she named me after you and that she thinks we're both alike. I think we are too. I know it. It would spoil things if you gave me anything. You're a strange girl, Charlie. Why would it spoil things? Because we're not just an uncle and a niece. There's something else. I know you. I know that you don't tell people a lot of things. I don't either. I have a feeling that inside you somewhere there's something, something nobody knows. Something secret and wonderful and... Well, I'll find out. It's not good to find out too much, Charlie. But we're kind of like twins, don't you see? We have to know. Give me your hand. No, no, the other finger. Now. Thank you. But you haven't even looked at the ring. I don't have to look at it. No matter what you gave me, it'd be the same. Here, now, let me show it to you. It's a good emerald, a really good one. And good emeralds are the most beautiful things in the world. Well, you've had something engraved on it. I haven't, but I will, if you'd like me to. But you have, Uncle Charlie. You have it. It's very faint. It's way down under the stone. T.S. from... from B.M. Well, that must be someone's initials. The jeweler rocked me. The jeweler rocked me. Oh, it doesn't matter really. It doesn't... He rocked me this second hand. He rocked me the whole world, his crooked, the whole rotten world. But I like it this way. Someone else was probably happy with the ring. Far and rotten. It's not rotten, not for you and I or... and mother and the rest of it. Here. Give it back to me. I'll have that taken off. No. No, it's perfect the way it is. Now, you bring the coffee and... and we'll surprise them with perfect service. You just sit here and relax. Oh, thank you, Amy. It's wonderful to be comfortable again. There's the evening paper. Make yourself comfy. Joe's gone to bed. Didn't he read it? No. He was too tired from all the excitement of you and the presence and everything. You had a chance to even peek at the news. Oh, Lordy, I'm tuckered up too. You go on to bed, Amy. I just want to sit here and smoke and read and soak up the feeling of home. Oh, it's wonderful seeing you here. Relax. Home with your own. Well, good night, Charles. Good night, Amy. Uncle Charlie. Oh, hello. What's the matter? I just saw something in the paper that interested me, so I tore it out. Oh, well, I brought you a picture of cold water. Mom said you wanted it. Oh, thank you, Charlie. You're very thoughtful. Sweet dreams. Uncle Charlie. I know something. I know a secret that you don't think I know. What secret? I know that there was something in that evening paper about you. About me? In the evening paper? About you. Please show it to me. I won't tell us. Oh, Charlie, you have me. It wasn't about me. It was about some people I used to know. Well, let me see. There, now I've got the clipping and I'll prove it. Give me that. It's none of your business. Uncle Charlie, you're hurting me. Your hand. Oh, Charlie, I... I didn't mean to it. I must have grabbed you harder than I thought. I was just fooling about it. It was just some gossip. Not too pretty about someone I met up with once. Nothing for you to read. You forget it. I am sorry, Uncle Charlie. I was only trying to tease you. I know. I know. Good night, Uncle Charlie. Good night. Good night. A pleasant dream. I can't face the world without some hot coffee. Well, I don't mind coddling you your first morning. While you've been sleeping, the whole town's talking about you. About me? About you. The telephone's never stopped. Everybody wants to meet my favorite brother. Where's young Charlie? He's on the house as though she'd lost her mind. You see, you're not the only celebrity in town. The whole Newton family's going to be in the limelight. What are you all up to? Well, a young man came here this morning. Said his name was Guillaume. He wants to interview everybody in the house. Interview everybody? Yes, it's kind of poor. It's called the National Public Survey. How did he happen to pick this family? He wanted a typical American family. When do I happen to come here? I asked him. What'd he say? Oh, he said they looked around all over and finally decided on us. Well, if he's going to ask a lot of questions, he can leave me out of it. You have more to tell than any of us. He's going to take our pictures, too. Pictures? Yes, you see, there were really two young men. One takes the pictures. Oh, there were two of them. Yes, very, very nice young men. One of them was really very handsome. Well, Charles, it certainly looks like he's going to be real famous. Emmy, where's young Charlie? Oh, she went off someplace, Charles. I think she's having a sandwich down the corner with one of the young men who is here today taking pictures. Mercy, if they were particular. I bet I had to break two dozen eggs and mixing that cake so they could get just the right picture. Why did she go with that young man? Well, to tell the truth, Charles, I think she's peeved at you. Oh, really? Why? You know, when we were on the upstairs today, one of them happened to take your pictures. You came up the stairs and you made him give you the film. So I did. Invasion of privacy, my dear. I won't tolerate such goings-on. How do we know what those young men would do with those pictures? Mercy, me, Charles, I'm sure I don't know, but you're so much smarter than we are. If you say they can't take pictures, they just can't. I don't like young Charlie talking to those men. There's something about them I don't quite like. I'll have to have a talk with her when she gets back. Tell her I want to see her, Amy. I want to see her the minute she comes in. I know now, Jack Graham, what you really are. You're a detective. There's something the matter and you're a detective. Charlie, listen. I don't want to listen. You pretended to be making a survey. You fooled us all. You've got to listen. You've got to trust me. Why should I when you lied to me? I had to. You just got to believe. We came here to find a man. I hadn't counted on your mother and your family. Find a man? What man? We're after him. We don't know much about him. We don't even know what he looks like. Charlie, think. How much do you know about your uncle? Well, he's my uncle. He's my mother's brother. What has he done? I can't tell you what he's done. We're after one man. Your uncle may be that man. We follow him. We think he is. But in the East, there's another man who's being hunted too. Hunted through Massachusetts and into Maine. He may be the man. Uncle Charles hasn't done anything. He knows it would kill my mother if he'd done anything. Why don't you arrest that man in Maine? Why don't you go away and leave us alone? Charlie, when we were eating tonight talking about your folks and mine what we'd done and how we felt we were like two ordinary people, weren't we? You liked me. I know you did. And I liked you. That doesn't matter now. It does matter. But if it is your uncle, Charlie I'm going to catch up with him and you've got to keep your mouth shut and you know you'll help me. I wouldn't help you. Please, please, Charlie if your uncle Charlie's the man we want we'll get him out of town quietly. We want to arrest him here. You see, I like you, Charlie. All right, I won't say anything but I'm going to prove you're wrong. I'm going to prove it right now. Charlie. Charlie Newton. Hold on there young lady. Wait for the light. I'm sorry officer. I'm trying to get to the library before nine o'clock. All right now, mind your step and go ahead. Really Charlie, you know as well as I do that this library closes at nine. I'm terrible, I'm sorry Miss Coggin, but there's something in the newspaper I've got to say. Yeah, I think you're in, you're in. You have just two minutes. Oh, please make it be here. Make it be as uncle Charlie says about something else. Oh. Boston. Search for the Mary Widow murderer continues. No photograph of the suspected man has ever been obtained. His victims have uniformly been widows of large means living in resort hotels and this fact has led to his being called the Mary Widow murderer. His last victim was, was Mrs. Byron Mansfield, the former Thelma Scott T.S. Time to go Charlie. Now please, I'm tired after a hard day on my feet. All right. Charlie, no. I'm waiting for you Charlie. Waiting and waiting and waiting. Come child. No. No. Come and take me by the hand. Soft and dark. The moon is set. And on his people turn down their lamps and make ready for the night. A note of mystery is fine in a drama, but when it comes to choosing a dentivus, well then you want to know what to expect. That's why so many people choose squibbed dental cream. They know you can taste, feel and see the refreshing difference. And there's no mystery why. 223 scientific tests behind every tube ensure those distinctive qualities that make squibbed dental cream such a pleasure to use. Testing guarantees its mint-frosted tingle, refreshing as the crisp sparkling sunlight of an autumn day, invigorating as the tang of wood smoke in the air. Testing guarantees the brisk action of squibbed dental cream that leaves your whole mouth feeling so wonderfully clean. And testing guarantees that the polishing agent in squibbed dental cream, one of the safest, most effective known to dental science, will help to bring out all the natural sparkle of your smile. So for your own protection, for greater refreshment, use squibbed dental cream. One of the great family of squib products. Taste, feel and see the refreshing difference. In just a moment, you will hear part two of Shadow of a Doubt. But first, we wish to thank Universal International Pictures for making this story available. They are also the producers of Ernest Hemingway's The Killers. That's part two of Academy Awards, starring Joseph Cotton in Shadow of a Doubt with June Benson. Let me out to you and your young friend Graham. I don't know. I'm not going to tell him what I know. He may find out, but I won't tell him. He won't find out. I'm only asking you one thing. Just go away and leave us alone. No. Charlie, will you help me? I'll help you. Charlie, the same blood flows through our veins. A week ago, I was at the end of my rope. I'm so tired, Charlie. There's an end to the amount of running a man can do. And this is my last chance. Give it to me. There's another man in the yeast they suspect him to. If they catch him, give me this one last chance, Charlie. Take your chance and go. No, I'll go. I'll go, Charlie. If you'll just give me a couple of days, help me, Charlie. I'm your uncle. Think of your mother. It would kill your mother. Yes, it would kill my mother. It would kill you too, wouldn't it, Uncle Charlie? Now go on. Get away from here. You can have your few days. You realize what it means if they get me. The electric chair. I count on you. Don't forget you said it yourself. We are not any ordinary uncle and niece. No matter what I've done, we are twins. Go in now and sleep. Sleep and pleasant dreams, beautiful Charlie. Let's go in the garage. I've got to talk to you. Yes, Jack. I don't know how it happened, but it did. They tracked down the other man in trying to run away at the airport in Boston. He backed into the propeller of a plane that was warming up. Well, the heat's off your uncle. I knew you'd have to go away, but I hadn't thought about it. I'll be alone again. I'll be back, Charlie, as soon as I can make it. You're not frightened now, are you, Charlie? No. I love you. Do you, Jack? That's why I'm coming back. I'll be here waiting. Well, what if you two have been locking yourselves in the garage for when I was young we sat in the parlor? Well, I was saying goodbye to Charlie. In the garage? In the garage. The door got stuck. Now I'll have to say goodbye to you. Well, say goodbye to me on the lawn and no use taking chances on that garage door again. Finished here? All finished, but I'll be back. You'll be seeing me around. Oh. Not on business. Oh, I see. Well, Charlie's a fine girl. She's the thing I love most in the world. Have a good trip, Mr. Graham, and don't take any more pictures without permission. Rights of man, you know. Freedom. We'll have a talk about freedom someday, Mr. Oakley. I'll be running along now. I'd better say goodbye to your mother, Charlie. You coming, sir? No, no. I'd better see if I can fix that garage door. Folks, before we go to the women's club this evening, I'm going to tell you what I intend to say. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've come to a lot of conclusions. There's another thing I'd like to do, and I'm going to ask you to help me. I'd like to do something for the town here. Something for the children's hospital. Oh, Charles. Something in memory of our father and mother. Something fine and good. By George. That's wonderful of you, Charles. No, Charles. I know how you feel about children who've been hurt because you were so terribly hurt yourself once. It's a miracle you're all right now. You might have been crippled for life. I know. I know how you feel about children. Well, see, this is the finest thing I ever heard of. Wait till you hear about this tonight. We'd better be going. Mercy. Well, we're all going to sit. Mother, mother, Uncle Charles can sit in the back with Papa and Roger and Anne will fit in perfectly well beside them. Oh, nonsense. I'm getting a cab. You all go in the cab and Charlie and I will go in the other car alone. No, no. You go in the taxi, Uncle Charles. No, no. I know what I'm doing now. There's the cab waiting. You go get the car in the garage, Charlie. I'll wait for you. Mother, mother, please ride with me. Papa can take the children, please. Well, get the car. We'll figure it out when we get out in the street. All right. Well, I guess we might as well sit down and wait till Charlie drives around. The more I see that girl, the more I seem to love her. Good evening, Charlie. Yeah, she's been gone 15 minutes. What in the world could have happened? What is it? You better all come quick. I heard someone screaming and pounding on your garage door. There's fumes coming out. I think it's Charlie. Keep back, everybody. Keep back, Joe. Here. Here, I'll put her on the grass. I'll get that flask of whiskey out of my room. Joe, run. Charlie. Charlie, dear Charlie. I can barely speak. Charlie, Charlie, speak to me. Get away, Uncle Charlie. Get away. She wants you, Emmy. I'm here, my darling. Mother is here. I'm all right. Just a minute. Yeah. Here. There you are, Charlie. You've had a wonderful, wonderful escape, dear. Someone must have left the engine running, or did you start the car yourself? The ignition key was gone, and the engine was running. And the garage doors were jammed. Well, that sounds impossible, but it must be the carbon monoxide fumes clouding her brain. Well, I'll be all right. I just want to be alone. You all go ahead to the meeting. I should say no. I want you to. I'll stay in the porch, then I'll get the things ready for the party when you get there. I don't feel much like making a speech when I think what might have happened to you... The key thing I have good is... Goodness, she might have died. Yes, she might have died. Go ahead. I'll be all right. I insist on it now. Go on. Go right now. Well, I guess we'd better kill her the patient. Come on, folks. The taxi is waiting, and I'm sure, dear Charlie, we'll be good as new when we get back. All right, let's go. Hello? Hello, long distance. I want to speak to Mr. Jack Graham, who's from Cal, California, in Fresno. Oh, hurry, operator, please. It's urgent. So urgent. Just a minute, folks. I'd like to propose a toast to our distinguished visitor, who made the final speech tonight ever heard in these parts, to Uncle Charlie. Uncle Charlie. Thank you. Now, I give you a toast to this beautiful village and its beautiful people, this haven, this place I would rather call home than any place in the world, the place I intend to... Charlie, my child. Your fight is a ghost. I'm all right, Mother. I'm sorry, Uncle Charlie. You were saying that you'd rather live here than any other place in the world, and yet you must leave. You must leave tomorrow. Forever. All right, all right. Charlie, you let the cat out of the bag. I was saving the bad news until last. I didn't want to spoil your fine Emmy, dear, but I got a letter today. I have to leave on the early morning train for San Francisco. Oh, no, Charlie. No. I'm going to miss you, Emmy. I'm going to miss you all. The train is going to start, and I'll have to get off, Uncle Charlie. But I wanted to tell you, Jack Graham is on this train waiting for it to reach the next town, and then he's arrested. My dear girl. Wait. You know what I know about you, don't you, Uncle Charlie? You're a murderer, Uncle Charlie, and you've tried to murder me. Wait, Charlie. Let go of me. Let go of me. You needed a fine thing for your mother. You were right not to let her know. After all, she's not very strong. The train is really going. I don't think I can... Yes, it's really going. And now I'll open this vestibule door. Wait. Just a little faster. You're mad. You're a madman. Just a little faster. A little faster, I want to be sure this time, my dear. Let me go. Now there's another train coming the other way. You are still alive, really, the tracks. Well, so long, Charlie. My twin. No, no, you can't go. You have to push me. Yes. And when you called him, he fell under that other train. It'd be difficult to tell whether or not a man is what he seems to be. But there is no mistaking the finer character of all who put unselfish service to others above their own personal interests. There is the young woman, perhaps a member of your own family, who steps forward to help fill today's most urgent need for student nurses. There's the young doctor who takes no leave between his war duties and his return to civilian practice. Each is serving in the cause of human health. The House of Squib has been serving in that cause for almost a century, carrying on an endless quest for perfection in the development, production, and testing of life-saving drugs and everyday health essentials. Exhaustive research behind every Squib product assures its uniformity, purity, and efficacy. That's why the name Squib appears on so many prescriptions your doctor writes. Why it pays to insist on Squib quality when you're buying health essentials for your use at home. Always ask for Squib. A name you can trust. Next Wednesday, another great picture. The House of Squib will present Academy Awards starring Irene Dunn in the White Cliffs of Dover. Today's performance of Shadow of the Doubt was written for radio by Frank Wilson with an original musical score composed and conducted by Lee Steven. Our producer director is D. Engelbach. Joseph Cotton is soon to be seen in the David O. Selznick Technicolor production Jewel in the Sun. June Vincent may currently be seen in the Universal International production Black Angel. This is Hugh Brunsage fitting you goodnight until next Wednesday at the same time as the Academy Award. Reset it by the House of Squib on name you can trust. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcast Inc. Thank you for listening to that episode. If you would like to listen to more Academy Award please visit OTRpodcast.com That's OTR for old time radio and podcast with an S. OTRpodcast.com On the website you can register for my mailing list and as a thank you I will send you the links to more than 14 podcasts each featuring every available episode of a popular radio program. In addition I'll send out an email each week as I release a new episode of this podcast so that you never miss a single one. 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