 The United States Savings Bonds Division presents Guest Star. How do you do, ladies and gentlemen? This is Roger Foster, greeting you on behalf of Guest Star, a transcribed feature program brought to you by United States Savings Bonds and this station as a public service. Take a moment, friends, to think about the future, your future. Plan now to make it a secure future by buying savings bonds and buying them regularly. With the finest, safest investment in the world today. Our guest on today's program is Mr. Boris Karloff, distinguished actor of stage and screen. We will introduce him to you immediately following the opening selection by the Savings Bonds Orchestra conducted by Harry Sosnick. Mr. Sosnick's arrangement of Boulevard of Broken Dreams. In his appearances in motion pictures and on the stage, his major characterizations have generally been of the sinister type. But in real life, he's a quiet, very pleasant individual indeed. We feature him today in a sketch written especially for this program, The Babysitter. Here he is, the star of Universal Pictures, Mr. Boris Karloff. Our scene is the kitchen of a small home in a small community in upstate New York. It's 11 o'clock at night and the entire house is dark as if perhaps its occupants are either out or asleep. As we watch, there is the sound of the door being forced open. A man enters, dirty, tired-looking, the dragon. After standing and listening for a moment to make certain that the sound of his entry hasn't raised an alarm, he approaches the refrigerator. Opening it, he starts to wolf some of the food it contains. Then his first hunger satisfied, he removes some of the dishes and approaches the table in the center of the room. At the back of him, the swinging door from the dining room is silently pushed open and the boy, about six years of age, attired in the sleeping suit enters. The boy speaks. Hello, mister. What in the... Oh, it's you. Just a kid. Are you hungry, mister? Well, now that you mention it, I guess I am. Is your mother upstairs? She went out for a minute. Do you want me to find her? No, no, no. Don't let's bother. Hey, what brings you downstairs at this time of night? I couldn't sleep. I must be hungry, too. Can I have a glass of milk? I guess so. Where does your mother keep the glasses? In that cabinet by the sink. Oh, yes. Here's a glass. Open the milk bottle, pour, and... There you are. You can sit on this chair. Oh, the chair's too long. Can I sit on your knee? Well, I guess we can manage it. Up you come. How's that? Milk is good. My mommy says it makes me big and strong. Big and strong, eh? Maybe I'd better have some, too. Here, you can have some of mine. Thank you. That's real nice of you. Milk makes you healthy, my mommy says. And then you don't get sick like Robert Stevens. He's sick, is he? Yeah, he's got the mumps and his throat is all swelled up. But my throat isn't swelled at all. Here, feel. Your throat is all right. Soft. Why, but your fingers are strong? Yes, my boy, sometimes too strong. I know what. You tell me a story, and then I'll go back up to bed. Oh, gosh, kid. I don't know any stories I could tell. How about a true story? About you? About me? Well, once there was a kid like you, see? He didn't have any father and mother. And so he lived in a big orphanage with a lot of other boys, but he didn't like it. So he ran away. Were they cruel to him at the orphanage? No, but he thought they were, I guess. And later on, when he wanted to go back, it was too late. Then what happened? Well, he wasn't very careful about the kind of boys he went around with. And before you knew it, he was in serious trouble. Like, like an Oliver Twist? Yeah, yeah, just like an Oliver Twist. So this boy had to keep on running away and hurting people, because he could never turn back and start all over again. Good move, Parson. You're covered. OK, OK, hold your fire. Just don't hurt the kid. I'm frightened, mister. Yeah, now, suddenly, nobody's going to hurt you. No funny business, Parson. We've got you covered from the window. Pass the kid over. Now, then, young fella, you go over and stand with him. He won't hurt you. He's a nice man. But I want to stay with you. Ah, believe me, boy, you'd be better off over there. Now, you run along. OK, bring on the cuffs. I won't try any tricks. Better not. Shooting you would be a pleasure. What's happening? I was just next door for a moment. Jackie, are you all right? I hope someone broke the window. It's OK now, ma'am. This here's Spider Parson, under sentence for murder. What? He escaped from the penitentiary a couple of days ago, and killed two men when he made the break. Oh, my poor baby. I think that you might have been. No, ma'am. He was perfectly safe. It was a pleasure to be human again, if only for a little while. Thank you, Boris Karloff. Mr. Karloff, it was a grand performance. Well, Mr. Elliott, I enjoyed it, because, well, to quote my final speech again, it was a pleasure to be human, if only for a little while. I can see what you mean. And another thing, of course, was the pleasure of appearing on a program devoted to such an important cause, savings bonds. I believe sincerely that every home should be backed by a financial reserve, one which can be used for the education of the children in the family. In these times, an education is of the greatest importance to the growing child. He is going to need every educational advantage that he can get when it comes time for him to strike out for himself. And without it, he is certain to be handicapped. And the right-thinking parent will start saving for that education now, saving through the regular purchase of United States Savings Bond. Thank you, Mr. Karloff. And what you say makes good sense, as witnessed the fact that 80 million Americans agree with you. That's an impressive number, Mr. Elliott, and an encouraging one. It's a demonstration of democracy at work. Now I'm afraid my time is up, and I must say goodbye. Goodbye, Boris Karloff. And thank you again for being with us. And now, friends, here's the Savings Bonds Orchestra with another fine tune for us, a Sosnick arrangement of the Russian Sailors Dance from the Red Poppy Ballet by Gliere. Station each week at this time for United States Savings Bond. Today's guest, Boris Karloff, appeared by arrangement with universal pictures. Narration was by Wyn Elliott. Join us again next week, won't you, when we'll have another fine star and more music from Harry Sosnick and the Savings Bonds Orchestra. Meanwhile, this is Roger Foster saying goodbye, with a reminder that there's no finer way to set up a financial reserve than through the regular purchase of United States Savings Bond, through the payroll savings plan where you work, or if you're self-employed, through the Bondamont plan where you bank.