 Lux presents Hollywood. The Lux Radio Theatre brings you Raymelland and Paulette Goddard in Reef the Wild Wind with John Caradine. Ladies and gentlemen, your producer, Mr. Cecil B. DeMille. Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen. All drama is not staged by man. What earthly showman can match the suspense of a storm at sea, of a hurricane forcing trees like matches, or the blinding flash of a lightning bolt. Nature on the loose has a terrible power and a terrible beauty. It's some of this that I tried to capture on the screen and reaped the wild wind. Because this powerful love and adventure story adapted from the Saturday Evening Post novel is also a saga of man's unending contest with the forces of nature. The fine acting of Raymelland and Paulette Goddard accounted for a good deal of the success of this picture, this paramount work, and tonight they co-star in the Lux Radio Theatre. Suppose you were the casting director on a picture like this and I called you in and said, we'll need a hundred beautiful girls for the scene we're shooting tomorrow morning. That's a pretty tall order, even in a place where so many girls know about Lux Toilets Hope. How would you go about choosing the hundred girls? Would you pick a hundred blondes or a hundred brunettes or a hundred with blue eyes? I don't think so. They should represent all types of beauty and if they're going before my camera, there's one thing they'd all have to have and that's a beautiful complexion. Lux Toilets Hope points in that direction and millions of women are on the right road. Our cast are in their places now, the lights are up and the curtain rises and reap the wild wind, starring Raymelland as Steve Tolliver and Paulette Goddard as Loxy Claiborne with John Carradine as King Cutler. In 1840 America's lifeline was the sea. Great sailing ships linked the busy states of New England with the rich Mississippi Valley. But along this lane of commerce lay the shark-like teeth of the Florida Keys, where savage hurricanes came screaming out of the Caribbean to drive tall ships onto the destroying shoals. Here storm-riding men in frail schooners, the salvage masters of Key West, stood guard beside America's lifeline. They reaped the harvest of the wild wind, hiding the hurricanes to save lives and cargo from the wreck vessels. But here also, drawn by tales of great salvage profits, appeared lawless captains who destroyed for their own gain the ships they were pledged to save. One of these vessels was the Southern Cross, bound north from Havana. What boat is it? What boat? The Southern Cross! She's on Satan's shoulders, driven hard and breaking up fast! The Southern Cross, pounded on the reef and sank to a grave. In a courtroom at Key West, our Captain stands trial for the death of a gallant vessel, murdered on Satan's shoulders. This court will remain quiet. Captain John Stewart is on trial here for the gravest offense known to the sea. Except that no loss of life has been shown, this man, if guilty, might well hang. Proceed with your case, Mr. Cutlet. Captain Stewart, there is just one more question. You have heard the prosecution assert that you deliberately drove the Southern Cross onto the reef at Satan's shoulders. For the last time, is this true? No, it is not. Thank you, Captain Stewart. Your Honor, I move that this case be dismissed. We admit the defendant's error, but you cannot convict a captain for bad seamanship. Your Honor, we will show that behind the bad seamanship lay criminal conspiracy. One moment, please. What is your connection with this case? I am assisting the prosecution, Your Honor. Do you have the authority to cross-examine a witness in this court? Yes, sir. Your name? Stephen Tolliver. If Your Honor, please. Mr. Tolliver is here from Charleston. He is a member of the bar and a practicing attorney. I might add to that, Your Honor. Well, Mr. Cutlet, I might add that my worthy opponent, Mr. Stephen Tolliver, is also the sea lawyer for the Devil O'Line, the owners of the Southern Cross. I submit that his interest in this case is purely personal. My interest lies in bringing criminals to justice and in ridding the Florida Keys of captains who wreck their commands and divide the profits with the salvagers. With the court's permission, I shall like to question Captain Stewart. Proceed, Mr. Tolliver. Thank you. Captain Stewart, on February the 18th, you assumed command of the Southern Cross in Havana. Did you not? I did. Tell me, Captain. On the night before that, did you or did you not talk to King Cutler, the same man who is now conducting your defense? Sure I talked to King Cutler. I've talked to him plenty of times and saw of you. What you talk about? That's my business. Captain Stewart, there are other able skippers with ships on the bottom, but you were the first to stand in defense of the pirate wreckers who haunt these Keys. I don't ask what circumstance drove you to join these men whom you must despise, but I will ask the court for leniency on your behalf if you'll join with me in the destruction of these criminals. Tell us who's behind the wrecking of the Southern Cross. I'm not hiding behind anybody, Tolliver. They're trying to hang King Cutler hanging for some other wreck. Nobody gave any orders on the Southern Cross but me. You admit giving the order that drove that ship at top speed through thick fog to shore destruction? I was their skipper. You were also the captain of the Jubilee, weren't you? I was. And the Jubilee was wrecked too, was it not? Yes. On October the 6th, 1839, just four months before the wreck of the Southern Cross. Yes. Now one thing more, please. When the Southern Cross piled up on Satan's show, is it not true that King Cutler's school at the Falcon was standing by with inhaling distance? I object, Your Honor. Is it not true? Weren't King Cutler and his brother Dan Cutler on the Falcon just off the show? Yes, they were. Thank you. That's all. Your Honor, I object. My ship was not the only one laying off the reef when the Southern Cross went down. The K-Born was there too when Steve Tolliver was aboard her. Your Honor, if this man Tolliver's going to go on his prosecutor, the party himself played in this disaster cannot be ignored. Mr. Tolliver, just why were you waiting beside the reef that sank the Southern Cross? It is in the testimony that the K-Born fell be calmed. Be calmed when the wind held till dawn. The K-Born sailed all night, yet it was only 15 miles on its course. Why? Mr. Tolliver doesn't dare to answer because the only living man who could have foretold that wreck is the man who planned it. He was lying there off Satan's show to get the cargo off a ship he himself had wrecked. Her cargo has not been touched. No, Your Honor. Only because no diver will go down. Your Honor, I demand an answer. Why was Stephen Tolliver at that reef? Mr. Tolliver, will you answer? No, I will not. Of course he won't answer. He can't. If you please, Your Honor, I can tell you why Mr. Tolliver won't answer that question. Silence! Silence! What is this, please? My name is Loxy Claiborne, Your Honor. The Claiborne is my boat, and I was on board that morning also. Your Honor, Ms. Claiborne cannot testify unless she's called. Mr. Tolliver, do you wish Ms. Claiborne sworn as your witness? I do not. But you've been charged with something you didn't do. Your Honor, there is nothing to be gained by calling her. I will call Ms. Claiborne myself as a witness for the court. Take the stand, Ms. Claiborne. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you give shall be the truth and nothing but the truth so help your God? Yes. State your name. Loxy Claiborne. Be seated, please. Ms. Claiborne, you have heard all the testimony at this trial. Yes, Your Honor. And are you acquainted with the accused, Captain John Stewart? Yes, I am. How long have you known him, please? I first saw him in October of last year. The morning the Jubilee was wrecked. The Jubilee? That was the first ship that Captain Stewart drove on the rocks? Yes. Under what circumstances did you meet Captain Stewart? I went out to the wreck with Captain Philpot. You mean you went out as a salvager? Yes, Your Honor. My father was a salvage captain. But a woman, a girl. Well, well, go on, please. The morning the Jubilee founded, I was on the balcony with a spyglass. I could see her smashing up on Sambo Key. Her main mast had snapped and she sloped on a beam ends and the waves were grinding her heart against the rocks. Captain Philpot came running to the house. He had our salvage schooner ready and waiting. All right, Loxie. Can you sight her? Yes, she's on Sambo Key. What ship? Looks like the Jubilee of the Devereux Line. The Jubilee? Why, her car goes dead rich. Come on, gal. Captain Phil, I'm worried about the crew. The crew. There ain't no money salvaging the crew. I'll see you on board. I won't be a minute. Soon as I change my clothes. You're not going up that wreck, are you? Of course I am, cousin Drusilla. Now, bring along my petty skirt, Drusilla. Oh, Mo Mariah, help me read for Reckon. Now, Miss Loxie, you know what way your mama thinks about you going out to them wrecks. Now, give me my sea boots. Quick. Loxie, Loxie, what are you doing? Don't get in my way, mommy. Loxie, I won't allow you to go. I forbid it. The Cutlers won't pick the bones of this wreck if I can help it. Loxie, what's your cousin, Drusilla, going to tell the family about you when she gets back to Havana? Anything she likes. Cousin Loxie, I think you're so brave going out to that wreck. Brave. She's just pig headed. If only your father were alive. If father were alive, I wouldn't be running the salvage business. Throw me that southwest, Drusilla. Captain Phil, look. There she lies, Loxie, searing. Yes, and I see the Falcon, too. The Cutler brothers are there before us. Why, them folks are rats, they must have known. No man alive can foretell a wreck less than he plans it himself. We'll get no part of her cargo, Captain Phil. Cutler and his brother are boarding her now. Then we'll board her ourselves. Heave, too. Blow the door in. We're boarding the jubilee. Hang on, Loxie. Ahoy, King Cutler. What do you want, Phil Pot? Get off this ship. We want salvage shares in this vessel, Cutler. Oh, you don't say. You're a little late, Miss Claiborne. I'm taking charge of the cargo. You can take the crew. Well, there ain't no pay for that. You're benign as Lofi. Just take them anyway, Captain Phil. Cutler, let him drown. All right. Morning, Captain Phil Pot. Late again, huh? Listen, Dan. You and your brother seem to be mighty sharp at reaching these wrecks. We get up early, Captain. You folks taking the crew off? Yes, we are. Well, there's the Captain laying over there in the scuppers. What's the matter with him? Got a wallop on the head, Miss Loxie. He's out clean. He's had a wallop, all right. Look at his head. Oh, he's coming around a little. Lop, would ya? Lop. Lie still, Mister. We're taking off your crew. Oh, who are you? What are you doing here? I'll be here just as long as you need me. Yeah. I hope that'll be a long time. That was the first time I saw Captain Stewart. We took him ashore and carried him to our house. It was a week before he was well enough to see anyone and his first visitor was Captain Phil Pot. He'd come to talk about the wreck. I tell ya, son, that fellow cutler'd sink his own grandmother to salvage the golden her teeth. You're not saying he pushed that reef in front of my ship, are ya, Captain Phil? No, I'm saying he's a bad Yankee. I'm a good one. How'd you get knocked out the morning of the wreck? I, I don't know. Look out called breakers ahead and I started to give an order and that's all I remember. Uh-huh. That's when somebody stepped up behind you with a belayin pin and then drove the jubilee out of the reef. Well, I thought that wreck was planned. I'd make a topsel out of Cutler's hide. Uh, you hark to me, sonny. That's Shark Cutler. Now, no more bilge talk, Captain. Phil, you up anchor and let him rest. He needs it. Oh, sure. Just leave him, Loxy. Morning, Captain Stewart. Morning, Captain. Now you get to sleep. Do you hear me? All right. Tell me, is, uh, is your room? Yes. Oh, does it bother you being in the ladies' bedroom? My cousin, Drusilla, is in the guest room. Bother me? Took me a long time to be sure I wasn't in heaven. I feel like a hulk putting you to so much trouble. Will you stop looking at me and get some rest? Uh, just remembering where I saw you before. Undress, Alwester? No, you sort of came out of that storm like one of Mother Carrie's chickens. Only you were good luck for me. Will you please close your eyes? Yes, ma'am. And if you want me, I'll be right outside the door. I'll rest easy on that. Just sing out. I will. Don't worry. Cousin Loxie, is he better? Oh, he's coming along fine, Drusilla. He's mighty handsome, isn't he? A man like that would rather lose his life than his ship. Loxie, what do you all hate King Cutler, so? Because he needs hanging a little. Cousin Loxie? Well, he does. But his brother's different, isn't he? Different front name, that's all. What are you studying about Dan Cutler for? Oh, I'm not. Really, I'm not. I thought girls raised in Havana never even looked at men till they were married to them. Loxie, did anyone say anything about getting married? No, Drusilla, and I hope nobody ever will. Not to a sea going rat like Dan Cutler. And Captain Stewart got on his feet again. He left the house. But I used to meet him often down on the docks. He was waiting sailing orders from Charleston. One evening, just at sunset, I saw him on the deck of the Arcturus. They were storing cargo in the hold and making her ready for sea. Loxie, Loxie here. Oh, Jack. Jack, you left your spyglass at our house and I've brought it down to you. Thanks. I've been meaning to come over and thank your mother for all the bother. Oh, you'd better not. Mother's making a heaper to do about you and me. They're planning to ship me off to visit Aunt Henrietta. I got my orders too. I sail tonight. A month at sea, and then Charleston for a showdown with Steve Culliver. Come on in. He loves me about as much as the devil loves holy water. But he doesn't sound very dangerous. No, he wouldn't be. Except he holds a power of influence with Commodore Devereaux. You see, Loxie, there's just three things I want out of life. One is to command the Southern Cross steam. And with the Southern Cross under me, I'd get my second wish. Because the man who commands and steam will be head of Devereaux and company someday. Will you have to wear a stove pipe hat, Jack? Steve Culliver looks all right in one. He means to be head of the company itself. Now that I've lost the jubilee, he'll crack down with everything he's got to break me. Break you? That's a man-sized job. I promise you, he won't do it. You see, I found something in these keys worth fighting for. Nights on watch, I'll see you like this, Loxie. With your hair catching fire in the sunset. That look in your eyes, 10 feathers deep. What was the third thing you wanted, Jack? You think I'm gonna say you, don't you? Oh, I do? Yes. Oh, Jack. You're in my blood, Loxie. Same as the sea. I'm coming back for you. You won't have to come back. I'll be waiting for you in Charleston. They're not going to break you, Jack. And you're going to have the Southern Cross. Dr. Jack sailed. I went to Charleston. At a tea party there, I met Steve Culliver. He was everything Jack had told me or so I thought then at Charleston, Dandy with lace cups and a fancy silk cravat. When we were introduced, I noticed that he carried a tiny black dog in his arms. I thought it very strange. Miss Loxie Claiborne, Mr. Stephen Taliborne. John, Miss Loxie. How do you do? Oh, excuse me, Romulus. Miss Loxie Claiborne, Mr. Romulus Taliborne. John, Miss Loxie. A talking dog? Well, I never. Yes, and speaks pointedly good English, don't you think, Miss Claiborne? You're not a very good ventriloquist, Mr. Taliborne. I saw your lips move. No. Romulus, did you hear? She doesn't believe you can talk. Now, what do you think of that? I don't mind. I think she's lovely anyhow. What a wonderful pair of performing dogs. You know, Mr. Taliborne, I've heard a great deal about you. Oh, yes? Where? In Key West. Well, we're flattered. You're jumping at conclusions, Mr. Taliborne. I'm sorry. And who's been telling you about me? One of the finest men I ever met, Captain Jack Stewart. Found out then that Stephen Taliborne was the real head of the Devereux line. And I made it my business to be friendly with him. I saw him every day for weeks. We went out walking together and for picnics along the river. Loxie, have I ever told you that you were very beautiful? Yes, why? Well, there's... Steve, there's something I especially want to talk to you about. You took the word out of my mouth? Romulus generally does that. Well, I'm a little worried about Romulus. He's been a changed dog ever since he met you. Oh, don't Steve. This is really important. It's about the Southern Cross. What I have to say is much more important than the Southern Cross. Oh, but she's the newest ship in the line. Yes, I know, and she's steam and all. But she's hardly fitted for a honeymoon. Honeymoon? Oh, but Steve, you don't mean... Yes, I do, Loxie. When you walked into Mrs. Motrin's tea party, it was like all the winds of the Caribbean getting together at the same time. I was shipwrecked, Loxie. Oh, but Steve, my whole life is Key West. This is another world to me. There's only one world, Loxie, inhabited by two people. But Steve, listen, I... Mr. Tulliver! Mr. Tulliver! Oh, here's trouble on horseback. What is it? Mixed me anything wrong? Mr. Tulliver, sir, Commodore Devedore says, can you come to the Counting House at once, sir? Captain Jack Stewart has just landed in Charleston. What happened in the Counting House that day I learned long afterwards. Jack Stewart's standing before the Commodore and his sailing masters and Lieutenant Farragut of the United States Navy. Behind him on a shelf stood the models of all the Devereux boats that had gone to the bottom. Rotten Row, it was called, a line of crippled ships leaning against the wall. Don't talk to us aparically when you've got no proof. In short, Captain Stewart, you were not only unconscious when your ships struck, but you don't even know what hit you. I've already said, Commodore Devereux... I am not interested in excuses. I'm interested in performance. Take up the model of your command, sir. Put her in Rotten Row. Go on, put her with the rest of the fine ships that you and your kind have sent to rot on the bottom. Commodore, you can cat all me both ways. But if you'll just give me a chance to... Don't draw love. Get out, man. I'm only asking you, sir, to give me a... I said, get out! Very well, sir. Weren't you a little hard on him, Commodore? Hard on him. Steve, you had parroting Jack Stewart as cost as one of my... Wasn't Jack Stewart who cost as the Jubilee, sir? It was the Florida Reefs. Am I to remove the Reefs or the captains who can't miss them? Well, perhaps you should remove the Key West pirate records and swarm those Reefs like a school of killer whales and get rid of the man who's behind them all, King Cutler. Cutler or no Cutler, I'll get my ships through. I have to hire and fire every captain on the line. Gentlemen, I asked Lieutenant Farragut to sit with us today, hoping the United States Navy may give us protection against Cutler and his kind. Gentlemen, the Navy is more anxious than you are to blast those vultures out of the Keys. Good. But you present no evidence against this man, Cutler. Give us proof of deliberate wrecking, and we'll do the rest. Proof? No one dares testify against Cutler. We sent men down there to find witnesses. What became of them, Steve? I don't know, sir, but I suggested you send one man more. Who, for instance? Well, me, for instance. You? Why, Toliver, you wouldn't last 15 minutes in that pirate's mess. I know, Cutler, Steve, why you wouldn't stand any more clients in our Ratnatar barrel. Wait, gentlemen, I say let Toliver go if he wants to. Conn found it if they kill him, then he's not the man for the job. That's very aptly put, sir. Perhaps Jack Stewart could sail south with me. The Southern Cross is refitting at Havana. You mean you give the Southern Cross to the man who just lost us the Jubilee? Gentlemen, we're in business. Captain Stewart has increased the earnings of every best he's commanded. I personally don't like him, but he gets the most out of a ship. And then throws it away on a Florida reef. I expect to get proof that Cutler, not Stewart, wrecked the Jubilee. Very well. Arms bay, order Captain Stewart to proceed to Key West immediately as mate of the Pelican. There he will set ashore without pay to wait orders. But that's unfair. Oh, you'll have his papers in your pocket. If you find proof that clears him, give him the Southern Cross. Yes, sir. I'll tell him. You do nothing of the sort. Let him sweat on the beach and see how he takes it. And my personal opinion of you is that you're a young fool. Thank you, sir. And what's more, I'll give odds that you'll never leave Key West alive. Oh, but I have to, sir. You see, I expect to be married very soon. After a brief intermission, Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard, and John Caradine will bring us act two of Reap the Wild Wind. Now, here's Libby Collins, and she's going to tell you what you would see if you met this lovely young star. Well, Mr. Kennedy, when I first met Veronica Lake, I was impressed with how frank and unaffected she is. After I got over being dazzled by her blonde young beauty, of course. You, you thought her really beautiful, huh? Decidedly. She has such delicate, transparent-looking skin. She's a luxe girl, of course. You mean a girl who uses luxe toilet soap every single day? Yes, Dad, and more. Veronica's a girl who feels active lateral facials with luxe soap are really a wonderful beauty aid. Really give delicate skin the protection, the gentle cherishing care it needs. She says, this care's easy. All you do is smooth the luxe soap lather well into your skin, rinse with warm water, splash with cold, and pat with a soft towel to dry. And one look at Veronica would convince any woman that the care she uses really does the trick. Well, thanks, Libby. You've certainly convinced me. And I think that a 30-day trial of Hollywood beauty care will convince any woman who hasn't tried it that luxe toilet soap can help skin to look smoother, fresher, lovelier. Why not get some luxe toilet soap tomorrow? Use it faithfully and see. We pause now for station identification. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. You're listening to Same Time, Same Station, The Best of Old Time Radio, and I'm your host, Jerry Hendigas. And now let's get back to Reap the Wild Wind. Act two of Reap the Wild Wind, starring Rameland as Steve and Paulette Goddard as Luxie, with John Carradine as King Cutler. In the crowded courtroom at Key West, Luxie Claiborne tells her story, a tale of the raging sea and the wild wind, and the man who draws ships to their doom on the reefs. Of this crime, Captain Jack Stewart stands accused. It is of him she speaks. I learned that night that Jack Stewart had lost his rating as a captain. He came to a ball my aunt was giving, and I saw his eyes flashing as he moved across the room. Jack, tell me, how did it go at a Commodore? I got me busted flat in a headache. But your new command, aren't they going to give you the Southern Cross? The Southern Cross? I'm second made on the Pelican. We sail within the hour of a Key West. They're beaching me there till I dry run. Oh, no, Jack. Nobody's going to break us up that easy, and that's what he's trying to do. He who? You just wait here a minute, will you? Mr. Tolliver's bitten off just a little bit more than he's going to be able to chew. This couldn't have been a better night to say what I had to say, Luxie. Anything you have to say to me, it better be fast, Mr. Tolliver. I'm leaving for Key West in the morning. You are? So am I. But before I go, I want to tell you that what you've done is the most cowardly thing I've ever heard of. What? You think you're mighty clever, don't you? Putting Jack off on an old tub and beaching him in Key West as if he were a... Oh, easy, easy now. What really happened was that I... What really happened was that you saw I loved Jack Stewart. No. No, I didn't see that. Oh, yes, you did, and you're right. I do love him, and I'm going to marry him. That's enough. In the first place, you're not in love with him. And in the second, I intend to marry you myself. You? Do you think after knowing one real man like Jack Stewart that a girl would even look at a pop and jay like you? If I played up to you so you wouldn't break Jack, that's all. So you'd give him command of the Southern Cross and no other reason. Oh, I see. That's very enlightening, Miss Luxie. What are you taking your gloves off for? I take it you prefer the rough ways of your Key West pirates. Well, we'll see. What are you going to do? Something your folks should have done to you more often when you were a child. Take you across my knee and spank the living daylights out of you. Don't you put your hands on me! Laying after me, why are you? And don't forget, we're still going to be married. You're buying the sperm line, ready with a dang flight. When the ship docked in Key West, my cousin, Drusilla, was there to meet me. Welcome home, Luxie. Did you have a good time in Charleston? She looked very happy, and I noticed then that she was wearing a new shawl. It was a beautiful piece of India silk. Isn't it lovely? It was a gift. Luxie and Steve Tolliver bored. We heard he was coming. Steve Tolliver had made the trip with me. He was coming down the gang plank and all his laces and frills and the lap dog barking at the people on the dock. Suddenly a boom swung over his head and a huge barrel hung there. It couldn't have been an accident. It seemed to follow him along the dock. I tried to scream and warn him, and then the rope broke. The barrel hurtled toward him through the air. Steve, are you hurt? Let's see. No, I don't think so. But the barrel of molasses came near being flavored with Tolliver. Steve, listen to me. That wasn't an accident. That rope was cut by one of Cutler's men. They know you're here. Well, thanks for the warning, Miss Luxie. Romulus, I guess you made an impression at last. I was only worried about the dog. Well, we're both very grateful. Hey, Mother's waiting for you, Luxie. Oh, thanks, Captain Phil. You all right, Mr. Tolliver? Well, just a little splattered with molasses. Well, that was a good close call, my friend. Let me congratulate you. Mr. Tolliver, this here's Mr. King Cutler. You two men maybe heard about one another? Oh, yes. Tolliver, eh? Well, well. As one lawyer to another, let me welcome you to Key West. Thank you. That was quite a welcome. I saw it. Unpardonable. Yes. Terrible waste of molasses. Uh, I didn't know you practiced law, Mr. Cutler. Although I've heard of your, uh, other practices. Thank you. I hope I can make your visit to the Keys interesting. I'm sure you'll do your best, Mr. Cutler. Good day. Good day. Captain, you happen to know some nice, quiet nook where I could sleep without any molasses? I guess so. Come on aboard my spongeboat. But you better leave word who to notify in case there's any, uh, uh, suddenness. Listen, Luxie, those voodoo drums. They've been going all night. Momoraya? Yes, Miss Luxie. Momoraya, what are the voodoo drums beating for tonight? Long about dusk, I see something. Couldn't be in this world or the next. It was shaped like Miss Drusilla, and it was traipsing along the edge of the jungle with a demon. Only the demon make itself look like Dan Cutler. Momoraya, that's ridiculous. Of course, Miss Drusilla. The drums do that. Drusilla, look at me. Luxie, I wish I didn't have to go back to Havana tomorrow. Are you meeting Dan Cutler on the sly? Are you? Yes. When did you see him last? This evening. He gave me this shawl. He wanted to see me wearing it. Oh, Drusilla, honey. You love Jack, don't you? You know what it's like to love a man so much that nothing else matters. Well, that's the way I love Dan, and I'm going to marry him. Drusilla, I'm a pretty poor one to be giving advice, but you go on back to Havana and ask your mother about it first. Won't make any difference what she says. I'm coming back, Luxie, on the first voodoo I can get. Drusilla, you... Oh, Momoraya, close the windows. Those drums will drive me mad. If you can't shut out the voodoo drums, child, they're talking of trouble, trouble in pain, fighting and dying and... What do you mean? Who's in trouble? Oh, all I know is what the doctors say. They say Steve Tolliver's the one. Steve? Well, what about him? What is it you know, Momoraya? Tell me. Oh, they say Cutler's sentenced a man to Captain Phil Spongeboat. They say they take Steve Tolliver off and selling him to a whaler. A whaler? Oh, Momoraya, we've got to warn them. Do you hear? I can't go out in no voodoo night. None of the other dogs either. All right, I'll go myself. No, child, no. Get me a lantern, Momoraya. No, your mom will tell me if she knows. Close the locks, or you can't. Don't tell Mommy where I've gone. Miss Locksey, don't go out into a voodoo night. Don't go out, child. Oh, Jack. What's your cause, lady? Jack, we've got to get down to Captain Phil's old boat. Steve's in trouble. Steve Tolliver? What do you care what happens to him? Oh, you nanny, this is no time to be jealous. Come on. We reached Captain Phil's boat in time to warn them, and then the Shanghai crew came aboard. But I guess they weren't expecting the reception they got. The fight didn't last long. Jack and Steve and Captain Phil were too much for them, and the crimping crew got off. Those who could, anyway. Does your arm hurt, Jack? Yeah, a little. His sailor brought you to a right lively party, Miss Locksey. He passed a line around this carrion shark. He's coming too, right there. Jack. Yes? That paper that fell out of Steve Tolliver's pocket, did you see it? Look. What is it? It has your name on it, Jack. My name? I guess if it's about you, we can read it. Well, hauling, Captain. Jack, look at this. It's your appointment. The Southern Cross. Oh, Jack, you're Captain. Captain, let me see. That's what it is, all right. Why didn't Tolliver tell me? I don't know. Don't allow, Captain. Tolliver. Who's going to command the Southern Cross? What? Oh. This is my appointment, isn't it? Yes. How long have you been carrying it? Since I left Charleston. Commodore Devereaux gave you that appointment to give to Jack. Why didn't you give it to him? I had my reasons. And I know what they were, too, why you stooped to anything. Oh, yes? Yes. Land alone. I'll bet that's the quickest Steve Tolliver ever went to sleep in his life. Come on, Locksey. I'll row you home before I call on Mr. Cutler. State your business, Captain Stewart. All right, Cutler. I was aboard that sponge boat tonight when you sent your men on that crimping job. My men. That's all the proof the government needs on who sent the jubilee. Except you haven't got any proof, have you? Where's Tolliver? He's still on board. Oh, yes? Too bad. Maybe I can agree with you on that. What's the matter? Don't you like your new boss? Tolliver won't boss the Devereaux line. I got command of the Southern Cross right here in my pocket. Yes? Well, I've got a patch here that says different. Commodore Devereaux is dead. Steve Dolliver's the new head of the company. What? He was stood in your last quarter, Dex Stewart. Tolliver won't even let a lobster crate take you aboard. He'll sleep on the beach and scratch for food. And Locksey Claiborne will stick by you. She'll sew your filthy rags together if you ask her to. Only you won't ask her. You're slow on the head, but you're more of a man than that. Steve Tolliver will marry her after a while. She'll be raising his kids. Shut up about her. I'll tear that jaw out of your face. All right, Stewart. But you're finished and you know it. I'm not finished yet. You'll never make another penny on the sea, boy. Listen, you know what cargo the Southern Cross carries from Havana? Teak, ivory, spices, silks, and indigo. Can you get me to Havana before she sails? Yes. Why? I'll show you how to get rich in one night. Get your records out to meet me at Satan's Shoal. I'm gonna pile up the Southern Cross. Steve Tolliver suspected that Dex Stewart had made a deal with Cutler. The next day he commandeered my boat, the Claiborne, and headed out to sea. I was on board. I demanded that he turn about and make for Key West. Keep her on her course. This is piracy. Stand away from that wheel. She stays on her course. I'm acting under federal authority. You've done everything you could to down Jack Stewart, and now you're racing to Havana to break him. You believe in Jacob of all things on earth, don't you? I'll always believe in him. Come here, Larksy. And I'll never forgive you, Captain Phil, for helping. Honey, you've got to know the truth. Jack made a deal with Cutler, and he's gonna wreck the Southern Cross. Did Jack tell you that himself? No, he didn't. Well, I wouldn't believe it even if he had. Oh, Steve, won't you put that, please? No. Jack Stewart will never sail in command of the Southern Cross. Oh, but that's ruin. How will he ever get another command? He'll never command so much as a mudskull in this world or the next once I reach Havana. Then you'll never reach Havana. Larksy, put down that axe. Come about or I'll part the hally. No, Larksy. You'll wreck her. Will you put back? Not while she floats. All right then. Larksy! The dam closer smashed. You're rushing on that sail. I reckon you won't stop. I had crippled the Claiborne. She lay drifting for hours while the fog closed in around us. The wind fell and we stood be calmed, just off Satan's show. If the Southern Cross goes down, you'll be guilty of baritry, Miss Larksy. The Southern Cross isn't going down, Mr. Toliver. Captain Stewart's in command. Ladiesman, what's the word? No bottom, sir. Well, we missed it by a split hair. Missed what? I wasn't going to say nothing to you folks, but we pretty near drifted out of Satan's show. That's the worst pack of reach around here anywhere. That horn's driving me crazy. Nearer all the time, but never gets here. I never heard a horn like that. It sounds like something out of the bottom of the sea. That horn's worked by steam. It's the Southern Cross. The Southern Cross? Well, suppose it is. Jack knows what he's doing. He can pick a channel. Listen, I suppose you know what boat that is, too, eh? That's Cutler's folk. Yes. Cutler, you don't need to smell the bait to know somebody's going fishing. Oh, but the steamer's safe. She's got power, wind or no wind. She's not drifting around helpless like a cracker box like us. Nobody, sir. Yeah. Markey, what is it? You're here? That's her engines. The Southern Cross. You'll be seeing her soon enough. She's coming closer. That's the falcon leading her on. If only this fog would lift. Listen, she's pounding hard. She's got full steam up. Full steam in these waters. There she rises, playing straight for the reef. It's the Southern Cross, all right? Oh, no, Steve, no, it can't be. Give me that horn, Sam. You'll never stop her now. She's almost on the reef. She's going to strike. Jack, Jack, hold us. Come with her head. She's a killed ship. Yeah. There ain't nothing left now but to get her people off. There's one thing left. To arrest the man who murdered his own command. Turn by your boat, Sackle. Lawd away. Stewart's done the job, Loxy. He's killed the Southern Cross. Oh, Captain Phil. Why didn't he kill me instead? In just a moment, Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard, and John Carradine will return in Act 3 of Reap the Wild Wind. And now, here's a sound familiar to many of our boys today. Well, it takes tons of smokeless powder to keep those big guns booming. The big guns that help our fighting men to victory. And right in your own kitchen, Mrs. America, you can help supply that ammunition. How? By saving every ounce of precious fats, the source of glycerin, which is needed to make explosives. Glycerin is needed too to make many vital medical supplies. But fat is so hard to get nowadays. I need it all for cooking. The government asks you to save and turn in only waste fats, those left from cooking. Drippings from meat pans, leftover vegetable oils and shortening. Even the grease skimmed from super stew is needed. But we have such a small family, what I'd have left over would hardly matter. Almost any home kitchen can contribute at least a tablespoon full a day, and that small amount will add up to a pound a month. And if every housewife in America turned in only a pound of waste cooking fats a month, it would make 540 million pounds of smokeless powder a year. Goodness, I had no idea. I guess I can help then. Tell me, Mr. Kennedy, what do I do with the fat after I've saved it? Strain the liquid fat into a clean, smooth-edged can. Glass or paper containers are not practical. And when the can is full, take it to your meat dealer, who will pay you cash for each pound. Just about 21 days after you've turned it in, the fat will be on its way to the munitions plant or to the medical supply manufacturers. This is a vital service nearly every woman can perform for her country. Something real and important she can do for that boy she knows out fighting on the battle line. Remember, all waste fats and greases that are a product of cooking are usable. And should you have any difficulty in disposing of the fats, advise your local salvage committee. Begin tomorrow this urgent patriotic service. Now, our producer, Mr. DeMille. After the final curtain, we'll take you behind the scenes with our stars. But now here's the curtain for act three of Reap the Wild Wind, starring Ray Merland and Paulette Goddard with John Carradine. Slowly but surely, the testimony given by Loxy Claiborne is weaving a net of evidence, a net which is drawing tighter and tighter about the men who wreck ships on the Florida Keys. The court is silent, hanging breathlessly on her every word. That's why Steve Tolover lay off Satan's show when the Southern Cross went down, because the Claiborne was becalmed. I disabled her. I think that's all, Your Honor. Have you any questions, Mr. Tolover? None. Mr. Cutley? I certainly have, Your Honor. So, Miss Claiborne, you disabled this vessel, virtually knocked her apart with your own little hands. No, gentlemen, what you've heard is a girl caught hopelessly between two men who have fought over her as dogs fight over a bone. You want to object, sustained? Didn't you pay these men one against the other? Encouraging each in turn? Isn't that why they're both hopelessly entangled in this disaster? I won't answer that. You won't answer. Gentlemen, isn't it obvious to you that this girl is trying to protect Steve Tolover, and why? Because she knows that Tolover had entered into a conspiracy to wreck the Southern Cross. What man on board was responsible for the death of that ship we do not know. But certainly, Captain Jack Stewart had no knowledge of it. Then why did he order his stokers driven under the whip? Why did he in a heavy fog demand more and more steam until the Southern Cross was tearing ahead at full speed straight for the reef? That has not been shown. I'll show it now. Your Honor, there was a Barbados freeman called Saltmeat, served as stoker aboard the Southern Cross. I should like him called as a witness of the prosecution. Your name is Saltmeat? Aye, sir. You know Captain Stewart's voice, don't you? Well, I reckon I do. Didn't you hear him order full speed? Captain, sustained. You were in the stoke hall at the time of the wreck, were you not? No, sir. I was in the oar lock. You were in the oar lock? In the hold of the ship? Yes, sir. That's where I was when the steamer she smashed against that reef, and I heard that dine scream. You heard what? The ship, sir. She screamed like a woman. You mean you heard tearing timbers and escaping steam? Twenty years. I know to see like I know day from dawn, but I never heard no sound like that, except when a woman died. Was there a woman aboard the Southern Cross? No, sir. I think she'd go ashore before we say that. Who? The lady who talked to the captain in a van. The lady? What did she look like? Well, I don't rightly recommend how she was dressed, but she was wearing a mighty pretty shawl. A shawl? What kind of a shawl? I don't know, but it was mighty pretty, kind of red and yellow. Your Honor, I request permission to interrupt this testimony and recall Jack Stewart at the stand. Granted. Captain Stewart, did the Southern Cross carry passengers? No. But a woman came aboard just before you cast off in Havana. Whatever she didn't sail. Are you sure of that? She might have stowed away in the hold. She wouldn't have stowed away. Then you knew her. Yes, I knew her. Jack was a Drusilla? Yes, it was Drusilla. Oh, Jack. Who screamed? Who screamed, Stewart? And keep out of this. If that scream was Drusilla, Stewart, I'll tear the throat out of you. And shut up, you fool. Order, order in this court. Your Honor, I call Dan Cutler to the stand. You were Dan Cutler? Yes. King Cutler's brother? Yes. You loved Drusilla Alston, didn't you? Yes. And you were going to be married? Yes. She promised to come back to you soon from Havana, didn't she? On what ship? The first one she could get. And that happened to be the Southern Cross. We heard the Farkens call through the fog. Your boat, Dan, waiting like a bird of prey for the Southern Cross, which you knew would strike, didn't you? Don't answer that. But you did not know that your sweetheart was aboard that doomship, did you? I don't believe she's down there. We don't know, Dan. But some woman is down there, and the ten fathoms of green water, all alone in a dead ship, with a shark and a giant squid moved through the shadows. It wasn't the ship that screamed, Dan. It was a woman, maybe Drusilla. And you know the men who were responsible, don't you? Don't answer. If Drusilla's under that sea, I'll see the men hung up there. Even your own brother? Even my own brother. Your honor, please. All day we've heard the prosecution present a mass of lying insinuations. Now I challenge Mr. Tolover himself to dive to the sunken hull. To bring up the proof he claims is there. Mr. Cutler, such a dive is impossible. If murder has been done, this court must know it. I cannot order men to almost certain death. You don't have to. That dive isn't impossible. I'll make it myself. You will, Captain Stewart. If Tolover will come down with me, Mr. Tolover would be a madman to accept. Perhaps your honor, but I have no choice. I move that this court be adjourned to the wreck of the sudden cross. Stewart, are you ready? All set, Cutler. Tighten the bolts on the helmet. Listen, Stewart. If that girl is down there, come back alone, do you understand? Yes. Do you have your knife? Yes. Well, use it. Remember, come back alone. Keep listening to me before it's too late. Don't make this dive, Steve. Please don't go down there. I have to, Loxie. If Priscilla's there in that wreck, we've got to know. Watch yourself, Steve. Keep an eye on Stewart. Don't worry. Steve, if Priscilla is down there, you will see her shawl, yellow and red. I hope we don't see it, Loxie. Ready, Captain Phil? Good luck, Steve. Don't try to forgive me. But still ain't your Tolovan. Nothing. Fold the faceplate home, lower away. How far down are they, Captain Phil? 10 pardons. Must be on the wreck by now. Are they still taking off line? No, sir. They've stopped. Stop. They're there, Loxie. Steve, be careful. Be careful, Steve. Watch yourself. Keep an eye on Stewart. Keep an eye on him. There's the race. Don't pull your line. Keep an eye on Stewart. Watch it. If the girl is there, come back alone. Come back alone. Remember, there's the hatch. Hold slowly. Down the ladder. Into the hole. Watch Stewart. Watch it. If the girl is there, come back alone. There's the cargo. If Priscilla was aboard, she's behind that chest. There again. It's a shawl. A red and yellow shawl. Priscilla's shawl. Shawl. Stewart sees it over. He's coming this way. If the girl is there, come back alone. It's a knife in his hand. Watch him. Be careful. Come back alone. Watch him. Use your knife. Use your... Wait. Get back. Go back. Quick. Stopped. Why did he stop? Toliver. Behind you. Look behind you. It's a squid. A giant squid. Get back. Get out of the way. Don't you soar. A squid, you fool. It's turning. He's... Are you getting any signals? No, sir. Not for the last couple of minutes. Captain Phil, what's happening? I don't know. Start bringing them up. Taking your slack. I... I can't, sir. What? The lines are fouled. Close off them. Get out of my way. Let me at those lines. There's ink coming up from the hatches. Ink. That's a giant squid. Squid. Where? A giant squid. The ink's coming up right over the wreck. Captain Phil, get them off. They'll both be killed down there. Get them out. Keep those pumps working. We can't bite the line, sir. Are they taking any slack? No, sir. Not an inch. Cutler. Is that ink still coming up? The hatch is black with it. Pass those lines over the winches. Captain Phil, putt. One of the lifelines is carried away. One of them's lost down there. Keep both the pumps working anyhow. Have you got that line over the winches? Yes. Wait. Wait. One of them's coming up. There's slack on the line. Which one's coming up? Who is it? We can't tell you. All together, you men. Get on that line. He's off. He's off. I can see him. I can see a body. He's off, pal. He's off. Don't smash him again, the Hull. I can see his helmet. Here he comes. Mr. Min, left him in. Captain Phil, who is it? Which one is it? Get back, you Min. Get back. It's Steve Sullivan. Steve? Oh, Steve. Get that face paint off him. Get it off. There we are. He badly hurt. It looks to me like that squid tore him up a bit. Wait. Where's Jack Stewart? Did you get him up? No. His lifeline parted. He's gone. He could have gone away. He came back to help me. He stayed down to save my life. Cost him his own. Steve, did you find... With Lucilla? I brought the shawl. That's the shawl I gave her. Look at it, King. You did this? Shut up, Dan. That wreck was yours. You put her on the rocks the same as you did a hundred others. Shut your mouth, and I'll shut it for you. I'll shut up when I see you hung and not before. No, you won't see it. He shall get back. Shut the shut, Dan. Don't anybody move his tip. Get him there. Snap him. Oh, no, you don't. I'll kill the first man who... That's the first time I knew that pistol and mine would shoot. Looks like a good job, Captain. Cutler's dead. Dan, he's... Dan. Dan, Cutler. Can you hear me? King... King wrecked the jubilee. And the southern cross too. Tell Lucilla I'm pretty sure for her. Well, Romulus. You glad to be getting back to Charleston? And how'd you like your new mistress, Miss Loxie Tollifer? Dog, what's the matter, dog? Did you bust it? Not me, I just shot. They seem to be having a little trouble getting acquainted. As I remember it, darling, so did we. The curtain comes down, the lights come up. And thanks to Rameland and Paulette Goddard, we reap the hurricane of good acting tonight. Thank you, CB. I have a very embarrassing question to ask. A fellow I know says that there never was a giant squid anywhere near as big as the one you had in Reap the Wild Wind. How about it? Oh, I've been defending that poor little giant squid ever since the picture came out, Ray. Actually, several have been found much larger than the one we used. Ours had a tentacle spread of 60 feet. One was killed in the waters off St. Augustine. That was twice as large, 120 feet. Sounds like one of the sea monsters the sailors were afraid of when Columbus crossed the ocean. There's been at least one instance of a giant squid attacking a boat, Paulette, a fishing smacker in North Atlantic. So perhaps the superstitious sailors weren't so far wrong after all. Well, after wrestling around underwater and diving into that squid for about two weeks, I can testify that he was a hard-working actor, CB. Any actor that works for the mill is a hard-working actor. Just a minute, Paulette, don't blame me. You got yourself into it. Back there when I was trying to cast a half-breed girl in Northwest Mountain Police. Oh, yes. That was when she borrowed that buckskin outfit from the costume department and went into your office and said, uh, what did you say? Are you like, huh? I guess he did, huh? Well, what could I do, huh? I'm going to give you a next director a little advice. No, I'll give you some advice, Mr. DeMille. Something you should watch out for. You see, you aren't being fair to your audience unless you make sure that every woman knows what a grand complexion care luck soap is. I use it both at home and in my dressing room at the studio, so I know. Well, after all the technical afield, my shot of you, Paulette. I know all about you and luck soap. Now let me tell you about next week. Yeah, who'll be here, CB? Next Monday night, Brian, our stars will be Ronald Coleman. And with him, we'll have Otto Kruger and Edna Best. The play is the Broadway stage success, libel. One of the strangest stories I've ever come across. You'll hear Ronald Coleman as a veteran of the First World War, faced with the almost impossible task of proving against the doubts of his friends and even his wife, that he is himself. It's a great part for Ronald Coleman and a great play for all of us. Well, count me in as a listener, CB. Good night. Good night. Good night. Good night, Mike. That was an exciting voyage. Our sponsors, the makers of Luxe Toilet Soap, join me in inviting you to be with us again next Monday night. When the Luxe Radio Theatre presents Ronald Coleman, Otto Kruger and Edna Best in libel. This is Cecil B. DeMille saying good night to you from Collierwood. John Caradine is currently seen in the MGM picture reunion in France. Turned into tonight's play where Fred Mackay is Jack, Norman Field is Phil Pot, Lois Collier is Brasila, Jack Mather is Dan, Lillian Randolph is Mariah, and Stanley Ferrar, Griff Barnett, Bruce Payne, Leo Cleary, Crayon Denton, Regina Wallace, Art Gilmore, Charlotte Treadway, Earl Keane, and Horace Willard. Our music was directed by Louis Silvers, and this is your announcer John M. Kennedy reminding you to tune in next Monday night to hear Ronald Coleman, Edna Best and Otto Kruger in libel.