 Spence and the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills the master of mystery and adventure William M. Rubison. There is an old definition which describes the theater as a plank on two barrels and a passion Analogously we might describe radio drama as a microphone a voice and a story Tonight we have all three and little else Little else is needed when the voice belongs to an actor of the statue of Herbert Marshall We present him without supporting players without sound effects and no more than the usual musical crimmings His voice is all that's needed to strike terror to your heart So send the more impressionable small children out of the room dim the lights settle back and listen as Mr. Marshall stars in A. M. Burridge's chilling story the wax work Which begins in just a moment Here's Frankie Lane. I never feel like singing with a bad cold So I take wonderful four-way cold tablets to relieve my cold misery fast right Tests of four leading cold tablets proved four way fastest acting of all Amazing four-way starts in minutes to relieve aches pains headache reduce fever calm upset stomach also Overcomes irregularity. So when you catch cold take my advice take four-way cold tablets It's the fast way to relieve those nasty cold miseries and feel better quickly four-way 29 and 59 cents Here's a word about another fine product of Grove Laboratories to get rid of embarrassing dandruff in three minutes change to Fitch dandruff Remover shampoo three minutes with Fitch regularly is guaranteed to keep unsightly dandruff away forever Apply Fitch before wetting hair rub in one minute add water lather one minute then rinse one minute Every trace of dandruff goes down the drain three minutes with Fitch and embarrassing dandruff's gone At the same time Fitch can brighten hair up to 35 percent get Fitch dandruff remover shampoo today and now The wax work starring mr. Herbert Marshall a tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense uniform attendance of Melanie's wax works were ushering the last travelers through the exit The manager sat in his office interviewing Raymond Houston a young journalist Somewhat down in his luck The manager was speaking It used to be said years ago But madam two sewers would give a man a hundred pounds for sleeping alone in the chamber of horrors I hope you don't think that we have made any such often as to use and By the way, what is your paper? I'm Freelancing at present forever. I should find no difficulty in getting the story printed the morning echo would use it like a shot a night with Maddeners murderers Very well, Mr. Houston That was warn you it's no small ordeal that you're proposing to undertake. I Oh, and I shouldn't care to take it on I Should hate having to spend the night alone and the murderers then Why well Those wax works represent the lowest and most appalling types of humanity There are a lot of spheres and places on prison and if you are susceptible to atmosphere I warn you that you are in for a very uncomfortable night Houston had known that from the moment the idea had first occurred to him He's so sick and at the prospect But here was a chance not to be missed The price of a special story in the morning echo Besides if he wrote the story well, it might lead to an offer of regular employment The manager smiled and rose Well, I think the rest of the people must have gone by now. Oh One condition I'm afraid I must impose on you. I must ask you not to smoke We had a fire scared on there this evening. I don't know who gave the alarm, but whoever it was was a false one Fortunately, there were very few people down there at the time or there might have been a panic And now if you're ready I'll take you down to the murderers den in a moment. We continue with the second act of Here comes Elmer Blurt world's lowest pressure salesman Nobody home. Oh, oh, oh, it says here JP pull him dentist You wouldn't want to buy a new 1959 rambler. Would you doc? You are a lucky man I just happened to have a vacancy sit down. Yeah, but That's right, you know, you don't have to sell me on the 59 rambler first in economy first in sales gains And no wonder rambler has the best of both big car room small car economy. Yeah, but don't oh relax Can't you salesman ever stop selling? You don't remember it's got quite an idea with that personalized comfort independently adjustable front seats adjustable headrests easiest parking and handling in America On that 59 rambler is so terrific. It makes you want to put your foot right down on the accelerator Oh That didn't hurt did it oh gosh well occur. No, that's my lower plate. You've been drilling Rambler continues to pass car after car and sales in state after state Rambler now outsells all but two other makes come see why dry of the success car at your rambler dealers and now Starring mr. Herbert Marshall act to love the wax work in in Mariner's wax works was an area an uncomfortable chamber The chamber whose atmosphere invited its visitors to speak and whispers The wax work murderers stood on low pedestals recent notoriety rubbed justice shoulders with the old favorites Sertel the murderer of we're stood as a frozen in the act of making a shop window gesture to young bywaters There was the floor the poor half-baked little snob who killed for games so that he might hate the gentleman Within a few yards with him set mrs. Thompson that heretic romanticist and to appreciate British middle-class making hood Charles peace the only member of the vile company Sneered across The manager pointed out several more interesting of these unholy notabilities That's um, that's Crippen. I expect you recognize him Insignificant little beast who looks as if he couldn't tread on a worm That that is Armstrong looks like a decent harmless country gentleman doesn't he There's all that key you can't miss him of course because of his beard this one Who's that you some asked in the whisper? Have a good look at him. This is our star He's the only one of the bunch that hasn't been hanged The figure which Houston indicated was out of a small slight man not much more than five feet in height It wore little wax from stashes large spectacles and an opera cake There was something so exaggeratedly French in its appearance that it reminded Houston of a stage caricature He could not have said precisely why the mile-looking face seemed to him so repellent Who is he? That said the manager is doctor word that Houston shook his head darkfully. I I think I've heard the name, but I forget in connection with what No, you would remember better if you were a Frenchman a little while back that man was the terror of Paris He carries on his work of healing by day and no fruit cutting by night He killed for the sheer devilish pleasure it gave him to kill And always in the same way With the razor But at last he left the clue behind him which set the police upon his track But he was too clever for them when he realized that the coils were closing about him. He mysteriously disappeared And ever since the police of every civilized country been looking for him However, there's no doubt that he managed to do away with himself and by some means which has prevented his body coming to light. I I Don't like him at all. What eyes he's got Yes, this figures a little masterpiece You find the eyes bite into you Well, that's excellent realism then for bird death practiced mesmerism and was supposed to hypnotize his victims before dispatching them Indeed had he not done so it is impossible to see how some smaller man could have accomplished his ghastly work There were never any signs of a struggle. I thought I saw him move You will have more than one optical illusion before the night's out. I expect sir I'm sorry. I can't give you any more light, but all the lights are already on For obvious reasons we keep this place as do me as possible Well Good night, Mr. Houston the manager had provided an arm chair for Houston who immediately turned it so this back Was towards the effort here of dr. Waddett For some undefined reason he liked dr. Waddett a great deal less than his companions The dim unwavering light filled in the rows of figures Which was so uncannily like human beings of the silence and the stillness seen unnatural and even ghastly He missed the sound of breathing the rustling clothes The hundred and one minute noises one hears when even the deepest silence has fallen upon a crowd And the air was as stagnant as water at the bottom of the standing pond Must be like this at the bottom of the sea he thought He faced the sinister figures boldly enough They were only wax works So long as he let that thought dominate all others. He promised himself that all would be well It did not however save him long from the discomfort occasion by the wax and stare of dr. Waddett Which he knew was directed upon him from behind The eyes of the little Frenchman's effigy haunted and tormented him and he etched for the desire to turn and look At last the compulsion was too great and he threw his chair around And look behind him The image of the dreadful little doctor seemed to stand out with a queer prominence He was fringed before the parody of mildness But some fiendishly skilled craftsman had managed to convey in wax met the eyes for an agonized second and Turned again to face the other direction He is only a wax work like the rest of you. You are all only wax works They were only wax works. Yes, but wax works don't move Not that he had seen the least movement anywhere, but it struck him that in the moment or two when he had looked behind him there Had been the least subtle change in the grouping of the figures in front Crippin for instance seemed to have turned a degree to the left All thought you some perhaps the illusion was due to the fact that he had not returned his chair to his exact original position He had never seen nor heard a movement But it was as if some sixth sense had made him aware of one He looked straight into the vapid countenance of LeFloy which smiled vacantly back as if to say it wasn't I Of course, it wasn't he or any of them It was his own nerves or was it He swung around quickly To encounter the mild but belches Then without warning he jerked his head back to stare straight at Crippin He nearly caught Crippin that time You'd better be careful Crippin and all the rest of you. I do see one of you move. I'll smash you to pieces. Do you hear? This would not do This distinctly would not do These figures grouped around him were only dummies made of wax and so does They stood there for the entertainment of morbid sightseers and orange-sucking trippers It was no good He knew the effigy of Dr. Woodette was staring at him He could feel the two places where the gaze of those piercing eyes pressed into his back He turned halfway And tried to steal the glance at the figure But instead he felt himself world around to face those dreadful hypnotic eyes You moved Yes, you did. You moved. I saw you you moved Then he sat quite still Staring straight before him like a man found frozen in the arctic snarls Dr. Woodette's movements were leisurely He stepped off the pedestal of the missing girl of a lady alighting from the bus and Then quietly sat down on the edge facing him Once where I miss you Something tells me that you are nervous My dear sir have no illusions I'm not one of these contemptible effigies miraculously come to life. I Am In a moment we continue with the third act of With no danger of acid rebound sometimes caused by harsh alkalizers always carry tums 10 cents Three roll pack a quarter new tums six roll pack with free metal carrier 49 cents and now Starring mr. Herbert Marshall staring at the mile little murder You could see He could not move a muscle And he could not tear his eyes away from dr. Woodette's hypnotic eyes The doctor continued in his easy manner the circumstances have made it desirable that I should live in England I Was close to this building this evening when I saw a policeman regarding me Little too curiously I Guess that he intended to follow and perhaps ask me embarrassing questions So I mingle with the crowd and came in here a Coin bought my admission to the chamber in which we now meet and an inspiration showed me a certain means of escape I Raised a cry of fire and when all the fools had rushed to the stairs I stripped my effigy of the cape which you behold me wary Donned it hid my effigy under the platform at the back and took its place on the pedestal The manager's description of me which I had the embarrassment of being compelled to over here Was biased but not Altogether inaccurate Clearly I am not dead although it is as well that the world think I am His account of my hobby which I have indulged for years Although through necessity less frequently of late was in the main true For you see the world is divided between collectors and non-collectors Was a non-collectors we are not concerned the collectors Collect anything according to their individual tastes from money to cigarette cars from Mouths to matchboxes Collect fruits pause again and regarded Houston search with interest mingled with disfavor Appraised to the chance which brought us together tonight, and perhaps it would seem ungrateful to complain From motives of personal safety my activities have been somewhat curtailed of late And I'm glad of this opportunity of gratifying my somewhat unusual whim But you have a skinny nexa If you will overlook a personal remark I should never have selected you from choice. I like men with thick necks Sick red necks fumble in an inside pocket and took out something which he tested against the wet forefinger And then proceeded to pass gently to and fro across the palm of his left hand This is a little French razor The blade you observe is very narrow They do not cut very deep But deep enough in just one little moment you will see for yourself I shall ask you the little civil question of all two light barbers Does the razor suit you sir? He rose up at a minute of but menacing figure of evil And approached Houston with a silent fertile step of a hunting panther You will have the goodness to raise your chin a little Thank you And a little more just a little more. I think merci Merci monsieur Merci Merci Chamber was a thick skylight of frosted glass which by day lit in a fume sickly and filtered rays from the floor above After sunrise these began to mingle with a subdued light from the electric bulbs And this mingles illumination added a certain gas thinness to a scene which needed no additional touch of horror The waxwork figures stood epithetically in their places Waiting to be admired or executed by the crowds who were presently wonder Fearfully among them in their midst Houston sat still Leading far back in his frivol chair His chin was up tilted as if it were waiting to receive attention from a barber And although there was not a scratch upon his throats nor anywhere upon his body He still watched the dead man unenotment He did not move Nor was he capable of motion But then after all He was only a waxwork starred in William and Robeson's production of the waxwork Written by A. M. Burridge and adapted for radio by meldinelli In a moment a word about next week's story of suspense Do you have trouble getting your husband to talk frankly about the intimate and important things in your married life? All too often a husband's reluctance to talk about sex money or the children can destroy a happy marriage Be sure to read one woman's real life solution to this problem in the new march issue of mccall's magazine Now at your favorite newsstand in all you'll find more than 40 exciting features in this big new issue of mccalls Read 15 practical down-to-earth ideas on how you can earn an extra thousand dollars this year by doing just a few hours work each week Learn debbie reynolds side of the strange divorce story that wrecked hollywood's ideal marriage And see many full color photos previewing the newest styles and hairdos that women will be wearing this spring Don't miss the fascinating march issue of mccalls with more than 40 exciting features for you and your family Buy the new march mccalls at all new stands now Listen Listen again next week when we return with myron mccormick in madman of manhattan Another tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense News follows then have gun will travel on the cbs radio network