 Pildley We Have. One of radios outstanding dramatic half hours starring Lee Tracy. From Radio City, New York, here is your star and host on Pildley We Have. The distinguished Broadway stage, screen and radio star, Lee Tracy. All right, hello everyone. Welcome to Pildley We Have. I feel you're really going to enjoy our program for we have a story that's not only intriguing, suspenseful and thrilling, but especially timely. Let's go to the movies at your United Theater. See two thrillers on one big show at the Aurora and Midway Drive-Ins Wednesday through Sunday. It's Sisters. Plus, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud. An old folksy search for a prior existence. Rated R, no one under 17 admitted without parents. It begins over at 6.45, shows begin at 7.15. See, brother, can you spare a dime at the Varsity Theater? An nostalgic look at the 1930s. Starting Friday at the Varsity Theater, see Peter Sellers in Return of the Queen Panther. Also, Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in Love and Death, rated PG. If you're near Tacoma, see Fifths of Fury plus Chinese Connection at the 112th Street Drive-In. It's a favorite for all kung fu fans. And consult the PI for short time fan listing. These days, in all major cities of the world, the newspaper headlines are thick and black. In their color and size alone, there is an urgency, a warning. In the stories under the headlines, one can detect and feel a current which has caught mankind in its flow. One can feel himself being swept along in it, powerless to battle against the ever-increasing tide. But could you tell away those headlines? Could you look behind the underlying stories? You would come upon a world of darkness out of which they grow. There's a world that exists under the surface of all cities. It's strung across like a tightrope where picked men of both sides balance precariously. One false step and a man tumbles into the abyss from which there is no return. To make the arts even greater, there is no adequate light in this under-the-surface world and a man who dares to trust with its narrow boundaries never quite knows who is friend or enemy. The way at night, in the section of a city still bearing the tortured imprint of a war five years past, the rain pours down on this desolation of broken, crumbling walls of jagged beams and yawning pits which all bear silent and terrible testimony to the hell that passed this way. Enter this alleyway and you call upon danger. Is that you, Victor? Victor. But wasn't Carl, you'd have a bullet in you long ago. Victor, you had me frightened. No, you had me frightened. I wonder how anyone can play the game you're playing and live so well. My picture, I could hear you coming a mile away. Suppose I hadn't been, Victor, suppose I'd been somebody else. So unpleasant at night for you to be unpleasant. I can't think of anyone who'd pick a meeting place like this but you... Let's just say you can't think. Carl, let it go at that. You're going to be disagreeable. I'll go do business elsewhere. Me too, wouldn't you? But of course. But of course. You're a real restaurant, Victor. Look, my friend, I did not come out on this miserable night to discuss philosophy and it's the ruins. All right, let's get to the point. Do you have the money? Do you have the goods? I have, you know, it was a very difficult job and worth far more than the price I asked. If they detect any changes, I'll be very surprised. If they detect any changes, I'll be very dead. And so will you. What do you mean? Oh, I'll tell them who did my work before I go. You wouldn't do that. But of course. I don't think I'd like to do any business with you. Oh, you're wonderful, Carl. You're wonderful. Come on. Let's see what you got. Here's the money. Excuse me while I count it. Count it later. I don't have much time. Let's have this stuff. All right, but you can't very well look at it here. I'm not going to, old man. Thank you. I know you wouldn't trick me. You like living too well. I don't think it's enough. I do take it or leave it. You leave me no choice. That's right. Now, you leave the way you came. I'll go another way. I have an appointment with Nikolai the Great who shifts in a dingy little room playing solitaire by candlelight while he waits for me to show up. Good night, Carl. Good people, you're always so sure, always a good job. What about the last bit of armor and figures he gave us? False Nikolai, completely false. And the production sheet? False, so false. And to think we trusted him, Crobat. Very disillusioning to me. Oh, you will make me weak. Well, it's good that you uncovered it. It's certain you never would have Nikolai. Well, that's not my job. So, victory is a spy, but not for us. Too bad. That's a clever young man. He will see what his cleverness will buy him now. Not very punctual. A bad knife? You make excuses for him, Nikolai. No, I state facts. Your trouble, Crobat, is that you don't know how to relax. I don't have time for relaxing. You should find time with the good. Like nine on a red tin. Sometimes I wonder about you. Good, it's a sign of progress. What do you plan to do with Victor? I have a little party all the way for him. I've heard of your parties. Can't you just shoot him? I've done with it. You stick to your business, and I'll stick to mine. You know what you are, Crobat? Well, you tell me. Why, I'm a sick. You're a sadist. The fact that Victor has turned out to be a traitor is not important to you. But the fact that you've been able to find out he is one gives you the greatest delight, for it means one more poor devil you can torture. I would be careful what I said. You think you've frightened me? We shall see. We shall see. Now, there's a sound of great meaning. Very good. I know a man named Crobat, and I know some things about him, things he would not like anyone to know, especially if there is. There are things that might cause him a great deal of embarrassment, where they know him. One concerns a large sum of money. Crobat received this money from a man who wished to buy his way out of the country. The man got a bullet in his head, and Crobat kept the money. I know other things, too. And I know if a man like Crobat realized this, he might try to put a bullet in my head, so I've taken steps. If anything should happen to me, what I know about Crobat will become public knowledge. Now, I think you'd better sit down and calm yourself. You don't fight me. Nor is it my intention. I merely wish to caution you to make you realize that bullying can sometimes be dangerous. Be quiet. I think I hear him now. Come in. Close the door, Victor. Lock it. Who's your friend, Nikolai? A friend. Would you like to meet him? Oh, I'd like to meet your friend. Why do you stand over there in the dark? I think he's shy. Crobat, are you shy? Don't waste time. Crobat. Where have I heard that name? Not from anyone respectable, I'm sure. How've you been? Busy. Good. You're late? Weather. I thought as much. Terrible night. What does he want? They requested him to be here. No access to my back to anyone. You're very polite, Victor. Perfect, gentlemen. Suppose we get down to business. Crobat is an impatient man. He doesn't know how to relax. Pity. Well, Victor, what have you for us tonight? I have some papers. Very interesting papers. Also, that's a microfilm. Very interesting microfilm. You are a very interesting fellow. Let's have a look. Where did you get these? I found them. I like figures. These are good figures. If you don't agree, Crobat. Victor, there's only one trouble with what you've just given us. Trouble? Nicolai? I'm afraid so, Victor. What would that be? They are not good figures for us. Why not? He's a good actor. You must admit that, eh? You're a very good actor. Thank you. Now, what are you getting at? What's the matter with those figures? They have figures that do not exist. I suggest you keep your hands where we can see them. Nicolai, you best stop the double talk. What's the matter with you? Don't you like me anymore? Oh, I like you immensely, Victor. You're a fine young fellow. But I do not like your figures. Why? Because I know they're false. What makes you think that? Crobat, he makes me think it. He has some figures about you. They're not very good ones, as far as we're concerned. But unlike yours, there's a truth. Where did he get them? I found them. He's not so good an actor as you, Victor. Suppose I tell you a little story. Suppose you stop wasting time. Suppose you'll be still. I will tell you a story about Crobat's figures. There was a young man who, in the war, was an English fighter pilot. One day he was shot down over France. He managed to parachute from a plane and land safely. Somehow he found his way to the underground, the Mackey Air Corridor. He joined them and ranked high in their organization when France was liberated. Next, our adventurous young man became a British, B&R's agent in Germany, because he was a cool and brilliant young man, a good actor, too. He survived. And when the war was over, he returned to England. Now, you would think that he would have had enough excitement for one lifetime, but no. We find he dropped completely out of fight, went to live in France. To all purposes, became a Frenchman. A little over a year ago, we made contact with a man named Victor. To all purposes, a Frenchman. Nikolai, you're an old windbag. You, Victor? And what are you? Ah, not a windbag. No, you are Victor, an Englishman. To all purposes, a Frenchman. Will it do any good to tell you that that's a lot of rot? You are very convincing. But I don't believe you. It would be impossible to believe you now. I'm sorry, Nikolai. I have plenty of reason to be with you. Before you make a very serious mistake, why don't you take the time to check my latest back? You wouldn't be playing for time, would you? We've wasted enough already. I'm sick of this talk. Look, why don't you want to go and have the microfilm develop that world? Certainly. It's no good, Victor, we know. Conclusively. Well... In that case... Oh, for this kind of thing? You certainly are. It was you who let me get to that window. Or it was the table on top of me. And what were you doing, my friend? You'd let me handle it the way I wanted this. Never would have happened. Oh, stop your roaring. How was I to know he could fly out the window and not break his full neck? Why don't you light the candle? I've seen enough of your silly face for one night. I'll go find this Victor. My way. You are listening to Proudly We Hail, starring Lee Tracy. By the Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And now for the second act of a party for Kovac, with our star, Lee Tracy. Easy, Lee, I don't argue. You don't think I'm going to leave you to them? All right, Victor, all right. Go out the back way. You'll have to do it from now on. You think we're safe here? I don't think we're safe anywhere. You'll have to do a lot of looking. Lee's ruined us to find us. Oh, you can't stay here for long. It's a night anyway. And tomorrow? Tomorrow, Maria. Let's face that when we come to it. But, Jack, aren't we, Victor? You've got to make a plan. All right, let's make a plan. You come and sit beside me so we can plan together. We've made a lot of plans together, haven't we? Mm-hmm. And pretty good ones, too. And never the kind that most people side of make. Like what? Like a man and a woman make out on a hill, maybe overlooking the water, like sitting together in some place beside the cellar of a bombed-out building, like planning a picnic instead of an escape? How? On a hill. I've had that dream, too. Victor, I love you. I love you, Maria. There's hardly been time till now. I'll tell you. I know, my darling. But now there's time. Well, little, come with your arms around me. We'll plan a picnic for tomorrow. Just you and I. Now, have you got it all straight? Yes. I'm to go down the alley to the street and walk west to Sander Road. You'll go another way. We'll meet there at 10.15. I'll follow you till you find a car with keys in it. You'll get in with the door open and I'll get in. I know it's slim, but it's better than the station or the airport. Maybe if I pray hard enough, we'll make it. Or give it that old school try. I'll see you at Sander Road, 10.15. Don't be late. Make for a picnic? Never. Keep your fingers crossed. Don't think anyone noticed us. A bright light shines down into the bandaged face of a man who lies on a rude cut. He is bound, hand and foot, completely helpless. His name is Victor. All right, you know what I wish to leave until that time I don't want to disturb them in any circumstance. Understand? Look, I'll leave us in closer doors. You would like to figure it? I'm sorry about the face. She went for the windshield. If it's any smallest, it was Krovac's car you hit. He's a bit banged up, too. Dark glasses go well with him. Maria, she all right near for the time being, you have a joining cell. Take a cigarette with it. My hands are occupied. Seems a pretty young man like you should see fit to cut himself off from... What are you after? An Englishman. Before it was considered decadent, I used to read your William Shakespeare. I still remember a bit. This royal throne of kings, deceptive isles, this earth of majesty, this happy breed of men, this little world, this precious stone set in the silver field, this place is lost at first, this round. Devil are you? Oh, I could quote you more than that. So much more. So you wonder why I came to see you, huh? I want to impress upon you what a fool you are. I wanted to do this before Krovac comes and has his little party with you. We put our trust in you and you betrayed it. Now you pay the penalty. Roll over with your back to me. Just you wait till Krovac gets his hand on you. Roll over quickly. Have you heard what happens at one of Krovac's parties? Keep your hands and feet just the way they are. I've cut the rope, one tugging you free, just with your hands and hair trigger. Now roll over so you're facing me. What is that you say? A little late for that, my friend. Who are you? Why are you doing this? To get rid of Krovac. Your own chance is a pretty slim after that. I don't like doing it, but since it's come to this, it seems the only way. At least you can know that with Krovac gone, I'll be able to carry on without suspicion. What about the guns? Don't they suspect you? No, the guard is derived. He won't dare open his mouth. The guard changes in just a few minutes, so I've got to get out of here. All these months, I never knew. Never suspect good. He wasn't supposed to. Let's hope they don't. Ah, you're wasting your breath in my time. We know all that. I bet you've got ridden fools. Oh, yeah, I can't help you more. I'll do what I can for the girl. Pray for a quick death, Victor. Ha! I'm a very funny fellow. I'll then leave it alone, my friend and me. When I'm gone, you can finish the job anywhere you please. Well, well, what have we here? I'd hardly recognize you. Your face is all hidden with bandages. Well, what will we have become? You know, 15 minutes from now, I guarantee, you won't even recognize yourself. Dark glasses haven't improved your looks. Shut up! Usually, my little parties last longer. You will forgive me for having to hurry, and 20 minutes I must catch the night train for Paris. Well, I bet you'd like to be going to Paris. Hey, Victor. Hey. We're here. We'll give you cigarettes. Never mind, I can get. And in a few minutes, you'll tell me. Gladly. You'll beg to tell me. You know, one way to take the bandages off your face would be to burn the more tricks here. Party tricks. And now to business. I assure you, you won't like this a bit. Not one little bit. Nor will you. How do you like this, Trovac? Parties on the other foot hardly recognize you. Your face all hidden in bandages. Have I tied the ropes tight enough? Good. Now, let's put out the lights. Glasses and their hats pulled down. So, coat color like this. Trovac, can you become Victor? We'll play it like that for now, ain't it? Sleep well, you miserable. Awakening. Not but begun. So, the lights gone. The lights went out when the party got rough. Very good. How about the hours for the cars here to take you to the airport? I know that. Wait till they recover before you finish. I wouldn't want to spoil you this last minute. Yes, sir. The girl in this cell, she goes with me. Goes with you, but sir, I... Don't but sir me. Bring her out. I miss that plane, I'll have your hide. Yes, sir. Charming. I've come to take you to a picnic. Near a house on a hill. We don't have much time. Don't try me at me, quick about it. He wants us to in time. He's a very funny fellow. Do you remember tools I'm Cro-Vac, can't you see? He's Cro-Vac, can't you see? He's delirious. He doesn't even look like Cro-Vac. He doesn't look like anybody. There's a bandage of somebody, hasn't he? I know who you are. I'm Cro-Vac! I'm Cro-Vac! Now this Cro-Vac is quite a man. When he gets through with them, they think they're him. There's only room for one Cro-Vac in this world, and you're not the one. Oh, for the love of God! No, he's not Cro-Vac. Cro-Vac says God's a capitalist. No, miss! No, not the trick! I've been trapped in a mess. Shall we put him out of this? I don't think so, darling. I won't be so sure of myself till we reach Paris. Poor thing. It'll heal. Actually, it helped us fool him. I still don't understand. Darling, we never would have, but hadn't been for a friend. Friend? Who? I don't really know the answer to that. I only know that he was one. We owe him our lives. Perhaps we should say a prayer. Nicolai. Man who stayed behind. Thank you, Lee Tracy, for a filling performance. Your story of a party for Cro-Vac was indeed timely and most entertaining. Well, Ken, I think stories like this help all of us to realize what a wonderful privilege it is to be free men and really make us appreciate what we've got here in America. Right, you are, Lee. And in times like these, it believes every American citizen to be a full American citizen. Lee Tracy. Supporting Mr. Tracy and the cast were Miriam Volk, Joe DeSantis, Bill Lipton, and Jack Jason. A party for Cro-Vac was written by DeWitt Crock. The music was composed and conducted by John Guarneri. Laudley We-Hale is directed by Charles Will. This is Kenneth Banghardt speaking, and here again is your host and star, Lee Tracy. We hope you'll be with us next week for Laudley We-Hale. We have another program that I'm sure you will enjoy. It's entitled The Story of Johnny Appleseed, and it's a story of a real American. Goodbye.