 The Cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry presents Charles Coburn in Diamonds at War. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Cavalcade of America sponsored by the DuPont Company. Before we begin our play, here's a news item from the war front which chemistry serves. Bombers landing on small airfields at the front often jam on their brakes so hard that the tread of their tires buckles and folds back on itself. That's one reason why the first quantity shipment of DuPont high-strength nylon yarn will go to tire and rubber companies this month. Shipments will reach three-quarters of a million pounds of yarn before the end of the year. Nylon can take it. Tonight we bring you a new radio play Diamonds at War written by Peter Lyon, especially for Cavalcade, and starring Charles Coburn as Mr. Eustace Leffingwell, the most self-assured diamond merchant you'll ever meet. Maybe you didn't know how vital, rough, uncut industrial diamonds are to the war effort. You may rest assured that our enemies are fully aware of their importance. So was Mr. Leffingwell in Robert Terrell's best-selling mystery from which our play has been adapted. Tonight, starring Charles Coburn as Mr. Leffingwell, we offer a Nazi spy melodrama which will tell you a few things you may never have known about Diamonds at War. There's the transatlantic clipper settling gently down a LaGuardia airport in New York City. And here, out of a big plane, come three passengers who last set foot on the ground in Lisbon, Portugal. Each of them is thinking about Mr. Eustace Leffingwell, but for different reasons. And the steward asks each of them a question. Is the Roger Payne Wexford right here? Would you want space on the limousine in the town, sir? Yes, I believe so, thanks. He's an important British official of the Ministry of Economic Warfare. And Ms. Patricia Moon? Yes, I shall want space on the limousine. She's a young English girl, very pretty. We'd like to get a look at her. And Mr. Alexander Barker? And Barker is a young American who has been administering Quaker relief in Spain. Keep your eye on him. Mr. Alexander Barker? Oh, thanks, yes. There's space on the limousine for me, too. Patricia, can I help you get your things through the customs? I'll manage, thanks. Well, let me take your briefcase. Not a chance, Alex. With this briefcase goes, there go I, until I see Mr. Leffingwell. Come on, we don't want to miss the limousine. Well, Alex? Well? I thought you were going to point out objects of passing interest as we came into Manhattan. Where's the, where's Grant's tomb? Eh, the other side of the island, where we are. Oh. Eh, what's the matter with you anyway? You've been as nervous as a cat ever since we got into this limousine? Just keep your fingers crossed for me, Alex. Maybe nothing will happen at all. Now you're getting mysterious again. You're angry with me. No, I'm not angry, Patricia, but after all I've already proposed to you. I may say you've got me plenty jealous of this Mr. Leffingwell or whoever he is. Jealous of Mr. Leffingwell? Yes, I am. I hope you can see it. I will, all right. And when I do, he and I, look out. Look out! What is it? What's the matter? My car's got a power right in it. Look out, you fool! Oh! Patricia, all right here? All right. Come on here. Let's get out of here. Walk around. All right. Come on, I'll do you good, dear. What happened? I was stunned. The car there hit us. Smacked us right into the elevator train pillar. Oh, dear. Yes, better thanks. Alex, my briefcase. Where is it? Briefcase? Oh, you must have dropped it. Patricia, are you hurt? No, I'm all right. Well, that's funny. What? The driver of that car. I saw him a moment ago, but now he's gone. You saw him? Yeah. Funny-looking guy. Alex, Sir Roger, my briefcase. Oh, Lord, yes. I'll go get it, yes. I'll get it, Cap. You hold on here, Patricia, and we'll go into town by taxi. Right? You're sure you're all right? Yes, sure. I can't find your briefcase anywhere, Patricia. Oh, well, never mind it now. Wasn't there something valuable in it? Yes, there was, rather. Oh, I knew something like this would happen, Alex. I didn't want you to come to town with us. Come on, there's Sir Roger with the taxi. Well, people, where can I drop you off? I'm going straight to Mr. Leffingwell's office. You, Alex, you'd better head straight for your home in Philadelphia. Oh, no. I'm going to this Leffingwell's office with you. And I shan't take no for an answer. Officer, sir, 47th Street. Thanks. And don't forget to keep me in touch with any developers. I won't, Sir Roger. And thanks. Bye. Bye. Patricia. All right, Alex. Come along if you're coming. Though I must say I'd rather you didn't mix yourself up in this affair. Well, where are we going now? Right here. See? Doesn't look like much, does it? Houston's Leffingwell Belgian-American Diamond come. So it was diamonds you had in your briefcase. You were trying to smuggle diamonds into America. Not exactly, Alex. Mr. Leffingwell? Welcome to America, Miss Moore. Thank you. Well, I noticed three things about you. You have an ugly bruise on your forehead. You've not got your briefcase. And you've brought your young man to my shop with you. Don't be vulgar, Mr. Leffingwell. He's not my young man. Alexander Barker, 32 years old, a Quaker. Back from Spain where he's been administering relief to Spanish orphans. Hey, what goes on here? Home, Philadelphia. Connections, one widowed mother. But where did you... I made it my business to find out about everybody that was on the plane with Miss Moon, Mr. Barker. Well, look, Patricia, explain this. What about your briefcase? Well... Your young man looks trustworthy, Patricia. Let's tell him about your briefcase. It was a blind, Alex. We happen to know that there's a ring of Nazi diamond smugglers operating in New York City. The briefcase was a plant to see if we could draw the Nazis' fire. It did, but we don't happen to be any the wiser for it. Oh, this is fantastic. You're both trying to pull my leg. No. What do the Nazis want with diamonds? They're vain, but they're not that vain. Not diamonds for jewels, Mr. Barker. Diamonds for machines, industrial diamonds, for machine tools. But Germany has plenty of machine tools. Yes, and they're wearing out, Mr. Barker. In wartime, they wear out rapidly. Oh, I don't believe the Nazis can really smuggle diamonds out of this country. They'd never waste the effort. It wouldn't be worth it to them. That's what you think. Mr. Barker, let me tell you a story, a true story. Here in New York, within the last month, three men were arrested. One of them sneaked a handful of industrial diamonds out of his office and sold them to a Nazi agent who, in turn, managed to get them to another Nazi in Portugal. This little handful of diamonds, Mr. Barker, this pitiful little handful wasn't worth much. The first sale brought the first man only $4,000. Now, what do you think the Nazi in Portugal paid for them? Your head, give a guess. 10,000? 10,000, Mr. Barker. He paid $200,000 for them. That's how much the Nazis need diamonds. Mr. Barker, do you know what an airplane is made of? An airplane? Aluminum, chiefly, aluminum and plastics. Yes, aluminum and plastics, but airplanes are also made of wire. There's 100 miles of copper wire in every bomber. You draw molten copper through a hole in a diamond. After producing thousands of miles of copper wire, the hole in the diamond will still have the same dimensions. Yes, but if you know there are people in the diamond business who are shipping diamonds to Hitler, why don't you tell the FBI and have them arrested? The people involved don't travel on German passports, Mr. Hitler, and hire Hitler, Mr. Barker. They are quite likely to be Americans, just as American as you or I. And you don't know who they are. We hoped we'd get a clue when they made a trial for my briefcase this morning. Hey, wait a minute. What about Sir Roger? He was pretty interested in your briefcase, Patricia. Oh, no, Alex. He's working on it officially for the British Ministry of Economic Warfare. And so, for the moment, we don't know where to go. They've left us without a clue. Maybe not. I just remembered something. What? A wreck this morning. You remember Patricia I said I'd seen the driver of the car that hit us? Yes. Well, what about it? Could you recognize him again? I'm certain I could. He was pretty unique. He was an albino. Oh, an albino. Yes, and something else. This. What's this? I almost forgot it in the excitement. A wallet? Yes, it was lying on the street near the car that hit us. I picked it up. Let me see it. Hmm, calling cards, draft registration, automobile license. What's this? A membership card in a German singing society. Singing society. Yes, and here. Look, look, look at this card here. Solomon Schmidt. But it can't be. I don't understand. Who is Solomon Schmidt? Oh, it must be just a coincidence. Coincidence. An awfully long coincidence. But Solomon Schmidt's credit rating, his years in the diamond market, why he buys for some of our biggest automobile people. The people involved don't travel on German passports and hire Hitler. All right, all right. You wait here. I'm going over to Sir Roger's office right away. Oh. Why didn't he want us to go along with him? I don't know why should he. He can handle Sir Roger without us. Maybe. Alex, what do you suggest? Now, look, Patricia, how much do you know about this Leffingwell? I've never seen him before, if that's what you mean. Uh-huh. But I've been in his London office for five years. Why? Oh, he knew an awful lot about me and about your briefcase and about how much profit you can make out of smuggled diamonds. Alex, you mustn't think such things. Mr. Leffingwell is a very patriotic man. Patriotic? I wonder. It's, uh, it's not much evidence, I grant you, Sir Roger. And I know what you'll say about Solomon Schmidt. Preposterous. It's preposterous. Schmidt is no fly-by-nag trader. He's a responsible merchant with solid industrial connections. Never the less. Nevertheless, Phil sticks. Let me tell you just how fantastic your accusation is, Mr. Leffingwell. I have only this morning had an appointment with your Solomon Schmidt and arranged to dispatch him to South America as purchasing agent for more industrial diamonds on that continent. I see. He's leaving this very night. What? Mr. Leffingwell, Miss Moon may have told you that originally I opposed your participation in this business. Just what are you driving at, Sir Roger? Well, the fact that your plan fizzled has compromised your usefulness in any case. I never did really like your extra-legal status. This is not a suggestion, Mr. Leffingwell, much as I regret it, it's an order. You're to cease all your operations against these smugglers. So that would seem to be that. You don't mean you're going to accept his orders and quit now? I am not. In the first place, I don't entirely trust Sir Roger's judgment or his conclusions. In the second place... Answer the phone. All right, all right. You needn't shout at me. Sir Roger shouts at me. You shout at me. Now the phone shouts at me. Hello? Yes, Leffingwell speaking. Yes, this is Mr. Leffingwell. Yes, Miss Moon is here. Mr. Barker, too. Who is this? What's that? Mr. Barker? Yes. Go quickly to the window and look around. See if you see anybody you know. Right. Hello, yes? Oh, I'm sorry. I can't hear. Will you please speak a little... Yes? Yes? Yes? Mr. Leffingwell. Albino. Cross the street. I thought so. Yes, I understand you very thoroughly. Yes, yes? Well, you needn't shout at me. Well, what was it? An ugly voice has just warned us that if we attempt to stir from this office before six o'clock tonight, we will be killed before we can get off the block. Well, it's all clear now. Well, if you only knew. Only yesterday I sold Solomon Schmidt $65,000 worth of first-class boards. And tonight, before six o'clock, he will leave for South America. And the Albino is still across the street looking over here. There's another man with him now. If there was only one of them to get away from. I have it. Of course. Why? Miss Moon, I want you to do two things. First, give Mr. Barker and me exactly 15 seconds to get out onto the street. Then turn in an alarm from my regular alarm system. Second, leave this office when the alarm is turned off. And go to the pier from which the board is sailing tonight for South America. We'll just have to hope there's only one such boat. Now, wait a minute. Come along, Mr. Barker. You understand, Miss Moon? Absolutely. Then come along, Barker. But I still don't see what this is going to get us. You will see, Mr. Barker. You will see. I'll see what. Oh, there. Oh, that's very pretty. See our thug number two? Yeah. He's hammering on the door. He's trapped in the arcade. Come walk fast towards Sixth Avenue, Mr. Barker. We must keep ahead of thug number one. Your friend, the Albino. And we must hurry if we are to get off this street at all. But what's happened? Why can't he get out of the building? No, it's very interesting. You see, a diamond is stolen, so the burglar alarm is turned in. Yes. Immediately, every door in every building in this block is sealed. Every elevator stopped. It's wonderful what they think of to make things difficult for criminals. Hurry, your friend, the Albino is following us. Mr. Pitty, you couldn't have arranged to trap him, too. Yes. We're going to have trouble with the Albino. You are listening to the Cavalcade of America sponsored by Dupont, presenting Charles Coburn in Diamonds at War. Charles Coburn as Mr. Leffingwell is a member of an international diamond syndicate. But neither Patricia Moon, young British agent, nor her American friend Alex Barker seems quite sure whether he is cooperating with the government or the Nazi gang which is trying to smuggle industrial diamonds to Germany. As our play continues, Barker and Leffingwell are trying to allude to Nazi agents. My eyes aren't so good as they used to be, Mr. Barker. What would you say was causing that crowd at the end of the block? Uh, streets roped off. There's a line of cops across the street. That's fine. With the fifth column hard on our heels, we have to be cut off by the New York Police Department. Come on, there's only one thing to do. Now what? Go down a manhole. What? I don't suppose you carry a gun with you. Well, I never felt the need for one before. Well, that's too bad, Mr. Bear. And all I have is this little 38. Well, here we are. Help me prise this lid off, will you? All right. Hurry, hurry. Albert Albino is getting curious. That's it. Now then, down you go, Mr. Barker. After you, please. Write down that letter into the sewer. Okay, Mr. Barker? Oh, yes, yes. What made you think you're using the sewers? Oh, I had a romantic childhood. How come you know so much about these sewers? Well, I once figured out theoretically how to steal diamonds. Just a theoretical problem, I assure you. Oh, just theoretical. I suppose everything you know about this smuggling business is just theoretical. Yes, in a way. Are you worried down here alone in the dark with me, Mr. Barker? With no gun? Well, frankly, I don't know. Well, here we go into the water. Mind you don't catch cold. We have to go faster, Mr. Barker. Oh, my God, what was that? The syrups. It was coming closer. Hey, there he is. I can see him, but he can't see us. I'm going to jump him. Now stand ready. Yeah. Oh, oh, oh. Trim him. All right. Damn. Yeah. I knew we'd have trouble with that albino. Come on. Yeah, but he's dead. Sure, he's dead. When you tripped him, he had his fingers on my throat. I didn't have two minutes to live when you tripped him. And then he'd have killed you. Oh, damn it. Come on. Yeah, are we going to leave him here? You know, down right we are. And that's what a sewer is for. You know, Mr. Barker, there are many ways to die in a sewer. You may not credit this, Mr. Barker, but it is possible in a sewer like this to die of asphyxiation. Oh, fine. Glad to hear it. Yes, indeed. If one of these side pipes happens to get blocked up from gas, you know, it forms, you stay in a sewer very long and you'll come out with your head in a pool water. Morning, you, Mr. Barker. Do you hear me? Oh, yes. Yes, I hear you. As live steam might escape and scald us to death. Or cooking gas could escape. You could be electrocuted at any moment from a live wire. You might be drowned if a water main should burst a block away. Watch out, Mr. Barker. It's deeper here. Ah, yes, yes indeed. You might have broken your neck on that iron ladder. Yes. All those deaths would have been accidental. You're not worried about accidents. I'm still worried about my little 30, eh, Mr. Barker? But there are so many other ways to die down here. The atmosphere, for instance, makes it easy to catch pneumonia. The gasoline, the spark you strike when your heel hits iron might ignite the vapor and blow us up. Do you feel any better, Mr. Barker? Oh, yes, fine, thanks. Well, here we are. Here's a platform. Now up you go. Up this ladder, please. Yes. By my dead reckoning, we should be able to climb right up to Park Avenue. Mr. Leppingwell, you know, I'd feel much happier if you went up first, if you don't mind. Really, Mr. Barker? Such a suspicious mind. Yeah, after all, I've watched you shoot one man already. Yes, well, if you're frightened that I'll kill you, just think of all the other ways you might die down here. Still more way? Oh, yes. There are rats down here, Mr. Barker. The rats in these sewers sometimes grow to be a foot long. Oh, that's nice. I'd still prefer you to go up the ladder first, if you don't mind them. As you will. Anything to get out of here. I think I'm getting a slight cold in my head. All those ways to die and you have to catch a head cold. Well, don't be bitter, Mr. Barker. You should be glad it wasn't you. Well, come on. We'll have to hurry if we don't meet Patricia in time. Yes, Patricia, waiting for us. At last, I thought you'd never get here. Alex, are you all right? Oh, sure. Patricia, it's good to see you again. There's no time for what's in your eye, Mr. Barker. Patricia, walk up to the pier head as though you have some business inside. Don't let the two Coast Guardsmen bother you. But isn't the pier head door locked? And don't I have jimmies and skeleton keys? I used to be a boy scout in my youth, Mr. Barker. Well, let's go. Hurry, Mr. Barker. Down these steps to the captain's cabin. You mean just walk right in? This is a free country, you know. Watch me. Captain. What is it? Put up your hands, Solomon Smith. Don't, I better. It's Slaffingwell. Suppose you're after the diamonds, isn't it? It is. But... I'd make it about one million carats. But, Mr. Slaffingwell, you forget that you will have more difficulty in walking off the Elisa Gustafson than you had in walking on her. My crew is hand-picked. By the way, Miss Moon, isn't it? And this other, the Mr. Barker I've heard about? That's right, Mr. Schmidt. Keep your hands up. Schmidt, keep. Get this clear. I'm not bargaining. I'm demanding. Either I shoot you now as you sit quietly against the wall or you come ashore with me. I believe you would kill me. Believe me, Schmidt, he would. But there must be an alternative. I will give you the ship. I have the papers. I will make them out to you. That and the diamonds. Three million dollars at least. And for me, the chance at a plane. Is that a bargain? Someone's coming down the stair. Mr. Roger, are we glad to see you? Mr. Laffingwell, you amazed me. I thought I told you to stay out of this affair. Don't you realize that there's a crew of 50 men aboard this ship and that none of them is exactly a Democrat? And Mr. Barker and Miss Moon. That's Captain. Carl Lohs, come right here. Someone else to join the party. Oh, yes. You can speak freely in front of Carl. He speaks only German. Very devoted to our Mr. Schmidt, I'm told. Carl would tear your heart out at a word from Schmidt. I don't like his looks, Roger. Let's get him out of here. Look out, Schmidt, get a gun. Why didn't you search him and take his gun? Oh, why did you have to shoot him, Sir Roger? What I've done, as a matter of fact, is to narrow control of the diamond syndicate. I have to be honest with you, narrowed it drastically. What is all this? What's going on, Sir Roger? Sir naive, Mr. Barker. At least Mr. Laffingwell and Patricia are more sophisticated. You're a traitor. Don't ruffle my feelings, Mr. Barker, with such coarse language. Of course he's a traitor. Sir Roger, despite his English birth, his title was just that. A nausea agent. Yeah, yeah, very pretty speech, my dear. But all that is beside the point now. We cast off in precisely seven minutes. I shall be needed on the bridge. Due to the unfortunate accident which has overcome the captain, I, as first mate, must now take over. Fine. Fine, aren't... What's the matter with our friend Carl? As you so rightly observe, Sir Roger, Carl was devoted to the late Mr. Schmidt. His mind moved slowly, but apparently he is now seeking revenge. That's rather a large knife he has in his hand. Stop. Stop where you are or I'll shoot. Pity is you yourself remarked that he doesn't understand English. Try your German. I, I work for the Germans, Carl. Deutschland, ich, du, understand? Ich bin Deutsch. Somebody grab him, take that knife away from him. He's still coming, Sir Roger. Maybe your accent isn't so good. One more step and I'll fire. Look, stop it! You fool! Stop that knife! I'm a nausea! I'll hit him! I'll hit him! Lord, Carl stabs Sir Roger right in the heart. Remarkable. Really remarkable. Sir Roger shot him twice in the chest, and he kept right on coming. He's dying now, though. I, I should have learned to speak German. Quite a mortality rate aboard this ship. What's that? That will be the police. Didn't you realize that a plainclothes man trailed us all the way downtown from where we came out of the sewer? I think I may faint. One thing to be grateful for anyway. What's that? That you didn't really steal a dime in this afternoon West 47th Street when Patricia turned in the alarm. Oh, but I did. What? One of my own. Oh. That's why the plainclothes man trailed us. Here, this one is not an industrial either. I thought it would make a very pretty engagement ring for you to give Patricia. Thank you, Charles Coburn, for your delightful characterization of Mr. Leffingwell in tonight's cavalcade, which was based on Robert Terrell's story They Deal in Death. In a few moments, Mr. Coburn will return with a special message from our government for the women of our audience. But now we'd like to tell you of new and different uses for nylon after the war. After the war, nylon will come to you not only as a yarn in stockings and fabrics, but as a plastic. The war production board has allotted small amounts of the precious supply of nylon from molded articles, articles of military use. Exactly what they are and what they're accomplishing in the war is, of course, a secret. But nylon will reach you after the war in many new forms. We can tell you of only a few of them now. As a plastic, nylon can be heated and formed into shape and reheated and formed again. It is a thermoplastic. Until now, the highest softening point for a commercial thermoplastic material has been about 280 degrees Fahrenheit. Nylon as a plastic doesn't soften until it reaches 450 degrees, where many other materials begin to char. Nylon's second unique property as a plastic is its incredible toughness. Where sections must be thin and still have great strength, for instance, nylon does a job that no other plastic can do for most uses. Nylon is one of the lighter plastics. Its specific gravity is less than half that of window glass. It burns very slowly, so there is no fire hazard in using it. Age or sunlight has little effect on it, nor is it affected by oils, greases, most solvents and alkalis. It can be machined easily. Some of the things already made experimentally of nylon plastic hold exciting promise for the future. Nylon tubing, for example, has found special war applications. A sheet of nylon has been pronounced good in the laboratory for vacuum packaging, where strength, air tightness, and abrasion resistance are called for. Nylon in solution coats electrical wires at the rate of a mile a minute. Nylon cords for bomber tires are seeing war service, and nylon window screens can be manufactured in any color, screens that will never corrode. Strips of nylon that look like retan have been tested on outdoor furniture. Fabrics coated with nylon wear well and don't crack or scuff. In fact, the possible uses range from carburetor diaphragms to zippers. These are a few brief glimpses into the future of nylon as a plastic, one of DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry. And here is Charles Coburn, star of this evening's performance, Mr. Coburn. Not every woman can serve her country as dangerously and as excitingly as Patricia Moon in tonight's play. But there is one place in which thousands of women are urgently needed. That is in the United States Marine Corps to relieve men for active combat duty. If you are 20 years old or under 36 and have two years of high school or business school, write Marine Corps headquarters, Washington, D.C., or apply at the nearest Marine Corps recruiting station. Interesting jobs, patriotic service, travel, good pay, and promotions await the women who enlist in the Marines now. Thank you. Next week, Cavalcade presents Dean Jagger in Nine Men Against the Arctic, one of the great stories of the war, a stark dramatic document of superhuman endurance, unbeatable courage in the face of overpowering disaster. Our play is the true story of nine American fliers battling for their lives on the great ice cap of Greenland, their gallant rescue against heartbreaking man-killing odds. Don't forget be with us next week when Cavalcade brings you Dean Jagger in Nine Men Against the Arctic. Cavalcade is pleased to announce that Charles Coburn, star of this evening's play, is being seen as Mr. Dingle in the Columbia picture the more the merrier. The orchestra and musical score this evening were under the direction of Donald Boris. This is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from Cavalcade's sponsor, the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. This program came to you from New York. This is the national broadcasting company.