44-03-23_Sneak_Preview.txt

Roma Wines present Suspense. Roma Wines, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. Salute to your health, senor. Roma Wines toast the world. The wine for your table is Roma Wines, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. The world. This is the man in black here for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California, to introduce this weekly half hour of suspense. Tonight from Hollywood, Roma Wines bring you Joseph Cotton in a suspense play called Sneak Preview, which tells of a rather remarkable adventure experienced by that noted director of screen thrillers, Frank Henderson. And so, with Mr. Henderson's by far stranger than fiction story as related and enacted by Joseph Cotton. We again hope to keep you in suspense. Go ahead, please, Mr. Henderson. This all began, you say, two weeks ago? Yes, that's right. I just finished the final cutting and dubbing on my newest picture, Escape to Destiny. Think you'll like it, by the way. Louelle and. Yes, yes, go on. Well, I took the film East with me, and the first day I got there, we ran it in the projection room for a few of the boys in the New York office. They seemed to like it pretty well. Now that it's all over, and we're safe. Yes. Well, there's one thing that still worries me. What's that? It's. Well, it's. Ruth. Will you marry me? Darling, that's the one thing I've known the answer to from the very beginning. Well, boys, there it is. Frank, it is but terrific. It's the best picture you've ever made. Oh, it's great. Great. Hitchcock will absolutely quit. No kidding. You really think so? I do, Frank, honestly. I think it even tops Perilous Journey. Definitely. Solid box office, Frank. Solid. Well, it's all yours, boys. I can't think of anything more to do to it. We might lighten the music a little under that scene in the wine cellars. I'll get it. Hello? Who? What does he want? Okay, put him on. Hello? Yes, this is Frank Henderson. Who? I don't think I know any Captain McNeil. Oh. Well, may I ask why the chief of the Security Bureau wants to. I hope there's nothing wrong. I see. All right, I'll be there. Who was it, Frank? Somebody at police headquarters. Police headquarters? What do you want? That's what I'd like to know. Well, Mr. Henderson, my secretary. Tells me you were a little mystified. Well, a little, I guess. You'd ever heard of any Captain McNeil? Oh, no, no. It was just that I didn't think to connect you with the Captain McNeil. Very nicely put, Mr. Henderson. Very nicely put. But you don't need to explain. There aren't so many people as you'd think who'd ever heard of any Captain McNeil. An undercover agent isn't very much good if everybody knows him. Oh, I guess not. Mr. Henderson, when I heard you were going to be in New York, I just couldn't resist meeting you. Oh, I. You see, Mr. Henderson, I'm probably your greatest living admirer. Oh, thank you. I guess I've seen every picture of yours since the first one you directed, most of them three or four times. I'll have to remember you in my will. You know, you'd have made a first-class professional detective. I'm not so sure about that. There's a lot of difference between fact and fiction, I guess. Not so much. I've always followed the reasoning in your pictures with complete agreement. Well, I'm glad to hear that. Yes, but with one exception. What was that? I couldn't go along with you there. It was in your fifth picture, Murder in the Morning. You remember near the end of the picture where the killer has the detective and his pal at gunpoint in an empty room? I remember. The friend is allowed to leave. He's helpless anyway, unless. And here was the point. Unless the detective is able to get over certain vital information to the friend in the presence of the killer, but without his knowledge. You remember? Sure. And when the friend is leaving, the detective hands him his hat. And inside the hatband, he slipped a piece of paper with the information on it. Is that what you mean? Exactly. And that's where I disagree, although I realize it. Probably wasn't your fault. Probably the writer of the crime. Oh, no, no. As a matter of fact, that was my own idea. It's too simple, too unimaginative, if you'll forgive me the word. No intelligent criminal would allow a thing like that to happen right under his nose. But the way the thing was done, I thought. Even so, how is the friend to know that this paper is under his hatband? Oh, what do you think? It isn't something you'd likely to notice. You don't look under your hatband every time you put on your hat. I know, but we. It's far too fetched. It's not true to life. It's. Excuse me a moment. Hello? Yes? Yes, I see. I'll be down in just a few minutes. Pardon the interruption. Well, not at all, Captain. I really ought to be going. I've kept you too long now. Mr. Henderson, I wonder if you're interested in real crime. Real crime? Have you ever seen an actual murderer? Well, you do make me feel like an amateur now. No, to tell you the truth, I never have. Come on, then. It might give you an idea. It's down the hall. As a matter of fact, I've never seen this particular murderer myself. But you know he is a murderer? Sure. Not much like a character in one of your pictures, though. Nothing romantic or exciting. Was he clever? Oh, yes, indeed. His career has been 20 years. There's never been enough evidence to convict him. There isn't even a photograph of him. Here we are. But if you don't know any more than that, what charge are you holding him on? Charge? You don't need any charge when you hold him here. There he is. Oh, dead? Dead. At last. How did he die? Shot in the back. We found him in Central Park. Well, there you are. Gregory Sarko. Murderer, spy, drug addict, and about everything else in the book. Know who killed him? Who knows? Who cares? There are plenty of people who would have been happy to do it if they dared. I suppose he had identification on him. Sure. Bank book, wallet, a few inconsequential papers. Is that all? That's all. Oh, a little money, a handkerchief, a tin of aspirin. Aspirin? Sure. Criminals have headaches just like other people. It was aspirin, I suppose. We professionals may not be romantic, Mr. Henderson. We are thorough. Yes, it was aspirin. I remember you saying he was a drug addict. So that was all he had on him, huh? That's right. Nothing very sensational or exciting. No clues. Now, what about that bank book? Was it in his own name? Oh, he had a lot of names. Gregory Sarker was the one in the bank book. His own, by the way. Why? Because a perfectly crazy notion has just entered my head. For a new picture? It could be. But, well, here am I in New York, little time on my hands, and. Well, the guy intrigues me, that's all. A dead man intrigues me. His life intrigues me, sure. Finding out more about it intrigues me. What's the difference? The guy's dead. What have I got to lose? Well, now, I don't want to say it's likely, Mr. Henderson, but it's possible, just barely possible, that you might lose your life. To change from a mood of suspense to one of carefree gayety, let us wish ourselves away to Havana, Cuba, seated at a table in the fashionable Hotel de Nacional de Cuba. Near us, a group of Cubans are entertaining an American visitor. Our American has just remarked that, in point of great enjoyment, the Cuban rumba is one of America's most delighting imported dances. Then, raising his wine glass, the Cuban host responds, Then we have perhaps discharged some part of our debt to you Americans for this wonderful tasting wine that gives us such great enjoyment. It is wine that Cuba imports from your faraway California. It is Roma wine. Americans didn't have to wait for wine connoisseurs of other lands to discover the greatness of California's wine district. The superb quality of Roma California wines. So many millions made this discovery for themselves that Roma wines have long been America's largest selling wine. But these millions discovered something more. In Roma wines, they discovered an easy, inexpensive way to increase the delights of daily living. Yes, millions have discovered that Roma wines is a beverage on the table and, when used in entertaining, add charm of a special and wholesome kind. I told you Roma wines cost little. That's because here in America, you pay no high import duty, no expensive shipping charges. Two Roma wines are made in Roma's own wineries in the heart of choice California vineyard districts. So cost to you is only pennies a glass for ROMA, Roma wines, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. And now it is with pleasure that we bring back to our soundstage Joseph Cotton as movie director Frank Henderson in Robert L. Richards' sneak preview, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. I'm not an adventurous or even a particularly courageous man, and yet suddenly I found myself engaged in what might possibly, as the captain had said, be a fairly dangerous occupation. I poured for hours over Captain McNeil's file on Sarko, even persisting in the face of a sudden and somewhat mysterious reluctance on the part of the captain to have me do so. The next thing I did was to inquire at the bank, which had issued Sarko's bank book, and found out exactly nothing. I was pretty discouraged and about ready to quit when I went back to my hotel that evening. Would you mind closing the door, please? Thank you, Mr. Henderson. My name is Edward. How do you. Say, what's the big idea? No, no, Mr. Henderson. Keep away from the telephone. Are you threatening me with that gun? I regret it, Mr. Henderson. I deeply regret it, but unfortunately, I cannot deny it. Listen, this whole thing is ridiculous and. And melodramatic. Mr. Henderson, why are you so interested in Gregory Sarko? Sarko? Yes, Sarko. Just what, if you will forgive a B picture expression, is your racket? Racket? Oh, no, Mr. Henderson. I just like to make money, that's all. Look, Mr. Edwards, or whatever your name is, if it's any of your business, and I don't see that it is, my interest in Sarko is simple curiosity. I was talking with Captain McNeil at police headquarters. He showed me his file on Sarko. Of that much, I'm quite aware of. Well, if you know so much, what are you doing up here acting like a suspense radio character? It may sound silly to you, but it was just that I'd never seen a murderer before, alive or dead, and when I saw Sarko's body at police headquarters, I got interested. Mr. Henderson, would you mind repeating? I said I got interested. No, no, you said you actually saw the body of Sarko? Sure. What's so terrific about that? Did you see his face? Of course. What did he look like? Iron gray hair, dark eyes. Yeah. Yes. Mr. Henderson, we simply must reach an understanding. You've no idea what possibilities this opens for me. Well, I'm no mind reader. Mr. Henderson, may I have your word that you will do nothing unreasonable if I put away this gun? Okay. Thank you. I must administer my eye drops. My eyes are very bad, don't you notice? I thought you might have a cold. No, nothing so simple, unfortunately. Congenital weakness. Well, there we are. Now, Mr. Henderson. My interest in all this is very sordid, I'm afraid. Money, to the extent of, shall we say, $300,000. Nice, tidy little sum. Half of that sum could be yours, Mr. Henderson. You'll forgive me if I don't jump at such a handsome offer without knowing a little more about it. I might have realized, I suppose, that mere lucre was not paramount to one of your position. Let's leave Paramount out of this. But, Mr. Henderson, it so happens that I can put you in the way of quite a bit of rather special information about Sarko. I shall write several of them down for you here. It's just fine. Write several of what down? Names, addresses, places where you can discover what you want to know. Okay, what's the catch? Mr. Henderson, you must trust me. What do you want? I want very little. But when you've seen these people, and when what they tell you suggests that there is still more to know, come to see me. I've written that address down, too. Good night, and good hunting. Well, by this time I was so obsessed with the thing that I actually set out to follow the itinerary of the rather sinister Mr. Edwards to the very letter. There was a man serving a life term at Sing Sing. His name was Colletti. Well, it didn't used to be so healthy to talk about Sarko, but seeing he's dead, yeah, I know him pretty well. Did you ever do any business with him? Yeah, we had one little deal. He helped me in some business I had with Senator O'Malley. My name? Huh. He was chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee during the disarmament conferences after the last war. That's right. Until 1927. Was that the year you and Sarko had your business with him? That's right. That was the year he was assassinated, wasn't it? Yeah. It was quite a coincidence, Mr. Henderson. Quite a coincidence. Sarko, huh? I just hope he didn't die easy. I don't think he did, from the look. Maybe there is some justice after all. Are you quite sure he was a drug addict? Huh. How do you think I first learned to take the stuff? At the convent? There is one guy who might talk. I've never seen him, but they called him Eddie the Greek. He used to hang around Doyle's gambling place. Oh, you see, Mr. Henderson, it all turned out rather well from your point of view, didn't it? In a way. But there are a few little pieces of the picture still missing, eh? You see, that's why I dared hope that you'd come back to see me. That's fine. What about Eddie the Greek? Oh, yes, Eddie the Greek. I hope it won't be too great a shock if I have the strong impression that Eddie the Greek is one of your pseudonyms, Mr. Edwards. Oh, very good, Mr. Henderson. Very good indeed. Yes, I have been called that on occasion. Then what's the idea of the wild goose chase? You're supposed to know more about Sarko than anybody. All in good time, Mr. Henderson. All in good time. At the moment, there is a rather more pressing matter. No, is there? Oh, yes. There is a little matter of $300,000. Look, I'm in a business where they pay pretty good dough, but nobody can earn $300,000 just overnight and be on the level. But, my dear Mr. Henderson, there is no question of earning. Okay, okay. You tell me. Well, it's really quite simple, Mr. Henderson. With the information you possess, together with the information I possess, there is a very liberal and sensible gentleman of my acquaintance who will give us. $300,000. Blackmail, huh? But what possible objection can you have to the transfer of $300,000 from the pocket of one scoundrel to the pocket of another? None, I guess, except that I just don't want to have any part of it. Oh? Not even if it meant your coming into the possession of the final, and I might say the most sensational part of your missing information about Sarka? How do I know you can supply it? Not. I have something here in my desk which I think you might consider sufficient proof. Yes, here it is. A photograph, but before you look at the face, read the writing across the bottom, please. To my good friend Gregory Sarko from Count Orlando Monticero. He's a quite famous Spanish gentleman, except that lately he's been engaged in some really very subversive activity in South America. Another face, please. But it's Sarko. Rather shall we say. It is the man whose body you saw at police headquarters. But are you positive? Of course I am. Would you be so good as to write a few words to that effect across the face of the picture? Why? Because I must be sure. And even on our brief acquaintance, Mr. Henderson, I know that you would not write anything above your signature that was not absolutely true. Sure, if it'll make you feel any better, it is true. Yeah. So, now you see it, Mr. Henderson. You saw this body, you alone, except for one or two police officers with whom I confess it is a little difficult for me to deal. And the body is not that of Sarko. And the real Sarko? He's alive and quite well, I'm happy to say, in here in New York. How could I meet him? Oh, you will meet him, Mr. Henderson, when he pays us for $300,000. By this time, I had to go through with it. I could see the whole thing on film. What a thriller. I left everything in the hands of Mr. Ed. The meeting was arranged in a hotel room, the hour 8 30. And there we waited for the man I traced all over the underworld of New York. The murderer, spy, dope peddler, Gregory Sarko. Not nervous, are you, Mr. Henderson? Aren't you? A little. Yes, I must confess. Our visitor this evening is not what you might call an easygoing man. But we will not be murdered. No, we will not even be followed, at least not successfully. Where do you go from here? To my little apartment where you met me. It's the safest place in all New York. You don't mind if I catch up on my notes while we wait. Your notes? My private file on Sarko. Of course. You know, Mr. Henderson, sometimes I fear that you might think that I've not been quite as candid with you in this matter as I might. There are one or two little things, aren't there? Your own connection with Sarko, for instance. Naturally, but I honestly believe that once you just. Will you stand by the door, please, Mr. Henderson? Open it when I give you the word. You have to point that gun. There will be no shooting. This gun is just in case. You may open the door now, Mr. Henderson. Come in. Good evening, gentlemen. Captain McNeil. Surprised to see me? Naturally, he is. When an appointment has been carefully arranged for Mr. Henderson to meet the arch criminal Sarko, and when that arch criminal turns out to be none other than the illustrious Captain McNeil, naturally. Oh. I sort of wondered how you managed to get yourself a part in this little drama, Mr. Henderson. Now I know. Well, would you mind awfully explaining it to me? If I were to tell you that I am not Sarko, but rather that your confederate, Mr. Edwards, is Sarko, would that help? Oh. Oh, I'm truly sorry, Mr. Henderson. It seems my fate to be forced from one deception to another. Then you are Sarko? In a word, yes. You see, Captain McNeil would scarcely have acceded to my request if he'd not. Feared that a third and highly respectable party were also privy to our little secret. After all, there would be ways of dealing with Sarko, but a well-known motion picture director, that would be another story. By the way, Captain, did you bring the money, please? I did. How convenient to deal with a police officer who also happens to have a large private fortune. Don't you want it counted? Oh, I can see it's close enough. Listen, Mr. Edwards, if you think you're going to get me to play cat's paw for you, you're. Ah, Mr. Henderson, you forget. That I have your signature on the photograph of that man whom the good Captain McNeil mistakenly killed. You see where you fit into the picture now, Mr. Henderson? And not a very pretty picture either. Yes, yes, it would be most inconvenient for Captain McNeil if it were known that he had accidentally liquidated the good Count Montresor, even though from a patriotic standpoint it is undoubtedly an excellent thing that he did. But there might even be international complications, might there not, Captain? Ah, Mr. Henderson, if I'd only resisted the temptation to show you that body. If only you had, Captain McNeil. You'll forgive me, gentlemen, if I administer my eye drops. My eyes seem to grow worse as my fortunes grow better. And you'll forgive me if I leave now. Perhaps someday there'll be another meeting. It could happen. Yes, who knows? Your hat, Captain McNeil. Thank you. Good night. So you're the great Sarko, eh, Mr. Edwards? You see why I could not tell you before. Believe me, I wish to, if only because your interest was so flattering. You know, he'll catch up with you someday, Mr. Edwards. Captain McNeil? Not as long as I can prove that he killed Count Montreserro. By the way, was that just a sort of happy coincidence for you, or was it? Not quite. I had done some business with the Count, which had turned out rather badly. Oh, he was a pure Nazi agent, without doubt. In any event, I was in difficulties with the fellow, and I persuaded him that he could secure some very valuable information if he would appear in New York as Sarko. Which he was unwise enough to do. And then you tipped off Captain McNeil that Sarka was in town. You're a pretty clever boy, aren't you, Mr. Edwards? Thank you, Mr. Henderson. Thank you. And now may I suggest that we return to my little flat? We? Under the circumstances, Mr. Henderson, I believe it would be safer for both of us. Do you like your drink, Mr. Henderson? Oh, it's very good. Thanks. Thanks, sir. Uh, Mr. Edwards, I do wish you'd put that gun away. Oh, yes, the gun. Mr. Henderson, I've been trying to think of a way out of this dilemma all evening. I would have liked to spare you this last little deception. What little deception? I'm going to have to kill you. Oh. I am sincerely sorry. You've been a most pleasant companion, but knowing as much about me as you do. Oh, good night. Can I finish my drink, please? Oh, but certainly. And now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, my eye drops are in my coat in the hall. Oh, by the way, it's useless to try to escape, Mr. Henderson. This is the only way out, and the windows are barred with steel shutters. Thank you for the information. Edwards! Edwards! Dad. Captain McNeil. I take it that someone has just liquidated our friend Sarko, or Edmund. As you prefer. So it would seem. Did you see it happen? No, no. Did you have much trouble finding your way here? None whatsoever, Mr. Henderson. I'm afraid I have a little confession. You don't need to. But I do. You remember the matter of the information on the piece of paper slipped under the hatband? The thing in your picture that I disagreed with? I remember. I apologize. It's a highly practical device. Highly practical? Perhaps it wasn't made clear enough in the picture that the paper was. Rolled up into a little hard ball. I suppose it hurt your head when you put your hat on. It did. And I found the address of this place when I removed it. You'd make a fine detective, Mr. Henderson. By the way, how much have you known? You know, I'm kind of surprised myself. Quite a lot, as a matter of fact. You knew about the body I showed you. Oh, I was pretty sure it wasn't Sarko, a drug addict who takes the precaution of carrying aspirin for his headaches, would certainly carry his favorite drug, too. I used that in a picture once myself. Don't you remember the blue canary? So you did now. So you did. I should have remembered. And I suspected Edwards because of the eye drops. There was nothing the matter with his eyes. His particular brand of drug works on any mucous membrane, including the eyes. Mr. Henderson, you're all right. And just what are your immediate plans? Well, I'd kind of like to get out of here. What about the money and the photograph? Don't let it worry you. The money and the photograph are safe. I kind of thought so. And I suppose we can safely leave to the regular police force the question of. Who killed Sarko? I think we can. If I knew who, I'd sort of like to thank him. He did save my life, you know. And if he knew you, I'm sure he'd want to thank you as well, because, in a way, you also saved his life. Well, that's about all there is to the story. Pretty exciting stuff. Be good material for one of your pictures, I'd think, Mr. Henderson. Yeah, sure it would, sure. For that dumb studio of mine, I called a big meeting just before I left New York, and I told this story, changing a few names and places, of course. And what happened? I don't know, Frank. It's a good story, but I don't know. What's the matter? I think it would make a swell picture. Public would never go for it, Frank. It's too crazy. It's unbelievable. Yeah, I wouldn't buy it. You're entirely right, LG. Don't make sense, Frank. A thing like that couldn't happen. Couldn't happen? Look, I'm telling you that it. Too arty, entirely too arty. Wouldn't gross a dime. And by the way, Frank, I wanted to talk to you about the new release. Where have you been? Me? Yeah, the last time we saw you, you beat it out of the projection room to see some cop, and nobody's heard a word from you for two weeks. Where have you been? Me? Me? Oh, I've been around. And so closes Sneak Preview, starring Joseph Cotton, tonight's tale of suspense. Joseph Cotton, star of the Lockheed America Ceiling Unlimited, appeared by courtesy of David O. Selznick, and will soon be seen in the all star Selznick production, Since You Went Away. Did you know that these Roma wines suspense dramas are setting a record for the millions of delighted listeners they are attracting? We want you to feel that by tuning in the suspense program every week, you can count on real radio enjoyment. Well, in just as dramatic style, the popularity of Roma wines is also record-breaking, because Roma wines are by far America's largest selling wine. Millions make sure of great wine enjoyment simply by asking for Roma wines. Here's something else these millions have discovered. You don't need fancy glassware or a special occasion to enjoy these zestful, taste-alighting Roma California wines. Roma wines possess lip-smacking flavor and zest because they come from Roma Wines' own wineries right in the heart of the magnificent California wine grape districts. And you can enjoy them as a daily delight because the cost is only pennies a glass. Ask for R-O-M-A, Roma Wines. Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. This is Joseph Cotton. It's a great pleasure to join forces with this really excellent company whose business and pleasure it is each week to keep you in suspense. I know you'll want to be listening next week, as I will, when Sonny Tufts will be your star. Suspense is produced and directed by William Spear. Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Sonny Tufts. In suspense, presented by Roma Wines, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.