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00:00The Makers of Campbell's Soups presents the Campbell Playhouse, Orson Welles producers.
00:27Good evening, this is Orson Welles.
00:51Tonight under the guidance of an expert, we're going to take an excursion into the underworld
00:55of the Prohibition period.
00:57Our story is The Glass Key, by an author who is best known as the creator of The Bin Man,
01:03Mr. Dashiell Hammett.
01:06The Glass Key is, to my way of thinking, one of Dash Hammett's very best.
01:10So sit back and let the Campbell Playhouse demonstrate that Mr. Hammett knows far more
01:14about underworld plots, political sculpt-duggery, and crimes of violence than any other respectable
01:21author should.
01:23And then when our story is over, we'll have a chance to check on Dash Hammett, because
01:27we have with us in the studio tonight a man who knows more about this sort of thing than
01:31even Dashiell Hammett, Warden Laws, no less, of Sing Sing, of course, and who will speak
01:36to us at the end of this broadcast.
01:38Now first, a word from Ernest Chappell.
01:47There are different dishes that are special favorites with different families, but there's
01:51one dish that makes a big hit with most everyone, and that is chicken.
01:56People by and large like chicken so much that it's become the customary main dish for nearly
02:00any special party meal.
02:01I believe this enthusiastic taste for chicken accounts for the widespread liking for Campbell's
02:06chicken soup, because as sure as you like chicken, you'll like this soup.
02:11There's chicken in the savory aroma from your plate, and chicken in the tempting golden
02:15glisten of the slowly simmered broth.
02:17And in the eating of this soup, too, deep-down slow-simmered chicken flavor and tender pieces
02:22of chicken meat, along with the fluffy white rice.
02:25I want to make a bold statement, one you might have doubted five years ago, and that perhaps
02:29some of you will doubt today.
02:31If you will eat a plate of Campbell's chicken soup tomorrow, I'm absolutely sure you'll
02:36say it's as fine as the finest chicken soup you ever tasted anywhere.
02:39Do you doubt that statement?
02:41Well, if you do, I'm sure it's because you haven't tasted Campbell's chicken soup recently.
02:46And in that case, I ask you to try it, because I'm sure one taste will convince you, and
02:51that you'll want to have Campbell's chicken soup often.
02:54And now, The Glass Key, starring Orson Welles as Paul Madvig.
02:59My name's Ned Beaumont, and I guess I'm out of a job for a while.
03:10Well, I did the best I could for Paul Madvig, but there it is, a clean sweep for the reform
03:15ticket.
03:16It's funny how things change.
03:19Six weeks ago, you could have got four to one on the Madvig machine, putting over the
03:22whole ticket.
03:23When you come to think about it, there wasn't a thing Paul Madvig could have done differently,
03:28not with the setup he had.
03:30I remember the first evening he talked to me about it in his office, up over the party
03:34headquarters.
03:35Office?
03:36Well, it wasn't much of an office, just a desk with a lamp on it and a couple of chairs
03:41and a picture of the governor looking down at you.
03:45All right.
03:46Now, there you are, Ned.
03:47Hello, Paul.
03:48Lend me some money.
03:49What do you want?
03:50A couple of hundred.
03:51Been shooting dice?
03:52Yeah.
03:53Here you are.
03:54Thanks.
03:55It's a long time since you've done any winning, isn't it, Ned?
03:56Well, not so long.
03:57Mine's been six weeks.
03:58That's a long time to be losing.
03:59Why don't you try laying off a while when you hit one of these sour streets?
04:10That's no good.
04:11It only spreads it out.
04:12Well, if you can stand the gaff.
04:13I can stand anything I've got to stand.
04:14Guess you can at that.
04:15Listen, Ned.
04:16You know more about this stuff than I do.
04:17Janet Henry's birthday's Thursday.
04:18What do you think I ought to give her?
04:29Is the senator throwing a party?
04:32Yeah.
04:33You invited?
04:34No, but I'm going there to dinner tomorrow night.
04:38Are you going to back the senator in this election, Paul?
04:41Yeah, I think I will.
04:43Why?
04:44Because with his help, we can put over the whole ticket just like nobody was running against us.
04:48Without you behind him, could the senator make the grade this time?
04:52Not a chance.
04:53Does he know that?
04:54He ought to know it better than anybody else.
04:57And if he didn't know it...
04:59You wouldn't be going there to dinner tomorrow night.
05:02Have you...
05:03Have you promised him anything yet?
05:06Yeah, it's pretty well settled.
05:08Listen to me, Paul.
05:10Throw the senator down, sink him.
05:12Well...
05:13Forget he's never been licked with anything in his life.
05:15Sure, and that's one of the best reasons I know for throwing in with him.
05:19No, it isn't, Paul.
05:20It's the very worst.
05:22Think that over, even if it hurts your head.
05:25How far has this dizzy blonde daughter of his got her hooks into you?
05:29I'm going to marry Miss Henry.
05:32Is that part of the bargain?
05:35Nobody knows it yet, except you and me.
05:38If that's what you want, make them put it in writing.
05:40Better still insist on the wedding before election day.
05:43Then you'll at least be sure of your pound of flesh, Paul.
05:46Or, uh...
05:47She'll weigh around 110, won't she?
05:49I don't know why you keep talking about the senator like he was a yank.
05:54He's a gentleman.
05:55Absolutely, and his daughter's an aristocrat.
05:57Move the plot in there, don't be silly.
05:59And we oughtn't to forget that her brother, Taylor Henry, is an aristocrat too,
06:02which is probably why you made your daughter stop playing around with him.
06:06Ah, now, Ned, that's just...
06:07And when you're married to Janet Henry,
06:09will that entitle her brother to begin playing around with Opal again?
06:13Over my dead body it will.
06:15I didn't ask for all this.
06:17I just asked you what kind of present I ought to give Miss Henry.
06:21How far have you got with her?
06:23Nowhere.
06:24I've been...
06:25Well, I've been over there a half dozen times to talk to Senators.
06:30Sometimes I see her and sometimes I don't.
06:32But you didn't get a bid to the birthday party?
06:35No, not yet.
06:37Then the answer's one you won't like.
06:39Such as?
06:40Don't give her anything.
06:41Ah, Ned.
06:42Well, do whatever you like, if you ask me.
06:44But why?
06:45You're not supposed to give people things unless you're sure they'd like to get them from you.
06:49I got you.
06:51I guess you're right.
06:53I'll be hanged if I'll pass up the chance to give her a present.
06:56Well, flowers, then, or something like that might be all right.
06:59Flowers?
07:01But I wanted...
07:02Sure you wanted to give her a roast or a couple of yards of pearls.
07:06You'll get your chance at that later.
07:08Start little and grow.
07:17So I went to that dinner.
07:19It was the next night, a Wednesday.
07:21Just lately I found out what happened up at the Senator's house that evening.
07:25As a matter of fact, I got it.
07:27Oh, well, never mind.
07:31Don't give it a thought, Senator.
07:33Me behind you, the election's as good as in the bag.
07:35I've been through a few more elections than you, Madvig.
07:38They're never in the bag until the votes are counted.
07:40Boys will figure to pile up a 30,000 majority in the eighth ward alone.
07:44What will you two talk about when the election's over?
07:47How to win the next ward in the Senate.
07:49I'm afraid that's true.
07:51Well, if you'll excuse me, Madvig, I'll leave you alone with Janet for a moment.
07:54Sure, Senator.
07:55I want to have a talk with my son before he goes out.
07:57I'll be right back.
07:59You'll have to excuse my brother for not coming down to dinner.
08:03That's all right.
08:05Kayla and I had a little misunderstanding some weeks back about my daughter.
08:11You're not interested in music, are you, Mr. Madvig?
08:15I'm interested in anything you do, Senator.
08:18I didn't ask...
08:20Music? Oh, yes, I like music.
08:22You play it.
08:23I can see you're a difficult man to amuse, Mr. Madvig.
08:28The conversation must be about politics or about me, is that it?
08:32Those are the two things I'm interested in.
08:34Do you think they go together very well?
08:36Yes.
08:38One's a means to the other.
08:40Mr. Madvig.
08:41My friends call me Paul.
08:43Very well.
08:45Paul, then.
08:46Listen, Miss Henry.
08:48I know this is a little out of my line.
08:50I know I'm a politician from the wrong side of town and you're Senator Henry's daughter.
08:56About all I've ever learned that you don't get up to the sixth grade is how to run things
09:02and how to get other people to run things for you.
09:06Not quite all.
09:08I can learn music and the rest of the things on your side of the town.
09:12That's what I'm setting out to do.
09:17You're the end of my road.
09:20Everything I want.
09:23Everything I want to be.
09:24Mr. Madvig.
09:27Sorry.
09:28I thought you wanted me to kiss you.
09:30I think you'd better go now.
09:32I'll explain to Father.
09:34Let's not talk about it.
09:36We are closed in the hall.
09:37All right.
09:38Good night, Miss Henry.
09:40Good night, Mr. Madvig.
09:47Oh, what's that?
09:49Who just went out?
09:51Where's Paul?
09:52He's gone.
09:53I wanted to see him.
09:54Taylor promised to come down and apologize for, uh...
09:57Jenny, why did Paul go?
09:59Because I asked him to.
10:01Father, is it really necessary for me to associate with Mr. Madvig?
10:05In your own public life, my dear, a big-eyed Paul's not a bad thought.
10:09He's the sort that wants something for everything you do.
10:12This evening he started collecting.
10:14What do you mean, Jenny?
10:16What did I say?
10:17He started to make love to me.
10:19What's that?
10:20It must have been Taylor.
10:21I hope he didn't hear what I said.
10:23You know how he feels about Madvig.
10:25Taylor, come back here!
10:26Taylor!
10:27Come back!
10:28Taylor!
10:29Taylor!
10:38I had an idea Paul would stop by party headquarters that night after the dinner,
10:42went up to his office and sat at his desk waiting for him.
10:45It was after ten when he came in.
10:48Hello, Ned.
10:49What are you doing at my desk?
10:51Reading the paper.
10:52Thought you was downstairs playing dice.
10:54I was.
10:56How'd the Henry dinner go?
10:58I've been to worse.
11:00Why, is Taylor there?
11:02Not at dinner. Why?
11:04Because he's dead.
11:05In the gut up on China Street.
11:07With a fractured skull.
11:10Is that so?
11:12You understand what I said?
11:14Yes.
11:16Well?
11:18Well, what?
11:20He was killed.
11:21All right.
11:23Do you want me to get hysterical about it?
11:25Oh, I thought you might want to look in the woods and think it's Senator Henry's son.
11:30It's up to the cops, isn't it?
11:32I was there with him before they moved the body.
11:35Did you notice anything?
11:37Yeah.
11:38What?
11:39His hat wasn't there.
11:42You won't need it now.
11:45Well, I'll be going alone.
11:47So long, Paul.
11:49You're a fool, Ned.
11:51Yeah.
11:52One of us is.
12:01The next day I drove out to Paul Mudley's house down on Mill Street Boulevard.
12:05I figured Paul wouldn't be in.
12:12Hey, Mrs. Matt...
12:14Oh, hello, Mom.
12:15So here you are at last, Ned.
12:18You're a worthless boy to neglect an old woman like this.
12:21Oh, Mom, I think I'm a big boy now and I got my work to attend to.
12:25Where's the kid?
12:26Opal?
12:27Yeah.
12:28She's laying down. She's not feeling good.
12:30Oh, what's the matter with her?
12:31Headache.
12:32Guess she's been dancing too much.
12:34Yeah.
12:35Has Father been up to see her?
12:37No, Paul hasn't been home since yesterday.
12:40Did you find out about the Henry boy?
12:42Do the cops ever find out any room?
12:45Would it be all right if I pop in and say hello to Opal?
12:48Sure. Go right up, Ned. She'll be glad to see you.
12:50Okay.
12:51I'll have a cup of tea for you when you come down.
12:54I went up the stairs and across the landing.
12:57The blind was down in Opal's room and I could see the light from her cigarette as she sat in bed.
13:02Hello, Ned.
13:03Hello, Sniff.
13:06Yeah, I know yesterday. Tough.
13:09No, really. Most of the headache's gone.
13:12So, Opal, I'm an outsider now, huh?
13:16Oh, what do you mean, Ned?
13:18I mean Taylor Henry.
13:20Yes.
13:22You know, I haven't seen him for months since Dad made me stop seeing him.
13:27Okay, kid. I'll be running along.
13:30Oh, wait, Ned.
13:33Gosh, you.
13:35What makes you act like that?
13:37You're having a lie to me.
13:39What's the matter?
13:40How long since you saw Taylor?
13:41You want to talk to her?
13:43In a week?
13:45All right.
13:46Oh, Ned, don't make it so hard for me.
13:49Aren't we friends?
13:50Sure.
13:51But it's hard to remember it when we're alone with each other.
13:55Did...
13:57Did you know I'd been leaving?
13:59Well, I know it now.
14:00Never mind that.
14:02Ned, I...
14:04I was with him all the rest of the way up to me.
14:07Oh, and I couldn't...
14:09See, I was scared as hell.
14:11Yeah?
14:13Tell me you didn't put it to me.
14:15You know it.
14:16No.
14:17You've got to find out.
14:18You've got to.
14:19Why?
14:20Because...
14:22If I ask you something, you won't get my idea.
14:25I'll try not to.
14:27Did Dad know that Taylor and I were still...
14:30Going together?
14:31Listen, kid, what are you trying to prove?
14:33Nothing. I thought you weren't going to get mad.
14:35I'm not.
14:37Did you really love Taylor, Henry Cliff, or was it just because your father...
14:41I really did love him, Ned.
14:43I'm pretty sure...
14:45I'm sure I loved him.
14:47I drove back to town and stopped at the pay station and called up Paul Madvig at party headquarters.
14:57He wasn't there.
14:59I drove back to town and stopped at the pay station and called up Paul Madvig at party headquarters.
15:07He wasn't there.
15:09Round three, I went over to the district attorney's office.
15:14District attorney's office.
15:16Mr. Farr's busy. Will you leave your number?
15:20Hello, district attorney's office.
15:22Hello, sister.
15:23Hello, Mr. Beaumont.
15:24Tell Mr. Farr I want to see him.
15:26Sure.
15:27Hello, Mr. Farr.
15:29Mr. Beaumont's here.
15:30Yes, Mr. Farr.
15:32You can go right in, Mr. Beaumont. You know the way.
15:34Bye, Otto.
15:35District attorney's office.
15:37Sorry, Mr. Farr's busy. Would you leave your name?
15:40Oh, hello, Ned. How are you?
15:42Hello, Farr.
15:43Now, what can I do for you?
15:46Farr, I want you to fix me up with some sort of paper, special prosecutor or something.
15:50Sure, I guess I can fix it up, but what crime are you particularly interested in solving?
15:55A murder. The murder of Taylor Henry, remember?
15:59Oh, yes, but I thought...
16:00Ned, Paul Madvig and I might be interested in not solving the case, is that it?
16:04Ned, I didn't say that, but here, I want to read you this note. I get one of them every day.
16:10Oh, writing notes, are they? Let's see. Typewritten on plain white paper. What does it say?
16:17Well, it doesn't say anything. It just asks a question.
16:20Is Paul Madvig the reason you're doing nothing to solve the Henry murder?
16:25Well?
16:26Well, now, Ned, don't think I'm taking that seriously, but...
16:30but, you know, we get bail for that kind of stuff every time anything happens.
16:35I just wanted to show it to you.
16:37Well, that's all right, as long as you keep on feeling that way about it.
16:41I, uh, I don't think I'd say anything to Paul about the notes, if I were you. He's got enough on his mind.
16:47Well, sure, whatever you say, Ned.
16:49Listen, Farr, Paul hasn't anything to hide in the Henry murder, and I wouldn't like to think you were going around thinking he had.
16:54Oh, now, for heaven's sake, Ned, get me right.
16:56You know darn well there's nobody in the city any stronger for Paul and you than me.
17:01You know you can always count on me.
17:03Well, that's fine.
17:05Well, I've got to run along.
17:07So long, Farr.
17:15I never did spend much of my time at party headquarters and run election.
17:19I don't like listening to the same line of talk over and over again.
17:23It was Tuesday before I saw Paul Madvig again.
17:30Hello, Ned.
17:32Where have you been the last few days?
17:34Oh, different places.
17:36Oh, Paul, you oughtn't to wear silk socks with tweeds.
17:39No, I like the feel of silk.
17:42Well, then lay off the tweeds.
17:44Did you go to Taylor Henry's funeral yesterday?
17:47Yes.
17:49Senator suggested it.
17:51How is the senator?
17:53He's all right. I spent most of this afternoon up there with him.
17:56His house?
17:57Yeah.
17:58Was the daughter there?
18:00Janet Henry was there.
18:02Hmm. It's Janet now.
18:04Getting anywhere with her?
18:06Still think I'm going to marry her.
18:08Does she know yet that your intentions are honorable?
18:11Oh, lay off, Ned.
18:13All right, Paul.
18:15I came here to tell you something you ought to know.
18:17About the election?
18:18Yes, in a way it's about the election.
18:20Shadow Rory is noising it around that you know more about Taylor Henry's death than you're telling.
18:26That don't do you any good with the respectable citizens, civic union and the women's clubs.
18:31So Shadow Rory's shooting his mouth off, is he, Ned?
18:35His own backyard's getting too small for him.
18:39Ned, I think I'll knock Shadow Rory loose from our little city.
18:43I'm tired of having him around, Ned.
18:46I think I'll knock him loose right away, starting tonight.
18:49For instance?
18:50For instance, I think I'll have Farr close up the doghouse and Paradise Gardens
18:55and every dive that we know Shad or any of his friends are interested in.
19:00I think I'll have Farr smack him over in one long row, one after the other, this very same night.
19:06Maybe that'll keep Mr. Shadow Rory quiet.
19:09Maybe.
19:11But this wholesale stuff is too much like using a cyclone shot to blow off a safe door
19:16and get it off without any fuss by using a convoy.
19:20I don't know a thing about opening safes, Ned, but I do know fighting.
19:25My kind, going in with both hands working.
19:29Never could learn to box.
19:32Only times I ever tried, I got licked.
19:36We'll give Mr. Shadow Rory the cyclone shot, beginning tonight.
19:47All right, men, break down the door.
19:54All right, boys, start working.
20:00Okay, that's all for here, boys. Paradise Gardens next.
20:10Well, that was quite a night.
20:13Well, that was quite a night.
20:15From midnight to dawn, they raided Shadow Rory's places.
20:18The doghouse, Paradise Garden, the carousel, one after another.
20:25The next evening, Paul Matvick and I were sitting in a private room at Pip Carson's.
20:30A man opened the door and came in without knocking.
20:33A man of medium height with smooth white hair.
20:36He wore a dark blue overcoat over a dark blue suit
20:39and a black derby hat and a black gloved hand.
20:45How are you, Shad?
20:47I'm fine, Paul. How's yourself?
20:50You know Beaumont, Mr. Shadow Rory.
20:53Yep, yeah.
20:55Matvick, politics is politics and business is business.
20:59I've been paying my way and I'm willing to go on paying my way in this town.
21:03But I want what I'm paying for.
21:05Yeah? What do you mean by that?
21:08I mean that half the coppers in town are buying their cakes and ale with dough they're getting from me and some of my friends.
21:13Well?
21:15I want what I'm paying for.
21:17I'm paying to be let alone.
21:19In election or no election, I want to be let alone.
21:24Business is business and politics is politics.
21:27Let's keep them apart.
21:30No.
21:32It's gonna mean killing.
21:34If you make it mean killing...
21:36it'll have to mean killing.
21:38I'm too big to take the boot from you, Matvick.
21:41Maybe you're too big to take it laying down, but you'll take it.
21:46You are taking it.
21:48I'm opening the Paradise Garden again tonight.
21:51I don't want to be bothered.
21:53Bother me and I'll bother you.
21:56Ned, get me headquarters on that phone, will you?
21:59Sure.
22:01Operator, police headquarters.
22:04Well, I want to speak to Lieutenant Brett.
22:09There he is, boss.
22:11Hello, Brett.
22:12Paul Matvick.
22:14How are the folks?
22:15It's good.
22:17Say, Brett.
22:19I hear Shad's thinking of opening up again tonight.
22:22Yeah.
22:24Yeah, the Paradise.
22:26We'll slam it down as hard as we can.
22:30Right.
22:33Sure.
22:35All right.
22:37Now, do you know where you stand?
22:40You're through, Shad, you're through.
22:42I understand.
22:44So long, Matvick.
22:50Well?
22:52Wrong, Paul.
22:54Holy mackerel.
22:56Don't anything suit you?
22:58Say, where are you going?
23:00I'm leaving.
23:02I'm tired of big-town stuff.
23:04Meaning me?
23:06This is a swell time to be throwing me down.
23:10Say, you're hard to get on with, Ned.
23:12I never said I wasn't.
23:14Yeah, have a drink.
23:16No hurry, is there?
23:18No.
23:21Thanks.
23:23Mind telling me why you think I handle Shad wrong?
23:27They don't do any good.
23:28Try.
23:29Shad O'Rourke is going to fight.
23:31You've got him in a corner.
23:32There's nothing you can do now but play the long shot.
23:34You're trying to re-elect the whole city administration.
23:37Well, giving them a crime wave just before election isn't going to make them look any too efficient.
23:42And then there's this stuff that's being said about Taylor Henry's killing.
23:45Next thing you know, it'll be printed.
23:48You think I ought to lay down to Shad O'Rourke?
23:51Well, I think you should have left him an outer line of retreat.
23:54You shouldn't have got him with his back to the wall.
23:56I don't know anything about your kind of fighting.
24:00He started it.
24:01All I know is when you've got somebody cornered, you go in and finish him.
24:05That system's worked all right for me so far.
24:08Well, Paul, this is one time I think you've let yourself be outsmarted.
24:12First you let the Henry's wheeler you into backing the senator.
24:16There was your chance to go in and finish an enemy who was cornered.
24:19But that enemy happened to have a blonde daughter in social position and whatnot, so you...
24:23Cut it out, Ned.
24:25Well, I must be running along.
24:28Now, wait, Ned.
24:29Take your hand off me.
24:30Now, look here, Ned.
24:31Let go.
24:32Don't be a fool. You and I...
24:38I said to let go.
24:40I meant crazy nuts.
24:44I ought to knock the devil out of you.
24:47Now, come on, Ned.
24:50Let's finish our beer.
24:55Let's finish our beer.
25:09You are listening to the Campbell Playhouse presentation of the glass starring Orson Welles.
25:13This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
25:25This is Ernest Chappell, ladies and gentlemen, welcoming you back to the Campbell Playhouse.
25:39In just a moment, we will resume our presentation of Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key starring Orson Welles.
25:45Who killed Cock Robin?
25:47Who killed Taylor Henry?
25:49I think there's nothing quite like a good murder mystery, and Dashiell Hammett is my idea of a perfect companion,
25:54whether it's for a Friday evening by the radio or for good reading anytime.
25:58But there's a time and place for mystery like anything else,
26:02and one place you won't find any mystery is in the kitchens where Campbell's soups are made.
26:07I visited those kitchens as recently as last week, and I know whereof I speak.
26:11There are no secrets there.
26:13You can watch for yourself each step in the making of fine soup.
26:17Among other things, I watched them make Campbell's chicken soup,
26:20and I know why it is that people who have never thought a canned chicken soup could be as good as homemade
26:25change their minds completely when they first taste Campbell's,
26:28because Campbell's make chicken soup the way a good cook does at home.
26:32Indeed, it seems to me that Campbell's way is in some respects even better.
26:36For example, where chicken soup at home is often made from leftovers,
26:40Campbell's use all the good meat of the fine selected chickens,
26:44and what plump, splendid chickens they are, too.
26:47But the thing that amazes me most is the care with which each ingredient is prepared and cooked,
26:52and the precision of the measuring and blending.
26:55Skill, precision, a lavish hand with the ingredients.
26:58These you see in the making of Campbell's chicken soup.
27:01But no mystery, no secrets.
27:04And if there's any doubt in your mind about how good a canned chicken soup can be,
27:08I do earnestly invite you to try Campbell's chicken soup.
27:12Now we resume our Campbell Playhouse presentation of The Glass Key,
27:15starring Orson Welles as Paul Madvig.
27:26Well, you can't keep a thing like that quiet.
27:29By next morning word had filtered through the grapevine that Paul Madvig and I had quarreled in the back room at Pipcott.
27:35At noon one of Shadow Rory's boys by the name of Whiskey Saunders came to my apartment.
27:40He didn't stay very long.
27:42Around three I wandered over to the Paradise Gardens,
27:45and in the private room of the joint they'd smashed up two nights before,
27:49Shadow Rory was waiting for me.
27:54Oh, I'm glad to see you, Beaumont.
27:56Drop your hat and coat anywhere.
27:58What did you want to see me about, Chad?
28:00I heard what happened after I left last night.
28:02I owe you something for trying to stop Paul from closing up my joints.
28:06You don't.
28:07I don't?
28:08No.
28:09What was with him, then?
28:10What I told him was for his own good.
28:13I thought he was making a bad play.
28:15You'll know it before he's through.
28:17Is it so that you and Paul have broken for good and all?
28:20I thought you knew it.
28:21I thought that's why you sent for me.
28:23I heard it, but that's not always the same thing.
28:26What were you thinking you might do now?
28:28There's a one-way ticket for New York in my pocket.
28:31My clothes are packed.
28:32How long have you been here?
28:33Fifteen months.
28:35You and Paul have been close as a couple of fingers.
28:37How long?
28:38Fifteen years.
28:39You ought to know a lot of things about him.
28:41I do.
28:42Why did Paul Madwig bump off young Henry?
28:46Make your proposition.
28:48How does this hit you?
28:49After election, I'll take you to the finest gaveling house the state's ever seen.
28:53Let you run it to suit yourself with all the protection you ever heard of.
28:56That's an if-offer if you win.
28:58Don't you think we're going to win the election?
29:00You won't bet even money on it.
29:02You're not so hot to go in with me, are you, Beaumont?
29:04No, it wasn't any idea of mine.
29:06Well, sit down.
29:08You can still talk, can't we?
29:10Listen, I'll give you ten grand in cash right now if you'll come in,
29:14and ten more on election night if we beat Paul,
29:17and I'll keep that house offer open for you to take or leave.
29:21You want me to rat on poor Madwig, of course.
29:24I want you to go to the papers with a lowdown on everything you know about him
29:26being mixed up in the sewer contract,
29:29the dirt on how he's running the city.
29:31I want you to tell the papers how he killed Taylor and why.
29:36Well, there's nothing in the sewer business now.
29:38He's let his trappings go to keep from raising a stink.
29:41All right.
29:42But there is something in the Taylor-Henry business.
29:44Yeah, we might have, yeah.
29:46It'll be worth it for both of us.
29:48I'll have a reporter put the stuff in shape.
29:51You just give him the dope and let him write it.
29:53He can start off with a Taylor-Henry thing.
29:55Maybe.
29:56You mean we ought to start off first with the ten thousand dollars?
30:00Well, there's something in that.
30:02Here.
30:04Ten grand.
30:05Count them up.
30:06Thanks.
30:07The thanks go both ways.
30:08There's a reporter out there now.
30:09Shall I call him?
30:10I ought to have a little time to straighten it out in my mind.
30:12Give it to him anyway it comes to you.
30:14He'll put it in shape.
30:15Fine.
30:16We'll go over to my place now and get to work.
30:18It'll be better here.
30:20Well, if it's the money you're worried about, you can hang on until I've turned in the stuff.
30:23I'm not worried about anything.
30:25But you're in a tough spot, and if Paul gets the news, you'll come over to me,
30:28I don't want to take any chances on having you knocked off.
30:30You'll have to take them.
30:32I'm going.
30:33No!
30:35Jeff!
30:36Whiskey!
30:37Yeah, boss.
30:38Come on in here, you two.
30:39Okay.
30:40I am afraid we'll have to persuade Beaumont to stay with us.
30:43Sure.
30:44Want us to get the white?
30:46Well, how about it, Beaumont?
30:48You coming across on Madwig?
30:50No.
30:51Too bad.
30:53Well, boys, get going.
30:55Come on, Whiskey.
30:57Yeah.
31:10All right, boys.
31:12You stay now.
31:14Go back and finish your game.
31:28Raise your two bits, Whiskey.
31:31I'm staying in.
31:33How many cards, Jeff?
31:35Three.
31:36Two for me.
31:38Four bits.
31:40I'll fade.
31:44Oh, just a second, gents.
31:47Now, Beaumont, I told you to stay away from that door, didn't I?
31:54Hey, careful, Jeff, you'll croak him.
31:56Oh, you can't croak Beaumont.
31:58He's a tough baby.
32:00I've never seen a guy that liked being hit so much.
32:03Or that I liked hitting so much.
32:07Oh, well.
32:11I'll call you, Rusty.
32:12Eric Kings.
32:14My part.
32:15Three deuces.
32:16Yeah, deal, Rusty.
32:18Oh, hi, Shad.
32:20How's Beaumont?
32:22Jeff's been slapping him down for the fun of it.
32:24I don't want him killed, Jeff.
32:26Not yet.
32:30Beaumont.
32:31Yeah?
32:32He's pretty far gone, boss.
32:34This is Shadow Rory, Beaumont.
32:36Can you hear what I say?
32:38Yeah.
32:39Good.
32:40Now, listen to what I tell you, Beaumont.
32:43You're going to give me the dope on Paul Madwig.
32:46No.
32:47Maybe you think you won't tell Beaumont, but you will.
32:50I'll have you worked on till you do.
32:53You understand me?
32:55I won't.
32:56I won't.
32:58Okay, Jeff.
32:59Get to work on him some more.
33:02I'll try the same thing again.
33:05There, you.
33:12It ain't no good now.
33:14He's turning like a Joe.
33:17I don't remember much what happened after that.
33:21It was getting dark, and I found I was alone in the room.
33:24Then I remember something about tearing a mattress apart with my nails and teeth
33:28and setting fire to it with my cigar lighter.
33:32The next thing I knew, I was at the emergency hospital.
33:35Paul was standing at the foot of my bed.
33:37Gosh.
33:39Glad to see you alive, Ned.
33:41Oh, Paul.
33:43How'd I get here?
33:44A copper found you crawling on all fours in the lawn of the Paradise Garden
33:48leaving a trail of blood behind you.
33:51I think I have funny things to do.
33:53Yeah.
33:54Did your nail shed?
33:55No use, Ned.
33:56They'll lay it on Jeff and let him take the rap for assault.
33:59What good does that do us?
34:01Is Shad still squawking about the Taylor-Henry murder?
34:04Chronicle's full of it.
34:06Other papers are taking it up.
34:07We're going to stop that.
34:09You're going to stay in bed with me?
34:11Stop that.
34:12You're going to stay in bed and get well?
34:14That's what you're going to do?
34:16Look, Ned.
34:17I've got a visitor with me.
34:19She'd like to see you.
34:21She's waiting in the hall.
34:23It's kind of important to me.
34:26Mind if she comes in?
34:28Why, I guess not.
34:29Who is it?
34:31Janet Henry.
34:33Well, the Senator's getting her, huh?
34:35Well, send her in.
34:37She said she wants to see you alone.
34:41Is that all right?
34:42Sure.
34:43Take it easy, kid.
34:45Looks like I'll have to.
34:47Sorry, Paul.
34:48All right, Janet.
34:49Ned's feeling better.
34:51Come in.
34:53Have a nice visit, you two.
34:55Thanks, Paul.
34:59I wanted to come.
35:00You don't mind, do you?
35:02I'm flattered.
35:04Sit down.
35:05No, you're not.
35:06You don't like me.
35:08Why?
35:09I think maybe I do.
35:11You don't.
35:12I know it.
35:13Well, you can't go by my manners.
35:14They're always pretty bad.
35:16You don't like me, and I want you to.
35:18Why?
35:20Because you're Paul's best friend.
35:22Well, Paul has lots of friends.
35:24He's a politician.
35:25You're his best friend.
35:26He thinks so.
35:28What do you think?
35:29I think you are, or you wouldn't be here now.
35:32You wouldn't have gone through that for him.
35:34I wish you'd like me, if you can.
35:37Miss Henry, I'm kind of awkward when I'm around people like you
35:40who belong to another world altogether, society and roto sections and all,
35:44and you mistake that for enmity, which it isn't at all.
35:47You're making fun of me.
35:49But I don't even mind that if you'll let me be your friend.
35:52Well, I might.
35:54It might be something new.
35:56I never had a senator's daughter for a friend.
36:04Next day I had another visitor.
36:06About two in the afternoon, the nurse came in to see if I was sleeping.
36:10I wasn't.
36:12Basket of fruit for you, Mr. Beaumont.
36:15Who from?
36:16Here's the card.
36:17Open it, nurse.
36:19It just says, please, and it's signed Janet Henry.
36:23Oh, help yourself to the junk.
36:25Take enough so it looks as if I'd eaten it.
36:27No wonder people beat you up.
36:29And there's a Mrs. Madvig here to see you.
36:32She'll tell her to come in and you stay out.
36:34It'll be a pleasure.
36:36All right, Mrs. Madvig.
36:40Hello, Ned.
36:42Come on over here, Mom.
36:43I'm going to kiss you.
36:44Oh, what foolishness.
36:46Well, you don't look so bad, nor yet so good.
36:50How do you feel, Ned?
36:51Oh, swell.
36:52I'm only hanging around here on account of the nurses.
36:54That wouldn't surprise me much neither.
36:56Oh, Mom.
36:57Look here, Ned.
36:59You've got to tell me the truth.
37:01Opal didn't kill that whippersnapper, Taylor Henry, did he?
37:03What makes you ask that?
37:05Opal, wasn't it?
37:07Wasn't it?
37:08Yes.
37:09Opal's got herself an estate over it.
37:11She's sure her father did it.
37:13What's she got?
37:14Evidence or intuition?
37:16She gets a note like this every day.
37:18I'll bet she does.
37:20I've seen one of those before.
37:22Read it to me anyway.
37:24Are you really too stupid to know your father murdered your sweetheart?
37:29That's what it says.
37:30Well, everybody in town's had at least one of these notes.
37:34Ned, it isn't true, is it?
37:36Nope.
37:37I didn't think so.
37:39He's always been a good boy, but the Lord only knows what goes on in this politics.
37:43You're a humdinger, Mom.
37:46Would you tell me if he had killed him?
37:48Nope.
37:50Then how do I know he didn't?
37:52Because if he had, I'd still say no.
37:54But then if you asked me if I'd tell you the truth, if he had, I'd say yes.
37:59No, he didn't do it, Mom.
38:01It would be nice if somebody in town besides me thought he didn't do it,
38:05and it would be especially nice if that other one was his mother.
38:18While I was on my back in that hospital, I did some thinking.
38:21I didn't like the way things were going for Paul.
38:23I decided I'd better get out and do some looking around.
38:26The doctor said no.
38:28I said yes.
38:31District Attorney's office.
38:33Yes, I'll connect you.
38:34Hello, sister.
38:35Hello, Mr. Beaumont. How are you feeling?
38:37Fine.
38:38Tell Farr I'm here.
38:40Mr. Beaumont to see you, Mr. Farr.
38:42All right.
38:43I'm sorry, Mr. Beaumont. Mr. Farr has an important conference.
38:46If you don't mind, I'll see for myself.
38:48Mr. Beaumont, please. You're not supposed to go...
38:50How are you, Farr?
38:51Do I have to smash my way in to see you these days?
38:54Oh, Ned, was it you?
38:56I thought the girl said, Mr. Barman, come right in.
38:59No harm done. I got in.
39:03Anything new?
39:04Oh, no, nothing. Just the same old grind.
39:06How is the electioneering going?
39:08Well, it could be better, but I guess we'll manage all right.
39:12What's the matter?
39:13Oh, this and that. Things always come up.
39:16Well, that's politics, I guess.
39:18Anything I can do or Paul to help?
39:21No, I think not.
39:23Is this Henry killing the worst thing you're up against?
39:26Well, there's a lot of feeling that we ought to have cleared up the murder before this...
39:30and that Paul ought to have helped.
39:32That's one of the things.
39:33Maybe one of the biggest that'll count against us at election.
39:36Any progress since I saw you last?
39:38No, not much.
39:40Listen, Farr.
39:42Paul's always glad to help the boys out of holes.
39:45Do you think it would help if he'd let himself be arrested...
39:47and tried for the Henry murder?
39:49Well, it's not for me to tell Paul what to do.
39:52Yeah, there's a thought.
39:54And here's another one that goes with it.
39:57It's not for you to do much Paul wouldn't tell you to do, Mr. District Attorney.
40:07Ned.
40:09How did you happen to come to the house with Paul tonight?
40:12You didn't come to see me.
40:14I came because Paul asked me to.
40:16I don't go to senators' houses usually.
40:19What's that you're playing with, Henry?
40:21Like it?
40:22Yeah.
40:23I want to talk to you, Ned...
40:25before father and Paul get through with their business.
40:27Go ahead, talk, but don't stop playing.
40:30How's Opal?
40:32I haven't seen her since last week.
40:34Why?
40:35Isn't she in bed with a nervous breakdown?
40:38Oh, that.
40:39Didn't Paul tell you?
40:40Yes, he told me his daughter was in bed with a nervous breakdown.
40:43He told me that.
40:44I suppose that means she's locked up in the house.
40:46That's right.
40:47She got the foolish idea that her father had killed your brother.
40:51But why did she think that?
40:53Who doesn't?
40:54That's what I wanted to ask you, Mr. Beaumont.
40:57Do people think that?
40:59Didn't you get any of the anonymous letters that have been going around?
41:02Yes, today.
41:03I wanted to show you...
41:04Oh, by the way, they all seem to be pretty much alike and I've seen plenty of them.
41:08Is Paul actually in danger?
41:10If he loses the election, loses his hold on the city and state government, they'll electrocute him.
41:14But he's safe if he wins?
41:16Sure.
41:17Will he win?
41:19I think so.
41:20And then he'll... he'll not be in danger?
41:23No, he'll not be in danger.
41:26Too bad, isn't it?
41:28Go on, play. You may not want this to be overheard.
41:31You can put up with Paul for the sake of the political backing your father needs, but that has its limits.
41:36Last week you decided Paul had killed your brother and was going to escape punishment, so you decided to do something about it, Miss Henry.
41:42That's splendid.
41:44Paul's daughter and the sweetheart, both trying to steer him to the electric chair.
41:48He certainly has a lot of luck with women.
41:50Keep playing, I tell you, or I'll shout it.
41:54You sent those anonymous letters around.
41:56Certainly you did.
41:57I'm not good at lying.
41:58I know Paul killed Taylor.
42:00I wrote the letters.
42:01You hate Paul, don't you?
42:02Even if I proved to you that he didn't kill Taylor, you'd still hate him, wouldn't you?
42:05Yes, I think I should.
42:06That's it. You don't hate him because you think he killed your brother.
42:08You think he killed your brother because you hate him.
42:10No, now listen to me.
42:11I'll tell you what happened that night.
42:13Paul came to dinner, the first time we'd had him to dinner.
42:15Taylor wasn't at the dinner table, but he was up in his room.
42:18Yes, he would meet with Paul because of the trouble he'd had about Opal.
42:23After dinner, Paul and I were alone for a little while in this room, and he suddenly put his arms around me and tried to kiss me.
42:29What happened then?
42:30I asked him to leave.
42:31And then?
42:32Father came down.
42:33He'd heard Paul going out.
42:35I told him what had happened.
42:37And then Taylor came down from his room.
42:38He must have heard what I said because he ran out the door after Paul.
42:41Father tried to stop him.
42:43I didn't see either of them until Father came to my room and told me Taylor had been killed.
42:48Well, whatever.
42:49What of it?
42:50How could I help knowing then that Taylor had run out after Paul and had caught up with him and had been killed by him?
42:55He was furious.
42:56No, no, that won't do.
42:57Paul wouldn't have had to kill Taylor, and he wouldn't have done it.
43:00Paul doesn't lose his head in a fight.
43:02I know that.
43:03I've seen Paul fight, and I've fought with him.
43:05No, no, that won't do.
43:06I know.
43:07You're Paul's friend.
43:08It hurts.
43:09You're right about my being Paul's friend.
43:11Then this is useless.
43:13I thought if I could show you the truth.
43:16But we needn't be enemies, need we?
43:19The part of you that's tricked Paul into trying to trick him is my enemy.
43:23And the other part of me?
43:25It hasn't anything to do with that?
43:27You don't know that part, do you?
43:30Sure I do.
43:31That part was playing the piano just now.
43:39Drop you off at the club, Ned?
43:50No thanks, Paul.
43:51I think I'll go home.
43:52You don't know how good I feel that you and Janet hit it off this evening.
43:55I can get along with anybody if I have to.
43:59How's the election going, Paul?
44:01Is everything going along to suit you?
44:03Eh, we're not as well off as we were two weeks ago.
44:06You know that.
44:07That's right.
44:08And if Taylor Henry's killing isn't cleared up front, you won't have to worry about the campaign.
44:13You'll be sunk whoever wins.
44:15What do you mean by that, Ned?
44:17Everybody in town thinks you killed him.
44:19Yeah.
44:20Don't let that worry you.
44:23I've had things said about me before.
44:26Is there anything you haven't been through, Maverick?
44:29Ever been given the electric chair?
44:33I don't think I ever will.
44:35You're not very far from it right now, Paul.
44:38Ned.
44:39I'm not taking up your time with my nonsense.
44:43I'm listening to you.
44:45Never lost anything listening to you.
44:47Thank you, sir.
44:48Why do you suppose Farr's wiggling out from under him and the rest of the boys?
44:52They figure you licked.
44:53Everybody knows the police haven't tried to find Taylor's murder and everybody thinks it's because you killed him.
44:58Farr figures that's enough to lick at the polls this time.
45:01We've been talking a lot about what other people figure, Ned.
45:04Not to talk about what you figure.
45:07Figure I'm licked?
45:09I've told you.
45:10If Taylor Henry's murder isn't cleared up pronto, you're sunk.
45:12That's the whole thing.
45:14That's the only thing worth doing anything about.
45:16It won't do.
45:17Think up something else.
45:19Must be an out, Ned.
45:20Think.
45:21There isn't.
45:22That's the only way.
45:23You're going to take it whether you like it or not or I'm going to take it for you.
45:27Ah, no, lay off.
45:29Well, that's one thing I won't do for you, Paul.
45:33I killed him, Ned.
45:38It was an accident, Ned.
45:39He ran down the street after me when I left.
45:42A cane he picked up on his way out.
45:44Tried to hit me with a stick.
45:46I don't know how it happened, but pulling it away from him, I hit him on the head with it.
45:50Not hard, but he fell back and smashed his head on the curb.
45:54What happened to the stick?
45:55I took it away under my overcoat and burned it.
45:58What kind of a stick was it?
46:00A rough brown one.
46:02Heavy.
46:03And you had a clear self-defense plea.
46:05I know, but I didn't want that, Ned.
46:08I want Janet Henry more than I ever wanted anything in my life.
46:12What chance would I have then?
46:15Even if it was an accident.
46:16You'd have more chance than you've got now.
46:18Janet Henry's always thought you killed her brother.
46:20She hates you.
46:21She's been trying to play you into the electric chair.
46:24She wrote all those anonymous letters to everybody.
46:26She's the one that turned your daughter against you.
46:28She was telling me this tonight, trying to turn me.
46:30She's not...
46:31That's enough!
46:35What is it, Ned?
46:38Do you want her yourself, or is it...
46:42It doesn't make any difference.
46:46Get your heel.
46:48This is the kiss off.
46:51Whatever you say, Paul.
46:59Norman, 5823.
47:02Hello, I want to speak to Miss...
47:03Oh, Janet.
47:04This is Ned.
47:05Do you mind if I come back?
47:07I've got some news, yes.
47:09Say, do you want the lowdown on what happened to your brother?
47:12Well, look him on Taylor's walking sticks.
47:14That's right.
47:15See if any of them, his or your father's,
47:17are the same size as your brother's.
47:19And if they are,
47:20I want you to tell me what happened to your brother.
47:23I want you to tell me what happened to your brother.
47:25His walking sticks.
47:26That's right.
47:27See if any of them, his or your father's, are missing.
47:29Particularly a rough, heavy brown one.
47:32Yeah, that's right.
47:42Come in, Mr. Bromance.
47:43What's happened?
47:44Tell me.
47:46I, uh...
47:47What did you find out about the walking stick?
47:48It's upstairs in Father's closet.
47:50The heavy one you described.
47:51In fact, none of them are missing.
47:52Neither Taylor's nor Father's.
47:54What about it?
47:55Ned, don't be so mysterious.
47:57Look here, Janet.
47:58Are you sure you want to go through with this thing?
48:00I want to go through with it
48:01more than I ever wanted to do anything in my life.
48:05They're practically the same words Paul used
48:07telling me how much he wanted you.
48:09Did you tell him about me?
48:11Yep.
48:12Called me a liar and kicked me out of his car.
48:15Paul and I are washed up.
48:16I'm glad.
48:17I won't pretend I'm not.
48:20Did Paul say anything else?
48:22Yes.
48:23Well?
48:25He said that he killed your brother.
48:26Ned, I knew it.
48:28Then you'll go to the district attorney.
48:30You certainly want to be in at the kill, don't you?
48:33He was in at my brother's.
48:35Well, I hope you'll like it when you get it.
48:38Now go ahead, call your father.
48:40Father?
48:41Oh, Father!
48:42Would you come in, please?
48:44Right away!
48:45Janet, just one more thing.
48:47You're sure about that cane?
48:49Of course I'm sure.
48:50I saw it just ten minutes ago.
48:51Good.
48:52That's all I need to know.
48:53Well, Janet, what is it?
48:55Oh, hello, Mr. Beaumont.
48:56Hello, sir.
48:57You're back again?
48:58Father, I'm afraid we have some unpleasant news for you.
49:01Mr. Beaumont has just told me who killed Taylor.
49:04It was Paul Madvig.
49:06Madvig?
49:07Mr. Beaumont, what have you got to support that statement?
49:09What evidence?
49:10The one thing is our confession.
49:11Madvig admitted that he killed my son?
49:13Yes.
49:14This is incredible.
49:15An associate of mine killed my son?
49:18I can't believe it.
49:19Father, what are you going to do?
49:21There's only one thing we can do.
49:23Tell Farr to arrest Paul Madvig.
49:26Operator, get the district attorney's office.
49:29Senator, I...
49:30I wouldn't do that if I were you.
49:32What do you mean, Beaumont?
49:33I'd hang up that receiver.
49:35I wouldn't talk to Farr yet.
49:37You're not quite ready.
49:39You think that you can tell me what you did
49:41and expect me to do nothing when my son...
49:43Hang up that receiver, Senator.
49:45Senator, I have a special authority from the district attorney.
49:49I've got it here in this pocket.
49:51If there's any arrest in this case, I'd like to do it myself.
49:54Then why didn't you arrest Madvig on the spot?
49:56Because he didn't kill your son.
49:58Ned.
49:59Well, you just said...
50:00That Paul confessed, yes, but I didn't say I believed him.
50:03His story didn't hold together.
50:05Sit down, Senator, and you, Janet,
50:07I've got plenty to say to both of you.
50:09You'd better be quick about it, Beaumont,
50:10before I pick up the phone.
50:11It won't work, Senator,
50:12because Paul's going to stop covering you up
50:14the minute he gets arrested.
50:16Now, what happened, Miss Henry, is something like this.
50:18When your brother heard about Paul that night,
50:20he ran after him,
50:21taking the stick with him and wearing a hat.
50:23Now, that's not important.
50:24You wanted to be re-elected, Senator.
50:26You couldn't let your son get in a fight
50:28with the man you were counting on to put you over,
50:30so you had to stop your son at all costs, didn't you?
50:32This is nonsense.
50:33I will not have my...
50:34Sure it's nonsense,
50:35and you're bringing the stick that killed him back home is nonsense,
50:38and wearing his hat because you'd run out bare-headed after him is nonsense, too.
50:41But it's nonsense that'll nail you to the cross, Senator Henry.
50:44Let's have it quickly, Beaumont.
50:46What is it you're trying to say?
50:47I can say it in four words, Senator.
50:50You killed your son.
50:59Well, that's how the Reform Party got in.
51:02Here it is right off the tape,
51:03a plurality of 227,000.
51:06That's Reform with a vengeance.
51:08After tonight, Paul and I are on the shelf.
51:11Even Shadow Rory is out of the picture.
51:13Two days ago, he was killed by one of his own henchmen at Paradise Gardens.
51:17Senator Henry's through with politics, too.
51:20He's indicted for manslaughter by his own confession on his winning trial.
51:24Paul Madrig's lying low for a while.
51:27Never gives up that man.
51:29I said goodbye to him yesterday.
51:30We shook hands.
51:31There wasn't much we could say.
51:34Well, I still got my one-way ticket to New York,
51:36and tomorrow I'm going to use it.
51:38I'm the sort that likes to travel alone,
51:40but, well, I guess the Reform wave's got me, too.
51:44There's another ticket in my pocket.
51:45I bought it last night.
51:48This one's for Janet Henry.
51:50♪
52:08This concludes the Campbell Playhouse presentation of The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett.
52:12In just a moment, Orson Welles will return to the microphone,
52:15but first, a word from the makers of Campbell Soups.
52:18A little while ago, I spoke of the lavish emphasis on chicken in Campbell's Chicken Soup.
52:23Actually, all the good meat of fine government-certified chickens goes into its making.
52:28The broth bubbles slowly and softly in shining kettles
52:31until it takes on a golden glisten,
52:33and the good flavor of chicken is rich in every drop.
52:36Pieces of chicken meat, cooked deliciously tender,
52:39go into the soup, too, along with snowy rice.
52:42Somewhere, sometime, you've probably tasted a chicken soup
52:45that you decided was the very last word.
52:48Well, with that chicken soup in mind,
52:50if you'll try Campbell's tomorrow,
52:52I'll promise you won't be disappointed.
52:54I'm sure you'll say Campbell's is as fine as the finest in your memory,
52:58and you'll be glad you can have it at any time and often.
53:02You'll like it for lunch, for supper, for family meals,
53:05whenever the idea of chicken soup sounds good.
53:08Why not put Campbell's Chicken Soup on tomorrow's shopping list
53:11and have it this very weekend?
53:14And now, here is Orson Welles.
53:20In a certain sense, The Glass Key is something more than a detective story.
53:24Someday, perhaps, historians will consult it as a social document,
53:28as an accurate, if depressing, picture of almost any American city
53:32of the not-so-distant past.
53:35Dash Hammett, one of the period's greatest chroniclers,
53:38comes honestly by his knowledge of the dark ways of the underworld.
53:42Before he ever published a single story,
53:44long before he went to Hollywood to create this cinematic detective,
53:48he was himself a private investigator, a dick in the vernacular.
53:52I'm sure he wouldn't object to my telling you the story of his biggest case.
53:55The biggest case in the sense that he was hired
53:57to look for one of the biggest things you could imagine.
53:59It was a Ferris wheel.
54:01As a friend of Mr. Hammett, I striked the able to report
54:03that he laid hands on the Ferris wheel and returned it to the owner,
54:06but he didn't.
54:07Nobody to this day knows what happened to the Ferris wheel.
54:10Perhaps it escaped to South America disguised as a roller coaster,
54:13a merry-go-round.
54:15However, Hammett, thwarted in his career of detection,
54:17turned eventually to literature, and I, for one, am heartily thankful.
54:21There are lots of detectives, but there's only one Dashiell Hammett.
54:25Now, I have the great pleasure in introducing to you
54:28our distinguished guest of the evening,
54:30Warden Laws of Sing Sing.
54:32Mr. Wells, I want to thank you for inviting me
54:34to one of the most realistic crime dramas I've witnessed,
54:38shall I say in an unofficial capacity.
54:40Warden Laws, would you say that Mr. Hammett's story
54:42reflects the underworld of the Prohibition era only,
54:45or one that still persists today?
54:47Well, booze is gone, Mr. Wells, but crime persists.
54:50However, I believe the intimate tie-up of crime with politics
54:53is decidedly on the wane.
54:55Does that mean that we're catching up with a crime problem?
54:57We've been catching up with crime for over 4,000 years.
55:00Tablets dug up in the near east of the trial and execution
55:03of a couple of protection racketeers
55:06who had been terrorizing the local merchants.
55:08The records show that these gangsters
55:10had actually been paying off the mayor.
55:12This particular racket was busted in the year 2000 B.C.
55:17Well, that's not exactly tossing orchids
55:19to the crime crusaders the past 4,000 years.
55:22Don't misunderstand me, Mr. Wells.
55:24Police action against matured crime is necessary,
55:27but there is another front on which the fight must go on.
55:30We may fill our prisons to capacity
55:33and work the electric chair over time,
55:35but crime will continue
55:37until we correct the conditions which produce it.
55:39That's the challenge you made in your recent book,
55:41Invisible Stripes.
55:43Supposing we accept your challenge, Warden Laws,
55:45what can the average citizen do about it?
55:47The average citizen is the only one
55:49who can do anything about it
55:51because crime is essentially a problem of youth,
55:54and the average citizen is directly responsible
55:56for the training of youth.
55:58And there are at least 3 million children
56:01throughout the country desperately in need
56:03of supervised leisure activities.
56:05Well, that brings the fight right into our own homes, doesn't it?
56:09And those are the basic factors involved
56:11in society's effort to eliminate crime.
56:14No, there is one thing more.
56:16In the 12 months of depression
56:18beginning in the late months of 1937,
56:20Sing Sing received the greatest number
56:22of genuine first offenders in its history,
56:25victims of a tragic lack of opportunity.
56:28We must find places in our social and economic fabric
56:31for every young man and young woman.
56:33That, Mr. Wells, is the answer to the crime problem.
56:36Let's hope that it can be accomplished.
56:38It must be accomplished, Mr. Wells,
56:40if democracy is to reach its true fulfillment.
56:42Thank you, Warden Laws.
56:49In tonight's Campbell Playhouse production of The Glass Key,
56:52Orson Welles played the part of Paul Madvick,
56:55Paul Stewart played Ned Beaumont,
56:57Ray Collins played Shadow Rory,
56:59and Myron McCormick the part of Senator Henry.
57:01Effie Palmer was Mrs. Madvick,
57:03Elspeth Erick was Opal,
57:05and Elizabeth Morgan was the telephone operator.
57:07The role of Farr was played by Everett Sloan,
57:09that of Jeff by Howard Smith.
57:11Laura Baxter played Jeanette Henry,
57:13and Edgar Barrier the part of Rusty.
57:16Music for the Campbell Playhouse
57:17was arranged and conducted by Bernard Herman.
57:20And now, Mr. Wells,
57:22may we have a word, please, about next week's broadcast?
57:25Just a word.
57:26Next week our story is about three brothers
57:28who left England to save a lady's honor,
57:31and who wound up in Morocco
57:32as members of the most desperate band of men in the world,
57:35the Foreign Legion.
57:37Next week, Percival Christopher Wren's romance,
57:40Bogeste, is the story,
57:41and with us, Laurence Olivia and Noah Berry.
57:44And so, until next week,
57:46my sponsors, the makers of Campbell Soups,
57:48and all of us on the Campbell Playhouse remain
57:51obediently yours.
57:58The makers of Campbell Soups join us and Wells
58:12in inviting you to be with us at the Campbell Playhouse again
58:14next Friday evening,
58:15when Laurence Olivia and Noah Berry
58:18will appear with him in Bogeste.
58:20Meanwhile, if you have enjoyed
58:22tonight's Campbell Playhouse presentation,
58:24won't you tell your grocer so tomorrow
58:26when you order Campbell's Chicken Soup?
58:28This is Ernest Chappell saying thank you
58:30and good night.
58:43Third on tonight's show,
58:44Manhattan Serenade and Metropolitan Nocturne
58:46by Louis Alder,
58:48also Alfred Newman Street Scene.
58:50This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
58:56© BF-WATCH TV 2021