ANNCR:

Mutual presents..."Arch Oboler's Plays". The Mutual Broadcasting System has the pleasure of presenting the ninth broadcast of a special twenty-six week series of plays, by radio playwright Arch Oboler. In this series, we hope to bring you dramas full of the excitement and the meaning of plays, told in relation to the expanding world we live in. Our play this evening is titled "Night".

MUSIC:

"NIGHT" THEME ... ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER

NARR:

The land is in darkness... The day, once capering with the promise of its allotted hours, has gone, creeping agedly over the edge of the sky... Night, soft-veiling, lies thickly over the ponds and swamps and lakes and rivers, over the knolls and dunes and buttes and mountains, over the homesteads, farms, the ranches and plantations, over the villages, and towns, and county seats, and cities... For a whisper of time, the night is on the land...

MUSIC:

UP, THEN OUT

MUSIC:

BRASSY JITTERBUG INSTRUMENTAL, PLAYED BY A SLIGHTLY SEEDY BAND ... ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER

SFX:

CROWDED, TACKY NYC "DIME A DANCE" HALL AMBIENCE, UNDER

ANNIE:

Gee, Sailor, don'tcha get tired dancin'?

SAILOR:

(GRIMLY) Keep dancin'.

ANNIE:

Okay, okay, as long as you're payin' for it, I gotta do it, but-- two hours! My feets are killin' me!

SFX:

BAND CONTINUES TO A BIG FINISH, THEN OUT

SFX:

CROWD APPLAUDS ... SHOUTS OF "YEAH!", ETC. ... CROWD CHATTERING, UNDER

SAILOR:

What are they stoppin' for? Why don't they keep playin?

ANNIE:

Listen, Sailor, they're musicians; they're human. They gotta rest. So long, Sailor! (STARTS TO LEAVE)

SAILOR:

(GRABBING HER ARM) No! You gotta stay with me!

ANNIE:

But I--

SAILOR:

When the music starts again, you gotta dance with me again.

ANNIE:

Okay, okay. You're the violent type, ain't ya? You got more tickets?

SAILOR:

Sure.

ANNIE:

Okay, you gotta pay tickets to sit and talk to me. Come on. We'll sit over here. (SITS, WITH A GROAN OF RELIEF) Oh, brother... My feet!

SAILOR:

When are they gonna start playin' again?

ANNIE:

In a minute, in a minute. Gee, I never saw anybody crazier about dancin'! (BEAT) If you wanna sit here, you gotta buy somethin' to drink.

SAILOR:

All right.

ANNIE:

(CALLS) Lenny! Two Cokes.

LENNY:

(RUDELY) Comin' up.

ANNIE:

(TO SAILOR) What time is it?

SAILOR:

(CHECKS WATCH) Ten o'clock.

ANNIE:

Gee. Over two hours, ya been dancin' with me. (SOTTO) Oh, my feet... (UP) Don'tcha wanna dance with somebody else?

SAILOR:

I've gotta dance with you.

ANNIE:

Listen, Sailor, I don't get it. You come in here, and--

LENNY:

(APPROACHING) Here's yer Cokes. That's four bits, Navy.

SAILOR:

Yeah. (GETS 50c FROM POCKET, GIVES IT TO LENNY) Here ya are.

LENNY:

Okay.

ANNIE:

(DRINKS EAGERLY) Mm! Do I need this! (DRINKS EAGERLY)

SAILOR:

How soon does the band start playin' again?

ANNIE:

I told ya, in a minute. What'sa matter with you? Dancin' steady for two hours, you can't sit still for a minute? Say, when'd you get off your ship?

SAILOR:

Coupla hours ago.

ANNIE:

You came right here?

SAILOR:

Yeah.

ANNIE:

I still don't get it. If you were a hepcat, but-- Now, listen, I don't wanna hurt your feelin's, but you dance like an old crutch! Yeah, I'll bet you're a farm boy. (NO ANSWER) Okay, so don't answer that one. But tell me this. What goes on? Why do you wanna dance so much?

SAILOR:

Well, I have the tickets to pay for it.

ANNIE:

All right, all right. You think it's just the dough? You think you can just wave a ticket in front o' my face, and that's all you have to do? Okay, Sailor, you can go dance with one o' the other girls, not me!

SAILOR:

No!

ANNIE:

I'm tellin' the--

SAILOR:

No, it's gotta be you!

ANNIE:

(FIRMLY) Oh, no.

SAILOR:

It's gotta be you! You got red hair!

ANNIE:

Wh--? What the heck are you talkin' about?

SAILOR:

(INTENSELY) Your hair, like carrots. You gotta dance with me!

ANNIE:

(A KNOWING CHUCKLE) All right, bomb boy. So, red hair sends you. (PINCHES HIS CHEEK) You're cute. Maybe you could--

SAILOR:

(WITH REVULSION) Take your hands off me.

ANNIE:

Huh?

SAILOR:

Just dance with me. That's all. Just dance!

ANNIE:

Sonny, you got your nerve!

SAILOR:

I hate you! Hate this dirty, filthy place! I wanna go home!

ANNIE:

Well, what'd ya come in here for?

SAILOR:

They're waitin' for me. Ma and the kids and Jeannie, but I gotta stay here until I'm broke so you'll dance with me! Just dance with me!

ANNIE:

(SCARED, PULLING AWAY) No, I won't!

SAILOR:

You will!

ANNIE:

I-- I'll call the bouncer! I'll-- He-- he'll--

SFX:

BAND STARTS PLAYING AGAIN, UNDER

SAILOR:

(FORCING HER TO DANCE) Now, dance! Now!

ANNIE:

(SCARED, CALLS) Joe! Quick, Joe!

SAILOR:

Dance!

JOE:

(APPROACHING) What'sa matter, Annie? This guy callin' me?

ANNIE:

(STRUGGLING) Help me, Joe! He won't let go o' me!

JOE:

Keep it quiet. You know better than to make a fuss!

ANNIE:

I know, but--

JOE:

Okay, okay. (TO SAILOR) Listen, buddy...

SAILOR:

No, listen to me. She's gotta dance with me!

ANNIE:

Joe, make him let go o' me!

JOE:

Okay, Sailor, we don't want no trouble in here, but if she don't wanna dance with ya, she don't--

SAILOR:

She's gotta dance with me!

ANNIE:

I don't want to! I--

SAILOR:

(PLEADING) Listen to me. Please listen! I don't wanna dance with you either, but I got to!

ANNIE:

(TO JOE) See, I told ya! This fresh sailor--

JOE:

(TO ANNIE) Shut up! (TO SAILOR) Sailor, what's the--

SAILOR:

That's what he wanted to do! Come back and dance with a redhead! Dance all night! Dance til he was broke!

JOE:

And? What'sa matter with you?

SAILOR:

It's all he used to talk about on his first leave, how he was gonna come to New York, and dance then, and dance all night with a redhead! He's not, ever! (CHOKED UP) I've gotta do it for him! Please, Lady, I'm sick, and I wanna go home, but please! You've gotta dance with me! You've gotta dance!

MUSIC:

OUT CLEAN

MUSIC:

"NIGHT" THEME ... ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER

NARR:

The night is restless... It stirs and turns, and carries with it, the restless thoughts of artists, architects, contractors and builders... Bricklayers and masons, ministers and teachers... Tinsmiths, welders, charwomen, tailors... Tycoons, freightmen, executors and politicians... Bankers, window-washers, soldiers, brewers... Leathermakers, printers, butchers, tinners... Roofers, fishers, millers, bondsmen... Carpenters, lawyers, judges, painters... Senators and representatives, wholesalers and retailers... All the associates, colleagues, workers and co-workers of the land...

MUSIC:

FADES OUT

(AN OLDER COUPLE IS IN BED, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.)

 

VINCE:

(YAWNS)

ADA:

Vince?

VINCE:

Huh? You awake?

ADA:

You can't sleep?

VINCE:

(APOLOGETIC) I didn't know I was botherin' ya.

ADA:

It's all right. I haven't been sleepin' either.

VINCE:

Oh?

ADA:

Gettin' cooler.

VINCE:

I've used the plough for thirty years, and now, this fella comes along and says it's wrong...

ADA:

What?

VINCE:

The County Agent, about the discin'. It's sure got me stumped.

ADA:

Oh.

VINCE:

The ground's gotta be turned. Sure got me stumped.

ADA:

Oh, Vince?

VINCE:

What?

ADA:

I hope she's... she's all right.

VINCE:

Now, Ade, are you startin' to worrying?

ADA:

No, I've just been thinkin' about her, that's all.

VINCE:

But it's been a whole week. He's a fine boy. She'll make a good wife. That's all there is to it.

ADA:

All day, I don't even think about it. But as soon as it's dark, I begin thinkin'.

VINCE:

Ade, you're such a worrier.

ADA:

I suppose.

VINCE:

(CHUCKLES)

ADA:

What is it?

VINCE:

Somethin' I forgot to tell ya. Right after the ceremony, Dick came up to me and said he wanted me to know that, after the War, no matter where he and Fran lived, they'll always manage to come spend vacations someplace in Ohio, so they could help with the harvestin'. (CHUCKLES)

ADA:

That was nice.

VINCE:

(CHUCKLES) I'm gonna fool him. I'm gonna take him up on it. He'll find out it's a lot easier to fly one o' those ?B-whatever-they-are's, than it is to drive a combine. (CHUCKLES. PAUSE) Asleep, Ade?

ADA:

No.

VINCE:

Aw, Ade...

ADA:

Miss her terrible, Vince. For nineteen years, she never was away from me. Miss her terrible.

VINCE:

I do too.

ADA:

He's a good boy. I know she's crazy about him. But I wish right now, she was little again, and afraid to be in the dark, and crawlin' into the bed with us like she used to.

VINCE:

Try to sleep.

ADA:

Terrible, I s'pose, my feelin' this way. So many people have really lost their...

VINCE:

Sure. We're lucky. She'll come back often. She's a good girl.

ADA:

Yes.

VINCE:

Now, try to sleep.

ADA:

It's such a dark night.

VINCE:

I think it'll rain a little by mornin'. (YAWNING) The barley could use it.

ADA:

Good night, Vince.

VINCE:

Good night, Ade.

MUSIC:

"NIGHT" THEME ... ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER

NARR:

The night is a trickster. It mutates, transposes, changes, shuffles, conjures, prestidigitates, juggles, spoofs, hoodwinks, and hocus-pocuses... A white sheet, wind-tossed, spawns a ghost... A tumbleweed's a roving demon, a timber's creak a dead man's bones... And underneath the bed, wait nameless, faceless, night-borne things... The night moves on... And whispers, behind the joke, of the dark beyond the dark...

MUSIC:

RISES, THEN FADES OUT

(FIREMEN ARE SITTING AROUND THE FIREHALL, WAITING FOR AN ALARM.)

 

1ST FIRE:

(QUIETLY) You-- you mean, he cut him up in little pieces and stuck him in the boiler?

HANK:

That's what I mean.

1ST FIRE:

Gosh...

2ND FIRE:

Hey...

MUSIC:

HARMONICA, BACK, BEGINS PLAYING "ST. LOUIS BLUES", UNDER

1ST FIRE:

Hey, Ryan, cut that out, will ya?

MUSIC:

HARMONICA OUT

RYAN:

(APPROACHING) Hey, what's the matter with you?

1ST FIRE:

Nothin's the matter with me. Can't you play somethin' else?

RYAN:

Sure!

MUSIC:

HARMONICA BEGINS TO PLAY "ST. LOUIS BLUES" AGAIN, UNDER

1ST FIRE:

Ryan!

HANK:

Ryan!

2ND FIRE:

Cut it out, will ya? Hey, Ryan!

MUSIC:

HARMONICA OUT

RYAN:

What is the matter with you guys?

1ST FIRE:

Nothin'! We don't wanna hear you play, so there's somethin' wrong with us?

HANK:

Yeah. Is this the auditorium, or a fire station?

RYAN:

How would you characters like to go to--

SFX:

CHATTER OF FIRE ALARM RELAY BEGINS, UNDER

HANK:

Hold it, hold it!

(ALL LISTEN, THEN)

 

RYAN:

Aw, that's over in Cicero.

1ST FIRE:

(DISAPPOINTED) Yeah.

SFX:

ALARM OUT

2ND FIRE:

It's a hoodoo, all right.

(OTHERS MURMUR AGREEMENT)

RYAN:

Hoodoo what? What're you guys up to?

1ST FIRE:

Listen to Hank. He'll tell you.

RYAN:

Okay, I'm listenin'!

HANK:

It's Thursday, ain't it?

RYAN:

Okay, it's Thursday.

HANK:

There hasn't been a night run in this station on Thusday night for twenty years.

RYAN:

Twenty years?

1ST FIRE:

Yeah. Since the Thursday night that Paddy Gooners died.

HANK:

On a windy night. Just like this one.

RYAN:

Paddy Gooners? Who was Paddy Gooners?

HANK:

He was a fireman... And he died in this station, twenty years ago. Right in this room.

RYAN:

Hey, fellas, is this guy kiddin' me?

1ST FIRE:

Listen, ya big lug. He's tellin' ya the facts.

HANK:

Now, uh... D'you want to hear the rest of the story, Ryan?

RYAN:

Sure! Why not?

HANK:

Okay... I thought maybe you didn't like ghost stories.

RYAN:

Yeah? Go on.

HANK:

Okay... (TELLS THE STORY WITH INCREASING QUIETNESS AND MYSTERIOSO) Paddy Gooners was the driver of a steam pumper that ran out of this station, twenty years ago. He was a little guy... but big with women.

RYAN:

(LAUGHS) Like me!

(OTHERS AD LIB "OH SURE!", "LIKE YOU!", ETC.)

 

2ND FIRE:

Aw, keep quiet, willya Ryan?

HANK:

Yeah. Only one day, he met a woman he shouldn't have met. The pretty wife of the fellow who stoked the boiler of the pumper...

RYAN:

Oh ho!

HANK:

One day, the fellow who stoked the boiler of the pumper came home when he shouldn't have come home...

RYAN:

Uh-oh!

HANK:

Paddy did some quick talking... He thought he'd talked his way out of it, because nothing happened.

RYAN:

Nothin'?

HANK:

Nothing. But the next day, there was some kind of a big celebration out in Grant Park, and most of the Fire Department went down there to put on an exhibition, leaving only a skeleton crew--four or five guys. And Paddy and the fellow with the good-looking wife were two of 'em. The other fellows finally went across the street to get a beer. They were only gone a few minutes. But, when they came back, Paddy was gone...

RYAN:

Gone?

HANK:

Just gone... Nobody knew just where. And he didn't come back... The Chief figured he'd run off with some woman somewhere, so he crossed him off the department's lists, and that was that... Only it wasn't that... because a year went by, and it was Thursday... just about this time o' night... Fellows were sittin' around, just the way we are, right here in this very room... Everything okay... When all at once, somebody said, "Look! On the floor! What's that?" That was a big stain. And when they looked close, and touched it, it was blood. What could they do? Nobody knew how it got there. So, somebody got some soap and water and some sand, and they scrubbed it up, in case the Inspector came around. And everybody helped but one. The fellow who had the pretty wife. He just sat there. Didn't move. He just kept watching. A week went by. Thursday again. Same time of night. Fellows were sittin' around here just the same as we are now... There it was again. Fresh blood. This time, they called in the cops. Didn't do much good, because blood is blood, and that's all there was. Just a little blood there on the floor... They scrubbed it up. A week went by. Thursday night came around again, and there they were, waiting. The floor was clean. They had a lantern sitting there. They waited. Nothing happened. Then all at once, it did! The light went out! Everybody began to yell in the dark! Running around, bumping into each other! At last, someone found a light, and lit it... Then, they saw... There, on the floor, was blood again. Only this time, it was pouring out from the throat of the fellow that had the pretty wife...

(ALL BUT HANK RELEASE PENT-UP BREATHS)

 

RYAN:

Well-- What-- Who--?

HANK:

He cut his own throat. At least, that's what they say. And he left a letter telling what he had done to Paddy... Cut him up, and stuffed him into the boiler of the pumper, all those weeks ago.

RYAN:

Right here? In this station?

1ST FIRE:

That's right. Right here, in this station.

2ND FIRE:

(WHISPERS) And there hasn't been-- (GULP) And there hasn't been a Thursday night run outta this place for twenty years?

RYAN:

(WHISPERS) Well... Whatta you know...

HANK:

There was something else you fellows don't know about.

2ND FIRE:

What was that, Hank?

RYAN:

Huh?

HANK:

His confession... The murderer said that he had cut Paddy up... right in there...

1ST FIRE:

In there?

RYAN:

You mean... in the place where we... make our coffee?

HANK:

That's it.

RYAN:

Oh...

1ST FIRE:

(SOFTLY) Well... How do you like that?

2ND FIRE (SOFTLY) I don't like it.

HANK:

Well... That's all there is to it... Gosh, it sure is a dark, quiet night tonight, isn't it?

1ST FIRE:

Yeah...

HANK:

Say, Ryan?

RYAN:

Huh?

HANK:

(SMILING) It's your turn to make the coffee tonight.

RYAN:

Oh. Is it?

1ST FIRE:

Sure.

HANK:

M-hm.

RYAN:

Well... (UNEASY) Hank, would you like to come along, and sort of help me?

MUSIC:

"NIGHT" THEME ... ESTABLISH, THEN CONTINUE, UNDER

NARR:

The night is a sedative... Prescribed by the rhythm of life's molecules, wearying in their sun-dance... The night is an old medicine man, mixing a dark brew of tremblings and laughter and fury and past ecstasy... Terror, and hurt, and the wordless murmurs of a woman talking in memory... The night is an old medicine man.

MUSIC:

UP, THEN FADE OUT

SFX:

A GENTLE WIND BLOWS THROUGHOUT, UNDER

SFX:

TWO HORSES WALKING ON EARTH THROUGHOUT, UNDER

SFX:

A HORSE WHINNIES

JAY:

(TO HORSE) Easy, girl. Easy.

ALICE:

She's tired. Duster is too. Aren't you, Duster?

JAY:

Have we been gone long?

ALICE:

(CHUCKLING) Jay...

JAY:

What's the matter?

ALICE:

We've been out for six hours. (CHUCKLES)

JAY:

Well, whatta you know? It's good, Alice. Can't tell you how good it is.

ALICE:

(SMILING) I can imagine.

JAY:

You know what the fellas used to call me?

ALICE:

What?

JAY:

Bronco.

ALICE:

(CHUCKLING) You?

JAY:

(CHUCKLING) Right. I used to talk so much about the horses and the rain. (BEAT) Alice?

ALICE:

Yes, Jay?

JAY:

Gee, Alice, I never wanna go in.

ALICE:

We don't have to.

JAY:

Ride all night?

ALICE:

(SMILING) Ride all night.

JAY:

Gosh... (BEAT) You know what was the worst?

ALICE:

(GENTLY) If you wanna tell me.

JAY:

When the Captain used to button up the tank-- Er, I mean, close the turret. There I was, down there. (RELIVING THE HORROR) The noise, Alice, the noise inside o' that tank! Like ridin' on the inside of a tin tub! Used to fire the gun... Those Italian roads during the summer... Oh, the dust! Oh, Alice, it was the worst! (CHOKED UP) They never knew it-- I mean, the others... never said anything, but-- Me, inside the-- (CHOKED UP) You know?

ALICE:

(GENTLY) I know.

(THEY RIDE IN SILENCE FOR A FEW SECONDS)

 

JAY:

The wind...

ALICE:

Yes, Jay?

JAY:

The wind was never like this, over there. The sage... I'd forgotten how wonderful.

ALICE:

I thought I wrote you.

JAY:

You did, but... It got hard to remember toward the end.

ALICE:

(GENTLY) Yes. I can imagine.

JAY:

You know, honey, I got one break.

ALICE:

What?

JAY:

For bronc' bustin'. I got the right arm left.

ALICE:

Jay...

JAY:

Aw, I'm sorry, honey. It's better than that. It's wonderful. I'm back. And just think... I'll never have to go away again.

MUSIC:

"NIGHT" THEME ... ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER

NARR:

The night is a non-sectarian, air-conditioned meeting-house, echoing in a thundering chorus... Bible-pounding, Bible-reaching, hallelujahs, Lord's Prayers whispers... Heaven-reaching, Devil-catching, gospel-grinding, pitching, catching... The night is a meeting-house...

MUSIC:

RISES, THEN FADES OUT

ENGINEER:

BOARD FADE UP ON...

(PARISHIONERS SING "OLD TIME RELIGION" A-CAPELLA, CLAPPING ALONG, LED BY CHARLIE, WHOSE VOICE RISES ABOVE ALL THE OTHERS. SONG ENDS WITH APPLAUSE AND HALLELUJAHS.)

 

CHARLIE:

Halllujah, amen! Well, brethren and sistern, this concludes our great meetin' for tonight. Bless you all!

(MURMURS, "PRAISE BE"S, "HALLELUJAH"S, ETC., AS PEOPLE GET UP TO LEAVE, UNDER)

 

CHARLIE:

And don't forget to leave your free-will offerin' as you go out to carry on the way of the Great Spirit! Good night; God bless you, and don't forget to bring your friends next Saturday night, same time! Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! The meetin's closed!

OLD MAN:

'Scuse me, Reverend, could I--

CHARLIE:

Sorry, brother, sorry. In a little hurry tonight to do the work of the Lord. See you later.

OLD MAN:

(FERVENTLY) God bless you, Reverend...

SFX:

DOOR SLAM ... CROWD SOUNDS OUT CLEAN

CHARLIE:

(HEAVES A GREAT SIGH OF RELIEF) Harriet! (NO REPLY. ANGRILY) Harriet!!!

HARRIET:

(APPROACHING) All right, all right, I heard ya. Stop yellin'.

CHARLIE:

Well, if you'd answer me, I wouldn't have to yell at you! (IMPATIENTLY) Well, well, how did we do?

HARRIET:

One hundred and three dollars.

CHARLIE:

(EXPLODING) A hundred and three--?! Why, the low-livin', tight-fisted--

HARRIET:

Don't blame them! It's you!

CHARLIE:

Me?

HARRIET:

(SCORNFULLY) Preachin'! Why, the way you were goin' tonight, you couldn't raise a dollar out of a hard-shell on his way to Perdition.

CHARLIE:

I've been doin' all right...

HARRIET:

You were doin' all right! But I'm tellin' you, you're slippin' downhill faster than a pig on a greased runway.

CHARLIE:

Now, look here, I--

HARRIET:

No, you listen to me! A hundred and three dollars from a meetin' like tonight. You better listen!

CHARLIE:

(RESIGNED) Well, whatta you got to say?

HARRIET:

I've been doin' a lotta thinkin'. These West Coast amen-snorters ain't what they used to be. Workin' in air plants and all that. They're gettin' modern ideas fast. All right. Why shouldn't you get modern ideas?

CHARLIE:

I preach from the headlines--

HARRIET:

'Tain't enough. Charlie, we gotta throw off the coat like a rattlesnake in the spring.

CHARLIE:

Whatta you mean?

HARRIET:

Don't be a thicker head than ya are! We gotta go out of business, and come back into business again.

CHARLIE:

Talk words!

HARRIET:

Just this. E-lectronics.

CHARLIE:

Huh?

HARRIET:

E-lectronics! I've been givin' it a lotta thinkin'. Everybody's talkin' about e-lectronics. Radio and that television, and that new thing, rad-ar. E-lectronics. That's what they're thinkin' about, and that's what we'll give them.

CHARLIE:

Well, keep talkin'.

HARRIET:

This is the night we're startin' over. Close right down, move right out, and start up someplace else. Long Beach or San Diego. New start with a new name.

CHARLIE:

Well? Well?

HARRIET:

"The E-lectronical Pathway to the Cosmos".

CHARLIE:

(DISMISSIVE) Aw...

HARRIET:

Don't look down your nose at me. I'm talkin' sense. "The E-lectronical Pathway to the Cosmos". That's scientific. Fill the stage full of electrical stuff. Sparks shootin' around... sparks risin' up to Heaven... goin' up to Heaven... Ride the sparks to the Fountainhead of all the Cosmos.

CHARLIE:

Hey! That's somethin'!

HARRIET:

Give 'em membership pins.

CHARLIE:

Yeah!

HARRIET:

Made like jagged lightnin'.

CHARLIE:

Sure!

HARRIET:

Pins to wear at five bucks cash, to show that they're a member. "The E-lectronic Society o' the Cosmos".

HARRIET:

(PASSIONATELY DECLARING) "The E-lectronical Society of the Cosmos"! (ENRAPTURED) Harriet, I see it now! Jagged lightning crashing down on sinners! Burning sparks lifting the repenting sinners up, up, up to the highest pinnacle of the highest cosmos! The Bi-a-ble seen through the eyes of modern science! Through ?e-lectronics! Hallelujah, amen! (SHARPLY) That's it; we're in business.

MUSIC:

"NIGHT" THEME ... ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER

NARR:

The night is a movement... East, West, along the path grooved by the sun... The night is a movement... East, West...

MUSIC:

RISES, THEN FADES OUT

SFX:

LOADING OF SUPPLIES ONTO TROOP SHIP, UNDER

JAKE:

What time is it?

FRANK:

Huh? (CHECKS WATCH) Almost half-past.

JAKE:

(AFTER A LONG PAUSE) They oughtta be lettin' us on board soon, now. Don'tcha think?

FRANK:

What'sa matter, Soldier? Haven't you learned how to wait yet?

JAKE:

(CHUCKLES. BEAT) You... You know, I heard that--

FRANK:

("AW GEEZ") No, no, no! I heard, you heard, he heard. It all adds up to parking it, Soldier. Just parking it.

JAKE:

Yeah. I guess you're right.

FRANK:

Sure.

SFX:

MOTOR OF CRANE, AS ANOTHER LOAD OF SUPPLIES IS HOISTED ONTO THE SHIP, BACK

SERGEANT:

(BACK) Hey, watch out for that stuff there!

CRANE OP:

(BACK) Okay, okay!

SFX:

SHIP-PREP WORK CONTINUES, UNDER

JAKE:

Boy, am I a lunk-head.

FRANK:

Are ya?

JAKE:

Yeah. I had a chance to get out. No, I'm a dream-boy. I told 'em to forget it.

FRANK:

Where were ya?

JAKE:

Where wasn't I? From D-Day right on through. I was the second guy across the river to drink vodka with them Russians.

FRANK:

(IMPRESSED) Yeah?

JAKE:

(SMILING) Yeah.

FRANK:

(BEAT) So? Now, you'll drink sake in Tokyo.

JAKE:

As my momma used to say, I should live so long!

FRANK:

Hm. Maybe you will.

JAKE:

(BEAT) Maybe. (PAUSE) What's your name?

FRANK:

Frank.

JAKE:

Mine's Jake.

FRANK:

Hiya, Jake!

JAKE:

Pleased to meet ya, Frank. (PAUSE) It sure is dark.

FRANK:

(PAUSE) Yeah.

JAKE:

(PAUSE) I used to take boat rides at night in Central Park.

FRANK:

New York?

JAKE:

Yeah. The night... a boat... a girl... (SMILES) It was all right.

FRANK:

Ah, I know what ya mean. Now, we got the night... and the boat... and that's it.

JAKE:

I'd like to hold onto this one.

FRANK:

"Made in America". (PAUSE) Put a tag on it.

JAKE:

Yeah! That's an idea! (TINY CHUCKLE. THEN) Stick around, night. Stay right here... Jake's comin' back for ya... Maybe.

SFX:

SHIP'S WHISTLE BLOWS, BACK, UNDER

SERGEANT:

(FAR BACK) All right, men! Let's go!

JAKE:

(PAUSE) Stick around, night...

MUSIC:

"NIGHT" THEME ... ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER

NARR:

The land is in darkness... The day, once capering with the promise of its allotted hours, has gone, creeping agedly over the edge of the sky... Night, soft-veiling, lies thickly over the cities, county-seats, towns and villages... Over the plantations, ranches, farms and homesteads... Over the mountains, buttes, dunes, knolls... Over the rivers, lakes, the bays and harbours... For a whisper of time, the night is on the land...

MUSIC:

RISES SLOWLY TO A FULL CURTAIN, THEN OUT

ANNCR:

You have just heard "Night", a new play by Arch Oboler. The original musical score was composed and conducted by David Raxan. The narrator was Theodore Von Eltz. The cast, in the order of their appearance, were Gloria Blondell, Frank Martin, Therese Lan, Griff Barnett, Edmond MacDonald, Barney James, Roseanne Murray, Everett Allen, Dorothy Scott, Joe Granby, and Bruce Elliott.

Next week, through the co-operation of Lester Cowan Productions, the play will be "Mr. Pyle", based on the writings of America's beloved war correspondent, the late Ernie Pyle. The starring player will be Mr. Burgess Meredith. This will be the tenth in a special series of plays written, produced, and directed for the Mutual Broadcasting System, by Arch Oboler.

To conclude the program, David Raxan conducts the orchestra in his original nocturne, written especially for this broadcast.

MUSIC:

"NIGHT" THEME PLAYS FOR TWO MINUTES, THEN UNDER

ANNCR:

This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.

MUSIC:

CONTINUES, THEN FADE OUT