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Series: Calling All Cars
Show: The Execution Of John Dillinger
Date: Jul 25 1934

CAST:
RADIO VOICE
ANNOUNCER
CHIEF JAMES E. DAVIS, of Los Angeles Police Department
NARRATOR
HARRY PIERPONT
SHERIFF JESS SARBER
VOICES
WOMAN IN BANK
JOHN DILLINGER
MAN IN BANK
RUSSELL CLARK
OFFICER WILLIAM O'MALLEY, of Chicago
1ST SALESMAN
2ND SALESMAN
OPAL LONG, Clark's "companion"
DETECTIVE "CHET" SHERMAN
OFFICER DALLAS FORD
OFFICER JAMES HERRON
HERBERT YOUNGBLOOD
TURNKEY
EVELYN "BILLIE" FRECHETTE
VOICE, of a police officer
HOMER VAN METER
RADIO VOICE 2
RADIO VOICE 3
RADIO VOICE 4
CHIEF, of East Chicago Police
SGT. MARTIN ZARKOVICH
UNNAMED WOMAN
MELVIN PURVIS
ED
LOCKERMAN
RYAN

MFX:

FANFARE

SFX:

POLICE CAR RUMBLES DOWN ROAD, CONTINUES IN BG

RADIO:

Chicago police, calling all cars. Attention, all cars. Broadcast Thirty-Five. All cars stand by. Federal agents are staking out on John Dillinger. That's all.

SFX:

POLICE SIREN

MFX:

MARCH THEME TOPS ALL, CONTINUES IN BG

ANNOUNCER:

Here's a message for the motorist who does not feel that his car is performing as well as it should. It may sputter and jerk at starting. It may buck when you step down hard on the accelerator. It may be logy on the hills. Now, it is possible that you may need the services of a mechanic. But, before you consult him, make this test. Fill your tank with Rio Grande Cracked with petro-ethyl, the dependable performance of which is responsible for its demand by police and fire departments. Then put your car through its paces. You may be surprised to find out that the fault has been the gasoline you've been using and not the mechanical condition of your car. Rio Grande Cracked will bring out the best in your car. If it will not perform with Rio Grande Cracked, we suggest that you take it at once to a reputable mechanic. But make the above test first. You may save money and also discover the qualities of Rio Grande Cracked gasoline.

This time of year, you should be particularly careful about lubrication. Bearings and other moving parts are expensive and it requires dependable oil to protect them. Be certain by using either Sinclair Pennsylvania or Sinclair Opaline motor oils. These oils have longer life because they are extra-refined. Also, you are guarded against substitution because these famous oils are sold only in patented extra-measure tamperproof cans. Drain and fill your crankcase with either Sinclair Pennsylvania or Sinclair Opaline at a cost no more than bulk oil.

MFX:

THEME UP AND OUT

ANNOUNCER:

And now, Chief James E. Davis of the Los Angeles Police Department has a message for you. Good evening, Chief Davis.

DAVIS:

Good evening, friends. Just four months ago, it was my privilege to bring to you from Tucson, our sister city of the Southwest, a dramatization of the excellent police work of Chief Wollard and his men in capturing the Dillinger gang. On that occasion, I remarked that the next time Dillinger met an officer of the law, that officer might shoot first and talk afterwards. That is exactly what happened in Chicago just seventy-two hours ago at this time. Tonight, I wish to express, not only for myself and my brother officers but for the people of the Southwest, our admiration and gratitude to the police officers and federal investigators under Melvin Purvis who Sunday night rid the nation of its Public Enemy Number One -- and, in this radio recreation of the Dillinger saga, to salute every peace officer who risked his life in the long battle to crush the Dillinger mob.

MFX:

HEROIC INTRO, THEN IN BG

SFX:

POLICE SIREN, IN BG

NARRATOR:

September 26, 1933!

SFX:

SIREN UP BRIEFLY ... MACHINE GUN FIRE

NARRATOR:

Under a hail of machine gun bullets, Charles Makley, Harry Pierpont and Russell Clark, accompanied by seven other convicts, successfully escape from the Indiana State Penitentiary!

SFX:

SIREN UP BRIEFLY ... MACHINE GUN FIRE

MFX:

FILLS A PAUSE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

As the ten desperate criminals disappear into the mists of early morning, all Indiana wakens to a reign of terror. A few days later, in Lima, Ohio--

SFX:

DOOR OPENS

PIERPONT:

You the sheriff?

SHERIFF:

Yeah.

PIERPONT:

You holdin' John Dillinger here?

SHERIFF:

Yeah.

PIERPONT:

We've come to get him.

SHERIFF:

Who are you?

PIERPONT:

Officers from Michigan City, Indiana. He's wanted there.

SHERIFF:

You'll have to show me your credentials.

PIERPONT:

Here's our credentials!

SFX:

TWO LOUD GUN SHOTS

MFX:

FILLS A PAUSE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

Terror spreads throughout the Middle West! Hysterical fear mounts! Not since the days when Jesse James rode the prairies, have respectable citizens lived in mortal dread of ruthless outlaws! DILLINGER IS LOOSE!

SFX:

POLICE SIREN, CONTINUES IN BG AS NARRATOR ALTERNATES WITH VARIOUS VOICES

NARRATOR:

Indianapolis!

VOICE:

Twenty-one thousand dollars taken from the Massachusetts Avenue bank!

NARRATOR:

New Carlisle, Ohio!

VOICE:

Bandits take fifty-three thousand dollars from New Carlisle bank in daring daylight robbery!

NARRATOR:

Farrell, Pennsylvania!

VOICE:

Hold-up of Farrell bank! Loss? Twenty-four thousand dollars!

NARRATOR:

Daleville, Indiana!

VOICE:

Hold-up and loss of three thousand five hundred dollars!

NARRATOR:

Montpelier, Indiana!

VOICE:

Twelve thousand dollars hauled from the Montpelier bank!

NARRATOR:

Racine, Wisconsin!

VOICE:

Hold-up of the American Bank and Trust Company! Loss? Twenty-seven thousand dollars!

NARRATOR:

Greencastle, Indiana!

VOICE:

Seventy-four thousand dollar bank robbery!

MFX:

TOPS SIREN FOR A BRIEF TRANSITION, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

Such is the list of crimes attributed to the Dillinger mob in their two and a half months of gun-mad freedom -- when they ride the plains of the Middle West like avenging scourges of evil! Careful traps set for them are laughed away in a hail of bullets from the gangsters' guns which claim the lives of Police Sergeant W. T. Shanley of Chicago and Indiana State Patrolman Eugene Teague! Outraged public opinion is demanding the lives of these mad messengers of doom, when, like a screaming flock of harpies, they descend on East Chicago, Indiana in early January! Each with the latest model submachine gun hooked under his arm, Dillinger, Makley, Pierpont and Clark, burst into the First National Bank of East Chicago!

MFX:

OUT

WOMAN:

(SCREAMS) Look out! Those men have got guns!

DILLINGER:

This is a stick-up! Everybody stand still!

MAN:

Now, look here, my good man--

DILLINGER:

Stand still, I said! Clark?

CLARK:

Yes, John?

DILLINGER:

Keep these people covered.

CLARK:

Right.

DILLINGER:

Charley and I'll go through the tills. I'll take everything in this place in less than three minutes. (MOVING OFF) Come on, Charley!

WOMAN:

(QUIETLY) Oh, look. There's a policeman.

MAN:

(QUIETLY) Where?

WOMAN:

(QUIETLY) Outside. He sees something wrong. He's coming in.

CLARK:

(CALLS) Look out, John! Here comes a cop!

O'MALLEY:

Here! What's goin' on in here?!

SFX:

MACHINE GUN FIRE

O'MALLEY:

(HIT) Oh!

WOMAN:

(SCREAMS)

DILLINGER:

That's what's goin' on, copper! Why didn't ya tell me there was a bull comin' in, Harry?

PIERPONT:

I didn't see him.

DILLINGER:

Better keep your eyes open in the future -- it's healthier!

CLARK:

Got all the stuff, John?

DILLINGER:

Yeah. Everything that was loose. Let's get out o' here!

CLARK:

Okay.

DILLINGER:

All right, you folks! Just stay where you are -- unless you want a dose o' lead poison like this copper's got!

MFX:

BRISK CHEERY BRIDGE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

With three policemen's murders to the mob's credit, federal officers combine forces of local and state police! Roads are blocked! The militia is turned out! Society prepares to do battle against its enemies!

MFX:

FILLS A PAUSE, THEN MELLOWER, IN BG

NARRATOR:

But, as suddenly as it began, the reign of terror ends. Peace once more descends on the Middle West. The shattered nerves of farmer, merchant and banker gradually return to normal. Dillinger seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

MFX:

SUBSIDES, CHANGES TO A SLOWER TEMPO, FILLS A PAUSE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

A pale desert moon casts its transparent coverlet over the jagged crest of Mount Lemmon. From a sandy wash, a coyote howls at the silent sward that broods above him, thrusting its spiny arms toward the star-speckled velvet dome overhead. Across this scene of beautiful desolation, comes a discordant note ...

MFX:

CHANGES TO THREE-PIECE BAND'S CHEAP JAZZ TUNE, IN BG, OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

... a tinny popular song, played by a three-piece orchestra in a desert roadhouse. The place is a few miles from Tucson, Arizona. It is the night of January twenty-fourth, Nineteen Thirty-Four. A couple of traveling salesmen at the bar scrape up an acquaintance with a drunken gentlemen from Chicago who claims he's a racketeer. The two salesmen, kidding him, claim that they are safecrackers. Taking them at face value, the gentleman from Chicago invites them to go to his house for a drink. [X]

SFX:

DOOR UNLOCKED AND OPENED

CLARK:

(FADES IN, DRUNK) Sure, things got a little hot back east so I came out here with a couple of pals till it cools off.

1ST SALESMAN:

(DRUNK) You figurin' any stick-ups around here?

CLARK:

No. Are you?

2ND SALESMAN:

(DRUNK) You - you never can tell.

CLARK:

Well, you're a damn fool to try it.

2ND SALESMAN:

Why?

CLARK:

Say, there are only two roads out of Arizona. And every Indian on the reservation knows the country better'n you do. You could never make a getaway.

1ST SALESMAN:

Yeah, yeah. Maybe you're right.

CLARK:

Say. I got some new equipment here. Like to see it?

2ND SALESMAN:

Yeah, sure.

CLARK:

(MOVING OFF) Just a minute till I open up this crate.

SFX:

CRATE OPENED

1ST SALESMAN:

(STUNNED) Say--! Will you look at that?

2ND SALESMAN:

Yeah. It's the real thing, all right.

CLARK:

(MOVING IN) This here's the new super caliber machine gun. Takes a thirty-five-point-one.

1ST SALESMAN:

(UNEASY) Gee. That's - that's quite a weapon, isn't it?

CLARK:

Weapon? I'll say it is. This baby's dynamite. Rip a hole in ya big enough to drive a truck through.

2ND SALESMAN:

(EXHALES, SHOCKED)

1ST SALESMAN:

Well, uh, I think we better be getting to bed. It's pretty late.

CLARK:

What's the hurry? Charley'll be in soon.

2ND SALESMAN:

Er, uh, who's Charley?

CLARK:

He's my partner. You ought to see him handle a sawed-off shotgun.

1ST SALESMAN:

No, I - I think we better go to bed. It-- Uh, glad to have met you, pal.

CLARK:

Yeah. Sure. Well, so long.

2ND SALESMAN:

Yeah. So long.

SFX:

DOOR CLOSES

1ST SALESMAN:

Well, I'll be a-- (DRUNKENLY INDECIPHERABLE)

2ND SALESMAN:

Listen, Harry, that guy's the real thing. He isn't kiddin'.

1ST SALESMAN:

You're telling me? Listen, I think we better report him to the police.

2ND SALESMAN:

Yeah, but that - that's takin' a chance. If he isn't somebody they're lookin' for, he might put us on the spot.

1ST SALESMAN:

Yeah, if he is and wakes up tomorrow morning and remembers what he told us, he might put us on the spot anyway!

2ND SALESMAN:

Maybe you're right, Harry. Let's report him to the police right now.

MFX:

GRIM BRIDGE, THEN IN BG, OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

Chief Wollard of the Tucson police force recognizes the frightened salesmen's description of the loquacious gunman as Clark, a member of the Dillinger gang, and immediately sends officers Jay Smith and Dallas Ford to stake out his house on Second Avenue. After a little wait, a man leaves the house. He's arrested, brought into the Chief's office, and identified as Charley Makley. Realizing now for certain that he's on the trail of the Dillinger mob, Chief Wollard sends officers Ford, Sherman and Eyman to watch for several hours, parked near the house. No one appears. Then Sherman resolves on a bold plan -- and approaches the house. [X]

SFX:

FOOTSTEPS UP WOODEN STEPS TO DOOR ... DOOR BELL RINGS, TWICE ... DOOR OPENS

OPAL:

What is it?

SHERMAN:

Does Mr. Clark live here?

OPAL:

Yes.

SHERMAN:

Well, I got a special delivery letter for him.

OPAL:

Well, give it to me. I'll give it to him.

SHERMAN:

No, I'm sorry, I'll have to deliver it to him myself, in person.

OPAL:

Well, you can't.

SHERMAN:

Don't close that door on me!

OPAL:

Say, get your foot out of there!

SHERMAN:

Open up there! (CALLS) Come on, boys!

OPAL:

(CALLS, TO CLARK) Oh, Russ! It's a bull!

CLARK:

(SLIGHTLY OFF) Keep those other guys out. I'll take care o' him!

SFX:

SHERMAN FORCES HIS WAY THROUGH DOOR

OPAL:

Look out, Russ! He's got a gun!

SFX:

SCUFFLE

CLARK:

Yeah, well, I got it by the hammer -- he can't use it!

FORD:

Clear the door, men!

SFX:

OPAL SLAMS DOOR SHUT

FORD:

(IN PAIN) Oh! (TO OTHERS) Come on! Break the door in!

SFX:

POUNDING ON DOOR

SHERMAN:

(GROANS)

CLARK:

(GRUNTS) There! You didn't know you were meetin' such a big guy, did ya, copper? I'll finish you off as soon as I can get over to the bed where I left that gat!

SFX:

DOOR FORCED OPEN

FORD:

Hold him, Chet! I'm comin'! (WITH EFFORT) Now, you're--

SFX:

PISTOL BUTT HITS CLARK'S SKULL

OPAL:

(SCREAMS)

CLARK:

(KNOCKED OUT) Ohhhhh!

SFX:

THUD! CLARK'S BODY HITS FLOOR

SHERMAN:

Thanks, Dallas! I - I guess that pistol-whipping will keep him quiet for a while.

OPAL:

(TEARFUL) Oh, you've killed him! You've killed him!

FORD:

(BENDS OVER TO CHECK) Well, I'm afraid not, lady. He's just sleepin' for a while. But you nearly took my finger off when you slammed that door on it.

OPAL:

Ohh, I wish I'd tooken your head off!

FORD:

(DRY) Aw, now, that's no way to talk, sister, 'cause it won't do you a bit of good. You're comin' along to the station with us, just the same.

MFX:

OMINOUS BRIDGE, THEN IN BG, OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

Clark, still unconscious, is taken to the police station where his bruises are dressed and he is identified by Mark Robbins, identification expert of the Tucson Police Department. Shortly afterward, motorcycle patrolman Earl Nolan picks up Pierpont as he's leaving a tourist camp. The stake-out is resumed on the Second Avenue house. In the early evening, just as the dusk is deepening into night, a car pulls up across the street from the house and a man gets out. Detective Herron is five steps behind Dillinger when the bandit stops in his tracks at the sight of blood which had fallen on the porch steps when Clark was taken out. [X] Herron steps up to him as Dillinger wheels around, hands in his coat pockets!

HERRON:

Put up your hands, Dillinger.

DILLINGER:

What is this? A stick-up?

HERRON:

No. It's an arrest. Put 'em up or I'm pullin' the trigger.

DILLINGER:

Arrest? What for? What's the charge?

HERRON:

Fugitive from justice will do, for the time bein'. (CALLS) Walker! Mullaney! Cover that dame in the car over there! (QUICKLY) No, you don't, Dillinger. Feel that in your ribs? Now, don't get fancy or I'll let you have it! Now, if you don't mind, I'll relieve you of your gun. (SLIGHT PAUSE) Hmm. Two of 'em, eh? One on either side. And now if you'll lower your hands--

DILLINGER:

All right, all right, come on. Cut out the politeness. Put the bracelets on. Let's get down to your lousy jail. I won't be there long anyway! There ain't a jail in this country strong enough to hold me.

MFX:

STORMY BRIDGE, THEN IN BG, OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

By rail and by plane, officials rush to Tucson from Wisconsin, from Indiana, from Ohio -- each state eager to extradite the men for crimes in their territory. After days of legal complications, Dillinger is spirited away by plane to Crown Point, Indiana, to answer for the murder of the patrolman in the East Chicago hold-up. A day later, the other three bandits leave by train for the east to face trial in Lima, Ohio for the murder of Sheriff Sarber.

MFX:

FILLS A PAUSE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

Ohio justice is swift. Harry Pierpont and Charles Makley receive mandatory death sentences and Clark is imprisoned for life for the murder of Sheriff Sarber in Lima. But in the Lake County Jail at Crown Point, Indiana, John Dillinger's mind is occupied with other matters than answering to the bar of justice. His strange activities arouse the curiosity of Herbert Youngblood, his Negro cellmate. [X]

HERB:

Say, Mister John, what you all been whittlin' away at? You know, for a man what's got a murder rap waitin' for him, you all is the most unconcerned white man that I ever done see.

DILLINGER:

Well, Herb, I'll tell ya -- if you'll keep it a secret.

HERB:

Sho' thing. I keep it a secret good.

DILLINGER:

Well, you sure better.

HERB:

Sure I will. Now - now, what is it?

DILLINGER:

This thing I'm whittlin' at is a key to the jailhouse.

HERB:

A key to the jailhouse? Say, what you all talkin' about? Looks like - like a - like a dummy gun to me.

DILLINGER:

(SHORT LAUGH) We're both right, Herb. It's a dummy gun and it's my ticket out of this hick jail.

HERB:

Say, what you all mean?

DILLINGER:

I mean that, after I get this thing whittled with these razor blades, I blacken it with shoe polish, stick the blades on this phony chamber, and the guard will think it's a real gat.

HERB:

Yeah, but that's an awful, awful chance for you to take, Mister John.

DILLINGER:

Better than the chair, ain't it?

HERB:

Well, I s'pose it is.

DILLINGER:

I'll only need it until I get to the guns in the sheriff's office. Say, Herb. I might want a partner. How 'bout it?

HERB:

You - you all mean you want to take me with ya?

DILLINGER:

Sure, if you've got the guts.

HERB:

Why, sure, I've got the guts, Mister John.

DILLINGER:

Okay, Herb. Now, here's the idea. (FADES) We wait until the guard brings us our chow--

MFX:

AN ACCENT, THEN OUT

SFX:

CELL DOOR OPENS

TURNKEY:

(CHEERFUL) Well, John, here's a bite of supper for ya.

DILLINGER:

Well, that's just swell, turnkey. (SAVAGELY) And now you can stick 'em up!

TURNKEY:

Wait! What?!

DILLINGER:

Shut up!

TURNKEY:

Don't shoot.

DILLINGER:

Get in here, quick. Grab his gun, Herb.

HERB:

I've got it, Mister John.

TURNKEY:

Please don't shoot.

DILLINGER:

Okay, turnkey. You stay here. And keep your trap shut. (MOVING OFF) Come on, Herb! Let's go!

MFX:

BRIDGE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

Once more, the cry goes up: "DILLINGER IS LOOSE!"

MFX:

FILLS A PAUSE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

But Dillinger eludes the dragnet that extends across four states. Officials declare that Dillinger will be shot on sight if he sticks his head inside Chicago. And the next day, Sheriff Holley's abandoned car is found on a Chicago side street.

MFX:

FILLS A PAUSE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

In the Lima, Ohio jail, Clark, Makley and Pierpont sit up all night awaiting their delivery at the hands of their pal John. Earl Sarber, the murdered sheriff's son, strips them to their underwear, throws floodlights on the jail, and dares Dillinger to come and get his men.

MFX:

FILLS A PAUSE, THEN MORE SOMBER, IN BG ... OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

In Port Huron, Michigan, Herbert Youngblood is fatally wounded in a gun battle with the police. Before he dies, he admits that John has crossed the lake. The trail grows cold. And then, in April, a tip comes that Dillinger is hiding out in the apartment of his sweetheart, half-Indian Evelyn Frechette. Unaware that he's been spotted, Dillinger is enjoying a noontime breakfast with his girlfriend. [X]

FRECHETTE:

Oh, John, it's swell to have you here.

DILLINGER:

Yeah. Good to be here, Ev. I'm gettin' tired of jumpin' 'round like this all the time. Time to settle down -- draw a breath without havin' to look around for bulls.

FRECHETTE:

I know, honey. It's tough. I don't think they'll recognize ya, now you've got your hair dyed red. You look so different.

DILLINGER:

What do you mean, different? Don't you like me this way?

FRECHETTE:

Oh, I'd even like you bald, John.

DILLINGER:

(LIKES THAT) Hah! Yeah?

FRECHETTE:

Sure, any way.

DILLINGER:

That's swell. Come on, honey, slip me a kiss.

FRECHETTE:

Will I!

DILLINGER:

(EXHALES, SATISFIED) Aw, babe, you got-- (SUDDENLY TENSE) Hey, what's that?

FRECHETTE:

What?

DILLINGER:

I heard guys on the stairs. Wait until I look out the window. (PAUSE, OFF) It's the bulls! (COMING BACK) Say, what is this?

FRECHETTE:

What do you mean, John?

DILLINGER:

If I thought you'd spill anything, I--!

FRECHETTE:

Oh, what do you take me for, John -- a fink?

DILLINGER:

Okay, but if I ever find out you tipped me off--

FRECHETTE:

Oh, honey, you ought to know better!

DILLINGER:

Okay, okay. Now, listen. I gotta get out o' here. You hold 'em off the front way. (MOVING OFF) I'll take this gat and shoot my way out the back! Goodbye, honey!

FRECHETTE:

Oh, goodbye, John! Oh, be careful!

DILLINGER:

(OFF) 'Course!

SFX:

DOOR SLAMS SHUT

VOICE:

(OFF) Say! There he goes! Down the steps!

SFX:

VOLLEY OF GUN SHOTS

MFX:

FRENETIC BRIDGE, THEN IN BG

NARRATOR:

And Dillinger once more eludes the law! His sweetheart, Evelyn Frechette, is arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for harboring a criminal. But Dillinger, wounded, escapes!

MFX:

FILLS A PAUSE, THEN IN BG ... OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

Joined by John Hamilton, Tom Carroll and Homer Van Meter, the new Dillinger gang descends on the Warsaw, Indiana police station in a midnight raid that furnishes them with bulletproof vests, guns and plenty of ammunition. Then they retire to a hideaway on Spider Lake in northern Wisconsin which Hamilton had already prepared for them. Here, they lay their future plans. [X]

VAN METER:

Say, John, how 'bout those two coppers in East Chicago?

DILLINGER:

What two coppers?

VAN METER:

O'Brien and Mulvihill -- the two that was to identify ya for that bump-off of O'Malley?

DILLINGER:

Oh, yeah. Sort of bad havin' them run around alive.

VAN METER:

Yeah. Well, we have to see what we can do about that. I'm gonna take care of those mugs--

SFX:

TWO LOUD SHOTS

DILLINGER:

What's that?

VAN METER:

Sounded like a gat!

DILLINGER:

Put out all the lights in the joint! Grab your [?] and get out quick!

MFX:

STIRRING BRIDGE, THEN IN BG ... OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

With the lights in the lake resort suddenly off, the confused federal agents, who had fired at a car which refused to halt, plunge into the underbrush after the fleeing figures of the Dillinger mob. Willis Baum, one of the federal men, trails three of the fugitives to a neighboring house. As he approaches the building, he is met ...

SFX:

A BURST OF MACHINE GUN BULLETS!

NARRATOR:

... by a burst of machine gun bullets! And the life of another peace officer is added to the mounting toll of murders attributed to the Dillinger mob. [X]

RADIO 2:

(FILTER) Attention, all cars! Milwaukee police, calling all cars! John Dillinger and several companions fought it out with federal officers at Spider Lake tonight and escaped. Thought to be headed toward Milwaukee. That is all.

SFX:

POLICE SIREN

RADIO 3:

(FILTER) Calling all Cook County Sheriff's cars! Dillinger and several of his gang are reported traveling toward Chicago. Shoot to kill this time, boys.

SFX:

POLICE SIREN

RADIO 4:

(FILTER) Detroit police, calling all cars! Attention, all cars! Be on the lookout for John Dillinger, reported bound for Detroit. Pick 'em up, boys!

SFX:

POLICE SIREN

MFX:

BRIDGE, THEN IN BG ... OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

But the slippery Dillinger gang evades the law again. And leaves only a grisly memento of their passing on the outskirts of East Chicago when the bullet-riddled bodies of officers O'Brien and Mulvihill, the state's star witnesses against Dillinger, are discovered early on the morning of May twenty-fourth. This latest Dillinger crime sends Sergeant Martin Zarkovich, of the East Chicago police force, striding furiously into the office of his chief. [X]

CHIEF:

Yes, sergeant? What is it?

ZARKOVICH:

Chief, O'Malley was my partner.

CHIEF:

Yes, I know that, sergeant.

ZARKOVICH:

And O'Brien and Mulvihill were two of my best friends.

CHIEF:

Yes?

ZARKOVICH:

Now, they're all dead. Bumped off by Dillinger.

CHIEF:

So we think.

ZARKOVICH:

Well, I'm convinced that he did it and I want to even things up.

CHIEF:

What do you propose?

ZARKOVICH:

I propose to go after Dillinger myself.

CHIEF:

Hmmm. That's a pretty big job, sergeant.

ZARKOVICH:

I know it, chief. But I want you to let me to go about it in my own way. And I know I can get that guy.

CHIEF:

All right, Martin. I believe in you. GO TO IT!

MFX:

BROODING BRIDGE, THEN IN BG ... OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

Sergeant Zarkovich disappears from sight, becomes an habitué of northern Indiana and Chicago saloons, keeps an alert ear open everywhere for news of Dillinger. Through the boasting conversation of a drunk who talks too much, Zarkovich learns of a woman, who shall here be nameless, who has reason to hate Dillinger as much as he does. He manages to make her acquaintance and, finally, to gain her confidence. [X]

UNNAMED:

Sure, I hate John. Why shouldn't I hate him? Why, if he hadn't talked Tony into joinin' up with him, Tony'd be alive and in my arms right now.

ZARKOVICH:

Yeah, but I can't understand your seeing John all the time.

UNNAMED:

Sure I am. I see him. I kid him along. And all the time I'm - I'm wantin' to cut his throat.

ZARKOVICH:

Well, why don't you?

UNNAMED:

Because I - I guess I'm afraid of him. Those eyes of his. Well, they look at me and they seem to tell me that they'll haunt me forever if I do anything to him.

ZARKOVICH:

Well, maybe his eyes wouldn't haunt you but some of his boys might.

UNNAMED:

Oh, I ain't afraid for myself. I don't care what happens to me.

ZARKOVICH:

Of course, there's another way to do it.

UNNAMED:

Yeah? How?

ZARKOVICH:

Well, the person that turns him over to the bulls gets fifteen grand.

UNNAMED:

What do you think I am -- a stool pigeon?!

ZARKOVICH:

No, I didn't say that. I just pointed out that fifteen grand side of it. Now, look at it this way. You hate him, you want him out of the way. Well, if you bump him off, they'll try you for murder -- that is, if the boys don't get you first. But if you turn him in, you'll have the protection of the bulls and enough dough to travel for a long time.

UNNAMED:

Yeah, but that'd make me a stool pigeon!

ZARKOVICH:

Well, what of it? That guy ought to be out of the way. Everyone knows that. I'll tell you this. If I knew where he was, I'd turn him in.

UNNAMED:

(SLIGHT PAUSE) Well, maybe you're right.

ZARKOVICH:

Sure I'm right. And now I'll tell you. You give the dope to me and I'll see that everything's handled so you'll be protected-- (QUICK FADE OUT)

MFX:

BRIEF TRAGIC ACCENT, THEN OUT

SFX:

PHONE RINGS ... RECEIVER UP

PURVIS:

Department of Justice. Purvis, speaking.

ZARKOVICH:

(FILTER) Hello, chief? Look, this is hot and it's straight. Dillinger is going to the Biograph Theatre on the north side tonight to see "Manhattan Melodrama."

PURVIS:

You're sure of that?

ZARKOVICH:

(FILTER) Absolutely. He goes there almost every night.

PURVIS:

Okay. And thanks.

MFX:

BRIDGE, THEN IN BG ... OUT AT [X]

NARRATOR:

Purvis, accompanied by a score of Department of Justice operatives, stakes out the Biograph Theatre early Sunday evening. Purvis and one of his aides sit in their car a few doors away from the theater. More than an hour passes uneventfully. And then, just before nine o'clock-- [X]

SFX:

FOOTSTEPS ON SIDEWALK ... CITY TRAFFIC AND PEDESTRIAN NOISE IN BG

PURVIS:

Hey, Ed. There he is.

ED:

Where?

PURVIS:

Walkin' up to the ticket office. I can't mistake that head.

ED:

Oh, I see. Now, he's turning.

PURVIS:

Yeah.

ED:

That's him all right. Look, Mel. He's dyed his hair.

PURVIS:

Yeah, it's black. And he's wearing gold-rimmed glasses. But that's him.

ED:

Gonna let him get into the theater?

PURVIS:

Sure. We won't take any chances. There, he's bought his ticket and he's going in. Keep your eye on the exit, Ed. I'm gonna give the boys their final orders.

ED:

Okay, chief.

SFX:

CAR DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES ... PAUSE AS PURVIS WALKS AWAY

PURVIS:

That was him, Lockerman.

LOCKERMAN:

I thought so.

PURVIS:

Now, you and Mike stick around the doorway of the tavern here and keep your eyes glued on that theater. Ryan?

RYAN:

Yes, chief?

PURVIS:

You and Kelly watch those exits down the alley.

RYAN:

Right.

PURVIS:

He'll probably be in there a couple of hours but he might get suspicious and try to get out the back door.

RYAN:

Yes, sir.

PURVIS:

And get this straight. No matter what he does, we're taking him tonight. Try to get him alive but if you can't, get him dead.

MFX:

ACCENT, THEN NEWMAN'S "STREET SCENE" THEME IN BG

NARRATOR:

Two tortuous hours are spent by the officers surrounding the theater. Two hours and four minutes. And then the doors of the theater swing wide and the shirt-sleeved audience throngs out into the sweltering summer night. Dillinger saunters onto the sidewalk, accompanied -- so some reports say -- by a young woman clad in red.

MFX:

BUILDS TO A CLIMAX BEHIND FOLLOWING

NARRATOR:

(LIKE CALLING PLAY-BY-PLAY) Purvis closes in behind him! As Dillinger crosses an alley, Purvis waves his hand! Five officers close in! Suspicious -- Dillinger reaches for his pocket!

SFX:

THREE GUN SHOTS

MFX:

TO A FINISH, THEN OUT

DAVIS:

John Dillinger died on the way to the hospital. The postmortem of rumors and sob sister conjecture is now taking place. The king is dead, and already the public are crowning the new king. Already the crown of fame as Public Enemy Number One rests on the head of "Baby Face" Nelson, a henchman of Dillinger's. Stripped of all of this dime novel romanticism, of this crime publicity, which is only possible in this publicity-conscious nation of ours, stripped of all of the glamor, John Dillinger was just a hoodlum, a cheap criminal whose stupidity made him appear a daring outlaw. Melvin Purvis and his men, with the help of the police, did a great job in ridding the country of him. And I am confident that this is only the beginning, that with the splendid cooperation of federal with state and municipal peace officers, the criminal killer and racketeer will be ground completely out of existence.

ANNOUNCER:

Thank you, Chief Davis.

MFX:

MARCH THEME, THEN IN BG

ANNOUNCER:

When you see a fire engine roaring down the street, sirens shrieking, or a police car cruising grimly along the highway, doesn't it give you a thrill? And doesn't it give you a feeling of security to know that this vigilance is kept up twenty-four hours per day for no other reason than to protect your life and property and the lives and property of your fellow citizens? For jobs like these, the equipment must be kept in perfect mechanical condition. And no motor is dependable without positive lubrication. Sinclair Oils have a national reputation as a dependable lubricant. The Army, with all its trucks, tractors and passenger cars, depends on Sinclair Oil. The Navy annually renews its contract with Sinclair for fine oils for its wide variety of equipment. One hundred fifty airlines, airports and aircraft manufacturers make Sinclair Oils their standard. Now, ladies and gentlemen, you may have Sinclair Opaline, a premium motor oil in sealed cans,
at the low price of twenty-five cents per quart. The Army and the Navy depend on Sinclair lubrication. Is there a better guide for your judgment?

By the way, Rio Grande has prepared, for your information, a complete list of forthcoming cases to be broadcast on "Calling All Cars." Drive into your neighborhood Rio Grande service station tomorrow and ask for the Rio Grande radio log. It's free.

MFX:

FANFARE

SFX:

POLICE CAR RUMBLES DOWN ROAD, CONTINUES IN BG

RADIO:

Chicago police, calling all cars. Attention, all cars. Cancellation, Broadcast Thirty-Five. John Dillinger was shot a few minutes ago by federal men, and that's all.

SFX:

POLICE SIREN

MFX:

MARCH THEME TOPS ALL, CONTINUES IN BG

ANNOUNCER:

Tonight's special broadcast of "Calling All Cars" was written and produced by William N. Robson. The orchestra was conducted by Frederick Stark and the following cast appeared:

Mary Tuthill as Evelyn Frechette; Claranita Burt as Opal Long; Martha Wentworth as the Unnamed Woman; Hanley Stafford as Dillinger; Richard LeGrand as Clark; Sam Pierce as Sergeant Zarkovich, Lindsay MacHarrie as Purvis; Truman Ames as Pierpont and Chief of Police; Robert Frazer as Sherman, O'Malley and the turnkey; Stuart Wilson as Makley and Herron, and Charlie Lung as Ford, Youngblood and Van Meter. Sound effects conceived and executed by Lord - Lloyd Creekmore.

This is Frederick Lindsley saying good night for the Rio Grande Oil Company.