In this episode of Best Plays, we delve into the classic drama "The Petrified Forest" by Robert Sherwood, featuring a stellar performance by Cyril Ritchard. Set in the desolate Black Mesa filling station and barbecue lunchroom in Eastern Arizona, the story unfolds with a mix of intriguing characters, including the wandering intellectual Alan Squire and the notorious gangster Duke Mantee. As the plot thickens, we witness a gripping encounter between the characters, exploring themes of love, ambition, and the search for meaning in a seemingly barren world.
Join us as we explore the rich history of "The Petrified Forest," a play that once starred Leslie Howard and launched Humphrey Bogart's career. The episode captures the tension and drama of the original stage production, with a focus on the complex relationships and existential dilemmas faced by the characters. From the desolate desert setting to the intense interactions, this episode offers a captivating look at a timeless piece of American theater.
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[00:00:01]
Unknown:
In just a moment, enjoy best plays. But first, we'd like to remind you that big story, the program that dramatizes the stories that come once in a lifetime to a reporter, will return to NBC this Wednesday to bring us another season of exciting dramatic fare. Another program note for your listening enjoyment is the switch of truth or consequences back to its Thursday night stand. Yes. Ralph Edwards and his full bags of stunts and surprises for unsuspecting studio contestants will be with us every Thursday beginning next week.
But now it's best plays on NBC.
[00:00:45] Unknown:
From New York, where the American stage begins, NBC presents best plays transcribed with John Chapman. Best plays, a series of hour length dramas selected from the outstanding successes of the New York stage. Now John Chapman, editor of the theatrical yearbook best plays and drama critic of the New York Daily News is here to introduce Cyril Rouchard in the Petrified Forest by Robert Sherwin. Mister Chapman.
[00:01:37] Unknown:
Thank you. And another warm welcome to our audience. Our best play at this time has had quite a history. It provided one of the best roles ever played on Broadway for and by a beloved and distinguished actor, Leslie Howard. It was written by one of the most distinguished American dramatists, Robert e Sherwood. Its producers were no less distinguished, having been mister Howard, Gilbert Miller, and Arthur Hopkins. The most familiar item in the long legend of the petrified forest concerns the hunch Arthur Hopkins had about a young actor. Hopkins had seen this young actor as a well groomed chap with patent leather hair in a comedy or two, and he had the idea that this young fellow had possibilities.
He could, Hopkins figured, do something besides light comedy. And so it came about that the actor was chosen to play Duke Mantee, the gunman in the petrified forest. The lucky young man whom Hopkins had picked out was Humphrey Bogart, and Bogart was immediately given a chance in the movies. But the star of the play was Leslie Howard, and our star for this performance is another distinguished actor from England, Cyril Richard. Not long after our play begins, we shall meet mister Richard in the role of Alan Squire, a man who has managed to bum his way as far west as the desert section of Eastern Arizona.
Our setting is the Black Mesa filling station and barbecue lunchroom, an oasis in a hot and thirsty country.
[00:03:25] Unknown:
I guess you wouldn't be exaggerating much to say it was the lonesomest place in Arizona, maybe in the whole world. People were always stopping in the lunchroom or to get gas, but even when they were there, it was still lonesome. Because, I mean, you knew that they'd be leaving for somewhere else right away. The ones who stayed there all the time were gramps and dad and and me and Bo's. Once Bo's had been a football player, but dad had given him a job around the filling station. He always wore this little gold chain around his neck.
[00:03:55] Unknown:
One day I asked him about it. I've been waiting for you to notice that. That was my father's watch chain. Wait till you see what's on the end of it. Look.
[00:04:05] Unknown:
Blue gold football.
[00:04:07] Unknown:
Solid gold. I got that for intercepting a pass and running 68 yards to a touchdown. Here's something else. Look at this clipping. Read it.
[00:04:19] Unknown:
Tip to the pigskin fraternity. When pondering your all American selections for this semester, just mull over the name of Bose Hertzlinger of Nevada Tech. Playing with an admittedly minor league club, Hertzlinger managed to remind some of us of the Illini Phantom himself. Who was the Illini Phantom?
[00:04:39] Unknown:
Red Grange. That's just a sample of the kind of notices I got. I could show you dozens more like it. You think a lot of yourself, don't you? Well, who wouldn't in my position?
[00:04:49] Unknown:
Why do you have to work at a filling station? Oh, I could make good money anywhere else.
[00:04:54] Unknown:
I just can't be tied down. Not yet. Got an itch inside that keeps me on the move chasing a rainbow.
[00:05:01] Unknown:
Where do you expect to find that?
[00:05:04] Unknown:
Maybe I'm kinda close to it right now.
[00:05:07] Unknown:
Well, you better look someplace else. There aren't any rainbows around Black Mesa. I wouldn't bet on that.
[00:05:15] Unknown:
You know, Gabbie, you're a queer kid. Sometimes you seem too young to know anything, and sometimes you seem like somebody's grandmother reading all that posh poetry. That gives me an idea.
[00:05:28] Unknown:
An idea of what?
[00:05:29] Unknown:
Oh, it's easy to tell when a girl is ready for love.
[00:05:33] Unknown:
How do you tell that, boss?
[00:05:35] Unknown:
Well, one pretty sure way is when she starts calling me by my own name for the first time. In other ways, how I feel myself. Takes two to make a radio program, you know, the one that's sending and the one that's receiving.
[00:05:46] Unknown:
And when I'm with a girl who's cute and appealing,
[00:05:49] Unknown:
I can feel sort of electric waves running all through me. I'd be pretty sure that she's doing some broadcasting,
[00:05:55] Unknown:
whether she knows it or not. Have you got a program coming in now?
[00:05:59] Unknown:
Can't you kind of hear it, honey? Listen. It's like the hottest Torch song that was ever sung. You can call me a sap if you want to, Gabby, but I guess I'm falling in love with you. I'm getting so. I want you more than is good for me. Have you ever been in love before?
[00:06:15] Unknown:
Never.
[00:06:16] Unknown:
Did you ever say you were?
[00:06:18] Unknown:
Oh, sure. Plenty of times. And did they believe you? Certainly, they did. And I'll tell you why. Because they were all dumb. That's just where you're different, Gabby. I couldn't fool you. I'm smart, Am I? Too smart for most men. You'd catch on to them, but that's just what I want because the more you see into me, the more you're gonna like me. Better look out if you wanna hold on to your job. Dad might come in, and he doesn't like to have the help making passes at me. That wouldn't bother me, honey, sweet. There are plenty more jobs for anyone with the ambition I got. But there aren't plenty more girls like you. You're gonna love me, Gabby. You're gonna love me a lot. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna kiss you so good. Look out.
[00:06:58] Unknown:
There's someone at the door. We'll talk about it some more later. You better get outside on the job or dad's gonna send you back to that football field or wherever you come from. Okay, Gabby.
[00:07:07] Unknown:
Hello there. What can we do for you? Can I order something to eat? Certainly. Miss Maple will take care of you right over there. Customer, Gabby.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
How do you do?
[00:07:16] Unknown:
Will you sit at the counter, sir? Thank you.
[00:07:20] Unknown:
Driven far? I've been walking. Do you live around here? No. My last host of the road reached his ranch about 10 miles back and didn't ask me in. I had to continue on foot. It's wonderful what progress you can make by hitchhiking. I think I'll have today's special. What's in it? Well, here it's hamburger sandwich with vegetables on the side. It's always today's special. It's pretty good. Well, I'd like it. But first, I'd like to have some of that, cream of corn soup, some beer and I'll order the dessert later. Okay. Oh, another question.
[00:07:52] Unknown:
Where am I? This place is called Black Mesa. There's nothing else here.
[00:07:58] Unknown:
Where were you planning to go? Oh, my plans have been uncertain.
[00:08:02] Unknown:
You mean, you were just bombing along?
[00:08:05] Unknown:
Call it gypsying. I had a vague idea that I'd like to see the Pacific Ocean, perhaps drown in it. Are you English? Depend well, you might call me an American once removed.
[00:08:16] Unknown:
Oh, well, I guess you're hungry. I'll be right back with your soup. I'll just heat it up a second. Won't take a minute. Thank you very much.
[00:08:24] Unknown:
Good evening.
[00:08:25] Unknown:
Evening?
[00:08:27] Unknown:
Anyone take your order? Yes. Charming young lady. That's my daughter. Gabby. What? I'm leaving now. Oh, dad. I'm taking $5.
[00:08:37] Unknown:
Where are you going? Legion meeting. How much did you say you took? $5.
[00:08:42] Unknown:
What do you need all that for? Just in case of emergency. What do you mean nosin' in my business? You think I wasn't fit to be trusted with money or ideas or anything? But I'm here to tell you that I What, dad? Never mind. Anything delays me getting back, I'll phone. Alright. Don't forget to light the neon sign when it gets dark. I won't.
[00:09:05] Unknown:
Well, here's your soup, my friend. Thank you. The cook was telling me in the kitchen that there's a gangster outfit loose headed this way. She heard on the radio.
[00:09:15] Unknown:
Oh, perhaps this is he.
[00:09:17] Unknown:
No.
[00:09:18] Unknown:
That's grand. Hey, Gabby. How about letting your poor weary old grandfather have a little drink now? No.
[00:09:24] Unknown:
Oh, come on. I ain't got so long to live. You can have one before you go to bed and that's all. Your hamburger will be right up.
[00:09:33] Unknown:
Hey, mister. You hear about Duke Mante? They got the whole story here in the post. Six killed, four wounded, two not expect to live. You like to see his picture? Doesn't look very vicious, does he? Well, I tell you. You can't tell a killer from his picture except by his chin. It's a funny thing about a killer. He always holds his chin in. You ever noticed that? I don't think I've ever seen a killer. Oh, I have plenty of them. You ever hear Billy the Kid? Yes, indeed. Yeah. I knowed him well down in Pecos County. He took a couple of shots at me once. Oh, I congratulate you on still being with us. Well, it was kinda dark and he'd had a few. And so I I don't think he really meant to do me any real harm. He just wants to scare the pants off me.
Did he? No. I I see he was just having some fun, so I said to him, kids, you're drunk. And he said, what makes you think that? He he was all kind of soft spoken. And I said, because you missed me. Well, sir, he he had a laugh. Hey, you're kinda hungry, ain't you? Yes. And just go so long without food. Been having some bad luck?
[00:10:40] Unknown:
Yes?
[00:10:41] Unknown:
Well, no regrets in that these days.
[00:10:44] Unknown:
What line work you in? None just now. I've been at times a writer.
[00:10:50] Unknown:
Are you a famous writer? No. Maybe you're just modest. What's your name? Alan Squire. Well, maybe after all I know. I don't get to do much reading outside the headlines. Eyes are going back on me. But when I was your age, I could hit a running jack rabbit at 50 paces. Your supper's ready, Grant. It's on the kitchen table. Well, I'm all ready, Fred. He's got me hungry watching him eat. Pleased to meet you, mister Squire. Pleased to meet you, sir.
[00:11:21] Unknown:
Like the soup?
[00:11:23] Unknown:
It was glorious. Hope Gramps didn't bother you. No. No. He's a charming old gentleman. He told me he'd been missed by Billy the Kid. He tells everybody about that.
[00:11:35] Unknown:
Poor cramp. Get terribly sick of him after a while. Did I hear him say you're a writer?
[00:11:43] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:11:44] Unknown:
I haven't met many writers except Sydney Wenzel. Ever hear of him? No. I'm afraid not. Well, he's with Warner Brothers. Oh. He stopped here once when he was driving out to the coast. He said I ought to go to Hollywood and to be sure and look him up. I don't guess he meant it, though. Oh, please don't go away. Something else you want? We got, pie and layer cake. No. I,
[00:12:07] Unknown:
I'd like to talk to you. Please sit down.
[00:12:10] Unknown:
Alright.
[00:12:12] Unknown:
I suppose you want to go into the movies?
[00:12:15] Unknown:
Lord, no.
[00:12:17] Unknown:
No? I thought every girl had a heart set on Hollywood. Well, that's just it.
[00:12:21] Unknown:
It's too common. I wanna go to Bourke. Where? Bourke in France. You'd never guess that's where I come from. You're not French? Partly. I was born in Bourg, but I left it almost before I was able to walk. So all I know about it is from the picture postcards my mother sends me. She lives there? Yes. Dad brought us back here after the war. Mother stuck it out in this desert for a couple of years, and then she packed up and went back to Borg. Some people think it was cruel of her to leave me. Do you?
[00:12:59] Unknown:
Not if you don't, miss Mabel. Well, I don't.
[00:13:03] Unknown:
She's tried lots of times to get me over there to see her, but dad won't allow it. She got a divorce and married a Frenchman that's got a bookstore. She used to send me a book every year for my birthday. Last year, she sent me the poems of Francoise Villon. You ever read it? Yes. It's wonderful poetry. She wrote in it, a ma cher petite Gabriel. That's all the French I know. That means to my dear little Gabriel. She gave me that name. It's the only French thing I've got. Gabriel.
[00:13:37] Unknown:
Beautiful
[00:13:38] Unknown:
name. Wouldn't you know it would get changed into Gabby by these lousy jerks around here?
[00:13:43] Unknown:
What do what do you get out of Vuitton's poems?
[00:13:47] Unknown:
Oh, well, Vuitton, he he gets the stink of the gasoline and the hamburger out of my system. And all his poems, they they make him make me think of French people. I love French people. You know, they can understand everything like life and and love and death, and they can enjoy it or laugh at it depending on how they feel. And that's why you wanna go to France, to understand everything? Oh, I will go there. When Grant dies, we can sell this place. And dad's gonna take his share and move to Los Angeles so that he can join a really big leech and post and get to be a political power. But I'm gonna spend my part of the money on a trip to board where there's something beautiful to look at and wine and dancing in the streets. Gabrielle,
[00:14:37] Unknown:
if I were you, I'd stay here and avoid disappointment. What makes you think I'd be disappointed? I've been to France. In the war? No. It's the fault of a book I wrote once. I was 22 when I wrote it and it was very, very stark. It sold slightly over 600 copies. It cost the publisher quite a lot of money. It also cost him his wife. You see, she divorced him and married me. She saw in me a major artist, profound but inarticulate. She believed that all I needed was background, and she gave it to me with southern exposure and a fine view of the Mediterranean. For eight years, I reclined there on the Riviera on my background, and I waited for the major artist to step forth and say something of enduring importance.
You preferred to remain inarticulate.
[00:15:27] Unknown:
And you've left your wife now? Yes.
[00:15:30] Unknown:
I'm glad you did. Well, I left at her suggestion. She's now taken up with a Brazilian painter, also a major artist. There was nothing for me to do but travel so I decided to go forth and discover America. And I've gone this far on my journey, thanks to the power of the thumb. What were you looking for? Well, that's rather hard to say. I, I suppose I've been looking for something to believe in. I've been hoping to find something that's worth living for and dying for. What have you found? Nothing so interesting as an old man who is missed by Billy the Kid and a fair young lady who reads Vuillon.
[00:16:07] Unknown:
You know what I'd really like to do? I'd like to paint. If I could just skip to France, I'd take up painting. They've got some of the finest art schools in the world there. And they've got beautiful things to paint too, flowers and and castles and rivers. Here in this desert, it's just the same thing over and over again.
[00:16:29] Unknown:
Look out of that window. Don't you realize there are probably thousands of artists in France who are saying
[00:16:36] Unknown:
I'd find a really big theme for my canvas if only I could get out to Arizona? Oh, I know a lot of people come out here and they just go crazy about the desert and they say it's full of mystery and it's haunted and all that. Well, maybe it is. There's something in me that makes me want something different.
[00:16:51] Unknown:
Yeah. I know there's something in you. Wish I could figure out what it is. Listen.
[00:16:57] Unknown:
You've been to France. What are they like there? Well, it's rather difficult to render a sweeping judgment. Be but they're always having a good time, aren't they? Well, not invariably. Well, maybe I know them better than you do because it's in my blood. Sometimes I feel as though I was, well, sparkling all over and I don't care what happened. I mean, I wanna go out and do something that's absolutely crazy and and marvelous. Mhmm. Then the American part of me speaks up and spoils everything. Makes me go to work and figure out a lot of dull accounts. So many pounds of coffee, so many frankfurters, so many rolls. You keep the accounts
[00:17:33] Unknown:
correctly? Well, if I didn't, this place would be bankrupt. Then that's the French part of you. The sparkle must be 100% American. Would you like to marry a Frenchman?
[00:17:43] Unknown:
I don't wanna marry anybody.
[00:17:45] Unknown:
I wanna be always free. Oh, and how about that store with you out there in the football jersey? What makes you think I'd take any notice of him? Well, when I came in here I'm not sure he was kissing me.
[00:17:56] Unknown:
I wasn't kissing back. Do you think I should've? Don't ask me, Gabriel. Did your French blood guide you? It's infallible in matters of that sort. But you ought to know something. I mean, you've seen a lot. You've written a book,
[00:18:08] Unknown:
and you've been married. I don't know anything. You see, the trouble with me is I belong to a vanishing race. I'm one of the intellectuals.
[00:18:15] Unknown:
Means you've got brains, and I can see that. Yes. Brains
[00:18:18] Unknown:
without purpose. Noise without sound. Shape without substance. Have you ever read The Hollow Men? No. Or don't? It's discouraging, but it's true. It opposed to the intellectuals who thought they'd conquered nature. They dammed it up and used its waters to irrigate the wastelands. They built streamlined monstrosities to penetrate its resistance. They wrapped it up in cellophane and sold it in drugstores. They were so certain they had it subdued. And now, do you realize what it is that's causing world chaos? No. Well, I'm probably the only living person who can tell you.
It's nature hitting back, not with the old weapons, floods, plagues, holocausts. We can neutralize them. She's fighting back with strange instruments called neurosis. She's deliberately afflicting mankind with the jitters. Nature's proving that she can't be beaten, not by the likes of me. She's taking the world away from the intellectuals and giving it back to the apes. Oh,
[00:19:13] Unknown:
forgive me, Gabrielle. No. Go on talking.
[00:19:16] Unknown:
Don't listen to me. I was born in '20, the year Victoria died. I was just too late for the great war and too soon for the revolution. You're a war baby. You may be an entirely different species for all I know. You need to be one of nature's own children and therefore able to understand her and laugh at her or enjoy her depending on how you feel.
[00:19:38] Unknown:
No. You talk like a darn fool. I know it. No wonder your wife kicked you out. No wonder she fell for you in the first place. That sounds alarmingly like a compliment. It is a compliment. What did you say your name was? Alan Squire.
[00:19:54] Unknown:
I've been calling you Gabrielle, so you'd better just Where are you going from here, Alan? That depends on where this road leads. Leads to the petrified forest.
[00:20:04] Unknown:
What's that? A lot of dead old trees in the desert that turned to stone. The petrified
[00:20:09] Unknown:
forest. A suitable haven for me. Perhaps that's what I'm destined for to make an interesting fossil for future study. Homo semi Americanus, a specimen of the in between age. I
[00:20:22] Unknown:
was just thinking, I'd like to go to France with you. Oh, no. No, Gabrielle.
[00:20:30] Unknown:
I can never retrace my footsteps. You mean you haven't enough money? Oh, even that's an understatement.
[00:20:35] Unknown:
I haven't enough either yet. Alan, do you know how much how much money Gramps has sited away in the bank in Santa Fe? Twenty Two Thousand Dollars. It's in Liberty Bonds now, and it's all will to me. Well, I guess we could travel pretty far in that, couldn't we? Too far. Well, we could go to France and you'd show me everything, all the cathedrals and the art, and explain everything. Would you like to?
[00:21:02] Unknown:
That's a startling proposal, Gabriel.
[00:21:04] Unknown:
I hadn't expected to receive anything like that in this desert. Well, we'd have to wait, maybe years. But I could have both fired and give you the job of attending the gas station.
[00:21:12] Unknown:
You think you'd like to have me for a companion? Oh, I know I would. And I don't make mistakes. No.
[00:21:17] Unknown:
You're no ape man, Alan, but well, you're lovable. Would you like to be loved by me?
[00:21:26] Unknown:
Yes, Gabrielle. I should like to be loved by you.
[00:21:32] Unknown:
Do you think I'm attractive?
[00:21:34] Unknown:
Oh, there are better words than that for what you are.
[00:21:38] Unknown:
Wow. Then why don't we at least make a start out?
[00:21:44] Unknown:
I mean, you haven't got anything else to do. That's just it. You couldn't live very long with a man who had nothing else to do but worship you. That's a dull kind of life, Gabrielle. It's the kind of love that makes people old too soon. But I thank you for the suggestion. You've opened up a new channel of my imagination, which will be pleasant to explore during my lonely wanderings. I'll think of the chimes of Bourges and you.
[00:22:10] Unknown:
You're going now? Yeah.
[00:22:11] Unknown:
And I shall continue going until either I drop or that major artist emerges to announce his message to posterity.
[00:22:19] Unknown:
Well, I can't stop you. No, Gabriel. You can't.
[00:22:22] Unknown:
But you can do for me one great favor before I go. Would you mind very much if I kissed you goodbye?
[00:22:31] Unknown:
No.
[00:22:33] Unknown:
I wouldn't mind. You don't understand there'd be
[00:22:35] Unknown:
nothing more. Oh, I don't understand that it'd be just a kiss. That's all. That's absolutely
[00:22:40] Unknown:
all.
[00:22:42] Unknown:
Oh. So that's what's going on in here, necking.
[00:22:46] Unknown:
Who do you think you are, fella? Lay off him, boss. Just because she's cute and sweet, you thought you could get fresh, He didn't get fresh. He only wanted to kiss me goodbye. Yes. The impulse is rather hard to explain, but I He didn't wait to explain it. Tell your check and get out.
[00:22:58] Unknown:
Very well. How much do I owe, miss Maple?
[00:23:01] Unknown:
Thirty cents. Is that all he ate? Yes. And shut up. 30¢. Oh, that's very reasonable.
[00:23:07] Unknown:
Very reasonable indeed. But, that brings me to another embarrassment. I, I haven't got 30¢. I haven't anything. Well, get that.
[00:23:19] Unknown:
I didn't expect to find such nerve in anybody that looked like you. What are you gonna do about it? I have an emergency. What are you getting in your pack there?
[00:23:27] Unknown:
Shirts, underwear, socks, toothbrush, passport, an insurance policy,
[00:23:33] Unknown:
and a copy of Modern Man in the Search of a Soul by doctor Young. Thought you could pay with a kiss, did you? But if you brought a little romance into her poor star of life, the check would be forgotten, did you? Get out of here, Bose, and send the business as a customer out there. I'll teach this hobo a thing or two about taking advantage of helpless young girls. If you don't get out of here, I'll have you fired when dad comes back.
[00:23:52] Unknown:
Where's the ladies' room, please?
[00:23:56] Unknown:
Back that way, madam. Tap door on your left. Oh. Thank you.
[00:24:01] Unknown:
What kind of cigars have you?
[00:24:04] Unknown:
Admiration White Iron and Texas Dandies. How much of the Texas Dandies? Three for dime.
[00:24:09] Unknown:
Let me have an admiration.
[00:24:12] Unknown:
You
[00:24:14] Unknown:
come from? Yes. Yes. We've driven from Dayton, Ohio. We're on our way up Santa Barbara for the winter. We lost a great deal of time today as I wanted missus Chisholm to see the Gila Cliff Dwellings. She was rather disappointed. How far is it to the Phoenix Biltmore?
[00:24:30] Unknown:
Well, it's a good 200 miles from here. I imagine we can make it by midnight. You'll have to step on it. What kind of car are you driving?
[00:24:40] Unknown:
Duesenberg.
[00:24:41] Unknown:
Oh, goodbye, miss Mabel. Just a minute, Alan. Excuse me, sir. A what? Would you have room in your car for another party?
[00:24:49] Unknown:
Who is it?
[00:24:51] Unknown:
For this friend of mine, mister Squire. He's on his way to the coast and he hasn't got a car just now. He's an author.
[00:25:00] Unknown:
Well, I suppose you could ride with us. Thank you very much, mister Chisholm. And thank you, miss Maple. I remember your kindness.
[00:25:07] Unknown:
Don't mention it. Well, are we ready to start? This is mister,
[00:25:11] Unknown:
Squire. Mister Squire, darling. We're giving him a lift as far as the Phoenix Biltmore. How do you do, missus Chisholm? How do you do? Goodbye, Gabrielle.
[00:25:20] Unknown:
Goodbye. I suppose I'll never see you again.
[00:25:23] Unknown:
Nope. That's the way it is in a gas station. They come and they go.
[00:25:28] Unknown:
Well, goodbye.
[00:25:30] Unknown:
Maybe we'll run into each other someday in work. Perhaps.
[00:25:41] Unknown:
Goodbye.
[00:25:52] Unknown:
Say, Gabby, it's warm outside, and the moon's just coming up. How about us taking a walk around the Mesa?
[00:26:00] Unknown:
Well,
[00:26:01] Unknown:
supposing your car came along wanting something? You know, there's practically no traffic this time of night. Suppose someone did come. What if they did? In a pinch, the old man and the cook can take care of them. You think I'm something terrible and you ought to keep away from me. I'm not so bad, Gabby. I'm just a big guy with a good heart and plenty of hot blood,
[00:26:23] Unknown:
and I'm full of love, honey.
[00:26:26] Unknown:
Did you know what he said?
[00:26:27] Unknown:
But who said?
[00:26:29] Unknown:
He said we've been trying to fight nature, and we thought we'd licked it because we've built a lot of dams and cellophane and things like that. But that's where we were wrong, and that's what's the matter with the world. We've got to admit that
[00:26:46] Unknown:
nature can't be beaten. Well, isn't that exactly what I've been trying to tell you all along?
[00:26:51] Unknown:
I guess it is, Bose.
[00:26:52] Unknown:
You coming for a walk in the moonlight, Gabby? Oh,
[00:26:57] Unknown:
I guess so, Bose. See what that car wants, and then we'll go. Okay.
[00:27:07] Unknown:
Behave yourselves, folks. Nobody will get hurt. Who's the boss here? Who the
[00:27:11] Unknown:
Hey, Zod. Roby, see if they got any guns on them. Sure, Jackie. You don't need to point that rifle at me. We aren't gonna do anything. This ain't no rifle, lady. It's a sawed off shotgun. You're clean, Jackie. Okay. It's alright, boss. Come on in. Folks, this is Duke Mantea. He's the world famous killer, and he's hungry.
[00:27:32] Unknown:
Who's in there?
[00:27:34] Unknown:
That's the kitchen. Anybody back there? My grandfather's in there. I'm the cook.
[00:27:39] Unknown:
Bring him in here, Jackie. Okay, Duke. Ruby, pull that table over here. Sure, Duke.
[00:27:51] Unknown:
How long are we gonna stay here, Duke?
[00:27:53] Unknown:
Until they get here. You're gonna wait for that blonde?
[00:27:57] Unknown:
Get out of here. Back the car into the shadows. Stay with it. When are you? You're late. Please don't
[00:28:05] Unknown:
shoot me. Don't kill me, mister. Please don't shoot me. Quiet, Papita. Quiet. Me? I'm gonna do you no harm.
[00:28:11] Unknown:
All we're gonna ask you to do is ask you to cook something. Now you wouldn't mind that? Would you prepare me? No, no, mister. I swear I cook anything. You you just tell me. So you're a man, Tia. Yeah. You're the killer.
[00:28:22] Unknown:
Sit down over here with the rest of them, Pop. Yes, sir, Pop. That's the greatest killer alive today. Wait. Did you hear what happened in Oklahoma City? Yeah. I heard. You pulled off a massacre. Who said it was a massacre? The Denver Post. They got it right here. Let me see here. Put that paper down. Did it say how many we killed? Six killed. Four wounded. Hey. Did you hear that, Duke? We killed six. I wounded four. What's the eight back there? Hamburgers. And and we got chicken, mister. Two other wounded is not expected to live. Alright.
[00:28:49] Unknown:
Cook the chicken and the four hamburgers.
[00:28:52] Unknown:
Plenty of onion. Boy, that was a massacre,
[00:28:55] Unknown:
What's your name, sister?
[00:28:58] Unknown:
Gabby.
[00:28:59] Unknown:
Ring us beer for the bunch, Gabby.
[00:29:02] Unknown:
You fellas like to join us? I never touch it. No. I guess I'll have a whiskey. None for you, Grabs. She says I can't have even a little one. I can't have one. Let them have it, Gavin. Sure. It can only be young ones.
[00:29:16] Unknown:
Can I begin putting on? Yeah. Oh. I'll go with a janky.
[00:29:21] Unknown:
Oh, yeah. Come on, Peter. Oh, and while the chicken's in the oven, you and me will talk a little politics. Hey, Duke. Let me tell you. Sit down.
[00:29:29] Unknown:
You you needn't think I'm scared of you.
[00:29:32] Unknown:
I've done real killers in my time. Here's somebody else for the party, boss. He came walking up the road. Come on in, pal.
[00:29:41] Unknown:
Well, we meet again. How? You know where? They stopped us down the road and took mister Chisholm's car. Said he could take their car, but they left it locked. The Chisholm's is there now waiting. Or just let him wait, pal.
[00:29:54] Unknown:
Have a glass of beer? I, thank you.
[00:29:57] Unknown:
Might I have some whiskey instead?
[00:29:59] Unknown:
Certainly. Give them a drink, Gabby.
[00:30:02] Unknown:
And, how about turning on the radio? Yes. What did I tell you, mister Squire? Look at that chin. And you'll kill her alright. He's a gangster and a rat. He ain't a gangster. He's a real old time desperado.
[00:30:17] Unknown:
Gangsters are fun. He he's an American. See if you can get some news on that radio, will you? Can't get but that one station.
[00:30:24] Unknown:
Well, leave it on. As sure as find out, man, if he's out here, we'll see some real killing. Alright, everybody.
[00:30:33] Unknown:
The cops ain't likely to catch up with us. Not tonight. So we can all be quiet and peaceable, have a few beers together, listen to music, not make any wrong moves. May as well tell you folks, old Jackie in there with a machine gun is pretty nervous, jumpy. He's got the edge between his fingers. So let's everybody stay where they are. Let there be killing.
[00:31:06] Unknown:
All evening long, I've had a feeling of destiny closing in. Do you believe in astrology, Duke?
[00:31:13] Unknown:
I couldn't say, pal. I don't normally.
[00:31:16] Unknown:
As I was walking along that road, I began to feel the enchantment of this desert. I looked up at the sky, and the stars seemed to be reproving me, marking me. They were pointing the way to that bleeping sign and saying, there's the end of your tether. You thought you could escape, but we know better. That's what the stars told me. Perhaps they know that carnage is imminent and that I'm due to be among the fallen. It's a fascinating thought.
[00:31:47] Unknown:
Let's give it. Here's a toast. Happy days, everybody.
[00:31:54] Unknown:
Yes, sir. Sure is pleasant to have a killer around here again.
[00:32:19] Unknown:
In a moment, act two of the Petrified Forest, starring Cyril Ritchard with Joan Loring and Ralph Bell. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company. Now act two of the best place production of the petrified forest starring Cyril Richard.
[00:33:09] Unknown:
When the chicken and hamburgers were ready, the cook brought them in. And the outlaws ate as if they hadn't had a meal in a week. And they sat there waiting, their guns across their laps. And the rest of us sat around the room, sometimes listening to the radio and sometimes to grams.
[00:33:27] Unknown:
That old Andy Anderson I was talking about. He was a great character. He didn't kill for business reasons like you fellas. He killed just for the fun of it. He got in the civil war, and he never stopped talking about as long as he lived. He always said that was a regular paradise for killing. He'd stick a Johnny Reb with his blade in it and throw him over his shoulder, and then he'd stick another. And he always said that the beauty of it was there was no sheriffs around to approve them for
[00:33:59] Unknown:
Say, pop, I wish you wouldn't talk so much about blood while we're eating.
[00:34:03] Unknown:
Got it on your conscience,
[00:34:05] Unknown:
On my what?
[00:34:07] Unknown:
Yes. I thought so. A punk like you hasn't got any more conscience than a coyote. Woah.
[00:34:12] Unknown:
Hey. Listen to the half bank. How much did you get for playing on a team?
[00:34:17] Unknown:
I worked my way through college. Yeah. What were you doing? Peddling subscriptions to the American boy. I worked for three whole years in the student laundry. Well, how nice. Wait a minute, smart guy. I got something to show you. Keep your hand off your hip. It's only gonna show you a newspaper clip, and it said I ought to be all American. I scared you, didn't I? I knew it. You're all yellow. You're running your mouth too much, half bag. I mean, it'll take to revive you, Boz. Remember they're your guests. Yeah. They're all a bunch of yellow dogs. That's what made them turn crooked in the first place. No. No.
[00:34:48] Unknown:
Cowardice isn't the cause of crime.
[00:34:51] Unknown:
It has something to do with Glenn. They haven't got the guts to face the bigger problems of life. They gotta fight their way with guns instead of with principles. Step over to that side of the room, half pack. Hey. You're gonna kill them? It's just like I Go on, Moe.
[00:35:03] Unknown:
The shotgun scared us. You wouldn't want me to hurt that cute dame, would you? And now for the latest bulletin concerning the greatest manhunt in human history. Bullets. A monster dragon that's been thrown up over the entire Get moving, half back. You know, you're taking us much too seriously. Turn up that radio, will you, Gary? Half back move. Sit down, half back. Justice is taking care of the sheriff. Did you hear what he got? Bank robbers, perpetrators of the shocking massacre in Oklahoma City. The gang made its escape in two cars, one of which contained Manti and two other men. It's a The other car containing three men and one woman.
The second car was positively identified in Esterline in the Texas Panhandle when it stopped at the local police station, held it up, and departed with a large supply of guns and ammunition. Hey. Nice going, boys. I wonder how the gun was gonna be issued. The following statement. As long as Manti and his followers are at large, a block of shame will mar the proud scutcheon of These United States. Oh, shit. Any citizen who knowingly gives aid or comfort to these public enemies is a traitor to his country and will be answerable before the great bar of public opinion. Sheesh. I'll now give you the scores of the leading football games of the day. Konica Tech thirteen, nine o seven.
Washington State 19, Virginia What are we gonna lamb out of here, boss? When it's time. Gonna make a run for the border, boys? Oh, sure. Sure. Well, we'll give you our whole route before we leave so you can tell the hit cops and have them give us a motorcycle escort. I think I'm about ready for another whiskey, Gabrielle, if I may. Here. Just keep the bottle. Listen, panhandler. Who told you you could call her by her first name? Now please, Bose. You and I must be friends as long as they're littered. Why don't you take a look at him, half back? He hasn't got a gun.
[00:36:41] Unknown:
Hey. How long are you yegs gonna stick around here? Be quiet, half bag. Yes, boss. You'll just get yourself in trouble.
[00:36:47] Unknown:
Gabbie, I got a terrible feeling something's gonna happen, and I gotta tell you something. I love you, Gabbie. Doesn't make any difference to you because you don't know what it means to be really crazy about somebody. For all you know, maybe I do.
[00:36:58] Unknown:
Don't believe it. Who are you ever? I do. You folks gonna spend the night here?
[00:37:03] Unknown:
Can't say, pop.
[00:37:05] Unknown:
Maybe we'll decide to get buried here. You better come with me, Duke. I'm planning to be buried in the petrified forest. I've been evolving a theory about that that would interest you. It's the graveyard of the civilization that's been shocked from under us. It's the world of outmoded ideas, patriotism, Christianity, romance, the economics of Adam Smith. There are also many dead stumps in the desert. That's where I belong and so do you, duke, For you're the last great apostle of rugged individualism, aren't you?
[00:37:35] Unknown:
Maybe you're right, pal. Gabby, who were you ever crazy about?
[00:37:40] Unknown:
Well, if you've got to know it's him.
[00:37:42] Unknown:
What?
[00:37:43] Unknown:
I was just telling Rose that I'm crazy about you. Can I possibly be drunk? You will be if you keep hitting that road. How did you happen to fall for that guy? After you left, Alan, I felt as if I'd come out of a dream. And I caught on to myself when I knew I I'm just another desert rat and I'll never be anything else. K. K. And I just gotta get rid of all that girlish funk that was in me, like, thinking so much about going to France and art and dancing in the street. Gramps.
[00:38:09] Unknown:
Sit down.
[00:38:11] Unknown:
I wanna talk to Grant.
[00:38:13] Unknown:
Talk to him sitting down.
[00:38:15] Unknown:
Very well.
[00:38:16] Unknown:
What's on your mind? Those liberty bonds are yours buried in Santa Fe. How'd you know about them? What are you going to do with them? I'm gonna leave them where they are. Yes. Leave them where they are. Your granddaughter's stifling and suffocating in this desert, and a few of your thousands would give her the chance to claim her birthright. Yeah. Maybe give you a chance to steal it. That's a low way to justify your stinginess. Oh, I know you were a pioneer once, but what are you now? A mean old miser hanging onto that money as though it meant something. Why don't you die and do the world some good? You must be drunk. What's the matter with you?
[00:38:49] Unknown:
What do you mean talking to an old man like that?
[00:38:53] Unknown:
Oh, you're right, Duke. I was guilty of bad taste. And I apologize, mister Maple. Oh, sure. Hey. There's two people coming down the road for us, a man and a woman. Looks like the owner is set toosenberg. Okay, Ruby. Show men when they get here. Duke, if you had any Robin Hood in you, you go to Santa Fe and rob that bank bank and give it to Gabrielle before it's too late for her to use it as it should be used. She'll get it when she needs it, when she has a family of her own to support
[00:39:17] Unknown:
and probably good for nothing unemployed husband.
[00:39:22] Unknown:
Come there. Are you hurt, boss? She got me in the hand. I'll get you in the hedge. You make another move for that Tommy gun.
[00:39:31] Unknown:
Take him in the kitchen. Bandage him, Gabby. He'll be alright.
[00:39:35] Unknown:
Go with him, Jackie. Tie him up. Leave him there. So you try to be brave. Did you have back? Well, it was a nice try. Tough luck. It's company, boss. Come on in.
[00:39:47] Unknown:
Over here, pal. You too, lady.
[00:39:52] Unknown:
Are are you mentee? I knew it was a mistake to take that hitchhiker into the car. I don't see what he had to do with it. He certainly didn't help back as much. Now listen, everybody.
[00:40:02] Unknown:
I don't want anybody getting any more ideas like that football player did. Just keep in mind that me and the boys are candidates for hanging. The minute anybody makes a wrong move, I'm gonna kill the whole lot of you. So keep your seats.
[00:40:20] Unknown:
Duke, I have a great favor to ask you. Yeah? I don't think you'll refuse it because you're a man of imagination. You're not afraid to do
[00:40:30] Unknown:
rather outlandish thing. What are you getting at?
[00:40:34] Unknown:
There's an insurance policy here in my pack. I'd like to take it out if I may.
[00:40:39] Unknown:
Alright. Just don't try anything funny. What do you want with your insurance?
[00:40:43] Unknown:
Expect to die? You've guessed it, mister Maple. You, this insurance policy is my only asset. It's for $5,000 and was made out in favor of my wife. She's a rich woman and she doesn't need the money. Now I'm writing on the policy that I want the money paid for. Rich woman, and she doesn't need the money. Now I'm writing on the policy that I want the money paid to Gabrielle. What I'm getting at is this, Duke. I wish I'd be much obliged if you just kill me. It couldn't make any difference to you, Duke. They can only hang you once. And you see, Duke, in killing me, you'd only be executing the sentence of the law.
I mean, natural law, survival of the fittest. Hey. Here's Duncan. Sure.
[00:41:23] Unknown:
I'm having a fine time showing off. Of course. I'm showing off.
[00:41:27] Unknown:
I'm trying to rival Bose in gallantry. Is there anything unnatural in that? Bose is ready to sacrifice his life to become an all American star and I'm ready to do likewise. Can't you see what I mean, Chesham? I'm afraid I'm not greatly interested in your whimsicalities. I don't blame you. You must remember that this is a weird country we're in. Those mazes, what do you call them, are enchanted. You have to be prepared for the improbable.
[00:41:51] Unknown:
You're in love with that girl, aren't you? And not unreasonably.
[00:41:55] Unknown:
I wanna show her that I believe in her. And how else can I do it? Living, I'm worth nothing to her but dead. Well, I can buy the tallest cathedrals and golden vineyards and dancing in the streets. One well directed bullet will accomplish that. Will you do it, Duke?
[00:42:14] Unknown:
I'd be glad to. I'd like to tell you one thing, friend. What's that, mister Mabel? There ain't a woman ever lived worth $5,000
[00:42:23] Unknown:
Let me tell you one thing. You're a forgetful old fool. That lovely girl, that granddaughter of yours, do you know what she is? She's the future. She's the renewal of vitality and courage and aspiration. All the strength that's gone out of you. She's well, I know she's essential to me and the whole country and the whole miserable world. Now, Mrs. Croire Please, Mrs. Chisholm, please don't look at me quizzically.
[00:42:49] Unknown:
I know how I sound. I'm wondering if you really believe all that about women. Of course, I
[00:42:55] Unknown:
do. And here's a man who agrees with me. Don't you, Duke? I don't know, pal. It wasn't his name. And permit me to speak for you. The Duke could have been over the border long ago and safe, but he prefers to stay here and risk his life. And do you know why? Why? Because he has a rendezvous here with a girl. Isn't that true, Duke?
[00:43:14] Unknown:
Yeah, pal. That's it. I guess we're all a lot of saps, but I wouldn't be surprised if you were the champion. Do you think I was kidding when I said I'd be glad to knock you off? I hope that neither of us was kidding. You're alright, pal. I'll try to fix it since it won't hurt.
[00:43:35] Unknown:
You're alright too, Duke. I'd like to meet you again someday.
[00:43:41] Unknown:
Maybe it'll be soon.
[00:43:42] Unknown:
You know,
[00:43:44] Unknown:
this frightful place has suddenly become quite cozy. And that's my doing, missus Chisholm. You ought to thank me for having taken it out of the realms of reality. I'm going to see something at last.
[00:43:54] Unknown:
And after that dreadful, dull day looking at cliff dwellings, do you realize that we're going to witness murder? He's actually going to shoot you. Shh, Mrs. Jess.
[00:44:03] Unknown:
Hello, Gabrielle.
[00:44:06] Unknown:
How's Beau's? You'll be alright. Is your time up good, janky? Yeah. Yeah. In the bathroom. They took it set to 10:00.
[00:44:14] Unknown:
We'll give him a few more minutes. Listen, grand.
[00:44:16] Unknown:
I've got an idea. We ought to sell this place. We could get a good price because people are gonna be flocking here just to see where Duke Mante stopped. You're still aiming to take that trip to France? No. I'm asking you to do it for dad's sake. Let him get located in Los Angeles. And maybe I'll find that that writer with Warner Brothers, and maybe I'll get a job.
[00:44:35] Unknown:
And then we'll all be rich. Would you be content with that? I don't care what happens to me. But you must think about yourself. You want to go to France to be a great painter, don't you? Then you'll have to get used to being a colossal egoist, selfish to the core.
[00:44:47] Unknown:
Do you mind if I speak up, my dear? Perhaps I could tell you some things that what do you know about me? Nothing. If I were you, Edith, I'd keep out of you. You haven't the remotest conception of what's inside me and you never have. Gabby, I don't know about you, but I know what it means to repress yourself and starve yourself through what you concede to be your duty to others. When I was your age, I wanted to be an actress. But my family started yapping about my obligation to them who had given me everything including life. At least they called it life.
They kept me there in Dayton to take my place in the junior league and the country club and everything else that's foul and not seen. And before I knew that I was married to this pillar of the loan and trust company. And what did he do? He took my soul and had it stenciled on a card and filed. And where have I been ever since? In an art metal cabinet. That's why I think I have a little right to advise. Good lord. Oh, you need to look so martyred. You look perfectly well that until this minute, I've never complained. Never complained. Forgive me if I indulge in some quiet, mirthless laughter. What you wanted is a wife who's an ornamental cipher. And I've given you what you wanted. The cost of of my individuality, my self respect, and everything else. At the cost of nothing. I suppose you never came storming into my office and created a scene just when I was straining every faculty to find ways Am I the duty? Your insane extravagance is What?
Gabby, don't let them stifle you with their talk about duty. Go to France
[00:46:21] Unknown:
and find yourself. And suppose she learns there's nothing there to find. Even so, it would be better than endless doubt. You know, there's something here that stimulates the autobiographical
[00:46:30] Unknown:
impulse. What kind of life have you had, Duke? Rotten?
[00:46:35] Unknown:
Oh, no. I don't believe it. Why not lady?
[00:46:40] Unknown:
Because you've had the one supreme satisfaction of knowing
[00:46:45] Unknown:
that at least you're a real man.
[00:46:48] Unknown:
Yeah. That's true. But what has it got me? I spent most of my time since I grew up in jail. Looks like I'll spend the rest of my life dead.
[00:46:59] Unknown:
Excuse me, Excuse me, Duke. How's the time getting along? It's just about up, pal. I must talk to you, Gabriel. You can wait until after they've gone. No. I can't wait. I mean, when they go, I go. I have to tell you now that I love you.
[00:47:17] Unknown:
Oh, now listen, Alan. I got sort of upset by all that blood and I didn't I tell you solemnly
[00:47:23] Unknown:
that I love you with all the heart that's left in me. Don't make a fool of yourself, Alan. They're all staring at you. I know they are, but you've got to believe it and you've got to remember it because you see it's my only chance of survival. I told you about that major artist that's been hidden. Well, I'm transferring him to you. You'll find a line in that verse of Villon that fits that. Something about, thus in your field, my seeds of harvester will thrive. I've provided barren soil for that seed, but you'll give it fertility and growth and fruition.
[00:48:01] Unknown:
I think we'd be terribly happy together, Alan. Say that. Why not when I believe it with all my heart?
[00:48:07] Unknown:
Maybe we'll be happy together in a funny kind of way. Alan, if you're going away, I'm going with you wherever it is. No, Gabriel. I'm not going away anywhere. I don't have to go any farther because I think I found the thing I was looking for. I found it here. I can't say what it is, Gabrielle, because I don't quite know yet. Alright, Duke. We needn't wait any longer.
[00:48:31] Unknown:
Watch it, boys. What was that? Pick up your hand. Who is it, Roby? Looks like something loose from a circus. Whoop.
[00:48:38] Unknown:
Send them in.
[00:48:40] Unknown:
Quiet. What is it? Just stick them. What a kiss. What's going on here? Tell Jason that there's DuPontee. Been here all evening. What's the uniform you're wearing? It's It's Ralph M. Kesterling, post of the American Legion. I'm the commander of the post, buddy. And I wanna tell you that we fought in the World War. She she wouldn't shoot us down in cold blood. Sure we would. Sit down, boys. Over there with the rest of them.
[00:49:06] Unknown:
What'd you come here for? I I I live here. That's my fault.
[00:49:11] Unknown:
What'd you bring this commander for? We were trailing you. And by jing, we caught up Sure. We caught up, commander. Unless we talked better for all concerned. What made you think I'd be around here? They caught your pals. Three men and a blonde.
[00:49:26] Unknown:
Where was it?
[00:49:27] Unknown:
Come on. They, caught them at Buckhorn. It's in New Mexico, about, about 90, a hundred miles from here. When? I don't know. We heard about it half an hour ago. I warned you, Vanti. You better get out of here for your own good. Anybody else coming this way? I don't know. That's true. But there are posses all around here. I don't want to get this place shot up. They'll be heading this way. They say that the woman in that car
[00:49:49] Unknown:
been doing some talking. What? Doris, she's slitched. They always Shut up.
[00:49:55] Unknown:
Oh, you saying? I I I'm telling you for your own good, man. T. They know where you were heading. They picked up your trail. They'll get you. She has, Slitch. Come on, Duke. Let's get out of here. Now listen to them, Duke. Come on, boss, so we're all dead. Shut up. Shut up.
[00:50:08] Unknown:
Give me time to think. No, Duke. Don't waste time thinking. That isn't your game. Don't listen to what they're telling you. You gotta keep going and going and going. Yeah. And go fast. Duke and double cross, Duke. And the next thing you'll be laid out flat on a marble slab. Where'd they take her? The woman of tar. I don't know. Maybe to Albuquerque. And if we head that way, they'll take us. You want revenge, don't you, Duke? You want to go out of your way again to that blonde who stitched? Don't do it, Duke. Even if you do betray you, don't commit a worse crime. Don't betray yourself. Go on. Run for the border and take your illusions with you. Yeah. He's right, Duke. You know that they're going to get you anyway. You're obsolete, Duke, like me. You've got to die. Then die for freedom. That's worth it. Don't give up your life for anything so cheap and unsatisfactory as revenge. I hear a car coming, boss. We better land now. Alright, pal. I'm gone.
[00:50:52] Unknown:
Now listen, folks. We've had a pleasant evening here. I'd hate to spoil it with any killing at the finish. So stay where you are until we're out of sight because we'll be watching.
[00:51:04] Unknown:
Cars stopped out here in the road for us. Guys with rifles. Perhaps. Hiccup. Looks like It's a sheriff. He's got you, Manti. How many, Roby? It's a seven. You're crawling into the sagebrush, the other side of the road. Give him a couple of bursts to scare him. I'm a be you have no right to maintain the lives of innocent people. You you you'll better surrender. Folks, better get down on the floor. Lie down all of you close together in the middle. Go back, Betsy.
[00:51:32] Unknown:
It's an inspiring moment, isn't it, Cabrio? United States of America versus G20. They've absolutely written me on life. It's some deputy ships. They're probably all drunk. It almost restores any of the will to live and love and conquer. Now listen, Nita, if I'm killed What did you tell me? I said if I'm killed and you're not, notify Jack Lavery, he has full instructions.
[00:51:50] Unknown:
I
[00:51:51] Unknown:
can't get a good angle on it, but they're drifting over this way. I feel as I was sitting on top of a mountain in the middle of Penguin Island watching, watching the odd little creatures. How do you feel about it, darling? I don't know. And I don't care. I wish you stopped that praying. I'm not praying. I'm sitting in here.
[00:52:07] Unknown:
Adam, when you get to France, what do you see first? Customs officers. But what's the first real fight you see? The Beals And Palace Of Normandy and then What, Alan? And then Paris. Paris?
[00:52:18] Unknown:
That's the most marvelous place in the world for love, isn't it? All places are marvelous. Even here? This is Benjamin here, my darling.
[00:52:25] Unknown:
Alan, will you please kiss me?
[00:52:28] Unknown:
Oh, Lord. Now take me out of my mouth. Never.
[00:52:32] Unknown:
You three, come with me. Wait. What for? Wait. You're gonna hang on to the running board. We gotta have shields. Oh, well, alright. Alright. I don't care what happens to me. Oh, I don't care what
[00:52:44] Unknown:
dust. Uh-huh. Okay. Go crazy, mankey.
[00:52:46] Unknown:
That's you, Pop. Come on. Under your feet. Get moving through that door. They won't shoot at you. You won't let any of you get hurt if you keep your hands up and make plenty of noise. Come on. Keep open. Tell them not to shoot. Sheriff,
[00:53:00] Unknown:
it's commander Johnson. Don't shoot. They're using that for protection. Stop shooting.
[00:53:07] Unknown:
Alright. The rest of you better stay where you are for a while. Good night, folks. Duke? How can keep that? Duke?
[00:53:16] Unknown:
You still want it, pal? No matter what happens or not. You've got to.
[00:53:20] Unknown:
Okay, pal. So long, pal. We'll be seeing you soon.
[00:53:29] Unknown:
Good. Go get both he knows about first aid. That fell Amanda.
[00:53:34] Unknown:
I never thought he, Amanda. Alan, you wanted him to shoot you. You wanted me to shoot. Stop that shooting.
[00:53:41] Unknown:
Those are innocent people on the running board.
[00:53:45] Unknown:
Listen, Hass. At least it's that's the theme. I've had it this long. It's alright, Alan. It isn't alright. I'm practically doing it. No, Alan.
[00:53:58] Unknown:
You said you wanted to live. I know I didn't. And I'll live with you. I will.
[00:54:04] Unknown:
I know I said it. I was blinded then, but now I see.
[00:54:11] Unknown:
Rose, grab somebody. Come here quick.
[00:54:15] Unknown:
They're right, Cabo. I mean, the stars. I had come all this way to find a reason. Oh, people only had guts enough. They'd always find death is funny looking, but you've understood what it was I wanted. I hope you will.
[00:54:53] Unknown:
What, hon? What did you say, hon? No, don't worry, hon. I'm not gonna be a damn crybaby about it. I know you died happy, didn't you?
[00:55:15] Unknown:
Are you alright, Gabby? Oh, kid?
[00:55:18] Unknown:
He's dead. Sure he is.
[00:55:21] Unknown:
And he don't miss. Oh, that's tough.
[00:55:26] Unknown:
He was a good guy at that. Listen, Gabby. Here's the funny thing.
[00:55:30] Unknown:
His life insurance for 5,000 berries, he made out to you and it looks regular. Said he wanted you to spend on a trip to France to see your mother. Of course, I I don't know if it's collectible, but I'm gonna get to Summerfield in the morning and see about it. He was the queerest fella I ever did see.
[00:55:49] Unknown:
I couldn't make him out. Well, what's the damage in here? What what did Lantee shoot him for? Is he? Yeah.
[00:55:59] Unknown:
Yep. He's gone.
[00:56:01] Unknown:
Oh, poor fellow. Well, he died a hero's death. We'll give him an honorable funeral.
[00:56:09] Unknown:
We'll bury him out there in the petrified forest.
[00:56:12] Unknown:
What?
[00:56:13] Unknown:
That's what he wanted. That's what he said. Come away from him, Gabby. Don't keep staring at him. I gotta get somebody on Manti's trail.
[00:56:23] Unknown:
Hello? Get me the sheriff's office tomorrow. Your field, my seats of harvest. She will thrive. For the fruit is like me that I set. Debbie, come away from him. God bids me tend it with good husbandry. This is the end for which we twain our necks. Don't keep staring at him. Hello?
[00:56:42] Unknown:
Oh, who's this? Oh, hello, Ernie. Jason Maple. Say, man T was here and escaped south in the yellow Duesenberg, Ohio license plate. Sheriff went after him, but you gotta watch Route 71 and sent out to alarm to watch Route 60. Yeah. Yeah. We had quite some shooting here. You have just heard the best plays production of The Petrified Forest by Robert Sherwood starring Cyril Ritchard, and here once more is your host, drama critic John Chapman.
[00:57:29] Unknown:
You might like to join me in thanking mister Richard and our best plays company for an admirable performance. And we'd better thank Robert E. Sherwood too for having written the play. The Petrified Forest has been the fifty second production in our best plays series, and we've been proud of most of the 52. Several of these plays have been extraordinarily good. The combination of fine drama and right performances, which is always the goal of the theater. One of the best of the best was the Madwoman of Chaillot, a French comedy by Jean Giraudoux.
And quite often listeners have written in to say they'd like to hear it again. So next week, our fifty third production of this series will be a second performance of the Mad Women. Once again, our cast will be headed by Alene McMahon, Estelle Linwood, and Agnes Young. This is Chapman saying goodbye until then.
[00:58:34] Unknown:
The petrified forest was transcribed and adapted for radio by Earl Hamlin. Heard in the cast were Joan Loring as Gabby, Ralph Bell as Duke mentee, Joseph Julian as Boldt, Adelaide Kline as Mrs. Chisholm, Ted Osborne as Mr. Chisholm, Wendell Holmes as Jason, Haynes Boldt as the Legion commander, Larry Haines as Jackie, Kenneth Lynch as Ruby, and Edgar Staley as Grant. Best plays is an NBC Radio Network production supervised by William Welch and directed by Edward King. Your announcer is Robert Denton.
[00:59:13] Unknown:
Jimmy Stewart stars on six shooter next on NBC.
In just a moment, enjoy best plays. But first, we'd like to remind you that big story, the program that dramatizes the stories that come once in a lifetime to a reporter, will return to NBC this Wednesday to bring us another season of exciting dramatic fare. Another program note for your listening enjoyment is the switch of truth or consequences back to its Thursday night stand. Yes. Ralph Edwards and his full bags of stunts and surprises for unsuspecting studio contestants will be with us every Thursday beginning next week.
But now it's best plays on NBC.
[00:00:45] Unknown:
From New York, where the American stage begins, NBC presents best plays transcribed with John Chapman. Best plays, a series of hour length dramas selected from the outstanding successes of the New York stage. Now John Chapman, editor of the theatrical yearbook best plays and drama critic of the New York Daily News is here to introduce Cyril Rouchard in the Petrified Forest by Robert Sherwin. Mister Chapman.
[00:01:37] Unknown:
Thank you. And another warm welcome to our audience. Our best play at this time has had quite a history. It provided one of the best roles ever played on Broadway for and by a beloved and distinguished actor, Leslie Howard. It was written by one of the most distinguished American dramatists, Robert e Sherwood. Its producers were no less distinguished, having been mister Howard, Gilbert Miller, and Arthur Hopkins. The most familiar item in the long legend of the petrified forest concerns the hunch Arthur Hopkins had about a young actor. Hopkins had seen this young actor as a well groomed chap with patent leather hair in a comedy or two, and he had the idea that this young fellow had possibilities.
He could, Hopkins figured, do something besides light comedy. And so it came about that the actor was chosen to play Duke Mantee, the gunman in the petrified forest. The lucky young man whom Hopkins had picked out was Humphrey Bogart, and Bogart was immediately given a chance in the movies. But the star of the play was Leslie Howard, and our star for this performance is another distinguished actor from England, Cyril Richard. Not long after our play begins, we shall meet mister Richard in the role of Alan Squire, a man who has managed to bum his way as far west as the desert section of Eastern Arizona.
Our setting is the Black Mesa filling station and barbecue lunchroom, an oasis in a hot and thirsty country.
[00:03:25] Unknown:
I guess you wouldn't be exaggerating much to say it was the lonesomest place in Arizona, maybe in the whole world. People were always stopping in the lunchroom or to get gas, but even when they were there, it was still lonesome. Because, I mean, you knew that they'd be leaving for somewhere else right away. The ones who stayed there all the time were gramps and dad and and me and Bo's. Once Bo's had been a football player, but dad had given him a job around the filling station. He always wore this little gold chain around his neck.
[00:03:55] Unknown:
One day I asked him about it. I've been waiting for you to notice that. That was my father's watch chain. Wait till you see what's on the end of it. Look.
[00:04:05] Unknown:
Blue gold football.
[00:04:07] Unknown:
Solid gold. I got that for intercepting a pass and running 68 yards to a touchdown. Here's something else. Look at this clipping. Read it.
[00:04:19] Unknown:
Tip to the pigskin fraternity. When pondering your all American selections for this semester, just mull over the name of Bose Hertzlinger of Nevada Tech. Playing with an admittedly minor league club, Hertzlinger managed to remind some of us of the Illini Phantom himself. Who was the Illini Phantom?
[00:04:39] Unknown:
Red Grange. That's just a sample of the kind of notices I got. I could show you dozens more like it. You think a lot of yourself, don't you? Well, who wouldn't in my position?
[00:04:49] Unknown:
Why do you have to work at a filling station? Oh, I could make good money anywhere else.
[00:04:54] Unknown:
I just can't be tied down. Not yet. Got an itch inside that keeps me on the move chasing a rainbow.
[00:05:01] Unknown:
Where do you expect to find that?
[00:05:04] Unknown:
Maybe I'm kinda close to it right now.
[00:05:07] Unknown:
Well, you better look someplace else. There aren't any rainbows around Black Mesa. I wouldn't bet on that.
[00:05:15] Unknown:
You know, Gabbie, you're a queer kid. Sometimes you seem too young to know anything, and sometimes you seem like somebody's grandmother reading all that posh poetry. That gives me an idea.
[00:05:28] Unknown:
An idea of what?
[00:05:29] Unknown:
Oh, it's easy to tell when a girl is ready for love.
[00:05:33] Unknown:
How do you tell that, boss?
[00:05:35] Unknown:
Well, one pretty sure way is when she starts calling me by my own name for the first time. In other ways, how I feel myself. Takes two to make a radio program, you know, the one that's sending and the one that's receiving.
[00:05:46] Unknown:
And when I'm with a girl who's cute and appealing,
[00:05:49] Unknown:
I can feel sort of electric waves running all through me. I'd be pretty sure that she's doing some broadcasting,
[00:05:55] Unknown:
whether she knows it or not. Have you got a program coming in now?
[00:05:59] Unknown:
Can't you kind of hear it, honey? Listen. It's like the hottest Torch song that was ever sung. You can call me a sap if you want to, Gabby, but I guess I'm falling in love with you. I'm getting so. I want you more than is good for me. Have you ever been in love before?
[00:06:15] Unknown:
Never.
[00:06:16] Unknown:
Did you ever say you were?
[00:06:18] Unknown:
Oh, sure. Plenty of times. And did they believe you? Certainly, they did. And I'll tell you why. Because they were all dumb. That's just where you're different, Gabby. I couldn't fool you. I'm smart, Am I? Too smart for most men. You'd catch on to them, but that's just what I want because the more you see into me, the more you're gonna like me. Better look out if you wanna hold on to your job. Dad might come in, and he doesn't like to have the help making passes at me. That wouldn't bother me, honey, sweet. There are plenty more jobs for anyone with the ambition I got. But there aren't plenty more girls like you. You're gonna love me, Gabby. You're gonna love me a lot. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna kiss you so good. Look out.
[00:06:58] Unknown:
There's someone at the door. We'll talk about it some more later. You better get outside on the job or dad's gonna send you back to that football field or wherever you come from. Okay, Gabby.
[00:07:07] Unknown:
Hello there. What can we do for you? Can I order something to eat? Certainly. Miss Maple will take care of you right over there. Customer, Gabby.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
How do you do?
[00:07:16] Unknown:
Will you sit at the counter, sir? Thank you.
[00:07:20] Unknown:
Driven far? I've been walking. Do you live around here? No. My last host of the road reached his ranch about 10 miles back and didn't ask me in. I had to continue on foot. It's wonderful what progress you can make by hitchhiking. I think I'll have today's special. What's in it? Well, here it's hamburger sandwich with vegetables on the side. It's always today's special. It's pretty good. Well, I'd like it. But first, I'd like to have some of that, cream of corn soup, some beer and I'll order the dessert later. Okay. Oh, another question.
[00:07:52] Unknown:
Where am I? This place is called Black Mesa. There's nothing else here.
[00:07:58] Unknown:
Where were you planning to go? Oh, my plans have been uncertain.
[00:08:02] Unknown:
You mean, you were just bombing along?
[00:08:05] Unknown:
Call it gypsying. I had a vague idea that I'd like to see the Pacific Ocean, perhaps drown in it. Are you English? Depend well, you might call me an American once removed.
[00:08:16] Unknown:
Oh, well, I guess you're hungry. I'll be right back with your soup. I'll just heat it up a second. Won't take a minute. Thank you very much.
[00:08:24] Unknown:
Good evening.
[00:08:25] Unknown:
Evening?
[00:08:27] Unknown:
Anyone take your order? Yes. Charming young lady. That's my daughter. Gabby. What? I'm leaving now. Oh, dad. I'm taking $5.
[00:08:37] Unknown:
Where are you going? Legion meeting. How much did you say you took? $5.
[00:08:42] Unknown:
What do you need all that for? Just in case of emergency. What do you mean nosin' in my business? You think I wasn't fit to be trusted with money or ideas or anything? But I'm here to tell you that I What, dad? Never mind. Anything delays me getting back, I'll phone. Alright. Don't forget to light the neon sign when it gets dark. I won't.
[00:09:05] Unknown:
Well, here's your soup, my friend. Thank you. The cook was telling me in the kitchen that there's a gangster outfit loose headed this way. She heard on the radio.
[00:09:15] Unknown:
Oh, perhaps this is he.
[00:09:17] Unknown:
No.
[00:09:18] Unknown:
That's grand. Hey, Gabby. How about letting your poor weary old grandfather have a little drink now? No.
[00:09:24] Unknown:
Oh, come on. I ain't got so long to live. You can have one before you go to bed and that's all. Your hamburger will be right up.
[00:09:33] Unknown:
Hey, mister. You hear about Duke Mante? They got the whole story here in the post. Six killed, four wounded, two not expect to live. You like to see his picture? Doesn't look very vicious, does he? Well, I tell you. You can't tell a killer from his picture except by his chin. It's a funny thing about a killer. He always holds his chin in. You ever noticed that? I don't think I've ever seen a killer. Oh, I have plenty of them. You ever hear Billy the Kid? Yes, indeed. Yeah. I knowed him well down in Pecos County. He took a couple of shots at me once. Oh, I congratulate you on still being with us. Well, it was kinda dark and he'd had a few. And so I I don't think he really meant to do me any real harm. He just wants to scare the pants off me.
Did he? No. I I see he was just having some fun, so I said to him, kids, you're drunk. And he said, what makes you think that? He he was all kind of soft spoken. And I said, because you missed me. Well, sir, he he had a laugh. Hey, you're kinda hungry, ain't you? Yes. And just go so long without food. Been having some bad luck?
[00:10:40] Unknown:
Yes?
[00:10:41] Unknown:
Well, no regrets in that these days.
[00:10:44] Unknown:
What line work you in? None just now. I've been at times a writer.
[00:10:50] Unknown:
Are you a famous writer? No. Maybe you're just modest. What's your name? Alan Squire. Well, maybe after all I know. I don't get to do much reading outside the headlines. Eyes are going back on me. But when I was your age, I could hit a running jack rabbit at 50 paces. Your supper's ready, Grant. It's on the kitchen table. Well, I'm all ready, Fred. He's got me hungry watching him eat. Pleased to meet you, mister Squire. Pleased to meet you, sir.
[00:11:21] Unknown:
Like the soup?
[00:11:23] Unknown:
It was glorious. Hope Gramps didn't bother you. No. No. He's a charming old gentleman. He told me he'd been missed by Billy the Kid. He tells everybody about that.
[00:11:35] Unknown:
Poor cramp. Get terribly sick of him after a while. Did I hear him say you're a writer?
[00:11:43] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:11:44] Unknown:
I haven't met many writers except Sydney Wenzel. Ever hear of him? No. I'm afraid not. Well, he's with Warner Brothers. Oh. He stopped here once when he was driving out to the coast. He said I ought to go to Hollywood and to be sure and look him up. I don't guess he meant it, though. Oh, please don't go away. Something else you want? We got, pie and layer cake. No. I,
[00:12:07] Unknown:
I'd like to talk to you. Please sit down.
[00:12:10] Unknown:
Alright.
[00:12:12] Unknown:
I suppose you want to go into the movies?
[00:12:15] Unknown:
Lord, no.
[00:12:17] Unknown:
No? I thought every girl had a heart set on Hollywood. Well, that's just it.
[00:12:21] Unknown:
It's too common. I wanna go to Bourke. Where? Bourke in France. You'd never guess that's where I come from. You're not French? Partly. I was born in Bourg, but I left it almost before I was able to walk. So all I know about it is from the picture postcards my mother sends me. She lives there? Yes. Dad brought us back here after the war. Mother stuck it out in this desert for a couple of years, and then she packed up and went back to Borg. Some people think it was cruel of her to leave me. Do you?
[00:12:59] Unknown:
Not if you don't, miss Mabel. Well, I don't.
[00:13:03] Unknown:
She's tried lots of times to get me over there to see her, but dad won't allow it. She got a divorce and married a Frenchman that's got a bookstore. She used to send me a book every year for my birthday. Last year, she sent me the poems of Francoise Villon. You ever read it? Yes. It's wonderful poetry. She wrote in it, a ma cher petite Gabriel. That's all the French I know. That means to my dear little Gabriel. She gave me that name. It's the only French thing I've got. Gabriel.
[00:13:37] Unknown:
Beautiful
[00:13:38] Unknown:
name. Wouldn't you know it would get changed into Gabby by these lousy jerks around here?
[00:13:43] Unknown:
What do what do you get out of Vuitton's poems?
[00:13:47] Unknown:
Oh, well, Vuitton, he he gets the stink of the gasoline and the hamburger out of my system. And all his poems, they they make him make me think of French people. I love French people. You know, they can understand everything like life and and love and death, and they can enjoy it or laugh at it depending on how they feel. And that's why you wanna go to France, to understand everything? Oh, I will go there. When Grant dies, we can sell this place. And dad's gonna take his share and move to Los Angeles so that he can join a really big leech and post and get to be a political power. But I'm gonna spend my part of the money on a trip to board where there's something beautiful to look at and wine and dancing in the streets. Gabrielle,
[00:14:37] Unknown:
if I were you, I'd stay here and avoid disappointment. What makes you think I'd be disappointed? I've been to France. In the war? No. It's the fault of a book I wrote once. I was 22 when I wrote it and it was very, very stark. It sold slightly over 600 copies. It cost the publisher quite a lot of money. It also cost him his wife. You see, she divorced him and married me. She saw in me a major artist, profound but inarticulate. She believed that all I needed was background, and she gave it to me with southern exposure and a fine view of the Mediterranean. For eight years, I reclined there on the Riviera on my background, and I waited for the major artist to step forth and say something of enduring importance.
You preferred to remain inarticulate.
[00:15:27] Unknown:
And you've left your wife now? Yes.
[00:15:30] Unknown:
I'm glad you did. Well, I left at her suggestion. She's now taken up with a Brazilian painter, also a major artist. There was nothing for me to do but travel so I decided to go forth and discover America. And I've gone this far on my journey, thanks to the power of the thumb. What were you looking for? Well, that's rather hard to say. I, I suppose I've been looking for something to believe in. I've been hoping to find something that's worth living for and dying for. What have you found? Nothing so interesting as an old man who is missed by Billy the Kid and a fair young lady who reads Vuillon.
[00:16:07] Unknown:
You know what I'd really like to do? I'd like to paint. If I could just skip to France, I'd take up painting. They've got some of the finest art schools in the world there. And they've got beautiful things to paint too, flowers and and castles and rivers. Here in this desert, it's just the same thing over and over again.
[00:16:29] Unknown:
Look out of that window. Don't you realize there are probably thousands of artists in France who are saying
[00:16:36] Unknown:
I'd find a really big theme for my canvas if only I could get out to Arizona? Oh, I know a lot of people come out here and they just go crazy about the desert and they say it's full of mystery and it's haunted and all that. Well, maybe it is. There's something in me that makes me want something different.
[00:16:51] Unknown:
Yeah. I know there's something in you. Wish I could figure out what it is. Listen.
[00:16:57] Unknown:
You've been to France. What are they like there? Well, it's rather difficult to render a sweeping judgment. Be but they're always having a good time, aren't they? Well, not invariably. Well, maybe I know them better than you do because it's in my blood. Sometimes I feel as though I was, well, sparkling all over and I don't care what happened. I mean, I wanna go out and do something that's absolutely crazy and and marvelous. Mhmm. Then the American part of me speaks up and spoils everything. Makes me go to work and figure out a lot of dull accounts. So many pounds of coffee, so many frankfurters, so many rolls. You keep the accounts
[00:17:33] Unknown:
correctly? Well, if I didn't, this place would be bankrupt. Then that's the French part of you. The sparkle must be 100% American. Would you like to marry a Frenchman?
[00:17:43] Unknown:
I don't wanna marry anybody.
[00:17:45] Unknown:
I wanna be always free. Oh, and how about that store with you out there in the football jersey? What makes you think I'd take any notice of him? Well, when I came in here I'm not sure he was kissing me.
[00:17:56] Unknown:
I wasn't kissing back. Do you think I should've? Don't ask me, Gabriel. Did your French blood guide you? It's infallible in matters of that sort. But you ought to know something. I mean, you've seen a lot. You've written a book,
[00:18:08] Unknown:
and you've been married. I don't know anything. You see, the trouble with me is I belong to a vanishing race. I'm one of the intellectuals.
[00:18:15] Unknown:
Means you've got brains, and I can see that. Yes. Brains
[00:18:18] Unknown:
without purpose. Noise without sound. Shape without substance. Have you ever read The Hollow Men? No. Or don't? It's discouraging, but it's true. It opposed to the intellectuals who thought they'd conquered nature. They dammed it up and used its waters to irrigate the wastelands. They built streamlined monstrosities to penetrate its resistance. They wrapped it up in cellophane and sold it in drugstores. They were so certain they had it subdued. And now, do you realize what it is that's causing world chaos? No. Well, I'm probably the only living person who can tell you.
It's nature hitting back, not with the old weapons, floods, plagues, holocausts. We can neutralize them. She's fighting back with strange instruments called neurosis. She's deliberately afflicting mankind with the jitters. Nature's proving that she can't be beaten, not by the likes of me. She's taking the world away from the intellectuals and giving it back to the apes. Oh,
[00:19:13] Unknown:
forgive me, Gabrielle. No. Go on talking.
[00:19:16] Unknown:
Don't listen to me. I was born in '20, the year Victoria died. I was just too late for the great war and too soon for the revolution. You're a war baby. You may be an entirely different species for all I know. You need to be one of nature's own children and therefore able to understand her and laugh at her or enjoy her depending on how you feel.
[00:19:38] Unknown:
No. You talk like a darn fool. I know it. No wonder your wife kicked you out. No wonder she fell for you in the first place. That sounds alarmingly like a compliment. It is a compliment. What did you say your name was? Alan Squire.
[00:19:54] Unknown:
I've been calling you Gabrielle, so you'd better just Where are you going from here, Alan? That depends on where this road leads. Leads to the petrified forest.
[00:20:04] Unknown:
What's that? A lot of dead old trees in the desert that turned to stone. The petrified
[00:20:09] Unknown:
forest. A suitable haven for me. Perhaps that's what I'm destined for to make an interesting fossil for future study. Homo semi Americanus, a specimen of the in between age. I
[00:20:22] Unknown:
was just thinking, I'd like to go to France with you. Oh, no. No, Gabrielle.
[00:20:30] Unknown:
I can never retrace my footsteps. You mean you haven't enough money? Oh, even that's an understatement.
[00:20:35] Unknown:
I haven't enough either yet. Alan, do you know how much how much money Gramps has sited away in the bank in Santa Fe? Twenty Two Thousand Dollars. It's in Liberty Bonds now, and it's all will to me. Well, I guess we could travel pretty far in that, couldn't we? Too far. Well, we could go to France and you'd show me everything, all the cathedrals and the art, and explain everything. Would you like to?
[00:21:02] Unknown:
That's a startling proposal, Gabriel.
[00:21:04] Unknown:
I hadn't expected to receive anything like that in this desert. Well, we'd have to wait, maybe years. But I could have both fired and give you the job of attending the gas station.
[00:21:12] Unknown:
You think you'd like to have me for a companion? Oh, I know I would. And I don't make mistakes. No.
[00:21:17] Unknown:
You're no ape man, Alan, but well, you're lovable. Would you like to be loved by me?
[00:21:26] Unknown:
Yes, Gabrielle. I should like to be loved by you.
[00:21:32] Unknown:
Do you think I'm attractive?
[00:21:34] Unknown:
Oh, there are better words than that for what you are.
[00:21:38] Unknown:
Wow. Then why don't we at least make a start out?
[00:21:44] Unknown:
I mean, you haven't got anything else to do. That's just it. You couldn't live very long with a man who had nothing else to do but worship you. That's a dull kind of life, Gabrielle. It's the kind of love that makes people old too soon. But I thank you for the suggestion. You've opened up a new channel of my imagination, which will be pleasant to explore during my lonely wanderings. I'll think of the chimes of Bourges and you.
[00:22:10] Unknown:
You're going now? Yeah.
[00:22:11] Unknown:
And I shall continue going until either I drop or that major artist emerges to announce his message to posterity.
[00:22:19] Unknown:
Well, I can't stop you. No, Gabriel. You can't.
[00:22:22] Unknown:
But you can do for me one great favor before I go. Would you mind very much if I kissed you goodbye?
[00:22:31] Unknown:
No.
[00:22:33] Unknown:
I wouldn't mind. You don't understand there'd be
[00:22:35] Unknown:
nothing more. Oh, I don't understand that it'd be just a kiss. That's all. That's absolutely
[00:22:40] Unknown:
all.
[00:22:42] Unknown:
Oh. So that's what's going on in here, necking.
[00:22:46] Unknown:
Who do you think you are, fella? Lay off him, boss. Just because she's cute and sweet, you thought you could get fresh, He didn't get fresh. He only wanted to kiss me goodbye. Yes. The impulse is rather hard to explain, but I He didn't wait to explain it. Tell your check and get out.
[00:22:58] Unknown:
Very well. How much do I owe, miss Maple?
[00:23:01] Unknown:
Thirty cents. Is that all he ate? Yes. And shut up. 30¢. Oh, that's very reasonable.
[00:23:07] Unknown:
Very reasonable indeed. But, that brings me to another embarrassment. I, I haven't got 30¢. I haven't anything. Well, get that.
[00:23:19] Unknown:
I didn't expect to find such nerve in anybody that looked like you. What are you gonna do about it? I have an emergency. What are you getting in your pack there?
[00:23:27] Unknown:
Shirts, underwear, socks, toothbrush, passport, an insurance policy,
[00:23:33] Unknown:
and a copy of Modern Man in the Search of a Soul by doctor Young. Thought you could pay with a kiss, did you? But if you brought a little romance into her poor star of life, the check would be forgotten, did you? Get out of here, Bose, and send the business as a customer out there. I'll teach this hobo a thing or two about taking advantage of helpless young girls. If you don't get out of here, I'll have you fired when dad comes back.
[00:23:52] Unknown:
Where's the ladies' room, please?
[00:23:56] Unknown:
Back that way, madam. Tap door on your left. Oh. Thank you.
[00:24:01] Unknown:
What kind of cigars have you?
[00:24:04] Unknown:
Admiration White Iron and Texas Dandies. How much of the Texas Dandies? Three for dime.
[00:24:09] Unknown:
Let me have an admiration.
[00:24:12] Unknown:
You
[00:24:14] Unknown:
come from? Yes. Yes. We've driven from Dayton, Ohio. We're on our way up Santa Barbara for the winter. We lost a great deal of time today as I wanted missus Chisholm to see the Gila Cliff Dwellings. She was rather disappointed. How far is it to the Phoenix Biltmore?
[00:24:30] Unknown:
Well, it's a good 200 miles from here. I imagine we can make it by midnight. You'll have to step on it. What kind of car are you driving?
[00:24:40] Unknown:
Duesenberg.
[00:24:41] Unknown:
Oh, goodbye, miss Mabel. Just a minute, Alan. Excuse me, sir. A what? Would you have room in your car for another party?
[00:24:49] Unknown:
Who is it?
[00:24:51] Unknown:
For this friend of mine, mister Squire. He's on his way to the coast and he hasn't got a car just now. He's an author.
[00:25:00] Unknown:
Well, I suppose you could ride with us. Thank you very much, mister Chisholm. And thank you, miss Maple. I remember your kindness.
[00:25:07] Unknown:
Don't mention it. Well, are we ready to start? This is mister,
[00:25:11] Unknown:
Squire. Mister Squire, darling. We're giving him a lift as far as the Phoenix Biltmore. How do you do, missus Chisholm? How do you do? Goodbye, Gabrielle.
[00:25:20] Unknown:
Goodbye. I suppose I'll never see you again.
[00:25:23] Unknown:
Nope. That's the way it is in a gas station. They come and they go.
[00:25:28] Unknown:
Well, goodbye.
[00:25:30] Unknown:
Maybe we'll run into each other someday in work. Perhaps.
[00:25:41] Unknown:
Goodbye.
[00:25:52] Unknown:
Say, Gabby, it's warm outside, and the moon's just coming up. How about us taking a walk around the Mesa?
[00:26:00] Unknown:
Well,
[00:26:01] Unknown:
supposing your car came along wanting something? You know, there's practically no traffic this time of night. Suppose someone did come. What if they did? In a pinch, the old man and the cook can take care of them. You think I'm something terrible and you ought to keep away from me. I'm not so bad, Gabby. I'm just a big guy with a good heart and plenty of hot blood,
[00:26:23] Unknown:
and I'm full of love, honey.
[00:26:26] Unknown:
Did you know what he said?
[00:26:27] Unknown:
But who said?
[00:26:29] Unknown:
He said we've been trying to fight nature, and we thought we'd licked it because we've built a lot of dams and cellophane and things like that. But that's where we were wrong, and that's what's the matter with the world. We've got to admit that
[00:26:46] Unknown:
nature can't be beaten. Well, isn't that exactly what I've been trying to tell you all along?
[00:26:51] Unknown:
I guess it is, Bose.
[00:26:52] Unknown:
You coming for a walk in the moonlight, Gabby? Oh,
[00:26:57] Unknown:
I guess so, Bose. See what that car wants, and then we'll go. Okay.
[00:27:07] Unknown:
Behave yourselves, folks. Nobody will get hurt. Who's the boss here? Who the
[00:27:11] Unknown:
Hey, Zod. Roby, see if they got any guns on them. Sure, Jackie. You don't need to point that rifle at me. We aren't gonna do anything. This ain't no rifle, lady. It's a sawed off shotgun. You're clean, Jackie. Okay. It's alright, boss. Come on in. Folks, this is Duke Mantea. He's the world famous killer, and he's hungry.
[00:27:32] Unknown:
Who's in there?
[00:27:34] Unknown:
That's the kitchen. Anybody back there? My grandfather's in there. I'm the cook.
[00:27:39] Unknown:
Bring him in here, Jackie. Okay, Duke. Ruby, pull that table over here. Sure, Duke.
[00:27:51] Unknown:
How long are we gonna stay here, Duke?
[00:27:53] Unknown:
Until they get here. You're gonna wait for that blonde?
[00:27:57] Unknown:
Get out of here. Back the car into the shadows. Stay with it. When are you? You're late. Please don't
[00:28:05] Unknown:
shoot me. Don't kill me, mister. Please don't shoot me. Quiet, Papita. Quiet. Me? I'm gonna do you no harm.
[00:28:11] Unknown:
All we're gonna ask you to do is ask you to cook something. Now you wouldn't mind that? Would you prepare me? No, no, mister. I swear I cook anything. You you just tell me. So you're a man, Tia. Yeah. You're the killer.
[00:28:22] Unknown:
Sit down over here with the rest of them, Pop. Yes, sir, Pop. That's the greatest killer alive today. Wait. Did you hear what happened in Oklahoma City? Yeah. I heard. You pulled off a massacre. Who said it was a massacre? The Denver Post. They got it right here. Let me see here. Put that paper down. Did it say how many we killed? Six killed. Four wounded. Hey. Did you hear that, Duke? We killed six. I wounded four. What's the eight back there? Hamburgers. And and we got chicken, mister. Two other wounded is not expected to live. Alright.
[00:28:49] Unknown:
Cook the chicken and the four hamburgers.
[00:28:52] Unknown:
Plenty of onion. Boy, that was a massacre,
[00:28:55] Unknown:
What's your name, sister?
[00:28:58] Unknown:
Gabby.
[00:28:59] Unknown:
Ring us beer for the bunch, Gabby.
[00:29:02] Unknown:
You fellas like to join us? I never touch it. No. I guess I'll have a whiskey. None for you, Grabs. She says I can't have even a little one. I can't have one. Let them have it, Gavin. Sure. It can only be young ones.
[00:29:16] Unknown:
Can I begin putting on? Yeah. Oh. I'll go with a janky.
[00:29:21] Unknown:
Oh, yeah. Come on, Peter. Oh, and while the chicken's in the oven, you and me will talk a little politics. Hey, Duke. Let me tell you. Sit down.
[00:29:29] Unknown:
You you needn't think I'm scared of you.
[00:29:32] Unknown:
I've done real killers in my time. Here's somebody else for the party, boss. He came walking up the road. Come on in, pal.
[00:29:41] Unknown:
Well, we meet again. How? You know where? They stopped us down the road and took mister Chisholm's car. Said he could take their car, but they left it locked. The Chisholm's is there now waiting. Or just let him wait, pal.
[00:29:54] Unknown:
Have a glass of beer? I, thank you.
[00:29:57] Unknown:
Might I have some whiskey instead?
[00:29:59] Unknown:
Certainly. Give them a drink, Gabby.
[00:30:02] Unknown:
And, how about turning on the radio? Yes. What did I tell you, mister Squire? Look at that chin. And you'll kill her alright. He's a gangster and a rat. He ain't a gangster. He's a real old time desperado.
[00:30:17] Unknown:
Gangsters are fun. He he's an American. See if you can get some news on that radio, will you? Can't get but that one station.
[00:30:24] Unknown:
Well, leave it on. As sure as find out, man, if he's out here, we'll see some real killing. Alright, everybody.
[00:30:33] Unknown:
The cops ain't likely to catch up with us. Not tonight. So we can all be quiet and peaceable, have a few beers together, listen to music, not make any wrong moves. May as well tell you folks, old Jackie in there with a machine gun is pretty nervous, jumpy. He's got the edge between his fingers. So let's everybody stay where they are. Let there be killing.
[00:31:06] Unknown:
All evening long, I've had a feeling of destiny closing in. Do you believe in astrology, Duke?
[00:31:13] Unknown:
I couldn't say, pal. I don't normally.
[00:31:16] Unknown:
As I was walking along that road, I began to feel the enchantment of this desert. I looked up at the sky, and the stars seemed to be reproving me, marking me. They were pointing the way to that bleeping sign and saying, there's the end of your tether. You thought you could escape, but we know better. That's what the stars told me. Perhaps they know that carnage is imminent and that I'm due to be among the fallen. It's a fascinating thought.
[00:31:47] Unknown:
Let's give it. Here's a toast. Happy days, everybody.
[00:31:54] Unknown:
Yes, sir. Sure is pleasant to have a killer around here again.
[00:32:19] Unknown:
In a moment, act two of the Petrified Forest, starring Cyril Ritchard with Joan Loring and Ralph Bell. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company. Now act two of the best place production of the petrified forest starring Cyril Richard.
[00:33:09] Unknown:
When the chicken and hamburgers were ready, the cook brought them in. And the outlaws ate as if they hadn't had a meal in a week. And they sat there waiting, their guns across their laps. And the rest of us sat around the room, sometimes listening to the radio and sometimes to grams.
[00:33:27] Unknown:
That old Andy Anderson I was talking about. He was a great character. He didn't kill for business reasons like you fellas. He killed just for the fun of it. He got in the civil war, and he never stopped talking about as long as he lived. He always said that was a regular paradise for killing. He'd stick a Johnny Reb with his blade in it and throw him over his shoulder, and then he'd stick another. And he always said that the beauty of it was there was no sheriffs around to approve them for
[00:33:59] Unknown:
Say, pop, I wish you wouldn't talk so much about blood while we're eating.
[00:34:03] Unknown:
Got it on your conscience,
[00:34:05] Unknown:
On my what?
[00:34:07] Unknown:
Yes. I thought so. A punk like you hasn't got any more conscience than a coyote. Woah.
[00:34:12] Unknown:
Hey. Listen to the half bank. How much did you get for playing on a team?
[00:34:17] Unknown:
I worked my way through college. Yeah. What were you doing? Peddling subscriptions to the American boy. I worked for three whole years in the student laundry. Well, how nice. Wait a minute, smart guy. I got something to show you. Keep your hand off your hip. It's only gonna show you a newspaper clip, and it said I ought to be all American. I scared you, didn't I? I knew it. You're all yellow. You're running your mouth too much, half bag. I mean, it'll take to revive you, Boz. Remember they're your guests. Yeah. They're all a bunch of yellow dogs. That's what made them turn crooked in the first place. No. No.
[00:34:48] Unknown:
Cowardice isn't the cause of crime.
[00:34:51] Unknown:
It has something to do with Glenn. They haven't got the guts to face the bigger problems of life. They gotta fight their way with guns instead of with principles. Step over to that side of the room, half pack. Hey. You're gonna kill them? It's just like I Go on, Moe.
[00:35:03] Unknown:
The shotgun scared us. You wouldn't want me to hurt that cute dame, would you? And now for the latest bulletin concerning the greatest manhunt in human history. Bullets. A monster dragon that's been thrown up over the entire Get moving, half back. You know, you're taking us much too seriously. Turn up that radio, will you, Gary? Half back move. Sit down, half back. Justice is taking care of the sheriff. Did you hear what he got? Bank robbers, perpetrators of the shocking massacre in Oklahoma City. The gang made its escape in two cars, one of which contained Manti and two other men. It's a The other car containing three men and one woman.
The second car was positively identified in Esterline in the Texas Panhandle when it stopped at the local police station, held it up, and departed with a large supply of guns and ammunition. Hey. Nice going, boys. I wonder how the gun was gonna be issued. The following statement. As long as Manti and his followers are at large, a block of shame will mar the proud scutcheon of These United States. Oh, shit. Any citizen who knowingly gives aid or comfort to these public enemies is a traitor to his country and will be answerable before the great bar of public opinion. Sheesh. I'll now give you the scores of the leading football games of the day. Konica Tech thirteen, nine o seven.
Washington State 19, Virginia What are we gonna lamb out of here, boss? When it's time. Gonna make a run for the border, boys? Oh, sure. Sure. Well, we'll give you our whole route before we leave so you can tell the hit cops and have them give us a motorcycle escort. I think I'm about ready for another whiskey, Gabrielle, if I may. Here. Just keep the bottle. Listen, panhandler. Who told you you could call her by her first name? Now please, Bose. You and I must be friends as long as they're littered. Why don't you take a look at him, half back? He hasn't got a gun.
[00:36:41] Unknown:
Hey. How long are you yegs gonna stick around here? Be quiet, half bag. Yes, boss. You'll just get yourself in trouble.
[00:36:47] Unknown:
Gabbie, I got a terrible feeling something's gonna happen, and I gotta tell you something. I love you, Gabbie. Doesn't make any difference to you because you don't know what it means to be really crazy about somebody. For all you know, maybe I do.
[00:36:58] Unknown:
Don't believe it. Who are you ever? I do. You folks gonna spend the night here?
[00:37:03] Unknown:
Can't say, pop.
[00:37:05] Unknown:
Maybe we'll decide to get buried here. You better come with me, Duke. I'm planning to be buried in the petrified forest. I've been evolving a theory about that that would interest you. It's the graveyard of the civilization that's been shocked from under us. It's the world of outmoded ideas, patriotism, Christianity, romance, the economics of Adam Smith. There are also many dead stumps in the desert. That's where I belong and so do you, duke, For you're the last great apostle of rugged individualism, aren't you?
[00:37:35] Unknown:
Maybe you're right, pal. Gabby, who were you ever crazy about?
[00:37:40] Unknown:
Well, if you've got to know it's him.
[00:37:42] Unknown:
What?
[00:37:43] Unknown:
I was just telling Rose that I'm crazy about you. Can I possibly be drunk? You will be if you keep hitting that road. How did you happen to fall for that guy? After you left, Alan, I felt as if I'd come out of a dream. And I caught on to myself when I knew I I'm just another desert rat and I'll never be anything else. K. K. And I just gotta get rid of all that girlish funk that was in me, like, thinking so much about going to France and art and dancing in the street. Gramps.
[00:38:09] Unknown:
Sit down.
[00:38:11] Unknown:
I wanna talk to Grant.
[00:38:13] Unknown:
Talk to him sitting down.
[00:38:15] Unknown:
Very well.
[00:38:16] Unknown:
What's on your mind? Those liberty bonds are yours buried in Santa Fe. How'd you know about them? What are you going to do with them? I'm gonna leave them where they are. Yes. Leave them where they are. Your granddaughter's stifling and suffocating in this desert, and a few of your thousands would give her the chance to claim her birthright. Yeah. Maybe give you a chance to steal it. That's a low way to justify your stinginess. Oh, I know you were a pioneer once, but what are you now? A mean old miser hanging onto that money as though it meant something. Why don't you die and do the world some good? You must be drunk. What's the matter with you?
[00:38:49] Unknown:
What do you mean talking to an old man like that?
[00:38:53] Unknown:
Oh, you're right, Duke. I was guilty of bad taste. And I apologize, mister Maple. Oh, sure. Hey. There's two people coming down the road for us, a man and a woman. Looks like the owner is set toosenberg. Okay, Ruby. Show men when they get here. Duke, if you had any Robin Hood in you, you go to Santa Fe and rob that bank bank and give it to Gabrielle before it's too late for her to use it as it should be used. She'll get it when she needs it, when she has a family of her own to support
[00:39:17] Unknown:
and probably good for nothing unemployed husband.
[00:39:22] Unknown:
Come there. Are you hurt, boss? She got me in the hand. I'll get you in the hedge. You make another move for that Tommy gun.
[00:39:31] Unknown:
Take him in the kitchen. Bandage him, Gabby. He'll be alright.
[00:39:35] Unknown:
Go with him, Jackie. Tie him up. Leave him there. So you try to be brave. Did you have back? Well, it was a nice try. Tough luck. It's company, boss. Come on in.
[00:39:47] Unknown:
Over here, pal. You too, lady.
[00:39:52] Unknown:
Are are you mentee? I knew it was a mistake to take that hitchhiker into the car. I don't see what he had to do with it. He certainly didn't help back as much. Now listen, everybody.
[00:40:02] Unknown:
I don't want anybody getting any more ideas like that football player did. Just keep in mind that me and the boys are candidates for hanging. The minute anybody makes a wrong move, I'm gonna kill the whole lot of you. So keep your seats.
[00:40:20] Unknown:
Duke, I have a great favor to ask you. Yeah? I don't think you'll refuse it because you're a man of imagination. You're not afraid to do
[00:40:30] Unknown:
rather outlandish thing. What are you getting at?
[00:40:34] Unknown:
There's an insurance policy here in my pack. I'd like to take it out if I may.
[00:40:39] Unknown:
Alright. Just don't try anything funny. What do you want with your insurance?
[00:40:43] Unknown:
Expect to die? You've guessed it, mister Maple. You, this insurance policy is my only asset. It's for $5,000 and was made out in favor of my wife. She's a rich woman and she doesn't need the money. Now I'm writing on the policy that I want the money paid for. Rich woman, and she doesn't need the money. Now I'm writing on the policy that I want the money paid to Gabrielle. What I'm getting at is this, Duke. I wish I'd be much obliged if you just kill me. It couldn't make any difference to you, Duke. They can only hang you once. And you see, Duke, in killing me, you'd only be executing the sentence of the law.
I mean, natural law, survival of the fittest. Hey. Here's Duncan. Sure.
[00:41:23] Unknown:
I'm having a fine time showing off. Of course. I'm showing off.
[00:41:27] Unknown:
I'm trying to rival Bose in gallantry. Is there anything unnatural in that? Bose is ready to sacrifice his life to become an all American star and I'm ready to do likewise. Can't you see what I mean, Chesham? I'm afraid I'm not greatly interested in your whimsicalities. I don't blame you. You must remember that this is a weird country we're in. Those mazes, what do you call them, are enchanted. You have to be prepared for the improbable.
[00:41:51] Unknown:
You're in love with that girl, aren't you? And not unreasonably.
[00:41:55] Unknown:
I wanna show her that I believe in her. And how else can I do it? Living, I'm worth nothing to her but dead. Well, I can buy the tallest cathedrals and golden vineyards and dancing in the streets. One well directed bullet will accomplish that. Will you do it, Duke?
[00:42:14] Unknown:
I'd be glad to. I'd like to tell you one thing, friend. What's that, mister Mabel? There ain't a woman ever lived worth $5,000
[00:42:23] Unknown:
Let me tell you one thing. You're a forgetful old fool. That lovely girl, that granddaughter of yours, do you know what she is? She's the future. She's the renewal of vitality and courage and aspiration. All the strength that's gone out of you. She's well, I know she's essential to me and the whole country and the whole miserable world. Now, Mrs. Croire Please, Mrs. Chisholm, please don't look at me quizzically.
[00:42:49] Unknown:
I know how I sound. I'm wondering if you really believe all that about women. Of course, I
[00:42:55] Unknown:
do. And here's a man who agrees with me. Don't you, Duke? I don't know, pal. It wasn't his name. And permit me to speak for you. The Duke could have been over the border long ago and safe, but he prefers to stay here and risk his life. And do you know why? Why? Because he has a rendezvous here with a girl. Isn't that true, Duke?
[00:43:14] Unknown:
Yeah, pal. That's it. I guess we're all a lot of saps, but I wouldn't be surprised if you were the champion. Do you think I was kidding when I said I'd be glad to knock you off? I hope that neither of us was kidding. You're alright, pal. I'll try to fix it since it won't hurt.
[00:43:35] Unknown:
You're alright too, Duke. I'd like to meet you again someday.
[00:43:41] Unknown:
Maybe it'll be soon.
[00:43:42] Unknown:
You know,
[00:43:44] Unknown:
this frightful place has suddenly become quite cozy. And that's my doing, missus Chisholm. You ought to thank me for having taken it out of the realms of reality. I'm going to see something at last.
[00:43:54] Unknown:
And after that dreadful, dull day looking at cliff dwellings, do you realize that we're going to witness murder? He's actually going to shoot you. Shh, Mrs. Jess.
[00:44:03] Unknown:
Hello, Gabrielle.
[00:44:06] Unknown:
How's Beau's? You'll be alright. Is your time up good, janky? Yeah. Yeah. In the bathroom. They took it set to 10:00.
[00:44:14] Unknown:
We'll give him a few more minutes. Listen, grand.
[00:44:16] Unknown:
I've got an idea. We ought to sell this place. We could get a good price because people are gonna be flocking here just to see where Duke Mante stopped. You're still aiming to take that trip to France? No. I'm asking you to do it for dad's sake. Let him get located in Los Angeles. And maybe I'll find that that writer with Warner Brothers, and maybe I'll get a job.
[00:44:35] Unknown:
And then we'll all be rich. Would you be content with that? I don't care what happens to me. But you must think about yourself. You want to go to France to be a great painter, don't you? Then you'll have to get used to being a colossal egoist, selfish to the core.
[00:44:47] Unknown:
Do you mind if I speak up, my dear? Perhaps I could tell you some things that what do you know about me? Nothing. If I were you, Edith, I'd keep out of you. You haven't the remotest conception of what's inside me and you never have. Gabby, I don't know about you, but I know what it means to repress yourself and starve yourself through what you concede to be your duty to others. When I was your age, I wanted to be an actress. But my family started yapping about my obligation to them who had given me everything including life. At least they called it life.
They kept me there in Dayton to take my place in the junior league and the country club and everything else that's foul and not seen. And before I knew that I was married to this pillar of the loan and trust company. And what did he do? He took my soul and had it stenciled on a card and filed. And where have I been ever since? In an art metal cabinet. That's why I think I have a little right to advise. Good lord. Oh, you need to look so martyred. You look perfectly well that until this minute, I've never complained. Never complained. Forgive me if I indulge in some quiet, mirthless laughter. What you wanted is a wife who's an ornamental cipher. And I've given you what you wanted. The cost of of my individuality, my self respect, and everything else. At the cost of nothing. I suppose you never came storming into my office and created a scene just when I was straining every faculty to find ways Am I the duty? Your insane extravagance is What?
Gabby, don't let them stifle you with their talk about duty. Go to France
[00:46:21] Unknown:
and find yourself. And suppose she learns there's nothing there to find. Even so, it would be better than endless doubt. You know, there's something here that stimulates the autobiographical
[00:46:30] Unknown:
impulse. What kind of life have you had, Duke? Rotten?
[00:46:35] Unknown:
Oh, no. I don't believe it. Why not lady?
[00:46:40] Unknown:
Because you've had the one supreme satisfaction of knowing
[00:46:45] Unknown:
that at least you're a real man.
[00:46:48] Unknown:
Yeah. That's true. But what has it got me? I spent most of my time since I grew up in jail. Looks like I'll spend the rest of my life dead.
[00:46:59] Unknown:
Excuse me, Excuse me, Duke. How's the time getting along? It's just about up, pal. I must talk to you, Gabriel. You can wait until after they've gone. No. I can't wait. I mean, when they go, I go. I have to tell you now that I love you.
[00:47:17] Unknown:
Oh, now listen, Alan. I got sort of upset by all that blood and I didn't I tell you solemnly
[00:47:23] Unknown:
that I love you with all the heart that's left in me. Don't make a fool of yourself, Alan. They're all staring at you. I know they are, but you've got to believe it and you've got to remember it because you see it's my only chance of survival. I told you about that major artist that's been hidden. Well, I'm transferring him to you. You'll find a line in that verse of Villon that fits that. Something about, thus in your field, my seeds of harvester will thrive. I've provided barren soil for that seed, but you'll give it fertility and growth and fruition.
[00:48:01] Unknown:
I think we'd be terribly happy together, Alan. Say that. Why not when I believe it with all my heart?
[00:48:07] Unknown:
Maybe we'll be happy together in a funny kind of way. Alan, if you're going away, I'm going with you wherever it is. No, Gabriel. I'm not going away anywhere. I don't have to go any farther because I think I found the thing I was looking for. I found it here. I can't say what it is, Gabrielle, because I don't quite know yet. Alright, Duke. We needn't wait any longer.
[00:48:31] Unknown:
Watch it, boys. What was that? Pick up your hand. Who is it, Roby? Looks like something loose from a circus. Whoop.
[00:48:38] Unknown:
Send them in.
[00:48:40] Unknown:
Quiet. What is it? Just stick them. What a kiss. What's going on here? Tell Jason that there's DuPontee. Been here all evening. What's the uniform you're wearing? It's It's Ralph M. Kesterling, post of the American Legion. I'm the commander of the post, buddy. And I wanna tell you that we fought in the World War. She she wouldn't shoot us down in cold blood. Sure we would. Sit down, boys. Over there with the rest of them.
[00:49:06] Unknown:
What'd you come here for? I I I live here. That's my fault.
[00:49:11] Unknown:
What'd you bring this commander for? We were trailing you. And by jing, we caught up Sure. We caught up, commander. Unless we talked better for all concerned. What made you think I'd be around here? They caught your pals. Three men and a blonde.
[00:49:26] Unknown:
Where was it?
[00:49:27] Unknown:
Come on. They, caught them at Buckhorn. It's in New Mexico, about, about 90, a hundred miles from here. When? I don't know. We heard about it half an hour ago. I warned you, Vanti. You better get out of here for your own good. Anybody else coming this way? I don't know. That's true. But there are posses all around here. I don't want to get this place shot up. They'll be heading this way. They say that the woman in that car
[00:49:49] Unknown:
been doing some talking. What? Doris, she's slitched. They always Shut up.
[00:49:55] Unknown:
Oh, you saying? I I I'm telling you for your own good, man. T. They know where you were heading. They picked up your trail. They'll get you. She has, Slitch. Come on, Duke. Let's get out of here. Now listen to them, Duke. Come on, boss, so we're all dead. Shut up. Shut up.
[00:50:08] Unknown:
Give me time to think. No, Duke. Don't waste time thinking. That isn't your game. Don't listen to what they're telling you. You gotta keep going and going and going. Yeah. And go fast. Duke and double cross, Duke. And the next thing you'll be laid out flat on a marble slab. Where'd they take her? The woman of tar. I don't know. Maybe to Albuquerque. And if we head that way, they'll take us. You want revenge, don't you, Duke? You want to go out of your way again to that blonde who stitched? Don't do it, Duke. Even if you do betray you, don't commit a worse crime. Don't betray yourself. Go on. Run for the border and take your illusions with you. Yeah. He's right, Duke. You know that they're going to get you anyway. You're obsolete, Duke, like me. You've got to die. Then die for freedom. That's worth it. Don't give up your life for anything so cheap and unsatisfactory as revenge. I hear a car coming, boss. We better land now. Alright, pal. I'm gone.
[00:50:52] Unknown:
Now listen, folks. We've had a pleasant evening here. I'd hate to spoil it with any killing at the finish. So stay where you are until we're out of sight because we'll be watching.
[00:51:04] Unknown:
Cars stopped out here in the road for us. Guys with rifles. Perhaps. Hiccup. Looks like It's a sheriff. He's got you, Manti. How many, Roby? It's a seven. You're crawling into the sagebrush, the other side of the road. Give him a couple of bursts to scare him. I'm a be you have no right to maintain the lives of innocent people. You you you'll better surrender. Folks, better get down on the floor. Lie down all of you close together in the middle. Go back, Betsy.
[00:51:32] Unknown:
It's an inspiring moment, isn't it, Cabrio? United States of America versus G20. They've absolutely written me on life. It's some deputy ships. They're probably all drunk. It almost restores any of the will to live and love and conquer. Now listen, Nita, if I'm killed What did you tell me? I said if I'm killed and you're not, notify Jack Lavery, he has full instructions.
[00:51:50] Unknown:
I
[00:51:51] Unknown:
can't get a good angle on it, but they're drifting over this way. I feel as I was sitting on top of a mountain in the middle of Penguin Island watching, watching the odd little creatures. How do you feel about it, darling? I don't know. And I don't care. I wish you stopped that praying. I'm not praying. I'm sitting in here.
[00:52:07] Unknown:
Adam, when you get to France, what do you see first? Customs officers. But what's the first real fight you see? The Beals And Palace Of Normandy and then What, Alan? And then Paris. Paris?
[00:52:18] Unknown:
That's the most marvelous place in the world for love, isn't it? All places are marvelous. Even here? This is Benjamin here, my darling.
[00:52:25] Unknown:
Alan, will you please kiss me?
[00:52:28] Unknown:
Oh, Lord. Now take me out of my mouth. Never.
[00:52:32] Unknown:
You three, come with me. Wait. What for? Wait. You're gonna hang on to the running board. We gotta have shields. Oh, well, alright. Alright. I don't care what happens to me. Oh, I don't care what
[00:52:44] Unknown:
dust. Uh-huh. Okay. Go crazy, mankey.
[00:52:46] Unknown:
That's you, Pop. Come on. Under your feet. Get moving through that door. They won't shoot at you. You won't let any of you get hurt if you keep your hands up and make plenty of noise. Come on. Keep open. Tell them not to shoot. Sheriff,
[00:53:00] Unknown:
it's commander Johnson. Don't shoot. They're using that for protection. Stop shooting.
[00:53:07] Unknown:
Alright. The rest of you better stay where you are for a while. Good night, folks. Duke? How can keep that? Duke?
[00:53:16] Unknown:
You still want it, pal? No matter what happens or not. You've got to.
[00:53:20] Unknown:
Okay, pal. So long, pal. We'll be seeing you soon.
[00:53:29] Unknown:
Good. Go get both he knows about first aid. That fell Amanda.
[00:53:34] Unknown:
I never thought he, Amanda. Alan, you wanted him to shoot you. You wanted me to shoot. Stop that shooting.
[00:53:41] Unknown:
Those are innocent people on the running board.
[00:53:45] Unknown:
Listen, Hass. At least it's that's the theme. I've had it this long. It's alright, Alan. It isn't alright. I'm practically doing it. No, Alan.
[00:53:58] Unknown:
You said you wanted to live. I know I didn't. And I'll live with you. I will.
[00:54:04] Unknown:
I know I said it. I was blinded then, but now I see.
[00:54:11] Unknown:
Rose, grab somebody. Come here quick.
[00:54:15] Unknown:
They're right, Cabo. I mean, the stars. I had come all this way to find a reason. Oh, people only had guts enough. They'd always find death is funny looking, but you've understood what it was I wanted. I hope you will.
[00:54:53] Unknown:
What, hon? What did you say, hon? No, don't worry, hon. I'm not gonna be a damn crybaby about it. I know you died happy, didn't you?
[00:55:15] Unknown:
Are you alright, Gabby? Oh, kid?
[00:55:18] Unknown:
He's dead. Sure he is.
[00:55:21] Unknown:
And he don't miss. Oh, that's tough.
[00:55:26] Unknown:
He was a good guy at that. Listen, Gabby. Here's the funny thing.
[00:55:30] Unknown:
His life insurance for 5,000 berries, he made out to you and it looks regular. Said he wanted you to spend on a trip to France to see your mother. Of course, I I don't know if it's collectible, but I'm gonna get to Summerfield in the morning and see about it. He was the queerest fella I ever did see.
[00:55:49] Unknown:
I couldn't make him out. Well, what's the damage in here? What what did Lantee shoot him for? Is he? Yeah.
[00:55:59] Unknown:
Yep. He's gone.
[00:56:01] Unknown:
Oh, poor fellow. Well, he died a hero's death. We'll give him an honorable funeral.
[00:56:09] Unknown:
We'll bury him out there in the petrified forest.
[00:56:12] Unknown:
What?
[00:56:13] Unknown:
That's what he wanted. That's what he said. Come away from him, Gabby. Don't keep staring at him. I gotta get somebody on Manti's trail.
[00:56:23] Unknown:
Hello? Get me the sheriff's office tomorrow. Your field, my seats of harvest. She will thrive. For the fruit is like me that I set. Debbie, come away from him. God bids me tend it with good husbandry. This is the end for which we twain our necks. Don't keep staring at him. Hello?
[00:56:42] Unknown:
Oh, who's this? Oh, hello, Ernie. Jason Maple. Say, man T was here and escaped south in the yellow Duesenberg, Ohio license plate. Sheriff went after him, but you gotta watch Route 71 and sent out to alarm to watch Route 60. Yeah. Yeah. We had quite some shooting here. You have just heard the best plays production of The Petrified Forest by Robert Sherwood starring Cyril Ritchard, and here once more is your host, drama critic John Chapman.
[00:57:29] Unknown:
You might like to join me in thanking mister Richard and our best plays company for an admirable performance. And we'd better thank Robert E. Sherwood too for having written the play. The Petrified Forest has been the fifty second production in our best plays series, and we've been proud of most of the 52. Several of these plays have been extraordinarily good. The combination of fine drama and right performances, which is always the goal of the theater. One of the best of the best was the Madwoman of Chaillot, a French comedy by Jean Giraudoux.
And quite often listeners have written in to say they'd like to hear it again. So next week, our fifty third production of this series will be a second performance of the Mad Women. Once again, our cast will be headed by Alene McMahon, Estelle Linwood, and Agnes Young. This is Chapman saying goodbye until then.
[00:58:34] Unknown:
The petrified forest was transcribed and adapted for radio by Earl Hamlin. Heard in the cast were Joan Loring as Gabby, Ralph Bell as Duke mentee, Joseph Julian as Boldt, Adelaide Kline as Mrs. Chisholm, Ted Osborne as Mr. Chisholm, Wendell Holmes as Jason, Haynes Boldt as the Legion commander, Larry Haines as Jackie, Kenneth Lynch as Ruby, and Edgar Staley as Grant. Best plays is an NBC Radio Network production supervised by William Welch and directed by Edward King. Your announcer is Robert Denton.
[00:59:13] Unknown:
Jimmy Stewart stars on six shooter next on NBC.
Introduction to Best Plays
The Petrified Forest: A Historical Context
Life at Black Mesa: Gabby and Boze
A Stranger Arrives: Alan Squire
Dreams of France: Gabby's Aspirations
Duke Mantee's Arrival
A Tense Hostage Situation
A Desperate Proposal
The Final Showdown
Conclusion and Reflections
