In this intriguing episode of Mystery Theater, hosted by EG Marshall, we delve into the complexities of aging, ambition, and the supernatural. The story revolves around Minnie Maxwell, a former world tennis champion, who finds herself struggling with her game, particularly her once-powerful backhand. As she faces the pressures of maintaining her status and the expectations of her father, Minnie reveals a shocking secret: she claims to have sold her backhand to the devil. This revelation sets off a chain of events that leads Minnie to confront her past decisions, her relationships, and the true cost of her success.
As the narrative unfolds, we are taken on a journey through Minnie's memories and dreams, exploring her childhood, her relationship with her father, and her romantic entanglements. The episode raises questions about the price of ambition and the sacrifices made in the pursuit of greatness. With a blend of mystery and drama, "Whose Little Girl Are You?" challenges listeners to consider the value of personal integrity and the dangers of compromising one's soul for worldly gains.
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[00:00:17]
Unknown:
Come in. Welcome. I'm EG Marshall. If only when we hear old age coming, we could bar the way and shout, the one you seek is absent. Call another day. Old age. It must come to everyone. Old age is, after all, only a part of the grand design for life. So why do we fight it? It's a battle no human being has ever won. That is as far as we know. But who is to guarantee that we know everything? Ladies and gentlemen, my guest on sports personalities this evening is miss Minnie Maxwell, former world tennis champion. Miss Maxwell, you've you've lost all your matches this year because you're having trouble with your backhand. Isn't that true?
[00:01:11] Unknown:
Yes. I'd say that's true. Well now, what what seems to be wrong with it? There's nothing wrong with it. It's gone. Gone? How? Well, I sold it. You,
[00:01:24] Unknown:
you sold it. To whom did you sell it? I sold it to the devil.
[00:01:35] Unknown:
Our mystery drama, Whose Little Girl Are You, was written especially for the mystery theater by Sam Dan and stars Marion Seldes. It is sponsored in part by Buick Motor Division and Contact, the twelve hour cold capsule. I'll be back shortly with act one. The standard engine is a v eight. Standard tires, steel belted radials. There are front and rear stabilizer bars, special springs, and shock valving, fast ratio power steering, and a rally steering wheel. What makes all this interesting is that it belongs to a full size six passenger Buick, the 1977 LeSabre sport coupe. You'll have to drive it to believe it.
Things basically remain the same. The values, the standards, the rewards of society rarely change. For instance, in ancient Greece, the wisest man was Socrates. The funniest was Euphrates. So it should not surprise you to learn that Socrates was quite poor, and Euphrates was very rich. In the marketplace, trivia has always commanded a higher price than wisdom. After all, a semiliterate baseball player with an arm like a rifle is paid infinitely more than a serious scientist who is working on and may one day discover a cure for cancer.
Oh, well, if you can't lick them, join them. So we are in the broadcasting booth overlooking the action high above a great modern stadium.
[00:03:27] Unknown:
A beautiful return by many. Oh, and an even sharper one by Ruth Evans. Now the law by Minnie Maxwell. But Ruth isn't full. She's ready. And there's a hard smash. The Minnie's left to the corner, to the backhand. Minnie's there. She hits it, into the net. Well, that's it. Game set match, Ruth Evans. Ladies and gentlemen, it's it's the old story, that same old story. Somehow, mysteriously, it it's gone. That that power backhand is gone. She was the greatest when she had it. And now at 27 in the prime of life, right at the peak of her career, Minnie Maxwell is all washed up. Oh, you're all washed up, you loud mouth. I'm a great fit.
[00:04:11] Unknown:
The nerve of that two bit spieler. Why you insist we look at a replay of the tape of the game? You learned something maybe that's why. Bad enough I had to live through that match on the court. Live? You call that living? You died out there. Then why we have to screen the rebroadcast? You can see what you did. It's what I didn't do.
[00:04:27] Unknown:
I didn't hit a decent backhand all day. Well you hit a decent backhand all year. So? What else is new? Alright. Go ahead. Be flip. Your career is coming apart this seems. Go ahead. Be flip with your old man. Hey so it's coming apart.
[00:04:40] Unknown:
It's my career. Your career.
[00:04:42] Unknown:
Is that a fact? I busted my back to get us to the top. Think I'm gonna let you throw it away? Grab a couple of rackets and a bucket of balls. Where are we going? Down to the court. I played a full match today. You didn't play. You showed up. Could have been arrested for impersonating a professional tennis player.
[00:05:03] Unknown:
What are we gonna do?
[00:05:05] Unknown:
We're we're gonna work this out, Donette. I'm not a little girl anymore.
[00:05:10] Unknown:
You can't make me stand on that court hour after hour.
[00:05:15] Unknown:
Hello? Oh, it's you. Is Minnie Maxwell all washed up? Well, you're washed up as far as any interview was concerned you creep. I spoke to him. That means I gotta answer the phone for all those newspaper goons. Maria, for crying out loud, why do you put that stupid Bob clone through? All right. The wires open. Let them all in. Murderers.
[00:05:41] Unknown:
Good night, Pa. Where are you going? Out.
[00:05:44] Unknown:
What do you mean out?
[00:05:46] Unknown:
I'm 27 and I'm going out. You ain't going nowhere.
[00:05:51] Unknown:
Yeah. Oh, yeah, Harry. Good night. Hold it a second, Harry. Listen. You're in training. I said I was going out. You go out there, the reporters won't let you live. I know how to duck the reporter. Listen. When you get to where you're gonna eat, you check with me. Now I I I want you back here by 11:00. Listen, Harry, the kid's a little off her form. But pound for pound, she's still the greatest tennis player in the world.
[00:06:21] Unknown:
Hi. What are you doing here? Mind if I join you? I've got a date.
[00:06:26] Unknown:
Oh,
[00:06:27] Unknown:
you're sore at me. You and pop both. Why don't you go someplace where you're wanted and appreciated?
[00:06:33] Unknown:
And people can be thrilled by the presence of the great Bob Cohn. I do my job, Minnie. Which is what? To shoot off that big loud mouth? Which is to report the fact. Well, the fact is I wanna be alone, so take off. Oh, you said you had a date. Isn't true,
[00:06:50] Unknown:
How did you find me? I thought I gave all you guys a slip. Why don't you have a date, Minnie? What are you driving at, mister Clones? As a matter of fact, your name has rarely, if ever, as they say, been linked, with someone else since Carl Fortis.
[00:07:03] Unknown:
Is this a fact you have to report to your thirsty public?
[00:07:06] Unknown:
Hungry. You hunger for facts. You thirst for knowledge. Oh, thank you. I didn't have to ask that question.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
You've been too busy playing tennis all your life. Well, why don't you run back to the studio right now and put that on the air? What a scoop. It's a beat.
[00:07:22] Unknown:
Reporters haven't scored scoops for forty years now. Please get out of here before you ruin my dinner.
[00:07:28] Unknown:
What happened to that backhand, Minnie? To the patented, potent, Minnie Maxwell backhand, the scourge of the circuit. I guess it's gone with the wind. And also with the snows of yesteryear. What happened to the backhand, Minnie? You really wanna know, don't you? Alright. Write this down. I sold it. You you sold it? That's right. Okay.
[00:07:54] Unknown:
To whom did you sell it? I sold it to the devil. The
[00:07:59] Unknown:
the devil? Don't look so surprised.
[00:08:02] Unknown:
I,
[00:08:03] Unknown:
I'm not so surprised. Sure you are. Why shouldn't you be? You've heard of people who sell their souls to the devil. I just sold my backhand. I,
[00:08:14] Unknown:
I'm going along with the gag. You think it's a gag? Yeah. Sold your backhand to the devil. What what did you get? For it. What did I get for it?
[00:08:22] Unknown:
Oh, Bobby. That's the sad part. Nobody would wanna hear about it. They'd laugh you off the air. You don't wanna know what I got for it.
[00:08:32] Unknown:
Tell me, Minnie. I got
[00:08:35] Unknown:
long nights in which I don't sleep. And when I do, I have bad dreams. And and when the sun shines on that center court, I don't feel warm anymore. I can't seem to rest. I'm always so tired. You better see a doctor. Oh, I've seen a million doctors, the best doctors. But I finally discovered the cure I need myself. What are you talking about? I I can't sleep. I I told you that, didn't I? Yeah. Yeah. You just did. So I just take a few pills, you see? Yeah. And they do the trick. But only for a little while. But in the morning, I wake up. I still can't hit the back end.
So I I figured out what to do. Do you wanna know?
[00:09:25] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:09:26] Unknown:
If I take more pills, then I won't have any problem at all with that back end. I I just
[00:09:33] Unknown:
won't wake up the next morning or any morning. Minnie, do you know what you're saying? What I'm saying now is good night. Minnie, listen I gotta go home. I'm in training and Pop raises the rope with my mouth. Minnie, I can't let you go like this. But what? You as good as told me you intend to, Oh, but what a scoop.
[00:09:53] Unknown:
Or do you call it a beat? Mimi, you
[00:09:57] Unknown:
you must be crazy. I'm sure I'm crazy.
[00:10:00] Unknown:
What is it? Good lord. What is it? Two people fan of all each other across a net. That's all it is. That's all it ever was.
[00:10:13] Unknown:
It's my whole life. I don't understand it. It's my whole life. Minnie, you're Minnie,
[00:10:21] Unknown:
you've gotta see a doctor. Oh, say anything you like. I'm not gonna be here tomorrow morning. W where are you going? Don't ask me. I'm just a dumb tennis player. I don't know anything. I don't know where I'll go. Hell, then, hell. Maybe I don't go anyplace. Minnie, would you, would you let me take you home? No. You stay right where you are. I'll start a real scene. Good night, mister clown. Good night and goodbye. Is that you, Minnie?
[00:10:52] Unknown:
Yeah. It's me, Minnie. Oh, did you eat? Yes. What'd you have? What's the difference? Well, the difference is you gotta lay off them starches. Yes, Bob. Look,
[00:11:04] Unknown:
Minnie, I I know it's tough.
[00:11:07] Unknown:
I'm tired. You know what this game's all about? What life's all about? Guts. That's it. When you were six years old, I saw that. Oh, sure. You had talent but you had guts. You wouldn't quit. You stayed on that court for hours and hours till you learned. God, I said I was tired. I don't know what it is but we're gonna fight it and we're gonna lick it. You understand? Sure. Good night, Pa. Oh, don't read. What? Well, sometimes you stay up all night and read. Maybe it could be doing something to your eyesight. Now call the doctor right now and set up an appointment. Oh it's close to midnight.
[00:11:49] Unknown:
Well what do I care?
[00:11:51] Unknown:
For what I'm paying this quack? Just let me hear him beef even once.
[00:11:57] Unknown:
Good night daddy.
[00:12:02] Unknown:
You know something? What? I can't even remember the last time you called me daddy. Good night. Yeah, kid. Good night. It disappeared overnight, that backhand did, but maybe it'll come back the same way suddenly. Maybe even tomorrow morning.
[00:12:31] Unknown:
He turned his attention to the telephone and to the call he was making to the doctor, and I went to my room. Maybe it will come back the same way, suddenly, maybe even tomorrow morning. Well, it wouldn't be coming back. Those would be the last words he would ever say to me. The pills were in the bottle. I didn't even think about it. I'd made up my mind. What I was doing was wrong from every conceivable moral and ethical point of view. But all that was behind me now. I thought of what I'd said to Bob Clown about selling my backhand to the devil.
I'd said it without thinking. I said it to be flipped. But now that I consider the implications, of course, it's true. That's exactly what I did. And so I really have no choice, do I? I must take these pills. I'm going to take them right now.
[00:13:45] Unknown:
All of them.
[00:14:05] Unknown:
Out loud who can help me. So, the morning. Oh, it's all right. I hear you. I'm coming. I'm coming. All right. All right. Who's out there? Get out of here, you crazy. Pop, listen. What do you mean ringing my doorbell at four in the morning? I I gotta talk to you. Just get out of here before I call the cops. Look, it's a matter of life and death. You could drop dead on the other side of that door if all those bother me.
[00:14:35] Unknown:
Pop. Oh. I'm gonna ring it. Thank you so much.
[00:14:38] Unknown:
Now I'm gonna open this door and I'm gonna punch you in the nose. Just what's the big idea coming in here? Is is she okay? Is she okay? Is she okay? Minnie, who do you think I'm talking about? What have you got up your sleeve? You could just tell me? Is she okay? Oh, she's okay. Now what do you think is that? I'm just positive. Where is she? Well, she's in her room. What do you think? Go in and make sure. Make sure of what? If you don't, I will. Now listen, cologne. You better start talking. Pop.
[00:15:04] Unknown:
I had dinner with her tonight. You what? Okay. I I followed her where she went to eat. I I sat down with her. We started to talk. Now why would she have anything to say to you? She started to say things. She she talked about killing herself. Oh, that's a lie. She was talking about taking an overdose of pills. Oh, no, no, no. Not her. Not my daughter. When did you last see her? Well,
[00:15:26] Unknown:
what just before midnight.
[00:15:30] Unknown:
Well, she she wouldn't do it. It. Pop, it's been bothering me. I, I, I, I couldn't rest. We, will you go look at her? No, no. Nobody in my family would do that. Listen, you, you, you come with me. Minnie?
[00:15:49] Unknown:
Oh, oh, good Lord.
[00:15:58] Unknown:
In the midst of life, there is something about the young, the strong, the beautiful, something so trenchant, something so tragic. She lies there, her breath coming more and more slowly, her pulse is failing. And some of you absolutely unreconstructed cynics in our audience are saying, oh, they wouldn't kill her off in the first act. Well, maybe we will and maybe we won't. Why don't you wait till the second act? You wanna talk about what's fair? Consider. You get the most expensive racket money can buy. You hire the most competent professional money can attract. You practice long, hard, frustrating hours, and it's just about all you can do to serve that ball with the net.
Then along comes some sharp eyed, sure handed kid who never took a lesson in his or her life and it's bang, smack, all over the court. Never a miss, never an out. Fair? When was life ever fair? However, the sharp eyed, sure handed kids also have their problems. They grow older and sometimes the world becomes a little too much for them. I remember
[00:17:26] Unknown:
I said my prayers. Now I lay me down to sleep and I stopped because I knew it was a lie because I had taken the pills. And so I knew I couldn't fool the Lord and I wasn't praying to the Lord anyhow but to the devil because I'd sold him my back half so I said a new prayer now I lay me down to die. Yeah. Lay me down in my own little bed. I had a little bed once, I remember. My mother My mother would rock that little bed
[00:18:16] Unknown:
and she would say,
[00:18:19] Unknown:
whose little girl are you? Whose little girl are you?
[00:18:24] Unknown:
She's her daddy's little girl. Look at those arms. Those long, pretty little arms. She's gonna play tennis, mother. She's gonna be a champ. Daddy's little girl
[00:18:38] Unknown:
daddy's little girl oh that little bed was so soft and comfortable I felt so safe and warm Even though sometimes I could hear mother and daddy and they spoke very loudly. She's only a child, Everett. They're never too young to learn. She should be having fun. She has fun. What do you think tennis is? It's fun. Not for you. It's life and death. Listen, you get a kid like her only once every hundred years. She's our world champion. And you never were the world champion, were you, Everett? Oh, don't start that. I'll start it and end it. Don't you try to live through her. I know that argument. It isn't true. When you found out you had a little girl, you almost died of disappointment. You wanted a board. What's got into you all of a sudden? And then when she was five years old, you put a racket into her hand to make it a chance you could never be. This girl has a God given gift and it'll be a sin to waste it. I don't want any more of this argument. Just let her grow up as a normal child or or you and I will be divorced.
[00:19:44] Unknown:
Oh, that's crazy. You and me
[00:19:48] Unknown:
Divorced? I promise you I will walk out of here with her and you will never see us again. Honey, you you've got a The discussion is over. But I Do you want our marriage to be over too? And then mother no longer came to sit by my little bed. My little bed that could rock like a boat. Oh, I love that bed. Then there was that night. That mother looked very pale and the doctor came and they took her away she never came back again and daddy and I we returned from the place where we buried her Daddy put me to bed. He was crying and he asked me,
[00:20:39] Unknown:
whose little girl are you? You're you're my little girl. You're my little girl now.
[00:20:51] Unknown:
And I was. I was from that day on.
[00:21:00] Unknown:
Boom! Get to the ball!
[00:21:03] Unknown:
What's the matter now? I'm tired, Daddy. You're tired because you eat candy. I told you not to eat candy.
[00:21:08] Unknown:
The teacher says we need sugar for energy. Well don't listen to them teachers. What does a teacher know? Listen daddy, according to the books. What are you reading books for?
[00:21:17] Unknown:
You wanna know something you ask me. What do you have to know anyhow? Yes daddy. And that's another thing. Don't call me daddy. You ain't a little girl anymore. You're practically a grown up kid. You gotta quit pretending you're your kid. You you just call me pop. Yeah?
[00:21:33] Unknown:
Yes, pop. I'm still in my little bed And it's rocking, rocking like a boat And I'm lying in a boat A little boat with with Carl Carl What are you thinking about, Carl? Oh, I'm afraid to tell you I didn't think you were afraid of anything You football hero
[00:22:04] Unknown:
That's not true Us football heroes, we're usually afraid of everything. That's why we become heroes. Fool everybody.
[00:22:12] Unknown:
They're true. And you won't play pro ball? Sure. It's true. But that's where the money is.
[00:22:19] Unknown:
Well, there's money in chemistry and that's what I wanna do. Oh, but how can you even compare? Well, I played football only so I could go to college and I have to spend all my time with chemistry. You you could do both. Do you do both?
[00:22:32] Unknown:
Well, what do you mean by both? Well, do you do anything else besides tennis? What else is there?
[00:22:39] Unknown:
Well, could, be me? Well, of course, that's you. I love you, Carl. You love me enough to give up tennis?
[00:22:48] Unknown:
Give up tennis? We could play afternoons and weekends. What do you mean give up tennis?
[00:22:53] Unknown:
Why? You know what I mean.
[00:22:55] Unknown:
The life. Oh, Carl. Papa and I, we worked so hard and so long. Why?
[00:23:01] Unknown:
Carl? This is the year I became with this chair. I beat Ruth F. I know.
[00:23:05] Unknown:
The Ruth F. You proved your point, Ann. I made All American. I proved mine. Now let's just live like human beings. We live like human beings, don't we? Do we? Belong to a public. We live in a fishbowl. Don't you wanna live a normal life? Oh, Carl. I love you. And I love you.
[00:23:29] Unknown:
Well, don't you wanna marry me?
[00:23:31] Unknown:
Yes. But you don't wanna marry me. How can you say that? Well, would you wanna get married tonight? Sure. Yeah? Well, tomorrow you leave for Australia for the Pacific tournament. Oh, well, we'll just put it off a little bit and Until when? Whether there's the Davis Cup, then there's the Forest Hills, Wimbledon, one series of matches after another. When would we have time for a married life? We'd work it out. Two people who love each other can always work things out. Yeah. Two of us could work things out but not the three of us. You and me.
But not you and me
[00:24:08] Unknown:
and Pop. Oh, Carl. You don't understand.
[00:24:11] Unknown:
Pop gave up everything for me. One thing he never gave up was you.
[00:24:16] Unknown:
Alright. Why don't we just get married? I want it more than anything else in the world. The boat. The little boat which used to be my little bed is now rocking and rocking Rocking And everything is going wrong and wrong and wrong
[00:24:50] Unknown:
Go ahead. Quit. Pa. Is he gonna quit?
[00:24:53] Unknown:
He's not gonna play football.
[00:24:55] Unknown:
Okay. But his career is being a chemist. Are you gonna give that up? Well No. But what? He does what he wants to do but you're the one who has to give the due the giving up. Look it's time. And time you what? Cooked a guy's dinner, darned his socks, washed diapers. Well there's more to marriage than that. Yeah. You can be the greatest thing that ever lived. You're standing in the doorway right now and you're thrown away. Stop. You think you can just walk off and forget it? Now look, every time you read the sports page you'll hate yourself and then you'll hate him because he'll have made your Mrs. Carl nobody. No, he wouldn't. I know you better than you know yourself. You're my little girl.
I I know that look on your face when you walk off a court a winner. I know how you smile when the reporters surround you. You're like a queen, a holding court. You're the real royalty wherever you go. That's her. That's her. Minnie Maxwell. Minnie Maxwell. Millions of girls that die to change places with you. Pop, I love you. I'm sure you do. That's why you mustn't let Him destroy you. Don't let Him turn you into a nobody kid. All He wants is a nice quiet little housewife. Well, you know in your heart it's not you. It can never be you.
Not my little girl.
[00:26:18] Unknown:
And the boat spins wildly. And I'm afraid of all out. And everything inside me, Everything's coming together, being pushed together, being ground together. I'm frightened. I'm frightened.
[00:26:36] Unknown:
Hello, Miss Champion. Mind if I sit down? I wish you'd let me alone, Mr. Clung. I,
[00:26:43] Unknown:
I see by the papers, Mr. Carl Fortis, former All American and sweetheart of America, sweetheart Minnie Maxwell was married yesterday. Is that a fact?
[00:26:53] Unknown:
Weren't the two of you once engaged? Why don't you look it up in your files?
[00:26:58] Unknown:
Say that isn't soda pop in your glasses and Why is that your affair? Do you realize how great you are as copy? I gotta protect my own interests. Start drinking that stuff seriously. You'll be washed up before you're even 25. Minnie,
[00:27:11] Unknown:
I'm still not even 25. I feel as if I've been living forever.
[00:27:17] Unknown:
Minnie, hear me. What's really bothering you?
[00:27:23] Unknown:
Who says anything's bothering me? What could be bothering me? Think of the millions of American girls who would die to change places with me. The boat the boat spins crazily in the whirling currents. Enough. The waves. Huge, terrible waves striking the boat. I can feel each one, the blow against my heart. It hurts. I can't stand the pain.
[00:28:01] Unknown:
Hey. What's this I hear? You going out tonight? Say the word and I'll stay home. Oh, what are you trying to do? Turn me into some kind of monster or something? All you have to do is say the word. Now look. I I know you have to go out, have laughs, and so forth and so on, but you're in training. Alright. Hand me the phone.
[00:28:17] Unknown:
I'll have to call mister Eugene Chester Debois the third and break our date. Debois, kid? You you go for him? He goes for me. Oh,
[00:28:29] Unknown:
baby. See? See? See what? This was all part of the plan.
[00:28:34] Unknown:
Become champ. Why? A bite. Why?
[00:28:37] Unknown:
So you could get to the top. Travel with the upper crust. Associate with the cream de la cream. When this guy goes for you, you know that his family has a billion dollars. Oh, they don't count their money in front of me. Baby, you got this guy hooked. Reeling me in. Reeling him in.
[00:28:56] Unknown:
The boat then tossed us in the water. The raging boiling water. Suddenly, there is darkness. Darkness and it's a cave a mouth of a dark cave a black cave and the water stops churning and I bonded just for a moment by a staring fire supply. I see someone standing in the water just ahead of me. A man. He's dressed in red. He holds a tennis racket and his flames shoot from his mouth. I I know him. He's the devil. Oh,
[00:29:41] Unknown:
darling.
[00:29:42] Unknown:
The devil's face, but you Jean's voice. Who are you? Who are you? Darling, please
[00:29:52] Unknown:
Please sell me your backhand. Sell me your backhand. No. But you will. You will. You might. Never. How can you refuse me?
[00:30:15] Unknown:
Here we are on a nightmare journey, if that's what it is, with a terribly frightened young lady who may have taken too many pills. She sees the devil or it looks like the devil. Anyhow, she's a champion tennis player and he wants to buy her backhand. Well, you've heard stranger things than this on our program, haven't you? And the third act is on its way. The 1977 Buick Regal. It comes with Buick's terrific v six engine. It carries six people and lots of Buick comfort. It's lean. It's maneuverable in city traffic. It's the most luxurious midsize car Buick builds. Yeah. This new Regal is pretty much everything a car should be, except for one thing. It isn't yours yet, but it can be. Just see your Buick dealer for a test drive soon.
[00:31:22] Unknown:
Here in my hand is a little capsule. It's contact. It contains enough cold medicine to help relieve cold symptoms caused by every known virus. Think about that the next time you're sick, sneezing, dripping, or clogged up. Then let us help you with real medicine, like contact.
[00:31:38] Unknown:
We're number one in the whole world. Give your code to contact.
[00:31:47] Unknown:
Estimate.
[00:31:59] Unknown:
For the colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady, said Rudyard Kipling, are sisters under the skin, which is good small d democratic doctrine. All women are basically alike. Wealth and power of poverty and meekness. These are what the costumes women wear to emphasize an outward appearance. Minnie Maxwell was sitting on top of the world, adored, heaped with honors and wealth, blessed with talent and beauty. And yet,
[00:32:26] Unknown:
one night, she deliberately took enough pills to make sure she wouldn't awaken the following morning. A terrible storm has swept the boat into a dark, dank frightening cave and the devil stands before me laughing and he holds his Dennis back at me he swings it Back at me. Just like the one I've had. Just like the one I've had. Somebody help me out me.
[00:33:08] Unknown:
Miss Maxwell, you leaving?
[00:33:10] Unknown:
I believe so, mister,
[00:33:13] Unknown:
the Deboise. Eugene Deboise. Oh, yes. Eugene Chester Deboise, the firm. And why do you pretend to forget my name?
[00:33:22] Unknown:
Get me a drink and I'll tell you.
[00:33:25] Unknown:
Too smart for that. If I let you out of my sight, you'll slip away. Why don't we both slip away? Get away from the sound of that alleged
[00:33:32] Unknown:
orchestra. Why those are the most distinguished jazz musicians in the country. I'm not impressed.
[00:33:38] Unknown:
You know, miss Maxwell, we could be good for each other.
[00:33:41] Unknown:
We're both supposed to be sitting on top of the world, yet we're both very unhappy. Speak for yourself. Oh,
[00:33:48] Unknown:
are you happy? No. Not really. I see it in your eyes.
[00:33:55] Unknown:
What do you see in my eyes? What I see in my own.
[00:33:59] Unknown:
A feeling of having been cheated. Cheated? Of what?
[00:34:02] Unknown:
Oh. Life, I guess.
[00:34:06] Unknown:
I don't think I was cheated. Well then,
[00:34:09] Unknown:
why do you drink? Why? And why do I gamble? It's terrible with me. I'm compulsive. Let's save each other. You're crazy Sure, I'm crazy But we crazy people we're the hope of the world Some hope
[00:34:29] Unknown:
Help me I'm alone All alone and now it's dark it's dark again and if no one will help me I'll die I'll go into the dark die oh help me, please. Somebody help me.
[00:34:58] Unknown:
Eugene. Are you, alone?
[00:35:02] Unknown:
Yes, Pop's at a dinner. What isn't it? He's at your dinner. He's at your bachelor dinner. That's right. Why aren't you there, Eugene? It's all right. No one will miss me.
[00:35:15] Unknown:
Minnie, I
[00:35:17] Unknown:
I need $50,000 Oh. Now, let me explain. You think I'm a millionaire. Aren't you? Quite a few times over. Then what's your problem? The money's all tied up. I I can't get at it.
[00:35:32] Unknown:
What are you trying to say to me? Well, I told you.
[00:35:36] Unknown:
I have a weakness. Gambling. Eugene, I thought we agreed. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. We did. But it it's like a disease. You you try to kill it with antibiotics, but sometimes a little bit still stays in your system. I borrowed some money from people who, who can become very dangerous if you don't pay them back on time.
[00:35:57] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:35:58] Unknown:
I took some negotiable bond from the office. Oh, gee. Bonds that are entrusted to me. I I cashed them and, there's gonna be an audit the day after tomorrow. I have to cover them. But surely No. You you don't know how it is. You see, I I I can't go to my mother. But My mother has disowned me on account of you. Oh. At the office in a company, they would love it for me to be disgraced. Why? Devoirs and company. They hated my father because he knew everything. They have contempt for me because I know practically nothing. Darling, lend me the 50,000.
I don't have it.
[00:36:35] Unknown:
Well, you must have at least 10 times that much. But I I don't have it where I could raise it by the day after tomorrow. And I can't raise it at all without telling Pop why. Oh, no. No. No. No. You you can't tell him why. But isn't there anyone you can borrow from? Well, not on such short notice.
[00:36:52] Unknown:
Minnie, we love each other. We need each other. Save me from disgrace. I can't. If you love me, you'll save me. Tell me how. Well, there is a way.
[00:37:04] Unknown:
The only way. What is it?
[00:37:08] Unknown:
You have a match with Ruth Evans tomorrow. Yes. Lose it. Lose it? Yes. You you're the favorite. Lose the match deliberately? Good lord. What is it? A tennis game? Or Do you want me to to to purposely lose the match? It was only a game. A game? Darling, remember how we talked late at night? Well, you were drinking then I saved you from that I convinced you it was only a game I saved you I saved you, Minnie. Now you've got to save me I can't. Darn, my beloved as heaven is my witness I'll never gamble again It'll be our secret. No one else will ever know.
Now look, I'll place the bets quietly in small amounts all over the country. And all we're going to win is the 50,000. I owe everything I've got to tenants. Us. What have you got? In this whole world who have you got? Just me. Listen.
[00:38:08] Unknown:
No matter what she says your mother won't let you go to jail. She'll make up the money. Of course she will, but I'll be disgraced. Please, Eugene. Now look, look. Why don't you
[00:38:18] Unknown:
do it for yourself? People are getting bored with you, Minnie. You're you're too good. You're too perfect. You're a machine. Show them you're human. Eugene. No. I have one to Ruth Evans. You took the championship away from her. She hasn't beaten you since. Luz won to her then
[00:38:35] Unknown:
beat her as often as you like. How could I lose to Ruthie Evans?
[00:38:39] Unknown:
Couldn't you have a little trouble on the court? You never have trouble on the court. Can't you be just a little bit off on your backhand? Well it's my best shot. Yes, and when it's off there's there's no way you can win. Oh darling, it would be different if you really cared but you're tired of tennis. You're you're fed up. You you never wanted it to begin with. Just this once have a little bit of trouble with your backhand and save my life. The fire Fire
[00:39:17] Unknown:
in my body doesn't go out. The devil looks at me with fire darting from his eyes and the fire reaches and touches my arm my right arm. I I try to draw it back. And now he laughs at me.
[00:39:35] Unknown:
He laughs as he shouts. Give me your back hand. Give me your back hand. Miss Muntz, what happened out there? What happened? How in the world did Ruthie Evans ever beat you? Look, she's tired. Give her a break. There'll be a statement in due time. Now just leave her get some rest. Oh, murderers. They'll kill you for a story. Baby, what happened out there? I don't know. You didn't return a backhand shot, old man. I know. And once you got wise to it, that's all she fed you. I know. Oh, what happened? You own that shot. What happened? I don't know. Well, I know. Tomorrow morning, 06:00, we're out on the practice court. We'll have to start all over again. Now, we're not seeing any reporters. It's me, Eugene. Oh, well, come in.
Come on in. Minnie, my darling. I I I know how you must feel. Now you try to cheer up her. Everything's all right now. Everything. Is it? Oh, yes. Yes, darling. Yes. You don't have to be a champ for him.
[00:40:46] Unknown:
She she wins it back next time out. I'll never win another match as long as I live. Darling. Oh, it's it's okay. She's just had a bad hand. I have no backhand. I don't have a backhand anymore. My arm when I, when I bring it across my body. Look daddy, my arm my arm feels dead.
[00:41:08] Unknown:
Oh, you,
[00:41:09] Unknown:
you need a massage. Oh, it'll be all right darling. No. It won't be all right. It'll never be all right. It'll be better than ever. Shut up.
[00:41:17] Unknown:
Honey, that's no way to talk. Darling, you'll be fine. I told you to shut up. Darling, I I I I realize it's a very emotional moment.
[00:41:24] Unknown:
Maybe I'd better Yes, you better go. And I never wanna see you again. The fire I guess. And I'm lying in a little boat which used to be a little bed. I'm burning up. The boat is sailing slowly through a dark cave filled with water. I must put out the Please. Please. Please.
[00:42:16] Unknown:
Where? Where am I? In the hospital.
[00:42:20] Unknown:
The hospital? Why? Why would I be in a You don't remember? Oh. Oh, yes. No. I I remember.
[00:42:28] Unknown:
How do you feel, honey? Terrible. Well, you should. They worked you over pretty good. So you sold the backhand, Pa, I what? You did a lot of talking. Did I? And once you sell something you own that way to that certain party, you can never buy it back. I guess not. You were a great little girl when you had it. But You know something? You're gonna be even greater without it. Oh, Pa. You mean that? I'm I'm sorry, honey. It was my fault. Your mother was right. I I did it for myself. But I love your Minnie. I'm still your little girl, daddy. I don't think that could work out anymore. Why not? Well, Bob Clune was with me all this time, and he heard everything he said. Clune.
You're a broadcaster. You know him. Well, there's one way to shut him up, I guess. You'll have to marry him.
[00:43:39] Unknown:
So sport caster Bob Clune did pick up the pieces after all, just as he said he would. Minnie still plays tennis, but it's just a social game. And you know something? When she plays that kind of tennis, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her backhand. It's even better than ever. I shall be back very shortly. Not many of us would sell our souls to the devil. The soul is very important, very mysterious, and vital, not just to this life, but to eternity. However, we do seek to sell lesser pieces of ourselves. We sell a certain skill or an idea.
It's the old theory about just a little bit of larceny. The fact is the penalty is just as great. So if you're going to do it, go all the way. Our cast included Marion Seldes, Russell Horton, and Bill Griffiths. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. And now
[00:44:58] Unknown:
a preview of our next tale. I left Lizzie on Old Log And Road. We can make her get away that way. Blended, give me a moment only and I shall join you. Nah. It ain't gonna pay to hang around. I have no intention of leaving this beautiful brew, two federal agents who deny a man the right to make a, if not totally honest, at least an honorable living. Do you have to talk so much? A point well taken, Eubie. No further talk, only action. Here, you carry the drum and we'll unroll it as we go. Oh, well, what's the wire for? It isn't a wire. It's a fuse. Keep unrolling. Well, I I don't understand. Ours not the reason why. Ours but to do or die or at least do. Here we are at the car and I see the fuse is completely unrolled.
You have a match, you'll be? Why, sure, Herb. Yeah. Yeah. I thank you kindly.
[00:45:49] Unknown:
You gonna blow up the steel? The fortunes of war. Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Contact, the twelve hour cold capsule, and Buick Motor Division. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time. Pleasant dreams.
[00:46:55] Unknown:
At ADP, we work with more than 860,000 companies worldwide. That gives us a pretty good idea of how to help businesses grow stronger, whether it's through data insights that help you make informed decisions about building a team that works better as a team, or by keeping you ahead of thousands of changing regulations
Come in. Welcome. I'm EG Marshall. If only when we hear old age coming, we could bar the way and shout, the one you seek is absent. Call another day. Old age. It must come to everyone. Old age is, after all, only a part of the grand design for life. So why do we fight it? It's a battle no human being has ever won. That is as far as we know. But who is to guarantee that we know everything? Ladies and gentlemen, my guest on sports personalities this evening is miss Minnie Maxwell, former world tennis champion. Miss Maxwell, you've you've lost all your matches this year because you're having trouble with your backhand. Isn't that true?
[00:01:11] Unknown:
Yes. I'd say that's true. Well now, what what seems to be wrong with it? There's nothing wrong with it. It's gone. Gone? How? Well, I sold it. You,
[00:01:24] Unknown:
you sold it. To whom did you sell it? I sold it to the devil.
[00:01:35] Unknown:
Our mystery drama, Whose Little Girl Are You, was written especially for the mystery theater by Sam Dan and stars Marion Seldes. It is sponsored in part by Buick Motor Division and Contact, the twelve hour cold capsule. I'll be back shortly with act one. The standard engine is a v eight. Standard tires, steel belted radials. There are front and rear stabilizer bars, special springs, and shock valving, fast ratio power steering, and a rally steering wheel. What makes all this interesting is that it belongs to a full size six passenger Buick, the 1977 LeSabre sport coupe. You'll have to drive it to believe it.
Things basically remain the same. The values, the standards, the rewards of society rarely change. For instance, in ancient Greece, the wisest man was Socrates. The funniest was Euphrates. So it should not surprise you to learn that Socrates was quite poor, and Euphrates was very rich. In the marketplace, trivia has always commanded a higher price than wisdom. After all, a semiliterate baseball player with an arm like a rifle is paid infinitely more than a serious scientist who is working on and may one day discover a cure for cancer.
Oh, well, if you can't lick them, join them. So we are in the broadcasting booth overlooking the action high above a great modern stadium.
[00:03:27] Unknown:
A beautiful return by many. Oh, and an even sharper one by Ruth Evans. Now the law by Minnie Maxwell. But Ruth isn't full. She's ready. And there's a hard smash. The Minnie's left to the corner, to the backhand. Minnie's there. She hits it, into the net. Well, that's it. Game set match, Ruth Evans. Ladies and gentlemen, it's it's the old story, that same old story. Somehow, mysteriously, it it's gone. That that power backhand is gone. She was the greatest when she had it. And now at 27 in the prime of life, right at the peak of her career, Minnie Maxwell is all washed up. Oh, you're all washed up, you loud mouth. I'm a great fit.
[00:04:11] Unknown:
The nerve of that two bit spieler. Why you insist we look at a replay of the tape of the game? You learned something maybe that's why. Bad enough I had to live through that match on the court. Live? You call that living? You died out there. Then why we have to screen the rebroadcast? You can see what you did. It's what I didn't do.
[00:04:27] Unknown:
I didn't hit a decent backhand all day. Well you hit a decent backhand all year. So? What else is new? Alright. Go ahead. Be flip. Your career is coming apart this seems. Go ahead. Be flip with your old man. Hey so it's coming apart.
[00:04:40] Unknown:
It's my career. Your career.
[00:04:42] Unknown:
Is that a fact? I busted my back to get us to the top. Think I'm gonna let you throw it away? Grab a couple of rackets and a bucket of balls. Where are we going? Down to the court. I played a full match today. You didn't play. You showed up. Could have been arrested for impersonating a professional tennis player.
[00:05:03] Unknown:
What are we gonna do?
[00:05:05] Unknown:
We're we're gonna work this out, Donette. I'm not a little girl anymore.
[00:05:10] Unknown:
You can't make me stand on that court hour after hour.
[00:05:15] Unknown:
Hello? Oh, it's you. Is Minnie Maxwell all washed up? Well, you're washed up as far as any interview was concerned you creep. I spoke to him. That means I gotta answer the phone for all those newspaper goons. Maria, for crying out loud, why do you put that stupid Bob clone through? All right. The wires open. Let them all in. Murderers.
[00:05:41] Unknown:
Good night, Pa. Where are you going? Out.
[00:05:44] Unknown:
What do you mean out?
[00:05:46] Unknown:
I'm 27 and I'm going out. You ain't going nowhere.
[00:05:51] Unknown:
Yeah. Oh, yeah, Harry. Good night. Hold it a second, Harry. Listen. You're in training. I said I was going out. You go out there, the reporters won't let you live. I know how to duck the reporter. Listen. When you get to where you're gonna eat, you check with me. Now I I I want you back here by 11:00. Listen, Harry, the kid's a little off her form. But pound for pound, she's still the greatest tennis player in the world.
[00:06:21] Unknown:
Hi. What are you doing here? Mind if I join you? I've got a date.
[00:06:26] Unknown:
Oh,
[00:06:27] Unknown:
you're sore at me. You and pop both. Why don't you go someplace where you're wanted and appreciated?
[00:06:33] Unknown:
And people can be thrilled by the presence of the great Bob Cohn. I do my job, Minnie. Which is what? To shoot off that big loud mouth? Which is to report the fact. Well, the fact is I wanna be alone, so take off. Oh, you said you had a date. Isn't true,
[00:06:50] Unknown:
How did you find me? I thought I gave all you guys a slip. Why don't you have a date, Minnie? What are you driving at, mister Clones? As a matter of fact, your name has rarely, if ever, as they say, been linked, with someone else since Carl Fortis.
[00:07:03] Unknown:
Is this a fact you have to report to your thirsty public?
[00:07:06] Unknown:
Hungry. You hunger for facts. You thirst for knowledge. Oh, thank you. I didn't have to ask that question.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
You've been too busy playing tennis all your life. Well, why don't you run back to the studio right now and put that on the air? What a scoop. It's a beat.
[00:07:22] Unknown:
Reporters haven't scored scoops for forty years now. Please get out of here before you ruin my dinner.
[00:07:28] Unknown:
What happened to that backhand, Minnie? To the patented, potent, Minnie Maxwell backhand, the scourge of the circuit. I guess it's gone with the wind. And also with the snows of yesteryear. What happened to the backhand, Minnie? You really wanna know, don't you? Alright. Write this down. I sold it. You you sold it? That's right. Okay.
[00:07:54] Unknown:
To whom did you sell it? I sold it to the devil. The
[00:07:59] Unknown:
the devil? Don't look so surprised.
[00:08:02] Unknown:
I,
[00:08:03] Unknown:
I'm not so surprised. Sure you are. Why shouldn't you be? You've heard of people who sell their souls to the devil. I just sold my backhand. I,
[00:08:14] Unknown:
I'm going along with the gag. You think it's a gag? Yeah. Sold your backhand to the devil. What what did you get? For it. What did I get for it?
[00:08:22] Unknown:
Oh, Bobby. That's the sad part. Nobody would wanna hear about it. They'd laugh you off the air. You don't wanna know what I got for it.
[00:08:32] Unknown:
Tell me, Minnie. I got
[00:08:35] Unknown:
long nights in which I don't sleep. And when I do, I have bad dreams. And and when the sun shines on that center court, I don't feel warm anymore. I can't seem to rest. I'm always so tired. You better see a doctor. Oh, I've seen a million doctors, the best doctors. But I finally discovered the cure I need myself. What are you talking about? I I can't sleep. I I told you that, didn't I? Yeah. Yeah. You just did. So I just take a few pills, you see? Yeah. And they do the trick. But only for a little while. But in the morning, I wake up. I still can't hit the back end.
So I I figured out what to do. Do you wanna know?
[00:09:25] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:09:26] Unknown:
If I take more pills, then I won't have any problem at all with that back end. I I just
[00:09:33] Unknown:
won't wake up the next morning or any morning. Minnie, do you know what you're saying? What I'm saying now is good night. Minnie, listen I gotta go home. I'm in training and Pop raises the rope with my mouth. Minnie, I can't let you go like this. But what? You as good as told me you intend to, Oh, but what a scoop.
[00:09:53] Unknown:
Or do you call it a beat? Mimi, you
[00:09:57] Unknown:
you must be crazy. I'm sure I'm crazy.
[00:10:00] Unknown:
What is it? Good lord. What is it? Two people fan of all each other across a net. That's all it is. That's all it ever was.
[00:10:13] Unknown:
It's my whole life. I don't understand it. It's my whole life. Minnie, you're Minnie,
[00:10:21] Unknown:
you've gotta see a doctor. Oh, say anything you like. I'm not gonna be here tomorrow morning. W where are you going? Don't ask me. I'm just a dumb tennis player. I don't know anything. I don't know where I'll go. Hell, then, hell. Maybe I don't go anyplace. Minnie, would you, would you let me take you home? No. You stay right where you are. I'll start a real scene. Good night, mister clown. Good night and goodbye. Is that you, Minnie?
[00:10:52] Unknown:
Yeah. It's me, Minnie. Oh, did you eat? Yes. What'd you have? What's the difference? Well, the difference is you gotta lay off them starches. Yes, Bob. Look,
[00:11:04] Unknown:
Minnie, I I know it's tough.
[00:11:07] Unknown:
I'm tired. You know what this game's all about? What life's all about? Guts. That's it. When you were six years old, I saw that. Oh, sure. You had talent but you had guts. You wouldn't quit. You stayed on that court for hours and hours till you learned. God, I said I was tired. I don't know what it is but we're gonna fight it and we're gonna lick it. You understand? Sure. Good night, Pa. Oh, don't read. What? Well, sometimes you stay up all night and read. Maybe it could be doing something to your eyesight. Now call the doctor right now and set up an appointment. Oh it's close to midnight.
[00:11:49] Unknown:
Well what do I care?
[00:11:51] Unknown:
For what I'm paying this quack? Just let me hear him beef even once.
[00:11:57] Unknown:
Good night daddy.
[00:12:02] Unknown:
You know something? What? I can't even remember the last time you called me daddy. Good night. Yeah, kid. Good night. It disappeared overnight, that backhand did, but maybe it'll come back the same way suddenly. Maybe even tomorrow morning.
[00:12:31] Unknown:
He turned his attention to the telephone and to the call he was making to the doctor, and I went to my room. Maybe it will come back the same way, suddenly, maybe even tomorrow morning. Well, it wouldn't be coming back. Those would be the last words he would ever say to me. The pills were in the bottle. I didn't even think about it. I'd made up my mind. What I was doing was wrong from every conceivable moral and ethical point of view. But all that was behind me now. I thought of what I'd said to Bob Clown about selling my backhand to the devil.
I'd said it without thinking. I said it to be flipped. But now that I consider the implications, of course, it's true. That's exactly what I did. And so I really have no choice, do I? I must take these pills. I'm going to take them right now.
[00:13:45] Unknown:
All of them.
[00:14:05] Unknown:
Out loud who can help me. So, the morning. Oh, it's all right. I hear you. I'm coming. I'm coming. All right. All right. Who's out there? Get out of here, you crazy. Pop, listen. What do you mean ringing my doorbell at four in the morning? I I gotta talk to you. Just get out of here before I call the cops. Look, it's a matter of life and death. You could drop dead on the other side of that door if all those bother me.
[00:14:35] Unknown:
Pop. Oh. I'm gonna ring it. Thank you so much.
[00:14:38] Unknown:
Now I'm gonna open this door and I'm gonna punch you in the nose. Just what's the big idea coming in here? Is is she okay? Is she okay? Is she okay? Minnie, who do you think I'm talking about? What have you got up your sleeve? You could just tell me? Is she okay? Oh, she's okay. Now what do you think is that? I'm just positive. Where is she? Well, she's in her room. What do you think? Go in and make sure. Make sure of what? If you don't, I will. Now listen, cologne. You better start talking. Pop.
[00:15:04] Unknown:
I had dinner with her tonight. You what? Okay. I I followed her where she went to eat. I I sat down with her. We started to talk. Now why would she have anything to say to you? She started to say things. She she talked about killing herself. Oh, that's a lie. She was talking about taking an overdose of pills. Oh, no, no, no. Not her. Not my daughter. When did you last see her? Well,
[00:15:26] Unknown:
what just before midnight.
[00:15:30] Unknown:
Well, she she wouldn't do it. It. Pop, it's been bothering me. I, I, I, I couldn't rest. We, will you go look at her? No, no. Nobody in my family would do that. Listen, you, you, you come with me. Minnie?
[00:15:49] Unknown:
Oh, oh, good Lord.
[00:15:58] Unknown:
In the midst of life, there is something about the young, the strong, the beautiful, something so trenchant, something so tragic. She lies there, her breath coming more and more slowly, her pulse is failing. And some of you absolutely unreconstructed cynics in our audience are saying, oh, they wouldn't kill her off in the first act. Well, maybe we will and maybe we won't. Why don't you wait till the second act? You wanna talk about what's fair? Consider. You get the most expensive racket money can buy. You hire the most competent professional money can attract. You practice long, hard, frustrating hours, and it's just about all you can do to serve that ball with the net.
Then along comes some sharp eyed, sure handed kid who never took a lesson in his or her life and it's bang, smack, all over the court. Never a miss, never an out. Fair? When was life ever fair? However, the sharp eyed, sure handed kids also have their problems. They grow older and sometimes the world becomes a little too much for them. I remember
[00:17:26] Unknown:
I said my prayers. Now I lay me down to sleep and I stopped because I knew it was a lie because I had taken the pills. And so I knew I couldn't fool the Lord and I wasn't praying to the Lord anyhow but to the devil because I'd sold him my back half so I said a new prayer now I lay me down to die. Yeah. Lay me down in my own little bed. I had a little bed once, I remember. My mother My mother would rock that little bed
[00:18:16] Unknown:
and she would say,
[00:18:19] Unknown:
whose little girl are you? Whose little girl are you?
[00:18:24] Unknown:
She's her daddy's little girl. Look at those arms. Those long, pretty little arms. She's gonna play tennis, mother. She's gonna be a champ. Daddy's little girl
[00:18:38] Unknown:
daddy's little girl oh that little bed was so soft and comfortable I felt so safe and warm Even though sometimes I could hear mother and daddy and they spoke very loudly. She's only a child, Everett. They're never too young to learn. She should be having fun. She has fun. What do you think tennis is? It's fun. Not for you. It's life and death. Listen, you get a kid like her only once every hundred years. She's our world champion. And you never were the world champion, were you, Everett? Oh, don't start that. I'll start it and end it. Don't you try to live through her. I know that argument. It isn't true. When you found out you had a little girl, you almost died of disappointment. You wanted a board. What's got into you all of a sudden? And then when she was five years old, you put a racket into her hand to make it a chance you could never be. This girl has a God given gift and it'll be a sin to waste it. I don't want any more of this argument. Just let her grow up as a normal child or or you and I will be divorced.
[00:19:44] Unknown:
Oh, that's crazy. You and me
[00:19:48] Unknown:
Divorced? I promise you I will walk out of here with her and you will never see us again. Honey, you you've got a The discussion is over. But I Do you want our marriage to be over too? And then mother no longer came to sit by my little bed. My little bed that could rock like a boat. Oh, I love that bed. Then there was that night. That mother looked very pale and the doctor came and they took her away she never came back again and daddy and I we returned from the place where we buried her Daddy put me to bed. He was crying and he asked me,
[00:20:39] Unknown:
whose little girl are you? You're you're my little girl. You're my little girl now.
[00:20:51] Unknown:
And I was. I was from that day on.
[00:21:00] Unknown:
Boom! Get to the ball!
[00:21:03] Unknown:
What's the matter now? I'm tired, Daddy. You're tired because you eat candy. I told you not to eat candy.
[00:21:08] Unknown:
The teacher says we need sugar for energy. Well don't listen to them teachers. What does a teacher know? Listen daddy, according to the books. What are you reading books for?
[00:21:17] Unknown:
You wanna know something you ask me. What do you have to know anyhow? Yes daddy. And that's another thing. Don't call me daddy. You ain't a little girl anymore. You're practically a grown up kid. You gotta quit pretending you're your kid. You you just call me pop. Yeah?
[00:21:33] Unknown:
Yes, pop. I'm still in my little bed And it's rocking, rocking like a boat And I'm lying in a boat A little boat with with Carl Carl What are you thinking about, Carl? Oh, I'm afraid to tell you I didn't think you were afraid of anything You football hero
[00:22:04] Unknown:
That's not true Us football heroes, we're usually afraid of everything. That's why we become heroes. Fool everybody.
[00:22:12] Unknown:
They're true. And you won't play pro ball? Sure. It's true. But that's where the money is.
[00:22:19] Unknown:
Well, there's money in chemistry and that's what I wanna do. Oh, but how can you even compare? Well, I played football only so I could go to college and I have to spend all my time with chemistry. You you could do both. Do you do both?
[00:22:32] Unknown:
Well, what do you mean by both? Well, do you do anything else besides tennis? What else is there?
[00:22:39] Unknown:
Well, could, be me? Well, of course, that's you. I love you, Carl. You love me enough to give up tennis?
[00:22:48] Unknown:
Give up tennis? We could play afternoons and weekends. What do you mean give up tennis?
[00:22:53] Unknown:
Why? You know what I mean.
[00:22:55] Unknown:
The life. Oh, Carl. Papa and I, we worked so hard and so long. Why?
[00:23:01] Unknown:
Carl? This is the year I became with this chair. I beat Ruth F. I know.
[00:23:05] Unknown:
The Ruth F. You proved your point, Ann. I made All American. I proved mine. Now let's just live like human beings. We live like human beings, don't we? Do we? Belong to a public. We live in a fishbowl. Don't you wanna live a normal life? Oh, Carl. I love you. And I love you.
[00:23:29] Unknown:
Well, don't you wanna marry me?
[00:23:31] Unknown:
Yes. But you don't wanna marry me. How can you say that? Well, would you wanna get married tonight? Sure. Yeah? Well, tomorrow you leave for Australia for the Pacific tournament. Oh, well, we'll just put it off a little bit and Until when? Whether there's the Davis Cup, then there's the Forest Hills, Wimbledon, one series of matches after another. When would we have time for a married life? We'd work it out. Two people who love each other can always work things out. Yeah. Two of us could work things out but not the three of us. You and me.
But not you and me
[00:24:08] Unknown:
and Pop. Oh, Carl. You don't understand.
[00:24:11] Unknown:
Pop gave up everything for me. One thing he never gave up was you.
[00:24:16] Unknown:
Alright. Why don't we just get married? I want it more than anything else in the world. The boat. The little boat which used to be my little bed is now rocking and rocking Rocking And everything is going wrong and wrong and wrong
[00:24:50] Unknown:
Go ahead. Quit. Pa. Is he gonna quit?
[00:24:53] Unknown:
He's not gonna play football.
[00:24:55] Unknown:
Okay. But his career is being a chemist. Are you gonna give that up? Well No. But what? He does what he wants to do but you're the one who has to give the due the giving up. Look it's time. And time you what? Cooked a guy's dinner, darned his socks, washed diapers. Well there's more to marriage than that. Yeah. You can be the greatest thing that ever lived. You're standing in the doorway right now and you're thrown away. Stop. You think you can just walk off and forget it? Now look, every time you read the sports page you'll hate yourself and then you'll hate him because he'll have made your Mrs. Carl nobody. No, he wouldn't. I know you better than you know yourself. You're my little girl.
I I know that look on your face when you walk off a court a winner. I know how you smile when the reporters surround you. You're like a queen, a holding court. You're the real royalty wherever you go. That's her. That's her. Minnie Maxwell. Minnie Maxwell. Millions of girls that die to change places with you. Pop, I love you. I'm sure you do. That's why you mustn't let Him destroy you. Don't let Him turn you into a nobody kid. All He wants is a nice quiet little housewife. Well, you know in your heart it's not you. It can never be you.
Not my little girl.
[00:26:18] Unknown:
And the boat spins wildly. And I'm afraid of all out. And everything inside me, Everything's coming together, being pushed together, being ground together. I'm frightened. I'm frightened.
[00:26:36] Unknown:
Hello, Miss Champion. Mind if I sit down? I wish you'd let me alone, Mr. Clung. I,
[00:26:43] Unknown:
I see by the papers, Mr. Carl Fortis, former All American and sweetheart of America, sweetheart Minnie Maxwell was married yesterday. Is that a fact?
[00:26:53] Unknown:
Weren't the two of you once engaged? Why don't you look it up in your files?
[00:26:58] Unknown:
Say that isn't soda pop in your glasses and Why is that your affair? Do you realize how great you are as copy? I gotta protect my own interests. Start drinking that stuff seriously. You'll be washed up before you're even 25. Minnie,
[00:27:11] Unknown:
I'm still not even 25. I feel as if I've been living forever.
[00:27:17] Unknown:
Minnie, hear me. What's really bothering you?
[00:27:23] Unknown:
Who says anything's bothering me? What could be bothering me? Think of the millions of American girls who would die to change places with me. The boat the boat spins crazily in the whirling currents. Enough. The waves. Huge, terrible waves striking the boat. I can feel each one, the blow against my heart. It hurts. I can't stand the pain.
[00:28:01] Unknown:
Hey. What's this I hear? You going out tonight? Say the word and I'll stay home. Oh, what are you trying to do? Turn me into some kind of monster or something? All you have to do is say the word. Now look. I I know you have to go out, have laughs, and so forth and so on, but you're in training. Alright. Hand me the phone.
[00:28:17] Unknown:
I'll have to call mister Eugene Chester Debois the third and break our date. Debois, kid? You you go for him? He goes for me. Oh,
[00:28:29] Unknown:
baby. See? See? See what? This was all part of the plan.
[00:28:34] Unknown:
Become champ. Why? A bite. Why?
[00:28:37] Unknown:
So you could get to the top. Travel with the upper crust. Associate with the cream de la cream. When this guy goes for you, you know that his family has a billion dollars. Oh, they don't count their money in front of me. Baby, you got this guy hooked. Reeling me in. Reeling him in.
[00:28:56] Unknown:
The boat then tossed us in the water. The raging boiling water. Suddenly, there is darkness. Darkness and it's a cave a mouth of a dark cave a black cave and the water stops churning and I bonded just for a moment by a staring fire supply. I see someone standing in the water just ahead of me. A man. He's dressed in red. He holds a tennis racket and his flames shoot from his mouth. I I know him. He's the devil. Oh,
[00:29:41] Unknown:
darling.
[00:29:42] Unknown:
The devil's face, but you Jean's voice. Who are you? Who are you? Darling, please
[00:29:52] Unknown:
Please sell me your backhand. Sell me your backhand. No. But you will. You will. You might. Never. How can you refuse me?
[00:30:15] Unknown:
Here we are on a nightmare journey, if that's what it is, with a terribly frightened young lady who may have taken too many pills. She sees the devil or it looks like the devil. Anyhow, she's a champion tennis player and he wants to buy her backhand. Well, you've heard stranger things than this on our program, haven't you? And the third act is on its way. The 1977 Buick Regal. It comes with Buick's terrific v six engine. It carries six people and lots of Buick comfort. It's lean. It's maneuverable in city traffic. It's the most luxurious midsize car Buick builds. Yeah. This new Regal is pretty much everything a car should be, except for one thing. It isn't yours yet, but it can be. Just see your Buick dealer for a test drive soon.
[00:31:22] Unknown:
Here in my hand is a little capsule. It's contact. It contains enough cold medicine to help relieve cold symptoms caused by every known virus. Think about that the next time you're sick, sneezing, dripping, or clogged up. Then let us help you with real medicine, like contact.
[00:31:38] Unknown:
We're number one in the whole world. Give your code to contact.
[00:31:47] Unknown:
Estimate.
[00:31:59] Unknown:
For the colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady, said Rudyard Kipling, are sisters under the skin, which is good small d democratic doctrine. All women are basically alike. Wealth and power of poverty and meekness. These are what the costumes women wear to emphasize an outward appearance. Minnie Maxwell was sitting on top of the world, adored, heaped with honors and wealth, blessed with talent and beauty. And yet,
[00:32:26] Unknown:
one night, she deliberately took enough pills to make sure she wouldn't awaken the following morning. A terrible storm has swept the boat into a dark, dank frightening cave and the devil stands before me laughing and he holds his Dennis back at me he swings it Back at me. Just like the one I've had. Just like the one I've had. Somebody help me out me.
[00:33:08] Unknown:
Miss Maxwell, you leaving?
[00:33:10] Unknown:
I believe so, mister,
[00:33:13] Unknown:
the Deboise. Eugene Deboise. Oh, yes. Eugene Chester Deboise, the firm. And why do you pretend to forget my name?
[00:33:22] Unknown:
Get me a drink and I'll tell you.
[00:33:25] Unknown:
Too smart for that. If I let you out of my sight, you'll slip away. Why don't we both slip away? Get away from the sound of that alleged
[00:33:32] Unknown:
orchestra. Why those are the most distinguished jazz musicians in the country. I'm not impressed.
[00:33:38] Unknown:
You know, miss Maxwell, we could be good for each other.
[00:33:41] Unknown:
We're both supposed to be sitting on top of the world, yet we're both very unhappy. Speak for yourself. Oh,
[00:33:48] Unknown:
are you happy? No. Not really. I see it in your eyes.
[00:33:55] Unknown:
What do you see in my eyes? What I see in my own.
[00:33:59] Unknown:
A feeling of having been cheated. Cheated? Of what?
[00:34:02] Unknown:
Oh. Life, I guess.
[00:34:06] Unknown:
I don't think I was cheated. Well then,
[00:34:09] Unknown:
why do you drink? Why? And why do I gamble? It's terrible with me. I'm compulsive. Let's save each other. You're crazy Sure, I'm crazy But we crazy people we're the hope of the world Some hope
[00:34:29] Unknown:
Help me I'm alone All alone and now it's dark it's dark again and if no one will help me I'll die I'll go into the dark die oh help me, please. Somebody help me.
[00:34:58] Unknown:
Eugene. Are you, alone?
[00:35:02] Unknown:
Yes, Pop's at a dinner. What isn't it? He's at your dinner. He's at your bachelor dinner. That's right. Why aren't you there, Eugene? It's all right. No one will miss me.
[00:35:15] Unknown:
Minnie, I
[00:35:17] Unknown:
I need $50,000 Oh. Now, let me explain. You think I'm a millionaire. Aren't you? Quite a few times over. Then what's your problem? The money's all tied up. I I can't get at it.
[00:35:32] Unknown:
What are you trying to say to me? Well, I told you.
[00:35:36] Unknown:
I have a weakness. Gambling. Eugene, I thought we agreed. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. We did. But it it's like a disease. You you try to kill it with antibiotics, but sometimes a little bit still stays in your system. I borrowed some money from people who, who can become very dangerous if you don't pay them back on time.
[00:35:57] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:35:58] Unknown:
I took some negotiable bond from the office. Oh, gee. Bonds that are entrusted to me. I I cashed them and, there's gonna be an audit the day after tomorrow. I have to cover them. But surely No. You you don't know how it is. You see, I I I can't go to my mother. But My mother has disowned me on account of you. Oh. At the office in a company, they would love it for me to be disgraced. Why? Devoirs and company. They hated my father because he knew everything. They have contempt for me because I know practically nothing. Darling, lend me the 50,000.
I don't have it.
[00:36:35] Unknown:
Well, you must have at least 10 times that much. But I I don't have it where I could raise it by the day after tomorrow. And I can't raise it at all without telling Pop why. Oh, no. No. No. No. You you can't tell him why. But isn't there anyone you can borrow from? Well, not on such short notice.
[00:36:52] Unknown:
Minnie, we love each other. We need each other. Save me from disgrace. I can't. If you love me, you'll save me. Tell me how. Well, there is a way.
[00:37:04] Unknown:
The only way. What is it?
[00:37:08] Unknown:
You have a match with Ruth Evans tomorrow. Yes. Lose it. Lose it? Yes. You you're the favorite. Lose the match deliberately? Good lord. What is it? A tennis game? Or Do you want me to to to purposely lose the match? It was only a game. A game? Darling, remember how we talked late at night? Well, you were drinking then I saved you from that I convinced you it was only a game I saved you I saved you, Minnie. Now you've got to save me I can't. Darn, my beloved as heaven is my witness I'll never gamble again It'll be our secret. No one else will ever know.
Now look, I'll place the bets quietly in small amounts all over the country. And all we're going to win is the 50,000. I owe everything I've got to tenants. Us. What have you got? In this whole world who have you got? Just me. Listen.
[00:38:08] Unknown:
No matter what she says your mother won't let you go to jail. She'll make up the money. Of course she will, but I'll be disgraced. Please, Eugene. Now look, look. Why don't you
[00:38:18] Unknown:
do it for yourself? People are getting bored with you, Minnie. You're you're too good. You're too perfect. You're a machine. Show them you're human. Eugene. No. I have one to Ruth Evans. You took the championship away from her. She hasn't beaten you since. Luz won to her then
[00:38:35] Unknown:
beat her as often as you like. How could I lose to Ruthie Evans?
[00:38:39] Unknown:
Couldn't you have a little trouble on the court? You never have trouble on the court. Can't you be just a little bit off on your backhand? Well it's my best shot. Yes, and when it's off there's there's no way you can win. Oh darling, it would be different if you really cared but you're tired of tennis. You're you're fed up. You you never wanted it to begin with. Just this once have a little bit of trouble with your backhand and save my life. The fire Fire
[00:39:17] Unknown:
in my body doesn't go out. The devil looks at me with fire darting from his eyes and the fire reaches and touches my arm my right arm. I I try to draw it back. And now he laughs at me.
[00:39:35] Unknown:
He laughs as he shouts. Give me your back hand. Give me your back hand. Miss Muntz, what happened out there? What happened? How in the world did Ruthie Evans ever beat you? Look, she's tired. Give her a break. There'll be a statement in due time. Now just leave her get some rest. Oh, murderers. They'll kill you for a story. Baby, what happened out there? I don't know. You didn't return a backhand shot, old man. I know. And once you got wise to it, that's all she fed you. I know. Oh, what happened? You own that shot. What happened? I don't know. Well, I know. Tomorrow morning, 06:00, we're out on the practice court. We'll have to start all over again. Now, we're not seeing any reporters. It's me, Eugene. Oh, well, come in.
Come on in. Minnie, my darling. I I I know how you must feel. Now you try to cheer up her. Everything's all right now. Everything. Is it? Oh, yes. Yes, darling. Yes. You don't have to be a champ for him.
[00:40:46] Unknown:
She she wins it back next time out. I'll never win another match as long as I live. Darling. Oh, it's it's okay. She's just had a bad hand. I have no backhand. I don't have a backhand anymore. My arm when I, when I bring it across my body. Look daddy, my arm my arm feels dead.
[00:41:08] Unknown:
Oh, you,
[00:41:09] Unknown:
you need a massage. Oh, it'll be all right darling. No. It won't be all right. It'll never be all right. It'll be better than ever. Shut up.
[00:41:17] Unknown:
Honey, that's no way to talk. Darling, you'll be fine. I told you to shut up. Darling, I I I I realize it's a very emotional moment.
[00:41:24] Unknown:
Maybe I'd better Yes, you better go. And I never wanna see you again. The fire I guess. And I'm lying in a little boat which used to be a little bed. I'm burning up. The boat is sailing slowly through a dark cave filled with water. I must put out the Please. Please. Please.
[00:42:16] Unknown:
Where? Where am I? In the hospital.
[00:42:20] Unknown:
The hospital? Why? Why would I be in a You don't remember? Oh. Oh, yes. No. I I remember.
[00:42:28] Unknown:
How do you feel, honey? Terrible. Well, you should. They worked you over pretty good. So you sold the backhand, Pa, I what? You did a lot of talking. Did I? And once you sell something you own that way to that certain party, you can never buy it back. I guess not. You were a great little girl when you had it. But You know something? You're gonna be even greater without it. Oh, Pa. You mean that? I'm I'm sorry, honey. It was my fault. Your mother was right. I I did it for myself. But I love your Minnie. I'm still your little girl, daddy. I don't think that could work out anymore. Why not? Well, Bob Clune was with me all this time, and he heard everything he said. Clune.
You're a broadcaster. You know him. Well, there's one way to shut him up, I guess. You'll have to marry him.
[00:43:39] Unknown:
So sport caster Bob Clune did pick up the pieces after all, just as he said he would. Minnie still plays tennis, but it's just a social game. And you know something? When she plays that kind of tennis, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her backhand. It's even better than ever. I shall be back very shortly. Not many of us would sell our souls to the devil. The soul is very important, very mysterious, and vital, not just to this life, but to eternity. However, we do seek to sell lesser pieces of ourselves. We sell a certain skill or an idea.
It's the old theory about just a little bit of larceny. The fact is the penalty is just as great. So if you're going to do it, go all the way. Our cast included Marion Seldes, Russell Horton, and Bill Griffiths. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. And now
[00:44:58] Unknown:
a preview of our next tale. I left Lizzie on Old Log And Road. We can make her get away that way. Blended, give me a moment only and I shall join you. Nah. It ain't gonna pay to hang around. I have no intention of leaving this beautiful brew, two federal agents who deny a man the right to make a, if not totally honest, at least an honorable living. Do you have to talk so much? A point well taken, Eubie. No further talk, only action. Here, you carry the drum and we'll unroll it as we go. Oh, well, what's the wire for? It isn't a wire. It's a fuse. Keep unrolling. Well, I I don't understand. Ours not the reason why. Ours but to do or die or at least do. Here we are at the car and I see the fuse is completely unrolled.
You have a match, you'll be? Why, sure, Herb. Yeah. Yeah. I thank you kindly.
[00:45:49] Unknown:
You gonna blow up the steel? The fortunes of war. Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Contact, the twelve hour cold capsule, and Buick Motor Division. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time. Pleasant dreams.
[00:46:55] Unknown:
At ADP, we work with more than 860,000 companies worldwide. That gives us a pretty good idea of how to help businesses grow stronger, whether it's through data insights that help you make informed decisions about building a team that works better as a team, or by keeping you ahead of thousands of changing regulations
Introduction to the Mystery
The Mysterious Backhand Sale
Minnie Maxwell's Struggles
Confrontation with Bob Cohn
A Desperate Decision
Reflections on Childhood
The Pressure of Expectations
A Proposal and a Dilemma
The Devil's Bargain
A New Beginning
