Lux Radio Theatre - The Petrified Forest

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Lux Radio Theatre - The Petrified Forest
Date: July 6, 2026
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Main Cast (Radio Drama): Ronald Colman (Alan Squire), Susan Hayward (Gabrielle “Gabby” Maple), Lawrence Tierney (Duke Mantee), plus supporting cast
Guest Producer: Thomas Mitchell

---

Episode Overview

This episode of "Harold's Old Time Radio" features a full dramatized performance of "The Petrified Forest," adapted for the Lux Radio Theatre. The episode transports listeners to the 1930s American Southwest, revolving around a rundown café in the Arizona desert where the destinies of a wandering intellectual, a wistful waitress, and a notorious gangster fatally intersect.

---

Key Discussion Points and Story Breakdown

1. Setting and Main Characters

(00:44–03:46)

• The story is set at the Black Mesa Barbecue and Filling Station, a lonely outpost by the Petrified Forest in Arizona.
• Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple: A wistful, intelligent waitress longing for a life beyond the desert.
• Grandpa Maple: Her grandfather, full of western tales and old man grumbling.
• Boze (Bose): A young, cocky football player with a crush on Gabby.
• Alan Squire: A disillusioned, penniless writer and drifter, newly arrived at the café.
• Duke Mantee: A notorious gangster on the run, whose arrival turns the café—and everyone’s life—upside down.

---

2. Character Introductions and Personal Dreams

(03:47–13:38)

• Gabby and Boze banter; he’s in love with her, she finds him tiresome.
  • Notable quote (Gabby):
    “No, not a great deal.” –(04:49)
• Alan arrives hungry, charming Gabby with his wit and foreignness.
• Gabby reveals her longing for France, her estranged mother’s homeland, and her passion for poetry and painting.
  • Memorable moment:
    Gabby shares her dream:
    “There’s nothing I want except to go to Bourges.” –(08:37)
• Alan humbly discusses his failed writing career and failed marriage, underscoring his sense of being lost.
  • "I married. My wife supported me... Well, for eight years I reclined on my background. Waiting for the major artist to step forth and write. But he didn’t." –Alan, (13:01)

---

3. Philosophy and Longing

(14:13–19:49)

• Gabby and Alan bond over art, poetry, and their shared dissatisfaction with their current lives.

• Gabby:

  • Reads poetry to Alan; they briefly escape reality in literature.
  • “Well, they get the smell of the gasoline and hamburger out of my system.” –(10:14)

• Alan discusses existential angst and the intellectual’s place in a chaotic world.

  • “Brains without purpose, noise without sound, shape without substance. I belong to a vanishing race.” –Alan, (16:38)

• A pivotal, poignant moment:

  • Gabby proposes that Alan stay and be her companion, using her expected inheritance to fund a future abroad. Alan gently but firmly declines.
  • "You couldn’t live very long with a man who had nothing to do but worship you. That’s a dull kind of love, Gabrielle." –Alan, (19:27)

---

4. Tension Rises: The Gangster Arrives

(22:16–27:44)

• Alan prepares to leave, but Duke Mantee and his gang abruptly arrive, turning the café into a hostage site.
• Duke, threatening but oddly charismatic, orders everyone around, making clear that any false move could be deadly.
  • “Now get this. I and my friends are taking over here for a while.” –Duke, (23:32)

---

5. Hostage Drama & Character Revelations

(27:44–41:08)

• All patrons—including the wealthy Chisholms—are held prisoner while Duke waits for his girlfriend and his fate.
• The drama deepens:
  • Boze tries heroics and gets shot in the hand.
  • Alan, resigned, draws up his life insurance policy to bequeath to Gabby and asks Duke to kill him.
    • "After they’ve signed it, I wish... I’d be much obliged if you’d just kill me." –Alan, (35:32)
• This act of self-sacrifice demonstrates Alan’s desperate longing to make his life meaningful to Gabby.
• Mrs. Chisholm and Gabby discuss womanhood, duty, and the importance of pursuing one’s hopes, even in a stifling world.
  • “Perhaps you have something important to give the world, don’t you let them stifle you with their talk about duty. Go to France and find yourself.” –Mrs. Chisholm, (46:03)

---

6. Climactic Moments & Final Sacrifice

(41:08–56:11)

• As law enforcement closes in, Duke prepares his escape.
• Alan declares his love for Gabby openly, in front of all:
  • "I tell you solemnly that I love you with all the heart that is left in me." –Alan, (47:03)
  • Gabby, emotional, reciprocates: “Alan, if you’re going away, I’m going with you, wherever it is.” –(47:59)
• Alan, insisting Duke keep his bloody promise, is shot in the midst of the crossfire as Duke flees.

---

7. Aftermath and Poignant Conclusion

(56:11–End)

• The violence over, Gabby mourns Alan but is told of the life insurance policy he made out to her, enabling her to finally go to France.
• Grandpa and the others reflect on Alan’s sacrifice and the strange events of the night.
  • “Thus in your field my seed of harvestry will thrive, for the fruit is like me that I set.” –Alan quoting poetry with Gabby’s response, (56:11)
• Gabby affirms that Alan died happy, and quietly vows to fulfill his wish—that she live for what she dreams.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Gabrielle Maple (Susan Hayward):

• “There’s nothing I want except to go to Bourges.” (08:37)
• “Well, they get the smell of the gasoline and hamburger out of my system.” (10:14)
• “I want to be free.” (16:09)

Alan Squire (Ronald Colman):

• “I married. My wife supported me... For eight years I reclined on my background, waiting for the major artist to step forth and write. But he didn’t.” (13:01)
• “Brains without purpose, noise without sound, shape without substance. I belong to a vanishing race.” (16:38)
• “You couldn’t live very long with a man who had nothing to do but worship you. That’s a dull kind of love, Gabrielle.” (19:27)
• “After they’ve signed it, I wish... I’d be much obliged if you’d just kill me.” (35:32)
• “I tell you solemnly that I love you with all the heart that is left in me.” (47:03)

Duke Mantee (Lawrence Tierney):

• “Now get this. I and my friends are taking over here for a while.” (23:32)
• “I’ll be glad to, pal.” (37:23)

---

Pivotal Timestamps

• Setting and Story Setup: 00:44–05:00
• Alan and Gabby’s Dream Conversation: 08:00–11:00
• Alan’s Confessions and Rejecting Gabby’s Proposal: 13:00–19:49
• Duke Mantee Takes Over: 22:16–27:44
• Alan Bequeaths Policy & His Sacrifice: 35:32–38:05
• Climactic Shootout & Alan’s Death Scene: 51:02–56:11
• Ending—Policy Revealed, Gabby’s Future: 55:28–56:45

---

Tone and Style

The performance is dramatic, poetic, and occasionally philosophical, capturing the existential longing and quietly powerful sorrow that underpin the original story. Characters converse in a blend of 1930s directness and literary symbolism, with moments of wry humor spiked through the tension.

---

Conclusion

"The Petrified Forest" is a classic American radio drama that uses a tense hostage situation to explore unfulfilled dreams, the search for meaning, and the nature of courage. Ronald Colman and Susan Hayward deliver moving performances, their characters' fleeting romance and ultimate sacrifice leaving a bittersweet but hopeful resolution.
Final lines echo Gabby's promise to live out Alan's dream—his final gift to her—and her readiness, at last, to leave the desert behind.

---

Transcript

[Shopify Business Owner]

I started Ornod in 2013 and we make bike apparel. The best part of Shopify for me is our ability to run the business as essentially non technical people. We're able to admin everything on the back end, front end and sell things online easily. If Shopify were a bike accessory, I think it would actually be the bicycle. It's the thing that you do the thing on. We run the business on Shopify, so start your free trial on shopify.com Lux presents Hollywood.

[Announcer]

The Lux Radio Theater brings you Ronald Coleman and Susan Hayward in the Petrified Forest with Lawrence Tierney. Ladies and gentlemen, your guest producer, Mr. Thomas Mitchell.

[Narrator]

Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen. Top billing is the ambition of every actor and we are fortunate in having on our stage tonight a man who holds the long distance record as a top star in motion pictures. I'll not forget that my first appearance before the camera was with Ronald Coleman in Lost Horizon. Perhaps one reason for his long record would be that he selects his material with care. And that's why Ronnie is with us tonight in Robert Sherwood's exciting drama, the Petrified Forest. He appears with that talented young actress, Susan Hayward, as the man and woman whom fate dramatically brings together in one of the strangest love stories of our time. An outstanding Broadway stage success. The Petrified Forest takes place in the 1930s when Americans still throng the highways. And the roadside tavern was the outpost of a restless nation, a meeting place for every type of traveler from wealthy tourists to armed desperado. And the armed desperado in our cast is the new RKO actor, Lawrence Tierney, who has just finished playing the title role in the screening of the Dillinger. We bring you tonight's play on the birthday of the father of the English theatre, William Shakespeare. Since Shakespeare's time, of course, the theatre has grown immeasurably in scope and, I dare say, popularity. In fact, you could find no better example than this stage of ours, which raises its curtain every Monday night to an audience of many millions in return for their loyalty to luxe flakes. And if your attendance is rewarded, and I hope it always will be, by the best in Hollywood stars and plays, I'm sure your loyalty to luxe flakes is rewarded by longer life to precious fabrics and pleasanter, easier ways to care for them. Well, it's time for our curtain and the first act, a Petrified Forest, starring Ronald Coleman as Alan Squire and Susan Hayward as Gabby, with Lawrence Tierney as Duke Mantee. Sprawling over a vast area in northeast Arizona. There's a huge forest of trees that have turned to stone. The Petrified Forest. And a dozen or so miles away, clumped on the edge of the desert, there's a tiny oasis in all this wasteland. It's called the Black Mesa Barbecue and Filling Station. Lonesome and weather beaten. Still, it's a living. To old Grandpa Maple. And to the strangely attractive girl who stands behind the lunch counter, his granddaughter Gabby.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What's the matter? Don't you like the pie?

[Duke Mantee]

Ah, it's lousy.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Oh yeah?

[Boze (Bose)]

You still got that engine cooking for you?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Paula's okay, so lay off or eat some.

[Duke Mantee]

Hey, Pop, who's the big football hero out there?

[Grandpa Maple]

That's Bose, helps me with the gas. Where are you boys heading?

[Duke Mantee]

Straight down the road stringing wires.

[Grandpa Maple]

You think your work's tough? In my day you had to be tough. Piutes, Apaches and plenty of white men with no love for their neighbors. Yes, sir. It was killer. Be killed.

[Boze (Bose)]

Atta boy.

[Duke Mantee]

Mr.

[Boze (Bose)]

Maple. Tell them about the time you took a shot at Billy the Kid.

[Grandpa Maple]

I didn't take no shot at the Kid. He took a shot at me. Two shots. You see, I was standing there.

[Duke Mantee]

Papa's been very interesting, but we gotta be going now.

[Boze (Bose)]

What's the bad news, Gabby?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

55 cents a piece.

[Alan Squire]

55 cents apiece. A even money.

[Duke Mantee]

Big seeing you, Mr.

[Alan Squire]

Maple.

[Grandpa Maple]

Call again, boys.

[Boze (Bose)]

Yeah, so long.

[Grandpa Maple]

I always enjoy talking to anybody in the telegraphing business.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You always enjoy talking. Where you going, Gramp?

[Grandpa Maple]

I need some cool air.

[Boze (Bose)]

Going for your walk, Gramp? Yeah.

[Grandpa Maple]

Bose, why don't you sit down a while and cheer up Debbie?

[Boze (Bose)]

Yeah, maybe I'll do that.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Yeah, I'm doing okay.

[Boze (Bose)]

You heard what your grandpa said. What's bothering you, Gabby? Don't you like me?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

No, not a great deal.

[Boze (Bose)]

Ah, that's okay. Seeing as I've been here just a little while, I haven't had a chance to get into my act. Hey, what's that?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It's a book. And you wouldn't like it.

[Boze (Bose)]

How do you know how I feel about things? Poems. You're reading poems? Oh, boy. Get a load of this. A shapely, slender shoulders, small long arms, hands wrought, inglorious, wise. Oh, romantic, huh? I suspected right along. All you needed was a little encouragement.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It's great poetry.

[Boze (Bose)]

I can think of a lot better ways to spend your time.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Hey, boy.

[Grandpa Maple]

Yeah?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Why do you always wear that football jersey, number 42?

[Boze (Bose)]

Because I'm proud of it, that's why. Why shouldn't I wear it?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Ah, forget it.

[Boze (Bose)]

I would've made All American, that's all. Except I wasn't with the big team. You ought to see the newspaper clippings I got.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What's an almost all American doing here, working a gas pump?

[Boze (Bose)]

Well, you can call me a SAP if you want to, Gabby, but I guess I'm falling in love with you.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, cool off, Bose. If Graham comes back and sees you trying to make a pass, you're gonna be out of a job.

[Boze (Bose)]

So what? Hey, baby, you didn't mean that about. Well, about not liking me, did you?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Okay, I like you enough for a kiss, maybe. Cut it out, Bose. I said cut it out.

[Boze (Bose)]

Oh, good evening, sir. What can we do for you?

[Alan Squire]

May I order something to eat?

[Grandpa Maple]

Sure.

[Boze (Bose)]

Ms. Maple here will take care of you.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Don't you want to sit down, sir?

[Alan Squire]

Thanks.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

His menu? Griffin Park.

[Alan Squire]

I've been hitchhiking. Wonderful the progress you can make by wiggling your thumb. Now, the menu says today's special barbecue. What's the barbecue?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, here it's a hamburger sandwich. It's always today's special. It's pretty good.

[Alan Squire]

I want it. And I'd like some soup and some beer. And I'll order the dessert later.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Okay.

[Alan Squire]

Another question. Where am I?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

This place is called Black Mesa. But there's nothing else here. Just bumming along.

[Alan Squire]

I'll call it gypsying. I had a vague idea I'd like to see the Pacific Ocean and perhaps drown in it, but that depends.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Oh, you're English, aren't you?

[Alan Squire]

Oh, you might call me an American once removed. But if you don't mind.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Okay. I'll get the soup.

[Alan Squire]

Thanks.

[Grandpa Maple]

Evening.

[Alan Squire]

Good evening.

[Grandpa Maple]

Enjoying your dinner?

[Alan Squire]

Excellent.

[Grandpa Maple]

Want your coffee?

[Alan Squire]

Charming young lady. Said she'd bring it right in.

[Grandpa Maple]

That's my granddaughter. I've just been out for a walk. I met the sheriff. He.

[Alan Squire]

Gimme this newspaper.

[Grandpa Maple]

Yes, sir. Denver Post. And look. Six killed in Oklahoma City Massacre. Duke Mantee. Sergeant. Here's his picture.

[Alan Squire]

Duke Mantee. Did he do that?

[Grandpa Maple]

Him and his friends.

[Libby Collins]

Ah.

[Alan Squire]

He doesn't look very vicious, does he?

[Grandpa Maple]

Well, you can't never tell a killer except by his chin. Now that's a funny thing. Killer always holds his chin in. Ever hear of Billy the Kid?

[Alan Squire]

Oh, yes, indeed.

[Grandpa Maple]

I knowed him well. Took a couple of shots at me once.

[Alan Squire]

I. Congratulations on still being with us.

[Grandpa Maple]

Well, it was kind of dark. He'd had a few drinks. Just wanted to scare the pants off of me.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Here's your coffee.

[Alan Squire]

Thanks.

[Grandpa Maple]

Just set it down, Gabby.

[Alan Squire]

You know you can go just so long without food.

[Grandpa Maple]

That's right. Been having some bad luck.

[Duke Mantee]

Yep.

[Grandpa Maple]

No Disgrace these days. What line work you in, mister?

[Alan Squire]

None just now. At times. I've been a writer. Writer, huh?

[Grandpa Maple]

What's your name?

[Alan Squire]

Alan Squire.

[Grandpa Maple]

Squire? No, can't say I ever heard of you.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Paula says your supper's ready, Graham.

[Grandpa Maple]

I like eating in the kitchen, Mr. Squire. In there. I can see what I'm getting. Pleased to have met you.

[Alan Squire]

Pleased to have met you, sir, as a charming old gentleman. Your grandfather?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Yes.

[Alan Squire]

He told me he'd been missed by Billy the Kid.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Poor Grampy. Tells everybody that. You get pretty sick of him after a while. I met a writer once. Oh, yeah? He was on his way to the coast. Said I ought to go to Hollywood and look him up. I'm not that dumb. They never mean it.

[Alan Squire]

You want to go into the movies?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

There's nothing I want except to go to Bourges.

[Duke Mantee]

To where?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Bourges. That's in France. You'd never guess it, but that's where I came from.

[Alan Squire]

Are you French?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Partly. I was born in Bourges, but all I know about it is from the postcards my mother sends me. They've got a cathedral there.

[Alan Squire]

Is your mother in Borges? Mm.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Yeah. Dad brought us back here in 1919, after the war. She stuck it out here in this desert for a couple of years, and then she packed up and went back. Some people said it was cruel of her to leave me, but what could she do? She just couldn't live here. And you can't blame her for that. She tried lots of times to get me over there to see her, but while my father was alive, he wouldn't allow it.

[Alan Squire]

And now?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, not so long ago, she got married again to a Frenchman who has a bookstore and three kids. I thought maybe it wouldn't be right barging in on her now, but I'd sure like to see her.

[Alan Squire]

Do you speak French?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Only what you can learn in high school. Every birthday, my mother used to send me a book, but they were all in French. So last year I. I asked her if she'd mind sending me one in English. It's this book here. The Poems of Francois Leon. Ever read it?

[Shopify Business Owner]

Oh, yes.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

That's wonderful poetry. My mother wrote something on the COVID Ama cheur petit Gabrielle. That means, to my dear little Gabrielle. She gave me that name.

[Alan Squire]

Gabrielle. It's a beautiful name.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Wouldn't you know it'd get changed into Gabby by these no good desert rats.

[Alan Squire]

You. You share your mother's opinion of the desert?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Yes.

[Alan Squire]

But you find solace in the poems of Francois Villon.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, they get the Smell of the gasoline and hamburger out of my system.

[Alan Squire]

Would you. Would you like to read me one of those poems, Gabrielle?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You mean now?

[Alan Squire]

Yes, while I'm finishing today's special.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Okay, I'll read you the one I like best. He wrote this about a friend of his who was getting married at daybreak when the falcon claps his wings. No wit for grief, but noble heart held high with loud glad noise he stirs himself and springs and takes his meat and towards his lure draws nigh. Did you ever see a falcon?

[Grandpa Maple]

Yes.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What does it look like?

[Alan Squire]

Oh, not very pleasant. Like a hawk. And in a way, it's like this man here. His picture's in the newspaper. Duke Mantee.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Oh, there were some Mexicans in the kitchen a while ago. They told Paula that mantis heading this way.

[Boze (Bose)]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's

[Alan Squire]

with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher

[Boze (Bose)]

and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with Popping Boba. To crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry

[Alan Squire]

Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire

[Grandpa Maple]

six?

[Narrator]

All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Grandpa Maple]

Refreshers contain caffeine

[Alan Squire]

aura mascolos ievacada projectualizadas ademas.

[Boze (Bose)]

Porcientos yenel pro desk de los. Try to.

[Alan Squire]

Won't you finish the poem?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Oh, sure. Such good I wish you. Yea, and heartily I'm fired with hope of true love's meed to get. Knowing love writes it in his book. But why? This is the end for which we twain are met. You know, that's wonderful stuff.

[Alan Squire]

Uh huh, wonderful.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

But that's the way the French people are. They can understand everything, like life and love and death. And they can enjoy it or laugh at it, depending on how they feel.

[Alan Squire]

And that's why you want to go to France? For understanding.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I will go there where there's something beautiful to look at. And wine and dancing in the streets. And happiness.

[Alan Squire]

If I were you, I'd stay here, Gabrielle, and avoid disappointment. I've been to France.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Writing books?

[Alan Squire]

No, no, planning to write books. You see, I married. My wife supported me.

[Grandpa Maple]

Oh.

[Alan Squire]

Oh, please don't think too badly of me. I once actually wrote a book. I was 22 when I wrote. Was very, very stark. It sold slightly over 600 copies. It cost the publisher quite a lot of money. And it also cost him his wife. You see, she divorced him and married me. She saw in me a major artist who needed only a background to bring him out. She gave it to me With a fine view of the Mediterranean. Well, for eight years I reclined on my background. Waiting for the major artist to step forth and write. But he didn't.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

And you've left your wife now?

[Duke Mantee]

Yes.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I'm glad you did.

[Alan Squire]

Well, it was her own suggestion. She'd taken up with a Brazilian painter, also a major artist. So I decided to go forth and discover America.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What were you looking for?

[Alan Squire]

Well, that's rather hard to say. Oh, something to believe in, I suppose. Something worth living for. Something worth dying for.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

And what have you found?

[Alan Squire]

Nothing so interesting as an old man who was missed by Billy the Kid and a fair young lady who reads Vion.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, I do other things that might surprise you.

[Alan Squire]

I'm sure you do.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I wouldn't tell this to everybody, but I paint pictures.

[Alan Squire]

Are they any good?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Of course not.

[Alan Squire]

Could I see them?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Oh, I never let anybody see them. I'd only get kidded. They're kind of crazy.

[Alan Squire]

Please let me see them. Perhaps it's my mission to introduce you to posterity as an American genius.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Are you kidding me?

[Alan Squire]

No, no, no, no. Gabrielle, I know I've never kidded anybody outside of myself.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Okay. But you've got to promise not to tell anybody.

[Alan Squire]

My word of honor.

[Duke Mantee]

For all it's worth.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I'll go get them. These others here are all desert scenes.

[Alan Squire]

Oh, yeah.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

This one's a portrait. Oh, it's Paula, our Indian cook. Not much of a likeness.

[Boze (Bose)]

Oh, no, no.

[Alan Squire]

I'm sure you didn't intend it to be. You tell me, what. What made you paint in this strange manner?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It's just the way I feel. You won't hurt my feelings if you say they're no good.

[Alan Squire]

No, no, I. I'm tremendously impressed. And also bewildered.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I bet I could improve if I could get to France. They've got the finest art schools in the world there. Beautiful things to paint.

[Alan Squire]

Well, don't you. Don't you realize there are probably thousands of artists in France today. Who are saying I'd find a really big theme for my canvas if I could only get to Arizona?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Yes, I know. They say the desert's full of mystery and it's haunted and, well, all that. Maybe it is. But there's something in me that makes me want something different.

[Alan Squire]

I know there's something in you. I wish I could figure out what it is.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Listen, you've been to France. What are they like there?

[Alan Squire]

Frenchmen are not like they once were. Well, no one in Europe is.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I've always imagined that Frenchmen must all be like Vion. Gay and reckless. Poetic.

[Alan Squire]

No, no, especially not reckless.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

But they're always having a good time, aren't they?

[Alan Squire]

Not invariably. Would you like to marry a Frenchman?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I don't want to marry anybody. I want to be free.

[Libby Collins]

Always.

[Alan Squire]

Well, how about number 42? You know, the stalwart youth in the football jersey. When I first came in, he was.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

He was trying to kiss me. He's after me, all right.

[Alan Squire]

Do you think he'll succeed?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I haven't decided yet. What do you say?

[Alan Squire]

No, no, no, no. Don't ask me, Gabriel.

[Duke Mantee]

No.

[Alan Squire]

Let your French blood guide you in matters like that. It's infallible.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

But you ought to know something. You've seen a lot.

[Alan Squire]

I don't know anything.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

How can you say that? You've got a lot of brains.

[Duke Mantee]

Yep.

[Alan Squire]

Brains without purpose, noise without sound, shape without substance. I belong to a vanishing race. I'm one of the intellectuals who thought they'd conquered nature. But the world's in a chaos. And what's the reason?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Who knows?

[Alan Squire]

I do. I'm probably the only living person who does know. It's nature hitting back. Oh, not with the old weapons of floods and plagues, but fighting back with strange new weapons called neuroses. She's deliberately inflicting mankind with the jitters. Nature's annoyed. She's taking the world away from the intellectuals and giving it back to the apes. She's. She. Forgive me, Gabrielle, and don't listen to me. For all I know, you may be an entirely different species. One of nature's own children, and therefore able to understand her and laugh at her or enjoy her, depending upon how you feel. And by the way, the beer is excellent.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It's made in Phoenix. And you talk like a fool. No wonder your wife kicked you out. And no wonder she fell for you in the first place.

[Alan Squire]

That sounds alarmingly like a compliment.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It is a compliment. What did you say your first name is?

[Alan Squire]

Alan. Alan Squire. I've been calling you Gabrielle, so you'd better.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Where are you going from here, Alan?

[Alan Squire]

That depends on where the road leads.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It leads to the Petrified Forest.

[Alan Squire]

What's that?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

A gloomy place full of dead trees that have turned to stone in the desert.

[Alan Squire]

The Petrified Forest. Suitable haven for me. Perhaps that's what I'm destined for. To make an interesting fossil for future study. Alan Squire. A specimen of the in between age who was born too late for the Great War and too soon for the one that's coming. I see you've taken my advice. You're not listening.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I was just Thinking I'd like to go to France with you.

[Alan Squire]

You? No. No, I'm afraid I could never retrace my steps.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You mean you haven't enough money?

[Alan Squire]

Even that is an understatement.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, I haven't got enough either yet. But I've got a lot coming to me someday.

[Alan Squire]

Are you proposing to me? Trying to turn me into a gigolo again?

[Libby Collins]

No.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It'll be different this time. Do you know how much Gramps got salted away in the bank at Santa Fe? $22,000. He won't give me any of it now. But it's all Will to me. We might have to wait years for it. But if you'd only stay.

[Alan Squire]

You think you'd like me as a life companion?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I know I would. And I don't make mistakes. Wouldn't you like to be loved by me?

[Duke Mantee]

Yes.

[Alan Squire]

Yes, Gabrielle, I should like to be loved by you.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You think I'm attractive?

[Alan Squire]

There are better words than that for what you are.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Then say you'll stay. Alan, I could have Bows fired. And you haven't got anything else to do.

[Alan Squire]

That's just it. You couldn't live very long with a man who had nothing to do but worship you. That's a dull kind of love, Gabrielle. It's the kind that makes people old too soon. I thank you for the suggestion. You've given me something wonderful to think about during my lonely wanderings. I'll think of the chimes of Bourge and you and a forest turned to stone.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You mean you're going now?

[Alan Squire]

Yes.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, I can't stop you.

[Alan Squire]

No, Gabrielle, you can't. But you can do me one great favor. Before I go. Would you mind very much if I kissed you goodbye?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

No, I wouldn't mind.

[Alan Squire]

You understand that it would be nothing more.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I'd understand. It'd be just a kiss. That's all.

[Alan Squire]

That's absolutely all. Gabrielle, I. Oh, so that's what's going on.

[Boze (Bose)]

Naked, huh? Who do you think you are?

[Mrs. Chisholm]

He didn't get fresh.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

He didn't get fresh. He only wanted to kiss me goodbye.

[Alan Squire]

Yes, the impulse is rather hard to explain.

[Boze (Bose)]

Pay your check and get out.

[Alan Squire]

How much do I owe Ms. Maple?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

30 cents.

[Boze (Bose)]

30 cents?

[Grandpa Maple]

Is that all you ate?

[Boze (Bose)]

30 cents.

[Alan Squire]

Well, that brings me to another embarrassment. I. I haven't got 30 cents.

[Boze (Bose)]

Well, that's just fine, isn't it? That's just great. What do you got in your pack there?

[Alan Squire]

A shirt, socks, a passport, insurance policy and a copy of A Modern Man In Search of a Soul.

[Boze (Bose)]

And you thought you could pay with a kiss. Did you?

[Duke Mantee]

Royalty.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Take your hands off him, Boaz.

[Alan Squire]

I beg your pardon.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Yes, sir.

[Announcer]

We'd like some gas and oil, please.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Get going, Bose.

[Boze (Bose)]

How many gallons or whatever it needs.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Henry, ask him about the hotel.

[Alan Squire]

Yes, dear. Any idea how far we are from the Phoenix biltmore?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

A good 200 miles.

[Alan Squire]

A good 200 miles.

[Narrator]

That's just fine.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Give the man his gasoline, Bose.

[Boze (Bose)]

Okay, okay.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Cigarettes, Henry, you forgot them in the last place.

[Narrator]

Yes, dear.

[Alan Squire]

I know, dear. Cigarettes. Well, Miss Maple. Goodbye.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Alan, wait a minute. Oh, mister. Say, if you're going to Phoenix, maybe you'd have room for my friend. Oh, Mr. Squire. He's on his way to the coast and, well, he hasn't got a car right now. He's an author.

[Alan Squire]

But really, I. I guess you're a

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

little suspicious, what with Duke Mantee on the loose and all that.

[Announcer]

Well.

[Narrator]

Well, I guess it would be all right.

[Alan Squire]

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Maple. I remember your kindness.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Oh, I forgot to give you a change.

[Alan Squire]

Here, A dollar. But I. Oh, but I wanted you to keep that.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Take it, please.

[Alan Squire]

I can't very well pretend.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

When you get to the Pacific Ocean, send me some pictures, will you? I like pictures of water.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Henry.

[Boze (Bose)]

Yes, dear.

[Alan Squire]

Here you are, miss.

[Announcer]

Come along, Mr. Squire.

[Alan Squire]

I suppose I'll never see you again, Gabrielle.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, that's the way it is in a gas station. They come and they go.

[Alan Squire]

Somehow or other, I'll repay that dollar. Heaven knows when.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Maybe we'll run into each other someday in Bourges.

[Duke Mantee]

Yes.

[Alan Squire]

Yes. Goodbye, Gabriel.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Goodbye, Alan.

[Boze (Bose)]

Mind if I sit down a while, Gabby?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Sit down, Bose.

[Boze (Bose)]

Hasn't been a car pass since that guy with the Packard. I wonder how come he gave that panhandler a lift.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

He wasn't a panhandler.

[Boze (Bose)]

Hey, you sound like you were nuts about him.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Do I?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, I'm not.

[Grandpa Maple]

I.

[Boze (Bose)]

How about being a little nice to

[Narrator]

me for a change?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Oh, gee, Booze. I'd like to be nice to you. I'd like to be nice to everybody.

[Boze (Bose)]

Well, you can be, Gabby. How about you and me taking a walk around the mesa?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You know what I've been doing? I've been sitting here thinking what he said.

[Boze (Bose)]

What did he say?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

He said that what's wrong with the world is that we've been trying to fight nature. He said we've got to admit that nature can't be beaten.

[Boze (Bose)]

Well, isn't that exactly what I've been trying to tell you all along? You and me, a night like this, we could really get acquainted.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Baby, Sorry, I'm not in the mood.

[Boze (Bose)]

Now, how can you say that? Okay, folks, now just behave yourself and nobody will get hurt. Hey, what's the idea? Put down that gun. Who's the boss here?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

My grandfather. He's inside. What do you want?

[Duke Mantee]

Trouble, Jackie?

[Boze (Bose)]

No trouble, boss. Another one?

[Duke Mantee]

Yes.

[Boze (Bose)]

This is Duke Mantee, folks. He's the world famous killer and he's hungry.

[Duke Mantee]

Now get this. I and my friends are taking over here for a while.

[Boze (Bose)]

You dirty rat.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Shut up, fools.

[Duke Mantee]

Tell Ruby and Bugs to come on in.

[Boze (Bose)]

Okay, too.

[Duke Mantee]

Now, as for you two and whoever else might be here, I don't know how long we're gonna be staying, but I'd like things to be nice and peaceful. See, we all have a few beers together, listen to the radio and not make any wrong moves. Cause I may as well tell you, old Jackie there with the machine gun is pretty nervous and jumpy. And he's got the itch between the fingers. Okay, now suppose I take a little look.

[Announcer]

Thomas Mitchell. And our stars, Ronald Coleman and Susan Hayward will be back with Act 2 of the Petrified Forest after intermission time. Here's our fashion reporter, Libby Collins, doing sums on a timetable.

[Libby Collins]

Miami, Washington, New York, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis.

[Announcer]

Going somewhere, Libby?

[Libby Collins]

Oh, not me. This trip is on a very important war job.

[Announcer]

Who is making it then?

[Libby Collins]

A very attractive young lady. She's Miss Jenny Earl Cox, a Stevens College senior who has chosen this year's Made of Cotton in a southwide contest.

[Announcer]

And how does her trip help the war effort?

[Libby Collins]

Oh, she's selling war bonds. About a quarter of a million dollars worth already. She's also showing women in 35 leading cities how precious today's cottons are and how they can keep them lovely longer. That's important these days because the army needs so much cotton, too.

[Announcer]

Tell us more about the native cotton, Libby.

[Libby Collins]

Oh, she's Mississippi born and so are all her family. Back to her great great grandfather who raised the first bale of cotton in Lowndes County.

[Announcer]

She ought to be a good ambassador for King Cotton.

[Libby Collins]

Mm. She has wavy brown hair, sparkling blue eyes, a size 12 figure that shows her all cotton wardrobe to the very best advantage.

[Announcer]

Is everything she wears made of cotton?

[Grandpa Maple]

Mm.

[Libby Collins]

Even her stockings and undies. Her wardrobe includes everything from a two piece bouquet bathing suit to a floating organdy evening gown. They're all styles any woman can duplicate because they're made from easy to follow McCall patterns. All the fabrics are luxe tested too, so you know they'll stay color fresh time after time when you wash Them with lukewarm water and mild luxe flakes.

[Announcer]

Yes, tests show colors stay lovely up to three times longer with gentle luxe care. Strong soap, hot water and rough handling fade colors too soon, make them look drab.

[Libby Collins]

Today's cottons are smart for any time of day or night, so give them the gentle care they deserve. Watch your local newspaper to see when the maid of cotton will model them in your city.

[Announcer]

We take you back to Thomas Mitchell and our stars.

[Narrator]

Act two of the Petrified Forest. Starring Ronald Coleman as Alan Squire and Susan Hayward as Gabby. With Lawrence Tierney as Duke Mantee. Only a few moments have passed since the descent of the killer. Duke Van T on the Black Mesa barbecue Granger knows.

[Commercial Narrator]

When you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building. You're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality material, motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Narrator]

While Bo stares helplessly into the muzzle of a submachine gun, Manti calmly surveys the lunchroom. Finally, he turns to the lunch girl. Call Gabby.

[Duke Mantee]

All right now, sister. Where's the old man? Your grandfather?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Probably in his room. He takes a nap after supper.

[Duke Mantee]

Get him, Jackie.

[Boze (Bose)]

Bugs?

[Grandpa Maple]

Yeah?

[Duke Mantee]

Park the packet in the shadows and stay in it. Keep your eyes open.

[Boze (Bose)]

Tell Jackie to bring me a beer. How long are we staying here, Duke?

[Duke Mantee]

Until the others get here.

[Boze (Bose)]

You're gonna wait for that blonde?

[Duke Mantee]

We told her we'd be here. Than we. Now shut up. Okay, sister. We'd like something to eat.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

The cook's gone home. I'll have to go into the kitchen.

[Duke Mantee]

Ruby, he'll go with you.

[Boze (Bose)]

He starts getting fresh.

[Duke Mantee]

Cabby, relax. Football. Hey.

[Boze (Bose)]

You better not let me get close enough to take a sock at you.

[Duke Mantee]

I used to be Quite a gridiron fan. What's your school?

[Boze (Bose)]

Nevada.

[Alan Squire]

M and T. Boy Scout.

[Boze (Bose)]

Can't see. Old man too.

[Grandpa Maple]

He said you were Duke Mante. He said you are Duke Mante, the killer.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah. Sit down, Pop.

[Boze (Bose)]

Hear what happened in Oklahoma City, Pop?

[Grandpa Maple]

It's all in the Denver Post. A regular massacre.

[Duke Mantee]

How you doing, sister?

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Ham.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Budget will take a while.

[Duke Mantee]

Well, I'm bringing some beer. You fellas like to join us?

[Boze (Bose)]

I never touch alcohol.

[Grandpa Maple]

I guess I'll have whiskey. And I'm not scared of you, Duke. I've known real killers in my time.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah. Okay. Get behind the counter. Jackie, stay in the kitchen. Ruby. Gabrielle.

[Alan Squire]

Gabrielle.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Who is it?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Gabriel, Alan.

[Alan Squire]

We were just held up about a mile down the road. Bandits. And they're around here somewhere.

[Boze (Bose)]

Yeah, so we heard.

[Alan Squire]

They took Mr. Chisholm's car.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah, and they drove back here.

[Alan Squire]

Uh oh. So we. We meet again.

[Grandpa Maple]

He's Duke Mantee, Mr. Squire. We were looking at his picture, remember?

[Duke Mantee]

Join us in a little drink?

[Alan Squire]

Why, why, thank you, yes.

[Grandpa Maple]

Look at that chin. He's a killer, all right.

[Boze (Bose)]

He's a gangster and a rat.

[Grandpa Maple]

He ain't a gangster. He's a real old time desperado. And if the sheriff finds out, we'll see some real killing, won't we?

[Alan Squire]

Let there be killing. All evening long, I've had a feeling of destiny closing in. You believe in astrology, Duke?

[Duke Mantee]

I couldn't say, pal.

[Alan Squire]

Oh, I don't normally. But as I was walking along that road, I looked up at the sky and the stars seemed to be mocking me. They were pointing the way here and seemed to say, there's the end of your tether. You thought you could escape it and skip off to the Phoenix Biltmore. But we know better. I'm telling you what the stars told me. Perhaps they know that carnage is imminent and that I'm due to be among the fallen. That's a fascinating thought.

[Duke Mantee]

Let's skip it. Thanks, sister. Well, here's happy days, folks.

[Grandpa Maple]

Yes, sir, it sure is pleasant to have a killer around here again. Yep.

[Alan Squire]

Pleasant to be back again among the living. Well, happy days,

[Boze (Bose)]

Duke. It's away after 10. We've been here an hour and a half.

[Duke Mantee]

So what?

[Boze (Bose)]

Jackie's right, Duke.

[Duke Mantee]

I'm waiting here for Doris. I'm waiting here for Doris and the boys.

[Boze (Bose)]

But if she was gonna show up, she'd have been.

[Duke Mantee]

I said I'm waiting here.

[Boze (Bose)]

Listen to em. I get among themselves a bunch of yellow dogs.

[Alan Squire]

I'd be a little tactful, Bo. They're Your guests.

[Duke Mantee]

Hey, sister.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What?

[Duke Mantee]

I thought I told you to turn on the radio. It's time for the news.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I did. Turn it.

[Duke Mantee]

Well, turn it up. What don't you want me to hear?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Okay, I'll turn it up.

[Boze (Bose)]

In the history of the Southwest, that's us. Dookie, take a pie. The Mantee Gang made its escape from Oklahoma City in two cars, one of which contained man t and three men and the other containing two men and one woman. The Mantee car was seen today at Hillsborough in New Mexico, nearing the Arizona border. The others were identified when they held up the police station at Elderton and fled with a large supply of guns and ammunition. Nice going, boys. Both cars are undoubtedly headed for the border. State troopers, sheriffs and deputies have every highway covered. And their orders are shoot first and ask questions later. I'll now give you the scores.

[Duke Mantee]

Turn it off, Jackie boy. Ruby, tell Bugs to bring in that sack of ammunition in the road maps. You stay in the car.

[Boze (Bose)]

Okay.

[Grandpa Maple]

Going to make a run for the border?

[Boze (Bose)]

Oh, sure. We'll give you our whole route so you can tell them hick cops to give us a motorcycle escort.

[Alan Squire]

I think I'm about ready for another whiskey. Gabrielle, if I may.

[Boze (Bose)]

Listen, panhander, who told you you could keep calling her by her first name? Hi, everybody. Here's the shell boss of the map.

[Alan Squire]

Hey, when are we laming out?

[Duke Mantee]

When it's time. Sure.

[Boze (Bose)]

Just as soon as the do connects with that heavy data. Here. Well, I think we ought to get out of here.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Here's your drink, Al.

[Boze (Bose)]

Hey, wait a minute. How's he gonna pay for all that liquor? That's two drinks he's had.

[Alan Squire]

I can pay those. I have a dollar.

[Boze (Bose)]

A. A dollar? So you were holding out on it. Would you?

[Alan Squire]

No, no, no, no. I've acquired it since then.

[Boze (Bose)]

Where'd you get it?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Keep quiet. Probably those rich people in the car.

[Alan Squire]

You must know Bowles. Gabrielle gave it to me.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Gabby, it's none of your business what I do.

[Grandpa Maple]

Duke. What, you fellows gonna spend the night here?

[Duke Mantee]

Can't say, Pop. Maybe we'll decide to get buried here.

[Alan Squire]

Ah, you better come with me, Duke. I'm planning to be buried in the Petrified Forest. It's a graveyard of civilization. Dead stumps in the desert. That's where I belong, and so do you.

[Duke Mantee]

Maybe you're right, pal.

[Alan Squire]

I'm eternally right. But what use do I make of it?

[Boze (Bose)]

Hey, about that dollar.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Gabby, I said it was none of your business.

[Boze (Bose)]

You're crazy about him, aren't you?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

All right, what if I am?

[Alan Squire]

What did you say?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I said I'm crazy about you.

[Alan Squire]

I swear. I wasn't trying to be seductive. Both you.

[Libby Collins]

Alan.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Alan. After you left here, I feel as if I'd come out of a dream. But I caught on to myself fast. I know I'll never be anything but another desert rat. France, art, dancing in the streets. That's all. A lot of hooey. Remember when I asked you about going to France because. But you wouldn't have done it even if we had the money.

[Announcer]

No.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You see, he doesn't give a hoot about me. I saw that plain enough, and it's only made me love him more.

[Alan Squire]

Gabby, I'm sorry I came back. When I left before, it was the poignant ending to an idyllic interlude. But now it's spoiled.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You're sorry you heard the truth.

[Alan Squire]

I'm the type of person to whom the truth is often distasteful. Graham, sit down, pal. I want to talk to Graham.

[Duke Mantee]

You can talk sitting down. I heard you doing it.

[Grandpa Maple]

Mr.

[Alan Squire]

Maple. That money of yours buried in Santa Fe.

[Grandpa Maple]

How do you know about it?

[Alan Squire]

What are you going to do with it?

[Grandpa Maple]

Leave it just where it is.

[Alan Squire]

And meanwhile, your granddaughter suffocates in this desert when a few of your thousands would give her the chance to claim her birthright. You were once a pioneer. What are you now? A mean old miser hanging onto money as though it meant something. Why don't you die and do the world some good?

[Duke Mantee]

That's about the dirtiest crack I ever heard. What do you mean talking to the old man like that?

[Boze (Bose)]

There's a man and a dame coming down the road. Looks like the owner of the pack will be borrowed.

[Duke Mantee]

Okay. Keep quiet when they get here.

[Boze (Bose)]

Okay. Moon's bright. It's gonna be real good out here.

[Alan Squire]

Duke, I was guilty of very bad taste and I apologize to Mr. Maple.

[Libby Collins]

Sure.

[Duke Mantee]

You better cruel or I might have to put the slug on you, talking to an old man like that.

[Boze (Bose)]

Where you going, Duke?

[Duke Mantee]

Just to the window. Those people are coming. Get in the kitchen with Bugs.

[Boze (Bose)]

Sure.

[Alan Squire]

Listen, Duke, if you had any of Robin Hood in you, you'd go to Santa Fe and rob that bank and give it to her before she put him up.

[Boze (Bose)]

Put up your hand.

[Duke Mantee]

Hey, what are you trying to.

[Boze (Bose)]

Jackie left his gun, didn't he? Oh, I've been waiting for this chance all night. I've been watching every move you've been making. I've been who?

[Duke Mantee]

Jackie?

[Boze (Bose)]

Bug.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Bones.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Bones of your hand.

[Duke Mantee]

Get that, Tommy. Jackie. See what happens when you're careless.

[Boze (Bose)]

He's getting up, Duke. He got me in the hand.

[Alan Squire]

Just what is the meaning of.

[Duke Mantee]

Shut up. You risk them bugs.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

I don't have that man pawing me again.

[Boze (Bose)]

I still can't figure what happened to that football hero.

[Duke Mantee]

Almost had me. The society dame screamed, he turned his head.

[Boze (Bose)]

I had the chance that I muffed it. I could have got Mantee and she ruined everything.

[Grandpa Maple]

Henry.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Henry, we're getting out of here.

[Duke Mantee]

You're sitting down like everybody else.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Hurt?

[Duke Mantee]

Take him in the kitchen. Sister, you and Jackie better tie him up in there, Jackie? After she fixes his war wound.

[Boze (Bose)]

Come on, hero.

[Grandpa Maple]

Did you mean to hit him in the hand, Duke, or was it a bad shot?

[Duke Mantee]

Bad shot, Pop. I had to get it off too fast. Now, listen, all of you. I let that mug make a mug out of me, but don't anybody try it again. Anybody makes a wrong move, I'm gonna kill a whole lot of you.

[Alan Squire]

Are you Manty?

[Duke Mantee]

Yes, pal. Oh.

[Alan Squire]

Hey, Duke, would you mind passing me my knapsack? It's on the counter.

[Duke Mantee]

What do you want with it?

[Alan Squire]

My life insurance policy. You'll find it there in a bundle of papers.

[Grandpa Maple]

Expecting to die, Mr. Squire?

[Duke Mantee]

You've guessed it.

[Alan Squire]

Mr. Maple.

[Duke Mantee]

Here you are.

[Alan Squire]

Thanks. My fountain pen.

[Duke Mantee]

Go ahead.

[Announcer]

What about my car, Mantis?

[Duke Mantee]

Swell, Buzz.

[Announcer]

Do you intend restoring it to me and my luggage?

[Duke Mantee]

Oh, you may get it back. Let's hope it isn't full of bullet holes and blood. Oh, I took some jewelry out of the lady's bag.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

You're nothing but a filthy thief.

[Duke Mantee]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Alan Squire]

Duke, I have a great favor to ask of you.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah?

[Alan Squire]

I don't think you'll refuse it because you're a man of great imagination.

[Duke Mantee]

What are you getting at?

[Alan Squire]

This insurance policy. It's my only asset. It's for $5,000. It's made out to my wife, but she's a rich woman and not a bad sort, really. She won't mind.

[Duke Mantee]

You've been writing on it. Yes.

[Alan Squire]

I've changed the beneficiary. I've written on the policy that I want Miss Maple to receive the money. And if Mr. And Mrs. Chisholm here will witness my signature, I'm sure everything will be all right. Well, what I'm getting at is this, Duke. After they've signed it, I wish. I'd be much obliged if you'd just kill me.

[Grandpa Maple]

He's drunk.

[Duke Mantee]

Now, let the man finish, Pop.

[Alan Squire]

He couldn't make any difference to you, Duke. They can only hang you once, and you you can't be bothered by any humane consideration. You'd have a hard time finding a more suitable candidate for extermination. I'll be mourned by no one. You see, Duke, in killing me, you'd only be executing the sentence of the law. I mean natural law. The survival of the fittest.

[Duke Mantee]

Come on, stop showing off.

[Alan Squire]

Yes, I'm. I'm trying to outdo Bows in Gallantry. Well, is there anything unnatural in that? Can't you see I mean it? I've never heard of such a thing. Probably not, but this is a weird country we're in, Mr. Chisholm. These mesas are enchanted. You have to be prepared here for the improbable. I'm only asking that you attest my signature on this paper.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I believe you do mean it.

[Alan Squire]

Good for you, Mrs. Chisholm. You're a kindred spirit.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Why, you're in love with that girl inside, aren't you?

[Duke Mantee]

Yes.

[Alan Squire]

Yes, I suppose I am. And not unreasonably. She has heroic stuff in her. Why, she may be another Joan of Arc or Madame Curie. I want to show her that I believe in her. And how else can I do it? Living, I'm worth nothing to her. Dead, I can buy her the tallest cathedrals and golden vineyards and dancing in the streets. Now, one. One well directed bullet will accomplish all that. Will you do it, Duke?

[Duke Mantee]

I'll be glad to, pal.

[Alan Squire]

Then. Then. Now, can I have this signed?

[Duke Mantee]

Sure. Is he, by chance insane?

[Grandpa Maple]

Don't ask me. He's no friend of mine.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Of course he's insane. But what of it?

[Boze (Bose)]

Sign it.

[Alan Squire]

Henry, you simply cannot trifle with insurance institutions like this.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

I said sign it.

[Announcer]

Oh, give me the pen.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

There, that's better. Now I'll sign it.

[Alan Squire]

Thanks. Now, Mr. Maple, I'll entrust this policy to you after I. After the Duke has obliged, will you give it to some good lawyer for collection? My passport's in the knapsack for identification.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Here you are.

[Alan Squire]

Thank you.

[Duke Mantee]

Let me know when you want to be killed, pal.

[Alan Squire]

Oh, pick your own moment, Duke. Say, just before you leave, huh? But I prefer to have her think you did it in cold blood. Will you all please remember that? And now I think we'd all like to have a drink.

[Announcer]

We pause now for station identification. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System. Thomas Mitchell and our stars, Ronald Coleman and Susan Hayward will be back with Act 3 of the Petrified Forest in a moment. When Nancy and Jane's husbands went overseas, the girls decided to share an apartment. And the first night I'll put the

[Mrs. Chisholm]

chops on, you set the table.

[Libby Collins]

Okay?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Sure. Where'd we put the dessert plates?

[Libby Collins]

I got a cake.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Oh, I don't think they're unpacked yet. But we can put the cake on the bread and butter plates after we've finished with them. Then we won't have so many dishes to wash. Oh, Nan, let's not start

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

doing things like that.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Let's use all our nice things just as if the boys were here. Bob and I always did things like that. And put the salad on the dinner plates, too. No sense using a lot of extra dishes.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Boy, you must be allergic to dishwashing.

[Libby Collins]

Well, I am.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Just look at my hands. Why, you poor kid.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

They are red. But look, if you're doing the cooking, I ought to wash the dishes. And I don't mind how many there are.

[Announcer]

So Janie set the table her way. And afterwards, when she went to wash the dishes.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

St. Anne.

[Libby Collins]

Where's the soap?

[Mrs. Chisholm]

In the cabinet.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Good grief. You didn't get this strong stuff for dishes, did you?

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Well, I always. No wonder your hands are red.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Wait a sec.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

What are you doing? Getting some luck. Here. I had this box in the bathroom. You used Lux for dishes? Sure. I don't want to get dish pan hands.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

That strong stuff stings.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

I wondered how you kept your hands so nice.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, just change from strong soaps to gentle luxe flakes, honey. And yours will soon be nice again, too.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

But our budget luxe won't even make

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

a dent in it.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

A big box like this lasts simply ages.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It's really thrifty.

[Announcer]

Yes, scientific tests prove that ounce per ounce, luxe flakes wash up to twice as many dishes as other well known dishwashing soaps. Hands stay lovely too. Use Lux for your dishes today. Here's Thomas Mitchell with our stars.

[Narrator]

After the play, we'll meet our stars in person as they take their curtain calls. Now here's Act 3 of the Petrified Forest. Starring Ronald Coleman as Alan Squire and Susan Hayward as Gabby. With Lawrence Tierney as Duke Manteague.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Hey, it's your ceiling vent. So I'm dripping. Could be the rain. Could be the upstairs bathroom. Yikes. You could hire the guy your neighbor recommended, but I'm pretty sure that's just his cousin. Do we know if he's licensed or does he just own a ladder?

[Shopify Business Owner]

Listen to your home go with thumbtack.

[Alan Squire]

Upload a photo or voice note and

[Grandpa Maple]

we'll diagnose your project and match you

[Alan Squire]

with the right pro for the job. Thumbtack. We know homes hire the Right.

[Commercial Narrator]

Pro today.

[Shopify Business Owner]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Commercial Narrator]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan. Required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. See terms.

[Narrator]

It's a half hour later. In the heavy purple shadows outside the Black Mesa barbecue, the gunman Ruby sits with his eyes on the black ribbon of road. Inside, Duke Mantees stares at the clock and the lines of his face grow harder. Huddled at the counter are Allen, Squire, Gramp and the Chisholms.

[Alan Squire]

You'll keep the insurance policy, Mr. Maple. And you'll say nothing to Gabrielle.

[Grandpa Maple]

Sure, I'll keep it.

[Alan Squire]

What I've done. You think it's all legal, don't you?

[Grandpa Maple]

Seems so to me. I'd like to tell you just one thing, my friend. There ain't a woman alive that's worth $5,000.

[Alan Squire]

And let me tell you one thing, my friend. You're a forgetful old fool. Any woman is worth everything that any man has to give. Anguish, ecstasy, faith, jealousy, love, hatred. Life or death. Don't you see? That's the whole excuse for our existence. It's what makes the whole thing possible and tolerable. When you've reached my age, Grandpa, you'll have better sense.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Henry, did you hear that?

[Alan Squire]

I heard that lovely. That lovely girl inside there. Do you know what she is?

[Libby Collins]

No.

[Alan Squire]

You haven't the remotest idea.

[Grandpa Maple]

What is she?

[Alan Squire]

She's the future. She's the renewal of vitality and courage and hope. All the strength that's gone out of you. Oh, I can't say what she is, but. But she's essential to me and to the whole country and the whole miserable world. And please, Mrs. Chisholm, don't look at me like that. I know how I sound.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I wonder if you really believe all that.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

I mean, about women.

[Alan Squire]

Of course I do. And there by the window is a man who agrees with me. Don't you, Duke?

[Duke Mantee]

I don't know, pal. I wasn't listening.

[Alan Squire]

Well, then let me speak for you, Mrs. Chisholm. Duke Mantee 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?

[Libby Collins]

Why?

[Alan Squire]

Because he has a rendezvous with a girl. Isn't that true, Duke?

[Duke Mantee]

Yes, pal, that's it.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Do you mean to say you. You ever have time for romance?

[Duke Mantee]

Not much, lady.

[Alan Squire]

Only like the knights of the Round Table between dragons.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah, I guess we're all a lot of saps. I wouldn't be surprised if I was a champ. You think I was kidding when I said I'd be glad to knock you off?

[Alan Squire]

I hope that neither of us was kidding. You think I was?

[Duke Mantee]

I just wanted to make sure. You're all right, pal. You got good ideas. I'll try to fix it so it won't hurt.

[Alan Squire]

You're all right too, Duke. I'd like to meet you again someday.

[Duke Mantee]

Maybe it'll be soon.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

You know, this frightful place is suddenly become quite cozy.

[Alan Squire]

That's ah, that's my doing, Mrs. Chisholm. You can thank me for having taken it out of the realm of reality.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

I'm going to see something at last. Beside cliff dwellings. Henry, do you realize we're going to

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

be witnesses of the murder?

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Why, he's actually going to shoot him.

[Alan Squire]

Please, please. She's coming. How's Bose, Gabriel?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

He'll be all right.

[Duke Mantee]

Did you tie him up, Jackie?

[Boze (Bose)]

Yeah, in the bathroom. Luke, we gotta get out of here.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah, I know. Something's happened to Doris. Something must have happened. Well, we'll give him a few minutes more.

[Alan Squire]

A few minutes more.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Listen, Graham, I've got an idea. We ought to sell out right away tomorrow. It's the best break we'll ever have. This place is going to be advertised all over the country. People are going to be flocking here just to see where Duke Mantee stops.

[Grandpa Maple]

Still aiming to take that trip to France?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

No, no, Gramp, I'll never get there. And I never knew it better than I do right now.

[Alan Squire]

You want to be a great painter, don't you?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You and your advice and your talk about nature. I thought you told me never to listen to you.

[Duke Mantee]

I did, but.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, that's all the advice I'm going to take.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Do you mind if I say something, my dear? Perhaps I could tell you.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What do you know about me?

[Grandpa Maple]

Nothing.

[Alan Squire]

And if I were you, idiot, I'd keep on.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Henry, you've never had the remotest conception what's inside me. And you never will have. You're a stuffed shirt with buttons made out of 18 carat diamonds.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

And I'm just as bad because I

[Mrs. Chisholm]

take my Revenge out on you by nagging. All my life I've done what people have wanted me to do. First my parents, then my friends are now you. And I hate my life.

[Alan Squire]

Dear Lord.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Miss Maple, profit. Profit by my example. Perhaps you have something important to give the world, don't you let them stifle you with their talk about duty. Go to France and find yourself.

[Grandpa Maple]

Suppose she learns there's nothing more to find?

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Even that'd be better than endless doubt, believe me.

[Alan Squire]

You know, it's the strangest thing about this place. There's something about this lunch counter that brings out the autobiographical impulse. Now, Duke. Duke, what kind of a life have you had?

[Duke Mantee]

Lousy, pal.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

I don't believe it. At least you're a real man, though.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

An evil one.

[Duke Mantee]

A real man, huh? What's it got me? I've spent most of my life since I grew up in jail. It looks like I'll spend the rest of my life dead. But where's the percentage? Thanks all the same, lady. I'll send you a postcard from Mexico.

[Alan Squire]

Excuse me, Duke, but how's the time getting along?

[Duke Mantee]

It's just about up, pal.

[Alan Squire]

Then I must talk to you. Gabrielle.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You can wait till they're gone.

[Alan Squire]

No, no, I can't wait. I mean, when they go, I go. I have to tell you now that I love you.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Now, listen, Alan, I don't want you to think.

[Alan Squire]

I tell you solemnly that I love you with all the heart that is left in me.

[Boze (Bose)]

Duke, are we waiting here just to listen to this?

[Duke Mantee]

Shut up.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

He does love you, Miss Maple.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

He told us so.

[Alan Squire]

Now, please, Mrs. Chisholm, I'm capable of

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

saying, don't make a fool of yourself, Alan. They're all staring at you.

[Alan Squire]

Yes, 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 Vion's that fits that. Something about. Thus in your field my seed of harvestry will thrive. You still think I was being comic?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

No, Alan, no. I just think that you're kind of crazy. And I guess so am I. And that's why I think we'd be terribly happy together.

[Alan Squire]

Oh, don't say that, Gabrielle.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Why not, when I believe it with all my heart?

[Alan Squire]

Maybe you're right.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

You're beginning to admit it.

[Alan Squire]

Maybe we'll be happy together in a funny sort of way.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Alan, if you're going away, I'm going with you, wherever it is.

[Alan Squire]

No, Gabrielle, 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. Here, in the valley of the shadow.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What, Ellen? What have you found?

[Alan Squire]

I can't say what it is, but. Because I. I don't quite know yet. All right, Duke. We needn't wait any longer. I'd rather.

[Duke Mantee]

What is it, Ruby?

[Boze (Bose)]

Somebody coming in. Speak around the sideways. Hey, Pop, I gotta use your phone.

[Grandpa Maple]

I gotta.

[Alan Squire]

It's the sheriff, Duke.

[Duke Mantee]

What do you want to use the phone for?

[Alan Squire]

Sheriff Duke Mantees.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah. Get his guns, Jackie. All right, come on, talk. Are you alone? I said, are you alone?

[Boze (Bose)]

We've been trailing you, Duke, and by heavens, we've caught you.

[Duke Mantee]

Ruby, get in here, quick. What made you think I'd be around here?

[Boze (Bose)]

Because they caught your pals. Two men and a blonde, right?

[Duke Mantee]

Where was it? Come on, tell me, or I'll tear a hole in you a yard wide.

[Boze (Bose)]

Caught him in Buckhorn.

[Duke Mantee]

Where's that?

[Grandpa Maple]

New Mexico, Duke. About 90 miles southeast.

[Alan Squire]

When?

[Boze (Bose)]

When we heard about it a few minutes ago. The blonde tipped him off about this place. She squealed, but they ain't squealed. I couldn't figure it out about you being here, but I can't. I guess it's the truth, all right. Hey, Duke, what are you waiting for? Come on. Let's wear them out before we get dead. Shut up.

[Alan Squire]

Give me time to think, Duke.

[Grandpa Maple]

No.

[Alan Squire]

Don't waste time thinking. That isn't your game. You gotta keep going and going and going.

[Boze (Bose)]

Yeah, Token, fast. Next thing you know, you'll be laid out flat in a marble slab.

[Duke Mantee]

Where'd they take her?

[Boze (Bose)]

I don't know. Albuquerque, maybe. If we head for there, they'll take us.

[Alan Squire]

You want your revenge, don't you, Duke? You want to go out of your way again to get that blonde who told them you were here? Well, don't you do it, Duke. Even if she did betray you, don't you commit a worse case crime. Don't betray yourself. Go on. Run for the border and take your illusions with you.

[Boze (Bose)]

I think I hear a car coming.

[Alan Squire]

You're obsolete, Duke. You're like me. You gotta die. Then die for freedom. That's worth it. Don't give up your life for anything as cheap as revenge.

[Duke Mantee]

All right, pal, I'm going. Now, listen, folks, we've had a pleasant evening here. And I'd hate to spoil it with any killing at the finish. So stay where you are. And we're out of sight because we'll be watching. Better cut the phone wires, Jackie. Hack up the shells, Bugs.

[Boze (Bose)]

I won't get far, duke. I've got 20 men coming here to meet me. That's one of their cars. He just heard.

[Alan Squire]

Hey, Duke, wait a minute. You're not forgetting me.

[Boze (Bose)]

I stopped on the road. The guy with a rifle. Cops? Looks like it.

[Duke Mantee]

Fix A Jeez fix. Lay low, Jackie. Put out the lights.

[Boze (Bose)]

Might as well give up, Mantee. You haven't got a chance.

[Duke Mantee]

Get behind that counter, all of you.

[Grandpa Maple]

Got one of them, Duke.

[Duke Mantee]

Get away from that window. Get behind the counter and keep this mob in here covered. See anything, Jackie?

[Boze (Bose)]

Only six or seven.

[Duke Mantee]

Nothing to worry about.

[Boze (Bose)]

They're trying to work around toward our car.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah, I can see them. Now. Get out the kitchen door. When enough of them get across the road, give him a couple of bursts to scare him. Then snap back here. And watch yourself, kid.

[Boze (Bose)]

Okay, too.

[Duke Mantee]

I'll cover you. Now.

[Alan Squire]

The United States of America versus Duke Manteen. It's an inspiring moment, isn't it, Gabrielle?

[Grandpa Maple]

There goes my neon sign. Them deputies probably all drunk.

[Alan Squire]

Gabrielle, where are you?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Here, on the floor.

[Alan Squire]

Ah, so dark.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Alan. Alan, when you get to France, what do you see first?

[Alan Squire]

Customs offices.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

But what's the first real sight you see?

[Alan Squire]

All the fields and forests of Normandy.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

And then what, Ellen?

[Alan Squire]

And then Paris.

[Boze (Bose)]

Duke, they're crossing the road. Why doesn't Jackie open up?

[Duke Mantee]

Hey, where you are? He'll get him.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Paris is the most wonderful place in the world to be in love, isn't it?

[Alan Squire]

All places are marvelous.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Even here.

[Alan Squire]

Especially here, my darling.

[Grandpa Maple]

Next thing we know, those gas pumps will go up in flames.

[Alan Squire]

As long as I live, I'll be grateful to the Duke.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Alan, will you please kiss me?

[Announcer]

Okay, Bugs.

[Duke Mantee]

Ruby, come on, we're pulling out.

[Boze (Bose)]

Ruby.

[Alan Squire]

It's going to be all over now, Gabrielle.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Not for us, Alan. Never.

[Boze (Bose)]

Jackie's gonna kill Duke.

[Grandpa Maple]

I just seen him.

[Duke Mantee]

Yeah, we'll have to leave him. Okay, Mr. Chisholm. You and your wife and the sheriff, you're coming with us.

[Grandpa Maple]

And me, too, Duke.

[Duke Mantee]

No, not you, Pop. Come on, on your feet. Just go through that door with your hands up. None of you get hurt if you keep your hands up and make plenty of noise. Open the door, Ruby. The rest of you stay where you are for a while. Good night, folks.

[Alan Squire]

Hey, Duke.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Alan, keep down.

[Grandpa Maple]

Duke.

[Duke Mantee]

Get out of my way, pal.

[Alan Squire]

Don't let me down now.

[Duke Mantee]

You mean you still want it?

[Alan Squire]

It's no matter whether I want it or not, you've got to do it.

[Duke Mantee]

Okay, pal? I'll be seeing you soon.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Alan.

[Boze (Bose)]

Alan. He meant it.

[Grandpa Maple]

He really meant it. I. I think he's coming too.

[Narrator]

Gabby.

[Commercial Narrator]

Alan.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Alan, look at me.

[Alan Squire]

Doesn't hurt.

[Shopify Business Owner]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal, so there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Commercial Narrator]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan. Required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy, see terms. Shop the Sherwin Williams 4th of July sale and get 30% off paints and stains. June 26th through July 6th. Whether you're refreshing your interior or exterior, we've got the colors to bring your vision to life. And with delivery, getting everything to your door is easier than ever. Shop online to have it delivered or visit your neighborhood Sherwin Williams store. Click the banner to learn more. Retail sales only some exclusions apply. See store for details. Delivery available on qualifying orders.

[Alan Squire]

Or at least it doesn't seem.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

It's all right, darling. As soon as we can, we'll get a doctor.

[Alan Squire]

Gabby.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Graham. What can we do? Somebody help me.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Please.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Please.

[Alan Squire]

It's too late, darling. Too late. They were right, Gabrielle. I mean, the stars. I. I had to come all this way to find a reason. Duke understood what it was I wanted. I hope you'll be.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

I hope.

[Alan Squire]

Gabriel.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What, Evan? What did you say?

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Oh,

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

no, no. Don't worry, Alan. I'm not going to be a crybaby about it. I know. You died happy, didn't you, Alan?

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Didn't.

[Boze (Bose)]

Gabby. You all right, Gabby?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Yeah, I'm all right.

[Boze (Bose)]

And him? Squire?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

He's dead.

[Grandpa Maple]

You should have known Bose meant he'd never missed twice.

[Alan Squire]

Gosh, that's kind of tough.

[Duke Mantee]

He was a good guy at that.

[Boze (Bose)]

Oh, they got Mantee, Gabby and that fella Ruby a couple of hundred yards down the road. They were full of holes.

[Grandpa Maple]

Gabby.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

What?

[Alan Squire]

Graham?

[Narrator]

Listen, Gabby.

[Grandpa Maple]

Now here's the funny thing. Mr. Squire. His life insurance policy. $5,000. He made it out to you. Said he wanted you to spend it on a trip to France. Darndest fella I ever did see.

[Narrator]

Yeah, me too.

[Grandpa Maple]

What happened to them society people.

[Alan Squire]

Oh, they're okay.

[Boze (Bose)]

Which reminds me, Mr. Chisholm was kind of worried about his car. I better look her over.

[Grandpa Maple]

Gabby. Gabby. I guess you'll be leaving here now.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Yes, Graham.

[Grandpa Maple]

Maybe it's all for the best.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

He wanted me to, Gramp. Yes, we'll bury him out there in the Petrified Forest. He. He wanted that too.

[Grandpa Maple]

Yes, that's what he said, didn't he? Yes, sir. Daringest fellow I ever did see.

[Alan Squire]

Thus in your field my seed of harvestry will thrive, for the fruit is like me that I set.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

God bids me tend it with good husbandry. This is the end for which we train on it.

[Announcer]

Our stars will be back for their curtain calls in just a minute. You know, after the war, we're going to see some outstanding developments in television. Some of these days people all over the country may be saying, why, I remember when you just heard things and couldn't see them.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

Boy, when that time comes, Mr. Kennedy, my job will be a lot easier. When I tell women how lux care keeps slips and nighties looking pretty, they'll be able to see what I mean. First, I'll hold up an old looking rayon slip and say, ladies, look at what strong soap, hot water and rough handling did to this lovely slip. See how frayed the shoulder straps are? And the seam, it's pulled apart. Notice how faded the color is too.

[Grandpa Maple]

Color.

[Announcer]

Sally, Will we have television and Technicolor too.

[Mrs. Chisholm]

They're working on it. Then after I show that old looking slip, I'll bring out another and say, and now, ladies, here's the same kind of slip as the first, but this one was washed with lukewarm water and gentle luxe flakes. Compare the color. See how bright and fresh this second one looks? And see this strap firm as new. This slip has been luxed 30 times, yet it still looks lovely. You can see for yourself how luxe care keeps pretty undies new looking longer. Actually, three times longer, the records show.

[Announcer]

No, you can't see all that through your radio yet, ladies, but you can prove it for yourself. Actual washing tests show luxe care keeps undies lovely three times longer. So don't risk harsh wash day methods. Keep your undies lovely longer the lux way. Thomas Mitchell brings our stars back for their curtain call.

[Narrator]

Ronald Coleman and Susan Hayward come to the footlights to receive our thanks for bringing the Petrified Forest back to life in a very moving and convincing manner.

[Alan Squire]

And thanks, may I add to the fine work of a magnificent cast. Well, Tommy, I'm convinced of one thing. Tonight, that Susan Hayward is a really splendid actress.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Well, thank you, Ronnie. Coming from you, that is a lovely compliment.

[Narrator]

You know, Ronnie, Susan has just produced a double feature.

[Alan Squire]

Double feature?

[Duke Mantee]

Mm.

[Narrator]

Twin boys.

[Alan Squire]

Twins, eh? Both of them.

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Both redheads, too.

[Alan Squire]

Congratulations, Susan. That's quite an achievement for a screen star.

[Narrator]

Do they make much noise, Susan?

[Gabrielle (Gabby) Maple]

Do they? Each one yells so loud you can't hear the other.

[Alan Squire]

They're probably. Probably arguing about who gets top billing.

[Narrator]

Well, you should know about such things, Ronnie. You have a new little girl of your own.

[Alan Squire]

New? She's nine months and runs the entire household.

[Narrator]

Oh, I understand, Ronnie, you're back from a tour of the army and Navy hospitals. How did you find the spirit of the boys?

[Alan Squire]

Oh, my dear fellow, a lesson to all of us. In two weeks, I talked to about 7,000 of them, Tommy. First, of course, they were happy beyond all belief to be home. And then their next thought was of anything or anybody but themselves. And they wished us good luck as we left.

[Narrator]

They wished you luck? Now, that's a pretty wonderful spirit. Thanks for the good report, Ronnie. And coming back to this stage, I'd like to tell you what we've said for next week. Our play is the deeply moving drama moontide from John O' Hara's screen hit, filmed by 20th Century Fox. And as the roving dock worker who saves the life of his future bride, we have the formidable Humphrey Bogart in one of his rare and most unusual radio appearances. Costarred with Mr. Bogart is the ever appealing Virginia Bruce as the girl who fights death and danger for the man she loves.

[Alan Squire]

Fine play and a great cast, Tommy. Good night.

[Libby Collins]

Night.

[Narrator]

Good night and all our thanks. Our sponsors, the makers of Luck Flakes. Join me in wishing you to be here with us again next Monday night when the Lux Radio Theater presents Humphrey Bogart and Virginia Bruce in Moontide. This is Thomas Mitchell saying good night from Hollywood.

[Duke Mantee]

Today.

[Announcer]

In war devastated countries, 125 million men, women and children are in dire need of clothing. In many cases, the need for clothing is greater than the need for food. The United Nations Clothing Collection, the only drive of its kind this spring, is asking every American family to help fill this need, help prevent misery and death among these suffering millions overseas. Search your home from cellar to attic through closets and trunks. For every bit of clothing you can spare, take it to your nearest collection depot. This week you can get the address from your local newspaper or radio station. Thomas Mitchell appeared through the courtesy of 20th Century Fox, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary. He can soon be seen in Captain Eddie. Paired in tonight's cast were Norman Field, Bill Martell, Leo Cleary, Ed Emerson, Eddie Marr, Charles Seal, Regina Wallace, Jane Ovelo and Herbert Rawlinson. Our music was directed by Louis Silvers. This program is broadcast to our fighting forces overseas through cooperation with the Army Armed Forces Radio Service. This is your announcer, John M. Kennedy, reminding you to tune in again next Monday night to hear Moontide with Humphrey Bogart and Virginia Bruce. It's spry for cake Spry for pie

[Alan Squire]

Spry for all you bake and fry

[Announcer]

Depend on spry for featherlight cakes Tender flaky pastry golden digestible fried foods for

[Alan Squire]

all your cooking Remember the word for

[Announcer]

pure all vegetable shortening at its creamy best S, P, R Y Spry Be sure to listen in next Monday night to the Lux Radio Theatre presentation of Moontide with Humphrey Bogart and Virginia Bruce. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.