Big Town 37-10-26 002 The Harding Factory Fire

Summary

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Big Town: "The Harding Factory Fire"

Original Air Date: October 26, 1937 | Podcast Air Date: December 28, 2025
Starring: Edward G. Robinson (Steve Wilson), Claire Trevor (Lorelei)
Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio

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Episode Overview

This episode of Big Town dives deep into the ethical quandaries and personal costs of tabloid journalism. Titled "The Harding Factory Fire," the story follows managing editor Steve Wilson and his reporter Lorelei as they find themselves embroiled in the fallout from an exposé on a supposedly unsafe factory owned (or so they believe) by businessman William B. Harding. As a libel suit threatens the newspaper, professional integrity, personal ambition, and the corruption of the press are put under the microscope.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Life at the Illustrated Press

• The episode quickly throws listeners into the hectic newsroom, characterized by high-pressure news decisions and circulation-chasing ambitions.
• Steve Wilson's editorial style is shown as brash, competitive, and sometimes reckless, underscoring the episode's central tension between newsworthiness and ethics (02:51).

2. The Libel Suit & Office Politics

• Conflict erupts over an article written by Lorelei condemning Harding's factory as a fire trap, triggering a $100,000 libel suit (03:38).
• Publisher Peabody and Wilson debate blame, responsibility, and integrity. Peabody wants Lorelei fired to appease Harding and settle the suit; Wilson blames Peabody for manipulating both him and Lorelei to serve his vendetta against Harding (03:38–06:21).

“You taught me how to sling dirt. And now my marksmanship is perfect.”
— Steve Wilson to Peabody (06:11)

3. Lorelei’s Dilemma

• Lorelei, initially proud of her hard-hitting exposé, regrets being used as a pawn in Peabody’s feud with Harding (07:07–08:33).
• Steve counsels Lorelei on the true nature of Peabody's machinations and urges her to stay, lest she be scapegoated to Harding.

“He’ll paint you as a scatterbrained society girl... He’ll tell everyone he fired you.”
— Steve Wilson to Lorelei (09:09)

4. Newspaper Tactics: Manufacturing Scandal

• In a move to force Harding to drop his lawsuit, Wilson and the staff conspire to fabricate rumors about Harding’s private life, targeting his family dynamic and marriage (11:12–14:10).
• Steve pressures his subordinates to dig up (or invent) marital troubles, even suggesting “manufacturing” a divorce scandal (12:43).

“We’ll tear down in two weeks what took Harding 30 years to build.”
— Wilson’s team embarks on a smear campaign (15:11–16:36)

5. Destruction of the Harding Family

• Two weeks later, the scheme has frayed the Hardings’ once-happy marriage and reputation; Elizabeth Harding doubts her husband amid public whispers and humiliation (18:37–20:11).
• Harding maintains his innocence, but the damage from manufactured press rumors is done.

“Everywhere I go, I hear people talking in whispers, mocking me, making me feel ashamed.”
— Elizabeth Harding (19:53)

6. Consequences & Guilt

• Lorelei confronts Steve about the human toll of their work, highlighting professional and personal isolation as a result of dirty journalism (20:44–22:39).
• Steve’s housekeeper Minna offers comic relief, but also delivers a poignant recitation of the Gettysburg Address, prompting Steve to question if “all men are created equal” really holds up in such a ruthless industry (23:11–24:37).

7. Climax: Harding Confronts Wilson

• Harding personally visits Wilson, expressing the irrevocable harm done to his family and reputation and demanding not an apology, but justice and peace of mind (25:00–27:32).
• Steve, recognizing the gravity of the wrong done, promises to retract the story and publish an apology—but Harding knows retraction cannot undo the damage.

“Can you retract the harm you’ve done? … Can you heal the wounds you’ve inflicted…?”
— Harding to Steve Wilson (26:36)

“My conscience, Mr. Harding, like John Brown’s body, lies moldering in the grave wrapped in a yellow sheet.”
— Steve Wilson (27:32)

8. Resolution & Fallout

• The libel suit will be dropped, but both Steve and Lorelei are left morally shaken.
• Lorelei returns to affirm her resignation alongside Steve’s; both recognize they can no longer continue under Peabody’s corrupting influence (28:07–28:33).

“When you write your resignation, you’ve got mine with it… For better or for worse.”
— Lorelei to Steve (28:26–28:33)

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Notable Quotes & Dramatic Moments (with Timestamps):

• Steve Wilson lambastes Peabody for his editorial ethics:
  “You knew Lorelei wouldn’t dig out the real facts... She thought you were on the level. I am. So was Dillinger.” (03:38–04:30)
• Lorelei’s regret:
  “Well, I took Peabody’s word for it that Harding was guilty.” (08:33)
• Steve on the allure and danger of tabloids:
  “Thank those perverse appetites that are able to make a human being feast like a vulture on the ills and misfortunes of his fellow men.” (05:19)
• Harding’s heartbreak:
  “All that matters to me now is your happiness. I’m going to see the editor, Mr. Wilson, at his home today.” (20:11)
• Lorelei’s despair at outcome:
  “You’re going to frame Harding more and more and spread his manufactured shame over a filthy libel sheet... Horrible manufactured dirt.” (21:45)
• The Gettysburg Address in context:
  “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” (24:11–24:26)
• Wilson, resigned to guilt:
  “My conscience, Mr. Harding, like John Brown’s body, lies moldering in the grave wrapped in a yellow sheet.” (27:32)

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Illustrated Press newsroom chaos: 02:51–03:21
• Steve and Peabody’s confrontation: 03:38–06:21
• Lorelei and Steve discuss Peabody’s scheme: 06:21–08:33
• Plans to manufacture a scandal/divorce: 11:12–16:36
• The Hardings’ marriage unravels: 18:37–20:11
• Steve and Lorelei’s reckoning: 20:44–22:39
• Wilson and Minna talk equity & recite Lincoln: 23:11–24:37
• Harding’s visit and confrontation: 25:00–27:32
• The episode’s resolution—Steve and Lorelei resign: 28:07–28:33

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Summary

"The Harding Factory Fire" is a classic drama about ambition, integrity, and the corrosion of journalistic ethics. Through electrifying performances, particularly from Edward G. Robinson and Claire Trevor, the episode exposes the high human cost of “yellow journalism”—where the lives, reputations, and happiness of real people are collateral for headlines and circulation. The story gives no easy answers, instead challenging listeners to consider the power—and responsibility—of the press.

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This summary was created for listeners seeking a thorough, engaging breakdown without any promotional or non-content interruptions.

Transcript

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[Narrator/Announcer]

From Hollywood, California, the makers of Rinso, America's biggest selling package soap, present Edward G. Robinson with Claire Trevor in a series of powerful, dramatic half hours entitled Big Town. Big Town is not a place you could point to on the map. It is a fictitious city, and all the characters in Big Town are fictitious. Any similarity of names or events to living persons is purely accidental. Playing a vital part in the life of Big Town is the Illustrated Press, the town's biggest and most powerful newspaper. And at the helm of that newspaper is Steve Wilson, the dynamic managing editor with an insatiable thirst for more and more circulation on the same paper. Interested in her work, but more deeply interested in Steve Wilson is the young and pretty society editor who writes under the name of Lorelei. Steve Wilson is played by Edward G. Robinson, who did such brilliant work in Little Caesar and Kid Galahad. Lorelai is played by Claire Trevor, conspicuous for her characterizations in Maiden Lane and Dead End. There's no denying that there's drama in the newspaper business, but there is just as much drama in the home, drama that very often borders on tragedy, the drama of the housewife with her thousand and one duties, including washing clothes and washing dishes. But that drama can be joyous and have a happy ending if you use the new 1937 Rinso, the biggest selling package soap in America. Rinso makes a merry task out of washing clothes or dishes, because those Rinso suds are the liveliest, cheerfulest, most industrious suds you ever saw. They cut your work way down. They do away with scrubbing and boiling. And when you see a large pile of soiled clothes or soiled dishes, just think of Rinso and there'll be a smile on your face instead of a scowl. The scene of our story is the offices of the Illustrated Press, a boiling caldron of activity, a bedlam of noises, everyone upon his toes, rushing, hurrying, grumbling, grunting, shouting, swearing, trying to keep up the mad pace set by Steve Wilson, the managing editor.

[Steve Wilson]

Professor Gardner has just been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Give it a paragraph and stick it on 10. Peggy Sheridan, a chorus girl, just won a beauty contest at Coney Island. Pick it two columns and spread it on the front page.

[Narrator/Announcer]

There's a guy outside with pictures of a couple of Rembrandts just found in Holland.

[Steve Wilson]

Not interested. There's another guy outside with a new comic strip. A kid. Oh, send him right in. Okay. What are you doing for Sunday feature?

[Narrator/Announcer]

How about a two page spread on famous inventors?

[Steve Wilson]

Too tame. Make it Famous gangsters. Right.

[Narrator/Announcer]

In the office of Mr. Peabody, the publisher and major stockholder of the Illustrated press, we find Mr. Peabody and Steve Wilson, the managing editor, in a heated argument about a libel suit instituted by William B. Harding because of an article Lorelai wrote in the Illustrated Press condemning Harding's factory building as a fire trap.

[Steve Wilson]

Hey, buddy, that quick double cross you gave Lorelei is going to cost you just exactly 100 grand. Now you listen to me, Steve. If this paper does go bankrupt paying libel judgments, it's your fault. Sure, I expected that, Peabody. You wouldn't stand up at your own hanging unless you were supportive. But this time you're lost. I'll fire Lorelei. And sure, you'll fire her. Good riddance. But you'll fire me, too. Peabody stock in the Illustrated Press is transferable. I'm going to make Joe Donahue, the bartender at Parry's your partner. He's the greatest mixer of cheap jags in town. Cheap jags? Yes, cheap jags. Peabody, you gave Lorelei the lead on that story because you knew she would eat it up. And when she saw that Harding's factory was a fire trap, she exposed it because it's the sort of thing she likes. I'm not running a mutual admiration society. I'm running a newspaper. We're running a dirt sheet, and you know it. You knew Laurel I wouldn't dig out the real facts back of that story on the Harding factory fire violation. She thought you were on the level. I am. So was Dillinger. Now, be careful. You can't afford to lose a job. Well, you know what you can do with your job. Now, try to be calm, Steve. It's all very simple. We fire the girl, Lorelei, and Harding withdraws his lines. We fire you. And I may have a chance for a seat at least in the last row of St. Peter's Auditorium. I think you're getting unduly excited, Steve. Oh, no, I'm not excited. If you must know, I'm. I'm slowly going mad. Take it easy, Steve. Take it easy. I don't want you getting a nervous breakdown. Oh, don't worry. I'll probably go on writing these shame columns until Bl. Zebub calls his chief disciple, Steve Wilson, home. You know why? Because you're a newspaper man, Steve. A newspaper man? My what? I'll tell you why. Because you were smart enough to declare me in on the profits of your cheap, bawdy paper. We've been doing very well, Steve, thank God and thank you. Oh, don't thank God and don't thank me. Thank the things that are able to take a man and turn him upside down and inside out. Thank those perverse appetites that are able to make a human being feast like a vulture on the ills and misfortunes of his fellow men. I wouldn't say such things, Steve. No, you wouldn't. You've learned how to calm your conscience into accepting lies and suicides. And hatred is normal. Now listen, Peabody, you stay away from my side of this racket. And especially Ms. Lorelei. You double crossed her. Now, wait a minute. Someday I'm going to give the Peabody closet such a shaking up that the rattling of those skeletons will be heard in every corner of the globe. Now remember that, Peabody. You taught me how to sling dirt. And now my marksmanship is perfect. Well, I can't stand this room any longer. I'm going back to my own office.

[Lorelei Foster]

Oh, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes, Ms. Foster?

[Lorelei Foster]

Ms. Lorelei is waiting to see you in your office.

[Steve Wilson]

Oh, thank you. I'll go right in. Hello, Lorelei. I'm sorry I kept you waiting. Just been talking to St. Peabody.

[Lorelei Foster]

Oh, that's all right.

[Steve Wilson]

Well, I'm going to get right down to business. Lorelei, you're a fool.

[Lorelei Foster]

Well, that's a pretty business. I didn't know you were a psychoanalyst.

[Steve Wilson]

Peabody made a sucker out of you.

[Lorelei Foster]

Well, he's been making a sucker out of you for a good many years.

[Steve Wilson]

But that has nothing to do with the spot you find yourself in.

[Lorelei Foster]

I know. Peabody told me the happy news that I'll cost the paper $100,000 in a libel suit because of that article I wrote on Harding Factory.

[Steve Wilson]

Well, Peabody was born a liar, is a liar and will lie on judgment day. Harding is out to get Peabody. That's why Peabody gave you the lead on that story.

[Lorelei Foster]

I wrote it on Peabody's fact.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes, I know you did. Oh, and a great yarn, too. Yes, ma', am. You made that piece sizzle.

[Lorelei Foster]

Congratulations for getting into a libel suit.

[Steve Wilson]

Oh, no, forgetting the news. You wrote the best piece. The big Town has read in a long time.

[Lorelei Foster]

Well, it isn't worth a hundred thousand dollars.

[Steve Wilson]

Well, sure it is. That was a great head, Lorelei. Mr. Harding's Inferno. A great head for describing the Factory Harding owns. Mr. Harding's Inferno. You know I like that.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Yes, ma'.

[Steve Wilson]

Am.

[Lorelei Foster]

I like that Harding doesn't.

[Steve Wilson]

Now look, Lorelei, let me give you the lowdown on the Peabody Harding feud.

[Lorelei Foster]

They know each other.

[Steve Wilson]

Certainly Peabody hates Harding. Because Harding is no phony. He's on the level. They meet on charity boards and church councils. Peabody is always trying to sell real estate to some charitable institution. At five times what it's worth. Harding is always trying to stop him and does a hypocrite.

[Lorelei Foster]

It's Peabody who should be exposed by the Illustrated Press, not Harding.

[Steve Wilson]

Oh, and leave ourselves open for the DA's office to clamp down on the paper.

[Lorelei Foster]

That factory is the worst fire trap.

[Steve Wilson]

That I. Oh, Lorelei. Sure it's inferno with a capital inn. It's the devil's oven. And it was conceived and built and executed by a Peabody.

[Lorelei Foster]

Not by.

[Steve Wilson]

No, no, no. Not by our benefactor, Saint Peabody, the public spirited owner of the Illustrated Press. But my son in law, Harding owns nothing. He's a stockholder in the bank and holds a mortgage on the factory. He's innocent.

[Lorelei Foster]

Well, I took Peabody's word for it that Harding was guilty.

[Steve Wilson]

You'll know better next time. You'll know that Peabody has no word, no honor, no friends, no not even worms waiting for him at the end of the journey.

[Lorelei Foster]

He can buy men and women to carry out his filthy scheme.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes, you're right. He can buy me to do his dirty work for him. Well, he can't buy me an excellent bit of heroics. But futile. You can't quit.

[Lorelei Foster]

Why can't I?

[Steve Wilson]

Because you'll be double crossing me. Now. I need you, Lorelei, now more than ever. If you quit, Peabody will offer you up to Harding as a sacrifice.

[Lorelei Foster]

Sacrifice?

[Steve Wilson]

Sure. He'll paint you as a scatterbrained society girl. A sweet scented lady Bountiful who came out of society to interfere with the smooth course of journalism. He'll tell everyone he fired you.

[Lorelei Foster]

But I quit.

[Steve Wilson]

Sure you did. But he won't tell that to Harding.

[Lorelei Foster]

How can you stand such a man all these years?

[Steve Wilson]

I can't. And I can't give up the luxuries I don't need but have trained myself to enjoy. Vicious habit.

[Lorelei Foster]

Why don't you tell him what you think of him?

[Steve Wilson]

I did, Lorelei, I did. Every time I tell him what I think of him. I burn a candle for my soul. And now, Lorelei, if you promise to stick, I'll go up and tell Mr. Peabody's symbol of cockeyed justice just what I think of him.

[Lorelei Foster]

Oh, you mean his lawyer. Mr. Salsa.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes, Mr. Salsa. Will you promise to stick?

[Lorelei Foster]

I promise.

[Steve Wilson]

Okay, I'm on my way.

[T-Mobile/US Cellular Announcer]

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[Steve Wilson]

Good morning. Is Mr. Salter in his office?

[Lorelei Foster]

Yes, Mr. Russell, right now.

[Steve Wilson]

Hello, Steve. How's the mighty editor? Cut it out, Salter. You've got a job to do and a very important one. Get us out of this Harding libel suit or you'll be minus a scalp. But we haven't a leg to stand on, Mr. Wilson. We libel the man. Say, whose lawyer are you, Salter? Ours are Harding's. Come on, get us out of this.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I can't.

[Steve Wilson]

Listen, Salter, I had a nice editorial all ready to print in the Illustrated press as the start of a campaign to make you a judge. To tell how able a lawyer you are and what a fine upright judge you'd make. Peabody's already talked to the boss downtown. You were all set to spend the rest of your life in judicial cold storage. But now all bets are off. Do you understand? All bets are off. Well, can I help her? That Mr. Harding has led a clean light. He's a respectable man. Respectable? Respectable is a relative term. There must be slipped somewhere. Yeah, but he's never slipped. Well, then he must be a horrible bore to someone. Someone must be sick and tired of him. How does his wife stand him? She loves him. Yes, I know, but that doesn't mean that she stands him. Oh, besides, that's out of your department. That's Mrs. Corbett's department. Advice of lonely hearts. That gives me an idea. I'll use your phone. This will only take a minute. Lonely hearts department. Steve Wilson talking. Tell Mrs. Corbett to go to my office as soon as she can and wait for me. Tell me, Salsa, was there ever a divorce in the Harding family? My office investigates that angle thoroughly. There are no divorces. Well, then we'll make one.

[William B. Harding]

Make one?

[Steve Wilson]

Yes, manufacture one, Create one. You know, fix one. How? Well, that's your business, my upright judge, not mine. You know the ingredients. But look here. But look here. Nothing. Now send me your best investigators. No detectives. You know, investigators. There's a difference. One finds news and the other gets it. I understand. Good day. Hello, Arnold. Liked your column last night.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Oh, thanks, boss. How about a raise? Got a new kid. The cutest little kid.

[Steve Wilson]

Congratulations, Arnold. I'll send it through for you.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Gee, that's great.

[Steve Wilson]

Oh, and by the way, come into my office, will you? I want to talk to you.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Oh, okay.

[Steve Wilson]

Now, Arnold, I'm going to make this short. I heard that the Hardings, you know, William B. And his wife are having tough sledding.

[Narrator/Announcer]

You mean the socialite Hardings?

[Steve Wilson]

Yes.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Say, boss, that's so hot you can start a fire at the store club with it. I'll spread this one, boy, and we'll Peabody like it.

[Steve Wilson]

Take it easy, take it easy. I don't want a big story. Arnold isn't worth it. Just an interesting line. Something like this. Is it true that the Hardings socialites are throwing sticks and stones at each other and are about to renovate it, then ended like this? Too bad. Nice people shouldn't do such things.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Thanks, boss. That saves me writing it.

[Steve Wilson]

Now goodbye, Arnold. And I won't forget that baby needs a pair of shoes. You'll find it in the pay envelope.

[William B. Harding]

Thanks, boss.

[Narrator/Announcer]

And throw in a bottle of scotch just in case baby catches cold.

[Steve Wilson]

Hello, Ms. Foster?

[Lorelei Foster]

Yes, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

Get me Charlie in the morgue and tell him I want all the clips on the William B. Hardy.

[Lorelei Foster]

Yes, sir, right away.

[Steve Wilson]

Come in.

[Lorelei Foster]

You sent for me, Mr. Burton?

[Steve Wilson]

Yes. Your lonely heart space, Mrs. Corbett, has been very interesting.

[Lorelei Foster]

Thank you.

[Steve Wilson]

May I make a suggestion?

[Lorelei Foster]

Always received gratefully from you, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

I want you to get me a picture and a story. A signed story by Mrs. William B. Harding, president of Help and Neighbor Society. A story on divorce.

[Lorelei Foster]

Of course, Mr. Wilson. I know Mrs. Harding very well. She's always glad to cooperate with the illustrated Press.

[Steve Wilson]

Well, now, that's fine. I wanted to cover particularly the relationship of stenographers to their employers as a reason for divorce.

[Lorelei Foster]

Yes.

[Steve Wilson]

Mrs. Harding's opinion on domestic affairs is very important.

[Lorelei Foster]

It should make a very interesting article.

[Steve Wilson]

Mr. Wilson, come in. Oh, it's you now. Come in, boys.

[Lorelei Foster]

Come in.

[Steve Wilson]

Come in, Mr. Wilson. Well, good day, Mr. Corbett.

[Lorelei Foster]

Good day, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

Sit down. Sit down, Collins. Ah, thanks. I want you to meet Kelly here. Hello, Kelly. Hello. How do you feel, Mr. Wilson? Oh, fine, fine. Say, I haven't seen you since the Miller case. You did a very good job then. I just got the evidence. You certainly did. Found it lying around when no one else could find it. Is this the same setup, boss? You know, William B. Harding, the banker? The society guy? Yes. He wants $100,000 from the poor illustrated press. Why the robbery? A libel suit, honey. Exactly. Do we get the usual bonuses for the right evidence? If he calls it off. Oh, double Collins, double bonus. What's the matter with him? Well, it seems that Mrs. Harding wants some grounds for divorce. We'll accommodate the lady. How long do you think it'll take? About two weeks. Two weeks? We'll tear down in two weeks what it took Harding 30 years to build up. Thanks, boys, and good luck. Mr. Peabody, like the British Navy, expects every man to do his duty.

[Narrator/Announcer]

That brings down the curtain on the first part of tonight's episode of Big Town, starring Edward G. Robinson with Claire Trevor. The people are leaving their seats for the brief intermission. I don't know just why, but people do get thirsty after listening to something that's really exciting. And right now there's quite a group gathered around the fountain in the lobby. That is the peach of a tagline.

[Steve Wilson]

Wasn't.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Mr. Peabody expects every man to defeat.

[Lorelei Foster]

I wonder what's going to happen next. Isn't it exciting?

[Narrator/Announcer]

Got a cigarette, Jack?

[William B. Harding]

Thanks.

[Lorelei Foster]

Oh, hello, Mrs. Thompson. Hello, Jane. Oh, I think the show is simply grand. What I like about Mr. Robinson is that you can understand every word he says. Yes, he is a splendid actress. And so is Ms. Trevor. Oh, yes, and that is. I mean, she's a splendid actress. I always thought she ought to be in radio. And I'm mighty grateful to Rinseau for bringing us this program. So am I. But I'm even more grateful to the new 1937 RINSO for bringing me a cheerful wash day. What do you mean? Before I found out about Rinso, I used to be afraid to talk above a whisper On Monday. Bertha was always so tired and cross. Poor Thing. But now she has the clothes snowy white on the line in no time at all. And a cheerful smile right through the day. You don't say. Well, I'm certainly going to try this miracle worker right away. I've been meaning to for a long time. I remember now that the salesman who sold me my washer said that Rinseau would give such wonderful suds. Yes, Rinseau suds are marvelously rich and so long lasting. Why, I wouldn't think of using anything else. Oh, tell me, have you seen Mrs. Carroll lately?

[William B. Harding]

There you go. Cigarette? Let's get back.

[Narrator/Announcer]

The people are getting back to their seats again. And now we're ready for the second part of the show. Two weeks have gone by in his attempt to force Harding to drop the libel suit, Steve Wilson has printed in the Illustrated press a series of well directed items calculated to arouse suspicion and distrust in the Harding household. The cumulative effect has been to destroy what was formerly a peaceful and happy home. Our scene opens in the library of the palatial Harding home. Mr. Harding is seated at his desk, distraught and worried. His wife Elizabeth is standing in the doorway.

[William B. Harding]

Come in, Elizabeth. Please sit down.

[Lorelei Foster]

Thank you, William.

[William B. Harding]

Elizabeth, you must believe in me.

[Lorelei Foster]

I want to.

[William B. Harding]

Don't you see? Peabody has manufactured this entire thing. Remember, Elizabeth, the first step? The little piece in the paper that said we were about to separate.

[Lorelei Foster]

How could I forget it?

[William B. Harding]

Of course, Mrs. Radin brought it to your attention. That was vicious. Exactly what Peabody wanted. But why the interview with you by Mrs. Corbett? Yes, all of that was a put up job. And getting my secretary drunk so that.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I would help her was all part.

[William B. Harding]

Of the scheme too.

[Lorelei Foster]

Did you have to take her to a room at the hotel and have your picture taken?

[William B. Harding]

It was a business acquaintance of mine who suggested I take her to his room.

[Lorelei Foster]

A business acquaintance?

[William B. Harding]

As a man I thought I knew casually. Mr. Kohler or Coker? No, no, it was Collins. What difference does that make? Can't you believe in me?

[Lorelei Foster]

Believe in you? Oh, Will, I've always had such faith in you.

[William B. Harding]

Yes, yes, you've had faith in me for 30 years. Why can't you have faith in me now? Listen to me, Elizabeth. Last night I walked from my office into that little church at the top of the street, remember? Where we both thanked God for our son. But this time I was alone. I asked the Lord to make clear to me his punishment of us. To tell me what we've done to deserve this. Oh, Elizabeth, won't you try to understand?

[Lorelei Foster]

I am trying, Will. But I hear People laughing at me. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking in whispers, mocking me, making me feel ashamed. No, Will, I think it's best we separate. For a little while, anyway.

[William B. Harding]

All right. That will make you happy. Elizabeth, all that matters to me now is your happiness. I'm going to see the editor, Mr. Wilson, at his home today. Now.

[Lorelei Foster]

Steve, how can you go on playing that tune?

[Steve Wilson]

Who has a better right? Lord, and I.

[Lorelei Foster]

You're a first class optimist if you think anybody will abide with you after this, even God.

[Steve Wilson]

He has abided with me so far.

[Lorelei Foster]

He has tolerated you.

[Steve Wilson]

Now, what's eating you now?

[Lorelei Foster]

Well, I just had to leave the newspaper woman's club. No one talks to me civilly.

[Steve Wilson]

Well, maybe they haven't anything to say.

[Lorelei Foster]

You know why they don't talk to me? It's because I'm on that rotten sheet of yours. Because you're taking the Harding family and crucifying them.

[Steve Wilson]

It seems to me that you could have explained why we are crucifying Harding since you started Harding's march to Calvary with your original story.

[Lorelei Foster]

If you're trying to pass the buck, Steve, you can't do it. You know, I could have rectified that.

[Steve Wilson]

Only by paying $100,000 and ruining me and Peabody and the Illustrated Press by apologizing. Well, we try that.

[Lorelei Foster]

How? By sending a cheap lawyer who offered Harding an apology in the shape of a favor to him?

[Steve Wilson]

You must forgive Salter. He has been working too hard for a judgeship to know how to handle justice.

[Lorelei Foster]

Well, how long is this going to go on?

[Steve Wilson]

Until Harding recalls his legal bloodhound.

[Lorelei Foster]

You're going to frame Harding more and more and spread his manufactured shame over a filthy libel sheet. And that last headline of yours. Mr. William B. Harding Found in hotel Room with Drunken Stenographer. Horrible manufactured dirt.

[Steve Wilson]

Ah, but the fact remains that Harding put her up in the hotel.

[Lorelei Foster]

Yes, because he's kind and good. That poor girl. I've been with him for years, looking after his office, helping him. He was only trying to be of service to a girl who couldn't navigate and might get into trouble.

[Steve Wilson]

You know, I think you've got something there.

[Lorelei Foster]

So have you. Something on your conscience that will eat your heart out sometime. Oh, you'll beat Harding all right. You'll defeat him. Not because you're stronger, but because he loves someone more than he loves himself. Excuse me, Mr. Wilson. I think maybe you want something to eat before I go. Sure. Minna give him rat poison. I'm through with him. Goodbye. There she go. Mary. Mary. But she's mad.

[Steve Wilson]

She doesn't like me.

[Lorelei Foster]

Minna, I know women. I think she do law.

[Steve Wilson]

What makes you think so?

[Lorelei Foster]

Because you're a nice man.

[Steve Wilson]

She disagrees with you, definitely.

[Lorelei Foster]

That I don't understand. You are so kind to everybody.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes. Is that why people try to shoot me? My best friends won't talk to me.

[Lorelei Foster]

Well, I don't know. I've been with you pretty near 10 years.

[Steve Wilson]

You've been very good to me, Minna. You help me.

[Lorelei Foster]

Thanks for my picture and your paper.

[Steve Wilson]

Don't mention it.

[Lorelei Foster]

My Swedish club vote to buy only the Illustrated Press.

[Steve Wilson]

Ah, well, thanks. That helps the circulation. By the way, tell me, what does the Scandinavian Domestic Dramatic and Athletic Club offer this week by the great Ibsen?

[Lorelei Foster]

Used once a month we play Ibsen, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

Oh.

[Lorelei Foster]

This week we be American.

[Steve Wilson]

American. What do you play in the American Dramatic Series? Barbara Fritchie or Pocahontas?

[Lorelei Foster]

Lincoln.

[Steve Wilson]

What? You play Lincoln?

[Lorelei Foster]

Nay, Mr. Wilson. You recite Lincoln.

[Steve Wilson]

Well, that will please Honest Abe, I'm sure.

[Lorelei Foster]

Yeah, The Gettysburg Address.

[Steve Wilson]

No.

[Lorelei Foster]

Men you are, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

Well, let's hear some of it.

[Lorelei Foster]

Four score and several years. Excuse me, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

Why, certainly.

[Lorelei Foster]

Start once more.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes, go right ahead.

[Lorelei Foster]

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived and liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

[Steve Wilson]

Created equal. Tell me, Minna, do you really believe that?

[Lorelei Foster]

Sure I believe it, Mr. Wilson. Sometimes they start, but they don't finish.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes, you're right, Minna. Sometimes they start, but they don't finish.

[Lorelei Foster]

I answer the door, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

All right, Minna.

[Lorelei Foster]

Right in here, Mr. Harding.

[Steve Wilson]

Thank you, Mr. Harding. Oh, come in, Mr. Harding.

[William B. Harding]

Thank you.

[Steve Wilson]

If I said that this was a.

[William B. Harding]

Pleasure or a surprise, you wouldn't believe me. Under the circumstances, hardly, Mr. Wilson. As the managing editor of, shall I say, a newspaper.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes, if you're generous.

[William B. Harding]

Mr. Harding, there are times when it's difficult to be generous.

[Steve Wilson]

I can appreciate that.

[William B. Harding]

As the managing editor of the Illustrated Press, you've done me an irreparable injury.

[Steve Wilson]

But I'm sorry. But as the managing editor of the press, we print news.

[William B. Harding]

I'm neither sorry nor is my personal life, such as it is, news. Do you realize that out of pure malice you're separating me from my wife? We've been happily married for 30 years.

[Steve Wilson]

We printed the news.

[William B. Harding]

You printed a manufactured scandal to stop my suit against this paper.

[Steve Wilson]

Well, if it was crooked, the courts will give you justice.

[William B. Harding]

There's no defense against such tactics as you and your sheet. Indulge in.

[Steve Wilson]

Now, wait a minute. You expected us to give you $100,000 of the newspaper's money, didn't you?

[William B. Harding]

I expect nothing from anyone now except my peace of mind, my wife back the respect you've stolen from me.

[Steve Wilson]

Then you will stop the suit. That's very sensible.

[William B. Harding]

No, not sensible, but sensitive. You know, there should be some way by which you and your kind could be stopped. Some way by which the honest, decent newspaper fraternity could make you stop your blackmail under the guise of journals.

[Steve Wilson]

You're unduly bitter, but I can't say that I blame you. But since you are willing to play ball with us, we will show you that the Illustrated Press doesn't deserve your characterization. We'll retract our story. Retract?

[William B. Harding]

Can you retract the harm you've done? Can you heal the wounds you've inflicted on Mrs. Harding? The degradation of my poor secretary? Can you?

[Steve Wilson]

Well, tomorrow my paper shall carry a special article on the divinity of forgiveness. And the front page will carry a story of your qualities in the past. Charity, Respectability. Oh, yes. And a statement that the Illustrated Press has made an unfortunate mistake.

[William B. Harding]

Unfortunate mistake? Hatched a foul scheme to bring me to terms. To make me cringe and beg for mercy in spite of all my rights. Because those I love are dearer to me than my own pride.

[Steve Wilson]

And as for Mr. Peabody and myself, believe me, Mr. Harding, we humbly apologize.

[William B. Harding]

I don't want your apology. I want back my peace of mind. I expect to see you rectify this filthy business as much as you can in your yellow sheet. My lawyer will immediately discontinue my action. The suit will be wiped out. How about your conscience, Mr. Wilson?

[Steve Wilson]

My conscience, Mr. Harding, like John Brown's body lies moldering in the grave wrapped in a yellow sheet.

[William B. Harding]

Goodbye, Mr. Wilson.

[Steve Wilson]

Goodbye, Mr. Hardy. Well, that's that. Lorelei. Yes?

[Lorelei Foster]

I came back. I saw Mr. Harding go.

[William B. Harding]

Yes.

[Steve Wilson]

And now you see what he left behind.

[Lorelei Foster]

What?

[Steve Wilson]

The greatest faker in the world washed up.

[Lorelei Foster]

Washed up.

[Steve Wilson]

Yes. I tried, Lorelei, to serve two gods Mammon and his disciples, Saint Peabody. But I'm through with Saint Peabody.

[Lorelei Foster]

You've got a moral hangover.

[Steve Wilson]

You think so?

[Lorelei Foster]

Yes. And when you write your resignation, you've got mine with it.

[Steve Wilson]

For better or for worse.

[Lorelei Foster]

For better or for worse.

[Narrator/Announcer]

That brings down the curtain on the second episode of Big Town starring Edward G. Robinson with Claire Trevor. Not many years ago, there was a popular song called I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles. A housewife who was adept at parodies took hold of it and changed it to Forever Washing Dishes. And there was a lot of truth in it. To many housewives, it seems as if they are forever washing dishes, but not to those who use the new 1937 RINSO. Because using Rinso in the dishpan is like having extra help in the kitchen. Those Rinso suds go places and do things. They'll get rid of grease and dirt in a jiffy, and yet they are so gentle they won't make your hands red or rough looking. Try the new 1937 Rinso in the big green and yellow box. Use it for dishes, the week's wash and all your household cleaning. Included in our cast this evening were Bodeland Rosing as Minna, Hanley Stafford as Peabody, Lou Merrill as Mr. Harding, Helen Brown as Mrs. Harding, Don Wilson as Arnold, Paula Winslow as Mrs. Corbett, Victor Rodman as Mr. Salter, and Joe Kearns as Colin. Next week at this same time, Edward G. Robinson with Claire Trevor. Bring us the third episode in the series of powerful dramatic half hours entitled Big Town. Listeners, please keep your dials tuned to the Al Jolson show to follow immediately. Al Jolson has for his special guest the latest sensation of the screen, the talented and beautiful Sonia Henney. For the benefit of our listeners in the mountain and coast time zones, the Al Jolson program will be broadcast at the usual time, 9:30 Mountain Time and 8:30 Pacific Coast Time. Carlton Caddell speaking. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.

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Everyone deserves to be connected. That's why T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces. Switch to T Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon by getting built in benefits they leave out. Check the math@t mobile.com switch and now T Mobile is in US cellular stores. Savings versus Comparable Verizon plans plus the cost of optional benefits. Plan features and taxes and fees vary. Savings with three plus lines include third line free via monthly bill credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines. Qualifying credit required. Hi, I'm Andy Staples from Andy and Ariane three. And another five star quarterback just entered the transfer portal. That's what college football is now, a non stop adventure. And we cover it every day at Andy and Ariane 3. Whether it's the transfer portal, the college football playoff, the coaching carousel, you name it. And guess what? It doesn't stop even when the season ends. So join us every day, Monday through Friday. New episodes drop at 3pm wherever you get your podcasts.