Approved | 30min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, TV Series | Episode aired 5 January 1960
Convicted killer Calvin Gannis is being escorted to this place of execution but escapes after a road accident, finding himself in a ghost town, seemingly inhabited by only the widowed Sally and her young son Joey. However, an oak tree which has been dead for decades suddenly starts to grow again, spelling out justice for Gannis.
Director: John Newland
Writers: Merwin Gerard, Lawrence B. Marcus
Stars: John Newland, Sally Brophy, Charles Herbert
Convicted killer Calvin Gannis is being escorted to this place of execution but escapes after a road accident, finding himself in a ghost town, seemingly inhabited by only the widowed Sally and her young son Joey. However, an oak tree which has been dead for decades suddenly starts to grow again, spelling out justice for Gannis.
Director: John Newland
Writers: Merwin Gerard, Lawrence B. Marcus
Stars: John Newland, Sally Brophy, Charles Herbert
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00These are transcripts of thousands of trials, everything from murder and treason to swiping
00:16a ha'penny from the corner newsstand.
00:19Out of such trials over the past thousand years has come that cornerstone of a free
00:25society, English law.
00:30English law, the essence of all that is solid, substantial, and practical, but what about
00:41this trial?
00:42It was held in the Esaias Court here in the County Glamorgan in South Wales not so long
00:48ago.
00:49Solid, substantial, practical?
00:50Yes.
00:51Do you believe in ghosts?
00:59It all began here, in the village of Llandefni, which lies in a typical Welsh coal mining
01:05valley.
01:06The stone-built slate-roofed cottages follow the contours of the dark hills.
01:11On Sunday mornings the pit heads are silent, but up and down the valley the chapels are
01:17in full throttle.
01:47For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good
02:10or whether it be evil.
02:14Those words, reverend, were written many years ago in a land far distant from the land of
02:22our fathers.
02:23But do not delude yourselves.
02:28They are as true of that today, Llandefni, as they were of Sodom and Gomorrah.
02:36Oh, yes, yes, indeed, there is a time for comfort, oh, yes, but there is also a time
02:45when the word of the Almighty brings not peace, but the sword.
02:53As Dr. Evans was finishing his sermon, the town hall clock began to toll the hour of
03:01twelve.
03:02It was twelve noon in the chapel, and of course it was also, most certainly, twelve
03:09noon a mile and a half away, where police constable Josh Jones was making the rounds.
03:16Good morning, fellas.
03:29Jones.
03:35I want you to come with me.
04:06I want you to come with me.
04:22Look.
04:53Rose Maddox, station.
05:01How did you come to find her, Mr. Roberts?
05:04I killed her.
05:06She threatened me unless I gave her more money.
05:10She threatened to write to my superiors in the bank in Cardiff, to tell them about us.
05:23I'm sorry, Mr. Roberts, I must ask you for a statement.
05:30Inspector Pugh would want it in writing.
05:38In view of what you've just said, I must caution you.
05:46Mr. Roberts?
05:52Mr. Roberts?
06:25Thank you for your great words, Mr. Evans.
06:28Yes, very powerful.
06:29Now go on, will you, man?
06:30You were dozing all the while.
06:31Oh, no, I heard every word of you.
06:47Are you all right, Winderbach?
06:51How did you get away like that, Mr. Roberts?
06:53What are you talking about?
06:54Now you know what I'm talking about.
06:56Now you better come along with me to the police station if you don't mind.
06:59Why?
07:00Joking or something, Jones?
07:01No, if you don't mind.
07:02Have you gone mad?
07:03Now are you coming or have I got to take you?
07:05Don't be so ridiculous, man.
07:07Very well.
07:08Sorry about this, Mrs. Roberts.
07:09How dare you, man?
07:10All right, come along.
07:21All right, all right, Mr. Roberts.
07:23Now what is the charge, Hanselboe?
07:25I'm charging him with murder.
07:26That's what I'm doing.
07:27Man's out of his mind.
07:29You know you took me to the dead body and confessed to the murder.
07:32Man's out of his mind, Inspector.
07:34Where is the corpse, then?
07:36And everywhere else.
07:37In the loft.
07:38Who is it?
07:39Rosie Maddox.
07:40Her throat's been cut.
07:41Sergeant, get down there on your bike.
07:43If there is a corpse, throw me back.
07:45Now who found her?
07:46He did.
07:47He took me there just now.
07:48How could I have done that?
07:49I was in chapel all the time.
07:51He stood beside me again 20 minutes ago and confessed to the crime.
07:53Do you know anything about this, Mr. Roberts?
07:55How could I have done what he says?
07:57Handcuffed on a Sunday morning outside chapel in front of all the people.
08:01Ridiculous, that's what I say it is.
08:03Unlock him, Hanselboe.
08:04Yes, sir.
08:05When you hear more of this, I can tell you.
08:09Now what's this about a confession?
08:11Well, he said that she threatened him.
08:13Said she'd ruin him.
08:14Let me see your notebook where it says so.
08:17Well, there's nothing in it.
08:19Of course there isn't.
08:20How could there be?
08:21Well, I cautioned him that before I could put it down in writing,
08:24he'd made a boat for it.
08:25Why didn't you report this immediately?
08:27I gave chase at once.
08:28Chase, indeed.
08:29When I was in chapel all the time.
08:31Ask him.
08:32Well, did you see Mr. Roberts coming out of chapel?
08:35Yes, I did.
08:36There you are.
08:37You see, Inspector?
08:44Inspector Peel.
08:46Inspector Peel.
08:47Yes, Sergeant?
08:50There it is.
08:51Well, telephone Dr. Prothero of the golf club
08:53and stay there till I come.
08:54Don't let anybody in.
08:55Don't touch anything.
08:58Well, there's been a murder, all right.
09:02Terrible.
09:03Terrible.
09:05Did you know this young girl, Rosie Maddox, sir?
09:07Yes.
09:08Yes, I did.
09:10Not to speak to, of course.
09:12She wasn't a customer of the bank, of course.
09:14Have you ever been in the premises referred to?
09:17Yes.
09:18Yes, many times.
09:19You see, the place was for sale
09:21and the bank was dealing with the lease.
09:23Were you there this morning?
09:24Good heavens, Inspector.
09:25You're out of your mind.
09:27I was in chapel, I tell you.
09:39Come in, Mrs. Roberts, please.
09:42Mrs. Roberts was sitting with Mr. Wyndham Roberts
09:44in chapel this morning.
09:47What is it?
09:48Wait.
09:49What is all the fuss about?
09:50It's all right, Bach.
09:51Don't worry.
09:54Gentlemen, there's been a murder.
09:56Murder?
09:57But who?
09:58I want you to tell me if Mr. Wyndham Roberts
10:00was sitting with you in chapel this morning.
10:02Why, yes, certainly.
10:03We sat together in the same pew.
10:05We always sit together for Jehovah.
10:08For the singing, see?
10:09Was Mr. Roberts there the whole time?
10:12We met outside before it started
10:13and went in together.
10:14He was in fine voice
10:17until he dozed off when the preacher was talking.
10:19There.
10:20I said so.
10:21Could he have slipped out without any of you noticing?
10:24Oh, no, no, no.
10:25He was sitting in the middle seat.
10:27I see.
10:29Thank you, gentlemen.
10:30I want you to show me exactly how you were sitting.
10:32Just bring that bench around there, Consuelo.
10:38You too, Mr. Roberts, please.
10:41I was on the end of it.
10:42Sure.
10:48Can I render any assistance?
10:51Come in, please, and stand over there.
11:00Now, where were you sitting, Mrs. Roberts?
11:02Directly behind him.
11:04I see.
11:05And where were your wives?
11:06In the pew behind, of course.
11:09Now, could it have been possible for you
11:11not to have noticed Mr. Roberts coming or going?
11:14No, because the singing...
11:15Certainly not.
11:16Certainly not.
11:17Most attentive they were throughout.
11:19Except for Mr. Roberts, who slept through most of it.
11:22I'm sorry about that, Doctor.
11:24Without any sin at all, he must be to sleep so innocently.
11:27So there can be no doubt at all
11:29that Mr. Roberts was there the whole time.
11:31None whatsoever.
11:35Thank you, gentlemen.
11:36You can go.
11:37You too, Mr. Roberts.
11:43For God shall bring every work into judgment
11:47with every secret thing,
11:50whether it be good
11:52or whether it be evil.
11:55Good day.
11:56Good day, sir.
11:59Oh, just one more question, Mr. Roberts.
12:01Can you think of any reason
12:03why Constable Jones should have invented this story about you?
12:07No, no, I don't think so.
12:08What about the fuss he made
12:10when you refused him the loan for his old tobacconist shop?
12:13Oh?
12:14Well?
12:16Well, tell him.
12:18Well, thank you very much, Mr. Roberts.
12:20I'm very sorry about all this.
12:25Mr. Roberts,
12:27you and I have known each other for a very long time.
12:30You know that I'm no liar.
12:31You know you took me to that dead body
12:34and you told me that you'd kill her.
12:37How could I have?
12:42As for you, Josh Jones,
12:44a letter will be written, don't you worry.
12:46Big damages you will have to pay.
13:00Josh,
13:02show me your hands.
13:04You've got a knife.
13:06You've got blood on them.
13:12Just look at you,
13:13eating your heart out to be back out there
13:15on your old beat again, aren't you?
13:17Oh, don't go on about it.
13:19It's best for me to say it than you, isn't it?
13:21I don't like a man to have self-pity,
13:24but it's not good to bottle things up.
13:30You can read me like a book, can't you?
13:32It's a good book.
13:36Ah, well.
13:38Pity about that little tobacco shop, isn't it?
13:42Not much chance of a loan now.
13:44It's a good thing if you ask me.
13:46We'd only have smoked up all the profits.
13:49Funny how things change, isn't it,
13:51when you come to think of it?
13:5325 years I've been paddling up and down this valley
13:55and everyone my friend.
13:57Josh, I'd say,
13:58you may not have it in you to be a sergeant,
14:01but you've earned it.
14:04And as many a sergeant and an inspector
14:06would be glad to be able to say that.
14:08Ah, look at it now.
14:10It's not only me that's suspended,
14:12it's my friends as well.
14:16Oh, I know they smile at me with their mouths
14:18when they see me,
14:20but then when I pass,
14:22they nod and murmur among themselves
14:24as if I was the murderer.
14:26Josh, don't you get so down in the mouth, man.
14:29Sooner or later,
14:31they're bound to find the man who did it.
14:34It was Roberts.
14:39You believe me, don't you?
14:42Well, you've never told me a lie in 24 years, Josh.
14:46Why should you lie to anyone else?
14:48Perhaps you never found me out.
14:51Ah, you know, it's a strange business.
14:53I don't know what to think.
14:55If you can't trust your senses,
14:57where are you?
15:00One thing is certain.
15:02Roberts never left the chapel.
15:06Mr. Jeffers, the greengrocer
15:08was asking only yesterday
15:10if we got a lawyer yet.
15:12Emil and Lisa Plandastri
15:14are very good, she said.
15:16Yes.
15:18Well, you were a thing.
15:20You were sorry for that PC Jones.
15:22One has to learn forgiveness.
15:24One has to learn to be merciful.
15:26No mercy showed to you or to that girl.
15:29Everybody's saying it.
15:31Say what?
15:33Who was it found the body?
15:35There was blood on him.
15:37And Mrs. Evans, the washing woman,
15:39saw him talking to the girl
15:41only the day before.
15:43Gossip it is, that's all.
15:45And I don't want to hear any of it.
15:47But it's you he tried to blame
15:49to take the suspicion from himself.
15:51Be quiet, woman!
15:53What is it, Wyndham?
15:56Oh, it's only a tiny cut.
15:58I'll get some sticking plaster.
16:04What is it?
16:16What is it?
16:22It's my dear child.
16:25Why do you tremble so?
16:31That horrible Josh Jones
16:33has upset you like this.
16:37A very good officer, Mr. Jones.
16:39Yes, sir, of the older type.
16:41Very conscientious, very popular.
16:43Two years to go for his pension.
16:45I often send all the way from Cardiff
16:47to hear how popular he is.
16:49Does he still stick to this ridiculous story of his?
16:51He won't budge an inch, sir.
16:53There were rumours that Mr. Roberts
16:55was bringing a case, sir,
16:57but we haven't heard anything definite yet.
16:59Do we have no other suspects?
17:01No, sir, we checked everybody in the village.
17:03There's an alibi for everyone.
17:05And the weapon was never found?
17:07No, sir, we searched high and low.
17:09I see.
17:11How about this bank manager?
17:13Oh, about suspicion, sir.
17:15No one is.
17:17You'll learn that one day,
17:19not even this constable of yours.
17:22Well, he was in chapel from 11 to 12, sir.
17:24Even the minister will vouch for that.
17:26And why does Jones insist on being so obstinate?
17:42Josh, that's about the twelfth time
17:44you've read that paper.
17:46Well, you miss a lot in a paper
17:48when you read it through for the first time.
17:51Now, look, you go on out,
17:53go on out and enjoy yourself.
17:55Why don't you go down to the diner's arms
17:57and have a dinner?
17:59It's no use waiting around here all night.
18:01Come on.
18:03Oh, well, all right.
18:05You generally always are, anyway.
18:15Come on.
18:17Looks like the end of the waiting.
18:29Just a moment, Sergeant.
18:31I'll get my helmet.
18:37Josh.
18:39Good luck, Josh.
18:45Don't you let them make you back down, Josh.
18:48I won't.
19:00Right, Sergeant.
19:02Let's go on.
19:04And you still stick to your story
19:06that Mr. Roberts led you to the body constable?
19:08Yes, sir.
19:10And that he made a full confession to you?
19:12Yes, sir.
19:14And the subsequent evidence, or lack of it,
19:17hasn't given you cause for any doubt?
19:19None at all, sir.
19:21You do know what you're saying, don't you?
19:23Yes, sir.
19:25I am saying that what I saw and heard is the truth.
19:27The whole truth
19:29and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
19:31And you won't admit the possibility of any error in your statement?
19:33No, sir.
19:35Even though there isn't a shred of evidence
19:37to connect Mr. Roberts with this crime?
19:39What do you expect me to do, sir?
19:41Say that I was mistaken?
19:43Say that I didn't see Mr. Roberts standing there?
19:45So that you can send him a letter of apology
19:47from the chief constable of the county
19:49and brush it all under the carpet like a bit of dirt?
19:51I'm sorry, I don't mean to be disrespectful.
19:53I won't do it.
19:55Then what do you suggest, constable?
19:57Well, perhaps it would be best if I resign.
20:01And when you're worried if I do that
20:03people will think that I was admitting to a mistake.
20:05I don't like to force your hand
20:07but you're doing it all the same, is that it?
20:09Well, since you've made the suggestion of resignation
20:11there need be no mention of the circumstances.
20:14Your pension will be payable
20:16subject to a pro rata reduction for the last two years.
20:18I see.
20:20Resign with the pension or be kicked out with that one?
20:22Is that it?
20:24I'm only trying to help you.
20:26I don't need any help to tell the truth.
20:28All I want to know, sir, is
20:30do you believe I'm telling the truth?
20:36I think you had an unfortunate hallucination.
20:38Well, in that case, sir
20:40I'm not resigning.
20:43And the devil can take my pension.
20:47Why, Roberts!
20:49Evening, Mr. Roberts. Can I help you?
20:53I want you to come with me.
21:01That's the way you behaved before.
21:13Now am I to be believed.
21:15Mr. Roberts,
21:17I must caution you
21:19that anything you may say
21:21will not be true.
21:23I'm sorry.
21:25I'm sorry.
21:27I'm sorry.
21:29I'm sorry.
21:31I'm sorry.
21:33I'm sorry.
21:35I'm sorry.
21:37I'm sorry.
21:39I'm sorry.
21:42I'm sorry.
21:58Don't wake him.
22:06How long has he been asleep?
22:08Oh,
22:10For about an hour, he put on his coat and said he was going out.
22:15Then he changed his mind and began walking up and down, up and down, until he was exhausted.
22:22Then he sat in his chair and finally went to sleep.
22:26Have you been with him the whole time?
22:28Of course I have. Why do you ask?
22:31Because I must, Mrs. Roberts.
22:33Oh, please don't waken him.
22:36He's finally sleeping peacefully.
22:39Most of the time he tossed and turned and muttered and groaned as though he was having a most frightful dream.
22:47And then, oh, twenty minutes ago, a complete change came over him.
22:55Suddenly his face relaxed and he became calm, like he is now, the darling.
23:02As though a great weight had been lifted from his very soul.
23:08As though a weight had been lifted from his very soul.
23:13How heavy does a man's conscience become before it becomes unbearable?
23:18Well, in this instance, apparently the weight of conscience was so great that it resulted in a psychic phenomenon called teleportation.
23:29Wyndham's need to confess his crime, something he could not bring himself to do on a conscious level,
23:37was apparently so great that it resulted in a manifestation in a corporeal form, so that he should not go unpunished.
23:47After a short trial, Wyndham Roberts was hanged in Cardiff Jail for the murder of Rose Maddox.
23:54In the village of Clandefny, some of the people still recall the words of that itinerant preacher on that strange Sunday morning,
24:02when Wyndham Roberts seemed to be sleeping.
24:06For God shall bring each work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.
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