30min | Comedy, Crime, Drama, TV Series | Episode aired 7 May 1953
On a late night subway car, five passengers try to determine which of them is a homicidal maniac, the subject of a city-wide manhunt.
Director: Robert Florey
Writers: Lawrence B. Marcus, Seeleg Lester, Merwin Gerard
Stars: David Niven, Christine Larson, Jay Novello
On a late night subway car, five passengers try to determine which of them is a homicidal maniac, the subject of a city-wide manhunt.
Director: Robert Florey
Writers: Lawrence B. Marcus, Seeleg Lester, Merwin Gerard
Stars: David Niven, Christine Larson, Jay Novello
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Singer Four Star Playhouse presents Charles Boyer, Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino.
00:30The subway at night. Empty, lonely. The great crush is over. The multitudes have long since
00:45been hurtled through the dark tunnels from their work to the safety and warmth of their
00:50homes. And now only the tired few, the lonely ones, still wait on the dimly lit platforms
00:56far beneath the pavements of the city. People thrown together for a brief moment in time,
01:02waiting for their lonely ride through the...
01:26Well, well, the boys in blue. Ain't that too bad they missed their train? Now the question
01:55is which one of us are they after? Which one of us parked his car in a loading zone? Yeah,
02:00that's the only thing that would get him out this time of night. Hey, how about this radio
02:09playing so clear in the subway? It's got a gadget in it, a friend of mine. It'll make a fortune.
02:14Bet there are millions of people just dying to play the radio on the subway. No, no one. The
02:22police. Listen, we should all go up in front and tell the motorman to stop the train. Stop
02:26the train right now. I, I think, I think I know who the police are looking for. Turn that off.
02:34So the police are looking for somebody. So what? Ain't they always? Whoever they're looking for.
02:44He, she. Thank you, doll. I didn't think you'd know it. Well, whoever it is they are looking for.
02:51Got about 12 minutes before we pull into Union Square. 12 minutes? You can live a lifetime in 12
02:57minutes. You can die in 12 minutes. You can wash the world and hang it up to dry in 12 minutes. Bet
03:05you can't sober up in 12 minutes. You can shake the universe until it hollers uncle. You can change
03:11the destiny of generations yet unborn. Or you can take a little nap, which is far more sensible.
03:18We should go up in front and tell the motorman to stop the train immediately. The police. What's
03:24the matter, mister? You object to the poor sucker having his 12 minutes? Don't, don't any of you
03:30know who they're looking for? You tell us. Well, it was on the radio just, just about a half hour
03:36ago. That terrible murder. Haven't any of you heard? Go on, friend. Barnes is the name. J.
03:48F. Barnes. They brought every available police officer in the city to this area. My wife begged
03:55me not to leave the house. She was so upset, but we have an inventory tonight. Two people,
04:00first a man and then a woman, hacked to death in the alley behind the bus station. It's getting so
04:08you just can't. Hey, that's only a couple of blocks from where we got on this train. Yes,
04:15and it's very possible. Well, we're the only ones that got on the train at Roscoe Street.
04:25The police must have been after one of us. One of us? Any ideas, Mr. Barnes, or shall we make a
04:35lottery out of it? We must go to the motorman and have him stop the train. Why? Why? Well,
04:42what if, what if one of us is the killer? What if one of us is? Look, the cops are
04:50running after something. Yeah, they had their guns out. They were ready to shoot. All right,
04:55what if one of us is? I can't understand your attitude at all. Look, suppose we do stop the
05:04train. What will we gain? This train is just like a prison right now. Nobody can get into it,
05:09nobody can get out of it. We're heading for the tunnel under the river. In about nine and a
05:13half minutes, we'll pull into Union Square. Now, if we all just take it nice and easy,
05:18the time will pass and the chances are that nothing will happen. Yes, but, but a maniac.
05:23He's not responsible for his actions. If he's here, the police have this train spotted. They'll
05:31meet him at the station, won't they? That's right. By stopping the train now, we'll only force him
05:35into taking action and maybe he doesn't want to do any more killing than he has to. Ah,
05:42civilization, what sins are committed in thy name? Well, why should he want to kill us? He
05:49wouldn't want to kill us. Are you suggesting that we just stand here and pretend like we're
05:53taking a nice, safe, sane ride? That's what I mean. Well, I'll vote for that. You don't have
05:59to stand, Mr. Barnes. You can sit down.
06:29Hey, hon. Me? Yeah, why don't you put the radio on? Put the radio on. Sure. What's your name?
06:55George. George Higgins. I'm Carol. Oh, you been down to the beach with that today? Yeah. Listen to
07:04the boat. You sure got yourself quite a sunburn, didn't you? Does it hurt? No, not much. Just kind
07:11of stiff. Oh, it gets crazy to get a sunburn like that. Oh, if you've got some lotion on your beach
07:18bag, I'll rub it on your back for you. Shut up. Shut up! What's that? What is it? You're changing
07:42tracks. Sure, sure. Sometimes the lights go out. This is your madcap merrymaker,
07:47Mary Malmaskin. We'll spin our next platter in a moment, cats, but we've got a news bulletin from
07:52the press room first. 11.45 p.m. The police have now found the knife believed used by the homicidal
07:59maniac who killed two persons behind the bus depot in Brooklyn tonight. The knife is being examined
08:05for fingerprints that might lead to the killer's identity. The police department has also requested
08:10that we repeat our earlier description of the suspected killer as furnished by a witness.
08:15The description? Hey, we don't want to hear the description, do we? We don't want to know
08:22which one of us is the killer, do we? I wish I took a cab. Now look, we've only got another six
08:31or seven minutes. Let's all relax. Let's not start hating each other. Why not? Why should we be the
08:36exceptions? It's a world movement. Sure. What's with you anyway? I'm a product of my time, a gentle
08:43soul in the age of the atom. Gentle soul. Why not? Why not? Who was a man? A man? When? In 1870?
08:54We are all creatures of the night, huddled together in our womb of fear. We have pity,
09:00but only for ourselves. Creatures of the night? Just what do you mean by that remark?
09:07I'm an actress, see? And I can prove it. When did you stop pitying others, friend?
09:14When I stopped loving others. Look at the lover. And now? Now I merely exist doing what I must to
09:22stay alive and watching. Watching the dance of death. Now you feel nothing for others?
09:29Nothing. Not even hate? Hate? For these ridiculous fools? Much too fine an emotion.
09:38Look at them. This Eden built for them by the Lord. This paradise. This jewel. This loveliness.
09:47Look what they've made of it. A slaughterhouse dripping with blood. How the Lord must anger!
09:53I need a drink. Bigger stick, man, if you ask me. Easy now. Take it easy. For a while he stopped
09:59shooting off his mouth. You know what he is? He's a blabbermouth hypocrite. Well, well, well.
10:09Talking about Eden and sinning and all that sort of thing. Yeah, and I know just who you were
10:15directing your conversation to. I'm not such a fool. I wasn't born yesterday. Creature of the night,
10:21huh? Who do you think you're talking to? And what makes you so lily-white anyway? Answer me that.
10:29Oh, Carol, lay off him, Carol. It just ain't worth it. Oh, ain't it? Sure it's worth it. It's good
10:34for her. I know all about these puritanical hypocrites. I could tell you plenty of stories.
10:43And if you asked me who I thought the killer was, you know what I'd say? You. You, you old bum.
10:50I could just see it, standing in the alley, watching the sinners in their dance of death.
10:56I can just see you enjoying something like that and listening to that sinful music with its hot
11:03licks. I'll bet that kind of stirred you up a little, didn't it, you old hypocrite?
11:07Got your blood? Made you kind of dizzy watching the dances that way, didn't it?
11:12Stop it! Stop it! What'd you do that for? What'd you do that for, huh?
11:19She's a woman. He shouldn't do anything like that. She's a woman. Sure, settle down.
11:27Here we are, all cooped up with a homicidal maniac.
11:30We don't need much provoking to send him off his rocker.
11:34What do you mean? You kind of let loose, didn't you? She, she, she was hysterical.
11:39You were a little hysterical yourself. Well, it's like he said. It was just dangerous,
11:45the way she was talking. Enough to send the killer into a rage. It was enough to send you
11:52into a rage, all right? Hitting a woman. We don't have to wait. What do we have to wait for?
11:59What do we have to wait for? We can tell the motorman to... Can we? Sure. That radio broadcast.
12:06They said they found the killer's weapon. Well, if he's unarmed and he tries something,
12:11he wouldn't get very far. It'll be four against one. See, well, that's right. I'm gonna go out
12:17and tell the motorman to pull up. There must be other people in the other cars, too. We could...
12:23We're stopping.
12:31It's probably just the signal's up. Time to let another train go by.
12:39Careful. The prince of darkness is among us. Someone is moving. Just stay where you are,
12:46everybody. Just stay where you are.
13:02Still going for the motorman? We're stalled. We're not moving. I think perhaps you'd better wait.
13:09Why? Our killer isn't unarmed any longer. What? Looks like something's missing. Yeah, the axe.
13:39Okay. Okay, look for yourself.
13:57That's her. I had the axe. You? Yes. No, no, no. It isn't me. I took the axe to defend myself.
14:08To defend us. Even if he is unarmed, a homicidal maniac can have superhuman strength.
14:14You took the axe to defend us? Yes. Yes. Don't you understand? Now we're all right. Now we...
14:20Now we can control him. Control who? The killer. I know who it is. I know who the killer is.
14:30I don't think you make too good a guardian right now, Mr. Barnes. Let me have that axe. Stay away
14:34from me. Playing with us like children, using us one against the other, working on us so cleverly,
14:40like... like a surgeon with a scalpel. The brilliance of a sick mind. You don't sound
14:44any too healthy yourself right now. Come on, George. No. Let him talk. Like putting in his
14:50hands the way he used us. Right off from the very beginning. Telling us not to try to stop the train.
14:55And... and then we didn't. And then when the radio was on, and it was about to give a description of
14:59the killer, he turned it off, and we let him. We let him. That's right. Yes. All right. Who are you?
15:06What do you do? Oh, now, look. What is your line of work, and what were you doing in Brooklyn?
15:12Now, that should get a laugh. What were you doing in Brooklyn? But you don't answer him. Yeah. You talk
15:17all around it, but you don't answer him. What were you doing in Brooklyn, mister? I was on an
15:25assignment. I'm a newspaper man. Newspaper man? A reporter? That's right. Then how come you didn't
15:30know about the murders? Yeah. How come? There's no way I could have known. I was on an interview.
15:37I don't carry a portable radio around with me. Now, that acts. Stay away.
15:45Now, mister reporter, mister fake reporter, we've got you. You're not so clever after all.
15:50Now, look. You're all getting hysterical. You're acting like idiots.
15:54You make a fine lynching party right now. It's just the way it starts,
15:57through stupidity and jumping to conclusions and thinking twisted by fear. Don't you understand?
16:04How pretty you talk, mister reporter. No prettier than you, my friend, but with a lot more sense.
16:09I don't hear any sense, not from you, twisting us around your finger the way you did.
16:15Maybe it makes sense to Mr. Barnes. He has a precise sort of mind.
16:19Look at the way he's built up this case against me, and the wheels and cogs are
16:23whirring round and round in his brain right now. Go ahead, Mr. Barnes. Tell them the difference
16:27between hate and fear. Oh, he's not going to tell you, and you know why? Because there isn't any
16:36difference. Not right now, there's not. He made you afraid of me, so now you hate me. And hate
16:41is getting pretty close to violence, isn't it? Go on. Talk. Try to talk yourself out of it.
16:48Won't do you any good, but go ahead. It did Mr. Barnes some good. He's talked you into thinking
16:53that I'm the killer. Now look, we're stalled here. We're waiting for the right of way. I don't think
16:58anyone should have that ax. Don't you try anything. Don't you dare. Maybe the real killer will try
17:02something. I think we've got the real killer. I think Mr. Barnes is right. I've been suspicious
17:08of you from the beginning. Have you, George? That's very clever of you. What were you doing
17:15in Brooklyn tonight? I went to the beach today. The sun doesn't shine at night, George. What were
17:20you doing tonight? I visited. Till 11 30? Yeah. I ate with a friend. A girl. How about you?
17:33I was out dancing. Out dancing? Where? What happened to your escort?
17:40He got fresh. I mean, we had an argument. An argument? What do you mean by that? What was his name?
17:52It's none of your business. Probably not. How about you, my friend? What about me?
18:00What were you doing tonight in Brooklyn? What were you doing in Brooklyn?
18:05Well, this train is my hotel room. I sleep here. I ride from Coney Island to 42nd Street and
18:12from 42nd Street back to Coney Island. I try to grab a little shut-eye along the way.
18:17Sure, and you didn't get on at Coney Island. You got on with us just ahead of the police.
18:24Maybe you are a reporter. You use words like one. Or a lawyer, the way you twist things around to
18:30suit yourself. What are you trying to prove with me? That you might be the killer? And so might you,
18:37Mr. Barnes. You said that your wife didn't want you to leave the house tonight. You can't trap me
18:42with words. I don't care what you say. Is that so? It's too bad you had to make inventory over at
18:48your place tonight, but isn't that rather a peculiar time to take inventory at almost
18:52at 12 o'clock at night? Which one of us couldn't be the killer?
19:01No, I can't make you stop and think, can I? You've all got this hate in you. You're all hysterical with fear.
19:09I did think the best thing for us to do was to wait until the train got in. The police
19:11would be there and that'd be the end of it. Now I don't think so. Maybe the killer won't wait.
19:17With his nerves jumping, he might suddenly lash out with that axe.
19:21I can't just sit here and let that happen, can I? Talk, talk, talk. You'll not talk yourself out of this.
19:27One bit of logic you left out. The killer can't afford to wait until we get to the station where
19:31the cops are waiting. He's got to do something before we get there, don't you? Don't start nothing, mister.
19:37No one's going to take that axe away from you. I'll defend myself. Look out, Barnes! I warn you!
19:43You know why, don't you, Barnes? Because you might be the killer, and so might our philosophical
19:47friend here, or Muscles. And when there's a killer and a loose axe on the same train as me,
19:52I had to protect society, don't I?
20:43All right, now I got the axe. Now when I say goes, get back. We're moving, we'll be in the station pretty soon.
20:51All right, all right. I'm not Barnes here. Just move an inch toward me, I'll crush your skull for you.
20:57The kangaroo caught, taking justice into his own bloody hands. You talk about blood. Stupid, stupid people.
21:05Just take it easy. I'm not going to take it easy, George, because you might be the killer too.
21:11We're coming in.
21:16There's the cop. The cop's there. We've got him. We've got the maniac. What maniac?
21:25Oh, watch out. Officer, we've got him. The man who killed two people in Brooklyn.
21:29What are you doing with that axe? Protecting ourselves. Well, somebody could get hurt with this.
21:35Well, he's the fellow you're looking for. He's the... The only thing I'm looking for is the train to Grand Central.
21:39But the killer... Killer? If you're talking about that bus station killer,
21:45he was caught over in Brooklyn 15 minutes ago, right near the Roscoe Street subway station.
21:54Then he isn't the killer.
22:10Thanks, officer.
22:29I'm sorry.
22:32We sure were all wet, weren't we? I really didn't think... I'm sure you didn't, George.
22:38I'm sure you didn't really think.
22:46In the end, I was right, huh? Right, friend? It's not a nice feeling having your nose rubbed
22:51in the ugliness. Finally face the great truth that all your shining dreams and great hopes are
22:58empty and meaningless. That at best, all we've added to the jungle is
23:02inside plumbing. Maybe there is something else. They were all ashamed of themselves, weren't they?
23:07That's because they're not objective. They're not spectators of the dance of death.
23:12Well, you are a spectator, huh? It seemed to me that you were jigging around with the rest of them.
23:18What right have you got to be so cynical? Why do you expect them to be so much better than you are
23:22yourself? They were all sorry, friend. There's some hope in that. That's the one point you miss
23:28in your philosophy. And that's what makes you the one phony of the whole bunch.
23:53Must have been a pretty rugged going there with that bunch, huh?
23:56We've only been on this earth a short while, officer. Just give us about another million years
24:00and maybe we'll be worthy of the place. Well, there's no real harm in them. No?
24:20Officer, have a nice ride.