CBS Radio Adventure Theater (The Canterville Ghost)
CBS Radio Mystery Theater (a.k.a. Radio Mystery Theater and Mystery Theater) is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, and later in the early 2000s was repeated by the NPR satellite feed.
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00:00Welcome. I'm E.G. Marshall. Welcome to a world we all inhabit too little. The world of imagination.
00:28Your own. Yours and mine. Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a ghost? Well, one of
00:36this earth's greatest writers did, Oscar Wilde. And having let his imagination play with the
00:42idea, he set down his findings in a ghost story that ranks with the world's finest.
00:49The classic tale of the Canterville Ghost. And if by chance you should think that a ghost's
00:55life is all wine and roses, why then listen to what went on one night at Canterville Castle.
01:01Blood! I must have blood. And when I say blood, I do not mean a drop or two. I mean gallons. Or am I
01:12not called Gibeon, the bloodsucker of Bexleymoor? Blood! Oh, give me blood! Blood, my foot! What you
01:23need is some oil for those rusty chains. Our mystery drama, The Canterville Ghost, was especially
01:40adapted from the Oscar Wilde classic for the Mystery Theater by George Lothar and stars Arnold Moss.
01:53Our story takes place in Canterville Castle, ancestral home of the de Canterville family
02:04since the 15th century. You immediately assume, I have no doubt, that the castle is in England.
02:11Well, it isn't. It was, but it isn't anymore. For you see, that well-known multimillionaire Hiram
02:19Otis had it dismantled stone by stone, transported to the United States, and re-erected stone by stone
02:27on his own estate in the Midwest. So it is that one fine afternoon we find him, Hiram, and his
02:35wife Martha, and his lovely daughter Virginia, and Geoffrey de Canterville, her fiancé, in the newly
02:42restored library of the newly erected castle of the Cantervilles. Well, Mr. Otis, I hope you're
02:48satisfied with the job I've done. Canterville Castle re-erected lock, stock, and barrel, even to
02:54the ancestral gardens which surrounded. Well, the castle's okay, but I don't know about the gardens.
02:59The guy I hired to be the general manager when we opened the place as a tourist resort says the pool
03:05ought to be where you put the pine woods. But Daddy, that's the exact area where the pine woods were,
03:10in England. Well, Ginny dear, tourists won't know that. But that was part of the deal when Daddy
03:16bought the castle from Geoff, and hired him to re-erect it here, that nothing would be changed.
03:20Well, business is business. If it'll be more convenient for tourists to have the pool where
03:25the pine woods are. Now, what's this? Well, you know what that is, Mr. Otis. It's the blood stain.
03:32That's the spot in front of the fireplace where Sir Simon de Canterville stabbed his wife to death
03:37way back in 1601. I told you I wanted it removed. And I told you it can't be removed. You got me
03:45Otis bathroom cleanser around, Geoff? Yes, yes, of course, in the cleaning closets. You told me to stock it.
03:51Get a can of it. But Mr. Otis really... Otis bathroom cleanser is guaranteed to get rid of any
03:57stain. And it'll get rid of this one. Go on, get me a can of it. Oh, good heavens, that vase!
04:04Oh dear, it fell off the mantelpiece. No, it didn't fall off, Mrs. Otis. It was knocked off, I'd say,
04:10by Sir Simon de Canterville. The ghost? Yes, I'm afraid he doesn't like the idea of removing
04:15that blood stain. However, I'll get the cleanser. Him and his ghost. What do you think, I was born
04:23yesterday? Geoff wouldn't lie to you, Daddy. And if he says the castle's haunted... Now look, Ginny,
04:29just because this fortune hunter fiancé of yours, Lord Geoffrey Canterville, believes in ghosts
04:35doesn't mean I have to. Daddy, if you called Geoff a fortune hunter once more,
04:39just once more... Okay, okay, honey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. All I want is your happiness, sweetie.
04:47And if he'll make you happy, fine, fine. Here we are, Mr. Otis, a fresh can of Otis bathroom
04:55cleanser. All right, let me have it. Now watch. I spray it on the blood stain.
05:02You bring a cloth to wipe it off with? Oh, no, I'm sorry. Oh, never mind, use my handkerchief.
05:07Now, one wipe, so. Where's your blood stain now? Oh, Hiram, it's gone. What else? An Otis guarantee
05:17is an Otis guarantee. It will come back. Not after an Otis cleanser treatment, it won't.
05:24Oh, what was that? Oh, what is it? It's the ghost again, Mrs. Otis. No, it was the wind,
05:32uh, something. There isn't any wind. Well, it was something else, but not a ghost. I just plain
05:39don't believe in ghosts, and that's the end of that. Well, if you ask me, Mr. Otis,
05:45it's only the beginning.
05:54Eleanor! Eleanor! Oh, blast the woman, where is she? Here, Simon, dear, here I am. Get the paint
06:03bucket, we have to repaint the stain. Again? I promise you, however often Mr. Hiram Otis erases
06:11my blood stain. My blood stain, dear. Oh, all right, all right, yours, but you wouldn't have
06:18had it if it hadn't been for me. You do forgive me. Oh, my dear, I have forgiven you at least
06:26once every hundred years since it happened. I should not be here otherwise. And the least I
06:32can do is to see that your stay here remains peaceful by giving that barbarous American his
06:39comeuppance. Fear not, my dearest love, it is Sir Simon de Canterville, me, against Mr. Hiram Otis,
06:48him, that I truly believe there's little doubt as to the outcome of the battle.
07:00A blue blood stain? What do you mean a blue blood stain? Uh, just what I say, Mr. Otis.
07:07The stains reappeared and this time it's blue, Daddy. Now, look, I don't know what you two are up to.
07:13Up to? For your information, the boss painter who is redecorating the upstairs bedrooms
07:18complained that somebody's stealing his paint. And you think that we, that Jeff and I would... Who else?
07:24But why would you think that? Because the way I see it... Yes? How do you see it?
07:30Well, I don't know how I see it. All I know is it doesn't make sense. And we better start making
07:39some sense around here because we open in a week. Now, get rid of that stain. Once and for all, get rid of it!
07:52Do you realize that I have repainted that blood stain by the fireplace
07:58four separate times and each time that meddling American has had it removed? I should think you'd
08:04want to forget it. After all, it's a reminder of why you are doomed to haunt Canterville Castle.
08:10Oh, dear, and I'm with you. But you are not. You can leave any time you wish, Eleanor.
08:18Oh, Simon, not without you. Oh, my dear. Few is ever man so loved by woman as I by you.
08:27Or I by you. And yes, I killed you. Because you loved me. Well, however you put it, I condemned us
08:38both to eternal misery. Well, it shall be misery in peace. For nearly 400 years, I've haunted
08:46Canterville Castle without hindrance. Yet what that vile upstart has put us through in the past
08:54three years, tearing down the castle around our heads, building it up again around our heads.
09:00And oh, the noise, the noise. And now he means to turn it, my castle, into what they call a tourist
09:11attraction. Never! My dearest, what can you do? That beastly American must be driven out
09:19and his family with him. I know. Let me see what I have in the way of grisly costumes.
09:28Ah, yes, yes, yes. I think this should do the trick quite neatly. Which is it?
09:35Gaunt Gibeon, the bloodsucker of Bexleymoor. Oh, that's smashing.
09:42Jeff, I won't let you get married till you get a job. But daddy, Jeff doesn't need a job.
09:56He has all the money you paid him for Canterville Castle. Have you? Have you, Jeff? You know I
10:03haven't, Mr. Otis. But obviously Ginny doesn't. You didn't tell her. Tell her what, Otis? Yes, what?
10:10Now, tell her. Ginny, I'm afraid that just about every cent your father paid for Canterville
10:16went to pay off back taxes, liens, mortgages, interest payments, and the Lord only knows what.
10:21Oh, Jeff. Well, don't you see? That's why I sold Canterville in the first place. I had to.
10:26I couldn't keep it up anymore. I had no choice. It was sell or lose everything.
10:32Don't you see? He's broke. Flat bust. Now, just a moment. I have the promise of a job,
10:37Mr. Otis. A top-flight architectural firm in New York. The promise of a job. Now, look, Jeff.
10:43There'll be no marriage until... What's that? I don't know. I'm afraid I do. It's the Canterville
10:52ghost. The ghost? Come on, Jeff. Come on now. Aren't these tricks of yours getting just a
11:00little childish? Now, Mr. Otis, believe me, this is no act. It's the real thing.
11:04Whenever the ghost moans like this, it means he's going to put in an appearance,
11:08and I've seen some of those appearances. Now, Mrs. Otis, Ginny, you'd better come with me.
11:14Oh, where to? Well, anywhere but here. I'm not afraid of the ghost myself. He's never done me
11:18any harm, but his appearance can be positively ghastly, and you'd better not see it, either of
11:24you. No, I'm staying here. What? I've been hoping to see him, Jeff. Hoping to see the ghost? Yes,
11:32Mother. Oh, somehow I have a feeling I won't be afraid of him.
11:37Don't ask me why. I can't explain the feeling. I just know I won't be.
11:44Of course you won't. Jeff lets you in on his little gag, but I suppose I'm to be scared to
11:50death, huh? Oh, but Daddy, there is a ghost. You've got to believe it. Oh! Look! Oh, my heavens!
12:00I must have blood! He's got to be kidding! When I say blood, I do not mean a drop or two.
12:10I mean gallons, for am I not Gaunt Gibeon, the bloodsucker of Bexleymoor? Blood!
12:19Blood, my foot! What you need is some oil for those rusty chains,
12:25and I just happen to have a can of Otis Oil Purpose here in this desk drawer.
12:30Strange thou name, grovel in abject fear before me. Ah, here's that can of Otis Oil.
12:42Oh, knock off the screaming. You've got nothing to scream about, because believe me,
12:46this oil will do the trick for those chains of yours. Leave off! Thou art ruining my chain!
12:52Daddy, stop it! Leave him alone! And another squirt right here! Oh, Daddy, stop it! Give me that!
12:58Leave him alone! Can't you see how unhappy he is? Oh, now look, Jenny, any guy tries to pull
13:05a gag on me like that... This is no gag, no trick. This is misery! Oh, look at his face!
13:12Look into his eyes! He's in agony! I've never felt so sorry for anyone in my life!
13:19You... you feel sorry for me? Oh, yes! Oh, yes! No one has felt sorry for me in over
13:31370 years. I do. But you... you frighten me!
13:38Oh, no, you can't be! You couldn't be! No, no! Not the golden girl! Oh, come on, you two! Stop it!
13:54Nice little act, but just a little creaky in spots. You clod! You lout! You poltroon!
14:02Is it thus you taunt a noble lord of Canterville? Hear me, then. I sought but to warn you hence by
14:10harrowing up your soul. But there's another way to be rid of you. Death! No, I...
14:19No, no, please, no, please, I beg you, don't kill him! Don't! Don't!
14:24Ah!
14:28For thine own sake, then, child, be warned and get thee hence. I am Simon of Canterville,
14:37an easy wrought into murderous rage. So be gone! Be gone! Be gone!
14:45Do you believe now that he's a real ghost? I sure do. I guess we'd better do what he wants us to do.
14:56Oh, let's leave the castle! Oh, no! Are you saying that you won't? You bet I am! I paid a fortune for
15:05this joint. I'd rather die than see that money go down the drain. Oh, no! I'll tear this damn castle
15:12down again, stone by stone, before he gets the satisfaction of seeing me run.
15:18You hear that, Buster? Stone by stone!
15:30It certainly appears that for once, for the first time in nearly 400 years,
15:36the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville has met his match. What happens, you may ask,
15:42when ancient English ghost meets eyeball to eyeball with modern American business tycoon?
15:50We'll learn more when I return shortly with Act Two.
15:53Now, really, you know, Sir Simon de Canterville, or rather I should say the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville,
16:10can't be blamed for threatening to kill Hyramotus. After all, it is his castle, or it was,
16:17and, well, how would you feel if you'd lived somewhere for nearly 400 years
16:22only to have someone you'd never seen before threaten to tear the place down, stone by stone?
16:28Now, you really can't blame him for being in a towering rage.
16:32Eleanor! I shall rend him limb from limb! Oh, Simon, perhaps we ought to leave the
16:39Americans in peace. Oh, no, no! Oh, darling, please! I say no! Oh, Simon, please!
16:46Don't make me speak severely to you. Severely? Well, truthfully, it's quite possible you've
16:55lost your ability to frighten people. Lost my ability to frighten people?
17:02Yes, dear. You are but a ghost of your former self. Just what do you mean?
17:07Well, I very much fear that you're growing stale, and in the parlance of the day,
17:13why, you simply can't hack it anymore. Hack it? Not able to hack it, me?
17:21Oh, Simon, come now. Were you not reduced to using brute force? You, who through all these centuries
17:28have prided yourself on the artistry of your hideous disguises. Why, you failed to frighten
17:36a mere mortal. And Simon, an American at that. Well, he's a clod. Altogether too stupid to have
17:45even a semblance of nerves. Is that thunder? I think so. It just occurs to me I've always been
17:57at my best during a thunderstorm. True enough. And tonight, to judge from that sky out there,
18:04will be a night of elemental fury, a perfect background for haunting. I shall outdo myself
18:13this night. I shall employ a disguise so horrible, so fiendish, something guaranteed to drive the
18:22churl out of his skull. What?
18:26Yes, yes, yes. That is the question. What, what, what, what shall it be?
18:31I have every confidence that you, my sweet, my sweet, will create a costume that every ghost in
18:38England, in the world, would give his winding sheet to possess. Oh, you are too kind. Altogether
18:45too kind. But let me think. You have it? Yes, yes. You, my darling, have given me a thought.
18:56Winding sheets. That is the ticket. A winding sheet? Of course. I have an excellent one,
19:03very old, very moldy. The one with the frilled cuffs and neck. But of course, of course,
19:10do go up. I will wear that and take with me my rusty dagger. I shall approach the room moaning
19:18and groaning in a most gruesome fashion. When I enter it, I shall stand over them in the form of
19:23a green icy cold corpse till they're all but paralyzed with fear. And then, and then I shall
19:32cast off the winding sheet and crawl around the room with white bleached bones and one rolling
19:40eyeball. Oh, Simon dear, you have outdone yourself. I dare say even you will agree I can still
19:51cut the mustard, my dear? Oh, you can, you have. What of the girl? The American's daughter?
19:59She, she must go in peace. I touch her not. Why so? Because, well, my dear, you will scarcely
20:08believe this, but not only did I fail to frighten her, but she said, well, she said she felt sorry
20:16for me. She said that? Yes, yes, and she looked at me when she said it with eyes,
20:24well, Eleanor, her eyes were filled with sympathy and pity and, yes, love. Oh, Simon,
20:35could she be the golden girl? I should like to think so, but I fear not, my love.
20:47It's too much to ask, much too much. But I must to work. The night approaches and the storm.
20:57I promise you, oh, I promise you that within a few short hours I shall reduce the cold,
21:04blooded Hyrum Otis to a mindless mess.
21:14Why have you brought me here, Jeff? I've never seen this part of the castle before. It's a
21:19hidden passage, or it once was. As to why I brought you here, well, it seems to me every
21:23time I want to be alone with you, your father shows up or your mother and, oh, Ginny, I,
21:29I do want to talk to you. Yes? Ginny, marry me. But, Jeff, dear, I'm going to, you know that?
21:38No, I mean now, tonight. Tonight? Yes, let's get in my car, drive to town,
21:43find the justice of the peace and get married. But, darling, we don't have a license. Oh,
21:47we'll get one. How? I don't know, but we will. I'll, I'll manage it somehow. Jeff,
21:51this is the United States, not England. Things are done differently here and, anyway, there's,
21:58there's no sense discussing it because I just can't go against my father's wishes. Oh,
22:04you don't have to be afraid of him. Afraid? Oh, darling, I'm not afraid of him. I love him.
22:10I know what you think, that he's hard and domineering and ruthless and a lot of other
22:15things, but, you know, inside he's not that way at all. Perhaps not. Unfortunately, I only know
22:22him from the outside. But as time goes by, you'll learn to know him better and you'll see. Ginny,
22:27you're not a child. You're a woman. I need you, Ginny. I, I want you. Jeff, please,
22:32please, darling, no. Ginny, Ginny, please. Jeff. Oh. Blood! I must have blood! Oh, no,
22:42not tonight. Not now. When I say blood, I don't mean a drop or two of blood. I mean
22:47gallons of blood. It's him. It's the ghost. Who else? How to drive that
22:55churl Hiram Otis out of his mind. Oh, misery. Oh, agony.
23:05He went right by us. He never saw us. Yes, I know. Now let's follow him and see what he's up to.
23:10Oh, horror. It is horror. Hark ye to the horrifying moans of the vampire monk.
23:19My parents' bedroom. He's gone in there. Hark ye to the horrifying moans of the vampire monk
23:27or the bloodless Benedictine. Who's there? The vampire monk. See, I bend over you,
23:38a green icy corpse. Watch as I crawl around the room with white bleached bones and one
23:46rolling eyeball. What are you doing on the floor? Huh? Oh, you're the ghost, aren't you?
23:57Well, please now, could you be just a bit more quiet? My husband has had a very tiring day and
24:03he needs a sleep and you're certainly going to wake him up sooner or later with all that
24:08moaning and groaning. Well, I am a ghost. I'm haunting you. All right, all right, all right,
24:14but please do it quietly. Would you ride and ridicule me, would you? Oh, but please,
24:19you must understand. I, woman, pay with thy heart's blood. You've seen your daughter for
24:25the last time on this earth. For the last time. Jeff, Jeff, he means me. No, darling, he can't,
24:34if he didn't see us following him. I have seen you. I saw you there in the secret passage,
24:39but was too busy with other matters to be bothered with you. I saw you following me.
24:44From the back of my head, I saw you. Stand aside, Jeffrey de Canterville. I take your beloved with
24:53me into the next world. Oh, no, you don't. I warn you. You're a Canterville and I would do you no
25:01harm, but stand in my way and I will place on you as I already have on them, the Canterville curse.
25:09No, oh no. Oh, yes. Stand aside, I say. Stand aside. Wait. Yes? If you wish to take me into
25:21the next world, all right, go ahead, but leave Jeffrey alone. Leave my parents alone. Don't harm
25:28them. You would give your life for them? Oh, Jimmy, Jeffrey, he's gone, vanished. Yes. What does it mean?
25:44Oh, good Lord, what does it mean? What? Well, what does what mean? What's going on here?
25:51Oh, Hiram, that ghost, that ghost, he's taken Ginny. He's taken her with him into the next world.
25:56Oh, come on now. It's the truth. In heaven's name, Mr. Otis, wake up to the truth.
26:02The ghost of Simon de Canterville has taken Ginny out of this world and into his own,
26:06and you'll never see her again, and I'll, and I'll never see her again.
26:13What the devil are you talking about? It's, it's the curse of the Cantervilles.
26:19The ghost placed the curse on you tonight. Oh, what lies ahead for you, Mr. Otis? Yeah,
26:29what does lie ahead for me? I can't even begin to tell you, and even if I could, I wouldn't dare.
26:42A strange sort of ghost, Sir Simon de Canterville. At one moment, he's almost gentle, tender,
26:54and the next, in a towering rage. He acts almost like us humans, doesn't he? And like us humans,
27:02he may have jumped from the frying pan into the fire in abducting Virginia Otis.
27:08We'll find out shortly when I return with Act Three.
27:22I take you now down a short flight of wide stone steps, somewhere in the nether regions
27:29of Canterville Castle. Steps stained by centuries of dampness. It is a place where
27:36rats and beetles might scuttle about, in and among the bleached bones of a skeleton which
27:42lies on the stone floor. Poor skeleton, one of its hands manacled, claws towards the remains of a bowl
27:52which once held food. A door opens, a light appears on the steps, and Sir Simon de Canterville
28:02sweeps down the steps, dragging Virginia Otis after him. He flings her to the floor. Here lie
28:08my bones, here soon shall lie yours. He whips a dagger from a case at his side, stoops, grabs her
28:16by the hair, and holding her head back, makes as if to plunge the blade into her throat, but
28:22he stops short. How can you look at me like that? Are you not afraid? No. You face death,
28:31yet you're not afraid. Do I face death? Will you kill me? What is to prevent me?
28:41You killed once out of passion, and have suffered nearly four centuries for it.
28:46Would you dare again? I would, I, I would. Well then, if I'm to die, I suppose I shall.
28:56Being afraid wouldn't help matters, but really I'm not afraid, at least not of you.
29:09Eleanor was right. Eleanor? My wife. She says I don't seem to frighten anyone anymore, that I can't
29:17hack it anymore. Why do you want to? I'm a ghost. It's my only reason for existing. It's not a very
29:26good reason, if you ask me. It's no reason at all, if it comes to that. It's simply part of the
29:32punishment I must bear for murdering my wife. The Lady Eleanor? Yes. Why did you murder her?
29:40Jealousy. Unreasoning jealousy. I thought her in love with another man. I found out later how
29:48wrong I'd been, but it was too late then. I assure you my remorse was so great, I hardly
29:55struggled at all when her brothers chained me in this dungeon, and starved me to death.
30:01And that, that's your skeleton? Yes. Poor skeleton. Poor ghost. You must be very tired.
30:14As only a man who has not slept for nearly 400 years can be. But there'll be no rest for me,
30:21never any rest, until the legend of Canterville Castle is fulfilled. But I didn't know there was
30:28a legend. Jeff never told me. Oh yes, yes. And when it is fulfilled, then, well then I shall sleep
30:36at last, in the little garden far beyond the pine woods. What garden do you mean? The garden where
30:44the grass grows long and deep, where the hemlock flowers are like great white stars, and the
30:51nightingale sings all night long. All night long he sings, and a cold, crystal moon looks down,
31:03and the yew tree spreads its giant arms over the sleepers. The sleepers? Do you mean the garden of
31:11death? Yes, death. Would you help me, if you could, if you could make the legend come true,
31:25would you? Yes, what is the legend? It is this.
31:31When a golden girl can win prayer from beyond the gates of sin, when the barren almond bears,
31:44and the girl gives away her tears, then shall all the house be still, and peace come to Canterville.
31:57What, what does it mean? It means that you must weep with me for my sins,
32:05because I have no tears, and pray with me for my soul, because I have no faith.
32:11And then, and then, if you have always been sweet, and good, and gentle, that withered almond tree
32:22you have perhaps seen outside the library window. The barren almond tree, yes. That tree will bloom
32:29again to show, to show. Yes, to show. That the angel of death has had mercy on me.
32:43I should like to do that for you. I know,
32:45I know, but you may fail. Yes. And if you fail, the torches of the damned will be yours through
32:55all eternity. You must dare to go beyond the gates of sin. You will see fearful shapes, hear wicked
33:03voices. If you are the golden girl of the legend, you will not be harmed. But if you're not the
33:11golden, I tremble for you. Well, what is your answer? I will do it. Think, think, be sure,
33:26oh, do be sure. I am sure. Then turn, turn, and behold the gates of sin.
33:45Ah, you shrink back, you are afraid. The shrieks, the laughter. Worse lies beyond the gates,
33:53foulness. Ah, you are afraid, you are afraid, and I am doomed. No. You will go for me, you will go
34:03beyond the gates of sin. For you, for any other soul. And give me your hand, let me kiss it.
34:11Your fingers are cold as ice. Oh, but your lips burn like fire. Soon perhaps my lips too
34:20shall be cold, if you are the golden girl. I pray God you are, for your sake more than mine.
34:31You must release my hand now, if I'm to go beyond the gates. Yes, yes, I know, only. Let go, let go. Go.
34:48No, Virginia, come back, come back.
35:00Mr. Otis, there's nothing that can be done. Virginia's gone, forever. Harold, it's all your
35:10fault. If we hadn't ridiculed the ghost, if we had just taken him seriously, all this would have
35:16been avoided. I got to admit you're right, Martha, but that doesn't help matters. All I want now is
35:26to get Ginny back, safe and sound. The girl, where is she? She's gone, gone. I've been a fool, I
35:44I thought she might be the golden girl, the girl of the legend, and I let her go beyond the gates
35:51of sin. Oh no, if that be so, I am done with you, Simon. Oh no, no, no, not you. Don't touch me, don't
36:03touch me, you're revolting enough to be human. I tried to stop her at the last moment, I tried,
36:09but it was too late, too late, too late. Simon? The nightingale, Eleanor, the nightingale,
36:23it sings, it sings in the garden of death, it sings. Oh, and the girl, Virginia,
36:30oh, she succeeded, she must have, Simon, Simon, look. Virginia. Sir Simon? You've returned,
36:43from beyond the gates of sin, you've returned. Did you think I wouldn't? Yes, yes, I thought that.
36:50I knew I would, I'd not have gone past those gates if I hadn't felt, sure. Then you are the golden
36:58girl of the legend, you are the golden girl. Are you saved now? Oh yes, child, yes, I'm saved.
37:09After all these centuries, released, and you're the one who did it. Eleanor, she is the one.
37:17What can I do to thank her? What? What, oh Simon, restore her to her own world? What else, dear?
37:28Oh, my watch has stopped. What time is it? It's nearly three in the morning. Three
37:44in the morning? I've got a nine o'clock committee breakfast, I, I, oh, what am I saying?
37:53Business, business, it becomes a habit. My little girl is gone, but my first thought is if,
38:01oh, god in your heaven, what kind of a man am I? Oh, Hiram, you're a good man. You just lost
38:08yourself in, in making a living. Yes, I lost myself in making a living. Yeah, we spend too much of our
38:21lives making a living. We should spend more of it living. I guess your ghost knows that, Jeff.
38:34I don't know whether he does or not. I do. What was that? I thought I heard, what,
38:41it sounded like Ginny's voice. Yes, I thought I heard it too. You did, Jeff. I'm back. I'm here.
38:48Ginny. Oh, my god. Ginny. Oh, Ginny. Oh, my baby. My baby. Where have you been?
38:57Don't ask me that ever again. Yes, but Ginny. Daddy, I love you, but don't, please don't,
39:02not ever try to tell me what to do with my life, my soul again. Let me do what I want to do,
39:12what God put me into the world to do. You, you sound strange. No, no, not strange, truthful.
39:23I've seen what, what lies beyond, beyond this world, beyond us, and we, we here on this earth,
39:35we think that we're the end of everything, and we're really only the beginning.
39:41Daddy, dad, and mom, and you too, Jeff. There's so much out there that we don't understand.
39:54So much. Ginny, what did you see? What's that? Not a bird at this hour of the morning.
40:06It's a nightingale, mother. Come, come to the window. I'm sure we'll see what I expect to see.
40:15Yes, there. Look. At what, Ginny? At what? The storm is over now,
40:28and the moon, a great white moon, sheds its light over the gardens. Look, the almond tree,
40:39the barren almond tree. Wow, it's blossomed. I can see the flowers in the moonlight,
40:48and that tree, it's part of the legend. For centuries it hasn't bloomed, and,
40:54and legend said it never would until, until peace came to Canterville. And peace has come.
41:06Far away, beyond the pine wood, there is a little garden. There the grass grows long and deep.
41:15There the hemlock flowers are like great white stars, and the nightingale sings all night long,
41:23all night long he sings, and the cold crystal moon looks down,
41:30and the yew tree spreads its giant arms over the sleepers.
41:39Jeffrey? Yes, Ginny? He's at peace, Jeffrey. The Canterville ghost is finally at peace.
41:52This story, this beautiful story, we owe to a man named Oscar Wilde. Perhaps some of you know the
42:05tragic details of the last years of his life. Well, no matter. What's important is what he wrote
42:14almost a hundred years ago. Wrote what entertained you in this past hour,
42:19and perhaps enlightened you too. It is better to live than to make a living. I'll be back shortly.
42:38Oscar Wilde is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery, just outside Paris. I visited his tomb,
42:47a tomb over which a sad angel with drooping wings weeps, and yes, I bowed my head,
42:54not so much in homage to the man as to the spirit within him, the spirit within all of us,
43:01our own private, very private Canterville ghost. Our cast included Arnold Moss, Marion Seldes,
43:11Mildred Clinton, William Redfield, and Robert Dryden.
43:15The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown.