Box 13 | The Insurance Fraud Scheme (Alan Ladd) | 1948
Box 13 | (02) The Insurance Fraud Scheme | Broadcast: August 29, 1948
Starring: Alan Ladd
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Transcript
Box 13 with the star of Paramount Pictures, Alan Ladd as Dan Holliday.
-->:Box 13, Box 13, Box 13, Box 13.
-->:Well, this is great.
-->:I come to the park to get a hot idea, but the day turns out hot and my idea turns out cold.
-->:Idea.
-->:I thought I'd find something different in a public park, and I did.
-->:A small boy mashing his ice cream cone against my brand new trousers.
-->:And all to meet a deadline.
-->:Deadline. Story idea.
-->:Why didn't I do what I should have done in the first place?
-->:Copy, copy boy.
-->:Hi, Mr. Holliday.
-->:Hey, Smith, where's the lead on that fire?
-->:Hiya, Mr. Holliday.
-->:What do you say, Bill?
-->:Hiya, Dan.
-->:How are you, Joe?
-->:Where's the make-up on page four?
-->:Hiya, Holliday.
-->:What's a good word, boy?
-->:Hiya, Mr. Holliday.
-->:Hiya, Susie.
-->:Anything in box 13?
-->:Box 13, starring Alan Ladd as Dan Holliday.
-->:Now for box 13, starring Alan Ladd as Dan Holliday.
-->:Go to the park and get a story idea about romance.
-->:Sure, why not?
-->:What do I come back with?
-->:Gravel in my socks, sand in my shoes, and a June bug in my hat band.
-->:Holliday, why didn't you pick a different profession like driving a coal truck?
-->:Mr. Holliday.
-->:What's that, Susie?
-->:I said there's a message in box 13 for you.
-->:Oh, thank you, Susie. Thanks so much.
-->:Don't mention it.
-->:Say, you got a faraway look in your eyes today.
-->:Yes, but only as far as the dry cleaners.
-->:Dry cleaners?
-->:Have you ever had a small boy wipe his ice cream cone off on your trousers?
-->:Oh, girls don't call them trousers.
-->:In our step, it's slacks.
-->:So it is, Susie, so it is.
-->:Well, see you later.
-->:Okay, if you say so.
-->:But I still don't like that look in your eyes.
-->:You look like you might get into trouble.
-->:You know what I think after spending the day in the park?
-->:What?
-->:Trouble will be a welcome relief.
-->:Why did I ever have to decide to be a fiction writer?
-->:I could have stayed a newspaper reporter.
-->:I could have kept on writing those snappy obituary notices
-->:and one of the hats that turned up in front in shoes that did the same thing.
-->:Well, better see what's in this envelope.
-->:Hmm.
-->:If you want real adventure, be at the corner of 7th and Main at 10 p.m. tonight.
-->:A black limousine will pick you up at that time.
-->:Do not try to engage the chauffer in conversation.
-->:What's this?
-->:No signature.
-->:Oh, no signature.
-->:Black limousines.
-->:Shelfers who won't talk.
-->:Meetings on street corners at 10 o'clock at night.
-->:Well, this should be interesting.
-->:Uh-oh, there it is, a black limousine.
-->:Look at that chauffer.
-->:This way, Mr. Holliday.
-->:Oh, thanks.
-->:What a character this driver is.
-->:He looks like he spent his nights on a nice cold slab down at the morgue.
-->:Wonder if I can get him to talk.
-->:Uh, driver.
-->:I said driver.
-->:Oh, chauffer.
-->:Oh, you.
-->:Oh, pardon me.
-->:Through there, Mr. Holliday.
-->:So you do talk.
-->:I was beginning to wonder about that.
-->:This way, Mr. Holliday.
-->:Who's that?
-->:It's only me, Mr. Holliday.
-->:That black suit, it makes you almost invisible, you know.
-->:Yes, I know.
-->:Follow me.
-->:You're curious about the way you were brought here.
-->:Did it frighten you?
-->:Maybe. Maybe not.
-->:This room, please.
-->:My office.
-->:Well, this is very cozy.
-->:I'm glad you find it so.
-->:To eliminate a lot of questions, I'd like to say this.
-->:I know all about you.
-->:All?
-->:You're a successful writer.
-->:Apparently you fear nothing, and I would presume
-->:that some of your adventures spring from that ad
-->:you run every week in the Star Times.
-->:Did you find it interesting?
-->:Adventure wanted.
-->:We'll go any place, do anything.
-->:Do you catch many people with that ad?
-->:I caught you.
-->:Or is that vice versa?
-->:I had you investigated, Holliday.
-->:I know where you live, what you do.
-->:The newspapers have told me of your experiences.
-->:Hmm.
-->:What are you leading up to?
-->:You'll notice I had you brought here by a devious route.
-->:I wanted to be sure no one knew you were here.
-->:Go on.
-->:How much do you know about insurance, Holliday?
-->:A great many people buy it.
-->:Great many don't.
-->:And of those who do buy, a great many intend to defraud,
-->:to steal from their insurance company.
-->:Look, this is a racket I'm not interested.
-->:My name is Abner Blake.
-->:I'm the chief investigator for Northern Insurance.
-->:Oh.
-->:Do you remember the disappearance of Dr. Max Alexander?
-->:I read something about it. Why?
-->:He's carried a very large policy with us.
-->:He's been gone almost seven years.
-->:When his seven years are up, the law will permit his widow to collect.
-->:And Holliday...
-->:Yes?
-->:I don't think Alexander is dead.
-->:What?
-->:What?
-->:This man has the coldest, frostiest eyes of any professional man trailer I've ever seen.
-->:And he's loaded with energy.
-->:Energy which I'll bet has helped him track down the people who tried to cheat his insurance company.
-->:Boy, I'm glad I'm on his side.
-->:If you'll think back, Dr. Alexander performed a very delicate brain surgery on a prominent man.
-->:The operation was not successful.
-->:I remember that he was criticized in some circles for taking a chance.
-->:Immediately after the patient died, Alexander walked out of the operating room, the hospital,
-->:and so far as we've been able to prove, right out of this world.
-->:But I still feel that he's alive, somewhere.
-->:And you believe it's an insurance fraud?
-->:I'm sure it is.
-->:And I have a reputation, Holliday.
-->:No one has ever attempted to defraud Northern Insurance and has been successful.
-->:You suspect Mrs. Alexander?
-->:Hardly.
-->:She's barely left her house in all these years.
-->:She receives no mail except from her daughter.
-->:Her daughter?
-->:She lives in New Mexico.
-->:What about your regular men?
-->:They've looked everywhere.
-->:They've come up with absolutely nothing.
-->:Police?
-->:Same thing.
-->:And you're afraid you'll have to pay off?
-->:No.
-->:Not if I have a smart man, a resourceful one.
-->:A man who can be as relentless as I am.
-->:And I think that man is you.
-->:If Shakespeare were alive, he would cast Abner Blake in the role of Macbeth
-->:and throw him an extra part as one of the witches.
-->:But that's no affair of yours, Mr. Holliday.
-->:You've got to find a man who's been gone for almost seven years.
-->:And if you were the hero of this story, you'd go to the files of a newspaper
-->:and look into the past.
-->:Well, if it isn't Dan Holliday, what are you doing down in the morgue at the Star Times?
-->:What would anybody be doing down in the morgue, Mac?
-->:Well, some of them just lay there.
-->:You know me, Dad.
-->:I just gotta have my little joke once in a while.
-->:Now, what was it you're looking for?
-->:Oh, the clips on a citizen named Dr. Max Alexander.
-->:What have you got on him?
-->:The work, Stan. The whole works.
-->:Prominent man dies following delicate operation.
-->:Doctor criticizes for taking chance.
-->:Dr. Alexander walks out of operating room and disappears.
-->:Grief-stricken wife employs private investigators when police fail to find Dr. Alexander.
-->:Dr. Alexander given up for dead.
-->:Not a bad looking citizen, the doctor.
-->:He's been shot from more angles than Miss Philadelphia at Atlantic City.
-->:Kindly eyes, intelligent face, strong chin.
-->:Yes, doctor, when I see you, I'll know you.
-->:And I hope to see you soon.
-->:Yes?
-->:Oh, I'm Dan Holliday, Miss Alexander.
-->:I'd like to talk to you about your husband.
-->:My husband is dead.
-->:Well, some people think he isn't.
-->:They've found something?
-->:They think he's alive?
-->:Come in.
-->:Now then, Mr. Holliday, who are you?
-->:And why are you looking for the doctor?
-->:A commission from the insurance company.
-->:I hoped you might give me some information.
-->:It was on all the front pages.
-->:That's exactly as it happened?
-->:Yes. He was never seen again.
-->:Oh, Mr. Holliday, if only you could find some trace of him.
-->:I'm going to try.
-->:You don't know how terrible it is.
-->:Almost seven years.
-->:But still, I've had the feeling that he'll come back someday.
-->:You'll look for me, too.
-->:Well, of course.
-->:I miss him so.
-->:What about your daughter?
-->:After her father's disappearance, she couldn't stand it here in town.
-->:She went to our ranch in New Mexico.
-->:Oh?
-->:Her father's disappearance broke her heart.
-->:I...I pray you find him.
-->:Mrs. Alexander, so do I.
-->:Mrs. Alexander is a grief-stricken old lady,
-->:one who sincerely wants her husband back.
-->:So, where to look first?
-->:This is the build-up to the main story, Holliday,
-->:and if you're smart, you'll...you'll bring in all the characters.
-->:Where to, mister?
-->:I want a drawing room to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
-->:Well, Holliday, you've got a railroad ticket and an hour to make the train.
-->:You better get back to your apartment, a quick shower,
-->:pack your bag, and get on your way.
-->:We've been waiting for you, Mr. Holliday.
-->:Well, gentlemen, is this a pleasant intrusion?
-->:And I hope you are gentlemen.
-->:We were positive you wouldn't mind.
-->:Oh, of course not. People break in here regularly.
-->:Good. Sit down.
-->:If you don't mind, I like the air up here.
-->:As you wish.
-->:I understand you like to travel, Mr. Holliday.
-->:Travel? A wonderful pastime travel.
-->:Ever think of South America?
-->:Often. You see, I'm a Carmen Miranda fan.
-->:How would you like to go to South America?
-->:For me, all expenses paid.
-->:For as long as you want to stay.
-->:What would I have to do?
-->:Just forget a few things.
-->:Like New Mexico?
-->:Particularly New Mexico.
-->:Give me about two weeks and I'm your man.
-->:You don't seem to understand.
-->:You're leaving tonight.
-->:Well, that's what I mean.
-->:But I'm going west. No, south.
-->:You and I would make a nice compass together.
-->:Now suppose you point north and walk right out of this apartment.
-->:Oh, and don't forget your gorilla.
-->:You mean Spencer?
-->:If that's his name, I mean Spencer.
-->:You'll hurt his feelings talking that way.
-->:Well, that makes us even.
-->:Just looking at him hurts mine.
-->:Is it South America?
-->:In a way.
-->:At least I'm showing you the open door policy.
-->:Now get out. You and your gorilla.
-->:Spencer.
-->:I wouldn't recommend that.
-->:So?
-->:I said get out.
-->:Have you ever stopped to consider something, Mr. Holliday?
-->:What?
-->:You may never get to New Mexico.
-->:Music.
-->:And now back to Box 13, starring Alan Ladd as Dan Holliday.
-->:Well, well.
-->:Now you've got all the ingredients for a story.
-->:Insurance investigator doesn't believe doctor is dead.
-->:Wife doesn't believe doctor is dead.
-->:Two men try to stop Ryder from making further investigation.
-->:All right, Holliday.
-->:Write the rest of the plot.
-->:Well, maybe you'd better hit the sack.
-->:This is very pleasant.
-->:I've got a comfortable drawing room, and I'll bet it's got a thousand springs to ease my worries.
-->:Uh-oh.
-->:The man with the urge to send me to South America.
-->:Well, I've got something for him.
-->:Now, fellow, what's the big idea of breaking in here?
-->:I'm sorry.
-->:I must have come into the wrong drawing room.
-->:You came into the wrong apartment a couple of hours ago.
-->:Now what do you want?
-->:I just want to go to sleep.
-->:In my traveling bag?
-->:I was looking for my razor.
-->:I wanted to shave.
-->:You just had a close one.
-->:Come on.
-->:Where?
-->:To find out if you got space in this train.
-->:If you haven't, we'll make some for you.
-->:Under guard in the baggage car.
-->:This is fine.
-->:I couldn't prove a thing.
-->:My friend had space, and to the conductor, it seemed like a perfectly logical thing to
-->:mistake car 19 for car 18.
-->:I wonder who this man is and who's in back of him.
-->:Next stop, Albuquerque.
-->:Albuquerque.
-->:Well, that's the end of the line for me.
-->:I hope I don't mean that too literally.
-->:Long distance?
-->:I want to speak to Catherine Alexander at the Barcross Bar Ranch just outside of Valmont.
-->:Yes.
-->:Hello?
-->:Miss Alexander?
-->:Yes.
-->:This is Dan Holliday.
-->:Wonder if I might come out to the ranch and see you.
-->:Oh, you're the man who's looking for father.
-->:Mother wired me about you.
-->:Was it complimentary?
-->:Mother said she believed if anyone could find dad, you could.
-->:Come right out.
-->:I want to talk to you.
-->:And I want to talk to you.
-->:Cab, mister?
-->:Yeah, ever hear of Valmont?
-->:Sure did.
-->:Know where it is?
-->:Sure do.
-->:Very far?
-->:Sure is.
-->:Can you take me there?
-->:Sure can.
-->:You got enough money to pay for the trip?
-->:Sure have.
-->:Let's go then.
-->:Sure thing.
-->:This is New Mexico holiday.
-->:Breathe deeply and treat your lungs to a shot of straight ozone.
-->:Twenty miles to Valmont and all you've seen on the whole trip is four buzzards, three in the air and the one driving.
-->:And if he's a cab driver, I'm a flying disc.
-->:Car behind.
-->:Yeah, so I hear.
-->:Wants me to pull over.
-->:Don't do it.
-->:No, them fellas?
-->:One of them is Spencer.
-->:Friend of yours?
-->:That depends on what you mean by friend.
-->:I gotta pull up.
-->:Those guys are gonna run me into the ditch.
-->:Can you fight?
-->:Nope.
-->:Then can you recommend a good dentist?
-->:What for?
-->:Something tells me that when this is over, I'm gonna need a new set of teeth.
-->:You feel better young man?
-->:Yeah, thanks.
-->:What happened after those two fellas jumped me?
-->:Who are you?
-->:My name is Moran.
-->:I'm the caretaker up at the bar crossbar ranch.
-->:I was coming down this way when you were forced off the road.
-->:What happened to the driver?
-->:Last I saw of him, he was just a cloud of dust.
-->:I remember now I got out of the car, he drove away.
-->:Those two fellas started to beat you up good.
-->:When they saw me coming, they ran off too.
-->:You had a mighty close call young man.
-->:I had three of them.
-->:After this, my luck runs out.
-->:Somebody after you?
-->:And vice versa.
-->:Say, how far is the ranch?
-->:Half a mile up the road.
-->:Better take it easy.
-->:Come on, I've got to get to the ranch.
-->:Feel you can make it?
-->:My friend, I've got to make it.
-->:This is not good.
-->:Spencer and his grill have followed me all the way out here trying to stop me at every turn.
-->:Maybe I'm getting warm.
-->:If that's true, why hasn't someone else found Dr. Alexander?
-->:Here's the ranch house Mr. Holliday.
-->:They say Miss Catherine was expecting you.
-->:Yes, but hardly in this condition.
-->:You're Dan Holliday?
-->:What happened?
-->:You're all beaten up.
-->:So this is Catherine Alexander.
-->:What a beautiful girl.
-->:And what beautiful eyes.
-->:You'd better lie down Mr. Holliday.
-->:You're badly hurt.
-->:Oh no thanks Miss Alexander.
-->:I don't feel that bad.
-->:I just look that way.
-->:Anything more I could do Miss Catherine?
-->:Oh no, no thank you so much.
-->:If you hadn't come along Mr. Holliday might have been badly injured.
-->:Perhaps fatally.
-->:Thank you Miss Catherine.
-->:Now then, how about a hot shower?
-->:You can get a rub down and change of clothes.
-->:Miss Alexander, you read a man's mind.
-->:Sometimes that's a pleasure.
-->:Depending on the man.
-->:You're depending on me?
-->:What do you think?
-->:Well, this is more like it.
-->:Hot shower, brisk rub down, little iodine on a few...
-->:Ouch, ouch, it stings.
-->:Catherine was kind enough to loan me some riding clothes.
-->:That should indicate a soldier in the saddle out on the desert.
-->:With the stars blinking their approval of my companion.
-->:Blinking approval?
-->:Holliday, you're an incurable romantic.
-->:Isn't this beautiful?
-->:That gorgeous sky and the stars.
-->:You love it don't you?
-->:I always have.
-->:Always will.
-->:Have you been here long?
-->:The Bar Cross bar belonged to my dad.
-->:We used to come out during the summer.
-->:Now I live here all the time.
-->:Alone?
-->:There's always Moran.
-->:Moran? He's a strange old fella.
-->:People around here say he's a little...touched.
-->:But he's been wonderful to me.
-->:Oh, say, those men who jump me down the road.
-->:Moran, ever see them before?
-->:How could he? They were strangers.
-->:Oh.
-->:Your mother told me you've been searching for your father a long time.
-->:Yes. Mother and I have spent a fortune on private detectives,
-->:investigators, following up leads.
-->:But nothing ever happened.
-->:Yes, I know.
-->:Oh, tell me Miss Alexander.
-->:Cathy, please.
-->:Cathy, have you any idea where I might begin to look?
-->:I thought you might give me a starting point.
-->:Not unless he would be back in the city.
-->:He just walked out one day.
-->:No one ever saw him again.
-->:Well, I'd better go back there and start from scratch.
-->:You don't have to leave right away.
-->:I'd enjoy staying a while.
-->:Maybe I have been lonesome.
-->:Perhaps I've forgotten what companionship can be.
-->:Perhaps.
-->:You'll stay a while?
-->:A while.
-->:Good.
-->:Say, the time.
-->:We'll be much too late for dinner.
-->:Come on, I'll race you.
-->:You're on.
-->:Hurry or I'll beat you.
-->:I'm at the corral gate already.
-->:Cathy, look out!
-->:Cathy!
-->:Cathy.
-->:Mr. Holliday, what happened?
-->:You were racing.
-->:The horse stumbled over that lower bar and threw her.
-->:Look at that gash in her head.
-->:She's unconscious.
-->:I hope she isn't seriously hurt.
-->:Go stand there, man.
-->:Get in the house.
-->:Call a doctor.
-->:Yes, a doctor.
-->:A doctor.
-->:Hurry, will you?
-->:Of course.
-->:Get into the medicine cabinet in the house.
-->:I need some bandages.
-->:She may be suffering from multiple contusions.
-->:Multiple contusions?
-->:Or even a compound skull fracture.
-->:Hurry, will you?
-->:Compound skull fracture?
-->:I don't know if you can find it.
-->:Hurry, I said.
-->:There isn't much time.
-->:Okay.
-->:Dr. Alexander.
-->:You are listening to Box 13, starring Alan Ladd as Dan Holliday.
-->:Well, now I'm back in the city again, walking up the street towards that same grim gray
-->:house where I first met Abner Blake.
-->:Up the steps, Holliday, and write the final chapter.
-->:That was a nice job, Holliday.
-->:I was nice about it.
-->:What do you mean?
-->:You didn't see the look in Dr. Alexander's eyes when he recovered his mind.
-->:And that lovely, lovely girl being mixed up in a deal like this.
-->:If you feel sorry for her, you're making a big mistake.
-->:Yes, I know.
-->:She was following him the day he walked out into the country.
-->:She'd almost caught up with him when a hit-and-run driver knocked him down.
-->:That's when she got the idea for the disappearance act.
-->:Why not?
-->:The doctor's face had been so damaged that no one would ever recognize him.
-->:And he'd lost his memory to top it off.
-->:We've got the daughter and the mother in custody.
-->:Just think, if she hadn't have fallen off that horse, I might never have been able to prove that Dr. Alexander was alive.
-->:I know.
-->:Hiding him on his own ranch was the daughter's idea too.
-->:Why not?
-->:No one would pay attention to an old man puttering around the place?
-->:I've got a story and I don't like it.
-->:Mother and daughter hide amnesia victim to collect insurance.
-->:Oh, excuse me.
-->:Blake speaking.
-->:Yes, he's here for you, Holliday.
-->:Oh, thanks.
-->:Hello.
-->:Mr. Holliday, this is Suzy.
-->:Oh, yes, Suzy.
-->:There's a message for you in box 13.
-->:Shall I read it to you?
-->:Now, Suzy, you know you're not supposed to open my mail.
-->:But this is already open.
-->:It's a postcard.
-->:Oh, is it interesting?
-->:I think it is.
-->:All right, come on, come on. Tell me what it says.
-->:It says, rental for box 13, $15.
-->:Oh, fine.
-->:Goodbye, Suzy.
-->:Next week, same time, Ellen Ladd stars as Dan Holliday in box 13.
-->:Alan Ladd appears through the courtesy of Paramount Pictures and may currently be seen in Wild Harvest.
-->:Box 13 is written and directed by Ted Hediger.
-->:Original music was composed and conducted by Rudy Schrager.
-->:This is a Mayfair production.
