Old Venture. Adventure, intrigue, mystery, romance starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Together in the sultry setting of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean. Old Venture. Once again the magic names of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall bring you Old Venture and a tale of mystery and intrigue. Every little movement has some meaning on its own. Humphrey Bogart. Mr. Slate, if you're going to sing, would you mind walking on the other side of the street? Ah, Kate said it was our song. Now I've got the hang of it, I'm not going to let it go. How'd you teach it to you? In sign language? You don't understand a girl like Kate. I understood a girl like Kate from the time I understood about girls. Insensitive, refined, throws nice parties. That dress she was wearing knitted it with her own hands, she told me. But how many stitches can a girl drop? You know, sailor, I asked myself the same question. Oh, that's what you were doing with her on the balcony so long. Counting them, huh? You see how wrong you can be? All she was doing was giving me a choice. Yeah, we all noticed. You took vanilla. Choice between every little movement and the dipsey doodle for our song. I'll have you know it threw me for a while, but then I picked... Every little movement and the dipsey doodle for our song. Oh, not again, Slate. Look, we're home, it's late. You want the people in the hotel to wake up screaming? Now look, sailor. Just open the door. Do not trouble yourself with opening the doors, Senor Shannon. Now, what are you doing here, Lizal? This time of night every little policeman should be home in bed. You are gay, Senor. It grieves me to spoil such gaiety. See, Slate, you see what happens when you sing? You spoil gaiety. It is much more grave than that, Senorita. It is you we are concerned with the most, most gravely. You are under arrest. Look, I'm on your side. I tried to stop him. You need sleep, Lizal. You act crazy without it. Into my car, please. And do not force me to wave my authority, this gun, in your faces. You are wanted for questioning by Commissioner Rodriguez. I prefer to deliver you in a piece to answer such questions. Understood? Si, it is understood. Kate! Hey, where are you, Kate? Out here. What are you doing out here on the balcony? Oh, hello, Greg. I got news for you. That's nice. They went straight home after the party. The cops picked up the Duval Dame the way we planned. The boyfriend went along with her. Slate Shannon? I guess. Hmm. Now, he's a corner of Havana who appeals to me. And he can pick his own corner. If you'd have been at the party, you'd have seen why. Don't make wishes to yourself. He's liable to wind up dead. All right, all right. Look, baby, business... I said, all right. Let me ask you something, Greg. Sure. Does it become me, these things we're playing with? Defense plans, murder? Does it go with the way I wear my hair, the way I use my lipstick? It goes good with you. Like me. Funny. What is? Spy talk. You and me. Can't make an honest dollar, so we sell out. Buy people like a nickel toy. Buy them, break them, and throw them away. Does it worry you? No. No, it doesn't worry me. I just want to get out of Havana, that's all. This is the big one, Kate. Then we'll go to the moon. Hey, I'm talking to you. What's the matter? This Shannon guy warping your sense of values? This guy's just got to go, Kate. Sure he does. Break him, then throw him away. Now, look, Rodriguez, you've held us here at police headquarters through the night, through the dawn. It was a delicious dawn. When we are finished here, I will go home and write a poem about it. You guys must be spy happy, Rodriguez. You've got a loosening of the brain. What makes you think so, Liz? We have been over it to a point of weirdness, Senor Shannon. The information we have in our files states that... The sailor's been in Havana for three years, and it just came on you like a hot flash, huh? The fact that Miss Duval's papers were destroyed in Europe, the fact that she cannot establish her American citizenship, these things we know and are simpatico. However, recently a dossier came to our notice... Where were you hiding it? In a kamquat? The dossier of Miss Duval gave us to wonder. Her manner of entering Cuba as your ward, Senor Shannon. Her sojourn in Europe, her choice of friends there. One especially, the notorious espionage agent Kramer. I told you, he taught me how to ski. All it was between us was slaloms and herring bones. We have reason to believe there was more. In any case, Cuba is too vulnerable to suffer your presence, Senorita Duval. Delectable as it may be. Well, don't cry, Rodriguez. I couldn't bear it. You have 24 hours, Miss Duval. Use it as you wish. But at the end of these 24 hours, deprive us of yourself. Get out of Havana. Let's go, Slate. He's eating into our time. Havana will be desolate without you, Senorita. My heart bleeds for Havana. I'll get a cab. Why spend good money when you can use my car? Sell it someplace else, Buster. Come on, sailor. With the car goes a way to keep Miss Duval in Havana. No extra charge. The man is trying hard, sailor. I'm going to help him make it easy. What's all this about, friend? My arm. Brittle bones, huh? Come on, talk. You'll break it. I said talk. How come you know things about sailor that I don't? How is it that you know the formula to keep sailor in Havana and I don't? You'll never know. Go ahead, strong man. Beat me up, throw me in the gutter and walk away. You'll never know. Sailor Duval gets thrown out of Havana. Now you're being sensible. You're going to convince me I am. Okay, Buster. You got yourself a fare. Let's go. We've been driving for a half hour. All you've done so far is point out the tall buildings. You're dying to know how I'm going to let you keep Miss Duval forever and ever. Is that it? It's up to you, huh? You can do that. Me and a friend of mine. Oh, no. It's a partnership. Who's the friend? I'm taking you to her now. Lovely girl. You'll adore her. She can keep me from being thrown out of Havana, thrown away from Slate. I'll dine her socks, wash her pots and pans, any little odd chores around the house. That won't impress her. It's going to take something much more than that. Money? How much? Not money. Just Mr. Shannon. You get out here, Mr. Shannon. That's the house. I'm going, too. Uh-uh. I'm taking you home. That's the price, Miss Duval. Slate Shannon goes to talk to my friend and I take you home. You going to buy? She buys. Go home, sailor. Havana needs you. Hello, Slate Shannon. Well, if you stare at me that way, I'll blush. Then you'll lose the illusion. Come on in. All right. Sit down. Over there would be nice. It's my turn to stare. I like the way you move, Slate. I've got a hop, skip and jump routine that used to be the talk of P.S. 62. You want to see it? Sit still. Talk to me. I like Havana best because the climate is nice all year round. Why don't you try me in 20 words or less? You bewildered me. A few hours ago you were cooing at me at a party. Now you're mixed up with... Tell me what you're mixed up with, Miss Stoddard. You know, your mouth is nice, but no one's taught it how to speak softly. Try my loud, clear voice. A man told me you'd know why Mr. Vowel is in trouble. Listen to me. I'm greedy for a thing. Once during the last war, a defense plan was set up by the island republics. A master caribbean defense against invasion, against enemy submarines. Now these plans have been elaborated, bettered. Espionage. You're working for a foreign government. And you too. And you're Mr. Vowel. Friends of mine who can do such things have planted documents in government files which incriminate her. I'll take it from there. I get the defense plans and sailors off the hook. That's right. Deliver the plans and the evidence on Mr. Vowel will disappear. What am I supposed to do? Walk into the chamber of commerce and tell them I'd like to have a copy of the caribbean defenses? A copy of the plans will be stolen. In a place where you can get to them. You know the waterfront. Near the edge of it, to the south, there's an old fish shanty built on pilings. Poncho's old place. It's deserted. Sometime before ten o'clock tonight, an envelope will be hidden between two large pilings that stick up together from the pier. A few minutes after ten, you will be there and pick up the envelope. It's such a simple thing for an experienced spy. Why don't you do it? So I can keep on being an experienced spy. There's always a chance of a courier getting caught, you know. And if it's you that's caught, you'll have to suffer for it. Not me. I'll deny even knowing you. What do you want to do with me, Slate? Kiss me or kill me? I'll bring you the plans, then I'll flip a coin. What time is it, Sailor? You've still got another hour. I didn't ask you that. I said what time is it? Nine o'clock. Slate? Yeah? What do you want? I'm chilly. Have you seen my scarf? No? I must have dropped it in Mr. Lane's car. Slate? Yeah? You sure you're doing the right thing? I'm sure. There's a simpler way, you know. I get on that plane tomorrow morning and leave Havana. Leave. Now don't make me get sloppy. We're going to do it my way. See this thing through, then turn it all over to the police. Plans, Kate, everything. That way we clear ourselves. Not you, me. It's espionage, Slate. It's a word you read in books. How did it happen to us? Wait a minute. Can I help you, Chico? Senor Shannon. Slate Shannon. What's the matter with you? You look sick. Run away from them. Spies. Get some water, Sailor. How about, Chico, why don't you sit down? The plans. I put them... Do not... Here, here, here. Let me help you. Run from them, Senor. Run. Here's the water. You better drink it yourself. Little Chico tried to warn us about something, Sailor. He didn't make it. He's dead. Now, back to Bold Venture. Our stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and the second act of our story. Ladies say, Lord, she feel a great remorse. Like a girl who ride backward on a very fast horse. To wave farewell to Havana this day. And the silent place is where she used to stay. Now comes a great big complication. A fella appears in big agitation. To make matters worse, he say, spy, then he die. And the police, they raise fat brow over eye. I don't feel more music, Mr. Slate. Forget it. How long has LaSalle been in there with Chico, Sailor? About a half hour. The little guy was trying to help us. He was saying, run away from them. Here comes the man now, King. He'll tell us what to do. What about it, Inspector LaSalle? The man who is dead is named Alfonso Gomez. Senor Gomez was a member of the Cuban government. A minor official. Now murdered. Poisoned. What do you know of him? We don't know anything. He walked into the hotel, then he fell down. Then Slate saw he was dead. Then I called you. I witnessed all of it. Impeccably as Miss Sailor has described it. The man walked into the hotel, then he fell down, then... Keep out of this, King. LaSalle knows Sailor is telling the truth. I make no comment except to remind. Miss Duval? Eight hours in Havana. That is all that is left for you. She said between two pilings sticking up together. She must have meant the ones over there. The butterflies. I've still got them, Slate. Here. Give me your hand. Right here. Hold on to them. We'll pin them up in a glass case and chortle over them on dull evenings. Dull, he says. Right now I'd settle for a lifetime of dull. Hold the flash, Sailor. I want this to be our secret. Ours and Kate's and Mr. Lane's and Gomez and Kate. You know, if we play our cards right, maybe we can get three sisters to sing a song about it. I've got it. Complete with trans? Uh-huh. Look at the code word they use for defense plans. Here, let's see. D-E-F-E-N-S-E-P-L-A-N-S. Come on, Sailor. I just bought Havana for you. You're going to give the plans to Kate? I told you to the police. I was just checking. Why should I give them back to Kate? The very question I asked myself, Mr. Shannon, over and over. Why, look. It's that polite Mr. Lane. I already thanked you for the ride home. You came back for more? Uh-huh. I've been trying to remember the sweet things you said. I said thank you. The words I've been scratching my brains for. Thank you. Thank you for the plans, Shannon. You're ahead of yourself, aren't you, kid? Not at all. You'll give the envelope to me. I'll say thank you and... Not for this you won't. You could have made it easy. I like it this way. What's the matter, kid? You fall down from something in the tea? I... Slate that car. They shot him down. We've got to help them. Leave him alone, sailor. Come on. Let's get out of here. Come on. Two more minutes, sailor. The time it'll take to walk down there to police headquarters and wave this envelope under LaSalle's nose. And while he's sniffing it, you might remind him how those documents about me were planted. You think he'll believe it? Sure. We had anything to do with espionage. Do you think we'd come running to him? LaSalle will... Sorry, amigo. I didn't see you. Your sorry is accepted. And since we have bombed each against the other, por favor, you have a match? Yeah, here. Gracias. I must confess the reason which I have asked a match of you is for the following. To light my own cigarette, I must take my hand from the gun which I carry in the pocket. Emily Post would never forgive you for that. What are you, Buster? What's on your mind? I am Carlo. On my mind is to kill you both dead if you think of going to the police with that envelope. The police station is but across the avenue. The abode of Senorita Kate Stoddard is in the opposite direction. We just got lost, chico. Of course. That is a lie. However, Miss Duval... What? Do not argue with me. Come with me for a happy thing that will happen to you. I'll kill you dead, Mr. Shannon, if you move one step. Taxi? Gracias, driver. The change is for you. Now we will walk, Miss Duval, but a short way for the happy thing. Why don't you tell me about this happy thing? What is it? Just one little hint? One happy thing is that Mr. Shannon cannot go to the police because I have you on one side of a gun. Gee, that's swell. Another as follows. There is a man in that house who wants to talk to you very badly. What man? You will see. In this house, Mr. Duval, you will go alone. Remember, there is a gun pointed at you. Just because you ask me like a gentleman. Adios, Senorita. Hello, Miss Duval. Inspector LaSalle, what are you doing here? Please come in. In here, please. I'm glad you are here at the home of Senor Rodriguez. Senor Rodriguez? Si, Rodriguez, the commissioner. And I must tell you this, you are under arrest. Again? For what? For his murder. We will go over all of it again, Senorita Duval. You made Senor Rodriguez to die where he lies, there in the library. Shot him with a small caliber pistol in his throat. I haven't got a small caliber pistol. But a scarf you have. The scarf Rodriguez taught me when he was pleading that you do not kill him. It is embroidered with your name. Look, I told you. I forgot the scarf in Mr. Lane's car. He must have planted it next to the body. You have but to produce this Mr. Lane. We will question him. He was shot down near Pancho Shanty on the wharf. We left him there. I told you that fifty times. It grieves me to call the beautiful Senorita a liar. Mr. Lane's body was not on the wharf as you told us. Perhaps you killed him as you killed Rodriguez. We did find blood on the wharf, but there was no sign of Senor Greg Lane. Why would I kill my alibi for Rodriguez? You had a motive. You thought by the murder of Rodriguez you could stay in Havana with Slade Shannon. You had no wish to leave Cuba. We will make that wish come true. In a prison. Perhaps for the rest of your life. Hi, Slade. You're staring again, boy. Which is it? Are you going to kiss me or kill me? Give me a chance to flip my coin. There's more room inside. I brought your envelope. Thanks. Carlo is a very impressive little man, isn't he? Yeah, he is. What do you do with Saylor? By now she's probably in jail. She killed the government official Rodriguez, the man who ordered her out of Cuba. That's Saylor. Impatuous. Does it bother you about her? No, if she's in jail, there's no use bothering about her. You bother about me? I can't relax around you. That Gomez who dropped dead in my hotel poisoned. Why? We didn't need him any longer. He planted the documents about Mr. Valle, stole these plans, and put them where you would find them. Just tell me about Mr. Lane. Now, there was a fellow who acted like he had a lot on the ball. The only time I saw him get sloppy was when he wanted those plans from me on the pier. Oh, Greg. You know, he shouldn't have done that. Is that why you had to empty a gun into him? I'll bet I didn't miss once. That's your reaction when somebody tries to double-cross you. Uh-huh. Cold and calculating. So don't you try it, Slade. I brought you the plans, didn't I? Yeah. And that brings out the other me. Warm and feminine. The way you want me to be. I'll get all that for the plans? Uh-huh. Say yes to me, Slade. We'll go a long way from here. With the money, the plans will bring anywhere you want. I know a place near the edge of the world. Sun burns through you, and at night the moon does the same. I'll go well with that. I'll get it. Leave it alone. It'll go away. I'll send it away. You lose your bet, Kate. You must have missed. It's Lane. Greg. Come on in. Sit down. Greg, listen to me. Put that gun away and listen. There's a dead man outside. Carlo. He tried to stop me. Greg, listen to me. All you have to do is kill Shannon. Then it's you and I. Think of what we could do. He'll take you anywhere you want to go, kid. Kill him, Greg. He doesn't mean anything to me. Kill him. Keep talking, Katie. You've got him almost convinced. Stop staring at me like that, Greg. I'll be the way you always wanted me. The things we could do. Shannon's in the way. Get rid of him. I'll take the gun, Greg. Thanks. You fool! Giving him that gun! Don't scream at him, Katie. He can't even hear a whisper up close. He's dead. Oh! You think he can scream like that again? I want LaSalle to hear it. Slate, I knew he was dying all the time. You've got to believe me. You've got to... Police department. Let me speak to Inspector LaSalle. Slate, wherever you want to go, that place you talked about, we'll go there. The sun will burn through us and the moon. Everything like you said, Slate. By the time you get out of this jam, you'll be too old for that sort of thing. Sailor. Uh-huh? Let's go dancing, Sailor. Let's get a bucket of red paint and tear Havana apart. Uh-uh. I just want to stand here and look at Havana. I almost lost it. I almost lost something too. Slate. You mean me? My suitcase. You packed your stuff in it. You'll get it back. Cardboard, twine and all. Yeah, well, see that I do. Is that all I am to you? A cheap cardboard suitcase? That's right. Where that suitcase goes, I go. You mean you were going to go with me? Come here, Slate. Why? Come here. I'll explain it to you. That's why. Do it again, Sailor. I didn't understand a word. And so our two stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall have brought to a close our latest Bold Venture story. Special music was composed and conducted by David Rose. May we invite you to listen again next week at this time for another exciting adventure starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall together in Bold Venture.
