Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. Escape! Brought to you by the Richfield Oil Corporation of New York and the independent marketers of Richfield gasolines, motor oils and other petroleum products. Look for the Richfield Eagle on the cream and blue pumps. Tonight we escape to the interior of China and the journey of terror down the Yangtze River from Chongqing to Shanghai. As John and Gwen Bagney tell it in their gripping story of a people in turmoil, the Shanghai Document. The Yangtze River is a gray gash through the heart of China. The artery that pulsates day and night with displaced humanity. From Chongqing to Shanghai it's 1500 crooked miles through deep-gutted gorges. For those of us who took the steamer downriver in those frantic months just after the war, it was a voyage dominated by fear and intrigue and danger. It started in the saloon of the ten golden pieces over a glass of gin in the company of the man whose face wore many racial strains but no pride of ancestry and no hope for his descendants and no name as far as I could discover other than the Eurasian. The word echoes in the marketplace that you desperately seek transportation to Shanghai. The word is correct. The word is also correct that I'm stranded. One wonders if you lack money. No, no. I lack influence. One knows of a way to Shanghai. What? You know of a way? Have you the courage to attempt the Yangtze in a junk? Well, at this point I would consider doing it in a canoe. One hears of a junk that is obtainable for a price. How much? One can always make a deal. Where is this junk? Can I see it? It's on the opposite bank of the Kialing at the dock at Chiang Pei. Could I rent it or could I hire it? You would have to buy it. Buy it? I couldn't navigate it myself. I have thought of that. The owner would take you to Shanghai where you would, in gratitude, return the junk to him as a gift. Oh, I see. I buy it here and give it back to him at Shanghai. Ha! That's a cute wrinkle. You do not favor the wrinkle? Oh, no, no, no, no. Don't get me wrong. If I can get out of Chungking, I'm crazy about it. Come on, let's go. I'm not talking about money. It must be in American dollar. Oh, well, of course. Then, as you say, okay, let's go. We slogged through the slime of the gutters. The night was misty. A chill wind carried with it the stench of the river. It carried to the unforgettable stench of poverty and death. The Eurasian led me down the thousand stone steps to the waterfront where a sandpan ferried us across to the suburb known as Canpei. There, at an ill-lit makeshift dock, the Eurasian talked to a wizened coulee while I inspected the junk. What's the matter? What's he saying? He does not wish to take you. Oh, well, you can tell him it's okay with me. Junk's a good name for this boat. It's exactly what it is. I wouldn't risk my life in it back in the Arkansas River. Oh, wait. Where are you going? Back across the river, Chungking. But you are anxious to get to Shanghai. Not that anxious. But what about my commission? Look, I didn't buy the boat, did I? I've gone to a good deal of trouble for you tonight. You have money? I'm sorry. I can't help it. Oh, no. You don't leave me like this. Ah! Lie still. Huh? I said lie still. Who are you? Where is that? Oh! Oh, my back. He broke my back. Your back's not broken. Take your shirt off. Huh? I'm a doctor. Oh, how did I get here? A dirty man in a white suit brought you here. Yeah, yeah, the Eurasian. He said he found you in the street. He did, huh? Why, the... Hey, wait a minute. My money. My money is gone. Turn over on your stomach. No, wait a minute. Lie face down, please. Huh? Now, where does your back hurt? All over. Here? Yeah. Mm-hmm. What about here? Oh, no. Well, it's nothing. Just a poor ligament. Sprain. I'll get my bag and tape it for you. You're an American, aren't you? Mm-hmm. Kansas. No kidding. So am I. Wichita. What happened to you tonight? Saloon brawl? No, no. I guess I was just a little too anxious to get to Shanghai. I was even considering a leaky junk down the Yanked Seam. Why do you want to go to Shanghai? I'm a correspondent. That's where the big story is today. Well, if you want to go, why don't you take the River Steamer? Oh, that's funny. I've only been trying for months to get a ticket on the thing. Lie still, please. Now inhale. All right. Exhale. Hold it. All right. I want this adhesive to be good and tight. Yeah. You know, I'm taking the boat to Shanghai tomorrow. You are? Don't talk, please. All right. I didn't have any trouble getting a ticket. Yeah, but... Hold still, please. Mm-hmm. If this tape isn't tight, it won't do you any good. Got to have connections in China today. I was lucky. I've been out here six years. I know a lot of people. There. Is that too tight? Well, it's tight. And that's the way you want it. Feels a lot better. That'll do the trick, though. You'll have to keep it on at least a week. Yeah. Well, how much do I owe you, Doc? Oh. Make it a pack of cigarettes. Ow. That's pretty high. As a matter of fact, I haven't got quite a full pack, but you can have it here. Thanks. What do they call you back in Kansas? Well, in Kansas, they call me Jane Roma. In China, I'm known as Girl Doctor. You know... I was just thinking, if you're really serious about wanting to go to Shanghai... Serious? I can get you a ticket on the downriver boat tomorrow. It's almost impossible to get a ticket. How? Does it matter how I get it? As long as I get it? Lady, if you can get me out of Chungking, nothing matters. I'll pay you back in Shanghai. What's your name? Tony Dana. Well, Tony Dana, there'll be a ticket waiting for you at the steamship office tomorrow morning and a little money for traveling expenses. What? I... I can't believe it. I... What are you looking at me so funny for? You're amazing. Why? You're the first man I've ever met who didn't comment on my being both a woman and a doctor. Oh, well, now, don't get me wrong, Girl Doctor. The combination fascinates me, but what I like most is your ability to pull a steamer ticket out of the hat. Oh, I have many talents. Well, let's kick him around. No. You go to your room and rest. Take care of that back. Okay. You're the doctor. But I can tell you this. What? I'm glad you're going to Shanghai with me. The boat was a squat, ugly, gray thing, as dirty as the river she sat in. Already her decks were crawling with discarded bits of humanity, some asleep, some curled around their meager possessions. But in one way, they were all alike. On their faces was the great patience that is so often worn by the have-nots of this world. At the head of the boat was a man named Tony Dana, who was a man who was a man who was a man who was a man who was a man who was a man who was a man who was a man who was a man of this world. At the head of the gang plank a beefy-looking white man was herding us aboard. Get these people on. Now, where's your ticket? Ticket, ticket, ticket. Okay. Move along. Okay. You next. Ticket. Yeah. Just a minute. I've got it here somewhere. Hurry up, get it out. I've got to schedule a keep. Come on, come on. Can't you see my hands are full? Two suitcases. Nobody needs two suitcases. Leave one of them behind. I need them both. I don't care. There's nothing on the ticket that says how much you can carry. Who are you to be pushing me around? I'm Skipper of the Scow, Rattigan, that's the name. Keep it in mind. It's just a suitcase. Listen, I want this river to make money. If I can pick up one paying fare in place of your precious suitcase, I'm for it, see? You got your choice, mister. Either put one suitcase off or I put you off. You got a crummy racket. So I'm a crummy guy. Well, which is it? I'm in a hurry. Okay, okay. Now, this one. That's better. Now, let's see your ticket. And your passport. All right, here. Yeah, Anthony Dana American. Okay, move along. If this river wasn't so lousy loaded up with foreigners who don't have any business being here, maybe we could move some Chinese. And that was my introduction to Captain Rattigan, Skipper of the Scow, as obnoxious a personality as I've run into. He considered every accidental a foreigner except himself. Well, I picked my way across the littered deck, climbing over soldiers and whining children. I was one of the lucky passengers. Mine was a first class ticket, entitling me to a stateroom, or should I say to half a stateroom. And I was on my way to it when the Chinese officer stopped me. See your papers, please. Well, I just showed my papers to the captain. See your papers, your passport, everything. What is this? Everybody wants to look at my papers. Who are you anyway? I am Lieutenant Chen. Will you show me your papers or shall we create unfortunate incident for you? Oh, for Pete's sake. All right, here you are. That is better. It says here your name is Anthony Dene. You are American citizen. Your occupation is correspondent. Yeah, look, I know what it says. You don't have to read it to me. Papers are in order. I'm not going to tell you that. The matter is closed. Paper in order. You may proceed to your stateroom. Thanks. Hello there. Hello. I guess we're roommates. I'm Dana. Oh, I am? I mean you are. Well, I'm Vickers. Come in, come in. Welcome, my friend. Thanks. Yes. You know, I've just been wondering what sort of a chap I draw to bunk with. Of course, I don't mind, you understand. When I'm out in the field, a missionary gets conditioned, if you know what I mean. I mean conditioned. What? I mean, I'm a table, a little store, a bare ground. But indoors, I remember I'm an Englishman. I like comfort, you know. Pleasant company. Yeah, yeah. Well, I hope you like cockroaches because they've got us outnumbered. Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. Cockroaches and I are old friends. I say, look here. Why don't you store your gear and come up on deck? You know, it's quite something to see when Rattigan starts his old steamer down river. You would think it was the Queen Mary. You would really. All the ceremony he puts into it. I wouldn't watch Rattigan launch a rocket to the moon. Well, that's not likely, you know. I mean, what happened? The old sea dog got your back up, is that right? Well, he made me leave a suitcase behind. It was full of books I've been years collecting. Well, that sounds like him. Are you coming? No, no. You go ahead, Vickers. I'll see you later. Thank you. As I unpacked what I needed for the trip, I could feel the old boat gather all her strength together and move, groaning into the deep water channel. And I forgot about my lost books. I was on the Yangtze on my way at last to Shanghai. On my way to the big story, and I felt a curious kind of thrill. I was part of China on the move. The cabin was close and stuffy. I went up on deck to get some air. I was kind of hoping to run into Girl Doctor. Then I saw her standing at the prow of the boat, talking animatedly with my roommate, the missionary. Ah, there you are, Dana. Glad you came up. Come on over and meet a charming fellow passenger. Dr. Roma, may I present Mr. Dana? What do you do? Dana, did you say? It's an odd name. Have you been in China long? Well, wait a minute. He's an American, you know. One of your countrymen, Dr. Roma. Oh, really? Yeah. Kansas. Oh, is that so? I say, we're lucky, aren't we, Dana? Having such a beautiful doctor aboard, it might make it worth a man's while to be ill or something, eh? No, I hope that won't happen. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have someone packing to do. Awfully nice to have met you, Mr. Dana. Oh, yes. I'll see you later, Mr. Vicker. She smiled at me like you smiled at a stranger you've just met. There was no sign, no sign at all of recognition. And from then on, she avoided me. At first, it made me a little sore. My male ego was wounded, I guess. I thought she'd gotten me a ticket because she wanted to see me again. Now, I wondered, why had she gotten it? Ah, there was something wrong with this whole business. We were scheduled to tie up at Yichang overnight, and I was looking forward to breaking up the trip by night ashore. I was on my way to my stateroom to get my bag. Girl doctor. Dr. Roma, it's Tony, Tony Dana. What's wrong? Go away. No, I'm coming in. Please. What's the matter? What's happened? Nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing? You always wear your hair a must like that, your blouse ripped and your luggage. That's the way I like it, I suppose. Dumped, sprawled all over the room. It's none of your affair, Tony. Keep out of it. Look, you're going to tell me what's going on anyway. Please, keep out of it. No, you're scared. You need help. Just get out and leave me alone. All right, maybe Captain Rattigan knows the answer. I'll go and get Tony. What? All right. I came into my stateroom. Was dark, but I could tell there was somebody in here. Then he grabbed me. I tried to fight away from him. I screamed, but he got out. I turned on the light. Who was it? I don't know. A soldier, I think. A Chinese soldier. Well, what was he looking for? What are you carrying? The crown jewels? It isn't funny, Tony. They're after the Shanghai document, but they didn't get it. Not this time. The Shanghai document? What's that? Just a piece of paper, but it might hold the destiny of China. Oh, in what way? A new leader has been found in the west of China, but only a few trusted people know his identity. A man who very possibly could unite his people, lead them out of war. I don't have to tell you what that means to China, Tony. The document contains his name, his plan of action, and his written acceptance of the great responsibility, and it must get into the right hands in Shanghai. And if it doesn't? A lot of heads will fall. And China will have lost a chance for peace. And you, you're the messenger, huh? Why? I'm a sympathizer. I was chosen because I'm an American. We thought they wouldn't suspect an American. Well, Radegan's an American. I'm an American. Why pick on... Oh, hey, wait a minute. And that's the reason you got my ticket for me. That's why you've been giving me the wide berth. You were using me as a decoy in case they got wise. I'm sorry, Tony. But you did want to get to Shanghai. Yeah, yeah, but with one stipulation. I'd like to get there alive. Attention, motorists. 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I didn't see Girl Doctor as the boat tied up at Yichang, but I worried about her plenty. Girl has no business carrying a thing as explosive as the Shanghai document. Now that she dragged me into it to confuse whoever was after it, I was a little jumpy myself. Mr. Dana? Oh, Lieutenant Chen. You are planning to go ashore? Yeah, that was my plan. Why? Very dangerous for American to be alone in China nowadays. Many bandits, thieves. Yeah, yeah, I know, but how do you know? I don't know. I just know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I'm sorry. I hope it won't throw army regulations in an uproar if I go ashore anyway. Sorry. Your business merely suggestion. Yeah, well, thanks. See you around, Chen. Dana. Dana. What do you think you're going? Ashore, do you mind? Matter of fact, I do. When I start out with a boatload of people, I like to deliver them. I don't like no trouble, and you're going ashore is just asking for it. Are you trying to tell me I can't go ashore, Captain Ratigan? Look, sweetheart, the only thing I'm trying to tell you is watch your step. So you've told me. I've been warned. Now I'd like to get going. Okay, bilgehead. It's your neck. Oh, I say, Dana. Dana. Here we go again. Are you going ashore? And what's your objection, Vickers? Objection? Yeah. Well, I don't get it, old boy. I was going ashore myself, and I thought we might make a party out of it. You know, I speak the dialect, and I thought it might come in handy. Well, I thought for a minute. You thought what? Oh, never mind. You know, the last time I was in Yichang, there was a very nice hotel. Let's try it. That is, of course, if it hasn't been bombed. Oh, the proprietor, a Chinese, very good friend of mine, serves the most... Vickers, Vickers, wait a minute. What's that? What's what? Where? There at the foot of the gangplank, a whole platoon of soldiers. Oh, they're probably on the lookout for a deserter. Ah. Well, come on, let's get off the boat. Oh, I say, look, they're going to stop us. Your passport, please. Certainly. Right here. Passport in order. Proceed. Oh, thanks, sir. Oh, thanks awfully. Can I see your passport? Look, I've been checked and double checked. You better do as he says, old boy. Yeah, okay, here. It's a mess, this red day. Necessary, I suppose, but sometimes I do think they overdo it. Oh, your passport not in order. Not in order? No, please, better you come with me. Well, where to? What for? Impossible. Proceed to Shanghai. Paper's not clarified. What are you talking about? I say, who can't take him off the boat like this? Oh, no, no, no. Passport not in order. Complete. He took me to a command car which drove me to field headquarters on the hills above Yichang. No matter what I said to him, no matter how much I argued, all I got out of him was, passport not in order. Well, they gave me a place to sleep and something to eat and a couple of guards to watch me. The river steamer was scheduled to leave Yichang at dawn. I was hoping they'd release me by then, but the dawn slipped in and the steamer slipped out. And I heard it in the distance, the whistle, and I felt sunk. How was I to explain to these guys that I was just a decoy? They'd picked off the wrong American, that the thing they wanted, the Shanghai document, was on its way down the Yangtze. And I heard them coming down the hall. I didn't know what I was in for, but I braced myself. At least I'd go down fighting. Mr. Dano. Yeah? Passport is in order. Can go now. Go? Now, you tell me. Look, did you hear that whistle? The steamer's gone. How do I get to Shanghai now, swim? A thousand apologies for ignorant mistake. American passport, very confusing. Yeah, yeah, sure. But what do I do now? Please come with me. I've made arrangements. I was apologized to in several dialects. Then I got back into the command car and was driven down past the river landing to a secluded spot where a sampan tended by two coolies was waiting. I was politely but forcibly put aboard. I turned around to protest, but it was too late. The coolies had pulled the sampan away from shore into the center of the river and back on shore, the Chinese officer was smiling broadly. Well, anyway, I was on my way to Shanghai again. When I sat back to smoke a cigarette, I was out of matches and I nudged the coolie in front of me. Hey, you catch him matchy, matchy and all? Certainly, Mr. Dano. Here you are. May I light it for you? Hey, Chen, what are you doing on this sampan? I also have missed the boat. Yeah, well, why the coolie outfit? Is not safe for lone soldier to travel by himself. I am, as you Americans say, coming along for the ride. You know what I think, Chen? I think I'm the one that's being taken for a ride. I couldn't understand it. If they had thought I had the document, why hadn't they searched me? Why did they let me go? Why was Chen on my tail? I decided to find out just how much of a watchdog Chen was. We'd been on the river all day and it was just getting dark when we pulled up at a rickety bamboo landing. Chen was singing as he helped the coolie repair a sail. They weren't paying any attention to me. I crawled silently off the boat onto the dock. Mr. Dano, I should regret to have to kill you before we reach Shanghai. Come back in boat, please. Well, you can't blame a guy for trying. If you are wise, you will not try again. We passed Nanking, turned off the Yangtze into the Yunhou Canal. Chen never seemed to sleep. He watched me constantly. But as he and the other coolie maneuvered the sampan into Suchao Creek on the Shanghai waterfront, I realized that I had one final chance. It was dusk. The creek was filled with a floating city, thousands of sampans, each with their family washings flying aloft, their babies, their suppers cooking. They're on either side of us within scraping distance. And suddenly I leaped across the one on the left. Mr. Dano, stop! He wouldn't dare shoot in such a crowded place. He couldn't hope to hit me, but he jumped across and I was already on the next sampan. And jumping from sampan to sampan, I zigzagged my way to the bank and plunged into the crowded filthy waterfront of Shanghai. I looked back once. I couldn't see Lieutenant Chen anywhere. I lost him. I took a deep breath. I felt free, safe from the crowd. And then I saw him. Not 10 feet away, Captain Rattigan and with him two huge Mongolians. Dano! Don't try to get away, Dano! Come back! I moved fast, elbowing my way through the man of humanity and ran down the bund like a devil himself was after me. And I finally stopped out of breath in a cluttered back alley. It was dark. Rattigan was no place to be seen. Neither were the Mongolians. I was quite alone. I had one friend in Shanghai, Vickers, the missionary. He'd given me his address. I found a rickshaw driver who knew where it was and he took me there. It was one of those old Chinese dwellings with a high wall around it. I knocked at the gate and nobody answered. I opened the gate, walked into the garden. Well, it's about time you showed up, Dano. Rattigan! We've been waiting a long time for you. Rattigan, what are you... It took me a minute to recognize the smell of the cloth on my face. Chloroform. How do you feel? Huh? Oh, you again. Don't try to get up and don't yell. This is a hospital. You'll disturb the other patients. Hospital? Why is it every time I come to you are there? What do you do? Follow your patients around? I'm sorry, Tony. Yeah, sure, sure. You were going to see Vickers. We couldn't let you do that. Captain Rattigan. Yeah, doctor. Give me a hand, will you? Oh, no. Get away from me. Hey, what are you going to... Now, come on, Dano. Now, what I want... On your stomach. All right, let me go. Let me... Just relax, Tony. It's time for your bandage to come off. Thanks a lot, Tony, Dano. At ease, if, tape, you want to pull the skin off my back. What do you think I... What did you say? I said thanks a lot for carrying the Shanghai document through safely. The document? Mm-hmm. It was on your back under the adhesive tape. I put it there back in Chongqing. You did? Then Rattigan... Rattigan and Lieutenant Chen and the soldiers who took you off the boat were all working under orders, protecting you. Yeah, but I ran away from them. I thought that they were... Yeah, you sure gave us a bum time. What do you want me to do? Apologize? Oh, Tony, Tony, please. We treated you badly, I know, but we couldn't let you go to Vickers. Vickers? The missionary? Anyone can wear his collar backwards. This was the one who was after the document. We had to get you off the boat and away from him before he discovered that I didn't have it. Oh, Vickers. Mm-hmm. Tony, I hope you know you've done a great thing for China. Yeah, yeah. Well, now that I've done so much for China, suppose you do something for me. Anything. Okay. Get dressed up. Let's go out in the town and have dinner. Oh, Tony, we'd love it. We can meet you in an hour. We? My husband and I. Jerry. Your? Your husband? You'll love him, Tony. He's a wonderful guy. He's from Kansas, too. This is the age of science, an age in which science has made vast strides in medicine, in nuclear energy, and in the field of petroleum chemistry. For example, petroleum chemists have discovered new super octane gasoline components of great importance to every motorist. And one of the highest octane components ever discovered is xylene. Now listen to this. Today, every gallon of rich-field gasoline contains xylene. The xylene component of rich-field gasoline helps give your car that high Antonoc performance, that extra zip in traffic, that velvet smoothness under the hood. Try rich-field gasoline with xylene. Make your choice of rich-field high octane at regular price for the average motor or rich-field ethyl for best results in the highest compression motors. Stop where you see the rich-field eagle on the cream and blue pumps. Get rich-field gasoline containing xylene tomorrow. Escape is produced and directed by William N. Robeson and has tonight presented Shanghai Document by John and Gwen Bagney. Featured in the cast were John Dana as Tony, John Banks as Dr. Jane Romer, Ben Wright as Vickers and the Eurasian, Bill Conrad as Ratigan, Benson Fong as Lieutenant Chen, Charles Lung as the Officer, and Paul Preeze as the voice of Escape. Special music was arranged and played by Ivan Dittmarz. Next week. You were on a small launch off the California coast, about to dive 20 feet below the surface to reach a man's body and to recover an object identifying his murderer who's standing at your side and from whom there is no escape. Next week at the same time, the Richfield Oil Corporation of New York invites you to escape with the story of a man who stumbled onto what seemed the easiest way in the world to make a million dollars. As H. Fedexin tells it in his exciting new book, Something for Nothing. Be listening. Goodbye then, until the same time next week when once again we offer you, Escape. Tom Hanlon speaking, this is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
