The Adventures of Frank Grace starring Tom Collins. The war changed many things, the face of the earth and the people on it. Before the war, Frank Grace worked as an attorney, but he traded his law books for the cloak and dagger of the OSS. When it was over, his former life was over too. Adventure had become his business. The Adventures of Frank Grace. And now we join Frank Grace for the Istanbul Adventure. There are men who will tell you they've seen the city die, and it's hard to find argument for their words. The population has dwindled to half between the wars, where trade has dried to a trickle, but somehow, with a wet night engulfing crooked streets and shadowy bazaars, I was feeling the old exhilaration and the expected sense of violence. There's always this tumble. Here, this doorway. Oh, rather close. You are very helpful. Cigarette? Yes, thank you. Light. What is it? I'm intrigued. A woman comes out of the night, a woman pursued the bullets. She turns out to be lovely. If you don't mind, I must go. If you don't mind, I'll go with you. No, please. Oh, now look, tomorrow I'm leaving Turkey, but tonight you need help. It's not for me. It's for a friend. A friend who is in trouble, an American like yourself. American? He's hurt, badly hurt. I think he's dying. Well, let's get him a doctor. That's why I'm trying to get out of this sector. I know a physician who will go to him. I'll get you out. Come on. Wait, yes. Yes. Come back. Who's they? Here, let me get clear. Move behind me. Yeah. Hey, Reyes. And I thought I knew my way around. This is worse than driving a hacking boss. It's all right. His name's Donovan. He's Brooklyn Irish and does harmless. Hey, what goes on? Where are you, Frank? Right here. Where have you been? Oh, where have I been, he wants to know. I am out with a man just because he wants to go walking and he disappears. Where have I been? I happened to turn up a side street while you were gaping in some window. I imagined you'd follow. What do you say we start grinding back at the hotel? Even with this slicker on, I'm beginning to feel like a blotter. Hey, who's this? You come to think of it, we don't know each other's name, do we? I'm Frank Reyes. I'm Miesel Kruger. What's the story, Reyes? I don't know all of it, Mark, but there's an American nearby who needs medical help. We're going to get him a doctor. There are people around here who might try to stop us. You talk me out of bringing along my end wrench. From another section of the city, Miesel made a phone call. Within 15 minutes, we were joined with the physician. He was young and tall and dark with a face you felt you could believe in. Miesel introduced him as Dr. Amarand. Gentlemen, I want to thank you for helping Miesel. I believe we shall manage all right now. It might be harder getting back into that sector than it was getting out. We'd better stick with you. The rain had stopped, and with it had gone the freshness of the night. With no wind stirring, the street smelled fetid, oppressive. There was no lift to the blackness, and you got the feeling of continually being about to walk into something. Then there was a gate, beyond it a small light coming from what looked like a stable. Mark and I were asked to wait, and the other two left us. You know, I wonder if we're going to get a chance to cancel our reservations. What reservations? On the boat. Why should we want to cancel them? Race, I gotta look at that girl. She won't be taking no boat tomorrow, which to me is kind of sad. Here she comes. Come, Race. You want your friend? You told the American about you, Race. He wants to talk to you. He is too weak to say much, Mr. Race. If you will kneel down. What's his name, Doctor? Dwyer. Johnny Dwyer. Hi, Johnny. Hi, you fella. Where are you from? I work out of New York. I was born in Indiana. Hey, sounds like home. I'm from Dayton, Ohio. Who hurt you, Johnny? Some bad ones, fella. Pulling a bad deal. Leazel and Doc will tell you. They're great people. He'd better not speak anymore. Oh, he's... Listen. Someone's coming. On the candle. Come on, come on, come out of it, Race. Come out of it, will you? All right, it's better. What happened to me? Well, you won't need to part your hair for a while, not the way that slug creased your head. Where's Leazel? In the doctor. I guess he got away. The Doc got in a lick too, eh? One of them visitors is as dead as a smoked herring. What about Johnny? Johnny Dwyer? He's dead too, Frank. I don't know what these people are playing, but it ain't post office, Frank. It ain't post office. As Mark had prophesied, we missed our boat because I went looking for Leazel. I spent almost a week at it before giving up, after which I lapsed into an inertia of just lying around the hotel. Look, I never know you to get this low over a thing before. Why not think about other things, huh? Here, I brought up a telegram for you. Yeah, read it to me. All right. Hey, who is Anthony Woolwine? Tony Woolwine. He's an executive for Intercontinental Underwriters. Yeah, well, he wants to see you. Urgent. Well, that means he gets your wish about Fifth Avenue. Eh, eh. Don't sound like New York to me. This is from France. Some place called Cannes. Cannes. It's on the Riviera, not far from Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo? Where all that high powered gambling goes on? The same. Oh, no kidding. Well, look, if it's all right with you, I just assumed post-pon scene Fifth Avenue for a little while. Tony Woolwine. A nice guy who always seemed to be over there with sunshine. At Cannes, he had everything to go with the climate. Rambling villa, lots of ground around it, lots of swimming pool taking up the ground. He greeted me in bathing trucks and a tan that made everything about him seem brown, but his grin. It may look like a holiday, Frank, but I'm not over here just for laughs. I've been wondering why you sent for me. Tomorrow you embark on a dirty job. Well, that's fair warning. Thanks. Do you mind if I make a personal observation? Go ahead. You've got me under your spell. You don't seem to have your usual eye out for the ladies. And here I've been thinking that this crop I gathered was unusually bounteous. With your usual discernment, you've provided both quantity and quality. I've noticed. I've noticed particularly that bit of symmetry near the dining board. In the black suit? Ah, that's better. Now I'll stop fretting. Oh, there's somebody I want you to meet. Chuck? Yeah? Come on over here. It's a flyer I'd like to have you know. You like him? He's offered to help us out on this task I mentioned. Hi. Chuck, I want you to know Frank Race. Chuck Farrell, Frank Race. How are you doing? How are you? And I am Liesel Kruger. She stood there quietly, utterly composed, an exquisite figure in a black bathing suit. She had been the one who had drawn my comment, the one by the diving board. She looked young, younger than she had in Istanbul, and her loveliness in the stare of the sun was something to take the breath out of you. Where, oh, where did we find this? Woo-wine, you've been hauling out on us. Hey, look beautiful, you and... blood all over your face. Blood all over your face? You got away all right? You and the doctor? Amaranth's arm was broken by a bullet. We got away. We couldn't have done it had not you and your friend been there to confuse him. I, uh, I realize this must be some sort of a reunion. Is Race the man you were telling me of, Tony? Oh, yes, Race is the man. You mean there's a reason why you're here? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. You mean there's a tie-up here somewhere? Well, my side of it is purely insurance. The company's had to pay off claims on three large shipments of food, clothing, and medical supplies coming to Europe from the United States. We don't want to have to refuse insurance on future shipments, but naturally we can't keep that up. So we've got to solve the problem. I take it these shipments weren't lost at sea. Liesl, now it's your turn. Well, it's the same thing that has been choking Europe to death for so long, Race. Black Market. Last year it seems to have come under the control of one organization, all over the continent. Is this what you've been fighting, you and Dr. Amaron? Yes. To Americans, the Black Market might seem vicious, but I'm sure it seems impersonal, a blight that doesn't really touch you. But with us? Well, I had a brother, all I had left of my family. And a year ago he became ill of pneumonia. I was assured that if he received penicillin, he would live. It's usually effective. I got him the penicillin, Race. At a price very hard for me to pay. I got him the penicillin, but he died at the age of 19. Oh, I'm sorry, Liesl. He died because the drug was worthless. What happened to those shipments that were lost? Destroyed. Cargo, train and crew. Nothing left each time but smoldering ashes. I don't get it. What happened to them? The Black Market would have stolen those shipments, but they knew it would be too difficult. So they destroyed them. Nobody knows how because the train crews are always killed. And then the Black Marketeers get their high prices with shoddy clothes and bad food. Shoddy clothes and bad food and synthetic medicine. Sounds like a rough bunch. Race knows how rough they can be. He saw some of their work in Istanbul. There'll be two more trains going through this month. One on the 19th, the other on the 27th. They must not be destroyed, Race. Listen to me. There is an epidemic of diphtheria breaking out through the western portion of France. Unless those trains get through with the diphtheria toxides, thousands of children are going to die. We'll return to the Adventures of Frank Race in about one minute. And now back to the Adventures of Frank Race. The coastline of the Riviera is like no other place in the world. But for me, Liesel Kruger made it even more glamorous. Glamour. It was a quality she would carry with her wherever she went. Heightening it with her beauty and a willingness to involve herself in lethal danger. For a cause without profit. There's no other spot like this, Race. For me, that is. You've probably seen other places just as lovely. Just as unique. As lovely? Yes. As unique. Not quite. Oh, it's such a beautiful evening. Liesel. Yes, Race? How do I get my teeth into this fight of yours? Where do I start? Amon. Amon can tell you more about it even than I. Where is he? In Toulon. He would be happy to see you. You, um, you seem very close. You and the doctor. Well, when two persons share the dangers we have shared, there will naturally be a bond. But... I'm not in love with him. If that is what you mean, Race. What do you do with Liesel? Why do I fight? That was my brother. And I suppose there's something else. Something it would be hard to put into words. You should know. You have the same feeling. Why get paid for what I do? Oh. Do you always get paid? Who paid you for helping us in Istanbul? Get out of it, Liesel. Let Amaron fight them. Let me fight them. But you get out of it. Why do you say that? We stood facing one another. And over my shoulder, the moonlight spotlighted the terrific face of hers. With its provocative lips and frame of thick, lustrous hair. I didn't grab her. I reached for her gently. And everything took time out for a while. I meant that, Race. So did I. And I'm asking you again to pull out of this business. Race, I can't. I've got to stay with it to the end. No matter what the end may be. You awake yet, Frank? Yeah, come in. You're being invaded. What's up? We thought you might like to look the country over from the air. How long will it take you to dress? Quarter of an hour. Where's the plane? What have you got? A salvage job I picked up. A P-47. Chuck thought he was getting a bargain when he bought that ice wagon. Lots of power and he bought it for dimes. The payoff is that operating it will keep him in hock for the rest of his life. P-47 adds up to a lot of planes. I wouldn't have anything else. She pays her way. Say, what's wrong with your hand, Chuck? Why'd you do that? I nicked it as I was gassing up the other day. It's a little swollen. A little swollen? You'd better do something about it, Chuck. Tomorrow. Today I want to fly. Chuck, since this is just a tour of duty with no destination, would you like to drop me in Toulon for a couple of hours? Toulon? My sure. I'll be calling on a doctor there. We'll get him to take a look at that hand of yours. I'll be calling on a doctor there. We'll get him to take a look at that hand of yours. Amaran stared at me when he saw me. His left hand hung in a sling. One of his eyes was almost shut with a bruise that extended down the whole side of his face. One of his eyes was almost shut with a bruise that extended down the whole side of his face. But, but we thought that... We thought I'd been killed, Leazle told me. Leazle, you've seen her. Oh, why do we stand here? Come in. She told me where to find you. I'm in this with you now, all the way. And there's an American insurance company behind me. Oh, thank heaven. You cannot know how much we need help. Tell me about Johnny Dwyer. Where did he fit in? What happened to him? Well, he was, first of all, an idealist. So many of you Americans are. And he knew how to fight, so they murdered him. What was he doing in Istanbul? He learned too much, so the black marketeers chased him from here. From too long? Is that why you're here? Yes. Johnny Dwyer stayed at a keyside hotel there, a rat trap called the Chabonnier. Yes. Johnny Dwyer stayed at a keyside hotel there, a rat trap called the Chabonnier. Why he went there, Leazle and I never learned. Why he went there, Leazle and I never learned. Too many things happened too rapidly, but it was from the Chabonnier that they hounded him. First to Marseille, then to Rome, then to Istanbul. It was from Rome that we got his call for help, and were to meet him in Turkey. You know what happened there. The Hotel Chabonnier. I imagine they know you there. I wish I could say I knew them as well. I wish I could say I knew them as well. You have no idea of an identity behind it. Nothing worth a sue. We've dealt with one or two, but they were no more than underlings. We learned nothing. I'm going to take lodgings at the Hotel Chabonnier with a friend who was with me in Istanbul. There must be a safer way. But none quicker than I can see. And now, I wonder if I may ask a favor of you. Anything. The pilot who flew me over here has a bad hand. Infection. I wish you'd look at it. Is he with you? He remained on his plane, but I've got a cab outside. Well, then let us go to him. We found Chuck Farrell leaning against the fuselage of his P-47. In his hand, a silver flask with which he waved at us as we came up. Amaron, smiling as I introduced him, tightened his lips seriously when he saw the hand. Meet at clinic of the 47's cockpit, taking Chuck's temperature and otherwise thoroughly checking his patient's condition. You have absorbed quite a little alcohol lately, huh? Oh, I guess I've been doing all right. Why? Come on, Doc. Brief me on this. When did you have an inoculation for tetanus last? Never had one that I know of. You were not in your army? No. Do I have tetanus coming on? It's possible. Bad, huh? Since you have received no toxoids, then I can bolster an inoculation with antitoxin, it's indicated. Well, then let's have it. Will it make me sick? It may, it may not, depending on your sensitivity to it. You should not fly this plane. Oh, ever been checked out in a P-47 race? Yes. Good. Then you can ferry us back. Possibly, Dr. Amaron will come over and check your condition in a day or so. Of course. And when will you keep the rendezvous we discussed? As soon as I can pry Mark Donovan loose from those Monte Carlo gaming tables. There are parks and promenades in Toulon, all handsome. There's the view of the sea, there's the cathedral, other old churches and a fine town hall. And not far from it's darks on a crooked street forgotten by all but the police and a few citizens who would prefer that the police also forgot it, stands the Hotel Charbonnier. As dubious a hostel as you'll find anywhere along the Mediterranean. I will say just one thing. If I didn't know I was leaving Monte Carlo for this, honest race I think I'd have run out on you. Yeah, cheer up Mark. You'll find after a while the place grows on you. Something's been growing on me. And it ain't my disposition. If I could only get me a cup of coffee. Why don't you look around? I've been looking around. There's wine, wine, wine everywhere. You can wait in this stuff for not one drop of coffee. I gotta find some somewhere. Hey, a note under the door. Let me have it. Where's it from? Dr. Amaron. He wants me to go to him at once. Something urgent. You wait here. Oh, come inside, race. What is it? Trouble? Worse than that. Tragedy. Look over there. Liesl! She's been hurt. What is Dr. Amaron? What happened to her? She's... she's dying, race. She got here about an hour ago. She's been trying to tell me what happened. But she's had only strength enough to say your name. You've got to save her. I've done everything I can, race. Talk to her. She will hear you. She wants to hear you. I had a lot of things to say to her. But if she ever heard any of them, there was no sign. After a while, I gave it up and went back to the Hotel Chabonnier. They're in the musty hallway. Race! What? No, it's you, Mark. Come here, William. Gotta have a look in here. I heard this morning that this place used to be a café, see? As I started walking around in the basement, thinking I might accidentally run across some coffees. Gotta move these crates first. And then this door. Can you squeeze through? Yeah. What have you got? Take a look at what I got. An arsenal. Rifles, pistols, submachine guns, even shells. Look at this one, will you? Shell? That's no shell, Mark. It's a rocket. What's your name? What a fool I've been. Chuck Farrell and his P-47. What are you talking about? P-47's thunderbolts. Along with the British typhoons, they were the top rocket-firing planes of the war. Rockets for knocking out tanks and trains. Trains, Mark, do you hear that? Sightly, I hear it. Chuck Farrell, he destroyed the supplied trains. And I've been eating with him, drinking with him, flying with him. Grace, just a second. What is it? It's so loud. It doesn't count what we're doing. Here, then. Load this pistol. You're going out through that window up there. When you get clear, fire two shots, you understand? Then head for Woolwine. Tell him about this whole setup. Now, wait a minute. You can boost me up to that window, but what about you? How you gonna get out of there? Give me a foot and get going. Here. Okay, I'm up. Get clear to the street before you signal. Yeah, but what are you gonna do? Hold him off with his tommy gun. Get going. Okay, I'm going. Okay, one more rush to get that door open. Race? What can I do for you? It's Chuck Farrell. Nice to have you aboard. That machine gun won't do you any good, Race. I've got a dozen boys here. We'll smoke you out if we have to. Farrell, listen. All right, I'm listening. You heard that shot? Yeah, I heard it. So what? That's a friend of mine, signaling that he's clear of here. He's going to Woolwine. To tell him how you've been using that P-47 to destroy those trains with rockets. All right, Race. I'm coming in. Alone. An empty head. Make sure your people stay out. Relax, Race. You're getting lost. With Woolwine knowing about the rockets, why should I sweat out a lost cause? Always be a good boy. Is that the philosophy, Farrell? Why not? We'll work out other deals. I've made plenty of money and I've still got it. What can you do? Extra dive me? Nuts. Of course, you might turn that chatterbox on me. But you're not the type for that, are you, Race? I don't have to be, Chuck. You're all taking care of me. What do you mean? You look sort of feverish. What? Sure I'm feverish. I've got tetanus. But what I've been treated for, you took care of that. I know. I saw your doctor about an hour ago. He was trying to save the life of a lovely girl you murdered. I didn't do that, Race. You were part of it. The same way you've been part of murdering a lot of other people, including kids. But you're finished, Chuck. Amaron said you weren't in shape for a bout with tetanus. Stop trying to annoy me. I took that antitoxin, didn't I? Dr. Amaron learned this morning that the antitoxin he gave you was worthless. Worthless? It was worthless because it came through your own black market channels. And there's none available that'll be effective. Not until a new supply comes in. Not until a new supply arrives from America in 15 days. And in 15 days, Chuck, I have a feeling you won't be around. The Adventures of Frank Race, starring Tom Collins, came to you from Hollywood. The series is written and directed by Buckley Angel and Joel Murcott. The music is composed and played by Ivan Ditmars. Be sure to be with us again this time one week from today for another dramatic chapter in The Adventures of Frank Race. Art Gilmore speaking. This is a Bruce Ells production. .
