- 37 minutes ago
The Blue Beetle was an old time radio show based on the super hero character that appeared in Fox Features comic books.
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00:11The Blue Beetle
00:18Weeping down upon the underworld to smash gangland
00:21comes the mysterious, all-powerful character
00:24who is a problem to the police, but a crusader for law.
00:27In reality, Dan Garrett, a rookie patrolman,
00:30loved by everyone, but suspected by none of being the Blue Beetle.
00:35As the Blue Beetle, he hides behind a strange mask
00:38and a suit of impenetrable blue chain armor,
00:41flexible as silk, but stronger than steel.
00:54Today's episode of the Fox feature, The Blue Beetle,
00:57is entitled Sabotage Incorporated.
01:00Throughout the country, foreign spies and saboteurs
01:02are busy trying to prevent the shipment of war munitions
01:05to countries with whom their native country is at war.
01:09Near York City is located Explosives Incorporated,
01:13one of the largest manufacturers of munitions in the country.
01:16Every night, trainloads of munitions leave their factory
01:19for some secret destination.
01:21As our story opens, Officer Mannigan and Patrolman Dan Garrett,
01:25who is really the Blue Beetle,
01:27are investigating a mysterious telephone call
01:29from Wentworth B. Charles,
01:31president of Explosives Incorporated,
01:33who lives at the Monaco apartment.
01:36Well, here we are at Charles' apartment.
01:39Push the button, Donnie.
01:41Oh, there's no answer.
01:52Franz, let's break in the door.
01:54Now, we'd better call the superintendent.
01:55He'll have a passkey.
01:56Is something wrong, Officer?
01:57Yeah, who are you?
01:58I'm the superintendent of this building.
02:00Oh, well, uh, we got a mysterious telephone call
02:02from Mr. Charles, which he didn't finish.
02:05It was of such a nature that we felt it necessary
02:07to make an investigation.
02:08He doesn't answer his bell or our knocking.
02:10Well, I have a passkey here.
02:12I'll unlock the door for him.
02:17Something's holding the door shut.
02:18Right, come on, then.
02:19We'll break it in.
02:20No, no, no, wait.
02:21I'll telephone the owner of the apartment house.
02:23He'll, uh...
02:23No, we can't wait for that.
02:24Come on, Donnie.
02:25Let's break in the door.
02:26All right.
02:27Here we go.
02:29Here we go.
02:33There.
02:34There.
02:35Well?
02:36Well, there's nobody here.
02:38Look in the, uh, bedroom there.
02:40Okay, I'll have a look.
02:41I hope nothing happened to Mr. Charles.
02:44He's one of our best tenants.
02:45Hey, darling.
02:46Look.
02:47Here's Mr. Charles, and he...
02:49What is it, Mike?
02:50Hmm.
02:52Is he dead?
02:53I think so.
02:54Look.
02:54There.
02:55Over his heart.
02:56A wound.
02:57Yeah.
02:58Right through his pajamas.
02:59A .22 bullet.
03:01I'd bet.
03:02Oh?
03:02Oh, it's a stab wound.
03:03That's Mr. Charles, all right.
03:05Is he dead?
03:06Yes.
03:07Who could have done it?
03:08That's what the police would like to know.
03:09And that's what we have to find out.
03:11Well, I don't see any weapons.
03:13Look for an ice pick or a thin stiletto.
03:15Okay, I'll have a look around the apartment.
03:17Hadn't I better telephone the owner of the building?
03:19Not yet.
03:19And don't leave the apartment.
03:20Yes, but whose apartment adjoins this on the bedroom side?
03:23Uh, Professor Vladimir Deniscus.
03:26What's his business?
03:27I believe he lectures on anthropology.
03:29Hmm.
03:30Does he, uh, live alone?
03:31He has a male secretary who lives with him, I believe.
03:34Who lives on the other side, next to the living room?
03:36Oh, that apartment is vacant.
03:38Did Mr. Charles live alone?
03:40Yes.
03:41Apparently, Mr. Charles was killed while he was phoning.
03:44The receiver is still off the hook there, and his body is lying in front of the telephone
03:47table.
03:48Yes, it looks that way.
03:49Well, say, I can't find any sign of a dagger or ice pick anywhere.
03:53Uh, there's an electric ice box in the kitchen, so I don't think Mr. Charles would be needing
03:58an ice pick himself.
03:59What about the windows?
04:00They're all locked.
04:01Any fire escape?
04:02Nope.
04:03It's a 14-story drop to the street on all sides.
04:06How many, uh, floors above this, Superintendent?
04:09Uh, 15.
04:10Hmm.
04:10Any, uh, other entrances to this apartment?
04:13Only a service door in the kitchen.
04:14Dad, I, I, I looked at that.
04:16It's locked and bolted from the inside, and there's no knob on the outside of the door.
04:20Well, Mike, you'd better phone the coroner.
04:23I'll just have a look around the apartment, and then I'd like to question the professor
04:26and his secretary.
04:27Maybe they can throw some light on this case.
04:36Oh, uh, good evening, Professor.
04:52Oh, good evening.
04:53And what can I do for you?
04:54Uh, this officer would like to ask you some questions.
04:57There's, uh, been some trouble next door, and the police are interested in getting some
05:01information.
05:02Well, won't you come in, please?
05:03Thanks.
05:05Now, what is it you would like to know, officer?
05:08I am sure I cannot be of any assistance to you.
05:11Did you, uh, hear any commotion or unusual noise tonight in Mr. Charles' apartment?
05:16No.
05:17Oh, no, nothing.
05:18In fact, I have been so busy with my studies that I doubt if I would have heard any noise
05:22coming from anywhere.
05:23When I am doing my, uh, research work, I concentrate very deeply.
05:28Do you have any children, Professor?
05:29Eh?
05:30Oh, oh, no.
05:31No, officer.
05:32I, I am not married.
05:33That, uh, gun there, do you use that in your research?
05:37Oh, that, uh, that belongs to my secretary.
05:41He is off tonight.
05:42He bought it for his little boy.
05:43It is an air rifle.
05:45Hardly strong enough to...
05:46To what?
05:46I mean, it, uh, has the appearance of a real gun, but it would be no good for hunting
05:52game other than small birds, I assure you.
05:54Uh, here, uh, have a look.
05:56Hmm, yes.
05:57Yes, I can see you're right.
05:59I presume a BB shot from this air rifle would hardly have enough force behind it to kill
06:03a man.
06:04Kill a man?
06:05Has someone been killed?
06:07Yes, Professor.
06:08Mr. Charles, your next-door neighbor, was murdered less than an hour ago.
06:23You know, Danny, uh, this case is very, very puzzling.
06:26Very, Doc.
06:27But the Blue Beetle's going to solve the puzzle?
06:30Uh, how?
06:30I'm going to revisit the Charles Department alone and do a little private investigating.
06:35Danny, what do you think is back of this murder?
06:38Hmm, sabotage of some sort.
06:40I'm positive it has something to do with a train of munitions and guns being shipped
06:44to Canada.
06:45Be careful, Danny boy.
06:46If your suspicions are correct, you'll run into a ruthless gang of murderers.
06:50I know that.
06:51But the Blue Beetle can handle them.
06:53Have you everything you need?
06:54Mm-hmm.
06:55This Blue Beetle chain armor and mask, my magic ray and spotlight are all I'll need tonight.
07:00I'm traveling right, because I've got to travel fast.
07:03The Blue Beetle's going to solve a murder and strike a blow for humanity.
07:20Now, here's Mr. Charles' bedroom.
07:24The body's been removed.
07:26Nothing else has been disturbed in the bedroom here.
07:30Hmm.
07:31That picture on the wall there, facing the spot where Charles was sitting when he was killed.
07:37It doesn't hang straight.
07:39Now, have a look.
07:40You understand what I mean?
07:41A hole in the wall, back of the picture.
07:45Just large enough for a rifle barrel and to hear conversation.
07:49Now, here.
07:51Here is the railroad map, Ricky.
07:53Yes, I see.
07:54The munitions train will approach a bridge to Canada over the gorge along this track here.
07:58Yes.
08:00Now, our major plan is to blow up the bridge as the munitions train is passing over.
08:04But if for some reason our men are unable to place the charge of explosives under the bridge,
08:10our ultimate plan is to wreck the train and block the entrance and the entire road,
08:14as well as destroy the munitions aboard the train.
08:16Well, how will we know in advance which plan to follow?
08:19I'm expecting a call any minute from our leaders at Glasgow, near the border.
08:23Then as soon as you get word, I'll be on my way.
08:25Yes.
08:26Your job is to take care of any guards at the American side of the bridge.
08:30Yes, I understand.
08:31This will take care of them.
08:33Oh, the air pistol that shoots glass pellets filled with suffocating gas, huh?
08:38Yes.
08:38It makes very little noise.
08:40Whoever is shot with it remains unconscious for a long, long time.
08:44Oh, good.
08:45Now, there are two planes tuned up and waiting out of the right airfield.
08:49You take one of them.
08:50All right.
08:50And, uh, you're sure no one suspects our plot?
08:54Positive, positive.
08:55I liquidated Charles before he could telephone the police.
08:59Uh, what about money?
08:59Here.
09:00Oh, here is a thousand dollars for expenses.
09:03Okay.
09:03When the job is done, there'll be plenty more where this came from.
09:06Good.
09:08Hello?
09:09Yes?
09:11You what?
09:12Yes.
09:13Yes, we're ready at this end.
09:15Ah, wait.
09:16Here, here's Irko now.
09:17Just a minute.
09:18I, I'll ask him.
09:20Well, what about it, Igor?
09:21The munition train is loaded and we'll pull out for Canada in ten minutes.
09:24Ah, hello.
09:24Rinaldo.
09:25Igor informs me that the train will pull out in ten minutes.
09:29Yes, all right.
09:30Everything is moving smoothly.
09:32We'll be with you soon.
09:33Goodbye.
09:35What's that?
09:37I can't imagine what that could...
09:39That, that's the Blue Beetle.
09:41Yes, the Blue Beetle.
09:42And he's going to nip.
09:43You have an ingenious method of entering, Mr. Blue Beetle.
09:46Did you by any chance fly to my window?
09:48And just what do you want?
09:49I overheard your whole plot from the next apartment and crawled along the ledge outside the window.
09:54Then he knows everything.
09:55And I'm going to turn you over to the police.
09:57All of you.
09:58Get away from that phone, Professor, or I'll burn you with my magic ray.
10:02Oh, no, you won't, Blue Beetle, because you won't be able to.
10:04Put down that gun.
10:05Look, Mickey.
10:07There.
10:09That'll fix Mr. Blue Beetle.
10:11Ah, let us get out of here.
10:12That gas is making me sick.
10:13And what about the Blue Beetle?
10:15We'll tie him up and take him down to the freight yard and put him aboard the munition train.
10:19The Blue Beetle will have a rude awakening sometime in the early morning hours.
10:30What will happen to the Blue Beetle now?
10:32How soon will he recover from the effects of the suffocating gas?
10:35Can he save the shipment of munitions to Canada from destruction?
10:38Which plan will the saboteurs put into effect?
10:41These questions will be answered in the next episode of the Blue Beetle.
10:56Today's episode of the Fox feature, the Blue Beetle, is the second part of a story entitled Sabotage Incorporated.
11:02In the previous episode, Wentworth B. Charles, president of Explosives Incorporated, has been stabbed to death, apparently with an ice
11:11pick, as he was phoning the police about a shipment of munitions.
11:15Investigation discloses no murder weapon and no clues to the killer.
11:19All doors and windows of the Charles' apartment were securely locked and bolted from the inside.
11:23A later secret investigation by Dan Garrett as the Blue Beetle discloses that the occupants of an adjoining apartment, a
11:31Professor Daniskew and his male secretary, are part of a sabotage ring,
11:36whose purpose is to destroy a trainload of explosives and war munitions as it passes over the Rocky Gorge Bridge
11:42from the United States to Canada.
11:44As the Blue Beetle confronts them, he is rendered unconscious by a suffocating gas shot from an air pistol by
11:51a young girl named Vicky, one of the conspirators.
11:55As the episode ends, the conspirators plan to dispose of the Blue Beetle by dumping his bound and unconscious body
12:01aboard the munitions train, which is to be destroyed.
12:05As our story opens today, Vicky is on her way in a private plane to Rosno, near the Canadian border,
12:11to supervise operations at the bridge.
12:13The Professor and Igor are to follow as soon as they dispose of the Blue Beetle.
12:25Well, Professor, here we are at the freight yard.
12:27Yes, and if I'm not mistaken, that's the train with a load of guns and explosives aboard.
12:31Yes, it's moving.
12:32Yes.
12:33We'll have to hurry.
12:33Give me a hand for the Blue Beetle here.
12:35Yes.
12:36All right.
12:36There you go.
12:37Oh, he's heavy.
12:38It's his chain armor.
12:40Now, here comes an empty dump car.
12:42Yes.
12:42We throw him in.
12:43One, two, three.
12:47Ah, Terry.
12:48Farewell, Blue Beetle.
12:50You may reach heaven when the train blows up, but you won't stay long.
12:54Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
13:08Oh, hello, Doc France.
13:09Have you seen him, darling?
13:10No, no, not for some time.
13:12Have you got any idea where he might be?
13:13He said something about working on this explosive.
13:16Yeah, yeah, that's what I thought, but I ain't seen him.
13:19What's that, Mike, in your hand?
13:20A present for your youngster?
13:22Oh, that.
13:23That's an air rifle.
13:24I found it in the apartment next to where Charles was killed.
13:26Oh, find anything else?
13:28Nothing much except this.
13:30Any idea what it might be, Doc?
13:31Hmm.
13:32It's an aluminum mold of some sort.
13:34Yeah, for making knitting needles or something, but what would the professor be wanting to...
13:39Wait.
13:40Wait, Mike.
13:40I've got it.
13:41He's got what?
13:42The weapon that killed Mr. Charles.
13:44What do you mean, Doc?
13:45That aluminum mold was filled with water and placed in an electric refrigerator.
13:49The water froze into little sharp pointed icicles about the size of an ice-picked blade.
13:54Yeah, I can see that.
13:56Then, then they were shot from that air rifle at the victim.
13:59Even though the air rifle looked innocent enough, it is a particular type with sufficient air propulsion
14:05to make those needle-pointed icicles penetrate deep into the victim's body where they melted, leaving no trace.
14:11But how could the murderer get to him?
14:13The door and windows was locked and bordered from the inside.
14:16Mm-hmm.
14:17The murderers probably brought a small hole through the wall and shot him from their apartment.
14:21That's it.
14:22That's what happened.
14:23Well, Doc, I've got to get down to headquarters now and report.
14:39Where am I?
14:42What's that noise?
14:44I must be on a train.
14:46I wonder if...
14:47He's there.
14:47He'll go on this train.
14:49Scram.
14:49Where are you headed for?
14:51Canada.
14:52But you ain't going.
14:53Is this train loaded with munitions?
14:54What's that to you?
14:55I'm the Blue Beetle.
14:56Yeah, I'm the Foley.
14:57And this is your Waterloo.
14:59You're getting the offer out there.
15:00Oh, wait, wait.
15:01Help me out of here.
15:02I want a one.
15:02Oh, sure.
15:03I'll help you out.
15:04Out of the bottom like a little fool.
15:06We don't carry passengers with this.
15:08And don't say I ain't warned you.
15:17That was close.
15:18Lucky I stood out of my back.
15:20I've doubled up and been crushed beneath those cars.
15:23Now to get to a phone somewhere and warn the authorities to flag that train.
15:41Hey, who's down there?
15:43The Blue Beetle.
15:44Have you got a phone?
15:45The Blue what?
15:46And we ain't got a phone.
15:48Where's the nearest telephone?
15:50Five miles down the road.
15:52Jed Hawking's place.
15:53Thanks.
15:54But he ain't home.
15:55Where can I get a car?
15:57The trolleys don't run out this far.
15:59You get a bus in the morning.
16:01I'm afraid I can't wait.
16:02How far is the border?
16:04About 20 miles.
16:06I've got to get there in a hurry.
16:07Who are you running away from?
16:09Not running away.
16:10I'm trying to prevent a crime.
16:11Well, I could drive you out to Rosno in the morning.
16:15Where's the nearest airport?
16:17Rosno.
16:18Ten miles.
16:19Drive me to the airport tonight and you'll be a hero in the morning.
16:22So will you be if you live through my driving.
16:26Well, I'll be down soon as I get my boots on and my store teeth in.
16:42Faster, pilot.
16:43Faster.
16:44I've got to flag that train down there before she reaches the bridge.
16:47There she is.
16:48Close.
16:48Can't make it.
16:49Can't bring that train to the stop of less than a mile.
16:51The track's too wet.
16:53Give me that red lantern.
16:54What are you going to do?
16:55Sail out to my parachute and wave this red lantern as I go down.
16:59Well, here I go.
17:09Well, we're almost to the bridge, Sam.
17:12Yeah, five more miles and our job will be done.
17:15And glad I'll be.
17:16Gee, in 30 years of railroading, this is the toughest job I've ever had.
17:21Hauling 50 cars of explosives and war equipment to Canada ain't my idea of a soft snap.
17:27Yeah, no telling when you may run into an open switch or a pile of ties on the tracks.
17:33There's plenty of foreign spies would like to wreck a train load like this.
17:37Hey, listen to that plane.
17:39Yeah.
17:40There must be something important to bring that guy out on a stormy night like this.
17:45Hey, there's no lights in the switch house.
17:46You better slow down.
17:48The green signal's up.
17:49Yeah, but you never can tell.
17:51Well, keep an eye out on your side as we reach the switch to the Rosno's first track.
17:56Okay.
17:57Hey, look there.
17:59Where?
18:00Up there in the sky ahead.
18:02Hey, it's the cruising lights in the airplane.
18:04Yeah, but look underneath it.
18:06Well, I'll be.
18:08There's a red light forward and swinging from side to side.
18:11Hey, maybe he's signaling us to stop.
18:14Look.
18:15There's a guy in a parachute that's dropped out of the plane.
18:18And he's waving a red lantern.
18:19That's strange.
18:21Well, there's the bridge right ahead.
18:22Maybe something's wrong with the bridge.
18:24All the signal lights have been green.
18:26Except the red lantern on the plane.
18:28Well, here goes the brakes.
18:30I hope I can bring this train to a stop on these slippery rails.
18:35That guy with a lantern has landed.
18:37He's running toward us here.
18:42Hey, somebody's shooting at him.
18:45Hey, look.
18:46There's several men around him and he's pulling them over with his fish.
18:49Oh, boy.
18:50What a fighter.
18:52That must be the train guard shooting.
18:54Come on, let's get in on it.
18:55Right.
18:56Well, let's try to get back on that train and drive on to that bridge or I'll tell you.
19:00Oh, yeah?
19:01Who's going to make me?
19:03Okay, Sam.
19:04I got his gun.
19:06Well, there go the guards.
19:07That's a moralist, bud.
19:08Good work, boys.
19:09Good work.
19:10Who are you?
19:10The Blue Beetle.
19:11The Blue Beetle?
19:12What?
19:13Are you with a man with a red lantern?
19:14Yes.
19:15I warned the authorities at Rosno, but the telephone lines out at the bridgehead had evidently been cut.
19:20I took the only way I could to stop you.
19:22Well, boy, you certainly made a good job of it.
19:25What about these plodders?
19:26I caught the ringleaders back in Rosno and turned them over to the police.
19:30What about the men who shot it?
19:31I imagine your train guards will get them, but the ringleaders are in jail.
19:36Uncle Sam will take care of them.
19:39Well, so long, Blue Beetle, and thanks a million.
19:42Okay.
19:43Give my regards to your neighbors across the border.
19:46Tell them we Americans are glad we both speak the same language.
19:50In more ways than one.
20:08And so the Blue Beetle prevented a frightful tragedy and, through sheer nerve, outwitted a clever band of foreign saboteurs
20:15and murderers.
20:16The moral of this story is that there never will be the perfect crime.
20:22Crimes like the murder of Mr. Charles, no matter how strangely and cleverly done, will always be found out and
20:30the guilty punished.
20:32Further adventures of the Blue Beetle will be presented in the next episode of The Blue Beetle.
20:37The Blue Beetle.
20:40The Blue Beetle.
20:46The Blue Beetle.
20:49You
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