- 13/06/2025
Directed by Robert Stevens based on the short by Edgar Allan Poe and starring Bela Lugosi, Romney Brent, Rex Marshall and Ray Waltson (uncredited).
Catégorie
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TVTranscription
00:30Hey, if you hear the bell, Sarge, the war is over.
00:51No way, let me sleep.
00:54This gent wants to make a deposition.
00:56He says he saw a murder.
00:57He wants to get it on record.
01:00Hey, hey, hey, hey.
01:03Gent, murder, deposition, that.
01:09Oh, gent.
01:11The major says if you give me the deposition, I'll write it down for him in shorthand.
01:24Now, first, we'll fill out some blanks.
01:28Okay, count, spill it.
01:41This palace used to belong to me.
01:48Yeah?
01:48The whole shebang?
01:49Early in the war, when the fascists were in full power, I had to give this property to General
01:54Fortunato.
01:55Yeah?
01:56Actually, Fortunato used to be a stable boy here.
01:59But he rose by devious means until he became one of Mussolini's favorites.
02:04And after that, a general.
02:06Uh-huh.
02:06Now, look, Duke, just give me who got killed, who killed, and how come you've seen it, huh?
02:10Now, first, we'll have the place, and then the time, and then the respective parties.
02:16The place?
02:17Yeah.
02:17Do you know that under this palace, way under, there is a catacomb?
02:22A catacomb?
02:22Yeah, I know.
02:23There's a wine cellar about a quarter of a mile deep.
02:26That is right.
02:27You keep forever going down the long spiral stairway.
02:32Every few steps, the corridor leads up, lined with vintage land.
02:38And they keep that out of bounds for us.
02:39You know, after searching for three years for the whole of Italy, I can pronounce it my greatest
02:46wine cellar.
02:47I know it used to be.
02:49Okay, now, Count, place of murder, huh?
02:51Well, the catacomb is at the bottom of the spiral staircase.
02:56It is so far down that it's actually under a riverbed.
02:59Now, look, Duke, I know this is important to you, but all I need is just five words to fill in the blanks.
03:03For thousands of years, my ancestors have been buried in that catacomb.
03:07And down there...
03:08Your Royal Highness, I'm telling you, baby, I don't need all that.
03:11All I need is just five words.
03:13Way under there is where the crime took place.
03:16Ah, that's better.
03:18Murder, catacomb.
03:21Next, time of murder.
03:27Time.
03:28Now, what do you say, Prince?
03:29Let's blow your nose and get on, huh?
03:31Time of murder.
03:34When General Fortunato took over this palace, I must say first that by that time, he had
03:39acquired so much power that he could force me to let him marry my youngest and dearest sister.
03:44Well, why the heck could you let him?
03:45Why don't you poke him one?
03:47You Americans are so charming and so simple.
03:50I didn't poke him one, my dear boy, because at his call came stormtroopers and torture chambers.
03:57Oh.
03:58Okay, count.
04:01Time of murder, huh?
04:02Time.
04:04When General Fortunato married, after he married my sister, he took over this place and he let
04:12my wife and I stay on.
04:14And we lived in a small suite over the stable.
04:17Yeah, nice guy.
04:18This opened onto a terrace that commanded a fine prospect.
04:24Every noon, the countess used to have breakfast there.
04:28I used to work in a war office and my sister was in a hospital.
04:31But the general and my wife had more leisure.
04:35Good morning.
04:38Have your husband gone to the office?
04:40Yes, I believe so.
04:42Doesn't he usually take your wife to the hospital on his way?
04:45My wife didn't go this morning.
04:48Oh?
04:48I told her not to.
04:50We're leaving for Rome.
04:54Coffee?
04:56Thanks.
04:58May I?
05:03Don't you think you might button your shirt?
05:05Doesn't whet my appetite.
05:07We're flying in 50 minutes.
05:09Perhaps you could have one of your colonels to deputize to comb your hair for you in the
05:13morning.
05:13Do you know what that means?
05:15What are you chewing on?
05:17It means I won't come back.
05:20Not until the war is over, anyway.
05:23You'll keep amused.
05:24Without you...
05:25Without you...
05:26Why not?
05:28Am I part of your pleasure?
05:30Come to Rome.
05:32Don't be ridiculous.
05:34Couldn't you spend the winter in Rome?
05:36Where should I live?
05:37Where should I live?
05:38We've shut up our house there.
05:39I could get you a luxurious apartment.
05:42I dare say you'd steal it from someone if I'd let you.
05:45You could help me in Rome.
05:47As my sister-in-law, you could entertain brilliantly.
05:51It would be very good for me.
05:54You have a wife, haven't you?
05:56Oh, she's very simple, just like her brother.
05:59Understand, it would be good for me.
06:02And it would be good for you.
06:05You could have Rome at your feet.
06:08I think you'd better run along now.
06:10Give me an answer.
06:12We've been neighbors here.
06:14It's not been too unpleasant.
06:15But Rome is different.
06:18Rome is public.
06:19What if I won't be married?
06:22Answer me.
06:25What if you won't be married?
06:28General, I find your stable boy's mind very dull this morning.
06:34Bon voyage.
06:45Yeah, and, uh, and then?
06:54Exactly one year later, the general sat in the same chair.
06:58By that time, my sister had been killed in an airplane accident,
07:02and my wife was living in Rome.
07:05On April 12th, the general came roaring up from Rome
07:09in a Bugatti of mine he had previously taken over.
07:13He invited himself to dinner.
07:16And half an hour later, the murder took place.
07:24Are you finding yourself game?
07:30Storks!
07:31Two storks nesting in the chimneys.
07:34And one glass window when an old lady shook her hand at me.
07:40I'm, uh, regret very much that I have to serve you myself,
07:43but, uh, since the war, you know.
07:44Uh, who cares why we have that cellar?
07:48Who wants food?
07:52Our eyes met.
07:54I knew why he had come north, either to kill me or to arrange for someone else to kill me.
08:00I really didn't care.
08:02I had come to a point where life or death held no preference.
08:05And that warm April sunlight, the red wine glowed and gurgled like blood, and I gave up.
08:12What hope for him?
08:13What hope for me?
08:14What hope for me?
08:14He was Illdoch's darling.
08:16He had a secret police of his own.
08:17Actually, I suppose he thought he was being very decent to come in person.
08:22He might have sent his agents in the night.
08:25Well, my friend, what do you hear from your wife these days?
08:29She's in Rome, isn't she?
08:31How should I know?
08:33You're the husband.
08:34Surely the husband knows of the wife and her whereabouts.
08:37She spent the winter there, I believe, trying to secure a divorce.
08:41Do you have a cigarette?
08:43Yes.
08:43A handsome case.
08:48From an admirer.
08:51Well, now, any success with that divorce?
08:54No success.
08:57And how's that from your point of view?
09:00I regret it.
09:01It was always a misalliance.
09:03A divorce would keep me and would save me from living in fear.
09:09Fear?
09:09Yes.
09:10I often think to myself, supposing that a person of great power would want to marry her.
09:15A divorce is impossible.
09:16Therefore, this person of great power could only marry her if I were dead.
09:21Ha!
09:21You don't mean that you feel for your life?
09:24Every moment.
09:25Ha!
09:26Come now.
09:28Come.
09:29Oh, what romance you feel your mind with.
09:35Not at all, no.
09:36She has always been attracted by power.
09:38And she attracts power.
09:40The end is inevitable.
09:42You know, that is my third battle.
09:44Waiting for you to cook that nasty little meal for me.
09:47I regret that it is the best that I can offer.
09:50Well, it is a long, long life for both of us.
09:58And a happier, happier conversation.
10:01By the way, apropos, that reminds me.
10:04Um, last week, a black marketeer brought me a cask of Amontillado.
10:10Amontillado?
10:10Ha!
10:11That's impossible.
10:12That's exactly what I said.
10:13In these times, impossible.
10:15Must be sherry.
10:16Huh?
10:16He swore it was Amontillado.
10:17A cherry.
10:19Nobody can get a cask of genuine Amontillado these days.
10:23Well, not even I can get it.
10:24I had my doubts.
10:25Still, I bought it.
10:26Throw your money away.
10:28I'm having Lucchese come over to taste it.
10:30You remember Lucchese.
10:31Excellent palate.
10:32Lucchese, that old fool doesn't know wine from water.
10:35Well, of course, he hasn't got your palate.
10:38Where is that Amontillado?
10:40Oh, no.
10:41No, I'm afraid it'll be too much trouble.
10:42Now, let me taste it.
10:44I tell you, let me taste it.
10:45No, no, I couldn't disturb you, really.
10:47Why?
10:47Where is it?
10:48Is it in your vaults?
10:50At the very bottom.
10:52All the better.
10:55I will sober up.
10:57Climbing down.
10:58No, no, General.
10:59Really, I couldn't disturb you that.
11:00Why, what's the matter with you?
11:02You seem to be afraid.
11:03You shouldn't be afraid going down with me.
11:06Oh, it's not that.
11:07What then?
11:08Well, it seems a pity to drag you down there
11:10into those depths and those darknesses
11:12with this beautiful sunny day.
11:14No, I'll have Lucchese.
11:15Oh, get your torch and we'll go.
11:17But do you have the time for me?
11:19Don't you have to go back to Rome?
11:20Time for you?
11:23Of course I have.
11:26I have the whole afternoon to kill.
11:29After you.
11:33No, no, General.
11:34Please.
11:35After you.
11:36I said after you.
11:37And now, the second act of
12:04A Cask of Amontillado.
12:09I had trapped myself.
12:11Of course he was anxious to taste the Amontillado deep in the vault.
12:15What neater way could he be rid of me?
12:17I think I must have mentioned the wine on purpose.
12:21Because I was hopeless.
12:22The least I could do was to give a little help to the inevitable.
12:26As we kept climbing down, down, down.
12:30Gradually, a curious peace filled my heart where the panic had been.
12:35A resignation came over me.
12:37Almost an eagerness to be at the bottom and done with it.
12:41Are you coming along all right, General?
12:43Coming fine.
12:46You tell me when you want to rest.
12:47We still have a long way to go.
12:49I need a drink.
12:51That's what I need.
12:53I need warmth.
12:55And damp down here.
12:57I need a drink.
13:12I need a drink.
13:44A Montiato?
13:49No, I mean Medhoek.
13:51Oh, yeah.
13:54That's better.
14:08As a matter of fact, we've gone down far enough.
14:12Let's forget the Montiato.
14:14No need to go any lower.
14:17It's silly.
14:19Let's make a finish of it.
14:21Right here and now.
14:23Sit down, dear pala.
14:27I need a man to catch my wind.
14:34Now sit down.
14:35You know, I owe you a great deal and I give you credit for it.
14:48Even when I was your stable boy, you saw I had a hand to run things.
14:56I was always aware of a great eagerness on your part.
14:59That is true.
15:00So you gave me money to go to school.
15:03Three years.
15:04And I was back here and manager of the whole place.
15:08Now look at me.
15:10Look at me now and...
15:14I must say, General, you have always been able to forge your way ahead.
15:20Do you want me to tell you the truth about yourself?
15:24Well, this is a good time as any other.
15:27You know when you made the biggest mistake of your life?
15:32I think I'm beginning to find out.
15:34I will tell you.
15:36When you didn't join the party, that's when.
15:41If I hadn't get in on the ground floor, I wouldn't have been the boss here now over the whole town, would I?
15:51No.
15:52My dear cowl.
15:53If you hadn't been the boss, I wouldn't have let you married my sister.
15:56That's right.
15:58What?
16:00Hey!
16:01Hey!
16:02You were catching on!
16:05That's right, because, don't you see,
16:08if I hadn't married your sister,
16:12I wouldn't have had the money to buy my way in Rome.
16:17And if you hadn't married my sister, she wouldn't be dead.
16:21What do you mean by that?
16:22Well, if you hadn't been married to her, she wouldn't have been in the plane with you.
16:27Oh.
16:29That's different.
16:30I see.
16:32Well,
16:33can't help accidents.
16:35Matter of fact, your sister will never write for me.
16:40So simple, just like you.
16:43I need a woman of ambition.
16:45Someone like my wife?
16:46Yes, if you say so.
16:48And then you really would have reached the top, huh?
16:50You know,
16:52life is nothing but a lot of steps.
16:56Either you go up,
16:57or you go down.
16:59And it seems that I have to go down.
17:02Count!
17:06That second lasted a year.
17:09I knew his revolver was on me.
17:12I thought of my sister.
17:14I thought of the lovely April sunlight that was far above me.
17:17I thought of all the tenderness of life trampled on in the name of the dictator state.
17:22Suddenly, at that last breathing moment, the ridiculous thought struck me.
17:26Why am I so weak?
17:29Why don't I kill him?
17:32Count!
17:33Count!
17:34Where am I running to?
17:35Come back here!
17:36I command you!
17:37Come back here!
17:44Count!
17:46Count!
17:47Count!
17:48Count!
17:49Count!
17:50Count!
17:51Count!
17:52Count!
17:53Count!
17:54Count!
17:55Count!
17:56Count!
17:57Count!
17:58Count!
17:59Count!
18:00Count!
18:01Count!
18:02Count!
18:03Count!
18:04Count!
18:05Count!
18:06Count!
18:07Count!
18:08Count!
18:09Count!
18:10Count!
18:11Count!
18:12Count!
18:13Count!
18:14Count!
18:15Here I am, General, here at the bottom, there's another catacomb, come on down, it's only
18:37a little bit further.
18:38Are you coming, brother?
18:43Coming!
19:08Hello there, hello, I'm at the bottom now, where are you?
19:21Hello brother, what way do I go?
19:35Hello, hello, hello!
19:41You're out of general, a little bit ahead, winking.
19:48Come on!
19:49Come on, baby.
19:50Come on!
19:51Come on!
19:53Come on!
19:54Come on!
19:55Come on!
19:56Come on!
19:57Come on!
19:58I'm here!
20:00I'm here, General, here at the bottom, there.
20:02Oh, you're relieved me. I thought I lost you. Did you hear my gun? Oh, it's so awkward. I always stumble when I drink.
20:20That's very damp here. The walls are dripping water. Are we under the river now? I feel the dampness in my bones.
20:38Well, what's that? Storm mason?
20:48There's a bad sag overhead. Last week I ordered them to wall this end up for support. I see they haven't finished.
20:55Perhaps that dangerous. Oh, yes. At any moment now, it might be the end for either of us.
21:04I hope, General, you don't mind a few bones lying around. It's only my family, or I should say our family.
21:13I thought I ought to clean the vault out before they steal it.
21:34I didn't kill your sister. It was an accident. Your accident and your wife. She came after me. She came. I swear it.
21:49Would you like to be buried with my ancestors? You wouldn't dare shoot me.
21:53If you don't back into that vault, I will. They would find me and they would kill you. They would torture you.
21:59Back into that vault.
22:18It's the wall. Beat up your hands if you feel the chains.
22:23What?
22:43Why would you橋ast be here?
22:45A?
22:48What is it?
22:51What was that?
22:57Are you born again?
23:01Don't born again!
23:06Shoot me!
23:21The wisteria was in bloom, covering the rooftops below me.
23:47I sat for half an hour on the terrace, enjoying the sunlight and the general cigarettes.
23:53Then what did you do? What did you do then?
24:05Then what did you do? What did you do then?
24:17Then I disappeared. I went into Switzerland.
24:21And then I came back and I joined the underground.
24:27And always I say, when the war is over, I will tell my story.
24:34And may justice be done.
24:40Next week, our story of suspense will be The Serpent.
24:57Also, be sure to listen to suspense each Thursday night on the radio.
25:02This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
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