- 6/16/2025
A pair of strangers awaken aboard a strange plane with absolutely no recollection of who they are, and what they are doing there. Along the way, the pick-up three other passengers who suffer from the same memory loss as they travel towards a mysterious destination.
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FunTranscript
00:00Welcome. I'm E.G. Marshall.
00:23Let's say it's a bright summer day with the sky high and blue
00:28and you are half dozing in the shade of a tree out in the country or on your patio.
00:34A dense dark shadow passes over you
00:37and for the briefest moment you shudder to the marrow of your bones with such intense cold
00:44that for that moment heart breathing feeling life stops dead.
00:52You open your eyes and look up but there is nothing in the clear sky.
00:57Then you will know that over you has passed one of the ghost planes.
01:05Our mystery drama, The Ghost Plane, was written especially for the Mystery Theater by Ian Martin
01:11and stars Richard Crenna and Janet Waldo.
01:15It is sponsored in part by Sinoff, the Sinus Medicines, and Buick Motor Division.
01:22I'll be back shortly with Act One.
01:24For all intents and purposes, the plane in which we are traveling
01:39is not different from any normal jet, a 707 or perhaps a DC-9,
01:45with two exceptions perhaps.
01:47There is no first class as if it were a charter plane
01:51and it carries only two lone passengers, both of them apparently asleep.
01:59There are other, many other differences in this plane
02:04but I leave you to discover those for yourself.
02:07Wake up Jenny, wake up Jenny, wake up Jenny, wake up Jenny.
02:16Where, where am I?
02:19A plane?
02:22I wasn't going on a plane, was I?
02:25Who was I?
02:27If I am, where to, what for?
02:30I can't be awake.
02:35It doesn't feel.
02:37And yet I'm, I'm not asleep, I know that.
02:41I can hear the engines, feel the vibration.
02:47Oh, there's, there's a stewardess.
02:50Except she looks so old.
02:53I never saw an old stewardess on a plane before.
02:56But at the end, I can ask her.
03:01Oh, why did she have to stop by him?
03:04I hope they don't talk too long.
03:07Herb Moss, wake up.
03:10Herb Moss, wake up.
03:13Herb Moss, wake up.
03:16I must have fallen asleep.
03:21It's funny, I don't feel tired.
03:23I can't remember.
03:28Chicago?
03:29St. Louis?
03:32No, I didn't have a town trip this week.
03:35No, did I?
03:38It wasn't up at the lake.
03:41Yes, well then, how?
03:43Oh, stewardess!
03:45Yes, sir.
03:46Can I help you?
03:47The seatbelt light is out, so I guess it's safe to smoke.
03:50In the rear of the plane, it is permitted to smoke.
03:53Oh, thanks.
03:54Yeah, how about rustling me up a double martini real dry to go with that?
03:57Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Moss.
03:59There are no drinks served on this plane.
04:01Not even a little wine with dinner?
04:04No meals I served either.
04:06No, that's the way it is with charter flights, huh?
04:09You could call this a charter flight, yes, sir.
04:12It's not a through flight, I guess.
04:16There'll be some set-downs.
04:18That's correct, sir.
04:20Well, I hope for your sake business wasn't all that bad, just two of us.
04:24How many are you expecting at the next stop?
04:27I don't know that yet.
04:29Excuse me.
04:30I think I'm wanted up front, Mr. Moss.
04:32May I be of assistance, Miss Wallace?
04:38I know you're going to think this is real dumb of me, but I fell asleep.
04:43And waking up, I'm so spaced out, I can't remember.
04:48I mean, where are we going?
04:50I'm sorry, dear.
04:52I'm not allowed to tell you that.
04:54You mean I'm some sort of prisoner?
04:57Oh, no, no, not at all.
05:01You can go anywhere in the plane you like, except the cockpit, of course.
05:05Now, if you'll excuse me, I think perhaps the captain wants to talk to me.
05:09Well, no, wait, wait, please.
05:11Oh, just a minute.
05:13There's so many things I want to ask you, I...
05:15It really wouldn't do any good.
05:17I wouldn't be able to answer.
05:19Well, just one thing.
05:21Is this some sort of a hospital plane or something?
05:25I've told you all I can tell you.
05:29Oh, Lord, what is it?
05:31Some awful dream.
05:34I'm scared.
05:36Oh, Mom.
05:37Mom.
05:39Someone, please.
05:40I'm so scared.
05:41Oh, excuse me, Miss.
05:42Oh.
05:44Hi.
05:45Hello.
05:47I, uh...
05:48Well, there are only two of us on the whole plane, so...
05:51Well, to tell you the truth, I could use some company.
05:54Oh, so could I...
05:57Oh, wait a minute.
05:58I'll slide over so you can sit down.
06:00Oh, thank you.
06:02Hi.
06:02My name is, uh...
06:05Just a...
06:06Just a minute.
06:07I...
06:08I should have my...
06:10Yes, my business card.
06:13Herbert Moss.
06:14I'm in, uh...
06:16I'm with Troy, Trane, and Kenwood.
06:19That's...
06:19That's an advertising firm.
06:21Well, as long as we're talking together, I think I should ask your name.
06:26Me?
06:26Oh.
06:28It's...
06:29Ginny.
06:29Uh...
06:30Ginny, she called me.
06:33Oh, wait a minute.
06:34Let me look in my bag.
06:35There...
06:35There ought to be...
06:36Yeah.
06:38Here.
06:39My ident card.
06:41Ginny Wallace.
06:43That's me.
06:45Lousy picture, huh?
06:46Oh, not at all.
06:48Nobody our age takes a bad picture.
06:49You, uh...
06:53You also didn't seem to be sure of your name, Ginny.
06:57Ginny, right?
07:00But don't look so scared, dear.
07:02You have company.
07:05Why, do you think I went groping for my business card?
07:08I wasn't sure of mine, either.
07:10No kidding.
07:11You weren't honest?
07:13Honest?
07:14I'll tell you more than that.
07:17I don't know how I got on this plane.
07:19Do you?
07:23No.
07:24Hmm.
07:25I can bet you something else.
07:28You probably don't know where this plane is headed for, do you?
07:31No.
07:32I don't.
07:33And the stewardess wouldn't tell me.
07:35Or me.
07:37Another thing.
07:38I've looked through all my pockets and I can't find any carbon copy of my ticket, luggage checks, anything like that.
07:43I feel so scared.
07:46You don't think it's like, like, well, like one of those skyjack things and where the hostage is like.
07:53I mean, well, I could figure you, but why me?
07:57Skyjack?
07:57Well, I don't know if it's possible, except...
08:05Except what?
08:07Well, why don't we know who we are?
08:11Remember where we're going.
08:12Let's try some questions.
08:13Do you have any brothers or sisters?
08:17Sure.
08:18Uh, two sisters and a brother.
08:19How old are they?
08:21Uh, younger than me.
08:22Mary's 14, Margaret's 11, and, uh, Tommy's only 7.
08:26And your mother and father?
08:28Pop...
08:29Pop died a while back.
08:32Mom's alive.
08:33You live with the family?
08:35No, I...
08:35I was going to say I didn't anymore, but...
08:41Well, it's going sort of blank again.
08:43All right, now, let's not push it.
08:46Or you.
08:48All right, let's think about me.
08:50Well, uh, we know you work at an advertising agency.
08:55What do you do there?
08:56I'm an account executive vice president in charge of Magnum Brands.
08:59Well, I bet you live outside the city and travel in commuter trains with bar cars and all like that.
09:05And I, I bet, I bet you're married, right?
09:07With kids near my age?
09:09Yes, yes.
09:10Brian's at college already, and Adrienne is...
09:12Yes, of course I'm married, and I live in Greenridge.
09:18Wait a minute.
09:20There's...
09:21There's a picture of kids a couple of years ago, and...
09:24It's my wife, Nina.
09:26Here's some other pictures of the kids.
09:29And that's the house.
09:30And this one, too.
09:32Oh, beautiful.
09:33Oh, whoops, how you dropped one.
09:36Um, who's this?
09:38Hmm?
09:39Well, that's my secretary, Barbara.
09:44Oh, good Lord.
09:46What is it, Mr. Moss?
09:48Well, it's nothing.
09:50No, it's nothing.
09:51I, uh, I forgot to leave her some, some instructions about a meeting.
09:54I, I, uh, what, what day is this?
10:01I don't know.
10:03I don't even know the date.
10:05I have a feeling it's terribly important for us to know just what this day means.
10:11To both of us.
10:14Oh.
10:15Jenny, what is it?
10:16Oh, just the way you said it.
10:19You gave me goosebumps all over.
10:23I know the feeling.
10:26I don't like anything about this.
10:29Look, on a plane like this, there should be more than one hostess.
10:33I'm going up front to get some information about where this plane is going.
10:37Why don't you go after and see if there is another hostess in the galley.
10:40You mean like in the back?
10:41Yes, I'm going to check the pilot.
10:43Okay, Mr. Moss.
10:44Um, pilot, hide under somebody.
10:50I want to talk to you.
10:53I demand that you open this door.
10:55This is your captain.
10:56Will all passengers please notice that the no-smoking lights are on
11:01and that seatbelts be fastened?
11:03Please resume your seats immediately.
11:05We are preparing to land.
11:08Passengers will resume their seats immediately and buckle their seatbelts.
11:12Please put out all cigarettes.
11:14We are preparing to land.
11:18Oh, we're falling.
11:20Mr. Moss, the plane is falling.
11:22You know, it's all right, Jenny.
11:23We're just diving a bit deeply, that's all.
11:25I feel kind of sick to my stomach.
11:26Yeah, so I do sit down.
11:28Sit down.
11:29That's the girl.
11:30Now keep your mouth open and swallow.
11:32And fasten your seatbelt.
11:33Pull it up tight.
11:35Now listen to me.
11:36I don't know what you plan to do, but when we land, whatever it is,
11:39I'm getting off this plane, I'd advise you to do the same.
11:43I don't know.
11:43I mean, I've only got a couple of dollars.
11:45Don't worry about that.
11:46I've got money and credit cards.
11:48You want to get off with me?
11:49Oh, yes.
11:50And the moment I tell you to, snap open your seatbelts
11:52and head with me to the exit.
11:54This is your captain.
11:55We are about to land.
11:57Remain in your seats, as this will be a short stop.
12:00Do not unfasten your seatbelts on land.
12:03We shall be taking off immediately.
12:05Pig's eyes.
12:07What is that?
12:08Well, we're down.
12:11That's funny.
12:12I never heard him drop that landing gear.
12:14Are we all right?
12:15Hmm.
12:17Now, as soon as we come to a halt,
12:18snap open your seatbelt and follow me.
12:20Yes, Mr. Moss.
12:23Okay, now.
12:24Oh, I can't.
12:27The buckle won't open.
12:29As soon as I get mine, I'll...
12:31Oh, damn.
12:32Oh, I knew something was up.
12:34I sure would like to know what the devil is going on.
12:37What is it, Mr. Moss?
12:38These damn belts are gimmicks somehow.
12:41We're trapped in our seats.
12:43Whoever they are,
12:45they're not going to let us get off.
12:47Who are they?
12:49I don't know, Ginny.
12:52I'm afraid even to think.
12:53Still, it is a good question.
13:03Who are they?
13:05Where is this strange plane headed with its cargo of only two passengers?
13:11Why is the hostess an elderly woman?
13:14And what is the rest of the crew like?
13:16And why have they stopped at, uh, wherever they have stopped?
13:20And who else or what else is coming aboard?
13:25I'll return shortly with Act Two.
13:27Act Two.
13:27The strange plane rests on the ground.
13:41Its engines idling easily, and nothing happens.
13:44In their seats, Ginny Wallace and Herb Ross
13:47have given up struggling with the seatbelts,
13:50which refuse to unclasp,
13:52pinning them helplessly in their seats.
13:53The cockpit door remains closed.
13:57The sense of unimaginable and pending action
14:00is so palpable
14:01that both have dropped their voices almost to a whisper.
14:06Can you see where we are out the window?
14:08Nothing.
14:09Rub the window off.
14:10I can't reach.
14:11I did, but it's just that white mist,
14:13sort of like a cloud.
14:15I mean, outside.
14:17No lights?
14:18No movement you can see?
14:19No.
14:20What's going to happen to us?
14:23I don't know.
14:24What's that?
14:26Bring them on board.
14:28Who is it?
14:29I can't see over the back of the seat.
14:31I don't know about the passengers,
14:33but it's the stewardess who was up front.
14:35How did she get to the rear of the plane?
14:37I don't know.
14:38That's it.
14:39Mr. Schaefer in K-1.
14:42Strap him in and...
14:43Stewardess?
14:44In a moment, Mr. Morris.
14:46Miss Newman in S-1.
14:48And Mr. Downing in S-2.
14:51Make them secure.
14:52Stewardess, I demand to be released
14:54and let off at this stop.
14:55Thank you, boys.
14:56As soon as you're out,
14:57we'll button up and take off.
14:59Stewardess!
15:00Do you hear me?
15:01I...
15:01How did you hear?
15:04Why won't you listen?
15:05We are in the take-off run.
15:08Please do not smoke
15:09and make sure that all safety belts are fast.
15:12Not release until the light moves on.
15:15Not release.
15:17Mr. Laps, who has a chance?
15:19Can't you stop it, Mr. Morris?
15:21Not some way.
15:23Yes, I can't, Jenny.
15:25I think you must be beginning to realize that
15:27as well as I do.
15:30Wake up, Danny Schaefer.
15:31Wake up, Danny Schaefer.
15:33Wake up, Danny Schaefer.
15:35Wake up.
15:35What are they?
15:36Where am I?
15:38What is this?
15:39A plane?
15:40Are you quite comfortable, Mr. Schaefer?
15:43Who the devil are you?
15:44Let's do it.
15:45You've got to be kidding.
15:46An old team like you?
15:48Hey, what kind of an airline is this, anyhow?
15:50At the proper time, you'll know.
15:53Excuse me.
15:54I have other passengers to attend to.
15:56Wake up, Carol Newman.
15:59Carol Newman.
16:00Carol Newman.
16:01Carol Newman.
16:02I don't want to wake up.
16:09I don't ever want to wake up.
16:11I could care about that.
16:16What am I doing on a plane?
16:20Who's this guy next to me?
16:22I don't fly tourists.
16:23Wait a minute.
16:26Let me think.
16:28Wake up, Bruce Downing.
16:30Wake up, Bruce Downing.
16:33No.
16:34Oh, no.
16:36I couldn't.
16:37Not now.
16:39Not now.
16:40I made the big chance.
16:42I can't blow it.
16:43I can't.
16:45Only I have.
16:47I knew it.
16:49Damn, the motor is still running.
16:51It's still...
16:52What?
16:55I'm not under the car.
16:58I'm on a plane.
17:01It's all right.
17:02It must be all right.
17:04Quite all right, Mr. Downing.
17:06Yeah?
17:06I say for the moment, it's quite all right.
17:09Where are we headed?
17:11On the passage you booked.
17:13Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make quite a few preparations.
17:16Hey, wait a minute.
17:19Damn.
17:19What's the matter with this buckle?
17:21He's messing around with it.
17:22I tried.
17:23Some new safety gimmick, I suppose.
17:25Won't release till the seatbelt light goes off.
17:29Oh, well.
17:30What's the difference?
17:32You mind if I smoke?
17:33No.
17:34If you have a stick, I'll join you.
17:37Oh, no grass, ma'am.
17:39I mean, I'm strictly keep off the grass these days.
17:43Just straight old filter tip.
17:45Did I ask for anything more?
17:47You didn't have to.
17:50We're two of a kind.
17:51Right?
17:52What does that mean?
17:54We've been down a lot of the same roads.
17:57Yeah.
17:59I've been down the same roads, I guess.
18:01Just a few more of them than you, Sonny.
18:04You weather pretty well.
18:07And a couple of years doesn't give you any right to that, Sonny.
18:10You can call me Bruce.
18:16Bruce, uh...
18:18Bruce will do.
18:19I'm Carol.
18:21I've got a case of the who the hell am I, how did I get here blues, too.
18:26I was hoping you could clue me in.
18:29About what, for example?
18:31This flight.
18:33Where we're going.
18:34How I got here.
18:35You think I'd be much help?
18:37You notice what I'm wearing?
18:39Yeah.
18:40It's, uh, nice.
18:42Sort of, uh...
18:44Yeah, I see what you mean.
18:47No use asking you if you've got a ticket.
18:50Scarcely.
18:52In a negligee, you can pretty well tell everything I've got.
18:56I'll get a blanket from the hostess.
18:58Do you have a ticket?
19:00Not that I can find.
19:01And you have no idea how or why you're here?
19:05No.
19:06Well, kind of hazy.
19:10But...
19:11No.
19:13Oh, damn.
19:14If we could only get out of these seatbelts.
19:17What for?
19:20You see that couple sitting down front?
19:23The older man and the chick in the jeans?
19:26Yeah.
19:26I've got a crazy notion they were already on the plane before it landed.
19:33Or anyway, before it picked us up.
19:35Maybe they have some answers.
19:37What about the mean-looking kid with the frizzy up ahead?
19:40One with the knife he's trying to cut the belt with.
19:42I don't think I want to tangle with that character.
19:46He's riding the edge of something.
19:48This is your captain.
19:50We have now reached our cruising altitude.
19:53And for a brief period to our next stop,
19:56we suggest you loosen your seatbelts if you so desire
19:58and stretch out a little.
20:01Smoking is permitted in the rear half of the plane.
20:03Mr. Moss?
20:06Yes, Jenny?
20:08What did you mean about me beginning to realize
20:11what's happening as well as you do?
20:13Aren't you beginning to remember things?
20:17I...
20:17I'm not sure.
20:19It's like a bad dream.
20:22Things that couldn't really happen have happened to me.
20:25Only...
20:26And the worst of all is...
20:29I don't know how to say it.
20:34I'll explain.
20:35You don't have to, Jenny.
20:37I know.
20:38I feel the same way.
20:41Sooner or later, we're going to have to face it.
20:44No.
20:45Jenny, my poor, dear little girl...
20:47Excuse me for breaking up the love scene,
20:49but I'm looking for a couple of answers, man.
20:52There's no smoking in this section of the plane.
20:56You've got to be putting me on, man.
20:58There's five of us here.
21:00That's all there are.
21:01Who cares?
21:02The number two will lit up.
21:03In the proper section.
21:05And the lady beside me doesn't smoke.
21:08Oh, you mean love child here?
21:11Don't let her give you no run around, Dad.
21:13She not only smokes, turns on.
21:15But she's a user.
21:16I can tell.
21:17Put that cigarette out, punk,
21:18or I'll run you aft and stick your head down one of the bowls.
21:23Tough guy, huh?
21:25Still feel so tough?
21:27A knife?
21:29A Mr. Moss?
21:30Take it easy, Jenny.
21:31I don't think he wants to try to use it.
21:33It's just supposed to scare me and try to prove what a big man he is.
21:37Hey, now, don't ever kid yourself.
21:39I got nothing to lose.
21:41Now, let's answer me a couple of questions.
21:44Such as?
21:46Where's this plane headed for?
21:48I don't know.
21:49Now, don't give me that.
21:51You were here before we got up.
21:54Before.
21:55Or however we got here.
21:57You must know something.
21:59Don't you know why you're here?
22:01Hey, man, would I be asking you if I did?
22:03Hold it.
22:03What do you two want?
22:05The same thing you do, apparently.
22:08Information.
22:09Our seat belt.
22:11Mr. Moss, we can listen to them now.
22:12Yes, Jenny.
22:13I already have.
22:14Come on, come on.
22:15Let's start cluing us in.
22:16What is this, a prison ship or something?
22:18Why would you think that?
22:19Will you lay out?
22:21Hey.
22:23Hey, what's the idea to get up here wearing?
22:25I don't know.
22:26It's what I had on when I woke up here on the plane.
22:29You mean you two were shacking up and he brought you aboard in your fancy nightshirt?
22:33No, she doesn't mean that.
22:35The first time I met this lady was on this plane.
22:37I don't even know how I got here myself.
22:40And why don't you put that knife away?
22:43And why don't you cool it?
22:45I ain't letting this out of my hand till I get a slant on what this whole gig is, see?
22:50My name is Herbert Moss.
22:53This is Ginny Wallace.
22:54Who cares about names?
22:56We should get acquainted since we're all in the same fix.
22:59Well, all right.
23:01I'm Danny.
23:01Danny.
23:03Danny.
23:05I don't know.
23:06Somebody wants to slip me a mickey or something before I got caught out of here, right?
23:12I can't think.
23:14Ginny and I had trouble remembering who we were.
23:17How about you two?
23:18Well, a kind of a voice whispered my name to me.
23:22Yeah, me too.
23:23That's how I knew my name.
23:24Yeah, yeah, right on, right on.
23:26Same with me.
23:26Like I was coming through.
23:29Wake up, Danny.
23:32Yeah, yeah, the old bag in the uniform.
23:33She said Schaefer.
23:36That's it.
23:37Danny Schaefer.
23:38Downing.
23:40Bruce.
23:41Downing.
23:41That's me.
23:42And the voice said Carol Nelman.
23:44Nelman!
23:44Oh, well, great.
23:45Now we're all buddies, okay?
23:48But look, I'm asking you, Dad, what's going on?
23:50What do you know?
23:51I told you nothing.
23:52Don't give me that.
23:53I heard you say something to the love chick here when I came up.
23:56Something about face it.
23:57Face what?
23:59Doesn't anybody know?
24:01Or guess?
24:04It's all just bits and pieces, things that won't go together.
24:10I can't remember it straight.
24:12Yeah, I'd like that for me, too.
24:15Mr. Downing?
24:17Yeah.
24:18That's about the size of it.
24:21One thing I do, it doesn't tie in right away.
24:27How about you, Dad?
24:28Well, I'm beginning to remember a lot more than I want to.
24:31All right.
24:32Now, what does that mean?
24:33Answer me a question first.
24:35Do you remember anything?
24:38Yeah.
24:39I remember plenty.
24:40I've held up stores, run numbers, lifted, hoisted cars, you name it, ever since I was 14 years old.
24:48But only to put something in my stomach.
24:49The last thing I do remember is I finally went for the big one, murder one.
24:58I was robbing a store and a cop tried to jump me.
25:02And before I could think, I had the shiv in him and I knew he'd bought it.
25:06So that's to clear the air.
25:12I don't really care about none of the rest of you.
25:13All I want to know is what am I doing in this bleeping plain and where are we headed and how do we get off of here?
25:18And this time I expect an answer to it.
25:22Because I think you know.
25:25And I don't know exactly.
25:28I'm only guessing.
25:30For two reasons.
25:32Spill them.
25:34First, you all heard Danny.
25:38He's done plenty to be ashamed of, even if he wouldn't admit it.
25:42I think the first part of that statement is what all of us have in common.
25:46We're all deeply ashamed of something or things we've done.
25:52That's number one.
25:53But what I'd be ashamed of, or me, I didn't do anything wrong.
25:57Shut up.
25:58What's the other thing we got in common?
26:01Take a look at your windbreaker, Danny.
26:04Yeah, what about it?
26:06There's a hole in the front.
26:07So what?
26:08Unzip it.
26:09Look at your shirt underneath.
26:11Or pull up your shirt and look at your chest.
26:13Hey, come on.
26:14What are you trying to pull?
26:15I'm trying to answer your questions for you.
26:18And for all of us.
26:20Okay.
26:25More blood.
26:26What happened?
26:26I'm guessing that police officer you knifed had a partner and that he shot you.
26:31Right through the hearts.
26:34I got a hole in my chest.
26:37Big slug.
26:38At least.
26:39At least a .38.
26:40I hit like that.
26:42I must be.
26:44Oh, no.
26:45No, no.
26:46I can't be.
26:47I'm afraid you are, Danny.
26:50I'm afraid.
26:52All of us are.
26:53You mean, we're dead.
26:56This is your captain.
26:58Will you please be sure that you are seated and have fastened your seatbelts?
27:03Please extinguish all cigarettes.
27:05We are coming in for a landing now.
27:09Better fasten up, everyone.
27:11What for?
27:12Not me.
27:12I'm getting off this plane when it lands, understand?
27:14They won't allow you to.
27:15You might as well follow orders.
27:17If he increases the pitch anymore, you'll be rolling all over the floor.
27:19You could break your neck.
27:21What difference does it make if I'm dead?
27:23I don't know that for sure.
27:25I'm only guessing because...
27:27It's because I think I remember that I am dead.
27:44Has Herb guessed the truth?
27:47And if he has, what are the passengers who ride this strange plane headed for at this next landing?
27:54That is, supposing the pilot can pull the plane out of the screaming dive that has sent Dan scrambling for a seat
28:00and, for the moment, the welcome restraint of the seatbelt.
28:05I'll be back in a moment with Act Three.
28:07Again, the great plane lies earthbound, or at least not in the act of flying.
28:25Again, swirling mists mask whatever may lie outside the cabin where five people sit imprisoned now.
28:32And again, the motherly but elusive stewardess superintends the boarding of new passengers.
28:39This time, only one who is seated in the very rear.
28:44And now, with his arrival, there is a new surprise.
28:48Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?
28:52Hey, look, I want to talk to you.
28:54I want to get off.
28:55Please, please, help us.
28:57We want to get off.
28:58Be quiet and listen to me, please.
29:00I have something to explain.
29:02This will be the last stop before your destination.
29:06The passenger who has just come on board is the Reverend Dr. Pell.
29:11He will join you as soon as you are airborne.
29:14I will not be with you for the rest of the flight.
29:17May I wish you all goodbye and good luck.
29:28Wake up, Morgan Bell.
29:31Wake up, Morgan Bell.
29:32Wake up, Morgan Bell.
29:36Oh, my beloved father.
29:38I do remember that article of the acts of religion which does concern the wicked and such be void of a lively faith.
29:47Must I then be denied the partaking of the body of Christ in the use of the Lord's Supper?
29:52What happened?
29:55Nothing.
29:56We just stopped climbing and leveled off.
29:58Then that means the seatbelt light should be going on any minute.
30:02And then the horn will tell us that we can get off and get out of here, right?
30:05I suppose so, for all that means.
30:07Hey, look, we ain't dead.
30:09I ain't buying any of that bull, understand?
30:12Now I got to get to a dock and fix me up.
30:13Won't do any good.
30:15Too late.
30:17How do you know?
30:18I mean, what makes you so sure?
30:21Because I have a hole in my chest to match yours.
30:26Look.
30:27Your shirt is covered with blood.
30:29Awful.
30:30Well, I had everything.
30:34A loving wife.
30:37Fine children.
30:38Successful career.
30:41I'm 48 years old.
30:44And my secretary was 22.
30:50I took advantage of her.
30:52Made her my mistress.
30:54Promised her a marriage I knew I had no intention of going through with.
30:57And I was just leaving her apartment when the young man, she should have married, emotionally insane, shot me.
31:12The last thing I remember was the bullet tearing into my chest.
31:17And then the blackness.
31:21That's why I know I am dead and why I am on this plane.
31:26Why all of us are.
31:27Why?
31:28Why me?
31:30He said it before.
31:32We all have something to be ashamed of.
31:35What was your scene, man?
31:36Mention anything an actor can do to claw his way to the top and I've tried it.
31:41I...
31:41I won't embarrass little Jenny by naming him.
31:44I wouldn't want to hurt a lady's feelings.
31:47I once thought I had talent as a designer.
31:50But I had another talent that men were more interested in.
31:55There's quite a lot of money I found.
31:58It was after I'd been married and my husband walked out on me when I had a kid.
32:05I'm not excusing myself.
32:07But I did have to bring up my baby.
32:09I had a baby until she died.
32:15And by that time, as you can see, I wasn't all that young anymore.
32:20So...
32:21So much in demand.
32:23And what was there left to live for?
32:27I had uppers, downers, everything.
32:30So instead of my usual tool before going to bed alone, I emptied the bottle.
32:36Excuse the hearts and flowers.
32:41But it seems to be let's take our hair down time.
32:45But I thought you'd broken out as a trap.
32:48I had.
32:50At the expense of my best friend.
32:53Yeah, who?
32:54An actor friend who was playing the part in Uranus.
32:58Who got me the job as understudy.
33:01His first break, too.
33:03And I slipped him a mickey before the opening night performance.
33:08That's how I went on and got all the reviews.
33:12I thought I was a big star, already had it made.
33:16Bought myself a sports job and became a party boy.
33:20Invited now instead of hired.
33:25I turned that car upside down, trying to make a right angle curve at 90.
33:31Damn right I'm dead.
33:32Then I know it.
33:34And maybe I'm glad.
33:38I...
33:39I killed my baby.
33:44I deserve to die.
33:45Hush, Ginny.
33:47Ginny, hush.
33:49I love in that bed.
33:51I loved you so.
33:54I wanted to be married.
33:56But Mom wouldn't give her consent.
33:58And she thought he was too old for me.
34:03I thought if I was having his baby, Mom would have to agree about marriage.
34:11But I waited until after three months.
34:15And I told her.
34:17Only he walked out on me.
34:20And it was too late.
34:22It was too late for the hospital to take care of me.
34:30I didn't want his baby anymore.
34:34And I went to...
34:36Not even a doctor.
34:40Oh!
34:42It was murder.
34:45I deserve to die.
34:48We all do.
34:50And Mr. Moss is right.
34:52That's why we're here.
34:55And that's where we're all going.
34:57Straight to hell.
34:59Oh, no.
35:02No, sir.
35:03Not me.
35:04Now, what do you think you're going to do?
35:06I've been looking.
35:06The door to the cockpit is open.
35:08The shiv's enough.
35:09I'm going in there and skyjack this plane.
35:11I'm going to make that pilot turn back.
35:13The belts are open.
35:14Come on, Bruce.
35:14We'd better get him.
35:15What do you think is a chance?
35:17I don't want that crazy kid to...
35:19What is it, Danny?
35:22Danny, what's the matter?
35:25There's no one in there.
35:28No.
35:29There's no one.
35:32There's no one flying the plane.
35:35Good Lord.
35:38I'm afraid not, Miss Newman.
35:40Not yours or any of ours.
35:44What do you mean, Father?
35:46I'm not a father.
35:48But you're still a minister.
35:49You could help us.
35:50I wish I could, my dear.
35:53I wish that with all my heart.
35:55But you see, I am one of you.
35:58I've been listening to all of you, and I know now that's why I'm here.
36:04I no longer have any right to the name of a minister.
36:07What brought you here to join us, sir?
36:08The greatest sin of all.
36:11I renounced my God.
36:15I spent the last four years in Vietnam.
36:18I saw such suffering and misery without reason that...
36:21But I was too busy then to think of the scars that left on the mind.
36:27I was only returning to the United States, wanting to pray for those poor people I'd known and for the agony of our country and all the world.
36:37That suddenly I found there were no more words.
36:44There was no more belief.
36:45Everything had been wrung from me.
36:49And my faith was gone.
36:51How did you die?
36:53By God's hand.
36:54I was passing a crowd, lost in my own thoughts and the struggle in my mind.
37:01And a policeman came to me and said there was a boy on a ledge, threatening to kill himself unless they found him a minister.
37:09I went up to that high place and out on that ledge and I asked him to come in.
37:18And he said to me,
37:20Father, why should I come back to a world where there is no God?
37:28Tell me, convince me that there is one and I will come in.
37:34Where were the words of comfort that can only be spoken from the soul?
37:40I, who had picked this mission to devote my life to, had none to offer.
37:45And the blackness hit me.
37:48I felt myself reeling and like Lucifer, I fell headlong into eternal damnation.
37:57I wonder whose is the greatest sin.
38:02And does it matter after all?
38:04I'd guess that religion has touched me less than any one of you.
38:11But I still have hope.
38:13Hey, man, what are you talking about?
38:16You're the one who put the whammy on us from the beginning.
38:18You're the one who first put us all behind the eight ball.
38:21Whatever all of us did, we were human.
38:24Human, born to make mistakes.
38:27Big or little.
38:30If we didn't, we'd be God.
38:34Or gods.
38:35Each of us carries our private hell within us.
38:42I cannot conceive of anything beyond that as punishment.
38:45But the whole idea of God surely means compassion.
38:55What's that?
38:56We're landing.
38:57Without any approach?
38:59In midair?
39:00What does it mean?
39:01Hey, help me.
39:02Hey, knock it off, Danny.
39:03Ain't you scared?
39:04Sure.
39:05But not so much after what Mr. Moss said.
39:07The plane's coming to a halt.
39:08Luke, you said we were two of a kind.
39:11Then can I hang on to you?
39:13I'm terrified.
39:17Sit down, everyone.
39:19Let's not waste time.
39:21Who are you?
39:22Traffic control, of course.
39:24Are we in hell?
39:26Not yet.
39:27May I ask where we are?
39:29This is sort of a halfway station.
39:32We have your dossiers.
39:34You have all made mistakes of greater or lesser value.
39:38That's neither here nor there.
39:41You have reached what is usually called the point of no return.
39:45That is the point on a journey where you are exactly halfway.
39:50And so you have a choice.
39:52Do you wish to continue?
39:54Or would you like to go back to where you were before the moment of finite death?
40:00You mean we are not condemned everlastingly?
40:03No one has judged you as yet but yourselves.
40:07None of you returns to face an easy life.
40:10But if you want to?
40:15You may.
40:17You mean there is a God who offers us a second chance?
40:22Of course.
40:24Everyone deserves that.
40:26Don't you think?
40:27I wonder if the memory of this tale will haunt you.
40:39And if perhaps, as it does, that mistake, that hurtful or even vicious action you may have taken
40:47may give you a moment's pause to reconsider
40:50and perhaps to try to repair the damage.
40:55For all of us, there is a second chance.
40:58At least once.
40:59I'll be back shortly.
41:01Our cast included Richard Crenna, Janet Waldo, Casey Kasem, Virginia Gregg, and Sam Edwards.
41:19The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown.
41:22Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Anheuser-Busch Incorporated,
41:27Brewers of Budweiser, and General Electric.
41:30This is E.G. Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater
41:34for another adventure in the macabre.
41:38Until next time, pleasant dreams.
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