08x09 - The Black Curtain

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Aired: October 2, 1955 – June 26, 1965.*
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American anthology series featuring dramas, thrillers and mysteries.
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08x09 - The Black Curtain

Post by bunniefuu »

good evening ladies and gentlemen

i'm pleased you can spend this hour
with me quiet please if you don't mind

i have some very interesting pets on sale here
for yacht owners i would suggest an albatross

they are intensely loyal
and will follow you anywhere

circling for hours over the spot where your ship
sinks for those of you with swimming pools if your

friends and neighbors are taking advantage of your
generosity may i suggest one of two pets the ever

popular hammerhead shark or the siamese crocodile
both are quiet but efficient they can clear a pool

as fast as a tv commercial can empty a room
which brings us to this next item a pet peeve

me

there he comes this is endsville manny knows
you ain't gonna see me but don't miss huh

you have the time mister yeah

hmm

so

put him over there take it easy mike what
happened a couple of bovine chicks mugged them

gonna get you something

he must live around here i've seen
him in here a couple of times before

sorry you've got quite a wallop

what happened i got out i was paying you my fare

i felt dizzy how's that again well i
i told you i was feeling kind of funny

you trying to say that you
was in my cab what do you mean

oh look mac if you're trying to cook
up some kind of an insurance deal

forget it you are my passenger

i had a bundle uh a package with my

army uniform inside two punks slugged
you out there you saw a twitter window

you were taking me to city hall

i was gonna meet my girl we're gonna be
married at one o'clock in the morning

you're not the same driver
you could make book on that

you must have had some bachelor party i
better call a doctor no no i'm all right now

i think we ought to call the police no no no i
think they couldn't have gotten away with anything

i'll report it in the morning that's your skull

i keep telling everybody this is no neighborhood
for walking at night i i got to get to my girl's

place she'll be worried what's your name
phil townsend where's your girl riverdale

it's quite away from here will you take me
there look mac that's what i get paid for

you said your name was phil townsend yes

i was just discharged from the service
this morning i went to buy some clothes

can we go please

remember i picked them up right here

that's funny i i thought there
was a vacant lot over there

thanks a lot forget it i'm sorry about
what happened but i thought you were

some kind of a nut or something
i don't blame you for that nice

virginia

virginia it's me phil

what's going on out there

virginia virginia what do you want

tell your friend to be quiet
mr green we got other tenants

i don't even know the guy mr fisher who is it

who do you want it's me mr townsend who
virginia's fiance there is no virginia here

virginia morrison she introduced us last weekend
we were supposed to be married today you are

drunk go away no no i'm i'm not hey take off
buddy before i call the cops what kind of

a place is this i gotta get up at six o'clock
he ain't drunk he got a clap in her head he's

looking for his girl virginia morrison i guess
i must have forgotten what your pardon morrison

she's not here anymore look i know she
must be mad at me but if if you could

just tell me where she went can't you help
the guy out i look if she left an address

she must think i stood her up she
probably gone to some friends or something

sure what was he in a fight i was mugged ain't
you afraid of getting cold or something i

never catch nothing other guys that get
pneumonia this is the address she left

it ain't far come on

all right frank i'm coming

get out of here jenny something happened
to me i don't care just get out of here

what are you doing here whose place is this what
do you want from me now what do you mean now

that's my baby it's time for a feeding

my husband may be coming home any minute
now you have to leave your husband what

husband we were supposed to be married
today what are you talking about phil

i haven't even seen you for three years

wow

three years i took a taxi to meet you at city hall

that's all i remember phil you can't stay
here you don't know what my husband is like

i'm looking for three years of my
life well you won't find them here

must have lost my memory

didn't you even try to find me oh yes

i went to the police do you have any idea what
that was like the whispers to each other the funny

smiles it happens all the time miss no hospital
reports nothing in the morgue some people just

get nervous and they disappear on their wedding
day you believe i'd leave you like that no so i

went to a private detective i borrowed everything
i could to pay him my furniture my car my salary

but who is he i gotta see him talk to him no you
can't do that why not because he can't help you he

never found out anything he never found a trace
of you what would be the harm he's my husband

i was lonely and he was very kind to me

until after i married him

and then it started

he was just like the police that same smile

the sly little questions about how
things had been between you and me

after that it was any man i ever talked to

i can't leave this house because he might
telephone and come home and i won't be here

you've had a light for three
years phil go back to it

go back to where

um

anything come to you

initials again dw a key to a place
i don't remember 87 isn't change

it's a nice watch

to david with love root it's a ring of bell

well at least we know what the d stands for

she better take me to the
police station maybe ruth

whoever she is is looking for me a little harder
than virginia did ain't you got any relatives no

hublings dr*gs that's where i drove
you from you didn't get these tonight

could i live around there the
drug has said he's seen you before

look mac maybe i'm sticking my
neck out you know what i mean

i don't think the police are such a good idea well
yeah you know the money the clothes you're wearing

the watch it don't go with that neighborhood i
don't get you maybe dw is in some kind of trouble

i've never been in trouble in my
life i'm not talking about you

i'm talking about him

black and hot charlie

let's get out of here

hey left your lights on i k*lled him for you

thanks the first time was maybe two maybe
three weeks ago how often did i come in

not more than half a dozen times i'd say that'll
get a prescription filled uh anything with a

name on it well you ever bought with cigarettes
always at night he came in midnight till eight

am that's my shift uh maybe you could talk
to the day man and you ought to see a doctor

thanks if it helps any it seems to me
you always come from that direction

what do i do knock on doors

who am i where do i live i'd ask you to spend
the night at my house but uh but my old lady

she's okay you understand she gets upset easy

you've done enough ah want to get in touch with
me call the company ask for mari mari epstein

let me know how you make out huh sure what day is
it it's friday no saturday already september 24th

virginia and i would have
been married for three years

now you never know that might have
been wasting the problem you got now

after a good night's sleep you'll be a new man

look there's a hotel over there it's cheap
but clean everybody's known as john smith okay

okay thanks

uh

here

come on let's go

one more one more time here we go

dave what are you doing here
harlan followed me again i'll

go back to your room please don't go
you're just a few feet behind me dave

are you roof what's wrong with you uh
anything wrong there miss oh no no nothing

he's a policeman will you please go i'm good to
talk to you i'll come to you tonight now just go

you remember the address of course i remember the
dress don't tell me i want to be sure 431 frogs

uh wow

oh why don't you get off my back i'll get off your
back when you start doing some work around here

couldn't even empty the garbage i don't eat
here where do you eat i'd like to know with

what you don't work horses work and mothers
with sons like you my key seems to stick

bernie come help the jones key gets stuck

after you

the keys are kind of tricky
sometimes yeah it's a tricky world

leave it open a minute i'm kind of tired
that's something i want to show you

hmm

now

hey what did you do that for i just wanted to
see if it worked i found it in a parked car

here's something else i

found what do you want nothing unless
you want to buy this picture i took

careful you might ruin it it might be the
only one there is this guy dw for instance

never had a picture taken according to
the newspaper clipping in the wallet

if you want to buy this one you just let me know

that was the first half of the alfred
hitchcock hour now a word from the provinces

and now ladies and gentlemen we are about
to begin the second half or flip side

of the alfred hitchcock hour the first
number will be a solo from our sponsor

followed by the second half of our story

what are we hanging around for can
you think of something better to do

you're a regular bundle of joy aren't you sure

we're all gonna be rich look you really
think you're gonna get any money out of

that guy you leave it to me maybe
there's a reward we can get no cops

hey

hey now that's nice you looking for us baby
care to go to a party tonight miss we're gonna

have seven violins and a dancing band and
flowers and everything come on wait a minute

it's your house yeah oh who is
she i'll let you know right here

who is it ruth

oh honey

well excuse me

i don't know how to begin

but except for this afternoon

i don't remember ever seeing
you before in my life my name

my real name is philip thompson
that mean anything to you

i don't know what you're in with me or
why so you want to walk out go ahead

but whoever you are i need you

i'm trying to open a door it's been closed for
three years and you're the only key i've got

help me

yes sir detective

private detective

have you ever seen this man

it's an old photo recognizer

nope you barely looked at it
that's all i ever do mister

even with the regular police i have
two professions pharmacist and coward

foreign

you don't remember anything at all no

not even me

i told you i'm sorry that's all right
i guess i always knew this would happen

we used to talk about it sometimes when you you
try to remember who you were before you came to

work for my uncle i was afraid that when you did
remember you might be in love with someone else

are you

i don't know i was

married no but three years or too long
for the way to marry somebody else

how long have i known you

three years

well then i must have gone to work
for your uncle but if it happened

how did i get there how did i get another
name colin brought you he said your name

was david webber when i found a sh*t at
me who is he he's a private investigator

my uncle hires him sometimes to get evidence
in his cases huh private investigator

she had a private investigator to find me

is colin married his wife
had a baby a few months ago

he found me he found me don't you understand and
he didn't tell her dave please don't call me that

all right now calm down if you get one of your
headaches you don't know what you're liable to do

what do you mean what i'm liable to do
you know how you get i don't know anything


honey honey please i'm sorry
sit down and have a cigarette

here

i'm all right now go ahead

where do you want me to start a m*rder
when did it happen about a month ago

newspaper clippings said that your uncle's
place is in westchester you live there william

yes

i also said i was a bodyguard and why'd your uncle
need a bodyguard he's a criminal lawyer he turned

down a racketeer in a tax evasion case and there
were some threats maybe that's how she was k*lled

the man was convicted he's
been in jail for over two years

but then then your uncle didn't need me anymore
why did he keep me on because of me i guess

what was i to you

was past tense

i love you not that it matters now

sorry

it's a big house you had a separate
apartment over the garage and that

that's where her body was found

how could it happen it's like a

black curtain i lived there somebody
d*ed there i can't even remember

the afternoon of the night it happened
uncle bob gave you some errands to do

he was in the study preparing a case waiting
for carlin i could see that you were getting

one of your migraine headaches the way that you'd
get before you pass out i mean actually pass out

well not always physically but mentally
often oh three four times all told

anything else

you were

you smashed up your room once

maybe even more you know that's why it don't
make sense for you to be laying out twenty

thousand dollars for him captain [ __ ] easy
guys why don't you take it out in the alley

i'm sorry i'm a little on edge problems
at the school now this i'm sorry

nice show i guess i know how
you feel i'll take the check

everything's gonna be all right will be as
soon as i get to the bank monday morning

don't worry about that goodbye captain

no it's not possible not there what is it john
they're making a survey for a new freeway right

through that old quarry you mean where george
hurston they'll find it when they start digging

they'll find it wouldn't it be almost a relief if
they did relief the police will move in is that

any worse than what we've been going through for
three weeks got to find shirts and get him to move

that body nope can't wait a minute please let's
be reasonable we keep getting in deeper and deeper

you've got to be all over when you paid off
mr fargo now there's this there'll always

be something to keep us on and if it doesn't
happen we'll be expecting it to happen ocean

view park that's where the sustenance are now i'll
drive up there right away no john john go to the

police yourself we've gone too far for that what
could i tell them the truth and what if george

panics and puts all the blame on me remember i
was the one who k*lled roscoe in self-defense

john oh darling you're an intelligent man how many
times have you said the full truth can never hurt

you tell that to your students it's different
when it happens to head home i'm going to sherston

john nothing's gone wrong has it they decide
to put a road through your old campsite they're

making a survey and digging up the whole
area right where roscoe's body's buried oh no

wait wait nothing to worry about yet if they're
just making a survey now it'll take weeks before

they start digging we have to remove that body
right away tonight it's saturday people are

all over that place weekends i tell you what
we'll go back monday night no i can't wait i

wouldn't have a moment's piece take it easy
john george is right monday would be safer

i'm sorry eve you don't have to come with
me i can find it myself john john wait wait

i didn't realize that you were this upset
i tell you what you do you go on home and

forget all about it i'll take care of roscoe
no we're in this together i've got the trailer

i'm gonna have to take him and bury him somewhere
else that's a risk why should you take it too

i let you go through this alone once before this
time i share the responsibility i said i'd do it

what i meant was that uh there's no need for
you to stick your neck out i want to all right

uh we better meet there then let's
say uh nine o'clock nine o'clock

charlie

so

hello oh john i've been so worried what did they
say justin practically broke down he begged me

not to go to the police don't let him influence
you dear he's just worrying about his government

job that's all i think it was something else i
had a feeling he wasn't being straight with me

he was so insistent on going there alone there's
something he's hiding from us john please listen

to me go to the police right now i'll go with you
no not yet i'm going to meet tristan the quarry

in just an hour i want to be sure well let me
go with you both no stay there john please um

so is john here no he hasn't arrived yet

oh sally i thought i'd get started
no sense just standing around

what time you're supposed
to meet john nine o'clock

yeah we made a better time on the highway
than we expected have you uh already yes

it's still only quarter to nine if i hadn't come
he would have finished and left before john had a

chance to arrive why not it wasn't a very pleasant
job you ought to be glad you wanted to do it alone

john said you wanted to do it alone i only
wanted to do them a favor favor like the

night you buried ray didn't wait for john that
night either why not what were you afraid of

you didn't want y'all to see the body because
you k*lled ray didn't you i've had enough of this

we're clearing out of here right now
no you're gonna wait for john you

go start the car you get out of here well
if i do i'm gonna go straight to the police

it's true isn't it you sh*t him

what's the matter sally see you ghost

ah then you see you made all this
fuss about nothing i wasn't even dead

you were all in this together
this was just a horrible trick

to blackmail us well i rather like to
think of it as a good melodrama macabre

grizzly but very effective hey let's
get going patience george patience

after all mrs mitchell is one
of the stars of our little drama

we wouldn't want to cheat
her of the clever daniel mall

i can't believe you planned the whole thing how
did you manage to be right there when my boy was

drowning ah the one flaw in my otherwise perfect
script i simply called out to the boy and lured

him into the deeper water suppose he hadn't
gone then i had three alternative openings

for my little planet fortunately the first one
worked smooth as glass you didn't even save him

in fact you might have k*lled him no no you
you don't understand good dramaturgy there

would never be a k*lling in one of my scripts
oh come come captain no need to whisper give

something to say speak up speak up okay ain't
gonna wait for mitchell let's get rolling

oh captain faulkner this is mrs mitchell
the captain is a senior member of our little

repertory company confidentially he's a bit of
a ham captain falcon how about your husband his

sense of timing is atrocious now if only he had
given the check to the captain say on friday

we wouldn't have had to hang around here this
weekend and play out the final scene for you

and john the final scene should go so long and
no longer this one's already gone long enough

you'll never be able to cash that check when john
finds out about this why why should john stop the

check he has no reason to associate the captain
with us and how could he possibly tie in the check

with your disappearance and if he has an ounce
of the actor in him he'd be so grief-stricken

he won't even think of the money a captain eve
you better start driving now take the cliff road

now sally we come to the final scene of our
little planet i'm truly sorry it had to end

this way but then except for the final
curtain it's exactly the way i wrote it

kevin's you're all right yes i'm all
right oh you did call the police you did

i decided to take your advice for once i wish
you'd taken mine and stayed away from here

you see i couldn't really let you k*ll
me i told you saving lives was my hobby

oh you wouldn't be interested in buying
a slightly used trailer would you

i think the lesson of our story is quite clear if
a stranger offers to save your life think it over

you may be letting yourself in for a great deal
of trouble this concludes my part of the program

next time i shall return with another story some
scenes of which will be shown after this next

and last commercial

foreign
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