Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962): Season 6, Episode 6 - Pen Pal - full transcript

Good evening ladies
and gentlemen.

A number of persons have written asking
me to explain the game of baseball.

Normally I wouldn't do this
but some of those who wrote,

were professional
ball players,

and I sensed a tone of
urgency in their appeals.

Baseball gets its name from the type of
field on which it is played.

A baseball field. There are 27,
players on each team.
However no more than,

13 are allowed on
the field at one time.

Nine from one team,
and from one to four,

from the other. To
make it a fair match,

the team with the
smaller number of players



is allowed to carry
clubs. The larger,

team has no weapons at
all, except this pellet.

But it is hard enough to
knock a man unconscious.

Naturally both teams
occasionally use their fists.

But this is usually
unnecessary. You see,

all players have
ingeniously attached,

sharply pointed metal
cleats to their shoes.

With these, the more
experienced players,

can with grace and
skill badly lacerate,

an opponent. Yet make it
look quite accidental.

As you can see the game is an excellent
means for building character,

and teaching young
men good sportsmanship,

fair play and first aid.

So much for the finer
points of the sport.



I see our friend the umpire
is signaling for time out.

The game will commence
in just one minute.

PEN PAL

-Yes?
-Is this the home of miss Lowen?

-Yes.
-I'm lieutenant Berger of the eighth precinct.

-Here's my identification.
-Police? -That's rihgt.

-May I come in?
-Well...

This won't take too
long miss Lowen.

-Is it miss?
-Yes, it is.

Do people call you Margie?

-No never.
-I'm sorry the only name we had to work with was Margie.

Oh, then you want my niece.

She's my brother's
child named after me.

What do you want
with Margie?

-Does your niece live here with you?
-Yes, but she isn't here now.

She left this morning to spend the
weekend with college friends.

Why do you want to
see Margie?

Tell me something about your
niece miss Lowen.

Has she lived with
you long about?

Nine years.

Her father was killed in the Second
World War and her mother died several,

years after that. That's when
she came to live with me.

She's almost like
my own child really.

-How old is she?
She'll be 21 next march.

Is she a popular girl?
Does she have many friends?

Isn't that a pretty
silly question.

Why should the police care
whether Margie's popular or not.

-Believe me miss Lowen I have a reason.
-She's popular enough.

I just told you she's spending
the weekend with friends.

So you did.

Now,

is this a photograph?

Yes, this is a picture of my...

Where'd you get it?

Well I'm gonna have to tell you
something that may shock you miss Lowen.

And it wouldn't be any of our business
if it wasn't for what happened.

But under the
circumstances I'm going to,

have to tell you something about
your niece you may not know about.

Some two years ago she started a,

correspondence with a
man named Rod Collins.

So, I'm not saying there
was any harm in it.

Maybe you knew all about it.

No, I didn't know anything about
it but i still don't see why the...

You see this Collins
got your niece's,

name through one of
these pen pal clubs.

You know the kind
they run ads in,

romance magazines.
Places like that.

Lonely hot stuff.

Collins has been sending his
letters to a box number and your niece,

has been picking them
up at the post office.

That's why you
never saw them.

We've managed to
trace this address,

through one of the
pen pal clubs.

And how did you get the picture?

Well that was in the correspondence
we found in colin's cell.

Cell?

Rod Collins is a prisoner at the
state penitentiary man. A lifer.

What?

He, uh, got mixed
up with some bad,

characters when
he was just a kid.

Killed a man in a
fire robbery.

They would have given him the chair but,
seeing he was so young they commuted a,

sentence to life imprisonment
with no, chance of parol.

He's only about 26 or seven now.

I just can't believe it.

Margie wouldn't be
interested in a man like that.

Please don't be too
rough on a man.

You know how it is something
romantic about the whole situation.

Now we found this other
stuff in town's a cell.

Maybe you'd like to look
at some of the letters.

Well, yes I would.

I'm sorry about this miss Lowen.

But I can tell you this much,
there was really no harm in it.

I mean they censor all the
mail at the penitentiary,

but maybe if you read one.

Dearest Rod, you say you would
give anything to be with me.

Believe me I long for
that as much as you do.

If only there was some way to
make these wild dreams come true

Sometimes I think I would give
everything else up if only,

you and I could live
out our lives together.

Through our letters we can
dream and live our love,

even though language has not the
power to speak what love indicts.

So, soul lies buried
in the ink that writes.

You see? On the up and up.

Lieutenant you said yourself there's
nothing wrong about all this.

Then why did you
come here?

Because things have changed.

Yesterday Rod Collins
took part in the jailbreak.

Well two of the three men who
escaped have been recaptured.

-Collins is still loose.
-He's escaped?

Oh dear heavens.

Well, why should
Margie be involved?

-What has she to do with this?
-Simply this miss Lowen,

Collins would want a place
to hide he'll need money.

He'll need help. He has no
family, no friends we know of.

-It seems logical he'll head straight here for Margie.
-What can we do?

Please don't be alarmed, you'll
expect an ally not an enemy.

You'll probably be on, but if
you're calm you'll be all right.

If he gets this
far now chances are,

we'll catch up with
him before he does.

But if he does try
to contact your niece,

we'll have officers
staked out nearby to,

pick him up before
there's any trouble.

Thank heaven, Margie isn't here.

Yes that's a break
for us. You might,

as well give me her
address just in case.

Well I really don't
know it myself.

All I know is that it's someplace enlarchment
the home of a girl named Gloria Baker

Well if you don't know it
I'm sure Collins won't.

-What can I do?
-Well sure we'll be able to stop Collins.

In case he gets within striking
distance of your house, well,

pretty sure anyway. If we don't,

I'll give you a
number for you to call.

And one other thing miss Lowen,

I wouldn't call your niece and tell her
about this, she might do something foolish.

No, no. I wouldn't dream
of telling Margie.

You expect to hear
from her this weekend?

Oh, she said she might call me tonight
around nine just to tell me she's all right.

I see. Well we'll keep in touch in case,
there are any further developments from sloan.

-Lieutenant...
-Yes.

This won't have to
come out will it.

I mean about Margie's
letters to this man.

-No, if we can help it miss Lowen.
-Thank you, lieutenant.

You hold it right there lady!

I'm not gonna hurt
you. You just relax.

You'll be all right.

And don't scream.

Don't do anything.

Just sit down.

-What do you want?
-Sit down.

You're Margie's aunt all right?

-Yes.
-She mentioned you once or twice.

I guess you...I guess you
never told you about me, huh?

-No she didn't.
-Yeah.

You know what I am don't you?

I'm a convict.

All right, where is she?

Margie's not here she went away.

Don't you give me that.

It's true. she went away this
morning to visit a college friend.

She'll be gone all weekend.

Look don't you lie
to me lady.

You Margie said I wouldn't
want to have to hurt you

Where'd she go? When
you expect her back?

i don't expect her
back not till monday.

it's no use you're
waiting here for her.

Where's this place
she's at?

I don't know. I don't remember.

-You're lying to me lady.
-You've got to believe me.

She's visiting a friend
of hers named Gloria.

She didn't
tell me where she live.

Just that it
was upstate somewhere.

What do you want with Margie?
What's Margie got to do with you?

More than you know lady.

You got anything
to eat around here?

-There's something in the kitchen.
-Show me.

You'd be very careful.

Sit down here.

Sit down here,
you make me nervous!

Look lindy I don't
want to be a rough on you,

I mean your Margie santa
stands for a lot with me.

Why should it?

I'm in love with
Margie that's why.

-And she's in love with me.
-That isn't true that can't be true.

You've never even seen my niece.
-I see her.

-Well in a photograph.
-I don't need a need a photograph, lady.

You know what she's
like from the letters

-Doesn't make sense.
-?Maybe it doesn't make sense to you lady!

Guess maybe I wouldn't expect
it to make sense to you.

I've been writing to
your niece for two years.

She's been writing back.

I know her better than anybody
else in this whole world.

Maybe even better than you do.

It's the best thing
ever happened to me.

Even if you felt that
way Margie couldn't,

-she just couldn't.
-I know where else she felt.

-She's just a child.
-She's not a child you!

You wouldn't understand anything, you dried a
bull crap how could you understand anything!

Look lady listen listen to me.

You got to see how it is
I really love your niece.

I love her. I wouldn't hurt
her for anything in this world.

I just want to see it I just want to just
want to talk with it now you got to help me.

I can't.

All right.
All right now listen to me.

You know how old I was when
they shot me in a pen up there?

I was 18 years old, and you know
how long I've been up there, lady?

I've been up there
for nine years.

You know how rotten lonely
you can get in a prison,

with a thousand other
guys all around you.

And you're lonely. You know what
loneliness can do to you lady.

I do. I do know.

Oh you just think you know.
You don't know nothing lady.

I mean you don't
know nothing at all.

No. Now listen, look, lady When Margie
me started writing those letters,

it was like I come to life
again I mean i was up there dead,

I was buried Margie wrote these
letters to me and she made me alive.

Don't you see that?

Maybe Margie was trying
to be kind to you.

She was always a
kind girl even as a,

child he was always bringing
home stray cats and sick animals,

but that's something different
from love you must see that.

I'm no sick animal lady!

I'm a human being
just like you are.

You don't know Margie
even if you think you do.

When her parents died she
needed someone to love,

well at first there was me and then as
she grew older she needed something else,

but this isn't real love
that you're talking about.

But I'm gonna make it
real don't you see that lady?

That's exactly why I
broke out i got to make it real.

And how long would it last you
can't go on running forever.

I know, I know that lady and
I'm gonna take her away with me.

We'll we'll just leave the country and
Margie will go with me, I know she will.

Even if she would
how could you live?

-Could you make a living do you even have a trade?
-Yes.

I was in the prison machine shop for
nine years I was the best laid man there,

I could walk in any job any place
in this country right now.

One eye on your work,

and the other watching
for the police.

Margie isn't made
for that kind of life.

You can't ask her to do it.

If you leave right away you'll have
a much better chance of getting away.

And you must forget
about Margie.

Maybe if I could just see her.

I just want to see you just want
to look at her just for one minute.

I'm afraid that's impossible.

Oh I got to see her!

I went to a lot to see you ladies
and you ain't gonna stop me.

-I can't help you.
-Yes, you can.

You can call her for me and don't tell me
you don't know where to reach her,

because I won't believe that.

All right I'll call her for you.

Hello this is Margie Lowens and,

could Margie come to the phone?

-Yes.
-Is Collins there? Just answer yes if he is.

-Yes, yes that's right.
-Does he have a gun?

-I don't think so
- All right.

Keep him talking
to you try to hold,

him there as long as you can I'll
have a squad there right away.

So you were going to
call Margie for me?

That's how you want to
help me by calling cops?

please go away we
can't help you here,

-please go away.
- I'll let you get away with this.

You think you can double cross me
just, because you're Margie's ass?

Don't come any closer!
don't come any closer!

-All right how's that feel?
-Feels great.

You want a cigarette?

-Think you can make
it on your feet? -I can meke it.

Well that about
does it miss Lowen.

I want to thank
you for your help.

Don't bother to get up
I'll see myself out.

Oh, I would take a
sedative miss Lowen.

-Try to get some rest.
-I'll do that.

-Good night miss Lowen.
-Good night lieutenant.

Dearest Rod.

I've just learned
from my hand about what happened.

And I can't tell you how grieved I am by
your dreadful experience.

will you think me terribly hard-hearted
when I make this confession?

I'm glad you're
back in prison, Rod.

Glad that we still have these
letters to share between us.

These letters that have come to mean so
much to both of us these past two years.

Oh my darling.

My poor darling.

And so the curtain
falls on our play,

pen pal which reminds me I must write
this note to a pal in the bullpen.

It's time for our seventh inning
stretch after which I shall steal home.

I have an announcement to make which
you will all be overjoyed to hear,

there will be no more
commercials positively,

no more commercials during
the balance of this program.

So until next week at
this time good night.