The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure (1956): Season 1, Episode 13 - A Strange Confession - full transcript
(Thurl Ravenscroft) ♪ Gold
doubloons and pieces of eight
♪ Handed down to Applegate
♪ From buccaneers
who fought for years
♪ For gold doubloons
and pieces of eight
Handed down in
a pirate‘s chest,
the gold they sailed for
east and west.
The treasure bright
that made men fight
till none were left
to bury the chest.
♪ So now the gold
and pieces of eight
♪ All belong to Applegate
♪ The chest is here, but wait
♪ Now where are those gold
doubloons and pieces of eight?
♪ Pieces of eight
♪ Pieces of eight ♪
(announcer) Today‘s
episode in The Mystery of
the Applegate Treasure--
"A Strange Confession."
Hi.
Perry Robinson,
you get away from here.
What‘s the matter?
You got
nervous indigestion
or something?
Jumped like a rabbit
that was getting shot.
You made me spoil
everything, smarty.
Maybe you‘ve got
nervous disorders.
You never shot a rabbit
in your life.
Aw, who cares?
You‘re not even
supposed to be here.
I am too.
I know what happened.
Today you had to go
back to the city,
‘cause nobody wants
you around anymore.
By tomorrow, I bet you‘re
back in reform school.
(rock clatters)
So there.
I‘m sorry.
Why? You don‘t even know
what you‘re talking about.
I do so. The probation
officer says--
That was yesterday.
Now they‘re gonna
let me stay around
till they find out what
that guy Boles says.
Oh. Well, I am sorry.
I just hope he confesses
about the tools, that‘s all.
The what?
You know, the ones
everybody said I took.
That‘s what got me in trouble
in the first place.
If he says things
that make you innocent,
then you can
stay in Bayport
and go back to work for
old Apple Juice maybe.
Wouldn‘t you?
Aw, I don‘t know.
Doesn‘t make any difference
to me where I go.
Me neither. Joe Hardy‘s
already my boyfriend.
Huh?
But don‘t you
dare tell him.
Don‘t worry. Goodbye.
I was there when they
caught Boles last night.
Did you know?
‘Course.
Bet you were
sure scared.
Oh, is that so?
Maybe I just lost my interest
in mysteries is all.
Must be tough being
a girl sometimes.
Maybe I don‘t even care
what the Hardys are
making Boles confess,
what they‘re making him
squeal with third degrees and--
Really? Is that
what‘s going on?
That‘s where
they are right now.
Well, why didn‘t
you say so?
Joe and Frank have got
that guy Boles singing like a--
like a squirmy canary.
I just don‘t say I did,
and I don‘t say I didn‘t.
That does it!
How long have we
been here now?
Well, you keep asking
the same questions.
Is there anything wrong
with the same answers?
We just gotta know
if you stole something.
Look, now, I-I don‘t object
to letting you practice
your detective thing
on me, laddie.
It‘s not practice.
Our client--
I mean a guy we
know‘s in trouble
because somebody made it
look like he was a thief.
Tsk tsk tsk.
The shame of it.
And if somebody
hadn‘t gone
and messed up
those handles,
we‘d have
your fingerprints
to prove it, too.
Now, now, now, stop, boys.
Th-Th-That‘s enough.
You just ain‘t got them,
and that‘s that.
Oh, perhaps I‘d better say,
"Haven‘t got them,"
in front of the kids.
Maybe you better
work your memory
a little harder.
But I‘d like to help
the laddies.
Now, honest, I would.
Such fine, upstanding
young gentlemen.
Th-They‘re a credit
to you, truly they are.
A wee bit suspicious maybe.
(chuckles) But I suppose
with you for a father,
that‘s-that‘s only natural.
Shall we get back
on the subject?
And what is
the subject, Mr. Hardy?
You and why
you won‘t talk.
Oh, but I‘ve been
talking a great deal.
I-- It-It‘s almost
embarrassing.
Excuse me, boys.
I‘m truly sorry.
Uh, hey, you talk
for a bit.
Go on. Go on. Say whatever
you have a mind to.
Last night, you committed
trespass and assault both.
You‘re going to go
to jail anyway.
What difference
does it make?
I can‘t tell you things
I know nothing about, can I?
But what were you snooping
around Applegate‘s for
in the first place?
Eh, that‘s just
the one thing
I don‘t seem to be able
to tell you somehow.
Don‘t you
understand, Dad?
He was looking
for the treasure,
but he didn‘t want
anyone else
interfering.
Yeah. Only, why‘d he
hang around the tower rooms?
And why‘d he come back to
Bayport after so many years?
What I mean is how much
does he really know
about the Applegate treasure?
Frank, don‘t
you understand?
The very fact
that he won‘t talk
means that those
thousands of doubloons
are still hidden
somewhere.
Thousands of what?
(Joe) Doubloons.
3,000 Doubloons.
Oh, no, no, no.
Now, stop it, boys.
Will you listen to how
old Applegate‘s
been making his treasure
grow through the years.
(laughing)
(sighs)
Hey, what are doubloons?
I‘ve heard of pieces of eight--
Oh, cut it out.
This town went crazy
ten years ago
looking for gold,
and it‘s not gonna
happen again,
you hear me?
All right, all right.
I‘m sorry.
I agree with you,
Sergeant.
And me too.
You know, I had to
leave this town once,
I was pestered so much.
Old Apple Cider with his talk
of gold that wasn‘t there.
Oh, it is no
laughing matter, boys.
You see, the more
he talked,
the more people said
I must‘ve took it.
Well, maybe you did.
Hey, wait. Ho, now.
Hold your horses.
You know, you should have
a real heart-to-heart talk
with them, Mr. Hardy.
It‘d be a crying shame for
two such upstanding young lads
to pine away in a foul prison
under charges of
slander and libel.
You know I didn‘t do it,
Mr. Hardy, don‘t you?
Joe, I‘m afraid
your father proved
that Boles there
just couldn‘t have
stolen anything,
not the way
Applegate claims
his treasure
was taken.
(Joe) Oh.
Well, your partner could
have, that Jenkins.
Jenkins? I haven‘t laid eyes
on him these last ten years.
People said we were friends
just because we lived
in the same place only.
But, Mr. Boles--
I‘m afraid that‘s
enough now, son.
You boys have
had your fun.
We gotta haul him
back downtown, Mr. Hardy.
I understand.
Come on, boys.
Well, I don‘t understand.
Golly, Daddy, he says everything
except what we wanna know.
He won‘t help Perry
or us a bit. Why?
Why is he so afraid
to tell the truth?
Why won‘t he talk?
Unless he‘s guilty
of something awful,
something enormous.
Oh, boys, boys,
such a way to speak.
All right, all right.
It‘s not unusual
for a man to keep
his mouth shut
until he‘s sure
where he stands.
There. You see?
So, Sergeant,
suppose you all wait
for me outside.
I‘ll call
Applegate for you.
OK.
And if he and
Jackley are ready
to come down to
the police station
and file charges
against Boles here,
I guess then he‘ll
start talking
fast enough.
If he don‘t, then maybe
he does know
something big.
Heh. Detectives.
Come on.
Oh, yes, Mr. Hardy.
I searched the place this
morning as you suggested, and--
What?
No, no. I didn‘t
find anything.
But I just thought you might
have found something missing,
you know, in the tower rooms
or anyplace else that
Boles might have been.
What difference
does it make?
I‘m charging that man
with trespass, and--
Mr. Applegate, trespassing
is not a very big crime.
Now, we can‘t scare him
into talking unless--
But if nothing
is missing,
how can I accuse him
of stealing
or anything worse?
(Jackley)
You want me, boss?
S-Sorry I couldn‘t come
when you started yelling.
You talk to him,
Jackley.
You‘re the one
that Boles hit
over the head.
Well, yeah, but--
That‘s assault.
Hello.
With a deadly
weapon, maybe.
Hello. Jackley?
You feeling better now?
Sure, but the bump
on my head isn‘t.
Mr. Hardy, all I feel is
I wanna finish my work
and get out of
this wacky place.
Hmm?
Oh. No offense, boss.
(chuckles)
Uh-huh.
Well, uh, you can bring
charges against him
without my saying
anything, can‘t you?
But it‘s circumstantial.
You‘re the one who
saw Boles hit you.
Well, I-I hate to get
anybody in trouble.
No, I‘m not
being softhearted.
I hate to lie, too.
To what?
Well, even though I know
it must have been
Boles that hit me on the head
and tied me up, I-
I racked my memory, and you
know something, Mr. Hardy,
I never actually
seen it was him.
(sighs)
Goodbye.
Won‘t be long now,
will it, boys?
You‘ll be letting me
free soon, don‘t you think?
Letting you free?
Well, what have I done?
I ask you,
with all the talk,
has one bad thing
been proven against me?
Now don‘t start
that again.
When Dad
gets out here--
Oh, all right.
All right.
We‘ll just have
to wait, I suppose.
Sergeant.
(train bell ringing)
So now you‘ll expect me
to fall down
in a fit of confessing,
I suppose.
But let me tell you,
I don‘t care what
anybody charges me with.
There‘s nothing
that can make me--
can make me...
Oh, ho, Mr.-Mr. Hardy.
Your face tells me
that there‘s some
little difficulty yet.
Can either one of them help?
I‘m afraid we‘ve all
been wasting our time.
Keep him locked up
on your own charges,
I guess.
Well, soon I‘ll be riding
one of those beauties
out of town.
Won‘t I now? Maybe.
Freed for lack
of evidence, maybe.
You see now, boys,
why I don‘t talk.
When it comes to bad things,
I just don‘t say I did them,
and I don‘t say I didn‘t.
Well, if those
fingerprints on the shovel
hadn‘t been so messed up,
that would‘ve made you...
Boys, get in
the car, will you?
I‘ll be
right with you.
Sergeant, can I talk
to you a minute?
Hey, what about the footprints
in the flower garden
where all the digging was?
What about them?
Let‘s go back
and get those shoes.
(Frank) You mean
the ones he took off?
They‘re same ones he had on
last night, aren‘t they?
If we made plaster
casts of them
and they‘re the very same as
the tracks in the flower bed...
All right.
Get in the car.
Hey, wait now. Wait.
Come on, boys.
No, Dad, we gotta go back to
his closet and get those--
Hey, no, no!
Don‘t do that.
What do you think I changed
into me sneakers for
if it wasn‘t to avoid
such a thing?
Such a thing
as what?
As the horror of
a plaster cast, of course.
I should have thought
you would have
seen me trembling.
Well, now, aren‘t you men
all ashamed of yourselves?
The only real detective
among the lot of you.
There he is, the only one
who‘s able to force
the confession out of me.
A-A confession about
the digging, I mean.
I don‘t understand.
Sonny, you can
leave those shoes
lying in the closet
where they are.
They‘ll measure exactly
the same as the footprints.
Oh, I admit it. I-I know
when I‘m trapped.
Hey, lead me back
to the jailhouse,
and for you,
for you, sonny,
I‘ll sign a confession.
doubloons and pieces of eight
♪ Handed down to Applegate
♪ From buccaneers
who fought for years
♪ For gold doubloons
and pieces of eight
Handed down in
a pirate‘s chest,
the gold they sailed for
east and west.
The treasure bright
that made men fight
till none were left
to bury the chest.
♪ So now the gold
and pieces of eight
♪ All belong to Applegate
♪ The chest is here, but wait
♪ Now where are those gold
doubloons and pieces of eight?
♪ Pieces of eight
♪ Pieces of eight ♪
(announcer) Today‘s
episode in The Mystery of
the Applegate Treasure--
"A Strange Confession."
Hi.
Perry Robinson,
you get away from here.
What‘s the matter?
You got
nervous indigestion
or something?
Jumped like a rabbit
that was getting shot.
You made me spoil
everything, smarty.
Maybe you‘ve got
nervous disorders.
You never shot a rabbit
in your life.
Aw, who cares?
You‘re not even
supposed to be here.
I am too.
I know what happened.
Today you had to go
back to the city,
‘cause nobody wants
you around anymore.
By tomorrow, I bet you‘re
back in reform school.
(rock clatters)
So there.
I‘m sorry.
Why? You don‘t even know
what you‘re talking about.
I do so. The probation
officer says--
That was yesterday.
Now they‘re gonna
let me stay around
till they find out what
that guy Boles says.
Oh. Well, I am sorry.
I just hope he confesses
about the tools, that‘s all.
The what?
You know, the ones
everybody said I took.
That‘s what got me in trouble
in the first place.
If he says things
that make you innocent,
then you can
stay in Bayport
and go back to work for
old Apple Juice maybe.
Wouldn‘t you?
Aw, I don‘t know.
Doesn‘t make any difference
to me where I go.
Me neither. Joe Hardy‘s
already my boyfriend.
Huh?
But don‘t you
dare tell him.
Don‘t worry. Goodbye.
I was there when they
caught Boles last night.
Did you know?
‘Course.
Bet you were
sure scared.
Oh, is that so?
Maybe I just lost my interest
in mysteries is all.
Must be tough being
a girl sometimes.
Maybe I don‘t even care
what the Hardys are
making Boles confess,
what they‘re making him
squeal with third degrees and--
Really? Is that
what‘s going on?
That‘s where
they are right now.
Well, why didn‘t
you say so?
Joe and Frank have got
that guy Boles singing like a--
like a squirmy canary.
I just don‘t say I did,
and I don‘t say I didn‘t.
That does it!
How long have we
been here now?
Well, you keep asking
the same questions.
Is there anything wrong
with the same answers?
We just gotta know
if you stole something.
Look, now, I-I don‘t object
to letting you practice
your detective thing
on me, laddie.
It‘s not practice.
Our client--
I mean a guy we
know‘s in trouble
because somebody made it
look like he was a thief.
Tsk tsk tsk.
The shame of it.
And if somebody
hadn‘t gone
and messed up
those handles,
we‘d have
your fingerprints
to prove it, too.
Now, now, now, stop, boys.
Th-Th-That‘s enough.
You just ain‘t got them,
and that‘s that.
Oh, perhaps I‘d better say,
"Haven‘t got them,"
in front of the kids.
Maybe you better
work your memory
a little harder.
But I‘d like to help
the laddies.
Now, honest, I would.
Such fine, upstanding
young gentlemen.
Th-They‘re a credit
to you, truly they are.
A wee bit suspicious maybe.
(chuckles) But I suppose
with you for a father,
that‘s-that‘s only natural.
Shall we get back
on the subject?
And what is
the subject, Mr. Hardy?
You and why
you won‘t talk.
Oh, but I‘ve been
talking a great deal.
I-- It-It‘s almost
embarrassing.
Excuse me, boys.
I‘m truly sorry.
Uh, hey, you talk
for a bit.
Go on. Go on. Say whatever
you have a mind to.
Last night, you committed
trespass and assault both.
You‘re going to go
to jail anyway.
What difference
does it make?
I can‘t tell you things
I know nothing about, can I?
But what were you snooping
around Applegate‘s for
in the first place?
Eh, that‘s just
the one thing
I don‘t seem to be able
to tell you somehow.
Don‘t you
understand, Dad?
He was looking
for the treasure,
but he didn‘t want
anyone else
interfering.
Yeah. Only, why‘d he
hang around the tower rooms?
And why‘d he come back to
Bayport after so many years?
What I mean is how much
does he really know
about the Applegate treasure?
Frank, don‘t
you understand?
The very fact
that he won‘t talk
means that those
thousands of doubloons
are still hidden
somewhere.
Thousands of what?
(Joe) Doubloons.
3,000 Doubloons.
Oh, no, no, no.
Now, stop it, boys.
Will you listen to how
old Applegate‘s
been making his treasure
grow through the years.
(laughing)
(sighs)
Hey, what are doubloons?
I‘ve heard of pieces of eight--
Oh, cut it out.
This town went crazy
ten years ago
looking for gold,
and it‘s not gonna
happen again,
you hear me?
All right, all right.
I‘m sorry.
I agree with you,
Sergeant.
And me too.
You know, I had to
leave this town once,
I was pestered so much.
Old Apple Cider with his talk
of gold that wasn‘t there.
Oh, it is no
laughing matter, boys.
You see, the more
he talked,
the more people said
I must‘ve took it.
Well, maybe you did.
Hey, wait. Ho, now.
Hold your horses.
You know, you should have
a real heart-to-heart talk
with them, Mr. Hardy.
It‘d be a crying shame for
two such upstanding young lads
to pine away in a foul prison
under charges of
slander and libel.
You know I didn‘t do it,
Mr. Hardy, don‘t you?
Joe, I‘m afraid
your father proved
that Boles there
just couldn‘t have
stolen anything,
not the way
Applegate claims
his treasure
was taken.
(Joe) Oh.
Well, your partner could
have, that Jenkins.
Jenkins? I haven‘t laid eyes
on him these last ten years.
People said we were friends
just because we lived
in the same place only.
But, Mr. Boles--
I‘m afraid that‘s
enough now, son.
You boys have
had your fun.
We gotta haul him
back downtown, Mr. Hardy.
I understand.
Come on, boys.
Well, I don‘t understand.
Golly, Daddy, he says everything
except what we wanna know.
He won‘t help Perry
or us a bit. Why?
Why is he so afraid
to tell the truth?
Why won‘t he talk?
Unless he‘s guilty
of something awful,
something enormous.
Oh, boys, boys,
such a way to speak.
All right, all right.
It‘s not unusual
for a man to keep
his mouth shut
until he‘s sure
where he stands.
There. You see?
So, Sergeant,
suppose you all wait
for me outside.
I‘ll call
Applegate for you.
OK.
And if he and
Jackley are ready
to come down to
the police station
and file charges
against Boles here,
I guess then he‘ll
start talking
fast enough.
If he don‘t, then maybe
he does know
something big.
Heh. Detectives.
Come on.
Oh, yes, Mr. Hardy.
I searched the place this
morning as you suggested, and--
What?
No, no. I didn‘t
find anything.
But I just thought you might
have found something missing,
you know, in the tower rooms
or anyplace else that
Boles might have been.
What difference
does it make?
I‘m charging that man
with trespass, and--
Mr. Applegate, trespassing
is not a very big crime.
Now, we can‘t scare him
into talking unless--
But if nothing
is missing,
how can I accuse him
of stealing
or anything worse?
(Jackley)
You want me, boss?
S-Sorry I couldn‘t come
when you started yelling.
You talk to him,
Jackley.
You‘re the one
that Boles hit
over the head.
Well, yeah, but--
That‘s assault.
Hello.
With a deadly
weapon, maybe.
Hello. Jackley?
You feeling better now?
Sure, but the bump
on my head isn‘t.
Mr. Hardy, all I feel is
I wanna finish my work
and get out of
this wacky place.
Hmm?
Oh. No offense, boss.
(chuckles)
Uh-huh.
Well, uh, you can bring
charges against him
without my saying
anything, can‘t you?
But it‘s circumstantial.
You‘re the one who
saw Boles hit you.
Well, I-I hate to get
anybody in trouble.
No, I‘m not
being softhearted.
I hate to lie, too.
To what?
Well, even though I know
it must have been
Boles that hit me on the head
and tied me up, I-
I racked my memory, and you
know something, Mr. Hardy,
I never actually
seen it was him.
(sighs)
Goodbye.
Won‘t be long now,
will it, boys?
You‘ll be letting me
free soon, don‘t you think?
Letting you free?
Well, what have I done?
I ask you,
with all the talk,
has one bad thing
been proven against me?
Now don‘t start
that again.
When Dad
gets out here--
Oh, all right.
All right.
We‘ll just have
to wait, I suppose.
Sergeant.
(train bell ringing)
So now you‘ll expect me
to fall down
in a fit of confessing,
I suppose.
But let me tell you,
I don‘t care what
anybody charges me with.
There‘s nothing
that can make me--
can make me...
Oh, ho, Mr.-Mr. Hardy.
Your face tells me
that there‘s some
little difficulty yet.
Can either one of them help?
I‘m afraid we‘ve all
been wasting our time.
Keep him locked up
on your own charges,
I guess.
Well, soon I‘ll be riding
one of those beauties
out of town.
Won‘t I now? Maybe.
Freed for lack
of evidence, maybe.
You see now, boys,
why I don‘t talk.
When it comes to bad things,
I just don‘t say I did them,
and I don‘t say I didn‘t.
Well, if those
fingerprints on the shovel
hadn‘t been so messed up,
that would‘ve made you...
Boys, get in
the car, will you?
I‘ll be
right with you.
Sergeant, can I talk
to you a minute?
Hey, what about the footprints
in the flower garden
where all the digging was?
What about them?
Let‘s go back
and get those shoes.
(Frank) You mean
the ones he took off?
They‘re same ones he had on
last night, aren‘t they?
If we made plaster
casts of them
and they‘re the very same as
the tracks in the flower bed...
All right.
Get in the car.
Hey, wait now. Wait.
Come on, boys.
No, Dad, we gotta go back to
his closet and get those--
Hey, no, no!
Don‘t do that.
What do you think I changed
into me sneakers for
if it wasn‘t to avoid
such a thing?
Such a thing
as what?
As the horror of
a plaster cast, of course.
I should have thought
you would have
seen me trembling.
Well, now, aren‘t you men
all ashamed of yourselves?
The only real detective
among the lot of you.
There he is, the only one
who‘s able to force
the confession out of me.
A-A confession about
the digging, I mean.
I don‘t understand.
Sonny, you can
leave those shoes
lying in the closet
where they are.
They‘ll measure exactly
the same as the footprints.
Oh, I admit it. I-I know
when I‘m trapped.
Hey, lead me back
to the jailhouse,
and for you,
for you, sonny,
I‘ll sign a confession.