Alfred Hitchcock Presents s05e29 Episode Script
The Hero
Good evening.
I thought you might be interested, in seeing one of the world's first television tubes.
In those days, everything was in glorious color.
Repairs were unheard of, and the tube never wore out.
But, of course we've managed to improve those details.
A few of you may consider staring at this a rather limited form of entertainment.
But, our ancestors found this bottle quite exciting.
But of course, they were the ones who had emptied it.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, our play.
Excuse me, Sir Richard Musgrave isn't it? Chairman of Consolidated Trusts? Yes this is my wife and daughter.
Oh, it's not your first trip to South Africa is it, Sir Richard? No, not the first, but the first in 20 years.
Oh, I expect you'll find lots of changes then.
Are you going, too, Lady Musgrave? No, this is a business trip.
My father's very old fashioned.
A woman's place is in the home.
Really, Elizabeth.
Now, let's have some more smiles, please.
Relaxed like.
What do you want for a present? How about an ape from Gibraltar? Don't be facetious, darling.
That's just the sort of thing your father might do.
Don't worry, we don't stop at Gibraltar.
Where do you stop? In Madeira then straight on to Cape Town.
All visitors ashore, please.
Yes, bon voyage, Sir Richard.
I think I'll go down to the country at the end of the week.
Sure.
I'll send you a cable from Cape Town.
And remember to do three times round the deck every day.
No nonsense from you, my waistline's my own affair.
Goodbye, Mary.
Goodbye, dear.
We shall miss you, dear.
Goodbye, dear.
Goodbye, Daddy, have a good time.
I shouldn't bother to wait, my dear.
It's no good keeping dinner waiting.
We'll be thinking of you.
Goodbye.
Bye-bye.
Where is the purser's office, please? First door to the right, sir.
Thank you.
Come.
Good morning.
Oh, good morning, sir.
Anything I can do for you, Sir Richard? Do you have a complete list of the ship's passengers? Yes but it hasn't been posted yet.
Can you tell me if there is a passenger aboard named Jan Vander Klaue? I'll see, sir.
No, not in first class.
Any class? No, no Jan Vander Klaue at all, sir.
I just thought I happened to catch sight of him.
I must've been mistaken.
Thanks.
Is he a friend of yours? A friend? A friend of mine? No.
Janet, my dear, I think it's time to go, don't you? Oh, I'm so sorry! Won't you join us? Please do, would you? I think it will be fun.
I think it's this way, isn't it darling? Steward.
Yes, sir.
That man who just left.
Where did he go to? I don't know, sir.
Let me see the chit he signed.
He didn't sign his name, sir, he just put his cabin number on it.
Sir Richard, I do hope you remember me, Janet Boswell.
Yes, of course.
A year ago with your wife at Ascot.
Yes, indeed.
I see you know each other.
Oh, we're old friends, Henry.
Henry Caldwell, Sir Richard Musgrave.
How do you do? How do you do? I understand you're a friend of Alexander Task.
The Task of Wall Street? Yes, he's the one.
We used to work together in Transatlantic Oil.
Here! You need a little attention.
Oh, thank you.
Now oil? Oh, yes, motors.
I wanted to ask you.
What do you think of Thor Motors? Oh, yes, I think it sounds like it may be a good investment.
Oh, don't be so modest, I read recently that you're one of the major stock holders.
Enjoying yourself, Sir Richard? Fine.
Um, the man over there, do you know him? Oh, yes, of course, Mr.
Keyser I'd like to meet him.
Nothing easier.
Let me introduce you.
I don't believe you gentlemen have met.
Mr.
Keyser, Sir Richard Musgrave.
How do you do? Excuse me, please.
Forgive me, but I didn't quite catch your name.
Keyser.
Do you know, Mr.
Keyser you remind me of a man I knew years ago.
Jan Vander Klaue.
Oh, that's a penalty I pay for having a common face.
Everyone thinks, they've seen me before.
Sir Richard, the radio operator has been looking for you.
Is my call through? Yes, this way please.
Steward, will you deliver this note to Mr.
Keyser? Over there, thank you.
Uh, yes, sir? Steward.
This clipping was pushed under the door.
Did you put it there? No, sir.
Did you see anyone else slip it under? No, sir.
But I had a call to another cabin, sir.
All right.
Will that be all, sir? Yeah.
Lunch is now being served.
Hello.
Mr.
Keyser.
Why don't you join us? Oh, yeah, Have a drink? Yeah.
Good morning, Sir Richard.
I had hoped to see you last night, Mr.
Keyser.
Oh, you did? I'm sorry, I was playing bridge with some friends.
There's something I wanted to talk to you about.
Mmm.
Business, business, I'm on a holiday.
That's all you're interested in.
How dull.
Have you ever been to South Africa before, Sir Richard.
A long time ago.
And you, Mr.
Keyser? Oh, I've been there.
Do you know it well? Who ever knows Africa well? Certain parts of it.
Johannesburg and Kimberley and the northern section of the Transvaal? Fine mining country.
Yes, so I'm told.
Won't you sit down, Sir Richard? Why, thank you.
This is my first trip out.
Oh, yes? I'd like to talk to you more about Africa, Mr.
Keyser.
Won't you lunch with me? Oh, lunch.
I'm so glad you reminded me.
I promised to have lunch with those people I played bridge with last night.
If you'll excuse me, I'm late now.
Good evening, Sir Richard.
Good evening.
May I help you? Oh, uh, some cable forms perhaps.
Thank you.
Do you know Mr.
Keyser? Mr.
Keyser? Yes, sir.
I wonder if you remember if he's made any phone calls? Or sent any messages? Why, yes, sir.
A lot of passengers have.
Including yourself, sir.
I wonder if you remember what Mr.
Keyser's were about? No, but, we naturally keep a report on them, sir.
See, Mr.
Keyser and myself hold something rather confidential nothing very important of course.
But, I'd wondered if he'd gone ahead and discussed it in a cable.
We can't divulge that information, sir.
Jan? Vander Klaue.
My name is Keyser.
No.
You're Jan Vander Klaue.
Twenty years ago we were partners.
You haven't changed so much that I don't recognize you.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I do.
I remember it very well.
And so do you.
You can't stand there and pretend you don't remember that last trip.
It was unlucky from the start.
That night, outside the Kaffir village.
We were drinking.
But, Sir Richard I don't drink.
Of course you do I've seen you on the ship.
Well, I take a glass of beer occasionally.
And that night we were arguing, and then we got to fighting and I thought I'd killed you.
It was all a mistake.
I didn't want to hurt you.
I thought you were dead.
If you were dead, what would be gained by my giving myself up? Do you understand? I'm sorry, I don't.
Of course, I admit it was wrong of me to, run away and take your money.
Money? You know, what I'm talking about.
It's only L75, and look what I've done with it.
Manufacturing, oil, mining, I've built it into millions.
Of course, there's something else more important.
My family.
I'm married, my wife is a wonderful woman.
And we have a daughter.
Five years ago I got my knighthood.
There's a chance of a peerage in the new year.
Congratulations, Lord Musgrave.
Oh, it's not that, it's not for me, it's for them.
They're counting on it.
Of course, a breath, a word of scandal and it'll be all over.
Of course, the law couldn't do anything to me, it isn't murder, and after all these years, the statute of limitations sets in.
Oh, yes, the statute of limitations.
Exactly.
All you could accomplish would be gossip.
Embarrassing my family.
Well, you wouldn't want to do that, would you? For the sake of a few pounds? Me? Why ask me? Because, you want something.
What is it that you want? What is it? Do you want me to pay you to keep quiet? All right.
I'll pay you.
And I'll set you up in business, any business you want.
Just name it! I'll put you in one of my companies.
Fifty thousand a year as a salary.
What do you think of that? Or a settlement? A complete settlement.
Half a million pounds.
Well, tell me what you think? Tell me.
This is very embarrassing, Sir Richard.
I'm afraid I have very nearly as much money as you.
May I come in? Your daughter? Yeah.
Your wife? Yeah.
On this trip, Sir Richard, I have found myself in the unwanted role of a father confessor.
But No, wait.
This is not only embarrassing to me, but undoubtedly painful to you.
Then why not put an end to this cat and mouse game? Admit who you are and tell me what you want! But I have told you my name is Keyser.
And I don't want anything.
You know, though, I am reminded of a story.
A true one, I understand.
Why I should be reminded of it, I don't know, except that it also deals with the amount of L75.
L75? Yes.
Quite a coincidence.
Would you like to hear the story? This is, uh, supposed to have happened a long time ago in Africa.
I believe I've heard you mention you know Africa quite well, Sir Richard.
Now, this man in the story was a prospector.
What was his name? Oh, what difference does it make? It's just an interesting story.
Now, this prospector had been down on his luck, couldn't get anymore credit, he did manage to scrape up the money for one last final try.
He took a partner, a young Englishman.
They were out two months, no luck.
You know how it goes.
Now, this prospector had just about L75 left and he had to get back to Kimberley with it.
But, why? Why was it so important to keep L75? Did he want to invest it in something? Oh, we'll come to that.
Then, luck, fate, fortune let's call it stepped in.
The prospector, somewhere on his way back lost the L75.
And if he wouldn't have been found by the Kaffirs, he would have lost his life, too.
But then luck seemed to want to make it up to him.
Months later, he made a strike.
Then good investments, he made millions.
So it goes.
But, you still haven't explained why that L75 was so important.
My wife.
Oh, yes, I remember.
I never met her.
But, the L75! Oh, how forgetful of me.
The prospector needed the L75, because his wife needed an operation.
When he lost it, his wife died.
Man overboard! Help me! And so tomorrow, we reach Cape town.
And now, as Captain of the Craigmore Castle, and on behalf of the crew, our officers and all of the passengers, I am honored to present this cup in recognition of a very gallant deed.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.
" so the Bible tells us.
But, there must be a greater love.
That of a man who is prepared to lay down his life for a stranger, to Mr.
A.
J.
Keyser for his outstanding heroism in attempting to save the life of a fellow passenger.
That concludes our show for tonight.
By a stroke of good fortune, I happened to be on board that particular ship.
I caught the whole rescue with my little long focus movie camera.
I got every detail.
I thought the Captain might like the roll of film as a little souvenir.
By the way, building a boat in a bottle, isn't difficult and it's no work at all once you have shrunk the carpenters down to the proper size.
Good night.
I thought you might be interested, in seeing one of the world's first television tubes.
In those days, everything was in glorious color.
Repairs were unheard of, and the tube never wore out.
But, of course we've managed to improve those details.
A few of you may consider staring at this a rather limited form of entertainment.
But, our ancestors found this bottle quite exciting.
But of course, they were the ones who had emptied it.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, our play.
Excuse me, Sir Richard Musgrave isn't it? Chairman of Consolidated Trusts? Yes this is my wife and daughter.
Oh, it's not your first trip to South Africa is it, Sir Richard? No, not the first, but the first in 20 years.
Oh, I expect you'll find lots of changes then.
Are you going, too, Lady Musgrave? No, this is a business trip.
My father's very old fashioned.
A woman's place is in the home.
Really, Elizabeth.
Now, let's have some more smiles, please.
Relaxed like.
What do you want for a present? How about an ape from Gibraltar? Don't be facetious, darling.
That's just the sort of thing your father might do.
Don't worry, we don't stop at Gibraltar.
Where do you stop? In Madeira then straight on to Cape Town.
All visitors ashore, please.
Yes, bon voyage, Sir Richard.
I think I'll go down to the country at the end of the week.
Sure.
I'll send you a cable from Cape Town.
And remember to do three times round the deck every day.
No nonsense from you, my waistline's my own affair.
Goodbye, Mary.
Goodbye, dear.
We shall miss you, dear.
Goodbye, dear.
Goodbye, Daddy, have a good time.
I shouldn't bother to wait, my dear.
It's no good keeping dinner waiting.
We'll be thinking of you.
Goodbye.
Bye-bye.
Where is the purser's office, please? First door to the right, sir.
Thank you.
Come.
Good morning.
Oh, good morning, sir.
Anything I can do for you, Sir Richard? Do you have a complete list of the ship's passengers? Yes but it hasn't been posted yet.
Can you tell me if there is a passenger aboard named Jan Vander Klaue? I'll see, sir.
No, not in first class.
Any class? No, no Jan Vander Klaue at all, sir.
I just thought I happened to catch sight of him.
I must've been mistaken.
Thanks.
Is he a friend of yours? A friend? A friend of mine? No.
Janet, my dear, I think it's time to go, don't you? Oh, I'm so sorry! Won't you join us? Please do, would you? I think it will be fun.
I think it's this way, isn't it darling? Steward.
Yes, sir.
That man who just left.
Where did he go to? I don't know, sir.
Let me see the chit he signed.
He didn't sign his name, sir, he just put his cabin number on it.
Sir Richard, I do hope you remember me, Janet Boswell.
Yes, of course.
A year ago with your wife at Ascot.
Yes, indeed.
I see you know each other.
Oh, we're old friends, Henry.
Henry Caldwell, Sir Richard Musgrave.
How do you do? How do you do? I understand you're a friend of Alexander Task.
The Task of Wall Street? Yes, he's the one.
We used to work together in Transatlantic Oil.
Here! You need a little attention.
Oh, thank you.
Now oil? Oh, yes, motors.
I wanted to ask you.
What do you think of Thor Motors? Oh, yes, I think it sounds like it may be a good investment.
Oh, don't be so modest, I read recently that you're one of the major stock holders.
Enjoying yourself, Sir Richard? Fine.
Um, the man over there, do you know him? Oh, yes, of course, Mr.
Keyser I'd like to meet him.
Nothing easier.
Let me introduce you.
I don't believe you gentlemen have met.
Mr.
Keyser, Sir Richard Musgrave.
How do you do? Excuse me, please.
Forgive me, but I didn't quite catch your name.
Keyser.
Do you know, Mr.
Keyser you remind me of a man I knew years ago.
Jan Vander Klaue.
Oh, that's a penalty I pay for having a common face.
Everyone thinks, they've seen me before.
Sir Richard, the radio operator has been looking for you.
Is my call through? Yes, this way please.
Steward, will you deliver this note to Mr.
Keyser? Over there, thank you.
Uh, yes, sir? Steward.
This clipping was pushed under the door.
Did you put it there? No, sir.
Did you see anyone else slip it under? No, sir.
But I had a call to another cabin, sir.
All right.
Will that be all, sir? Yeah.
Lunch is now being served.
Hello.
Mr.
Keyser.
Why don't you join us? Oh, yeah, Have a drink? Yeah.
Good morning, Sir Richard.
I had hoped to see you last night, Mr.
Keyser.
Oh, you did? I'm sorry, I was playing bridge with some friends.
There's something I wanted to talk to you about.
Mmm.
Business, business, I'm on a holiday.
That's all you're interested in.
How dull.
Have you ever been to South Africa before, Sir Richard.
A long time ago.
And you, Mr.
Keyser? Oh, I've been there.
Do you know it well? Who ever knows Africa well? Certain parts of it.
Johannesburg and Kimberley and the northern section of the Transvaal? Fine mining country.
Yes, so I'm told.
Won't you sit down, Sir Richard? Why, thank you.
This is my first trip out.
Oh, yes? I'd like to talk to you more about Africa, Mr.
Keyser.
Won't you lunch with me? Oh, lunch.
I'm so glad you reminded me.
I promised to have lunch with those people I played bridge with last night.
If you'll excuse me, I'm late now.
Good evening, Sir Richard.
Good evening.
May I help you? Oh, uh, some cable forms perhaps.
Thank you.
Do you know Mr.
Keyser? Mr.
Keyser? Yes, sir.
I wonder if you remember if he's made any phone calls? Or sent any messages? Why, yes, sir.
A lot of passengers have.
Including yourself, sir.
I wonder if you remember what Mr.
Keyser's were about? No, but, we naturally keep a report on them, sir.
See, Mr.
Keyser and myself hold something rather confidential nothing very important of course.
But, I'd wondered if he'd gone ahead and discussed it in a cable.
We can't divulge that information, sir.
Jan? Vander Klaue.
My name is Keyser.
No.
You're Jan Vander Klaue.
Twenty years ago we were partners.
You haven't changed so much that I don't recognize you.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I do.
I remember it very well.
And so do you.
You can't stand there and pretend you don't remember that last trip.
It was unlucky from the start.
That night, outside the Kaffir village.
We were drinking.
But, Sir Richard I don't drink.
Of course you do I've seen you on the ship.
Well, I take a glass of beer occasionally.
And that night we were arguing, and then we got to fighting and I thought I'd killed you.
It was all a mistake.
I didn't want to hurt you.
I thought you were dead.
If you were dead, what would be gained by my giving myself up? Do you understand? I'm sorry, I don't.
Of course, I admit it was wrong of me to, run away and take your money.
Money? You know, what I'm talking about.
It's only L75, and look what I've done with it.
Manufacturing, oil, mining, I've built it into millions.
Of course, there's something else more important.
My family.
I'm married, my wife is a wonderful woman.
And we have a daughter.
Five years ago I got my knighthood.
There's a chance of a peerage in the new year.
Congratulations, Lord Musgrave.
Oh, it's not that, it's not for me, it's for them.
They're counting on it.
Of course, a breath, a word of scandal and it'll be all over.
Of course, the law couldn't do anything to me, it isn't murder, and after all these years, the statute of limitations sets in.
Oh, yes, the statute of limitations.
Exactly.
All you could accomplish would be gossip.
Embarrassing my family.
Well, you wouldn't want to do that, would you? For the sake of a few pounds? Me? Why ask me? Because, you want something.
What is it that you want? What is it? Do you want me to pay you to keep quiet? All right.
I'll pay you.
And I'll set you up in business, any business you want.
Just name it! I'll put you in one of my companies.
Fifty thousand a year as a salary.
What do you think of that? Or a settlement? A complete settlement.
Half a million pounds.
Well, tell me what you think? Tell me.
This is very embarrassing, Sir Richard.
I'm afraid I have very nearly as much money as you.
May I come in? Your daughter? Yeah.
Your wife? Yeah.
On this trip, Sir Richard, I have found myself in the unwanted role of a father confessor.
But No, wait.
This is not only embarrassing to me, but undoubtedly painful to you.
Then why not put an end to this cat and mouse game? Admit who you are and tell me what you want! But I have told you my name is Keyser.
And I don't want anything.
You know, though, I am reminded of a story.
A true one, I understand.
Why I should be reminded of it, I don't know, except that it also deals with the amount of L75.
L75? Yes.
Quite a coincidence.
Would you like to hear the story? This is, uh, supposed to have happened a long time ago in Africa.
I believe I've heard you mention you know Africa quite well, Sir Richard.
Now, this man in the story was a prospector.
What was his name? Oh, what difference does it make? It's just an interesting story.
Now, this prospector had been down on his luck, couldn't get anymore credit, he did manage to scrape up the money for one last final try.
He took a partner, a young Englishman.
They were out two months, no luck.
You know how it goes.
Now, this prospector had just about L75 left and he had to get back to Kimberley with it.
But, why? Why was it so important to keep L75? Did he want to invest it in something? Oh, we'll come to that.
Then, luck, fate, fortune let's call it stepped in.
The prospector, somewhere on his way back lost the L75.
And if he wouldn't have been found by the Kaffirs, he would have lost his life, too.
But then luck seemed to want to make it up to him.
Months later, he made a strike.
Then good investments, he made millions.
So it goes.
But, you still haven't explained why that L75 was so important.
My wife.
Oh, yes, I remember.
I never met her.
But, the L75! Oh, how forgetful of me.
The prospector needed the L75, because his wife needed an operation.
When he lost it, his wife died.
Man overboard! Help me! And so tomorrow, we reach Cape town.
And now, as Captain of the Craigmore Castle, and on behalf of the crew, our officers and all of the passengers, I am honored to present this cup in recognition of a very gallant deed.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.
" so the Bible tells us.
But, there must be a greater love.
That of a man who is prepared to lay down his life for a stranger, to Mr.
A.
J.
Keyser for his outstanding heroism in attempting to save the life of a fellow passenger.
That concludes our show for tonight.
By a stroke of good fortune, I happened to be on board that particular ship.
I caught the whole rescue with my little long focus movie camera.
I got every detail.
I thought the Captain might like the roll of film as a little souvenir.
By the way, building a boat in a bottle, isn't difficult and it's no work at all once you have shrunk the carpenters down to the proper size.
Good night.