BOGART AND BACALL TRIBUTE

Part 2: Bold Venture

Written and produced by

John F. Barber

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

Re-Imagined Radio
Season 13, Episode 08

Final draft

BOGART AND BACALL TRIBUTE

Part 2: Bold Venture

Re-Imagined Radio
Season 13, Episode 08
Final Draft

Premier broadcast: August 18, 2025

Written, Produced, Hosted by John F. Barber

Sound design, Music composition, Post-production by Marc Rose

Graphics by Holly Slocum with Evan Leyden

Social Media and Announcing by Rylan Eisenhauer

Synopsis
Re-Imagined Radio presents "Bogart and Bacall Tribute, Part 2" focusing on the radio series Bold Venture. Harry Morgan (Bogart) and Gail "Sailor" Duval (Bacall) are in Havana, Cuba. Their hotel and charter boat attract adventurers and pirates of all stripes. We sample the first two episodes released for this syndicated series. "Bogart and Bacall Tribute, Part 1" focuses on the 1946 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of To Have and Have Not, a 1943 motion picture by Howard Hawks starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. 

Credits
Both episodes of the Bold Venture radio series used in this program are in the Public Domain. Available at Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Bold_Venture_Singles).

Color Code
Yellow highlighted text = sound effect(s), either pre-recorded or created for episode.

MUSIC = pre-recorded

MUSIC = bespoke, created for this episode

COLD OPEN
SFX: SAMPLES FROM BOLD VENTURE
SAILOR
You talk about Havana like it was a woman.
SLATE
Heh-Heh. Do I?
SAILOR
How do you talk about me behind my back?
SLATE
Walk ahead of me and I'll think of something.
MUSIC: THEME MUSIC UP
SERIES NARRATOR
BOOOOLD VENTURE!
MUSIC: MUSIC SWELLS
NARRATOR
Adventure! Intrigue! Mystery! Romance! Starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, together in the sultry setting of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean. BOOOOLD VENTURE!
MUSIC: UP FOR FINAL FLOURISH
THEME AND ANNOUNCER
MUSIC: RIR THEME
ANNOUNCER
Welcome to Re-Imagined Radio, a program about sound-based storytelling. With each episode we explore how dialogue, sound effects, and music can engage your listening imagination and promote storytelling. Here to tell you about THIS episode is John Barber, producer and host.
HOST OPEN
HOST
Thanks Rylan. Hello everyone. Welcome to Re-Imagined Radio and our two-part "Bogart and Bacall Tribute."
Part 1 focuses on the adaptation of the motion picture To Have and Have Not starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall for Lux Radio Theatre in 1946.
In this episode, Part 2, we focus on the syndicated radio adventure series Bold Venture starring Bogart and Bacall.
It's a curtain call of sorts, following their earlier performance. We sample the first two episodes released of Bold Venture.
For more information, and the episode script, visit our website, reimaginedradio dot fm.
Thank you for listening as Re-Imagined Radio presents "Bogart and Bacall Tribute, Part 2: Bold Venture."
MUSIC: FOR TRANSITION. SAMPLE FROM BOLD VENTURE PROGRAM.
HOST
Following their successful motion picture To Have and Have Not, directed by Howard Hawks and released in 1943, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are hounded with pitches for more of the sizzle they brought to their first collaboration.
The pitch from Frederic W. Ziv Company attracts their attention. A syndicated weekly radio series called Bold Venture, building on the framework of Bogart's Casablanca motion picture and To Have and Have Not, Bogart and Bacall's earlier collaboration.
"You just record your lines," Ziv writes, "we'll do the rest."

Source: Ramsburg, Jim. "Bogart and Bacall's Bold Venture." Jim Ramsburg's GOldtime Radio.
http://www.jimramsburg.com/bogart--bacalls-bold-venture-audio.html
HOST
Bogart and Bacall record seventy eight episodes over winter 1950 to 1951 in Hollywood, using their production company, Santana Productions. Morton Fine and David Friedkin, noted for their work on Suspense, Escape, and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, are the writers. Henry Heyward the director. Music by David Rose.
Ziv transcribes and syndicates episodes well into 1952. By then Bogart and Bacall are onto other projects, and they step away from Bold Venture.
To get a sense of the Bold Venture series, let's listen to "Deadly Merchandise," the first released episode, March 26, 1951, starring Humphrey Bogart as Slate Shannon and Lauren Bacall as Gail "Sailor" Duval.
ACT #1, DEADLY MERCHANDISE
MUSIC: UPBEAT SERIES THEME
CROSSFADE TO . . .
SFX: EXTERIOR. NIGHT. CREAKING RIGGINGS AS BOATS LAY TIED TO WHARF IN HAVANA, CUBA.
SLATE SHANNON
All right, sailor, Havana, Cuba, where we started from, where we get off. Out.
SAILOR
How long can you keep it up, Slate?
SLATE
Come on, come on. Off the boat.
SAILOR
I said, how long can you keep it up? You've been sore ever since we left Key West. So we didn't meet him. So we didn't pick up his cargo.
SLATE
Look, sailor, a guy named Scarn sends us a wire. He says, "Meet him in Key West. Move his cargo." I didn't want to go. You wanted to go.
SAILOR
All right, and Mr. Scarn and whatever he wanted us to bring to Havana weren't there. Oh, we had a boat ride to Key West and back. You and me. That's nothing, huh?
SLATE
Come on, sailor. Let's get off the boat. Here, I'll help you.
SAILOR
I don't need any help. What are you angry about? The money we didn't make?
SLATE
No, it was time away from Havana, but I didn't have to be away from her.
SAILOR
You talk about Havana like it was a woman.
SLATE
Heh-Heh. Do I?
SAILOR
How do you talk about me behind my back?
SLATE
Walk ahead of me and I'll think of something.
SFX: CROWD WALLAH
SAILOR
There's your Havana, a cockfight.
SFX: SCREAMS OF FIGHTING COCKS
SLATE
Consider it, Sailor, two birds with steel spurs slashing each other to pieces. Let's pause and cheer.
SAILOR
Come on.
SLATE
All right. Okay, let's go.
SAILOR
You get a bang out of watching that?
SLATE
Well, it gives me a chance to get bitter. Makes me an honest man.
MARIO
Por favor, señor, señorita.
SLATE
Huh?
MARIO
The cockfight disgusts you, eh? Si. Your tastes are too delicate, or perhaps . . .
SAILOR
What's this Slate? A new way to catch the Yankee dollar?
MARIO
Or perhaps the Yankee merchandise?
SLATE
The lady asks you what this is, amigo. Who are you?
MARIO
Permit me to tell you the story of my life. I am a poet.
SAILOR
I guess that's worth a dollar. Give him a dollar, Slate.
SLATE
What are we, patrons of the arts?
MARIO
Permit me to refuse the money. Permit me to return to the matter of the Yankee merchandise you have brought from Key West.
SLATE
This is a man with a problem, Slate.
MARIO
You are the people from the boat, The Bold Venture.
SAILOR
We're the people from the boat, The Bold Venture.
SLATE
Now it rhymes. Nice going, Sailor.
MARIO
Then it is a simple matter. Since you are the people from the boat, it is simple. We will make arrangements for the removal of the merchandise.
SLATE
Now look, Shelly
MARIO
Mario. My name. Permit me. That is my name.
SLATE
Mario, sure. I forgot. My memory's a little shaky.
SAILOR
Mine, too.
SLATE
Hers, too. So we're having a tough time remembering what this is all about. Slower reading, huh?
MARIO
Are you trying to be clever, mi amigo? Or perhaps you have pleasure in tweaking my patience. The merchandise. Permit me, but the merchandise. It is a matter of life and death. When shall we remove it from your boat?
SAILOR
The poet only knows one poem, Slate.
SLATE
Yeah. Wave him goodbye.
SAILOR
A fond farewell, Mario.
MARIO
But it is a matter of . . . You cannot . . . the merchandise . . . It can mean life. It can mean death. You cannot refuse about the merchandise! The merchandise!
MUSIC: FOR TRANSITION
SFX: FOOTSTEPS INTO SHANNON'S PLACE
KING MOSES
(PLAYING GUITAR AND SINGING) If you want to be happy and lead a king's life ♪ ♪ never make the pretty woman your wife. ♪ ♪ Therefore from a logical point of view ♪ ♪ marry a woman uglier than you. ♪ ♪ A pretty woman makes a husband look small ♪ ♪ And then he very often falls his downfall ♪ ♪ Therefore from a logical point of view ♪ ♪ Marry a woman uglier than you ♪ ♪
Oh, Lady Sailor, Mr. Slade, why you come back so soon to King Moses? Because you love me?
SLATE
Why else, King Moses?
KING MOSES
I tell why else. Because on trip to Key West, something sour must have turned more sour.
SLATE
(LAUGHS)
KING MOSES
Am I inevitably correct?
SAILOR
You are inevitably correct, King Moses.
KING MOSES
You come back to make King Moses sloppy with happiness, Mr. Slate. Therefore, order me about.
SLATE
Bring us something to eat, King.
KING MOSES
Oh, an ecstasy, a joy, a frenzy, a kick.
SLATE
Just ahh bring us something to eat.
KING MOSES
Right now, Mr. Slate.
SFX: INTERIOR. PLATES AND FOOD PREP
SAILOR
You really do love him, don't you, Slate?
SLATE
Uh-huh. Like he was my own.
SAILOR
How long does it take for someone to be your own?
SLATE
Ah that depends . . . Ready with the food King.
KING MOSES
Ready. Yours Mr. Slate. Yours Lady Sailor. You talk I smile inside myself. I get my guitar. I got song for you.
SLATE
Sing it King
KING MOSES
A lady approach who wait for Slate ♪ ♪ a lady so handsome no one can hate. ♪ ♪ A lady who in hotel did register. ♪ ♪ A lady who bring joy, maybe despair.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS APPROACH.
BIBI
Perdone, Senor Shannon, but I think perhaps you were looking for me, for Bibi. No, Senor?
SLATE
Oh, I don't know you, but I think perhaps I was looking for you. For BiBi.
SAILOR
Slate!?.
SLATE
I want to explain something to you about the hotel business sailor. I am what is known as a mine host. That comes in two parts. Mine and host. Sit down Bibi.
BIBI
Still you have not answered my question, Senor Shannon. You look for me?
SLATE
I look for a lot of things. Why, particularly for you?
BIBI
Because you are the man who brought his boat into port only a little while ago.
SAILOR
Oh, the lady wants a boat ride. Why don't you try the nearest tunnel of love, Miss Bibi?
BIBI
This is included in the price we must pay for the merchandise?
SAILOR
No, Bibi. I'd throw that in for free.
SLATE
Now, wait a minute. You said merchandise, Bibi. Isn't that what you said?
BIBI
Yes.
SAILOR
Bibi, the gentleman posed a question. Will you answer the gentleman's question?
BIBI
You know very well what it is we want.
SLATE
Sure, sure, but, uh, let's hear it from your own red lips.
BIBI
Huh. Now I understand. It's a matter of more money, huh? Well, we expected it, and we despise you for it. But we will pay it. I have room 6A. I will wait for you there. But give me ten minutes to arrange for more money. When I pay your price, there will be no more delay. Is it final? It is final.
MUSIC: DRAMATIC TRANSITION
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS.
SLATE
Now let's see, 6A, she said.
SAILOR
That's what she said, Slate. That's just what she said.
SLATE
You know, Sailor, I think I can handle this alone. Why don't you wait for me downstairs, huh?
SAILOR
Because I'm afraid of the dark. I cry in it.
SLATE
That's what I thought.
SAILOR
Now you know.
SFX: INTERIOR. SCREAM OF FIGHTING GAMECOCK.
SAILOR
Slate, that noise . . . It's already happened to us once today.
SLATE
Maybe the little lady's a bookie for Gamecock fights.
SFX: INTERIOR. WOMAN SCREAMS.
SLATE
Hey, Let's go!
MUSIC: DRAMATIC TRANSITION
SFX: INTERIOR. DOOR OPENS. FOOTSTEPS ENTER ROOM.
SAILOR
Slate! Look! Look! Her face. Her body.
SLATE
Yeah. Slashed to ribbons, slashed to death by a gamecock.
SAILOR
Slate. Oh, Slate.
SLATE
Now, how do you like Havana, Sailor?
MUSIC: DRAMATIC TRANSITION
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS PACING ON HOTEL FLOOR. DUCK AND CONTINUE UNDER THE FOLLOWING.
KING MOSES
Mr. Slate. Mr. Slate.
SAILOR
Mr. Slate is wearing out his office floor, King Moses. Tell me. I'll tell him.
KING MOSES
The police have made a fair thee well to the front door, Lady Sailor. They are five minutes gone.
SAILOR
Thanks. I'll tell Mr. Slate.
KING MOSES
You want anything I can do for the after-the-police occasion, Lady Sailor? You, Mr. Slate?
SAILOR
No, I'll call if we want anything.
KING MOSES
Might get down me in hammock outside. You open the window and whistle for King Moses, if you want something.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS PACING ON HOTEL FLOOR.
SAILOR
Slate? Slate? What are you trying to build? All right, I don't blame you, Slate. I know, it's hard to believe.
SLATE
What's hard to believe? A beautiful woman killed by a fighting bird, a bird with steel spurs on it . . .
SAILOR
Oh, Slate
SLATE
and in my hotel, a girl locked in a room in my hotel with a bird bred to slash for blood. I don't like cops in my place. Cops are for the tourist trade, not . . .
SAILOR
Is that all that bothers you? The fact that the police were here?
SLATE
What's it to you what bothers me. I didn't ask for your questions. I didn't ask for you.
SLATE
All right Slate, all right.
SLATE
What kind of a jerk am I anyhow? A man tells me to take care of his daughter, so I take care of his daughter. You. What am I? Out of my mind? I don't need you hanging around here, Sailor. I don't need anything about you. I got along great before . . .
SAILOR
Before my father died? What do you want me to do, Slate? Leave?
SLATE
Well . . .
SAILOR
Sit down, Slate. You're sweating.
SLATE
Trick, I know. It's hot, so I sweat.
SAILOR
You want me to fan you? I'll fan you. You like me to fan you, Slate? Like this?
SLATE
Uh-huh. Look at you, the way you're dressed, jeans, the way your hair is. A man has to walk towards you to know you're a woman. Why don't you do something about your hair, Sailor? 
SAILOR
What's the matter with it?
SLATE
Other women with hair like that, they'd . . .
SLATE
With hair like what? Like this? You can touch it, Slade. Touch it. Go ahead. Touch it.
SFX: INTERIOR. KNOCK ON DOOR.
SLATE
Answer the door.
SAILOR
You answer it.
SLATE
Yeah.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS TO DOOR. DOOR OPENS.
MARIO
Permit me.
SLATE
Hey, it's the poet.
SAILOR
Tell him to come in. He can wave the fan.
MARIO
An explanation for the events of this afternoon are in order. Si?
SLATE
Hey, don't make it tough this time, Mario. What are you trying to tell us?
MARIO
A tragedy. The killing of the girl Bibi was a tragedy.
SLATE
What do you know about Bibi?
MARIO
Bibi was the sister of my wife. She . . . Please, what time is it?
SLATE
Hey, look, if you don't . . .
SAILOR
It's almost 2:30, Mario.
MARIO
Gracias. Now, permit me. It is very wrong that Bibi is dead. A wrong that is part of an even greater wrong.
SLATE
So help me . . .
SAILOR
What kind of wrong?
MARIO
Like so. The merchandise you have brought. Those of us on an island you know here in the Caribbean, those of us who wait for the guns.
SLATE
Guns? So that's it. That's the merchandise. Guns.
MARIO
Precisely. Perhaps there is a better way to purchase human dignity, but we do not know it. We need those guns.
SAILOR
And you think we have the guns for your revolution?
MARIO
Of course. Like so. You came with the boat.
SFX: INTERIOR. KNOCK ON DOOR.
MARIO
Permit me. I will answer it. A compatriot I am expecting. He is to meet me here.
SFX: INTERIOR. DOOR OPENS. GUN SHOT.
MARIO
(CRIES OUT) Agh!
SFX: INTERIOR. TWO MORE GUNSHOTS.
MARIO
(CRIES OUT AGAIN) Augh!
SAILOR
Mario! Slate! Help him! He's shot.
SLATE
Yeah. Yeah, shot dead. Like so.
MUSIC: FOR TRANSITION
KING MOSES
♪ ♪ A lady she come to Shannon's Place ♪ ♪ a delicate figure in clothes ablaze. ♪ ♪ Then the lady she died in Shannon's Place ♪ ♪ a gamecock with spurs he slash her face. ♪ ♪ A poet he came to Mr. Slate ♪ ♪ make big apology for being late. He explains his wants to Mr. Slate, but bullied in heart bring him towards his stay. ♪ ♪ Mr. Slate, he turned to Lady Sailor, he says, "You know . . ."
SLATE
That's enough, King.
KING MOSES
Did I call the police again, Mr. Slate?
SLATE
No. Two people die in my place. That makes it personal. I like that poet.
SAILOR
You're not always a real tough man, are you, Slate?
SLATE
I said I like that poet.
SAILOR
And that girl, Bibi?
SLATE
And that girl, Bibi. What about her?
SAILOR
Did you like her, too?
SLATE
She had a problem. She came to me for help. She died.
SAILOR
My father said you'd be a man like that.
SLATE
Why don't you get out of here, Sailor? Why don't you go back to the States? Look at the mess. I'm in it, you're in it. Why don't you leave, Sailor?
SAILOR
You don't know, do you?
KING MOSES
Mr. Slate.
SLATE
Yeah, what do you want, King?
KING MOSES
Here are the dead gentleman's papers from his pocket.
SLATE
Well, let's have a look. Mario Pavana, 64 Avenida Lorca.
SAILOR
We're going calling, huh Slate.
SLATE
When a man like Mario dies, somebody's got to tell somebody, because somebody might want to know.
SAILOR
I would. I'd want to know.
SLATE
Let's go to Avenida Lorca, Sailor.
MUSIC: EXTERIOR. KNOCKING ON DOOR. REPEATS. PAUSE. DOOR OPENS.
CELESTINA
Yes, what is it you want, senor, senorita?
SLATE
Ahh we, uh, we come to . . .
CELESTINA
Is it about Bibi? My sister Bibi? You have come to tell me of her death. It has already been revealed to me.
SLATE
Oh, just a minute, senora.
CELESTINE
I am called Celestine. Will it not be easier for you, so?
SLATE
Yeah, easier. If you're Bibi's sister, then the poet Mario . . . ahh . . . Mario.
CELESTINE
He's my husband, yes. A poet and a husband. I'm fortunate, am I not? You are friends of Mario's?
SLATE
Yes, friends. Um, Sailor, I can't do it. You tell her.
SAILOR
Thanks loads. Uh, Senoria Celestine, uh, your husband . . .
CELESTINE
What?
SAILOR
He . . .
CELESTINE
What is it of my husband? What is it?
SLATE
He's dead. Okay, okay, Sailor. How long can you take to tell a woman her husband's dead?
CELESTINE
He said he was going to the waterfront to write me a verse, a little verse. Who are you? Are you of the police?
SLATE
We're Mario . . . Mario's friends. We want to find his murderer.
CELESTINE
It will not bring him back.
SAILOR
Mario was telling us something before he died about a revolution, about guns.
CELESTINE
Mario was to me a man who loved me, who wrote little verses for me. Of this other Mario that you speak, I know nothing.
SLATE
Who would?
CELESTINE
Signoretta Etienne Parada, maybe. Signoretta Etienne spoke often with Mario, late into the night, while I slept. I would bring them food, and then leave them to talk among men.
SAILOR
Where would we find Senor Etienne?
CELESTINE
He has a villa. 17 Avenida de los Cuarteles. I think there is nothing more for us to say to each other. Adios, friends of Mario.
MUSIC: FOR TRANSITION
BUTLER
Come right in, senor, senorita.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS ON FLOOR.
SLATE
Is your name Etienne?
BUTLER
No, senor. I am the, uh, butler.
SLATE
Where's Etienne?
BUTLER
In the auditorium with the rest of the guests. There is a concert. This way.
MUSIC: PROVOCATIVE, EXPERIMENTAL, JAZZ.
BUTLER
In here. I will leave you . . . adios.
SLATE
Some concert.
SAILOR
That girl, the way she's dancing, Slate. She's wonderful.
SLATE
Yeah, real authentic.
ETIENNE
Am I being rude?
SAILOR
Yes, yes you are. Can't you see that girl's trying to express herself?
ETIENNE
I'm your host. My name is Etienne. Eh, this way please.
SLATE
Yeah, yeah, sure.
ETIENNE
Celestine called. She told me to expect you.
SAILOR
Did she tell you about her husband?
ETIENNE
About Mario? Yes, yes. Did you two kill him?
SLATE
How's your record, Etienne?
ETIENNE
Not flawless, senor. Uh, in here, por favor. This room.
SFX: INTERIOR. DOOR OPENS, QUICKLY CLOSES.
ETIENNE
Pepe!
SLATE
Hey, what is this? Who is this guy?
ETIENNE
These are the ones, Pepe. The man and woman we have been waiting for. Now, senor, you will tell us why have you come to Etienne?
SLATE
Because I don't like my hotel to be loused up with dead bodies. First a girl was killed, then a poet. Would you know why?
ETIENNE
Yes, yes. I would know why.
SLATE
Who are you, Etienne? Why should you know so much?
ETIENNE
It does not embarrass me to say that I am a patriot. You see, Bibi and Mario were revolutionaries. They were killed by our enemies.
SLATE
This we know.
ETIENNE
They were killed to prevent them from taking guns across the Caribbean to our islands. The guns, they thought, were on your boat. We shall proceed without Bibi and Mario.
SAILOR
The man is talking like he's got the guns anyhow, Slate.
ETIENNE
Si, we have them. They came on another boat, not yours.
SLATE
Well, use them in good health. Let's go, Sailor.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS TO DOOR. DOOR OPENS.
ETIENNE
Eh, wait, senor.
SAILOR
I knew it. Peek over your shoulder, Slate.
SLATE
I just did. Question, what's the caliber of the gun Papi has in his hand, a 32 or a 38?
SAILOR
Looks like a 32.
ETIENNE
It's a 38. You will help us, then?
SLATE
Help you do what?
ETIENNE
We have the guns, you have a boat. It's necessary to have both to get the guns to my island.
MUSIC: UP FOR DRAMATIC TENSION. DUCK UNDER THE FOLLOWING.
ETIENNE
Besides, I prefer not to have you roaming the streets of Havana until we have disposed of the weapons.
SLATE
Who wants to roam the streets?
SAILOR
Me, Daddy.
ETIENNE
Et, pour favor, seigneur, move quickly. There is a great need to hurry.
MUSIC: UP FOR EMPHASIS AND TRANSITION.
CROSSFADE TO . . .
SFX: EXTERIOR. OCEAN SIDE. HIGH ON A CLIFF. BIRDS IN BACKGROUND.
ETIENNE
(LAUGHS) You admire the view, senor, eh? This cliff that screams down into the sea or perhaps senor is afraid of such height but the view is magnificent no?
SLATE
The guns are nice too.
ETIENNE
You have exquisite taste senor . . . in guns, in boats and in . . .
SAILOR
In me?
ETIENNE
Precisely senorita.
SAILOR
See how wrong you can be Slate? The man said that you had . . .
SLATE
Get off it, Etienne! What do we play now?
ETIENNE
Oh, no play, senor, I assure you. Hard work. Pepe is below in your boat waiting for the guns. You will see that he gets them. Then you will take us to our destination on your exquisite boat.
SLATE
You mean I'll lug them all away from this cliff down to the boat?
ETIENNE
Eh, not quite so hard, senor. You see, we are prepared. A cargo net, winch . . .
SFX: EXTERIOR. WINCH IS DEMONSTRATED.
ETIENNE
. . . You place the guns in the net then load them to Pepe. Quick, simple.
SAILOR
Like pie. It'll be like pie, won't it, Slate? I'll help.
ETIENNE
No, senorita, no, no. You will simply stand there because you will inspire the senor to magnificent effort. You may begin, senor.
SLATE
What happens when we're through here?
ETIENNE
You will be killed.
SLATE
Ask a silly question.
ETIENNE
But it's so easy for you. You have but to die. Me, I have to commit a murder.
SAILOR
My heart bleeds for you.
ETIENNE
Thank you, senorita. That's enough, senor, for one load. Lower the winch.
SFX: EXTERIOR. WINCH IS LOWERED.
CELESTINE
Aqui, Juan. Aqui.
JUAN
Si.
SFX: EXTERIOR. MULTIPLE GUNSHOTS.
ETIENNE
Ahh, grr, augh.
CELESTINE
(LAUGHING)
SAILOR
We're glad you're happy, Celestine.
SLATE
Yeah, we're glad. Thanks for saving our lives. It was messy, but thanks.
CELESTINE
My heart is filled with kindness for you both.
SLATE
We'll drink to your heart filled with kindness in Havana. Tell your boy to take that gun away, and we'll go.
CELESTINE
You were so kind to come and tell me of my husband's death. I want to do something gracious for you
SAILOR
In Shannon's Place. Do something gracious for us in Shannon's Place.
CELESTINE
I will not permit Juan to kill you. You will die as suicides.
SLATE
I wouldn't have it any other way. Tell us about killing people, Celestine. Were you born that way or did it come on you all of a sudden?
CELESTINE
We tried to make a revolution. You were foolish enough to stumble into it. It is a pity you stumbled into the wrong side.
SLATE
You and Juan here are the right ones.
CELESTINE
You are all alike. Poets, revolutionaries, adventurers. All with the intellect of trained fleas. Bibi, Mario, at the end, Pepe. Oh, yes . . . Pepe is dead also. Juan took care of it.
SAILOR
Bibi was your sister, and Mario . . .
CELESTINE
They were fools! They're happier dead. Now walk. To the edge of the cliff, walk.
SFX: EXTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS ON GRASS.
SLATE
You happy now, sailor? You real happy?
SAILOR
What?
SLATE
You came to Havana, you got what you came for, huh? Excitement, romance, a tropic moon, people killed.
SAILOR
You gone crazy? What are you talking about?
SLATE
What you wanted, isn't it, Sailor? That's why you came to me, because it was empty for a girl like you back there from wherever you came from, real empty.
SAILOR
Why, why you . . .
SLATE
Don't slap me, Sailor, or I'll break you in two.
CELESTINE
No Jaun, no, do not put your hands on him. Leave them alone. Just keep the gun in his back. They will kill each other. (LAUGHS)
SLATE
Sailor, watch it.
SAILOR
You watch it, he's got a gun in your back.
SLATE
Had a gun in my back!
SFX: EXTERIOR. STRUGGLE.
CELESTINE
Juan! Careful, Juan. Careful!
SFX: EXTERIOR. GUN FALLS TO THE GROUND.
SAILOR
The gun!
SLATE
Get it, Sailor. Pick it up. Now you, Celestine.
CELESTINE
You let me go.
SLATE
Don't struggle, Celestine. Relax. Enjoy yourself. I'm a tender guy. I'm taking you back to Havana.
CELESTINE
You take your hands off me. Let me go.
SLATE
Uh-huh, Celestine. I'm holding you real tight till the Havana police take you away from me.
SAILOR
You hold her that tight, she's not going to be in any condition for the police. So what about Juan?
SLATE
Got a gun in your hand, haven't you, Sailor?
SAILOR
Oh, sure. Sorry. I forgot for a moment.
SLATE
Oh, get with it, Sailor. Keep that gun pointed at Juan till we get back to Havana.
SAILOR
Then what?
SLATE
Then Shannon's Place. Better back there. I want you with me.
MUSIC: DANCE MUSIC
SAILOR
How do you like it, Slate?
SLATE
Like what?
SLATE
Dancing with me.
SLATE
Oh, it's all right.
SAILOR
I'm wearing a dress now.
SLATE
Yeah, I noticed . . .
SAILOR
. . . and my hair. Do you like it this way? Do you like my hair this way, Slate?
SLATE
Let's get out of here.
SAILOR
I like it here.
SLATE
Come on, let's go.
SAILOR
Go ahead. I'll find somebody who likes to dance.
SLATE
I said come on.
SAILOR
Why?
SLATE
Well, there's a breeze outside.
SAILOR
What's a breeze got to do with it?
SLATE
I want to see what it does to your hair.
MUSIC: THEME. LONG FADE TO CLOSE
THE FUSEBOX BREAK
HOST
This is John Barber. Before we listen to Act 2, I'd like to tell you about "The Fusebox Show." It's a program for everyone, but not everyone will like it. I believe you will appreciate what the Fusebox crew is doing, and recommend it to you.
Produced by Marc Rose, Milt Kanes, Jeff Pollard, and Regina Carol, each episode features unique conversation and commentary about cock ups in our contemporary culture. Here's a sample.
SFX: THE FUSEBOX SHOW TEASER
HOST
"The Fusebox Show" is also available as podcasts. Learn more at their website, thefuseboxshow dot com.
MUSIC: FUSEBOX THEME, FADE UNDER AND OUT FOR THE FOLLOWING
ACT #2, KUAN YIN STATUE
HOST
You're listening to Re-Imagined Radio. Our episode is "Bogart and Bacall Tribute, Part 2."
We just listened to "Deadly Merchandise," the first released episode of Bold Venture, a syndicated adventure radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
We meet the main characters, Humphrey Bogart as Slate Shannon. Lauren Bacall as Gail "Sailor" Duval. And Jester Hairston as King Moses. We learn about their unique relationships, and get a sense of the series setup. Shannon owns a hotel in Havana, Cuba, Shannon's Place, and a charter boat The Bold Venture. He agrees to take care of a friend's daughter, nicknamed "Sailor," for her ability to pilot boats, after the father's death. Their changing relationship is surrounded by colorful characters, adventurers, and pirates.
Let's listen now to "Kuan Yin Statue" starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, the second released episode from their adventure radio series, Bold Venture.
SFX: EXTERIOR. NIGHT. WIND AT THE WHARF IN HAVANA, CUBA.
SLATE SHANNON
You can't tell much about Havana from a boat tied up at the waterfront, Mi Long, especially at night. But you'll like Havana.
MI LONG
It is a strange place. But to one who has lived her life in China, all other places are strange.
SLATE
It won't be that way for long. There's a little bit of all the other places in Havana.
MI LONG
Mr. Shannon . . .
SLATE
All right, I'll get your suitcase, Mi Long.
MI LONG
Oh, no, that is not it, Mr. Shannon. It is the other thing. Why did Sam Chiu have me brought here to Havana?
SLATE
You mean you don't know?
MI LONG
I know only in Shanghai a letter came to me from Sam Chiu. A letter with money, with instructions. Then a man came with more instructions and took me away from Shanghai. Why, Mr. Shannon?
SLATE
If I'd known you were in Shanghai, I might have brought you here myself.
MI LONG
What manner of man are you, Mr. Shannon?
SLATE
I run a hotel. I own a boat. I meet freighters somewhere in the Caribbean. 'Cause I have a client named Sam Chiu who's in a hurry to see a girl named Mi Long.
SFX: EXTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS APPROACH.
JEFFREY ZENDER
Hello! Anyone aboard?
SLATE
Yeah.
ZENDER
Is your name, Slate Shannon, sir.
SLATE
That's right.
ZENDER
(COMING UP FROM THE DOCK. MICKEY MUMBLES, MAKES UNINTELLIGIBLE SOUNDS UNDERNEATH THE FOLLOWING) Good. Excellent. Come aboard, Mickey. We'll talk to Slate Shannon. How do you do, Mr. Shannon?
SLATE
Say, what is this? What do you guys want on my boat?
ZENDER
Let me hold the gun, Mickey so Mr. Shannon can see it better. Good. You did that very well, Mickey, and you, young lady, how do you do?
MI LONG
Mr. Shannon, who are these men?
SLATE
The lady asked a question.
ZENDER
We're friends of yours, Mr. Shannon, and hers. The closest friends you have in the world. Don't you think so, Mickey? Mickey can't talk. He just agrees with me. Don't you, Mickey? You see what did I tell you.
SLATE
Now that I know who you are, off the boat.
ZENDER
You hear that Mickey? He wants us to get off the boat To pick up the thread of the conversation. Mr. Shannon, what we want is the statue, the Kuan Yin the lady brought with her from China.
SLATE
You know what they're talking about Mi Long.
MI LONG
I have brought nothing from China. A suitcase. That is all I brought from China?
SLATE
Does that end our conversation, close friends of mine?
ZENDER
Mickey and I think the Kuan Yin is on this boat, Mr. Shannon. Don't we think that, Mickey?
SLATE
Well, then ask Mickey where it is.
ZENDER
With my holding a gun on you, you say that?
SLATE
Say, look, now.
ZENDER
Go ahead, Mickey.
SFX: EXTERIOR. SLATE SHANNON STRUCK AND KNOCKED TO THE BOAT DECK.
ZENDER
Well done, Mickey. Easy, easy. There'll be other times, Mickey. Mr. Shannon will not disturb us for quite a while. So, young lady, where is the Kuan Yin?
MI LONG
I do not know what it is you want.
ZENDER
Search the boat, Mickey. Start with the suitcase. Now, let us assume, dear young lady, that the Kuan Yin is not aboard. Where did Mr. Shannon stop this boat and hide it?
MI LONG
Do not touch me with your hand.
ZENDER
It offends you, my dear?
MI LONG
Yes.
SFX: EXTERIOR. MI LONG SLAPS ZENDER.
MI LONG
Yes.
ZENDER
You slapped Zender. You slapped Jeffrey Zender. That's most unfortunate.
SFX: EXTERIOR. GUNSHOT.
MI LONG
(CRIES OUT AS SHE IS SHOT. HER BODY FALLS TO THE BOAT DECK.)
ZENDER
Most unfortunate. I detest killing. Now I'm afraid, dear young lady, your body will be washed up upon some shore and someone will wonder why.
MUSIC: FOR TRANSITION
SAILOR DUVAL
King Moses
KING MOSES
Yes, Lady Sailor?
SAILOR
What's that you're playing?
KING MOSES
Waiting type song. Waiting for Mr. Shannon type song. You admire? King Moses will have melody written in stone so it never dies.
SAILOR
Thanks. How long have you known Slate?
KING MOSES
Longer than you. Longer than anybody, anywhere.
SAILOR
How long?
KING MOSES
Since many years. In Port-au-Prince, I see man walking on waterfront, a man. I sing song. He asks my name. I ask his. We attach ourselves each to the other.
SAILOR
And it's been good?
KING MOSES
With Mr. Slate Shannon, it's the better than anything.
SAILOR
That's how it is, King Moses.
MUSIC: KING MOSES BEGINS A NEW, CHINESE INFLUENCED MELODY
SAILOR
What's that kind of music for? Chinese girls Slate's bringing back?
KING MOSES
No, Lady Sailor. We're about to be honored with the celestial presence of Mr. Sam Chiu.
SAILOR
It looks like he's just stepped out of a Chinese finger painting. Looking for me, Sam?
SAM CHIU
Oh, Princess, your exquisite face brings tears of delight to the unworthy eyes of Sam Chu.
SAILOR
Hi, Sam.
SAM
I bow to the fragrance of your beauty, Miss Gail Duval. Your presence lends enchantment to Shannon's Place. Where is Mr. Shannon?
SAILOR
He hasn't come back yet.
SAM
Mr. Shannon told me he would have my cargo here at precisely this hour. In a matter of this nature, Mr. Shannon has been a man of the precise second.
SAILOR
Oh, don't worry about it, Sam. But what is the nature of this matter? Slate never told me.
SAM
It is a matter of bringing a girl from Shanghai.
SAILOR
Oh, this I already know. But does your wife know?
SAM
Unfortunately, I am not blessed with a wife. However, of the girl from Shanghai . . . she brings with her, the fabulous Kuan Yin.
SAILOR
Kuan Yin?
SAM
A statue, an idol.
SAILOR
That's more important than a girl from Shanghai?
SAM
Far more. Kuan Yin is a goddess, priceless, wondrous. I have made a girl suffer the ravages of a journey from China, the terrors of clandestine flight to bring Kuan Yin to me. When Mr. Shannon returns, have him bring the Kuan Yin and the girl to me immediately, to the house of Sam Chiu. Thus, I end the delight of your presence.
SAILOR
Likewise, I'm sure. Bye, Sam. King Moses?
KING MOSES
Yes, Lady Sailor.
SAILOR
That waiting for Mr. Slate Shannon song. Play it some more.
KING MOSES
All right, Lady Sailor.
SAILOR
Uh-uh. That doesn't do it.
KING MOSES
You go to dock to wait for boat. To see what that does, Lady Sailor.
SAILOR
To see what that does, King Moses.
MUSIC: FOR TRANSITION
SLATE
Uh . . .
SAILOR
Lie still, Slate. Won't hurt so much if you lie still, your head in my lap.
SLATE
He was good, wasn't he? He went over me real good.
SAILOR
Who?
SLATE
A man who was owned by another man who owned a gun. He . . . Ahh.
SAILOR
I told you it would hurt if you tried to move. If you want anything, I'll get it for you. All you have to do is touch my hand.
SLATE
You know about pain, huh, sailor?
SAILOR
Not like yours. Other kinds I know about.
SLATE
Like what?
SAILOR
If I ever tell you, throw me away. What happened to you, Slate? Why did somebody try to make you over?
SLATE
They thought we had something called the Kuan Yin, me and the girl.
SAILOR
Where is she?
SAILOR
There's no one else on the boat.
SLATE
Sailor, they'll . . . wherever they've got her, they'll . . .
SAILOR
Don't think about it. They've bruised your mouth.
SLATE
Give me a day and I'll have it like new.
SAILOR
There's another remedy, Slate.
SLATE
Ehh . . . Wasn't bad. Remind me to get some.
SAILOR
I'll remind you.
SLATE
Help me up.
SAILOR
You must be out of your mind.
SLATE
When am I going to get another chance like this?
SLATE
Help me up.
SFX: EXTERIOR. SLATE STANDS WITH EFFORT, AND HELP.
SLATE
Ahh  . . . Thanks.
SAILOR
You're welcome. Good-bye, Slate. Ask for me at Shannon's Place. Maybe I'll be there.
SLATE
Come back here. You're crazy, like your father.
SAILOR
My father was crazy to will me to you when he died? What else could he have done with me?
SLATE
He could have turned you over to decent people, to safe people. People who don't get beaten up, who go on Sunday picnics, walk in a park.
SAILOR
Hmm. You're stuck with me, Slate. You hate it? You didn't answer me. Do you hate it?
SLATE
I'll think about it.
SAILOR
Come on. Put your arm around my shoulder and I'll take you back to the hotel.
SLATE
Uh-uh. We call on Sam Chiu.
SAILOR
But, Slate, you're hurt. You can't go.
SLATE
We call on Sam Chiu. Tell him I messed up his mission, and to ask him why I did.
SAILOR
Anything you want, Slate.
SLATE
To ask him why he hired me to pick up Mi Long. Why she disappeared. Why a man beat me up for a statue I didn't have.
SAILOR
I can steer a fine course to the house of Sam Chiu. Just keep the arm around my shoulder.
SFX: EXTERIOR. DOORBELL. THEN, DOOR OPENS.
TAMAR
You have come about Sam Chiu?
SLATE
That's right.
TAMAR
Both of you?
SAILOR
The two of us.
TAMAR
That is strange.
SLATE
Where is Sam?
TAMAR
Please come in.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS INTO HOUSE
TAMAR
Your face has been hurt.
SAILOR
His face has been hurt. But he still wants to see Sam Chiu.
TAMAR
You may call me Tamar.
SLATE
Slate Shannon. This is Sailor . . .
SAILOR
Miss Duval.
TAMAR
You are strangers to the house of Chiu?
SLATE
I've never been here before. I know Sam pretty well. He never mentions . . .
TAMAR
Me? There is no reason why he should. I am in his employ because of my knowledge of antiques.
SAILOR
What about your knowledge of a girl named Mi Long?
TAMAR
Mi Long? A Chinese girl?
SLATE
Girl I picked up from a freighter and brought to Havana. A girl who's disappeared.
TAMAR
On the radio as I was driving here to Sam Chiu's, I heard of a Chinese girl.
SLATE
And what about her?
TAMAR
Only that she was found in Havana Harbor, freshly dead from a bullet wound. Could this be your Mi Long?
SAILOR
I got a feeling this could be our Mi Long, Slate.
SLATE
Yeah . . . take us to Sam Chiu.
TAMAR
You must understand when I returned here a half hour ago, I disturbed my employer not at all.
SAILOR
This is a lady with a message Slate. Do you get the message?
SLATE
No, I don't.
TAMAR
Then you are not of the police. I called them.
SLATE
(SURPRISED) Police!?
TAMAR
Please.
SFX: INTERIOR. DOOR OPENS. FOOTSTEPS ON FLOOR.
TAMAR
In this room. There. There on the floor.
SLATE
Sam.
SAILOR
I know what. You're going to tell us he's dead, aren't you, Tamar?
TAMAR
Precisely.
MUSIC: BEGINS TO SNEAK IN BEHIND.
TAMAR
If you can bear to look, there is a silk cord about his throat. Isn't that unfortunate, Miss Duval?
MUSIC: TRANSITIONS TO CHINESE MUSIC
SLATE
Quite a sight, huh, sailor?
SAILOR
I've never seen a Chinese funeral before. Sam Chiu and Mi Long.
SLATE
Sam Chiu and Mi Long. It's one of the toughest things I ever had to do, Sailor, identifying Mi Long.
SAILOR
She was that lovely?
SLATE
That lovely. Light some more firecrackers, Sailor.
SFX: INTERIOR. FIRECRACKERS EXPLODE.
SLATE
Firecrackers to keep away whatever spirit she wants kept away. Money thrown in her coffin to pay her way into whatever paradise she wants.
SAILOR
A paradise that's watched over by Kuan Yin?
SLATE
Yeah. What's there about a Chinese goddess? What's there about a statue that makes people dead? Sailor? Sailor!
SAILOR
Look at 'er.
SLATE
Yeah. Tamar. Tamar in a Mandarin robe like . . .
SAILOR
Go ahead say it, Slate. I'll agree with you.
SLATE
Like an enchanted princess. I'll see you, Sailor.
SAILOR
Where are you going?
SLATE
To join the funeral. Get a princess to tell me a story.
SAILOR
Slate! Hey, wait for me! Slate!
ZENDER
(COMING UP) A fascinating and pathetic spectacle, don't you think?
SAILOR
What? That's right. Fascinating and pathetic. Who are you?
ZENDER
If you don't mind, I'm Jeffrey Zender.
SAILOR
I don't mind, that's your problem.
ZENDER
And you're Miss Duval.
SAILOR
And I'm Miss Duval. How did you know?
ZENDER
Merely because the late Sam Chiu pointed you out to me one day at Shannon's Place and I have never forgotten.
SAILOR
Oh? You knew Sam Chiu?
ZENDER
Quite intimately. He was my business associate. Would you care to join me in my own private manner of expressing grief over Sam's death?
SAILOR
All right. Yes, I would.
ZENDER
Sam's shop is just a few doors down.
SAILOR
I'd like to see how you grieve when a friend dies, Mr. Zender.
SFX: FOOTSTEPS.
ZENDER
I noticed . . . it was difficult for Mr. Shannon to tear his eyes away from the lovely and exotic Tamar.
SAILOR
Do you know her?
ZENDER
Only slightly. Here we are.
SFX: INTERIOR. DOOR OPENS. BELL ON DOOR RINGS AS DOOR OPENS, AND THEN CLOSES.
SAILOR
This place looks as if Sam collected all the loot in China.
ZENDER
Spurious loot. It's all fake. Will you sit down?
SAILOR
Thanks. Now, grieve, Mr. Zender. I want to watch.
ZENDER
These statuettes you see on the shelves, all plaster. Mass-produced for the tourist trade. In all this rubbish, nothing so delicate or so desirable as a Kuan Yin.
SAILOR
Tell me more about this Kuan Yin, Mr. Zender.
ZENDER
About it? About it is that it's worth perhaps a quarter of a million dollars.
SAILOR
Oh, and there's nothing so delicate and desirable . . . as a quarter of a million dollars, is there?
ZENDER
Quite. What is your theory as to where the Kuan Yin is?
SAILOR
Why should I have a theory?
ZENDER
I'll tell you why. A Chinese girl sails half around the world with a fabulous idol. Mr. Shannon is to deliver her to Sam Chiu. She's killed. But suddenly, she doesn't have the idol. Why doesn't she have it?
SAILOR
How do you know all this?
ZENDER
For a reason. I killed the girl from China.
SAILOR
I see.
ZENDER
Of course you do not see. Else you would tell me where the Kuan Yin is. Where is it?
SAILOR
I don't know.
ZENDER
Will you tell me, Miss Duval?
SAILOR
I can't tell you. I don't know.
ZENDER
As you wish it.
SFX: INTERIOR. ZENDER RISES FROM CHAIR, WALKS ACROSS FLOOR TO DOOR, OPENS IT, AND CALLS OUT.
ZENDER
Mickey. Mickey, come in here.
SFX: INTERIOR. MICKEY ENTERS. MUTTERING. HIS FOOTSTEPS SOUND ON THE FLOOR.
ZENDER
Ask her where the Kuan Yin is, Mickey. Be gentle, but firm.
MUSIC: FOR TRANSITION
TAMAR
I knew you would come back to me, Slate Shannon.
SLATE
And we both knew it, didn't we, Tamar?
TAMAR
I saw you when you were watching the funeral procession. It was a very long funeral, and all the time your eyes were on me, as they are now. You find me desirable?
SLATE
An understatement, Tamar. Guy wants a lot of things. Some of the best, uh, are marked "Don't Touch."
TAMAR
I am not fragile, Slate. I will not break. You may touch me.
SLATE
Anything you say.
TAMAR
You see, I am not an illusion. Here, I will show you.
SLATE
Yeah. I see what you mean.
TAMAR
It is said the goddess Kuan Yin could kiss a wound and make it vanish. The image of her is believed to be just as miraculous by some. It is a pity she has been lost, is it not?
SLATE
Yeah. Maybe if Kuan Yin weren't so miraculous the girl I picked up at sea, Mi Long, would still be alive, and Sam too. This Kuan Yin, does it kiss away dying tomorrow?
TAMAR
If you gave her to me, you gave me the Kuan Yin.
SLATE
What makes you think I've got it?
TAMAR
Because a man like you, it would have been simple to steal from Mi Long.
SLATE
It would have been, but I didn't think of it. Also, she didn't have it. Now it's your turn again.
TAMAR
I don't believe you! I don't believe . . .
SLATE
Besides the miracles, how much will the Kuan Yin bring in Yankee dollars tomorrow?
SLATE
The Kuan Yin image is a symbol of the tears of Mother China. Your having her is a desecration!
SLATE
Oh, where did all the gentle go Tamar? Look, if I had the Kuan Yin maybe I'd give it to you. That would make us pals again, wouldn't it? You and me and . . . and Mother China.
TAMAR
Get out. Get out of this house. Your presence is insulting to the memory of the dead.
SLATE
Yeah. Yeah, we almost forgot about that, didn't we, Tamar?
TAMAR
Get out!
SLATE
All right. Some other time, huh?
MUSIC: FOR TRANSITION
KING MOSES
Mr. Shannon, he'd taken his boat on ride ♪ ♪ Two fellas on deck, in shadows they hide ♪ ♪ No beefsteak or lotion can't start to erase ♪ ♪ The bruises they bump on Mr. Shannon's face. ♪♪ Mr. Shannon, he was . . .
SLATE
What time is it, King?
KING MOSES
Miss Sailor is not back for five hours already.
SLATE
I didn't ask you that.
KING MOSES
No, you didn't ask me that.
SLATE
Where could she be for five hours?
KING MOSES
In Havana. In five hours, in this Havana, you'll get borned again. And live again.
SLATE
Ah, she's . . . She's never been away from me this long, as long as she's been here.
KING MOSES
Lucky fellow, you, Mr. Slate. So beautiful is Miss Sailor. She . . . Look, Mr. Slate.
SLATE
Yeah, I see him.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
SLATE
You want something, Chico?
CHICO
Por favor, yo quiero, Senor Shannon?
SLATE
My name's Shannon.
CHICO
Bueno, un hombre . . . A man. He say to come here to this place and find Senor Shannon.
SLATE
All right, all right. What man? What did he want?
CHICO
No sabe what, man. He say go to here, this place, and tell Senor Shannon like this: Kuan Yin.
SLATE
Kuan Yin?
CHICO
Si, si, Kuan Yin. He say also bring it. He say bring it to shop of Sam Chiu. He say senorita Duval . . .
SLATE
What did he say about the senorita?
CHICO
Nada. The senorita will be there, that is all.
SLATE
What man told you all this, Chico?
CHICO
I do not know.
SLATE
What man? What man told you this?
CHICO
I do not know. I do not know. I swear it by my mother. I do not, senor. Un hombre on the street, he tell me to . . .
SLATE
Okay. Okay. You did all right, Chico.
SFX: EXTERIOR. RATTLING AND SHAKING OF LOCKED DOOR
SLATE
Open up! Open up!
ZENDER
Mr. Shannon.
SLATE
Where is she? Where's Miss Duval?
ZENDER
Come in. Come in. You're very prompt, Mr. Shannon.
SLATE
I asked you something. I asked you, "Where is she?"
ZENDER
Ask politely, Mr. Shannon. This gun at your stomach says, "Ask politely." Come. Miss Duval is in the back room.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS ON SHOP'S FLOOR.
ZENDER
Through this litter of Sam Chiu's vulgar tourist art. Through beaded curtains.
SFX: INTERIOR. BEADED CURTAINS PULLED ASIDE. FOOTSTEPS CONTINUE
ZENDER
Also vulgar. Miss Duval. Mr. Shannon.
SFX: INTERIOR. FOOTSTEPS STOP.
SLATE
You all right?
SAILOR
Just untie me Slate. These ropes keep doing things to my wrists.
SLATE
Umm . . . They're bleeding. They're . . .
SAILOR
No comments. Just untie me.
SLATE
Sure.
ZENDER
Not quite so fast, Mr. Shannon. Not quite. You forget two things. One, this ugly little beast in my hand. Two, the exquisite Kuan Yin.
SLATE
Oh, we barter, huh? I give you the Kuan Yin, you give me Miss Duval.
ZENDER
Precisely.
SAILOR
The man strikes a hard bargain, Slate.
SLATE
Yeah, yeah, I remember. He's got a hammer named Mickey.
ZENDER
Mickey will trouble no one anymore.
SLATE
Oh, he'll be washed up on the beach like Mi Long.
ZENDER
Exactly. As flotsam or as a jetsam?
SAILOR
Jetsam.
ZENDER
I never can remember the difference. And now, Mr. Shannon, now that we've touched gloves, the Kuan Yin, please.
SLATE
Now, you, uh, you just don't understand how it's gonna be. First I release Miss Duval. Then I take her home. Then you get the Kuan Yin.
ZENDER
You didn't bring it with you?
SLATE
I left it at the hotel.
ZENDER
Why, I . . .
SAILOR
No, you won't. You kill Slate, no Kuan Yin. You hurt a hair on my head, no Kuan Yin. Isn't that how it is, Slate, if he hurts a hair on my head?
SLATE
Maybe you need time to think it out, huh, Zender?
ZENDER
Tamar and I have waited this long. We will wait an hour longer.
SLATE
Oh, you and Tamar. Who wound the silk around Sam Chiu's throat, Zender? You? Tamar? I only asked because it was so professional.
TAMAR
Thank you. I did. It was necessary, so I did.
SLATE
Sure, sure. Just as a matter of curiosity, how much is the Kuan Yin worth?
SAILOR
Quarter of a million dollars.
SLATE
(WHISTLES) Hey, you come expensive Sailor. Real expensive. Almost as expensive as . . . as this.
ZENDER
Fool! Take your hands off me. I'll kill you. I'll kill you.
SLATE
Try me.
SFX: INTERIOR. FIGHT NOISES. A GUNSHOT.
ZENDER
Araghh!
SFX: INTERIOR. ZENDER'S BODY FALLS, BREAKING SEVERAL PLASTER STATUES.
SAILOR
Now you can untie me, Slate.
SLATE
Yeah.
SAILOR
You did good.
SLATE
Yeah. Let's go, Sailor.
SAILOR
Wait a minute. Look, over there in the corner, a shining statue, like something lighted inside.
SLATE
Hey, What do you know? It's the Kuan Yin.
SAILOR
Kuan Yin. It's beautiful.
SLATE
Oh, leave it alone, sailor. It's beautiful, and it killed Sam Chiu. Leave it alone.
SAILOR
Must have been here all the time.
SLATE
The oldest trick in the world. Sam has something valuable, so he covered it with something cheap. Plaster. Like all these other phony plaster statues. If it hadn't fallen off the shelf during the fight, it would have been lost forever.
SAILOR
Then the whole business . . . the girl from China, all of it . . . a little Chinese play staged by Sam Chu . . . to trick whoever else wanted the Kuan Yin.
SLATE
Leave it there, sailor. Let's go.
SAILOR
To Tamar?
SLATE
To Shannon's Place. The cops can have Tamar and the Kuan Yin.
SAILOR
You sure you don't want to go see Tamar?
SLATE
To Shannon's Place. You coming, Sailor?
MUSIC: CODA
CROSS FADE TO . . .
SFX: BOAT MOTOR RUNNING SLOWLY
SAILOR
Take the wheel, Slate.
SLATE
All right.
SAILOR
I like this. Night. Moon. Trade winds. Boat.
SLATE
You ought to like it. This boat cost me a lot of money.
SAILOR
I paid half, remember?
SLATE
Yeah, yeah, that's what I said. You, you paid half. Take the wheel, Sailor.
SAILOR
What's the matter with you?
SLATE
I'm in pain. My mouth hurts. Take the wheel.
SAILOR
All right. It's bad, huh?
SLATE
Awful.
SAILOR
Take the wheel.
SLATE
All right.
SAILOR
Slate.
SLATE
Yeah, sailor? (PAUSE) Hey! Hey, who's got the wheel?
SAILOR
Be still, Slate. What can we run into in the middle of the Gulf Stream?
MUSIC: SERIES THEME TO CLOSE
HOST
That was "Kuan Yin Statue," the second episode released for the syndicated radio adventure series, Bold Venture starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. I invite you to continue listening to this radio series as the adventure, mystery, and intrigue continues to grow and develop, along with the interaction between Bogart and Bacall.
THE RIR BREAK
MUSIC: RIR THEME FOR BREAK
HOST
You're listening to Re-Imagined Radio, a program about sound-based storytelling. Each episode explores how Voice, Music, and Sound Effects can engage your listening imagination and promote storytelling.
SFX: RE-IMAGINED RADIO AUDIO TRAILER
HOST
More information is available at our website--reimaginedradio DOT fm.
MUSIC: RIR THEME, ESTABLISH, THEN DUCK UNDER THE FOLLOWING
HOST CREDITS
HOST
This is Re-Imagined Radio. Our episode is "Bogart and Bacall Tribute, Part 2." Our focus is the adventure radio series Bold Venture, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. We listened to the first two released episodes from this syndicated series, "Deadly Merchandise" and "Kuan Yin Statue."
Support for Re-Imagined Radio comes from KXRW-FM (Vancouver, Washington), KXRY-FM (Portland, Oregon), KMWV-FM (Salem, Oregon), and the Electronic Literature Lab at Washington State University Vancouver.
Visit our website, reimaginedradio DOT FM, where we keep information about all our episodes, as well as lots of interesting EXTRA information about radio storytelling.
Re-Imagined Radio podcasts are available from many distribution platforms. Subscribe and never miss an episode.
Original music composition, sound design, and post-production by Marc Rose.
Graphic design by Holly Slocum and Evan Leyden.
Announcing and social media by Rylan Eisenhauer.
Follow Re-Imagined Radio on social media -- Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, Blue Sky, LinkedIn -- and especially our YouTube channel . . . at sign reimaginedradio.
Re-Imagined Radio acknowledges the debt we owe to previous and contemporary radio artists and we hope our curation and stewardship of their artifacts and efforts demonstrates our sincerity.
This is John Barber. Thank you for listening.
MUSIC: RIR THEME UP, THEN DUCK UNDER THE FOLLOWING
ANNOUNCER CLOSE
ANNOUNCER
This is a production of Re-Imagined Radio. To learn more, visit our website, reimaginedradio (all one word, no punctuation) DOT fm. 
Please join us for another episode of Re-Imagined Radio as we continue our exploration of sound-based storytelling.
MUSIC: RIR THEME UP, AND TO END.