The Unexpected Episode 123: The Necklace Date: Dec 12 1948

The Unexpected
Episode #138: The Necklace
Dec 12 1948


CAST:
HOST
MARIE
JEANNETTE
PHILIPPE

SOUND: BIG REVERBERATING CLAP OF THUNDER! HOST: Betty Lou Gerson and Gerald Mohr in-- SOUND: CLAP OF THUNDER! HOST: (ON FILTER) The Unexpected! SOUND: A FINAL CLAP OF THUNDER SLOWLY SUBSIDES ... THEN OUT MARIE: (QUIETLY GRIM) I'll always remember that party. The music, the sparkling chandeliers, the swishing gowns, and bright uniforms. And the circle of diamonds glowing around my throat. On that night, I met -- the unexpected. SOUND: CLAP OF THUNDER ... THEN THUNDER RUMBLES OMINOUSLY IN BG-- HOST: (QUIETLY) The unexpected -- a secret future, a hidden destiny waiting for you. Where? When? Who knows? Tomorrow? Today? An hour from now? Perhaps in just a moment, you, too, will meet -- SOUND: CLAP OF THUNDER! HOST: (ON FILTER) The Unexpected! SOUND: A FINAL CLAP OF THUNDER SLOWLY SUBSIDES ... THEN OUT HOST: Before our story, here's a word from our announcer. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] HOST: Ladies and gentlemen, the producers of THE UNEXPECTED are honored to bring you a special broadcast starring the distinguished radio personalities Miss Betty Lou Gerson as Marie, and Mr. Gerald Mohr as Philippe, in a radio adaptation of the greatest story of the unexpected ever written, Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace." SOUND: VINTAGE CITY TRAFFIC ... HORSE-DRAWN VEHICLES RUMBLE ... OCCASIONAL SQUEAKY HORNS ... AND OTHER STREET NOISE ... IN BG-- HOST: Paris, before the turn of the century. A gay, light-hearted Paris, filled with the scent of chestnut blossoms, the whispers of secret lovers, the laughter of children. A younger city, unaccustomed to the bitterness of tears. Along the Champs-Élysées, smartly dressed women promenade like birds of paradise, nodding to each other, chattering, lifting their long skirts away from the dusty cobblestones. But leaning against a lantern post, a small, bent woman in a shabby homespun dress presents a dreary contrast to this colorful scene. She sighs-- MARIE: (SIGHS WEARILY) HOST: --runs a work-worn hand across her eyes, and then, smiling suddenly, steps forward to accost one of the gilded passers-by. MARIE: Jeannette? Jeannette, wait a moment. JEANNETTE: I'm sorry, madame. I think you must have the wrong-- MARIE: (INTERRUPTS) Aren't you Jeannette Forestier? JEANNETTE: Why, yes. Yes, I am. MARIE: I was sure of it. How odd that we should meet today. You're still quite as lovely as you were ten years ago. JEANNETTE: (PUZZLED) But, madame, you are--? MARIE: Marie Loisel. Don't you remember? JEANNETTE: Marie? Oh, no, it's impossible. Why, you've changed so. MARIE: It's been ten years, Jeannette. JEANNETTE: But you were so young and so beautiful. I simply can't believe-- MARIE: (INTERRUPTS) Ten years is a long time for some people. JEANNETTE: Oh, my dear. What has happened? Is Philippe--? MARIE: He's quite well. JEANNETTE: Then--? MARIE: I can tell you now. It's all over and I can tell you. These ten years I've hidden in doorways when you passed, so that you wouldn't see me, so that you wouldn't know. But now it's over and I can share my secret. JEANNETTE: But what has this to do with me? MARIE: Jeannette, since our last meeting I have grown old and tired and ugly because of you. JEANNETTE: What? MARIE: You and your horrible necklace. JEANNETTE: (EXHALES) I don't know what you're talking about. MARIE: Remember that afternoon ten years ago when I came to your house on the Avenue Paix there and begged a favor. Such a very simple favor. Remember, Jeannette? Remember--? SOUND: SCENE FADES OUT ... TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... SCENE FADES IN ... JEANNETTE AND MARIE ARE NOW TEN YEARS YOUNGER-- JEANNETTE: (MERRY LAUGHTER) No, but of course you can have anything of mine you like, Marie. My jewels are there on the dressing table. Just take your choice. MARIE: (BRISK, LIGHTLY) I suppose I should feel guilty borrowing from you, Jeannette, but I don't; not a bit. I shall try to convince myself the stones are really mine, and that Philippe and I are rich at last, and the ball is being given for us. JEANNETTE: Foolish child. Honestly, you act as though you hadn't a sou to your name. MARIE: Well, we haven't. That is, not compared to you. Oh, we make out well enough on Philippe's salary, but when I look at your house, and your wardrobe, and your jewels-- In fact, I'll tell you a secret, Jeannette. If it weren't for the ball this evening, I wouldn't even have a new dress for the season. I told Philippe I wouldn't go unless he gave me money for some clothes. JEANNETTE: (AMUSED, LIGHTLY) Blackmailer. MARIE: Well, what else can a young wife do? Oh, Jeannette, this is a lovely pin. JEANNETTE: Take it. MARIE: No. No, I don't think it quite suits my gown. Perhaps the pearl bracelet would be better. (CHUCKLES) I don't know. (SOUND: OPENS JEWEL CASE...PICKS UP A NECKLACE) What's this? Oh, how exquisite. How lovely. JEANNETTE: (AMUSED) Do you really think so? MARIE: Well, of course. It's the most beautiful diamond necklace I've ever seen. JEANNETTE: (GRANDLY) Well, then it's all settled. You shall wear the necklace at the minister's ball. MARIE: (OVERCOME WITH JOY) Oh, Jeannette! Jeannette, you're the most wonderful friend! How could I ever--? Oh, darling, I'll never forget what you've done for me! I swear, I'll never forget it. SOUND: SCENE FADES OUT ... TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... SCENE FADES IN MARIE: (NARRATES, TEN YEARS OLDER AND SADDER) So I wore the necklace to the ball, Jeannette, and I had a wonderful night. Philippe and I danced till dawn and fell in love all over again. And then we walked home just as morning was poking gray fingers through the glistening streets, and the sun was painting the river with fire. My heart was still dancing as I flung my cloak on the chair, seized my mirror, and pirouetted with it in my hand, and then-- SOUND: OF MARIE'S STEPS AS SHE PIROUETTES DURING ABOVE ... THEN DROPS THE GLASS MIRROR MARIE: (QUIET EXCLAMATION, THEN QUIETLY) Philippe? PHILIPPE: Yes, darling? MARIE: It's gone. The necklace is gone. PHILIPPE: What are you talking about? MARIE: (PANICKED) I've lost Jeannette's necklace! Can't you understand? I've lost the necklace! PHILIPPE: Nonsense. You had it when we left the party. I remember. MARIE: Then where is it now?! Where?! Where?! PHILIPPE: Why, er-- Perhaps in the folds of your cloak. MARIE: No. No, it isn't there! PHILIPPE: Well then, in your dress. Or in the hallway. MARIE: Quickly, Philippe. Look in the hallway, quickly! SOUND: PHILIPPE'S STEPS AWAY BEHIND-- PHILIPPE: (MOVING OFF) Don't get excited, Marie. It's bound to be about somewhere. MARIE: It's not in my dress, Philippe, or in my bag! I have lost it! I know I've lost it! PHILIPPE: (OFF) I don't see anything out here. SOUND: PHILIPPE'S STEPS APPROACH BEHIND-- PHILIPPE: (APPROACHES) Don't worry, Marie, I'll go back over the street. You must have dropped it as we came home. MARIE: (RAPIDLY, DESPERATELY) Yes, yes, Philippe, you'll find it. You must find it. You must. I couldn't tell Jeannette her diamonds are lost. What would we do? Philippe, hurry! Hurry, find the necklace! SOUND: TRANSITIONAL PAUSE ... THE CLOCK QUIETLY CHIMES FOUR ... THEN CONTINUES TICKING IN BG-- MARIE: (NARRATES, OLD AND WEARY AGAIN) The clock was striking four as Philippe left. He said he'd be back in half an hour and told me to go to bed. But I couldn't rest. I sat in the stiff-back chair listening to the loud ticking of the seconds. SOUND: TICKING ... UP LOUDER TO FILL A PAUSE ... THEN IN BG-- MARIE: (NARRATES) At first, I was hopeful. Philippe would find the necklace. In a few minutes, he'd be standing by my side, smiling with the diamonds glittering in his hand. But then, as the hours passed, my hopes died one by one, and I began to die a little with them. Paris was so big, and the necklace was so small and so very precious. SOUND: TICKING ... UP LOUDER TO FILL A PAUSE ... THEN IN BG-- MARIE: (NARRATES) It was nearly ten in the morning when Philippe returned. His eyes were red and sleepless, and there were dark shadows underneath them. He moved slowly, painfully. Already, in one night, he was older. SOUND: TICKING FADES OUT ... PHILIPPE'S SLOW STEPS APPROACH MARIE: You didn't find it? PHILIPPE: No. No, not yet. I've been to the police, advertised in the papers. By tomorrow we should know something. MARIE: What will I tell Jeannette? PHILIPPE: (BITTERLY) Anything! The clasp was broken, you sent it to be repaired, anything at all. Just so we have a few days' time. MARIE: (NARRATES) The days that followed were made up of endless searching hours, but still the necklace was missing. By the end of the week I knew it was never going to be found. But then one evening, Philippe hurried up the stairs and into the apartment. SOUND: PHILIPPE'S HURRIED STEPS UP STAIRS ... APARTMENT DOOR OPENS ... STEPS INTO APARTMENT PHILIPPE: (GRIM) Marie? (NO ANSWER) Marie, where are you? MARIE: (APPROACHES) What's happened, Philippe? PHILIPPE: I found a necklace. MARIE: (ASTONISHED) How? Where, Philippe?! Tell me, where?! PHILIPPE: In a shop at the Palais-Royal. MARIE: (REALIZES) Oh, you mean you found another necklace like the one I lost? PHILIPPE: Of course. It's exactly the same. Here. Give it to your friend. MARIE: Philippe, how much did it cost? How can we afford to pay--? PHILIPPE: 35,000 francs? MARIE: (EXCLAIMS UNHAPPILY) Ohhh-- PHILIPPE: I gave the shopkeeper the 18,000 my father left me. The rest I borrowed here, there. MARIE: Darling, we'll never be able to return the money! We'll never be able to get out of debt! PHILIPPE: (SNAPS ANGRILY) Do we have any choice?! MARIE: I-- I guess not. PHILIPPE: (QUIETLY GRIM) Then here, take these wretched jewels to Jeannette. Pray that she won't be able to tell the difference, that she'll never know. SOUND: TRANSITIONAL PAUSE MARIE: (NARRATES) And you didn't know, did you, Jeannette? I brought you the black leather jewel case and trembled as you opened it, but you only glanced at the clasp that supposedly had been repaired, and chided me for taking so long to return it. SOUND: VINTAGE CITY TRAFFIC BACKGROUND FADES IN ... CONTINUES IN BG-- MARIE: After that day, Jeannette, I learned what it means to be really poor. Philippe had given notes, committed himself far beyond his income. He'd mortgaged our lives. We gave up our apartment, took a shabby room in an attic. I learned to cook and sew and carry garbage down six flights of stairs. Philippe worked day and night, bookkeeping, copying papers, anything to raise a few franc. And I, too, added to the family income, doing washing -- even your silks, Jeannette. And still we were poor and hungry and cold. You can have no idea, Jeannette, how much we hated you. But now, today, it's all over! It's all over! And I'm old and coarse and shabby. JEANNETTE: And Philippe? MARIE: Philippe? His hair is white and his eyes are tired. Always his eyes are tired. JEANNETTE: (SIGHS) Oh, my poor darling-- MARIE: No! No, don't pity me. It doesn't matter. Not any more. Because this very day, the debt has been paid in full. Principal interest, accumulated interest, all of it! All of it! Our lives belong to us again. And we're free at last from the curse of that horrible necklace. SOUND: BIG REVERBERATING CLAP OF THUNDER! HOST: You think the story is over, don't you? But wait. Wait for-- SOUND: CLAP OF THUNDER! HOST: (ON FILTER) The Unexpected! SOUND: REVERBERATING THUNDER SLOWLY SUBSIDES ... THEN OUT HOST: But now here again is our announcer. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] HOST: And now Betty Lou Gerson as Marie and Gerald Mohr as Philippe in the surprising conclusion to Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace," a drama of the unexpected. SOUND: VINTAGE CITY TRAFFIC BACKGROUND FADES IN ... CONTINUES IN BG-- MARIE: This very day the debt has been paid in full -- principal interest, accumulated interest, all of it, all of it! Our lives belong to us again. And we're free from the curse of that horrible necklace. JEANNETTE: (WITH GREAT SYMPATHY) Marie-- Oh, my poor Marie. How can I tell you? The necklace that you borrowed that evening-- The one you worked for ten years to replace-- It - it wasn't made of diamonds, Marie. My necklace was practically worthless; it was only paste. SOUND: CLAP OF THUNDER ... THEN THUNDER RUMBLES OMINOUSLY IN BG-- HOST: You have been listening to "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. It starred Betty Lou Gerson as Marie, Gerald Mohr as Philippe, and featured Eda Reiss Merin as Jeannette. It was adapted for radio by Robert Libott and Frank Burt, and directed by Frank K. Danzig. THE UNEXPECTED is produced by Alvin C. Gershenson. Now this is Hal Sawyer inviting you to listen again soon when another of your favorite stars meets-- SOUND: BIG REVERBERATING CLAP OF THUNDER! HOST: (ON FILTER) The Unexpected! SOUND: THUNDER FADES OUT HOST: THE UNEXPECTED is a Hamilton-Whitney production transcribed in Hollywood.