310608 - Room 20

Recording status:  Recorded, not available for circulation



Screen shot from: http://www.helenahistory.org

The Broadwater Hotel near Helena, Montana (the state capital) was built and operated by a man named Charles Broadwater (1840-1892). Among other business interests, he was also the president of the Montana Central Railroad, the operation of which was pivotal to the construction of the Great Northern Railway through Montana. But back to the hotel for a moment.

The Broadwater Hotel complex included what was once known as a “natatorium.” Actually, I suppose the term is still used, but not as frequently as it once was. The Broadwater Natatorium boasted a pool covering 100 by 300 feet, dropping to 12 feet at its deepest. The pool was fed by natural hot springs as well as cool mountain spring water, all piped in from their sources through redwood pipes. Soaking in natural hot springs such as the waters feeding into the Broadwater Natatorium was a popular fad during Victorian times, and Charles Broadwater hoped to capitalize on that popularity to draw wealthy tourists to his establishment. However, the operation never did enjoy commercial success. The hotel took about a year to construct (1888-1889), and since Broadwater himself passed away only a couple of years later, the success of the facility was practically doomed from the start.

Screen shot from: http://www.helenahistory.org

In 1935, an earthquake (or possibly a series of earthquakes) caused significant damage to the Natatorium, which was then leveled in 1946. The hotel itself went through a series of episodes when it was effectively mothballed or at other times abortive attempts were made to run it at a profit, but lodging services were finally ceased in 1941.

And why this impromptu history lesson about a tourist facility that did not enjoy long-term success, and which no longer exists? Well, guess where “Room 20” was located? In the Broadwater Hotel, of course!

Here is the principal content of the press release issued for this broadcast:

            “Room 20,” a mystery comedy-drama, with its locale in a famous old hotel near Helena, the Monte Carlo of the gold-rush days and gathering place of gamblers, dandies and the newly rich, will be presented by Empire Builders Monday evening, June 8.

            Benny Plot, amateur detective, and his bride, Margie, clear the name of an uncle who was involved in a tragedy in “Room 20” back in the nineties, but only after a harrowing experience.

            The Old Timer, played by Harvey Hays, Don Ameche as Benny Plot and Lucille Husting as Margie carry the principal roles.

            The story was written for Empire Builders by Edward Hale Bierstadt.

            Following “Room 20,” the Great Northern will bring its three-year run of dramatic broadcasts to a close with “The Silk Special”, a thrilling railway story on June 15, and “The Seal of the Great Spirit,” a story of the early west, on June 22.

The continuity for this broadcast consistently refers to Benny as “Benny Plop,” rather than “Benny Plot.” Either way, it was an odd name.

Following the customary musical opening and effects of a speeding train, announcer Ted Pearson came to the microphone to provide the program’s opening credits.

ANNOUNCER:          You will hear a tale tonight of Montana … Montana, the Treasure State, in whose veins run gold and silver and all precious metals … in whose crown gleam glaciers and white-headed mountain peaks … whose eyes are turquoise lakes and happy valleys … a mountain-girded land where the Indians roamed, and men fought for gold in the days of old. Beyond the Gates of the Mountains – so named by Lewis and Clark – lies Helena, city of gold, where once the streets echoed to the tramp of the hob-nailed boots of bearded miners …. Where nuggets of good red gold rattled on rude counters … where men wrested Fortune from the rock earth and lived and died in the hard way of the Old West! Come with us now, and hear a tale of mystery and romance and sudden adventure … out where the western wind sings of the unforgotten days of treasure and heroic men …..

Another musical bridge faded out, and the radio listeners heard the Old Timer chuckling as he exclaimed “Yes siree, I’m telling you right here and now there’s a bath-tub here in this Broadwater Hotel that cost more than ten thousand dollars!”

As the scene unfolded, listeners were introduced to the Plops – Benny and his bride of only a week, Margie. They asked the Old Timer to skip the formality of “mister and missus” and call them by their first names. Also in the company of this trio was a female doctor, Ethelberta Arabella Martin – understandably, she preferred to be addressed as “Doctor Martin.”

The Old Timer provided a little background to the playlet by reviewing the activities of the group leading up to their present locale, visiting the Broadwater Hotel.

PIONEER:      Now, just look around you, folks. This mornin’ we went all over Helena, the capital city of the sovereign State of Montana, and I reckon we saw all there was to see there. Helena started in as a boom town; Last Chance Gulch, they called it, back in the gold rush days, just like so many cities out in this part of the country; but today it’s settled down to steady progress and development.

The Old Timer claimed that when the Great Northern Railway hired a contractor to build the railroad’s depot in Helena, part of the compensation was to let the contractor keep the dirt he dug up. Said the Old Timer, “He was well satisfied – there was enough gold there to pay him well!”

It would be interesting to find out if there was any truth to that story. It’s possible.

The topic of conversation soon switched back to the Broadwater Hotel. Margie giggled with mild embarrassment as she began to explain that Benny had decided he was onto a mystery. Benny announced that he was a detective: "went and got me a book and a badge. Cost me a quarter of a dollar.” He also had himself a “clue.”

Benny’s enthusiasm for amateur detective work was momentarily ignored as the Old Timer went on about the hotel and the man who built it, Colonel Charles Broadwater.

DOC. M:         Who was this Colonel Broadwater, if I may ask?

PIONEER:      Who was Colonel Broadwater? Well, he was considerable of a man, Doctor. Came out here to Montana back in ’63. Founded the Montana National Bank, and built the Montana Central Railway that’s now a part of the Great Northern. And, as I was sayin’, he built this hotel. It was a good thing in those days. The ground was just crawlin’ with millionaires who’d made their money overnight almost.

Benny muttered again about having a “clue,” but the Old Timer continued the history lesson.

PIONEER:      So the Colonel put up this hotel, with its ten thousand dollar bath-tub with inlays of gold, and solid silver chandeliers – look at that one just over head here – and …

DOC. M:         The queer thing is that with all the money that’s been lavished on the place it’s still in excellent taste.

PIONEER:      Well, someone had taste. Maybe ‘twas the Colonel. Dogged if I know. But, with it all, look at it now, closed and empty; cold and ghostly. A part of the past that has never found its grave.

MARGIE:       O-o-o-o-o-o!  You make me shiver. Benny! Take off that mustache!

BENNY:         I’m in disguise. Somethin’s goin’ to happen.

Moments later, an electric bell rang three times. The group was mystified as to where it came from, until the Old Timer stepped over to the unattended registration desk and declared the bell was buzzed by Room 20. (Cue the creepy, foreboding music) The Old Timer assured the good doctor that the hotel was completely empty, with the exception of the four of them. But Benny jumped on the revelation that the bell came from Room 20. His wife picked up on it too. They were both preoccupied with something mysterious about Room 20, something they both were clued into before they even set foot inside the Broadwater Hotel.

PIONEER:      Now, see here, you two young folks, it seems to me you’ve got some explainin’ to do. I don’t aim to be hit in the leg by a ghost, not at my age, an’ not if I can help it.

BENNY:         I reckon it ain’t no ghost.

PIONEER:      Here you’ve been makin’ sort of side remarks, and puttin’ on disguises an’ what not till it seems to me that maybe you can tell me more about this hotel than I can tell you.

The good doctor weighed in, too. She said she did not believe in ghosts, but certainly someone rang that bell from what was presumed to be an empty room. Margie decided it was time to come clean and explain what she and Benny were onto.

MARGIE:       Well, anyhow, I’ll tell what I know – and it isn’t much. You see, back home, before our time, my uncle, Maxwell Benton – they called him Max – was in love with a girl named Alice, and – and Alice didn’t love him at all, and – and she married another man, and his name was – what was it, Benny?

BENNY:         His name was Tom Norton.

MARGIE:       Oh yes, Tom Norton, and – and after they were married they came out here to this very same hotel on their honeymoon, and – and Uncle Max didn’t know they were coming so he was here too. And somethin’ happened in room twenty that’s never been explained.

BENNY:         I guess there wasn’t any good detectives in those days.

Margie went on to explain how she and Benny decided it was a good idea to come out to the Broadwater Hotel on their own honeymoon and try to investigate the mystery of Room 20. Doc Martin began to protest that Margie and Benny still had not revealed what this big “clue” was all about, but her comments were interrupted by a new but equally mysterious noise – the faint sound of an old fashioned waltz from a far off room of the hotel.

People all across the country who were tuned into Empire Builders next heard something that I have to believe was somewhat novel, if not cutting edge, in this radio broadcast in June of 1931. The present-day voices of the Old Timer and his entourage – who suddenly heard waltz music somewhere off in the hotel – all faded into the background as the music came up and new voices were heard – voices of people who were there in the same hotel nearly forty years earlier. Pretty spooky.

Those new voices belonged to Max – Uncle Max – and a woman named Mrs. Parr. Max commented on how nice it was to come to the Broadwater for the evening, after a busy day in Helena, to take in a plunge in the Natatorium and then enjoy the music and dancing. Mrs. Parr said to Max, “I don’t suppose you saw anything of our bride and groom?” Max was perplexed – he had no idea who Mrs. Parr was talking about. The bride and groom, of course, turned out to be Alice and Tom. Max was not exactly pleased to learn they were also at the Broadwater that evening. The honeymooning couple was then spotted checking in at the registration desk.

Max greeted Tom and Alice and proceeded to offer a slightly awkward explanation of the fact that he just moments before discovered the pair were at the Broadwater. Max didn’t want the two of them thinking he showed up there with full awareness that the newlyweds were honeymooning at the lavish hotel, as though he was stalking them or something. Tom cheerfully responded with a “not at all, my boy” or words to that effect, and even invited Max to join them in a few minutes for a drink, up in their hotel room. Room 20.

Ten minutes later, Max was knocking on their door. Tom and Alice cordially invited Max inside, and they popped open a bottle of champagne to share. Tom decided to clear the air with his erstwhile rival.

NORTON:       Listen to me, Max. I know how you feel about Alice, and I respect you for it. Why shouldn’t I? I feel the same way. And it wasn’t even a question of the best man winning, because I’m not saying that I am the best man, but …

MAX:              But Alice loves you.

ALICE:           Yes – I love him, Max, and I’ve married him, but – can’t we still be friends?

MAX:              I – think we can – if – you both want to. God knows I’ll try.

ALICE:           Then let’s drink our toast now! Pour it out, Tom dear. There! To our friendship – forever!

NORTON:       Forever!

There now, see? We’re all fast friends, and there’s no hard feelings at’all. Group hug! (ah, no, actually… that would be a bit much)

Now that all that jilted-lover-loses-out-to-the-other-suitor business was cleared up, Max excused himself, but not before Alice invited him to join them later for dinner. Max agreed. Still seems a bit awkward to me, allowing himself to be a fifth-wheel on their honeymoon. But then, what kind of story would that get us?

NORTON:       He’s a darned good sport, and he takes it well, doesn’t he, dear?

ALICE:           Yes, I knew he would. And you were an angel, Tommy. But you’re that anyway. Br-r-r-r, this room is cold!

NORTON:       Well, that’s easily settled. There’s a heater in every room in the hotel, and I’ll just light this one up and take the chill off the room … There you are, honey. In five minutes you’ll be as warm as toast.

ALICE:           Well then, in five minutes I’ll start unpacking. Until then, Tommy dear, sit with me on the sofa and tell me that you love me.

NORTON:       Of course I love you!

Oh, my. I wonder how many mothers instinctively reached over and covered the eyes of their little ones in the room. And then suddenly switched to covering their ears.

Well, as I’ve pointed out before, this was a family show. Alice suddenly muttered that she was unexpectedly sleepy. Very sleepy. So was Tom …

With a little transitional music, the radio scene shifted to the hotel lobby. Max once more bumped into the woman he spoke with early, Mrs. Parr. He explained that he was all dressed up because he was meeting the Norton’s for dinner. Mrs. Parr seemed a tad skeptical that Benton was on such friendly terms with Alice and Tom, his erstwhile rival (virile young men did not routinely become pals with erstwhile rivals, you know). Max sternly asserted that they were indeed fast friends, all three of them. Oddly, the continuity has Max referring to the couple as the “Daly’s,” but the audio clearly remains consistent with the name Norton. I suppose an early draft had Tom and Alice as the Daly’s, but then perhaps it was decided this might be interpreted as a reference to Marcus Daly, the real-life Montana “Copper King.” Still, it’s a little odd that the continuity was typed up deliberately with the names Norton and Daly being interchanged in the span of only a couple lines of dialog. Oh well.

The idle chit-chat between Max and the woman in the lobby was suddenly interrupted by a terrified scream. It was a hotel chambermaid. The manager rushed to her and tried to get her to calm down, admonishing her not to make such a fuss in the presence of all those guests.

The maid breathlessly tried to explain why she was so beside herself. She said that when the Norton’s (or the “Daly’s” – I swear, the continuity keeps bouncing back and forth between those names from one line of dialogue to the next) failed to respond to her knocking, she assumed they had left the room and that she could enter and tidy up for them. Upon entering the room, however, she discovered Mr. and Mrs. Daly (or Norton… sigh), just sitting there on the sofa, with their arms around one another. Just sitting there. Staring into space. Unresponsive.

The misogynistic hotel manager dismissed the maid as “just a fool girl with the jumps” and directed her to go to her room and lie down. When Max offered that someone had better zip up to the Norton’s room, the manager asked Max to accompany him. “And you too, Mrs. Parr. A woman may be useful – if she can keep her head.” Yes, indeed… sounds pretty sketchy. Let’s hope Mrs. Parr has a strong constitution. For a woman. Geesh.

Max Benton, Mrs. Parr, and the hotel manager all rushed to Room 20, where they did in fact discover a most ghastly scene. The Norton’s (or Daly’s, or whoever-the-heck they were) just sat there on the sofa, cold as ice and dead as a door nail. The manager, noticing no evidence of blood or other physical trauma, immediately set upon poison as the likely instrument of death. And he spotted the champagne bottle at the same instant. Max explained that the three of them had shared the champagne not an hour earlier.

Mrs. Parr questioned Max about his story – “are you sure that you were friends, Max?” she quizzed. The last man standing suddenly found himself the object of great suspicion. Defensively, he protested “My God, you don’t mean…”

WOMAN:       It doesn’t matter what I mean. It isn’t my job. But I’m afraid, Max, that you’ll have some explaining to do. You – you weren’t by any chance a rejected suitor, were you – Max?

MANAGER:   Did you know that they were coming here to the Broadwater, Mr. Benton?

MAX:              You’re both crazy! And you’ve no right to ask me questions anyhow! No! I didn’t even know the Norton’s were coming to Montana. And – yes, I was a rejected suitor, if that’s any good to you. But – I tell you – we were friends. Why, good Lord, I was waiting to go in to dinner with them.

WOMAN:       I know – that’s what you said.

The manager told Max Benton he had better keep to his room until the sheriff arrived. With that, the Great Northern orchestra came in again with a little transitional music, and the scene shifted to that of a courtroom and the rapping of the judge’s gavel.

JUDGE:          Gentlemen of the jury, as the presiding justice in this court it falls to my lot to give you your final instructions. Yesterday afternoon I summed up the evidence for you. There is little left for me to say. The deceased, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Norton, were found seated on the sofa in their room, number twenty, in the Broadwater Hotel. They had been dead about an hour. The autopsy showed minute but distinct traces of cyanide in both bodies. The prosecution has shown that the accused, Maxwell Benton, was the last person to see them alive…

Another musical bridge conveyed the listeners to the judge’s announcement of Benton’s guilt – and his punishment for this heinous crime.

JUDGE:          Maxwell Benton, you have been found guilty of murder in the first degree. In that verdict I heartily concur. It therefore becomes my duty according to law to sentence you to be taken from here to the State’s Prison, and there to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead. And may God have mercy on your soul.

MAX:              On my honor and in the sight of Almighty God I am innocent!

JUDGE:          It is too late. Take the prisoner away.

A babble of voices and more transitional music segued the scene back to the Old Timer in the present day.

PIONEER:      Well, sufferin’ goldfish, do you mean to say that really happened?

MARGIE:       I only wish I didn’t mean it.

DOC. M:         Was – was the sentence of the court carried out?

MARGIE:       No, as a matter of fact, it wasn’t. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment because, after all, there was some doubt.

But this was no existence for Max, either. In complete despair and disgrace, Maxwell Benton killed himself in prison. But Margie and Benny still carried his banner. They never for one minute believed Uncle Max was guilty, and they came out to the old Broadwater Hotel to prove his innocence. Once more, Benny piped in with the fact that he had a clue to follow, too.

Without revealing what this “clue” was all about, Margie and Benny persisted in their resolve to go to Room 20 and discover just what happened there. Despite the fact that forty years had passed, and many other guests and hotel staff had been in and out of the room many times, Margie and Benny seemed certain they could deduce the truth. What with Benny’s having become a “detective” and all, it appeared the real solution to the case was only moments from being revealed. Dr. Martin and the Old Timer agreed to wait downstairs in the lobby while Margie and Benny ran up to Room 20 to conduct their investigation.

Once in the chilly room, the two discovered a sofa, which they wondered aloud might have been the very sofa where Tom and Alice were found in death. Benny noted “there’s the gas heater right in front of it. Like settin’ in front of a fire place.” Margie asked what they ought to do next. Benny helpfully offered they should replicate the actions of Tom and Alice. He lit up the heater, and the two took their seats on the sofa.

As they sat there contemplating the fate of the dead newlyweds, Margie asked Benny what could possibly happen, as they were just sitting there together in an otherwise empty room – alone.

Benny reminded her that they all heard a bell from Room 20 ring down at the lobby desk. Margie was a bit startled by this reminder, but commented how drowsy she felt. Benny, too, was suddenly very sleepy. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep his eyes open. As consciousness began to wane, he feebly tried to reach the bell to summon help… but instead he collapsed with a thud on the floor.

Nevertheless, Dr. Martin and the Old Timer noticed the sound of the bell dinging incessantly at the lobby desk – the bell for Room 20 (turns out Benny did manage to reach the bell after all). They quickly summed up the dire nature of the situation and raced up to the room. Inside, they found Benny and Margie slumped over, unconscious but alive. The Old Timer had to break a window in the room – it had been nailed shut.

As fresh air breezed in through the broken window, Benny and Margie came to. Benny had discovered the answer to the deadly mystery.

BENNY:         Don’t you folks see that a long time ago someone has put these two bricks in this flue to cut down the draught? Well – what’s happened is that the soot has collected behind those bricks, and every once in so often when the gas fire was lighted – puff! – out comes a cloud of this here carbon mon – carbon mon …

DOC. M:         Carbon monoxide gas. Yes, that would happen, and I dare say it did. One good puff of that in the face of anyone sitting right in front of it on the sofa would certainly do for them all right – unless help got here in time.

MARGIE:       So – then! That’s what really happened to the Nortons! And poor Uncle Max –!

BENNY:         That’s what happened. I knew I’d find out!

The Old Timer prompted Benny to spill the beans and explain his deductions. Benny began by explaining the importance of recreating the scene of the crime, which involved he and Margie sitting on the sofa and lighting the heater. Doctor Martin helpfully added that this nearly resulted in the two of them acquiring a harp and a halo. Meanwhile, the Old Timer was still a little confused – the autopsies indicated cyanide poisoning, which still had him puzzled.

PIONEER:      But listen – so far as what happened before goes, how about the cyanide that was found in the bodies?

DOC. M:         That’s easy. The mistake’s been made before. There’s a certain amount of natural cyanide in every living body, and when the analyst found that – he was off. Remember that was years ago. No chemist would be so easily fooled today.

PIONEER:      Well half-sole my liver! Can you beat that!

As for the deduction of a choked flue producing carbon monoxide – Benny offered that he had read about just such a situation that occurred in West Virginia in 1910. “We detectives, we got to know them things!”

PIONEER:      Well, horn-swoggle my dumplins! But, Benny, what in time did you want to put on all those fool disguises for? What good did they do?

BENNY:         Well – they fooled you didn’t they – huh?

PIONEER:      Child – have mercy on a poor old man!

DOC. M:         What I want to know is – what made that bell ring from this room when we were all together down stairs? Tell me that!

BENNY:         I can’t.

MARGIE:       Maybe – maybe there’s some things it’s just as well not to know.

DOC. M:         It may have been a short circuit.

PIONEER:      And it may have been –

BENNY:         Uncle Max!

            (MUSIC IN QUICKLY AND FADE FOR ANNOUNCEMENT)

At this point, nearly three minutes remained in the thirty minute broadcast slot. The time was filled with a conversation between announcer Ted Pearson and the Old Timer. Pearson said that story gave him the creeps. He asked the Old Timer if that was a true story. The Old Timer chuckled a moment and then answered, “Well, Ted, listen – one day two or three years ago I was out there t’ Helena. A party of us went out to see the old Broadwater Hotel – you know, it’s quite a showplace.” The Old Timer claimed that, just like in his story, he was standing with the others in the deserted lobby, and a bell mysteriously began to ring at the front desk.

Ted Pearson switched gears and reminded listeners about the Old Timer’s upcoming “all-expense, personally-escorted 10-day vacation trip” through Glacier Park, set to commence on July 1^st. Pearson even offered that the Old Timer could still include a few more in his party. If any listeners wanted to participate, Pearson urged them to “write or wire” the Great Northern Railway right away.

 

Pearson closed the broadcast by informing listeners that Harvey Hays once again played the Old Timer; Margie was played by Lucille Husting; Benny was Tom Moore; and Max was Don Ameche. This is the first time I have ever heard the name of Tom Moore in association with Empire Builders – I hope to learn something about him.

 

Until next time, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!