Friday, April 4, 2014

Case Study No. 1346: Susan Marsh

tan
2:13
Archival clip.
Tags: ellery
Added: 3 years ago
From: davidgideon
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[scene opens in the library, where the young female librarian is dusting books in the "Electrical Engineering" section, when she hears the door open]
SUSAN MARSH: Who's there?
[the unseen person doesn't answer, but instead knocks some books off of a nearby bookshelf]
SUSAN MARSH: [screaming] Who is it?
[the librarian, terrified due to the recent murders in town, runs back to the front desk and grabs the keys in an attempt to open the backdoor]
BIB HADLEY: [from off camera] What'sa matter, Miss Marsh?
[she suddenly turns, then cut to the large male janitor of the library, as he stands next to the bookshelf with a blank look on his face]
BIB HADLEY: You ain't afraid'a me, are ya?
SUSAN MARSH: [pause] Bib?
[she gets a confused look on her face, then breathes a sigh of relief and places the keys back on the desk]
SUSAN MARSH: What're you doing here? You're not supposed to sweep out in here until tomorrow morning.
BIB HADLEY: Oh. I'm supposed to sweep out Frenchy's place on Friday nights ... but it's closed.
[he starts walking towards her, then gets a disturbing-looking smile on his face]
BIB HADLEY: Ol' Frenchy, they got him layin' out on a slab ... so I just thought I'd come over here, and get a start on things.
SUSAN MARSH: [pause] You're drunk, and I'm gonna work here tonight. Now, you go on home.
BIB HADLEY: Well, I don't care about the work ...
[with an increasing sense of foreboding, the librarian decides to grab her purse and reaches for her coat]
SUSAN MARSH: I told you--
BIB HADLEY: You're a nice girl, Miss Marsh. You talk to me.
SUSAN MARSH: Well, not now, I'm going home ...
[she tries to walk towards the exit, but the janitor follows her]
BIB HADLEY: You talk to me, Miss Marsh. I just gotta talk, I gotta! I can't--
[he stands in front of her]
BIB HADLEY: Sit still and think no longer.
[cut to a closeup of the janitor's face (steeped in shadows)]
BIB HADLEY: I saw 'em both ... The Cooley boy and Frenchy, real close-up. Somebody, somebody's havin' himself a time! Just stood there and swung that big hammer--
[he lifts his arms up as if holding a hammer, as the librarian tries to slowly walk away (but the janitor continues following her with a big smile on his face)]
BIB HADLEY: I used ta do that, Miss Marsh! I used ta work for the farmers, butcherin' ... I-I used to work in the slaughterhouses all over! But it was just animals, Miss Marsh! Just animals!
[she tries to walk in the opposite direction, but he continues to shadow her]
BIB HADLEY: Now-now there's nuthin' wrong with likin' to kill animals, is there?
[she slowly backs up, trying to keep a bookshelf in between them]
SUSAN MARSH: I don't, oh ...
[he looks through a space between the books]
BIB HADLEY: See, the other guys, they said I was wrong because I liked it! They, they used to get me fired everywhere I went, just because I liked it!
[as the librarian is on the verge of hyperventilating with fear, the janitor gives another big smile]
BIB HADLEY: I just like killin' animals ... like to swing that big hammer, and feel 'em go down! Now what's wrong with that?
[he reaches his hand through towards her, so she screams and pushes the books into his face, before running out of the library]

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From imdb.com:

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Season 2, Episode 3
Terror at Northfield (11 Oct. 1963)

A small-town is rocked by a series of murders which begins with the killing of a local farmer's son.

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From hitchcockwiki.com:

When his teenage son Tommy is found murdered in the town of Northfield, John Cooley sets out to avenge the boys death. John is a religious fanatic who believes he is on a mission from God. When he finds a piece of car headlight at the murder scene, he seeks out and kills the car's original owner Frency La Font and an elderly librarian who had some connection to the car. With all the murders, the residents of Northfield are unstandably shaken. They demand that Sheriff Will Pearce solve the case. Unfortunately, Pearce's girlfriend Susan Marsh falls under Cooley's suspicions since she bought the car from La Font. His attempt to kill her, however, is foiled at the last second by the timely arrival of Sheriff Pearce. Pearce explains that La Font murdered Tommy and confessed to it in his last will and testament.

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From alaeditions.org:

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (October 11, 1963, TV series), "Terror at Northfield." A public librarian (Jacqueline Scott as Susan Marsh) becomes concerned when she notices the disappearance of a young boy. She uses a feather duster to tidy up the library books. Flora Sloan (Gertrude Flynn) is an older librarian and Bib Hadley (Peter Whitney) is the library janitor.

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