Original subtitles

So how does it feel to be a free man, huh? I tell you, if you ever hear about

cashing in, you just make sure they cremate me.

And I mean that.

What's the matter?

Don't you like the good earth?

Where's the gear?

In the truck.

Come on.

Oh, Paula, this is Bill Hollis and Jerry Spin.

Hi.

Help me there.

Come on, let's go. Let's go.

Now what?

Take him out of Florida.

No, wait a minute. He doesn't know what he's got here yet.

Just hang tight.

Good evening, officer.

See your driver's license, please.

Look, officer, I'm sorry, but I... I knew it. I told you so.

You leave it home one time and you're asked for it a hundred times.

See you, officer. Get out. Keep your hands away from your sides.

But, officer...

Shooting a duck in a pond.

Shouldn't we hide the body or hide the car or something? No, there was no time.

He was on the radio. Come on.

A Quinn Martin production.

Starring Ephraim Zimbalist Jr.

Also starring Philip Abbott.

William Reynolds.

With guest stars Edward Binns, Joanna Moore,

Scott Marlowe, Charles Aidman.

Tonight's episode, The Tunnel.

The discovery of the body of Sheriff Sergeant Joseph Houston was quickly

to the escape of three inmates from the hospital ward of the nearby state prison

at Western Bend.

Within hours, reports had reached FBI headquarters in Washington that two of

fugitives had been seen in Denver, a third in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and state

authorities requested FBI assistance under the unlawful flight statute.

What was Spain doing in the hospital?

Surely he wasn't assigned there, too.

Any progress? Several sightings, sir.

Nothing definite.

All right, I can be there by 2 o 'clock.

In the meantime, ask the prison for the names and addresses of everyone who

visited the three men during the past, let's say, 12 months.

All right, thanks very much.

I spoke to the warden. He said the tunnel was 70 feet long.

That's quite an engineering accomplishment.

Bill Hollis' work.

He was a sapper during the war and a coal miner before that.

Peace seems to avoid him, so he took to robbing security vaults.

There's usually a tunneling operation somewhere in the M .O.

Waring. That's a familiar name.

And top ten fugitive. Seven years ago, bank robbery.

What have you got on Spain?

Nobody seems to know why he was included.

He's a borderline psychopath.

Hollis and Waring were working in the hospital. Spain was just there for

psychiatric observation.

I'll start a file review on all three.

Forward you the current addresses of friends and relatives as soon as we come

with them.

You might as well call your friend Pike from the airport and we can grab a cab

and go over to his office.

Well, don't you want to wait for the girl? She said her flight would be in

five. I'd sit around down there for an hour.

She waited two years for you. You couldn't wait for 60 minutes.

Nobody twisted her arm, man.

I mean, I told her to get lost when I took this last fall. Who needs it?

Well, we would have had a long walk without that car, Gene.

Come on, Billy, quit it, huh?

I could have asked a half a dozen others.

All right.

We'll wait for... Listen, what about Spain?

There's only one connecting flight from Cheyenne.

If he made it, he'll meet us at the KBL counter. If he didn't, we'll meet him at

Kennedy tomorrow.

Why?

No, no reason.

Okay, okay. So he's a little strange. A little strange.

All right, but he's got a strong back, and that's what's important. We've got a

very big job ahead of us.

Billy, Pike wants a tunnel built.

That's why he wants you.

He needed me to help get you out.

But I don't under... I mean, what does he want Spain for?

Billy, this digging bit is no pleasure for me as far as I'm concerned. I mean,

under the best circumstances.

I made a deal with you, and I made a deal with Pike, and I'll stick to it.

But I want to tell you that I would be happy... All right, let me put it this

way. I would be much happier if I didn't have to have some maniac breathing down

my neck while I'm crawling around under several hundred tons of earth or rock or

whatever, right?

These last few weeks really got to you, didn't they, Gene?

To me?

Come on, man, you're the oddball, not me.

I mean, you're the one that's sitting down there, happy in a mold, just

digging away.

What's wrong with that?

What makes a kid happy than digging in the earth, exploring caves?

All right, all right. I may be in my second childhood, but I'm not off my

rocker. Which brings us back to Spain.

You trying to tell me something?

No.

Gene, did you make a call at the airport?

Be honest with yourself, huh?

Wouldn't it be a load off your mind, too, if they picked him up?

All I did was to tip a guy I know that he was in Cheyenne.

He's got a gun.

He's not going to let the Fritz pick him up. All right, let's say they do.

What can he tell him?

He doesn't know any of the particulars.

Well, one of the three of us is a little off.

There's no doubt about that.

They started their vertical shaft in the broom closet.

They went down for a little over six feet and headed due west.

They used everything from wire splints to orange traits for shoring.

That's really a remarkable job.

How long have they known each other, Wood?

Well, Hollis asked for the infirmary position about four months ago, and

had been there for about a year at the time.

And Spain?

Spain came in last week.

The job is almost finished.

He was a very unpopular prisoner.

I don't think they'd have taken him along unless he had stumbled on what

were doing and threatened to blow the whistle.

So Hollis seems to be the key figure here. You say he applied for the

job? Uh -huh.

Well, he had the tunneling experience.

Oh, yes, you wanted the names of the visitors these men had had.

It's not a very thick one.

They all had the usual contacts with their attorneys, but only Waring had any

personal visits.

Paula Gilbert, six visits.

All right, Warden, thanks very much.

Hello?

Excuse me.

Vern Woodson, Cheyenne.

Yes, Vern.

Inspector, we've been scouting Cheyenne for Spain ever since the tip came in.

We finally found him in a bar on Y Street.

Is he alone?

Yes, sir, so far.

I have agents covering all the entrances.

All right, I can be there in half an hour.

If he tries to leave before then, pick him up.

Otherwise, wait for me.

Yes, sir.

Hey, Ray.

Ray, how are you? How is it true?

Oh, fast.

Listen, I don't know whether to trust those jets or not. The last plane I was

had propellers.

Oh, Ray Pike, this is Paul Gilbert and Gene Waring.

Mr. Gilbert, I already know.

Oh, is that right?

Oh, Gene, I told you about him. He got me the car and the clothes.

That sounds very suspicious to me.

Listen, Pike, maybe you can help us out.

My girl's going to need a place to stay. You know, something special, huh?

Certainly. Oh, no, no, don't bother.

No, I already have a room lined up.

It's a motel room on the Jersey side.

Right.

I'll call you when I get set up.

I'll see you.

Which motel?

The Victoria, Newark.

Keep the change.

Oh, no, please.

Would you please let me be the host?

Thank you.

Nice girls.

Yeah, sure.

They're all nice girls.

Hey, listen, should we get off the street?

Where's your other friend?

I don't know.

He was at the airport. He might have got holed up.

I rented a storeroom in the basement.

Oh, boy, this is charming.

Yeah, well, don't knock it. It's not easy to find space in New York these

It's a must to find this little gem.

How about that view?

Oh, terrific.

That justifies the cost of the place all by itself.

What's your impression, Billy?

Is that the bank over there?

First trust and savings in New York City.

Beautiful, beautiful.

Listen, I'll need drawings of the vault.

Oh, God, it's the original layout.

It was built in 1923, and there's some changes since then. I think we can solve

the problems when we come to them. What's the alley span to the inch?

23 feet 6.

This is a city utility plant. All the electrical conduits in the area are

lines. You are kidding, I hope.

Man, you're working for a paper here that is 45 years old. You want to go

an alley that's in constant use?

The noise stops at 6 o 'clock Friday and it's just another cement canyon until

Monday morning.

Now, I figure that we work tonight.

Now, tomorrow's Friday. We rest during the business day.

And that gives us all weekend almost 70 possible working hours until Monday

morning. And we've never finished.

And we start again Monday night.

Look, why don't we just go through the front door with a gun?

Nobody's ever made it that way.

Well, I'll tell you something. Nobody's ever made it this way. Nobody's ever

tried it this way.

What's the matter? You afraid?

Gonna be done, Billy?

The soil compaction ratio isn't bad.

It'll be a risk, but then they're all risky.

How much would we figure to come out with?

As much as $15 million as we can carry.

What do you say, Billy?

I say go.

Wearing?

Spain's still there. He's still alive.

He's at the near end of the bomb.

Any sign of a weapon?

Let's take him.

Alert the agents in the alley.

Yes, sir.

Good thanks, but no thanks.

Come on. Come on, buy the drink.

She's buying her own.

Hey, hey, hey, hey.

Let her down.

Come on.

Hey, honey.

Hey, wait a minute.

Will you get lost?

That's the eye stain.

How's it coming?

It's a real picnic.

Everything all right? Is Billy okay?

Are you kidding?

He couldn't be happier.

The sun will be coming up pretty soon. I think you better knock off.

Billy?

Billy? Yeah?

Come on out. It's quitting time.

I'm just getting warmed up. Give me another half hour.

Come on.

He's like a six -year -old kid in there.

Well, he can have it.

Did you find hotel rooms for him and me?

You're staying here, didn't I tell you?

Staying here?

Well, you have pictures on the front page of every paper in town. I don't

you leaving the tunnel or this room until this job is over.

I'll bring in sleeping bags. I'll bring in all the food you need.

Look, man.

I've been in that hole all night. Now, what I need is some fresh air.

Billy.

Hey, Billy.

What?

Billy, this clown says we gotta stay here till the job is finished.

Oh, fine, fine. That's a good idea.

Any sign of Spain?

Not a thing.

Billy! Yeah, listen, I tell you.

You can probably get another bucket full of earth out of there by now.

Give it a try anyway, huh?

I tell you what, Ray.

You know, I dug some beautiful tunnels in my time, but this is special. This...

This is a masterpiece. You know what I like to do? I like to take a picture of

it.

Well, go on.

I'll do it tomorrow.

You do it now, unless you want out of this operation altogether.

He's scared, Billy.

More than normal. I mean, too scared.

I wonder if he's right for the job.

We have to have him, Ray.

The two of us couldn't do it alone.

They'd probably pick Spain up already.

Could he hurt us?

Not as much as that one could.

If he blows us top sometime when we're in there together.

They're all

alike.

Did you look at your record?

They talked to you for ten minutes, and boom, right away they got the answer.

Young punks, they think I'm so dumb.

Maybe they're the dumb ones, huh?

What did he do, suggest a plea you don't agree with?

You know why they put me in the hospital.

Fatigue.

You get one psychiatric examination in your file, and they never let you forget

it.

I got a right that nobody ever talks about.

I got the right to be treated like an adult, haven't I?

Sure you have.

I mean, you don't have to be insane to bust out. So I bust it out and I get

caught and they'll send me back and that's the end of it.

No, it isn't quite the end.

The gun you were carrying belonged to a murdered deputy named Joe Houston.

I found that gun in the woods.

Now what happened to that adult conversation we were having?

we got to Cheyenne?

A tip.

That approach I know, too.

Those good friends of yours couldn't have turned you in, could they?

Or did they ask you along because they liked you so much?

Let me remind you of one difference between a child and a man.

A child hangs on to a fantasy even when he knows it isn't true.

A man admits the truth, at least to himself, even when it's painful.

Now, where's the truth here?

We're going to get them all, you know, sooner or later.

Are you adult enough to realize that cooperation now has got to look better

court than non -cooperation?

No big promises.

That's for children. Big promises.

Who brought the getaway car?

Paula Gilbert.

She was wearing a girlfriend.

Except he was talking more about her sister.

What was the sister's name?

Yvette. Lives in Baltimore someplace.

Anything else?

Yeah, they used to talk about the big score they were going to make.

What kind of a score?

Vault job.

Some guy on the outside was arranging it.

Seems that it was too big a deal for any of the young safe men. They needed

somebody who could tunnel.

So he arranged to break Hollis out and...

Take some of his friends with him.

Where are they heading?

I don't know.

All Hollis said was that we'd meet at the KBL counter in New York.

One last question.

Who killed the deputy?

Waring.

That's the absolute truth.

One adult to another.

Thanks, Payne.

Inspector.

A child or an insane man would have tried to con you, right?

You tell them in that report how straight I answered your straight

okay?

The figures are right.

We're almost there.

We can't be more than six inches from that vault wall.

I told you not to call us out. I can smell concrete up there.

It's too dangerous, Billy. Those streets will start filling up in half an hour.

Hey, Pike, what time is it?

It's 5 .30.

5 .30?

What day is it?

Monday.

Monday?

Not on a Sunday.

That's what I call dedication.

You worked straight through it.

We're almost through to the vault.

It's over?

Six inches, more or less.

Oh, come on, let's go.

Wait a minute, wait a minute. I still have to drill the holes and plant the

charges. Go on back to sleep, Gene. We'll finish it tonight.

No, ma 'am, we'll finish it now.

What do you want to waste another day in this hole for? Come on.

Gene.

Gene, wait a minute.

Gene.

Gene. Gene, come back.

went to work and the name Spain gave you.

There's no Yvette Gilbert listed, but the SRA Camden came up with this fact.

When she was 16, she married a sailor named Teglin.

The marriage was annulled, but it gave Baltimore another name to work on.

And they finally located the girl working in the Comet Bar.

You haven't talked to her yet?

No, I told the SAC you wanted to handle it yourself, that you'd be flying in

from New York.

The Comet, that's on Front Street.

Right.

So Lewis, we're beginning to pick up rumors confirming that statement Spain

to you regarding a vault job.

Anytime a location is mentioned, it's New York.

But that's all we get.

Randolph's alerted all banks.

Good.

Any leads at all on the fugitives?

We've had agents at the KBL counter at Kennedy for the past two days.

New York police has carried pictures of Hollis and Waring in every patrol car

since the escape.

But it's just as though they vanished off the face of the earth.

Or under it.

We're under it.

You have any family?

Nothing you ever spoke of?

Well, Billy, you gave it everything you had. I'm sorry. It's just that I asked

you to do something that was impossible, that's all.

What do you mean?

I mean, it's over. That's it.

Wait a minute, Ray. Wait a minute. There's nothing wrong with that tunnel.

That's the best tunnel I ever built.

No, no. You were in there. You saw that all that loose dirt came from the spot

right above him that was soft. I mean, if the whole roof was going to collapse,

wouldn't it have fallen in on us while we were digging him out?

Ray, that tunnel is my baby. I put 30 years' experience into it.

Okay, so it had a little weak spot.

Look, Billy, I know that we can clear out the tunnel. I know that you could

probably shore it up stronger than it ever was before. But what's going to

happen when the charges go off?

To the tunnel? Nothing. I know where to place those charges. I've done it a

thousand times.

Ray.

Ray, there's just the two of us now.

And the girl.

Yeah, yeah, and the girl. But think of all that money there'll be to split

between just three people.

That is...

Provided she don't... Provided she don't what?

She could be a problem to us, Ray.

She loved him, I don't know why, but she did.

Suppose she blames us for what happened.

Well, I'll go get cleaned up and go talk to her.

Suppose she gets hysterical.

Hysterical girls have been known to go to the cops.

So you're lucky in love.

Again?

Excuse me, Johnny.

Yvette Taglin?

Yeah. I'm Inspector Erskine with the FBI.

I thought so.

Every time someone comes in here wearing a necktie, it's either some kind of cop

or a bill collector.

I'd like to talk to you about your sister, Paula.

Why, what's happened to her?

Do you know where she is?

Gee, no, I haven't talked to Paula in a couple of years.

No contact at all?

None. That seems a little unusual.

Yeah, well, that's a little hard to explain.

You see, Paula's the only living relative I know about.

Our parents were killed when we were babies.

We were in an orphanage for a while, and then they started farming us out to

different families.

Sometimes both of us, but more often than not, just one of us at a time.

Sometimes we wouldn't see each other for three or four years.

When we did, it was like fun and good times.

We never thought of it as something that would last.

Do you know a man named Eugene Waring?

Good grief. Is she still hooked on that creep?

There's another example of trying to hang on to the good times.

Gene really knocked her off her feet when they first met.

Took her everywhere.

Bought her everything.

I tried to tell her what a ratty was, only she couldn't see it.

Hmm.

I heard Gene was doing time out on the coast or someplace.

He and two other men broke out last week.

We understand he's in New York.

With Paula?

He'll get her killed before he's through.

I told her. I warned her.

Where would she stay in New York?

No, she wouldn't. She hates the place.

Well, do you have any idea where she might be?

She had a choice. She'd stay on the Jersey side, just across the bridge.

With friends?

No. One of the motels.

Used to be a treat for us.

See, we lived in Camden once, and his family was pretty well off.

They used to take us into New York every couple of months or so to plays and

musicals.

But the husband... I can't remember his name now.

He didn't like driving in Manhattan, so we'd park the car at one of the motels

and take a cab across.

Then afterwards, well, we...

Go back and spend the night, you know?

Any particular motel?

No. No, any of them.

We loved it.

It was quiet, peaceful.

You could see the lights on the bridge.

New York was just across it.

Funny how you always want to try to go back.

Try to find the good times again.

How did it happen?

Well, some trucks were coming down the alley and the section where Gene was

collapsed.

You don't seem too surprised.

No.

I think all along I knew it wouldn't work.

What, the tunnel?

No.

I'm talking about Gene and me.

Finding him.

I was really trying.

I was just making it up.

You understand we're going to split the hall with you three ways.

You're still going through with it?

I guess so.

Billy thinks we can still make it.

Well, you don't seem very sure about it.

I don't know.

Look.

I don't care anything about that money at all. Well, we'll see.

We'll see.

Well, I better get back.

There's just one thing I want to say.

All the weeks we worked together here on the phone when you were driving the car

out west, I admired your loyalty to Jane.

Didn't you ever think it was kind of dumb?

I occasionally thought it was kind of wasted.

Me too.

Particularly when I started seeing him again.

Going to the visiting room.

He really looked different.

He looked littler.

It was like a bad habit I was trying to break.

Why didn't you cut out then?

Oh, I thought about it.

And then you'd call and we'd talk.

I'd feel better.

Billy?

Billy! Ray!

Come on, we're through!

Well?

Oh, I'm proud of you, Billy.

There's not another tunnel man in the world that could have done this.

Oh, what about Paula?

Oh, she's okay. She won't hurt us.

Right. Now, we're high, but we're well within the vault area.

Well, what now?

Well, I drove.

Here, here, and here. Then I placed the charges, and that's it.

Can you do all this before dawn?

No problem.

Go, man.

What'd you do with Gene?

I dumped him in a construction pit. They'll find him, but we'll be long gone

before that.

All that money, huh?

All that tunnel.

Just a moment.

Paula Gilbert?

Yeah?

FBI, Miss Gilbert.

We have a warrant for your arrest.

You know you have the right to remain silent and to be represented by a

I understand that.

What is the charge?

Save Wyoming has charged you with being an accessory to a murder.

We've been asked to locate you.

Gene killed him. I...

I

know it doesn't make any difference, but it is true.

This Gene you referred to, is Eugene Waring?

Yes.

Where is Waring now, Miss Gilbert?

He's dead.

When? How?

Listen to me, Miss Gilbert.

Every security officer in every bank in the city has been warned to expect a

tunneling operation.

Now, do you have any regard at all for the lives of these men?

I can't tell. Believe me, they haven't a chance in the world of pulling this

thing off.

Hollis and whoever else is with him may manage to get into a vault, but they'll

never get out alive.

The tunnel starts in an office building storeroom across an alley from the

first trust and savings.

How many others are with Hollis?

Just one.

Name? If I tell you, will you go easier on him?

Ray Pike.

Thank you, Miss Gilbert.

This be enough nitro, Billy?

Plenty.

You already get the wire in there?

Yep.

I picked up some fresh batteries. They're in the car.

I'll go get them.

Thank you.

That was the kind of a job that I couldn't compromise on. I had to have

tunnel man in the world, and that was Billy Hollis.

So I had to break him loose.

Had you met Waring before?

No, Billy picked Gene.

The other guy just came along for the ride. I didn't care about the other two.

Billy was a key man in the operation as far as I was concerned.

Was he... I mean... Did you find him when you cleared out the tunnel?

Enough in order to establish identification.

Strange character.

And I don't think you have to paint pictures or write books or carve statues

be an artist because Billy Hollis was an artist.

I think he knew what he was doing in that tunnel last night.

I don't think he could have taken another term in the pen.

Probably never could have built a better tunnel.

That was it. I stand it.

All right, Pike, thanks very much.

We'll have the statement typed up and ask you to sign it.

Mr. Gilbert?

It's all right.

I know why you did it.

I'll see you.

Will you sit here, please, Mr. Gilbert?

Understand that you have the right to remain silent.

Raymond Wayne Pike was convicted of attempted bank burglary and is serving a

-year prison sentence.

Gerald Spain and Paula Gilbert were charged in the death of Sergeant Joseph

Houston and are serving terms in the state penitentiary.