All language subtitles for Alfred Hitchcock s05e36 Letter Of Credit

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for that
heartfelt and technically augmented

cheer.

Will the delegates please clear the
aisles. Return to your seats, please.

I have an announcement.

Will the delegate from Yugoslavia please
report here at once?

The credentials committee suspects you
may have made a mistake.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to
place in nomination a friend of,

a steadfast champion for, and a man who
I'm certain you have

already guessed his identity.

If not, I shall give you a hint.

He is the producer of the following
television play.

Hey, can you tell me where I can find a
taxi?

I think there's one uptown.

Nobody comes to Kirkland as a rule.

Unless they got folks here to fetch
them.

Say, have there been any other strange
men come in on the train the past two

days? No, sir.

And safe to say, I see everybody gets
off at this station.

It's yours who you can remember to do
one thing.

If a strange man does come in on the
train, you're to call the Grand Hotel

ask for Henry Taylor.

That's me.

If I'm out, you leave word to the clerk.
You understand?

Yeah, Henry Taylor.

Well, don't worry, Mr. Taylor.

I never forget a name or a face.

And you needn't mention it to anyone.

Not to anyone.

Not a soul, Mr. Taylor.

Is there something I can do for you?

I'd like to arrange to open an account.

Mr. Kern handles new accounts, but he's
in conference just now.

Won't you wait?

Mr. Spangler will do nicely.

Mr. Kern is in conference with Mr.
Spangler.

If I didn't come in now and then to keep
a check on you, William, you'd have my

bank in receivership.

You can take me out today, Sam.

Oh, what, sir?

I should have left you in charge here
instead of my idiot son -in -law.

Don't jostle me now.

I can't stand being jostled.

All right, young lady, open that gate.

You're not an employee.

That's right, I'm not.

You couldn't be an employee too wide
awake.

You must be a customer.

I hope to be.

New account?

Come here and take care of this
gentleman.

Fifty -five years I was president of
this bank, and in all that time I never

failed to shake hands with every new
accountant.

That's one thing folks could always say
about Josiah Wingate.

All right, Sam, roll me out of the car.

Miss Foster, that gentleman wants to see
me. Don't keep him waiting.

Josiah Wingate, my father -in -law. He
founded this bank.

They get difficult as they grow older.

Yes, yes, they do.

He can't seem to adjust to retirement.

Won't you sit down, Mr... Taylor.

Henry Taylor.

I have a letter of credit from my bank
in Chicago.

I'd like to deposit some funds in your
bank while I'm here doing some research.

Oh? Research in what field, Mr. Taylor?
Perhaps I can be of assistance.

I'm sure you can.

It's for a book I'm doing on the subject
of unsolved crime.

And you came here to Kirkland to do
research?

That's right. If you've seen a newspaper
in the past two days, you must know

that Arnold Mathias is dead.

He was shot down while attempting to
break out of state prison.

His cellmate, Thomas Henry, escaped, but
Mathias was killed.

I, uh...

I did hear a newscast.

And this is the bank where Matthias was
employed in December of 1957.

You didn't have to come to Kirkland to
learn that.

No, I didn't, but there are a few things
I did have to come to Kirkland to find

out.

Let's go over a few points, Mr.
Spangler.

Arnold Matthias was an employee here.

Hired by my father -in -law prior to his
retirement and against my advice.

Because Matthias had a criminal record?

A juvenile record.

Let's not make matters worse than they
are, Mr. Taylor.

See, my father -in -law has a
philanthropic streak where young people

concerned.

Matthias came from a broken home.

The usual story.

Mr. Wingate wanted to give him a chance.

And I wanted to protect our depositors.

But you kept him on after you succeeded
Mr. Wingate.

There was no reason not to keep him on.

He was a willing worker, apparently
honest.

Then in the summer of 57, the Dyer
Construction Company transferred $500

cash from their St. Louis bank to meet
the local payroll on the flood control

dam at the basin. We had it placed in
the vault.

Mr. Spangler, may I see you a moment,
sir?

What are you doing here? You know you're
not allowed in the vault. Besides, I

thought everyone had gone home.

Well, they did, sir. I had to stay and
check these reports. You know the rule

that no one is permitted in the vault
area but Mr. Kern and myself.

I just wanted to see about my cash
reports. I can't make them balance.

Well, then go back to your cage and
recheck the figures until you do.

Try it again, son. Try it again.

First time Matthias has worked late
since you've hired him.

Just a coincidence.

I hope so.

It was only a few weeks later that my
father -in -law suffered the stroke

necessitated his retirement.

I was left with full responsibility.

We were all busy.

Matthias worked late more frequently.

Particularly on Friday when the dire
payroll had to be checked out against

remaining funds.

There were two keys to the box.

Kern kept one.

I kept the other.

Sam Kern's son was playing his first
basketball game for State U that night.

Sam's wife had telephoned three times to
remind him that they needed an early

start if they were going to make it over
icy roads.

Naturally, he thought it was his wife
calling again.

Sam returned with tragic news.

It had been my telephone ringing, not
his.

It was our housekeeper saying that my
wife had suffered a severe heart attack.

I left at once.

There are four checks here that aren't
covered, Mr. Kern. In the same account?

Yes, sir.

Let me see them.

Arnold, I can't get my car started. Can
you give me a push? Certainly, Mr.

Spangler. But it'll take me a few
minutes to get my car and bring it

front.

You told me not to leave that old heap
of mine on the lot where the customers

could see it.

Can I do anything, Will?

Yes. Will you call Dr. Clinton and have
him get over to the house right away?

Certainly.

Flyers did bring his car around and gave
me the necessary push.

Afterwards, he went back inside.

Naturally, I didn't return.

You've studied this case, Mr. Taylor.
You know that that night my wife died.

And nobody locked the strongbox?

Nobody.

Not even Sam realized he'd left his key
in it until he opened the bank in my

absence the following Monday.

Then he saw the box was empty.

Matthias was arrested.

He never admitted to taking the money.

But he was convicted, Mr. Taylor.

This may be a small community, but we
don't observe the lynch law.

Arnold Mathias was defended by Ira
Casey, one of the finest defense

the state.

And I hired him.

Mathias was convicted nonetheless.

The jury was only out 45 minutes.

Do you know what Mathias did while he
was in prison?

He obtained a set of court records of
his trial, and he went over every word

the testimony until he found what he was
looking for.

He marked it off, and then he drew a
map.

How do you know this?

A writer can't reveal his sources of
information. They might dry up.

And why should I believe you?

Because I'm in possession of those
records and the map.

I thought you might like to go over them
with me, if you really are interested

in my book.

there's a market for such a book?

Yes, I do.

You see, there's one very interesting
point about this case.

If Matthias did take the $200 ,000 from
your vault, what did he do with it?

Not one dollar of it has ever been
found.

Is something wrong with my letter of
credit, Mr. Spengler?

Will you excuse me a moment, Mr. Taylor?
I want to see if Mr. Kern's back.

General Mathias, 24, convicted of
stealing $200 ,000 from the Kirkland

Mercantile Bank three years ago, was
shot and killed this morning by a guard

while attempting to escape from state
prison.

His cellmate, Thomas Henry, 40, made
good his escape in a laundry truck.

Sailing man, Mr. Spengler?

Never been to sea, Mr. Taylor.

It's, uh, too bad Matthias tried to
escape. He might have been paroled.

Well, parole boards are notoriously slow
in this state, and Matthias had no

friends to work for him on the outside.

Now, that's not true.

I hired Ira Casey.

Who was a colleague's classmate of yours
and a friend of almost 30 years.

What's wrong with that?

Nothing. I would have considered myself
lucky to have such a friend if $200 ,000

had disappeared from my bank.

I hired Casey to defend Matthias.

And the Kirkland Mercantile Bank.

You know, that's a very beautiful model
you have there, Mr. Spangler. I don't

suppose you bought it here in Kirkland.

I'm not chained to Kirkland.

I get out occasionally.

Out. You know, that's a very apt word,
out.

That's what Matthias wanted.

Out and a chance to clear his name.

Or to recover the $200 ,000 from
wherever he'd hidden it.

Yes, but where could he have hidden it?

Now, suppose Matthias did take the money
from the vault, but wasn't convicted.

What could he do with it?

He couldn't spend it without creating
suspicion because, after all, he's a

teller on a fixed income, just as you're
Mr. Kern is a bank officer on a fixed

income. And just as I am a bank
president on a fixed income.

That's my point.

Now, the man that took that money out of
the vault would have had to do one of

three things.

First, he could leave Kirkland, which
Matthias didn't.

It's here in the record.

Matthias made no attempt to leave
Kirkland.

Instead, he went to a movie on Friday
night, alone.

He caught cold. And according to his
landlady's testimony, he stayed in his

all day Saturday and Sunday. I know
what's in the record. I was at the

Here's one of the sections that Matthias
bracketed.

The district attorney questioned your
housekeeper, Mrs. Holmes, and she

explained exactly what she had done
following your wife's attack.

She gave her the medicine prescribed by
Dr. Clinton.

Question. Was Mrs. Spengler subject to
such attacks?

Answer. Yes, sir.

We knew it was only a matter of time.

I gave her the medicine, got her to bed,
then called Dr. Clinton.

He asked me to call Mr.

Spengler right away.

And that's what I did.

Yeah. And what are you trying to prove?

I'm not trying to prove anything.

I'm just trying to discover what
Matthias had hoped to prove.

Now, here.

A few pages farther on, another
bracketed section appears.

This time, it's Sam Kern's testimony,
where he tells of your difficulty in

getting your car started.

This part is underlined.

Mr. Spengler came back into the bank.

He asked me to call Dr. Clinton.

I wonder why Matthias would underline
that.

You said whoever took the money could
have done one of three things with it.

What's the second one?

The second thing that could have been
done with the money was, as you

to hide it.

But where could Matthias have hidden it?

His room was searched at the time of his
arrest.

His car was completely torn apart.

Where did he hide it, Mr. Spangler?

Yes? Mr. Spangler, you said you wanted
this report the minute it came in.

Oh.

Has Mr. Kern returned yet? Mr. Kern went
to lunch.

At this hour?

It's after 11, Mr. Spangler. Mr. Kern
always goes to lunch at this hour in

to be back for the noon rush.

I was just going myself if you don't
need me.

No, no, no, that's quite all right. Go
ahead.

it, Mr. Spankler.

Mr. Taylor, you've quoted Ira Casey's
summation to the jury almost verbatim.

The only thing you've omitted was the
sentimental reference to Matthias'

childhood.

Sentimental? Does that denote
disapproval? I hired Casey.

Unfortunately for Matthias, Ira Casey
was a friend with a friend's loyalty and

friend's blindness.

Didn't you know that Mrs. Holmes had
called Dr. Clinton before she called

After all, your wife was his patient and
had been for some time.

Yet, you asked Mr. Kern to go to the
telephone at the opposite end of the

and make a call which had certainly been
made already.

As a result, you were alone in the vault
for several minutes.

What was your third possibility?

You told me a very interesting story a
few minutes ago, Mr. Spangler, and an

accurate one except for some important
details.

I'd like to point them out to you.

The diary deposit must have been a
temptation to you from the beginning.

Your marriage had been an unhappy one,
and your father -in -law was a

domineering tyrant.

And you had a ready -made suspect
working right in the bank.

A record's a tough thing to live down,
even a juvenile record.

The public is seldom forgiving when
someone is made off with a bank deposit.

It strikes too close to the paycheck.

That's what you were really thinking
that day when a half a million dollars

moved into the vault of the farmers and
merchants of Kirkland?

And then, on the day of the theft, the
day when Sam Kern was anxious to get

early and Matthias was working late,
your wife suffered another heart attack.

which gave you the chance you'd been
waiting for all these months.

You must have recognized it instantly.

All you needed to do was clear the vault
area for a few minutes.

And then, when the job was done, be able
to go home to your stricken wife while

Matthias was still at work in the last
teller's cage.

And while the vault, with the unlocked
strongbox inside, was still standing

open.

The first step was to get Matthias out
of the bank.

That was a little tricky.

It's a small matter to flood an engine,
and on a cold and miserable December

day, no one would be likely to question
your story that the car just wouldn't

start.

You knew Matthias would be gone for
several minutes.

His car was a good 200 yards away,
according to the map in this case.

That left only Kern to get out of the
way.

Leaving you alone, only a few steps
away...

From $200 ,000.

And no one in all this time has thought
to look for the dire funds in that third

and only possible place.

That $200 ,000 was never found,
Spangler, because they never left this

It's here now, in the vault, in your own
deposit box.

Is that what Matthias told you?

When you were cellmates, Mr. Henry? The
name is Taylor. Henry Taylor.

You didn't think a small -town banker
would be clever enough to check on that

letter of credit, did you? Well, I did.

When I went outside, I had Miss Foster
call that bank in Chicago.

And that bank in Chicago has no record
of a letter of credit having been issued

to any Henry Taylor.

Do you think you can come in here off
the street and blackmail me with marked

records and a ridiculous map?

I don't care what a dead convict
suspected.

We're not discussing what a dead convict
suspected.

There's one thing you don't know about
the convict who didn't die.

He wasn't serving time for anything as
petty as grand theft.

Thomas Henry's the killer.

Thomas Henry is the convicted murderer
with nothing to lose.

All I have to do is to dial that phone.

And Henry's rough.

He can make the sphinx talk, but leave
him to $200 ,000?

Now go ahead and dial it.

The number for the police station is
116.

No. Now, now, now, don't be a fool.

Have you ever been worked over by a
really desperate man, Spengler?

You be concerned with Matthias.

Everybody thinks he took the money.

Besides, he's dead.

But he didn't take it, did he?

It's in the vault, isn't it?

Yes.

Most of it.

Now, be reasonable.

We can make a deal.

Thank you, Mr. Spengler.

We already have.

You made a mistake in thinking I was
that escaped convict.

I'm not Thomas Henry.

But I was certain that I could wring a
confession out of you if I got here

before Henry.

Lucky for you, I did.

My name is Loudon.

It's Henry Taylor Loudon.

I was the guard at state prison that
shot Matthias when he tried to escape.

I didn't know he was innocent.

That's why I'm here.

I shall never again accept a political
nomination without knowing the identity

of the office involved.

I like being a collector, but I rather
hoped it would be taxes, not rubbish.

Perhaps I can resign next time when we
reassemble at this same hall.

Until then, good night.