The Price of Fear - Fish

0:00The price of fear brought to you by Vincent Price. Hello there. Do you like fish to eat? I mean not to look at or catch. I do. I am in fact one of the world's most compulsive piscobores. I find there is an almost ritual purity about fish. The Japanese, you know, eat their fish raw, shredding and flaking the flesh and depigated to pecan sauces, soy or horseradish, that sort of thing. The effect can be delicious, a delicate point and counterpoint, air and descant, clucking at the palate. The taste can be exquisite, and yet if you should think too hard about those

1:01raw gelatinous strips of fish, you may find the feel of them, the side of them even is somehow obscene. But in my attitude in these matters is colored by a most unnerving experience I underwent in Australia. I'll call this story simply fish, because as each stage of the episode unfolded it was impressed on my memory by some piscatorial piece of gastronomic delight. It started in a Sydney restaurant about five years ago, with the dozen of the celebrated rock oysters with lemon and cayenne pepper and all the usual trimmings. I was lunching with Greg Rosmark, an aspiring actor who wanted to come to work in London. We were just debating whether another half dozen would be sheer bliss or pure greed when suddenly.

2:01Vincent? It is Vincent, isn't it? Vincent Price? Well, yes. Jane Willemsey? I'd have to pose you remember. We did once actually work on a film together. Well, yes I believe I do remember. It was a long time ago. Have they all stray, wasn't it? That's right. I strangled you. What a charming fellow. But I only strangle the nicest people. Sorry Jane, let me introduce you to Greg Rosmark. He's also an actor, an eminently unsuccessful one. How do you do? Won't you join us? Oh, no, thank you very much. I must be going. Are you working over here now, Miss Willemsey? In the theatre, I mean. Oh no. No, the theatre gave me out for dead, right after Vincent strangled me. Well, I can't believe that I was that real estate. But it was probably just symbolic of something or other.

3:04Don't you miss it, the theatre? Maybe. But you can't have everything, can you? I'm sure you all join as though this seems so much we might talk about. No, no, really I can't. Richard's already waiting at the table and he's due to start glaring any moment now. Oh, that's shame. Look, how long are you here for? Oh, just a week or so. I start filming in Hong Kong at the end of the month. Why don't you come over to lunch with us on Sunday? Well, I've... Well, I've... Well, I've... Well, I've... Well, I've... Well, I've... Well, I've... I'd love to come. Oh. Well, very well, then we'll both come. Oh, well, fine. Well, it's number six, Sandy Avenue. It's right on the beach, you can't miss us. All right, till Sandy then. Any time after 12? We'll be there. Bye. Bye-bye. Bye. Lovely one. I do apologize, Vincent, whenever for.

4:07I was running in on your invitation like that. It obviously threw you. Well, I suppose it did. I just wasn't expecting it so much. Neither was she. I was... I was trying to stampede you into accepting. You succeeded admirably. I don't see why though. Well, I thought that you were going to refuse. Well, would that have been so disastrous? Not to you, maybe, but it... It might have been to her. I don't see how it could have been. I've seen her for years, and I barely knew her even there. As I know, I know, but there's just something about her. It's... Well, it's sort of difficult to put your finger on, but... The eyes were out of phase with the voice. All the while, she was talking, the eyes looked... Well, they looked... ...hunted. Oh, come on, Greg. Don't let your imagination run away with you. Imagination be damned. Imagination.

5:08What is imagination? A mental trick. A simple piece of slight of mind that projects facts into fantasy. Or fantasies into fact. Anyway, the following Sunday, Greg picked me up at my hotel, and drove us out across the Sydney Harbor Bridge towards the North Shore, and manly. The other day in the restaurant, Vincent, when James Willemsy introduced herself, did you really remember her right off just like that? Yes, yes, she wasn't a sort of woman you'd forget easily, especially after a performance in that film. Well, she good. In it. Very good. On it. Positively scandalous. What do you say? Oh, yes, quite literally, so... She brought the picture to a grinding halt, about halfway through the schedule. No, she ran off with the director. Oh, yes, she took off just like that. Left us, her husband, everybody, flat and just took off.

6:09Leave me, it was no laughing matter. Oh, it couldn't have been. At least it wasn't at that time. We had to get a new director in, a new lady for me to strangle, and we reshot every scene that Jane had been in. Oh, it was an absolute nightmare. And what happened to her, Jane? Well, she just disappeared. They both did. Off the set, out of the business, off the face of the earth, for all I knew. Her husband hired some inquiry agents to find them, and for a few weeks we were all up to our ears in private eyes. And sometimes wonder why he bothered it. Could hardly have come as a surprise to him, not with a woman like that. A woman like, what? Well, she was younger then, of course, a lot more arrogant. She seemed to generate a sort of sexual electricity. She had an almost animal magnetism that could never stay the man.

7:12I'll tell you something, Vincent. She still got it. I wonder what her husband's like. Well, more important, I wonder if he's a film director, or even an ex-film director. I guess we'll soon find out. We did, and he wasn't, a film director. Jane's husband turned out to be a broker on the Sydney Stock Exchange. But even that turned out to be more of a sideline. His real occupation was swimming, surfing, yachting, all the classic activities of the professional outdoor type. Richard was a good outdoor cook, too. And what he could do with an open fire was beyond belief. It's coming on nicely. Well, it'd be long, Vincent. You always eat our fresco like this, Richard. We only make a single bit of the weekend.

8:12Well, I can think of where it's raised, and passing that FM. Arrest him at! Right, you're not. Nice to see Jane enjoying herself so much. God! I'm exhausted. I'm not surprised. Let's surf, take it out of you. Especially when you're not used to it. Greg was... He was teaching me to ride the surf. Yes. I sure. Greg, what's that mark on? What? Where? Out there on your leg. Oh, oh, that's a birthmark. Oh, I'm sorry. It's almost a family crest. It occurs at least once in every generation in our family. What, always in the same place? No, but it's usually on an arm or a leg somewhere, and it's always, but always, the same shape. You see? An open rose. Oh, yes! Now you pointed out it is like a rose. My uncle, my grandfather, there's, were identical. That's extraordinary. How far does that go back? Well, you see, my family's name is Rosmuck.

9:15And I suppose originally it was Rosmuck, but... Well, God knows when that started. Yeah. Well, that really does smell delicious, Richard. It's coming on. What is it inside the tinfoil? It's a whole big time. It really is very good eating. Richard, calves it off in great chunks, and you dip it in the soy sauce. Well, I can hardly wait. Can we wear our nose did you learn to cook food Japanese style Richard? I find any style of cooking absolutely fascinating. We were taught this by a party of Japanese stock record that we took fishing. What sort of fishing? Juna, barracuda, marlin, if you're lucky. Oh, the big game bet, huh? Richard has his own boat down the coast at Burma Gui. We chartered it out most of the time, we reserve a few odd weeks for ourselves. You go fishing, Jay? No.

10:15He prefers to stay here. Hmm, I can imagine. It must be a far cry from El Street to Burma Gui. Don't drag all that up Rosmuck, but peep sake. Drag all water! Let's see if there's a bright light and all that crap. It's much better off where she is. Aren't you, Jay? Yes. Did you two know each other before, uh... Before what? Well, before... Before Jane gave up the theory. Well, yes. Of course, I married her when she was still a drama student. And in the end, it was me who made her give it all up. Wasn't it, darling? I could hardly believe it. This was the husband that she had left on her runaway romance. What could have happened? Had he found her or had she come back to him?

11:16And what about the flyaway film director? What had happened to him? Well, when I got back to London, I mentioned his name around a few times to see if I got any response I didn't. People remembered him, but no one had seen or heard of him since. He had run off with that actress as they would. They both run off, of course. But only Jane had come back. I wondered... So dark a thought. So dark a thought. It lodged unnoticed in the shadows of my memory until... last year when I went back to Australia, back to Sydney. Perhaps it was the same unnoticed thought that made me phone the one-time Jane Willemsy and her husband and to invite them both to dinner. I remember the occasion well.

12:16We had a quite extraordinary Australian hawk with a quite excellent lobster, a la Mourica. How long will you be in Australia this time? Only a few more days, then I go to Japan for eight weeks of filming. Might come back here after that, though, just for a short vacation trip. Oh, well, then you must come up to stay with us in Brisbane. It'd be lovely to see you in. Brisbane? Yes. I didn't reach out to tell you. But tell me what, Richard? We're moving us. Well, what would you do in Brisbane? A fish? Mostly. I've sold my business interest here in Sydney and invested in a couple of boats. Powerful engines, properly fitted out, you know, chair, rods, harpoons, rotation barrels a lot. We could take anything. Sailfish, black marlin, other big sharks, the tigers and the great whites. Why do you go all the way up to Brisbane? I mean, why not stay in Bermaguay?

13:18That was Richard's decision. The charter rates are much higher up in Queensland. Ah, ah, ah. Better fishing all the year round, too. Richard's going to skip one of the boats himself. Well, what would you do, Jane? I'm sure there'll be a great deal to keep me occupied. You're probably enjoying once you get settled in. We'll see. Have you seen Greg? Greg? Oh, Greg, grass mark, you mean. Now, have you seen anything of him recently? No. Not recently. Ah, how is he? Ah, he's working? No, no. He gave up the theatre. After dinner, I saw them to their car with a promise that I would visit them in Brisbane on my return from Japan. I watched them out of sight and turned to walk down to my hotel in the cool night air.

14:19Suddenly, I became quite chillingly aware that someone was walking almost at my shoulder, following me. I stopped. Suddenly, I had to turn and face him out. Vincent, it has been some time, Vincent Price. Yes, do you remember me? Greg. Greg. With the rosemark on his leg. Greg, Greg, rust mark. Of course, I hardly recognised you. Huh. Are you all right? Let's just say that I'm sort of sick. You were with her, won't you? You mean Jane? Yes, I just had dinner with her and Richard. Yeah, so sorry. Did you mention me? What, she said, Jaden? Seen you recently? No, no. He won't let her, not since he found out. Found out her. Well, is that why you never went to England?

15:21Yes. It happened again. You see, we are... You wouldn't understand. You mean you ran away to get... No. Everything but that's funnily enough. She wouldn't come with me. She... She was frightened. Frightened of what? Of him, of course. She's terrified of him. Then when he found out about us, she refused to see me again. She sends my letters back unopened. Every time I phone, she burst into tears and keeps saying, well, moaning. Stay away for God's sake. Stay away from me. Oh, the way she says it... It tears the heart out of you.

16:23And I know it's not what she wants to say. I can tell. Greg, maybe she's right. Oh, no, otherwise he wouldn't be taking her away from here. I'm far away where he thinks I won't follow. Well, he's wrong. You can tell him from me that he's wrong. I'll follow wherever he takes her. I'll follow to the ends of the earth, if need be. You tell her that, will you? To the ends of the earth. To the ends of the earth. He shuffled off backwards into the night. Until the shadows seemed to engulf him completely, leaving me with only the recollection of the desperation in his eyes and the strained emotion of his voice. As I turned into my hotel, I knew that I would need a vacation

17:24after my work in Japan had finished. I knew that I wanted to try my hand at the game fishing. And so, nine weeks later, I found myself on the open patio of Jane and Richard's new house, eating homemade croissant and drinking fresh ground coffee in the pale sunshine of an early morning in Queensland. Like some more coffee, Vincent? Oh, please. And by the way, I congratulate you on your croissant. They're delicious. I don't know how you can face today, it was just that inside of you. It's a woman's breakfast. Well, I certainly couldn't face a day at sea, just double for a bacon, sausage, eggs. And tomato, don't forget the tomato. It keeps the core puzzles coming the right color. At least that's what my old granny used to say. Well, mine said they gave you appendicitis. I've never been fishing before things. No, no, I never seemed to have had the time. And I've never been convinced that I had the patience. I know what you mean, but this is nothing like ordinary angling.

18:27You see, you don't just sit around and wait for the fish to come. You have to go out and look for them. Well, you have to know where to look for presumably. Well, I seem to know where to look for shark. Richard's landed more sharks in the past fortnight than anyone can remember. He's making quite a name for himself. What kind of sharks do you get in these waters? Oh, the worst sorts, no best sorts. According to your point of view, tigers, maco, hammerheads. I've even taken a couple of bites. Small ones, of course, but even the small ones are man-eaters. What happens if you meet a big one? You've got to fight on your hand. That could be real sport. Yes. Well, I'll just go and learn about it. I'll give you a hand. A ritual seat, will you finish a coffee in peace? You stay put. I know where everything goes.

19:28Vincent, are you...? What? Have you seen anything of Greg? I saw him that night that I had dinner with you both in Sydney. Not since then? No. Why? Did he say anything about me? Well, he did say he'd follow you. Follow me here. Anywhere. To the ends of the earth. That's what he said. Oh, God, no, not again. What's the matter? He's here. He's in Brisbane. You've seen him? No, he phone me. When was that? Uh, two...no, nearly three weeks ago. And you haven't heard from him since? No. I told him to keep all of it. To go back to Sydney and forget me. Perhaps he did. Do you really think so? Do you? No. Go on, Vincent. Time to get moving.

20:28Why don't you come, Jane? Was any of us too fishing? You could try your hand. No, thanks. Anyway, I want to go into town today. Oh, yeah, okay. Drive carefully. I will. Have a good day. You too, Vincent. Have a good day. Have a good week. Have a good year. Have a good life. What does it mean? As if you can wish anything on anyone. Or in juice even the most marginal change in patterns of events that have been irrevocably precast in the unyielding concrete of too many yesterdays. A good day it was then, in the sense that the sky was blue and the sun was warm and the swell of the ocean, was at its most specific. Good boat and a good crew in the shape of Jack, a lconic ex-swagman from the northern territories.

21:29All it needed was good fish. I wish that had been all we got. I shouldn't miss the press. That's what's needed out here. But they're not biting to Jack. I will. I always do. Give the bag another bang, Jack. What is that thing? A dubby has to be there. Yeah, just hang it over the side of the boat and it leaves a trail behind you for miles. As soon as anything finds it, it turns and follows it right onto the hook. At least that's the theory. Where have you gotten sighted? It's what we call chum. That's a sort of polite way of saying smelly bits of fish and meat and awful. Especially awful. Anything that'll lose blood and oil into the water. Well, I wonder what will turn up today. Shark. That's all he seems to be interested in. Well, he'll have to take what comes, though, won't he? I mean, he can't pick and choose. He does.

22:29At least he seems to. Well, how can he? It's just not possible. You can't just whistle up which fish you want. No, but you can't take all the baitfish out of the dubby bag and just leave bloody meat in there. Then what you put into the water is not so much an oil slick as a blood trail. That'll bring the sharks running. But, chin and check, I don't understand this obsession of his with sharks. I really don't. It's not so either. Yeah, they're not as good as Marlon or Saelfish. I don't have the heart. The skipper said on fighting a big, great white. I only hope that's not a death wish. We got a visit at check. What's that? Bigger. Who? What is it? Tiger. About ten foot of him. Oh. Better get into the chair, Mr. Purs. There we go. Right. Hurry up. He's circling for the strike. Steadily. Yeah. Here he comes. Okay. Now, let him run. He's holding on to it. Yep. Don't strike until he stops and starts to bite on it.

23:30And strike hard and don't stop to pick the daisy. I'll tell you when. Okay. He's slowed. Wait for it. Uh-huh. He's turning. He's turning. He's turning. He's turning. He's turning. He's turning. He's turning. He's turning. How? Hit him. He's turning. How? Hit him. I'm the best way of turning. Yeah. Oh. What happened? The line broke. Oh. What was the breaking strain on that line? Around 1,000 pounds. I had to some fish ahead there. Think I'll rig another hook? Yeah, Jack might as well. Do you think he's still around? And a pen's if he's still got the hook in him. Hey. I tell you he is. Where? Right under the stern. Oh. What's he doing that for? He's circling. What? We've got nothing else. Here he comes. He's going to attack the boat. Get home on the subject. He's crazy. He's mad as a bloody maid-ass. I got it. Get off. Get crazy bastard. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off.

24:30Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. What the hell was all that about? Never known that happened before. Whatever it was, I'd prefer it not to happen again. Struth. He was off to the dubby bag. What? See for yourself. We looked over the stern of the boat. The shark had indeed attacked the dubby bag. He torn over half of it away from its rope. The gristly gory bait, or chum, as Jack called it, was already dispersing through the water. And then I saw the canvas, a shredded piece of the bag that had been torn away from the rest. It was floating precariously just below the surface of the water. On it was a piece of meat, a small piece of meat,

25:31with a yellowish, bloodied skin. And on the skin was a mark, a distinctive mark in the shape of an open rose. Then the movement of the sea washed it off its canvas raft and committed it forever to the deep. Well, next time you eat fish, you may care to remember this little episode, but I hope it doesn't put you off. I'm still a committed piscow arm with the single exception that I will never, never eat fish and chips in Australia. Flake and chips, as they call it. It's a great favorite out there, but flake, of course, is shark meat. Goodbye. Bon appétit.

26:31That was Vincent Price bringing you the price of fear with Bruce Beebe, Louis Fandre, Amanda Marie and Bill Kerr. This story, fish, was first recounted and dramatized by René Basilico and produced by John Dice.