July 3, 2025 • 9 mins
Dive into the gripping narrative of Thieves Like Us, also known as Your Red Wagon. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, it tells the story of Bowie Bowers, a young prison escapee who, along with two accomplices, sets his sights on a daring bank heist. As plans unravel, Bowie finds himself entangled in a passionate love affair with Keechie, a relative of one of his partners in crime. This classic noir tale of doomed lovers on the run has been immortalized in film not once, but twice. Originally by Nicholas Ray in 1940s They Live By Night and later by Robert Altman in 1973s rendition of Thieves Like Us. Join us as we delve into this captivating tale. - Synopsis by Ben Tucker
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter seven of Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson. This
LibriVox recordings in the public do mean read by Ben Tucker,
Chapter seven, Bundle Laden The Zelton people jostled and tripped
and cut around Bowie in this Saturday night shopping spree.
He was downtown to night just to stay away from
(00:21):
that furnished house. Three nights now he had stayed in
it alone, and it was getting on his nerves. He
had stayed in all morning an afternoon, thinking that Shirley
the Boys would show up to day, but Chickamall was
still somewhere out toward El Paso. When Tee Dub was
wrestling houses tonight, Bowie had planned on going to a
picture show, but there was nothing on at the two
(00:42):
theaters except shoot him Up, Cowboy stuff rain on that
kind of show, he thought. In front of the drug
store with the window display at Kodaks and photographs, he paused.
Now there was a picture of a young couple with
a baby, a hunter standing beside a car, on the
running board of which was an antler deer, a bathing
seat girl in a canoe. Bowie peered closer. The gun
(01:04):
in the hunter's hand was a four to fifteen Winchester
and the deer at six points. Bowie went on that
Kichie Mobley would make a good picture. I'll bet shaded
lights behind the plate glass flushed the colors of the
women's things, the silk blouses, dresses, hoes, under things. Now
in a little town like she had to live in,
(01:24):
kee Che never saw a bunch of pretty things like
this in the panel mirror of the department store entryway.
Bowie looked at his reflection, the iron gray suit, the
broad brimmed hat, the white handkerchief in his breast pocket.
His right hip pocket boulged a little with the thirty
eight tea Dub had given him. Just as soon as
I get around to it, I'm going to get a
holester and strap and wear it under my arm. Then
(01:47):
I won't notice it any more than my hat. I
looked pretty good, though. What was that old tea Dub
said about him? Now Bowie looks more like law than
he does a thief and chickamaw like a country boy
come to town that Indian. Bowie turned and went back
up the street, past the five and dime j C. Pennies,
and on the corner the Garanti State Bank, He turned
(02:10):
it and then was on Front Street, a dim lighted
thoroughfare of small cafes and dollar hotels. On the other
side of the street was Texas and Pacific Railroad lawn
with its mulberry trees. The depot when the freight offices
and platforms. A Negro in a porter's cap and white
jackets sat on a stool in front of the hotel doorway.
On a white globe. Above his head were the lighted
(02:32):
letters OK rooms. Looking for a nice lady friend to
not boss, the porter said, Hell know you, black bastard,
Bowie said. In front of the New York Cafe on
the corner, a policeman stood talking to a bareheaded man
who had one foot on the bumper of an automobile.
At the curb. Bowie walked past them. You got the
(02:54):
advantage of laws, all right. You can tell them, but
they can't tell you. And the detectives and deputy sheriffs
out here might just as well have uniforms. You can
tell them so easy, all of them in cowboy boots
and white hats and black suits and shoe string ties.
And say that flat foot back there recognized him when
he went past. All right, all that law had was
(03:15):
a pistol, and didn't he have one on too? One
thing though, he had to get out in the country
pretty soon and practice up with this thirty eight. Get
used to it. Bowie turned toward the railroad lawn going
to the furnished house. There were two new looking automobiles
in the driveway of the house, and Bowie checked the
impulse to break into a lope. That Indian is back
(03:36):
just as sure as the Dickens. He thought. The cars
were Ford V eight's, one a black job with a trunk,
and the other was gun metal colored boat sedans. It
was Tee Dub who let Bowie in. He had on
a new blue Seyer's suit and tan shoes. Check them all,
come in, Bowie said. Teed up thumb toward the sound
of rushing water in the bathroom. Taking a bath and
(03:57):
getting drunk is a lord. I think he bought up
all the tequila and war is. I began to think
you two. It fell in somewhere, Bowie said, how long
have you been here? And I got here a little
after dark and he was here. Then Tee Dub went
over and lay down on the cot. There was a
pile of scattered newspapers beside it. I guess you read
about morehead Bowie said, wasn't that a joke? Got one number,
(04:21):
writing that license three and calling in a green coop
And the only thing green about that old chevy was
the stripe around it. Them newspapers never get nothing right.
You been casing this bank here any every morning since
you all been gone. I went down yesterday morning before daybreak,
and I've been inside of it three times. That vault
kicks off either at nine or maybe before, because it's open.
(04:42):
When the door's open, who goes in? First nigger porter
around six o'clock. It's a bird's nest on the ground.
Go in with him, and the nearest law is up
at the depot right at that time. Watching that passenger
come in doesn't sound half bad doing t dub. We
got them houses, all right. She went with us on
(05:04):
both trips. Lula, that's Maddie's kid's sister. I told you
about her though. Gusherton and clear Waters, Yep. That Clearwater's
place looks like a millionaire's dump. Lula's share liked it.
Them cars out there looked like old Chickamauw has been
doing his stuff. That was a job to tow that
gun metal job all the way in here. Tee Dub
(05:26):
sat up. You know what I just assumed charged his
bank here? Monday is not what do you say, tomorrow'd
suit me if it wasn't Sunday. I'm going to see
the girls tomorrow, Tee Dub said, check them all. Came
out of the bathroom and into the living room. He
had on silk shorts and undershirt, and his hair dripped water.
The big veins of his biceps and forearms looked like
(05:46):
pale earthworms. If it's not the old country boy himself,
he said, Hi, check them all. Been teaching Sunday school
over in a tabernacle while we were gone. I've been
asking for a job down at this nice little bank
they got in this town. Oh boy, Chicka Maw said,
believe anything anybody tells him. He looked at Tee Dub
(06:08):
and winked. Anybody excepts you, Bowie said. Chickamau laughed, and
his bare feet slapped the floor back towards the bedroom.
Te Dub picked up the newspaper again, and Bowie went
over and sat down in the rocker and lit a cigarette.
The flung newspaper rattled on the pile. Every time I
pick up a paper, I see that damn little squirt's name,
(06:29):
Tee Dub said, if I ever run across him, you
going to see a guy get the damned just behind
kicking a man. Ever got who's that te Dub newspaper guy.
He gave me the dirty end of the stick one tom.
I tried to make a hole in this prison in
this state one time, and it went haywire. And this
squirt comes to me and wants me to tell him
all about it so we can write a big story
(06:49):
for the magazine. A couple of the boys had gotten killed,
and I was shot right through the fleshy part here
my hip, and it was all a mess. Everybody knew
all about it anyway. And this squirt said if I
would tell him this straight of it, he would get
it printed and split the money with me. I didn't
even have cigarette money, so I told him, you should
have seen the way it come out in that magazine.
I was a big shot, see, and I sent them
two boys over that got killed first, because I figured
(07:12):
the guards would use up all their ammunition, and then
me and the other boys still down at the bottom
of the ladder would have a clear way. Anybody knows
that the chair boys get the first break, and that's
why they went over first. Hell, I didn't go on
up because the damn ladder broke one of them joint ladders.
You know, then that squirt getting it put in the
magazine like that. Don't guess he ever sent you any money.
(07:33):
Te Doub looked up and sneered check. Amaul came back
in with a bottle of tequila in his hand. He
had on brown tweed trousers with pleats, a blue shirt
and yellow tie. He offered the bottle and Bowie shook
his head. For Christ's sake, come on and be human,
he said. Bowie took a drink. I ran into a
pulu and a sandwich stand close to pickos that we
(07:55):
knew up in Alki. Chickamau said, you guys remember that
kid we called Satchel Bowie, and t Dub nodded. He
knew me right off and crawled all over that car
and got to telling me how he knew where there
was a good piece of money ten safe somewhere with
thirty dollars in it. Tee Dub said, I played him along,
told him I'd shove on and be back to the
(08:16):
number he gave me right after dark, and we would
go and get together on that job he had. I
remember that kid, Bowie said, He played a banjo pretty good.
I brought you something, boy from the city, Chickamau said,
I run into some good COLT forty five's out there,
and you can throw that thirty eight job of years away. Man,
(08:37):
I'm glad to hear that. You got to promise me
that you won't sleep with it under your pillow, though, Now,
what's a joke, Bowie said. Check him. All looked at
Tea Dub and winked. All right, he said, and pointed
his finger at Bowie. I'll bet that's the way you've
been sleeping at nuts. Yeah, checkim. All looked at t
Dub and then back at Bowie. That's just what I thought.
(08:58):
Look here, man, always sleep at your under the cover,
by your side. Then if anybody walks in on you,
you got just as much of a throw down on
them as they got on you. Just let them have it.
But you sure can't do any reaching up and behind
you like this. I never thought of that before, Bowie said,
I'm sure glad you told me Chickama teet Up stood up.
Why do you say we start talking about this bank here?
(09:20):
Bowie is ready to go Monday, chick them all. You
don't have to ask him if I'm ready. I'm always ready.
He lifted the bottle and there was a gurgling sound. Boys,
that's gonna be my thirtieth. Teet Up said into chapter seven,
Chapter seven of Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson. This
LibriVox recordings in the public do mean read by Ben Tucker,
Chapter seven, Bundle Laden The Zelton people jostled and tripped
and cut around Bowie in this Saturday night shopping spree.
He was downtown to night just to stay away from
(00:21):
that furnished house. Three nights now he had stayed in
it alone, and it was getting on his nerves. He
had stayed in all morning an afternoon, thinking that Shirley
the Boys would show up to day, but Chickamall was
still somewhere out toward El Paso. When Tee Dub was
wrestling houses tonight, Bowie had planned on going to a
picture show, but there was nothing on at the two
(00:42):
theaters except shoot him Up, Cowboy stuff rain on that
kind of show, he thought. In front of the drug
store with the window display at Kodaks and photographs, he paused.
Now there was a picture of a young couple with
a baby, a hunter standing beside a car, on the
running board of which was an antler deer, a bathing
seat girl in a canoe. Bowie peered closer. The gun
(01:04):
in the hunter's hand was a four to fifteen Winchester
and the deer at six points. Bowie went on that
Kichie Mobley would make a good picture. I'll bet shaded
lights behind the plate glass flushed the colors of the
women's things, the silk blouses, dresses, hoes, under things. Now
in a little town like she had to live in,
(01:24):
kee Che never saw a bunch of pretty things like
this in the panel mirror of the department store entryway.
Bowie looked at his reflection, the iron gray suit, the
broad brimmed hat, the white handkerchief in his breast pocket.
His right hip pocket boulged a little with the thirty
eight tea Dub had given him. Just as soon as
I get around to it, I'm going to get a
holester and strap and wear it under my arm. Then
(01:47):
I won't notice it any more than my hat. I
looked pretty good, though. What was that old tea Dub
said about him? Now Bowie looks more like law than
he does a thief and chickamaw like a country boy
come to town that Indian. Bowie turned and went back
up the street, past the five and dime j C. Pennies,
and on the corner the Garanti State Bank, He turned
(02:10):
it and then was on Front Street, a dim lighted
thoroughfare of small cafes and dollar hotels. On the other
side of the street was Texas and Pacific Railroad lawn
with its mulberry trees. The depot when the freight offices
and platforms. A Negro in a porter's cap and white
jackets sat on a stool in front of the hotel doorway.
On a white globe. Above his head were the lighted
(02:32):
letters OK rooms. Looking for a nice lady friend to
not boss, the porter said, Hell know you, black bastard,
Bowie said. In front of the New York Cafe on
the corner, a policeman stood talking to a bareheaded man
who had one foot on the bumper of an automobile.
At the curb. Bowie walked past them. You got the
(02:54):
advantage of laws, all right. You can tell them, but
they can't tell you. And the detectives and deputy sheriffs
out here might just as well have uniforms. You can
tell them so easy, all of them in cowboy boots
and white hats and black suits and shoe string ties.
And say that flat foot back there recognized him when
he went past. All right, all that law had was
(03:15):
a pistol, and didn't he have one on too? One
thing though, he had to get out in the country
pretty soon and practice up with this thirty eight. Get
used to it. Bowie turned toward the railroad lawn going
to the furnished house. There were two new looking automobiles
in the driveway of the house, and Bowie checked the
impulse to break into a lope. That Indian is back
(03:36):
just as sure as the Dickens. He thought. The cars
were Ford V eight's, one a black job with a trunk,
and the other was gun metal colored boat sedans. It
was Tee Dub who let Bowie in. He had on
a new blue Seyer's suit and tan shoes. Check them all,
come in, Bowie said. Teed up thumb toward the sound
of rushing water in the bathroom. Taking a bath and
(03:57):
getting drunk is a lord. I think he bought up
all the tequila and war is. I began to think
you two. It fell in somewhere, Bowie said, how long
have you been here? And I got here a little
after dark and he was here. Then Tee Dub went
over and lay down on the cot. There was a
pile of scattered newspapers beside it. I guess you read
about morehead Bowie said, wasn't that a joke? Got one number,
(04:21):
writing that license three and calling in a green coop
And the only thing green about that old chevy was
the stripe around it. Them newspapers never get nothing right.
You been casing this bank here any every morning since
you all been gone. I went down yesterday morning before daybreak,
and I've been inside of it three times. That vault
kicks off either at nine or maybe before, because it's open.
(04:42):
When the door's open, who goes in? First nigger porter
around six o'clock. It's a bird's nest on the ground.
Go in with him, and the nearest law is up
at the depot right at that time. Watching that passenger
come in doesn't sound half bad doing t dub. We
got them houses, all right. She went with us on
(05:04):
both trips. Lula, that's Maddie's kid's sister. I told you
about her though. Gusherton and clear Waters, Yep. That Clearwater's
place looks like a millionaire's dump. Lula's share liked it.
Them cars out there looked like old Chickamauw has been
doing his stuff. That was a job to tow that
gun metal job all the way in here. Tee Dub
(05:26):
sat up. You know what I just assumed charged his
bank here? Monday is not what do you say, tomorrow'd
suit me if it wasn't Sunday. I'm going to see
the girls tomorrow, Tee Dub said, check them all. Came
out of the bathroom and into the living room. He
had on silk shorts and undershirt, and his hair dripped water.
The big veins of his biceps and forearms looked like
(05:46):
pale earthworms. If it's not the old country boy himself,
he said, Hi, check them all. Been teaching Sunday school
over in a tabernacle while we were gone. I've been
asking for a job down at this nice little bank
they got in this town. Oh boy, Chicka Maw said,
believe anything anybody tells him. He looked at Tee Dub
(06:08):
and winked. Anybody excepts you, Bowie said. Chickamau laughed, and
his bare feet slapped the floor back towards the bedroom.
Te Dub picked up the newspaper again, and Bowie went
over and sat down in the rocker and lit a cigarette.
The flung newspaper rattled on the pile. Every time I
pick up a paper, I see that damn little squirt's name,
(06:29):
Tee Dub said, if I ever run across him, you
going to see a guy get the damned just behind
kicking a man. Ever got who's that te Dub newspaper guy.
He gave me the dirty end of the stick one tom.
I tried to make a hole in this prison in
this state one time, and it went haywire. And this
squirt comes to me and wants me to tell him
all about it so we can write a big story
(06:49):
for the magazine. A couple of the boys had gotten killed,
and I was shot right through the fleshy part here
my hip, and it was all a mess. Everybody knew
all about it anyway. And this squirt said if I
would tell him this straight of it, he would get
it printed and split the money with me. I didn't
even have cigarette money, so I told him, you should
have seen the way it come out in that magazine.
I was a big shot, see, and I sent them
two boys over that got killed first, because I figured
(07:12):
the guards would use up all their ammunition, and then
me and the other boys still down at the bottom
of the ladder would have a clear way. Anybody knows
that the chair boys get the first break, and that's
why they went over first. Hell, I didn't go on
up because the damn ladder broke one of them joint ladders.
You know, then that squirt getting it put in the
magazine like that. Don't guess he ever sent you any money.
(07:33):
Te Doub looked up and sneered check. Amaul came back
in with a bottle of tequila in his hand. He
had on brown tweed trousers with pleats, a blue shirt
and yellow tie. He offered the bottle and Bowie shook
his head. For Christ's sake, come on and be human,
he said. Bowie took a drink. I ran into a
pulu and a sandwich stand close to pickos that we
(07:55):
knew up in Alki. Chickamau said, you guys remember that
kid we called Satchel Bowie, and t Dub nodded. He
knew me right off and crawled all over that car
and got to telling me how he knew where there
was a good piece of money ten safe somewhere with
thirty dollars in it. Tee Dub said, I played him along,
told him I'd shove on and be back to the
(08:16):
number he gave me right after dark, and we would
go and get together on that job he had. I
remember that kid, Bowie said, He played a banjo pretty good.
I brought you something, boy from the city, Chickamau said,
I run into some good COLT forty five's out there,
and you can throw that thirty eight job of years away. Man,
(08:37):
I'm glad to hear that. You got to promise me
that you won't sleep with it under your pillow, though, Now,
what's a joke, Bowie said. Check him. All looked at
Tea Dub and winked. All right, he said, and pointed
his finger at Bowie. I'll bet that's the way you've
been sleeping at nuts. Yeah, checkim. All looked at t
Dub and then back at Bowie. That's just what I thought.
(08:58):
Look here, man, always sleep at your under the cover,
by your side. Then if anybody walks in on you,
you got just as much of a throw down on
them as they got on you. Just let them have it.
But you sure can't do any reaching up and behind
you like this. I never thought of that before, Bowie said,
I'm sure glad you told me Chickama teet Up stood up.
Why do you say we start talking about this bank here?
(09:20):
Bowie is ready to go Monday, chick them all. You
don't have to ask him if I'm ready. I'm always ready.
He lifted the bottle and there was a gurgling sound. Boys,
that's gonna be my thirtieth. Teet Up said into chapter seven,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.