If John Dickson Carr was on Suspense, it was likely that one of his characters, Dr. Gideon Fell, would be there too. Fourteen of the twenty-four novels for this character were published by the time of this broadcast. The plotline has a women waking from amnesia and finding herself in a jail cell, and learning that she is scheduled for execution the next morning.
Unfortunately, only the first half of the broadcast is available. But the script survives, and there have been two recreations of the program, and a 1944 performance on the BBC’s Appointment with Fear has survived.
This Suspense presentation stars Sidney Greenstreet. He focused on theatrical work and did not make his first film until 1941, and became known for his role in The Maltese Falcon. He didn’t make radio appearances, as best can be detected, until 1943. Below is a publicity shot from his work as the star of The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe in 1950.
The episode was reviewed in the Variety issue of 1943-02-17. It was not well-received:
Sydney Greensreet’s knack for creating terrifying fat men was wasted Tuesday evening on the CBS 30 minute sustainer Suspense. The program's thriller, The Hangman Won't Wait, opened impressively, but the illusion soon vanished. The character of Dr. Gideon Fell, sleuth and criminologist supreme, offered the actor little scope for his particular talent. Although suspense is the raison d'etre of this Hollywood beamed stanza, there was little of that precious ingredient apparent.
This was a continuing pattern. Suspense was not getting good reviews in the Carr era. He was a successful big-name author, but the process seemed to have difficulties resonating with the critics and the listening audience.
The performance of the script can be heard in the recording of the Appointment with Fear episode. It was named The Clock Strikes Eight and was broadcast 1944-05-18. The recording has some quality issues, but can still be enjoyed.
We hope that the second disc of the Suspense episode will be found, but it was likely damaged or broken and lost.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430209
THE CAST
SYDNEY GREENSTREET (Dr. Gideon Fell), Vicki Marsden? (Helen Barton), unknown (Anna), Raymond Lawrence (Warder Harris), Gloria Gordon (Matron), unknown (Colonel Andrews), Joe Kearns (Man in Black), others
Along with the half recording and the Appointment with Fear episode, there is one of the newer presentations from Blue Hours Productions and their Suspense series. We thank producer John C. Alsedek for allowing us to post the recording in the Internet Archive page.
There is also a presentation of the script by American Radio Theater. The link to their recording is https://amerad.libsyn.com/suspense-hangman-wontwait
The story was also included in the Suspense comic book, issue #1. The title was changed to "Here Comes the Hangman" and Dr. Fell's name is changed.
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