This is a play with an impractical premise and unlikely ending that should just be enjoyed for the pure fun of the idea. Would everyone, including a killer, respond to a call to return to the scene of a crime to reconstruct the event. Not likely. Let that go and just enjoy the story.
A Scotland Yard detective gives a dinner party at a murdered woman's home. He was never able to solve the case and creates a ruse to trap the killer. The guests include the suspected murderer. He hopes to trap the murderer into a confession by recreating the scene of the crime. He succeeds with some help from an unexpected source.
This was a 1926 short story and then a 1930 stage play Banquo's Chair: A Play in One Act by British writer Rupert Croft-Cooke. It was adapted for Suspense by Inner Sanctum contributor Sigmund Miller.
CBS publicity to newspapers was that the title of this broadcast was “The Extra Guest.” The name was changed to “Banquo’s Chair,” the name of the original stage play by Croft-Cooke. William Spier was going to change the name of an established play! Perhaps he thought better of it, and reverted to the original title a few days before broadcast, too late for the newspapers to be notified.
The title refers to the Macbeth character Banquo. Macbeth has Banquo murdered and he finds himself haunted by Banquo's ghost. That ghost is the guilt Macbeth has about the murder and his realization that he had a good man killed.
Donald Crisp was a motion picture veteran with more than 30 years in film by the time of this broadcast. He would act, direct, and write for decades more. John Loder was a popular supporting actor, described on his IMDb page as “A tall (6'3"), handsome, debonair, immaculately-groomed British leading man best known for his pipe-smoking chaps.” Both had successful Hollywood careers.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430601
THE CAST
DONALD CRISP (Sir William Brent), JOHN LODER (Arthur Grange), Ian Wolfe (Layne / Servant at Club), Hans Conried (John Bedford), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Officer Graham), Janet Scott (Aunt Martha Ferguson / May Wakefield), Claire Verdera? (Roberta Stone), Helga Moray? (Hilda), unknown (Opening voice explaining the ending of Sorry, Wrong Number)
The program opens with a brief explanation about the ending of the previous broadcast, Sorry, Wrong Number. The ending confused many listeners because the ending was so very different compared to other radio mysteries of the time. But there was a poorly timed line in the ending delivered by actor Hans Conried, likely from a mistaken cue given by director Ted Bliss. That line was blamed for the confusion because it was easy to do so. Hans and Ted are both back for this episode. All is forgiven.
It is sad that the program seems better known among collectors for its Sorry, Wrong Number announcement than it is for its story.
William Spier obviously liked the play, because he produced it twice more on Suspense (1944-08-03 and 1950-03-09) and in the sole season he produced Philip Morris Playhouse on 1949-03-25.
The play was produced on the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, broadcast on 1959-05-09. It was one of the few productions in the series that he directed. The episode is noted for its variety of camera angles. The episode is somewhat polarizing among series fans, with not many opinions in the middle. All agree the episode seems “padded” with an extended Hitchcock introduction and an extended close because the play was short. Perhaps the camera angles and such were meant to also fill some of the allotted time. It seems the original Croft-Cooke play was only 15 pages long.
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