Uncle Henry's Rosebush, is the first script of a new writer who went on to have a successful career in radio, television and movies. It stars Agnes Moorehead, but it’s not a big role where you could say “it’s an Agnes Moorehead episode” like most of her other appearances.
The Lindens decide to take their first vacation in a while, and wife Carol would like to make a surprise visit to her Aunt Julie and Uncle Henry. They’ve never met husband Paul, and he’d like to see them and their farm. Let’s just say it doesn’t work out, and they start wondering if Aunt Julie’s trying to shoo them away is because she’s done away with Uncle Henry. The fact that his room is impeccably kept and his rosebush is well attended while everything else is a mess adds to their suspicion.
The story was written by Larry Roman, his first script accepted by a network program. He was working as a page for the Al Jolson Show, also broadcast by CBS. Larry would become a successful radio writer, especially for the series Rocky Jordan and Jeff Regan. His career would take him to motion pictures and television work. He wrote the screenplay for the 1956 Robert Wagner movie A Kiss Before Dying. His other work included the movies Under the Yum Yum Tree, Paper Lion, Final Verdict, and one of John Wayne’s last movies, McQ.
This was Ellen Drew’s first appearance on Suspense and she would not appear again for 16 years for her second and final appearance (The Signalman). The busy peak of her film career was about 1938 to 1944, but she worked in supporting roles in movies and in television, with one of her final roles in a 1960 episode of Perry Mason.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430629
THE CAST
AGNES MOOREHEAD (Aunt Julie), ELLEN DREW (Carol Linden), Elliott “Ted” Reid (Paul Linden), Norman Field (Uncle Henry), Joe Kearns (Man in Black)
There may be some question if the title is “Rose Bush” or “Rosebush.” The directory of William Spier’s papers at the University of Wisconsin indicates it is “Rosebush.”
There are two recordings of this episode, and the network recording is much better than the Armed Forces Radio (AFRS) one.
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