A doctor runs an interesting experiment: tries to convince people to murder him and figure out what stops them. He ponders why they didn’t do it and develops guidelines for five checks that explain their reluctance to murder: fear being punished, religious belief, gratitude for their lives, the loss of reputation by being considered a killer, and the squeamishness of it all. The letter in the story is what Bronson is writing to a friend to explain the experiment. Is the experiment successful if he finds one of these does not stop someone? What happens when he meets an insane subject? Creepy.
This picture of the cast is from the 1943-12-12 Radio Life feature about Suspense.
Creepy in a real way is that Laird Cregar was an exceptional actor on stage and film with a rising career. He shows his skill in radio in this episode. But Cregar would be dead 17 months later at age 31. He was using amphetamines to lose weight from his typical 300 pounds and get down to a profile that would get him consideration for leading man movie roles. Physical complications of the diet, despite being under direction of a physician, led to a need for emergency surgery. He emerged from the surgery, appeared to be starting recovery, but had a steep decline from which he could not recover. He never left the hospital.
Cregar appeared on many radio programs, including one more Suspense episode, but also in variety and comedy programs. One of the appearances was on Duffy’s Tavern where he teaches Archie how to have a split personality so he can be a menace, just like in a horror picture. Those were exactly the kinds of film roles Cregar was trying to escape… but he played along with the laughs for the show though the stereotyping likely bothered him a great deal.
Also in the cast was Walter Kingsford, another stage actor who went from London to Broadway to Hollywood. He tended to play people in authority, such as government leaders, physicians, lawyers, and other roles. He made many appearances on Lux Radio Theatre.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430727
THE CAST
LAIRD CREGAR (Dr. Bronson), Walter Kingsford (Dr. Mosher), George Coulouris (Laderne), Helen Vinson (Nurse Ainsley), Harold Huber (Doyle), Ian Wolfe (Mr. Totten), Jim Bannon (Man in Black)
There are two recordings available; the full network recording is the best. An aircheck from WHAS in Kentucky has survived, but is only the first half of the program.
The author is Richard Kreyke and the script was adapted by Leonard St. Clair. What is strange is that the author of the short story, developed from the script, is listed as “Cleve Cartmill” in Suspense Magazine #4. This was likely a pseudonym of Kreyke. His name is spelled Creyke on the script at the University of Wisconsin for the 1946 production.
It is curious that the Suspense Magazine #4 associates the short story in that edition with the 1946 production and not this one. The cover has a picture of the 1946 production’s star, Henry Daniell. It was likely decided not to use the photo of the late Cregar as it may have been considered to be in bad taste.
The 1943-07-28 edition of Variety reported that Ted Bates, the ad agency for Colgate-Palmolive, was considering sponsorship of Suspense. The story said they were giving the decision “special attention.” Some mainstream newspapers picked up the Colgate story a week later. Having a sponsor meant a great deal to the success of a series in terms of its budget, but also getting access to a superior time slot in the schedule, when listenership would be at its highest.
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