NOTE: A discussion of Sorry, Wrong Number and its role in Suspense history was in the post for the first broadcast of the performance on 1943-05-25. It can be accessed at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/02/1943-05-25-sorry-wrong-number.html
This is the second time that Sorry, Wrong Number was presented on Suspense. The program created a lot of “buzz” in its first broadcast because of its unique nature compared to the other plays that were offered by the series. The story deviated greatly from the vision that producer Charles Vanda had for “gothic” style mysteries with a more modern style that had more personal engagement with the storyline.
There are other things to keep in mind about this broadcast compared to the first:
The first broadcast was never promoted as “Sorry, Wrong Number.” The publicity was for “She Overheard Death Speaking” and the main reason to listen was the dramatic technique that Moorehead would be the only voice heard directly, and all of the other voices would be by telephone simulation. There was no special promotion.
The “flub” of the first episode is not mentioned in any of the publicity or any of the stories about the program. The script was being performed again by popular demand. It was the uniqueness of SWN that created “buzz” and “water-cooler chatter” in workplaces and the sense for those who missed that broadcast missed something out of the ordinary.
This performance was heavily promoted around a time change for the Suspense broadcast. Suspense was moving to Saturdays. There is no better way to draw an audience than with the most-talked-about script of just four months prior and with a big publicity push to inform the audience of the new listening time.
This was the first east-west broadcast day for Suspense. It was odd for a sustaining, unsponsored series. It is believed that CBS was trying to appeal to Colgate or another prospect that the Saturday time slot would offer a prime audience for them. The east broadcast was 7:30pm ET, with the performance in the KNX studios at 4:30pm PT. The second performance was at 8pm PT. It might have been possible that the 8pm PT / 11pm ET broadcast was available nationally if individual stations desired to use that feed; it is not known for certain if that was the case.
This is the press release from CBS headquarters in New York:
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While this is the second time that listeners were hearing SWN, this is the second and third time that Moorehead was performing the script. The first performance finished at 5:00pm PT, and the next began at 8:00pm PT, meaning that she had three hours to recover from a very demanding performance.
The following review appeared a few days later in the 1943-08-25 edition of Variety. It was very positive, enthusiastic in its praise.
Agnes Moorehead gave one of the memorable performances of radio history Saturday (21) on the Suspense series on CBS from the Coast. Vehicle was a repeat of Fletcher's horrendous tour-de-force, Wrong Number. The melodrama about a nerve-racked invalid who tries to phone her husband's office, only to be cut in on a conversation between two men plotting a murder, pyramided to an almost unbearable degree of tension. The pitch rose as the frantic woman became increasingly tearful that she was the intended victim and more and more hysterically, tried to get help, first from the police, then through the apartment management, the phone company, and even a near by hospital. As the end relentlessly approached, her terrified phone calls almost imperceptibly wove the damning evidence around her guilty husband. All this was projected in telephone conversations, with the victim providing nearly all the impetus, characterization and suspense, and the voices at the other end of the wire supplying only minor support. Miss Moorehead’s playing of this extraordinary role has rarely, if ever, been equaled on the air. From the woman’s first faltering lines, through the scenes of growing dread to the final moments of gibbering semi-delirium, it was a blood-chilling performance of a brilliantly agonizing script. Miss Fletcher, incidentally, authored the original short story from which Norman Corwin adapted his highly-praised My Client Curley fantasy of several seasons ago. In the case of Wrong Number, the authoress’ husband, Bernard Herrmann, arranged and conducted the atmospheric introductory and closing music.
With the next week’s episode, The King’s Birthday, the Saturday experiment ended. Suspense would continue without a sponsor and have one national performance. By November, Roma Wines had signed on to becoming the sponsor. In December, Suspense would have new budgets and the east-west broadcasts, but on different days.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430821
THE CAST
AGNES MOOREHEAD (Mrs. Stevenson), Hans Conried (George), Harry Lang (George’s contact / Western Union man), Leo Cleary? (Police Sgt. Martin), Margaret Brayton? (Chief Operator), Mary Jane Croft? (Operator), unknown (Henchley Nurse), Jim Bannon (Man in Black)
The broadcast ends with a public service announcement to recruit for the US Cadet Nurses Corps. The corps was disbanded in 1948. An effort has been made to recognize the nurses as US veterans of WW2.
The $15 per month stipend mentioned in the PSA is about $260 in US$2023.
Which recording is which?
There are three recordings that have survived. One is for the east, one is for the west, and the other was made at British Columbia station CJOR. This was a recording that an engineer made for an actor friend so they could study Moorehead’s technique, and because of its location is the west broadcast.
East broadcast (EC) 25:15 Conried is on the phone and there is no “Police department, Sergeant Martin speaking...Police department, Sergeant Martin speaking…”
West broadcast (WC) about 26:10 you hear “Police department, Sergeant Martin speaking...Police department, Sergeant Martin speaking…” followed by Conried. (This is at about 25:50 in the CJOR recording)
It is not known why this difference exists in the recordings. It is believed that the recordings are intact and have not been edited to create this difference, but that is always a possibility.
Of the three recordings, the east (EC) recording is the best.
Part of the experimental Saturday broadcast was to find out if Suspense could compete against the Ellery Queen radio program. Here is the listing from the Boston Globe showing the two programs in the same time slot.
Ellery Queen had a 10.5 Hooper rating in this usual slot. Suspense was getting 8.5 in its usual Thursday position. We know this change did not do well because Suspense was moved back quickly to a weeknight position. Not even a much ballyhooed performance of Sorry, Wrong Number could beat EQ. The answer was "no," and the experiment ended quickly because Suspense was not SUSPENSE! yet. But it will be, soon.
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