This Robert L. Richards script is Gene Kelly’s first of many appearances on Suspense. Though he had extensive experience acting on stage, appearing in this kind of role was considered as “against type” for him. He had broad positive recognition (and strong box office) for his dancing roles in musicals, and here he’s playing a black marketeer. Kelly’s character in the story has run up loans to others in a similar unsavory business. So… he steals what he needs! This is not his typical role.
Gene Kelly was one of the biggest stars to appear on Suspense, and there would be other appearances, too. He sometimes replaced a star who had sudden commitments elsewhere, such as on the movie set. Even on comparatively short notice he was able to step up before the microphone. The Wikipedia page describes his long and varied career better than this blog post can. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Kelly
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP431116
THE CAST
GENE KELLY (Art Kramer), Hans Conried (Kennelly), Bill Johnstone (Sam Gross), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Officer Jim), Harry Lang (Joe), Ken Christy (“Mac” McPhail), unknown (Rita), Horace Willard?
At the end of the broadcasts, the announcement about the new schedule for Suspense is repeated.
This story was included in Suspense Magazine #2, without a change in title. The PDF is available on the same Internet Archive page as this recording.
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