This is the first Suspense appearance of Vincent Price. He was originally scheduled for Five Canaries in the Room, but Lee Bowman filled in. Unlike the “big” Hollywood stars, Price continued to appear on Suspense through the late 1950s. He loved radio. When many stars had contracts that limited their media performances for a period of time when they had a movie playing in theaters, Price had such clauses removed from his contracts.
This script is also the first of a radio writing legend, E. Jack Neuman. He also had a fine career in television and film.
In the story, Price portrays a spy who has been working undercover as a Nazi officer for a long time. He’s worked his way up the chain of command to a high position. But he’s worried that his successful stealth is about to come to an end. Who is about to betray him?
Price started in theater, like most radio actors, and his first Hollywood film was in 1938. This means he’s doing Suspense when his career is relatively new and still in its upward trajectory. The Wikipedia page of his career is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Price Classic radio fans also hold his appearances in the late years of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar – where he plays himself! – with great affection.
Among E. Jack Neuman’s credits are series such as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Richard Diamond, Suspense, Jeff Regan, and many, many others. He occasional used the pseudonyms of John Dawson or Jack Dawson; that was sometimes a tip-off that he had used the script in another series. His TV credits included Bonanza, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, and many others. His dialogue could often be some of the snappiest and crisp in the profession, and he could turn switch from sarcastic to straightforward dialogue (as in Richard Diamond and the Jeff Regan series) with great skill and smoothness.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP431123
THE CAST
VINCENT PRICE (Umberstein), Hans Conried (Herr Muller), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Conductor), Ludwig Donath (Captain Von Heinz), unknown (Fraulein Keller), unknown (Hans), unknown (Officer), unknown (train man)
There are two recordings, a network broadcast and a late 1970s / early 1980s Armed Forces Radio and Television Service release. The network recording is the much better of the two and the only one available in FLAC.
This story was included in Suspense Magazine #4 but was retitled as “The Strange Case of Mark Boren.” The PDF is available on the Internet Archive page with the recording.
This episode of Suspense is the last un-sponsored broadcast before Roma Wines enters the production and bankrolls an expansion of star-powered casting, a greater commitment to music composition and performance, and all production values. The Roma sponsorship ended in November 1947.
The following week, Suspense would be heard on Thursdays in the East and Central time zones. Then the entire production crew and cast would re-assemble the following Monday for the Pacific and Mountain time zone live performance.
The difference in overall production quality becomes noticeable every week, especially by Spring 1944. This is when Suspense finally becomes… SUSPENSE!
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