Many people do not realize that Lucille Ball was an accomplished non-comedic radio and movie drama actor early in her career. In Dime a Dance she plays a “taxi dancer” in a dance hall whose life is in danger. There is a serial killer in town who is targeting young women. Her character, Ginger Allen, gets involved in tracking the killer down.
The original short story was by Cornell Woolrich under his “William Irish” pseudonym and appeared in the February 1938 edition of Black Mask magazine. The story was adapted by Robert Tallman.
What makes this episode all the more interesting is that Ms. Ball played a key role in revising the script. She made suggestions for changes that resulted in William Spier re-writing the script for the Thursday broadcast. When the show went on the air, he was still making changes during the broadcast! She read the last three pages of the script cold, without rehearsal. It can be assumed that all of the changes were fully integrated for the west broadcast.
The website oldtimeradioreview.com has a very enthusiastic review. Note that he mentions the effectiveness of the first-person narrative style of the program, though he does not use that descriptor.
This is one of the very best episodes of Suspense's entire run, showcasing many of the series' greatest strengths, including its frequent use of well-chosen source material and its ability to attract the leading stars of the day to do justice to the scripts… In any case, Ball is extremely good in the main role, making for a strong, sympathetic lead.
The fact that the story is told from the perspective of Ball's character, rather than that of the police trying to solve the case, makes it that much more gripping, as she herself is a potential victim. As well as Ball's performance, another of the episode's great pleasures is its vivid evocation of the period - the short story on which it was based was written in 1938, and it has the definite feel of a Depression-era tale, with an air of desperation hanging over its dance hall setting. Adding to the atmosphere is the effective use of contemporary music. Finally, the story itself is a very enjoyable one, with a dark edge and a good series of twists. Overall, a superb episode.
See the complete review at http://www.oldtimeradioreview.com/suspense---d2.html
In the 1944-01-14 NY Daily News, critic Ben Gross referred to Lucille Ball’s performance as “a deft bit of acting.” Lucy’s acting may have been appreciated, but her business acumen was not recognized until later. Bill Spier got a taste of the breadth of her astute production sense in the handling of the script and the flow of the drama.
The east network recording has survived. An Armed Forces Radio and Television Service recording from the late 1970s/early 1980s release exists. It matches the east network dialogue. The network recording is the much better of the two.
An Armed Forces Radio Service release from the 1940s designated as #35 is noted in an AFRS reference book, but the recording is not in circulation and may not have survived.
Lucille Ball’s career is well known. By the time she was on Suspense she was an established movie star. Later in the 1940s, she would star in the radio program My Favorite Husband, and that would lead to one of the most successful television franchises of all time, I Love Lucy. She became a production executive with her husband, Desi Arnaz, in Desilu Studios. She had a fantastic entertainment career.
Pat McGeehan was a versatile actor and announcer. He was probably best known for being an announcer for Red Skelton. He played the lead role in a short-lived mystery series, The Adventures of Bill Lance. He appeared on Adventures of Maisie, Stars Over Hollywood, Aunt Mary, and appeared on variety shows such as The Jack Benny Show and in comedies such as Fibber McGee and Molly. He became known for his announcing of Hour of St. Francis. He was yet another actor, always busy in credited and uncredited roles, who had great success in Hollywood radio.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP44013
THE CAST
LUCILLE BALL (Ginger Allen), Pat McGeehan (Nick Ballister), Hans Conried (Marino), Jeanette Nolan (Mom), Ian Wolfe (First homicide cop), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Second homicide cop), unknown (Laverne), Kay Thompson? (Singer of “Poor Butterfly”)
The big dancing venue in Manhattan at the time was the legendary Roseland, which may be what Woolrich had in mind for Joyland Palace.
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