Paul Lukas plays a blind man who insists he can name the person who murdered a young woman in his apartment house. The author is Robert L. Richards.
When the police gather witnesses, they realize that Lukas’ character, Anton Rijak, is not there. This is a device to make the character’s entrance into the story more interesting and emphasize his blindness, and create some sympathy for his situation among the audience. This lays the foundation for the surprise ending when it is realized that the sympathy for him was greatly misplaced. His service dog, Carl, plays an important role in the story, making the story a bit unusual.
NY Daily News radio critic Ben Gross certainly loves Suspense and he loved this episode. These are his comments in the 1944-01-21 edition:
The Suspense story, World of Darkness, last night was not quite so eerie as others in this series. However, compared with other presentations of this type on the air, it still towered above its competitors. Paul Lukas, the movie and stage star, gave an exceptionally fine portrayal of the leading role, that of a blind musician. As always, the background music contributed a major part to the effectiveness of the broadcast. In fact, the incidental melodies in this show are about the best you'll find in radio.
This is the final appearance of Paul Lukas on Suspense. The other episodes were Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble, and Mr. Markham, Antique Dealer.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP440120
THE CAST
PAUL LUKAS (Anton Rijack), Earl Keen (Carl), Hans Conried (Inspector / end commercial voice), Ian Wolfe (Franz), Gloria Gordon (Mrs. Washburn), Jeanette Nolan (Edna Collins), Charles Lung (Police Radio / Haggerty / end commercial voice), Joe Kearns (Man in Black), Elliott Reid? (Danny Farrell), unknown (Kay Walker), Mary Jane Croft? (Nancy),
The service dog is played by Earl Keen. He was the voice of Lassie (except for barking, it seems, because Lassie “insisted” on doing those with trainer Rudd Weatherwax) and numerous other animals in many, many shows. He also did dialects and kids voices, so it would be common for him to double and triple in scripts if necessary. He was one of those interesting radio production specialists who is not well-documented but had a very lucrative and very busy career.
This story was featured in Suspense Magazine #3, and a PDF can be downloaded from the same page that has the recording of the episode.
Everything takes place at 325 West 52nd Street in Manhattan between 8th and 9th Avenue. It is a real address of co-op apartments, with an average current selling price of $1.3 million. You can rent an apartment there for $6,000 a month. Easy walk to Rockefeller Center and subways. Want to schedule a visit?
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