Monday, March 27, 2023

1944-02-24 Sorry, Wrong Number

With the east and west performances of Sorry, Wrong Number for this Suspense, Agnes Moorehead had delivered her performance five times in 10 months. The inaugural performance of May 1943, the east and west performances of August 1943, and now this pair or regional performances.

If this is the first time you are reading about Sorry, Wrong Number, be sure to review the posts about the previous broadcasts:

This pair of performances on Thursday, 1944-02-24 and Monday 1944-02-28, likely had the biggest listenership with the combination of a sponsor promoting the series, the CBS publicity department finally committed to the series, and a much better time slot. The story and buzz around SWN was very big considering all of the disadvantages that sustaining unsponsored series had.

Newspaper publicity emphasized that SWN was being performed again because of “listener requests.” PR pros love that kind of wording because it connects with potential listeners and makes it seem to be an endorsement by regular people just like they are. It also plays on emotions of those who never heard the play by stoking the social fear of missing out on something big. Typical newspaper teases were generally like this:

In the unusual play by Lucille Fletcher, Miss Moorehead is heard as a nervous and neurotic married woman left alone in her apartment to torture herself with fantasies of fear. She tries twice to telephone her husband, but finds the line busy each time. On the third attempt, wires become crossed and she overhears a conversation planning a murder that night at 11 o'clock. She loses the connection and a rapidly evolving chain of circumstances lead up to an unexpected climax.

This is funny in another way – everyone knew what the climax was because the word of mouth from the prior broadcasts was so strong. The interest among those who had heard the play before was the curiosity about how it was all done, and how it was so different compared to what they usually heard, even after multiple hearings.

The sound effects artist, Berne Surrey, was starting to get some recognition about his role in making the performance so exceptional. Getting the phone effects right was important, of course. But the ending with the clatter of the passing train, the struggle, and the falling thud of Mrs. Stevenson’s body were difficult to execute in such a short period of time.

The 1944-03-01 Variety summarized the Thursday 1944-02-24 east presentation:

The third airing of Lucille Fletcher’s Sorry, Wrong Number, last Thursday on Suspense, first time under sponsorship, lost no suspense because of previous airings. Pacing was particularly fine. Agnes Moorehead, as the neurotic wife, acted it to the hilt. In keeping with the production integration, which is this program's trademark, there was no copy break midway in the script.

It is still amusing that the script that ends a vicious murder would be so attractive to Roma that they would surrender their mid-show commercial to delight the listeners. Had this script not had such rave reviews and buzz when it had no sponsor, it would likely never be accepted by Roma as a new script. This is an indication of how special and highly regarded the script and Moorehead’s performance had become. Not even timid ad executives, could refuse the lure of a big audience.

Only the west broadcast has survived, and that recording bears the date 1944-02-28. The Armed Forces Radio Service release, #41, is available, and was drawn from the west broadcast. The network recording has the best sound of the two.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP440224

THE CAST

AGNES MOOREHEAD (Mrs. Stevenson), Hans Conried (George), Harry Lang (Contact), John McIntire (Sergeant Martin), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Telegram boy), Jeanette Nolan? (Operator), Cathy Lewis? (Chief Operator / Henchley Hospital), Margaret Brayton? (Information)

###

at
Labels: ,