This story is considered a classic mystery. Its author is Nicholas Blake, but that is a pseudonym of British poet and author Cecil Day-Lewis. It was published in 1938. It is known for its opening lines:
“I am going to kill a man. I don't know his name. I don't know where he lives. I have no idea what he looks like. But I am going to find him and kill him.”
The story is about a father seeking revenge for the hit-and-run death of his son. He does not know who is responsible, and his search for the identity of the killer is the core of the story.
The original story is a detective novel with Blake’s continuing character Nigel Strangeways. That character has been removed to employ the Suspense “first person narrative” style to tell the story from the father’s perspective.
The title is drawn from Ecclesiastes 3:19:
For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.
Ecclesiastes is recognized for its opening “vanity of vanity, all is vanity” which is better translated as “vapor of vapors, all is vapor.” The book dwells on the transience and often discouraging meaning of life day-to-day and in its grander context of a lifetime. Many current translations now use “animal” instead of “beast.” But “beast” is a richer word in terms of the title of this story because of its broader range of literary meanings. It can imply a wild spirit inside one’s heart that must be tamed to be civilized, or that anger and envy are beasts that must be controlled, or as a description of the evil inside the killer. It could be the father angrily dealing with the beast of revenge, or the killer, whose insensitivity to life is a beast as well. The title likely resonated better in the time of its writing when there was broader familiarity with scriptural texts than there is taught or experienced today.
The scripture was also the inspiration for a Brahms piece, Denn es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh, which may have been familiar to many in the listening audience.
The story can be a bit complex, with some surprises, which makes it good for Suspense. What makes the plotline special is when things take an odd turn for the father, Felix Lane (played by Herbert Marshall). He learns the identity of the driver but that man turns up dead! Felix becomes a suspect… but there is enough suspicion and motive that can be spread around to others.
William Spier liked the story so much he had a screenplay written for it and announced the beginnings of a movie production for it weeks after the broadcast… which did not come to pass. The story has been done in movies and television, and was recently a series on cable/streaming.
East and west network broadcasts have survived. The west recording is the much better of the two.
John McIntire is the “Man in Black” for the Thursday/east broadcast, and Joe Kearns returns to the role for the Monday/west broadcast.
The story was adapted by John Moore and John Marshall. They were each active writers and served in various production positions for many different programs in their careers.
This is Herbert Marshall’s first appearance on Suspense. He would have an additional 19 starring appearances. Marshall was also in the Forecast pilot of the series in 1940. Marshall was on radio often, and many classic radio fans enjoy the light spy drama in which he starred for many years, The Man Called X. That series was produced by William N. Robson; he would take over the Suspense series as producer in October 1956.
Marshall’s career began in British theater and movies, and he moved to Hollywood for a multi-decade movie, radio, and television career. His career and personal life have far too many elements and twists and turns to summarize here, but there is an extensive Wikipedia profile of him https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Marshall
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/440713
THE CAST
HERBERT MARSHALL (Felix Lane), Bea Benaderet (Lena), John McIntire (Carfax), Dennis Hoey (George Rattray), Hans Conried (Witness), John McIntire (The Man in Black [east]) Joe Kearns (The Man in Black [west]), Vicki Marsden? (Violet), unknown (Inspector Blunt), unknown (Phil Rattray)
Marshall’s nickname was “Bart,” imposed by his mother who feared he would be called “Bertie.” You can hear him referred to as “Bart” in casual conversations on variety and other programs. He lost part of a leg in World War I and did much charitable work and private visits to WW2 veterans in hospitals who faced similar challenges. His injury was mentioned only rarely in the press.
During WW2 Cecil Day-Lewis worked in the Ministry of Information… wonder if he and John Dickson Carr could be seen having lunch together…
Cecil Day-Lewis would become the British Poet Laureate in the late 1960s.
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