Suspense presents another Cornell Woolrich story, adapted by Robert Tallman. Set in Central America, the wife of a gangster is stabbed and killed just as a photographer snaps her picture. Her companion, the gangster’s ex-chauffeur, fled with her to escape his treatment and start a new life together. The chauffer is accused of the stabbing. He has to clear himself with the police and avoid being killed by the gangster's men.
Blogger Christine Miller writes about the adaptation of the Woolrich novel:
Suspense's version abbreviates the novel by leaving out the opium fiends, sinister Chinese smugglers, and violent ending, but it is still a good adaptation.
Only the east coast network broadcast has survived.
The Woolrich story was adapted for the movie The Chase with Robert Cummings. It can be viewed at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/thechase1946_202002 and YouTube https://youtu.be/1AZn4CBtnwg
The Black Path of Fear was also adapted for the first TV episode of Suspense. Retitled “Revenge,” it aired on 1949-03-01 and starred husband and wife Eddie Albert and Margo. Unfortunately, a kinescope of the broadcast has not survived.
Brian Donlevy’s career began in New York in the 1920s when he appeared in stage productions and some silent files. Broadway roles began to come his way, as did movie opportunities. In the mid-1930s and through the early 1940s, he was in numerous A and B movies. His career turned to television, but he continued to be busy in movies. He won an Oscar for supporting actor in Beau Geste in 1939, but he was generally one of those actors who was more successful for a longer time in his broad career than many award winners. He is best remembered in radio for his lead role in the Dangerous Assignment spy series, in which he also starred in a 1950s television syndication series.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP440831
THE CAST
CAST: BRIAN DONLEVY (Bill Scott), Lurene Tuttle (Eve Spinelli), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Pepe Campos), Wally Maher (Spinelli), Hans Conried (Driver / Officer), John McIntire (Inspector Acosta), Jeanette Nolan (Midnight), Charlie Lung (Mr. Chin), Jay Novello (Clerk)
This script was used again with Cary Grant on 1946-03-07.
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