This episode is Olivia deHavilland’s only appearance on Suspense, and Reginald Gardner’s first of two. This is the final production of Suspense that required separate broadcast days for east and west. Finally, Suspense would have a single day for its broadcasts. This made it easier to attract guest stars and also made the program easier to publicize.
A young American woman is on a cruise home from England. Her deceased employer’s coffin is on board. She was directed her to supervise the burial-at-sea to fulfill her employer’s wishes. It is a cruise, and this is Suspense, so of course there’s a stowaway on board. That’s not just any stowaway, it’s believed to be “the Blackout Killer” of London. On the way, she meets a strange man, and who she begins to suspect he is the killer. His true identity is established, just in time, and they live happily ever after, together. There’s no spoiler in stories that telegraph the likely resolution of the plotlines. This is not one of the more mystifying Suspense episodes, but it is fun, nonetheless.
The east network broadcast has survived in two forms, network and Armed Forces Radio Service. The network one is the better sounding of the two. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording is derived from the east broadcast. At approximately 3:00 de Havilland stumbles on a line “It seemed as if the tr…Sou…the trip to Southampton…” which matches the AFRS copy at about 1:43. The AFRS recording concludes with a 5 minute teaser clip of the following week’s production You’ll Never See Me Again.
The story is by veteran radio scripter Joel Malone, best known for his work on The Whistler. He also wrote for 1950s television, including the syndicated version of The Whistler.
Olivia de Havilland had a long and prominent movie career from the 1930s through the 1980s. Her career is summarized well at Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_de_Havilland Her radio were not many, except for Lux Radio Theatre, on which she had many appearances.
Reginald Gardiner started in theater and radio in England in the 1920s and 1930s, and moved to Hollywood in the mid-1930s. He did well in Hollywood, and later in television, through the mid-1960s.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP440907
THE CAST
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND (Judith Webster), REGINALD GARDINER (Alan Bruce, alias Charles Drew), Herbert Rawlinson (First Officer), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Passenger), Alec Harford (Steward), unknown (Train conductor), unknown (Newsboy), unknown (Woman passenger)
Reginald Gardiner had a comedy act in his early stage career in England. It was about trains, and it became a popular recording for children. It can be heard at https://youtu.be/mgZlT1IA8-U It was very popular and was still being sold into the 1970s.
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