You Were Wonderful is a Robert Richards story of the murder of a night club singer in South America. A visiting American singer, played by Lena Horne, is booked to replace the deceased singer, and she is intent on solving the crime. Spies set up a system with the club owner where song selection is actually a secret code that indicates upcoming cargo ship traffic in the town’s harbor and alerts enemy submarines in the area. Refusing to go along with the plan could end your career, and your life.
Horne’s appearance was big news. William Spier was supposedly pressured to headline a white co-star with her but refused, putting Horne in the spotlight. Kay Thompson (the then-Mrs. Spier) is a key figure in Suspense history because of her position at MGM. She was involved in their musicals as a coach, choreographer, and other positions. Thompson had suggested Horne for the series, just as she had done for many other MGM musical stars. But she knew that the Horne suggestion had many other ramifications. Spier pressed on. Spier and network executives were concerned that Roma might pull its contract and that Southern stations might not air the program. Spier continued to press on. The broadcast went on as planned. Everyone survived, especially with the help of MGM’s publicity department. The fact that it was jittery for those involved cannot be fully appreciated or understood 80 years later. Sam Irvin, biographer of Kay Thompson, says “This broadcast was one of the most daring half-hour dramas of its time.”
See a picture of William Spier and Lena Horne at the Getty Images site https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/radios-crime-anthology-suspense-episode-you-were-wonderful-news-photo/594888980?adppopup=true
Sam Irvin’s biography of Kay Thompson website has details that were not included in the book. The endnotes have extensive background about this episode, and are far better than anything that could be written by this blog writer. The notes start on page 163 and are well worth reading, especially before listening. Your enjoyment of the program will be enhanced by doing so. Download the PDF at http://www.kaythompsonwebsite.com/index_htm_files/ENDNOTES_1_2018.pdf
Irvin reports that the three songs used in the program were arranged by Thompson. Suspense often used musical performers in non-musical roles. Horne’s appearance was originally promoted as a non-performing role, as was an upcoming appearance by Frank Sinatra. The addition of the songs may have been a maneuver to reduce the resistance around Horne’s starring dramatic role; there was no such addition in Sinatra’s To Find Help appearance. The songs are worked into the storyline quite well; after all, the story is about a singer! The three songs are as follows with approximate times for the network broadcasts:
8:07 Embraceable You by George and Ira Gershwin
16:40 One Dozen Roses by Dick Jurgens, Country Washburn, Roger Lewis, and Walter Donovan
25:10 America (My Country ’Tis of Thee) by Samuel Francis Smith [this selection may have been strategic to also include a patriotic tone in wartime, designed to thwart potential real or imagined objections to her casting; and fits the storyline]
Three recordings have survived. The east or west designation of the two network recordings has not been determined. One goes directly to the network ID “(dirID)” and the other has a five second delay to the ID “(5s).” The “(dirID)” recording is the best of the three. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (#77) is from the direct to ID network broadcast. Times are approximate:
direct to ID 3:02 “And what’s she’s….what is she doing down here in Buenos Aires anyway?”
AFRS 1:38 “And what’s she’s….what is she doing down here in Buenos Aires anyway?”
5 sec to ID 2:53 “And what’s she doing down here in Buenos Aires anyway?”
The AFRS recording concludes with an extended tease excerpt for the next episode, The Dead of the Night.
These are some comments from newspapers, some of them Black-owned publications, related to her appearance:
1944-10-22 Charlotte NC Observer
Motion Picture magazine which front-covered Lena Horne (breaking a precedent) sold out its entire issue, making up double the circ it lost in the South.1944-11-25 Pittsburgh PA Courier
Lena Horne has never been in better voice than she was as the guest star on the Roma Wine Co.'s Suspense program and sang “My Country, 'Tis of Thee.” The company is to be lauded not only because of its move in bringing Miss Horne to headline as a normal character in a normal story which could pertained to a member of any race, but also for its manner of [unreadable scan] the star, with no undue emphasis being placed on the “color” angle.1944-11-18 Jackson MS Advocate
Listeners throughout the country were amazed at the dramatic role and the punch lines assigned to Lena Horne, first lady to the screen when she appeared last week in the coast-to-coast presentation of the program Suspense. It was a new departure in commercial programs featuring Miss Horne in the principal dramatic role. Her lines gave her an opportunity to take several swipes at the “master race theory.” She did superbly. Her performance should open the eyes of the casters at the MGM studios.
Lena Horne’s career and social influence is too long, wide, and diverse to be covered here, so it is best to look at the Wikipedia page as a start https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lena_Horne Even though her appearance on Suspense was groundbreaking and went well, it remained the only Suspense broadcast with a starring Black performer for the series.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP441109
THE CAST
LENA HORNE (Lorna Dean), Wally Maher (Johnny), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Rinaldo), Raymond Lawrence (Lance Harmon), George Sorel (Doctor), Kay Thompson? (Jacquie, the singer), Sidney Miller (Stengl)
It is likely that Kay Thompson was the other singer in the story. She occasionally appeared on Suspense in an uncredited support role for such performances. The relationship with Horne and MGM, and her arranging of the musical selections, may have been a special incentive for Thompson to join the broadcast.
Last week’s guest, Van Johnson, and Lena Horne, were in the same MGM musical, Two Girls and a Sailor. It was making the rounds of theaters at the time of this broadcast. Her performance can be seen on YouTube https://youtu.be/uEaru_CB2U4
The full title of Irvin’s superb biography is Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise. It is published by Simon & Schuster, and is still in print. Amazon offers hardcover, softcover, and Kindle versions. There are many used copies available. It is worth seeking out.
###
