Suspense was pre-empted on 1944-12-07 for a program in support of the Sixth War Loan Drive.
This story was originally presented on CBS Forecast as the audition program for Suspense. The production has a lot of backstory. Read about it at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/01/1940-07-26-cbs-forecast-lodger-audition_7.html
The original story was by Marie Belloc Lowndes and the original adaptation by Harold Medford was revised by Bob Tallman. It is possible that Medford did not write the Forecast audition script. There is some evidence that it was written by Joan Harrison, assistant to Alfred Hitchcock, but that is still being investigated. It may never be known for certain.
Whatever the case, the flaws of that audition program with its nebulous ending and discussion about it possible conclusion have been eliminated for a more traditional presentation of the story.
One network recording has
survived, and it is not known if it is east or west. It
is 14 seconds to the network ID. The
Armed Forces Radio Service recording (#82) matches the surviving
network recording as
its source. The
network recording is the better of the two recordings.
This section in gray has been revised as of 6/30/2023; the archive.org recordings at the link below have been revised with the updated recordings.
Three recordings have survived, the east and west network recordings, and the Armed Forces Radio Service recording (#82). The east and west network recordings are the best sounding episodes. The AFRS recording is derived from the east recording. Times are approximate.
EC 5:56 Now, I am just looking for a quiet room
WC 6:08 Now I am looking for a quiet room
AFRS 3:47 Now, I am just looking for a quiet room
The AFRS disc was damaged and unplayable in a section of the second disc side. It was repaired by inserting that section, approximately from the 16:02 to 17:50 mark, from the east network recording.
This was Robert Montgomery’s first appearance on Suspense. He was a highly regarded Oscar-nominated actor who became a writer, director, and producer. He had a very long career, best summarized at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Montgomery_(actor) Many boomers know him best as the father of actress Elizabeth Montgomery, star of the 1960s comedy series Bewitched. That fact, however true, trivializes the nature of his career and how influential he was, especially in the early television era.
Montgomery has a special part of Suspense history. When the series was cancelled after the Roma Wines contract was not renewed in November 1947, in was nearly certain the series was over. During December 1947, when the series had some sustained broadcasts to fill out the year, CBS executives were considering if it might be possible to expand Suspense to a one-hour program and duplicate the success of Lux Radio Theatre. CBS had an empty hour on Saturday evenings and there were no good candidates to fill it. It was decided that bringing on a high profile “producer” to serve as host, recognizable by the general public. It was Montgomery, with Spier remaining as producer and director. In a story told better when that period of the series is reached in these blogposts. The bottom line is that the plan did not work out, Montgomery and CBS clashed over pay, Spier left over the direction of the series, and CBS CEO William Paley was negotiating (behind their backs) with potential advertisers to bring back the half-hour series. It became a mess. Montgomery appeared in many of the 60 minute versions in early 1948. Beyond that it was just this 1944 production of The Lodger and then the 1949 production of The Thing in the Window. Most all of his Suspense activity was in the four months of the hour-long experiment.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP441214
THE CAST
CAST: ROBERT MONTGOMERY (Storyteller / Mr. Sleuth), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Newsboy / Mr. Cannot), Wally Maher (Coroner), Raymond Lawrence (Robbie Bunting / Newsboy #2), Jeanette Nolan? (Ellen Bunting), Joan Lorring? (Daisy Bunting)
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