What’s more shocking in this story? The surprise ending or that it was written by the author of The Cinnamon Bear?
Madeleine Tremaine, a beautiful actress of years ago, is a recluse in her home and accepts no visitors. Only the vicar, Father Benson, is allowed to see her. His latest visit opens the episode, accompanied by the new curate who will soon replace him. Benson explains that she had a mental disorder and was an eccentric, and resulting he her solitary life at home for many years, except for the company of a servant. With Father Benson about to retire, will remind Miss Tremaine of his plans and introduce the new curate on this visit. She sits with them in her darkened parlor and begins to tell her story. She tells describes her first stage role and her rivalry with another actress for attention. Madeleine is a narcissist, obsessed with her beauty. Her on-stage relationship with actress Nell Garrett is very tense. Nell is soon found dead, stabbed in the back, and Madeleine is the suspect. Is the ending obvious? Only if you remember the darkened room and to be careful around the bottle of nitric acid on the table. Oops. Was that a missed spoiler alert?
The ending really has little to do with the murder, but reveals surprising circumstances and characteristics of the people involved. The use of the two clergymen characters is meant to imply that Madeleine is telling the truth throughout her story, but we learn that was not the case. There is no downside to her telling the truth since there is a seal of confession with the clergy, and they can’t tell anyone else. She lies anyway. This makes the ending more interesting. The used of the clergy characters also plays our perspective as listeners as we’re hearing something in private that no one else has a particular right to hear.
The author of the story was Elizabeth Hiestand, and it was adapted by Robert L. Richards. And now the surprise: her name was Elisabeth A. Heisch, writer of The Cinnamon Bear with her husband Glanville Taft Heisch. She wrote for many different series in her career, but not under the name used here, her maiden name. Her obituary is at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/elisabeth-heisch-obituary?id=27679067
There are two surviving recordings of this episode. The surviving network version close goes directly to the network ID. The surviving Armed Forces Radio Service recording is from the missing network version. Times are approximate:
Surviving network 23:26 “You see, I haven’t always….I’ve always known that you married me to save your career and to keep my mouth shut.”
AFRS 20:16 “You see, I’ve always known that you married me to save your career and to keep my mouth shut.”
The surviving network recording is the better of the two.
Ida Lupino was announced for this role and was replaced by June Duprez when Lupino became ill. It was the only time a Suspense guest star headlined the show two consecutive weeks. She was superb in this late fill-in appearance, likely learning only days before that she was needed for the part.
Duprez began her film career in Britain and moved to Hollywood in 1940. She had bad representation by her agent who kept overpricing her fee per picture, and she was not as active as she could have been. Even when she changed representation, her opportunities were limited when she refused the advances of certain Hollywood producers. They stopped proposing her for big film roles in their studios. Duprez was particularly pleased with her work in the 1944 None but the Lonely Heart, was released two months before this broadcast. She did have a better than average career that included some Broadway performances and some British film and television work after she left Hollywood in the late 1940s.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP441228
THE CAST
CAST: JUNE DUPREZ (Madeline Tremaine), John McIntire (John Gaylord), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Alec Duncan), Herbert Rawlinson (Reverend Bentham), Wally Maher (Inspector Kellett / Doorman), Lucille Meredith? (Suzette), unknown (Nell Garrett), unknown (Sedley)
Script author Elisabeth Heish’s brother, Bud Hiestand, has over 700 listings in RadioGoldindex http://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu/Home/RadioGoldin_Records?searchString=Hiestand,%20Bud&type=Artists&count=734
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