This is a repeat performance of the Richard Connell short story as adapted by Jacques Anson Finke. The broadcast was originally intended to star Suspense favorite Cary Grant. Instead, the familiar and reliable Suspense guest Joseph Cotten became the headliner. This episode is the first appearance of J. Carrol Naish in the series.
The blogpost about the 1943-09-23 broadcast (which starred Orson Welles) has background about the original story and that can be accessed at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/03/1943-09-23-most-dangerous-game.html Cotten plays the hunted Sanger Rainsford and delivers his usual fine performance. Knowing Cary Grant was planned for the role makes one wonder how different his interpretation might have been.
This episode was broadcast about four years before Naish became associated with his big radio role as an Italian immigrant in the comedy Life with Luigi. This episode, Most Dangerous Game, is an opportunity for classic radio enthusiasts to hear Naish in his natural voice and appreciate his wide range of acting skills… well, no, it’s not. Here, Naish is in the role that Welles overplayed so well, the Russian General Zaroff, with the required accent. But Naish stays within the nefarious confines of the role without testing the bounds of cartoonishness. In Naish’s three other Suspense appearances he is in a more natural voice in only one, Commuter’s Ticket. In both Footfalls and The Treasure Chest of Don Jose he plays in ethnic voices.
There are two network recordings, and it is not known which is east or west at this time. The recordings are similar and lack crisp sound that other Suspense recordings have. The better recording is 31 seconds to network ID “(31s).” The other is 35 seconds to ID “(35s)” and has some disc problems. Perhaps a better recording may be found, but these are listenable.
The Suspense episode had the cooperation of RKO Studios. Production of the movie adaptation “A Game of Death” with John Loder was underway. It can be viewed at YouTube https://youtu.be/GuXmQM5_G1M It was released in November 1945. (It is also at The Internet Archive… with Greek subtitles https://archive.org/details/a-game-of-death-1945 )
J. Carrol Naish was a superb radio actor, and also had about 200 supporting roles in movies. He was nominated for two Oscars for supporting roles, and his career extended into the television era. Though Irish, he was known for playing European ethnic roles and even portrayed Charlie Chan in the 1950s television series. He never seemed to play any Irish characters. His skills at imitation of accents got him his most popular radio role of Luigi Basco on Life with Luigi. Many of the roles he played might not be possible today and possibly create some concern or outrage. The ability to play ethnic voices in an authentic manner on radio was a great skill sought by producers and directors in that era. Ben Wright was a radio actor with similar skills who played “Hey Boy” in Have Gun Will Travel, but had a wide range of European and other world accents in his skills, including American accents, as he was British. The contemporary actor Tony Shaloub is similarly skilled and has been cast in many different ethnic roles in television and movies. You can often hear Joe Kearns portraying ethnic voices of various origins in Suspense, sometimes doubling as a different character in a natural voice in the very same play he voiced the signature “Man in Black.”
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP450201
THE CAST
JOSEPH COTTEN (Sanger Rainsford), J. CARROL NAISH (General Zaroff), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Ivan), Earl Keen? (Dog sounds), Purves Pullen? (Bird sounds)
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