Lloyd Nolan stars as a long-tenured bank messenger who is unhappy with his lowly career and envious of the success of others. He steals the money in his pouch ($50,000 which is more than $860,000 in US$2023) and hides it, and confesses to the crime. The money is being held at a store and all he has to do once he is out of prison is return to the store and claim it using the secret phrase it’s filed under. He protected the secret phrase and never wrote it down or said it for fear someone would find out and snatch it all away from him. Of course, a love interest becomes involved, and he’d like to share his wealth with her. But… does she love him for being him, or because of his imminent financial windfall? It’s a good and entertaining story; researcher Keith Scott reports that it was one of William Spier’s favorites.
The original title of the script was “The Man Who Forgot,” but that was likely just a placeholder name that scripter Robert Richards used until he came up with something else. They would have never used it because the placeholder title is a spoiler alert! “Heart’s Desire” is a much better title because “desire” and “envy” are a strong part of the storyline, and “heart” is a reflection of the character’s love interest.
There are two recordings of this episode, a network one (east or west is not known) and an Armed Forces Radio recording (#96). The network recording is the better sounding one. The AFRS is derived from the surviving network recording is very listenable. It includes a tease for the following episode, Taming of the Beast.
Richard Whorf was the planned guest but his schedule on a movie set prevented his appearance was his directing of The Hidden Eye. It was a story by George Harmon Coxe (creator of Casey, Crime Photographer) and is about a blind detective. https://youtu.be/yYOur2GK76Q Whorf’s acting career gave way to directing films and television programs through the 1960s. His previous Suspense appearances were for A Friend to Alexander and The Night Man, which was his final appearance on the series.
This is the first of Lloyd Nolan’s many appearances on Suspense. He was a highly successful actor in many leading and supporting roles in movies and television. His radio work included appearances on variety series but mainly Suspense and Lux, and a short-lived comedy-mystery series Results, Inc. with Claire Trevor (3 have survived). His long career is summarized at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Nolan
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP450322
THE CAST
LLOYD NOLAN (Henry Doyle), Jeanette Nolan (Lucille Carmichael), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Pawnbroker), John McIntire (Frizzell / Warder), Norman Lloyd? (Judge), Howard McNear (Convict), unknown (Policeman), Jack Moyles (Pawnbroker’s Son), unknown (Girl at bank),
Jeanette Nolan was not related to Lloyd Nolan. She was married to John McIntire who doubles in this episode. The McIntires had long and excellent acting careers, and one of Hollywood’s longest marriages, often working together in radio and television productions, usually in supporting roles.
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