This episode is a Silvia Richards story that is based on the theme of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 essay Compensation. Emerson’s premise can be summarized as “You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong.” He contends that crime damages a person’s soul, making it, their environment, and their relationships more fragile, easily broken, prone to further corruption.
The episodes stars Joseph Cotten in this creepy story of testing the concept in real life in a random motive-free murder as an experiment. The purpose is to find out if there is a “karma-like” effect on the perpetrator and how it affects their conscience. Cotten is really cold-blooded in the part.
In Emerson’s time and at the time of this broadcast, glass was assumed to be fragile and not durable as some of the versions of glass available today. The title’s reference was commonly understood by and obvious to many listeners, and many may have read the Emerson piece in high school.
Richards’ reference to the Biblical “eye for an eye” is used out of context, and was commonly misunderstood as condoning revenge. Its misinterpretation is still common today, if not more so. It actually means that punishments should be appropriate and proportional to the crime and not more more than that. Human history is rather brutal with crimes subject to retribution beyond the injurious act, often with death or maiming. Authorities would consider disproportionately harsh punishments as deterrents to smaller crimes.
Clifton Webb was the originally planned and heavily promoted star. Cotten fills in with a marvelous performance on relatively short notice.
Only one network recording has survived, and it is not known if it is the east or west broadcast. There are two versions of it, however. The commonly circulating program is missing the Truman Bradley opening of “Now…” The two files close with a 14 second pause before the network ID. The file with the clipped open is the better sounding recording.
COMPLETE: Suspense 1945-09-27 The Earth is Made of Glass (14s - complete open)
BETTER SOUND: Suspense 1945-09-27 The Earth is Made of Glass (14s - missing 'now')
This was Gale Gordon’s only documented appearance on Suspense as he plays “Dr. West.” He was one of radio’s greatest and most reliable voices. He was best known for his comedic work, especially for Fibber McGee and Molly and Our Miss Brooks. He would work extensively with Lucille Ball in her 1960s and 1970s television comedy programs. His radio work began in the 1930s with many uncredited dramatic roles. His career is profiled at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_Gordon
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https://archive.org/details/TSP450927
THE CAST
JOSEPH COTTEN (Richard Steel), Gale Gordon (Dr. West), Bill Johnstone (Salesclerk), Cathy Lewis (Miss Adams), Wally Maher (Mr. Jeremy), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Elliot), unknown (Librarian), unknown (Nurse)
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