A dentist with a failing practice, played by George Murphy, and his wife, played by Nancy Coleman, are having a frustrating time taking care of his infirm Uncle Ed as they had promised to do. They would be thanked by becoming the inheritors of his estate. They never thought Ed would last as long as he had, and each day grates on all of them. The dentist, who has the legal authority to write prescriptions as Uncle Ed requires, chooses pill medications that look very similar in appearance. Of course, this is Suspense, so it’s pretty clear that a mix-up in the prescriptions will become part of the plot to get rid of the cranky uncle. He’s more cunning than they are… and tests the medications on his dog! When the dog dies, Uncle Ed has enough energy to get out of the house and report his heirs to the police… or does he?
This is a Robert L. Richards script. Richards was key to the rise of Suspense as he was the script editor as well as creating his own original scripts like this one.
Last week Joe Kearns was a boring Britisher, and this week he’s the cranky old uncle. Is he the most valuable member of the Suspense ensemble cast? It sure seems that way.
Nancy Coleman plays “Myra.” Just weeks ago, Lloyd Nolan starred in Murder for Myra. Spoiler: Myra dies in this episode, too!
One may wonder how a dentist could have a failing practice. There was virtually no dental insurance at this time in history, and the concept of preventative care in dentistry had not been widely established. Most people only went to dentists when they had serious problems. Dentistry would not become a dependable and rewarding specialty for about another two decades or so.
The drug in the story, thiocyanate, is an actual compound that was used at one time to treat hypertension. Sometimes scriptwriters create names of compounds that do not exist for their stories, sometimes in fear that someone in the audience will get a strange idea and act it out. Richards obviously had no problem mentioning the real drug in this case. The toxic effects of the drug included dangerous cardiac and/or neurological problems. The dangers led to substitution of other drugs that were less harmful. Richards was not making anything up in this regard.
This episode was missing until an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription became available sometime in 2012. The script was presented again in December 1947 with Ozzie and Harriet. That second production was the one that classic radio fans were most familiar with until this broadcast was found. No network recording is available.
Spoils for Victor was originally scheduled for this date, was not broadcast until 1946-05-23. That script is an interesting circumstance beyond the storytelling because the story concept was submitted to Suspense by a Los Angeles area high school chemistry teacher.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP460207
THE CAST
NANCY COLEMAN (Myra O’Connor), GEORGE MURPHY (Dr. Dave O’Connor), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Uncle Ed), Wally Maher (Old codger / Clancy), Elliott Lewis (Herman the druggist), Bill Johnstone (Eldridge), unknown (Willie, the dog)
###
