In this Cornell Woolrich story, a woman is surprised to learn from news reporters outside her home that she won $150,000 ($2.5 million in US$2023) in a sweepstakes. She said she never entered the contest… but remembered that her deceased husband did… and realizes that the winning ticket might still be in the suit pocket of the recently-buried man. She has married again to the insurance agent who sold her a life policy on her first husband. The obvious thing to do is to retrieve the ticket. But, her new husband is stridently against having the body exhumed. We have our suspicions why as we listen to the story. It is a very amusing one and provides some relief of the darker tales of the past few episodes.
Amusing? Is this a Woolrich story that’s a comedic mystery? Yes it is. And… Agnes Moorehead is part of the fun.
Blogger Christine Miller says that Woolrich biographer Francis M. Nevins was not very pleased with this at all, calling it the “worst of all of Suspense’s Woolrich based plays.” He explained:
“As Woolrich wrote it, the story was an uncomfortable mix of serious and grotesquely comic elements, but it wasn't improved by the Suspense adapter’s decision to play the whole show for laughs.” https://www.escape-suspense.com/2007/11/supense---post-.html
The Robert Tallman adaptation, to Miller and to this blogger, is very entertaining and engaging. You develop a sense of what’s really going to happen and it is enjoyable to listen to find out if it ends up the way we expect.
The original story was in the April 1940 issue of Black Mask. The script was also used on the Suspense TV series, is not as compelling as the radio version, but can be viewed at https://youtu.be/XClP_bi7LkM and at https://archive.org/details/Suspense--Post_Mortem It was also adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents in a more serious manner (season 3, episode 33). In the end, the Suspense radio version is much more enjoyable adaptation of the story.
You know something is going to happen with electricity because the wife says she uses a sun lamp in the bathroom. The second husband’s plot to kill the wife by electrocution would not work in modern homes because of the requirement for GFCI (ground-fault circuit interrupter) outlets. (Is it too late to say “spoiler alert”?) It’s certain many listeners would have started to suspect a plot turn in that direction. Note how calm the new husband is when he goes down to answer the door “knowing” that his wife has been electrocuted, at least so he thinks. Then he becomes really animated when he realizes it’s the police and explains how he tried to save her.
A name reference to "Sheldon Lewis" may be an inside joke about actor Sheldon Leonard and Elliott Lewis.
East and west network recordings have survived, and an Armed Forces Radio Service recording (#149) has, too. The west coast network recording is the best of the three.
The east recording is the source of the AFRS version; times are approximate:
EC 25:15 “You ran all the way downstairs to pull out the hou… house current…”
AFRS 21:25 “You ran all the way downstairs to pull out the hou… house current…”
WC 24:40 “You ran all the way downstairs to pull out the house current…”
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP460404
THE CAST
AGNES MOOREHEAD (Josephine Archer), Howard Duff (Third reporter / Suspense signature voice in middle spot), Jerry Hausner (Second reporter / Workman), Harry Lang (Jack, the second workman), Elliott Lewis (Paul Westcott), Wally Maher (Madison), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Stephen Archer)
Keith Scott notes that the middle commercial has actor Howard Duff as the Suspense signature voice, but with Joe Kearns still intoning his customary “Suspense!!” The ad agency and Spier are clearly experimenting with different formats of the commercials at this time.
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