Alan Hale stars in a Robert L. Richards story about flim-flam man who accidentally becomes a prominent and respected citizen in a small town. Hale is marvelous portraying “Alonzo P. Witherspoon,” a claimed professor of geology. We’re not even certain if that’s his true name! The double-talking dialogue that Richards wrote and Hale delivers is very entertaining. This is not a story you would find on any other mystery program. The “suspense” to the story is whether or not he will get caught with all of his amusing lies about influence in government committees and agencies and all the politician name-dropping he does. He makes it seem he is a well-connected insider who can make great things happen for the people of the town. All he really wants is to get money out of the town coffers or some government project or any other source that he can come up with, or even bilk some of the wealthier citizens. You really do expect him to get caught at some point and for the house of cards he creates to fall over with the slightest breeze. In the end… he comes to love the town and its people, and is mostly reformed by the end of the story. But you still wonder if the townspeople may learn the truth one day… but they’d probably never believe it.
There are two network recordings, broadcast coasts unidentified, and an Armed Forces Radio Service recording (#157) that have survived. One network recording is eleven seconds to the network ID (“11s”) and the other is twenty-one seconds (“21s”). The AFRS version is derived from the network recording that has eleven seconds to the network ID. Times are approximate:
11s 25:01 Sonny: “...boats could go all the way down”
Hale: "That's what I was saying before…” (Sonny keeps talking and Hale can’t any words in edgewise because Sonny is so enthusiastic)AFRS 22:06 Sonny: “...boats could go all the way down”
Hale: "That's what I was saying before…”21s 24:42 Sonny: “...boats could go down all the way” then Hale “Sure…” (Hale can’t get any additional words in because of Sonny’s enthusiasm)
The “21s” recording has the best sound of the three.
There is another marker of the difference in the network recordings as Truman Bradley reads a PSA about hunger in Europe. It occurs when he says the word “millions”; times are approximate:
21s 28:25 Truman clears his throat as he says the word “millions”
11s 28:40 Bradley’s PSA announcement is read cleanly
This was Alan Hale’s only appearance on Suspense. He was rarely on radio, with most of his appearances on movie-related programs such as Lux and Screen Guild. Hale was one of the most successful film actors of the era. His first role was in 1911 and his movie work continued until his death at age 57 in 1950. He is more famous among baby boomers as the father of Alan Hale, Jr., who played “The Skipper” on the 1960s CBS comedy series Gilligan’s Island. While that may help people know Hale’s name, the depth and breadth of his film work through the decades is left unappreciated. Wikipedia has an overview of his notable career.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP460530
THE CAST
ALAN HALE (“Professor Alonzo P. Witherspoon”), Sam Edwards? (Sonny Neff), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Woodrow Neff), Verna Felton (Mrs. Neff), Jerry Hausner (Harry), Wally Maher (Henry Wink / Highway Officer), unknown (Mrs. Osterman)
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