This is a much better telling of this story than its original broadcast on 1943-10-19. That presentation starred Orson Welles. More details about the story can be read at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/03/1943-10-19-lazarus-walks.html and https://archive.org/details/TSP431019
The original broadcast was somewhat unplanned as Donovan’s Brain had to be delayed until May 1944 because of the production and marketing delays of the film based on the original book. Spier and Welles decided to present Philomel Cottage and this new script in place of the two-part Donovan’s Brain production. That first Lazarus Walks staging sounded like it was rushed to broadcast.
This 1946 production with Brian Donlevy is much better and he seems more interested in the part than Welles was. Hans Conried is superb as the man who is the human lie detector, the same role he had in the 1943 production. Even he is more convincing this time around and sounds like he is enjoying the part. The effects and music are better planned and implemented and also benefit from the bigger Roma Wines production budget.
Lazarus Walks is a J. Marion Speed script adapted by Robert L. Richards.
Only the east coast broadcast recording has survived. At this time in the series, Suspense is still maintaining two broadcasts on the same night for east and west coasts to give the biggest possible audience for Roma Wines advertising. Not all program sponsors could afford such a financial expenditure. This meant that the program following Suspense on the east coast would be heard earlier than Suspense on the west coast. This recording has a tease for the listeners to stay tuned to hear the latest episode of The FBI in Peace and War. This indicated that this is an east coast broadcast.
Not all of the east coast broadcasts have this tease because it could be skipped if the Suspense broadcast was running behind in its allotted time slot. But when the message is heard, that is a definitive marker that it is an east coast broadcast. Its absence is not always definitive, however, that it is a west coast broadcast if the FBI tease was eliminated for the east for time considerations.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP461031
THE CAST
BRIAN DONLEVY (Dr. Robert Graham), Hans Conried (Roger Holcombe), Cathy Lewis (Isabelle), Wally Maher (Police Inspector), Verna Felton (Aunt Jane), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice)
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