This is definitely not one of Suspense’s better broadcasts, but it is special for Suspense history. A radio critic of the day documented what a Suspense broadcast was like. He offers us, more than 75 years later, a wonderful glimpse into what went into this very broadcast featuring one of its favorite guest stars. He describes William Spier’s interaction with the cast and the staff, as well as the scene. It may be worth reading his account prior to listening to the broadcast.
Cathy & Elliott Lewis offer this script about a sound that stirs the guilt of a murderess into admitting to killing her husband. A similar plot device of sound driving one to madness was 1945’s Fury and Sound. In that episode, the sound of a heartbeat was amplified to drive an annoying radio producer crazy. In this instance, the sounds of nails against a blackboard grates against the guilty mind of the evil woman like nails against a bla… oh… you know what I mean. To skip ahead, the avaricious woman is preoccupied about her social status. Her plot against her husband was to stop him from what might be called his desire for “status downsizing.” She won’t have any of that, and arranges an accident where he will fall from a suitable height after hanging outside a home from a window. That way, she gets all his assets. After all, one can live more extravagantly than two.
That grating of his fingernails haunts her. She remembers it so vividly. What is “The Thirteenth Sound”? It is the name of an avant garde music piece that has a section that sounds like “nails against a bla…” You get the idea. The police investigate the husband’s death and reconstruct the incident with her including the sound of “nails against a bla…” Okay, we get it. She hears the noise again and confesses. No spoiler alert. We could all see this coming. There was nothing to spoil. This is what we expect from Haunting Hour or Murder at Midnight and not Suspense. It’s surprising that the script was actually presented again.
This is not one of Agnes Moorehead’s most memorable performances, even if she was excellent in it. She likely performs better than other radio actors would, but the nature of the script does not allow for a higher level memorable broadcast.
One amusing moment that could have been “challenging” was her audible gasp of feigned surprise and whispered gratitude when she accepts the gift of a basket of Roma Wines from Ken Niles. Do we really think that the wealthiest of Hollywood Suspense guest stars were serving Roma Wines at their most important meals? It is funny to hear it as she has a “is this forrr… meeeee….?” moment. The west coast moment may be a bit more dramatic.
This is a good time to underscore the fact that the classic radio recordings we hear as collectors and fans are much better than when they were heard over AM radio at the time of their airing. Listeners at home or in cars were subject to station drift, background noise, electrical interference, narrow audio range, and other factors. They may not have heard Moorehead’s feigned gasp like we can hear it today. (I wonder if they were holding back laughs in the studio when she did it).
Allen Rich, radio critic of the North Hollywood Valley Times was in the studio for the rehearsal and the broadcast. He reported the goings-on in his column five days later. An image of the column is available on the audio download page. These are some highlights of his observations:
Bill Spier, the show’s bearded producer, presided at the head of a long table at which were seated the members of the cast. At his immediate right was Miss Moorehead. next to her was Spier’s secretary. Peggy Ray [sic, Rae], busily writing down such changes in the script as were deemed necessary following the dress rehearsal which had just concluded upon our arrival.
Spier spoke rapidly in crisp tones, occasionally gestured with his hands to bring home a point in the drama’s action. Now and again he chuckled, once he found it necessary to warn studio attaches to be quiet.
Ordinarily, we were told, the producer in order to relieve the prebroadcast tension, will even go so far as to burlesque the roles--— but such was not the case Thursday. Levity was conspicuous by its absence.
This was due to the fact that the script had run quite a bit long during the dress rehearsal and also that as the title, “The Thirteenth Sound” would indicate much of the success of the show would depend on sound effects—one i n particular, and this is ticklish business.
Miss Moorehead, we observed, looked more like an efficient secretary in some conservative office, than like a radio star.
Rich continues to note how she was dressed, and that “she was chewing gum.” He continues...
She appeared very calm, almost disinterested at this point.
But now it is almost time for the actual broadcast and the star seats herself at a green table over which is a hanging mike that will soon carry her voice to millions of people.
She wets her lips, exercises her mouth. She turns the pages of her script to be sure that each page is in proper order, follows in proper sequence. She does this twice we note.
He further describes the scene in the studio. Then, the broadcast begins.
Before our very eyes she seems to actually become the hunted creature she portrays in the action. Miraculously her small body takes on every physical appearance of a murderess at bay.
There is no studio audience permitted at Suspense, and consequently no one can see her playing the part, but nonetheless her face and hands reflect each passage of the script as she reads her lines.
Rich continues to note how she acts out the scenes:
For instance: “Let me out,” she cries. She half rises from her chair while delivering the words.
And again: “I found myself tightly holding the wooden table.” She clutches the table at which she is seated.
It is not often that we can find such reports of what happened in studios, especially in rehearsals. It is interesting that Moorehead preferred working at a table than standing, which was most often the posture that actors chose. It is not clear if she did this only when she had the lead role, or exactly when she started doing it. (Sorry, Wrong Number of 1943 is an obvious speculation).
Rich did similar detailed reporting a few times that we can find in newspaper searches. They give us great insights into these productions specifically and radio drama in general. It is recommended to read the entire column for more background information before listening to the episode. It is sad that listeners of that time could not listen to the program again to match Rich’s column with the broadcast. Happily, we can do that today.
The original title of the story was “Dying is Safer” but that seems more like a temporary placeholder with no intent for broadcast use until they thought of a good title. They did. The number thirteen is supposedly unlucky, matching it with the word “sound,” then using that as the name of the musical piece ties it all together.
Jimmy Stewart is mentioned as a guest in upcoming weeks, but he is not mentioned again in following weeks. He does not appear on Suspense again until 1949 when Auto-Lite sponsors the series.
East and west coast network recordings have survived. The east broadcast includes the mention to stay tuned for The FBI in Peace and War. The east broadcast is slightly better than the west, but they are very close in sound quality. Bill Johnstone stumbles on credits in west coast version. He says “Tonight’s Suspe- Suspense play was written by Cathy and Elliott Lewis.” He has a clean read in the east broadcast.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP470213
THE CAST
AGNES MOOREHEAD (Sally Skinner), William Johnstone (Signature Voice / Jonathan Brown), John McIntire (Mr. Gregg / Gardener), unknown (Mrs. Gregg), Wally Maher (Judge / Old Sam), Elliott Reid (Musicale host / Sheriff)
Could “Mrs. Gregg” be played by actress Virginia Gregg, or is it just an in-joke reference to her, or is it no connection at all?
Performer and classic radio researcher Patte Rosebank noted at the Old Time Radio Researchers Facebook page that “Agnes' character has Misophonia, a neurological condition in which certain sounds trigger a fight-or-flight response. Misophonia is the evil twin of ASMR, the neurological condition in which certain sounds trigger bliss and calmness.”
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