Comedian Eddie Bracken is in a cast-against-type role as an envious young man who kills out of vengeance against memories of harsh treatment of a now absent stepfather and the loss of his biological father at a young age. It’s a psychological drama. It must be, because he’s still friends with a psychology teacher at his former high school. He keeps souvenirs of his murders, trinkets kept or worn that he saw the person have out of sentimentality for happy events or relationships. He had none of those, and there was only one way he could get them. The town murders are blamed on a strange old solitary man who lives on the outskirts in town, whom Elwood had befriended. Displeased with that misplaced blame, and knowing that a vigilante group may kill that innocent man, Elwood finally admits to the crimes. This is an uncomfortable drama because you sense what’s coming because you know the killer but you’re not sure when and how others will finally wise up. Bracken delivers an excellent performance. The story is by Robert L. Richards.
The term “serial killer” was not used until the mid-1970s and possibly the mid-1980s depending on context. This episode would qualify Elwood as such. The story could be considered similar to a plotline one might find on an episode of the recent CBS television series Criminal Minds.
William Spier is away from the studio, ordered to rest because of another heart attack or indications of such. Suspense creator Charles Vanda steps in and is uncredited. That fact eventually grates on their relationship. When Vanda stepped in for Summer Storm he did get credit, likely of his own doing, and it did not go over well. The blogpost for that episode with more details is at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/06/1945-10-18-summer-storm.html
This is the final appearance of Ken Niles as announcer. Truman Bradley returns in the next episode, and served until the end of the Roma sponsorship. Research shows no specific reason behind Niles entry and exit, as both Bradley and Niles were both busy all of the time on other shows and film narration. It is possible that Niles was brought on to change the voice of the sponsor. (You can catch Niles in an uncredited acting role as a dentist in the 1951 movie The Fat Man; this link goes directly to the scene https://youtu.be/fxw4l3CCbPw?si=RSD04-LivOU7ZMrU&t=825).
The Darryl Shelton Suspense book indicates that Bracken may have substituted for Mickey Rooney. If so, that decision was made well in advance of the episode’s publicity. There are no mentions in newspapers or other publications about Rooney in this part.
There are three network recordings that have survived, east and west, and an aircheck of the west. The east recording has the network ID without the Suspense theme in the background. The west recording has the network ID over the theme.
The west coast recording is the best of the three. The west coast aircheck had a low volume high frequency whistle in the background that has been removed, but the underlying recording is not as good as the other west recording. None of the three recordings are “bad.”
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP470306
THE CAST
EDDIE BRACKEN (Elwood), Cathy Lewis (Miss Wilson), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Sheriff), Wally Maher (Old man), John McIntire (Krantz), unknown (Elwood’s Mother), Betty Moran (Winifred Hawkes), Elliott Reid (Dick Wilson), Earl Keen? (Bismark the dog)
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