Two partners in a law firm have similar desires for their careers and their romantic lives but jealousy overcomes one of the partner’s scruples when the other starts to realize his dreams. He frames the successful partner for murder. Then he tries to take all of his successes in career and love for himself. It gets really messy and backfires in the end.
Jerome Cowan stars in his only Suspense appearance. He played a lawyer in a movie before, and that didn’t work out well for him. He was the prosecuting attorney against Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street. He is also known for playing Sam Spade’s ill-fated partner, Miles Archer, in The Maltese Falcon.
The story is by radio veterans George and Gertrude Fass.
What does “mortmain” mean? It is an unfamiliar term but among those in the legal profession it has a special meaning. It refers to the holding of land or other possessions in perpetuity by some kind of entity such as a corporation, church, or another. Centuries ago, wealthy would donate their holdings to a church or religious organization to avoid taxation. They would still be able to enjoy those assets as if they owned them. In a general sense, it can also mean how something that happened in the past has some control over the present. The Latin phrase from which the word originates is likely mortis manus. It can be roughly translated as “the hand of death.”
One network recording has survived and it is not known if it was the east or west broadcast. It has a six second pause to network ID (“6s”). There could be no tease for The FBI in Peace and War because that series was on summer hiatus. Upon its return, the schedule would change and this could no longer be a marker for east broadcasts.
While this was Jerome Cowan’s sole Suspense appearance, the highly regarded actor was in numerous movies and stage plays for almost 50 years. His long career is summarized in Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Cowan
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP470731
THE CAST
JEROME COWAN (Sam Boston), Cathy Lewis (Alice Perry), Wally Maher (Screed), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / George Perry), Ken Christy (Police Chief Martin), Norman Field (Judge), Dick Ryan (D. A. / Foreman), Jerry Hausner (Court clerk), Junius Matthews (Doctor)
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