1948-04-24 The Search

This story is by Grace Amundson and first appeared in the August 1946 Good Housekeeping. She was a writer of short stories and her work appeared in Collier’s, Saturday Evening Post, and other publications. A stranded couple is stuck in the company of an over-the-hill and alcoholic cowboy film star.

Many classic radio fans have avoided listening to this broadcast. Here’s why.

The recording of the episode is incomplete, missing its first 15 minutes. The first transcription disc of the four necessary for a complete one-hour program was missing, broken, or unplayable. An alternative source is unlikely to be found. The Armed Forces Radio Service was probably not supplied recordings of the hour-long Suspense programs. This is suspected because no AFRS recordings of this Suspense era have ever surfaced. That unfortunately eliminates one of the most important sources of missing series recordings.

Luckily, the script of the episode has survived as part of the KNX Collection and was viewed at the Thousand Oaks Library when that collection was housed there. Access to the script is greatly appreciated.

This is the summary of the opening 15 minutes. It is worth reading before listening, otherwise there is great difficulty in following the story. It is a good production, and it can finally be enjoyed with this additional background:

The setting for the story is in the Dakotas near the Montana border. There are four primary characters, Sid Latch (Howard Culver), Roger Miles (Berry Kroeger), Iris Johnson (Sandra Gair), and Sid’s dog named “Bo” (Pinto Colvig).

Sid Latch owns a herd of sheep. He is raising them and plans to sell them at market. Sid and his dog Bo have been drifting for quite a long time. After all these years, Sid would like to be settled. He wants to better establish himself by using the money from the sale of the sheep to purchase land of his own.

A severe blizzard with very high winds is coming across the plains. Sid is worried for the safety of lambs and how they will survive the night in the snow and the cole. He will wait out the storm, with Bo, in the safety of his chuck wagon. That simple wagon is where he lives.

Sid and Bo hear a car approach. An unknown man, whom we learn is Roger Miles, gets out of the car and calls out. He can barely see Sid and the wagon through the falling snow. Sid tells Roger that his car is stuck because the snow is too high. He tells him to lock the car and to wait out the bad weather. Miles admits he is a little drunk but he will wait it out in the chuck wagon with Sid and the dog. Sid learns that Miles is a western movie star.

Sid soon realizes that there is someone else in the car, a woman named Iris Johnson. He goes to her, but she says she’d rather stay inside the car because Miles can be difficult when he is drunk. She feels safer there, away from him. Sid explains it’s not safe to stay in the car in the severe weather. He assures her she will be fine because he and Bo will look after everyone who stays in the wagon.

Iris warns Sid about Miles, saying that he is taking in a drunk and a fool. Iris ran away with Miles from her home in Wallace, South Dakota. She explains that, “a handsome movie actor whispered in her ear.” Once away with him, she realized she made a bad decision.

Miles later admits that he doesn't even know Iris’ name! Iris says she wants to go home and Miles says “it’s not that easy.” It’s clear Iris is trapped and fearful of him. Miles brags about how easy it is for him to pick up young girl fans, and boasts about how many people attend his public appearances.

The more Miles drinks, the more belligerent he gets. He asks for dinner. All Sid can offer is fried bread. Then Miles starts getting nasty. He hears the bleats of the lambs in the distance. He insults Sid by saying that cowboys hate sheepherders because the sheep eat away good grassland. Sid asks if Miles is a cowboy, and he says “I am a cowboy.” That means that Miles has a deep resentment for Sid, someone he just met, and despite Sid’s generous providing of shelter.

He continues to insult Sid by saying Sid doesn’t know who Miles is because Sid doesn’t go out to the movies. Miles accuses Sid of staying “cut off from the modern world.” Sid says the world seems to go along fine without him.

This is where the surviving recording of The Search picks up. The drunken Miles is antagonizing Sid and Iris with nasty words and belittling banter. Miles starts bragging about how much money his notoriety raised for sale of war bonds during World War II.

In the cast is Pinto Colvig, a name that might not seem familiar, but radio and animation fans have heard him at some time. In this broadcast, he’s a dog! Colvig was a voice actor, among other pursuits, who provided “voices” for characters like Goofy in Walt Disney animation. He had a long and varied career. More details at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinto_Colvig

Classic radio broadcaster and enthusiast Bobb Lynes has provided an audio version of the scenes that open the story. The audio link below has the recording of the 45 minutes of the existing recording, the separate narration by Mr. Lynes, and a combined recording of the narration and the surviving portion of the broadcast. His bio is below the listing of the original cast. We thank him for his contribution of his voice to this effort to restore and document the history of Suspense.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480424

THE CAST

Howard Culver (Sid Latch [alias Phil Wolfe]), Sondra Gair (Iris Johnson), Ira Grossel ([aka Jeff Chandler] Copper Pete, the passenger), Berry Kroeger (Roger Miles / Driver), Pinto Colvig (Bo), Gil Stratton, Jr. (Paperboy / Radio announcer), Ann Morrison (Eadie / Woman on bus), Lou Krugman (Nick / Mac), Russell Thorson (Al / Constable), Doug Young (Will / Joe), Frank Gerstle (Ed Jacobs / Druggist), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice)

The narrated introduction is presented by broadcaster Bobb Lynes

Bobb Lynes is a classic radio collector and enthusiast with a long career in nostalgia broadcasting. Born in Oklahoma in 1935 and raised in California, he grew up listening to and loving the radio shows broadcast from Los Angeles. While in the Air Force in the 1950s, he started recording programs and in the mid-1960s he started trading those recordings with other radio fans. He was active in the classic radio hobby’s non-profit organization, the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy, better known as “SPERDVAC” and had leadership positions for over 25 years. His broadcasting of classic radio programs started in 1975 on KCSN in Northridge, California, and later KPFK in Los Angeles, where he co-hosted and hosted the show Don’t Touch That Dial. He was also the host of KPFK’s program, The Big Broadcast. Through the years, he also had shows on other Southern California stations KSPC in Claremont and KCRW in Santa Monica, and others through the 1990s and early 2000s. He was the announcer on the radio series Doc Savage which was broadcast on National Public Radio stations in 1985. He was honored by fellow classic radio hobbyists in 1995 when he received the Allen Rockford Award at the annual Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention. Bobb has written and illustrated books about the classic radio era and has numerous other broadcasting and performance credits.

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1948-04-10 Crossfire

The long-range plan for the hour-long Suspense was to offer fuller treatment of contemporary movies productions as part of a variety of offerings. That plan was never realized, but this episode was one of the projects created with that plan in mind. The 1947 film, Crossfire, was a highly respected movie about anti-Semitism. Army recruits are suspected of a hate crime when a Jewish veteran is murdered. Who did it?

Details about the movie and the novel (and a major change to its original concept in creating the movie) can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossfire_(film)

Robert Mitchum, Robert Young, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame and Sam Levene starred in the movie, and all except Grahame are in this Suspense broadcast. Ryan and Grahame were nominated for Oscars in their supporting roles and the film was nominated for best picture. The movie can be viewed at https://archive.org/details/crossfire-1947

It was curious, then, that Suspense would produce this performance, as, being a movie with big stars. It seemed more appropriate for Lux Radio Theatre. There was some speculation that it was originally a Lux script that got shuffled over to Suspense, but this was intended and created for this series from the outset. Perhaps the topic was too controversial for Lux and why the movie was never adapted for that series.

Setting the practical and strategic issues about the hour-long Suspense series aside, and whether or not this is a good story for the Suspense franchise, this is a fine production. The story is compelling, the screen actors do very well in their radio performance and are convincing, and the production values with the usual nod to the superior Suspense music add much to the emotion of the story and set up the next scene. It is well done, and one of the best productions of the hour-long period.

Why could Suspense have this kind of socially gritty story on the program, and not Lux? Because there was no sponsor to get nervous about it, then pull the rug out from under it.

This Suspense adaptation of Richard Brooks’ novel (published as The Brick Foxhole) was by Robert L. Richards and Henriette Martin. It is likely that Richards and Martin worked with the movie script as they developed the production. Martin worked in various positions over the years at CBS and 20^th Century Fox, including sales and script departments. She co-authored a 1950s sci-fi novel, The Naked Eye where a blinded veteran receives the eyes of a convicted and executed murderer. He soon realizes that the eye donor may not have been guilty, and investigates until he learns the truth about the wrongful conviction. (Talk about seeing things through somebody else’s eyes! This story that does it).

It was not often that Suspense would gather actors from a specific movie for their adaptations. The Brighton Strangler was a similar situation, but that movie was still in production and had not been released when the story was presented on Suspense. The critical response to Crossfire was positive. The April 14, 1948 Variety offered this review:

The network gave it a full-blown production, with original cast including Robert Young, Robert Mitchum and Sam Levene. As adapted to radio (although for the most part it hewed closely to the treatment, with the flashback technique, etc.), the hard-hitting paean against hatred and prejudice was peculiarly suited to Suspense. For the melodrama was a cleverly-wrought succession of events, with all the properly balanced elements of tension and excitement.

Without in any way detracting from the dramatic value of the script, Crossfire in its radio version seemed to highlight the message, making it simple and clear. The characters spoke with understanding and feeling, reality of the hatred was brought home, this particular hatred—the hatred of the Jew—and all blind hatred fed by ignorance and fears. Tony Leader's expert directorial hand was in evidence throughout.

The long-range plan for the hour-long Suspense program included an episode with Dick Powell for the August 1948 release of his movie, Pitfall. Spier and Powell had looked for ways to work together since their happy 1945 collaboration for the Fitch Bandwagon summer replacement series Bandwagon Mysteries. That brief series was the introduction of the “Richard Rogue” character that would later be featured in its own series, Rogue’s Gallery. Spier knew that the collaboration with Hollywood stars was key to the success of Suspense and he thought that the hour-long version could deepen and broaden the relationship beyond the stars and into the studio marketing strategy itself. Crossfire was just a hint of what was to come, but it was not to be. Spier and Powell never had the opportunity to develop the kind of big project they mutually desired.

This broadcast was the original planned end of the hour-long Suspense series. CBS realized, however, that they still had some open time in their schedule in upcoming weeks. The program continued for four more productions, beginning after a one week pre-emption for a baseball special on 1948-04-17. That special, Play Ball, celebrated the opening of the new season (baseball started later in those times, with 154 games in a season rather than the current 162, with most Sundays national holidays with “doubleheaders” with two games played on that day). The hour documentary was hosted by broadcaster Red Barber and traced the career of Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese. Interviewees were manager Leo Durocher, Commissioner A. B. Chandler, baseball legends Honus Wagner, Rogers Hornsby, Babe Ruth, and Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, and others.

Did they chuckle in dress rehearsal? This was not an inside joke, but at about 8:45 there’s a line in the dialogue “Let’s have Montgomery back.” The prior episode was Montgomery’s last in this Suspense period. It must have been amusing when it was first said.

This broadcast was originally planned to include Frank Lovejoy as Floyd Bowers. He was not available and was replaced by Bill Lally.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480410

THE CAST

ROBERT YOUNG (Captain Finlay), ROBERT RYAN (Monty), ROBERT MITCHUM (Keeley), SAM LEVENE (Joseph Samuels), GEORGE COOPER (Mitchell), WILLIAM PHIPPS (Leroy), Marlo Dwyer (Ginny), Bill Lally ([subbing for Frank Lovejoy] Floyd Bowers), Luis Van Rooten (The Man), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / Constable O’Hara), Julie Bennett (Mary Mitchell)

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1948-04-03 Suspicion

This Dorothy L. Sayers story about a cook who may be a poisoner has its third production on Suspense. The script was adapted by Irving Ravetch who may have referenced one of the earlier scripts by Peter Barry in building the story out to an hour. The script was first used in the Summer 1942 series on 1942-08-12. No recording has survived of that broadcast. The 1944-02-10 broadcast details may be found at

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/03/1944-02-10-suspicion.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP440210 is where a recording may be accessed

This broadcast was originally planned for Boris Karloff, but he was not available and replaced a couple of days prior to broadcast by Sam Jaffe.

This was Robert Montgomery’s final week as Suspense producer and host. He would appear as guest star in 1949 in a performance of The Thing in the Window, which would be his final appearance on the series.

The story was also produced on the Suspense television series and may be viewed at https://youtu.be/hrJngr59YLw?si=Rm3JuO93st6oMpEe

There are two surviving recordings. On has a time tone followed by a news bulletin about a Federal judge ordering striking coal miners back to work, which happened shortly before broadcast. This recording is the better of the two. The other recording does not have the tone or the bulletin. It is possible that they are from the same set of transcription discs but the tone and bulletin were edited out from the final reel tape that was saved.

This was Sam Jaffe’s only appearance on Suspense. He was not on radio often, but was best known for his film and television work. Science fictions fans know him for his supporting role in Day the Earth Stood Still and television fans know him as “Dr. Zorba” for the popular medical series Ben Casey. Information about his decades-long career is at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Jaffe

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480403

THE CAST

SAM JAFFE (Edward Mummery), Lurene Tuttle (Ethel Mummery), Alan Reed (Brooks), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / John DeVries), Gloria Gordon (Mrs. Sutton), Ramsay Hill (Dr. Maysbury), Berry Kroeger (Dimthorpe the chemist), unknown (Mrs. Andrews), Doris Kemper? (Mrs. Wellbeck), unknown (Thomas), unknown (Vicki)

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1948-03-27 Night Must Fall

It’s old home week at hour-long Suspense as Robert Montgomery had the story of one of his most successful film appearances presented on the series. Keith Scott notes that five of the cast members of this production were in the original 1937 movie that starred Montgomery.

He plays a drifter who stays with a wealthy family and accepts a job working in the home. He takes a liking to their maid, but the daughter is suspicious when the body of a young woman is found, and she suspects he might be responsible for her disappearance and murder.

The original psychological mystery was a stage play by Welsh author Emlyn Williams. He starred in the 1935 production in London and later in New York. The story became a movie in 1937. Montgomery earned a best actor Oscar nomination for his performance, and Dame May Whitty was nominated for her supporting role.

• Film background can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Must_Fall_(1937_film)

• The film can be viewed at The Internet Archive (video includes Spanish subtitles) https://archive.org/details/night-must-fall-richard-thorpe-1937-vose-fac-2

The Suspense production was adapted by Robert L. Richards. The story was originally planned for the Summer 1942 season of the series, but was not used. It is possible that an unbroadcast adaptation had been developed to some extent by Harold Medford in that short season.

Night Must Fall was presented multiple times on radio, and this was the only time it was used on Suspense. The other productions were:

• Philip Morris Playhouse 1941-10-24 and starred Burgess Meredith, Maureen O'Sullivan and Flora Robson (no recording is available)

• Screen Guild Theater 1944-06-44 starring James Cagney, Rosemary DeCamp and Dame May Whitty

• Molle Mystery Theater 1946-04-12 starring Ian Martin

• Hallmark Playhouse 1951-07-19 starring Dan Duryea (no recording is available)

• Screen Guild Theater 1952-03-27 starring Joseph Cotten and Angela Lansbury

• Best Plays 1952-12-21 starring Alfred Drake, Mary Boland, Carmen Matthews

Despite the film’s notoriety, it was never produced on Lux Radio Theatre.

Suspense and Best Plays were the only hour-long productions presented on radio. This Suspense production is longer than the story needs it to be in terms of maintaining interest and a pace that increases tension along the way with a payoff for the listener that it was a worthwhile investment in time. While this production may have been true to the original story, it was unlikely to result in listener delight and surprise.

Whitty and Matthew Boulton also appeared in the original London stage production.

This story may have been selected because Montgomery knew that his Suspense position was concluding with the following week’s broadcast. He wanted to take the opportunity to present an important story in his career and re-unite as much of the cast from the movie as possible.

Suspense was being broadcast by transcription on Sundays to the CBS Pacific Network. This broadcast was made on Saturday evening by transcription because of a schedule conflict for its normal 4:30pmPT Sunday time slot.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP48-03-27

THE CAST

ROBERT MONTGOMERY (Series host / Danny), DAME MAY WHITTY (Mrs. Bramson), HEATHER ANGEL (Olivia Grayle), RICHARD NEY (Hubert Lowery), MATTHEW BOULTON (Inspector Belsize), Peggy Webber (Dora Parker), Jeanette Nolan (The Cook), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice)

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1948-03-20 Wet Saturday & August Heat

In a likely move to get the next broadcast into production quickly and squeeze budget money for a sustaining series about to end its run, Suspense uses two previously presented popular stories to create an hour broadcast. One of them, Wet Saturday, had been produced only three months earlier! Details about the prior broadcasts are as follows:

Wet Saturday

1942 starring Clarence Derwent

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/01/1942-06-24-wet-saturday.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP420624 is where the recordings can be accessed

1943 starring Charles Laughton

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/03/1943-12-16-wet-saturday.html
  

• https://archive.org/details/TSP431216 is where the recordings can be accessed

1947 starring Boris Karloff (this recording is still missing)

• This broadcast of 1947-12-19 was just three months prior to this performance. An AFRS recording surfaced in the early 2000s and it is still being sought. Network recordings have never been located. Details about how the AFRS recording appeared and was never circulated are at https://sites.google.com/view/1947-wet-saturday/karloff-on-suspense

August Heat

1945 starring Ronald Colman

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/06/1945-05-31-august-heat.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP450531 is where the recordings can be accessed

Dennis Hoey appeared in both of this broadcast’s productions, and three of the four surviving prior broadcasts of these scripts.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480320

THE CAST

Wet Saturday

Dennis Hoey (Frederick Princey), Doris Kemper (Mrs. Princey), Gloria Anne Simpson (Millicent Princey), Hans Conried (George Princey), Erik Rolf (Captain Smollett), Alec Harford (Sergeant Yancy), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / Constable Martin),

August Heat

Berry Kroeger (James Clarence Withencroft), Dennis Hoey (Charles Atkinson), Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. Maria Atkinson), Alma Lawton (Cockney boy)

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1948-03-13 Nightmare

This episode stars Eddie Bracken in a Cornell Woolrich story about a man who keeps dreaming of a murder that might be real. Bracken’s character wakes after a dream that had him trapped in a strange mirrored room and attacked with a knife. He is able to grab the knife and kill one of the attackers. When he wakes he realizes he has a wound from the struggle on his arm and marks on his neck, exactly like the ones he had in the dream! He finds a key and a button that in the dream, too. He talks to others about the experience and they dismiss what he says. But he’s convinced that a murder has or will occur, and keeps having unnerving premonitions; he has to do something about it. Is his confusion of dream and reality caused by an outside influence? Is he responsible for any violent acts he might have done?

Bracken is good in his role and so is William Conrad in his second Suspense appearance. He was not in any prior to the hour-long series.

If you have the stamina to stick with the story, it is a good production. It may be difficult to keep all of the details in order. The challenge of Suspense in this format is to maintain listener engagement without exhausting their interest.

The Woolrich story, And So to Death, was adapted by Alfred Palca, producer Anton M. Leader’s brother-in law. Palca was a scriptwriter as well as a comedy writer for entertainers. He was blacklisted in the early 1950s. His film, Go, Man, Go! about the origins and life of the basketball team Harlem Globetrotters, was released without screen credit for his work. Had his name appeared, the distributor refused to release the film. He shifted production credit to Leader, and writing credit to his cousin, a pediatrician. It was not until 1997 that he received formal recognition for his work, along with 20 other Blacklisted film writers who wrote under pseudonyms or gave credit to others. He claimed that one of the FBI’s proofs of his being a Communist was that he hired a black man, Sidney Poitier, to be in his film! (Sidney wasn’t big yet… years later those same agents would likely be asking for his autograph and taking selfies). Those were different times, but even when sentiments changed years later, Palca never immersed himself in the film business again, and focused on other writing income. A summary of his career is at https://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/palca.html

Go, Man, Go! can be viewed at https://youtu.be/l2O5xLpgYfQ?si=OK5ckq_OXe4wCfUY and the Anton M. Leader credit can be seen at about 1:21 into the video.

The Woolrich story’s original attribution was to his pseudonym, “William Irish.” He was so prolific that publishers believed using a second name would have a synergistic effect on sales rather than the possible undermining the market by shortening their shelf life with so many new titles under a single name. This particular work was published first as And So to Death by Irish and not long after with the name “Nightmare” as Woolrich. It’s confusing to be so successful.

The story was released as a movie in 1947 as Fear in the Night and starred DeForest Kelley https://archive.org/details/Fear_in_the_Night (IMDb rating is 6.4/10) It was released again in 1956 as Nightmare with Edward G. Robinson and Kevin McCarthy https://archive.org/details/nightmare-1956_202308 (IMDb rating is also 6.4/10). Thought the IMDb ratings are the same, online review sentiment is that the 1956 movie is better.

The recording of this episode is very good until the last moments of the closing announcement and network ID.

This title “Nightmare” would be used again on Suspense for a very different plotline about hit-and-run driving in September 1949.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480313

THE CAST

EDDIE BRACKEN (Vince Hardy), William Conrad (Cliff Dodge), Ruth Perrott (Lil Dodge / Niece), Berry Kroeger (Fleming), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / Waiter / Police Chief Wagner), Eleanor Audley (Female voice in dream / Telegram clerk), Herb Vigran (Deputy), Bert Holland (stand-in for Bracken), Will Wright

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1948-03-06 In a Lonely Place

This episode is an adaptation of the 1947 Dorothy B. Hughes popular novel In a Lonely Place. Part of the plan for the hour-long Suspense was to do more dramatizations of such contemporary novels. Many of the Suspense broadcasts were based on short stories, but it was hoped that the longer format could do a better job of storytelling and character development. The popularity of the Hughes novel also got the attention of Hollywood and became a 1950 film with Humphrey Bogart. This Suspense dramatization, adapted by Irving Ravetch, was faithful to the novel, while the film gave the story a less ominous ending.

These resources might be of interest:

• Novel background https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_a_Lonely_Place_(novel)#References

• Movie background https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_a_Lonely_Place

• View the movie https://archive.org/details/inalonelyplace1950

The story is a bit predictable. We know that Montgomery’s character will turn out to be the bad guy. It’s pretty clear when he is disturbed to learn that his war buddy is now with the police. The character has problems having and maintaining a healthy relationship with the opposite sex. When bodies start turning up, that’s not a good thing. Put two and two together…

The presentation is good, worth the listen, but you won’t be swept away with excitement. It is weighed down as a radio drama by feeling like it’s filling time. For others in the hour long format so far, the original stories have been marred by the lack of the trademark first person narrative style that many of the best episodes had. This episode has that style, yet it still can’t get momentum that makes the surprises and twists and turns more interesting. The presentation is far better than Beyond Reason and The House by the River.

This upcoming week is when Auto-Lite signed the papers to sponsor the half-hour format starting in July 1948. The days of the hour long format are numbered.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480306

THE CAST

ROBERT MONTGOMERY (Dixon Steele / Series host), Charles Victor (Brub Nicolai), Lurene Tuttle (Sylvia / Jean), Kay Brinker (Laurel), Herb Butterfield (Chief Lochner), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / Officer), Sidney Miller (Malcolm)

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1948-02-28 The House by the River

A poet lives in a home on the Thames, which makes it a convenient place to try to dispose of the body of the maid. She resists his advances, and there’s an accident in his attempt to kiss her and she dies! This incident opens the story, which moves quickly from the accident to the wrapping, weighting, and dumping of her body. The story slows considerably after he learns that the body has floated to the surface and will inevitably be discovered as it floats in the changing tides. The story drags so much that it’s almost difficult to care about his attempt to frame someone else, to hear the proceedings of the trial, and all of that dialogue. This episode of the hour-long format demonstrates that a key element of the past success of Suspense was the first-person narrative style. This story would have been prime for it. Robert Richards made that adjustment often, and wasn’t afraid to do it. A prime example is the Suspense adaptation of The Beast Must Die. Instead, we have Montgomery narrating the story. Suspense might as well be stage plays for radio rather than the innovative method it employed that made it so successful.

The episode is adapted from the 1921 novel of the same name by A. P. Herbert. He was an English humorist, playwright, and writer, but was also a member of Parliament for Oxford University from 1935 to 1950. He served in both WW1 and WW2. He was also a writer for the famous humor magazine Punch in the early 1900s. The story was adapted by Irving Ravetch.

The story also became a 1950 movie directed by Fritz Lang, and is considered a neglected classic of film noir. The adapter for the film was Suspense regular contributor Mel Dinelli. It can be viewed at https://archive.org/details/housebytheriver1950_202002 and https://youtu.be/QTH-QHsMlDw?si=807v3FH79RFc_K7N The website oldtimeradioreview.com, which has some excellent episode reviews and musings of Suspense, X Minus One, and other series, suggests just skipping the episode and watching the movie instead.

So far, the first two fresh scripts of the hour experiment have been seriously lacking.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480228

THE CAST

John McIntire (Steven Burns), Dan O’Herlihy (John Burns), Eric Snowdon (Police Inspector), Raymond Lawrence (Henry Dimple / Police phone operator), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / Club member), Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. Ambrose), Berry Kroeger (Coroner), unknown actors as Marjorie / Emily Gaunt / Muriel / Mrs. Beech / Jury foreman)

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1948-02-21 Beyond Reason

This broadcast is the first “truly new” hour-long script for Suspense. The prior episodes in this period were half hour scripts that were joined to make a full hour with little adjustment to the original storylines (The Kandy Tooth, originally presented on The Adventures of Sam Spade in two episodes, and Donovan’s Brain, originally presented in two parts on Suspense). The others were scripts that were expanded from their earlier use in the series. How strange: the 60-minute initiative was started in a big rush of activity and enthusiasm, and there were no suitable original scripts. It was expedient to expand earlier scripts employing of the writing and adapting talent Spier recruited for both Suspense and Sam Spade. Only now, after the Auto-Lite deal is done, were any true original 60-minute scripts available. Perhaps the title “Beyond Reason” is just as apt for the bedlam of Suspense management as it is for this episode’s story.

The story stars Ruth Warrick and Robert Ryan. The script was by Devery Freeman. He had a long and very successful career as a writer, novelist, screenwriter, broadcast executive, and producer. He played a key role in the forming of the Writers Guild. In his WW2 service, he was a co-founder of the Navy unit of the Armed Forces Radio Service.

This is the first Suspense broadcast produced by Anton M. Leader. His tenure would continue through the first full season of the Auto-Lite sponsorship.

A pedestrian man dies in when a car strikes him down, and he leaves his estate to his three daughters. There is a large area of undeveloped land that is left in the will. The man’s business partner wants to develop the land. Ruth Warrick’s character (Vangie, short for “Evangeline”) ends up being courted by him. For what reason? To get the property? She’s suspicious. They eventually learn that the partnership did not begin until just before the father was killed in the accident. He had never had a partner before. Nonetheless, Vangie marries the partner in Las Vegas. The young sister is irked at the situation… and she is found dead! This very strange man is disrupting the family and his motives are suspect for everything he does. A gas heater that is set up incorrectly almost kills Vangie. Something’s wrong but there’s still broadcast time to fill. Is Vangie to blame, with a psychological disorder that compels her to create accidents as a means to suicide? Or is that a convenient, concocted alibi for him to get away for murder?

This production drags, suffering from a lack of urgency and an absence of building danger or tension. The 30-minute format did not allow for such issues; by its very nature it forced urgency into the scripts. They had to be crisp, and clear, and not belabor events or themes.

One of the problems with this episode is the casting and performance of Robert Ryan. The character is supposed to be confusing to the listeners. Is he sincere and caring or cold and calculating? Instead of being convincing in walking that fine line, the performance is uninspired. In discussing it with researcher Keith Scott, he said it seems more like a table reading of the script before a full rehearsal.

There are some recordings of this broadcast that have a clipped opening. Keith advised that there was a chip in the edge of the first transcription. The recording here is complete, indicating that there was another attempt at a different time to record that section of the disc and it was successful.

This is the sole appearance of Ruth Warrick on Suspense. In more recent decades, Warrick was known for her long run in the ABC television soap opera All My Children. But her career was much greater than that. Her film career began with Citizen Kane and then appeared in other Welles projects. Her film, stage, and television career was long and varied. An overview is available at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Warrick

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480221

THE CAST

ROBERT RYAN (Harry Newton), RUTH WARRICK (Vangie Carr), Joan Banks (Grace Carr), Berry Kroeger (Witness / Gurney), Harald Dyrenforth (Dr. Rupert), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / Leonard Walden), Franc Hale (Aunt Martha), Dick Ryan (Lawyer / Erin, the gardener), Peggy Webber (Suzie Carr), Gail Bonney (Bystander)

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1948-02-14 The Lodger

This is the third time that the Marie Belloc-Lowndes story was adapted for a Suspense-related production. The first was for Forecast and the ill-fated Suspense audition of 1940. It is believed that Joan Harrison, Alfred Hitchcock’s right hand assistant, may have penned that script, with some additional work before broadcast by Harold Medford. The second time, Robert Tallman revised that audition script for a December 1944 production, revising it to current and established Suspense standards, including fixing the ending that caused such problems in the Forecast production. For this third time, Tallman took full charge of building out the Medford script into the new hour format. This hour-long broadcast and the 1944 one each starred Robert Montgomery.

Details of the prior productions of the story:

1940 Forecast

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/01/1940-07-26-cbs-forecast-lodger-audition_7.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP400722 and has the recordings

1944-12-14 Suspense

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/05/1944-12-14-lodger.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP441214 and has the recordings

This is an expanded production with more dialogue and more scenes. Montgomery is good in the role, though he has some stumbles here and there. The supporting cast performance is top-notch as usual. If the classic story is one you enjoy the details of, this production is what you should listen to. If you want the more typical Suspense pace, the 1944 half hour is better in that regard.

In the Variety of 1948-02-11, dated just three days before this broadcast, it was announced that Auto-Lite and CBS had already agreed to the sponsorship of the half hour show. CBS was just waiting for the signatures on the papers.

This may be one of the episodes that further intensified contractual tensions between CBS and Montgomery. The problem started right at the beginning of the new format. He doubles as narrator and the lead character, and he is also the producer and host. CBS may have felt he was producer “in name only” because they had to staff the show with one of their regular producers. In this case, it was William N. Robson, filling in for this week for the newly assigned Anton M. Leader, on his way to Hollywood from New York. Montgomery wanted to be paid for his producer role, and another payment for his acting role. The payments he wanted were $2500 as host and $2000 when he acted (together nearly the equivalent of $50,000 in US$2023). The ambiguity of Montgomery’s role in the production management and the nature of his pay was never fully resolved, it it was likely Paley who resolved not to resolve it. He was going to pull the rug out from under the hour productions when it was convenient to do so, and the problem would go away. And so it did.

The reason Auto-Lite Suspense did not start sooner was that the Dick Haymes Show, sponsored by Auto-Lite had to wait for that contract to end before CBS could turn it over to Suspense.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480214

THE CAST

ROBERT MONTGOMERY (Narrator & Mr. Sleuth / Series host), Jeanette Nolan (Ellen Bunting), Peggy Webber (Daisy Bunting), Raymond Lawrence (Joe Chandler), Bill Johnstone (Coronial Judge / Signature Voice), Wally Maher (Coroner / Mr. Cannot), Noreen Gamill (Lizzie), unknown (Newsboy)

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1948-02-07 Donovan's Brain

The new, hour-long Suspense series had a bit of chaos in the background and it used its only two-part script in its history (to that point), the groundbreaking Donovan’s Brain. That production of Curt Siodmak’s novel was adapted by Robert L. Richards and had Orson Welles as guest star. He was also deeply involved in the scriptwriting and collaborated in the direction. Details about the broadcasts and their backstory are at:

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/04/1944-05-18-25-donovans-brain-two-parts.html

• https://archive.org/details/44051825 and is where the recordings can be accessed.

This production stars John McIntire, a steady, versatile, and reliable member of the Suspense ensemble, and also includes his equally skilled wife, Jeanette Nolan. The musical score is essentially the same, but the surviving recording of this broadcast is much better. The full impact that the music has on the storytelling can be fully appreciated in richer sound. It’s a very good production. McIntire was in the 1944 production in a supporting role and is excellent in his performance in this one. If you considered Welles persona as a distraction in the prior broadcasts, you can get a sense of how good the underlying story is with actors who had no high celebrity.

Using this script was essentially a “convenient” choice for the hour-long production, lacking for hour-long scripts, but also a well-known series favorite that listeners might want to hear again. It was not necessary to build the story out or add scenes or characters. It is not known if a higher profile guest star was sought; newspaper publicity only mentioned the script and not McIntire. The series potential audience was already being impaired by its weak time slot, especially on the west coast where stations like KNX in Los Angeles. It was from this headquarters of CBS production where Suspense was fed live on Saturdays to the nation but was not heard on the network’s own production station. Instead, it was heard on Sundays, by transcription, at 4:30pm. That time of day was definitely not a prime audience time, especially in an area known for its fine weather when many listeners would be enjoying their weekend. The lower profile time slots likely made it harder to recruit big-name talent, as did the lack of a sponsor.

There’s also managerial chaos behind the scenes. William Spier left Suspense after this episode. It’s never stated why in the news and gossip and business columns with specificity, but it is clear later on that it were swirling creative differences over the future of the format. It is likely he found out that Bill Paley himself was undermining the plan to build the hour-long franchise by negotiating with sponsors for the 30-minute format to return. There was also great confusion about the role of Robert Montgomery as to whether he was a producer or an actor or both. Spier and Montgomery, it has been learned, really had no issues between them, personally. CBS could arrange things as they wanted: CBS owned Suspense. This was unlike Spier’s Sam Spade series, which his production company had an ownership stake (and is why it was able to change networks in its broadcast history). Muddling the situation was that CBS tried to sign Spier to an exclusive contract. He always enjoyed his freedom, and especially wanted to get involved in movie projects and eventually television, so he wasn’t about to do that.

William Robson filled in the next week for Spier, and Anton M. Leader, a CBS staff producer, was moved from his assignment in New York (Radio Readers’ Digest) and was assigned to Suspense. Leader would finish out the 60-minute period and then serve as the producer for the first year of the Auto-Lite sponsored series. Spier was recruited by ABC. He already had a relationship with that network. The Adventures of Sam Spade had its inaugural 13 weeks on ABC in 1946 before the series moved to CBS.

By the beginning of March, the first broadcast of The Clock on ABC as a Hollywood production with Spier at the helm was made. He took Cathy and Elliott Lewis with him as weekly lead players. William Conrad became the narrator. At this time, hard to believe, the Hooper ratings for Suspense and The Clock were about the same. Suspense had fallen greatly without a sponsor and a good time slot in the schedule. Spier’s job at ABC was to build The Clock into a valuable mystery franchise and attract a sponsor. As a swipe at CBS, Spier would be announced on the broadcasts as “the master of the art of suspense.” The program also presented some Suspense scripts, including The House in Cypress Canyon. He still had friends at CBS, however. When The Clock failed in its quest for sponsorship, ABC closed it down after the 13 week contract. Leader was still in charge of Suspense, but Spier was signed to produce Philip Morris Playhouse for CBS. That program was run for that season like another Suspense, with the same performers and sound artists, and even some prior Suspense scripts. Only a few recordings of the Spier The Clock and Philip Morris Playhouse have survived. Leader lasted only one year as the Suspense producer for Auto-Lite. He did not play the executive politics game very well at CBS, and his desire to make a fresh start for the ensemble players did not go over well among the established actors. By the end of that first year, Leader was gone and Philip Morris was unhappy with what they were paying for Playhouse productions. That series was cancelled. Spier returned to Suspense as producer-editor, and Norman Macdonnell became director. Philip Morris found a cheaper alternative for its radio advertising presence, the sponsorship of Casey, Crime Photographer. Spier’s return would last just a year, but would pave the way for Elliott Lewis to become the Suspense producer.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480207

THE CAST

John McIntire (Patrick Corey / W. H. Donovan), Jeanette Nolan (Janice), Alma Lawton (Nurse), Bill Martel (David Corey), Wally Maher (Dr. Schrott), Bill Johnstone (Man), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice)

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1948-01-24 The Black Angel

This is another re-worked script to fit the new 60 minute format of the series. The original broadcast was 1944-10-19 with the title “Eve.” The Cornell Woolrich story is renamed with the title of the novel from which it was drawn: The Black Angel.

The story is about a woman whose husband was wrongly convicted of murder. Her frantic efforts to vindicate him take a wrong turn and actually make the circumstantial evidence against him stronger. Details about the 1944 broadcast with Nancy Kelly are at:

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/04/1944-10-19-eve.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP441019 which has the recording of the broadcast

June Havoc stars in this version. The 1944 script, adapted by Robert L. Richards, was expanded for this broadcast by producer William Spier. The pseudonym “Sebastian Moriarty” is used in the credits.

There are differences between the 1944 and 1948 production, most notably that the ending is different! It may be worth listening to the first production, followed by the second to see how the ending is extended and the epilogue, read by Montgomery, provides a much different sense about the story and Havoc’s character.

There are more scenes and more characters, more fully developing Woolrich’s story. It is possible that one of the reasons why Suspense was so successful in its 30 minute format, aside from the generally faster pace, was that there were fewer characters to remember, making it easier for listeners to keep track of its stories.

Each week there are variations in the format in an effort to find what works best. This time Robert Montgomery starts the introduction and shifts from host to narrator as someone who had personal experience with the story’s characters.

June Havoc stars, just a day away from the wedding to William Spier. They originally planned to marry in February, but June’s sister, Gypsy Rose Lee, would not be able to attend. They moved it to 1948-01-25; the celebration party kept to the original plan and was held in February. It was the third marriage for each (even though newspapers said it was their second). They would be together for 25 years, until Spier’s passing in 1973 at age 66.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP480124

THE CAST

JUNE HAVOC (Eve Jeremy), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / Frank Jeremy), Wally Maher (Jerry Jordan / Foreman), Jack Moyles (Lieutenant Trout), Michael Romanoff (Himself), Lurene Tuttle (Shirley / Girl), Jack Kruschen (Detective Brennan / Prosecutor), Dick Ryan (Judge / Prison guard), Jerry Hausner (Mort / Pawnbroker), Frank Albertson (Jack Gordon), Alan Reed (Benedict / Brown Derby waiter)

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