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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