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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