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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