This broadcast is noted for starring
Joan Crawford. Her “mic fright” led to this episode becoming the
first transcribed (pre-recorded) episode of Suspense. The
background of how it all happened is a fascinating intersection of a
headstrong Hollywood star, sponsor meddling, broadcast technology,
union contracts, public relations showboating, and much more.
This broadcast used a repeated script.
It was not supposed to be that way. The script was originally
broadcast on Suspense on 1945-02-08 as Tale of Two Sisters.
It starred Nancy Kelly and Claire Trevor in a Mel Dinelli script
about a mentally ill woman and her sister. Dinelli’s career was
still in its early stages. Details about that prior broadcast are at
Getting Joan Crawford to appear on
Suspense was a problem: she had “mic fright” and refused
to appear in a live performance. She was so intent on appearing, she
said she would pay for the costs of pre-recording the episode. That
was just part of the intriguing backstory that took weeks to play
out. They were in many ways more interesting than the show’s
script. The script, yes, the script… that was the first hurdle.
The script didn’t lend a “Hand”
Joan was between marriages had divorced
actor Phil Terry in 1946. Since that time, writer Mel Dinelli was
often her companion to Hollywood dinners and events. Dinelli had
written for Suspense and also adapted scripts for the series.
His star rose in Tinseltown after his first screenplay, an adaptation
of an Ethel Lina White novel, became the very successful 1946 movie
The Spiral Staircase. He was in the news at this time because
of his screenplay for The Window which was in theaters. It was
a Cornell Woolrich short story, The Boy Cried Murder, that
Dinelli built out into the movie. It was well-reviewed and had strong
box office. In some ways, Suspense was looking to get strong
ratings from having Crawford on the air, but also by grabbing
coattails of the rising reputation of Dinelli, a reputation that
Suspense helped create.
Dinelli was constantly writing and was
one of the better practitioners of the craft in the way he captured
and developed his ideas over time, and then adapted them for
different media as opportunities arose. The best example of this is a
short story he wrote, and then converted into a stage play. It was
The Man, which had no traction as a play until he turned it
into the notable Suspense script To Find Help. That
received a lot of publicity because of the appearance of Frank
Sinatra in the starring role. It would be repeated again with Gene
Kelly. In 1950, it became a stage play. Then it became a 1952 movie,
Beware, My Lovely, and starred Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan.
Then it became a stage play again, and had great success and
popularity in regional theater more than it did in bigger venues, in
the 1950s and through the 1960s.
Dinelli had a screenplay, The Hand,
and sold the rights for the unnerving mystery to Charlie Chaplin in
1946. The plot had a woman hitchhiker picked up by a man who gets
fresh with her. During their struggle the car is wrecked and his hand
is severed but it’s still gripping her wrist! Intended as a “B”
movie, it was never produced. Chaplin was to be producer and not to
act in it. The rights expired.
Dinelli proposed it as a radio script
for Suspense “exclusively” for Joan Crawford. It
was set to go. Leader started planning around it and the CBS
publicity department started its promotion as one of the May
programs. It was set for May 26.
Not so fast. Auto-Lite and its
agency had to approve the script. When they read it, and realized it
started with a violent auto accident, and included story elements of
drug addiction and mental illness, they turned it down. The script
was better suited for a show like Inner Sanctum, but it was
never produced in radio’s golden age, nor was it ever adapted for
television as best as can be determined. In mid-May, one of the
California newspaper columnists said it “was kayoed by sponsor on
grounds it was ‘too scary’.” All the script cover of The
Hand says is “Unused – (sponsor objection).”
Now what?
Having Crawford make a rare radio
appearance in a brand new script production was the kind of situation
CBS, Leader, Crawford, and Dinelli were hoping for. The rug got
pulled by a dismembered hand!
Lacking a script for May 26, Tony
Leader inserted another production of Night Reveals with
Fredric March instead. The Crawford appearance was delayed until June
9. With no new script alternatives available, it was decided to use
the Dinelli script Tale of Two Sisters. It was originally
produced in February 1945. Some of the thinking was that they knew it
was a good script and that the composition of the listening audience
had changed dramatically in the four years since that broadcast. They
could do it and make it seem “new” because of the news of
Crawford’s participation and her rare radio appearances.
The file copy at the Auto-Lite ad
agency has the title of the episode as Tale of Two Sisters on
the cover sheet. The next page has The Ten Years. The title
was changed sometime in the revision process, but it is not clear
when. New title, “new” script, or at least it sounded so. It was
important to make it seem that way.
CBS publicity got into action again and
started to promote the “new” story, The Ten Years, and
glossed over the fact the script was used before and that the
previously-promoted The Hand was killed by the sponsor. They
concocted a quote in their publicity that went
“When Tony
Leader sent me the script, I was so fascinated by it that I decided
that this was one show I just couldn't refuse.”
That quote was probably developed for
promoting The Hand. Likely under deadline pressure, they just
crossed that script title out in the draft press releases, inserted
The Ten Years instead, and sent them off for final typing and
to the printer for mailing. This was a publicity charade. We know
that Leader sent no script, we know that she and Dinelli were working
together and consulting with Leader all along. Joan didn’t open her
mail one day and find a script she had never seen before and say “oh
my, Tony, you’re such a wonderful man for letting me be on
Suspense.” This was a hard negotiated business deal through
and through.
Joan had some
radio grudges, it seems
While the script was in process of
being settled, there was plenty of wrangling and negotiating about
the logistics and nature of the Crawford pre-recording. Dinelli was
part of this effort, too. We know about what was going on because
news items published after the recording session was over describe
the April maneuverings.
In mid-May, many radio reporters
commented on the behind-the-scenes efforts that got Crawford into the
studio on 1949-05-02. She was demanding that Suspense use the
new tape recording technology for her appearance. Editor Walt
Taliaferro of the Los Angeles Daily News reported this in his
column of 1949-05-19:
“The differences in technique
between radio and motion pictures are wide and vast,” she says.
“There is no time for error in
radio. You're given one chance, aside from rehearsals, and no more.
And as so many others, when I am confronted with the mental idea that
I must be perfect this one time, I concentrate so hard on that errors
are bound to occur. In motion pictures, naturally you try your best
for a ‘one-hot-take’ but you still know that if word is mumbled,
it can be done over again.
“And that, to is nicest part of
recorded shows. I'm no more nervous than when facing
a movie
camera. I know
things will
go well, but if they don’t, all is not lost. It’s
that extra added assurance that makes for greater comfort.”
There was more publicity around her
microphone fear and that she would pay for the costs of
pre-recording. Columnist Sheilah Graham reported in her 1949-05-22
column that her “phobia against live radio shows has just cost her
$900. Joan paid all the transcribing charges for the June 2nd
Suspense show.”
In reviewing the press releases and the
resultant news items that appeared after the recording session of
early May, Crawford was constantly crowing about the importance of
her participation. She was the one to modernize the
backward live show policy of CBS and Suspense. Her
personal money lifted that policy from the dark ages. Now radio
could achieve the same production quality benefits that movies
already experienced by having multiple takes to select from. It
was radio's fault for creating her fear of microphones when
acting pros like her repeated movie scenes to learn the best tempo
and nature of performance in their personal pursuit of professional
perfection. Such could not be learned in rehearsals. The undercurrent
of her comments was that radio was a lesser art because of it. I
wonder how the steadfast ensemble of Suspense radio cast
members felt.
Did it really cost $900 to cast off the
demons associated with performing live? The 2024 value of $900 of
1949 is about $11,500. We don’t know what Crawford was paid, but we
do know that in 1946 Jimmy Stewart received $4,000 and in 1945 Frank
Sinatra received $12,000. Joan was likely paid a figure between those
two amounts, and could afford it. The average family income in 1950
was $3,300. When newspaper readers saw that Joan paid $900 they
probably gasped at the size of the amount. That was the idea…
publicity.
Joan knows a publicity opportunity
when she sees one
The Crawford publicity machine was on
the job, too, not just the CBS department. Reporter Dorothy Manners
wrote for the International News Service. In her 1949-05-20 dispatch
said “Even before Joan gets before the mike to give you the
‘shuddering shivers,’ Jerry Wald is buying the drama to star her
on the screen.” Seriously? A previously produced Suspense is
suddenly a hot property?
Wald was a big Hollywood producer. In
1945 he led Crawford’s first film at Warner Brothers, the classic
Mildred Pierce. That film won her an Oscar and a best picture
nomination for him. He produced some of the famous Bogart movies in
the late 1940s and many others. But this Suspense script as a
movie? It would not be surprising if we learned that Crawford,
Dinelli, and Wald had lunch together, Wald was told what they wanted,
he was happy to play along, and Wald handed Dinelli $1 just to say
they had a contract. That ability to say “Wald wants it!” would
get them the pre-broadcast publicity they wanted even though there
was probably no serious intent to create a movie.
There were positive aspects of
Crawford’s rogue publicity efforts to build interest and curiosity
about her Suspense appearance. The pre-recorded nature of it
made it possible to create “buzz” in the weeks leading up to the
broadcast. She knew how the recording session went. If it went
poorly, she would not be as aggressive. CBS probably had little
interest in the multi-week build-up, however. Focusing on Crawford
too much could undermine the effectiveness of their regular publicity
campaign for all the shows and guest stars leading up to her event.
Crawford’s stunts could elbow CBS publicity out of the limited
editorial space of newspaper radio pages. Whatever the case, The
Ten Years had a lot of pre-broadcast publicity and great
anticipation.
The recording session:
Is it live or transcribed?
Yes!
It may seem easy to just go into a studio, record a show and then
play it on the air, but there were lots of considerations that needed
attention. The technology was there, but everything around it was
not.
There were union contracts to deal with. One was with the
musicians. It was actually less expensive for them to perform live.
Recording was viewed with suspicion by the unions because it
eliminated future performance income. For that, contracts had them
perform for a higher rate to compensate for the lost income for
future performances that would not be necessary. The way around this
was to record the show with gaps for all of the music and to have the
orchestra perform live while the tape or transcription disc was being
broadcast. Only incidental music was used in the drama recording, or
perhaps that was recorded on a different day. The home audience would
not know the difference. This was a one-time broadcast. There was no
need to pay the extra fee for pre-recording.
Harlow Wilcox was likely in the studio for the recording session
but was more of an observer. The ads with Wilcox and Bill Johnstone
as “Hap” were done live on broadcast day. It is possible that the
ad agency had not prepared the advertising copy in time for the
recording day. They may have been waiting for some kind of directive
for which products to highlight or other details.
Five different recordings have survived
The surviving recordings were all on discs. The Ampex tapes of
that day have likely not survived so it is not known how many
re-takes there were of scenes or dialogue lines. The discs that have
survived were created from the edited tapes from the recording
session. It is possible that the reel tape recordings were made,
edited into final format, and then transferred to discs. Reel tape
recordings was still relatively new and there was a long period of
co-existence for discs and tapes in production. A final set of discs
with the gaps for announcing, commercials, and orchestral
accompaniment was made for broadcast day. That seems to be the most
likely chain of events. The reel tapes were probably erased and
re-used at some later time. Tape was expensive and in limited supply
during its adoption period. Re-using tape was a big selling point to
the broadcasters and music industry.
The discs survived and were transferred to tape in the 1960s and
1970s. The widest circulating copies of The Ten Years found
among collectors had none of the gaps that were reserved for music
and ads. They were removed by an early collector to have each segment
flow into another. There was great confusion in the hobby at that
time about why the recording had gaps. The story behind it was not
widely known. This is why the “gap-free” recordings are only 26
minutes or so long. There are surviving recordings with the original
gaps but they were not widely circulated.
A full recording of the broadcast did survive but did not get much
circulation among collectors, either. It is not clear why, but it may
not have been in the discs that were in the disc library of the
Pacific Pioneers of Broadcasting where so many of the Suspense
recordings were held. It
was probably from another source, but it sounds like it was from a
network feed. It is a noisy
recording, and it may have been that issue that led to collectors of
the time preferring the “gap-edited” recordings.
In 2021, a set of discs made off the air from WCBS radio’s
broadcast in New York became available. They were recorded, likely
for an ad agency, at the WOR recording studios. WOR may have been a
local radio station, and one of the flagships of the Mutual network,
but the station had a separate and large business making custom
recordings of all kinds for agencies and sponsors. They also had a
thriving business for music performers, especially jazz bands and
soloists, as they prepared their albums and records for release.
It was odd to see Mutual Broadcasting System labels on the discs,
but this was a for-hire recording of the Suspense broadcast.
Because it was recorded in New York, it was probably for an
advertising agency. This WCBS-AM aircheck is the recommended
recording for enjoyment of this episode.
It is exactly what listeners in the New York metropolitan heard,
including the local commercial for Campbell soup after the Suspense
sign-off.
The FIVE surviving recordings are:
Suspense 1949-06-02 The Ten Years 1949-05-02 full session
WITH GAPS & alt open at end
This
recording has the gaps for announcing and music; the recording
begins with Frees who does
not
say “transcribed” but after the end of the drama recording is an
alternative opening that says “transcribed,” which is the
opening used for the broadcast.
Suspense 1949-06-02 The Ten Years 1949-05-02 full session
GAPS REMOVED
This recording is good quality and is the one
that was most commonly in circulation; the gaps for music and
announcing have been edited out; note that Frees does not say
“transcribed” at the open.
Suspense 1949-06-02
The Ten Years (possibly from disc used broadcast day, GAPS
REMOVED)
This
recording is good quality and is possibly the one used on broadcast
day; the gaps for music and announcing have been edited out; note
that Frees does
say “transcribed” at the open.
Suspense 1949-06-02 The Ten Years FULL BROADCAST
This
is a recording of the complete broadcast but it is noisy; the source
is not known, but it may be from the studio feed and the discs were
damaged sometime over the years; note that Harlow Wilcox is in the
opening of the program.
Suspense 1949-06-02 The Ten Years WCBS-NY AIRCHECK
This
is the preferred recording for listening because
the sound is very good and it is the complete broadcast as heard in
the New York metropolitan area and includes the national and local
commercials.
Was Crawford in the studio on broadcast day? Did she do a live
segment?
Hearing the full broadcast recording leads to a question. Was
Crawford there? There is a section in the complete broadcast that was
added after the May 2 recording date. It may have been added live
with the advertising and the announcements.
At about 26:50 Frees thanks Crawford and then she starts a scripted
banter with Wilcox. She calls him "Harlow Wilcock," a flub,
as she may have felt interrupted, or felt uncomfortable. This section
is not in any of the pre-recordings and may have been done live
because it went out on the air this way. After the Auto-Lite
commercial, at 28:00
she thanks Leader and the cast. This "thank you
section" is in the pre-recording. This means that she may
have been in the studio on broadcast day, even though the main
portion of the show was airing from disc!
Reaction to the broadcast
The broadcast was generally
well-received. The anonymous reviewer in the 1949-06-04 Venice
Evening Vanguard of California stated
...so excellent is
the story that Miss Crawford, a rather unimaginative actress, catches
fire and turns in a really moving performance. Her hysteria and fear
are frighteningly real as the drama moves to its fateful climax...
The Ten Years left
this reviewer frightened – but we understand it left Miss Crawford
completely hysterical. The weeping was real…
Watch
for Miss Crawford to do this little gem on the screen in the near
future.
Weeks after broadcast, the curmudgeonly
syndicated radio critic, wrote in his 1949-06-20 column that the
story “went way beyond the bounds of propriety.” It was clear he
was not pleased. He continued:
If this is
entertainment, I suggest the Columbia Broadcasting System simply rig
up a couple of microphones at the Matteawan State Hospital for the
criminally insane. There are people up there who scream much louder
than Joan Crawford. Also, they'd save all that money for
scriptwriters and actors.
Crawford’s longer term vision
Later in June, newspapers reported that
Crawford was being contacted by record companies to make a recording
of The Ten Years for consumer purchase. After a while of all
of these news items you begin to wonder if Crawford is jealous of
Agnes Moorehead or at least wanted to emulate the way Moorehead used
Suspense as a career and notoriety springboard. Did she desire
to be recognized as a premier acting talent across multiple media?
Is the Moorehead-Crawford parallel
radio path plausible? Joan's script should be a movie, too, just like
Agnes’ was. Joan's script should be a best selling record set, too,
just like the smash hit 1947 Decca release of Sorry, Wrong Number.
That record set was released multiple times as a result of its higher
than anticipated sales and the shift from 78s to long-playing
records. It created an interest in the possibility of other radio
productions being staged for their own record set releases. Only
Sorry, Wrong Number was successful in this format, in the long
run. Moorehead turned SWN into a side business. For a while,
she had lucrative traveling one-woman stage show comprised of
dramatic readings, especially sections of Sorry, Wrong Number.
Did Crawford have any interest in that? Doubtful.
Crawford did realize that her
appearance on Suspense could be leveraged into a new aspect of
her career and broaden her opportunities. But 1949 was too late to
fully develop such opportunities.
There was no The Ten Years movie.
There was no The Ten Years record set. She did appear on
Suspense one more time, in 1951. Pre-recorded, of course.
Suspense finally
embraced the inevitable… slowly
Crawford’s insistence on
pre-recording did affect Suspense, especially when Elliott
Lewis became producer. There was wisdom in adopting the process,
sooner rather than later. Radio was starting to give way to
television. TV was capturing the time and interest of radio’s guest
stars, the movie studios, and their agents. Lewis started to use tape
recording, here and there, to accommodate the schedules of the stars
who appeared and make it easier to fit appearances into their
schedules, even recording on weekends, sometimes at strange hours.
The scrambling to rush substitute guests or change scripts because of
disruptions to guest schedules happened often in the “live” era.
Those incidents eventually stopped. The issues that union contracts
posed over live performances and pre-recording eventually were ironed
out or made irrelevant with “canned” music. The spark of “live”
performances slowly ebbed from the broadcasts through the 1950s.
The Ten Years was an important
transition point as all of those issues of technology and broadcast
economics were coalescing into a very different entertainment
marketplace. One can only identify transition points in retrospect
after many years pass. The transition to tape and pre-recording
production policies would have occurred in a time of its own. This
broadcast probably hastened it for Suspense.
Joan Crawford’s career was long with
many successes and many challenges. Her career and life has an
overview at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Crawford
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP490602
THE CAST
JOAN CRAWFORD (Clara Foley), Lurene
Tuttle (Adele Foley), Joseph Kearns (Judge), Pat Lowery (Adele as a
child), Gloria McMillan (Clara as a child), Jerry Farber (Roy, aged
10), Gil Barnett (Doug, aged 10), Eda Reiss Merin (Mrs. Wallace),
Paul Frees (Signature Voice)
COMMERCIAL: Bill Johnstone (Hap),
Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
###
