Bette Davis makes her only Suspense appearance in a fine production. She plays an office worker who was recently widowed. Lonely, she takes a friendly interest in a quiet, polite young man who operates a small restaurant near the office. She often has lunch there, and in conversation with the man, she can tell something worries him, but she does not know what. One night, after working late at the office, she decides to stop there for dinner. She is the only customer, which makes her uneasy. She leaves without finishing her meal. Concerned that she has hurt his feelings, she decides to return a few weeks later. He’s not happy about that, insulted by that act. When she gets up to leave, she suddenly feels sick, and then faints. When she regains consciousness, she is tied up and is in a dark room. This is not good; and it’s clear that the man has severe anger, delusions, and paranoia. How can she escape? Somehow she uses his delusions against him.
The story was written by Ben S. Hunter, who became a very popular 1960s Los Angeles TV personality for his hosting of KTTV Movie Matinee and numerous other endeavors. He started in radio as an announcer after WW2, but also wrote for television and radio. Aside from this Suspense episode, he wrote scripts for The Whistler, Hollywood Theater, and others. He also acted in some local radio programs.
The Red Headed Woman with Dorothy McGuire was originally scheduled for this date.
The script cover has “good” and “night” as separate words. It became more common in the decades since to combine the two words into one. Because it is two words on the script, that spelling has been maintained.
This episode was the sole appearance of Oscar-winner Bette Davis on Suspense. She did not appear on radio often beyond the movie-based such as Lux. She was a popular guest on variety programs. An overview of her very long career can be found at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Davis
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP491020
THE CAST
BETTE DAVIS (Mrs. Russell), Elliott Reid (Henry), Ann Morrison (Diner 1), Lillian Buyeff (Diner 2), Gus Bayz, Dave Light (Ad-Libs), Paul Frees (Signature Voice)
COMMERCIAL: Parley Baer (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
Gus Bayz and Dave Light are listed the cast for ad-libs. They were also the sound effects artists for this episode and for most of the Suspense broadcasts in this period.
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