This episode is Burt Lancaster’s second and final appearance on Suspense. He plays an an ex-con, just released from prison, but intent on revenge against woman who gave the information to police that led his brother’s suicide. He arrives at Grand Central Station, and is spotted by a policeman who knows him and the his story. He suspects he’s out for revenge against the woman. He heads to a hotel room arranged by a friend. There’s hid a gun under the sink for what he needs to do. As he retrieves it, there’s a knock at the door. It’s the woman! He intends to kill her as soon as he has the chance. But she’s there to surrender to him, in a way, offering herself that he can follow through on his intent. She expresses her regret, and explains that her life has been horrible since she betrayed his brother. She is so very unhappy. She went to the hotel room rather living with the knowledge that he was hunting her down. She wants her misery to end.
Lancaster’s character changes his mind and changes his plan. What good is the revenge, it seems, if it’s just offered to you without effort? He will lead her on, lie about his intentions, give what she needs for a happier life, then rip it all away. She was dress designer before all of the events with his brother. He says he will help her start a business and rebuild her life. The new business begins, financed with the cooperation and assistance of his past criminal contacts. It all goes well… she is so very happy. Did she think she “put one over” on him to get what she wanted? Or is this the time he reverts to the original plan for his best satisfaction?
The script is by Fred Freiberger. Yes, he’s that Fred Freiberger, known among nostalgia fans and “Trekkies” as the producer of the much disparaged final season of the original Star Trek. He may be held in low regard by sci-fi fans, but he did have a long career as a screenwriter and producer, especially for television and had some successes. He went to Hollywood as a young man expecting to work in publicity, and then a series of circumstances created an interest in scripting and eventually, producing. This script was his only original Suspense script, though he did write other radio scripts. This may have been his first script accepted by a primetime program.
Ken Christy is in the Auto-Lite commercials as a poet and a car. If the car’s gruff voice sounds familiar, it’s because he was the mobster “Froggy” in The Singing Walls.
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https://archive.org/details/TSP491124
THE CAST
BURT LANCASTER (Dan Varell), Wally Maher (Lt. Len Bush / Tony), Sidney Miller (Hotel clerk / Shorty Thompson), Betty Lou Gerson (Lois Williams), Jack Moyles (Lou Henry / Tom), John Dehner (Numbers Johnson / Gus), Larry Dobkin (Phil / Tim Grady), Georgia Ellis (Glenda / Receptionist), Mary Lansing (June / Secretary), Wilms Herbert (Whitey / Museum guard), Paul Frees (Signature Voice)
COMMERCIAL: Ken Christy (Poet & Car), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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