Danny Kaye returns to Suspense in the second of his two appearances. It’s a story about a man in the wrong place at the wrong time, when a gangland murder occurs. His proximity to the act makes him a suspect. The opening scene is strangely wooden and too stark in its presentation. Kaye acts fine but the character should be more upset about the accusation. The actor portraying the police officer seems to be just standing by the microphone and reading his lines. It does get better, thankfully.
Kaye’s character has an arrest record that he has kept secret. Because of the investigation into the killing, his past comes to light and works against him. The officer finds a gun near his locker at work. Suspicion is piling up around him, and he loses his job. His wife discovers gambling chips at home and they further link him to the crime and gangster Pigeon Watts. Did she plant them as part of the frame-up?
Most of scripter William Bruckner’s writing was for screen- and teleplays. He had written for Spier for Philip Morris Playhouse in the previous season. That PMP effort was Lady Killer; no recording has survived. Spier re-used Lady Killer for Suspense on 1950-03-02. Bruckner was very active in television in the 1950s and early 1960s.
This is one of the episodes where the “mid-show” commercial is fairly late in the broadcast, more than halfway through. The story and presentation after the commercial is more emotive than before, which saves the program.
Show publicity said “There is an electrifying climax with a ‘twist’ ending which will come as a shock to the audience.” We’re still waiting. I Never Met the Dead Man is not one of the series’ best, but sub-par Suspense is often better than many of the other programs on the air.
Joe Kearns returns as the Suspense signature voice, replacing Paul Frees. The program seems to be running late as Harlow Wilcox is reading the final commercial and credits very quickly. Kearns and Simms also read at a rapid pace.
The script may have been originally titled “I Never Met a Dead Man.”
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP500105
THE CAST
DANNY KAYE (Joe Wycoff), Jeanette Nolan (Bella), Cy Kendall (Officer Callan), Hal March (Hugo), John McIntire (Pigeon Watts), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Radio Announcer / Roy the bouncer)
COMMERCIAL: Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator), June Foray (Happy)
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