William Powell returns to Suspense for a curious play about a man who escapes from the psychiatric wing of a Manhattan hospital to expose the truth behind his wife’s murder. He carefully sneaks out of the hospital, posing as his attorney. He calculates that he has at least 20 minutes before an escape alarm will be turned in. He stops at a diner, and then to a pawn shop, where he buys a gun. From there, he heads straight to the Park Avenue apartment of Martin Avery, his ex-business partner. Powell’s character sneaks into the den where he surprises Avery and holds him prisoner throughout a terror-filled night.
Over and over, he demands of Avery: “Why did you kill my wife? Where did you hide her body?” It was Avery’s testimony that sent him to prison and his psychiatric incarceration. When Avery persists in denying any knowledge of the woman’s death, Powell stalks him, gun in hand, toward the bedroom in which Avery's own wife and infant son are sleeping. It’s a creepy sequence, one that you can’t believe that would be on the air. This makes one suspect that something less terrible will conclude the story, which detracts from what is supposed to be a big surprise ending. We learn the chain of events was a carefully choreographed ruse, created with the cooperation of authorities after the firm assurance of his mental health. It was designed to learn the truth about Mrs. Abbott’s murder. Implausible as it may seem, go along for the listening ride. Oh, we forgot, “spoiler alert!”
The scripter for the story was Gilbert Thomas. He wrote for The Whistler, Rocky Jordan, Jeff Regan, and other series. This was his only Suspense script.
Bellevue is a massive Manhattan hospital that provides all types of medical services. Its early pioneering psychiatric services became so well known that it falsely implies a single specialty in public knowledge. Just saying “Bellevue” would imply that someone needed treatment for mental illness or was mentally incompetent and could not care for themselves or presented a danger to others. Its services in this area now come under the umbrella term “behavioral services” and cover a wide range of conditions from addiction recovery through treatment of mental illnesses.
The script would be used again by producer William N. Robson on 1959-03-08 and retitled “Madman of Manhattan.”
At about 28:28 during the closing credits, Harlow Wilcox nearly refers to the star as “Wilbur Powell” but quickly catches himself.
There are times when Powell’s performance is similar to Give Me Liberty. At that time, his character was going crazy because of his plight. This time, his character is just acting crazy. The rationale may be different, but Powell just seems particularly good at this characterization. In GML he escapes by accident, in this episode he escapes with the participation of the law.
LISTEN
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https://archive.org/details/TSP500119
THE CAST
WILLIAM POWELL (Lacey), Howard McNear (Westlund / Admissions voice), Jeanette Nolan (Fay the waitress / Ann), Joseph Kearns (Pop / Lieutenant Creekmore / Signature Voice), John McIntire (Martin Avery), Joan Banks (Mrs. Westlund), Gil Stratton, Jr. (Newsboy)
COMMERCIAL: Eleanor Audley (SPCTC Lady), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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