Kirk Douglas stars in a play about a love triangle that goes very wrong. He’s a young clerk in a Los Angeles super-market. He just landed a job after moving from New York. A very attractive young woman starts making eyes at him, and he makes them back. He soon finds out that she is married to the big, red-faced butcher whom he has noticed as sharpening long knives and quickly running them through a side of beef with powerful strokes (supplied so well in the sound effects; you know you don’t want to mess with this guy). He’s warned by a co-worker to stay away from her. The butcher is suspicious of her flirtatious demeanor, and wonders who might be fooling around with his wife. He tells Douglas’ character that he would kill whoever that may be, and will wait as long as it takes to find out who it is. He tries to blame someone else and attempts to stop the relationship. He even prepares to leave town, but she is relentless in her pursuit. He’s trapped in a worsening situation. The story culminates in a well-staged but gruesome sequence that surprises at its extent.
This was 28-year-old James Poe’s first Suspense script. He had worked on Escape in 1949. It was Poe who adapted the story Three Skeleton Key for radio. He was best known for his film work, winning a screenplay Oscar for Around the World in 80 Days. He also wrote screenplays for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Lilies of the Field, The Bedford Incident, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and other films. Poe and Vincent Price had a common interest in collecting fine art, and also, a love of radio drama. Nominated for four screenplay Oscars, he died in 1980 at age 58.
The original title of the story was “Never Steal a Butcher’s Wife.” It would be produced twice more on the series, with that original longer name, in 1954 and 1957.
Douglas was originally planned to star in Slow Burn on this date. That script was held for Dick Powell and was presented on 1950-02-23. That was a better role for Powell, and Butcher's Wife was an excellent role for Douglas.
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https://archive.org/details/TSP500209
THE CAST
KIRK DOUGLAS (Harry), Sidney Miller (Nick / Bartender), Joan Banks (Mary), Joe Kearns (Kraus / Signature Voice) + AD-LIBS: Vivi Janiss, Charlotte Lawrence, Eve McVeagh, Jimmy Eagles, Jim Nusser (Customers)
COMMERCIAL: Ken Christy (Remingchester Shotgun), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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