1951-04-26 The Thirteenth Sound

Anne Baxter stars in the second broadcast of this script, and delivers a fine performance. She plays a neurotic woman who murders her husband and is then haunted by a horrific sound that reminds her of her evil deed. That sound, like nails against a blackboard, is used by law enforcement to have her admit to the crime and bring her to justice. The original broadcast was on 1947-02-13 in the Roma Wines period. Details about that production of this Cathy and Elliott Lewis script are at:

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/09/1947-02-13-thirteenth-sound.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP470213 and is where the recordings may be streamed or downloaded.

The recording of this 1951 broadcast is missing its opening announcements, first Auto-Lite ad, and the beginning of the drama. This is about 4 minutes of the broadcast. The disc was likely badly damaged from its edge and could not be played in that area. But, the 1947 recording is intact, and the script for the 1951 performance is available. That means that there are two ways to get the opening of the drama.

The first way is to listen to about the first two minutes and twenty seconds of the 1947 recording, linked above. The second way is to read the dialogue from the 1951 script, below, prior to listening to the Baxter production:

SOUND: A SPEEDING AUTOMOBILE… A TORTUROUS ROAD

SALLY: We were driving too fast. But I knew that If slowed down at all I would begin to tremble. And so, although the road was torturous, climbing steeply up the mountain, I kept my foot pressed hard on the accelerator. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that my husband was looking quietly into the green valley far below. I wondered he would do if I and told him right then that we were driving up to the Johnson house go that I might kill him.

CAR TO STOP

HUSBAND: Can't you drive up to the house?

SALLY: I don't think so.

HUSBAND: (grunts) Alright.

SOUND: OPEN CAR DOOR... THEY GET OUT... CLOSE IT. STEPS UP DIRT WALK

HUSBAND: (cue) Dusty. All over my shoes.

SOUND: THEY STOP

SALLY: Come on, please. Must we take all day?

HUSBAND: Your idea, my love.

SALLY: You asked me to find a smaller house. You requested that it be out of town. You demanded that I grant you a divorce and allow you to live your own life.

HUSBAND: No reason why you should be upset... Have a key?

SALLY: Yes. I seem to have forgotten it.

HUSBAND: Now you drive back? You made me come all the way up here, and now you forgot it?

SALLY: There's a window at the side.

SOUND: THEY WALK DIRT THROUGH NEXT TWO LINES

HUSBAND: Am I to break it?

SALLY: I believe it's left open.

HUSBAND: I passed the age of crawling through windows.

SALLY: I'll help you... The window was set high above the ground, and my husband had to [1951 recording begins here] stretch his body to reach it. I waited until he had his back to me, with his hands raised high In the air, reaching for the window frame. Then I opened my purse, took out the gun, aimed very carefully at a spot just in the center of his left shoulder blade, and pulled the trigger four times.

SOUND: ONE SHOT

HUSBAND: Sally!

SOUND: THREE MORE SHOTS

John Stephenson, who portrays the husband, makes his first Suspense appearance. Nostalgia animation fans would recognize him as the first “Dr. Benton Quest” in early episodes of Jonny Quest and as the voice of “Mr. Slate,” Fred Flintstone’s boss, on The Flintstones television series… but all his lines in this drama (except for shouting her name after she shoots him) are in the missing opening segment!

The original title of the script, prior to broadcast, was “Dying is Safer.”

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510426

THE CAST

ANNE BAXTER (Sally Skinner), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Brown), Howard McNear (Coroner / Man), Florence Bates (Mrs. Banker), Norman Field (Mr. Banker), Sarah Selby (Woman), Anthony Barrett (Guy), Jim Nusser (Gardener), John Stephenson (Husband)

COMMERCIAL: Jerry Hausner, Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

###

1951-04-19 The Rescue

Jimmy Stewart returns to the series with an exciting story as he helps a young woman who tries to escape a killer by getting onto the ledge of a Washington, DC office building. Stewart plays a public relations executive who is dictating a letter to his secretary when he hears a scream from outside his office window. He looks out the window and sees a young woman crouching on the ledge, apparently preparing to jump to her death. Watching her from a nearby window are a nurse and a man in a white doctor’s jacket from whom the she has apparently fled. He calls out to the her, urging her to go back to her room, but she begs him to help her to his window, instead. She tells him that the doctor and nurse are actually impostors who want to kill her. The doctor calls out to him, warning him to stay away from the him, explaining that she is his patient and that he must take her to a mental hospital. What follows is a ruse about taking her to the hospital, but it is clear that she has escaped and the false doctor and nurse are intent on finding her. Stewart’s character learns that the woman’s story is true, and he goes to find her before her pursuers do.

This is an exciting story and Stewart’s first person narrative, of which there is much, is superb. The story has many tense moments and captures listening attention… but for decades in the classic radio hobby, no one knew the ending. For many years, the only copy of this broadcast was its first 20 minutes. It was not until 2008 when radio transcription collector and expert Randy Riddle realized that an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription disc being offered on eBay, blandly identified as “AFRS #365,” might be this particular episode. He purchased the disc, it was this episode, and posted a recording on his very popular “Rand’s Esoteric OTR” blog on the 2008 Thanksgiving weekend. He also shared lossless copies of the recording through the hobby. The conclusion of the story was finally known, and it lived up to the rest of the exciting story.

In terms of the AFRS recording, the missing section of the network recording picks up at the 17:00 mark. There are about six and one half minutes left to the drama portion of the broadcast after that point.

That original network recording seemed to be a good-sounding home-recorded aircheck or 10- or 12-inch records.

The drama portion of this episode was recorded on Saturday, March 31, 1951. Rehearsals began at noon, with recording commencing at 5:00pm.

This is an Elizabeth Wilson script, adapted by John Meston. About two years later, Meston would start leaving a notable mark as a star scripter with exceptional work on Gunsmoke. Wilson was married to Richard Wilson who was a key figure in Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater and Welles’ work in Hollywood. Elizabeth had a good career as a Hollywood screen and television writer, and as a writer for magazines. She was in the news for a little while when she testified in Hollywood at the House Un-American Activites Committee hearings in September 1951. She was in the Communist Party from 1937 to 1947, but left when she saw how the Party undermined other social causes she was interested in, including the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League. She was convinced the Soviet Union was not interested in post-WW2 peace initiatives, and left the Party when she came to that conclusion. She wrote for movies and television, and often collaborated in Richard Wilson’s projects. (FYI there was a popular supporting role actress of the same name who was active in the 1950s through the 1970s, so when seeking information on Elizabeth Wilson, the writer, be aware of that in Google and other searches).

On August 23, 2021 a home paper tape recording of the network broadcast was offered on eBay for about $450. It was described as This tape is missing the first few seconds of the opening, but is the full CBS broadcast complete with all the Harlow Wilcox Auto-Lite commercials. Tape runs out during a Harlow Wilcox PSA following the show.” The Suspense Project would appreciate any leads that can be offered in acquiring a copy of that recording or the original paper tape. Please contact us at suspensearchive@gmail.com with information.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510419

THE CAST

JAMES STEWART (Lee), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Jack / Clerk), Jack Kruschen (Lieutenant Rogers / Tailor), Peggy Webber (Nurse / Woman), Sidney Miller (Poet / Drunk), Sylvia Simms (Helen), Joyce McCluskey (Hilary), Lou Merrill (Doc Radin), Ted Osborne (Dr. Brune)

COMMERCIAL: Ken Christy, Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

###

1951-04-12 Early to Death

Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball appear once more in the series in a publicity-driven appearance in anticipation of the couple’s new show business endeavors. This production is much better than their earlier effort, The Red-Headed Woman, in 1949. The script is by E. Jack Neuman & John Michael Hayes and pits the characters of the two stars against each other rather than together, including an attempt to murder him! A little later in the story, she shoots him in the shoulder!

Lucy’s character and her partner-in-crime have stolen $300,000 in payroll money (almost $3.7 million in US$2024!) and are parachuting into Mexico to escape the law. They will hide the money money in the mountains. They radio a fake distress call from the plane before they jump. This would make it seem that they died in a crash and allow them to start “new lives” as they live off their loot. They are eventually questioned by the police, but their prepared answers seem to satisfy them. The plan then goes out of control. Her partner is killed, and a gangster named “Rico” claims to know what they and demands a share of the money. Rico has a certain curious charm that can be paid for… but may not be who he claims to be.

The script for their appearance may not have been settled much prior to broadcast week. CBS publicity did not include details of the plotline, and only the show title and their casting appeared in newspapers. The title did, however, but does not seem to match the story. (The title is a play on the old saw “early to bed, early to rise”). It may be a case that there was a different script in mind that fit the title, but plans were changed and the ill-fitting title was retained. If there is a tie to the plotline, “Early to Death” may refer to the faked demise of the plane crash. It seems to be a stretched and less-than-obvious sentiment.

There may have been significant revisions to the story that was presented as it got closer to broadcast. CBS sent another press release to the papers, but probably did not arrive in time for editors to use, or was not pithy enough for them to act on it. One of the few plot summaries in a newspaper indicates a change in casting as well as a change in plot, with Desi’s character as being in the plane with Lucy’s character. This means that Lucy and Desi would be the robbers. This is from the 1951-04-12 Battle Creek Enquirer:

Comedy star Lucille Ball and her husband, singer Desi Arnaz. play lead roles tonight in the mystery thriller, “Early to Death.” The couple are heard as a pair desperate crooks who, 5000 feet over a South American mountain range, knock the pilot unconscious, grab a payroll, and parachute down into a wilderness.

The end of the story seems abridged; there may have been more details offered but shortened for time or was too complex to work well. While it is somewhat satisfactory, it leaves loose ends for speculation about what happens to her and the character of Rico in the end. Perhaps that was the intent.

The surviving recording is not the best, but it is listenable. Unfortunately, the transcription discs had problems, possibly the result of poor storage. It is also possible that the recording is an aircheck as there are slight indications of what is likely to be station drift. The recording may not have been done on professional studio equipment or in a studio environment. The first half of the recording has narrow range; the second half has narrow range and background noise. Whatever the cause of the issues, the recording has been cleaned and improved, and is better than what is typically circulating. The story can be followed and enjoyed with a little closer-than-usual attention.

While My Favorite Husband was wrapping up, Desi Arnaz was a CBS game show host for the radio series Your Tropical Trip.

Many years after this broadcast, Elliott Lewis would be involved in the broadcast endeavors of both Lucy and Desi. Lewis was the executive producer of The Lucy Show (1962-1964) from Desilu Productions. He was a producer for The Mothers-In-Law (1967-1969). That series was done by Desi Arnaz Productions and United Artists for NBC Television.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510412

THE CAST

LUCILLE BALL (Evie) & DESI ARNAZ (Rico Sebastian), Jack Kruschen (Lieutenant Maher / Clerk), Anthony Barrett (Ben Tabor / Pasco), Tom Holland (Gonzales / Coroner), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Investigator Grimms), Bert Holland (Air-traffic control / Judge)

COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

###

1951-04-05 Murder in G Flat

Jack Benny makes a landmark appearance on the series. This is not your typical Suspense episode. It not one that would be considered as one of the top 10 or most exciting, perhaps. It holds a beloved and distinct place in Suspense history, a highly entertaining sidebar for the program. It showed both Benny’s stature and that of Suspense as a successful radio franchise. The production does not take itself too seriously, but it does not squander an opportunity for a notable production, either. This combination is a celebration of the medium, their respective reputations, to the delight of both show’s audiences. It is a marvelously written script by Richard-George Pedicini, prepared especially for Benny at the request of Elliott Lewis, fits his subtle comedic skills and his public persona.

This is Jack Benny’s first of four appearances on the series. A newspaper story, likely developed by CBS publicity to promote the series that was made available a few weeks later, explains how Benny came to the show:

After Dennis Day played a bank teller turned bandit, Jack Benny called up Elliott Lewis, and asked “What's the matter with me?” A few weeks later, Jack was on Suspense himself, a piano tuner who found $25,000 in his kit.

Day’s appearance was in Christmas for Carole. In that same news story, Lewis’ approach to casting guest stars was described:

About fifty per cent of the time he selects the script first and then sets out to find a star who will be right for it. Occasionally, when a star asks to do a show, he'll order a script especially tailored.

Richard-George Pedicini was recruited to create this script especially for Benny. A recording of Pedicini talking about the process and the experience of working with Benny is available. It is on the same page at the Internet Archive as the episode, available for download or streaming. The Pedicini comments were part of a 1996 installment of the Los Angeles radio program Same Time, Same Station hosted by collectors John and Larry Gassman and also included classic radio enthusiast and researcher Keith Scott as a guest. (Pedicini and Scott had become friends in Australia when Pedicini retired there; Scott is a native Australian.)

CBS was promoting the appearance a full month before the broadcast date. In the publicity for the broadcast, the CBS press release had a description and a quote:

Jack Benny, convinced that 39 is still young enough to launch a new career... “I'm afraid if I confine myself to comedy roles much longer, I'll be in danger of being typed.”

Benny plays “Hercules Remington” [just a marvelous name that Pedicini created]. He’s a harassed piano tuner whose troubles begin when he finds a bag containing $25,000. (That’s more than $300,000 in US$2024!). Remington’s story begins on a crowded New York City subway where he accidentally swaps his bag containing his piano-tuning tools for a look-alike one containing bundles of crisp, ten dollar bills. He leaves the train for his destination and when he gets there, he realizes the mistake. His first impulse is to keep the money. The cash is obviously not his, so the desire to surrender the money to the police and do the right thing gets into his conscience. He’s had nothing but tough luck all his life, he figures, and this must be a happy stroke of fate to turn things around. He starts to rationalize why he should keep it. His wife, who would like the better life it might provide, tells him that he must give the money back. His uncle, living with them since the 1939 World’s Fair, suggests he should keep it. It’s clear that the uncle does not have the best of moral scruples, and you suspect the uncle has plans to take some of it for himself one day. Hercules’ dreams of luxury are soon shattered. He gets a telephone call from a man who identifies himself as the holder of the bag. He located Remington from the address tag attached to it. The caller has the piano tools and Hercules has the money, and that means a swap will happen, with subtle “I know where you live” threat about the money. The caller demands that Hercules meet him at a deserted spot that very night to return it, and he will give Hercules his bag of tools. Remington goes to the location, but the man is dead, and Remington’s tuning hammer is alongside the body! Now what?

Joe Kearns does a fine job playing Remington’s shady uncle who keeps insisting that the money, stolen from a post office, be kept. It just so happens he has a perfect hiding place for it. Kearns and Benny had a well-practiced acting relationship since Kearns played “Ed,” the guard of Benny’s underground vault on Benny’s show, as well as many other roles. Lewis made sure to cast the performance with people Benny was comfortable and confident working with. Using RadioGoldindex, Kearns and Bea Benederet (who plays Mrs. Remington) each appeared on the Benny show more than one hundred times, and likely even more.

One of Remington’s special gifts is that he has an ear for music tones, and he can associate any real-life noise with its place on the musical scale. It’s called absolute or perfect pitch. Most people who have the gift are best when the sound is from a musical instrument. But Remington’s gift seems to be extra special as it applies to everyday noises. After hearing a noise, he will blurt out what that tone is.

The end of the broadcast includes the Benny violin theme and a joke about his penny-pinching. The character he was known for never wanted to spend money, not even at a pay phone. The Pedicini interview indicates that it was Elliott Lewis who suggested this amusing ending for the story, which Jack loved.

There are other jokes, such as a policeman complaining about having to work on a Sunday. That was the broadcast day of Benny’s own show.

The drama content of this episode was recorded on Monday, March 19, 1951. Rehearsals started at 1:30pm with the recording beginning at 6:30pm.

Larry Thor of Broadway is My Beat plays a NY police lieutenant in this performance. His name is “Joe” in this episode. Lewis cast Thor as a cop often on Suspense since he was also producer of Broadway is My Beat. It’s somewhat of a running joke.

The original working title “Murder in F Sharp.” G-flat and F-sharp are the same notes, but there may be other reasons for the change. Classic radio researcher and performer Patte Rosebank offered some observations about the title. The first reason could be greater familiarity among non-musicians with the musical term “flat.” She notes that most people who sing off-key tend to sing “flat,” not quite reaching the note. It's rarer for someone to sing “sharp,” slightly above the note. She also wondered if the title could was changed because “sharp” could be a tip-off to the importance of the knife to the solution of the story.

Patte also mentioned that “flat” has another meaning. It can also refer to a piece of theatrical scenery made of a painted board or of painted canvas stretched over a wooden frame. What does the evil uncle pull down from the funhouse as a place to hide the money? A board that is a scenery flat.

Benny’s success and importance in the radio era can’t be overestimated. An overview of his incredible career is at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Benny There are numerous books about him and the series.

The International Jack Benny Fan Club is an outstanding organization that has vast information resources, much of it developed by their own carefully directed initiatives. They have interviews with cast and production staff members, collections of photos, and numerous other sights and sounds that any Benny fan, new or old, would find of great interest. They have on-line conventions for their members and classic radio enthusiasts and researchers. The organization is a tax-exempt IRS 501(c)(3) charitable entity. https://jackbenny.org/wp/

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510405

THE CAST

JACK BENNY (Hercules Remington), Bea Benaderet (Martha), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Herman), Jack Kruschen (Boiler), Larry Thor (Lieutenant), Paul Frees (Baldy), Clayton Post (Sergeant / Clerk)

COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

* * *

Classic radio collector and researcher, and international performer Keith Scott appeared on the podcast Yesteryear Ballyhoo Revue, hosted by Zach Eastman. That interview included a discussion about Benny and Suspense. It is excerpted and is available at the same page as the broadcast recording. The full conversation was held as an event of the The 4th Annual Jack Benny Convention (2024). The excerpt is from an unedited version of that conversation. The official final video recording is at https://youtu.be/FG0PG8ugc60

The full version of the conversation was on the Eastman podcast and can be accessed at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yesteryear-ballyhoo-revue/id1540142449?i=1000650072978

Eastman’s podcast about movies and entertainment can be found at

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yesteryear-ballyhoo-revue/id1540142449

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10s2uLtkb8qTNS202Kkiog?si=j4dnbfy4Tc-o9DPNvxizJw

###

1951-03-29 Death Pitch

Jack Carson plays a carnival pitch-man who uses his gift of gab to literally talk to death everyone who stands in the way of his ambitions. He was great in One Millionth Joe, but here the script calls for much yelling and screaming. Oh, and a mauling by a tiger. It’s a Walter Brown Newman script, and it disappoints after all his excellent prior work on the series.

Carson’s character, Nick, is certain he can kill anyone he pleases without lifting a finger himself, just by speaking the right words to the right person, at the right time. His first target is the co-owner of the show, a former lion-tamer who’s lost his nerve and quit after having been clawed once, many years before. Catching his victim in a mood of alcoholic despondency, Carson draws him into a nostalgic boasting of his former prowess as a lion-tamer and flatters him into offering an immediate private demonstration of his ability to handle Jezebel, a notorious “killer-cat.” It does not end well, but it advances Nick’s career. This pattern repeats itself, and it just seems to not work as a Suspense storyline, but be more appropriate for a lower-tier series like Diary of Fate or something like it. He gets rid of more people (not worth getting into details or the characters because that will make it all seem worse) because it’s all about Nick’s career and stature, of course. The escape artist, however, got out of the trick Nick sabotaged, and hours later surprises Nick that he’s still alive. That’s the supposed surprise ending of the story you could sense it coming a mile away because this story was otherwise running out of characters to have dialogue.

Listen anyway. It’s Suspense, and in this case sub-par Suspense can be better than other shows, but this time, not by much.

The surviving recording, like others from 1951, have some wow and flutter and may have some missing, but small segments of audio. The drama is fully intact.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510329

THE CAST

JACK CARSON (Nick Arnold), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Peter Valenka), Frances Chaney (Nora), Georgia Ellis (Annette), Dick Crenna (Robbie), Ed Max (Duke Arnold), Herb Butterfield (Lee Duncan), Byron Kane (Voice / Police Chief), Eddie Marr (Circus “Talker”)

COMMERCIAL: Jerry Hausner (Sam), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

###

1951-03-22 Three Lethal Words

Joan Crawford returns to the series for her final appearance. She plays a crazed woman who has trouble discerning reality and a screenplay she has written. It’s a demanding role, delivered well, mixing dispassionate first person storytelling that swells quickly into frantic and destructive behavior. That volatile nature is challenging for any actor, and Crawford does it well.

She delivers frightening portrayal of neurotic obsession and the desire for vicious revenge. She loses her grip on reality when her handsome actor-husband, nineteen years her junior (she’s 43 and he’s 24), walks out on her. Her youthful husband tells her he's leaving her because their marriage is hurting his career and he can no longer stand the taunting of his peers. Her own career is waning. The psychological pressure drives her to an asylum. She writes a screenplay that follows the details of her life. The radio script is effective in creatively reflecting the character’s difficultly in separating her life events and those in the story she’s created. That confusion of fantasy and reality is the constant mental torture she suffers. The three lethal words are “I’ll destroy him,” and drive the rage against her husband that become a desire to attack and disfigure him. Hy Averback plays the husband and is excellent in the part.

The script is by Charles Beahan, who wrote screenplays, theatrical plays, and short stories. He was most prolific in the 1930s. The story was adapted by Walter Brown Newman.

The wife’s name is “Winters” and the husband’s name is “Summers.” The seasonal reference of their names is meant to underscore the age difference of the characters. The title “Three Lethal Words” is a play on the popular song “Three Little Words” from 1930. This is another stark contrast set by Beahan, of the 1930s song where the three words are “I love you” and this production where the words are “I’ll destroy you.” (Well, “I’ll” is technically a contraction of two words, but we’ll ignore that in this case).

The drama portion of the program was rehearsed beginning at 1:00pm on Saturday, March 17, 1951 with recording commencing at 6:00pm.

This is one of those episodes where the music is a significant and critical driver in the progress and emotion of the storyline. Yet again, the orchestral arrangement is like a pivotal character in the story.

Crawford’s previous Suspense appearance was her first, The Ten Years. It has a curious and involved backstory of a rejected script, negotiations about production techniques and other issues. It was the first pre-recorded episode because of her “mic fright.” The chaotic events surrounding the appearance, including Crawford “going rogue” with doing her own publicity about the show, might have been one of the factors in Anton M. Leader losing the producer position for the series.

Background information about The Ten Years can be found at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/02/1949-06-02-ten-years.html and https://archive.org/details/TSP490602

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510322

THE CAST

JOAN CRAWFORD (Sally, alias Jane Winters), Hy Averback (Chris Summers), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Philip Lewis / Chair), Ted de Corsia (Policeman / Doctor), Lillian Buyeff (Police Operator / Lisa), Don Diamond (Mocambo receptionist / Art Supply clerk), Bea Benaderet (Maid / Nurse), Sylvia Simms (Grace / Operator)

COMMERCIAL: Ed Max (Oscar Auto), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

###

1951-03-15 Strange, for a Killer

[A complete broadcast recording of this episode has never been available, until now. It is an aircheck from Detroit station WJR recorded on that 1951 night. Read about the importance of this particular recording after the cast listing, below.]

Van Johnson returns to the series with a good performance in an excellent story. He plays an ordinary family man who is dropped off from his ride-share partner and starts walking home. A police officer stops him. The entire block where he lives is surrounded by police. A wanted killer is on the run from the police and is now holed up in an apartment. Police are waiting for him to make a move that will lead to his capture. Police refuse to let the husband through the cordon to go home. He telephones his wife and senses a strangeness in her voice and tenseness in her phone demeanor. Now he’s worried. Is the killer hiding in his very own apartment? If so, he is holding his wife and baby hostage.

The worried husband and father alerts the police to his suspicions. He talks them into letting him through and going home. He’s told that if they do not get a phone call from him promptly, they will assume that he, too, is being held prisoner by the fugitive. If that’s the case, he’s warned that he’s on his own and police can’t guarantee his safety or that of his family. He heads home and enters the apartment. Everyone is okay, but the menacing killer is suspicious to know why so much time passed between the phone call and his arrival at the apartment. The fugitive is worried how much the police knew and what they are planning to capture him. He concocts a plan to escape that puts the husband in danger. He forces Johnson’s character go onto the fire escape to pose as him as a decoy and draw police attention so he can escape through the apartment door. Shots are fired and the husband is hit. The killer doesn’t have a chance to leave because an act of conscience deters him in the show’s surprise ending.

The drama portion was in rehearsal starting at noon on Saturday, March 3, with the recording starting at 5:00pm.

The story is by Robert Esson, his only Suspense script. He was a radio actor and wrote for 1950s television. The script was adapted by Antony Ellis. It was repeated in 1958 and starred Dan O’Herlihy. The story was also used on the Suspense television show on 1951-09-11. It starred John Forsythe and Anthony Ross (the first radio Lt. Danny Clover when Broadway Is My Beat was a New York production). The teleplay was adapted by Max Erlich. The kinescope has never been found.

Larry Thor plays a police officer on Suspense… again.

Two recordings have survived. The better recording is an aircheck of the original broadcast recorded off the air from WJR-Detroit. It is missing the mid-show commercial and has narrow range and some background noise. The other recording is the drama only that was pre-recorded. It has gaps for music and other elements that were done live on the broadcast day.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510315

THE CAST

VAN JOHNSON (Henry Haydon), Joe Kearns (Charlie / Signature Voice), Larry Thor (Police Captain Case), Jack Kruschen (Officer Roeder), Jack Moyles (Roy Djaleska), Dick Benedict (Buck), Michael Ann Barrett (Jessy Haydon)

* * *

This is a very special recording that is the result of many, many generous collectors who helped finance the acquisition and to provide their equipment, sound processing time, and talent.

This is an aircheck of the original broadcast of 1951-03-15. It was home recorded on paper tape from WJR in Detroit.

For decades, the only recording that classic radio fans had of this production was the pre-recorded drama portion of the program. That was recorded on Saturday afternoon, 1951-03-03 and would be merged, later, with announcements, sound effects, and music on the day of broadcast.

The complete broadcast was never been available, and no AFRS recording ever surfaced (it would be #360 or thereabouts). This aircheck recording is mostly all intact. There are for some pause-button edits as the recordist wanted to be sure that the broadcast would be fit to its conclusion and not out of tape. It was recorded on a 5” reel of paper-based recording tape. This was common for home machines in that era, but was expensive. It is fortunate that it was saved since recordings were recorded over as tapes were re-used.

Before listening to the complete broadcast, it is worthwhile to hear to the recording of the drama segments and then listen to the aircheck. The glory of Suspense that separated it from other mystery programs was its custom-written and performed music. Other shows could recruit guest stars or be picky about scripts, but Suspense spent proportionately more on music than others did. This is a great opportunity to finally hear how it all works with the drama alone and then the full production. Listen to how the music enhances the story (and especially Johnson's acting), changes moods and scenes, emphasizes events and dialogue, and builds anticipation for any major development in the story.

This recording was acquired through the generosity of a small group of collectors who each volunteered significant hobby funds to share in the costs of acquiring it. Their support of this project, and many others, is greatly appreciated.

###

1951-03-08 A Vision of Death

Ronald Colman returns to the series once more and delivers the usual high quality performance he was known for. It’s a superb script with a surprising plot turn and a surprising ending. It also features an excellent performance by Cathy Lewis.

This time Colman’s character is half of a stage mentalist act with his wife. It seems that their well-rehearsed act with cues and signals is not working the way it was… because their mind-reading is actually real and not and carefully scripted act! The wife is not pleased with the way their act is doing financially, and she is really upset with their manager. She is getting “messages” that the manager is planning to kill her and is becoming gripped by fear. The couple plan for ways to keep her safe, but also to boost their act’s value by taking advantage of her newfound sensory capabilities. It’s all coming together, but then the husband overhears the wife and their agent talking about their nefarious plans to run away together.

The story was written by actor Jerry Hausner, a regular on Suspense and numerous other radio programs. It was adapted by Walter Brown Newman, who did many adaptations for Suspense and would become a three-time Oscar screenplay nominee.

For some reason, mentalist acts seem to have rocky marriages. A previous episode, The Great Horrell, suffered marital pains, too. That program can be found at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/08/1946-08-22-great-horrell.html and https://archive.org/details/TSP460822 Jerry Hausner, author of A Vision of Death, had a supporting role in that one.

Colman over hears the conversation because he was taking a nap in the back seat of their car, and they could not see him. Yes, cars were once that big, and the back seat seemed more like a sofa and had much more legroom than cars do today. In modern cars, he would have been easily seen, making this plot detail implausible. Back in 1951, no listener would have questioned it.

Part of plan of Colman’s character to thwart his wife’s plan was to call down to the hotel lobby and ask for a pack of Player’s cigarettes to be brought up to the room. That was a well-established British brand, and likely was Colman’s preferred tobacco.

During this episode and the next, there are instances of bridge music between scenes that may seem very familiar. Some can be heard in the 5-part Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar series. But they were written for Suspense and played by a live orchestra here. They would be recorded, years later, as part of the musical library used in YTJD and other CBS dramas when recorded music became the norm.

There are two surviving recordings. The network recording is the slightly better of the two. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording is quite good.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510308

THE CAST

RONALD COLMAN (Jud Stone), Cathy Lewis (Aurora Stone), Larry Dobkin (Harry Arnold), Florida Edwards (Phone operator), Joe Kearns (Narrator / Stanford the manager), Charles Calvert (Telegram man / Bartender)

COMMERCIAL: Ken Christy (Swami Sabu), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

###

1951-03-01 The Gift of Jumbo Brannigan

William Bendix returns to the series as a freshly released convict named “Jumbo.” He sadly realizes that his teenage son idolizes him and is enthusiastic about pursuing a life of crime just like he did.

Before Jumbo is released, it seems like the prison authorities are doing whatever they can to set Jumbo in the straight and narrow and give him a head start with an honest life for him and his son. They’ve even lined up a job for him in the shipping room of a large department store. Jumbo's mind, however, works along the lines of “once you can fake sincerity, the rest is easy.” He feigns gratitude for everything that is being done for him but is already and devising plans to crack the company safe. His new job is like getting paid to “case the joint.” His plans are almost complete but he realizes his son has plans, too.

It’s another E. Jack Neuman and John Michael Hayes script, but it is less complex than their others and you can sense the way it will conclude. There were many movies in the 1930s to 1950s that included a theme of young kids believing that local criminals had it made and they wanted to emulate them. Near the end of the story there is a moment that the criminal realizes they have to fess up that things are not as glamorous as they might seem. In this case, Jumbo calls the police to tip them off about the plan because he does not want his son to be inspired by a successful heist. Officers arrive in time to break it up, but Jumbo is caught in a crossfire, is shot, but has just enough time to tell his son that a life of crime is not worth it. (Yet another late spoiler alert, but you’d sense it coming when you listen anyway.)

A few minor changes to the story could transform it to a Christmas season production. Just let Jumbo get a close call where he delivers the lesson, then have him and the son survive together happily ever after.

Like many of the 1951 recordings there may be some issues with wow and flutter and some missing dialogue. The recording is in otherwise fine shape.

The drama recording session began on Friday evening, 1951-02-23. Rehearsal was at 8:00pm, with recording from 12:30am (Saturday morning!) to 1:00am. Did Tommy Bernard, who plays the teenage son, have permission to stay up that late?

Tommy was 19 at the time of this broadcast. He started in theater as a young child and had appeared in many productions of Cavalcade of America, Dr. Christian, Family Theater, Lux Radio Theatre, and many others. He was the second actor to play David Nelson on radio’s Ozzie and Harriet until David assumed the role himself in 1949. He worked on many television series through the 1950s. His final movie role was Rebel Without a Cause in 1955. He did some television work after that. IMDb lists his final TV appearance as 1958. Bernard left acting for business and progressed to a successful and lucrative management career. He worked his way up in the bus manufacturing industry where he became president of Rohr Flxible Bus. His career then took a new turn that led him to eventually become a top executive in the computer and telecommunications industry with Qualcomm. The company was a key developer of technologies behind mobile phones and the growth of the Internet. His happy retirement began in 2001; he passed away in 2018.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510301

THE CAST

WILLIAM BENDIX (Jumbo Brannigan), Tommy Bernard (The Kid), Jay Novello (Froggy Quinn), Ed Max (Ralph Petrucci), Leo Cleary (Binnsey / Padre), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Warden), Junius Matthews (Julius the bartender), Herb Butterfield (Mr. Bishop / Captain Cross), Charles Calvert (Night Watchman)

COMMERCIAL: Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)