Dennis Day makes his first appearance in the series in a sentimental change-of-heart story appropriate for the Christmas season. Don’t expect a big exciting Suspense classic. It’s easy to catch on to what will happen, but it does have a mildly surprising ending. And Dennis sings!
Day plays a bank teller who needs money to help his wife get the care she needs for her difficult pregnancy. Her doctor orders bed rest and a nurse to stay with her to be sure she doesn’t exert herself. Day’s character knows people who have had brushes with the law and thinks that if he can steal some money just this one time, he can get through this difficult period. One of the customers who has been saving money at the bank for years and years, withdraws $8000. He plans to surprise his wife with his retirement and moving to a new home out in the country. He tells Day’s character why he’s withdrawing the money. That’s mistake, but it’s needed to have the light plot move accordingly. He’s even more loose-lipped and says he’ll be keeping the money in his current home until Christmas. That’s a lot of money… $100,000 in US$2024! What happens next is predictable, like many Christmas season stories are. Day’s character sees the opportunity and recruits a local thug, Rocky (of course, thugs in these kinds of stories are named Rocky), who has a reputation for slipping through police scrutiny. (Spoiler: he’s never met Rocky before, but has heard of him). He promises Rocky half of the money if they commit a burglary. They do, and Day’s character has to check out the Christmas tree and the stockings, which must have rattled many listeners. (It’s Dennis Day for goshsakes, the innocent and often clueless singer from the Benny show! Say it ain’t so!) Of course, Rocky and the teller have to hide so they can hear what unfolds next. The husband realizes the money is gone and is heartbroken. The wife is distraught because she knows how hard it was to save that money over 12 years. Rocky smirks when he hears it, and Day’s character is crushed when he realizes that he has no desire to be like Rocky and take pleasure in misfortune. Day gets the courage to take the money and bring it back to the house. (Dennis Day has a gun! Say it ain’t so!) The husband opens the door. The teller concocts a story that he saw the burglar, subdued him and retrieved the money from him. The husband wants to give him a reward. The wife knows the real story, that there was no fight, that he stole the money and had pangs of guilt. And Rocky? The story on another series could have had him disappear and they’d leave us with a feeling that it was Santa Claus. It’s not, but it is a surprise. Like Rocky, the teller will escape the law for the burglary, but learn a great lesson. It’s Christmas, the time of year that changes hearts. And, of course, the baby arrives in time for the special day. Dennis and the orchestra top it all off with the The First Noel.
The author of the script cannot be determined with certainty. It is clearly announced as “David Freedman” in the production. The name was also in some newspapers, meaning it was released in CBS publicity promoting the broadcast.
There was a famous David Freedman in early radio, a writer, who helped Fanny Brice develop Baby Snooks routines, wrote for the big stars like Eddie Cantor, and many, many others. He died, however, in 1936 at 38 years old. What is confusing is that he was so prolific, some of his clients were using skits and jokes he wrote into the 1940s. Is it him? It could be some script that was hanging around for many years, but it is doubtful. If it was him, there would be a credit to an adapting writer. There’s not. He’s an interesting radio personality. He worked with the eventually famous writer Herman Wouk in his early radio days. There is a good article about him at http://www.david-freedman.info/
RadioGoldindex lists the author as Friedkin, but it is likely the compiler of the entry believed that “Friedkin” was the announced name. It was unlikely that there was a script to consult. The names do sound alike, and the mistaken entry in RGI may accidentally have stumbled into the truth. It is very possible that “David Freedman” is a pseudonym of radio writer David Friedkin. He and Morton Fine collaborated with Elliott Lewis on many of his series. The only aspect of this is that they always worked together. Perhaps the pseudonym was used because this was one of the very few times they did not. Yet again, another behind-the-scenes Suspense mystery that awaits an exciting conclusion.
This show did not begin with a teaser scene. The format would be used just one last time.
“Carole” is the correct spelling of the name and is noted on the script. The “e” at the end was likely to distinguish it from the use of the word “carol” as a type of seasonal song, and to make sure newspaper listings did not accidentally imply that it was a version of the Dickens’ classic play A Christmas Carol. It was obviously a play on the phrase “Christmas carol,” but adding the “e” made it unmistakably just that.
This was Dennis Day’s first appearance on the series. He was originally scheduled for 1947’s The Swift Rise of Eddie Albright. His very long musical and comedy career has an overview at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Day
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https://archive.org/details/TSP501221
THE CAST
DENNIS DAY (Paul), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Harvey Forbes / Man), Ted de Corsia (Lt. Weisman, alias Rocky Perrea), Sidney Miller (Eddie the bookie), Ruth Perrott (Ada Forbes / Woman), Ed Max (Doctor), Joyce McCluskey (Carole / Second Woman), David Light (2nd Man / Baby), Chorus not credited
COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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