Cornel Wilde makes his first of many appearances on the series in a story about arson, fraud, and a husband who wants to get out of his marriage. His plan unravels almost from the start, as his wife thinks she’s helping him by starting the fire in their store while he has an alibi. The plan starts to unravel. Blogger Christine Miller calls Wilde’s character “one of the most despicable husbands in all of Suspensedom.” And she’s right. He’s an awful man, but his wife still adores him until she realizes how evil he really is. It’s a good story, unnerving at times when he is most selfish and untruthful. There’s satisfaction in his getting what he deserves at the end of the story. It’s quite a stark contrast compared to the prior week’s Christmas for Carole where a husband attempted to commit a crime to provide for his wife (and couldn’t do it) and this one where the husband recruits his wife to commit a crime in an effort to rid himself of her.
This was author Louis Pollock’s second and final Suspense script. The other was The Clock and the Rope.
Wilde was Hungarian by birth and may have been selected for his ability to create the Eastern European accent desired for his part. The last name of the character he plays is “Markov,” which is mainly found in Bulgaria and Russia. The name “Marya” can be pronounced many different ways, but the way it is pronounced here is to make it create a more ethnic sounding name as might be heard from natives of “the old country.” When Wilde pronounces it, it sounds like “marry-ah.”
Fear of fire in the 1940s and 1950s was very high. Stories that included fire in the plotline added a great deal of tension to the productions. The fact that the story includes arson made it even more despicable as evil intent can create a fire that goes out of control. Fear of fire is less so in more modern times with greater fire inspections, enforcement of fire codes, and technologies such as sprinkler systems. These were not common at the time of the broadcast but were emerging as technologies and procedures were being developed. Fire stories of homes and businesses were regularly in the local news.
An important element to the story is a “rain scupper” of a car. Anyone who owned a car at the time would have known what it was. It’s a little channel that diverts rain off the car roof and away from car doors and windows. They are no longer part of car design, and have been missing for decades. Cars now have much better seals in their doors and windows that allowed for their elimination. Glass manufacturing and coating technologies allow for more flexibility in shapes and sizes that fit the contours and aerodynamics for modern cars. The cars of the 1940s and 1950s that still used mainly flat glass products that were hard to seal against weather.
Elliott Lewis always liked casting Larry Thor as a policeman in Suspense because his voice was familiar to listeners from his lead role in Broadway is My Beat. It’s like it was an inside joke between him, Thor, and the listeners. Here he plays “Detective Holbrook.” Thor would appear again as an unnamed officer in one of Wilde’s other Suspense appearances, Allen in Wonderland, in 1952. By that time, everyone knew who that officer was, and naming him was unnecessary.
This was Cornel Wilde’s first appearance on the series. Wilde debuted on Broadway in 1935, and soon headed to Hollywood. He was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role in A Song to Remember in 1945. His career in acting and filmmaking is summarized at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornel_Wilde
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP501228
THE CAST
CORNEL WILDE (John Markov), Irene Tedrow (Marya), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Fire Marshal), Larry Thor (Detective Holbrook), Charles Calvert (Sergeant), Don Morrison (Frank / Official), Tom Holland (Policeman), Jean Young (Girl)
COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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