Eve Arden makes her only Suspense appearance in a role that is so darkly opposite to the happy but often befuddled high school teacher “Connie Brooks” of the hit radio series Our Miss Brooks. The script is another collaboration of radio scripter E. Jack Neuman and future Hitchcock movie screenwriter John Michael Hayes.
Arden’s character is a moody, narcissistic, business executive. She’s into all the trappings of success (a $40,000 salary is one of them, almost $500,000 in US$2024 value), and the clothes, and every best amenity of daily life. She falls in love with a successful businessman and writer she meets at a luncheon. She is celebrated as one of the nation’s “ten best dressed” women there. He’s handsome and also considered “best dressed” among his peers. The two of them have a level of local celebrity that their companionship is mentioned in the gossip columns. They have a certain chemistry, it seems, since they seem to have so much in common. Over time, however, she misinterprets the direction of their friendship, believing it will soon head to a permanent relationship. He, however, has different plans, and claims to be engaged. She feels humiliated and wants revenge on both him… and his fiancé. She carries out her violent plan. In the end, she suffers the worst humiliation of all.
Arden’s character sees only what she wants to see. She is incapable of blunt introspection and has great difficulty detecting the nuance of conversation or relationships. It is somewhat rattling to hear Arden in this role, which is exactly the point of this kind of casting that Suspense so successfully employed.
A key to the story is that her personality is so intimidating that this very successful man, whom all must believe is strong and decisive in his profession, cannot bring himself to utter the real reason behind his answer about the engagement.
This is an excellent production with a good surprise ending. There are some lines, however, where it seems Arden is hesitant but does not stumble, handling them naturally and convincingly. In the end, you wonder who exactly is the well-dressed corpse. (Spoiler alert!) Is it the man, is it Arden’s character when she is ultimately punished for murder, or is it her already corrupt soul that has been the well-dressed corpse all along?
Larry Thor gets to portray yet another police officer not named “Clover.” This time he’s Lieutenant Rourke. Two other Broadway Is My Beat regulars are in this cast. Charles Calvert, “Sergeant Gino Tartaglia” in that series, plays “Sergeant Collins” here. Jack Kruschen, “Sergeant Muggavan” in that series, plays the bartender in this production. Many of the supporting actors in Well-Dressed Corpse made regular appearances in episodes of that series, too, as witnesses, bystanders, victims, and ne’er-do-wells.
It is possible that the working title of this episode was “The Dressed Corpse.” That title appeared in some early newspaper announcements about the broadcast.
Eve Arden became best known for her lead role in the Our Miss Brooks radio and television series. Though this Suspense casting may seem very odd for her, it is because the Connie Brooks character is so beloved by radio fans. It looms so very large in comparison to her prior and future roles, obscuring her other successes. Arden’s movie career began in the 1930s, but in the mid-to-late 1940s, and included some non-comedic film noir roles. Her almost 60 year career was very varied and included Broadway, stage, movies, television, and radio, of course. Her personal and performing lives are summarized at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Arden
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510118
THE CAST
EVE ARDEN (Ruth Franklin), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Percy Hamilton), Jack Kruschen (Tony the bartender), Charles Calvert (Sergeant Collins), Howard McNear (Apartment neighbor / Policeman at end), Clayton Post (Eddie / Yates), Larry Thor (Lt. Rourke), Lamont Johnson (Roy Mason), Mary Jane Croft (“Petey” Wright), Irene Tedrow (Woman in Alley / Elsie), Peter Virgo (Joe, the cop)
COMMERCIAL: Jerry Hausner (Sam the Autolite dealer), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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