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)
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