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)
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