William Holden stars in a Richard-George Pedicini script in support of safe driving. It was an annual event for the Auto-Lite series to promote safety before the high traffic Labor Day weekend. The company’s message is that well-maintained vehicles are essential to safety and attentive driving is critical to avoiding fatal accidents.
“Hot-rodding” was of great worry at this time, with many police officers and organizations warning about the dangers of racing and reckless driving on public streets. Many localities arranged hot rod races at safe locations (small airport runways, for example) as a means of getting the races off local streets. These are mentioned in the story.
Newspapers had numerous accounts of accidents in hot-rodding around the country, so it can’t be determined if one particular news event was the inspiration for this story. Combine it with the general topic of juvenile delinquency, a major theme of newspapers at that time, and any single reference to a particular event as the basis of this episode is even less likely.
Auto-Lite sold car parts. Some of their products may have been used in improving the engine performance of hot-rods. It was unlikely that they would come down hard on the sport, but safe driving habits was something everyone could agree on.
The original title of the story was “Report on the Jolly High-Riders.” That is the name of the hot-rodders group in the story. It was considered as a poor show title, so it was changed. “High” in the title could have been misunderstood as just a standalone title listed in a newspaper radio timetable a drug or alcohol reference. Substitution with the word “death” was probably considered to keep the focus on reckless driving and creates a bit of mystery about the title. There is also the meaning of the phrase “high rider” which refers to someone who is very successful, and the story did not want to glamorize reckless hot-rodding. Nothing implies danger and disregard for safety in this context than the word “death.” The change from “high-riders” to “death-riders” in wording is in the opening scene as Holden’s character types his report of the incident.
The original script has the hyphen between “death” and “riders,” maintained here in this summary and the file name. It was sometimes dropped by newspaper listings editors.
Holden has a flub at 5:03 where he says “rod hot” followed by a very brief pause, then continues.
At 5:20 it is claimed that “Mr. Milford” was thrown clear of the crash and survived. It was a belief at that time that such an outcome was possible and even frequent. Some of that belief came from the fear of being crushed or trapped in a car. That sentiment changed dramatically as study of car accidents and seat belt effectiveness became a key part of the car safety movement, and continued to include air bags and other technologies.
Some newspaper listings referring to the “actual events” story theme as “semi-documentary.” That is likely a CBS publicity department description that the papers picked up for press release.
This episode shifts Suspense to Mondays from its somewhat traditional Thursdays. Radio is already having a different listening pattern as television is adopted in big metropolitan areas. Broadcasts are at 8:00pm Eastern Time, with the west coast getting a that recorded broadcast played back at 9:00pm. The tape recording era is in full swing, but it is not known if the Suspense playback was from a tape or from a transcription. It is likely the latter at this time.
Larry Thor becomes the narrator and “signature voice” of Suspense. Joe Kearns would still appear in the drama cast quite often. Kearns was starting to get a lot of television work at this time, which might have limited some of his availability, and therefore played a role in the change. It was more likely a decision to change the sound of the show opening and have a more authoritative and mildly ominous voice that underscored the change in story strategy.
There is a curious production aspect of this story, noticed by Los Angeles Times broadcast columnist Walter Ames. In the 1951-08-30 edition, he comments about Cathy Lewis doubling in the story:
I wonder how many listeners caught the neat trick pulled by the Suspense show Monday during the Report on the Jolly Death Riders. Cathy Lewis played the role of Gladys, the victim of a hit-run driver. Then, with a change of voice, she reappeared in the second act to portray Wanda, the 17-year-old driver of the accident car—thus becoming her own murderer.
“Steel River” aka “Steel River Prison Break” was originally scheduled for this date. William Holden was the announced star, but this Riders script was substituted. It just may have been considered to be a better script for him. Perhaps the initial scheduling for the Fall 1951-1952 season with Steel River as the season premiere indicates that the Auto-Lite safe driving theme may have not been settled until somewhat later than usual or the script was not ready. Many of the newspaper clippings state that Steel River was the premiere broadcast for the new season. The Auto-Lite renewal was signed in June 1951, so there was no question of their sponsorship for the Fall. There may have been some delays or problems coordinating this particular broadcast date.
The only surviving recording is an aircheck, likely from KNX. It has narrow range and background noise. It is highly listenable, but not as good as a studio recording.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510827
THE CAST
WILLIAM HOLDEN (Harbor), Jack Kruschen (Wally / Sergeant), Cathy Lewis (Gladys / Wanda), Joe Kearns (Warren), Eddie Firestone (Larch), Sam Edwards (Mickey), Edit Angold (Mama), Barbara Eiler (Julie), Larry Thor (Narrator)
COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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