1952-06-09 Concerto for Killer and Eyewitnesses

Elliott Lewis stars in a fast moving play by E. Jack Neuman and Arthur Ross. This production has a CBS Blacklist backstory. The script was held about 18 months before airing. That history is discussed after the broadcast summary.

Why is “concerto” in the title? The word comes from Italian and seems to originate from the conjunction of two Latin words: conserere (meaning to tie, to join, to weave) and certamen (competition, fight). The idea is that the two parts in a concerto—the soloist and the orchestra or concert band—alternate between episodes of opposition, cooperation, and independence to create a sense of flow. In this case, Lewis’ character, a convicted murderer named Edward Sitko, awaits execution. He can be considered the soloist. He travels through places and interacts with different people each time as he takes incremental steps toward his goal. The production is cleverly crafted in this regard and how the “soloist” interacts in a unique manner with each one he meets. The flow of the story is to his stated goal: to get revenge on the gangster boss (Dallas Kenyon) who turned “state’s evidence” against him and was responsible for his conviction.

This is a very different Suspense episode, and well executed (gee, that’s an accidental spoiler hint). It has a demanding starring role. It's not a surprise, then, that Lewis would hold this script as a special opportunity for the right actor. In this case, because of circumstances not of his control, that actor turned out to be himself.

This is a superb script and production, and if there is one flaw it is that Lewis gets a little close to the overacting line. Remember, his character is crazed, and is working against time, so it is somewhat appropriate.

There are seven different parts to the story, or concerto, and most parts have a unique first-person narrative spoken by someone involved in the upcoming scene where they confront Sitko.

2:05 First Sheriff Jesse Crandall explains how they are transporting Sitko by train to his the place of his upcoming execution in Joliet, IL. He is handcuffed to Crandall and Sgt. Delaney. This is the scene where listeners get the set-up for the story. The train has a rough ride and Sitko grab the key to the handcuffs and escapes through a window.

6:20 Second The story turns to Sitko’s mother and her apartment. She has been praying for him knowing his execution is near. She says “it was Angelus time.” That and other dialogue means it was 6pm. The Angelus is a prayer said by Catholics ( some Anglicans and others) three times a day. At 6am it is said in memorial of the Resurrection of Christ, at Noon in memorial for the Passion leading to the Crucifixion, and then at 6pm for the Annunciation of that Christ would be conceived. With the story taking place in Chicago, and with the Sitko name, we know that the character is Polish who grew up in one of the city’s ethnic neighborhoods. He was raised Catholic, and his mother is still observant. Church bells ring at the three times of the day when the Angelus should be said. They are not heard in this scene but will be heard later to mark a time of day. He barges into the apartment and demands his mother give him money. She has none. We learn that Sitko has been in prison for 15 years.

8:10 Third A pawn shop is the next stop. The owner is ending the day’s work and experiences something quite different. Sitko arrives and demands to be given a gun, threatening the owner. Sitko finds a suit he can wear to change his appearance and blend in as he walks the streets and goes to the places he needs to go. He takes all of the cash in the register, and attacks the shop owner. Sitko feels he should be grateful because he let him live.

11:15 Fourth A cabbie encounters Sitko hailing for a ride. He demands to be taken “straight ahead… I’ll tell you where to turn…” and barks various orders to the driver. The cabbie tries to make conversation but it only agitates Sitko, and when they spot police activity, Sitko gets panicky. The cabbie pulls over, jumps out of the car, and runs away. Police demand Sitko stop, shots ring out, but Sitko keeps running. (Commercial break is at this point of the broadcast.)

15:45 Fifth Sitko goes into a building to hide, and it seems to be an auction house where an event is going on. It’s not certain why the scene is playing out at this location, but a police officer comes in to advise one of the workers that there is a criminal on the loose, and he may be injured. If they see him, they should contact the police. The officer leaves, and Sitko emerges, subdues, the worker, and goes back on the run.

17:45 Sixth The elevator operator of the apartment house where Sitko’s girlfriend lives sets the next scene. Sitko comes into the lobby and asks if she is in; she is not. He eventually convinces the operator to bring him upstairs and let him in. The operators comments that she said that she would be back in a few minutes, but chuckles and starts singing a song “Mañana,” meaning she may not be back for a while, meaning, “tomorrow” or at least after Midnight. He goes into the apartment… and collapses from exhaustion. She finally arrives home, and it soon develops into a hostile scene. At about 20:05 the Angelus bells can be heard ringing, meaning it was 6am. Their exchange ends up revealing, after she denies it first, that she has been having a relationship with the gangleader. At 22:03, Sitko remembers a line his mother used to say, but he did not remember where it came from. He says that there is “a time to live and a time to die” (based on Ecclesiastes 3:2). He says it is his time to live and it’s gangleader Dallas Kenyon’s time to die. She finally blurts out, in anger “we got rid of you then, and we’ll get rid of you again.” Sitko kills her for her betrayal. He leaves. The elevator operator soon walks into the apartment and takes in the brutal scene.

24:40 Seventh The scene changes to the home of Dallas Kenyon, and a narrative begins by a man whom we don’t know. He is standing in a stairway. Sitko arrives, beaten and bleeding, looking for revenge. He demands to see Kenyon, and is led to a room with a sheet over a body. Kenyon is dead, and at 25:50 we learn that the man is an undertaker. The narration continues… Sitko is frantic that he cannot exact his revenge in the manner he desired. He leaves the room but police are entering the house. Sitko has his gun, and fires, but is hit by a barrage of police gunfire. He is dead.

The soloist of the concerto is dead, and most of the eyewitnesses survived, but some were not so fortunate. The story is over.

Lewis acted his role wearing earphones and was still directing the program. He tossed cues to actors, musicians and sound effects men in addition to playing his part. CBS publicity made a big deal about this.

Classic radio enthusiast and researcher, and performer, Patte Rosebank notes that “Eddie's surname, ‘Sitko,’ is Polish for ‘sieve’ or ‘dredger.’ Appropriate, since he’s dredging up the past, to sift out the guy who double-crossed him.”

The program was pre-recorded, which was a safeguard in case something went awry with all of the tasks Lewis was juggling in the performance. The rehearsal and recording was on Friday, June 6. Rehearsal was from 10:00am to 1:00pm, with a break for lunch, and then from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Recording commenced at 4:00pm and concluded at 4:30pm. The recording included the musical and announcing portions, unlike prior sessions.

It is amusing to hear William Conrad as Crandall at the opening of the drama. Years later, Conrad would narrate the famous opening of the television show The Fugitive. That began on a train, there was an accident, and the convict escaped.

The original plan for this date was to broadcast Sorry, Wrong Number once more. It was decided to make it the opening drama of the next season, in September. The backstory about the decision and the rescheduling of SWN is below. Unfortunately, that SWN broadcast of September 1952 remains missing.

There are two surviving recordings. The network recording is in very good sound but the Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#415) has a richer sound. The network recording is likely preferred because it has performer credits and closing comments by Elliott Lewis thanking the listeners and saying that the series will be back in September. The AFRS recording is very clean and in rich sound. If you are not interested in hearing Lewis speak, or hearing the performer credits, the AFRS recording is a good choice and has the benefit of not being interrupted by commercials. The closing comments in the network broadcast note that Suspense will be on television through the summer.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520609

THE CAST

Elliott Lewis (Edward Sitko), William Conrad (Jessie Crandall / Usher), Byron Kane (Cop), Jay Novello (Delaney / Milton), Martha Wentworth (Momma), Junius Matthews (George), Sidney Miller (Kenny), Charlotte Lawrence (Kitty), Gil Stratton, Jr. (Bellhop), Jack Kruschen (Porter / Reader), Larry Thor (Narrator)

* * *

The Tragic Backstory of October 1950 and John Garfield in Concerto for Killer and Eyewitnesses

This script’s history is the most clear case of a scheduled Suspense performance being impacted by Red Channels.

On October 21, 1950, actor John Garfield was scheduled to record a performance of a script by E. Jack Neuman and Arthur Ross, Concerto for Killer and Eyewitnesses. This was early in the Elliott Lewis leadership of Suspense. It was four months after the publication of Red Channels.

He was known for movie roles in They Made Me a Criminal, Destination Tokyo, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and his Oscar-nominated role in Body and Soul. He appeared on Suspense in 1945 (Reprieve) and in 1948 (Death Sentence) at a time of rising popularity. That track record did not help him.

Garfield got caught in the undertow of the continuing Communist scare in 1950, and testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He refused to name Communist party members and said he knew none in the movie industry. He was listed in Red Channels. His reputation was damaged by his listing and his testimony. He did find ways to work, but not in the kind of properties that the trajectory of his career would have earned just a few years earlier. He tried to rehabilitate his image to get back to bigger roles. Just prior to his death, he wrote an article “I Was a Sucker for a Left Hook.” The title was in reference to his successful movies about boxing. He explained that he was duped by communist ideas and was staunchly against them. It was too late.

Garfield died of his heart problems on May 21, 1952 at age 39. Many attributed his death to the stress of his career’s challenges, especially friends who knew how troubled he was about it. He was diagnosed with heart problems a few years before. Heart imaging and diagnosis was primitive in the late 1940s compared to today’s medical technology. It was not possible to know the full extent of his problems – doctors had to make educated guesses with the tools they had. We will never know the exact medical cause of his demise. It is easy to attribute it to the stress of his situation, but his heart defect may have been the sole cause regardless of his stress level.

Because of Red Channels, CBS executives did not want Garfield to appear on their programs during the peak of his public problems. The network devised a process to approve or not approve the appearances of various types of talent on their programs. They had special concern (called “fear”) for keeping advertisers happy that there could be no complaints from consumers about their sponsored programs. They soon hired former RKO movie executive Daniel O’Shea, whom Lewis and others referred to as “the vice president of treason” to coordinate this function. The loyalty test at CBS was devised by William Paley and Edward R. Murrow. O’Shea raised its implementation to new and punitive levels. (It eventually blew up, especially after Murrow’s reporting about the Army-McCarthy hearings three or so years later)

Lewis knew he had a good script and was ready to go into the studio with it. John Garfield was his choice, and they were also friends. This was the cast assigned to that 1950 performance:

JOHN GARFIELD (Eddie Sitko), William Conrad (Jesse Crandall / Usher), Jay Novello (Delaney / Milton), Ed Max (Porter / Reader), Irene Tedrow (Momma), Junius Matthews (George), Jerry Hausner (Kenny), Peter Virgo (Cop), Gil Stratton, Jr. (Bellhop), Michael Ann Barrett (Kitty)

We do not know if a Garfield’s performance ever made it to the studio for a rehearsal, or if there was ever a recording made. We just know that it was scheduled for this particular day. Most recorded drama segments were broadcast anywhere from a couple of days days or one or two weeks later. This one, however, had no broadcast date on the script cover, just its recording date.

Garfield was rejected by someone, likely Auto-Lite and its agency. Lewis decided to hold the script, thinking that Garfield would be cleared at some point in the future. That was not to be.

With Garfield’s death, Lewis decides that the Concerto script, which would be promoted as “a story about revenge,” would be performed.

Earlier, CBS planning and publicity announced and promoted that the season-ending performance of June 9, 1952 would be a reprise of Sorry, Wrong Number. That news appeared in many newspapers, as SWN always got the attention radio page editors. Replacement publicity was sent and reported that SWN would be moved to September, to start the show’s new season. (This also meant that Auto-Lite would not be having its “traditional” highway safety broadcast to start a new season). The press releases noted that Concerto for Killer and Eyewitnesses would replace it, and it would star Elliott Lewis, himself. They made somewhat of a big deal that Lewis would be directing at the same time he was acting.

Holding the script for Garfield no longer mattered.

It is possible that Lewis “told” Agnes Moorehead that she should suddenly be unavailable for a June 9 SWN performance. This was interesting in that she had a perfect “out”: she was appearing in Don Juan in Hell on Broadway as “The First Drama Quartette” with Charles Laughton (who also directed), Charles Boyer, and Cedric Hardwicke. When they issued press releases about Sorry, Wrong Number, it was known that Moorehead was on Broadway. The play had its first performance on April 6, and its last on May 24, 1952. She could have made it for a June 9 performance without difficult logistics. He wanted to do Concerto to snub his nose toward the CBS bureaucracy who gave his friend, John Garfield, a hard time. He also wanted to honor Garfield by acting in his place. It was a story about revenge, after all. Agnes, you’ve been doing all those shows on Broadway. Take a rest!

We will never know the full story, but the scheduling and performance of Concerto served multiple purposes for Lewis, make CBS executives uncomfortable, pay homage to an unfairly maligned and departed friend, and to let CBS know who was really in charge of Suspense.

* * *

NOTE: Conrad, Novello, Matthews, Stratton were all planned to be in the 1950 recording session with John Garfield. They were in this 1952 broadcast.

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1952-06-02 A Good and Faithful Servant

Jack Benny returns to the series in an amusing and cynical role that is quite contrary to the episode’s title drawn from Matthew 25:23. Benny plays a department store office clerk named Harold Fenton. He has planned a workplace theft from the company vault to fund his retirement. His carefully crafted plan, created over his 30 unfulfilling years of employment where he was happy outside but at a slow boil inside, included a hoax of getting locked in the vault, stranded there by masked robbers. He hid $50,000 from the vault in a special compartment of his desk. All he had to do was get it. In a lucky turn of fate, the company gives him his actual desk as a retirement present, unaware that they were actually participating in his theft.

Then things turn in an unexpected direction. (This is Suspense, so it would). An audit finds the the theft was actually $82,000. We learn that one of the owners of the department store, played by Gerald Mohr in a rare Suspense appearance (who could make “hello” sound malicious if a role required it), had a regular practice of skimming cash from the business and figured out that Fenton’s story of the robbery was a hoax. He intimidates Fenton into signing off to the supposed audit results and with an agreement between them to keep their individual embezzlements secret.

This is another entertaining and endearing Benny appearance on the series. CBS publicity offered a funny take on it, using quote from Elliott Lewis. The following appeared in many newspapers:

“It’s a good thing there’ll be no audience for Jack Benny’s guest appearance… an audience would roar at Jack’s serious lines, just because they are used to laughing at him. And they’d really break up on his comedy lines – of which there are quite a few. I’m afraid with an audience we’d have such a long ‘laugh spread’ that we’d have to tell listeners to ‘tune in next week for the finish of this exciting play’.”

There was also a funny quote attributed to Jack Benny:

Jack Benny says he's having Mary Livingston clock the laughs he gets during his Suspense show from a group of neighbors he has invited in for the evening. “If I get more laughs than I do on my own program,” Jack vows, “I'm going to see if I can swap writers with Suspense.”

The script was by Richard M. Powell who wrote many radio comedies. He transitioned to television, writing for such series as Andy Griffith, Hogan’s Heroes, Mary Tyler Moore, and others. He also wrote Plan X, the third and final Suspense episode that starred Jack Benny.

The theft of $50,000 does not seem like much, but its value at this time in US$2024 would be about $600,000. His reciting that he worked at the store “29 years, 11 months, and 29 days” shows how cold and calculating he could be despite his the false front of his harmless demeanor.

Fenton’s job at the store did not pay much, but it did have a small pension. That was announced at the departmental retirement party as $31.68 a month for the rest of his life. That’s $375 per month in US$2024. The average Social Security payment in 1952 was $49.25 per month. That would be about $80 per month in total retirement income, approximately $950 per month in US$2024. If he saved all of the $50,000 and withdrew it according to the rule of thumb of 4% per year, that would be $167 per month, increasing his total retirement income from $80 to $247. That would be about $2900 in US$2024.

In 1952, that $50,000 could be invested without detection by the IRS or any other reporting because the Treasury Department was still selling “bearer bonds” which did not require any registration to a particular owner. They could be paid for in cash. These were popular because they could be easily transferred to others, such as family members in an estate, without any tax reporting. In fact, interest was often unreported, paid in cash by turning in a coupon at a bank window. The US Treasury did not discontinue bearer bonds until 1982. They were considered too risky for theft and too attractive for money launderers… like Mr. Fenton.. and his money-skimming boss.

Fenton buried the money instead. He gives his mother a hint that it’s in the vegetable garden. He tells her “right in between the beets and the radishes there’s a very rich patch of dirt.” And when the embezzlement is discovered, he tells her that going away for two years in prison will be very easy compared to 30 years in the store.

The story would have to be re-crafted today, as department stores have very little cash on hand. Today, there is better security and greater reliance on electronic funds, such as credit cards. Despite nearly sole reliance on cash transactions, a department store in 1952 would not have the same security procedures and precautions as a bank would. The idea that they would have a vault large enough for a person to be stranded in is hard to believe in today’s terms. Security camera technology would be everywhere if this amount and kind of cash was being handled today.

The program had a rehearsal and recording session on May 20, 1952. The session ran from 1:00pm to 5:30pm, with recording of the drama from 5:30pm to 6:00pm. On broadcast day, the recording was combined with live orchestral accompaniment, narration, announcing, and commercials.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520602

THE CAST

JACK BENNY (Harold Fenton), Norma Varden (Mrs. Fenton), Doris Singleton (Helen Prentiss), Joe Kearns (Waterman), Gerald Mohr (Cartwright), Hy Averback (Lt. Miller), Charles Calvert (Reporter / Wolfe), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Ken Christy (Senator), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

###

1952-05-26 The Death of Me

George Murphy returns to the series as a veteran, named Harry, with employment problems. He decides to seek a new job away from the pressures of city life. His problems stem from what would be called post-traumatic stress disorder today, but was referred to as “shellshock” in past. He believes that fresh air and hard outdoor work will help him get a better grip on his situation and give him a better sense of accomplishment. He takes a job at a logging camp. He insists his wife join him and move to the town because it is so far away from where they live. Otherwise he’d never see her, and the loneliness would make his situation worse. They make the choice, and it is not long before she catches the eye of his boss, and the feeling is mutual. It’s so mutual that the boss decides to have him killed in a staged tree-cutting “accident.” The tree falls on a co-worker, instead, but he knew it was for him. There are several incidents that lead up to a confrontation with the boss and his wife, with the boss ready to kill him with his bare hands if he had to. That scuffle is interrupted. The boss’ business partner, and his past lover, stops it, and confronts him, and in a rage, shoots him. In the end, he realizes he cannot rebuild a good relationship with his wife after her betrayal, and leaves her behind.

The author of the script was Richard Chandlee, the son of Harry Chandlee, a notable MGM screenwriter. He may have named Murphy’s character after his father. This was his first script for Suspense. He would write or adapt a few more in the upcoming 1952-1953 season.

There is poor continuity in the build-up to the climactic scene starting at about 22:45. It is not clear how the boss’ business partner, Myra, would come onto the scene so quickly. She participating in a ruse in the logging camp’s makeshift casino. She was running the dice table and kept Harry occupied with some loaded dice while the boss spent time with Harry’s wife. It just doesn’t coalesce that well. We just have to assume she couldn’t stand the idea of him being with someone else, or the idead that she facilitated that, so once Harry left, she followed him. Ignore the issue as the story is fairly good despite the issue.

Murphy’s performance is somewhat pedestrian and not particularly inspired. Cornel Wilde was the originally planned guest star for this episode.

Joe Kearns is in yet another doubling situation under Lewis that does not work well. Listeners may not have noticed. (Remember, the sound quality of the recordings we hear as collectors are better than the AM radios that were contemporary to these programs. We can hear more audio subtleties than listeners could then.). Key to making doubling work is to have one of the parts be small compared to the other, to have a significantly different voicing such as an accent or pattern of speaking, and to have a gap in time between the first role in the production and the second one. That’s not always possible. What’s funny about this one is that Kearns plays the worker killed in the logging accident and then the coroner who investigates it!

There are two surviving recordings. The network recording is somewhat preferred because it is in very pleasing sound and is the way it was first broadcast. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#413) is in equivalent sound.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520526

THE CAST

GEORGE MURPHY (Harry Sawyer), William Conrad (Sam), Joe Kearns (Ludy / Coroner), Charlotte Lawrence (Sal), Irene Tedrow (Girl / Myra), Herb Butterfield (Floyd), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Ken Christy (Oscar Auto), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1952-05-19 The Flight of the Bumblebee

Fred MacMurray returns to the series in a story about a B29 bombing raid in Korea. The story was written by sound effects artist Ross Murray, who was a training officer for bombardier students for the US Army at the end of WW2. He was trained to fly B29s. His detailed knowledge of plane operations enhances the realism of the story but does not bogged down in minutia. The fighter is attacked and damaged, and injuries occur. They grapple with the choice of continuing the flight or being forced to bail out. The decision is complicated by another attack, and are having problems maintaining their altitude. They need to care for an injured crewmember while stripping equipment from the aircraft to minimize its weight to stay aloft.

MacMurray flubs a line at about 21:45 where he says “You and Murph tear down the Army” but he quickly corrects himself to say “armor.”

The bandage used in the story at the 18:00 mark was a “Carlisle bandage.” It was a first aid kit, first developed in the early 1900s, that included sterile wound dressing that soldiers carried with them. It has an interesting history, detailed at https://www.med-dept.com/articles/history-development-of-the-carlisle-bandage/

The script uses the name “Bumblebee” without a hyphen. CBS publicity used the spelling “Bumble-Bee.”

Ross Murray was “fired” as a publicity stunt for the day for the broadcast of his first script, Case History of a Gambler. There was “fear” he would be “too nervous” and miss his effects cues. This script had very complex effects and he worked this broadcast along with Gus Bayz. Murray was likely thrilled to be working on this one as he continued his passion for flying well after the war into his nineties.

Two articles about Murray are at

• 2015 profile https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2015/10/03/ross-murray-97-and-still-flyin-high/ (turn off your browser ad blocker if you use one; it’s a good article)

• 2017 obituary https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/obituaries/ross-murray-ukiah-ca/

This broadcast was delayed from the prior week. It is not known if the production was not ready yet or if MacMurray’s schedule was a factor.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520519

THE CAST

FRED MACMURRAY (Hutch), Glenn Vernon (Curley), Edgar Barrier (Willy), Byron Kane (Marty), Billy Halop (Max), Charles Calvert (Murph), Jack Kruschen (Al / Voice), Lee Millar (Sarg), Joe Kearns (Frank), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Gil Stratton, Jr. (Stan), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1952-05-12 The Missing Person

Macdonald Carey makes his sole appearance on the series in a script about a “cold case” about a missing violinist. The story is by Richard-George Pedicini. The story is good and Carey’s portrayal as a magazine reporter could fall into police-style interrogation of the people he meets, but does not. It might not be as satisfying a story as listeners may want because of its open-ended “conclusion.”

Carey plays a magazine reporter assigned to investigate the four-year old disappearance of a concert violinist who also was a composer. On the night of a concert, he arrived a few minutes early to play with the symphony orchestra as scheduled, but when the conductor raises his baton, the violinist is missing. Everyone had seen him, but no one saw him leave. Police were called, and ran an investigation for a week. They gathered a great deal of information over that time, but none of it led to finding the man. Four years later, the reporter’s editor assigns him the story believing it would make for an interesting article. The reporter starts from scratch with the police file, and plans his approach. He meets the acquaintances and the wife, but learns nothing that clarifies the situation. The is, however, an unfinished composition, named “Hildy” that the wife plays on the piano for the reporter. Who is Hildy? The mystery deepens with this new question. He eventually finds the answer… the husband was having a quiet affair… but even after he finds Hildy, she does not know where he may have gone.

Some listeners are dissatisfied with this story because it does not seem to end. The violinist is never found. This kind of open-end story frustrates many people, I know, but the set-up was right in the beginning of the story when the editor tells the reporter why missing persons stories can be so interesting. Some people just stay missing. Many times it’s because they want to. Even though the reporter gains some insights into the circumstances of the disappearance, the motive remains a mystery.

The opening claims it is “a story based on fact.” No real-life incident could be found for this plotline. It may be the case that the “fact” is the many missing persons stay missing and searching for them is frustrating. Sometimes this “actual events” approach is just vapor pretending to be substance.

There is a disc skip (that does not affect the story) at 22:17. The dialogue that seems to be missing is likely to be (in italics):

Dexter: Is your name “Hildy”? [SKIP BEGINS]
Hildy: Yes…
Dexter: My name is [SKIP ENDS] Dexter, Phil Dexter.

Flight of the Bumble-Bee was originally scheduled for this date. That script was very complex and may have needed an extra week to work out the details of the effects. Or, it could be as simple as Fred MacMurray’s schedule changed.

The opening and pace of this episode and Herb Vigran’s presence in the cast (as Nicky) reminds this classic radio enthusiast of the feel of the 5-part Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. The mid-show cliffhanger and music leading into the break feel similar to that series. But YTJD in that format would not occur for another three years! Sometimes it is easy to forget the chronological sequence of episodes or actors or programs. As enthusiasts 70 years after these broadcasts, we have the benefit of “seeing everything all at once” while the actors, directors, producers, and writers lived it day by day and made incremental decisions about their careers, their opportunities, and their assignments. Herb’s voice is so marvelous and unmistakable in these kinds of stories. Richard-George Pedicini never wrote for YTJD but this could have been a great storyline for it. And we know Johnny would have found the violinist, because he was that good.

This was Macdonald Carey’s only appearance on the series. He had an incredibly long career in movies and television. For all of the notable work he did, he is most popularly remembered for being on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1965 to 1994, for more than 3000 episodes. Wikipedia has a larger overview of his career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macdonald_Carey

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520512

THE CAST

MACDONALD CAREY (Phil), Jim Nusser (Looby), Paula Winslowe (Martha / Landlady), Herb Vigran (Nicky), Jay Novello (Maestro), Joe Kearns (Derwin / Eric), Irene Tedrow (Hildy), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1952-05-05 Frankie and Johnny

This is the second Suspense “musical” and stars Dinah Shore. It follows the ballad of Frankie and Johnny that was based on an incident in St. Louis in 1899. Over the years, the details of that event as represented in the lyrics changed, seemingly at the whims of the performers. Script authors Morton Fine and David Friedkin shifted the locale to New Orleans. It's a good presentation but not as compelling as Suspense can sometimes be. Lost through these decades is how constant and large a radio presence Dinah Shore had, and it continued into the 1950s... and she was already a big star on television.

Dinah sings verses from the song about the ill-fated lovers, with the lyrics bridging the different scenes of the production. Frankie's man, Johnny, was doin’ her wrong. He was handsome (and knew it) but fickle (he didn’t think he was) jazz musician. He played for kicks in various backrooms, often without pay, so he was always asking for people to buy him a drink, or give him money for one. Frankie even bought Johnny a fancy $100 suit, and he was not of the mind to turn it down as being not necessary. What Frankie sees in him, nobody knows, especially when he left Frankie in a bar and he went off with Nellie Bly. That was too much for Frankie, so she went to a pawn shop and bought herself a gun.

It’s a sad story, and entertaining, and Dinah plays her part well, but it’s not Suspense. In Wreck of the Old 97 Robson and Lord kept up appearances by adding escaped criminals (who were not part of the actual event) to put some extra tension to the storyline. There are two more Suspense musicals to go… and Frankie and Johnny will be repeated in a few years… but it’s not a format that really clicks. Was Lewis grasping for a gimmick to keep listener interest up? Was he looking for a big star to garner some publicity and some new listeners? When Suspense had “novelty” appearances, such as with Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, they still found a storyline that fit the series’ broad tradition.

Regarding that $100 suit in 1899 (when this event actually occurred) and in 1952 (this broadcast) terms? It’s roughly $5000 in 1899 and just under $1200 in 1952 in US$2024. It’s likely the number was just plucked out of the air by Fine and Friedkin because it “sounded right” for a 1952 audience.

For background about the song, Wikipedia is a good resource https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_and_Johnny_(song)

To hear the song in the style that was popular, vaudevillian Frank Crumit recorded it in 1927. It can be heard at https://archive.org/details/AHighSilkHatAndAGoldTopWalkingCane1929FrankCrumit/FrankieAndJohnny1927FrankCrumit.mp3 It may be worth listening to the song prior to listening to the episode.

There are three different recordings of this episode:

• a network broadcast recording

• an aircheck that is missing its station ID; it is suspected to be from KNX Los Angeles

• an Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) recording, likely released to its stations in the late 1970s or early 1980s

All of the recordings are listenable. The network recording will probably be preferred by most, but the aircheck recording has slightly fuller sound but is a little dull. The AFRTS recording has a narrower range.

This was Dinah Shore’s only appearance on Suspense. Getting her to appear on the series was a really big deal; it’s not like she needed the exposure. She was one of radio’s mainstay and most successful performers, headlining seven different radio series. Details are at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dinah_Shore_Show_(radio_program) She was also a guest on most all of the big radio variety series. Her long career, including her notable presence on television, has an overview at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinah_Shore

Searches of historical discographies of her recordings indicate that she never recorded a version of Frankie and Johnny for consumer release. It is not known if she performed the song in concerts or other appearances.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520505

THE CAST

DINAH SHORE (Frankie), Lamont Johnson (Johnny), Alvina Temple (Nellie / Girl), Martha Wentworth (Willie), Sidney Miller (Tissot), Joe Kearns (Bartender / Cop), Roy Glenn (Jellycake), Harry Bartell (Cabbie), Jack Kruschen (Man), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1952-04-28 The Shooting of Billy the Kid

Frank Lovejoy portrays one of the most notorious outlaws in American history in the “true” story of Billy the Kid. The script is by Silvia Richards. Lovejoy was not the planned guest star; that was Donald O’Connor, who excused himself from the assignment.

The real Billy the Kid got involved in numerous altercations and feuds, killing sixteen men by the time he was 18 years old. He was offered a full pardon by the governor of New Mexico it he would stand trial and become law-abiding citizen. Billy turned it down because he was convinced that his enemies would murder him the moment he put aside his guns. He gives himself up later, however, to get a priest for a dying comrade, and is sentenced to hang. Billy makes a spectacular escape from jail, and from that moment on, he was hunted day and night.

Billy the Kid was the subject of numerous film and television characterizations, as well as radio. There often was a glamorization of his life in the media. He died at age 21, shot. An overview of his life can be found at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_the_Kid

The original star was planned and announced as Donald O’Connor. It was teased at the close of the prior week’s broadcast. Newspapers and press releases active, were still promoting O’Connor’s appearance, some appearing in newspapers on the day of broadcast. Lovejoy’s casting started to appear in some papers starting a few days before broadcast, but not all. The first time many listeners knew there was a change was when they heard the opening announcement of the show.

Usually, such cast changes would be attributed to a change in the announced guest performer's schedule. This time, it seemed different. Here, the replaced actor is quoted as saying the part was not right for him. This is how the 1952-04-28 North Hollywood Valley Times reported it:

Donald O’Connor pulled out of radio's Suspense in favor of Frank Lovejoy because “I just didn't feel the script was right for me.”

This is the first time research of Suspense newspaper clippings imply that the guest was withdrawing because of their artistic choice. If this ever happened before, it was usually early, and quiet. Suspense had a reputation for the creative casting of stars in roles that were against type or revealed a broader acting skill than the public and entertainment producers had known. Where did this quote come from and why was it different this time? Was the change decided before rehearsals or after a disappointing one? Was this meant to be an apology to Lewis and CBS via the papers? Did the news story start with O'Connor or his publicist or Lewis or CBS? We may never know.

Frank’s voice seems too mature to be “the Kid,” making it seem that the story is about “Billy the Adult,” something that “the Kid” did not live long enough to achieve. Lovejoy delivers his usual fine performance, but one wonders what an O’Connor rendition would have been like. He never appeared on Suspense again. Was a bridge burned?

Two nights earlier, CBS debuted Gunsmoke, and its first production was Billy the Kid. That was a much different presentation, authored by Walter Brown Newman. William Conrad was the only performer in both productions.

There are two surviving recordings. No network disc recording has survived, but there was a home disc recording that was quite the news when it was found. It was long believed to be a home wire recording, but as this note found in reels that the Old Time Radio Researchers has been transferring, it was a home disc recording. That often means it was made using office dictation equipment of that era.

Dictation discs were expensive, and they did not hold much, so it was common for users to skip the show introduction and commercial, and start recording when the drama began. They would flip the disc or switch to another blank at the mid-show commercial. Then the recording would end sometime during the closing announcement. It often became an issue to find a good player to transfer it. Sometimes an original model of the dictation equipment could be located, and that usually worked best. Some dictation recordings could be played on a regular record turntable. The other notes in the reel box were quite interesting. The collector who managed to get the recording noted he spent more than $100 in phone calls (this occurred in the late 1970s) arranging the deal and that the person had other recordings. He also warned that nothing could be shared until 1982, or the source would be upset and the relationship would end. This was a common condition of trading rare material in the hobby because the person who sourced the material often had to make an investment to acquire them, and sometimes had to purchase equipment.

Thankfully, a clean Armed Forces Radio Service transcription (AFRS#410) recording of this episode was found in 2018. This AFRS recording is the much better of the two and provides an enjoyable listening experience.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520428

THE CAST

FRANK LOVEJOY (Billy Bonney), William Conrad (Pat Garrett), Parley Baer (Jack / Boyle), Jack Kruschen (Joe / Pete), Joe Kearns (Charlie), Russell Simpson (Wallace), Tony Barrett (Bob / Jose), Lillian Buyeff (Girl), Earl Lee (Poe / McSween), Charles Calvert (Man), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland, Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1952-04-21 The Diary of Captain Scott

Herbert Marshall stars in Gil Doud’s script based on the diaries of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s 1912 failed march at the South Pole. Scott and four companions attempted the almost superhuman task of marching their last 800 mile journey. They dragged behind them, over the frozen Antarctic wastes, a heavy sledge (a strong, heavy sled). That sledge held their supplies and the British flag they hoped to plant at the “bottom of the world.” When they reached that objective, they found the flag of Norway already planted there. Explorer Roald Amundsen and four crew members made it there five weeks before Scott’s party. Amundsen’s team, however, returned safely to their base, while Scott’s perished on their 800-mile return trip. Scott’s team encountered blizzards and 40 degree-below-zero temperatures. They had to drag their sledge and chart their course through the fresh snows (that covered their previous tracks). Their course was critical as they had to find each of the caches of food and fuel oil they have buried along the way. The men grew weaker, and it became increasingly apparent to each of them that the odds of surviving were against them. They carried on for a month of the slow-walking nightmare before the first of team succumbed to exhaustion and cold. None of them survived. Months later, bodies, supplies, Scott’s logs and the diaries of others were discovered after a search. The bodies of two of the team were never found. The story as presented here is part history and part psychological drama. Delusions and disorientation are part of the story, springing from the team’s lonely shared experience. Memories of home become an important part of the presentation.

The sound effects of this episode are constant. There are barely any seconds of quiet as there is a background of harsh cold winds throughout.

Scott’s career as an explorer is summarized at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott

A 1948 British film, Scott of the Antarctic, was a combination of adventure and documentary. It is held in general high regard for its cinematography and the performance of actor John Mills as Scott. It can be viewed at https://archive.org/details/scott-of-the-antarctic-1948 The movie was well-known in the US. Many Suspense listeners would have already had some familiarity with the story.

There are two surviving recordings of this episode. The network version has limited range and is noisy; it is listenable. The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS#408) recording is much preferred as it is in fuller, richer, and cleaner sound. It was a welcome find for enthusiasts when it became available about five years ago.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520421

THE CAST

HERBERT MARSHALL (Captain Robert Scott), June Whitley (Kate), Tudor Owen (Bowers), Ben Wright (Oates), Joe Kearns (Official Voice / Evans), Charles Davis (Wilson), Eloise (soloist), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1952-04-14 Mate Bram

Richard Widmark is back in an “actual events” story about a triple axe-murder that occurred on July 4, 1896 on the ship Herbert Fuller. Widmark is excellent as he portrays a reformed alcoholic whose long abstinence from liquor is finally broken by a pretty woman, the wife of the ship’s captain! It has disastrous results. He drinks to excess, and passes out in his own cabin. Hours later, he is awakened by frantic pounding on his door. An excited crew member informs him that three people have been murdered—the woman, her husband, and another ship's officer. Bram remembers nothing after he began drinking. He questions how it could have happened, and if he did it while blacked out. The story leaves the question of the perpetrator open. That is much like it happened in real life.

Gil Doud adapted the story from the book by criminologist and crime writer Edmund Lester Pearson. His writing was considered thorough and authoritative. The book, Studies in Murder, is available online https://archive.org/details/studiesinmurder00pear/page/164/mode/2up and has many details, such as schematics of the Henry Fuller and other information.

It is probable that Doud used the very same book in his background research for the earlier episode about the Lizzie Borden case, The Fall River Tragedy. It is possible that Doud “discovered” the Bram story when he was flipping through its pages. Pearson’s perspectives about the Borden case played a big role in shaping public opinion about that matter. Pearson did not just write books and articles, but in 1934 he went to Hollywood to serve as an uncredited writer for Bride of Frankenstein and Werewolf of London. He died in 1937.

The Fuller story was still well-known at the time of broadcast but had been fading from public memory. It is possible that the title “Mate Bram” was obvious to many listeners in 1952, but is obscure, if not confusing, to us now. After this broadcast, some newspapers ran stories about it, indicating renewed interest in it.

There are many resources online about the event. These are some that are worth pursuing:

• The Dark Histories podcast https://www.darkhistories.com/murder-aboard-the-herbert-fuller/ (the podcast is one hour and 17 minutes)

• Book: Blood on the Barkentine https://internetreviewofbooks.blogspot.com/2020/04/nonfiction-blood-on-barkentine-not.html

• New England Historical Society (very good) https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/fiction-becomes-fact-murder-on-herbert-fuller/

• Dark Downeast blog https://darkdowneast.com/herbertfuller/

• Review of the 2019 book Murder Aboard: The Herbert Fuller Tragedy and the Ordeal of Thomas Bram by C. Michael Hiam https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781493041312

• The CrimeReads blog https://crimereads.com/the-high-seas-murder-that-shocked-and-baffled-the-world/

In real life, in some summary sketchy details, the story ended with Bram being found guilty and sentenced to death. That trial had a procedural error, so that sentence was revoked. At a second trial he was found guilty and sentenced to life. A novelist wrote a popular story that changed some of the details, but everyone knew it was about the Fuller murders, where one of the other mates committed the crime. Bram always protested his innocence, and it was generally believed that there was a good chance he was innocent. Teddy Roosevelt had an appreciation of that writer and the story, and helped pursue a pardon for Bram. He was pardoned by President Woodrow Wilson. Bram had a tough time re-establishing his life on the seas as no one would hire him. He moved to Atlanta, far away from the shore, but there was opportunity in a growing city. He opened a hot dog stand!... and it did very well. He would often speak at church and civic events about his life, always proclaiming his innocence. He married there. Eventually, he was able to go back to sea. Unfortunately, in 1928 his ship was lost off the coast of North Carolina, and he was declared dead.

Suspense always worked six to eight weeks in advance with its story and guest planning. There were probably a fair number of “actual event” scripts in process, including this one, when Lewis made the announcement that the strategy of Suspense was changing. Lewis always used whatever he believed would make a good story, whether a classic story or a news event or a historical event, which made his years very uneven, but fearless.

NOTE: The surviving network recording has light disc noise after the 27 minute mark.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520414

THE CAST

RICHARD WIDMARK (Bram), Joe Kearns (Nash), Joan Banks (Laura), Ben Wright (Slice), Lou Merrill (Blomberg), Steve Roberts (Brown), Roy Glenn (Spencer), Robert North (Monks), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1952-04-07 Remember Me?

Dan Duryea, “the heel with sex appeal,” returns to the series and is as unsavory as ever. He’s a cheap bandit who kills an old grocery store owner for resisting his efforts to steal the day’s money from the cash register. It’s near closing time, and a young woman enters the store just after the incident. He has to act natural, like nothing happened. She knows him! She calls him by name and recalls that they went to high school together. She even had a teenage crush on him! Duryea’s character is stuck; it’s easier to deal with a stranger, but this woman can be an identifying witness. He pretends to be working in the store because the owner had an emergency at home. He fills her order, hoping she does not see the body. He asks if he can walk her home and catch up on old times. Since it’s closing time and doesn’t have to wait, she agrees. Now what does he do? She doesn’t suspect that he is contemplating her murder and the best way for him to get away with it. It is so awkward that she remembers so much about him, but he is so narcissistic, even in school, that he does not remember her at all. He finds her recounting of incidents and acquaintances more and more disturbing. The more she remembers, the more he knows he has to kill her.

It’s a good story and Duryea makes it all the better. It’s also a special event. The writer for this episode was series sound effects artist Gus C. Bayz. It was the sixth script that he submitted to Elliott Lewis, and was finally the one he liked. Bayz’ colleague in the show’s effects was Ross Murray. He had already had a script presented, Case History of a Gambler, and CBS publicity created a “stunt” that Murray was fired for the night because he might be nervous about having his first script produced. There was no such publicity gimmick for this episode.

Sometimes doubling doesn’t work as well as intended. Joe Kearns plays the shop owner and then a police lieutenant. Perhaps it was though that the characters appear so far apart in time that it might not be noticed. Classic radio enthusiasts listening to the program today may be more attuned to detecting this than the broadcast listeners of that time.

The story was also presented on the Suspense television series on 1952-08-12 with Cloris Leachman and Martin Brooks. It was the fourth season’s forty-fifth episode (according to IMDb). It can be viewed at https://archive.org/details/Suspense_201705/Suspense+++S04E47+++Remember+Me-...with+Cloris+Leachman.mp4

Duryea was at his creepiest and most entertaining best in the tongue-in-cheek The Man Who Couldn’t Lose https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/11/1947-12-12-man-who-couldnt-lose.html and at https://archive.org/details/TSP471212

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520407

THE CAST

DAN DURYEA (Harry), Charlotte Lawrence (Ruth), Joe Kearns (Liebowitz / Lieutenant), Ruth Perrott (Mrs. Dooley), Lee Millar (Jimmy), Charles Calvert (Cop), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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