[After the cast listing for this episode there is a commentary about the official ending of the “actual events” story strategy and what follows next. This broadcast was the first of a “new” strategy implemented by Lewis.]
James Mason stars in a radio adaptation of the story made popular by a highly regarded 1947 movie of the same name. Mason starred in that film production. He plays a member of the Irish separatist movement who is wounded while carrying out a bank holdup. He is dazed and stumbles through dark alleyways, as he keeps moving to avoid the police. He can hear the car sirens as they try to locate him. Even those who are sympathetic to his political cause are unwilling or afraid to shelter him for fear of repercussions from others and the authorities. One might turn him in for the reward for his capture. An artist wants only to paint his portrait before Mason’s character succumbs to his injuries. There is a young woman who loves him, however, and finds him just before as the story reaches its climax.
The story was adapted by Antony Ellis from the original 1945 novel by British author Frederick Laurence Green. It was the best known of his 14 novels. Green died a year after this broadcast at age 51.
The movie may be viewed at The Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/odd-man-out-1947-james-mason-kathleen-ryan-robert-newton-cyril-cusack
The movie Lady Possessed that was funded by the Masons and the William Spiers (the former Suspense producer and wife June Havoc) was released a few weeks prior to this Suspense appearance by the Masons. The movie is teased at the end of this broadcast. It did not do well at the box office or among the critics.
Odd Man Out was originally planned for the 1949-01-27 Suspense broadcast but was replaced with The Thing in the Window with Robert Montgomery. The 1947 film was still in theaters at the time and it is possible that clearance to air the episode with the studio was not available. The script was held until this broadcast.
This episode circulated for many decades with a dull opening and was noisy throughout. This recording is much cleaner than has been available. Some sections may have some harsh sounds, likely related to the condition of the transcription discs. If you have not heard this episode for a long time, this is likely the best sounding recording you will hear.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP520211
THE CAST
JAMES MASON (Johnny), PAMELA KELLINO (Agnes), Ben Wright (Murphy), Dan O’Herlihy (Nolan), Bill Johnstone (Pat / Fencie), Joe Kearns (Man / Shell), Charles Davis (2nd Constable), Raymond Lawrence (1st Constable), Larry Thor (Narrator)
COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
* * *
It appears that the “actual events” strategy came to an official end the week before this broadcast. This is from the 1952-02-11 Buffalo NY News by an anonymous radio editor for the paper:
GOOD EXAMPLES or opposites in mystery broadcasts are two superlative programs: NBC’s Dragnet and CBS’ Suspense. Elliott Lewis, young producer-director of Suspense, employs vivid highlights: Big star, dialogue crisp and loud, crashing music and graphic sound. While Lewis pulls out all the stops, Jack Webb. equally youthful impresario of Dragnet, carefully puts them back in: No “name” actors, underplayed dialogue. a minimum of dramatic effect.
WEBB HAS ONE terrific advantage. for unlike Suspense, his semi-documentary technique does not depend chiefly on good story material. While Dragnet’s cases may not always be theatrically satisfying, they are drawn directly from life and stand or fall on their plausibility. But Lewis, whose standards are considerably higher than most mystery producers, has had a great deal of difficulty in finding good stories. Accordingly, he announced at the start of this season that Suspense, too, would take its cases from real life.
THE RESULTS were disappointing, and the program returned to fiction. “From now on.” Lewis said last week, “we intend to bring our listeners every conceivable kind of suspense—whether based on novels, plays, police files or original manuscripts.” Tonight, James Mason will star in Odd Man Out. Two other novels, Track of the Cat and The 39 Steps are scheduled for early production. Meanwhile. with movies and TV competing for every good story, Lewis is on the prowl for new writers.
When listening to the shows under the "events" strategy you can tell they're not really coming together well. That events-based of strategy, somewhat similar to that of The Big Story, requires a team of writers devoted to it. What made Suspense work was that they could solicit scripts and script ideas from freelancers, monitor mystery magazines for adaptation opportunities, and also use their editors to create stories of their own. The newspaper account makes it seem that Lewis could not attract the stories he needed or wanted. Perhaps the new format befuddled freelancers, blunted their natural creativity in the development of plotlines. It may also be the case that ratings started to slip. Combine that with shifting to Mondays and not the old high listenership Thursday slot, and you have an unwanted problem.
The strategy has a striking resemblance to that which William Spier and Robert Montgomery outlined for the hour long version of Suspense. That, too, had “novels, plays, police files or original manuscripts” and also included tie-ins with movies. The movie tie-in could be seen in the Suspense production of Crossfire in April 1948, which included the film’s cast, even though Spier and Montgomery were gone. There was also a planned tie-in with Dick Powell’s film Pitfall for August 1948, which never materialized as CBS CEO Paley undermined the hour long show almost from the beginning. Yet, Lewis must have liked the concept.
But is this new “new strategy” a strategy at all? It almost sounds like it's a potpourri strategy, which seems like no strategy at all, that Lewis will run with any kind of script that seems good. This blogger has oven stated a cynical observation that in this period of Suspense that “Lewis goes all Columbia Workshop on us.” The first season of Lewis episodes were often exceptional productions. But now the series offerings seem haphazard. At least Lewis won’t be pressured to produce “actual events” scripts unless they are first and foremost compelling scripts.
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