Richard Widmark returns to the series in a story that reflects the 1950s concerns about the effects of atomic weapons and fear of radioactive fallout. It does so without getting heavy-handed in any “message,” nor does it go overboard in a science fiction disaster kind of manner. It presents an experience for Widmark’s character that you know will always affect him. He is superb in the role.
Widmark plays a photographer who is assigned, with others, to document the effects of an atomic bomb test at a small island. The story describes the devastation to the land and the creatures. The dialogue offers speculation about the duration and recovery from the effects, and a skepticism about the use of the science in the purpose of destruction. But their assignment is to document by photography what the results of the test explosion were. The script is more concerned about the experience of Widmark’s character as his companions go to their similar assignments. Widmark’s character realizes he is alone with his thoughts and worries about radiation effects, and his observations and Geiger counter don’t do much for his attitude. He has growing worries about his own safety, no matter the protection from radiation that his specially-designed clothing and goggles can offer. Then he hears a wailing sound of what might be a person who was on the island at the time of the blast. The deep dark of the night cannot means that he cannot see the source of the sound, or understand it. His fellow photographers join him, as planned, in the morning. They learn the source of the haunting sound. It is clear that the experience will always stick with him. Did his companions have similar experiences? They did not, it seems, as their experiences are implied to completing their tasks and moving on. But Widmark’s character is clearly rattled, and his fellow photographers are very concerned what he experienced.
The story is well done, and could have strayed into areas that would have undermined its effectiveness as a captivating story with another good Widmark performance.
The author of the story, categorized in the credits as a “true report,” was advertising executive Warner Toub, Jr. The 1948-07-03 edition of Billboard noted that Toub “returns to Hollywood after a stint with the army, working on atomic bomb tests in the Pacific.” This means that Toub’s story was based on his first hand experience of the process of the testing and assessing its aftermath. It allowed finer and obscure details to enrich the credibility of the story. This was similar to what former WW2 pilot and Suspense sound effects artist Ross Murray’s training did for the realism of the episode Flight of the Bumble Bee. Toub was mostly always in advertising, but he did become a writer for the Howard Duff-Ida Lupino CBS television comedy Mr. Adams and Eve in 1957. (That successful but short-lived series was a huge payday for Duff and Lupino from CBS which had treated Duff poorly in the Blacklist period; success is the best revenge).
This Toub story was adapted, or more appropriately, developed, polished and finished by James Moser. He was mainly a writer for Jack Webb radio productions (Dragnet, Pete Kelly’s Blues) and also wrote for Dragnet on television. In the 1960s he created and wrote one of the period’s best known medical series, Ben Casey. He was also the creator and writer of Slattery’s People, a critically-acclaimed but ultimately unsuccessful CBS series that starred Richard Crenna as a state legislator.
Widmark is given a “Golden Mike” award at the end of the production for his performance in Mate Bram. The award was created by Elliott Lewis to keep the publicity promotion of Suspense at a high level. Anne Baxter won an award for best female performance (The Thirteenth Sound), which she would receive in the next broadcast. The award was based on was a poll of the “regular radio performers” of the series. That would include the actors, but likely the effects and musical staff as well. This was likely a Lewis publicity effort to keep Suspense in the news and to thank the actors whom he relied on, and give them publicity, too. Joe Kearns and Jeanette Nolan would be announced as “Golden Mike” recipients for their supporting role performances in the next broadcast.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP521013
THE CAST
RICHARD WIDMARK (Warner), Jack Kruschen (Bert), Joe Kearns (Joe), Herb Butterfield (Paul / Sam), Larry Thor (Narrator)
COMMERCIAL: Dal McKennon (Johnny Plugcheck), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
###
