Sound effects artist Gus C. Bayz contributes another series script, this about the failed 1852 expedition to find the 1845 Franklin expedition that attempted to find an Arctic route from Europe to Asia. Both expeditions failed. Bayz used incidents and information about other searches for the Franklin Expedition as well.
Suspense gives it all a happier ending, despite the terrible and documented loss of life, and adding a fictional conclusion that could be considered a Christmas miracle of sorts. It was contrived, and sounds it, especially if you know the history. It’s one thing for Suspense to deliver semi-obscure stories “based on fact” and alter elements to fit the broadcast time allotment to provide interesting entertainment. It’s quite another thing to try to turn a well-known tragedy of the original expedition and the equally tragic search expedition as a holiday story with a happy ending. The truth is that the people were desperate and remained that way, to the point of archaeological evidence over the decades show that some resorted to cannibalism in their last gasp for survival. Merry Christmas, everyone! Check your spark plugs, too!
(It is possible that the script did not have the “Christmas” ending when it was accepted for the series. The ending may have been changed in the revisions. We may never know.)
Joseph Cotten delivers a fine performance, and for once does not have to use his vocal skills to sound sinister. He just has to sound authoritative to the crew with a tinge of hopelessness as he realizes the weather and cold are stacked against any possibility of success.
The 1845 Franklin Expedition is described at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition
Treating the presentation as pure fiction, it does make for an interesting play. The drama opens with the two central characters waiting helplessly for death, lost in a seemingly endless expanse of ice some- where above the Arctic Circle. The production then flashes back to the story of the expedition which led to this disaster. Cotten portrays the first mate on the ship which crossed the Arctic Circle in 1852 in an effort to determine the fate of the 1845 Franklin Expedition that never returned. Once near a suspected location of that previous expedition, it appears that they, too, are doomed to the same fate as their predecessors. They are likely to die locked aboard their ship in a sea of solid ice.
This is where Bayz diverts from history and the story is pure fiction. Everyone may die in real life, but the script portrays a heroic struggle of the last remaining crew members. When they have reconciled themselves that their death seems soon and certain, there’s a Christmas miracle, even implying a “star of Bethlehem” moment, to save them.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP521222
THE CAST
JOSEPH COTTEN (Stewart), Joe Kearns (Captain), Norma Varden (Franklin), Lillian Buyeff (Cracroft / Nurse), Fred MacKaye (Starkey), Barney Phillips (Man), Clayton Post (Hansen), Ben Wright (Holliday), Larry Thor (Narrator)
COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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