William Powell plays a Communist agent who worked in the “cipher room” in the Russian embassy in Mexico. His managers start getting an uneasy feeling about him because he seems too friendly with some of the locals and their American friends. They decide, without warning, to send him back to Moscow with his wife and child. He is considered a poor security risk, and will travel under guard. That can mean only one thing: a labor camp or an execution. Those Mexican and American friends gave him a whiff of freedom, and now he realizes that whatever freedom he had in the embassy and his private life is about to be taken away. He decides that if he takes certain confidential papers and communications from the office he might be able to trade them to an American or an ally and they would allow him to defect. He’s got a problem: to whom does he turn? He’s been so effective at distributing propaganda over the years, and soon proven false, that no one wants to believe his sincerity about the validity of the documents, the truth of his intent, or even if he is truly in danger. Everything turns against him as whomever he speaks to, privately and truthfully, turns out to be an ally of the Russians. He’s alienated his past contacts because of the propaganda he shared, and then another group of spies who consider him a traitor. Now for sure his fate in Russia will be the deadly kind. Who can extract him from this perilous state of affairs?
The script is by Lewis favorites Morton Fine and David Friedkin. It is stated that the story came from research by Larry Thor. It is not clear what kind of research it was. Newspapers noted that Thor sold the story to Suspense (the first time he had submitted one) and it was in “story form.” This was not uncommon for the series, a policy started by William Spier. It was more important to have a good story as expert scriptwriters could adapt it faster and better than a new author learning to write in the radio style.
Jeff Chandler was originally cast for the lead role in the broadcast, and was announced at the end of the prior week’s show. It is not known why the change was made. Powell’s characterization may sound a little older than the one Chandler would have offered.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP530209
THE CAST
WILLIAM POWELL (Milos Meros), Joe Kearns (Zapatin / Voice 2), Lillian Buyeff (Lilya), Jack Kruschen (Cardozas), Steve Roberts (Senor / Voice 1), Byron Kane (Pepe), John Dehner (The Editor), Larry Thor (Narrator)
COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer)
###
