It is probably best listened to as both parts in a single session. The play was produced that way. One reason was to ensure that all of the same actors and technicians would be available. A more important reason was to ensure the continuity of performance of everyone involved. They would be able to stay in character and maintain their focus.
It may be worthwhile to read a summary of the play prior to listening. A good one is at the Folger Shakespeare Library https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/othello/read/ where the entire play can be accessed, too. There’s always SparkNotes https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/section1/ and Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Othello
It must be noted that listening to this production more than seventy years later is likely not as satisfying as it was back in 1953. In some ways, with television looming, Lewis was attempting to re-invigorate radio as a means of entertainment and raise the level of expectation of cultural presentation rather than weekly disposable mystery stories. There was a sense of “look what we can do when we put our minds and resources to it.” To current-day ears, the production is not as good as it was considered at that time. Lewis overacts. Widmark seems wooden. It’s easy to get lost in the play, but at least the narration written for Larry Thor keeps things on track. In 1953, there was a “newness” to it, especially on a series like Suspense, that cannot be captured or duplicated today.
Part 1 sets the stage for the events that will climax in Part 2. The play opens with the elopement of Othello (Elliott Lewis) and Desdemona (Cathv Lewis) who become the intended victims of Iago's schemings. The newlyweds have only a few hours together before Othello, a top general, is called to lead the defense against a Turkish invasion fleet which has been spotted nearing Cyprus. During Othello's absence, Iago weaves a plot to ruin the general, of whom he is insanely jealous, and to wreck his marriage by fabricating evidence of Desdemona's infidelity.
In Part 2, Othello returns triumphant from the wars to govern the Island of Cyprus with his lovely bride, Desdemona. The scheming Iago, jealous because he has been passed over in military promotions, is plotting Othello's destruction, as well as the death of Othello's trusted lieutenant, Cassio. Iago's nasty plan is to frame evidence of a love affair between Othello’s bride and Cassio. He feels sure Othello can be inflamed to kill them both, and then will be held to answer for the murders. This will eliminate all who stand between Iago and his ambitions. He skillfully plays on Othello’s imagination to plant the seeds of distrust and jealousy, and always acts that he is reluctant to impart his poisonous misinformation, making him and the news more genuine than it really is. Othello finally confronts his Desdemona with accusations of infidelity and announces that he intends to kill her.
There is constant mention of the “handkerchief” which belongs to Desdemona. It’s a symbol of faithfulness and commitment. So when she gives it to Othello, has great meaning. In the language of the original play, it is referred to as “napkin,” which has a different meaning these hundreds of years later.
The 1952-05-13 Variety reviewed the production, and was positive:
Considering its venerable heritage, it was rather odd hearing Shakespeare's Othello billed as “a tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense!” on Monday (11) on CBS-Radio’s Suspense. But the tag-line fitted, since Elliott Lewis directed and played the tale of the jealous Moor as though it were a modern blood-and-guts meller [melodrama] and the regular gore-lovers of this whodunit series probably ate it up. Standout in the cast was the versatile Cathy Lewis as Desdemona. She was, by turn, coquettish, sorrowful, pleading, and wracked in agony, her voice marvelously modulated and keyed to her medium. Richard Widmark, usually a knowing performer in films, was adequate as the informing Iago, but his portrayal lacked the vocal inflections necessary for a purely audial medium. Lewis, as Othello, matched his wife with his fury and passion, but unlike her, it seemed at times as he were more concerned with displaying his histrionic pyrotechnics. But since he seemed to seek the melodramatic values of the tragedy purposely, his emoting was exciting on those terms. The “loved not too wisely but too well” speech was delivered with compassion, and it was refreshing to hear radio sanction Shakespeare’s curse line, “Damn her! Damn her!” Larry Thor’s narration was good, and Harlow Wilcox’s delivery of the humor-tinged Auto-Lite commercials was up to snuff.
Critic Magee Adams liked the production, and wrote in the 1953-05-17 Cincinnati OH Enquirer:
In its most ambitious try at the classics. the radio "Suspense" made compelling drama of its two-part broadcast of Othello. Although the first installment was slowed up by necessary groundwork, the second half had the sure grip of inexorable drama. Credit this to the enlightened willingness of the radio Suspense to make the most of any material so long as it has suspense.
Claude Hammerston in the 1953-05-16 Ottawa ON Citizen had somewhat sarcastic but positive comments:
Those days radio advertising into the fields of culture to further its ends. The latest is Shakespeare, that great dramatist who in 1953 crops up on our radios to sell batteries. Suspense producer Elliott Lewis is considering yet another Shakespearean presentation following his two-part offering of Othello. This great work has a certain amount of suspense, but most certainly not the type for which this program strives.
The May 18, 1953 issue of Time magazine reported as follows:
Last week, Elliott Lewis startled his Suspense listeners by producing, directing and acting in his own version of a two-part adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. At first he planned to do a fast rewrite of Shakespeare, but a friend asked: “Why paraphrase? Have you got a better line than ‘I hate the Moor’?” In stead, Elliott contented himself with cutting Othello from 146 minutes to 46. Instead of the usual thrill music, he used themes from Verdi operas as bridges between the action. As Othello, Elliott effectively portrayed the Moor’s high-minded simplicity. Cathy played Desdemona as smoothly and efficiently as she plays her comedy roles in My Friend Irma. The real star of the first show was Richard Widmark as the villainous Iago, full of silky menace and tortured hate. Lewis admits that his own “hammy ambition” is the chief reason for the attempt on Shakespeare, but he is quick to add: “I also think Othello is one of the finest suspense stories ever told.”
CBS publicity sent reports of the network’s very positive reaction to the productions. Among the comments picked up by the newspapers were:
Letters from listeners have poured into CBS Radio, Hollywood, praising the the recent two-part presentation Othello. Agnes Moorehead, “the First Lady of Suspense,” called after the first broadcast to say she'd like to work with Cathy and Elliott Lewis in their next presentation of a classic.
Mail continues to flood into CBS stations across the country congratulating Suspense producer Elliott Lewis and the show's sponsor, Auto-Lite, on the unusual, two-part presentation of Shakespeare’s Othello... Virtually all of the cards, letters and telegrams are favorable and enthusiastically request more Shakespeare on Suspense. Those writing in range from teachers of Shakespeare to many who never before had heard one of his plays. Many in the latter group expressed amazement that Shakespeare could be so easily understandable and so exciting. Leo Langevin, president of the Berkeley, California Shakespeare Society, wrote that he had notified his entire membership of the broadcasts and had heard nothing but delighted comments. Other sample comments: “the finest thing we have ever heard on the radio” – Pearl Barry of Los Angeles; “...the most understandable and moving production of Othello I've heard” – Mrs. James Terry of Denver. Producer-director Lewis, who shared the starring roles with his actress-wife Cathy, and Richard Widmark, says he hopes to present another Shakespearean play in the Fall series.
Part 1 and part 2 were both recorded on Sunday, May 3, 1953. A desk reading of both parts was held on Saturday, May 2, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Rehearsal for both parts was on Sunday, May 3 beginning at 10:00am to 2:00pm, and resumed at 4:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. Part 1 was taped from 6:30pm to 7:00pm. Part 2 was taped from 7:00pm to 7:30pm.
It is not known if Orson Welles’ 1951 film Othello was a catalyst for Lewis’ desire to produce the play on Suspense. The movie and the play was in the news, and there was familiarity with the name because of it. The 1950s was still a time in the US education system that Shakespeare played an important part in school curricula. That could have been a factor in its selection beyond Lewis having great affection for the play. The film can be viewed at The Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/othello_legendado NOTE: it is in English with Portuguese subtitles. The film was restored in 1992 with the guidance of his daughter Beatrice. It seems not to be available on DVD or other sources, but is currently available at the time of this writing on the free streaming services Tubi and Roku. Other restorations are still available on DVD on Amazon and other sources.
Othello was planned for the Suspense television broadcasts of October 20 and 27, 1953 with Jack Palance. It was teased for many weeks, but it seems that Palance’s film schedule began to impinge on the dates. The TV show originated from New York, and time for his getting back and forth from Hollywood may have been an issue in the pre-jet era. The play was never produced on the television series.
Suspense ratings (measured in households) were declining as television continued to reduce the size of the radio audience. Lewis saw opportunities to move upmarket to higher educated consumers with varied content and some more experimentation. He knew that Suspense had to be compelling appointment listening to keep the series going. Like many of the series’ guest actors, some typecast as comedians and looking for other roles, for example, Suspense was typecast, too. While some of the ventures into new areas seem odd 70 years later, it’s clear what he was doing. Sponsorship dollars were critical to run an operation like Suspense. And if Auto-Lite’s sales results from its radio expenditures were going down, then the radio could be on the chopping block again, as it was after the 1950-1951 season. As producer he had to work to attract, grow, and retain listeners. Lewis had stayed behind in New York after the broadcast of Around the World, and press reports indicated it was to meet with advertisers. Lewis was running multiple shows and had sponsors like Wrigley’s and Auto-Lite. It is not known if he met with them (along with other CBS executives) or was meeting with potential new sponsors should they lose the current contracts. While Lewis was not a fan of the content interference that sponsors often brought with their underwriting, he knew that their dollars were needed to keep going in the manner he wanted. Years later, researcher and now film documentarian John Scheinfeld asked Lewis why he left Suspense after Auto-Lite cancelled their sponsorship. He said something along the lines of “there was not any future in sustained programming.” Just 14 months after this broadcast, he would leave the series.
The closest Suspense had come to a performance of Shakespeare prior to Othello was in John Dickson Carr’s Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble of 1943-04-06. A woman in the audience for a Macbeth performance is killed. Despite the claimed positive reviews of the Othello broadcast, Shakespeare was never performed on Suspense again.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/tsp53050411
THE CAST
RICHARD WIDMARK (Iago), Cathy Lewis (Desdemona), Elliott Lewis (Othello), William Conrad (Montano), Joe Kearns (Cassio), Irene Tedrow (Emelia), Larry Thor (Narrator)
COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
###
