Ronald Colman portrays Philip Trent, a famed English criminologist, in a famous British detective novel by E. C. Bentley. Trent is assigned to track down the murderer of an American multi-millionaire industrialist named Sigsbee Manderson. There is no dearth of suspects, as Manderson was a ruthless man who apparently had acquired an enemy almost for each dollar he amassed in his climb to wealth and power. The only possible clue lies in the fact that although Manderson was impeccably dressed, as always, at the time he was shot, his shoes were untied and one was split at the seams. Working from these meager facts, Trent pieces together a fascinating theory, only to see it blow up in his face in an exciting surprise ending. Yes, all of his assertions are wrong. He even falls in love with one of the suspects, obviously frowned upon in detective circles, but it does happen in many movies. The writer Bentley was also a humorist, and believed that some of the mysteries of the time were much too serious. The surprise to the story is that the expert is wrong and the people who “murdered” Manderson (quotation marks can qualify as a spoiler alert) admit to the “crime.”
The story can be fun as Trent convinces himself he has the solution, and since he proves to be incompetent, this will be his last case. As part of the joke, it’s also the first Trent novel, published in 1913. The next novel did not appear until 23 years later, followed by a collection of short stories.
E.C. Bentley’s life and career is summarized at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Clerihew_Bentley
The book that this episode adapted has its own Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent%27s_Last_Case_(novel)
Trent’s Last Case is available for reading at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/trentslastcase00bentuoft/mode/2up
The adaptation of this Bentley story is by “Oliver Gard.” The cover of the script attributes it to Jerry Gollard. “Gard” is the correct writing credit as far as announced on the broadcast, in the script for those credits, and in all of the show publicity. Gollard wrote for Sinatra, Hope, Skelton, and others, as well as The Shadow, Duffy’s Tavern, and other programs. Under the “Gard” name, he had a best-selling mystery novel, The Seventh Chasm, which was released around the time of this broadcast. It received excellent reviews. He also did some writing for 1960s TV series with that name for Checkmate, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, and others. His obituary can be found at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/venturacountystar/name/jerome-gollard-obituary?id=13265643
A film version of Trent’s Last Case was released in 1952, and was still in theaters at the time of broadcast. There are a few Suspense connections to that production. Pamela Bower (aka Pamela Wilcox) wrote the script, and also a handful of Suspense scripts. Her ex-husband was Robert Richards, former editor of Suspense and also a regular writer under William Spier. Pamela’s father, Herbert Wilcox, directed the film; he was a very successful film producer in Britain. Orson Welles had a supporting role in the picture. His last appearance was on Suspense for Donovan’s Brain in May 1944, and in a cameo appearance in the 1947 Lady in Distress. The story was popular through the years, with earlier film treatments in 1920 (British silent) and 1929 (American, early “talkie”). The 1952 film may be viewed at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/trents-last-case-1952
The sound quality of the surviving recording has narrow range. It is fine for listening. The episode has never circulated in high quality sound. Perhaps a richer sounding AFRS recording may surface in the future. This is a much cleaner recording than what has been circulating for decades.
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https://archive.org/details/TSP531207
THE CAST
RONALD COLMAN (Philip Trent), Ellen Morgan (Mrs. Mabel Manderson), Joseph Kearns (Mr. Cupples), Richard Peel (Murch), Gloria Ann Simpson (Telegraph Woman), Bill Johnstone (Sir John Marlowe), Larry Thor (Narrator), Ben Wright (Porter / Marlowe), Dick Beals (Newsboy)
COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
NOTE: Ben Wright was originally cast to double as Porter and Marlowe; Porter was reassigned to Richard Peel and Marlowe to Bill Johnstone
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