William Powell returns to the series in a topic that likely sent shudders down the spines of every parent and pet owner in its day: the threat of rabies infection. It is hard to imagine such a time because rabies are rarely known today. But in the 1950s, vaccination requirements for pets were only beginning to be implemented. Rabies was a very serious disease. In 1950, for example, there were 4,979 cases of rabies reported among dogs, and 18 reported among human populations. Over the years, the vaccination campaigns worked. There were fewer than two human cases per year in the 1960s and 1970s and fewer than one case per year during the 1980s. By the time this show aired, rabies cases were already way down, but the newsworthiness about the infection and the need for vaccination did not calm down until years and decades later.
In 1954, this plotline was plausible and very concerning. Morton Fine and David Friedkin had no problem making the story “real” just by reading the newspaper. At the opening of the program, Larry Thor promised “a story based on fact,” and that’s what listeners got. Fine and Friedkin selected the news items they could build a compelling plot around, and it developed into a reasonably good episode.
The story opens with the discovery of a burglary in the laboratory of the county health officer. Thieves have stolen some valuable microscopes and, oddly enough, a dog which had been inoculated with rabies virus. If the disease takes effect in the dog, anyone bitten by the animal, and not receiving prompt treatment, will surely die. As the police comb the city for the missing dog that has a purple streak painted down its back, a boy is hiding the dog in his garage, afraid to tell his mother for fear she'll make him give it up.
The working title of this episode was “The Deadly Rabbit” which likely means that the original animal with rabies in the story may have been a rabbit rather than a dog. There was a news story in September 1953 about a Council Bluffs, Iowa boy who had been bitten by a rabbit. The rabbit escaped after chewing through a leash. The audience has a much greater affinity for dogs as so many more households own them... which makes the story hit closer to home much more than a rabbit could. There is no indication that Fine and Friedkin knew about or used that Council Bluffs news item. It’s also practical: rabbits don’t make noise. Dogs do. Dogs work better in radio shows.
There were plenty of rabies stories that they could have seen in the news in California. The public debate about the efficacy and ethics of the Pasteur treatment could have inspired development of their storyline as well.
There is another factor for how this story could rattle listeners. The temptation for sensationalizing rabies stories was significant for reporters. Most cases of rabies were in children because of their innocent outdoor play and contact with dogs and other wild animals such as squirrels and rabbits. The combination of childhood innocence and such a dangerous and mysterious disease could be used by unscrupulous reporters to stoke fears among readers.
Another aspect of the story is stolen microscopes. There were a few stories in 1953 such robberies. Like in the script, one man posed as a doctor to steal microscopes and moved across the country stealing them along his way. Portland, Oregon police actually returned a microscope to a Pennsylvania college. A different pilfering of microscopes from Texas Christian University did end up being pawned, and police were notified. Microscope thefts were occurring around the country from physician offices, labs, and colleges. They were usually returned. The microscopes were targets for theft because they were worth more than $5500 in approximate US$2024 value.
Night Beat had a very effective story involving rabies on 1951-06-08. In Search for Fred it is claimed that a man has been bitten by a rabid dog but doesn't know it and there is a city-wide search to find him. It is a very good story by Larry Marcus and is highly recommended. It also reflects the great concern about human contraction of the disease with great drama and a surprise ending.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP540301
Alternative link to the FLAC file if needed
https://www.mediafire.com/file/glb87m7l4zcdft3/Suspense_1954-03-01_The_Barking_Death.flac/file
THE CAST
WILLIAM POWELL (Paul the Doctor), Joe Kearns (Joe the Lab Man / Dr. Kremer), Hy Averback (Paul the Police Operator / Lieutenant Stevens), Junius Matthews (Cliff Loomis), Jack Kruschen (Harry Wood / Roberts), Paula Winslowe (Mrs. Rokey), Ted Bliss (Collins the Newspaperman / Phil), Dick Beals (Peter Barrett), Jeane Wood (Mrs. Stone), Larry Thor (Narrator)
COMMERCIAL: Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), unknown actor (Studebaker man)
GUEST FOR THE AUTO-LITE CHARITY PROMOTION: William J. Ziegler Jr., was President of the American Foundation of the Blind. He was adopted into a wealthy Iowa family when he was five years old. The family had a history of generous charity and philanthropy. Ziegler went to Columbia and Harvard Universities. He served on may boards of directors. It was his mother, Matilda, who published a magazine for the blind (financed by the Ziegler family) and worked with the American Foundation for the Blind. When she died, he took over those positions. It was Helen Keller who brought the organization great attention in its early years. Ziegler passed away about four years after this broadcast, at age 66.
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