This is the first broadcast of the sponsorless Suspense produced and directed by Elliott Lewis. He would be with the series for six episodes, including this one.
This Silvia Richards script was first broadcast with Joseph Cotten on 1945-09-27. Details about the original production and surviving recordings are at
https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/06/1945-09-27-earth-is-made-of-glass.html
https://archive.org/details/TSP450927 is the site with the recordings.
This script is based on the theme of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 essay Compensation. Emerson’s premise can be summarized as “You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong.” He contends that crime damages a person’s soul, making it, their environment, and their relationships more fragile, easily broken, prone to further corruption.
The ending of the Auto-Lite sponsorship resulted in some cost-reduction initiatives. Big (expensive) Hollywood stars would not be recruited, the orchestra was reduced in size, and there were more repeated scripts. Bob LeMond would become the show announcer, replacing Harlow Wilcox. LeMond might only be heard in network announcements at mid-show breaks and at the end of the broadcast, usually teasing the next show on the network. Larry Thor continued as Suspense narrator.
The Auto-Lite/Lewis emphasis on history-based or history-influenced stories was reduced, and the idea became primarily to find interesting scripts that would retain the interest of the audience. Any historical tie-in was secondary. The series would also use some of the best scripts of Escape. Some of the staff and performers began to consider Suspense and Escape to be virtually the same at this point in the history of the series.
Two recordings have survived, one network, and an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS#491) recording. The AFRS recording is the much better of the two. Because Suspense is now a sustaining program, there is little justification to prefer a network recording over an AFRS one for a content reason.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP540615
INTERNET ARCHIVE PAGE WAS LOADED WITH INCORRECT FILES
PLEASE USED THE MEDIAFIRE LINK
(this will be repaired when IA resumes regular access and the page can be edited)
Alternative download site if the Internet Archive is not working
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/8pa07d7mmeo2h/Suspense_-_Earth_is_Made_of_Glass_(Kearns)
Stream the episode at YouTube
https://youtu.be/Z5TR4S_TNWs
THE CAST
Joseph Kearns (Richard Steel), Whitfield Connor (Doctor West), Charlotte Lawrence (Nurse 1 / Woman 1), Herb Butterfield (Eliot), Jerry Hausner (Salesclerk / Joe, the soda clerk), Paula Winslowe (Nurse 2 / Librarian), Junius Matthews (Hardware Proprietor), Larry Thor (Narrator)
###
