This production of an Antony Ellis stars three of 1950s radio’s best actresses: Vivi Janiss, Helen Kleeb, and Charlotte Lawrence. Fans of the Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar serials know their voices quite well from their frequent appearances there, as well as Gunsmoke.
A man, Norman Landon, is awaiting execution and perhaps a call from the governor to save him from his punishment. Three women are alone, waiting, for that word, or for the execution to be made. As a listener, we are a fly on the wall, as we listen to his wife, Aline (Charlotte Lawrence), her mother, Mrs. Martinson (Helen Kleeb) and his sister, Harriet (Vivi Janiss), review what led everyone to this situation. The emotional discussion between them reveals many aspects of their relationships to him and each other.
Norman was an adulterer, and he was convicted of killing his girlfriend. There were reports that someone was seen leaving that scene, and that person may have been the real murderer. They are hoping that the governor stops the execution, but they learn that Norman confesses to the crime (this is the cliffhanger before the mid-show break). Is he lying? There is still the sighting by a witness who saw a woman running from the apartment where the crime occurred.
If there is a problem with the story, it is with the production as it can be confusing who is actually speaking between Aline and Harriet. An occasional mention of the name would be helpful. (The Hummert soaps and evening shows did this to the point of being comical and stilted; that much is not needed here).
With the purpose of understanding what happens because of that issue, this is a spoiler alert:
Aline is the one who killed the girlfriend. Norman had great guilt about his adultery, and knows his wife did it. His decision to confess and plead guilty to the murder was out of deep remorse and to spare his wife of the penalty of what she did. Aline’s mother knew that she did it all along, and didn't want to talk about it to protect her daughter’s life. From a structural standpoint, the role of the sister, other than to share in the looming tragedy, is to have effective dialogue that brings important details out in the storyline.
The bottom line: the story is full of lies. There a many: Norman’s once secret affair, Aline’s cover-up of her heinous act, Norman’s false confession, the mother’s refusal to say what she believed happened, and likely more.
It’s a good script, with good dialogue, and just needs small changes to be sure we don’t miss out on who is speaking and how they fit. Perhaps the spoiler can help increase the listening fulfillment of this very sad story.
Researcher and international voice actor Keith Scott notes that this was the first Suspense program recorded on 15-inch reel of Ampex recording tape for its archival copy rather than a set of transcription discs. From this point on, the entire production used recording tape. Most of the shows were still broadcast live, however. When William N. Robson took over the series at the end of October 1956, he made a big deal about tape production. In reality, recording tape was used in show production from the early 1950s, but the archival copies would be on discs. Robson was just promoting Suspense as being more “modern.” The Suspense live orchestral music would continue through March 1957, and not use pre-recorded music in production until after that time.
There are three recordings related to this episode. The network recording is the best. There is a low quality aircheck from WMT of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The call letters came from a local newspaper, the Waterloo Morning Tribune. The station started in Cedar Rapids under different call letters, was moved to Waterloo where it received its still-used call letters, but retained them when it was sold and moved back to Cedar Rapids in the 1930s. Airchecks give us a sense of how stations sounded at the time, and make us appreciate the superior sound that are captured from studio transcription discs. There is also a part 2 recording of an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS#521) disc. Part 1 has not been found at the time of this writing.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP550222
THE CAST
Vivi Janiss (Harriet, Norman’s sister), Charlotte Lawrence (Aline, Norman’s wife), Helen Kleeb (Mrs. Martinson, Aline’s mother), Tom Hanley (Telegram boy), Larry Thor (Radio voice / Narrator)
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