This episode of the series has importance far beyond its story elements. A man who leaves the mob and moves to a remote place to start a new life for him and his family. Mob ties are hard to break, hence the title, and he is in great danger for his past associations.
Some Suspense observers claim that a later repeat broadcast of the script under the title Night on Red Mountain was the inspiration for the 1997 graphic novel by John Wagner, A History of Violence. The novel was also made into a 2005 film produced by David Cronenberg. The basic storyline of the radio drama might have been a springboard for a much more complicated story and movie. Whether or not Wagner was inspired by this script cannot be verified at this time. The plot of someone running away from a previous life to start a new one but is haunted by the prior life is not new.
That’s not what makes this script special, and an important part of Suspense history, however. This episode represents the return of William N. Robson to Suspense as a scriptwriter.
In 1952, Robson was exiled by the CBS Blacklist. It turns out that this story is not really about gangsters. It’s an allegory about his forced separation from CBS and his efforts to return to the network. There was one CBS executive who stood in his way for no apparent reason. The background details of the situation are fascinating and are a window into the Blacklist period and CBS management. A key to understanding the times and Robson’s plight is a letter he wrote to newscaster Edward R. Murrow asking for his help. That letter is in Murrow’s papers at Holyoke College. It is analyzed at a separate web page noted in the below commentary. Be sure to visit that page.
To get the most out of the recording, listen to the broadcast first. Then read about the backstory to catch some of the allegorical story events. Listen a second time to hear how it all fits together.
There are two recordings, a network recording and an Armed Forces Radio Services (AFRS#523). Both recordings are very good, but the network recording is preferred for its richer sound.
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https://archive.org/details/TSP550308
THE CAST
Tom McKee (Walt Parsons, aka Joey Parino), Peter Leeds (Bat), Joyce McCluskey (Sally Parsons), Jack Kruschen (Big Pete Parelli), Larry Thor (Sergeant Dewey / Narrator), Victor Rodman (Dad), Irene Barton (Las Vegas Operator), Jan Marlowe (Operator #2), Bill Anders (Radio Announcer)
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Nobody Ever Quits and the Plight of William N. Robson
Bill Robson was at the beginnings of entertainment radio in the 1930s, and was immersed in the development and use of the techniques and technologies of the time. He was a successful writer, director, and producer for many different kinds of series. One of his notable achievements was the WW2 series Man Behind the Gun which gave a start to many radio careers and was recognized with a Peabody Award. The series supported causes of freedom with heroic stories from the European and Pacific fronts and was an important effort to sustain confidence in the war effort.
He enjoyed scriptwriting even though his directing and producing skills were in demand. His problems at CBS began with the 1950 publication of Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television by a newsletter titled Counterattack. Along with many entertainment and broadcast personalities, he was listed as having potential Communist leanings and activities.
He was confused by his inclusion in the book since he had a strong broadcast record of patriotic programming, that included Man Behind the Gun and also the light spy drama Man Called X and many other shows. Nonetheless, networks and advertisers were rattled by Red Channels and there was pressure to hire talent that was not listed and therefore assumed to not have any issues that would cause brands to be harmed in the minds of consumers. Auto-Lite was one of those worried advertisers. Robson’s career at CBS was suddenly in jeopardy.
A single CBS executive, Daniel O’Shea, and his staff, was responsible for enforcement of internal rules that ensured the loyalty of its talent. He was an entertainment lawyer, and joined CBS in late 1950 from RKO Pictures. He joined to become involved in television projects, but somehow his assignment shifted. He ended up being the executive who enforced loyalty agreements that determined which performers were permissible to hire. (O’Shea earned the cynical moniker “vice president of treason” among some of the CBS staff).
His office would get calls from producers and directors about casting, and they would do some light investigating and return with answers of “cleared” and “not cleared,” without any explanation. O’Shea seemed to take particular pleasure in the exclusion of Robson from CBS. It may have started as a simple personality clash that somehow ballooned into shunning. O’Shea was known for his belief that talent was mostly undifferentiated and easily replaceable, especially for radio. One Blacklisted talent could be replaced by an acceptable one, and no one would know the difference. O’Shea’s actions (really his inactions) became a nightmare for Robson.
Things seemed to be okay at the beginning. Small changes would allow Robson’s scripts to be used. His 1951 Suspense scripts were credited with pseudonyms. The names “William Norman” and “Christopher Anthony” were used to avoid complaints by the Auto-Lite advertising staffers. That wasn't good enough, in the end. He did not work for CBS for about four years. He did find other work, but it was not the work he wanted or the projects he desired.
It was a sad situation. It was especially insulting when one of his lesser known efforts, Operation: Underground, was suddenly cancelled. It told stories of freedom-seeking individuals in post-war Europe as they sought to thwart the efforts of Communists and totalitarian leaders. It was a patriotic effort for which Robson was especially proud. Virtually no recordings have survived beyond its audition recording, though the scripts have. It is one of classic radio’s missing series. The series was replaced, in a rush, by Gunsmoke. The adult western took over that timeslot, and developed into one of radio’s finest adult dramas of any genre. Operation: Underground was quickly forgotten.
The research behind Red Channels was sloppy. It was packed with good information, false information, out of context information, and there was no way of discerning what was reliable. It created more confusion than it did illumination. Because it was printed, the document conveyed an authority that it did not consistently have.
Its many mistakes and misinterpretations haunted performers and writers. Some were able to rise above the disruptions and financial losses of their careers. Others were not. Somehow, Robson was identified as Communist-leaning because of some official government activities of his father, a Pittsburgh official with the same name that were decades earlier. Robson also supported relief efforts events targeted to assist impoverished or threatened Russian citizens caught in the backlash of the war and Stalin’s oppression. That was the same Russia that fought Hitler’s Germany alongside the US, Britain, and other countries.
Because Red Channels had such an effect, and its sloppy research became more and more apparent, groups of entertainment and high-profile persons created mechanisms to “clear” themselves after conducting some basic independent investigations. Some of Hollywood’s union leaders were involved in the clearance process in support of their members but also as a show of their own patriotism. If slighted performers testified to their political activities and added context to them that Red Channels missed, they would be reinstated in some manner. It was a very complex time with many subtleties to the situation. Some of the listed persons sued, and it took years before any resolution in their favor occurred. Eventually, some of the supporters of Red Channels became disgraced, themselves, a decade too late for those whose careers were ruined by the haphazard reliability of its pages.
It’s a fascinating time in broadcast history that cannot be summarized here. Robson got caught up in the cross-currents, was cooperative, and was cleared by the industry’s reputable mechanisms. That is, except in the mind of CBS executive Daniel O’Shea. No reasons were ever offered.
CBS’ Blacklist was special, and was so prominent that other networks took a “free ride” on it. They did not have to spend serious money or time to have their own screening process, but used CBS decisions on a passive basis. If a performer or writer could show that they recently worked for CBS, they could find work on the other networks. It slowly started to crumble, as other networks became comfortable using CBS blacklisted talent where O’Shea seemed obsessed with it. The tide turned against CBS’ activities by its own news reporting when Ed Murrow’s reporting about the Army-McCarthy hearings took over the news cycle and turned the tide of the public, and internally. Once that happened, the internal tide turned against O’Shea. There became a general dissatisfaction and realization of the fruitlessness of the Blacklist efforts. (As an example, Howard Duff got caught up in Red Channels undertow, losing his role as Sam Spade, for example. By 1957, Duff and his wife Ida Lupino had a big contract with CBS for their TV comedy series Mr. Adams and Eve because of their broad popularity. It was like the Blacklist never happened).
O'Shea was eventually fired because CBS had enough of the process and of him. Changing circumstances and sentiments made it irrelevant and his departure was explained with the common “decided to pursue other opportunities” explanation. He returned to RKO). CBS tired of it all, and pushed him aside. O'Shea went back to the movie business, heading RKO. Some executives always seem to land on their feet in top paying jobs, no matter what damage they cause to others or their organizations. He seems to have been one of them. It is rarely mentioned that it was Murrow and CBS leader William Paley who helped create the loyalty process, but it is clear that they were the ones who stopped it, too.
In 1953, Robson had enough. He was frustrated with his efforts with O’Shea and his staff and sent a letter to Murrow that outlined the situation. He listed everything he was asked to do and their outcomes. Yet no decisions were made and no explanations were ever received. That letter is one of the most interesting reports of what the CBS Radio Blacklist was like. The reason he wrote to Murrow was because of his organizational position at CBS News as well as his larger presence in the network. They had an acquaintanceship and friendship that dated back to the earlier days at the network, and especially for Man Behind the Gun. The fascinating letter is in the Murrow archives at Holyoke College. Its text and context is available at https://sites.google.com/view/robsonmurrow/home It is worth reading after listening to the program.
It is not known how Murrow responded to Robson, but it was likely by phone and not letter. He probably told him there was nothing he could do at that time, but that things were slowly changing, and to stay in touch.
The CBS Blacklist eventually began to crumble, and it took a while for it to end. O'Shea finally left in mid-1955, but Robson was allowed to submit a Suspense script, Nobody Ever Quits, properly attributed to him, and produced under Antony Ellis. The fact that it was produced was a sign that O’Shea no longer mattered. He was still a CBS employee when the Robson script was broadcast. The title became more of a testament to Robson’s resolve to return to the network and the career he loved.
In the end, the extent of Communist activities within the entertainment and broadcast industries would not be understood until the glasnost of Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership of the Soviet Union and the release of the VENONA papers in 1995 by US National Security Agency. Those documents of intercepted Soviet communications with US government employees and journalists shed new light on Cold War espionage and other activities. The documents are available online. There was truth to the concerns about Communist infiltration, and the VENONA papers document many of them, only years later. There were also paranoiac untruths that led to many broken lives and careers, and the delayed exoneration only made that more tragic. When people are in the real-time swirl of information and misinformation, they have to find ways to navigate through them, and often make mistakes based on what they believed to be true at the time, doing things they would not otherwise do. It is now decades later, almost 75 years, and there is still much to be understood. There are so many new resources about the period today than there were even a few years ago.
In October 1956, Robson became the producer of Suspense and presided over some of the series’ most interesting broadcasts. While other radio dramas were being cancelled from season to season, Suspense and Robson survived. When President Kennedy appointed Edward R. Murrow as Director of the US Information Agency, he recommended that Robson be hired by Voice of America. He became chief documentary writer, producer and director, and remained there until the end of his career. His projects won four more Peabody Awards.
Deciphering Nobody Ever Quits (and the subsequent broadcasts of Night on Red Mountain)
Finally, a Robson script is back on Suspense. It was regarded highly enough to be used on the series three more times. Those broadcasts had a different name, Night on Red Mountain, itself a subtle reference to the “Red Scare.” The 1957 and 1959 broadcasts starred Richard Crenna under Robson's personal direction. It was produced again under New York’s Paul Roberts in 1960 with Mandel Kramer and Lawson Zerbe. It's not known how many people inside CBS, the press, or the listening audience, picked up on the “biographical” aspects of the script, but it was obviously considered a good story and worth repeating on that basis alone.
Robson’s letter to Murrow helps in the deciphering of the script’s situations and dialogue. Listed below are a few aspects of the story that put the script and Robson’s Blacklist experiences in perspective. There are likely more that can be found with additional listening scrutiny, but there are also some inside-references that we may never know that Robson included for his own satisfaction.
Unusually cold weather in the California mountains with a looming intense snow storm
The Blacklist had a chilling effect on the natural give-and-take of talent, casting, direction, and production. It interrupted careers and daily life. Even without cold weather or snow, traversing mountains and mountain roads can be dangerous. Harsh weather can turn regular activities into dangerous ones.
“You sure you were never back east?”
This is a likely reference to the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc and its activities to spread Communism to the West. Because Robson was mainly on the west coast at this time, this is likely a dual reference to CBS’ New York headquarters.
“I don't want to be owing anybody anything... particularly rats”
This was uttered by the gangster who finds the lead character (Walt, formerly ‘Pete’ in his prior life) and is out to blackmail him because of his criminal past. “The rats” is likely reference to those who testified before the various government committees and hearings. Many entertainers felt too many of their peers cooperated with hearings and there should have been a greater stand for free speech. Others fought to clear themselves so they could keep working.
“Won't be much more business in this storm”
The storm prevents customers from using the main character’s gas station. This also refers to the professional isolation of the Blacklist, which had cut incomes and had other financial costs to Robson and others who suffered the same plight.
“They ask an awful lot of questions” and “That man had me scared, they way he asked questions”
The various loyalty investigations became aggressive and intrusive. There were Blacklisted persons who were in the Communist Party for more innocent reasons and later dropped it. Others were more deeply involved. In terms of Suspense, this may be a reference to Silvia Richards (who testified) and Robert Richards (who refused) and were divorced in 1944. Silvia had concerns about future child support from Robert’s earnings and her own writing career if she did not testify. Therefore, she cooperated. She ended up leaving her writing career behind, anyway.
“I'm not a squealer” and “I just want to be left alone”
The general sentiment of those who found themselves on the Blacklist and were harassed as a result of it was that they meant no harm by it, and were essentially apolitical. Many were and got caught in the undertow.
Being trapped on the mountain by the weather, and the only pass down to the town is blocked
This is fairly straightforward. Robson can't get back to the career he worked so hard to achieve and excel. No matter how hard he tried, despite Robson’s independent clearance by key Blacklist players, he was still being blocked by CBS VP Daniel O’Shea, and perhaps others, without logical explanation.
Various missed phone connections and communications interruptions in the storm
Unable to resume his normal life, Robson was cut off from business relationships because of “the storm” of Blacklisting.
Gangsters who were hunting down Walt drive off the road and down a cliff to their death because of carelessness; the danger is over
This Could refer to “McCarthyism” falling under its own weight, with Murrow’s help. It could also refer to the tide turning against Blacklist practices inside CBS.
Driving off the cliff likely refers to O’Shea, though he was finishing out his CBS employment at the time. Even though O’Shea was still there, it seems safe and free to work again once more.
The title’s multiple meanings: “Nobody Ever Quits” is a crime family phrase; once you join, you can’t get out
1) Relentless suspicions and inquiries no matter what the facts may be, similar to mobsters making sure that someone may never escape their influence without penalty.
2) Exoneration cannot stop the negative effects of the Blacklist; allegations are remembered much more than exonerations were.
3) Robson kept pressing on to re-gain his desired career, he had no desire to quit.
Title change to Night on Red Mountain in subsequent performances
1) “Night” is the darkness of being trapped by Red Channels
2) “Red” is obvious reference to Red Channels and Communism
3) Possible reference to “making a mountain out of a molehill”; blacklist pain and agony yielded no positive results, diverted attention from real problems and solutions
4) Robson changed the title when he produced the episode himself in 1957 and 1958 because it may have been too obvious a reference in the first broadcast under a different producer; he was treading carefully in 1955 since he just returned
5) Snow on 66 uses “Red Mountain” as a location in its story. Another Robson script, 1962’s Date Night, has a lead role of a teenager’s father that is likely a caricature of Senator Joe McCarthy. The father’s mind, aided by alcohol, concocts all kinds of conspiracy and danger scenarios when his daughter is out for a date. It is likely a reference to McCarthy’s own alcoholism as his efforts fell apart.
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