This is second production of a Morton Fine and David Friedkin script about the influence of crime in a Midwest town stars Harry Bartell. He plays a returning GI who finds his entire community is paralyzed by racketeers. His brother-in-law was killed in a drive-by shooting. “Everyone” knows who killed him, but they are fearful of stepping forward and reporting it to the police. He soon realizes that the corruption crept into his own extended family. He decides that something must be done to stop the violence, and he will have to be the person who does it.
The first broadcast starred Frank Lovejoy. Details about that and other aspects of the story are at
https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/1952-11-10-frightened-city.html
https://archive.org/details/TSP521110 is where the recording can be streamed or downloaded.
The program was recorded on Monday, September 19, 1955. The session began at 11:30am and concluded at 5:00pm. The recording began at that time and ended at 5:30pm.
There are two surviving recordings. The likely network recording is the better of the two. The recording is incomplete, with no mid-show commercial and a clipped close that ends the “Suspense March” prematurely. There is a possibility that it is an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording that has been edited. The other recording is an Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) recording likely from the 1980s. It is complete for that format but has a cobbled-together show opening with pieces from various eras of the series. It is hoped that a complete network recording may be found or an AFRS recording, contemporary to its original broadcast, might be found as well. Until then, these recordings will have to suffice.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP550927
THE CAST
Harry Bartell (Nick Crawford), Charlotte Lawrence (Jane Stewart), Lou Merrill (Donley), Herb Butterfield (Osborne / Voice 2), Vivi Janiss (Mrs. Mason / Operator), Tom McKee (Tom Ruxton / Nolan), Larry Thor (Narrator)
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