This script was initially broadcast on 1951-11-05 as The Trials of Thomas Shaw. That broadcast that starred Joseph Cotten is still missing, but we are lucky that a second broadcast of the script, with a new title, is available.
This Antony Ellis story is about a laborer, Thomas Shaw, who volunteers confessions to two brutal murders. He thinks he’s outsmarting the justice system. He’s suspected of the first murder, and eventually pleads guilty. Once he’s in court and on the stand, he claims his innocence. He says that the only way to clear his name was to plead guilty and go to court to be found not guilty. It doesn’t work the second time! It’s a curious story, for sure, not a classic, but worthwhile to hear the gimmick play out. It would be interesting to hear how Cotten handles the part since he can play such parts with a sinister undercurrent. Perhaps a recording of that 1951 broadcast will surface one day.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP551115
THE CAST
Ben Wright (Thomas Shaw), Betty Harford (Peg), Paula Winslowe (Harriet), Richard Peel (Shinn / Foreman), Joe Kearns (Inspector), Charlie Lung (Mr. Cottle / Clerk), Ramsay Hill (Sir William File the Judge), John Dodsworth (Beckett), Herb Butterfield (Shakeshaft), Byron Kane (Lyons), Larry Thor (Narrator)
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