Bartlett Robinson stars as Dave, just out of San Quentin, in a Richard Wiel story. He is a jealous ex-con brother who decides to rob his younger sibling (Hal) of his happy life. Hal is a drives explosives to construction sites, a job that always worries his wife, Terry, greatly. It’s often to the point of nagging that he get a safer job. Dave is looking for work, and Hal says there is an opening at the company for other drivers. The opportunity to work may come when Hal finally takes a vacation. Dave has eyes for Hal’s wife, and becomes obsessed with her when Hal is at work. His advances to Terry are rejected, and he believes that the only way he can be with her is if Hal is out of the way. Dave decides to take steps to make that happen. The night before, Dave is out for an evening and arrives back at the house, drunk. The next morning, Terry and Hal realize that Dave has taken Terry’s car, and Hal’s hunting rifle. Hal had casually mentioned where his next delivery destination would be. Dave sets himself up to shoot at the truck.
There is an important dialogue error in the story at approximately 24:50. Dave narrates “It was Dave’s truck feeling its way down the tricky slope in compound low.” The dialogue should have been “It was Hal’s truck feeling its way down the tricky slope in compound low.”
This program was recorded on Thursday, June 13, 1957. Rehearsal began at 2:00pm and finished at 5:00pm. Recording and editing started at 5:00pm and concluded at 7:00pm.
This Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#939) is in excellent sound. Until this time, the only copies were very low quality edited AFRS recordings. No network recording has been found.
Early in the program (about 4:37), Hal mentions that he doesn’t have the money of “Charlie Van Doren.” At that time, Charles Van Doren was basking in his winnings of the television game show Twenty-One. He had a winning streak on the game show that earned him $129,000, a massive payout at that time (the equivalent of nearly $1.5 million in US$2025). Two years after this broadcast, in November 1959, the shine would be off Van Doren’s performance, as he admitted before a Congressional committee that he was given the answers in advance of the show. The 1994 critically acclaimed film, Quiz Show, recounted the events that tainted television quiz show programs for decades, and especially the contestants and production executives involved in the incident.
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THE CAST
Bartlett Robinson (Dave King), Ellen Morgan (Terry), Paul DuBov (Hal King), Barney Phillips (Police Officer), George Walsh (Narrator)
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