This is the second Suspense production of the Irving Reis adaptation of the 1866 Charles Dickens story. It stars Sarah Churchill. Reis and Robson were very close friends, dating back to the 1930s their early years in radio. Reis passed away at age 47 about three-and-a-half years prior to this broadcast.
The script was first presented with Reis directing in 1937 on Columbia Workshop. A reporter attempts to interview a hermit-like railroad signalman who lives in a shack huddled by railroad tracks. He has a recurring vision that has served as a warning of disaster before several train wrecks. He insists the visions are real, including one about her.
The first Suspense presentation starred Agnes Moorehead. Details about that 1953 broadcast, changes made by Elliott Lewis to the 1937 script (and maintained by Robson in this broadcast), and also the career of Irving Reis, can be found at
https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/09/1953-03-23-signalman.html
https://archive.org/details/TSP530323 is also where the 1953 recordings can be downloaded or streamed.
The program was recorded on Thursday, November 1, 1956. Rehearsal began at 9:00am and concluded at 2:00pm. Recording commenced at 2:00pm and was completed at 2:30pm.
There are two surviving recordings of the broadcast of which the network recording is much better. The other recordings is likely a heavily edited aircheck of an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording. It is of very low quality.
This episode marks an important change for Suspense in its scheduling. The program was moved to Sunday, 4:30pm Eastern time. It never had a weekday time slot again. In New York, it was preceded by CBS Radio Workshop and followed by Indictment, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, The FBI in Peace and War, Gunsmoke, and Jack Benny.
KNX in Los Angeles ran Suspense at 8:00pm on Sunday. Because of tape recording technology, stations around the country had some leeway in when they would air these programs at a time that fit their audience and their advertisers. They would record the network feed and broadcast accordingly.
This was Sarah Churchill’s sole appearance on the series. She was the daughter of Winston Churchill and pursued an acting career in Britain and Hollywood. She had many credits on film and television through the years. Appearing with Fred Astaire in the 1951 Royal Wedding was likely her most notable in the 1950s. Her life had significant ups and downs personally and professionally. More information can be found at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Churchill_(actress)
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP561104
THE CAST
Sarah Churchill (Amy Sears), Ben Wright (The Signalman), George Walsh (Narrator)
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