This story about Russian traitors who plan to assassinate the Czar and other Royal Court officials. The original story is by an Italian author and political activist Alfredo Oriani. The conspirators will act during a New Year celebration held in a theater. Things don’t turn out as planned for the leader of the plot. The short story, written around the very late 1800s or very early 1900s was adapted by Silvia Richards. Oriani had an interesting literary career of fictional writings, philosophy, and political works.
This story, titled “The Moscow Theater Plot,” was included in some anthologies for many years before it was brought to Suspense decades later. The story can be read at the Internet Archive in an international anthology of short fiction The Lock and Key Library: Mediterranean, published in 1909. https://archive.org/details/cu31924088479831/page/n141/mode/2up
Whenever Robson had a script about Russia or Eastern Europe, he assembled a cast that had connection to that region. In the time of his producing the series, his cast selection was often driven by his current-day deep interest in Cold War tensions and events. He could showcase actors who were not only good, but their personal connection was that they were refugees from those areas. One of the reasons Robson was blacklisted was because of a misinterpretation of his attendance at an event to raise money for the Russian poor during the WW2. It was also one of the reasons he was selected and effective as a producer for Voice of America. He received multiple Peabody Awards for his work.
The actors in cast for this production were:
Helmut Dantine was born in Austria, and was imprisoned when he was 19 for his anti-fascist and anti-Nazi activities. His parents found a physician who intervened for his release. They sent him to California, and he became an actor.
Lili Valenty was born in a section of Poland that was part of the Russian Empire at the time of her birth. She worked mainly in theater, and at the time of this broadcast was appearing in Hollywood television productions.
Charles Hradilak was born in Czechoslovakia and was a stage performer in Prague in his youth. In the US, he played many Eastern European and German characters in movie and television roles. His last name often appears as “Radilak.”
Fritz Feld was born in Germany and was in movies and television. He was on radio with some regularity. In movies and on television he often had a character where we would do his trademark slap his mouth to make a “pop” sound. His wife, Virginia Christine, also appeared on Suspense.
The surviving copy is a drama-only aircheck recording that lacks its proper opening and closing segments. Robson’s opening monologue is available from the original script:
Pawz Ve-ay-oo Snawveem Gawdawn. Happy New Year, Russian style. Tonight in orthodox churches all over the world, high mass will be sung to usher in the new year according to the ancient Gregorian calendar. On this happy Russian holiday we take you back to another new year's eve more than a half-century ago to Moscow and the days when the serfs were ruled by Czars instead of commissars. Names and places have been changed to protect the innocent if any, but the facts are substantially the same today as they were then. so lay down Das Kapital, draw up a manifesto and listen as Helmut Dantine stars in “Russian New Years” -- a tale well calculated to keep you in... suspense.
The beginning of the introduction is the phonetic spelling of a Russian phrase ensuring he would pronounce it correctly on air. The phonetic pronunciation is closer to “Pozhdravlyayoo Snoveem Godohm.” The phrase in the Cyrillic alphabet is Поздравляю С новым годом. Поздравляю is “congratulations” and С новым годом is “Happy New Year.”
International entertainer and impressionist, and expert on classic radio history, Keith Scott has added his talent to The Suspense Project. For the Suspense episodes that are missing the introductory monologue by William N. Robson, Keith is supplying readings of those openings from the original scripts in the "voice of William N. Robson." He has been approved by Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, Walt Disney Company, and Universal Studios, for authorized voicings of many of their most famous cartoon characters. Mr. Scott resides in Australia.
This episode was recorded on Wednesday, January 9, 1957. Rehearsal began at 1:00pm and concluded at 6:30pm. Recording began at 6:30pm and finished at 7:00pm.
The script cover misspells both Silvia Richards and Alfredo Oriani’s names. The mistakes on the cover page are “Sylvia” and “Oriane.”
In the early years of classic radio hobby, a collector patched incorrect show openings and closings from a different broadcast were patched onto the recording in an attempt to “restore” it. The good intentions identified the show as part of the Suspense series to other collectors, but they did not match the sound of the original. Those patches have been removed.
The episode is not in the best sound, but this copy is better than previous. It still requires close listening because of its background noise and station drift. Some of the music shows evidence of wow and flutter from a consumer reel tape machine. It is believed to be a home aircheck from an Armed Forces Forces station made years after the original network broadcast. It is hoped that a complete recording may be found directly from an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription sometime in the future.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP570113
THE CAST
Helmut Dantine (Boris), Lili Valenty (Olga Karolska), Charles Hradilac (Prince Ogarev), Fritz Feld (Serges Lemm), Jack Kruschen (Guard), George Walsh (Narrator)
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