Charles McGraw plays a police lieutenant who has to deal with an angry radio station employee who decided he’d take teach his boss a lesson by stealing a small plane and buzzing the station building. There’s a problem, however. He doesn’t have a pilot’s license, and he has no clue how to land. He just wants to keep buzzing the building. The entire town goes on alert, and the lieutenant even seeks the help of the nearby Air Force base. They are finally able to make contact with the plane and the man starts to state his case.
The story is by Sam Pierce. The script title is “Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven Minutes of Hate.” A title that long would be a burden for the practical aspects of press releases and newspaper coverage. Most of those used the number “227.” It may have been spelled out throughout the script to prevent accidental pronunciation as “two two seven” or “two twenty-seven.”
The program was recorded on Wednesday, February 20, 1957. Rehearsal began at 1:00pm and concluded at 6:30pm. Recording started at that time and was completed by 7:00pm.
There might be an inclination to compare this story to The Long Night. The stories are quite different. This not as complex a script or production. The Long Night was about a pilot in serious trouble, not of his own making, with the focus on the actions of the control tower. This episode is about a madman with a deliberate plan to steal a plane and seek revenge for an employment decision. The way the story begins you have a sense that it will end okay. For The Long Night you never really know what the conclusion will be, and is a far more riveting production.
There are two surviving recordings of this episode. The better of the two is the Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#619). This is a newer recording from an AFRS transcription disc. The other recording is an aircheck that is likely from an Armed Forces Radio station in the Far East Network. A bit of the music of the classic radio broadcast series that was used at that time can be heard in the last few seconds.
LISTEN
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https://archive.org/details/TSP570224
THE CAST
CHARLES McGRAW (Lt. Ted “Mac” McDougall), Larry Thor (Bill Rand / 306), Shirley Mitchell (Mrs. Lily Regan), Bob Miller (Frank), Byron Kane (Colonel), Paul Dubov (Airforce Tower Voice), Daws Butler (Van Alden / Man), Chet Stratton (Chuck Regan), George Walsh (Narrator)
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