Herbert Marshall returns to Suspense for his first appearance in more than two years. This David Devine story about a small fishing boat being hijacked by a Nazi to return to mainland Europe was adapted by James Poe. The script was used on Escape broadcasts of 1949-11-01 and 1954-07-24.
A British WW2 war veteran, who lost his arm in the fighting, is taken hostage by a Nazi saboteur. The man’s uncle and wife are on the fishing boat the Nazi wants to use to cross the English Channel. It turns out that the spy was responsible for the sabotage explosion of a British tanker. The amputee veteran is underestimated by the spy, as he and his wife turn the tables on him. The belligerent Nazi suddenly turns to financial negotiation to get out of this unexpected situation. It seems to be going his way… until it’s not.
The name of the story cannot be understood without a little geographic context. “The Goodwins” are the Goodwin Sands of the English Channel and the Strait of Dover are some of the most treacherous waters for ships to navigate. The underwater sands are always shifting, and are said to be responsible for more that 2,000 shipwrecks over the centuries. Modern technology allows this area to be a constantly busy shipping corridor. More information can be found at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwin_Sands
There are two surviving recordings, and both are flawed. The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording is better than the network one.
The production was recorded on Wednesday, July 19, 1957. Rehearsal began at 2:00pm and ended at 5:00pm. Recording began at that time, and editing finished at 7:00pm.
Of all of the productions of this story, the Escape broadcast of 1949-11-01 is the best sounding one.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP570714
THE CAST
Herbert Marshall (Dundas), Hans Conried (Nazi stranger), Ellen Morgan (Mary), Raymond Lawrence (Uncle Mac), Richard Peel (Cutter / Sailor), George Walsh (Narrator)
###
