Vincent Price stars in the third broadcast of this famous Edgar Allan Poe story about the Spanish Inquisition. It was adapted by John Dickson Carr for its original 1943 production. This may not be the best of the four Suspense broadcasts from a production standpoint, but Vincent Price does take this tape-produced tight-budget era performance and makes it a cut above what it would have been otherwise.
The two prior broadcasts featured Broadway stars. The 1943 production starred Henry Hull, and the 1947 one starred Jose Ferrer. Details and background of the two productions can be found at:
1943 Henry Hull
https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/02/1943-01-12-pit-and-pendulum.html
https://archive.org/details/TSP430112 provides access to the recordings for download and streaming
1947 Jose Ferrer
https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/11/1947-11-28-pit-and-pendulum.html
https://archive.org/details/TSP471128 provides access to the recordings for download and streaming
The 1947 broadcast, just weeks after the cancellation of the Roma Wines sponsorship, still had the full orchestral support, that the series was known for, in its favor. It would have been interesting to hear what Price would have brought to a production with equivalent resources that Ferrer had.
The program was recorded on Thursday, October 31, 1957 (Halloween… how fitting!). Price’s movie set schedule must have been a challenge to accommodate. The pre-recording of programs allowed the flexibility of fitting Suspense appearances into the schedules of guest stars who were now busy with both movies and television. Price loved performing on radio, so he was probably quite pleased that Robson could arrange a session at a favorable time for him and gain the cooperation of the other performers and artists. Rehearsal began at 8:30pm and concluded at 10:00pm. Recording and editing began at 10:00pm and concluded at 1:30am, the wee hours of November 1, 1957.
There are three surviving recordings of this episode, a network recording that is the preferred listening option, and two Armed Forces Radio Service recordings, AFRS#656 and AFRS#958. The recordings can be differentiated by the announcements after the Robson opening monologue:
AFRS#656: US Post Office
AFRS#958: Joe and Daphne Forsythe skit
All three recordings are in very good sound. The network recording is in the best sound, and is usually preferred because it was the way it was first heard by the listening audience. AFRS#958 is in nearly equivalent sound. The other AFRS#656 has somewhat duller sound.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP571110
THE CAST
Vincent Price (Jean D’Albret), Ellen Morgan (Beatrice Valdez), Jay Novello (Pedro Espila, the Grand Inquisitor), Ben Wright (Clerk), John Hoyt (Antonio, the 2nd Inquisitor), George Walsh (Narrator)
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