Elliott Reid (in this production he’s “Ted”) stars in a George Bamber script about a beatnik poet who is framed for murder. He’s called “Tennis Shoe,” and is a hitch-hiker. He recently read a poem he composed to the Atlantic Ocean, and now it’s his goal to read the same creative piece to the Pacific Ocean. Everyone is a “square” to him, not as smart as him, and not as “hip” as him. He’s also a prankster, and takes nothing seriously. If something he does creates an inconvenience for others, that makes it all the funnier.
A couple driving to Las Vegas pick him up. The car radio is on and there is a news bulletin that a hatchet murderer is on the loose. (You’ve never heard this one before on Suspense! At this point, the story becomes a convergence of Back Seat Driver and On a Country Road and a collision with Jack Kerouac’s On the Road). The couple worries that Tennis Shoe is the killer, but he tells them he doesn’t own a hatchet, so it couldn’t be him. They make a stop for gas, and leave Tennis Shoe behind to fend for himself. The story progresses and he’s arrested soon thereafter. When the town gets a whiff of the arrest, a crowd forms around the jail demanding justice against him. This doesn’t bode well, but it does turn out okay in the end, but he learns nothing from the experience. The story can be exhausting as a lot of the beatnik stereotypes are overplayed. Tennis Shoe is annoying, self-centered, self-important, and dismissive of everyone all at the same time. That is what is supposed to make him fascinating to others, and listeners, it seems.
The program was recorded on Wednesday, May 14, 1958. Rehearsal began at 2:00pm and ended at 4:30pm. Recording started at that time, and including some in-studio edits, finished at 6:00pm. Additional production editing continued until 8:00pm. Music was added prior to air time on Sunday, May 25.
This is one of the most polarizing Suspense episodes among fans; some hate it, some love it, others consider it strange. While some will listen once and move on, others may find the very different story, odd main character, and its beatnik jazz music to be very engaging. The music fits the storyline and is an entertaining and effective backdrop to the story.
This production may have had some different appeal in 1958 than it does today. Robson and others must have liked it because they use this script again, with, of all people, Dennis Day! Suspense often made surprising against-type casting decisions. Often it was to get an audience to tune in just for curiosity’s sake.
The surviving recording is from the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS#981) and is in excellent sound. It replaces a heavily edited Armed Forces Radio station aircheck in sub-par sound.
No network recording has survived. Two of the ad spots were for GMC Trucks and Best Foods. Two spots were to be allocated closer to the air date.
George Bamber’s first produced Suspense script
The script’s author was 26-year-old George Bamber, just home from his military service. This was the first of many Suspense scripts for him. When he was a teenager, he was a big fan of radio, and science fiction, especially. He had a special fondness for X Minus One. He was always interested in writing for Suspense. William N. Robson, he said, rejected a number of his scripts. This one was approved, however. Robson may have been looking for a script that had a current topical aspect and creative edge to it. Bamber was paid $375 for the script (about $4125 in US$2025). He put the Robson rejections aside and re-submitted the same scripts to the show after it moved to New York. They would be accepted by producer Paul Roberts and others who followed.
Bamber worked hard to make a go of writing for radio and television and ended up taking a job in the paper and wood products industry in public relations and marketing. In his early 50s, he was diagnosed with heart problems and had to leave his job. As he considered his options about what he could do next, he sought something that was more passive without the stresses of office obligations. He decided to become an avocado farmer where the trees, essentially, did all the work. He became so good at that, and at making and selling guacamole from a special recipe, that he and his family won awards at various Southern California food festivals for many years. He was beloved among his fellow growers and food festival attendees. Unfortunately, in 2017, he was killed during a severe storm when a huge tree fell on his car as he was driving along a country road. Suspense used 11 of his scripts, and ABC’s Theatre 5 used 16 of them, with three of those repeats from Suspense.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP580525
THE CAST
TED [ELLIOTT] REID (“Tennis Shoe”), Lillian Buyeff (Mary / Old Lady at Funeral Parlor), Bill Quinn (Walter), Daws Butler (“The Cat” / Bronson / Mortician), Barney Phillips (Old Man / George the first cop), Jack Moyles (Charley the second cop / 3rd voice), Sam Pierce (Radio announcer / 2nd voice), Norm Alden (1st Voice), Bill James & Tom Hanley (Ad Libs), George Walsh (Narrator)
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