Maria Palmer stars in a Herb Hosie script about the sole survivor of an insurrectionist group in a country where revolution to spread freedom results in imprisonment or death. The story begins with a military-like police force surrounding a farm house. Insurrectionists were known to be hiding there, and the force has just attempted to eliminate all of the them by grenades and guns. When they check the house to be sure, they find Palmer’s character, one of the revolutionaries, known only in the story (and in the script) as “the girl.” The other three characters in the story have names; isn’t that curious? This implies that she has no “value,” but there’s another side. Knowing someone’s name is a subtle acknowledgment of their most basic individual dignity, and ability to influence them, good or bad, an ability to get their attention or discover something about them. This underscores that the regime that is after the insurrectionists cares nothing about them as persons. The title of “The Wait” refers to their using the girl to lure the last remaining male insurrectionist into their trap. As the story progresses, she realizes that she has been double-crossed, and the story moves in an unexpected direction.
This was the only Suspense script by Herb Hosie. He was a prolific author of radio, television, and theatrical plays in Canada.
According to Robson’s monologue, the story takes place in a nameless country, and it could be yesterday, today, or tomorrow. As the story proceeds, it is another of the stories about concerns about life behind the Iron Curtain. Robson often presented such themes, including his series Operation Underground and his known sentiments would lead to a major role in Voice of America in the Kennedy administration.
It is odd to hear Howard McNear act so nonchalantly as one of the citizen-soldiers, a farmer, assigned to kill Palmer’s character and stop the insurrection.
It is also strange for classic radio enthusiasts to hear much of the bridge music that is heard in the five-part series of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. It was part of the CBS library that any program could draw from. Such music has been heard since the switch to program production on tape and the elimination of the live orchestra. It just seems more obvious in this episode.
The program was recorded on Wednesday, September 24, 1958. Rehearsal began at 2:00pm with recording initiated at 4:30pm. It included in-studio edits and concluded at 6:00pm. Production studio edits continued to 8:00pm. Music was added at a later date.
No network recording has survived. Of the four ad spots, Chrysler had one. The other three were allocated close to broadcast time.
Two Armed Forces Radio Service recordings have survived, with AFRS#694 in the best sound quality. There is another program for which the AFRS number is not known, but it is likely in the high 990s or very low 1000s. The programs can be identified by the announcement after the Robson monologue:
AFRS#694: Importance of radio
AFRS number in high 990s or very low 1000s: Military medals
The unidentified AFRS recording has been edited by removing part of the closing “filler” music. There have also been recordings of this episode in poor sound that were airchecks from an Armed Forces Radio station, with announcements edited out as well as the music. Those recordings are now replaced by these two recordings, and especially AFRS#694 which is in excellent sound.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP581004
THE CAST
MARIA PALMER (The Girl), John Dehner (Guion), Howard McNear (App), Karl Swenson (Villi), George Walsh (Narrator)
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