Marie Wilson, comedy star of My Friend Irma, has the leading role in this William N. Robson script about a self-absorbed and clueless and unworldly Hollywood starlet on a publicity tour to the then-British territory of Hong Kong. The studio press agent, Joey Finn, arranging and accompanying her at the personal appearances, is jailed by British authorities as spying, but he’s during his aggressive public relations maneuvers to get the most publicity possible. He’s supposed to be the person assigned to keep her out of any potentially embarrassing incidents and mistakes that may affect her image. He’s one of those “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission” bull-in-the-china-shop guys, so almost anything can happen. Instead, the adult-in-the-room is Randolph Harvordsen-Smythe, official attache to the governor, who has to keep them both out of trouble, and basically protect them from... themselves. Ben Wright is marvelous in the role. The starlet thinks there’s a Sultan in love with her, though they’ve never met. She has no sense of geography, or any skepticism that the Sultan might be interested in the fact she’s famous and getting a “photo opp,” and not much else. Her behavior and demands create a round of bureaucratic foolishness as they work to keep her out of a diplomatic incident that would be an embarrassment for all concerned. The wise solution: get her and Finn back onto American soil before the silliness really gets out of hand.
If you think befuddled bureaucrats being overwhelmed as they attempt to herd cats is funny, this episode is for you. This may be as close as Suspense gets to presenting a screwball comedy. Others may not be inclined to enjoy this odd episode. It is entertaining if you are ready for a sugary dessert and skip the main course. It’s not a top episode, for sure.
No script cover with the dates and times of pre-recording is available at this time.
There are two surviving recordings, a complete network broadcast, and an Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#710) that is the better of the two. For many years the only recordings available were heavily edited airchecks in low quality sound. The AFRS recording was recently found in 2023 and is a significant upgrade in quality.
This was Wilson’s first appearance on radio since 1954. She was best known for starring in the highly successful series My Friend Irma on radio from 1947 to 1954 and two movies with the character, and also the television series from 1952 to 1954. Her film career started in 1934, and she was very active in supporting roles until she achieved celebrity with the “Irma” role. Her life and career is summarized at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Wilson_(American_actress)
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590222
THE CAST
MARIE WILSON (Celestine Mayhew), Ben Wright (Randolph Harvordsen-Smythe), Charlie Lung (Chinese Man / Wong), Ramsay Hill (Captain), Norm Alden (Joey Finn), George Walsh (Narrator)
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