This psychological drama stars Cathy Lewis and was written by William N. Robson may be the result of a convergence of their shared experiences, one via the microphone (Lewis), and the other via the typewriter (Robson). Lewis officially divorced Elliott the prior year. The major factor, reported in the press, was his constant working. Robson was married three times. The second marriage, to actress June Wilkens, ended around this time of broadcast. She suffered from issues related to alcoholism. When she died at age 53 in 1972, and the causes of her death were listed as “chronic liver disease and alcoholism.” Robson’s two sons, Christopher and Anthony, were while born during his marriage to Wilkins.
Classic radio enthusiast, researcher, and modern day performer Patte Rosebank, raised these matters at the Cobalt Club collector forum website’s Suspense thread a few years ago. She considers that this play “is truly chilling, especially now that we now know so much more about living with someone who has an addiction.” She adds about Lewis that “Her character's lines about the sadness of her first marriage have the added poignancy of Cathy's personal experience.”
Lewis plays the role of a lonely woman who tells her boyfriend about her unhappy previous former marriage. The story has flashbacks to that first marriage, some of which are disturbing because you hear the marriage crumbling. She goes out alone as their interests diverge and she discovers her husband had start cheating on her. An altercation in the kitchen results in his drunken anger where he falls on a knife. Police declared it an accidental death, but she bears the guilt that her argument was what created the incident. The story now out, her boyfriend proposes marriage. Her willingness to make the mistake of another loveless union where she feels that she is the cause of someone else’s misbehavior. Everyone listening knows that there is no way “everything will be different.”
The program was pre-recorded, but no script is available to reference those details.
The surviving Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording is heavily edited, has narrow range, and is in low quality sound. The current copy may be the best sounding copy available. It is hoped that a clean AFRS transcription disc may be found that can supply a better recording to fully appreciate the story and Cathy Lewis’ performance.
Cathy Lewis was 43 at the time of this performance. She did not remarry. She passed away nine years later, of cancer. William N. Robson, also 43 at this time, would marry again. That marriage would last until his passing from Alzheimer’s Disease in 1995, at 88 years old.
After the 8:00 mark, Lewis’ character says she has made “Swiss steak” for dinner. The name does not get its name from Switzerland, but from the technique of tenderizing by pounding or rolling beef called “swissing.” It is similar to pot roast, and was a common meal that used lesser cost cuts of beef. It was considered a “comfort food” and had many variations of preparation depending on what was in the kitchen at a particular time.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590809
THE CAST
CATHY LEWIS (Shirley), Peter Leeds (Wally), Larry Dobkin (Herb / Nino), Virginia Gregg (The Neighbor), George Walsh (Narrator)
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