1960-04-17 Tonight at Five Fifty-Five

Luis Van Rooten stars in a George Bamber science fiction story in which a nation’s top command considers the authenticity of a warning that a nuclear attack would take place at a specific hour. There are scenes of military discussion and arguments about the veracity of intelligence data, strategy, nuance of words and actions. For some, it may seem similar to the discussions that were had in the Kennedy administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.

The title is “spelled” out to ensure that it was read and expressed in the manner that Bamber and producer Paul Roberts desired. The specific title was selected because Suspense began its national broadcast at 5:30pm ET. The plot built up to a potential disaster at the end of the show. Affiliates were generally free to air Suspense when needed for their market, however, so the confluence of story title and actual time may not have been the case in many markets. The newspaper listings used “Tonight at 5:55” which readers and editors would have immediately recognized as a clock time, which was one of the points of the story. This indicates that CBS publicity used the clock time in their press releases.

The topic of nuclear annihilation was in the news and entertainment media often at this time. Just two weeks earlier, television’s Playhouse 90 dramatized the Pat Frank novel Alas, Babylon. The telecast received strong reviews, and the book was very influential in its time. Some of Bamber’s writings fit into the genre of “enviro-disaster,” such as his 1971 novel The Sea is Boiling Hot, as this story does. It seems to be a topic that was on his mind and he found as worthwhile to explore.

The program was recorded on Tuesday, April 12, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

Two recordings have survived, and both are in fine and nearly equivalent sound. The network recording is a WROW aircheck and is in pleasing sound, and is preferred because it was the way the broadcast was first heard. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#782) has a clean, rich sound, and is only recently available.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600417

THE CAST

Luis Van Rooten (The Chairman), Whitfield Connor (Williams), Francine Meyers (Patty), John Gibson (Tice), Larry Robinson (The Marine / Voice 2), Bob Readick (Stinis / Voice 1), Ralph Camargo (Harrison)

The announcing duties for this episode are by Warren Sweeney, substituting for Stuart Metz.

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1960-04-10 Two Horse Parlay

Lyle Sudrow stars in a Walter Black story about a double deception that backfires. Sudrow portrays a young man whose elderly, wealthy and sightless aunt sent him from Chicago to New York to continue piano study for a concert career. He has neglected his studies for quite a while and squandered whatever money she sent to play the horses through a syndicate that permits him to accumulate a $4,000 indebtedness (almost $45,000 in US$2025!). The mob is applying pressure on him for immediate payment. His aunt has always sent him money before, but this may be too large an amount for him to just ask for it. Under this duress, he concocts a scheme to obtain additional funds from her. A woman friend, an accomplished pianist is persuaded to become an accomplice in the plan. His tells her he needs $6,000 because a famous classical pianist has agreed to teach him, and he needs to fly to Europe to do so. The aunt is pleased, but won’t give him the money unless he visits her in Chicago, which he agrees. Since the aunt is blind, they can trick her by having the woman play the piano in the aunt’s apartment, and pretending that he is performing for her. The plan sounds like it may work, and it does, but the aunt has something else in mind. She wants him to play for a local promoter who can arrange a concert performance for him. The deception can’t go on, but a visit from the aunt’s doctor implies that she has a bad heart, and any shock can cause her to have a fatal heart attack. The nefarious mind of the nephew has an alternative plan… to literally scare his aunt, and then inherit the money needed for the gambling debt, and more. It’s a good story with surprises along the way.

The script title is a horse racing term for a bet on two different races. If the bet on the first horse is won, the proceeds from that win are placed on the second horse in a different race. If that horse wins, the bettor collects the total amount the second horse pays. In this case, the “first bet” was won, that they could deceive the aunt successfully about his playing. The “second bet” in this story is a much different matter.

The program was recorded on Tuesday, April 5, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

Two recordings have survived. The network recording is a WROW aircheck and is very listenable. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#781) has cleaner, richer sound, and is the preferred one of the two.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600410

THE CAST

Jane Rose (Aunt Meta), Lyle Sudrow (Johnny), Ellen McRae (Eve), Larry Haines (Porco), Walter Black (Dr. Hanna)

Katherine Emmett was originally cast as Aunt Meta. Another character named “voice” was planned to be doubled by Walter Black. That part or dialogue was either given to another role or edited out.

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1960-04-03 A Shipment of Mute Fate

Bernie Grant stars in the second Suspense broadcast of this classic story that was first produced on Escape. A deadly Bushmaster snake, called “mute fate” because it has a similar structured tail as a rattlesnake but does not make noise, is brought on board a cruise ship. Of course, it escapes. The first Suspense production starred Jack Kelly. Details about that and the original short story can be found at

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/03/1957-01-06-shipment-of-mute-fate.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP570106 is where recordings can be downloaded and streamed.

The program was recorded on Tuesday, March 29, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

Two recordings have survived. The network recording is a WROW aircheck and is very listenable. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#779) has cleaner, richer sound, and is the preferred one of the two.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600403

THE CAST

Bernard Grant (Chris Warner), Inge Swenson (Mother Willis), Frank Milano (Clara the cat), Ralph Bell (Captain Wood), Bob Dryden (Sanchez / Mate), Frank Thomas, Jr. (Bowman)

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