Santos Ortega stars in a William N. Robson story about a corrupt city commissioner who wants to go straight and stop the payoffs and the backroom dealing. Two of his allies are not thrilled about the idea, and threaten to throw him out of the twenty-first floor of the building where they are meeting. They express their disagreement and threaten to ruin his reputation for not going along with what the political party he belongs to wants. To show his resolve, he throws one of them out of the window. The remaining one gasps in disbelief and is afraid the same may happen to him. He kills him, too. An alluring woman, named “Kitten,” is just interested in being near the seat of power. He takes care of her, too. His conscience bothers him so much when he goes down to the street level he starts thinking he sees the faces of the people he eliminated. Eventually, his wife confronts him, and she has ideas of her own about what the consequences of his actions should be.
It is a bizarre and sometimes muddled story, and some of the phrasing makes it seem that Robson is trying to present an allegory about life in Eastern Europe and under the Communist Party. He may have selected the position “commissioner” because it has a hint of “commissar” to it. The “party” seems to be a not-so-veiled reference to the Communist Party. The threats to eliminate him for non-compliance with their desires, is similar to so many political reports of that era. There is also a scene at the airport where it seems like Ortega’s character is hallucinating. It just doesn’t make for a good Suspense story. It’s hero-less, and that’s okay, but hero-less or “anti-hero” stories that succeed have interesting characters. There are none here. It’s not the best Robson script, for sure.
Classic radio enthusiast John Barker offered a different idea. At the Cobalt Club online forum used by hobbyists and researchers, he noted “if you look at it as another example of William N. Robson's fascination with An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (much like Present Tense), that will at least put it in a possibly interesting context. I thought the stream-of-consciousness passages were at least a bold attempt at something different.” An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is the classic short story by Ambrose Bierce that was presented on Escape and Suspense. The James Poe script Present Tense was inspired by the Bierce story, modernized and expanded, also presented on both series. The James Poe story is very creative, and seems to polarize fans of both series. Some consider it strange and haphazard, and others considering it innovative and engrossing, especially with a fine performance by Vincent Price. Out the Window may have been Robson’s attempt to provide the his version of the same foundational concept offered by Bierce.
The program was recorded on Tuesday, May 17, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.
The only surviving recording is a network aircheck, presumably from WROW of the Albany, New York area. It is listenable, but not the best quality. Most of the commercials have been edited out.
The actor who plays “Kitten” is Jane Huszagh, an unfamiliar name to many classic radio drama listeners. She made her Broadway debut in the 1943 disaster The Snark was a Boojum that included Frank Lovejoy and Joan Banks. The Lovejoys were interested in the play because the rehearsals and previews were in Cape Cod that summer. They could get out of the heat and pace of New York City for a while and work on a project together. Frank even turned down the lead in the new radio series Flashgun Casey, Press Photographer that was about to premiere. Huszagh was in various plays in the New York City area, mainly in Connecticut where she lived. She was often in 1950s radio soap operas Aunt Jenny and Right to Happiness. She was one of those supporting actors in radio who was rarely mentioned in the announced credits. Huszagh would be reunited with her Boojum friends Frank and Joan in the upcoming 1960-10-02 Suspense presentation of Ivy Is a Lovely Name for a Girl in which the Lovejoys co-starred.
LISTEN
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https://archive.org/details/TSP600522
THE CAST
Santos Ortega (Walchek), Ginger Jones (Nellie), Jane Huszagh (Kitten), George Mathews (Brewsie), Marilyn Cole (Girl), Sam Raskyn (Elevator Operator), Roger DeKoven (Granet)
Jane Huszagh replaced Connie Lembcke in the casting. Bob Dryden was to play Granet, replaced by Roger DeKoven.
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