Santos Ortega stars in an unusual David Karp story about an eccentric sheriff whose hobby is chess. A teacher, a noted chess expert, Charles Victor, takes a wrong turn on a dark, stormy night and accidentally runs over a man. The sheriff’s home is near the accident, and Victor learns that when knocks at the door and a man in his rain slicker and walks down to the car and the victim. It is there he is revealed as the sheriff. Victor assumes the man he hit is dead, and the sheriff acts as though that is correct. They move the body into the home, which is probably confusing to Victor, and the listeners, and is a clue that things are not what they seem. It is very disturbing that the sheriff is strangely nonplussed about the entire event. When the town sheriff learns Victor’s identity as a famous chess expert, he becomes far more interested in playing chess with him than prosecuting him for possible vehicular homicide. The sheriff has Victor sit down, and compels him to join in a toast to chess, even as the victim lays on a couch in the room. He tells him he will dismiss any charges and prepare a report that says he witnessed the accident and that there was no indication of crime. The sheriff explains his plight, trapped in the small town. He is angry about his years of loneliness because he cannot find anybody in town with whom he can enjoy his hobby. He demands that the teacher remain for a long period of time, and even take residence in the town to do do. He threatens him with a jail sentence if he refuses to play chess upon his request. His lack of chess players means he cannot display his intelligence; his deep disdain for his fellow townspeople. Forced to stay, the chess expert and the sheriff play what Victor hopes is one final game. The sheriff is counting on Victor staying in town and playing five or six games a week, hoping Victor lives to “a ripe old age.” Their relationship is like a chess game, each testing the other, the sheriff intimidating Victor and each time revealing how deranged the sheriff is. The accident victim stirs, and is not dead as Victor presumed. The sheriff taunts the man, relating a very disturbing story that the victim was, at one time, the town doctor. The doctor’s life became broken with alcoholism after a poor medical outcome of a patient. A farmer, whose farm equipment accident required skilled medical attention that the doctor could not offer, left him severely crippled. The sheriff implies it was malpractice, but it is not stated as such. It is also implied that the doctor may have been the sheriff’s last challenging chess partner of years ago, until Victor arrived. The sheriff’s knowledge of the farm accident was likely used against the doctor, and he crushed his spirit and dignity. The sheriff was trying to blackmail Victor in the same way he did the doctor. The ending is somewhat of a surprise. This is one of those Suspense episodes where you really have to be attentive to the dialogue or you’ll miss some key clues to the story. The production could have been more powerful and menacing under prior producers Robson or Lewis. Overall, it is one of the better psychological dramas of the New York period.
David Karp was a very successful novelist and television writer in the 1950s and through the 1970s. This was his only Suspense script.
With the mention of the fictional Lewiston College and other aspects of the geography, it is likely that Karp was describing a small town in Maine.
The program was recorded on Wednesday, July 20, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 5:00pm. Recording was done from 5:00pm to 5:30pm.
There are two surviving recordings. The network aircheck is the better recording. It is listenable but has narrow range and some minor defects. It is a better recording than what has been circulating among collectors for many years. A mid-show commercial is likely edited out. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#795) has similar sound with a slightly wider range, There are some minor digitization defects that can be annoying when listening. Perhaps a better transfer of the disc or a different disc may be located in the future.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600731
THE CAST
Santos Ortega (Sheriff Van Allen), Michael Kane (Charles Victor, chess expert), Jack Arthur (Berger, the accident victim), Allan Manson (The Trooper)
Bill Adams was originally cast as Berger.
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