Santos Ortega stars in a William N. Robson story about a young, angry, and envious Russian man named Ivan Ivanovich. He believes he can steal money and jewels from his boss, a prince. While his boss is away, he executes his strange plan. He will hide the money and jewels, never tell authorities where he put them, be sentenced to Siberia for twenty years, and will retrieve them upon his release. He may be angry and envious, but he certainly is patient! The stolen goods are not hidden in some outside place (like in the plotline of Suspense favorite Give Me Liberty). No, they are in a very safe place. He visits a bank to rent a safe deposit box and hide it there. The box is taken under the name “Piotr Rakovsky,” and he is told it will not be disturbed for 30 years. His sentence for the crime will be shorter than that. He tells his girlfriend, Anna, to remember that name and never forget it. He knows the incarceration may affect him and his memory, and this is his assurance he will be able to retrieve the money so they can have a life together. Years later, when he is released, he sees her. She is shocked to learn that he was still alive. She did not wait for him, married, and started a family… and she has forgotten the name “Piotr Rakovsky.” Now what does he do? Robson could have ended the at that very point… and could end yet again in a subsequent scene… and finally remembers the name much too late.
The available script cover for this program does not have the pre-recording information filled in. It was likely was recorded on Thursday, September 8, 1960. The session times are on the script cover, however. Rehearsal began at 4:30pm and ended at 8:00pm. Recording was from 8:00pm to 8:30pm.
The only surviving recording of this episode is a heavily edited network aircheck, but it is in very listenable sound quality with narrow range. It is possible that the recording may originate from an AFRS aircheck or an AFRS transcription with the recording edited down to exclude service announcements.
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https://archive.org/details/TSP600911
THE CAST
Santos Ortega (Ivan Ivanovich), Bryna Raeburn (Anna Petrovna), Lynn Loring (Natasha), Roger De Koven (Bolini), Robert Readick (Narrator / Youri), Ivor Francis (Clerk / Judge), William Redfield (Prisoner)
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