1960-09-25 Time on My Hands

Santos Ortega stars in a time travel story by Walter Black. It’s 1939 and his scientist friend has invented a time machine which he has successfully tested on animals. One of his wealthy friends expressed great concern about Adolf Hitler’s incursions across Europe and the nature of his policies and objectives. This friend and his wife met Hitler by accident in 1908 during their honeymoon. He wants to go back to that moment and prevent the havoc that occurred with his rise to power. His wife agrees to go with him. They successfully make the trip to that biergarten where they meet the future leader, and they meet him again the next day. Something is wrong. They know Hitler is an extremist (and a bad artist and architect when they see some of his work), but their trip back in time to 1908 did not carry the knowledge and insights they had in 1939. This means when they return to 1939, their “mission” was never completed, and they have limited memory of any details of the process.

The story is entertaining light sci-fi for 1960, but what is more interesting is that it was written and originally broadcast during WW2. It was originally presented on The Mysterious Traveler on August 20, 1944; no recordings of that broadcast are known to exist. It was rather cutting-edge for its time. The topic of going back to change events related to Hitler was relatively new in sci-fi and fantasy publications. The first notable one was in Weird Tales July-August 1941. It was written by Massachusetts senator Roger Sherman Hoar, who wrote science fiction stories with the pseudonym “Ralph Milne Farley.” It was released in July 1941, when Europe was in severe turmoil and the US was not yet engaged in the war effort but was being pressed to do so. The story was I Killed Hitler and it can be accessed at https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tales_v35n10_1941-07_sas/page/n71/mode/2up Another early story was My Name is Legion by Lester del Rey which appeared in the June 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It is accessible at https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v29n04_1942-06_dtsg0318/page/n67/mode/2up This indicates that Walter Black’s story was not a new idea, but it was early in the process of stories that explored time travel and the possibility that it could be a tool to change the nature of current events and escape from them. All time travel stories have plot holes and scientific and philosophical issues. Detailed analysis of them might be an interesting thought exercise, but too much of that saps the entertainment value right out of them. Don’t overanalyze it. This Black story is simple, and is a very interesting perspective on the topic, and only takes a little over twenty minutes to provide it.

The program was recorded on Thursday, September 22, 1960. Rehearsal began at 4:30pm and ended at 8:00pm. Recording was from 8:00pm to 8:30pm.

The only surviving recording is an Armed Forces Radio Service one, and is likely numbered as AFRS#803. It is in excellent sound, and replaces many lesser quality recordings that have been in circulation for decades.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600925

THE CAST

Santos Ortega (Justin Driscoll), Vera Allen (Emily Driscoll), Robert Dryden (Adolf Hitler), Ted Osborne (Oren Scruggs), Bill Lipton & Marion Russell (the Driscolls in flashback on their honeymoon), Marion Russell (Margaret)

###

1960-09-18 A Statement of Fact

Rita Lloyd stars in the second Suspense broadcast of an E. Jack Neuman script that was first used for On Stage in 1953. A beautiful woman is accused of murdering her husband and a (supposedly) bright, young assistant district attorney forces his way into the case. He thinks her conviction will assure his election as district attorney. He is smitten by her, and his professional sense erodes as she knows how to get what she wants from him. He offers a strange concoction of a plea deal that may actually be a ploy for a confession. Who is manipulating whom?

Cathy Lewis starred in the 1958 production with John Dehner. Resources about the story and its production can be found at

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/06/1958-11-30-statement-of-fact.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP581130 is where recordings can be downloaded and streamed.

Rita Lloyd and Mason Adams work well together, and some consider this to be a better overall production that the 1958 one. The same introduction that William N. Robson used in that broadcast is read by Stuart Metz for this 1960 one. It is interesting that the same words read by Robson, an unpolished but knowledgeable narrator reading his own words, compares with the very polished Metz. Same words, different listening experience. Robson’s is personal, Metz’ is arms-length, and both are well-done.

The program was recorded on Thursday, September 15, 1960. Rehearsal began at 4:30pm and ended at 8:00pm. Recording was from 8:00pm to 8:30pm. Ira Ashley directed, substituting for Paul Roberts.

The only surviving recording of this episode is a heavily edited network aircheck, but it is in low quality sound with encoding defects. It is possible this is from an Armed Forces Radio Service aircheck or from a disc transfer from years ago that was heavily edited.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600918

THE CAST

Rita Lloyd (Ellen Dudley), Mason Adams (Christian), Hal Burdick (Coroner / Thayler), Lawson Zerbe (John), Jack Arthur (Morrow)

###

1960-09-11 Rakofsky's Rubles

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.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
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)

###

1960-09-04 A Rest for Emily

The title of this story is not about someone who is exhausted and needs to sleep, but about an old farmer who murders his nagging wife. He’s had enough about her complaining about problems with the crops and the sickly animals. He wants to “return her to the land” when he “puts her to rest” and buries her in the barn. Later, two teenagers are making prank phone calls, and they call him with the message “You'll never get away with it.” They got a grand chuckle about it and had no idea that the farmer had done anything; it was just a prank because most everyone has something they regret doing in their past. When the farmer hears it, however, he gets worried because of what he just did, and that someone might actually know about it. He orders lye for his farm, ostensibly to condition the soil, but he wants to use it to help hide the body. The delivery is made by the teenager who works at the local farm supply business, and he is the same young man who made the phone call. When the farmer recognizes the voice as that on the phone, and that this might be the person who knows about the killing, the story takes an ominous turn. Parallel to what is playing out at the barn, the young man’s father is in his last hours in the hospital, and he longs to be with him. He pleads with the farmer to let him go. How he manages to get free of the farmer’s ire is a surprising twist to the story.

This is Berel Firestone’s only Suspense script, and he also performs in it. Firestone was an actor and writer, blacklisted in the 1950s. He was on radio, often not receiving on-air credit, for some of the “Hummert Factory” shows such as Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons and soap operas. He was an actor in early television, often uncredited until his blacklisting. He kept writing for magazines through the blacklist period, but under pseudonyms. No listing of those names can be found at this time. He was civil rights activist, participating in many of the marches with Dr. Martin Luther King in the early 1960s, and created an organization in New York City to assist and promote minority authors. In the late 1960s he left New York and moved to New Hampshire. After working there in advertising as a copywriter. In 1971, he was appointed to the leadership of the state’s Human Rights Commission. He passed away in 1981, after a severe and long illness, taking his own life at age 57.

The program was recorded on Thursday, September 1, 1960. Rehearsal began at 4:30pm and ended at 8:00pm. Recording was done from 8:00pm to 8:30pm.

Two recordings have survived. Most of the network recordings in circulation have been heavily edited airchecks in low sound quality. Now, there are two very pleasing recordings. A network aircheck from a station in Springfield, Massachusetts is intact with its announcements and commercials and in very good sound. The better recording is from the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS#800) that is in excellent sound. It has not been available until recently. Both recordings are substantial upgrades that allow greater appreciation of the story and the performances.

At the conclusion of the program, the tease for the episode for the following week is announced as “A Grave is for Sleeping” by Edna Rowe. No such script, broadcast, or newspaper listing can be located. The name is, of course, close in spelling (but not pronunciation) to “Edna Rae,” the name Ellen McRae (the future Ellen Burstyn) used for her scriptwriting. The script and the identity of the author is a Suspense mystery that may never be solved.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600904

THE CAST

Abby Lewis (Emily), Larry Robinson (Ted Loper), Ralph Bell (Mr. Loper), Lee Graham (Mary Lee), Bill Smith (Orin), Berel Firestone (Dr. Murray)

###

1960-08-28 The Girl in the Powder Blue Jag

Rita Lloyd stars in a Walter Black story about a young woman who really shouldn’t be trusted to drive high-powered sports cars. A car accident the first time she drives a powder blue Jaguar leaves her with amnesia. She can’t remember her name but police believed she is Kendall Endicott, an heiress to several million dollars. She barely recognizes her husband who asks for and receives $40,000 (about $450,000 in today’s US$2025) to be used as down payment on their purchase of a sumptuous summer estate. But is the backstory real? Is this part of an elaborate scheme by con artists looking to grab part of her fortune? It’s Suspense, so the answer is yes, and the surprise scammer gets scammed conclusion is worth waiting for.

The program was recorded on Thursday, August 25, 1960. Rehearsal began at 4:30pm and ended at 8:00pm. Recording was done from 8:00pm to 8:30pm. Ira Ashley substitutes for Paul Roberts as director.

The surviving network aircheck has narrow range and some other mild issues (encoding defects of some sort) but the recording is much better than the copies that have been in circulation among hobbyists for decades. It is hoped that a richer recording from an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) disc might be found in the future.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600828

THE CAST

SPOILER ALERT: The cast list tips off the plotline:
Rita Lloyd (“Kendall Endicott” / Ruth Taylor), Bob Dryden (“Clay Endicott” / “Mr. Simms” / John Edgar Bell), Jane Rose (“Claire Simms” / Miriam Bell), Walter Black (Sgt. Hadley)

Ted Pearson substitutes for Stuart Metz as announcer.

###

1960-08-21 Truck Stop

Mandel Kramer and Larry Haines star in a Peter Fernandez story as a pair of not-so-bright hijackers who think they’ve outsmarted the system. They’ve been watching the pattern of an armored truck driver and have calculated when he stops for coffee and breakfast at a local diner. The driver is Charlie, boyfriend of the waitress, so he has let his romance with her affect the pattern of his route. They decide the time is right to attempt the heist, but the habit of stopping at the diner may be predictable and facilitate the crime, but it also makes it easy for an unexpected hero to disrupt their plan and save the day… and prevent the robbery.

It is common procedure for armored truck companies to randomize their delivery patterns and change delivery personnel as a means to reduce such robberies. Moving physical cash from place to place is expensive, and sometimes risky, which has led to greater reliance on electronic funds transfer and use of credit and debit cards. If the buffoons played by Kramer and Haines could figure out a pattern, then the armored truck service clearly wasn’t doing their job well. But, then there wouldn’t be a story where an insightful waitress could thwart the dimwitted thugs. It’s a good story that does not have the excitement that the better Suspense episodes usually provide.

The program was recorded on Thursday, August 18, 1960. Rehearsal began at 4:30pm and ended at 8:00pm. Recording was done from 8:00pm to 8:30pm.

Two recordings have survived. The network aircheck recording is much superior to the copies that have been in circulation among hobbyists for decades. Unfortunately, the commercials and announcements have been edited out. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#800) is in better and richer sound, and is preferred for listening.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600821

THE CAST

Mandel Kramer (Zel), Larry Haines (Benno), Teri Keane (Maggie), Danny Ocko (Frank), Frank Butler (Charlie), Robert Readick (Simmons), Peter Fernandez (Jimmy)

Jim Boles was originally cast as Zel, and replaced by Mandel Kramer.

###

1960-08-14 Night Ferry to Paris

William Redfield and Elaine Rost star in a William N. Robson story where a man meets a woman on a train and is quickly embroiled in espionage. The attractive young woman is on a mysterious mission and attaches herself in conversation and acquaintanceship to an innocent young man traveler who is also taking the combination ferry and train service to Paris. As the two travel, they have pleasant light conversation, and he senses something is not right. Details about her life are shallow and don’t ring true it comes to details. As they move along in the boarding process, she tells ticket agents and others that he is her husband, which was obviously surprising to him but he plays along. As the ferry voyages across the English Channel, they make their way to its bow. Two gangsters soon converge on them. They seem to know who she is and demand that they be handed the small package she is supposed to be carrying. She claims not to have it. The gangsters drug the young man to get him out of the way. When he revives, he returns to his train compartment, arriving just in time to bring the confusion of her mission and identity to a satisfying and happy conclusion. It’s a love story, after all. It just had to be. No spoiler alert necessary.

The Night Ferry was an international boat train from London Victoria to Paris Gare du Nord that crossed the English Channel on a train ferry. It was a sleeper car service where passengers would leave the train station, the train would head to a port where the cars would be moved onto a ferry. After crossing the English Channel, the train cars would be transferred back to tracks and continue their journey to Paris. The service began in 1936 but was paused in 1939 when World War II began. Service resumed in peacetime in 1947, until competition from low cost and efficient air service made the night ferry service impractical. The service ended in 1980. Completion of the Channel Tunnel made it clear that a night ferry train service was obsolete. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Ferry

The program was recorded on Thursday, August 11 1960. Rehearsal began at 2:30pm and ended at 7:00pm. Recording was done from 7:00pm to 7:30pm. Ira Ashley substituted for Paul Roberts as director.

The only recording available of this episode is in very low quality, but it can be listened to. Most copies have been in even lower quality sound. Many collectors will find this to be an improvement and will appreciate the story more since the clarity of events and dialogue is much better. It is a network aircheck that has been heavily edited. It is hoped that an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription might be located and transferred sometime in the future.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600814

THE CAST

William Redfield (Tom), Elaine Rost (Susan), Robert Dryden (Anton), Guy Repp (Porter / Train Attendant), Bret Morrison (Uncle / Customs), Frank Milano (Raul)

###