1943-09-30 The Lost Special

It is funny to read the newspaper announcements for this broadcast. The original story is written by Arthur Conan Doyle and nearly every listing notes that it’s not a Sherlock Holmes story. That’s true, it’s not. Just managing listener expectations, I guess. This story originally appeared in The Strand in 1898.

Like the prior broadcast of The Most Dangerous Game, this adaptation is by Jacques Anson Finke.

A “special” is like what a chartered bus or plane would be today. It’s not on the regular schedule and paid for privately.

Monsieur Caratel arranges for a private train to go from Liverpool to London. The train leaves without incident. The stations the train passes report on its progress and all is well… until it disappears! The solution to the crime seems implausible because of the number of people and the weight of all of the materials to prepare for the diversion of a locomotive and its car… and the money involved to make it all happen. There’s a conspiracy behind it all and part of the story involves whether or not the identities of the people behind the event will be revealed.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430930

THE CAST

ORSON WELLES (Franc DeLerniac), Eric Snowdon (Hood / Senator), Lou Merrill (Louis Carotel), Alec Harford (3rd and 4th voices), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Narrator/ 2nd voice) [unknown actors as James Bland / James McPherson / Matagarko / Ralph]

The text of the original story can be found at the online Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Story_of_the_Lost_Special#The_Story_of_the_Lost_Special

The story was later produced on Escape on 1949-02-12. That broadcast did not use the Finke adaptation but a different one by Les Crutchfield.

An AFRS recording survives, with Howard Duff as the opening AFRS voice. Howard has a difficult time getting “Suspense” to sound exactly right to those familiar with the network opening.

Thanks are owed to disc collector Randy Riddle for providing his recording of the episode.

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1943-09-23 The Most Dangerous Game

This is the first of four consecutive weeks starring Orson Welles. William Spier was the first to employ Welles in radio when he hired him for The March of Time in 1933, making this the tenth anniversary of Welles on radio. He did not have steady employment in the medium until 1934 or 1935, but Spier recognized his talent and happily cast him when he could. This is noted in news releases as an anniversary of sorts, but it is clear that Welles and Spier admired each other greatly and that Welles had great appreciation for Spier’s influence in his early career. With Spier trying to build the Suspense Hollywood franchise, Welles was there to help. Welles liked using classic stories on Mercury Theater and in his various appearances on other series. William Spier was likely of the same mind when Welles was on Suspense.

This broadcast’s story is a famous one, adapted by “Private Jacques Anson Finke” from Richard Connell’s short story that originally appeared in the 1924-01-19 edition of Collier's magazine. A master hunter is bored of it all and wants to hunt smarter and more cunning prey: humans. The story was so popular it found its way into anthologies and classrooms for decades, and was adapted for films and television in direct and indirect ways. Its 1932 film version only made it more popular.

Adaptor Finke was obviously in the Army but was still submitting scripts to radio programs. His career was somewhat under the radar as radio prominence went because his employment varied between working steadily in movie studio script departments and freelance work for various radio series. This Suspense production (and its repeat production in 1945 with Joseph Cotten) used Finke’s treatment. The story was newly adapted for Escape by Irving Ravetch. Many have a preference for the Escape version as it is closer to the original story. There is a sense of “too much Welles” here and he overpowers what is already a strong story. But it’s Welles, and that’s almost what people expect and usually want when he’s in a production.

Welles was 28 for this broadcast, with great and notable successes already behind him. Co-star Keenan Wynn, son of radio and movie star Ed Wynn, however, was 27, in the early stages of his Hollywood rise. Keenan started in theater and his very long and successful career in film, radio, and television was still to come. Many people associate Keenan and Ed together because of their 1956 joint appearance in Requiem for a Heavyweight, the famous Playhouse 90 television broadcast and considered Rod Serling’s ultimate script. Keenan played a boxing promoter and Ed was in a rare and surprising straight drama role as “a corner man” who patches up boxing wounds between rounds. The role opened up a new and unexpected phase of Ed’s career.

Hat tip to Craig Wichman who found this publicity photo, likely staged during a rehearsal, of Wynn and Welles, enhanced by the amazing palette.fm.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430923

THE CAST

ORSON WELLES (General Zaroff), KEENAN WYNN (Sanger Rainsford), Harry Lang? (Ivan), unknown (vocal effects), Joe Kearns (Man in Black)

The original story can be found at https://ia802708.us.archive.org/9/items/TheMostDangerousGame_233/connell_richard_edward_1893_1949_most_dangerous_game.pdf

Historical background of the story is at this Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Dangerous_Game

The 1932 movie with Joel McCrea is at YouTube https://youtu.be/_DXLTw22HOQ

There are two surviving recordings, a network and an Armed Forces Radio recording. The network recording is the better sounding of the two.

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1943-09-16 The Cross-Eyed Bear

Pay attention to this one because it gets complicated… and don’t assume a “cross-eyed bear” might have something to do with a child’s huggy toy. The “bear” is a hateful Swedish industrialist who made his money mining nickel… and left a cynical will that required heirs to kill each other in order to get the pieces of a check for his fortune. Once all the pieces were assembled together, the bank would release the funds, and not before.

The sons were separated at birth and a hunt is on to find them. One son is already dead, and a ruse is created to find the son who lives in the USA under an assumed name, and draw him out. The ruse involves a relationship with a woman hired for the task. There are many surprises along the way.

The original Dorothy B. Hughes novel was adapted by Robert Richards. It seems like he had a lot of work to do to get it to work in the compressed Suspense format, and it turned out well. Because there are so many pieces of the story that need to be condensed from the full length novel, it’s important to listen carefully for the details.

Cross-Eyed Bear was Hughes’ second novel, published in 1940. It received positive reviews, and her career was rising. In her home of Santa Fe, she won much attention, and was convinced to turn it into a stage play. It was presented locally in December 1941. One of the rumors around the book was that the “cross-eyed bear” was a reference to Russia in wartime, which she denied and was amused about.

Cross-Eyed Bear was still popular after the Suspense broadcast and was condensed for the November 13, 1943 Liberty Magazine, almost four years after its publishing.

Hughes did not get much advance notice about when the adaptation would be performed. This is from the 1943-09-20 Santa Fe NM New Mexican:

Mrs. Hughes... received news that day that it was to be done that night and said she thought the dramatization of her book was a beautiful job and that from now on out she was a Suspense fan especially since Orson Welles is to be heard for the next few weeks.

This is a good blogpost about the original novel https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2012/08/ffb-cross-eyed-bear-dorothy-b-hughes.html

Her career is summarized well at this Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_B._Hughes and also this page http://womencrime.loa.org/?page_id=64

Some of her novels became screenplays. The Fallen Sparrow (published in 1942) was released just weeks before this broadcast and starred John Garfield. Ride the Pink Horse was released in 1947 with Robert Montgomery, who also directed. In 1950, Humphrey Bogart starred in In A Lonely Place.

The Suspense broadcast starred Virginia Bruce. She started her career on Broadway but made her mark in movie musicals in the 1930s in films such as Born to Dance (1936; known for her rendition of I've Got You Under My Skin, introduced in that movie) and as a showgirl in The Great Ziegfeld. Some ups and downs in her personal life led to a bumpy 1940s career, but when she worked it was opposite many of the biggest male stars in Hollywood. In 1949, she had an interview program on CBS, Make-Believe Town, about life in Hollywood. There are three broadcasts known to survive.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430916

THE CAST

VIRGINIA BRUCE (Lizanne Steffason), JOHN LODER (Bill Folker), Bill Johnstone (Lans Vaught, alias Viljass), Robert Harris? (Hugh King), Cy Kendall (Inspector Tobin), Will Wright (Musicians’ Union man), Harry Lang (Conductor), Horace Willard (Musician), Natasha Lytess (Lydia Vinton / Matron), Joe Kearns? (Waiter), Jim Bannon (Man in Black)

Two recordings have survived, the original network broadcast and the Armed Forces Radio Service recording (#21). Many thanks to disc collector Randy Riddle who located and transferred that disc in 2008 and supplied this project with a lossless recording. Both recordings are about the same audio quality.

Joe Kearns is suspected of playing a waiter in one scene; he returns to his full schedule, including as “the Man in Black” next week. Jim Bannon’s career as “the Man in Black” is over as of this episode, as is that of director Ted Bliss. William Spier returns to schedule next week.

Horace Willard is in the cast. His initial Suspense appearance was in A Friend to Alexander as a butler, and he plays a musician here. Fellow researcher Ryan Ellett has a post about him at https://ryanellett.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/horace-willard-knx-hollywood/ with some newspaper clips I found. This is from the 1941-07-12 Phoenix AZ Index.

Willard’s career was covered in the black media of the time. News clips indicate he appeared in Scattergood Baines, Blondie, Favorite Story, Silver Theater, Screen Guild, Dr. Christian, and others, and he was often on Lux Radio Theatre. No information can be found about him after 1947 in newspaper or trade magazine searches. His known and surviving appearances are noted at RadioGoldindex http://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu/Home/RadioGoldin_Records?searchString=Willard,%20Horace&type=Artists&count=22

For a while in the early 1940s, Willard was working in the CBS transcription department… and may have worked on creating or cataloging some of the very transcriptions that were used on Suspense.

At the end of the program, Bannon announces the next four shows will feature Orson Welles. According to researcher Keith Scott, the appearance was publicized as the tenth anniversary of William Spier’s first hiring of Welles for The March of Time. The final story of the four upcoming Welles broadcasts is announced as Donovan’s Brain to be presented in two parts, scheduled for October 7 & 14. This did not happen until May 1944, and two other scripts were used. It is likely that The Lady and the Monster, the movie based on the Donovan’s Brain novel, has slipped in its production schedule and was going to miss its original target release date. The studio did not want the Suspense broadcast to be the first release of the property.

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1943-09-09 Marry for Murder

Another silent film star who became Hollywood royalty appears on Suspense as Lillian Gish is featured in Marry for Murder, a three character play. This is her only Suspense appearance. This is almost like a Whistler script in that there’s a big deal about drawing up wills (only rich people had wills was the common perception). Once you have a will, only bad things can happen. The desire for inheritance becomes a plotline that can only lead to murder.

Philip Alden is an attorney who once had eyes for Lettie Hawthorne and finds himself preparing wills for Lettie and her new husband Mark. Lettie is a bit anxiety driven, and convenient to the plot, husband Mark buys some rat poison to take care of a problem around the boathouse. Lettie is worried that an accident might happen. So, of course, she comes down with a case of arsenic poisoning. Mark is suspected and Philip expresses his displeasure and concern. It turns out that Lettie is becoming a serial husband murderer who says “oh, what bad luck I’ve had with my husbands.” How strange they have yachting-related accidents that lead to their demise. She says she runs through money and her plan is to keep murdering them to get their money. Philip realizes what’s going on...

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430909

THE CAST

LILLIAN GISH (Lettie Hawthorne), RAY COLLINS (Philip Alden), BRAMWELL FLETCHER (Mark Taylor), Jim Bannon (Man in Black)

The author of the script is Walker T. Field and might be one of the Suspense “one-hit wonders” who submitted only one script to radio and had it accepted by this high-level series… and was not heard from again.

The story was adapted for Suspense Magazine #2 and is available for download or reading at the Internet Archive link above.

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1943-09-02 The Singing Walls

“Froggy” and his annoying voice starts the story by talking to the woozy Tom Cochran who obviously had a really tough night. It seems he’s being set up for a murder and his recollection of “singing walls” while he was out of it seems vague and confusing. Denny is his police friend who is trying to figure what it all means before the framing of Tom is complete.

The gravely voice that some listeners say sounds like a frog is the first hint we have that this character is up to no good. When a radio play involves that kind of distinctive voice early in the presentation, it’s bound to be a key part of the plotline. Unlike film or video, casting voices that can be easily discerned by listeners is essential. In visual media, the audience has more information before them to tell characters apart.

This is a Cornell Woolrich (originally titled C-Jag from the October 1940 issue of Black Mask) and adapted by Robert L. Richards. Woolrich stories seemed perfect for Suspense (and also Molle Mystery Theater). He was so prolific that it seemed there was always some kind of Woolrich story on the air. 

Two recordings have survived, a network broadcast and an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS#20) one. Both are relatively close in sound, with the network recording slightly better.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430902

THE CAST

PRESTON FOSTER (Denny), DANE CLARK (Tom Cochran), Ken Christy (Froggy / Cab Driver), Harry Lang (Larry the bartender), Eddie Marr (Joe), Gloria Blondell (Mildred), Leo Cleary (Clerk), Jim Bannon (Man in Black)

Gloria Blondell was the younger sister of actress Joan Blondell. She was an active radio actor, including Philip Marlowe, Johnny Dollar, Gildersleeve, and others. She was in the TV version of Life of Riley as Honeybee Gillis.

Ken Christy was one of those “it’s that guy… in that thing…” actors in movies, usually playing police officers. He was one of those background players who always had a regular paycheck but was often uncredited in movies and radio. In a 1950 interview he complained he was playing officers so often that he would enjoy being on the opposite side of the law now and then. A character actor, he’s the “frog voice” in this production. Well, at least he could play criminals on radio. The more manipulations to your voice you could make, the more work you could get on radio.

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1943-08-28 The King's Birthday

An early member of Hollywood royalty, if there was truly such a thing, was actress Dolores Costello. She started as a child actor in 1909, went through the silent movie era, married into the Barrymore dynasty for a time, and continued to 1943. This Suspense broadcast was to be he last formal acting event, and for the most part, it was.

This is the second of the Saturday broadcasts of Suspense, with east and west broadcasts. That was odd for a sustaining series. It does seem to be an “experiment” in support of finding a series sponsor. At this point it was Colgate that seemed to be involved. The program aired at 7:30pm ET (with production at 4:30 PT in the studio) and again 8pm PT (with everyone in the studio again).

It’s WW2, and Denmark’s king has a Nazi-sympathizing Count informed that the Count will commit suicide on the night of the King's birthday. (Well, that certainly “takes the cake!” to make a bad joke about it all). It turns out okay in the end.

The story is by Louis Pelletier who scripted many New York based programs such as FBI in Peace and War. Pelletier was a Corporal in the Army at this time.

It was rare for Dolores Costello to appear on radio. He her final movie was This is the Army in 1943, released just a month before this broadcast. As memories of her successful career faded from memory, she became better known as Drew Barrymore’s grandmother! A summary biography is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Costello

Martin Kosleck’s film career began in his native Germany in 1927. With the Nazi party rising in influence, he spoke out against them. Realizing he was in danger, he left in 1931 and arrived in Hollywood in 1932 via England. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, was placed on the Gestapo’s list of “undesirables.” He had a long career portraying evil Nazi officers and historical leaders. One of the movies, Bomber’s Moon, was released just weeks before this broadcast.

 

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430828

THE CAST

DOLORES COSTELLO (Countess Elsa), MARTIN KOSLECK (Gauleiter Lt. Reichman), GEORGE ZUCCO (Dr. Ericson), Ian Wolfe (Old Peter of Cromwell Castle), Lou Merrill (Count Victor), Jim Bannon (Man in Black)

This story was included in Suspense Magazine #2, and a PDF is available for viewing or download on the Internet Archive page.

The east coast broadcast mentions that Suspense will be changing to Thursdays and offers both Eastern and Pacific times of the broadcasts. The west coast broadcast mentions only the Pacific time. The east broadcast has slightly better sound.

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1943-08-21 Sorry, Wrong Number

NOTE: A discussion of Sorry, Wrong Number and its role in Suspense history was in the post for the first broadcast of the performance on 1943-05-25. It can be accessed at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/02/1943-05-25-sorry-wrong-number.html 

This is the second time that Sorry, Wrong Number was presented on Suspense. The program created a lot of “buzz” in its first broadcast because of its unique nature compared to the other plays that were offered by the series. The story deviated greatly from the vision that producer Charles Vanda had for “gothic” style mysteries with a more modern style that had more personal engagement with the storyline.

There are other things to keep in mind about this broadcast compared to the first:

• The first broadcast was never promoted as “Sorry, Wrong Number.” The publicity was for “She Overheard Death Speaking” and the main reason to listen was the dramatic technique that Moorehead would be the only voice heard directly, and all of the other voices would be by telephone simulation. There was no special promotion.

• The “flub” of the first episode is not mentioned in any of the publicity or any of the stories about the program. The script was being performed again by popular demand. It was the uniqueness of SWN that created “buzz” and “water-cooler chatter” in workplaces and the sense for those who missed that broadcast missed something out of the ordinary.

• This performance was heavily promoted around a time change for the Suspense broadcast. Suspense was moving to Saturdays. There is no better way to draw an audience than with the most-talked-about script of just four months prior and with a big publicity push to inform the audience of the new listening time.

This was the first east-west broadcast day for Suspense. It was odd for a sustaining, unsponsored series. It is believed that CBS was trying to appeal to Colgate or another prospect that the Saturday time slot would offer a prime audience for them. The east broadcast was 7:30pm ET, with the performance in the KNX studios at 4:30pm PT. The second performance was at 8pm PT. It might have been possible that the 8pm PT / 11pm ET broadcast was available nationally if individual stations desired to use that feed; it is not known for certain if that was the case.

This is the press release from CBS headquarters in New York:

While this is the second time that listeners were hearing SWN, this is the second and third time that Moorehead was performing the script. The first performance finished at 5:00pm PT, and the next began at 8:00pm PT, meaning that she had three hours to recover from a very demanding performance.

The following review appeared a few days later in the 1943-08-25 edition of Variety. It was very positive, enthusiastic in its praise.

Agnes Moorehead gave one of the memorable performances of radio history Saturday (21) on the Suspense series on CBS from the Coast. Vehicle was a repeat of Fletcher's horrendous tour-de-force, Wrong Number. The melodrama about a nerve-racked invalid who tries to phone her husband's office, only to be cut in on a conversation between two men plotting a murder, pyramided to an almost unbearable degree of tension. The pitch rose as the frantic woman became increasingly tearful that she was the intended victim and more and more hysterically, tried to get help, first from the police, then through the apartment management, the phone company, and even a near by hospital. As the end relentlessly approached, her terrified phone calls almost imperceptibly wove the damning evidence around her guilty husband. All this was projected in telephone conversations, with the victim providing nearly all the impetus, characterization and suspense, and the voices at the other end of the wire supplying only minor support. Miss Moorehead’s playing of this extraordinary role has rarely, if ever, been equaled on the air. From the woman’s first faltering lines, through the scenes of growing dread to the final moments of gibbering semi-delirium, it was a blood-chilling performance of a brilliantly agonizing script. Miss Fletcher, incidentally, authored the original short story from which Norman Corwin adapted his highly-praised My Client Curley fantasy of several seasons ago. In the case of Wrong Number, the authoress’ husband, Bernard Herrmann, arranged and conducted the atmospheric introductory and closing music.

With the next week’s episode, The King’s Birthday, the Saturday experiment ended. Suspense would continue without a sponsor and have one national performance. By November, Roma Wines had signed on to becoming the sponsor. In December, Suspense would have new budgets and the east-west broadcasts, but on different days.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430821

THE CAST

AGNES MOOREHEAD (Mrs. Stevenson), Hans Conried (George), Harry Lang (George’s contact / Western Union man), Leo Cleary? (Police Sgt. Martin), Margaret Brayton? (Chief Operator), Mary Jane Croft? (Operator), unknown (Henchley Nurse), Jim Bannon (Man in Black)

The broadcast ends with a public service announcement to recruit for the US Cadet Nurses Corps. The corps was disbanded in 1948. An effort has been made to recognize the nurses as US veterans of WW2.

• The $15 per month stipend mentioned in the PSA is about $260 in US$2023.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadet_Nurse_Corps

• https://uscadetnurse.org/

Which recording is which?

There are three recordings that have survived. One is for the east, one is for the west, and the other was made at British Columbia station CJOR. This was a recording that an engineer made for an actor friend so they could study Moorehead’s technique, and because of its location is the west broadcast.

• East broadcast (EC) 25:15 Conried is on the phone and there is no “Police department, Sergeant Martin speaking...Police department, Sergeant Martin speaking…”

• West broadcast (WC) about 26:10 you hear “Police department, Sergeant Martin speaking...Police department, Sergeant Martin speaking…” followed by Conried. (This is at about 25:50 in the CJOR recording)

It is not known why this difference exists in the recordings. It is believed that the recordings are intact and have not been edited to create this difference, but that is always a possibility.

Of the three recordings, the east (EC) recording is the best.

Part of the experimental Saturday broadcast was to find out if Suspense could compete against the Ellery Queen radio program. Here is the listing from the Boston Globe showing the two programs in the same time slot.

Ellery Queen had a 10.5 Hooper rating in this usual slot. Suspense was getting 8.5 in its usual Thursday position. We know this change did not do well because Suspense was moved back quickly to a weeknight position. Not even a much ballyhooed performance of Sorry, Wrong Number could beat EQ. The answer was "no," and the experiment ended quickly because Suspense was not SUSPENSE! yet. But it will be, soon.

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