1951-06-21 The Greatest Thief in the World

James Mason and wife Pamela Kellino star in this “actual events” episode. The Antony Ellis script is likely drawn from the exploits of Joseph Grizzard about whom Scotland Yard was well-aware for many years but were never able to bring him to justice… until one last heist which is referred to as “The Great Pearl Heist of 1913.” Grizzard was known for his debonair ways, which is probably why Ellis gave him the name of “The Squire” and the last name “Marriott” in the story. “Marriott” sounds a lot more blue-blood than “Grizzard.” Ellis added other “facts” as needed, making this enterprise “loosely based” to make the story and the people more interesting, including changing the year to 1949 and adding the aftermath of a duel that ended the story. Perhaps the better description is that Ellis was “inspired” by the true story and then went his own way. Grizzard was arrested and found guilty with some compatriots, and died in 1923.

This Suspense production is not as exciting as the typical “people in trouble” storylines, which is one of the downsides of the “actual events” theme. It is still early in the process of developing the strategy.

Details about the robbery, including historical information at the Lloyd’s of London website, are at

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

• https://www.lloyds.com/about-lloyds/history/catastophes-and-claims/great-pearl-robbery

• https://crystalgemstoneshop.com/blogs/stones/the-great-pearl-caper

The closing announcements of the broadcast include a tease for the forthcoming movie Lady Possessed. The film was released in January 1952 and starred Mason and June Havoc. The script was written by Pamela Kellino and Mason. It was based on her 1943 novel Del Palma. The film was directed by William Spier and Pamela’s ex-husband, Roy Kellino. Spier left Suspense to pursue his desire to work in film, but he did not achieve success there. His wife, June Havoc, was already an established film star. The film included Steve Dunne, who replaced Howard Duff in William Spier’s Sam Spade series. The film did not do well from a critical or financial perspective. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Possessed

The sound quality is not full range for about the first two minutes and improves markedly after that. It is likely that there was some disc damage on the outer edge of the first disc.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510621

THE CAST

JAMES MASON (Peter Marriott), Pamela Kellino (Ginny), Joe Kearns (Hyde / Signature Voice), Ben Wright (Man), Eileen Erskine (Joan), Raymond Lawrence (Detective / Waiter), Ted Osborne (Banbridge / Beggar)

COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1951-06-14 The Truth about Jerry Baxter

Gregory Peck plays a police officer who has great empathy for a young man who has addiction problems. He sees an innate goodness and potential in him, but those were thwarted by a problematic upbringing. Despite his behavior and always “being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people,” Peck’s character stands up for him and puts his reputation on the line to prevent harsh legal penalties and get him treatment that will lead to his recovery from drug use and drug dealing.

This is the first announced production that was officially promoted as “suggested by actual events.” A disclaimer was opened the broadcast, read by Joe Kearns. It was intended to grab the attention of listeners to let them know they would be hearing something quite different than the usual Suspense fare. In fact, the story was so very true and realistic, that the people involved might suffer some harm if Suspense revealed their names. The hope was that such a warning would shock listeners and make them hungry for details, that they were getting some inside information that they had never heard before. It served two purposes. It was a legal protection for the series. It also gave them great flexibility to assemble the details of the story in whatever way they wished, with their concerns about confidentiality giving them license to do so. After all, they didn’t want anyone to “suffer” because of realism or facts.

Suspense had other event-based storylines, with the most recent one being Fragile – Contents: Death, based on a post office bomb event in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Lewis and Auto-Lite had to do something to retain interest in the show, especially since the radio show competed with Suspense television show. That series was available in some major metropolitan areas as TV was rolling out. Ratings for radio Suspense were going down as television penetration was going up. Other programs, such as The Big Story and Dragnet had “fictional but authentic” stories for a while and captured listeners because of it. When Lewis started the current season, television was in 10% of households. By the time he would leave in 1954, it was 50%. Suspense was in about 15% of radio households according to Hooper ratings in 1950; when Lewis left, it was about 7%. For more ratings details, go to https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/05/what-were-ratings-for-suspense.html

It is interesting that this strategy was being used at the end of Lewis’ first season. Auto-Lite was pressing CBS to be let out of their radio sponsorship and retain only the TV one. They did come to a financial agreement that allowed the dual sponsorship to continue. This switch to include “actual event” stories may have been an experiment at the end of the season as they began planning for the Fall series. The strategy was developed by Lewis, the Auto-Lite agency, and Auto-Lite executives. These “actual event” stories would continue, but Lewis expanded them to include historical events, not just “ripped from the headlines” ones. This was the creative difference that Lewis brought to the strategy. You could make the case that his entire Crime Classics series fit this new strategy, with stories that were decades and centuries old.

This may not have been as big a step for the show’s scripters as it might seem. One of the greatest resources for radio authors, especially when they had writer’s block, was the daily newspaper. They would often clip stories that seemed interesting for future story ideas. Suspense may have been using “actual event” stories but never knew it. Many of the scripters and mystery writers were also very familiar with classic literature and plays, and would use those plotlines for basic ideas. The warning at the beginning of the episode was like the shiny object a magician might tell the audience to look at when there was slight of hand out of their view to perform the trick.

The authors of this script were Forrest Barnes and Roxy Roth. Barnes was a well-established scripter for radio and film from the early 1930s and became a very influential member of the Writers Guild. Roxy Roth was an actor and writer from that period as well, and became a writer for Milton Berle and Jackie Gleason. The story was adapted by by Antony Ellis.

There was a rehearsal of this broadcast on June 1, 1951, but no pre-recording was done.

The original transcription discs were damaged and not stored well. There is surface noise and some clicks throughout, but the sound quality is overall very listenable.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510614

THE CAST

GREGORY PECK (MacIntyre), William Tracy (Jerry Baxter), John Dehner (Sergeant Holly), Clayton Post (Banister), Joan Banks (Peggy / Announcer), Shep Menken (Officer 1), Hy Averback (Officer 2), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Chairman / Harry)

COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1951-06-07 Tell You Why I Shouldn't Die

Richard Widmark returns to the series and plays Nat, one of the most despicable liars you could ever meet. He’s a Coney Island pitchman, and gives the profession of pitchman a very bad name. Whenever he does something wrong or in his selfish interest at your expense, he did it for your own good. You’ll see. He had your well-being in mind all of the time. He steals his friend Charlie’s girl (for his own good, of course) and rats him out to the police, then lies at the trial. That was for his friend’s own good, too. You’ll see. You’ll thank him later.

Now, Charlie has broken out of jail, and he’s had enough of Nat. The episode begins with Charlie holding a gun to Nat’s head. Nat is desperately pleading for his life (hence the title). We learn everything that led to this scene through flashbacks. We return to that opening scene at the end of the production.

The story is by actor and writer David Ellis. It’s a good story with good performances by Widmark and the rest of the cast. The ending is not really a surprise but offers some guilty and unnerving satisfaction. Suspense is not for kids.

Larry Thor appears once more as a police lieutenant.

The recording has the common defect of many of the 1951 disc transfers, wow and flutter from a problem reel deck. The issue is minor in the drama, though noticeable mainly in the closing credits.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510607

THE CAST

RICHARD WIDMARK (Nat Driscoll), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Bjornson the Defense Lawyer), Hy Averback (Charlie), Cathy Lewis (Barbara), Joy Terry (Eileen), Larry Thor (Police Lieutenant), Mary Shipp (Flora [Woman on phone])

COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1951-05-31 Overdrawn

Dick Powell returns to the series and delivers a fine performance as a long-tenured and highly-trusted bank teller... at least he seems that way to everyone who works with him. His honesty is well-established in the bank, so he is asked to mentor new tellers. He explains the carefully developed procedures to keep tellers accountable and to prevent theft. We learn that two employees were fired because their handwriting in initialing their documents was incorrect (mild spoiler alert), so it is very important to be very careful and very precise in every task. The young man hangs on every word of guidance.

For nearly two decades, this master teller has been pondering how he can take some portion of the money that passes through his hands every day. The chaos of a bank robbery gives him the opportunity. While everyone is focused on the thieves and a badly injured employee, he’s taking advantage of their diverted attention and stuffs his briefcase with cash. He assumes that any missing money with be attributed to the bank robbers. No one sees him, except that new employee. Later, the young man visits him at home, in his apartment, in an attempt to blackmail him. That meek and patient teller will have none of it, and strikes him to the head… and kills him. Now he has to get out of town before the murder is discovered and the his theft is detected. 

In 1951 terms, the teller was thrilled to get $28,000. That is almost $340,000 in US$2024 value adjusted for inflation. The robber asks for $1000 bills. That denomination of bills, with Grover Cleveland's portrait, were still being used at the time. They were discontinued in 1969.

The author of the original story was Robert Platt who produced other scripts for the series. The excellent Account Payable was one of them.

Blake Edwards, who was working with Powell on Richard Diamond, adapted the script. The Edwards and Powell collaboration was one of the most successful pairings in radio.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510531

THE CAST

DICK POWELL (Robert Farley, alias Arthur Adams), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Train announcer voice / Pop), Mary Jane Croft (Betsy Clark / Girl), Dick Crenna (Graves), Norman Field (McPherson / Man 1), Ed Max (First bank robber / San Francisco Police Sergeant), Benny Rubin (Second bank robber / Detective / Agent)

COMMERCIAL: Stanley Smart, Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1951-05-17 Another Man's Poison

Charles Boyer plays a man who finds a package containing $98,000 in a field and reports his discovery to the police. That is almost $1.9 million in US$2024! He decides to hold the money, and make his find public. He wants the true owner come forward, and hopes no one will do so. This would allow him to keep the money. The police advise him that he could be asking for trouble with pretenders making false claims. He will screen the contacts and tell police about any legitimate claim. He soon gets a person-to-person call from Kansas City. The caller is threatening and tells him not to spend or dispose of the money, and should wait until he arrives to visit him. They meet in a secluded area. The man, Kranik, says that the money is from a $400,000 payroll heist made by three men, 18 months earlier. Half of the money was accounted for when one of the robbers was arrested and another escaped to South America. The jailed man is ready to claim that Boyer’s character was the unidentified third man, and wrote a letter to the police stating that.

The letter arrives and the police demand to check the money’s serial numbers. He brings them a few bills and they do not match the heist records. The police are frustrated, and ask him bring all of the money. He is flustered and so very confused. A final confrontation with the police and Kranik leads to the truth of the situation.

The script is by Arthur Ross. His screenwriting career began in the early 1940s and continued for film and television through the 1970s. He occasionally used pseudonyms of “A.A. Ross” and “A.A. Roberts.” He wrote the original story for the film The Great Race which earned him a nomination for “best written comedy” by the Writers Guild. He was nominated for a screenwriting Oscar for Brubaker. Nostalgia fans would be familiar with some of his work for screenplays of Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Creature Walks Among Us. This ties him to another Suspense author, Maurice Zimm, who wrote the original story for the first Creature film. Zimm wrote the excellent Suspense script, Return Trip.

The drama portion of this broadcast was recorded on Friday, April 20, 1951. Rehearsal began at 2:30pm with recording commencing at 7:30pm.

Two recordings of this episode have survived and have flaws; there is no studio recording. The most widely circulating copy is a home-recorded aircheck from Los Angeles station KNX. The commercials were all deleted, likely to save money on recording tape or to be sure that the reel of tape did not run out. This home recording is the better sounding of the two and this particular one for this blogpost may be the best recording that has ever been available for this broadcast. The other recording is an Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) copy from the late 1970s or early 1980s. It has the composite opening that can be a little confusing to those who have not heard it before. This has serious flaws, mainly hum and narrow range.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510517

THE CAST

CHARLES BOYER (Claude Bourget), Irene Tedrow (Alice Bourget), Herb Butterfield (Lieutenant Gastlin), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Tom Haskell), Paul Frees (Kranik / Joe), Truda Marson (Phone operator / Girl), Russell Simpson (Mailman)

COMMERCIAL: Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1951-05-10 Death on My Hands

Phil Harris and Alice Faye appear on the series in the strange juxtaposition of having ne'er do well character Frankie Remley direct them. We all know it’s Elliott Lewis, but just the thought of this being a Remley enterprise makes one chuckle. Some newspapers, and CBS publicity, used this as a theme to promote the episode.

This is a very serious story by E. Jack Neuman and John Michael Hayes would likely not be produced today without having Harris’ character being prosecuted for a criminal charge or a wrongful death lawsuit for not properly storing or securing a firearm. The laws at the time of this story were quite different than today, but the circumstances of the accidental discharge of a gun that kills a young woman, a minor, might be quite disturbing to a modern listener. Even though the death is eventually ruled accidental, there might be serious consequences, mainly in a civil lawsuit in the long term. At the end this story, he goes on his way to the next town. Today's gun owners have many more methods and devices (and many training resources) to ensure proper gun safety and prevent accidental discharge. The gun discharge here seems rather dubious that reaching for a sheet photographic paper could disturb the gun enough to make it fire.

Harris plays a touring bandleader whose musical group goes from small town to small town for obscure events as they try to scrape out a living. It’s pretty clear that they had better times in the past. A young girl comes to the dressing room door to say what a big fan she. She asks for an autographed picture. The bandleader has just packed up to go to the next town, and says he will mail her one. She sees an open suitcase with some pictures and she steps over to the case to take one. That suitcase had his gun in it because he insisted on being paid cash for his gigs. He had bad experiences with checks and non-payments in past gigs. Electronic funds transfer of today would eliminate this element in the story line.

The gun discharges and she falls to the floor, bleeding. The bandleader is shocked by this incident, picks her up, and starts running through the street with her in an effort to save her life by getting her to a hospital or doctor’s office. Police are not around to help, as the town is small, and all of their officers are away assisting police in a nearby town. Local people are dismayed by this and start gathering outside his hotel, demanding he come down to meet them, with the implicit threat of imposing their own kind of justice. The hotel keeper tells him that he can’t keep the mob out of the hotel for long, and that he’d better find a way to leave.

Faye plays a singer and showgirl who happens to be in town. She knows the bandleader from times past. It’s clear that there was something romantic between them some time ago. She is desperate to help him, but there seems no way out.

The story has a pair of surprise twists that are not all that satisfying in terms of the hotel keeper and Faye’s character. You start to suspect what they might be.

The Harris character’s name is “Dixie,” a nod to his southern roots.

The pairing of husband and wife guest stars on the series does not always work well as it is hard to write drama for two stars whose skills and persona might be so different. It is much easier to write comedy for them as their differences can be the source of funny asides or situations because they seem so natural. Excluding Elliott and Cathy Lewis from this as they were immersed in this series, the couple whose joint appearance worked out for the best on Suspense was the Jordans! The Ball-Arnaz appearances were not the best, but seemed more appropriate for them. Listeners were forgiving in any shortcomings in their script or performance because of the great publicity interest in their relationship. The Lupino-Duff appearance for On a Country Road was rather pedestrian (bad pun intended).

Harris and Faye’s performance is fine but at times seems uninspired in this episode. The script is not the best, and may not have been the right fit for them. It is hard to think that an accidental shooting in this story would not result in some period of debilitating remorse in Harris’ character. It is hard not to consider his character as reckless given what is known about gun safety today and what is common practice among responsible owners. Neuman and Hayes would make many changes to the details about what could have been a better constructed story built around its tragic core. Legal processes would not allow the events to unfold as quickly as they do in the story, too.

A few weeks prior to this broadcast, the Phil Harris and Alice Faye show offered a lampoon of Suspense. Phil wanted to write a compelling drama and he went really overboard with sound effects in the process. It is near the end of their 1951-04-22 broadcast. The Harris-Faye show was one of the consistently best written comedies on the air. At this time in his career, Elliott Lewis had tired of acting and enjoyed producing and directing much more. He never tired of his Harris-Faye appearances. You can tell he relished the role of Remley, the left-handed guitarist who always “knew a guy” and had wild ideas that drove plotlines into hysterical scenes. It was a refreshing time away from his constant work of staff meetings and planning for his other series. It is clear that the Harris-Faye cast enjoyed their time together in working on that show.

An overview of the Harris-Faye show and their careers is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phil_Harris-Alice_Faye_Show

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510510

THE CAST

PHIL HARRIS (Dixie), ALICE FAYE (Julie), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Abdow), Herbert Butterfield (Officer Edson), Barbara Whiting (Emily), Byron Kane (Doctor / Announcer), Franklin “Pinky” Parker (Voice), Gil Stratton, Jr. (Teddy)

COMMERCIAL: Ken Christy, Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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1951-05-03 When the Bough Breaks

Rosalind Russell returns to the series in a fine performance that involves a newlywed couple and their strange honeymoon. The bride and groom are each in mortal fear of the other, in a very odd circumstance. Russell’s husband is played by Sheldon Leonard, author of the story. The story was adapted by Antony Ellis. Russell and Leonard are superb together in this very dark presentation.

The broadcast opens with the husband carrying his wife over the doorstep of their honeymoon cottage. Their wedding was just one day after the bride was acquitted of the murder of her grandfather, from whom she inherited a large amount of money. We hear her stream of consciousness narrative where she talks to her grandfather about being surprised about the money and that she regretted not telling him how she met her new husband. The story continues in normal first person narrative, but still has some flashbacks implying some abusive childhood discipline by her grandfather that are the main reason for his murder.

Before they are even unpacked, they have a visit from a newspaper reporter who still believes that she killed her father and that her husband helped her. He tells them he’s working on a big feature story about how she holds her husband's life in her hands because, while she could never could be tried again for the same crime, a word from her to the police could send the husband to the electric chair. You realize that they did conspire to murder the grandfather, but, unknown to them, he had a terminal illness, and the evil actions would have been “needed.” Their act created a lack of mutual trust, and it means they deserve their mutually selfish misery. The surprise ending is how she exacts a strange self-destructive revenge on her new husband. The title of the episode from the nursery rhyme’s ending certainly fulfills the next line of “and down will come baby, cradle and all,” if one uses “cradle” as a metaphor for their new and combative marriage.

The CBS publicity release mentions Leonard’s authorship and that he “thoughtfully included a male lead” that he said was “made to order for me.” While he played tough guys in film roles, he was usually in a comedic role on radio. Those included Jack Benny’s horse race track “tout,” Judy Canova's boy friend, “Joe Crunchmiller,” and Phil Harris’ friend “Grogan.” His previous Suspense role was for the excellent episode, Feast of the Furies of 1946-07-11. Leonard became a very successful television producer in the 1960s.

The episode has some of the wow and flutter issues that are common to the 1951 recordings that become obvious as it nears the drama’s concluding music. 

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP510503

THE CAST

ROSALIND RUSSELL (Evelyn Striker), Sheldon Leonard (Harry Stryker), Joe Kearns (Signature Voice / Corcoran / Doctor), Barney Phillips (Kahn the Policeman), Jeffrey Silver (Delivery Boy)

COMMERCIAL: Bert Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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