1954-10-28 The Shelter

Radio veterans Vic Perrin and Joyce McCluskey have this episode mostly to themselves as they play two people waiting at a remote bus shelter waiting for the route’s midnight stop. Like On a Country Road, an escaped lunatic is on the loose. That means there’s a surprise ahead for misidentifying the source of potential danger.

McCloskey’s character is awaiting her bus, and she meets a man there who is intent on conversation. He seems quite odd, and to listen to him you’d be convinced he’s the lunatic (so you know it won’t be him; it’s too early). He clearly has obsessive compulsive disorder, and that’s supposed to lead us believe OCD can make him a killer. We learn at the end why organization and placement of the typical things of life are so important to him… and who the person with psychiatric issues is.

There are clues to the ending and the rationale of the behavior of Perrin’s character throughout. Once you hear the ending, you may want to re-listen to hear the clues you missed and they may suddenly seem obvious… but you missed them on the first listen!

The script is by Don Yerrill, who also wrote for the Cathy and Elliott Lewis series, On Stage. Yerrill lived in Scotland and had his plays performed in the UK and Australia. He did some US television writing in the 1950s. He was a prominent crossword puzzle author, under the name “Tantalus.” His puzzles appeared in the London Times Literary Supplement. He was composing puzzles until age 92. In 2016, his death certificate listed his occupation as “wordsmith.” This is the first of two Suspense scripts prepared by him. The other is the long-missing The Eavesdropper of January 1956 that was recently found as an AFRS recording.

Most of the circulating recordings of this episode are combinations of dull or narrow range, and have background tape noise. This recording is an improvement over what has been available before.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3

https://archive.org/details/TSP541028

THE CAST

Vic Perrin (Man in shelter), Joyce McCluskey (Woman), Helen Kleeb (Mother), Dick Ryan (Car driver), Herb Ellis (Uncle Will), Frank Gerstle (Radio announcer), Larry Thor (Narrator)

###

1954-10-21 Rave Notice

This is the second broadcast of the James Poe story that has an actor shoot his director, whom he hates, then faking insanity to get away with it. The first broadcast starred Milton Berle, but this one is a much better performance with the superbly talented radio veteran Hans Conried. He was in radio, movies, television, and the stage. One of the radio’s busiest actors, his Suspense appearances were quite notable for their versatility. This is a perfect role for him.

His appearance in 1947-02-27 Three Faces at Midnight is thankfully preserved. In the east coast production, the sound effects gun did not fire, and Conried continued to act, ad libbing to buy time for the technician to get the backup gun and execute the effect. The west coast version is a clean reading, with no effect problem. It is interesting to compare the two scenes and how smooth Conried was when the scene was in trouble.

He was also in 1946-12-05 The House in Cypress Canyon and in addition to acting performed the scary sounds heard in the house. Many baby boomers know him best for his recurring television role with Danny Thomas as his “Uncle Tonouse” and his hilarious appearance in I Love Lucy as speech teacher “Percy Livermore” (Lucy Hires an English Tutor, aired on 1952-12-29). Conried could purposely overact when situations called for it; other radio cast members would have difficulty containing their laughter.

The initial broadcast and background information about it can be found at:

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/04/1950-10-12-rave-notice.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP501012 has the recordings for download.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3

https://archive.org/details/TSP541021

THE CAST

Hans Conried (Sam), Larry Dobkin (Norman / Judge), Parley Baer (Man / First Doctor), Howard McNear (Gun shopkeeper), Jack Kruschen (Guard 1), James Nusser (Guard 2), Edgar Barrier (Lawyer), John Stephenson (Head Doctor), Eleanor Tanin (Ad Lib scream), Larry Thor (Narrator)

###

1954-10-14 Lost

A woman, lost, and wandering the streets of New York City, may have committed a murder. She has amnesia and has little recollection of her most recent hours and days. She asks for help from the police, and soon finds herself in a hospital. “Alice,” as she and they learn, is her name, and the police start to question her. After some case publicity on television, her husband comes to the police and explains they were on an extended stay from San Francisco. He was a songwriter looking for someone to sing his compositions. Alice begins to recall her trip, and that the singer was Joyce Carlisle. The police bring her to Carlisle’s apartment to fill in the gaps of her memory. Then the complete story emerges.

It’s a good script and production. The plot is predictable, but is an enjoyable listen. One of the problems with many radio dramas that are constrained budget sustaining programs is that there are not enough characters to spread around suspicion of guilt prior to revealing the killer’s identity at the conclusion.

The script is by radio veteran Jerry D. Lewis. He was the head writer for This Is Your FBI. Lewis left that series to get into television writing, directing, and producing. This is one of two Suspense scripts penned by him.

The original title of the script was “Lost One.”

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3

https://archive.org/details/TSP541014

THE CAST

Paula Winslowe (Alice Parker / Nurse), Herb Vigran (Police Officer), William Conrad (Lieutenant Mark Neal), John Dehner (Doctor Corday), Tony Barrett (Vance Parker), Larry Thor (Narrator)

###

1954-10-07 Chicken Feed

A lawyer and husband leaves home after an argument and starts driving to get his mind straight. He stops for a cup of coffee to cool his anger, and then realizes he left his wallet at home. What happens after that will cause him to never forget his wallet again. He ends up in a cell for the night, a vagrant, who stiffed the coffee shop for his meal. The thugs in the cell with him think he’s a messenger for the local crime boss. Uh-oh. Everyone gets surprised in this one. This Lawrence Goldman script was a favorite among series producers, and produced three times on the series. It was originally offered with Ray Milland. This is the second broadcast.

Background about the script and other items of interest can be found at:

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/02/1949-09-08-chicken-feed.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP490908 is where recordings of that debut broadcast can be found.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3

https://archive.org/details/TSP541007

THE CAST

Harry Bartell (Ralph Clark), Eleanore Tanin (Waitress / Operator), Vic Perrin (Officer Jim Brady), Michael Ann Barrett (Mary), Edgar Barrier (Slim, the drunk in cell), James Nusser (Pete), Clayton Post (Mr. Phillips), Jack Kruschen (Jerry Nichols), Larry Thor (Sergeant Ross / Narrator)

###

1954-09-30 A Little Matter of Memory

After a few weeks off the air, Suspense returns in a new 25 minute format (which was actually more like 24:30). The first episode is a James Poe adaptation of a James Helvick story that originally appeared in the July 1950 issue of the British magazine Lilliput as “Total Recall.” It did not appear in the US until the early 1960s when it was published in the August 1962 edition of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.

It’s a mistaken identity plot about a couple who live in the remote English countryside. They hunker down indoors when they hear that a mad killer is at large in their area. Joe Kearns plays a clergyman whom they think is the killer, and they knock him out and tie him up. Some of Kearns’ dialogue as the Curate during the visit is quite amusing. You know he’s not the killer because it happens too early in the story. Though a bit predictable, it is an entertaining listen.

“James Helvick” was a pseudonym of journalist and writer Claud Cockburn. He was known for his screenplay of the 1951 Humphrey Bogart film Beat the Devil. He used the “Helvick” name because of his prior association with the British Communist Party in the 1940s. As a skeptical journalist, he used the phrase “believe nothing until it has been officially denied.” He is credited with that saying, but he did not claim its creation. He was related to authors Alec Waugh and Evelyn Waugh, and his granddaughter is Olivia Wilde whom many remember from her role in the medical TV series House.

There were many cast changes before broadcast. Ben Wright was supposed to be the lead role, but became unavailable. Larry Dobkin became the lead. He was originally set to play the Curate, but was replaced by Joe Kearns (a perfect role for him). Edgar Barrier replaced Richard Peel as the Constable. Peel became the killer. These are the kinds of cast changes that could be made more easily with a consistent, skilled, and versatile ensemble group without having to work around the change in schedule of a publicly announced Hollywood movie figure who suddenly could not appear.

The 25 minute format would last only 6 weeks. After that, Suspense would be cut again, to 23 minutes and 50 seconds plus 40 seconds (or more) of “The Suspense March” that would be used as background music for local stations to have announcements for their station’s upcoming programming or other announcements for their area. That short format would last about a year before it would return to a more typical program length. Such was the plight of an unsponsored, sustaining, broadcast series.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3

An Internet Archive page is not available at this time.

Download from MediaFire
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/il9zoog6j2442/Suspense_-_A_Little_Matter_of_Memory

The program can be streamed at YouTube https://youtu.be/_zmb3TwqE3o

THE CAST

Larry Dobkin (Edward Mansell), Paula Winslowe (Joan Mansell), Edgar Barrier (Constable), Joseph Kearns (George Beale, the Curate), Richard Peel (Barrington Howard the killer), Larry Thor (Narrator)

###

1954-08-10 Never Steal a Butcher's Wife

This is the second offering of this James Poe script about a love triangle in a butcher shop. Yes, a shop with all kinds of sharp objects used for carving and chopping flesh and bone. It’s not a place to confront a jealous and vengeful butcher. It’s a classic Suspense story that culminates in a well-staged but gruesome sequence that surprises at its extent. Kirk Douglas starred in the original, and this stars Hy Averback.

The blogpost for the debut broadcast has details about the story and the production.

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/03/1950-02-09-butchers-wife.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP500209 has the recordings of that broadcast

Hy Averback may be better known by nostalgia fans for his work as a producer and director of television series. He was the voice of the camp public address system on TV's M*A*S*H, and was also the producer of the crazy and fun series F Troop. He played a role in the formation of the Armed Forces Radio Service when he was in its first announcing crew. Information can be found at http://www.smecc.org/start_of_afrs.htm

His very successful career overview can be found at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hy_Averback and at IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002195

This was the last episode of Suspense for the summer. It returned at the end of September.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3

https://archive.org/details/TSP540810

THE CAST

Hy Averback (Harry), Jack Kruschen (Nick), Paula Winslowe (Mary), Lawrence Dobkin (Kraus), Larry Thor (Narrator / Ad Libs / Announcer), Guz Bayz, Ross Murray, Eleanore Tanin, Jill Jarmyn, Marilyn Budgen (Ad-Libs)

###

1954-08-03 Good Night, Mrs. Russell

This broadcast is a repeat performance about a woman who visits a particular diner most every work day as her circumstances have her living alone. She befriends the cook at the diner, but he turns out to be unbalanced with an evil streak, and he kidnaps her after misunderstanding a compliment. Virginia Gregg has the lead role.

The original broadcast of this script featured Bette Davis in her only Suspense appearance. Background of that performance and script author Ben S. Hunter, and recordings, may be found at:

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/02/1949-10-20-good-night-mrs-russell.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP491020 is the page from which recordings can be downloaded.

The 1949 script had “good night” as separate words; the script does not. Nor does this script title have a comma on the cover sheet. These appear to be typos or oversights. The show publicity, direct from CBS to newspapers, has “good night” as two words.

Two recordings have survived, and the network broadcast is better than the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording. The network recording has a somewhat narrow range, but no other defects of note. The AFRS recording suffers from tape damage of wow and flutter and other problems and somewhat tinny sound.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3

https://archive.org/details/TSP540803

THE CAST

Virginia Gregg (Mrs. Russell), Vic Perrin (Henry), Eleanore Tanin, Jill Jarmyn (Diner customers), Gus Bayz, Ross Murray (Ad Libs), Larry Thor (Narrator)

###