1959-02-15 The Signalman

This is the third Suspense production of the Irving Reis adaptation of the 1866 Charles Dickens story. It stars Ellen Drew. The script was first presented with Reis directing in 1937 on Columbia Workshop and was changed by Elliott Lewis for the 1953 production to have an actress play the lead role. In that case, it was for a highly publicized Agnes Moorehead appearance. William N. Robson maintained the Lewis revision with Sarah Churchill in 1956, and with Drew in this production. A reporter attempts to interview a hermit-like railroad signalman who lives in a shack huddled by railroad tracks. He has a recurring vision that has served as a warning of disaster before several train wrecks. He insists the visions are real, including one about her.

Details about the two earlier broadcasts can be accessed as noted:

1953-03-23 Agnes Moorehead has information about the changes made by Elliott Lewis and also the career of Irving Reis

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/09/1953-03-23-signalman.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP530323 is also where the recordings can be downloaded or streamed.

1956-11-04 Sarah Churchill

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/03/1956-11-04-signalman.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP561104 is also where the recordings can be downloaded or streamed.

No script cover with the dates and times of pre-recording is available at this time.

The only surviving recording is a network aircheck with commercials eliminated. It is in acceptable sound. It is hoped than an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording can be found in the future to improve the drama’s sound quality.

This is the second appearance of Ellen Drew in the series. The first was more fifteen years ago, in 1943-06-29 in Uncle Henry’s Rosebush in a supporting role to Agnes Moorehead.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590215

THE CAST

ELLEN DREW (Amy Sears), Ben Wright (The Signalman), George Walsh (Narrator)

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1959-02-08 Death Notice

Victor Jory stars in a William N. Robson script about a man who has been told by his doctor that his life may end at any minute. The man considers himself as having a life of constant pain of one type or another. Now that he knows it is coming to a close, he becomes determined to live each day to the hilt. He has great difficulty bridging the gap between worldly materialism and spiritualism as he re-examines his values, but he finds them empty. He has been having an affair, and had a strained relationship with his son. He wants his son to have some values and dignity, and respect for him and his wife. He realizes, however, that he has none for himself or for her. As he nears his end, he becomes more aware of his loneliness and his emptiness, and rejects the attempted comfort and encouragement of a clergyman at a church he had wandered into.

The story is a downer, for sure, but it is a product of its times that reflected the Cold War, nuclear threat, social unrest, and other issues that weighed heavily on society at the time. Jory’s character is devoid of all optimism, likely that way for a long time. There an old saying about spirituality and faith that people die the way they lived. That’s certainly the case for this character. Materialism really brought him no joy, and neither could anything else. He was living life to the hilt before, and the hilt he tried to increase was not much of a hilt in the end.

The 1950s was a time when doctors and families or both would conceal terminal conditions from patients. It often became a charade between them all, with patients realizing it but reluctant to admit that they knew. In this script, the patient demands the truth of a full diagnosis. The terminal condition in the story is leukemia, which had a progression of improving treatments through the first half of the Twentieth Century. The second half of the Century saw more success of new chemotherapy drugs, bone marrow transplants, matching of donors, and other modalities. Childhood leukemia treatment made massive strides after 1970. At the time of this episode, it was commonly accepted that leukemia had no certain or long-lasting cure.

 No script cover with the dates and times of pre-recording is available at this time.

A complete network recording of the episode has survived. It has somewhat narrow audio range but is very listenable. It is likely the best recording available to Suspense fans until an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) transcription disc might be found.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590208

THE CAST

VICTOR JORY (Charlie Slade), LEE PATRICK (Mildred), Brook Byron (Sandra), Peter Votrian (Chuck), Barney Phillips (Doctor / Priest), George Walsh (Narrator)

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1959-02-01 Return to Dust

Richard Beals stars in a George Bamber story as a lab scientist working on human cell structure whose experiment goes quite wrong. Beals’ performance is outstanding. It is tempting to compare this script to the movies The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957 release, and highly regarded) or Attack of the Puppet People (1958 release, not so highly regarded) that were in theaters prior to this production. That would take away from this innovative production.

The Bamber story is based on the search for ways to shrink cancer cells and the project lab work goes wrong. All of the patient’s cells shrink. The script is good, but concept is not ground-breaking and had been done before. When you consider the kinds of special effects and props that were needed for The Incredible Shrinking Man, the synergy of effectiveness of Bamber, and Robson, and especially Beals, do all of that, and more, with effects, music, and acting ability. It becomes an example of how powerful radio drama can be. Beals’ character realizes that his death is imminent. He endures frustrating attempts to warn others, and makes plans for his warnings and remains to be found after his demise. Some may consider this to be schlock sci-fi that was common in the 1950s, but the production rises well above that. Then there’s the professional voice acting challenge that Beals had to meet and exceed.

Richard Beal's wide ranging performance did not require any special effects beyond his vocal skills to produce the high-pitched voices, and have them change to indicate the character’s steadily reducing size. He was interviewed at a SPERDVAC meeting on April 16, 1988. It included this exchange with interviewer Larry Gassman; the text has been edited for clarity:

Richard Beals: The toughest radio show for me was the Suspense show Return to Dust. It was the toughest, toughest radio show I ever had to do. It's the scene where I start out just about my size, three feet tall, from average size down to three feet. And then I keep getting smaller and smaller and smaller. I think I’ve taken a potion of something that is going to give eternal life, but it's just making me smaller. And then in the final scene, I’m so small, the parakeet eats me. [audience chuckles] Getting that voice down that small to sustain it was the toughest radio show I ever had to do.

Larry Gassman: They didn’t speed that up?

Beals: No, no… that was me.

Gassman: You did all that, really?

Beals: No, that was me.

Gassman: I figured they just sped it up.

Beals: No. We did it. We taped it, of course. But it was live on tape. We didn't have any retakes on that.

The one-minute audio clip of the discussion can be found at the same link as the program recordings.

Beals was a fascinating participant of the golden age of radio, animation entertainment, and television advertising. He had a very long and successful career. His voice was affected by, as he explained it, a glandular issue where he did not go through puberty. Wikipedia has an overview of his career and life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Beals

His biography, Think Big, published in 1992, can be viewed at The Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/thinkbig0000beal and can often be found as used copies for $15 or thereabouts. His biography does not mention his performance in Return to Dust.

Thank you again to SPERDVAC’s Barbara Watkins for access to the recording and to Corey Harker, president of the organization, for permission to make the audio clip available.

In his monologue, Robson has high praise for the earlier Bamber script, and refers to it as The Tennis Shoe. The title of that play was actually Like Man, Somebody Dig Me.

The title of the episode comes from Genesis 3:19. The King James Version translates it as “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” The Complete Jewish Bible translates it as “You will eat bread by the sweat of your forehead till you return to the ground — for you were taken out of it: you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

The original title of the episode was “Specimen.”

The program was recorded on Thursday, January 22, 1959. Rehearsal began at 2:00pm and recording started at 4:30pm. Including in-house edits that session ended at 6:00pm. Production edits were completed by 8:00pm. Music was added at a later time before broadcast.

There are three surviving recordings. There is a network recording that is complete but is in low quality sound with narrow range and some wow and flutter. There is an edited network recording without commercials that is the best quality recording. The surviving Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording is of moderate quality and is complete.

The Incredible Shrinking Man can be viewed at The Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/incredible-shrinking-man-1957 as can be Attack of the Puppet People https://archive.org/details/AttackOfThePuppetPeople1958

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590201

THE CAST

RICHARD BEALS (James Howard), Lawrence Dobkin (Dr. Warren Bader), Paula Winslowe (Miss Prichard), George Walsh (Narrator)

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1959-01-25 Four of a Kind

The script for Hitch-hike Poker by John and Gwen Bagni is re-titled as Four of a Kind for a second performance. It stars Elliott Reid as a hitch-hiker who finds that a friendly game of “license plate poker” turns into a deadly life and-death situation. Things take a bad turn as Reid’s character becomes involved in a murder plot—with himself as the victim!

The original 1948 broadcast starred Gregory Peck. Important information about hitch-hiking are and the game of license plate poker are also detailed in the blogpost for that broadcast:

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/12/1948-09-16-hitch-hike-poker.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP480916 is where recordings can be downloaded and streamed.

The script was by radio veterans John and Gwen Bagni. John passed away six years after the broadcast in 1954. Gwen married screenwriter Irwin Gielgud in 1955, but they divorced in 1961. In 1963, she married actor Paul Dubov, who passed away in 1979. Gwen lived for many years after, and died in 2001.

The program was recorded on November 14, 1958. Rehearsal began at 4:00pm with recording starting at 6:30pm. It was completed with in-studio edits by 8:00pm. Additional production edits were completed between that time and 9:00pm.

The original intended broadcast date was December 7, 1958. It was held until this new 1959 date. The title was changed by Robson, but details beyond him thinking it was better are not known.

Three recordings have survived. The surviving network recording is complete aircheck with a narrow range, but is listenable. There are two Armed Forces Radio Service recordings, AFRS#704 and an AFRS recording with an unknown number. The two AFRS recordings can be differentiated by the announcement that follows

• AFRS#705: The Oregon Territory

• AFRS#unknown: Military medals

The “AFRS#unknown” one is the best of the recordings with a rich, full-range sound. For many years, this episode circulated as a heavily edited aircheck from and Armed Forces Radio station in low quality sound. This recording will allow full enjoyment of the story and Reid’s performance.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590125

THE CAST

ELLIOTT REID (Ridge Fowler), Joan Tompkins (Virginia), Alan Reed (J. Stuart Belden), Jack Kruschen (Police Sergeant / Truck Driver), Barney Phillips (Al), George Walsh (Narrator)

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1959-01-18 Ride Down Cajon

William Bishop stars in a thrilling John Maller story about a runaway truck down a steep mountainside that poses great peril to others, the occupants, police, and the cargo. The story was adapted by William N. Robson.

The truck is carrying chickens stored in ice, ready for delivery to Los Angeles supermarkets. The truck would therefore be very heavy, more from the ice than the chickens. This sets up the runaway truck theme of the story, as 10 tons of weight would gather great speed on the downside of their trip down the mountain. At about 8:15 the brakes fail, and the truck can’t be stopped by downshifting because the gears won’t engage. They’re headed downhill, on a narrow road with no way to pass, and nowhere to make an emergency stop. There are no runaway truck ramps like some highways have, where trucks can veer off the road into a ramp made with sand and rocks that can slow down the vehicle and minimize dangers to life and property. Police start to get involved thinking the truck is recklessly speeding, but they learn the difficult facts of the situation, and clear the way for the speeding truck to protect other drivers. It’s a dangerous ride that may not end well, as the dialogue says “…there comes a time when you just can’t keep going straight… the road ends.” The production is well done, though some might consider it predictable, or link it with the earlier episode about a speeding car, 1955-04-19 Speed Trap.

The script is by John Maller. He is one of the Suspense “one-hit-wonders” as this is his only radio script (another is Walter Bazar of On a Country Road fame). Maller has no entries in IMDb or any other resources for novels or short stories, and there are no indications that the name is a pseudonym.

Three recordings have survived. The surviving network recording is complete but is in low quality sound. There are two Armed Forces Radio Service recordings, AFRS#704 and an AFRS recording with an unknown number. “AFRS#unknown” is the best of the recordings. The two AFRS recordings can be differentiated by the announcement that follows

• AFRS#704: UNESCO

• AFRS#unknown: Joe and Daphne Forsythe skit about US Savings Bonds

Cajon Pass is a real place, noted as such in the Robson monologue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajon_Pass

There is no single incident that inspired the story. In the late 1950s, there always seemed to be a newspaper story somewhere about runaway trucks or other vehicles.

For those whom the geography of Suspense has some meaning, Cajon Pass is 77 miles south of Red Mountain. That name was used in Nobody Ever Quits and its appropriately renamed Night in Red Mountain.

This was William Bishop’s only series appearance. He died about nine months later on October 3, 1959, at age 41. His final film, Oregon Trail, starring Fred MacMurray, was released just weeks before his passing. His acting career began in New York’s off-Broadway theaters and earned his first major role in 1933 and in the 1942 revival of Tobacco Road. He was also in Mercury Theater stage productions. He was a busy supporting actor in western films and early television. He was not often in radio productions. More details can be found at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bishop_(actor)

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590118

THE CAST

WILLIAM BISHOP (Andy), Bill Quinn (Phil), Joe de Santis (Dave), George Walsh (Narrator)

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1959-01-11 Night on Red Mountain

Richard Crenna stars in the third broadcast of this William N. Robson script that is a man who decides to leave his old life and start new. His old life still claws him back. The story is actually about Robson’s experience with the CBS Blacklist that banned him from the network for about four years. It was originally broadcast on 1955-03-08 as Nobody Ever Quits. This is the second time that Robson is producing this script that is essentially about himself. He obviously liked his own script, and it would be repeated once more under producer Paul Roberts after the show moved to New York for its final seasons. It is also the second time that Crenna starred. The prior two productions are:

1955-03-08 Nobody Ever Quits with Tom McKee

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/12/1955-03-08-nobody-ever-quits.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP550308 has the recordings for download and streaming

1957 Night on Red Mountain, also with Richard Crenna

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/04/1957-09-15-night-on-red-mountain.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP570915 has the recordings for download and streaming

The program was originally scheduled for airing on Sunday, December 14, 1958. For Old Time’s Sake was aired instead.

This episode was recorded on Saturday, November 15, 1958, meaning it was held aside for almost two months before broadcast. Crenna’s availability was likely limited by his role on the successful TV series The Real McCoys, which was in production at that time. Rehearsal began at 2:00pm with recording starting at 4:30pm. With in-studio edits, the session ended at 6:00pm. Further production edits were done separately and ended at 7:00pm.

Neither of the two surviving recordings are perfect. The network recording is preferred because it is the way it was first broadcast. It range is somewhat narrower than the better episodes. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#703) has the same issue and is somewhat dull in sound quality. Both recordings are listenable with no serious flaws.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590111

THE CAST

DICK CRENNA (Walt, alias Joey Parino), Celeste Bullis [Bollas] (1st Operator), Peter Leeds (Bat), Doris Singleton (Sally / 2nd Operator), Joe de Santis (Big Pete Parelli / Dad), Sam Pierce (Highway Patrol radio announcer), Norm Alden (Sergeant Toohey), George Walsh (Narrator)

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1959-01-04 Don't Call Me Mother

Agnes Moorehead stars as a cunning and despicable mother who is attempting to control all aspects of her 25-year-old son’s life. He is asserting himself, to her dismay, and soon gets married. She strives to undermine him and his wife through lies, innuendo, and imposition of guilt. The wife is loyal, and despite the effort to drive her away, she stands with the son. She decides the only way to gain control of her life and her son is to plot the murder of her daughter-in-law. The play is by William N. Robson. Moorehead is excellent in this role and as annoyance with her cascades in almost the same manner her “Mrs. Stevenson” does in Sorry, Wrong Number. This is not a classic script, but if you like Moorehead’s work, you will like this production.

The program was recorded on Friday, January 2, 1959. Rehearsal began at 1:00pm, with recording and in-studio edits beginning at 4:30pm. Production edits began at 5:00pm and concluded at 7:00pm. Music was added on Saturday, January 3.

Two recordings of the episode have survived. The network recording is complete and in good sound. The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording is much preferred for its fuller sound.

The working title for this story was ‘M’ is for the Million Things. The title was in CBS publicity, and the phrase would have been recognizable to listeners as a line from a 1915 song, played and performed mainly on Mothers’ Day. There is much more to the song, but this is the most famous portion:

“M” is for the million things she gave me,
“O” means only that she’s growing old,
“T” is for the tears were shed to save me,
“H” is for her heart of purest gold;
“E” is for her eyes, with lovelight shining,
“R” means right, and right she’ll always be,
Put them all together, they spell “MOTHER,”
A word that means the world to me.

The 1915 song can be heard from an Edison disc at The Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/78_m-o-t-h-e-r-a-word-that-means-the-world-to-me_george-wilton-ballard-theodore-moor_gbia0083449b

This script may have an interesting foundation from 1948 when Robson was producer of The Whistler series non-CBS Pacific Network run for Household Finance Corporation (HFC). Early in the company’s sponsorship, there was dislike for some of the plotlines or conclusions of the Signal Oil productions. Robson was brought in as producer-director to revise or re-write scripts and then make new productions for HFC that often had different casts. The final HFC broadcast was on 1948-09-15 of a Robson script that was not used in the Signal series. CBS publicity explained this episode, Boy of Mine, as follows as it appeared in Florida’s Orlando Evening Star that day:

Producer William N. Robson of The Whistler show, doubles as author when the Wednesday night thrill drama series presents Boy of Mine, tonight at 10pm one WBDO (CBS). This is the story of a selfish mother. After her daughter escapes the mother’s cruel control by marriage, the woman turns all her energies to molding her son into the man she always wished her husband had been. When he finally finds a romantic interest, she tries to oppose the love affair with every resource.

This episode of the HFC Whistler is not available, but the script is. There are elements and subplots of Boy of Mine in Don’t Call Me Mother. The Boy script is an indicator if Robson’s interest in exploring dysfunctional family situations in the scripts he would write for Suspense for this episode and also for the 1959-08-09 Everything Will be Different. Robson would use personal experiences for his script ideas (such as in Nobody Ever Quits/Night on Red Mountain and Date Night). It makes one wonder about his life and marriages and relationships and of those he knew and if they played a role in Boy of Mine and this very episode.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP590104

THE CAST

AGNES MOOREHEAD (Laurie Ryder), Cathy Lewis (Roberta), James McCallion (Larry Ryder), Barney Phillips (Stern the butcher / Lt. Ross), Norm Alden (Sergeant Adam [Abbott]), George Walsh (Narrator)

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