Suspense Upgrades

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This is one of the strangest Suspense backstories of the entire series. But first, today's episode...

Suspense_1957-02-10_DoorOfGold_wMyronMcCormick UPGRADE-3.mp3
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The author of today's story is E. Scott Flohr, sometimes known as Edgar Flohr, or sometimes Edgar Scott Flohr, and even Kenneth L. Scott. That's a hint of this strange background. (In some OTR references you see the name spelled "Fleur" because the name was being transcribed from an audio recording).

Flohr grew up in Pennsylvania. His father worked as an accountant in an administrative position managing the state prison system. Over the years, Flohr travels the country, and eventually works in a locksmith show. There, he develops an interest in safecracking... and becomes successful at the craft... but is finally caught.


Flohr is sentenced to 30 years.

His life takes a good turn in prison. He puts his college degree in journalism, earned years ago at the University of Pennsylvania, to good use. There's even a brief item in the news about others who are writing while in prison, too.


A few months prior to the news item, Flohr wrote Door of Gold and submitted it to Suspense. The script is accepted... but he forgets to put his return address on the script, the letter, and possibly the envelope. CBS put an ad in Daily Variety asking for help in locating him. They find him, and learn that his address was San Quentin prison where he was serving time for burglaries and was known as “the Safeway kid,” claiming to be the second-best safe-cracker in the US with 800+ burglaries in the east and California.

What an accomplishment it was to get a script on Suspense for a new writer... especially one who was rehabilitating himself and preparing to enter mainstream society...

He also wrote 1957-04-28 Escape to Death.

He continued writing, and one of the amusing asides of this strange story was his letter to the editor about food in prison, especially a serving of a favorite Pennsylvania breakfast side dish.


One of the big hits of late 1950s television was the syndicated series Sea Hunt. Producer Ivan Tors was asked to create another underwater series for prime time network TV, and he developed The Aquanauts. Flohr submitted a script about safecracking, and used the name "Charles Hecht."


Flohr was paroled in 1962 and was writing scripts with another ex-con, Edgar “E.M.” Parsons. (Parsons was pretty successful at the craft through the 1960s and died in 1970.)

It must not have been enough. Flohr was picked up again in 1965 for forging stock certificates and travelers checks. The report from the LA Times wire service is rather hilarious. “When detectives banged on his apartment door, Edgar Scott Flohr, a television writer with a corkscrew past, sat in his undershirt pounding a typewriter as if the industry’s future depended on him. He never got to finish the script.” It was even funnier that some of the fake certificates were for CBS stock!


Flohr's expertise as a safecracker and forger led him to supply testimony before the US Congress and criminal proceedings.

There are references in some newspaper stories to Flohr's autobiography, written while at San Quentin. "Walk a Crooked Mile" was published, but cannot find any specific details about it, nor can I find a copy.

A Social Security record matches Flohr’s age and name (as Edgar Flohr). He died in 1980 at age 60 in Los Angeles. He was probably collecting SS disability to be getting checks at that age, and was no longer active in scriptwriting... or safecracking. It is likely he died in jail, but that is not clear at this time.

If this was a movie, this is the point where the lead character looks out into the distance, and muses “if only he had used his talents for good and not evil.” And then the director yells “cut!”

Thanks Greybelt, that WAS quite a back story!

Thanks greybelt
That was a lot of info
Best regards

Art

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

Suspense_1957-03-10_ThePeraltaMap_wRaymondBurr AFRS UPGRADE-2.mp3
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A new page has been added to the research site. This one is about the Red Channels blacklist and its effect on Suspense. I had enough research done to put a page up, but I will be adding to it as more materials become available and I learn more. Some of the new material put Murderous Revision in a different perspective than it appears in the current edition of my book. One aspect of the web page that is worth the time is a letter that William N. Robson wrote to Edward R. Murrow about problems he was having with the blacklist. It's quite detailed, and I post two important excerpts of it.
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This will be a section of next year's edition, so comments and ideas that can improve it are always welcome. Thanks again to everyone for their support, encouragement, and questions!

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

In addition to Allan Sloane, another writer blacklisted before scripting for Suspense was Robert Cenedella, author of 1961's "The Juvenile Rebellion."

The blacklist page on the Suspense research site has been updated with information about writers. Robert L. Richards was the biggest blacklist target. One Suspense episode had three blacklisted writers! Allan Sloane did not write for Suspense until the final years of the series, but came back from his blacklisting with Emmys, Peabodys, and Writers Guild Awards. The page was cleaned up a bit with edits and layout improvements. If you looked at it yesterday, check it out again today. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

emruf7: THANKS for your mentioning Robert Cenedella. He has been added to the page.


Suspense_1957-08-25_LeinengenVsTheAnts_wWilliamConrad (Network) UPGRADE-1.mp3
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The newspaper clippings say this is the third time Conrad starred in this classic story. Let's put it this way: he starred three times in that particular week's Escape offering but was before the microphone four times. One of those extra times was when Escape had a separate weekend performance (January 14 and then January 17, 1948). Tudor Owen also starred in an Escape performance and Luis Van Rooten played the lead the final time it was broadcast on Suspense in 1959.

We're into the era of Suspense recordings where our best hope of good sound is finding AFRS/AFRTS discs. That's happened for many episodes, and has for this one. Today's is an upgrade to the clipped open and close recording that is believed to be a network episode.
Suspense_1958-05-11_SubwayStop_wSkipHomeier LIKELY NETWORK CLIPPED END UPGRADE.mp3
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An AFRTS disc was found for this episode a while ago and was in the OTRR set. Listed here for convenience.
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Thanks greybelt

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Art

Awesome! Thanks for these.

Thank You!

Suspense_1958-07-27_SteelRiverPrisonBreak_wBartlettRobinson AFRS NO COMMLS NICE SOUND.mp3
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This script was first used in 1951 with the script attributed to "William Norman," a pseudonym of William N. Robson. Until we got this script copy, we believed that the only pseudonym Robson used was that of his two son's names, "Christopher Anthony." By 1958, when Robson was producing Suspense, proper attribution was possible. The network copy that is in circulation of the 1951 program has a clipped end and lacks closing credits, so we were never able to hear the announcement of authorship for that production.

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try again -- it seems to be working fine

Here are two "completist" files today. The first is a "less horrible" copy of the home recording of the network broadcast of Command. A nice "new" AFRTS copy was posted previously. The copy of Headshrinker is in okay sound but has slightly more of Robson's opening than other circulating copies. We don't know why, because this copy makes it sound like the extra open might be clipped at the start. It is possible that the program open ("Suspense"...) has been patched all these years.

Suspense_1958-09-14_Command_wRichardAnderson NETWORK UPGRADE-2 STILL LQ.mp3
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Suspense_1958-10-25_Headshrinker 16sPatchedOpenClippedRobsonOpen5SecMoreDialogThanCurrentCopy.mp3
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Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art