Suspense Upgrades

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Art

A little background..
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Ann Blyth no "e"

Edmund O'Brien

Suspense_1948-12-02_HandsOfMrOttermole_wCRains&VPrice UPGRADE-4.mp3
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A review of this episode, including some historical context, is at...
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... and here are some highlights:

The short story from which this episode was adapted is a classic; indeed, in 1949, a panel of critics voted it the best mystery story of all time... One point of interest is the means by which the murderer dispatches his victims - whereas modern fictional serial killers do so in all manner of gory and gruesome ways, here the relatively simple method of strangling is employed. This is a highly intimate way to kill a person - possibly, even, with sexual undertones - that undoubtedly says something significant about the killer's troubled psyche; at any rate, it is telling that the role his hands play in the plot are emphasized in the title... [T]he twist at the end is what (deservedly) earned the original short story its place in crime fiction history, for listeners today, the passage of time has undoubtedly diminished the shock and surprise of its key revelation; too many books, films and TV episodes with similar ones have been produced since. Even so, the episode still works well, as an updated reworking of the Jack the Ripper case, even if the ending is no longer as novel or startling as it may have been when it was first broadcast.

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Thanks Greybelt.

Suspense_1948-12-30_BreakUp_wWilliamBendix UPGRADE-4.mp3
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This is the program that was originally scheduled a few months earlier with Burt Lancaster. Jack Benny is at the end of the program to promote his move to CBS.

Thanks greybelt

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Art

Yet again, Suspense tries to get Sinatra and fails. Remember, Sinatra was planned as the lead in The Man Who Couldn't Lose but was replaced by Gene Kelly when Sinatra's schedule got difficult. He eventually did To Find Help a few months later. He was scheduled to do it again here in January 1949. Plans obviously fell apart, and Gene Kelly saved the day once more. Word did not get out to many newspapers in time, as you will see below.

Here are a pair of upgrades, AFRS and network.

Suspense_1949-01-06_ToFindHelp_wGKelly&EBarrymore AFRS#266 UPGRADE FROM DISC.mp3
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Suspense_1949-01-06_ToFindHelp_wGKelly&EBarrymore UPGRADE-3.mp3
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Art

The first broadcast of "To Find Help" was in January '45 and Dinelli's short story version (entitled "The Man") appeared in the May-June 1945 issue of Story Magazine:

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The radio version is almost identical to the short story except for some extra scenes at the end of the play. Was the radio play written first and then converted into a short story? If so, then this might be another example of an original Suspense radio script being made into a movie (1952's Beware, My Lovely):

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You're the BEST emruf7!!! You have shed new light on Sinatra and Suspense AND corrected an assumption made earlier in this thread.

First, this thread contains this clip with a note that makes the assumption that "The Man" mentioned referred to the script "The Man Who Couldn't Lose."
It obviously didn't! It's easy to see how that could have been reasonable (as they say... "when you assume, you make an...").

It is pretty clear Dinelli was working on this plotline for a long time, and this is where it gets interesting.

He must have submitted the script in the summer of 1944 and it was accepted in time for them to schedule Sinatra and make the press release or news item that was picked up in Variety. The short story was probably submitted to Story Magazine at the end of 1944 just knowing how editorial schedules worked back then. The chronology seems to go like this:
- Suspense airs the play in January 1945
- Story Magazine publishes it in its May-June issue, probably on the stands in April.
- nothing really happens, publicly, until January 1949 when Suspense airs a second performance
- January 1950: The Man opens on Broadway for 92 performances [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
- The play is performed around the country by numerous regional theaters, starting in 1950 and through the 1960s.
- Dinelli's script ends up in Hollywood, with plans to star Ida Lupino and Stewart Granger as Day Without End. By the time it comes to the screen, it's released as Beware, My Lovely, with Lupino and Robert Ryan
- The short story re-appears in magazines such as Ellery Queen in the 1950s.
- The play is also produced on TV on January 5, 1960 on Ford's anthology series Startime with Audie Murphy and Thelma Ritter. It's online at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

From prior notes, The Visitor was on Suspense and was also a Broadway play, but was a published short story prior to its Suspense performance.

Your detective work certainly illuminated what was going on, corrected a research error, showed how Dinelli worked in multiple media and production formats and kept developing this storyline for them. So yes, this seems to be the first Suspense script to become a Broadway play, and another to add to the very short list of Suspense plays that made it to the screen.

I can't find a copy of the short story -- if you have a copy or can direct me to one, please reply to the thread or send me a private message.

Thanks so very much for your addition to Suspense history!

And now, today's installment...

Suspense_1949-01-20_IfTheDeadCouldTalk_wDanaAndrews UPGRADE-3.mp3
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Art

Dana Andrews

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Art

I always enjoy Charles Laughton. Thanks GB!!

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Art

Thanks greybelt

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Art

Thank you greybelt!