Suspense Upgrades

Before we get to today's recordings, there are some items I did not handle well yesterday that need to be addressed re the episodes Leading Citizen of Pratt County and Post Mortem (how fitting the title is for these comments, the Latin phrase that can be roughly translated as "reviewing what happened").

Apologies to chasedad for not fully reviewing my notes prior to posting Leading Citizen of Pratt County. Indeed, those notes are summarized in the online Suspense log as

one copy has Bradley clearing throat as he says the word "millions" when he reads a PSA about hunger in Europe and is 21 seconds to network ID; other copy has clean Bradley reading and 10 seconds to network ID; the AFRS version is derived from the network recording that is 12 secs to ID which has this dialogue at 25:12 (Sonny: "...boats could go all the way down" then Hale: "That's what I was saying before...") and this dialogue matches in the AFRS recording at 21:52; the other network recording has different dialogue at 24:42 (Sonny: "...boats could go down all the way" then Hale "Sure..."

Let's do the post mortem on Post Mortem:
There are four recordings of the episode
1) 4sec to ID after the promo that the shows is made available to the AFRS begins at 28:58 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
2) 7sec to ID without the promo that the show is made available to the AFRS; the final announcement is that the show is produced by Spier for Roma (~29:10) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
3) an AFRS recording [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
4) not mentioned yesterday, a 1980s "Frankenstein-ish" AFRTS release that I have posted at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Chasedad senses that 1 & 2 are the same from the opening sequence and the drama -- hmmmm... did someone edit the final announcements to make the program fit a time limitation on a cassette or reel or rebroadcast at some point? It does not seem so. We know the recordings are different because Bradley's announcement of "produced by William Spier for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California" is different. In #1, the 4sec version he says "produced by William Spier [slight pause] for the..." In #2, the 7sec version he reads it without the pause. What is the difference? Can the drama portions be the same? When I've played 2 performances simultaneously in the past, it is amazing how dead on the two Suspense performances can be. The answer is yes, the two dramas can be exactly the same for large portions of the broadcasts. But usually someone slips in a very minor way or there is a difference though slight change in nuance or pace of a phrase.

We're left with the questions: Is there a non-announcement point of difference in the drama body of the network broadcasts? If a difference is found, from which broadcasts are the AFRS and the AFRTS recordings derived?

AS I WAS POSTING THIS, lasombra was starting to post some notes about differences in the recordings. Be sure to look for those comments when they are posted in full.


Today's recordings finish up 1946 and get us back into 1947...

This was updated just recently; this upgrade has a richer sound.
Suspense_1946-06-20_YourDevotedWife_wJuneDuprez (20sec to ID) UPGRADE-3.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The network version that is direct to ID is in nice sound was posted recently, listed again for convenience [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
An AFRS version was also posted about four years ago, listed again, and is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The differences are as follows, noted in the Suspense log as explained in a prior C3DS post here:

one is direct to ID and the other is 20 seconds to ID, and there is also a dialogue difference; at 26:33 the direct recording has "Huh? Oh, uh...some woman...she jumped" while the 20 seconds recording has at 26:27 - "Huh? Oh...some...some woman...she jumped." The AFRS version is derived from the direct version, matching the dialogue at 23:40.

This version has not been updated since 2013; the original intended star was Cecil Kellaway.
Suspense_1946-08-29_BlueEyes_wHumeCronyn (10sec to ID) UPGRADE-2.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The other network version that goes direct to ID was posted a couple of months ago and is available at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
There is no AFRS version that we are aware of.

The summarized notes from the C3DS in the Suspense log are:

at 27:11 in the direct to ID recording “Because if she committed suicide as she planned, just how would you have been able to prove your innocence, Mr. Littlefield. Just, uh, exactly how?” while in the 10 seconds to ID recording at 26:46 it is “Because if she com-committed suicide as she planned, just how would you have been able to prove your innocence, Mr. Littlefield. Just exactly how?”

The original title of this script was "A Will to Power"; this is the west coast broadcast.
Suspense_1947-01-09_Will_to_Power_wDanDuryea WC (no mention of FBIiP&W at close).mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The east coast version, posted about four years ago, is available at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
There is no AFRS version that we can find.


You may have heard that OTRR purchased a large reel collection recently... Somehow, because I was the only one they knew of who had climate controlled self storage available (contracted for the Hehn collection, now has been dispersed around the country, so there was freed-up space), most all of the boxes of reels came to me for safe keeping and sorting.

Inside that reel collection is a sub-collection of reels of 1960s OTR collector Stan Falk. Hehn and Falk were contemporaries, and I have already found reels in Hehn's collection that were traded to him by Falk, and going through a few boxes yesterday, reels from Hehn are in Falk's collection. I pulled out some Suspense reels and found some AFRS versions that seem to have slipped out of circulation over the years. It was a reminder that AFRS recordings were considered inferior in their time. They were treated as placeholders until a network copy could be found. Once that occurred, the AFRS copy could be discarded or erased.

More than 50 years later, we have a different perspective as to the value of AFRS recordings and the unintended yet very heroic role AFRS recordings have come to play in the preservation of OTR.

This additional reel collection has many good recordings and again provides the opportunity to record commonly circulating programs from a reliable low-generation tape source, into better file formats such as FLAC. We need volunteers to do reel transfers, and separately, volunteers for audio processing for those who transfer reels but do not have the software or experience to do so. Please contact me off-line if you are able to assist in the project. Many of the collectors on the Hehn project will be working on this one, too, but there are many more reels and many more programs in the non-Falk side of the collection. Much of the Hehn and Falk collections had two programs per reel. Many of the non-Falk reels are the more traditional 4-track reels, so there are more programs per length of tape, but there are also many half-track reels recorded to have four or six programs. The collection is large and will take time to digest. Many hands can make lighter work of it.

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

Our catch-up situation is over ... there may be a couple of posts that take us back now and then, but most all of the pre-1947 items that were worth finding and posting in the Hehn collection are done. About 2/3 of the best Hehn items were upgrades of 1950s episodes. It will be a very good Winter for Suspense listening as we get closer to that period with the daily posts.

Today's episode had two other working titles, "Win, Place, and Death" and "Win, Place, or Murder." I think they picked the right one. This was Conte's first and only time on Suspense as the star. He was in a supporting role for Peter Lorre in Of Maestro and Men on 1944-07-20.

Quirks of fate: Conte was discovered in theater work by actors John Garfield and Elia Kazan (who became a leading film director). Garfield and Kazan ended up on opposite sides of the Red Scare. Conte had a good movie career and may be best known for a role in The Godfather. His Wikipedia page is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Suspense_1947-04-24_Win_Place_and_Murder_wRichardConte EC (mentions FBIiP&W) UPGRADE-2
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The west coast broadcast was posted five years ago and can be found at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

No AFRS recording is known to be available.

Newspaper clippings were posted previously. These are additions...

Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

I don't know if you were asking but the AFRTS broadcast of Post Mortem was taken from the same one the AFRS broadcast was.

Thank you lasombra!! In the past we have had non-matches.

And thanks for spotting that the AFRS copy is from the "network with no AFRS promo" -- the saying "give with one hand and take with the other" comes to mind when considering the one without the promo is the one from which it was derived!

This is the west coast version of Lady in Distress that had the Welles cameo. He plays a gas station attendant at about the 15 minute mark. It was hastily written in by Spier when he saw Welles was sitting in the commissary with Gardner before the pre-show rehearsal.
Suspense_1947-05-01_Lady_In_Distress WC (no FBIiP&W, no Cresta Blanca comml) UPGRADE.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The east coast version was likely posted about 5 years ago... but I think we also posted it when we found details out about the Welles cameo. It is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A newspaper clipping for the Harrisburg PA paper was posted previously.


News of the cameo was reported by Variety the next day.


It was in the news for many days after...

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

This is the victory lap repeat of Dead Ernest after winning the Peabody Award. CBS was able to use the recognition to strongarm Roma into renewing for another 13 weeks.

Ernest was performed on three broadcast dates: its initial broadcast in 1946, this repeat broadcast in 1947, and again in 1949. It is a surprise that it was never performed again on radio considering its importance in Suspense history. It was performed on the Suspense TV series [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in a staging that was severely limited by broadcast technologies of the time.

We now have clearly identifiable east and west broadcasts.

Suspense_1947-05-08_Dead_Ernest_wWallyMaher EC (mentions FBIiP&W)  UPGRADE-2.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Suspense_1947-05-08_Dead_Ernest_wWallyMaher WC (no mention FBIiP&W).mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

No AFRS recording of this broadcast has been found.

The original title of the 1946 performance was to be "Articles of Death." Changing the title was a great idea.

These are from Jerry Haendiges' Transcription Disc Label page (referred to as "Jerry, Disc Photographer" by yours truly, which gets a chuckle on the OTRR FB page)

Newspaper clippings were posted earlier.

Remember: Suspense is not for children...



This newspaper column is a good overview of the Suspense series up to mid-1947. This may have been a PR move to keep boosting the series in the press in hopes of luring a sponsor to replace Roma.

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

The original titles for this script were "My Knight Comes Riding" and "Her Knight Comes Riding." Based on the timing of the newspaper clippings, "Her" was the choice closer to broadcast time. It seems no one could decide, so they sent the idea of an opening pronoun to the trash can.
Suspense_1947-05-22_KnightComesRiding_wVirginiaBruce EC (mentions FBIiP&W) UPGRADE-2.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The west coast recording was posted about 6-1/2 years ago -- we didn't know it was west coast at the time! Its sound is better than this new east recording. The other east recordings were not good. This one is much better but the west coast file is best and can be found at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Jumping back in forum time for what I believe is the last time for a while...

This is an update of a file from two years ago. There are two copies of this episode in circulation. One has a pre-show tease for the Thin Man. I believe that one is an aircheck.
Suspense_1943-01-05_NothingUpMySleeve (NY) UPGRADE-6 no pre-show ThinMan promo.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Elissa Landi is in this episode. Her film career ended in 1943. She wrote six novels from the time she was 19 and through her career! She died of cancer five years after this broadcast at age 48.
Her Wikipedia page is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and there is more family and career background at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A newspaper clipping was posted previously. These are two additions.



This aircheck was last updated seven years ago, and is a much cleaner copy. This is obviously the west broadcast. We have an east broadcast, too. This was originally titled "Before the Fact" and George Brent was intended guest star. Lee J. Cobb was announced for this script in the prior November, but The Bet was broadcast instead.
Suspense_1946-01-03_Angel_Of_Death AIRCHECK KQW SanJoseCA UPGRADE-3.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Newspaper clippings were posted previously. This is an addition.



It looks like the final tally of upgrades/new versions via the Hehn collection is 124. Other sources of upgrades are continuing. At this moment, the Hehn and other upgrades that remain to be posted number 171! That takes us into May 2021 at the rate of 1/day. Yikes!

The Hehn Memorial page at archive.org has a new entry: Billy Swift, Boy Detective. It's at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

Thanks as always, greybelt! One question (probably stupid) -- could you clarify what an aircheck is?

Aircheck is a recording from a broadcast signal.

Most transcriptions were either recorded in the studio or by a service that had a direct feed from the studio.

Airchecks were done by individuals, services, ad agencies, and others for different reasons. Individuals just may have liked the program (such as all of the home recordings that have preserved late 1950s and early 1960s stuff) or may be one of the actors or their agents or someone associated with the broadcast. They might use the recording to lend to a prospective employer. In some cases it's just a keepsake for the actor.

Ad agencies would get them to have proof that their ad was broadcast at the right time and for the right duration and placement.

Broadcast engineers would record how their station sounded at very locations to be sure their signal was adequate and to diagnose issues.

Airchecks give us a chance to hear how radio sounded on... the radio!!

In most cases, OTR sounds better than the broadcasts our parents and grandparents heard. The in-studio recordings are marvelous and the audio processing we have today can minimize recording deficiencies and emphasize the best aspects of the recordings. 75ish years later, radio never sounded better!

Got it! Thanks Joe.

We have only this recording and do not know to which coast it was broadcast. But we have a marker, as Elliott Lewis tries to sound like an announcer (someone must have been on vacation) and welcomes back "Mitch Angela Lansbury" after the mid-show commercial.

Suspense_1947-05-29_A_Thing_of_Beauty (Lewis 15m7s 'Mitch Angela') (1sec to ID) UPGRADE-3.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

Today's recording has not been updated for quite a while.
Suspense_1947-06-05_MakeMadTheGuilty_wHumeCronyn (direct to ID) UPGRADE-2.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

There is another network copy that is presumed to be intended for a different coast. It has a Cresta Blanca ad at the end that precedes the network ID. It was posted a couple of years ago. The sound is not as good as the main posting today. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

No AFRS recording of this episode has been located.

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Sorry for no post yesterday as I got caught up in a lot of miscellaneous errands and obligations. I did write some new posts on the archive.org site for the Hehn collection. Check out the latest posts at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] which include some Escape upgrades, and some history about the March of Time program, and other items.


Suspense was in New York so Spier could produce Sam Spade while Howard Duff was on location for the filming of Naked City. There were other things occupying Spier's attention while he was in New York, such as CBS meetings as they discussed the troubled Roma sponsorship or how to find another sponsor, and to visit girlfriend June Havoc who was in summer theater in his home state of Connecticut. Spier and Kay Thompson had agreed to divorce, and Kay was busy establishing residency in Nevada while being paid to create a show to play in Las Vegas in the Fall. That show's format would set the standard for Vegas entertainment for decades to come. Spier and Havoc would marry in February 1948.

None of the New York Sam Spade productions, which did not include Effie, have been found.

Suspense_1947-06-26_Phobia_wEvaLaGallienne (transcribed, produced in NY) WC UPGRADE-2.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This is marked as west coast because it is "transcribed." It is unlikely that Suspense would have its broadcast for west coast done live because of the extra costs associated with being so late in the day while on eastern time.

LaGallienne ran an acting program in New York City, of which Staats Cotsworth was among many graduates.
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This is a very brief review of the play Havoc was in at the theater in Westport, Connecticut.

Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

Thank you, Sir, for the upgrades.

This is the only network copy, and we don't know which coast. There is no AFRS copy that we have found.
Suspense_1947-07-03_Money_Talks_wAlanBaxter (produced in NY) (3sec to ID) UPGRADE-3.mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Who's Alan Baxter? You're probably seen him quite often
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Today's recording has not been upgraded for four years. It's the only network version we have. No AFRS version has been found.
Suspense_1947-07-24_MurderByAnExpert_wLynnBari UPGRADE-3 EC (mentions FBIiP&W) (safe driving PSA at end).mp3
Degoo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
hubiC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Who was Lynn Bari? She was one of Hollywood's busiest actresses from the mid-1930s.
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At this time the movie in the theaters was Nocturne where she starred with George Raft. But she was also in a summer radio series, Summer Theater, over NBC with Pat O'Brien. No recordings of the series have survived that I know of.