Suspense Upgrades

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

This recording was last upgraded 6+ years ago. No AFRS recording is available.

Suspense_1958-03-09_The_Chain_wAgnesMoorehead (Network) 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 episode upgrades a recording that has been around in the hobby for years. It has commercials and the open and close edited out. It is not clear what this has been, an edited network or an AFRTS copy. Perhaps someone may hear a telltale edit someplace. I would really appreciate some help on this from a Cobaltian listener.

Thankfully, there is an intact AFRTS version that I received 10 years ago. The link is posted below.

Suspense_1958-05-04_Sundown (no Robson open) BETTER SOUND.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.]

Intact AFRTS version
Degoo only [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Kelk had a long career, best known for the Aldrich Family as Homer [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
He was also radio's Jimmy Olsen on Superman [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Since Aldrich rehearsals were held on Thursday, Kelk was always absent from Superman on that day, with the writers either writing Jimmy out, having him referenced but not heard, or using Beany Martin as a substitute.

He was on Suspense one more time, next week, in a supporting role. Then it seems his radio career was over. IMDb has him appearing in some favorite television shows at the end of the 1950s and not acting in broadcasts again. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A stumble on the keyboard gives us Jackie "Felk" instead of "Kelk." The fact that it appeared in several newspapers makes this a likely typo in the CBS publicity. This goes against the old saw "there's no such thing as good or bad publicity as long as they spell your name right." Oh well...

Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

Actually, that edited file of "Sundown" contains two commercials: one at 7:50 for O'Brien Paints, and one at 13:29 for Rit Dyes. This is a real rarity you have on your hands, as almost every extant "Suspense" broadcast from 1958 until very late in the year is either an AFRTS version or has all of its commercials edited out (I've never heard a commercial from either of these sponsors until now).

chasedad you always kindly remind me that gosh I need to keep better notes -- especially when listening to the programs. When I get something like this and I've heard it before, I'm always checking the openings and closings and then do a spot check in a few places. Guess I shouldn't play darts this weekend or anything with a target. Sure, I have luck, and it's all bad

When Suspense went to full tape production AND the individual stations started using tape to back up or capture the feed for delayed broadcasts, the quality of surviving episodes went down a lot. There were lots of great copies off network feeds, and most all of them got erased. We just have a very small handful of gorgeous sounding episodes from this era that are in collections. Somehow they escaped the Magnetic Monster of Erashire.

As I have been transferring this latest batch of reels, I started with 1962 and have been working backwards. Sure enough, I find the same awful recordings that have been around for decades in this period. But I have gotten better at cleaning them up, so soon there will be much better recordings posted here in the next months. It has been helpful to work on closer-to-source materials with fresh lossless encodes.

There are some encouraging matters. First, MANY of the programs from this period have been replaced by intact AFRTS recordings from disc. These just weren't around back then, and there was still the fact that AFRTS recordings were held in low regard. We no longer act that way, as a hobby. You can't beat finding AFRS & AFRTS discs to replace some of the chopped up network recordings and Armed Forces recordings that were mostly home airchecks. Second, some network recordings have surfaced over the years, and they are complete.

It takes a lot of hard work by a lot of fellow collectors to get all of this to happen. Thank you again to everyone... there's still more adventures ahead!

greybelt,

My pleasure to lend a hand in going over some of these files; this is a tremendous project you've taken on and you're to be lauded for all of the hard work you're putting into this. A couple of things regarding recent files you've posted:

There seems to be some doubt about the origin of the edited "Never Steal a Butcher's Wife" recording; there is a CBS ID at the tail of the program, with an especially lengthy rendition of the regular "Suspense" theme (as opposed to the AFRS music inserted at the end of those recordings).

Is the complete network recording of the 1957 "Sorry, Wrong Number" some newly unearthed? I don't claim to have an encyclopedic knowledge of these things but it's the first one that I've heard. The running time is the same as the recording listed in the RadioGOLDIndex file, although the description there identifies only two sponsors and states that one commercial is missing, while your file contains all four commercials (one prior to all three acts and one after the end of the drama).

greybelt wrote:This is a new AFRS version that joins another one. There is no network version available.

Suspense_1958-02-09_TheLongShot_wHerbertMarshall (AFRS#668) UPGRADE FROM DISC.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 AFRS version was posted about 10+ years ago.
Suspense_1958-02-09_TheLongShot_wHerbertMarshall (AFRS#967) UPGRADE FROM DISC.mp3
Degoo only [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Interesting that there were two separate versions of this episode edited together for broadcast through the AFRTS with different PSA's in each (would be interesting to know whether or not the #967 number denotes that it was edited sometime after the original run of the series was over.) Also note an edit that appears in the #668 version in Robson's opening remarks:

#668: "...and we'll bet you [EDIT] you can't guess the end."

#967: "...and we'll bet you all the red flags in communist China you can't guess the end."

Guess whoever did that first edit was a little touchy about referring to communism in such a flippant way!

Marvelous, chasedad, what a great catch. The numbers in Suspense go just over 1000 -- I have never seen a number into the 1100s. They have nothing to do with actual show numbers as has been noted many times, nor at this high level do they have anything to do with show order! The best I can guess is that the two versions are about 5 years apart.

The editing crew in 1958 was probably directed to be careful in light of the Taiwan strait crisis of a couple of years before. China was likely monitoring US Armed Forces Radio, and I got the sense from brief reading about the period that tensions were extremely high, and still uneasy with China after the Korean War. Tensions with China and Taiwan were at a height six months after this broadcast in the Second Crisis [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  The original Robson comments might have been fine on the mainland, but needed to have extra caution applied to them in the editing room when the recordings would be broadcast elsewhere.

Your finding is important because it is a reminder that AFRTS was not just taking prior recordings and reissuing them without changes. They were reviewing them again for whatever guidelines  were in force at the time.

The PSAs varied not just by time they were issued, but also for the world regions they were issued for.

Thom Whetston, expert on all things AFRS/AFRTS [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] , has reminded me and others that editing and production were not always as organized and strict as one might think with constant turnover in departments because of deployments and otherwise, and rules and procedures that might be open to situational interpretation.

But thank goodness for all the AFRTS recordings we have... and the quirky aspects of them yet to be discovered.

Today's recording is a new AFRS version, and it's different compared to the prior LQ version that had been posted previously. No network recording exists in circulation.

As a reminder, the running log of AFRS/AFRTS numbers is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Suspense_1958-08-17_TheBridge_wCathyLewis AFRS#681 FROM DISC.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.]

LQ AFRS with different PSAs; this might be #990 from the sequencing, but that's a guess
Degoo only [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Newspaper clippings posted previously.


I cannot get into my free IceDrive account -- all the IceDrive links that have been posted here still work. Does anyone else here have an account, and are you having any issues lately?

No problem with my free IceDrive account.

The ONLY site that works for me is One Drive. I can't sign in to my Sync & Hubic accounts. Could be because I rarely use them.

Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

The daily post at Cobalt disciplines me to look up various newspaper items again and again since they're always adding new collections... I often find something new... and as I get better at searching when I don't find anything that's usually important.

Today I went into the strange period of late 1958 where the newspaper listings are conflicting when you can find them. Suspense was temporarily on Saturdays so affiliates could carry NFL football (the season was much much shorter than it is today). My worksheet from a few years ago is at... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

So today is My Dear Niece. I went back to my notes and that when Keith Scott and I were at Thousand Oaks in June 2019 we collected images for this period. What struck me on this one today for some reason was that there was no TAPE date!!! I checked all the others I had around it and they were all taped. I had thought that when Robson took over on October 1956 nothing was ever done live again.

I wonder if schedules got a bit difficult up a bit because of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday that week (11/27)

Many newspapers listed A Statement of Fact for this date. It was broadcast on 11/30. We have the cover page of that, and it was recorded on 11/12. The script shows a broadcast date of 11/23 which is struck out in red and replaced with 11/30 in red. The CBS PR dept obviously had sent that 11/23 info to the papers.

There are no newspaper listings for My Dear Niece.

It seems that someone decided it was easier to just broadcast something live the Sunday before Thanksgiving holiday and delay A Statement of Fact to 11/30 so everyone could have time off for the holiday.

I had believed that the final live Suspense broadcast was 1956-11-16 The Prophecy of Bertha Abbott, the final Ellis week. But this seems to be an extenuating circumstance that led to this one being performed live. It would be of course recorded and re-fed as necessary to the affiliates.

Are there any other live Robson broadcasts lurking in our files?

Suspense_1958-11-23_MyDearNiece_wLeePatrick AFRS#697 FROM DISC.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.]

Network version has not been upgraded for a long time.
Degoo only [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

As noted above, there are no newspaper clips for this episode.

Here is the script cover. It was broadcast live on the east coast at 5:30pm. The KNX feed was a recording playback at 6:00pm Pacific Time.

This network recording has not been upgraded for more than 7 years. When this script was originally performed in 1953, it was the fifth of six Suspense "musicals."

Suspense_1958-12-07_Tom_Dooley_wRobertHorton 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.]

AFRS #700
Degoo only [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Background on the song is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This was the only newspaper clipping that could be found... the Kingston Trio recording was really hot on the charts at this time, topping the Billboard Hot 100 so you'd think it would get more publicity. This implies it could have been a later than usual decision to dust off this script from 1953 and hop on the bandwagon... or folkwagon, as the case may be.


What were the other five Suspense "musicals"?
Wreck of the Old 97
Frankie & Johnny
Death of Barbara Allen
St. James Infirmary Blues
My True Love's Hair

The Kingston Trio performance on Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

You could arguably add "The Hunting of Bob Lee" (10/29/51) to that list of "musicals" done on "Suspense". The episode doesn't take its name from a song, but "Darlin' Corey" (a standard that would be recorded by the Kingston Trio a few years later) is sung throughout the episode by Terrea Lee.

I think not because the plot does not come from the song, but it does "fit" the period of the story... though written years later [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... and captures the mood

Is "Merry Widower" a similar situation?

Hmmm....well, there are no lyrics to the "Merry Widow Waltz", so that, too, probably wouldn't properly fit into this particular category.

Supposedly these are the lyrics Nelson Eddy used. It must be true. I found it on the Inter-Net.
Sure sounds like the makings of an exciting Suspense plot

Love unspoken, faith unbroken,
All life through.
Strings are playing, hear them saying,
"Love me true".
Now the echo answers,
"Say you want me too".
All the world's in love with love
And I love you.

Young lovers all awake,
Night brings you waltz time
And the moonlight sings in waltz time.
All the lanterns are swinging and burning low,
Where are the fond couples clinging
As round they go?

Young lovers all take heart,
Bright, siren beauty
Play your part now, do your duty,
Let your heart sing this refrain!
For it's waltz time once again.

Come away, come away to the ball,
Where the dreams that you dream will be true.
For the strings as they play seem to call,
Beckon and call to you.

Come away, come away to the waltz,
Float along on a lilting refrain.
To the land of desire where no heart can be false,
And the world shall be young again.

I hear the music play,
It carries me away.
All sorrows will have flown
When you are mine and mine alone.

I hear the music play,
It carries me away.
All sorrows will have flown
When you are mine and mine alone.

All mine alone.
All mine alone.
Mine alone.

Love unspoken, faith unbroken,
All life through.
Strings are playing, hear them saying,
"Love me true".
Now the echo answers,
"Say you want me too".
All the world's in love with love
And I love you.

When you are mine alone,
All mine alone.

This network version has not been upgraded for 9 years. It's still sub-par; the AFRS version is better. The episode had a title change in the days leading up to broadcast. The original was "'M' is for the Million Things"!! Wiser heads prevailed

Suspense_1959-01-04_Dont_Call_Me_Mother_wAgnesMoorehead UPGRADE-2 LQ.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.]

AFRS, posted two years ago
Degoo only [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Not a single clipping with the final broadcast title could be found...


Speaking of Agnes Moorehead, there was a new performance of an operetta of SWN by the DePauw University School of Music back in March. It was done virtually and then edited together.
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And there's the official operetta done by the Center for Contemporary Opera, many years before
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What could be next? Operatic versions of Three Skeleton Key or Leiningen Versus the Ants? Somebody, please... Stop them before they strike again...

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Today's episode is a "new" AFRTS version of an episode for which we already had an abridged network recording and a different AFRTS version.

Suspense_1959-01-18_Ride_Down_Cajon_wWilliamBishop AFRS#704 FROM DISC.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.]

A different AFRS version
Degoo only [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Network version last updated 9 years ago; commercials have been removed
Degoo only [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Newspaper clippings posted previously... this is a new one...

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art