Suspense: The Case Study of a Murderer (

Suspense: 10/01/51, episode 440
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project
Jeanne Crain stars in a drama about mental illness in a claimed “actual events” broadcast. The opening explains the story as “a factual document from medical reports.” The episode is most likely an original script that is just labeled as an “actual event.” It may be a “personal event” and not a “news” one.
Crain may be the star, but William Conrad steals the show. He delivers a wide-ranging performance that he rarely had the opportunity to give in his best-known roles. It is another Arthur Ross script, and it challenges the capabilities of actors and listeners to absorb it all.
This script is very “un-Suspense” and so very “Elliott Lewis.” He’s experimenting, taking the program into a different direction of drama for this episode. Suspense was usually a story about people in trouble of their own making and their attempts to get out of it, concluding with how they were punished by their own misjudgments or circumstances, or saved despite them. This episode, however, is about the mental illness of a husband that we hear deteriorates with every minute, and we suffer along with his wife (of only two years) as she comes to terms with his need for psychiatric care. The hope of a happy marriage is crumbling before her.
The writing is excellent. The performances are superb. The only “suspense” in the story is how much worse the husband’s condition will become.
Conrad’s character is a husband obsessed with all the murders in the news. The husband believes he is responsible for almost all of the killings he reads and hears about. He wants to confess to the crimes, but, thankfully, no one believes him. False confessions are a serious problem in the justice system, whether created by interrogation and intimidation, the desire for someone to cover up the actions of a loved one, a desire for attention, or other reasons. They divert and delay the discovery of the truth of a matter and may undermine the capture of the guilty. DNA technology has helped reduce the effects of false confessions, but it is not many decades ago that people making false confessions could easily be wrongly incarcerated. Legal authorities would consider a case closed when a confession was made if it was plausible enough so they could move on to another case in their backlog. In this production, however, it is obvious that Conrad’s character is delusional and needs help.
A sizable portion of the audience was probably quite uncomfortable hearing this broadcast and wondered what they tuned into.
The story also played into a great fear of psychiatric care at the time. This was a time when lobotomies were considered a pioneering treatment (the developer won a Nobel Prize in 1949) and shock treatments we being attempted to cure numerous mental problems. Over the decades, many other treatments became available, notably of a pharmacological nature. There was also a significant stigma to being admitted to a psychiatric facility, and there seemed little hope that the person could ever improve.
It is odd to consider this as a lesser Suspense broadcast, but it is. How odd that seems when all of the elements of the drama are so well done. It’s just not right for the series. It is, however, memorable and compelling listening, and should be held aside and considered distinct from the mainstream series. Perhaps doing so will bring more attention to all of the positive elements it has as a dramatic production and for Conrad’s performance. This is not one of those episodes you recommend to someone as for their first experience listening to a Suspense episode.
This episode’s drama portion was recorded on Sunday, September 30, 1951. Rehearsal began at 6:00 pm and recording was done from 9:30 pm to 10:00 pm.
The cast: JEANNE CRAIN (Beth), William Conrad (Hank), Howard McNear (Doctor Broughton), Larry Thor (Radio Voice / Narrator)
For more information visit suspenseprojec...