Suspense: Weekend Special: Death (

Suspense: 05/24/54, episode 552
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project
Agnes Moorehead stars yet again on the series, in a very good E. Jack Neuman script. She portrays an attorney’s secretary who stays late one evening and has to get some last minute shopping done on her way home. The lawyer met with a man who has financial problems, and it’s very clear he’s not a very amicable guy, either. The script is a bit predictable in that Neuman would not introduce such a character early in the storyline without using the character later for something important. The meeting ends late, and she heads to the supermarket. She is refused entry, but the guard lets her in if she promises to be quick and out by closing time. Lost in her shopping decisions, the lights are turned off and she’s accidentally locked inside the store as it closes for the night. She’s not able to attract the attention of passersby, so she finally gives up and goes to sleep. Her slumber ends when she realizes that there are a couple of burglars crawling in a window to break into the safe. Frightened, she waits and listens, and then tip-toes to a phone booth and tries to call the police. The connection is not good, but since she is afraid of being detected, she can only whisper. The operator can’t hear her, and thinking it’s a bad connection, hangs up and calls back. Then the burglars realize that they are not alone. They conduct an inch-by-inch search in the dark store, as the terrified woman tries to evade their sight. It does not go well, since one of the burglars has a gun. There’s no real spoiler alert here since the episode opens with the conclusion of the events and the details of how they got there unfold in flashback.
It’s a very good script, Moorehead is great again. It is funny that a critical moment of the story involves her character on a telephone… who has a problem getting an operator to understand her situation! This is a traditional Suspense story with an everyday person trapped in a dangerous situation not completely of their making.
It is unlikely that Neuman’s script was influenced by the safecracking exploits of Edgar Scott Flohr. He was known as the Safeway bandit in California because he broke into so many of them, It is funny to muse about it. Flohr was in San Quentin around this time for safecracking and wrote and sold two scripts to William N. Robson for use on Suspense in 1957.
The rehearsal and recording of the drama portion was held on Thursday, May 13, 1954. Rehearsal started at 2:00 pm, and recording began at 6:30 pm. The session closed at 7:00 pm.
The cast: AGNES MOOREHEAD (Rita Dorsey), Anthony Barrett (Tony Laferro), Joseph Kearns (Fred), Hy Averback (Lieutenant Franz), Mary Jane Croft (Special Operator), Whitfield Connor (Lee Stanley), Barney Phillips (Grocer / Voice), Larry Thor (Narrator)
COMMERCIAL: Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Jerry Hausner (Stan), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
For more information visit suspenseprojec...