When William N. Robson was the producer and director of Suspense, he would begin the show by giving the audience a brief introduction to the story that was about to be performed. His monologues were always intriguing but his introduction for the episode "The Voice of Company A" speaks volumes. He described the episode this way: "During its long and distinguished career on the air Suspense has never taken an editorial stand, until now. Now we state unequivically that this program is against murder. Oh, we play around with the more titallating and entertaining aspects of murder from time to time, but fundamentally we are against it as a personal, national or international policy. Only those in favor of murder will find anything objectionable or controversial in the next half hour. The story you are about to hear is but a tiny word of protest, perhaps it is too little, but please God, let it not be too late."
This is a story about "celestial propaganda" that begins in a lab at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The world is on the verge of war and at midnight the United States is planning to launch a screamer satellite that will jam all of the radio and television transmissions on Earth. Dr. George Grieg has been put in charge of the satellite's message but he is haunted by his own experiences as a lieutenant in WWII. Not long before the satellite's launch, he is visited by the ghost of one of the soldiers who served with him. The ghost explains to George that he and all of the other soldiers who died in WWII would like him to put that screamer satellite to a better purpose.
"The Voice of Company A" was written by Michael Frost and starred Everett Sloane. Also appearing were Lillian Buyeff, John Dehner, Jack Kruschen, Barney Phillips, Sam Pierce. This episode aired on August 3, 1958.
. Download Suspense_1958.08.03_TheVoiceofCompanyA.mp3
(Image from Wikimedia Commons)
A good episode where everything falls together real nice. Hadn't heard this one before. Thanks!
Posted by: Rich | September 26, 2007 at 02:38 PM