Escape and Suspense!

Back from Noir City

The Noir City Film Festival is just about over, but I was able to catch Night Has a Thousand Eyes, D.O.A., and The Story of Molly X.

Arriving early for Night Has a Thousand Eyes, it didn't appear that this Cornell Woolrich film was much of a draw, but the crowd quickly grew. One guy even cut in front of me in the line to get in! The movie is interesting enough, but different from the book. A lot of the screen time focuses on Gail Russell's hypnotic eyes. (For a half-hour radio version of this movie, go to the end of this post.)

D.O.A. was a crowd favorite, not only because it is noir classic, but because there are quite a few scenes that are impossible to watch without chuckling. It is a weird film with a complicated plot, but the crowd enjoyed it thoroughly. D.O.A. played on a double feature with The Story of Molly X. Though it was a cold and rainy Thursday night, more than 900 people attended!

For fans of Suspense, The Story of Molly X is a treat. June Havoc stars as Molly, the lady-boss of a gang of criminals. She is caught after a heist and sentenced to several years in a women's prison.  (Note: The correctional facility in this movie is more like a sorority house than a prison.) When Molly arrives at the prison, we come across some familiar voices... Sandra Gould, who can be heard in the commercials for U.S. Savings Bonds in Suspense episodes from the late 1950's, plays the inmate who welcomes Molly to prison life. Then, there is Suspense regular Cathy Lewis, who plays Molly's cell-mate! Other Suspense regulars who turn up in this film are Wally Maher and Elliott Lewis. One of the film's co-stars, Dorothy Hart,  made one appearance on the television show Suspense in the episode "Vacancy for Death."

The Story of Molly X is a short film, but a good one. Let's hope they put it out on DVD one of these days.

The Noir City Film Festival is held annually at the historic Castro Theatre.

If you are interested in the movie Night Has a Thousand Eyes, there is a half-hour radio version that was done for The Screen Director's Playhouse. It will give you the quick version of the movie's plot-line. Director John Farrow and two of the film's stars, Edward G. Robinson and William Demarest appeared. This episode aired on February 27, 1949. 

. Download sdph.1949.02.27_NightHasAThousandEyes.mp3 

Escape - Finger of Doom

Escape only presented two episodes based on Cornell Woolrich stories, the horror-voodoo classic "Papa Benjamin" and the thriller "Finger of Doom." Although Escape was an adventure series, the show was adept at handling Woolrich's noir material on radio. "Finger of Doom" was first published in Detective Fiction Weekly (June 22,1940).

As the episode opens, somewhere in New York City, we meet Kenny and Steffie. They are engaged, and their wedding is only thirteen days away. On this night, Kenny is picking Steffie up from work. They are on their way for an evening on the town, but first, Steffie has to run an errand. Her boss has asked her to drop off a package, and she convinces Kenny that it will just be a brief interruption in their plans. When they arrive at an old brownstone, Steffie goes upstairs to drop off the package but never returns. Kenny waits but then realizes that something has gone horribly wrong.

"Finger of Doom" was adapted for radio by John Brussell and produced/directed by Norman MacDonnell.  Harry Bartell played Kenny and Ed Begley played Gilman. Also appearing were Joy Terry, Edgar Barrier, Louise Arthur, Peter Prauss, and Kay Miller. This episode aired on March 19, 1949.

.  Download Escape_1949.03.19_FingerofDoom.mp3   

Suspense had presented an adaptation of "Finger of Doom" under the title "I Won't Take a Minute" five years earlier. Their adaptation is a little different but just as good overall. Lee Bowman starred as Kenny. Also appearing were Cathy Lewis, Wally Maher, and William Johnstone. This episode aired on December 6, 1945.

.  Download Suspense_1945.12.06_IWontTakeAMinute.mp3

(Image from Morguefile)

Noir City 6

Here in San Francisco, it is just about time for Noir City, the annual film festival  presented by the Film Noir Foundation. This year, the festival runs from January 25 to February 3rd. Even if you can't attend, a quick look at the Noir City program guide may be of interest. Ida Lupino, Van Heflin, June Havoc, and other familiar Suspense performers are all on the line-up.

Cornell Woolrich fans should take note that there will be a screening of a new 35 mm print of the film Night Has a Thousand Eyes on January 27th.

Another film of interest is Dangerous Crossing, which was written by Suspense's John Dickson Carr.

The film Hangover Square features the music of Suspense composer Bernard Herrmann.

(If you can't make it to the festival, Dangerous Crossing and Hangover Square are available on DVD.)

For more information visit the websites for Noir City and the Film Noir Foundation.

Supense - Post Mortem

Suspense's "Post Mortem" was based on the Cornell Woolrich short story of the same name. It was first published in Black Mask magazine (April 1940) and it is currently available The Cornell Woolrich Omnibus.

The episode opens in the home of Josie and Stephen Archer as they go about their usual morning routine. After Stephen leaves for work, Josie is called from her bathtub by the clamoring of reporters at her front door. They inform her that she has just won $150,000 in the Irish Sweepstakes. Josie informs them that she didn't buy a ticket. So, how could she have won? 

Frances M. Nevins, Woolrich's biographer, singles this episode out for abuse as the "worst of all of Suspense's Woolrich based plays." In his book, First You Dream, Then You Die, he states: "As Woolrich wrote it, the story was an uncomfortable mix of serious and grotesquely comic elements, but it wasn't improved by the Suspense adapter's decision to play the whole show for laughs." (Pg. 497)

Suspense didn't do that badly. They just added their own flair to it. Their presentation, with all of its unique sound effects, has more originality than the lackluster version done for television by Alfred Hitchcock Presents twelve years later.

The Suspense television show adapted Woolrich's story in 1949, but that episode is not currently available.

"Post Mortem" starred Agnes Moorehead and Joseph Kearns. It was adapted for Suspense by Robert Tallman.

This episode aired on April 4, 1946.

.  Download suspense_1946.04.04_Post Mortem.mp3

See also: "Post Mortem" released last month on the Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season Three collection.

(Image from stock.xchng)

Suspense - Angel Face

Suspense's "Angel Face" is a radio noir set in New York City and narrated in the first person by Jerry Wheeler, a girl with an angelic face and a hard life as a nightclub performer. She does it all for her kid brother, Chick, whom she wants to see rise above their circumstances.

Chick gets himself into a serious mess when he hooks up with Ruby Rose Reading, the girlfriend of a mobster named Milt Militis.  Over his sister's objections, Chick plans to go with Ruby on a trip to Chicago. When Ruby is murdered that evening, Chick takes the fall. Jerry knows her kid brother didn't commit the murder and she sets out, with the help of one of the detectives, to prove his innocence.  As Chick heads for the electric chair, she has to work fast to find the real killer.

This episode was based on Cornell Woolrich's short story "Face Work" which was first published in the October 1937 issue of Black Mask magazine.  Columbia Pictures bought the rights shortly after it was published and turned it into the 1938 B-movie Convicted starring Rita Hayworth.

Suspense's version of "Angel Face" retains portions of the original text in the dialogue but changes the story, particularly at the end. Their version does keep the quick pace and the basic plot, but it was reduced in a number of ways to accomodate a half-hour radio format. Not surprisingly, Suspense' s version skips over the scene where Jerry is branded on the hip with a hot poker by Milt Militis.

Although the announcer states that this episode was "an original play written for radio by Cornell Woolrich," it was not. It is generally believed that Woolrich did not write the adaptations of his stories that appeared on radio.

"Angel Face" stars "Queen of Film Noir" Claire Trevor and Joseph Kearns. It was produced, edited and probably adapted for radio by William Spier. (The obvious problem with this recording is that it seems to run a bit fast, particularly at the beginning. After checking a few other OTR repositories, a better recording was not to be found.)

This episode aired on May 18, 1950.

Download Suspense.1950.05.18.Angel_ Face.mp3

(Image by Clayton Lord from Word for Word Theater's current production of Angel Face in San Francisco. Pictured above are Paul Finochiarrio and Laura Lowry as Milt and Jerry. )

News from Escape and Suspense!

If you are a fan of Cornell Woolrich's stories on Suspense, then you may be interested in an upcoming theatrical production of one of his short stories.

Angel Face, presented by the Word for Word Performing Arts Theater Company, is a new stage presentation that will run from August 10th to September 2nd at the Project Artaud Theater in San Francisco.

The Word for Word Theater Company specializes in presenting short stories accurately and in the manner in which the author intended them. Now, we know that with a Woolrich story, that can't possibly mean a dull evening.

For more information about Angel Face and tickets contact The Z Space Studio.

Suspense - After Dinner Story

"After-Dinner Story" was one of many works by Cornell Woolrich adapted for radio. Suspense presented twenty-two of his stories on their program, but his works were also performed on Molle Mystery Theater and other radio shows. Suspense's "After Dinner Story" was based on the 1938 short story of the same name which Woolrich wrote under his pseudonym, William Irish.

Suspense's version altered the structure of the story a little, but otherwise retold the tale as it was intended. What was left out was the Depression-era setting, and so it lost some of its depth and meaning. The original short story is very tense and the description of the elevator crash is more frightening than on radio. Read Woolrich's story if you get the chance.

"After-Dinner Story" was adapted for radio by Robert L. Richards. Otto Kruger appeared as Mr. Hardecker. Also featured were Hans Conried, William Johnstone, and Lou Merrill. This story aired once on October 26, 1943. Although it never aired again on the Suspense radio program, the television show Suspense aired this story on April 12, 1949. Otto Kruger starred in the same role he had played in the radio version.

. Download Suspense.1943.10.26_After_Dinner_Story.mp3

(Image of elevator shaft from Wikimedia Commons)

Suspense - Momentum

Suspense's "Momentum" was adapted from a Depression era short story by Cornell Woolrich published under the titles "Momentum" and also "Murder Always Gathers Momentum." According to Frances M.Nevins in his book Cornell Woolrich, First You Dream, Then You Die: "When it comes to putting us in the skin of a frightened little guy in a miserable little apartment with a hungry wife and children and no money and no job and fear of tomorrow eating him like a cancer, Woolrich has no peers. There is more of the anguish of the thirties in stories like "Goodbye, New York" (1937) and "Dusk to Dawn"(1937) and "Borrowed Crime" (1937) and "Murder Always Gathers Momentum" (1940) than in volumes of social history."*

Woolrich's short story opens with the main character, Richard Paine, arriving at the house of his former employer, Mr. Burroughs. Paine is desperate and has come hoping to collect back wages. Years earlier he had deferred half of his salary to help get his employer through hard times, but instead, Burroughs filed a suspicious bankruptcy cancelling his company's debts.  Paine's attempts to retrieve what is due to him set this fugitive-on-the-run story in motion.

Suspense's version skipped the Depression era setting and packaged the story differently, presumably for their contemporary audience. In this version Richard Paine's resentment towards his former employer is over a wrench that he claims to have invented. Paine, as he is portrayed here by Victor Mature, is hard to like and it doesn't appear that anyone does like him except his wife, though he doesn't treat her well.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents aired "Momentum" in 1956 with Skip Homeier and Joanne Woodward. The teleplay kept the sadness and the frenzy of Woolrich's original story but was made clean and bloodless for television. As Paine rushes across town, dying of a gunshot wound, he does not have a speck of blood on his suit or hands.

Suspense's radioplay was written by E. Jack Neuman. This episode aired once on October 27, 1949 and starred Victor Mature and Lurene Tuttle.

. Download Suspense.1949.10.27.Momentum.mp3

The short story "Momentum" can be found in The Cornell Woolrich Omnibus.

(Image from Morguefile.com)

*Frances M Nevins, Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream,Then You Die (New York: The Mysterious Press. 1988) pg. 127 

Suspense - Deadline at Dawn

"Deadline at Dawn", the last of the 19 episodes of Suspense made in 1948 for an hour-long format, was based on the 1944 novel by William Irish (aka Cornell Woolrich). There is also a 1946 film noir of the same name, but the radio version and the movie differ. Francis M. Nevins, in his 1988 book Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die, described Suspense's adaptation of Woolrich's story this way: "Deadline at Dawn, as adapted by Irving Ravetch, stayed reasonably close to Woolrich's 1944 novel and avoided all resemblences to the eccentric 1946 movie version. ...It was a workmanlike episode, emphasizing romance rather than the noir coloration of the novel, and doesn't rank with the series finest Woolrich adaptations."

"Deadline at Dawn" was one of four Woolrich stories that were expanded into hour-long episodes in 1948. It may or may not be one of Suspense's finest, but once the story gets going it is worth the time.

This episode, Suspense's last one-hour show, aired on May 15, 1948. It stars Helen Walker as Bricky and John Beal as Quinn. Also appearing are Lillian Buyeff, William Johnstone, Buddy Gray, Edith Tackner, and Rye Billsbury.

Download deadline_at_dawn.5.15.1948. (last 1 hour show).mp3

Suspense -Three O'Clock

"Three O'Clock" is a Suspense episode adapted from a 1938 short story by Cornell Woolrich. A man named Paul believes that his wife, Francie, is cheating on him. He takes revenge by planting a bomb in the basement of their house, but when he returns upstairs, he finds two burglars. Unaware of the bomb, they tie up Paul and leave him in the basement. He is then trapped, alone and helpless, with the ticking bomb that he had set for his wife.

In the short story, Paul is gagged and can't make any sound. On radio this isn't obvious because we are hearing what he is thinking. There aren't any special sound effects for his thoughts. Suspense's adaptation is close to Woolrich's original work, but the ending is slightly changed. The radioplay was written by Walter Brown Newman, who later went to have three of his screenplays nominated for Academy Awards.

"Three O'Clock" was also done for television in 1949 for an episode of Actor's Studio. It aired on Suspense only once, on March 10, 1949 and starred Van Heflin as Paul.

Download Suspense.1949.03.10.ThreeOClock.mp3

The radio program Sleep No More performed "Three O'Clock" on December 12, 1956. It is different in that it is a dramatic reading of the story performed by Nelson Olmsted.

Download SleepNM.1956.12.12_Three_OClock.mp3

(Photo from Morguefile.com)

Rev. 5/22/07

Suspense - Library Book

In honor of National Library Week, here is the Suspense episode "Library Book." This episode stars Myrna Loy as Prudence, a public librarian who stops at nothing to discover who vandalized the library's copy of Gone With the Wind. She is the stereotypical librarian - until she takes off her glasses. Then, for reasons she can't understand, men call her "toots." Of course, the audience understands because Prudence is really Myrna Loy, the sexy star of The Thin Man movies. In her heyday in the 1930's, she was voted "The Queen of Hollywood" by fans.

"Library Book" was based on the 1939 short story "The Book That Squealed" by Cornell Woolrich and was adapted for Suspense by William Spier. The dialogue is witty and the story is entertaining for anyone who has worked in a library. Conrad Binyon, Cathy Lewis and Wally Maher also appear. 

This episode was broadcast on September 20, 1945.

Download Suspense.1945.09.20_Library_Book.mp3

Escape - Papa Benjamin

Escape's episode "Papa Benjamin" is based on the short story by William Irish (aka Cornell Woolrich). It is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans where a struggling bandleader named Eddie uses a sacred voodoo chant as a gimmick to help save his failing nightclub act. Unfortunately, Eddie doesn't take the threat of a voodoo curse too seriously.

This is an interesting story that will keep your attention. There is a moral here about what can go wrong when an artist steals a sacred work from its creators. In this case, Eddie steals then exploits a sacred voodoo chant that he does not fully understand and can not control. In the end, it all kind of backfires on Eddie.

The sound effects are good and the music is more impressive than the average episode of Escape. There do not seem to be any actual African-Americans performing in this episode but that is typical of the era in which it was made. This show was broadcast on January 24, 1948.

"Papa Benjamin" was also an episode of the television series Thriller in 1961. The short story also appears under the titles "Dark Melody of Madness" and "Music from the Dark". The 1965 horror movie anthology Dr. Terror's House of Horrors used this story as well.

Download Escape.1948.01.24_Papa_Benjamin.mp3

(Image from Morguefile.com)