Best or Worst - The Morrison Affair

One can only wonder what the people at Suspense were thinking when they presented this episode.

"The Morrison Affair" starts out well and keeps us interested until the second half of the episode. Then we realize it is a stupid story. By the end of it, we are certain that it is a stupid story. How does it keep us until the end? Well, it has something to do with the small child who appears to be in constant danger throughout the last half of the show. We can't help but be worried.

As the episode opens, Mrs. Morrison is calling upon a divorce attorney. She explains that she needs help, and then she tells him the story of how she met her husband, Dr. Paul Morrison. She is English, and he is American. They met in England and stayed there during the first two years of their marriage. She desperately wanted a child but was unable to have one. On their last day together, before Dr. Morrison left to serve in the war, she tried to convince him that they should adopt a child. Her husband flatly rejected the idea, and Mrs. Morrison was heartbroken.

After her husband left, Mrs. Morrison was alone and unhappy in London, but her situation changed the day she took a train to the country. She shared a train compartment with a widowed woman and her several children. The mother seemed overwhelmed by her burden, and Mrs. Morrison felt that the woman was indirectly asking her for relief. So, she stole the woman's baby.

After creating a birth record for their son Jaimie, and lying to her husband, Mrs. Morrison felt confident that her plan had worked. Had it? When her husband returned from the war, he had doubts about their "miracle kid." In fact, he seemed to hold grudge against the little guy.

"The Morrison Affair' was written for Suspense by Pamela Wilcox. British actress Madeleine Carroll, best known for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's 39 Steps, starred as Mrs. Morrison. Gerald Mohr played Mr. Morrison. This episode aired on September 2, 1948.

. Download Suspense_1948.09.02_TheMorrisonAffair.mp3

(Image of Madeleine Carroll from Wikimedia Commons)