Suspense - A Rest for Emily

"A Rest for Emily" is a peculiar Suspense tale about a farmer who goes mad from having to listen to his wife complain.

Orrin Reed and his wife, Emily, have lived on their farm for thirty years, but they have not prospered. Their life has been hard, and Emily has become an unhappy shrew. One night, Emily's "bitter words" are too much for Orrin. When she tells him to go get the coffee, he comes back from the kitchen with a rifle instead.

Orrin decides to return Emily to the land by burying her in the barn. Later that night, he receives a strange phone call telling him, "You'll never get away with it."

"A Rest for Emily" was written by Berel Firestone. Bill Smith and Abby Lewis played Orrin and Emily. Also appearing were Ralph Bell, Lee Graham, and Larry Robinson. This episode aired on September 4, 1960. (The sound quality of this recording is not the best.)

. Download Suspense_1960.09.04_ARestforEmily.mp3   

(Image from Morguefile.com)

Comments

[KRD]

I look forward to hearing this, as writer Berel Firestone's widow was a good friend of mine.

[cmillinsf]

I hope you like it. I thought the dialogue in this episode was very effective. Best, Christine

[Grigs]

I'm glad Emily was killed off early on. Five more minutes of her whining and I would have had to turn this one off or put my fist through the monitor. :) Talk about annoying! Poor ol' Mr. Reed...

I wish I had heard this episode as a teenager. I might have given up prank phone calls.

After Emily was out of the picture, this was an enjoyable show. Reminded me of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".

[cmillinsf]

Thanks for your comments. Yes, if there is one thing we can learn from Suspense, it is that prank phone calls lead to nothing but trouble! See also the Suspense television episode "Telephone Call" from 1951. It is also about prank phone callers. -Christine