Suspense - Fly by Night

In "Fly by Night," Joseph Cotton stars as a man framed for murder and on the run from the law.

As the episode opens, Mickey Manning has been kept awake by the police for seventy-two  hours in order to sign a confession. They believe he murdered his business partner, Leo Garvin, and they have a witness named Venutti, who saw Manning the night of the murder. Manning signs the confession, but as they are on their way to the courthouse, he escapes from the police. 

First, he asks for help from his wife, but gets none. Next he turns to her cousin, an attorney named Charles Borden, who does offer to help.

Then, Manning visits the office of Venutti, only to find a drunken woman and Venutti's dead body. Next to Venutti's body, he finds his own gun.

Who killed Leo Garvin and Venutti, and why do they want to frame Manning?

"Fly by Night" was written by George Fass and Gertrude Fass and adapted for radio by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Elliott Lewis produced and directed. Joseph Cotten starred. Also appearing were Cathy Lewis, Tom Bernard, and Jeannette Nolan. This episode aired on September 28, 1950.

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(Image from Wikipedia)

Comments

[Grigs]

Did anybody else make a wrong guess on the killer's identity?

[Atoz]

This is a very exciting episode. Joseph Cotton has really impressed me with his Suspense performances.

There is one big problem however...

SPOILER

The twist that the two had guys aren't really crooked cops makes no sense. The faux cop used his real name, which allowed to call him up on the phone at the end. And why would they bother letting Manning get 8 hours sleep and try to get him to shave at the beginning? It isn't like they could actually drop him off at the police station.

That twist was so far out of left field, I can't help but wonder if it was added to not make the police look bad. Suspense was big on the "crime does not pay" thing.