Telephone Call

"Telephone Call" is a near perfect episode of Suspense. Here the dangerous world of the Suspense radio show is captured in a television episode.

As the episode opens, we see a punch bowl, and that is always a good way to start. The punch is stirred while we watch the credits. Into this punch bowl is added gin, rum, and Old Colony. (You will see these prop bottles of alchohol in other episodes of Suspense, too. Especially that Old Colony bottle.)

The punch bowl belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Haskell, the hosts of a New Year's Eve party. They live in a New York apartment building, and they have invited some of their friends and neighbors have come to celebrate the new year with them. The Haskells know how to have a good time, and their guests can't wait to dive into the punch bowl.

Their neighbor next door, Myrtle Kelsey, isn't pleased about the ruckus going on at the Haskell's apartment. Myrtle is a helpless invalid, and the noise from the party upsets her. Everett Kelsey, her husband, waits on her hand and foot, but he refuses her request to tell the neighbors to be quiet. He tells her it is only once a year, and that the neighbors should be allowed to have their fun.

Myrtle isn't happy about that or anything else. She is a pathetic, angry woman who never does anything but complain, and her husband has had enough of her complaints. Everett has a little bottle of poison in his coat pocket, and he intends to poison her.

Everett's plan is interrupted when Mrs. Haskell comes over to invite him to their party. She feels sorry for him and in her tipsy condition, she lets Everett in on a secret. The Haskells know that his wife is not the helpless invalid she pretends to be. Myrtle gets out of bed all of the time when Everett isn't home, and she has candy and movie magazines delivered from the drug store.

Upon hearing this, Everett doesn't hold back from giving his wife a poisoned glass of warm milk. Myrtle is suspicious, and the two of them get into a fight. Myrtle goes into hysterics and Everett leaves the room. Then, he receives a telephone call. The voice on the other end of the line tells him that they saw what he did in the kitchen.

The Haskells again come over to convince Mr. Kelsey to come to their party. Everett is in a panic because of the phone call, but Myrtle is asleep now and so, he gives in to the request of the Haskells. He tells them he will be right over, but then, he receives another phone call. This time we hear the two female voices on the phone. They tell him that they saw what he did.

Meanwhile, we see who made the calls. The prank phone calls.

Everett gets his coat and tries to leave, but the party guests in the hall won't let him. The party guests are in their own drunken world, and Everett is caught.

This is when we are introduced to this special lady. She is an extra with no lines. Why doesn't she have lines? She doesn't need them. She communicates the drama through her expressions.

When Everett is finally dragged to the party, he comes face to face with the girls who called him. He doesn't believe them when they tell him they were just making prank calls. Everett wants them to tell him what they saw.

According to the credits, "Telephone Call" was written by Victor Wolfson and based on an idea by Thomas Phipps and James Lee. Russell Collins starred as Everett Kelsey, and Eileen Heckart played Mrs. Haskell. Also appearing were: Phyllis Povah, Robert Emhardt, Sydney Armus and Hollis Irving. This episode was #88 in the series and aired on March 20, 1951. It is available on Disc 2 of Suspense: The Lost Episodes Collection 2.

The surreal moments are what distinguish this episode.