Suspense Television

The Far-Off House

"The Far-Off House" is the story of a woman who returns home after a trip to find that someone has been living in her house.

It is a dark and stormy night at the train station in Waverly. Mr. Richards, the stationmaster, tells his two employees, Archie and Charlie, to go home. Charlie, the newstand attendant, reminds him that he has to wait for his mother. She is across the street at the movies because she is afraid to stay home alone at night. A recent unsolved murder has everyone in town unnerved. The two of them agree that it just isn't safe to stay in your own home.

Suddenly, Mrs. Collins taps on the window and asks for help with her luggage. She has just returned to Waverly from a three week visit with her mother. Charlie likes Mrs. Collins, but his attention makes her nervous.

The storm outside is howling, and Charlie thinks it would be safer for Mrs. Collins to stay at a hotel in town. He warns her numerous times that she should not to go back to her home.

Before she can decide, Archie brings in her luggage. When she offers him a tip, Archie pushes the money away. He snaps at her to never offer him a tip again. Mrs. Collins and Charlie are baffled, but Charlie explains by telling her that Archie is new at the station.

Charlie's mother then arrives and seems suprised to see Mrs. Collins back in town. Everyone assumed that she had left because there was something wrong with her marriage. For a while, they even thought that it might have been her husband who did it...

Mrs. Collins doesn't know what they are referring to. Charlie's mother explains that Mrs. Collin's gardner, Buddy Jackson, was murdered while she was away. Some people think that young, good-looking Buddy may have been killed by a jealous husband. Then, Charlie's mother reminds Mrs. Collins that her garden was the last one Buddy worked on before he was killed.

Mrs. Collins is now very upset. She wants to go home to her house on Indian Neck Road. Charlie tells her over and over again that it isn't safe. So of course, she goes home. On her way out the door, Charlie's mother asks Mrs. Collins if her son "seems better" to her. She says that she was told to put Charlie in a sanitarium, but she thinks that a job and a mother's love are all that he needs. Uh-oh!

After Archie delivers Mrs. Collins to her home, she offers him a tip, and he slaps her hand away again! Archie tells her that serving her has been a pleasure, and he leaves.

Mrs. Collins then walks through the dark and empty house towards the kitchen, turning on the lights as she goes. Suddenly, we are startled by the presence of a man in the room behind her!

Run Mrs. Collins!! Run!!...Oh wait... It is a studio technician. An arm comes and quickly yanks him out the picture. Yes, it was a mistake, but for a second or two it was scary!

Despite that goof, we are still focused on this story. In fact, despite a number of mistakes in this episode, the suspense is strong enough that the bloopers aren't too distracting.

As soon as Mrs. Collins enters her kitchen, she realizes that someone has been in her house. Who could it have been? She is troubled by this, and calls Charlie's mother for help. Charlie's mother thinks that Mrs. Collins should come back into town. It isn't safe for her to be home alone with the storm, the possible power outage, the recent robberies in the area, and the killer on the loose. Oh yeah, and the telephone service might go out, too. Just then, their telephone call is cut off. Later, the phone does work again, but only so her husband's secretary can tell Mrs. Collins that Mr. Collins won't make it home that night.

Now, Mrs. Collins is stuck. She can't get back to town, and soon she finds out that there is someone in the house with her. Is Mrs. Collins really as dumb as we think she is, or is she tougher than we know?

"The Far-Off House" (episode #125) was written by Victor Wolfson, and starred Judith Evelyn, Douglas Watson, and Henry Jones. This episode aired on December 4, 1951.

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.

On a Country Road

Suspense, the radio series, can be summed up in one episode, "On a Country Road." It was a mixture of urban legend and cautionary tale like no other.  This episode pulled the audience into a dangerous situation and then kept them trapped there, while the suspense mounted and the characters became increasingly hysterical. It was the kind of nightmare "that could happen to anyone."

Suspense presented "On a Country Road" on radio for the first time 57 years ago on November 16, 1950. Cary Grant, Cathy Lewis and Jeannette Nolan starred. For more information about the radio episode click here.

In 1951, this story made the transition to the Suspense television show with a few changes. So how did the television version turn out?  Not quite the same.  Without Mildred Natwick, this episode would have been a total disaster.

The show begins on a foggy highway in Maine. David and Dorothy, returning home from a picnic, are stuck in traffic. The fog is thick and the traffic is inching forward. They turnoff the highway to take a shortcut.

Soon they hear an announcement on the radio about a middle-aged madwoman named Nellie Geller who has just fled from the Restview Mental Hospital. She escaped by murdering her doctor and a ward attendant with a meat cleaver.

They aren't worried about Nellie because their immediate problem is their lack of gas. They stop at a gas station but it is closed. Soon, a state trooper and the sheriff arrive. The sheriff gives them instructions on how to get to the next gas station, and David and Dorothy leave. When the state trooper asks the wise old sheriff about the mad-woman, he responds with the ominous warning. "That's the thing about a woman. You never can tell."

Soon they hear another report about Nellie. She hitched a ride with an elderly couple and killed them with her meat cleaver. Now David and Dorothy realize that they didn't follow the sheriff's instructions correctly. Although David grew up this area, he finally admits that he is lost. Who wouldn't get lost in this bleak landscape? Although the story is set in Maine, the scenery looks more like Arizona. A miniature Arizona that goes around and around...

The continuing reports about Nellie Geller on the car radio are making Dorothy both hysterical and annoying.  Their problems aren't over yet though, soon a rainstorm breaks and their car runs out of gas. When they hear a dog barking in the distance, they assume there must be house nearby. They leave their car and head out into the woods.

As it turns out, they aren't alone. A woman on the road finds their car and follows them to a small cabin where David and Dorothy have found shelter.  They think she is Nellie Geller, but of course, let her in anyway. Then they all sit down on the floor for a nice chat. Soon, they learn that she is a crazy cat lady with 23 Abyssinians.

Up until this point, the episode is more or less the equivalent of the radio version. From here, however, the episode gets watered down for television. The fight scene between the couple and the crazy cat lady doesn't live up to standards set by the radio episode. In the end, David and Dorothy decide that they must do the right thing and admit they made a mistake. Fine. Do that. The ending of this episode lacks the bite of cruel fate and no one really gets hurt.

"On a Country Road" (episode #87) starred John Forsythe, Mary Sinclair, and Mildred Natwick as the crazy cat lady. This show aired on March 13, 1951. It is available on DVD in Collection 1 of Suspense: The Lost Episodes.

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To listen to the 1950 Suspense radio version with Cary Grant, Cathy Lewis and Jeanette Nolan click below:

Download susp.1950.11.16_On_a_Country_Road.mp3