”…tit for tat, measure for measure, love for love…whatever a man does comes back to him…”

Day 15 of “Twenty Days Well-Calculated to Keep You in Suspense.”

The Earth is Made of Glass

A line from Ralph Waldo Emerson—“Commit a crime, and the Earth is made of glass”—provokes a discussion between Richard Thomas Steele (Joseph Kearns) and his friend Elliott (Herb Butterfield) on the concept of “compensation” (the notion that doing good is rewarded with good while doing evil by punished by the same). Steele dismisses the whole idea as “twaddle,” and plans to prove his argument by murdering a total stranger in an “emotional vacuum”—a random individual to which he has no ties or connection.

An entertaining tale scripted for Suspense by Sylvia Richards, “The Earth is Made of Glass” was broadcast for a second time on June 15, 1954 (the earlier version, starring the ubiquitous Joseph Cotten, was originally heard September 27, 1945). This was the first of six episodes to be directed and produced by Elliott Lewis after the show lost its longtime sponsor Autolite the previous week. Lewis would then leave the series and the director-producer reins were taken over for a brief period by Gunsmoke’s Norman Macdonnell (who had served as director under producer William Spier during the program’s 1949-50 season).

With CBS now footing the bill for “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills,” the budget was lowered for Suspense, putting a crimp on the program’s traditional weekly roster of big-name Hollywood guest stars. Instead, many members of the show’s stock company—Joseph Kearns, John Dehner, Mary Jane Croft, Parley Baer, Ben Wright—were elevated to top-billing in the series’ productions. “The Earth is Made of Glass” serves as a wonderful showcase for the talents of Joe Kearns, who gives a splendid performance as Steele. Kearns had been with Suspense almost from the get-go; in fact, he was the on-mike "voice" of director Alfred Hitchcock on the program’s Forecast audition, “The Lodger” (7/22/40), and later took over the announcing chores from Barry Kroeger (after the show’s summer run) in 1942, serving in that capacity until 1948. (Kearns was referred to as “The Man in Black” from 1943-45, a character not unlike the host of The Whistler, whom Kearns also played on that program’s early broadcasts.) Paul Frees became “The Voice of Suspense” from 1948-50, and Kearns returned to the show for another year before relinquishing the job to Larry Thor.

Kearns was an actor adept at both drama and comedy; he was frequently employed on The Jack Benny Program as one of the many “stooges,” and he also had roles on A Date With Judy and Our Miss Brooks (where he played the school superintendent, Mr. Stone—a part he also played on the TV version of Brooks). Kearns is probably best-remembered by audiences today as “good ol’ Mr. Wilson” in the TV series based on the comic strip Dennis the Menace. Kearns, unfortunately, passed away in 1962 during the show’s third season—he was then replaced by Gale Gordon as the cranky next-door neighbor.

“The Earth is Made of Glass” is an excellent example of how Suspense emerged unscathed after losing its weekly-guest-star gimmick; indeed, programs like The Whistler and Escape rarely showcased guest stars, and they remained just as entertaining if not more so. This broadcast features a top-notch supporting cast—Whitfield Connor, Charlotte Lawrence, Jerry Hausner, Paula Winslowe and Junius Matthews—and a delicious surprise twist at the conclusion; definitely an underrated winner on all counts.

The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson

Dr. Bronson (John Dehner) has a revolutionary theory that there are five “checks” (for example, fear of the law) that keep any individual from committing murder. He sets out to prove this theory by conducting a bizarre experiment in which he extends to five people the opportunity to murder him…and get away with it.

A companion piece—one might even say its doppelganger—to the previously mentioned “The Earth is Made of Glass,” “The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson” (broadcast November 4, 1954) marked the third time around for this adaptation (by Leonard St. Clair) of Richard Kreyke’s well-told short story. It was first broadcast on Suspense on July 27, 1943 with George Coulouris and Laird Cregar, and then again with Henry Daniell on August 15, 1946.

What makes this version so good is the presence of actor John Dehner in the title role; a man who became one of the truly great character actors of movies, radio and TV. He was originally employed by the Walt Disney Studios as an animator (working on both Fantasia and Bambi) before giving radio a try, hosting the radio horror show The Hermit’s Cave over KMPC in Los Angeles in 1942 (where he also met up-and-comer William Conrad). He soon became a pivotal member of director-producer Norman Macdonnell’s stock company of actors, appearing on shows like Suspense, Escape, and especially Gunsmoke. Later still, as the Golden Age of Radio came to a close, he starred in two of its finest western series: Frontier Gentleman (1958), considered second only to Gunsmoke as radio’s all-time best western, and Have Gun, Will Travel (1958-60), a radio version of the hit TV western starring Richard Boone. Dehner is joined in “The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson” by a splendid supporting cast: Parley Baer, Howard Culver, Paul Richards, James Nusser and Virginia Gregg—who worked alongside Dehner on Have Gun, Will Travel as Missy Wong.

Director-producer Macdonnell stayed with Suspense until December 1954; the network then hired writer Antony Ellis to take over the production reins, which he did until October 16, 1956. As a writer, Ellis had previously contributed scripts to not only Suspense but also Escape, On Stage, Pursuit, and Gunsmoke (his wife, Georgia, played Miss Kitty on the program). The blending of all this exceptional acting/directing/writing/producing talent is the main reason why Suspense continued to be such a major force in radio drama, maintaining its high-quality standards even during the soon-to-be-numbered days of Radio’s Golden Age.