Tony Barrett (1916–1974), with a list of radio episodes written by Tony Barrett

Radio Row, fall 1945

 

Actor and writer Tony Barrett (Wikipedia) was born Martin Lefkowitz in New York City on May 24, 1916.

Background

A 24 Aug 1945 Radio Chart newspaper piece on Tony Barrett (found in the Hazelton, PA, Plain Speaker) says that he was of theatrical parents, had a walk-on in his father's comedy vaudeville act as a small child, and learned all types of dancing from his father. But a line in Dorothy Kilgallen's The Voice of Broadway gossip column earlier that year (7 Feb 1945) reads: "Millionaire S. H. Barrett may use the courts to restrain his son, Tony Barrett, from further pursuit of his acting career. Wants him to run the factories and 'stop fooling around' . . . "

Before digging into it I assumed this latter item was an obvious joke on Dorothy Kilgallen. But—although I haven't found any other mention of his trying to restrain his son's acting career, and I don't know that he didn't teach him to dance—historical records indicate that Martin Lefkowitz's father really was a wealthy manufacturer! (In fact, from the concurrence of addresses across newspapers, directories and census data, it appears he was the same Samuel Howard Lefkowitz who reportedly had his front teeth set with diamonds in 1913, and eleven years later had the diamonds put into a ring instead, for fear of hold-up men with dental forceps.)

Other notes on Martin Lefkowitz's early life: among other international travels, young Martin went with his family on a West Indies cruise in 1928; and S. Howard Lefkowitz made multiple trips to Cuba in the 20s and 30s. These early Latin American connections may have influenced Tony Barrett's later creative work: he played numerous radio roles with a Mexican accent, and quite a few of his radio and television scripts are set in Latin America.

Acting career

Regardless of how exactly he got his start, Tony Barrett (who legally changed his name to Anthony Barrett in September 1940) was a professional dancer by 1940, and switched to radio acting by 1943. He became a very busy New York radio actor, specializing in accents and often playing multiple roles in the same broadcast. One newspaper column in February 1945 claimed Barrett had played more than 75 radio characterizations within the past 30 days, and in March 1945 he was reported to have been on six radio programs in one day. His recurring roles included sidekick Shorty on Boston Blackie between 1944-04-25 and 1945-11-29, and the ghostly George Kerby for most of The Adventures of Topper in summer 1945. Other New York radio programs in which Tony Barrett is known to have acted include Armstrong Theatre, Big Town, Famous Jury Trials, Five Star Final, Kate Smith Hour, Man Behind the Gun, March of Time, Mollé Mystery Theater, Pepper Young's Family, Portia Faces Life, Report to the Nation, Ten From Tokyo, This Life Is Mine, We The People, Woman of America, and Young Dr. Malone.

In January 1946 Tony Barrett motored to Hollywood with Frank Lovejoy and Jackson Beck. Barrett soon signed a two-year contract with RKO, under which he appeared in such films as The Falcon's Adventure, Born to Kill, Wild Horse Mesa and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome; he later freelanced in films such as Impact (UA, 1949). Early in his Hollywood career, Tony Barrett was said to resemble Rudolph Valentino, and was reportedly considered for the leading role in a Valentino biopic which never materialized. An item in the Salt Lake Telegram of 10 Jan 1947 reads:

Tony Barrett has been reported in 16 different screen tests as the "ideal romantic hero type" for the screen but he dies so well that he can snare only villain roles since usually only villains die in pictures. In R K O Radio's "Seven Keys to Baldpate," his seventh picture seven months after entering pictures, he perishes again.

Other newspaper items in 1946 called Barrett the most murdered man in Hollywood, and claimed that he had died 801 times in movies and radio.

In addition to movie acting, Barrett continued as a busy and versatile radio actor in Hollywood. Daily Variety of 30 September 1946 reported that he was doing an average of 12 radio shows a week, and the Long Beach Press-Telegram of 17 January 1948 reported that he appeared on six radio shows every week. His regular radio roles in Hollywood included sidekick Marc Donovan on The Adventures of Frank Race and the narrator and radio voice on Tales of the Texas Rangers—and he frequently doubled as one-off characters in both programs. Other Hollywood radio programs on which Tony Barrett was an actor include All-Star Western Theatre; Bold Venture; Broadway's My Beat; The Couple Next Door; Dangerous Assignment; Defense Attorney; Dr. Paul; Escape; Family Theatre; Hallmark Playhouse; Let George Do It; Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Rocky Jordan; Romance; Screen Directors Playhouse; Stars Over Hollywood; Suspense; The Line-Up; Lux Radio Theatre; NBC University Theatre; This Is Your FBI; Wild Bill Hickok; and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.

Radio writing

Tony Barrett went on to become a successful television writer and producer, including writing or co-writing 63 episodes of Peter Gunn and developing The Mod Squad. He also did some writing for radio. Here is a list of the Tony Barrett–penned radio episodes I have found listed on RadioGOLDINdex, mentioned in historical periodicals, and/or listed in the finding aid for the Tony Barrett Papers (herein TBP)—I have not consulted the papers themselves, but this list may be of interest as a preliminary overview of Barrett's radio writing work.

Escape 1952-12-28 "Nightmare in the Sun"

A matador hero of Anthony Barrett's "Nightmare in the Sun," KNX at 6:30. —Hollywood Citizen-News, 1952-12-27

[Script available in SPERDVAC library. Tony Barrett played the ambitious young matador Pepe, and Jack Kruschen had the leading role as his brother Miguel.]

[Barrett wrote a script of the same title for television's Burke's Law, 1965-10-20. That story was also set in Mexico, but involved a political assassination plot.]

Escape 1954-06-17 "Bloodwaters"

Escape 1954-09-18 "The Target"

Hollywood Star Playhouse 1951-05-07 "Death Is a Right Hook" by Antony Ellis and Anthony Barrett; repeated on 1952-03-23.

Dan Dailey portrays a young man whose ambitions exceed his ability in "Death Is a Right Hook" on Hollywood Star Playhouse, KCBS, 9 p.m. —The Berkeley Gazette, 1951-05-07

Screen actor Barry Sullivan will star in "Death Is a Right Hook" on "Hollywood Star Playhouse" today at 5 p.m. on WROL. Barnstorming American heavyweight Jimmy Dunlavy (Barry Sullivan) finds the climate a bit too hot for him in Mexico when he is offered $5000 by a wealthy Mexican to fight Mexico's heavyweight champion. Jimmy, whose usual take is $100, suspects the worst. He appears to be worth more dead than alive, but the fighter has some ideas of his own. —The Knoxville Journal 1952-03-23

Hollywood Star Playhouse 1952-07-20 "Step Right Up and Die"

John Lund, screen and radio star, will portray Joe Martin, a fun-house owner who is accused of murder, in "Step Right Up and Die" on "Hollywood Star Playhouse" over WGBF today at 4 p.m. —Evansville Courier and Press, 1952-07-20

[TBP list an undated script of this title under Hollywood Star Playhouse, and an outline and short story treatment of the same title under TV's Schlitz Playhouse of Stars; the story, which sounds like it was the same story, was produced on Schlitz Playhouse of Stars on 1956-04-27.]

Hollywood Star Playhouse 1952-09-21 "Last Chance"

Charlton Heston, one of Hollywood's new leading men, stars in "The Last Chance," drama of native superstition in the South American jungle. —The Miami News, 1952-09-21

Hollywood Star Playhouse 1952-10-06 "Sitting Duck"

Dane Clark, star of Broadway and Hollywood, enacts the role of private detective Sam Dexter, a man who is tempted by the money he is hired to recover, on "Hollywood Star Playhouse" Oct. 12 over NBC-radio.

Authored by radio actor-writer Anthony Barrett, the play is entitled "Sitting Duck."

In the drama Dexter is hired not for his sleuthing ability but as a decoy to recover $100,000 for an insurance company. The money was stolen and hidden by a bank teller who is serving a five-year jail term. –South Gate Daily Press-Tribune 1952-10-06

[TBP also include a script with the same title for Ford Television Theater, 1957-03-21, and an undated script with the same title for the unrealized TV series Johnny Nighthawk.]

O'Hara 1956-06-10 "The Legend"

O'Hara 1956-06-21 "The Set-Up"

On Stage 1953-11-04 "Vickie" by Ross Murray and Anthony Barrett

A woman marries a man to destroy him in "Vickie," by Ross Murray and Tony Barrett, on CBS Radio's "Cathy and Elliott Lewis Onstage," Wednesday, Nov. 4. —New Pittsburgh Courier, 1953-10-24

Romance 1956-12-08 "The Guitar" (starring Tony Barrett!)

Tales of the Texas Rangers 1951-12-23 "Christmas Payoff"

Tales of the Texas Rangers 1952-02-18 "Smart Kill"

Tums Hollywood Theater 1951-11-27 "The Sixty-Foot Grave"

Tyrone Power is the lead at 9:30 over KFI in "The Sixty Foot Grave" by Anthony Barrett, radio actor known as Tony Barrett. His characterization is that of a deep-sea diver, Robert McKay, in Venezuela. The one person who knows the secret of his past comes along. —Hollywood Citizen-News 1951-11-27

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 1956-06-25–29 "The Alder Matter"

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 1956-08-06–10 "The Long Shot Matter"

Whistler blog posts so far

I hear there's about to be some enthusiasm about The Whistler, so I thought I ought to do a post for new visitors to this blog!  I post fairly infrequently and lately I've done some posts on other old-time radio shows, but I am primarily a Whistler blog and I'm looking forward to doing more analysis, research and commentary on Whistler episodes—especially since I'll probably listen again to the entire series via the new set!

Here are the posts I've done on The Whistler so far:

• 1945-08-20 "X Marks the Murderer"
• 1946-08-19 "Delivery Guaranteed" 
• 1947-03-17 "Mavis Cameron Disappears" / 1948-12-26 "Delayed Christmas Present" / 1951-12-23 "Christmas Gift" 
• 1947-06-02 / 1950-06-04 "Caesar's Wife" 
• 1948-03-31 "Bird of Prey" 
• 1949-08-21 "Confession" / 1954-10-17 "Last Request" 
• 1950-10-22 "The Wall" / 1954-08-29 "Quadrangle"  
• 1950-12-31 "The Big Jump" / 1952-06-15 "Last Message"  

• A list of Signal Oil references in The Whistler 
• A selection of odd Whistler commercials from 1946 

The Whistler 1945-08-20 "X Marks the Murderer"

The basic setup: A housewife's idea for catching a serial killer hits too close to home. This script was reused with minor changes for the 1946 Whistler summer series, and was reworked years later with a darker feel as Suspense 1961-09-24 "Man in the Fog."

The Whistler 1945-08-20 "X Marks the Murderer"
Directed by George W. Allen
Story by Joseph Cochran, music by Wilbur Hatch
Announcer: Marvin Miller
Whistler: Marvin Miller (filling in while Bill Forman was in the service)
Cast (uncredited): Jack Moyles (Ben), Edmund MacDonald (Captain Shane), Charles Calvert (Patrolman / Sgt. Schmitt), Earle Ross (Police Commissioner / Plant Timekeeper), Sarah Selby or Adrienne Marden? (Mamie)
(Thanks, Karl Schadow and Keith Scott, for voice identification!)

The story: Mamie Kast chats with her husband Ben about the recent series of murders in the headlines: four women stabbed. The police think it's a working man, because the killings all occurred on weekends. The newspaper is offering a reward for any clue leading to the arrest and conviction of the monster. Ben seems put off by the word "monster," and is scornful that Mamie could have any idea about the killings. Mamie explains her theory: she marks the location of each killing on a map, forming a square. Theorizing that the killer lives near the middle of the square, she connects the opposite corners and finds that the diagonal lines cross right near their own block!

The next night, Wednesday, a woman is killed almost on the Kasts' doorstep. Ben comes home from the factory where he works nights, washes his hands, and asks for a drink of brandy—neither of which is his habit. He taunts Mamie about her fine theories: this time the killing didn't occur on a weekend, or far away in another direction.

Meanwhile, the police are getting desperate, and Detective Captain Shane asks his sergeant if, among all the screwball letters they've gotten, there's anything that he gave a second thought. The sergeant says Mamie's letter caught his attention because the day after it came in, the next murder took place within a hundred feet of the spot she'd indicated. Shane says he'll look into it when he has time.

Ben forgets his lunch box at home, and Mamie brings it to the factory for him. The timekeeper says Ben Kast didn't punch in tonight, and that he's missed work only once before—last Wednesday. When Ben gets home and starts washing his hands, Mamie offers him brandy and doesn't ask questions.

At the factory the next night, the timekeeper mentions Mamie's bringing Ben's lunch. Ben rushes home to confront Mamie, and overhears Captain Shane on his way out. When Ben demands to know what the police were doing there, Mamie says it was just routine. She didn't tell them he wasn't at work last Wednesday. It comes out that she knows. Ben picks up a knife, but Mamie convinces him that he needs her because only she can tell the police he was at home those nights. She can be his alibi.

Days later, a heavy fog rolls in and, despite Mamie's pleading, Ben is compelled to go out and strike again. Shane brings Ben in for questioning and lays out the circumstantial evidence against him. Ben says he has an alibi. Shane says Ben's alibi is worthless!

The twist: Shane explains that after questioning Mamie again he knew that she both feared Ben and loved him enough to protect him, and unless she broke down and helped the police, they'd never be able to prove Ben was guilty. Then Shane has Mamie brought in... on a stretcher. "Tonight she ran out after you, probably to try to stop you, and walked right into your trap. It was your wife you killed tonight, Mr. Kast."

Suspense, sixteen years later:

Suspense 1961-09-24 "The Man in the Fog" (at The Suspense Project here) has essentially the same sequence of events as "X Marks the Murderer" until the final scenes, and the main characters even have the same names. (It's a little funny that the announcer says the script was "written especially for Suspense by Joseph Cochran"!) The Suspense episode is set in England, the cops have different names, and the story has a new ending—but I think the most significant difference is that "The Man in the Fog" feels like a darker story than "X Marks the Murderer." It focuses more on the mind of the murderer, and I think is also a little more explicit about the nature of the crimes.

The opening narration of "X Marks the Murderer" says, in part:

It was a long series of murders which baffled and terrorized the city. Not only because of their fiendish quality, but because of their apparent lack of motive. I say apparent lack because you can't expect the police to find and recognize a motive deep in the mind of a man who simply enjoys killing, a man who rationalizes his feeling into a sort of righteous cause.

The briefer announcement before the first act of "The Man in the Fog" also says the murders "are without pattern and apparently without motive." But by 1961, crime fiction audiences probably did expect the police to make use of psychology. The Suspense episode adds a new scene before the last murder in which the detective, Mr. Britt, discusses the killer's compulsion to strike again and even correctly links the murders to the weather; and has a new ending in which Britt uses his understanding of the killer's psychology to get a confession.

In this version, Mamie is not murdered, but goes to the police on the night of the last murder and asks them to take Ben in. Britt explains that Mamie can't testify against her husband (a legally dubious plot device), and he'll need a confession. Again he questions Ben and Ben says Mamie is his alibi. Britt expresses doubt about having a woman for an alibi, because of how sneaky and greedy women are. He pretends to confide in Ben: "I hate women too." Then Britt lets Ben see Mamie talking to the sergeant, apparently selling Ben out.

"X Marks the Murderer" ends on the revelation that Ben's alibi is broken, implying that he now has no choice but to confess. In "The Man in the Fog," Britt convinces Ben that he understands, and we actually get to hear Ben tell him about it. "...I could hear a soul wailing in the body of a woman, begging to be freed from the claws of the flesh, and then my hand would lift the knife, and in a minute the soul would be free. And then my head would stop hurting." Ben also talks about freeing souls in the scene with Mamie before the last murder, and calls it his "mission." These speeches expand on the "righteous cause" that the Whistler cynically posited in the earlier episode—in which the closest thing to an explanation of Ben's motive was his remark that the murder victims are "better off anyway. We'd all be."

"The Man in the Fog," even before the explicit misogyny in the final scene, is also much more persistent than the original Whistler episode in directing the listener's attention to the fact that these murders are specifically murders of women: "A man walks in the fog. And a woman dies." In "X Marks the Murderer," on the other hand, Mamie talks in the first scene about the victims having all been women, but the narration and dialogue tend to refer simply to "murders" or "killings," without giving much weight to the obvious pattern of the victims' gender.

For instance, in The Whistler, each of Mamie's four crosses "marks the place where a killing occurred," and she assumes the killer "goes out in a different direction from where he lives every time he wants to do away with somebody" because "it's just natural not to do something like that in front of his own house." In Suspense, each cross "marks the spot where a woman was killed, and Mamie assumes the killer "goes in a different direction each time" because "it stands to reason he's not going to kill a woman in front of his own house." The patrolman who finds the fifth victim in The Whistler says "Another one!" but doesn't specifically say anything to indicate gender (though we do hear later that a woman was killed); the patrolman in Suspense calls the victim "dearie" as he tries to wake her. There even seems to be a faint hint of the threat of sexual violence in the Suspense episode, when the timekeeper tells Mamie she ought to take the bus home: "You shouldn't be out alone in this fog, with that fellow still at large. I guess you know... what I mean."

A lost Whistler version:

Dr. Joe Webb has recently discovered a script for the Whistler summer series 1946-09-04 "Where the Lines Cross" by Joseph Cochran, of which no recording is known to survive. This script is almost identical to "X Marks the Murderer," with the main difference being some additional bits of dialogue—generally comparable in length to bits of dialogue that I've seen cut from other Whistler scripts. Dr. Webb points out that, since the Whistler summer series was a sustaining program, this additional dialogue may have been restored and/or added in order to fill the time taken up by commercials in the original Signal broadcast.

There's some brief additional action after the patrolman finds the fifth victim, including a woman screaming "It's him again. He's killed her. I can see her. It's a woman lying there and she's been stabbed." I think going straight from the patrolman's exclamation to Ben arriving home is more effective—but this scene would have put a little more emphasis on the killing-of-women angle.

The 1946 script also continues to develop the psychological elements that are prominent in the later Suspense episode. There's a little more dialogue between Ben and Mamie about Ben being compelled to go out in the fog, and there's some additional dialogue at the beginning of the interrogation scene in which Captain Shane explains that he's studied murderers like this and planned his interview accordingly. In the 1945 episode, Ben says, "Can't a man wash his hands when they need it?"—and in 1946, he then adds, "Can't he make himself clean without his wife yelling about it?" That phrase "make himself clean" is also heard in "The Man in the Fog."

In the 1945 episode, when Ben comes in after Shane leaves, Mamie exclaims, "Ben! You're home." The 1946 script has "You! You're home?" [underlining in original]. In 1945, the Whistler's narration after the last murder begins, "So the monster struck again. For the last time. You didn't know that, Ben, but it was for the last time." The 1946 script has, "So, Ben...you struck again. For the last time. You didn't know that...but it was for the last time."

In the 1946 script, we also learn that Ben is short for Ebenezer!

Further notes:

• "X Marks the Murderer" is the first Whistler episode after Japan's surrender was announced on August 14, 1945, marking the end of World War Two. (Nowadays, we tend to think of the war as ending with the formal surrender on September 2.) The Signal commercial at the first break begins:

  "Now it can be told!" is on everyone's lips these days, with all sorts of news breaking. For wartime security, American industry has had to maintain secrecy about many of its most amazing projects. For instance, Signal Oil Company, who brings you The Whistler each week, would like to have been able to tell you about Signal's new super-fuel as it was being developed. For during the last few years, petroleum chemists have found ways of completely changing the composition of gasoline, giving new performance undreamed of before the war. But the big news tonight is that soon these ingredients that have been helping us win the war will be in a new Signal gasoline!

  The commercial at the second break says, "Where are you going? I mean, with that unlimited supply of gasoline you can enjoy from now on," but warns that you'll still have to make your current tires last a while longer.

• The Whistler's narration in this 1945 episode is moving towards the familiar pattern of later years: setting the scene in third person past tense, and then narrating most of the episode in second person present tense. One striking difference from this later pattern is that instead of addressing one main character throughout, he switches to a different main character about halfway through! "Yes, Mamie. Now you're beginning to understand. And you know your plan was too good. Too good. But what about you, Ben, what are you thinking?"

  There are other Whistler episodes from this era that address multiple characters, or that switch back and forth between second and third person; earlier Whistler episodes are also more likely to address the listener, and some early episodes are narrated almost entirely in third person. I hope to do at least one general post in the future about the different modes of narration on The Whistler.

• Whistler episodes reused on other programs often replaced the Whistler's narration with more conventional first-person or third-person narration. "The Man in the Fog" omits the narration entirely and bridges the scenes with eerie music. This makes for some abrupt transitions, like going straight from Britt's "We'll have to make a routine call on Mrs. Kast" to Mamie's "Are you the timekeeper?", but the slighly disjointed feel works well with the sense of Ben's mental "fog" that pervades the episode.

Additional listening:

1945-06-25 "Death Watch" is another Whistler episode by Joseph Cochran involving a murderer with a compulsion—in this case, the compulsion to return to the scene of the crime—and a detective who plans to play upon the psychology of the murderer. (And, like "X Marks the Murderer," this episode also has Earle Ross as the detective's boss and Charles Calvert as his sidekick.)

See 1946-03-11 "Boomerang", based on a story by Nancy and Alfred Seel, for another story in which a woman apparently suspects her husband of being a serial killer.

The Adventures of Topper (1945) episode descriptions from newspapers

The Adventures of Topper, based on Thorne Smith's 1926 novel about a middle-aged banker haunted by a married couple of fun-loving ghosts, ran for fifteen weeks beginning June 7, 1945, as a summer replacement for Dinah Shore's Bird's Eye Open House program.  Rather than being an adaptation of Topper or its sequel, the Topper radio program presented a series of new comedic adventures based on the characters.  The Adventures of Topper was sold on the basis of an audition script written in fall 1944 by Sgt. Alan Sands, and the scripts for the airer were by Elizabeth Cobb (daughter of Irvin S. Cobb) under the supervision of producer Stanley Wolf.

Cosmo Topper was portrayed on radio by Roland Young, who had already played the character in three motion pictures.  "An interesting note in connection with this series is that Thorne Smith was a close personal friend of Roland Young's and is said to have had Young in mind for dramatization of the series."  (Bill Bird, "Radio in Review," Pasadena Independent, 6 Jun 1945.)  Mrs. Topper was "that 200-pound, six-foot-two chunk of pixie—Hope Emerson." (Winnipeg Tribune, 7 Jun 1945.)

Paul Mann and Frances Chaney were originally cast as the ghostly George and Marion Kerby, but Tony Barrett was mentioned as playing George Kerby as early as July 19.  To me it sounds like Barrett as George in all three surviving episodes including the earliest, that of July 5—in which, although I'm less certain, I think he may have doubled as Dr. Glockenspiel.  (Barrett is more recognizable in 1945-06-05 when the OTRR file is played at 103% speed/pitch so that it matches the runtime of the other two files.)

The Adventures of Topper was well promoted, with episode descriptions appearing in newspapers across the country almost every week.  For most episodes, I found both a very brief description and a longer one.  Where the shorter description was included in the longer one, I'll just quote the longer text from one paper; if I found differing descriptions, I'll quote a couple of representative examples.  (Also, I have taken the liberty of correcting typographical errors.)

1945-06-07

Cosmo Topper finds the road to riches strewn with forgers, jailbirds, cab drivers, and the ectoplasmic Kerbys as he gets off to a good start tonight.

—Minneapolis Star

Variety's less than favorable review of the premiere doesn't describe the story, but does mention that:

(The way that Post Toasties commercial was worked into the script, incidentally, is one for the books: you have to hear it to believe it.)

1945-06-14

Cosmo Topper, as played by Roland Young, sells a house and then buys a bag of trouble when he tries to oust old tenants in the person of the ectoplasmic Kerbys in the second hilarious stanza of "The Adventures of Topper" tonight NBC 8:30 to 9:00 p. m.

Acquiring a house is one thing but moving in is something else when your interior decorator is confronted with "low plane spirits" who resent remodelling and refuse to be moved from the premises.

—Waterbury (CT) Democrat

1945-06-21

Roland (Topper) Young will find that guests and ghosts don't mix when he entertains a hard-to-please uncle in KFI's "The Adventures of Topper" at 9 o'clock.

—Pasadena Star-News

Roland Young as Topper, KFI at 9, will entertain his woman-hating uncle and the ectoplasmic Marion Kerby.

—Hollywood Citizen-News

Roland (Topper) Young gives his visiting relatives the best in the house but discovers that guests and ghosts don't mix in the 8:30 p. m. NBC laugh-packed chapter of "The Adventures of Topper"

—Findlay (OH) Republican-Courier

1945-06-28

Topper, played by Roland Young, is a 50-to-1 sleeper at post time, but will prove himself an authority on horse-racing in The Adventures of Topper.

—Bristol (TN-VA) Herald Courier

Roland (Topper) Young, who never saw a horse run in his life, shows the touts how to run a $2 bet into a fortune and explains why favorites lose races in an exciting visit to the track in "The Adventures of Topper," this evening (NBC 8:30 to 9:00 p. m.)

Cosmo Topper, a 50-to-1 sleeper at post time, comes to life when a gang of thugs put the "fix" on the public and even succeeds in explaining some of the finer points of the sport to indomitable Mrs. Topper.

—Waterbury Democrat

1945-07-05 (in circulation)

Topper (WIBA): outwits a psychiatrist.

—Wisconsin State Journal

Cornered by a psychiatrist who claims it's all in the subconscious, Topper has another adventure, WIOD 8:30 p. m.

—Miami (FL) News

Roland "Topper" Young, cornered by a psychiatrist who claims it's all in the subconscious, will find a clue in Mrs. Topper's day-dreaming that will turn a quiet night into a nightmare in the Adventures of Topper.

—Bristol Herald Courier

Roland (Cosmo Topper) Young, cornered by a psychiatrist who claims it's all in the subconscious, will find a clue in Mrs. Topper's day-dreaming that turns a mild night into a nightmare in "The Adventures of Topper" tonight at 8:30.

Aided by the ectoplasmic Kerbys of Thorne Smith's famous stories, Mr. Topper evades the Freudian probings of a professional dream-analyzer and proves that any man can outsmart his wife if he can only tell in advance what she is thinking.

—Bluefield (WV) Daily Telegraph

Note: Topper is examined by a psychiatrist in this episode, but the story has nothing to do with Mrs. Topper's daydreaming and very little to do with dreams or the subconscious, nor does it take place at night.

Topper mentions events from previous episodes twice in this week's story.  First, when he tells Mrs. Topper about the Kerbys: "One time George and Marion forced your uncle out of the house, and next they dragged me to the races"; and then later when she tells him it's all in his imagination: "Then I didn't go to the races last week with George and Marion and win a lot of money."

1945-07-12

"Be sure to listen to Topper, starring Roland Young, next week, when Mrs. Topper intercepts a present meant for Marion."

—previous episode

Roland (Topper) Young, hunting the ideal gift for his wife, finds a bargain in blondes but runs amuck of the store's cash and carry rules in The Adventures of Topper. With Mrs. Topper trailing her shopper-husband under counters and through the junior misses' department, Marion Kerby shows Mr. Topper the difference between a sandal and a scandal.

—Bristol Herald Courier

1945-07-19

Topper will be caught between a blue blood and a beguiling blonde at 9 over KFI.

—Hollywood Citizen-News

Roland Young—"Topper"—puts life into high society's biggest party but discovers that two of the guests are ghosts in the hilarious "Adventures of Topper" tonight.

—Bristol Herald Courier

Note: In the novel, Topper meets another ghost couple, Colonel Scott and Mrs. Hart, without at first being aware that they are ghosts. I wonder if those characters appeared in this episode, if the description simply refers to the Kerbys, or if the episode had two original ghost characters.

1945-07-26

Topper gets mixed up in a bathing beauty contest, KFI at 9.

—Hollywood Citizen-News

Roland "Topper" Young, staunch admirer of mother nature, goes to inspect various blonde forms of life at the seashore but winds up as an unwilling participant in a bathing beauty contest in "The Adventures of Topper," NBC-8:30 p. m.

—Findlay (OH) Republican-Courier

1945-08-02

Topper (Roland Young) has rental trouble at 9 over KFI. The Kerbys, real only to him, are partly responsible.

—Hollywood Citizen-News

Leasing an apartment for occupancy by the nebulous George and Marion Kerby will cause plenty of landlord trouble for Cosmo on Adventures of Topper. Contributing to Topper's confusion will be Mrs. Topper and the Kerbys themselves.

—Bristol Herald Courier

Roland Young as Cosmo Topper impersonating a benevolent real estate tycoon, rents a house for a beautiful blonde but finds his client's lease is not worth the sting of Mrs. Topper's leash in "The Adventures of Topper" tonight at 8:30 over WHIS.

Braving the horde of irate tenants Mr. Topper waves his way through cellars and attics to inspect the dwelling's finer architectural points only to find the ectoplasmic Kerbys ahead of him and his wife hardly a foyer behind.

—Bluefield Daily Telegraph

1945-08-09

It will be a trying day for all concerned when Topper visits his farm, accompanied by the ubiquitous Mrs. Topper and the ectoplasmic Kerbys on the Adventures of Topper.

—Bristol Herald Courier

"Cosmo Topper," as played by Roland Young, visits a farm in tonight's drama. It's a trying day for everyone when Topper, who knows his hens and chickens, meets what he calls a swell egg and then discovers that you can't put them all in one basket and expect to fool an intuitive housewife.

—Minneapolis Star

Roland "Topper" Young thinks farming depends on quality of farmerette.

—Wisconsin State Journal

1945-08-16

Roland "Topper" Young encounters difficulties as a furniture salesman.

—Athens (OH) Messenger

Roland "Topper" Young has auction trouble on the 8:30 p. m. NBC funfest.

—Findlay Republican-Courier

Selling used furniture should be an easy task these days but not so when Topper takes the Kerby household items out of storage and attempts to dispose of them in "Adventures of Topper" over KFI at 9.

—Pasadena Star-News

Topper (Roland Young) as "heir" to the fortune of the ectoplasmic Kerbys will supervise an auction of the household items which have been in storage, KFI at 9.

—Hollywood Citizen-News

Roland Young, who doesn't know a Queen Anne from a queen bee, supervises an auction of the Kerbys' belongings, with dire results in the hilarious "Adventures of Topper" program tonight at 8:30.

As heir to the Kerbys' fortune, Topper runs the sale with spiritual help from the ectoplasmic Kerbys whose playful pranks almost break up the proceedings, as well as their earthly furniture.

—Bluefield Daily Telegraph

1945-08-23

When Topper serves as nursemaid for the Kerbys' dog, he finds that their baleful influence extends even to the animal kingdom in the Adventures of Topper. Those ectoplasmic pranksters, the Kerbys, entrust their pet pooch to Topper who just doesn't like dogs. After a session with the Kerby canine, Topper is even more confirmed in his dislike of man's best friend.

—Bristol Herald Courier

Topper serves as a nursemaid for the ghost of the ghostly Kerby's dog.

—Cincinnati Enquirer

Note: In the novels it's Colonel Scott who has a ghost dog, Oscar.

1945-08-30 (in circulation)

When the ectoplasmic George Kerby sneezes it is Topper who has to take very bad tasting medicine.

—Hollywood Citizen-News

Roland "Topper" Young finds the prospective visit of his mother-in-law a bitter pill to swallow, but winds up taking a much worse dose on the laugh riot "Adventures of Topper".

—Bristol Herald Courier

1945-09-06 (in circulation)

"Be sure to tune in next week, when Topper visits a spiritualist and takes his spirits along with him."

—previous episode

Roland "Topper" Young visits a medium and takes his own spirits along on the all-out fun fest "Adventures of Topper" program tonight. The program will be heard at 8:00 p. m., a half-hour earlier than its usual time for its two final broadcasts of the summer series.

—Bristol Herald Courier

When Mrs. Topper decides that a spiritualist may be able to exorcise the evil spirits that have been tormenting Mr. T, lively doings develop in KFI's "Adventures of Topper" at 8:30.

—Pasadena Star-News

Note: The Dinah Shore program returned to the air at its usual time on 1945-09-06, which is why the final two episodes of Topper were heard at a new time half an hour earlier.

1945-09-13

"Be sure to tune in Topper next week, when Topper finds the road to Heaven paved with good intentions."

—previous episode

Note: I don't find any descriptions of this episode in the newspapers; I guess for the last episode they didn't bother. At the end of the novel Topper, Marion has apparently ascended to a higher plane, but in Topper Takes a Trip it turns out it didn't take. From the teaser, I would guess that the radio series finale also involved the Kerbys attempting to move on (and probably ultimately ending up back with Topper).

"The Line-Up" round-up: story connections and other minutiae

I am indebted to the Line-Up log prepared by the late Stewart Wright (available via this page) and would recommend it for thorough information on The Line-Up:  airdates, titles, actors, the setting, etc.  Thanks also to Dr. Joe Webb and to Bob Pedersen for sharing with me episodes I had not heard!

My own eclectic notes below are based on listening to 82 episodes of the series and on looking at the twelve scripts available in the library of the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety And Comedy (SPERDVAC).

 

Some story connections

1950-05-27 audition "The Anita Cameron Case" (Morton Fine & David Friedkin)

The same story as Broadway's My Beat 1949-11-26 "The Mary Gilbert Murder Case" and Bold Venture e42 "A Dead Girl's Clothes" aka "Innocence in Trujillo."

1950-08-03 Untitled (aka Two Young Girls Killed by Hit and Run Driver) (Morton Fine & David Friedkin)

Serial killing as revenge for vehicle accident:  a variation on the same basic idea as, although not the same story as, Fine and Friedkin's oft-repurposed script for Broadway's My Beat 1949-08-11 "The Jane Darnell Murder Case," Pursuit 1949-11-10 "Three For All," The McCoy 1951-04-24 "Three Wayward Girls" and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 1953-01-16 "The Starlet Matter."
 

"I'm gonna keep Elaine Kirk's engagements."  See also Broadway's My Beat 1950-11-24 "The Shorty Dunne Murder Case," in which Danny Clover investigates a woman's murder by following her shopping list.
 

Someone "confesses" that they blame themselves for the victim's death, but then it turns out that person literally did commit the murder.  This also happens in Broadway's My Beat 1950-02-03 "The Lt. Jimmy Hunt Murder Case," 1951-10-06 "The Lily Nelson Murder Case," and 1952-02-16 "The Raymond Grant Murder Case."

1950-08-10 Untitled aka Man Dies of Poisoning (Morton Fine & David Friedkin)

Man dies at police headquarters; cab driver reports man was in his cab with woman who got out first; investigation uncovers blackmail about bullet wound:  see also Broadway's My Beat 1949-08-04 "The Dr. Robbie McClure Murder Case."  The cabbie coming to the protagonist's office to report recognizing his fare on a poster is also reminiscent of a scene in Broadway 1950-05-05 "The Thelma Harper Murder Case."

1950-08-24 Untitled (Hotel arson, body found) (Morton Fine & David Friedkin)

Policewoman impersonates murder victim in order to trap killer into trying to finish the job:  see also the later Broadway's My Beat 1952-01-19 "The Lynn Halstead Murder Case."  That story also involves delay and trouble about identifying a body, although for very different reasons.

1950-11-23 The Topaz Earring Case (Gene Levitt and Robert Mitchell)

Reuses many story elements from The Adventures of Philip Marlowe 1949-08-06 "The August Lion" by Mel Dinelli, Robert Mitchell and Gene Levitt—including the clue of a piece of jewelry which seems to point to one suspect but actually implicates another of the opposite gender.
 

Also, the cops get a tip from a dubious private detective named Manny Pomeroy; there's a disreputable PI named Mutt Pomeroy in Philip Marlowe 1950-01-28 "The Hairpin Turn" and 1950-09-08 "The Fifth Mask."

1950-11-30 The Cop Killer (Blake Edwards)

The grieving Mom Fisher calling Ben and Matt "my two big policemen" is reminiscent of the grieving Mama Waxman ("Oh, Richard, how's mein big policeman?") in Richard Diamond, Private Detective 1949-06-26 "The Tom Waxman Bombing Case."

1950-12-07 The Jersey Parallel (Blake Edwards)

Evidently inspired by the case of WWII veteran Howard Unruh (Wikipedia), who on 6 September 1949 walked around his Camden, New Jersey, neighborhood and killed thirteen people with a Luger in under twenty minutes.  In the days immediately following the crime, Unruh's brother was reported to have "expressed the opinion that his brother went berserk because of nervousness brought on by his war service," and his father also publicly stated that the war changed him; but psychiatrists quoted in the press said that Howard Unruh's war service had nothing to do with his mental illness.  The Line-Up story takes that view, adding the final twist that in this case the paranoid killer was never even in the Army.

1951-06-19 Lieutenant Guthrie Kidnapped (Blake Edwards)

See also Richard Diamond, Private Detective 1950-10-18, in which Lieutenant Walt Levinson is kidnapped; the two stories are not especially similar, but it could be a bit of an in-joke the way the Line-Up kidnapper keeps saying he bets nobody's ever kidnapped a police lieutenant before.

1951-09-26 The Fur Flaunting Floozie (E. Jack Neuman)

Several elements of this story were reused for Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 1953-05-12 "The Rochester Theft Matter," which was later combined with Johnny Dollar 1953-01-02 "The Baltimore Matter" and reworked as 1956-01-09 – 1956-01-13 "The Todd Matter."

1951-10-18 The Nicely Nixed Nixon Case (E. Jack Neuman)

Has a character named Bill Chambers, which was the name of the boyfriend in Johnny Dollar "The Rochester Theft Matter" and "The Todd Matter."

1951-11-08 The Pixie-Picker Pickle Case (E. Jack Neuman)

The police bring in a eccentric, religious newspaper seller named Edmund who witnessed a crime and who, when asked to describe the criminal's face, replies that it was "the Devil's face."  Neuman reused much of this scene in Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 1955-10-06 "The Macormack Matter" episode 4—perhaps primarily in order to fill time for the new five-part format!  Unlike in the Line-Up episode, the witness's story in Johnny Dollar does not help solve the case and they don't try to get him to identify a suspect.

 

1952-07-22 The Drinkler Kidnapping Case (E. Jack Neuman)

"Doesn't look much like a kidnapper, does he, Ben?" / "I don't know.  What's a kidnapper supposed to look like?"  Compare Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 1953-05-12 "The Rochester Theft Matter" (and the subsequent "The Todd Matter"):  "Doesn't look like a killer, though, does he?" / "I don't know.  What's a killer supposed to look like?"

1952-10-08 The Teacher's Pet (Sidney Marshall)

A man dies at the wheel of a car, apparently of cardiac arrest, but the autopsy uncovers a small-caliber bullet wound behind the right ear.  This also occurred in the murder of Samuel I. Paris, dramatized by Sidney Marshall for Somebody Knows 1950-08-10.  In the Line-Up episode, the autopsy surgeon says the bullet wound wasn't noticed because "Silvano needed a haircut"; the Somebody Knows episode doesn't specifically mention the victim's hair, but contemporary newspaper items on the Paris murder do say the wound was concealed by thick hair.

1952-10-22 The Green Cap Case (Sidney Marshall)

Significant portions of this episode are directly adapted from Marshall's script for Somebody Knows 1950-07-06 "The Unsolved Murder of Joseph P. Bohanak."  According to that account of a true unsolved case, the police believe the distinctive green cap found at the scene may be a vital clue.  In the Line-Up story, they investigate the cap but wind up catching the killer by other means—and the last line is "I wonder if Quine ever got anywhere with that cap"!

The name of the victim in "The Green Cap Case" is William Brenizer; Eugene Brenizer was one of the detectives on the Bohanak case.

1953-01-07 Once Upon a Snow-Plow (Sidney Marshall)

This story seems to be loosely based on the murders of Geraldine Mingo and Mary Kabiska, as dramatized by Sidney Marshall for Somebody Knows 1950-07-13.  The two St. Paul women were knifed over a year apart, both while walking home alone from transit stops at night in stormy inclement weather.  Before the Kabiska murder, a professor of clinical psychology had theorized that the Mingo murder was the work of a repetitive psychopathic killer and predicted that the killer would strike again under similar circumstances.  In the Line-Up story, Guthrie is able to identify the circumstances in order to anticipate and thwart a third murder.  In real life, there were apparently no further murders publicly linked to these two, and the case remains unsolved.

1953-02-11 Good Enough to Eat (Sidney Marshall)

A clue is reported in a trash can, but the trash is taken to the dump before the clue is retrieved, and the police have to sort through a huge pile of garbage using a conveyor belt.  This also occurred in the investigation of the murder of Elizabeth Short, as dramatized by Sidney Marshall for Somebody Knows 1950-08-24.  In the Line-Up story, they find the jars and track down the source of the poisonings; in the Short case, they found the purse but it turned out to have no bearing on the murder.

Some character names (or, The Quine's Qurious Qognomens Qase)

Child actor turned director Richard Quine (Wikipedia) was a friend and frequent collaborator of Blake Edwards, and is credited as co-writer or co-editor with Edwards of the Line-Up episodes of 1951-05-29, 1951-06-12, 1951-07-05, and 1951-08-02.  He and William Asher (Wikipedia) were co-producers and co-directors of the 1948 Columbia picture Leather Gloves, in which Blake Edwards was an actor.

The fictional Sgt. Quine is called "Dick" and "Richard" in the dialogue of 1951-09-05 "Pointless Pierson Polemic Polarity," and has the first name Richard on the character list of the script for 1952-04-08 "Cornered Cop Killer."  His first name is Tom in the dialogue of 1952-10-01 "Poker Party" and on the scripts of 1952-04-01 "Kastro's," 1952-07-06 "Luger-Lugging Laddie," 1952-07-22 "Drinkler Kidnapping," 1952-11-05 "Be-Bop Bandits," 1952-12-12 "Gasoline Bandit," and 1952-12-19 "Two Tough Thugs."

Sgt. Asher has the first name Dave in the dialogue of 1952-03-04 "Mercer's," 1952-05-06 "Babs," 1952-07-08 "Luger-Lugging," 1952-07-29 "Charles Crocked," 1952-08-05 "Karger Kops," 1952-10-15 "Bentley's" and 1952-12-19 "Two Tough Thugs," and on the script of 1952-12-12 "Gasoline Bandit."  His first name is Fred on the scripts of 1952-04-01 "Kastro's" and 1952-11-05 "Be-Bop."

According to IMDb, Asher's first name was Fred in both the 1954 TV series and the 1958 movie based on The Line-Up.  Quine is listed in only one episode of the TV series, with no first name given, and has the first name Al in the movie.

Before introducing Quine as a regular on The Line-Up, Blake Edwards had used the name Quine for a police officer in Richard Diamond, Private Detective 1949-05-22 "The Stolen Purse"; and Sgt. Asher shares his surname with Diamond's steady girlfriend Helen Asher.  In a possible nod to her, one of the suspect's aliases in 1951-10-04 "The Wild, Wild Woman Case" by E. Jack Neuman is "Helen Diamond."

The real-life Dick Quine was also close friends with one Frederick Karger, and witnessed Karger's marriage to Jane Wyman in 1952.  A policeman named Karger is referred to in passing in nine episodes in 1951 (1951-04-24, 06-19, 09-26, 10-04, 10-11, 11-01, 11-08, 11-22 and 11-29), but does not appear as a character.

1951-12-06 "The Bastille-Bound Bad Boys Case" has a Sgt. John Karger:  "Karger's taking the line while Matt is sick, he's nervous as a kitten."  John Karger has very little dialogue in this episode after the line-up scene, but Quine is present throughout—and at one point seems to refer to Ben as his partner, leading me to believe that this Karger really was introduced solely to fill in for an unexpectedly absent Matt Greb/Wally Maher, and the script was hastily reworked to give Quine most of Matt's other dialogue (probably relegating Quine's original dialogue to Karger).

Pete Karger is Ben Guthrie's full-time sidekick beginning in early 1952 after Maher's untimely death.  Asher and Ben's dialogue at the beginning of 1952-02-05 "The Potting Peter Case" again indicates that Karger is new to doing the line-up ("Got somebody in the line?"  "Uh-uh.  I thought I'd see how Karger was making out.  How many do you have?"  "Fifteen. Glad to see Karger get the chance.  Been with you a long time."  "Yeah, twelve years now."), so there's no apparent continuity between him and the earlier version of the Karger character.  Karger spells his name aloud in 1952-10-08 "The Teacher's Pet":  "This is Sergeant Karger."  "Carter?"  "Er, Karger.  K-A-R-G-E-R."

In 1950-07-20, the first prisoner in the line-up is named John Meston, like the radio writer who later became script supervisor for Gunsmoke.  Fine and Friedkin also used the surname Meston in four episodes of Broadway's My Beat and one episode of Bold Venture.

1951-02-01 "The Grocery Store Matter" by Blake Edwards has a character named George Lumpkin; Ernest Lumpkin was Helen Asher's grouchy neighbor on Richard Diamond.

1952-04-01 "Kastro's" mentions a cop named Leeds who gets shot and dies!  Peter Leeds does play Asher in this episode, but at least he doesn't have to report his own death.

Joke names and a name joke

The first page of the script for 1951-10-04 "The Wild, Wild Woman Case" by E. Jack Neuman lists the two supporting sergeants as "Sgt. Nohitt Asher" and "Sgt. Cap Quine," which is presumably a joke:  in this and other episodes, the cast lists sometimes give characters humorous names in addition to the names that are heard in the script proper.

"Wild, Wild Woman" also gives a superfluous middle name to Foley Lapin O'Mahoney, and a superfluous surname to Pete Peters.  1952-11-05 "The Be-Bop Bandits Bungling Bang-Bang" by William J. Ratcliff lists the character Miss Raines as "Miss Seldom Raines."  1952-04-01 "Kastro's Kop Killing Karnage Kase" by Blake Edwards lists the character Santley as "Notalent Santley"—and lists his actor as "Raymond N. T. Burr"!!

In 1951-02-01 and 1952-04-08, both by Blake Edwards, Quine's first line of dialogue in the script is "Hy, Ben," with a Y—presumably because in both episodes Quine is played as usual by Hy Averback.  (In five of these other scripts, including 1952-11-12 by Blake Edwards and with Hy Averback, Quine says hi with an I.)

 

The prisoners are sent where?

The spiel explaining the line-up in the first scene of each episode has some minor variations throughout the series:  the order of the sentences, which sentences are included, whether or not the sergeant adds "All right" or "Okay" before "bring on the line," whether the audience is on the other side of "the wire" or "the screen"....

My favorite of these variations is that in all surviving episodes up through 1951-02-22, Greb says, "Please be prompt with your questions or identifications.  When the prisoners leave here they are sent to the bathroom and dressed back into their jail clothes.  It makes it quite difficult to bring them back after they leave here."

Then, starting on 1951-02-27, he says, "Please be prompt with your questions or identifications.  When the prisoners leave here they are sent to the washroom and dressed back into their jail clothes.  It makes it quite difficult to bring them back after they leave here."

Did somebody decide the word bathroom was too vulgar for the radio?  Were you allowed to say bathroom on Thursday night, but not on Tuesday night?

On 1951-05-01, Greb's spiel omits this sentence entirely ("...If you're sure or not too sure of the suspect, have him held.  The officers who took your name will assist you, they're seated among you.  The questions I ask these suspects..."), and subsequent episodes either have washroom or neither word.

1953-01-02 "Cowardly Castro" and 1953-01-07 "Once Upon a Snow-Plow" both omit the bathroom/washroom line from Karger's spiel—but there are surviving dialogue-only recordings of both, and in both cases we do hear the line at the end, where the spiel would normally be covered by the rising theme music.  The "Snow-Plow" script in the SPERDVAC library says bathroom, but the recording says washroom; the dialogue in this script is not identical with the dialogue in the recording, and this may have been among the changes yet to be made.

Or, perhaps Jack Moyles simply knew that he wasn't supposed to say bathroom!  In "Castro," presumably recorded about a week before "Snow-Plow," he says, "...When the prisoners leave here they're sent to the bathroom—  When the prisoners leave here they're sent to the washroom and dressed back into their jail clothes.  It makes it quite difficult to bring them back after they leave here."  Then he starts over and repeats the whole speech, ending with "...sent to the washroom and dressed back into their jail clothes.  It makes it quite difficult to bring them back after they leave here."

Miscellaneous

Lieutenant Guthrie has a cold in 1951-01-18 (and 1952-05-13) "Yudo in Ypsilanti," 1952-02-29 "The Sobbing Singer Saga," and 1953-01-07 "Once Upon a Snow-Plow."  Three or four colds in two and a half years is better than average for a real person, but must be a record for a weekly detective show protagonist!  Interestingly, in the "Snow-Plow" script I've seen, Guthrie does not have a cold—but it's mentioned in the dialogue in four places, so it clearly wasn't just a case of "throw it in."  And actually, I think Guthrie's cold is more essential to this story than to either of the other two:  it contributes to the overall mood of the episode, underscoring both the harsh winter weather and his anxiety about anticipating additional murders.

In 1951-11-29 "The Railroad Roundhouse Roundup," prisoner number 1, Jules Simpson (Howard McNear), says he's had lots of jobs and made enough to get a Social Security number.  The number he gives is Blake Edwards's actual Social Security number!  (This was back in the day when one's Social Security number really was just for keeping track of Social Security payments, rather than being the super-top-secret key to one's whole identity.)

The Whistler 1948-03-31 "Bird of Prey"

The basic setup:  A writer steals the identity of a novelist known only by a mysterious pen name.

The Whistler 1948-03-31 "Bird of Prey"
Produced by George W. Allen
Story by George & Gertrude Fass, music by Wilbur Hatch
Whistler:  Bill Forman / Announcer:  Marvin Miller
Cast (credited):  Wally Maher, Sarah Selby
Cast (from script):  Jay Novello, Pat McGeehan, Lois Corbett, ?
Cast (ear):  Bill Bouchey as Lt. Driscoll

The story:  Freelance writer Eddie Smith has come to Havana on the trail of the mysterious bestselling novelist known only by the pen name J. C. Raven.  He asks Raven's agent Barkly Wells for an interview, and Wells refuses to let him see Raven, but agrees to meet again at Wells's apartment.  Eddie begins to suspect that Wells himself is really Raven.  As they leave the bar, Wells is attacked and Eddie apprehends the assailant, but Wells is already dead.  Eddie heads for Wells's apartment, where he finds an offer letter from a Hollywood studio and a complete synopsis for a new J. C. Raven novel.

Eddie takes the offer letter to the studio and presents himself as J. C. Raven, all the while insisting that his name is Edgar Smith—which, after all, it is.  The studio boss Mr. Rosamund takes him on and assigns him an assistant, mousy little Veronica Corbie.  Eddie writes a script from the stolen Raven outline, changing the ending to suit his own taste, and hands it over to Veronica to type up.

Rosamund is thrilled with Eddie's script, especially the ending—and Eddie realizes he's describing the original J. C. Raven ending, not the new ending that Eddie wrote.  Eddie confronts Veronica, who admits that she changed the ending because she thought Rosamund would like it better.  She wanted Eddie to make good after the risks he's taken, pretending to be J. C. Raven.  She says she won't tell anyone Eddie isn't J. C. Raven.  He couldn't be J. C. Raven... because she is.

Veronica explains that she used to work with Barkly Wells at the studio, and, having been unsuccessful in her literary efforts, hit on the idea of creating the mystery author and using Wells as a front.  She would send him outlines, and they would work on the Raven novels together.  Veronica says she'd like to continue the arrangement with Eddie.

Eddie plays up to Veronica for some weeks, taking her out on dates, intending to put up with her for a couple of years until he makes enough money to quit.  Then one day Eddie takes a phone call from a police detective asking to speak to Veronica.  Later, Veronica asks Eddie what happened in Havana the night Barkly Wells was killed; and then Eddie overhears her on the phone agreeing to meet the detective the next day.  Eddie is convinced that Veronica was in love with Barkly Wells and thinks Eddie murdered him, and that she intends to turn Eddie over to the police and ruin everything.  He kills her to silence her.

The twist:  Eddie is about to leave Veronica's apartment when the doorbell rings.  He drags the body behind the davenport and answers the door.  It's the police detective.  When he spoke to Veronica on the phone this afternoon it was just routine, but now it isn't.  They've received a wire from the Havana police that the killer of Barkly Wells has confessed—and he was hired by Veronica Corbie.

Spotlight on George and Gertrude Fass

Consider this exchange in the first scene of "Bird of Prey":

EDDIE:
Now listen, why don't you fix up an appointment for me to talk to this guy Raven...

WELLS:
Guy?  Mr. Smith, has it ever occurred to you that J. C. Raven might be a woman?

EDDIE:
Sure.  I've kicked the idea around... but I won't buy it.  Take that last novel-Undertow.  Could a dame have written it?

Well, "Undertow" was also the title of the Whistler episode of 1948-02-24... also written by George and Gertrude Fass!  It's no wonder, then, that in "Bird of Prey," the mysterious author of Undertow turns out to have been a woman collaborating with a man.

I always think it's a little funny that a husband-and-wife writing team would write a story about a male/female writing team... in which the man steals credit for the woman's ideas and each half of the team at one point murders their collaborator!

And several of the Fasses' other radio scripts involve dysfunctional marriages, infidelity, and/or spouse murder.   Another one that seems potentially close to home for a creative couple is Mollé Mystery Theater "Solo Performance," about married actors:  she dreams of being a husband-and-wife team, but his professional and romantic jealousy lead to murder.  I can only assume that the Fasses must have felt comfortable in their marriage and their creative partnership to keep writing stories about these kinds of themes!  (See also Mystery Time "The White Curtain" for a suspenseful and atmospheric story with an unexpected take on the eternal triangle.)

George Fass, born in Manhattan in 1907 of Russian Jewish parents, was a New York lawyer who wrote plays in the 1930s and early 1940s—including winning a short play prize in 1941 for his radio play "Lincoln, the Lawyer."  Gertrude Kossoff, born in the Bronx in 1909 of Russian Jewish parents, graduated Hunter College in 1930 and was a high school teacher and artist.  The two married around 1942 and collaborated on scripts for radio and television.

The Fasses were particularly highly regarded for their work in television in the 1950s, writing scripts for shows including Colgate Theater, Fireside Theater, Foreign Assignment, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and Peter Gunn.  A piece in Variety of 26 Apr 1950 quotes Kendall Foster, TV director of the William Esty agency:  "'There are not yet any perfectly trained TV writers as such,' Foster believes, 'because the medium is still too new.  However, there are many who are doing fine jobs.'  Among those he cited were George and Gertrude Fass, Jack Bentkover, True Boardman, William Kendall Clarke, William L. Stuart, Lawrence Klee, Margaret Wilder and Lee Roggow."

A piece in Writer's Digest of September 1951 describes the Fasses' creative process:

In the Fass team, there's no division of labor between "idea man" and "technician"—one writer supplying the story line and the other putting it into shape for TV—as there is with some collaborators.  Both George and Gertrude get story ideas and both write scripts, dividing the work according to a special system of their own.  "I understand our method of working together is unusual," George says, in explaining how their team operates.  "Our system is to write every script three times.  When one of us gets an idea for a story, we talk it over together and then the one whose idea it was writes a first draft.  The other one takes this first draft and revises it into a second draft.  Then we talk over the story some more and, finally, the original writer sits down and turns out the final script.  This is a lengthy procedure, but the system works well for us.  And we feel we get a better finished product."

After George's death in 1965, Gertrude Fass taught high school English, wrote children's stories, and was successful as a sculptor.  This two-part profile from the Cybis Porcelain Archive has photos of Gertrude Fass's sculptures as well as some of her paintings and drawings.

Photo and profile of Gertrude Fass from the 1976 Tenafly (New Jersey) High School yearbook

Other notes on "Bird of Prey"

The J. C. Raven story that Eddie steals is called The House in the Swamp, and Rosamund praises "the scene between the old man and the little girl at the edge of the swamp"; the script has "Rosalyn" crossed out and "the little girl" penciled in.  As far as I know this does not correspond to any actual George and Gertrude Fass story, but I wouldn't be surprised!

The script for "Bird of Prey" has some lines that were cut for the final production, including more of Mr. Rosamund praising Veronica's previous work with successful screenwriters, and a deleted scene in which Veronica calls Eddie with her concerns about his script.  The episode works better with the cuts, keeping Veronica more of a non-entity until the dramatic reveal after she changes the story back without consulting Eddie.

The scan of the script in the SPERDVAC library also has handwritten notes in red pencil, apparently from George W. Allen, that identify some of the supporting players!  "Jay" is written next to Rosamund's first line, confirming the distinctive voice of Jay Novello.  Wells's first line is marked "Pat" and he sounds like Pat McGeehan.  Rosamund's secretary is marked "Lois" and she sounds like Lois Corbett; the house manager in the last scene is likely also Corbett.  ("Corbet" is also written on the title page of this script and crossed out.)

Script page 6.  "Joe"?

There's a word or name I'm not sure about next to the first line of the Man who calls the police when Wells is killed; it doesn't quite look like (or sound like) "Jay," but it could conceivably be "Joe."  Whoever he was, he probably doubled as the airline representative on the phone.  (In the script, that character is called "Girl"!)

A note next to Eddie's first line says "Eddie"!

There's no note on Lieutenant Driscoll, but it sounds like frequent Whistler cop Bill Bouchey.

Further listening

Other episodes of The Whistler involving literary plagiarism and/or author identity theft:

• 1946-02-25 / 1947-12-17 "Murder in Haste" by Eleanor Beeson (script also used on Murder by Experts 1950-02-06 and on Mystery Time)
• This story also involves a renowned but personally obscure author returning from Latin America, and also ends with the revelation that the woman the protagonist killed because she was a threat to him was herself wanted for murder.
• 1946-08-12 "Stolen Murder" by Eleanor Beeson
• 1948-04-21 "The Silent City" by Gilbert Thomas
• This episode also features Wally Maher and Sarah Selby.
• 1950-02-05 "Ladies' Man" (no author credit on surviving recording)

The Whistler "Caesar's Wife" (1947-06-02 / 1950-06-04)

The basic setup:  A big-time racketeer with a secret is suspicious of his wife.  I always love this episode for the character dynamics between Gerald Mohr as the racketeer and Willard Waterman as his loyal right-hand man.

1947-06-02 "Caesar's Wife"
Produced by Gordon T. Hughes, music by Wilbur Hatch
Story by David Victor and Herbert Little
Whistler:  Bill Forman / Announcer:  Marvin Miller
Cast (credited):  Gerald Mohr, Barbara Luddy, Willard Waterman
Cast (ear):  Hy Averback as Alan?

1950-06-04 "Caesar's Wife"
Produced and directed by George W. Allen, music by Wilbur Hatch
Story by David Victor and Herbert Little
Whistler:  Bill Forman / Announcer:  Marvin Miller
Cast (credited):  Gerald Mohr, Willard Waterman, Vivi Janiss
Cast (ear):  Wilms Herbert as Solly and Alan

The story:  In Frank Conway's luxurious hotel suite, Frank has his hair trimmed by his personal barber and then shaves himself with an electric razor.  Kirby Morton, Frank's press agent, remarks that Frank is an enigma:  a guy who can swing elections and collect payoffs, but can't stand the sight of blood or the feel of a razor against his face.

Frank is unusually irritable, and Kirby says he's acting like he's got woman trouble.  Frank's wife Gloria interrupts their conversation to tell Frank she's got a lunch date with a female friend.  Soon afterwards, a man arrives to report that he followed Gloria like Frank said, and Gloria is having lunch with a good-looking man.  Frank indicates that he intends to kill the man, and Kirby says wait, they're not sure.  Frank says he'll be sure.

Frank and Kirby go to the restaurant to see for themselves:  the man is good-looking, and the scene appears romantic.  Back at the hotel, Frank taps Gloria's phone.

Kirby tells Frank that Judge Faulkner, recently elected thanks to Frank's finagling, is waiting to see him.  Frank keeps the judge waiting.  Frank's tailor comes in to fit him for a suit, and Frank blows up at the tailor for leaving a pin sticking out of the basted lining.

Frank listens in on a phone conversation between Gloria and the man, Alan.  Gloria says she has the money for him.  Alan says he was thinking of going away this weekend, and Gloria asks him not to.  It means so much to her just to know that he's around.  Alan agrees to stay, and tells her he's been moved to room 1438 of the hotel.  He'll be there until after six, and then he'll go out to dinner.  Gloria says she'll slip away and meet him at the restaurant with the money.

Frank hangs up in a rage, and takes out a gun.  Kirby protests that Frank has never used a gun, that if this thing has to be done Kirby can just drop a word...  Frank refuses to listen.  Frank admits Judge Faulker, who has dropped by to thank him for the way everything worked out.  Frank tells the judge just how he can show his appreciation.  They'll have dinner together at the judge's home tonight, at six.  He's going to be late—but as far as Judge Faulkner and his wife are concerned, Frank arrived at six sharp and stayed all evening.

His alibi thus arranged, Frank goes to room 1438 a little before six and shoots Alan.  The wine glass in Alan's hand shatters when he falls, and a shard of glass cuts Frank's hand.  Frank notices the blood with horror.  This was the secret behind his strange fears, the reason he's always had things done smoothly and avoided violence:  hemophilia.  He'll bleed to death!

The twist:  An hour later, Frank's personal physician tells Frank to relax, they just have to wait.  He explains that Frank has a very unusual blood type, and needs a special type of blood for a transfusion.  The doctor and Gloria knew that if they had to find it in a hurry, they'd never have a chance.  Yes, Gloria knows.  It was she who...  The doctor takes a phone call, and then gives Frank the bad news.  The man Gloria hired just to be near Frank, the man with the rare blood needed to save Frank's life, is dead.  They've just found him murdered in his room, room 1438.

Comparison:

This is one of my favorite Whistler episodes, and it's tough to decide which version I prefer!  The ending of the second act is much improved in '50:  it's smoother and more dramatic for Frank to notice the blood on his hand immediately, so that the act ends on a cliffhanger in the murder room, rather than pausing the action and having Frank notice the blood as he presses the elevator button a few minutes later.

On the other hand, I think '47 is a stronger episode overall, because the first act narration in '50 is weaker.  Compare the openings of the two episodes:

(1947)  It made a strange picture that morning:  Frank Conway standing in front of the mirror in his luxurious hotel suite.  Strange because Joe, his personal barber, who had just finished trimming his hair now, did nothing but stand there behind holding a towel, watching as Conway shaved himself with an electric razor; wondering what to do with his hands; feeling as awkward and helpless on this occasion as on every one of the many other Monday morning routines.  The weekly command performance at eight o'clock sharp in Conway's suite.  Kirby Morton, the other man in the room, was more relaxed.  After many years with Conway he'd learned to accept anything.

(1950)  They were starting the day, the three of them.  Just as they had begun every Monday morning for as long as any of them could remember.  But that was because none of them had any premonition of what was going to happen in the next twenty-four hours.  Frank Conway, the Caesar of the rackets, was standing in front of the mirror in his luxurious hotel suite.  Joe, his personal barber, who had just finished trimming his hair, did nothing but stand there behind him holding a towel.  He watched as Frank Conway shaved himself with an electric razor.  Joe was wondering what to do with his hands, feeling as awkward and helpless on this occasion as he did on many other Monday morning routines.  The weekly command performance at eight o'clock sharp in Conway's suite.  Kirby Morton, the other man in the room, was more relaxed.  After many years with Conway he'd learned to accept anything.

And again in the Whistler's second speech (underlined text is heard only in 1950):

You have a right to be irritated with Kirby, haven't you, Frank?  Yes.  In the years he has served you he certainly should have learned that your strange fear of sharp objects, of things that cut and scratch, is something no one asks about ever.  The big secret, the thing that makes you a walking question mark, belongs to you—and only one other man in the world.  A secret terror other people will learn about within twenty-four hours, but, you have no way of knowing that, Frank.  A few minutes later as you and Kirby are about to settle down to work he gets on another subject just as irritating.

In '50, the Whistler tells the audience things that we don't need to be told.  We understand that Frank is the Caesar of the rackets from the episode title and from his discussion of the quotation, the narration doesn't need to spell it out immediately.  And I don't even want to be told that something is going to happen within twenty-four hours!  Something's going to happen sometime or there wouldn't be a story; it's more suspenseful to have to wait and see how this strange situation is going to play out.

These two points are the most significant differences between the two scripts.  Of the other minor changes, I want to call attention to one short line in '47 that is not heard in '50:

FRANK.
What makes you think I'm nervous, Kirby?

KIRBY (1947).
I don't know.  Woman's intuition, maybe.  Just got the idea from the way you talked to Judge Faulkner yesterday.

KIRBY (1950).
Oh, I don't know.  I just got the idea from the way you talked to Judge Faulkner yesterday.

A man claiming to have woman's intuition?  There might be a little subtext there about Kirby's relationship with Frank!  See also, for instance, the "woman's intuition" line in North By Northwest (1959), which was reportedly added to the script after Martin Landau made the decision to play his character as gay and in love with his boss.

Further notes/commentary:

1947-06-02 "Caesar's Wife" is the first credited appearance of Willard Waterman on The Whistler.  The word with in the end credits—"Featured in our cast were Gerald Mohr and Barbara Luddy, with Willard Waterman"—is unusual.  At this period the program only credited the leading actors, which often meant naming only the male and female leads.  The "with Willard Waterman" here seems to acknowledge how important his supporting character is to the story!  For the 1950 production, which still doesn't have full cast credits, he's moved up to second billing:  "Featured in our cast were Bill Forman, Gerald Mohr, Willard Waterman and Vivi Janiss."

For me, the Kirby Morton character really makes this story!  I'm always drawn to the tragedy of his trying and failing to save Frank from himself—and his last scenes in particular really drive home that aspect of the drama.

Kirby defies Frank three times in the second act.  He presses him on his reaction to the tailor's pin; he tells him it's foolish to shoot Gloria's lover himself; and he refuses to admit Judge Faulkner while Frank is in his current emotional state.  After Frank admits Faulkner himself and arranges the alibi, Kirby remarks that it's a good thing Frank's making use of Faulkner now, because it won't take long for the people to find out he's a phony.

Frank says, "Now look, Kirby, if you're trying to stop me..."

"No, Frank.  I know better than that.  You've made your decision.  Nothing I can say will stop you now."

Sure enough, this is Kirby's last line in the episode, and from this point on Frank hurries toward his doom.

The quotations:

"Stay me with raisins, comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love" is, as Kirby says, from the Song of Solomon, 2:5.  This exact translation of the line was popular as early as the 1870s; the King James Bible has "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples:  for I am sick of love."  Some Biblical commentaries say that the word translated as raisins or flagons was actually a cake of pressed raisins.  "Sick of love" has also been translated as "sick with love," "faint with love," or "lovesick"; the phrase sick of didn't originally have the sense to which Kirby perhaps facetiously applies it.  (In the 1947 episode, Kirby says "stay with me raisins"—presumably a misreading on Waterman's part, but he doesn't let it throw him one bit!)

"Caesar's wife should be above suspicion" is a proverb originating from Plutarch's Lives.  A young man named Publius Clodius was in love with Caesar's wife Pompeia, and snuck into her household during a women-only religious festival in order to seduce her.  Clodius was caught and tried for sacrilege.  "Caesar divorced Pompeia at once, but when he was summoned to testify at the trial, he said he knew nothing about the matters with which Clodius was charged.  His statement appeared strange, and the prosecutor therefore asked, 'Why, then, didst thou divorce thy wife?' 'Because,' said Caesar, 'I thought my wife ought not even to be under suspicion.'"  (tr. Bernadotte Perrin)

"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's [and unto God the things that are God's]" is from a story related in three books of the New Testament (Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, and Luke 20:25).  Jesus is asked whether Jews should pay taxes to the emperor by enemies who hope to trap him into saying no, so that they can hand him over to the authorities; instead, he points out the emperor's head on a coin and gives this famous reply.

Connections/additional listening:

This is the only known Whistler episode by David Victor and Herbert Little Jr.  The two collaborated on scripts for other radio and television programs, including most episodes of Let George Do It between 1948-04-05 and 1949-06-06, after which most episodes were written by David Victor and/or Jackson Gillis.  Victor and Little wrote another, otherwise dissimilar, story about a man with a genetic secret for Let George Do It 1948-09-06 "The Impatient Redhead".

A 1949 Whistler episode by Robert Eisenbach and Jackson Gillis (title/date hidden behind hyperlink to avoid casual spoilers) has essentially the same twist as "Caesar's Wife":  commit the perfect murder because a man's been seeing your wife, only to find out your wife was conspiring with the man to help you, and you've only doomed yourself.