On January 6, 1949, Suspense played the episode "To Find Help," with Ethel Barrymore as an old woman who hires the seemingly-nice young Gene Kelly to do some chores for her. Unfortunately, Kelly ain't quite right in the head. You may download the episode from archive.org here.
When the episode was first performed on Suspense on January 18, 1945, Agnes Moorehead played the woman with Frank Sinatra as the young man. I think Sinatra's performance was stronger than Kelly, but I much prefer Barrymore's to Moorehead's. Still, it's worth hearing both versions so you can find the original at archive.org here.
Another aspect of Suspense which changes between the two performances is their commercial sponsorship; the first version occurred during the days of Roma Wines, while the second debuted in the days of Auto-Lite. I have to say, I much prefer the rich, warm, velvety Roma Wines commercials - they never clash against the tone of Suspense, while all too-often Harlow Wilcox's noisy Auto-Lite ads dissipate the tension of the surrounding program. Still, Auto-Lite commercials remain much more palatable than Lucky Strikes'.
Tomorrow: "Nothing like ketchup, I always say."
Interesting analysis of the cast in both episodes.
ReplyDeleteI find Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly to be about the same; they're both cases of anti-typecasting, and they both do a good job. I liked Kelly's better, but I wonder if how much of that is the better performance of Barrymore.
What's interesting is that I love Agnes Moorehead; she always did a fantastic job on Suspense (and in contrast, Barrymore has phoned in some radio performances). But whether by choice or just by habit, she plays the character too much in the vein of her other Suspense characters (the uptight shrieking spinster). Barrymore's strong-willed but cheerful character matches the story much better.
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you about Ms. Barrymore - if I have to choose between the two, then she tips the scales because she's so sympathetic and has a note of vulnerability in her voice which, on first hearing, made me worry for her character.