Suspense - The Marvelous Barastro (#86)
Channel: Old Time Radio Researchers
Date: 03/04/2023

Suspense - 04/13/44, episode 86
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project

This Suspense episode is another Orson Welles performance, and we get to hear producer William Spier as an actor! Welles doubles, playing rival magicians.

Today, Hecht is best known for his 1931 movie The Front Page. He was, however, a high profile Hollywood and literary figure of the time. This episode was adapted by Jacques Anson Finke and first appeared in the 1926-01-30 edition of Liberty Magazine with the title “The Shadow.” Because of possible confusion with the radio series with that title, in which Welles starred in in the late 1930s, the Suspense production title had to change. It was originally re-titled as “The Human Barastro,” itself a change in the name of the short story character of “Sarastro” or “Zarastro.” The “Human” title appeared in early CBS publicity about the broadcast. The publicity with its final title was available in time for the “Marvelous” adjective to appear in most newspapers.

There are four surviving recordings. Both the east and west network recordings have survived. A contemporary Armed Forces Radio Service program (#81), drawn from the east broadcast is available.

William Spier appears in the opening scene and there are differences in the Thursday and Monday performances. This is a way to discern from which the AFRS broadcast is drawn. It is drawn from the east broadcast:

East 26:09 and AFRS 24:16 Spier dialogue is “I must admit that the whole thing shook me rather badly. I’ve been…spent the whole week wondering if something might happen, something I couldn’t predict. This morning…I think perhaps it came. At least…while I was reading through the theatrical weekly Variety…”

West is “Since then, I don’t know, the incident’s left me pretty shaky and nervous. All week I’ve had a strange and distracted feeling, as though I were waiting for something…and now I know. It came a few minutes before we went on the air tonight, and then it was too late to send you to another story. I was thumbing through the….my copy of the theatrical weekly Variety…”

There is a later 1970s or 1980s recording released by the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service that is from the west broadcast. In comparison with the east network…

East at approximately 7:36 is “You will teach me to see.” "To see?”

West at 7:37 “You will teach me to see.” “To...to see?” and the AFRTS recording has the same at 4:15 “You will teach me to see.” “To...to see?”

This is one of the few times where there are different Armed Forces recordings that have both surviving east and west network origins. The later AFRTS releases of the series were aggressively edited to exclude elements that might make the shows seem “dated.”

The east network and the first AFRS recordings are in the best sound. The west network and the AFRTS recordings are flawed with narrow range and background noise.

The cast: ORSON WELLES (Sharri Barastro / Rico Sansini), Hans Conried (Anna’s grandfather), Joe Kearns (Man in Black), Lurene Tuttle (Anna), William Spier (himself)

Peter Lorre took the magician role in his Mystery in the Air radio series. That broadcast of 1947-08-07 has survived.

For more information, visit https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/04/1944-04-13-marvelous-barastro.html