Suspense - You Were Wonderful (#116)
Channel: Old Time Radio Researchers
Date: 2023-05-02

Suspense - 11/09/44, episode 116
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project

You Were Wonderful is a Robert Richards story of the murder of a nightclub singer in South America. A visiting American singer, played by Lena Horne, is booked to replace the deceased singer, and she is intent on solving the crime. Spies set up a system with the club owner where song selection is actually a secret code that indicates upcoming cargo ship traffic in the town’s harbor and alerts enemy submarines in the area. Refusing to go along with the plan could end your career and your life.

Horne’s appearance was big news. Spier and network executives were concerned that Roma might pull its contract and that Southern stations might not air the program. Spier continued to press on. The broadcast went on as planned. Everyone survived, especially with the help of MGM’s publicity department. The fact that it was jittery for those involved cannot be fully appreciated or understood 80 years later. Sam Irvin, biographer of Kay Thompson, says “This broadcast was one of the most daring half-hour dramas of its time.”

Sam Irvin’s biography of Kay Thompson website has details that were not included in the book. The endnotes have extensive background about this episode and are far better than anything that could be written by this blog writer. The notes start on page 163 and are well worth reading, especially before listening. Your enjoyment of the program will be enhanced by doing so. Download the PDF at http://www.kaythompsonwebsite.com/index_htm_files/ENDNOTES_1_2018.pdf

Irvin reports that the three songs used in the program were arranged by Thompson. Suspense often used musical performers in non-musical roles. Horne’s appearance was originally promoted as a non-performing role, as was an upcoming appearance by Frank Sinatra. The addition of the songs may have been a maneuver to reduce the resistance around Horne’s starring dramatic role; there was no such addition in Sinatra’s To Find Help appearance. The songs are worked into the storyline quite well; after all, the story is about a singer! The three songs are as follows with approximate times for the network broadcasts:

8:07 Embraceable You by George and Ira Gershwin

16:40 One Dozen Roses by Dick Jurgens, Country Washburn, Roger Lewis, and Walter Donovan

25:10 America (My Country ’Tis of Thee) by Samuel Francis Smith [this selection may have been strategic to also include a patriotic tone in wartime, designed to thwart potential real or imagined objections to her casting; and fits the storyline]

Three recordings have survived. The east or west designation of the two network recordings has not been determined. One goes directly to the network ID “(dirID)” and the other has a five-second delay to the ID “(5s).” The “(dirID)” recording is the best of the three. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (#77) is from the direct-to-ID network broadcast. 

Lena Horne’s career and social influence is too long, wide, and diverse to be covered here, so it is best to look at the Wikipedia page as a start https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lena_Horne. Even though her appearance on Suspense was groundbreaking and went well, it remained the only Suspense broadcast with a starring Black performer for the series.

The cast: LENA HORNE (Lorna Dean), Wally Maher (Johnny), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Rinaldo), Raymond Lawrence (Lance Harmon), George Sorel (Doctor), Kay Thompson? (Jacquie, the singer), Sidney Miller (Stengl)

It is likely that Kay Thompson was the other singer in the story. She occasionally appeared on Suspense in an uncredited support role for such performances. The relationship with Horne and MGM, and her arranging of the musical selections, may have been a special incentive for Thompson to join the broadcast.

For more information, visit https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/05/1944-11-09-you-were-wonderful.html