Suspense - The Palmer Method (#87)
Channel: Old Time Radio Researchers
Date: 04/04/2023

Suspense - 04/20/44, episode 87
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project

Ed Gardner is the star of this episode as William Spier casts against-type for an entertaining Suspense. Some of the plot elements involving news events and the logistical details are unlikely and strain credibility, not uncommon for stories like this, but just let them go and enjoy the program. Gardner plays a fast-thinking petty forger (think of Archie from Duffy’s Tavern with a deeply evil criminal streak) who tries to escape arrest by fleeing to Madrid to join the Spanish Loyalists in the war. He takes the name and identification papers of a wealthy young Englishman whom he murders. 

The story was written by Ernest Martin (who had moved quickly up the CBS top executive ladder) and Robert L. Richards. It was included in the first issue of Suspense Magazine and is available from the same Internet Archive page as the recordings.

Both the east and west network broadcast recordings have survived. The east recording is the best one. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (#48) survives as well and is drawn from the east broadcast. 

Everyone knows Ed Gardner from Duffy’s Tavern, of course. This was the first time an established and notable radio comedian was cast on Suspense. Comedic actors had been on the program, right from the start, with Charlie Ruggles in the first episode in June 1942. But no radio comedy headliner had been on the series until this Gardner appearance.

Ed Gardner’s on-air comedic talents were his public persona, and they often hid the business acumen and entrepreneurial instincts that radio insiders saw. He was a producer for Rudy Vallee and was engaged in many other radio and promotional endeavors. Duffy’s was the only program to emerge from the CBS Forecast series to be successful as a new program as originally conceived and presented. Suspense, on the other hand, required a major rework and a lot of backroom negotiation for it to finally get to the airwaves. 

The interesting backstory to this Suspense episode is not Ed Gardner, but Ernest Martin. He started as an usher at KNX and worked his way into the CBS executive ranks, eventually becoming director of network programming about two years after this broadcast. A few years later, he and orchestral leader Cy Feuer became theatrical producers. After a couple of stumbles, it was Martin and Feuer who brought Guys and Dolls to the stage, which included Abe Burrows. This makes an interesting connection with this episode since Burrows was a writer for Duffy’s. Martin went on to other big hits like How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying, the movie version of Cabaret, and The Chorus Line. These are just some of his many entertainment business achievements. This is a picture of Martin (on the right side) while he was at CBS, and is from the 1946-11-04 issue of Broadcasting.

The cast: ED GARDNER (Joe Palmer), John McIntire (Man in Times Square / Fascist), Hans Conried (Recruiter / Rescue Party man), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Agitator), Jeanette Nolan (Elena Valenkos), Jerry Hausner (Newsboy), George Sorel (Conductor), unknown (George Padway)

For more information, visit https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/04/1944-04-20-palmer-method.html