Suspense: 02/08/54, episode 537
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project

This episode relates a real WW2 tragedy, reflecting events in Norway that began in the Fall of 1942 and ended with a trial for the murders in 1947. The ethical questions involved difficult and are complex balancing act of the lives of some versus the lives of others. Jeff Chandler plays the leader of the Norwegian underground faced with the difficult questions that were posed at the trial. Was it murder or a patriotic duty when two members of the underground killed their own countrymen to prevent them from exposing the resistance movement to the Nazi occupation forces? The victims were a middle-aged Norwegian couple whose son, an underground fighter, was wounded, and worse, was identified while helping to blow up a Nazi troop train. Knowing that the Gestapo will soon be knocking at their door, the couple demands that the underground smuggle them across the border. When underground leaders refuse, because it is too risky, they threaten to expose the entire resistance movement to Gestapo arrest, or worse.

The Morton Fine and David Friedkin script was based on the account of the events and trial by Ted Olson that appeared in the May 1953 issue of Harper’s. The story is well-told and well-performed. Chandler may not be as emotional in delivering his role and the terrible moral conflict involved in the decision.

The original story can be found at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/harpersma...

The actual pond is Skrikerudtjernet. It is very remote and that is obvious when viewed using any of the modern mapping services. It is a candidate for “middle of nowhere” designation and why it would have been used in the cover-up. Its size seems more like a tiny lake than a pond.

The dramatic portion of the broadcast was recorded on Sunday, February 7, 1954. Rehearsal began at 11:00 am. Recording commenced at 3:30 pm and concluded at 4:00 pm.

There was a Suspense TV adaptation of the story, adapted by James P. Cavanagh. Broadcast on 1953-10-06, it starred journalist Quentin Reynolds as narrator. A kinescope has not been found.

The cast: JEFF CHANDLER (Arne Leukin), Paula Winslowe (Anna Helman), Cathy Lewis (Helga Hanson), Herb Butterfield (Foreman / Mr. Helman), Byron Kane (Sven Hanson), Lou Merrill (Olsen), Jack Kruschen (Knut / Judge), Joseph Kearns (Prosecutor), Herb Ellis (George Helman), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer)

GUEST FOR THE AUTO-LITE CHARITY PROMOTION: H. Bruce Palmer, United Defense Fund Chairman, and President of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. The company was based in Newark, NJ, where Palmer was active in numerous local charitable activities as well as his national efforts. He later became an advocate of the corporate social responsibility movement when he headed the prestigious business organization, The Conference Board, from 1962 to 1970.

For more information visit https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/...