Suspense: 03/31/52, episode 466
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project

Deborah Kerr makes her only appearance on the series in a very entertaining script by Antony Ellis. It’s a scam and double-cross among thieves. It is well done and Kerr plays the sophisticated society swindler quite well.

Kerr plays “Pamela,” the head of a robbery scam who plans the crime and then serves as the lovely diversion for her thieving accomplices. Pamela goes into an exclusive New York City jewelry shop posing as a wealthy potential customer. The owner is charmed by her loveliness and flirtatious behavior. Falling for the trap and sensing he has an opportunity for a very expensive sale, he shows her the store’s most expensive gems. While preoccupied with her, and his guard is down, her two male confederates sweep in and rob those jewels. They hold her and the jeweler at gunpoint, then vanish. Their plan was to sell the jewelry in San Francisco and split the profits. One of them, Colonel Halliday, will take the jewels, sell them, and return in five days. Pamela and the other accomplice will wait for him. While Halliday is away, the other two are arrested. Halliday flees to Britain, but the other two are convicted. They keep quiet about Halliday, knowing that there is still a chance they can get their share after they serve time in prison. Pamela is released after serving three years and she is determined and get her share of the $100,000 worth of gems. That’s almost $1.2 million in today’s US$2024 value! She finds Halliday… but he’s not so interested in following the terms of their agreement!

Larry Thor gets to play yet another police officer.

The working titles were “The Colonel’s Lady” and “The Lady Pam.” Most newspapers had “The Colonel’s Lady” in their listings, indicating that the title change was made about a week, or less, before broadcast. When this script was used in Australia by Grace Gibson Productions in their mid-1950s series Tension, it had the title “The Colonel’s Lady.” They may have gotten an earlier copy of the script.

Three recordings have survived and the network recording is the best of the three. There is an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) recording; its program number is not known. The program has disc scratches and some distortion. There is also an Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) recording from the 1980s that has background noise and narrow range.

The cast: DEBORAH KERR (Pamela), Peter Leeds (Archer), Joe Kearns (Halliday), Ben Wright (Wiley), Larry Thor (Bolen / Narrator), Ted Osborne (Waiter / Tillet)

COMMERCIAL: Tyler McVey (Sam), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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