Suspense - House by the River
Every once in a while I come across a story that I just have to recommend... This time, however, the recommendation came from one of our lovely friends of RUSC, who brought House by the River to my attention.
I just love it when you guys and gals share your comments and reviews on RUSC, because it gives everyone (including me!) a great guide for when you're wondering what to listen to. This latest recommendation doesn't disappoint!
House by the River from the thrilling series, Suspense, was broadcast on 28th February 1948, and is truly a gripping tale of the differences between two brothers, that becomes more apparent after one commits a murder and the other, through loyalty, helps him to dispose of the body and keeps his guilty secret.
It is based on the story written by English author A.P. Herbert (1890 -1971) and adapted for radio by Irving Ravetch. It was directed, as are so many great Suspense episodes, by Anton M Leader and produced by Robert Montgomery, and this is one of a few hour-long episodes of Suspense. It certainly lives up to its title and has all the ingredients one would expect from a tale of Suspense.
Stephen Burns (John McIntire) is a poet who’d found fame and fortune early and lives richly in comfort and adulation and who at 35 was already being compared with Keats and Shelly. He had in a few slender volumes made himself the voice and conscience of all England. His home standing on the banks of the Thames was known to a million Englishmen as the House by the River. Here he lived in peace and contentment with his wife Marjorie and his brother John (Dan O' Herlihey). Then on the evening of June 15th last summer while Marjorie was out of the house and John not yet home he tried to kiss the maid Emily Gaunt and when she protests he tries to shut her up with his hands around her neck but he goes too far and accidentally kills her.
When his brother John arrives home from his work in London he is shocked, but to avoid a scandal he helps his brother to dispose of her body by dumping her in the river Thames in a sack. As they are rowing back to shore Stephen remembers that his name and address are on the sack. Later when the body is discovered and a police officer turns up with the sack, Stephen tells him that it was kept in the cellar and used for collecting kindling wood. He tells the officer that his brother John was in charge of collecting the wood - thus putting him under suspicion.
It becomes impossible for the brothers to go on living as if nothing had happened and the differences between them become apparent. John is wracked with remorse and torn between wanting to protect his brother for the sake of his wife Marjorie whom John loves and Stephen tells him that since the murder he feels alive and he is going to write it all down in a poem entitled Death in the Woods, the story of two men the Black Knight and the White.
The acting is superb and the music by Lucien Moraweck and Lud Gluskin adds volumes to the atmospheric listening experience. This is truly Suspense at its best!
Happy listening my friends,
