2022-10-31

T5#259 Big Deal on Sutton Street

Episode number: 259

Network broadcast date: Thursday, July 29, 1965
Big Deal on Sutton Street
Genre: Comedy
Author: George Bamber
Production number:
259
Production date:
Wednesday, July 7, 1965
Director:
Warren Somerville
Producer:
not announced

PlotlineDroll playboy finds himself at the center of a kidnapping plot — much to his delight. Seeing the whole thing as a lark, he takes over the planning himself, hoping to turn it into the social event of the year.

Listen:

Network: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650729+259+Big+Deal+on+Sutton+East.flac

AFRTS (LQ):
https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650729+259+Big+Deal+on+Sutton+East+AFRTS.flac

Cast: Elliott Reid, Ralph Bell, Ethel Owen, Jack Grimes

Notes:

Network and AFRTS copies exist; AFRTS version has Hans Conried explaining the origin of the word "boycott" at approximately 10m30s and AFRTS ID at end; no opening tease

2022-10-30

T5#258 Death Watch

Episode number: 258

Network broadcast date: Wednesday, July 28, 1965
Death Watch
Genre: Melodrama
Author: Hal Hackady
Production number:
258
Production date:
Tuesday, July 6, 1965
Director:
Ted Bell
Producer:
not announced

PlotlineA surgeon if forced at gunpoint to help a poor teenager’s sick mother. But what happens when the patient dies before they even get to her?

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650728+258+Death+Watch.flac

Cast: George Petrie, Evie Juster, Don Scardino, Ronald Liss

Notes:

No opening tease

2022-10-29

T5#257 I Spy Sister Sairey

Episode number: 257

Network broadcast date: Tuesday, July 27, 1965
I Spy Sister Sairey
Genre: Psychological drama
Author: William Mourne
Production number:
257
Production date:
Thursday, July 1, 1965
Director:
Ted Bell
Producer:
not announced

PlotlineA woman has been convicted of murder and the evidence is indisputable. But one psychiatrist is convinced there’s another explanation: Multiple Personality Disorder. 

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650727+257+I+Spy+Sister+Sarri.flac

Cast: Walter Abel, Vicki Vola, Joan Lorring, Jerry Hausner

Notes:

No opening tease

2022-10-28

T5#256 In Absence of All Intelligent Life

Episode number: 256

Network broadcast date: Monday, July 26, 1965
In Absence of All Intelligent Life
Genre: Science fantasy
Author: George Bamber
Production number:
256
Production date:
Wednesday, June 30, 1965
Director:
Warren Somerville
Producer:
not announced

PlotlineWhen explorers land on an alien planet and discover the remains of a dead civilization they seek to uncover what caused its extinction — with shocking results.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650726+256+In+Absence+of+All+Intelligent+Life.flac

Cast: William Redfield, Cliff Carpenter, Guy Sorel, Peter Ratray

Notes:

Was originally used on Suspense 1960-07-10 as Report from a Dead Planet; No opening tease

2022-10-27

F5#255 Whatever Happened to the 5:25?

Episode number: 255

Network broadcast date: Friday, July 23, 1965
Whatever Happened to the 5:25?
Genre: Drama
Author: James McGinn
Production number:
255
Production date:
Tuesday, June 29, 1965
Director:
Warren Somerville
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: When a middle-aged commuter’s usual train home is cancelled, he breaks his routine for the first time in years, grabbing a drink at the terminal bar and striking up a conversation with a wild young woman — who is about to change his life forever. 

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650723+255+Whatever+Happened+to+the+5-25.flac

Cast: Stan Watt, Jerry Hausner, Gilbert Mack, Carol Ann Daniels

Notes:

Fred Foy reads the opening tease.

2022-10-26

T5#254 The Jazz Festival

Episode number: 254

Network broadcast date: Thursday, July 22, 1965
The Jazz Festival
Genre: Modern melodrama
Author: Fielden Farrington
Production number:
254
Production date:
Monday, June 28, 1965
Director:
Ted Bell
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: A prizefighter with a gentle soul finds himself pulled into a love triangle with a jazz musician and his manipulative girlfriend.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650722+254+Jazz+Festival.flac

Cast: Ed Zimmerman, Evie Juster, Teri Keane, Peter Fernandez, Jack Grimes

Notes:

The original script title was "Festival of Jazz"

2022-10-25

T5#253 In Time of Trouble

Episode number: 253

Network broadcast date: Wednesday, July 21, 1965
In Time of Trouble
Genre: Topical drama
Author: Lenore Woolf
Production number:
251
Production date:
Tuesday, June 22, 1965
Director:
Warren Somerville
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: After witnessing a brutal murder, a woman is forced to keep quiet about it by her husband who doesn’t want to cause any trouble. But trouble finds them anyway…

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650721+253+In+Time+of+Trouble.flac

Cast: Eileen Heckart, Ian Martin, Jack Grimes, Bernard Grant, Robert Dryden, Ethel Remey

Notes:

Woolf was an aspiring writer and eventually a bookstore owner in Milwaukee. This is the second episode of the series inspired by Kitty Genovese’s 1964 murder. The other was T5#25 "Cry in the Night" by Raphael David Blau. It is curious that both a new writer and one of the most experienced writers of T5 each used the news story as a springboard for their T5 submissions.

2022-10-24

T5#252 Flights of Angels

Episode number: 252

Network broadcast date: Tuesday, July 20, 1965
Flights of Angels
Genre: Poetic melodrama
Author: Burr McCloskey
Production number:
253
Production date:
Thursday, June 24, 1965
Director:
Ted Bell
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: A once-great actor now spends his days getting drunk and bloviating at the bar. One fateful evening, a mysterious woman takes a seat next to him, matching wits (and shots) with the has-been. 

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650720+252+Flights+of+Angels.flac

Cast: Arlene Francis, Ralph Bell, Martin Gabel, Ruth Yorke, Arthur Kohl

Notes:

Arlene Francis and Martin Gabel were married in 1946 until his death in 1986; No opening tease

2022-10-23

T5#251 Summer's End

Episode number: 251

Network broadcast date: Monday, July 19, 1965
Summer's End
Genre: Teen-age drama
Author: Virginia Marie Cooke
Production number:
252
Production date:
Wednesday, June 23, 1965
Director:
Warren Somerville
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: When a grade school teacher’s summer fling with a Malibu surfer dude hits the rocks, she has to choose between moving on or plotting her revenge.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650719+251+Summer's+End.flac

Cast: Hildy Parks, Jack Grimes, Ed Zimmerman, Evie Juster, Peter Ratray

Notes:

No opening tease

2022-10-22

T5#250 Flies with Honey

Episode number: 250

Network broadcast date: Friday, July 16, 1965
Flies with Honey
Genre: Crime comedy
Author: Robert Cenedella
Production number:
249
Production date:
1965-06-??
Director:
Ted Bell
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: As a scatter-brained insurance agent investigates a client’s suicide, it becomes clear her flakey demeanor is hiding a shrewd intuition.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650716+250+Flies+with+Honey.flac

Cast: Joan Lovejoy, Melville Ruick, Larry Haines, Lesley Woods, John Griggs

Notes:

Story was likely rewritten decades later as a short story in the April 1992 Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine; Ruick was a busy actor in radio and television and was also the announcer for Lux Radio Theatre for six years

2022-10-21

T5#249 The Big Waves

Episode number: 249

Network broadcast date: Thursday, July 15, 1965
The Big Waves
Genre: Psychological drama
Author: John M. Young
Production number:
250
Production date:
Monday, June 21, 1965
Director:
Ted Bell
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: After a series of jewelry store robberies have the police stumped, they look for help from a woman who claims to have a psychic connection to the thief. 

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650715+249+The+Big+Waves.flac

Cast: Natalie Priest, John Gibson, George Petrie, Mark O'Daniels, Mary Ann Hoxsworth

Notes:

Soap opera writer for Second Mrs. Burton, Road of Life, and The Right to Happiness; No opening tease

2022-10-20

T5#248 The Walls of Poison Ivy

Episode number: 248

Network broadcast date: Wednesday, July 14, 1965
The Walls of Poison Ivy
Genre: Human interest drama
Author: Albert G. Miller
Production number:
248
Production date:
Wednesday, June 16, 1965
Director:
Warren Somerville
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: Three old friends reconnect at their 25th college reunion, exposing long-buried secrets and grudges — with tragic results.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650714+248+The+Walls+of+Poison+Ivy.flac

Cast: Elliott Reid, Guy Sorel, George Petrie, Helen Choate

Notes:

No opening tease

2022-10-19

T5#247 The Marked Man

Episode number: 247

Network broadcast date: Tuesday, July 13, 1965
The Marked Man
Genre: Psychological drama
Author: Jim McGinn
Production number:
247
Production date:
Tuesday, June 15, 1965
Director:
Warren Somerville
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: A college football player is seriously injured in a game and wants to call it quits. His powerful coach has other ideas…

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650713+247+The+Marked+Man.flac

Cast: Ralph Bell, Ronald Liss, Donald Buka, Corrine Orr, Peter Ratray, Fred Foy (a non-announcing role)

 

2022-10-18

T5#246 Casualty of a Small War

Episode number: 246

Network broadcast date: Monday, July 12, 1965
Casualty of a Small War
Genre: Topical melodrama
Author: Fielden Farrington
Production number:
245
Production date:
Friday, June 11, 1965
Director:
Ted Bell
Producer:
not announced

Plotline: A couple with a son fighting in Vietnam kidnap a senator in a wild attempt to get the President to bring their boy home.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650712+246+Casualty+of+a+Small+War.flac

Cast: William Griffis, Elizabeth Morgan, Walter Greaza

Notes: