T5#209 Death of an Old Flame

Episode number: 209

Network broadcast date: Thursday, May 20, 1965
Death of an Old Flame
Genre: Romantic melodrama
Author: George Bamber
Production number: 209
Production date: Friday, April 23, 1965
Director: Warren Somerville
Producer: not announced

Plotline: A hard-nosed piano player gets roped into a fur heist with his ex-wife and her shady new man. But when the robbery becomes an arson job, the fur shop won't be the only thing getting burned.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650520+209+Death+of+an+Old+Flame.flac

Cast: Sammy Davis Jr., Bernard Grant, Joan Lovejoy, Ralph Bell, Evie Juster

Notes:

Was originally used on Suspense 1961-10-29 as Death of an Old Flame; the appearance of Davis was highly publicized by ABC, more than any other single episode; no opening tease.

T5#208 Blind Man's Bluff

Episode number: 208

Network broadcast date: Wednesday, May 19, 1965
Blind Man's Bluff
Genre: Criminal & police
Author: George Bamber
Production number: 206
Production date: Wednesday, April 21, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced

Plotline: A blind newstand operator stays on the mob’s good side by letting the criminals run the street and keeping his mouth shut around the cops. But when he’s falsely accused of ratting out a local hood, the cynical newsie forces a neighbor kid to be his eyes as he desperately tries to survive a night in the slum with a target on his back.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650519+208+Blind+Man's+Bluff.flac

Cast: Staats Cotsworth, George Petrie, Maurice Tarplin, Robert Dryden, Ronald Liss, Carl Caruso, Peter Minor, Ruth Yorke

Notes:

Was originally used on Suspense 1959-04-19 as See How He Runs; Carl Caruso substitutes for Fred Foy as announcer.

T5#207 Will Integrity Ruin Clint Marble?

 

Episode number: 207
Network broadcast date: Tuesday, May 18, 1965
Will Integrity Ruin Clint Marble?
Genre: Comedy
Author: Albert G. Miller
Production number: 207
Production date: Thursday, April 22, 1965
Director: unknown at this time
Producer: not announced

Plotline: A movie star shocks Hollywood when he rejects his Best Actor Oscar, moving back home to the Midwest to live a more “authentic” life. But even if he’s ditched his toupee and taken a job at an auto shop, when the tiny, personal film he makes in his basement attracts the attention of his old producer, he finds Hollywood calling yet again.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650518+207+Will+Integrity+Ruin+Clint+Marble+(no+closing)+LQ.flac

Cast: Ed Zimmerman, Carl Caruso, Court Benson; rest of cast unknown at this time

Notes:

No opening tease in surviving recording; Carl Caruso substitutes for Fred Foy as announcer. In the episode when Clint refuses his Oscar, the announcer says it’s the first time an actor has ever done that. This was true at the time, but just five years later in 1970, George C Scott would become the first actor to actually do it followed by Marlon Brando in 1973.

T5#206 The Gandy Walker

Episode number: 206

Network broadcast date: Monday, May 17, 1965
The Gandy Walker
Genre: Human interest melodrama
Author: Ian Martin
Production number: 208
Production date: Thursday, April 22, 1965
Director: Warren Somerville
Producer: not announced

Plotline: At her wits end, the wife of a celebrated folk singer desperately searches for some explanation for her husband’s increasingly bizarre behavior. And when his latest public episode sends her to the hospital, he finally reveals the heartbreaking truth.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650517+206+The+Gandy+Walker.flac

Cast: Bernard Grant, Teri Keane, Guy Sorel, Ed Zimmerman, Mary Jane Higby, Peter Fernandez, Wayne Storm

Notes:

No opening tease in surviving recording; Carl Caruso substitutes for Fred Foy as announcer. The character of Gandy Walker seems based on Woody Guthrie, whose Huntington’s Disease also cost him his folk singing career and ultimately his life. But while Walker talks about his songs as the legacy he’ll leave behind, the only two we hear in the episode are Blue Tail Fly and The Riddle Song, which are both traditional. As for Guthrie, he left hundreds of original folk songs as his legacy, dying on Oct 3, 1967, about a year and a half after the T5 episode was broadcast.

T5#205 A Birthday Present

Episode number: 205

Network broadcast date: Friday, May 14, 1965
A Birthday Present
Genre: Suspense melodrama
Author: Lillian & Max Berton
Production number: 205
Production date: Tuesday, April 20, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: Ted Bell

Plotline: After a lifetime of pulling his reckless younger brother out of jams, a lonely gas station attendant reluctantly agrees to do it yet again, taking in the ne’er-do-well’s girlfriend and her young son. But when love grows between him and his houseguests, he knows his brother’s next surprise visit could spell disaster for everyone.

Listen:

https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650514+205+A+Birthday+Present.flac

https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650514+205+A+Birthday+Present+WLS-Chicago+AIRCHECK.flac

 

Cast: George Petrie, Ann Hilton, Cliff Carpenter, Alan Howard, Robert Dryden

Notes:

No opening tease in surviving recordings; one recording is WLS-Chicago aircheck

T5#204 Wrong Turning

Episode number: 204

Network broadcast date: Thursday, May 13, 1965
Wrong Turning
Genre: Social drama
Author: Murray Burnett
Production number: 204
Production date: Monday, April 19, 1965
Director: Warren Somerville
Producer: not announced

Plotline: A cheating husband and his lover have their illicit afternoon cut short when they accidentally hit a child with their car. Do they turn around and help the kid, knowing their affair will be exposed, or just keep driving?

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650513+204+Wrong+Turning.flac

Cast: James McCallion, William Griffis, Jimmy Blaine, Rosemary Rice, Bryna Raeburn

Notes:

No opening tease

T5#203 Around the Corner from Nowhere

Episode number: 203

Network broadcast date: Wednesday, May 12, 1965
Around the Corner from Nowhere
Genre: Mystery fantasy
Author: Winifred Wolfe
Production number: 203
Production date: Friday, April 16, 1965
Director: Ted Bell
Producer: not announced

Plotline: Following up on a story, a low rent newspaper photographer makes a call to the city morgue but ends up talking to the girl of his dreams. When they end up on a date together, he discovers she may actually be out of a nightmare.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+650512+203+Around+the+Corner+from+Nowhere.flac

Cast: June Graham, Jim Stevens, Jim Dukas, Arlene Walker, Eugenia Rawls

Notes:

Was syndicated on Murder at Midnight (#43) in 1946 as "City Morgue"; no audio has survived; no opening tease