Suspense: Rogue Male (

Suspense: 12/31/51, episode 453
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project

Herbert Marshall is cast once more in a wartime-related story. It is based on the novel, Rogue Male, by Geoffrey Household published in May 1939. It was adapted for this broadcast by Silvia Richards. Household had a long career as a novelist into the late 1980s, but Rogue Male was usually cited as his best work.

Marshall portrays a big-game hunter who had Adolph Hitler (not mentioned by name) in the sights of his high-powered rifle. He is found and is hunted and trapped by the Gestapo who were protecting their leader.

The book was written and published during the great turmoil on the European continent that eventually led to World War Two. Germany had various military initiatives in Europe making the novel’s targeting of Hitler a news-driven story element. Just a few months later, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, after the invasion of Poland.

It is a good story, and Marshall delivers his usual fine performance. Similar to Victoria Cross and Betrayal in Vienna the use of drums gives the production the feel of a military setting.

There is no tease about the story being related to an historical event. It is clearly identified as an adaptation of Household’s novel.

The novel became a Fritz Lang movie in 1941, with the name Man Hunt. It can be viewed at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/man-hunt-...

Man Hunt was adapted for Philip Morris Playhouse of 1942-07-31. It starred Robert Montgomery in a script adapted by Charles Martin. No recording has been found of this broadcast.

There are two recordings and the network recording is the better of the two. The other recording is an Armed Forces Radio and Television Service recording from the late 1970s or early 1980s. It is noisier and has a narrower range than the surviving network broadcast recording.

The cast: HERBERT MARSHALL (Rogue), Ben Wright (Major), Larry Dobkin (Guard), Ramsay Hill (Officer) Harry Bartell (Fisherman), Tudor Owen (Vaner), Joe Kearns (Saul / Agent), Bill Johnstone (Black Hat / Farmer), Norma Varden (Postmistress), Earl Keen (Cat), Larry Thor (Narrator)

COMMERCIAL: Tom Holland (Hap), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)

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