Suspense Sundays (155) Perfect Plan

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"Perfect Plan"

Air date: May 29, 1960
Starring George Petrie and Elizabeth Lawrence

>>Episodes here<<

Henry Travers and his pregnant wife are eagerly awaiting the news of Henry's promotion at the bank so he can better support his growing family.  When Henry goes into work that day, he is accosted by a woman who tells him that he will approve her 'loan' for $50,000 or her accomplice will kill his wife who is at home.  Henry has a deadline, but his boss stops him right before because the loan seems suspicious.  When Henry finally explains, the woman is gone, and the man left his house without hurting his wife.  The boss calls the police on Henry for attempting to rob the bank.

Twist on twist!  When it becomes unclear why Henry was set up (or was he??) for this potential robbery, things got very interesting.  There was even a moment when Henry identified the woman, who wanted the money, from the police mug shots and the police told him the woman had been dead for a year!  I loved the surprise moments in this episode!  The episode sets up in the beginning, how kind and lovely Henry and his wife is too, so there's an extra level of tension that something bad is going to happen to them!

As a side note, I found it interesting to hear a commercial in this episode encouraging people to get their polio vaccine.  How sad that the need to get vaccinated is something that is still argued today...