Suspense Sundays (162) Big Shot

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.

"Big Shot"

Air date: September 9, 1948
Starring Burt Lancaster

>>Episodes here<<

Quinn, an engineer, is working on an illegal gold mine operation in Mexico and is included in a deal the foreman is making of smuggling the gold out of Mexico.  Even though Quinn has a boyish and innocent face, he's not so innocent and cooks up his own plan of taking the gold for himself.  He hears from his new girlfriend that El Chico is a "mythical" warlord, created by the people in the small Mexican town to scare off the Americanos, and Quinn takes that idea and runs with it.

Quinn is a real piece of work - he's sensitive about his misleading innocent face, and he is conniving and heartless.  He has a good plan though, and it almost works out, except the foreman is smarter than he looks.  There is another, bigger, twist to this episode too that I really enjoyed and I think this makes for a great Suspense episode.  And it's interesting to hear Burt Lancaster, a very well known Hollywood actor, in this role!