How many times did Agnes Moorehead perform "Sorry Wrong Number"?
(and more about this legendary Suspense episode)
SWN is the performance that brought Suspense a tremendous amount of attention, its 1943 broadcast helping it leap into consideration as a top dramatic golden age series. The script by Louise Fletcher became closely associated with its star, Agnes Moorehead. Already a highly regarded actor, the performance raised her visibility yet higher. How many times did she appear in the role? As best as can be counted, 13 different times.
With east and west coast performances, and a special appearance, and the record set... Agnes Moorehead performed SWN more times than most fans realized! (UPDATED September 4, 2022)
1) 5/25/43 the famous performance with the missed cue at the end; for decades the myth of a flawless west coast performance (supported by a faked recording) of the episode persists, but there was only one national performance; separate east and west coast performances did not start until later that year -- details are in this PDF document (click here)
2&3) 8/21/43 for two weekends in August 1943, Suspense was on Saturdays. The east broadcast was at 7:30pm ET (performed in the Hollywood studio at 4:30pm PT) and at 8:00pm PT, the second performance of the day for the west coast. To see the press release announcing the times, click here). The series then went to a single performance until the Roma Wines sponsorship began in December 1943, with east coast performances on Thursdays and west coast on Mondays.
4) 2/24/44 Roma Wines Thursday East Coast (a missing show); CBS Pacific Network advertising time on Thursday nights had already been sold and committed by the time the Roma contract was signed, so that necessitated bringing everyone back into the studio for a separate performance four days later (click here for more information). There is an AFRS recording available (AFRS #41) that is likely an edited recording of the missing network broadcast for this date.
5) 2/28/44 Roma Wines Monday West Coast (in circulation); this meant that within 10 months, Moorehead performed the script five different times for three different broadcast weeks!
6&7) 9/6/45 East and West on same day
8&9) 3/24/46 an abridged version on Philco Radio Hall of Fame, East and West on same day (so far that's what my research of newspaper listings indicates, but I'm still seeking 100% verification of the two performances). Moorehead said that the presentations before the live audiences "are potential program wreckers" and that the Hall of Fame broadcast was "a terrifically nerve-wracking experience... I have to work myself up to such a hysterical pitch for the part that distractions of any kind could ruin the entire effect. People in a studio audience... are apt to get a little hysterical, to laugh at the wrong time, squeal at a sound effect or do something else to destroy the mood... it is unfair to the listeners... I am convinced that studio audiences would be better banned at all dramatic shows." The presentation is only about 14 minutes long and starts at about the 3min45sec mark. (Click here for the recording at the OTRR Library)
10) 1/21/47 recording studio performance for the 1947 Decca records set release (you can hear a recording on YouTube -- see below -- this was released at least three times, about five years apart) (many thanks to Suspense collector Keith Scott who researched the date).
11) 11/18/48 The separate, same-day performances for east and west coasts ended with the Roma Wines sponsorship in late 1947. Future SWN drama performances would be pre-recorded, making this the final live broadcast performance of SWN on Suspense.
12) 9/15/52 one time performance, transcribed on 9/5/52, and then played nationally, per the script (see script cover page below). At this time, CBS was recording the drama portions of the programs, and on the day of broadcast had the orchestra and announcers in the studio performing live. Musicians union contracts stipulated higher payments to make recordings, making it less expensive to have them perform live broadcasts. The taped drama portion would play at the time of broadcast and the director and conductor would perform as if the actors were in studio. William Spier produced and directed, as Elliott Lewis stepped aside for this performance. More curious details are below. Unfortunately, a recording of this performance is still missing.
13) 10/27/57 taped performance, fed to network as needed. This is the only performance that was not directed or produced by William Spier. The production was supervised by William N. Robson.
The 2/14/60 Suspense broadcast was an edited replay of the 1957 performance. Press releases were distributed that made it seem like a new performance was done, but it was not. The series had moved to New York in 1959, and the broadcast was the 1957 drama recording with openings and closings that matched the New York production content and style as "wrappers."
The Decca release of Sorry, Wrong Number was a big success
The Suspense producers and Decca Records believed that there was a big market for radio's best dramatic plays as consumer-marketed record sets. The were wrong, but Sorry, Wrong Number was the biggest success of the idea. It was first released as a set of 78rpm records and then re-released in the new LP 33-1/3rpm format two more times in the 1950s. Radio stations started playing it, and Moorehead had to threaten lawsuits against them. It was only authorized for home and educational use, with airplay exclusive to performances on Suspense through CBS affiliates. The non-CBS local stations knew that SWN was a big attention-getter, and wanted to get in on the action.
The missing 1952 broadcast: a treasure of Suspense history
Thanks to the research efforts of Suspense researcher Don Ramlow, we have a copy of the script for the 1952 performance. A recording of the episode is unfortunately missing. The script is a window into how production technology and methods had changed from just a few years before.
Note in the upper left hand corner it is identified as the Monday, September 15, 1952 program and that dramatic portions were recorded separately on Friday, September 5, 1952, ten days earlier.
The lower right hand corner shows the cast appearing for read-through and rehearsals at 1:00pm on September 5. All times are US Pacific time zone. The final recording of the dramatic portions was from 5:30 to 6:00pm.
The orchestra and commercial staff (announcers) came for rehearsals on September 15 beginning at 2:00pm, with their performances, combined with the playing of the transcription, aired live beginning at 5:00pm Pacific time to the network. Quirks of union contracts made it less expensive to perform live in this manner than in a recording session. Pacific listeners did not get it until 9:00pm that night, when a fully transcribed program with combined drama, music, and commercials, was played.
The lower left corner shows the dates for production staff to report. Those persons with no dates next to their names were to appear on both days.
It is interesting that the dramatic portion of the program was directed by William Spier, even though this was the Elliott Lewis era of Suspense. From the beginning of the SWN legacy, there was a close professional association of Moorehead, Spier, and author Lucille Fletcher that also included the Decca Record release and another popular Suspense script, Diary of Sophronia Winters.
The 1952 production was the first of the new season of Suspense, and was used as a public relations event. The TV-Radio editor of the Los Angeles Times, Walter Ames, describes the recording session of September 5 in his column of September 15. He details the command presence of William Spier, Suspense's legendary producer-director just for the event and that "the cast probably constituted one of the highest priced supporting groups ever gathered for a mystery show."
Ames makes a technical "error" that is insightful to us. He says, at the end, that "it would have been easier to have replayed one of the old tape recordings." It's a casual jargon error. There were no old tape recordings. We're sure Ames knew that radio programs were recorded on transcription discs and that tape did not enter the production scene until after WW2. Suspense was late in adopting full recording tape production methods, not doing so until Fall 1956 when William N. Robson took over the program. But... the drama portion of this 1952 performance was recorded on tape. Ames' saw the tape recording equipment at the performance. His comment is more an indication about quickly recording tape was adopted that "tape" quickly entered the industry vocabulary and referred to any kind archived recording, at least in his mind and that of his readers. There was no tape recording available of prior performances. (A very good article about tape recording for radio and the crucial role of Bing Crosby in its adoption is a worthwhile read). (Today, the experts on technology adoption call the forgetting of past technology because new technology is so quickly and naturally assimilated "adapt amnesia.")
SWN was a beloved episode, even though the script had a gruesome conclusion. In 1952 there were still many Suspense listeners who had never heard it performed. It was four years since the most recent broadcast of it. The year 1952 was one of a few years of turbulent media change and growth. Listening patterns had been altered by the broadening presence of television. Even though the radio audience was diminishing, when one factors in the amount of time that had passed since the last SWN broadcast, the presence of new listeners among the established fans guaranteed a much different audience. It was easy for Ames, who tracked TV and radio every single day, to momentarily lose that perspective and context. It's not a repeat if you never heard it before.
Show me the money!
In the run up to the SWN movie with Barbara Stanwyck, Moorehead tried to buy SWN from Lucille Fletcher, but they could not come to an agreement. It was one of the hottest, most expensive properties in Hollywood at that time. Fletcher had sold the rights to producer Anatole Litvak, who later refused an offer from Billy Wilder that was $1.7 million in today's US dollars. Moorehead likely believed that ownership of the rights would ensure her taking the leading movie role.
"Sorry, Wrong Number," starring... Ida Lupino?
An abridged version of the script was performed by guest Ida Lupino on The Kate Smith Show of May 20, 1945. There are no known recordings of this broadcast. New York Daily News critic Ben Gross said Lupino "refrigerated the listener's spine with her acting" and her "suppressed emoting was something to hear." As best as can be documented, Lupino was the only actor other than Moorehead to ever play the lead role in a network performance of SWN during US radio's golden age.
"Sorry, Wrong Number," starring... Flora Robson?
The radio script was also performed with minor changes on the BBC with Flora Robson, on December 31, 1948. It was produced with great anticipation and fanfare featuring one of Britain's most highly regarded theatrical and motion picture performers. Ms. Robson repeated her performance in March 1949. A BBC site offers some details of the production. A recording of the program does exist.
"Sorry, Wrong Number," starring... Mildred Natwick?
The first television performance of the script was on January 30, 1946, on the then very small CBS-New York television network, starring Mildred Natwick, The intention was to have Moorehead in the role, but she had prior commitments in Hollywood. Air travel between the coasts was very time-consuming because of fuel stops, expensive, and rather uncomfortable. Today's modern aircraft would have made such a performance possible. The show was produced by famed actor John Houseman, who, like Moorehead, was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater. Publicity photos of the staging can be seen at the Getty Images site. Reviews were unfortunately not good.
"Sorry, Wrong Number" starring... Meg Mundy?
On January 8, 1950, CBS demonstrated its proposed color TV system in Washington, DC, at the Statler Hotel. There were a variety of performances over a closed circuit system for broadcast executives, the press, and FCC regulators. One of the broadcasts that evening was SWN with Broadway actress Meg Mundy in the lead role. The Variety reviewer said "... the familiar script remains a top chiller...Meg Mundy turned in a convincing performance in a difficult role, with the cameras trained on her for practically all of the 30 minutes." Only a few hundred people saw the broadcast, at most; it is likely no kinescope was made. Mundy's career was in high gear at the time, and this was obviously good publicity for her. Mundy had a very long film and TV career, acting into her 80s.
"Sorry, Wrong Number," the movie... on the radio
The movie version of SWN told a somewhat different story with more details about the background of the characters and the situation than was possible to convey in approximately 25 minutes of radio drama. The movie was 90 minutes and was released in September, 1948. Barbara Stanwyck starred, reprising her screen role in the January 9, 1950 Lux Radio Theatre. American actor Miriam Hopkins was flown to Australia, partly to promote new air service from San Francisco to Sydney (three fuel stops), but mainly to promote the new season of that country's own Lux Radio Theatre series. Her visit was highly publicized, with extensive newspaper coverage of her various events and social meetings. Recordings exist of both of these Lux broadcasts.
Don't lose that number... the many phone numbers of SWN
Phone numbers used to have named exchanges that identified sections of town. In this case it was "Murray Hill," or MU (the numbers 6 and 8). Murray Hill was a generally upper middle and upper class section of Manhattan. Today, the generic exchange of 555 is used in numbers because so many listeners or viewers would call the numbers to see who answered or what happened, resulting in many nuisance calls for customers. 555 is a permanently reserved exchange for phone company use only.
1943 performances, 1952 performance: MU 7-0093
1944 & 1945 performances, Radio Hall of Fame, and Decca Records: MU 4-0098
1948 & 1957 performances: MU 4-0599
Important Perspective about SWN History
These comments were posted on the OTRR FB page on September 3, 2022. They deal with the botched ending of the first performance of the script. That "flub" has unfortunately led to misinterpretation of the importance of SWN in radio history and the history of Suspense.
I have dug into this pretty extensively. The lack of newspaper coverage of the "flub" is really stunning. The only real news was that they would repeat it "soon" and "soon" was postponed and then was done in August. There is some background on the SWN history here https://sites.google.com/view/suspense-collectors-companion/click-for-home-arrow-for-more/agnes-moorehead-and-sorry-wrong-number Also, no news or other accounts of the episode really mention "you know, the show they screwed up and had to re-do" or something like that. In spite of the "flub" most everyone knew Mrs. Stevenson was dead, murdered, right before their very ears.
I have found it unfortunate that over the years the "flub" has been considered the main reason for SWN's notoriety. We have to put ourselves back into that time and as you delve into the history of the script, the original ending was to have the police rush in and save her. In that time, to have the listener hear a murder of that nature on the radio was shocking. Part of the shock is that Mrs Stevenson is really really annoying and it gets worse, and it can grate on you... and then it happens. This was a time of movie codes and good had to overcome evil. If SWN was sponsored, this ending could have been rejected by the sponsor -- Roma had an ending changed for an episode, and there's an episode that Auto-Lite refused to air because it was gruesome ("The Hand" by Mel Dinelli, and it was supposed to be Joan Crawford's big appearance). But Spier thought it was all compelling and they did it.
Another factor is that only about 35% of US homes had phones, and those who did were in the upper middle class or wealthy. So there was always an interest in about getting a phone and it had a streak of envy to it, too. (Business phones is a separate topic). There was a mysteriousness about phones in the home, and that's one of the reasons why the rare occurrence of "crossed lines" can work in the story, even though may phone owners did not experience it, and of course, non-phone owners never did.
While I have never been a big fan of the episode, I have come to see its careful construction, the repairs made to the original ideas (the original title was "She Overheard Death Speaking" -- now there's a catchy title!), and the performance to be incredible for its time. It was SWN that put Suspense on the map -- the series was faltering and could not find a sponsor -- and once people heard something so different and so well done, that's when Roma came around and put up the big bucks for Suspense's heyday.