Suspense: 12/22/57, episode 729
Brought to you by the Old Time Radio Researchers, courtesy of The Suspense Project
Evelyn Rudie, seven seven-year-old actress who received an Emmy nomination for best single performance by an actress for the Playhouse 90 production of Eloise, stars in a She stars in a Hank Searls script (using the name “Michael Frost”) in a Christmas-related production. This was her first of two appearances on Suspense.
Rudie portrays a young girl, Julie, who is denied the one Christmas present she wants: a dog. The family dog died when it was hit by a car. She feels guilty that she let the dog out of the yard that day, and misses that dog very much. He parents, however, are against getting another dog. She does get one with some ingenuity. A satellite crashes nearby and Julie and her friend Timmy find a puppy inside! Can she keep it? They decide to hide it. Its name is Chitka, but she starts calling him “Mike,” the same name as the dog she lost. A search has started for him, when it was realized by authorities that the dog was in the crashed satellite. It is clear that the dog is injured when a veterinarian examines it, and determines it should be euthanized from its injuries. Julie is sent home with a police officer. An exchange of phone calls with a Russian official explains the status of the dog (but that’s not really clear what happens to Chitka; it just has to be assumed that the vet did what was expressed). It ends generally well, with Julie getting what she wants in a very special delivery after a special phone call to her father.
The idea of a dog being launched into space was not some wild idea. In the early days of space exploration, the Soviet Union was sending dogs into sub-orbital flights in preparation for future human experiences. About six weeks prior to this broadcast, they launched a spacecraft with “the famous space dog, Laika” (mentioned in the story) to be became the first animal to go into orbit. The dog, unfortunately, died a few hours into flight.
The program was recorded on Tuesday, December 10, 1957. Rehearsal began at 2:00 pm and ended at 5:00 pm. The drama portion was recorded with some editing from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Music was recorded and edited in on Friday, December 13.
The surviving recording of this episode is from the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). Details about the recording are not known, but this may have been part of a special package of Christmas programs that AFRS assembled every year. For decades, heavily edited recordings of an AFRS aircheck in poor sound were the only copies available to Suspense fans. This recording is complete, it is still flawed, but is more listenable than previously available recordings.
Advertisers on the missing network show were Kent, Chef Boyardee, Ex-Lax, and Vicks.
Evenlyn Rudie was a 6-year old actor when she made a big splash in the Playhouse 90 presentation of Eloise. The character was based on the books by singer-dancer and actress Kay Thompson. She was married to Suspense producer William Spier in the early 1940s. Thompson was a key behind-the-scenes figure in Spier’s years as Suspense producer. Around 25 years after the Playhouse 90 broadcast, ABC Television offered a new treatment of the Eloise character. Kay Thompson passed away five years before the new ABC venture. She was never really fond of the idea of new productions for the character.
Rudie’s Playhouse 90 appearance is at The Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/playhouse-90-eloise-1956 and at the time of this writing (Spring 2025), Rudie is still at the Santa Monica Playhouse, where she has been since 1973. https://www.santamonicaplayhouse.com/evelyn-and-chris.html
The cast: Evelyn Rudie (Julie Roberts), Dick Beals (Timmy), Shirley Mitchell (Ann / Martha the Nurse), Shep Menken (Ray / Dr. Parks), Jack Kruschen (Lt. Swenson / 2nd Russian), Sam Pierce (Announcer / Sergeant Peters), Ben Wright (Professor Goodwin / Agent), Lou Krugman (Motorist / First Russian), Norm Alden (Major / Reporter), John W. James (Dog), George Walsh (Narrator)
For more information visit https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/05/1957-12-22-dog-star.html
