March 31, 2003 - 740111 - Honeymoon with Death

[vgarci]

As before, if you have not listened to the program and prepared your comments, do not read any farther than this post if you wish to participate!

1) Listen to the program (request it in the request thread in this forum if you do not have it). (Even if you have listened to the program, listen again.)

2) Prepare and post your comments.

3) Read what others have posted.

4) Make any additional comments that you have after reading the other posts.

[vgarci]

I think this story is intriguing enough to warrant a listen and since I selected it, I hope all of you find some entertainment from it as well.

Jennifer Brady and her "husband", Howard, have recently returned from a honeymoon. Before long, it's apparent that Jennifer is suffering from perceived delusions. Her sister, Maggie, is concerned and offers assistance when a flatfoot happens upon the scene. The policeman, Ed Helmut, has a bit of "Columbo" in him and before long, he asks the right questions and annoys the story's antagonists. Soon, the young policeman couples the answers to his questions with some cunning intelligence to get to the bottom of the story.

This play is interesting in that, from the perspective of Jennifer Brady, it must be very confusing to have everything you've thought to be true come into question - to find that everything you see or experience is a figment of your imagination and that others think you are insane. The acting in this play is on par with the excellence we all appreciate in a CBSRMT presentation. Though I didn't hear any significant morals in this play, I was entertained by the writing and think this is a good RMT presentation for someone new to the series.

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

“Our mystery drama, ‘ Honeymoon with death’ was written especially for the Mystery Theater by Sam Dann.

The story line, particularly the mystery, is clever. Some of the “hows” add doubt to poor Jennifer’s story- the wet tub that is dry, the corpse and blood that is not there. The solution is OK, and works because Jennifer is perpetually hysterical. Fortunately she meets up with a police officer that likes the pleading type...or so it seems. This may seem rather a hard view of our suffering lady in light of the fact that she was married and as far as she can tell saw her husband done in. It is a personal thing. Her nasally, about to cry or breakdown voice gets to me. In radio, the voice must carry emotions in such a way that conveys them alone, no physical cues. Our pathetic Jennifer has the emotions poured in and overflowed. And they tend to be pretty much the same emotions...”ooooh oooh”, etc. I also thought officer Ted tried to be cute with some Columbo like lines, “ Hey, you do have a red sports car”....just thought you would like to know you have a 1000 miles more on it than you said, just thought you might like to know”. This was the second or third listening of this episode, I did enjoy them more with the previous listenings. It’s not a bad episode overall, and the creepy Howard and Margaret help quite a bit. If it weren’t for all that whinning................
UNTIL NEXT TIME

[brian1984_2001]

This one is great! This is a very good example of what makes CBSRMT effective: Plot Twists. Plot twists, not done correctly, are cheap. You see it too often on television. Actors giving winks and nods and behaving very predictably.

You believe Jennifer's sister. You want to. No hint is given as to why you shouldn't.

The essential elements of a good plot twist are superb acting and good writing. This episode has both. Sam Dann has done it again!

[vgarci]

[quote:e766a6550e="UNTIL NEXT TIME"]"Her nasally, about to cry or breakdown voice gets to me. In radio, the voice must carry emotions in such a way that conveys them alone, no physical cues. Our pathetic Jennifer has the emotions poured in and overflowed. And they tend to be pretty much the same emotions...”ooooh oooh”, etc. I also thought officer Ted tried to be cute with some Columbo like lines, “ Hey, you do have a red sports car”....just thought you would like to know you have a 1000 miles more on it than you said, just thought you might like to know”. [/quote:e766a6550e]
I certainly can appreciate your comments and though the acting didn't affect me negatively in this play, I've had similar comments about the acting in others shows. For me, the acting worked and I found it interesting that we both picked up on the Columbo-isms. I was a Columbo fan so I appreciated the fact that our policeman had an annoying quality that had to bug the people he was pursuing.

[quote:e766a6550e="brian1984_2001"]"You believe Jennifer's sister. You want to. No hint is given as to why you shouldn't." [/quote:e766a6550e]
I too WANTED to believe the crooked sister but my faith was shaken when I realized she knew of Howard. Previously, she had denied his existence and then I knew that something was awry.

Great comments, both of you. Half the fun of these posts is in seeing how differently we see things.

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

"Half the fun of these posts is in seeing how differently we see things."VGARCI. I agree, it is a good deal of fun to read the other reviews, when they agree or disagree. Looking forward to more of this. UNTIL NEXT TIME

[Charlie]

I love the commercial with Himan Brown soliciting comments on the "new" series that appears about 35:00 into the copy of the program that I have. I will try to cut that out and make it available for download.

I have not heard this program before - and a [b:0a61af9dce]good[/b:0a61af9dce] one it is!

Great story line, easy to listen to, easy to stay with it without confusing the characters or what is happening. The setup to make us think that Jennifer is crazy is convincing. Of course the presence of the police officer (Lt. Colombo style) is proof otherwise.

42 minutes in, I find that I am still wonering what Maggie and Howard are up to. What is the purpose of all this?

Ahh, money. Surprise, surprise.

But, it is a little far-fetched to think that someone would actually go on a fake honeymoon all the way across the country to set up someone as being crazy. Plus, there would have to be a previous relationship before someone actually got married. Complex it is! Seems there would be easier ways to drive someone buggy than that. But hey, it takes that to make a good program.

All in all, a great program and the suspense continues to the end.

[Charlie]

[quote:8629db10dc="UNTIL NEXT TIME"]"Half the fun of these posts is in seeing how differently we see things."VGARCI. I agree, it is a good deal of fun to read the other reviews, when they agree or disagree. Looking forward to more of this.[/quote:8629db10dc]

:lol: :idea: :shock:

Count me as #3 for the Colombo comparison. I had not read any comments until after mine were posted. That is the fun of this and the idea I had for this forum originally!

I thought, "I wonder if anyone else will mention Colombo?"

Charlie :wink:

[vgarci]

I had heard this play before and thought it was good enough to recommend it. In fact, I'm looking for a few good shows to give to friends so they get a feel for the CBSRMT. Charlie's initial recommendation, The 36th Man, and this presentation, Honeymoon with Death, are two very different plays that give us at least two bounds of Sam Dann's ability. I have no idea if Mr. Dann is alive today, but I do believe he was a brilliant radio writer.

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

I just remembered that the first portion of my recording of 'Honeymoon with Death" has poor audio quality.....it comes and goes. How was your copy guys? If better, I will have to set up a stram load account and get to work. ....UNTIL NEXT TIME

[vgarci]

The first portion of one copy I have is terrible but I've also got a very clean copy of this play. Just let us know your streamload account and we'll send it to you. vince

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

Thank You Vince. I have an account number, but am somewhat unaware of all the details. Instead of posting my account number here for all the world to see, would you be so kind to e-mail me and I can reply to your e-mail with the account number? My e-mail adress is under my user profile. Thanks again....Dave

[rustyfoxx]

I hadn't listened to "Honeymoon with Death" before and found it to be pretty interesting. The twist ending at the end wasn't what I was expecting. I felt the author did an excellent job at misleading the listener, drawing premature conclusions and then busting them up.

When Howard showed up, I first thought he would end up being someone who had hypnotized Jen, leading her to believe what she thought she saw. I hadn't placed any blame on the sister at all.

The cop was a little too helpful to be realistic, but otherwise it wouldn't have worked out the way it did. I thought it was an excellent choice for the Show of the Week! Great idea by the way.

-Rustyfoxx 8)

[brian1984_2001]

in a lot of episodes, the characters are somewhat unbelievable. Many of them are too good, or resemble Snidely Whiplash.

But it's radio drama and those actors have to convey a lot their stage and screen bretheren do not because all they have is their voice.

Sometimes, though, it gets a bit out of hand, I'll have to agree with you.

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

I find myself in eager anticipation of the next show to review....UNTIL NEXT TIME

[vgarci]

[quote:5ca1c01ef0="rustyfoxx"]When Howard showed up, I first thought he would end up being someone who had hypnotized Jen, leading her to believe what she thought she saw. I hadn't placed any blame on the sister at all.
-Rustyfoxx 8)[/quote:5ca1c01ef0]

Original thinking! I hadn't even considered the hypnotized angle at all. Now that I hear this thought, I wish I had. Further, this thought would have made for a different, but equally interesting play.

I'm also looking forward to the next play - participation in the show of the week is a great deal of fun.

[Ross]

One of the most interesting RMTs I have heard. I listen to this one often.

-Ross

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

The episodes that take ahold of the listener do so because the character is believable and likable ( or despised ) but in some sense significant. When they are ridiculous then the weight of the story equals fluff...In me opinion.....UNTIL NEXT TIME

[dave]

just reading the title i knew something was up and being cbsrmt i knew i couldn't take things at face value. the twists were good. i almost didn't want to believe the wife because she annoyed me. it did seem a bit much to go through just to make someone look crazy. all in all i liked it.