What happens
Sam, an actor, is passed over for the role of the bellringer in a play, which Norman, the director, gives to Luther. Enraged, Sam threatens Norman in front of others and then buys a shotgun. He waits outside the theatre and shoots Norman, who survives. Sam's lawyer suggests a plea of temporary insanity, and Sam resolves to play a homicidal maniac so convincingly that the doctors will judge him insane. The story is told through his rehearsals of that performance, his lawyer's advice, and his encounters with the guards and doctors who must assess him. The episode is a 1954 installment of the CBS anthology series Suspense, first broadcast on October 21, 1954.
New York City, including a theatre on Times Square, a gun shop, a city street, and a jail and hospital where Sam is held.
Characters: Sam, Norman, Luther, Sam's lawyer, Doctor
Listen for: Sam's account of the cat he killed as a child, and the doctors' conversation about whether he is sane.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.