What happens
Suspense presents The Big Heist, first broadcast on December 1, 1952, starring John Hodiak. Two small-time hustlers, Scott and Martin Collins, are shaken down in a pool hall by a smooth older man, John Barry, who recruits Scott for a bank robbery. Barry lays out a plan against the Colfax National bank, explaining the timing, the guards and the alarm system. Scott, uneasy about the job and the gun Barry has given him, begins to have second thoughts as the afternoon of the robbery approaches. The episode traces his growing doubts and the preparations as they reach the bank.
A pool room and hotel in an American city, and the Colfax National bank with its street-side guard and clocks
Characters: Scott, John Barry, Martin Collins, Melva, Edward Jameson
Listen for: Scott's growing doubts about the robbery and John Barry's persuasive pitch as the plan takes shape
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.