Thrillers by Farjeon

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 299, 16 March 1945, Page 8

Thrillers by Farjeon

WO thrillers by J. Jefferson Farjeon have recently been on the air from Wellington stations. "Oi ’Elp" from 2YD was the less successful of the two, though the main part was well actedthe part of the man who tells the story of how, all unsuspecting, he blundered on to gangsters and a crime about to be committed and rescued a girl most ime probably from a most improbable situation. "The Appointed Date" succeeded better in building up its atmosphere of suspense. The story is slight and the listener knows, as all readers of thrillers know, that the ending will be satisfactory. But all the same there is a sinister unpleasantness in the anonymous letters that pour in, with just the one date, June 21, on them; especially as, by a curious ‘and unlikely coincidence, the judge is also writing up in his memoirs his account of how he condemned to death a particularly cold-blooded murdererwho managed to escape, however, shortly before he was to be hanged. The astute listener will not have had much difficulty in putting two and two together and once he has done that his flesh will probably cease to creep. The crisis of the play is too long drawn out and the last five minutes or so when the judge

"fis back at his memoirs are somewhat tedious. I prefer my thrillers to end snappily, but despite these defects the play as a whole succeeded.