Blind Date

Originally Aired: September 29, 1949 Suspense #352, "Blind Date," finds vaudeville performer Gloria LaFay preparing to leave Chicago after closing night when a mysterious stranger named Vincent Hawthorne arrives at her dressing room. The cultured, poetry-quoting Vincent has arranged a blind date with the young acrobatic dancer, bringing wine and roses for what he insists should be an intimate evening in her dressing room. Gloria, who inherited her act from her late mother Diane, is eager to leave for a proper dinner at Gregory's restaurant, but Vincent seems determined to keep her there, his intentions growing increasingly unclear and unsettling. As Vincent's behavior becomes more strange and controlling, the evening takes a darker turn. His melancholy musings about loneliness and his peculiar fascination with Gloria's back-bending act hint at something sinister beneath his refined exterior. When he produces a large trick knife to open the wine bottle, Gloria's unease intensifies. Vincent's cryptic comments about knives being "a friend" and "the only fri—" suggest that this blind date may be leading somewhere far more dangerous than a simple midnight supper.