Momentum

Originally Aired: October 27, 1949

Suspense #356, "Momentum," stars Victor Mature as Dick Payne, a man whose life spirals dangerously out of control in a single day. Standing on a train platform with a bullet in his neck, Dick waits to meet his wife Pauline and escape to San Francisco. As snow begins to fall, he reflects on how everything went wrong since that morning when Pauline woke him at noon, reminding him he's been unemployed for six months while she supports them. When she tells him they're being evicted, Dick's anger and pride drive him to confront his former employer, Mr. Burroughs, demanding payment for an invention he claims was stolen from him.

Dick's confrontation with the respected businessman escalates as Burroughs denies any wrongdoing and credits the invention to his longtime foreman, Tim Riley. As Dick's desperation and rage build, the situation begins gaining its own deadly momentum—each decision leading to the next like a snowball rolling downhill, leaving a trail of bodies in its wake.