Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

We enter the 50s as our journey through the years of Suspense continues with my favorite episodes from 1950. First, Dana Andrews is a cop on the trail of a killer in a radio adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Crowd” (originally aired on CBS on September 21, 1950), and Milton Berle is an actor who hopes he can convincingly play a crazy man to escape a death sentence for murder in “Rave Notice” (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1950). Cary Grant picks the wrong time and place to run out of gas in the classic chiller “On a Country Road” (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950), and Ray Milland discovers a plot to bribe a jury - and his wife is kidnapped to keep his silence - in “After the Movies” (originally aired on CBS on December 7, 1950). Finally, Alan Ladd stars in a tale of revenge out of the old west in “A Killing in Abilene” (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950).  

As we head into the long Labor Day weekend, enjoy this encore episode featuring one of radio's greatest comedians trading laughs for thrills as Jack Benny stars on Suspense! First, he finds a bag of money and a pile of trouble in "Murder in G-Flat" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1951). Then, he's an embezzling retiree who adjusts his pension plan in "A Good and Faithful Servant" (originally aired on CBS on June 2, 1952). Finally, we head to Mars where Benny's average Martian is recruited to welcome visitors from Earth in "Plan X" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1953).

Comedy legends, legendary leading men, and the first lady of Suspense - they’re all here in my favorite episodes of 1949! Fibber McGee and Molly take the car ride from hell with an uninvited passenger in “Backseat Driver” (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1949), and Gregory Peck wakes up with a missing memory and a murder charge in “Murder Through the Looking Glass” (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1949). Edward G. Robinson is a reluctant swindler who confides in the wrong crook in “You Can’t Die Twice” (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1949), and Agnes Moorehead is being driven out of her house by an unseen presence in “The Trap” (originally aired on CBS on June 16, 1949). Ralph Edwards invites us to join him for a night in a haunted house in “Ghost Hunt” (originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1949), and Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz star in a story of a a small time crook who may have found a professional on the run in “The Red Headed Woman” (originally aired on CBS on November 17, 1949). Finally, Jimmy Stewart is a veteran who discovers his torturer from the war is alive - and in his crosshairs - in “Mission Completed” (originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1949).

The tenth year Stars on Suspense kicks off with my favorite installments of "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" from 1948! First, it's a sixty-minute Sam Spade/Suspense crossover with Howard Duff in "The Kandy Tooth," a radio sequel to The Maltese Falcon (originally aired on CBS on January 10, 1948). Then, Burt Lancaster is a tough guy with murder on his mind in "The Big Shot" (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1948) and Edward G. Robinson plays both himself and "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson" (originally aired on CBS on September 30, 1948). Lucille Ball is a hold-up artist who rolls the wrong victim in "A Little Piece of Rope" (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1948), and Vincent Price and Claude Rains co-star in a story of a murderer preying on the city of London in "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948).

1947 marked the end of an era on Suspense as Roma Wines (“that’s R-O-M-A”) ended its sponsorship of the program. But before it parted ways with “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills,” it brought another big line-up of stars to the microphone, and this week we’ll hear my favorite episodes from the year. Van Heflin stars as an executive who resorts to less than ethical methods to climb the corporate ladder in “Three Blind Mice” (originally aired on CBS on January 30, 1947). Howard da Silva plays a dogged cop out to prove Jack Webb is guilty of murder in Cornell Woolrich’s “You Take Ballistics” (originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1947). Kirk Douglas stars in two shows - first as a man who finds murder a more efficient method of divorce in “Community Property” (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1947) and then as an author who discovers a lost work of Edgar Allan Poe and passes it off as his own in “The Story of Markham’s Death” (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1947). Finally, Ozzie and Harriet star as a married couple who take steps to accelerate the collection of their inheritance from an ailing uncle in “Too Little to Live On” (originally aired on CBS on December 26, 1947).

I had too many favorite 1946 Suspense shows for one episode! In this bonus installment, I'm sharing five more of my most-loved "tales well calculated" from '46. Brian Donlevy stars as Duncan Maclain, the blind detective created by Baynard Kendrick in an adaptation of Kendrick's mystery "Out of Control" (originally aired on CBS on March 28, 1946). Agnes Moorehead - the first lady of Suspense - stars in "Post Mortem," a story from Cornell Woolrich about a dead husband and a lottery ticket (originally aired on CBS on April 4, 1946). An all-star cast of Hollywood radio players presents the story of a comatose man who's got a date with the undertaker in "Dead Ernest" (originally aired on CBS on August 8, 1946). Lloyd Nolan and Vincent Price head to the woods but only one of them is coming home in "Hunting Trip" (orginally aired on CBS on September 12, 1946). And Joseph Cotten is plagued by the image of a dead body that only he can see in "The Thing in the Window" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1946).

Not-so perfect alibis, a missing wife, and some supernatural horrors are on deck with my favorite Suspense episodes from 1946. Joseph Cotten commits an impulsive murder and has to reverse engineer an alibi in "Crime Without Passion" (originally aired on CBS on May 2, 1946), and J. Carrol Naish hopes he can disappear into the crowd after killing his wife in "Commuter's Ticket" (originally aired on CBS on August 1, 1946). Robert Young searches for his wife when she leaves after a fight - and disappears - in "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on September 2, 1946). Brian Donlevy is a psychiatrist whose new patient is a human lie detector in "Lazarus Walks" (originally aired on CBS on October 31, 1946), and Robert Taylor stars in what may be the scariest Suspense story ever - "The House in Cypress Canyon" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946).

It's a mix of two-handers, adaptations, comedy, mystery, and horror with my favorite Suspense shows from 1945! Joseph Cotten is hunted by J. Carrol Naish in "The Most Dangerous Game" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1945), and William Bendix hunts for a missing necklace in "Pearls are a Nuisance" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1945). John Payne is a small town police chief in hot water in "Two Sharp Knives" (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1945), and J. Carrol Naish is a blind cobbler with an ear for murder in "Footfalls" (originally aired on CBS on July 12, 1945). A customer from hell may run Joseph Kearns out of business in "Short Order" (originally aired on CBS on August 16, 1945), and a monster from hell may destroy the world - and Ronald Colman - in "The Dunwich Horror" (originally aired on CBS on November 1, 1945).

Our journey back through the years of Suspense continues with my favorite episodes from 1944. Lucille Ball is a taxi dancer who hopes to avoid a murderous dance partner in “Dime a Dance” (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1944), and Charles Ruggles suspects his new housekeeper may be too good to be true in “Suspicion” (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1944). Orson Welles stars in a rare two-part Suspense science fiction drama “Donovan’s Brain” (originally aired on CBS on May 18 and May 25, 1944), and Vincent Price and Ida Lupino co-star in “Fugue in C Minor,” a Gothic horror drama from the pen of Lucille Fletcher (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944). Charles Laughton encounters a strange man who claims to have invented an undetectable method for murder in “The Man Who Knew How” (originally aired on CBS on August 10, 1944), and Gene Kelly enjoys a seemingly supernatural streak of luck…until he doesn’t in “The Man Who Couldn’t Lose” (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1944).

Join me on a trip back to 1943 and my favorite episodes of Suspense from that year. It was the year production of the show moved from New York to Hollywood, which meant it was easier for film stars to make appearances, and it picked up a sponsor in the form of Roma Wines. We’ll hear Maureen O’Hara as a debutante turned detective in “The White Rose Murders” (originally aired on CBS on July 6, 1943), and Warren William reprise his big screen role as The Lone Wolf - a reformed jewel thief turned sleuth - in “Murder Goes for a Swim” (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1943). Agnes Moorehead cements her status as the “first lady of Suspense” in the legendary “Sorry, Wrong Number” (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1943), and Orson Welles plays a hunter who tracks human prey in “The Most Dangerous Game” (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1943). Finally, Charles Laughton is a patriarch whose family reputation may be sullied by murder in “Wet Saturday” (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1943), and Peter Lorre finds his foolproof murder scheme had an unexpected complication in “Back for Christmas” (originally aired on CBS on December 23, 1943).

Myron McCormick took home a Tony for his performance as gruff but lovable sailor Luther Billis in the original Broadway production of South Pacific, and before his premature passing at the age of 54 he logged several memorable turns on the stage and screen. We’ll hear him as an archeologist who may have found a lost treasure in “Door of Gold” (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1957) and as a mental patient who escapes from the hospital with revenge on his mind in “Madman of Manhattan” (originally aired on CBS on March 8, 1959). Plus, he plays detective in “No Time for Murder” from Crime Club (originally aired on Mutual on September 25, 1947).

One of the busiest (and best) actors of the radio era, Harry Bartell could be heard everywhere - as an announcer chatting with Nigel Bruce on Sherlock Holmes, as cowboys on Gunsmoke, and as suspects on Dragnet. We'll hear him as a man who cooks up what he thinks is a perfect swindle in "Final Payment" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1955) and as a pharmacist racing to correct a fatal mistake in "To None a Deadly Drug" (originally aired on CBS on October 25, 1955). Plus, Bartell plays Doc Holiday in Gunsmoke (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1952) and as Archie Goodwin opposite Sydney Greenstreet's Nero Wolfe in "The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds" (originally aired on NBC on March 9, 1951).

Radio and big screen star Frank Lovejoy makes his final appearances on Suspense in a pair of shows where he plays characters both scary and sympathetic. First, he's a man with an unhealthy fixation on his Army buddy's wife in "Friend of Daddy's" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 17, 1959). Then, his wife is going into labor when their car breaks down on the Hollywood Freeway in "Ivy is a Lovely Name" (originally aired on CBS on June 21, 1959). Plus, we'll hear him as a con man in "Windfall" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1947) and as Chicago reporter Randy Stone in "The Night is a Weapon" from Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on February 13, 1950).

For seven years on radio, Jackie Kelk portrayed cub reporter and Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen, and he helped to define the character for generations of depictions in comics, cartoons, and films. We'll hear him in a pair of Suspense thrillers - first as a man who murders his brother to preserve their childhood home in "Shadow on the Wall" (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1957), and then in a western drama as a young gunfighter out for revenge in "Sundown" (originally aired on CBS on May 4, 1958). Plus we'll hear him as Jimmy in "The Mystery of the Flying Monster" from The Adventures of Superman (originally aired on ABC on March 7, 1949).

Elsa Lanchester achieved cinematic immortality with her iconic portrayal of the Bride of Frankenstein in the Universal horror classic. But her work in the realm of monsters was just a part of her long career on the stage and screen - a career that included two Oscar nominations and a dozen films where she co-starred with her husband Charles Laughton. We'll hear the couple in a Suspense adaptation of "The ABC Murders" (originally aired on CBS on May 18, 1943) and in a true crime historical drama from Columbia Presents Corwin ("The Moat Farm Murder," originally aired on CBS on July 18, 1944). Plus, Elsa Lanchester leads an all-female cast in a Suspense thriller set at a girls schoool - "Finishing School" (originally aired on CBS on December 30, 1943).

Best known as Effie, the loyal secretary to Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, Lee Patrick enjoyed great success on the Broadway stage and worked steadily as a character actress on the big and small screens. We'll hear her in a pair of shows from Suspense: first, she's half of a murderous married couple in "Just One Happy Little Family" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1958), and then she plays a woman whose part-time job takes a turn for the dangerous in "My Dear Niece" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1958). Plus, she recreates one of her great Broadway roles alongside Orson Welles and Jack Benny in a Campbell Playhouse production of "June Moon" (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1940).

In the earliest days of Suspense, Berry Kroeger introduced each week's story as the "Man in Black." Years later, this talented and versatile actor would step into starring roles on "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills." We'll hear him in an adaptation of W.F. Harvey's "August Heat" (originally aired on CBS on March 20, 1948) and as a would-be murderer who develops unusual mental powers in "It's All In Your Mind" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 20, 1958). Plus we'll hear more of his radio performances that show off his range - as a killer in "Eight Steps to Murder" from Inner Sanctum (originally aired on CBS on June 4, 1946) and as a spy on a daring mission in "Confidential Agent" from Escape (originally aired on CBS on April 2, 1949).

We say goodbye to Herbert Marshall - one of the most frequent guest stars on Suspense. Marshall logged twenty appearances on "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" between 1944 and 1959. He also starred in the 1940 audition show that helped to get Suspense a slot on the schedule. We'll hear him in a pair of those shows - an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' "The Dead Alive" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1953) and "The Long Shot," the story of a very deadly road trip (AFRS rebroadcast from February 9, 1958). Plus, we'll hear Marshall in his own radio series as The Man Called X - a debonair, globetrotting secret agent - in a pair of adventures (originally aired on NBC on January 13, 1951 and February 17, 1951).

In this bonus episode, I share my favorite Suspense shows starring William Bendix - the lovable lug of The Life of Riley and the Oscar-nominated character actor of Lifeboat, The Blue Dahlia, and more. He's a Runyonesque brawler turned detective in Raymond Chandler's "Pearls are a Nuisance" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1945), and an unwitting participant in a political blackmail scheme in "Three Faces at Midnight" (originally aired on CBS on February 27, 1947). Finally, Bendix is a safecracker who discovers his estranged son is eager to go into the family business in "The Gift of Jumbo Brannigan" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1951).

Born in Austria, Vanessa Brown and her family fled the Nazis and made their way to America where she soon found success on the Broadway stage and as a juvenile contestant on The Quiz Kids. She broke into films in the 1940s before returning to the stage, where she originated the iconic role made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the original production of The Seven Year Itch. We'll hear Ms. Brown in an adaptation of a classic urban legend of paranoia and deception - "The Vanishing Lady" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 7, 1957). Then, she goes undercover to catch her sister's killer in "Vamp Till Dead" (AFRS rebroadcast from September 29, 1957). Plus, she finds romance at sea in "It's a Date" from Hollywood Star Time (originally aired on CBS on January 11, 1947) and she discusses her career on screen and as a Quiz Kid in an excerpt from an episode from July 21, 1946.