Episodes

20h ago

We wrap up our series of classic holiday films with It's a Wonderful Life - the timeless tale from Frank Capra that proves no man is a failure who has friends. We'll hear three of its stars - Jimmy Stewart, Sheldon Leonard, and Thomas Mitchell - in Suspense thrillers, an old time radio recreation of the movie, and a bonus spoof courtesy of The Jack Benny Program. Thomas Mitchell is a tycoon with more than business on his mind in "Case History on Edgar Lowndes" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1944). Sheldon Leonard is a professional killer in "Feast of the Furies" (originally aired on CBS on July 11, 1946). And Jimmy Stewart is a man who finds the chance to escape his humdrum life in "Consequence" (originally aired on CBS on May 19, 1949). Then, Stewart and co-star Donna Reed reunite in a L ux Radio Theatre presentation of the film (originally aired on CBS on March 10, 1947). And finally, Jack Benny learns what the world would be like if he'd never been born - with a guest appearance from director Frank Capra (originally aired on NBC on February 2, 1947).

6d ago

Our December series of classic holiday films continues with the cast of The Bishop's Wife - the heavenly comedy about a beleaguered bishop, his supportive wife, and the angel who pays a visit to lend a hand. We'll hear its three stars - Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven - recreate their roles in a radio adaptation of the film and we'll also hear them in three old time radio thrillers. First, Ms. Young fears for her life in "Lady Killer" (originally aired on CBS on March 2, 1950). Then, Cary Grant runs out of gas in "On a Country Road" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950). Finally, David Niven plans a swindle in "Grand Theft" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1954). And all three reunite as The Camel Screen Guild Theatre presents a version of the movie (originally aired on March 1, 1948).

Dec 11

A tycoon's vacant mansion hosts holiday hijinks in the classic comedy It Happened on Fifth Avenue . It's the story of a vagrant who makes himself at home in the house when the owner heads south for the winter, and of how the true owner and his family end up as invited Christmas "guests" of their tenant. We'll hear two of the film's stars in radio thrillers - Charles Ruggles in "Suspicion" (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1944) and Don DeFore in "The Furnished Floor" (originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1945). Then, we'll hear Messrs Ruggles and DeFore - along with their big screen co-stars Gale Storm and Victor Moore in a Lux Radio Theatre recreation of the movie in an Armed Forces radio service rebroadcast (original episode aired on CBS on May 19, 1947).

Dec 4

A month-long series of classic holiday films and their casts kicks off with Miracle on 34th Street - the story of a department store Santa who says he's the real deal. We'll hear three of its stars in radio thrillers from Suspense , plus a radio recreation of the film. Maureen O'Hara is a debutante turned detective in "The White Rose Murders" (originally aired on CBS on July 6, 1943). Edmund Gwenn stars in a darkly comedic murder mystery from Dorothy L. Sayers in "The Fountain Plays" (originally aired on CBS on August 10, 1943). And John Payne is a small town sheriff with a big murder to solve in Dashiell Hammett's "Two Sharp Knives" (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1945). Then, Ms. O'Hara and Messrs Payne and Gwenn are joined by their screen co-star Natalie Wood as they recreate their roles for The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on December 22, 1947).

Nov 28

After you hear Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck recreate their famous roles on The Lux Radio Theatre , enjoy this bit of "what if" alternate Hollywood casting of the film. Burt Lancaster, Joan Bennett, and Myron McCormick play Walter Neff, Phyllis Dietrichson, and Barton Keyes in an adaptation of Double Indemnity from The Ford Theater (originally aired on CBS on October 15, 1948).

Nov 26

"Noirvember" draws to a close with the cast of Double Indemnity - Billy Wilder's genre-defining adaptation of James M. Cain's novel. It's a twisted tale of greed, lust, and revenge with Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson, and we'll hear each of them in an old time radio thriller courtesy of Suspense. Robinson invents a spouse to get ahead at work with unexpected results in "My Wife Geraldine" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1945). Ms. Stanwyck is a tough dame whose connection to a murder puts her own life in danger in "The Wages of Sin" (originally aired on CBS on October 19, 1950). And MacMurray is a jazz player in a Prohibition-era tale of the mob and murder - "The Windy City Six" (originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1951). Then, Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck recreate their film roles in a production of The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on October 30, 1950).

Nov 21

It's an addendum to our spotlight show on The Killers as Jack Benny, his radio gang, and special guest star Edward G. Robinson present their own version of the movie. This comedic caper originally aired on NBC on November 24, 1946.

Nov 20

Ernest Hemingway's short story The Killers was memorably adapted and expanded for the big screen by director Robert Siodmak and an incredible cast. We'll hear the stars of that film - plus a radio recreation - as our "Noirvember" series continues. Ava Gardner slows down for a hitchhiker with murder on his mind in "Lady in Distress" (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1947). Edmond O'Brien is a streetwise reporter out for the story of the year in "The Argyle Album" (originally aired on CBS on September 4, 1947). Burt Lancaster is in no hurry to get revenge for his brother in "The Long Wait" (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1949). And the titular killers William Conrad and Charles McGraw reunite in "Two for the Road" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1958). Finally, Burt Lancaster reprises his role as The Screen Director's Playhouse presents "The Killers" (originally aired on NBC on June 5, 1949).

Nov 13

Our celebration of "Noirvember" continues with the cast of The Maltese Falcon - the classic adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's celebrated novel. Peter Lorre plays a husband with a plot to dispose of his wife and her lover in "Till Death Do Us Part" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1942). Mary Astor is on the other side of the equation, as she plans to kill her husband and his girlfriend before they bump her off in "In Fear and Trembling" (originally aired on February 16, 1943). Humphrey Bogart stars in an adaptation of James M. Cain's gangland drama "Love's Lovely Counterfeit" (originally aired on CBS on March 8, 1945). And Sydney Greenstreet portrays John Dickson Carr's master sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell in the surviving half of "The Hangman Won't Wait" (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1943)...and since only fifteen minutes of Mr. Greenstreet just won't do, we'll also hear him as Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe in "The Case of the Careworn Cuff" (originally aired on NBC on October 27, 1950). Then, all four stars recreate their film roles for The Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 20, 1943).

Nov 6

Beginning with this episode, Stars on Suspense goes to the movies and shines a spotlight on the cast of a Hollywood classic. Up first is Laura , the 1944 Oscar-nominated mystery that the American Film Institute hailed as one of the ten best of all time. We'll hear three of its stars in "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" - Dana Andrews in "Two Birds With One Stone" (originally aired on CBS on May 17, 1945), Clifton Webb in "The Burning Court" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1945), and Vincent Price in "The Name of the Beast" (originally aired on CBS on April 11, 1946), and . Plus, we'll hear a radio recreation of the film featuring Andrews, Webb, and Gene Tierney from The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on August 20, 1945).

Oct 30

Happy Halloween! We're celebrating with a spooky collection of some of the big screen's most famous monsters in old time radio thrillers. Orson Welles is the count who never drinks...wine in "Dracula," presented by the Mercury Theatre On the Air (originally aired on CBS on July 11, 1938), and Suspense presents its own version of the horror classic "Frankenstein" (originally aired on CBS on June 6, 1955). Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" walk the streets in a syndicated story from The Weird Circle , and a group of climbers hunt for the legendary beast of the Himalayas in "The Abominable Snowman" from Escape (originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1953). A mysterious island is home to a creature that's howling mad in "W is for Werewolf" from Dark Fantasy (originally aired on NBC on February 13, 1942). Finally, Basil Rathbone dons the mask of "The Phantom of the Opera" on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1943).

Oct 23

Our journey through the years of "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" ends with my favorite installments from the final years of Suspense . Ray Bradbury presents a terrifying tale of a popular new kids' game in "Zero Hour" (originally aired on April 5, 1955), and a pharmacist races to correct a potentially fatal error in "To None a Deadly Drug" (originally aired on CBS on October 25, 1955). A man meticulously plots how to dispose of his wife's body in "Variations on a Theme" (originally aired on CBS on February 7, 1956), and William Conrad delivers a tour de force one-man performance in "The Waxwork" (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1956). A postal inspector tries to intercept a bomb before it reaches its intended target in "Fragile: Contents Death" (originally aired on CBS on May 22, 1956), and DeForest Kelley is a talent agent who finds an act to die for in "Flesh Peddler" (originally aired on CBS on August 4, 1957). A defiant man stares down an army of ravenous ants in "Leiningen vs. the Ants" (originally aired on CBS on August 25, 1957), and anybody could be a killer on a train in "The Man Who Murders People" (originally aired on CBS on November 13, 1960).

Sep 25

Suspense enters its final decade on the air and loses its longtime sponsor as our journey through the years of the show continues. Between 1952 and 1954, Elliott Lewis remained at the helm of the series and continued to present compelling dramas, but the rise of television and the loss of Autolite's financial support left Suspense in a transition period by the middle of the decade. We'll hear my favorite shows from this three year run: Deborah Kerr is a jewel thief out for revenge against her old partner in "The Lady Pamela" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1952). Jack Benny celebrates his retirement with a robbery in "A Good and Faithful Servant" (originally aired on June 2, 1952). Frank Lovejoy fights to free his hometown from the oppressive grip of criminals in "The Frightened City" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1952). Joseph Kearns tries to commit an experiment in objective murder in "The Earth is Made of Glass" (originally aired on CBS on June 17, 1954). And finally, John Dehner sets out to prove he cannot be killed in "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on November 4, 1954).

Sep 11

The first lady of Suspense , comedy legends, Oscar-winning stars, and some of radio's best character actors fill out the casts of my favorite Suspense shows from 1951. Agnes Moorehead races across town to save a stranger from a date with a killer in "The Death Parade" (originally aired on CBS on February 15, 1951), and Ronald Colman is a nightclub psychic who discovers his act may no longer be a fake in "A Vision of Death" (originally aired on CBS on March 8, 1951). Jack Benny plays a piano tuner who ends up with a bag of stolen money in "Murder in G-Flat" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1951), and Phil Harris and Alice Faye face a lynch mob in "Death on My Hands" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1951). A cast of veteran radio actors star in a tale of atomic espionage in "The Case for Dr. Singer" (originally aired on June 28, 1951), and Agnes Moorehead returns as a phony spiritualist who may be too convincing for her own good in "The Murder of Adelaide Winters" (originally aired on CBS on September 10, 1951). Charles Laughton plays a notorious murderer from the history books in "Neal Cream, Doctor of Poison" (originally aired on CBS on September 17, 1951). And we close with a double dose of Richard Widmark. He stars in the tale of a bloody post-Civil War Texas feud in "The Hunting of Bob Lee" (originally aired on CBS on October 29, 1951) and as a radio mystery writer who plots an on-air murder in "A Murderous Revision" (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1951).

Sep 4

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).

Aug 28

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).

Aug 21

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).

Aug 14

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).

Jul 10

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).

Jul 8

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).

Jul 3

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).

Jun 26

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).

Jun 5

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).

May 29

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).

May 22

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).

May 17

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).

May 8

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).

Apr 24

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).

Apr 18

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).

Apr 10

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).

Apr 3

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).

Mar 27

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).

Mar 19

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).

Mar 13

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.

Feb 27

British character actor Torin Thatcher made a name for himself as a Hollywood heavy in everything from seafaring adventures to magical fantasies. We'll hear him as a miner forced to return to the site of an accident where he was the only survivor in "The Digger" (originally aired on CBS on October 9, 1956). Plus, he plays Mark Anthony as CBS brings you a "live" report of "The Assassination of Julius Caesar" in You Are There (originally aired on CBS on April 24, 1949) and he's part of a terrific cast in a fascinating adaptation of fourteenth-century Japanese theatre in "Noh Plays of Japan" from The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on April 7, 1957).

Feb 20

We bid goodbye to Lee Bowman with his first and last appearances on Suspense . He co-stars with Walter Hampden and Susan Hayward in "The Dead Sleep Lightly" (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1943) - the story of a man who places a call to a grave and hears the voice of the dead on the other end of the line. Then, Bowman is a man whose fiancee disappears off the face of the earth - or does she? - in "I Won't Take a Minute" (originally aired on CBS on December 6, 1945). Finally, Bowman plays one of America's most famous detectives in "The Pinkerton Man" from The Cavalcade of America (originally aired on NBC on November 18, 1946).

Jan 30

I won't be able to put together new episodes for the next two weeks, so I've decided to reach back into the "Stars on Suspense" archive and share some of my favorite "best of" collections. This week, it's a showcase of the comedians who showed a different side of their talents when they starred on Suspense in thrillers. First, Danny Kaye schemes to bump off a rival and steal his girl in "The Too-Perfect Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1949). Then, Fibber McGee and Molly take a car trip with an uninvited passenger in "Backseat Driver" (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1949) and Bob Hope tries to talk his way out of a date with a killer in "Death Has a Shadow" (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1949). Finally, Milton Berle tries method acting as a way to beat a murder rap in "Rave Notice" (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1950) and Eve Arden of Our Miss Brooks is a jilted woman with murder on her mind in "The Well-Dressed Corpse" (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1951).

Jan 23

Tony Barrett was a very busy radio actor, with recurring and regular roles on The Adventures of Frank Race , Defense Attorney , and Tales of The Texas Rangers . He could also be heard in guest spots on all sorts of mysteries, westerns, and dramas. Barrett went on to a long and successful career as a writer, where - among other things - he developed the classic 60s/70s cop show The Mod Squad . We'll hear him in four of his starring turns on Suspense , beginning with "Give Me Liberty" (AFRS rebroadcast from March 29, 1955) where he's a fugitive trying desperately to lose a pair of handcuffs. Then he's a murderer who's recognized by a high school classmate in "Remember Me?" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 3, 1955). In "Over the Bounding Main" (AFRS rebroadcast from June 21, 1955), he tries to survive a boat trip from hell, and in "The Flame" (originally aired on CBS on May 29, 1956), he plays a pyromaniac who tries to put his skills to work and help a friend.

Jan 16

Donald Crisp took home on Oscar for his powerful performance in How Green Was My Valley , but that was just one notch on his belt during a long Hollywood career that stretched from the silent era to the 1960s and included stints as actor, producer, and director. We'll hear him in "Banquo's Chair" - the story of a Scotland Yard inspector with an ingenious method to catch a killer (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1943). Then, Crisp is a psychiatrist who tries to discover what haunts a railroad tycoon in "Case History of Edgar Lowndes" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1944). Plus, he recreates his Academy Award-winning role in The Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1942).

Jan 9

To celebrate 400 episodes of Stars on Suspense, I'm sharing five of my favorites from the first decade of "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" - a star-studded showcase of classic chillers. First, Orson Welles wishes he only had a brain...and gets one with disasterous results in "Donovan's Brain," a two-part sci-fi/horror epic (originally aired on CBS on May 18 and May 25, 1944). Then, Robert Young isn't a father and he doesn't know best in "You'll Never See Me Again," a classic story from Cornell Woolrich (originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946). Edward G. Robinson plays himself and "The Man Who Thought He Was Edward G. Robinson" in a comedic thriller (originally aired on CBS on September 30, 1948). 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 finally, Lucille Ball is a crook who catches a bigger fish - a serial killer - in her trap in "A Little Piece of Rope" (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1948).

Jan 2

We're ringing in 2025 with the great Frank Lovejoy in three radio thrillers, including a belated New Year's Eve story. First, he tries to talk an amateur pilot safely down to the ground in "The Long Night" (originally aired on CBS on July 13, 1958). Then, an unusual watch leads him to find a lot of time on his hands in "The Thirty-Second of December" (originally aired on CBS on December 28, 1958). Finally, he's a bank teller with the inside track to steal $100,000 from a safe deposit box in "Death in Box 234" (originally aired on CBS on March 15, 1959). Plus, we'll hear Lovejoy in an episode of his own outstanding radio drama Night Beat - a show known as "The Football Player and the Syndicate" (originally aired on NBC on June 12, 1950).

Dec 24, 2024

Before we sign off for the year, it's time for our annual presentation of a classic Christmas film recreated for radio. This year, it's the holiday romantic comedy Remember the Night , recreated with original stars Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in a broadcast from The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on March 25, 1940).

Dec 23, 2024

Christmastime is here, and to celebrate I've got five Suspense seasonal stories that - in a departure from the usual fare on this podcast - all have happy endings! Eddie Cantor stars in a tale of clerical crime at Christmastime in "Double Entry" (originally aired on CBS on December 22, 1949), and Greer Garson joins a little girl in her long wait in "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1953). Jack Kruschen plans to rub out a rival gangster with an explosive Christmas gift in "A Present for Benny" (originally aired on CBS on December 13, 1955). A little girl wants a dog for Christmas and gets one in the strangest way possible in "Dog Star" (originally aired on CBS on December 22, 1957), and a soldier gives a buddy a ride to remember in "A Korean Christmas Carol" (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1959).

Dec 22, 2024

Herbert Marshall is back for Christmas! He stars in John Collier's tale of holly jolly homicide "Holiday Story" (originally aired on CBS on December 23, 1948), and he plays a naval officer whose fast thinking changes the course of history in "The Man Who Won the War" (originally aired on CBS on October 5, 1958). Plus, we'll hear him in an episode of his own radio spy adventure series The Man Called X . It's a holiday tale known as "From a Starlit Hill" (originally aired on NBC on December 23, 1950).

Dec 20, 2024

Best known as the kindly attorney who takes on Kris Kringle's case in Miracle on 34th Street , John Payne starred in crime dramas, westerns, and adventures on the big screen and as a TV gunslinger in The Restless Gun . We'll hear him as a small town police chief with a big-time mystery on his hands in Dashiell Hammett's "Two Sharp Knives" (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1945). Plus, he recreates his celebrated movie role as the Lux Radio Theatre presents "Miracle on 34th Street," also featuring Maureen O'Hara and Edmund Gwenn (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1948).

Dec 14, 2024

It's another TV-radio crossover as we hear four Suspense stars who also played murderers on the classic detective series Columbo : Anne Baxter ("Requiem for a Fallen Star") in "The Death of Barbara Allen" (originally aired on CBS on October 20, 1952); Richard Basehart ("Dagger of the Mind") in "The Perfectionist" (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1952); Jose Ferrer ("Mind Over Mayhem") in "The Pit and the Pendulum" (originally aired on CBS on November 27, 1947); and two-time Columbo guest star Ray Milland (killer in "The Greenhouse Jungle" and the victim's husband in "Death Lends a Hand") in "Chicken Feed" (originally aired on CBS on September 8, 1949) and "After the Movies" (originally aired on CBS on December 7, 1950).

Nov 25, 2024

Ruth Hussey picked up an Oscar nomination for her performance as a cyncial photographer in The Philadelphia Story , and she had a long career on the big and small screens, as well as on the Broadway stage. We'll hear as the wife of a pilot who's moments away from a catastrophe in the sky in "Firing Run" (AFRS rebroadcast from November 3, 1957). Plus, she recreates her Philadelphia Story role with many of her co-stars in a special "Victory Theatre" war bond fundraiser from The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1942).

Nov 16, 2024

Character actress Eve McVeagh was a regular presence on the Broadway stage, the big screen, and on TV for over five decades, and during her career she starred in everything from High Noon to Petticoat Junction . We'll hear her as a woman whose auction purchase comes loaded with trouble in "Going, Going, Gone" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1955) and as part of a film crew who discovers real-life outlaws in a western ghost town in "Hollywood Hostages" (originally aired on CBS on February 21, 1956). Plus, we'll hear her as one of history's most infamous poisoners in "The Seven-Layered Cake of Madame Lafarge" from Crime Classics (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1953).

Nov 12, 2024

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring the great James Mason. The smooth, polished star of Lolita , North by Northwest, and The Veil plays crooks, cops, and a man whose guilt or innocence may never be known for sure. We'll hear "Where There's a Will" (originally aired on CBS on February 24, 1949), "Banquo's Chair" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1950), "The Greatest Thief in the World" (originally aired on CBS on June 21, 1951), and "Odd Man Out" (originally aired on CBS on February 11, 1952).

Nov 10, 2024

Herbert Marshall returns to the podcast in two old time radio thrillers - a pair of shows where he plays a coward and a man unafraid of death who find their worldviews challenged in critical moments. He stars in an adaptation of Graham Greene's "The Man Within" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1953) and in "Action" (originally aired on CBS on October 5, 1953). Plus, we'll hear him as globe-trotting secret agent Ken Thurston, aka The Man Called X (originally aired on NBC on May 4, 1951).

Oct 30, 2024

Just in time for trick-or-treating, here are my picks for the scariest stories to ever air on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Orson Welles takes a long drive with an uninvited guest in "The Hitch-hiker" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1942), and Robert Taylor soon regrets moving into "The House in Cypress Canyon" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946). Ralph Edwards goes on a "Ghost Hunt" (originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1949) and Cary Grant picks a bad spot to run out of gas in "On a Country Road" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950). Finally, Vincent Price faces off against an army of rats in "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956).

Oct 28, 2024

With Halloween right around the corner, I'm sharing some classic episodes of Suspense featuring some of the biggest stars of classic Hollywood horror: Peter Lorre in "Till Death Do Us Part" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1942); Bela Lugosi in "The Doctor Prescribed Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1943); Boris Karloff in "Drury's Bones" (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1945); Claude Rains and Vincent Price in "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948); and Price again in "The Pit and the Pendulum" (originally aired on CBS on November 19, 1957).

Oct 26, 2024

Best known as the "Control Voice" that opened each episode of The Outer Limits , Vic Perrin was all over the dial during the golden age of radio. He was a regular resident of Dodge City on Gunsmoke , he frequently encountered Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet , and he co-starred with Raymond Burr on Fort Laramie . We'll hear him as a reporter who has a rendezvous with a killer in "The Lady in the Red Hat" (originally aired on CBS on August 30, 1955). Then, he's a trapeze artist with love and murder on his mind in "Gallardo" (originally aired on CBS on March 20, 1956). And he's a postmaster who has to intercept a time-bomb sent through the mail in "Fragile - Contents Death" (originally aired on CBS on May 22, 1956). Plus, we'll hear him in "Sergeant Gorse's Baby," an episode of Fort Laramie (originally aired on CBS on May 29, 1956).

Oct 18, 2024

Character actor John McIntire - who rode the range on Wagon Train and the mean streets of the city in a squad car on Naked City - returns to the podcast for his third starring appearance. McIntire plays a car enthusiast who takes his antique on a 500 mile tour in "The Big Day" (originally aired on CBS on May 26, 1957) and a convict who's crafted a seemingly perfect plan to escape from prison in "Rain Tonight" (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1958). Plus, he's the host and emcee of "Report on E.S.P." - a docudrama from The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1956).

Oct 13, 2024

Eva Le Gallienne was a legend of the American stage - not only for her performances on Broadway but for her support of the development of off-Broadway and regional theatrical companies across the country. She made only one appearance on Suspense in "Phobia" (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1947), where she played a wealthy wheelchair-bound woman with a fear of metal, a kleptomaniac sister, and a corpse in the house. Then she plays one of theatre's richest and most complex villainesses as Lady MacBeth in "MacBeth" from Great Plays (originally aired on NBC on July 12, 1953).

Oct 3, 2024

June Havoc - actress, singer, and younger sister of Gypsy Rose Lee - returns to the podcast in a sixty-minute adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's "The Black Angel" (originally aired on CBS on January 24, 1948). She plays a woman who plays detective to clear her husband of murder, only to get close to the man who may be the real killer. Then, she recreates one of her big screen roles opposite George Raft in a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of "Intrigue" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1948).

Sep 12, 2024

We'll turn on the TV this week with three radio thrillers featuring future television stars. Before he was Bart Maverick, Jack Kelly led the frantic search for a deadly snake on a boat in "A Shipment of Mute Fate" (originally aired on CBS on January 6, 1957). Beloved TV mom June Lockhart of Lassie and Lost in Space is an actress who's had enough poor treatment at the hands of a producer in "Shooting Star" (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1957). And Richard Anderson, who'd later give orders to the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, plays an inexperienced cavalry officer who's too eager for action in "Command" (originally aired on CBS on September 14, 1958).

Sep 6, 2024

To the Batcave! In this bonus episode, we'll hear five Suspense stars who played Gotham City bad guys opposite Adam West and Burt Ward on Batman . We'll hear Vincent Price (Egghead) and Ida Lupino (Dr. Cassandra Spellcraft) in "Fugue in C Minor" (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944), Roddy McDowall (Bookworm) in "One Way Street" (originally aired on CBS on January 23, 1947), Anne Baxter (Zelda the Great, and Olga, Queen of the Cossacks) in "Always Room at the Top" (originally aired on CBS on February 20, 1947), Van Johnson (The Minstrel) in "The Defense Rests" (originally aired on CBS on October 6, 1949), and Milton Berle (Louie the Lilac) in "Rave Notice" (originally aired on CBS on October 25, 1950).

Sep 5, 2024

John Dickson Carr - one of the giants of the golden age of mystery fiction - penned dozens of scripts in the early years of Suspense with stories ranging from historical crime drama to international espionage to good old fashioned murders. We'll hear a tale of spies and sorcery in "The Lord of the Witch Doctors" (originally aired on CBS on October 27, 1942) and of a sabotage plot exposed in Madame Toussaud's in "Menace in Wax" (originally aired on CBS on November 17, 1942). Carr takes us back to London in the early 1800s when you could earn a living robbing graves in "The Body Snatchers" (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1942), and an Italian honeymoon could turn into a funeral in "The Bride Vanishes" (originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1942).

Aug 23, 2024

In this bonus episode, we salute some of the singers who stepped up to the Suspense microphone and traded trills for thrills. Lena Horne is caught up in wartime espionage in "You Were Wonderful" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1944), and Frank Sinatra is the handyman from hell in "To Find Help" (AFRS rebroadcast from January 18, 1945). Ezio Pinza is an opera singer who leaves them dead in the aisles in "Aria from Murder" (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1951), and Dinah Shore sings and stars in the tale of "Frankie and Johnny" (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1952). Rosemary Clooney headlines a bloody tale of the Roaring Twenties in "St. James Infirmary Blues" (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1953) and Ethel Merman is a cabaret singer who takes the wrong newcomer under her wing in "Never Follow a Banjo Act" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1954). Finally, Margaret Whiting is a sharp dressed woman with murder on her mind in "The Well-Dressed Corpse" (AFRS rebroadcast from October 13, 1957).

Aug 22, 2024

Best known to radio fans as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve's on again/off again fiancee, Shirley Mitchell had a long career on the air and the big and small screens. We'll hear her meet a man and his knife in "Blind Date" (originally aired on CBS on November 18, 1954). Plus, she's Leila Ransom opposite Harold Peary in The Great Gildersleeve (originally aired on NBC on September 26, 1943).

Aug 16, 2024

The great character actor John Dehner signs off with his final starring role on Suspense . He plays a husband and father who tries to keep his family safe after an armed fugitive breaks into their home in "Strange for a Killer" (originally aired on CBS on September 6, 1955). Plus, we'll hear him as the narrator in one of the best (and scariest) Suspense episodes - "Zero Hour" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1955). We'll also hear Dehner in his two signature western radio roles: the Frontier Gentleman ("Aces and Eights" - originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1958) and Paladin in the radio version of Have Gun, Will Travel ("Strange Vendetta" - originally aired on CBS on November 23, 1958).

Aug 14, 2024

Happy Birthday, Hitch! This month, we celebrate the birthday of the big screen master of suspense with the audition recording for The Alfred Hitchcock Show - a series that would have featured the director as narrator of thrillers and chillers. Joseph Kearns stars in an adaptation of "Malice Aforethought," hosted and narrated by Alfred Hitchcock.

Aug 8, 2024

A busy character actor on the big and small screens, Sam Edwards was also a versatile radio performer. Even in his 30s, he could still play teens - to comedic effect on Meet Corliss Archer or in dramas like Gunsmoke and Dragnet . But he was also effective at playing adults in shows all around the dial, including Suspense . We'll hear him as man on the run, accused of murder and without shoes, in "Too Hot to Live" (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1954). Then, he stars in a tense tale of Russian roulette - "The Game" (AFRS rebroadcast from March 15, 1955). Finally, Edwards plays a jealous man who plots revenge against his boss and the woman they both love in "This Will Kill You" (originally aired on CBS on November 29, 1955).

Aug 3, 2024

Radio, TV, and big screen star Frank Lovejoy returns to the podcast in a trio of stories that show off his talents as well as the variety of tales that Suspense could tell. First, he's a human guinea pig (and co-stars with his wife, Joan Banks) in an experiment to expand his senses in "Man from Tomorrow" (AFRS rebroadcast from September 1, 1957). Next, Mr. and Mrs. Lovejoy star in the story of a bookkeeper who owes a pile of money to his bookie - "Win, Place, or Die" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 13, 1958), and he tries to save the woman he loves from a forced marriage in "Affair at Aden" (AFRS rebroadcast from September 28, 1958). Plus, we'll hear Lovejoy in his own radio series as Chicago reporter Randy Stone in "The City at Your Fingertips" from Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on July 31, 1950).

Jul 25, 2024

Vivi Janiss was one of the radio era's most versatile and talented actresses, and she lent her voice to roles in comedies, westerns, thrillers, and everything in between. We'll hear her on a long car ride with her husband and an armed fugitive in "Backseat Driver" (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1955), and she plays the wife of a man about to be executed in "Waiting" (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1956). Plus, she appears in a dual role as a pair of twin sisters at the center of a mystery in "The Dancing Hands" from The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (originally aired on CBS on March 19, 1949).

Jul 19, 2024

We bid a fond farewell to actor, director, and occasional Suspense host Robert Montgomery. In addition to acting as emcee and narrator, Montgomery plays a man who may (or may not) be the homicidal maniac stalking the streets of London in "The Lodger" (originally aired on CBS on February 14, 1948). Plus, he recreates his big screen role of Philip Marlowe in "Lady in the Lake" from The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1948).

Jul 11, 2024

Character Walter Abel began his career in Eugene O'Neill stage dramas in the 1920s and he worked steadily on the big and small screens all the way through the 1980s. We'll hear him as a bank employee who wants to add some fun - and some ill-gotten gains - to his life in "Quiet Desperation" (originally aired on CBS on August 7, 1947). Plus, he co-stars in a radio version of "Double Indemnity" from The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on March 5, 1945) and "I Spy Sister Sarri," a drama from Theatre 5 (originally aired on ABC on July 27, 1965).

Jul 4, 2024

We bid goodbye to the "First Lady of Suspense " as Agnes Moorehead stars in three old time radio thrillers. First, she plays a high school teacher who tries to save her student from a grisly end behind the wheel of a hot rod in "The Empty Chair" (originally aired on CBS on September 21, 1953). Then, Ms. Moorehead plays a mother who's a little too close to her adult son and who grows very upset when he introduces her to his fiancee in "Don't Call Me Mother" (originally aired on CBS on January 4, 1959). And - in the final episode of Suspense produced in Hollywood - she plays a patient who plans to end her relationship with her psychiatrist with a bullet in "Headshrinker" (originally aired on CBS on August 23, 1959).

Jul 1, 2024

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows from the 18 appearances Joseph Cotten made on the program. The star of Shadow of a Doubt and The Third Man plays both heroes and villains across these six episodes. First, he's searching for his missing wife in "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on CBS on September 14, 1944), and he's hunted by J. Carrol Naish in "The Most Dangerous Game" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1945). After an impulsive murder, Cotten has to reverse engineer an alibi in "Crime Without Passion" (originally aired on CBS on May 2, 1946), and he's haunted by a corpse no one else can see in "The Thing in the Window" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1946). A case of mistaken identity and a long-suffering wife have Cotten in the vise in "The Day I Died" (originally aired on June 30, 1949), and he's got to clear his name after he confesses to a murder he didn't commit in "Fly By Night" (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1950).

Jun 27, 2024

As a contract player for Warner Brothers and Fox, Mark Stevens starred in film noir and dramas alongside the likes of Lucille Ball and Richard Widmark. But even though he was hailed as one of the most promising new stars of Hollywood, his career never really took off. We'll hear Stevens in his one and only appearance on Suspense ; he plays a man who walks into the wrong house and into a murder in "Tree of Life" (originally aired on CBS on January 2, 1947). Plus, he recreates one of his screen roles as The Lux Radio Theatre presents The Dark Corner (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1947).

Jun 24, 2024

Suspense takes some rare trips into the otherworldly realms of science fiction in this bonus episode. John McIntire is a mad scientist with an equally mad experiment in "Donovan's Brain" (originally aired on CBS on Februay 7, 1948), and Jack Benny is a one-man welcoming committee on Mars in "Plan X" (originally aired aired on CBS on February 2, 1953). Two Ray Bradbury stories come to radio life in "Zero Hour" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1955) and "Kaleidoscope" (originally aired on CBS on July 12, 1955). A test pilot returns with a warning from space in "The Outer Limit" (originally aired on CBS on March 17, 1957), and an average Joe has to convince aliens not to destroy Earth in "You Died Last Night" (originally aired on CBS on April 1, 1962).

May 30, 2024

Helen Walker's Hollywood career was short and marked by an offscreen tragedy, but she made memorable appearances in comedies and dramas opposite co-stars like Fred MacMurray and Tyrone Power. We'll hear her opposite John Beal in "Deadline at Dawn" - the final hour-long episode of Suspense (originally aired on CBS on May 15, 1948). Then she reprises her big screen role as The Old Gold Comedy Theatre presents Brewster's Millions (originally aired on NBC on March 25, 1945).

May 28, 2024

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring Gene Kelly. The star of Singin' in the Rain doesn't sing or dance, but instead he shows off his dramatic chops in three radio thrillers. First, he's stalked on the highway in "Death Went Along For the Ride" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1944), and then he's a man whose sudden lucky streak just may help him get away with murder in "The Man Who Couldn't Lose" (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1944). And finally, he's a deranged man who menaces an old woman who made the mistake of hiring him as a handyman in "To Find Help" (originally aired on CBS on January 6, 1949).

May 26, 2024

Before he was Rambo's commanding officer, Richard Crenna was a squeaky-voiced teenager on radio in Our Miss Brooks and A Date with Judy . His career began on the air and stretched into the early 2000s, and it included an Emmy win and starring roles on multiple TV shows. We'll hear him in a pair of radio thrillers: first, he's a young crook whose life of crime finally catches up with him in "The Prophecy of Bertha Abbott" (originally aired on CBS on October 16, 1956). Then, he's a man whose past life is about to catch up with him in "Night on Red Mountain" (originally aired on September 15, 1957). Plus, Crenna plays Walter Denton in "Stretch and Walter's Grudge Match" from Our Miss Brooks (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1949).

May 16, 2024

Norman Lloyd began his career on stage with Orson Welles and on screen under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock. He went on to TV stardom in the 1980s on St. Elsewhere and made his final screen appearance in 2015 at the age of 100. We'll hear Mr. Lloyd as a tyrannical radio producer in "Fury and Sound" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 26, 1945). Plus, he co-stars with Herbert Marshall as a client who finally pushes Marshall's lawyer too far in "My Own Murderer" (originally aired on CBS on May 24, 1945). Finally, Lloyd narrates the true story of survival "Nine Men Against the Arctic" from The Cavalcade of America (originally aired on NBC on August 2, 1943).

May 9, 2024

Herbert Marshall puts his English accent to great use in this pair of radio thrillers - two of the twenty-one appearances he logged on Suspense . First, he's the crown prosecutor out to convict a wily wife killer in "Murder by Jury" (originally aired on CBS on February 22, 1954). Then, he's in a battle of wits against a German saboteur in an open boat in "Flood on the Goodwins" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 14, 1957). Plus, we'll hear Marshall as international man of mystery Ken Thurston in The Man Called X (originally aired on NBC on February 26, 1952).

May 2, 2024

Possessing one of the all-time great voices of the radio era, Hans Conried was equally effective in comedies and dramas as characters both old and young from all parts of the world. We'll hear him as the king's executioner in "The Groom of the Ladder" (originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1956), a refugee looking for a new life in America in "Freedom This Way" (originally aired on CBS on January 27, 1957), and as a black marketeer trying to stay out of sight of the Nazis in "Crossing Paris" (originally aired on CBS on June 2, 1957). Plus, Conried plays a traveling actor with a deadly past in "Shakespeare" from Gunsmoke (originally aired on CBS on August 23, 1952).

Apr 22, 2024

John Lund joins our five-timer's club as he makes his final four appearances on Suspense . First, he's a Marine who may have discovered paradise in the middle of the war in the Pacific in "The Island" (originally aired on CBS on January 12, 1958). Then he's a gambler who bets too much on his own system in "Winner Lose All" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1958). A bank robber gone straight is caught on the scene when his old gang stages a hold-up in "For Old Time's Sake" (AFRS rebroadcast from December 14, 1958), and he's a reporter trapped in the middle of a prison riot in "Eyewitness" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 12, 1959). Plus, we'll hear him as Johnny Dollar in "The Walter Patterson Matter" (originally aired on CBS on December 26, 1952).

Apr 6, 2024

Though she never found the fame of her sister Margaret, Barbara Whiting had a run in Hollywood as a Fox contract player. We'll hear her in "The Rim of Terror" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1956) as a woman who picks up a hitchhiking defector and in "One Way Trip," a story from Romance (originally aired on CBS on December 17, 1955). Plus, she reprises her breakout big screen role in Junior Miss on Hollywood Star Time (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1946).

Mar 27, 2024

We've got two stars for the price of one in each of these Suspense shows! For this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite installments of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" that featured a pair of big name stars at the microphone. J. Carrol Naish and Joseph Cotten are hunter and hunted in "The Most Dangerous Game" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1945) and Hume Cronyn and Keenan Wynn hope a big bet will bail them out of trouble in "Double Entry" (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1945). Vincent Price joins Lloyd Nolan on a "Hunting Trip" (originally aired on CBS on September 12, 1946) and walks the streets of London with Claude Rains in "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948). Finally, Fibber McGee and Molly are joined by an armed and unwelcome passenger in "Backseat Driver" (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1949), and Phil Harris and Alice Faye try to escape a small town's harsh justice in "Death on My Hands" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1951).

Mar 24, 2024

Virginia Gregg was one of the radio era's busiest and best performers. The versatile and talented actress could be heard on everything from detective dramas to westerns, often playing multiple characters in the same episode. We'll hear her as a woman held captive by a maniac in "Goodnight, Mrs. Russell" (originally aired on CBS on August 3, 1954) and as half of a murderous pair of newlyweds in "When the Bough Breaks" (originally aired on CBS on December 6, 1955). Plus, we'll hear her in a thriller from the typewriter of the great Arch Oboler - "Come to the Bank With Me" (originally aired on NBC on October 31, 1964).

Mar 16, 2024

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we've got a line-up of Irish-American stars making appearances on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Maureen O'Hara is an amateur sleuth hunting a killer in "The White Rose Murders" (originally aired on CBS on July 6, 1943) and Thomas Mitchell is a railroad magnate plagued by nightmares in "Case History of Edgar Lowndes" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1944). Edmond O'Brien plays a reporter chasing a story worth killing for in "The Argyle Album" (originally aired on CBS on September 4, 1947) and James Cagney takes a deadly trip behind the wheel in "No Escape" (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1948). Pat O'Brien is a cop who finds a suspect close to home in "True Report" (originally aired on CBS on August 31, 1950) and Dennis Day is a beatnik - you read that right - in "Like Man, Somebody Dig Me" (AFRS rebroadcast from August 16, 1959).

Mar 7, 2024

We bid farewell to Joseph Cotten - an institution on Suspense . The star of The Third Man made 18 appearances on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," and we'll hear his final shows, including an adaptation of Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1957). In his last starring role on Suspense , Cotten plays a man trying to save one of his former soldiers from prisons both mental and physical in "Red Cloud Mesa" (originally aired on CBS on August 2, 1959). Plus, he recreates his role from Shadow of a Doubt on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on September 11, 1946) and he pinch hits as a secret agent in The Man Called X (originally aired on NBC on July 6, 1951).

Mar 1, 2024

Though never considered a bankable star by the studios, Martha Scott worked steadily on the big and small screens for fifty years. She earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in the film version of Our Town and she set baby Moses in the basket in The Ten Commandments . She stars in a very odd episode of Suspense as a mother who experiences a frightening vision of her child's future in "Crisis" (originally aired on CBS on August 19, 1948). Plus she recreates one of her film roles in "Cheers for Miss Bishop" on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on March 17, 1941).

Feb 28, 2024

For this bonus episode, we're saddling up with the best Suspense stories of the old west. Alan Ladd hunts for his brother's murderer in "A Killing in Abilene" (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950). Then, Richard Widmark fights a bloody feud in "The Hunting of Bob Lee" (originally aired on CBS on October 29, 1951) and he tracks a deadly panther through the snow in "The Track of the Cat" (originally aired on CBS on February 18, 1952). Frank Lovejoy stars as one of the west's most infamous gunslingers in "The Shooting of Billy the Kid" (originally aired on CBS on April 28, 1952) and Richard Widmark returns - this time as another notorious outlaw - in "The Spencer Brothers" (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1953). Finally, Victor Mature stars as a legendary bandit in "The Love and Death of Joaquin Murietta" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1953).

Feb 23, 2024

Whether he was keeping the peace in Dodge City or playing a villain on Suspense , William Conrad was one of radio's all-time greatest performers. We'll hear the man with one of Hollywood's best voices in three old time radio thrillers. First, he's a hired killer whose plans never quite pan out in "A Matter of Timing" (originally aired on CBS on June 12, 1956). Then, he's on a cross-country drive that gets detoured when he and his friend are wrongfully accused of murder in "Two for the Road" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1958). Finally, Conrad narrates a tense tale of an effort to fix an active atomic bomb at a test site in "Misfire" (AFRS rebroadcast from November 30, 1958). And as a bonus, we'll hear him in his signature radio role as Matt Dillon in "The Buffalo Hunter" from Gunsmoke (originally aired on CBS on May 9, 1953).

Feb 14, 2024

In this bonus podcast episode, a collection of characters makes the St. Valentine's Day massacre look like a picnic. We'll hear five Suspense stories about romances gone wrong with husbands and wives at each other's throats. Peter Lorre plots to get rid of an unfaithful wife in "Till Death Do Us Part" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1942), and even though his wife isn't real, Edward G. Robinson still winds up accused of her murder in "My Wife Geraldine" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1945). Robert Young's wife vanishes into the night in "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946) and Kirk Douglas plans to bump off his wife instead of sharing an inheritance in "Community Property" (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1947). Finally, Joan Fontaine is a Mrs. planning to do away with her Mr. in "The Lovebirds" (originally aired on CBS on March 3, 1949).

Feb 9, 2024

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite installments of Suspense starring Oscar-winner Van Heflin. First, he's an executive with a murderous plan to climb the corporate ladder in "Three Blind Mice" (originally aired on CBS on January 30, 1947) and he's a man caught by his own trap for his unfaithful wife in "Three O'Clock" (originally aired on CBS on March 10, 1949). Heflin plays a hitchhiker who plots to take the place of the man who gives him a lift in "Murder of Aunt Delia" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1949) and he plays a reporter invited to a midnight meeting with a serial killer in "The Lady in the Red Hat" (originally aired on CBS on November 30, 1950). Finally, Heflin stars as America's first Public Enemy Number One in "The Last Days of John Dillinger" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1954).

Feb 8, 2024

Parley Baer may be best known to old time radio fans for his many years in Dodge City as Deputy Chester Proudfoot on Gunsmoke , but he lent his voice to hundreds of radio shows across nearly every genre on the air. We'll hear him in a Suspense western as a man hunting his brother's murderer in "A Killing in Abilene" (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1955). Then, he's a husband planning a deadly summer getaway for his wife in "Variations on a Theme" (originally aired on CBS on February 7, 1956). Finally, we'll hear Baer in his signature radio role in "Westbound" from Gunsmoke (originally aired on CBS on January 3, 1953).

Jan 20, 2024

Dan Dailey shed his musical comedy persona for his two appearances on Suspense . The Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner starred as a pair of men caught in deadly love triangles, First, he's a carnival performer who spends his days buried alive in a glass coffin while his wife and his barker get closer in "Six Feet Under" (originally aired on CBS on April 13, 1950). Then, he boards a chartered fishing boat only to discover his wife and the captain have plans for a surprise burial at sea in "Over the Bounding Main" (originally aired on CBS on September 14, 1950).

Jan 11, 2024

In addition to being an amazing actress, Lillian Gish pioneered the craft of film acting - the more nuanced performance choices that a camera could capture vs. the broad techniques designed to reach the back of a theatre. Her career stretched from the silent era all the way to the late 1980s, and along the way she starred in films made by D.W. Griffith and stared down Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter . We'll hear her in "Marry for Murder" (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1943). Then, we'll hear her as a guest panelist in two episodes of Information Please (a partial recording of an episode from October 25, 1938 and another show from July 4, 1939).

Dec 24, 2023

We close out 2023 with a break from radio thrillers. Instead, it's our annual showcase of a classic Christmas film recreated for radio. This year, it's one of the best as James Stewart and Donna read recreate their roles as George and Mary Bailey in a Lux Radio Theatre recreation of It's a Wonderful Life (originally aired on CBS on March 10, 1947).

Dec 22, 2023

Jack Kruschen earned an Oscar nod for his performance as Jack Lemmon's kindly and concerned neighbor in The Apartment , but before that he was a busy and very versatile radio performer. With a knack for accents and dialects, it wasn't uncommon for Kruschen to play multiple roles in the same thirty minutes. We'll hear him as a gangster who prepares an explosive Christmas gift for a rival in "A Present for Benny" (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1955). Then, he's a nightclub mind reader who tries to use his powers to find the man who killed his wife in "With Murder in Mind" (originally aired on CBS on June 24, 1962). Plus, as a holiday bonus, we'll hear an adaptation of "Back for Christmas" from Escape (originally aired on CBS on December 24, 1947).

Dec 20, 2023

We're back! And with Christmas right around the corner, I'm sharing my favorite holiday stories from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Peter Lorre has a killer idea for a present for his wife in "Back for Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 23, 1943) and Dennis Day turns to crime on Christmas Eve to save his family in "Christmas for Carol" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1950). Two boys share a Christmas adventure when they explore "The Cave" (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1955), and Raymond Burr is a Santa Claus looking for revenge on the man who sent him to prison in "Out for Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1958). Finally, a ghost is on the scene to help an ex-con keep a Christmas promise to a dying man in "Yuletide Miracle" (originally aired on CBS on December 17, 1961).

Nov 30, 2023

Frank Lovejoy joins our five-timer's club and flies the unfriendly skies in a pair of thrillers involving pilots and their dangerous flight plants. First, he's overseeing the first flight of an experimental plane whose pilot returns with a warning from beyond the stars in "The Outer Limit" (originally aired on CBS on March 17, 1957). Then, Lovejoy plays a pilot who commits a cross-country murder and plans a perfect alibi with a fast flight home in "Jet Stream" (originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1957). Finally, we'll hear him in an outing from Escape where he's offered a fortune in exchange for a murder in "A Letter from Jason" (originally aired on CBS on November 29, 1949). Note: Still no intro - fingers crossed I'll be back on the air next time!

Nov 22, 2023

Alan Baxter made a name for himself playing dangerous characters on screen - moody men on the wrong side of the law. He turned to television as film roles dried up in the postwar years, and he was busy on the small screen up through the 1970s. In his one and only visit to Suspense , Baxter played a bank teller with an elaborate plan to get away with robbery in "Money Talks" (originally aired on CBS on July 3, 1947). We'll also hear Mr. Baxter in two more thrillers: "Make No Mistake" from The Mollé Mystery Theatre (originally aired on NBC on April 30, 1948) and "Law of the Jungle" from the syndicated series Crime Does Not Pay . Note: No intro this week; allergy season claimed my voice again but hopefully I'll be back soon!

Nov 16, 2023

Veteran character actor John McIntire is back in the spotlight in two episodes of Suspense . First, he's a promising poet who suddenly becomes a killer in the sixty-minute production of "House by the River" (originally aired on CBS on February 28, 1948). Then, McIntire is a father desperate to keep his son out of an institution in "John Barbie and Son" (AFRS rebroadcast, originally aired on CBS on March 29, 1959).

Nov 9, 2023

It's a radio short story collection with four tales from the great Ray Bradbury - including one of his terrifying tales that became one of the scariest episodes of Suspense . Agnes Moorehead stars in "The Whole Town's Sleeping" (originally aired on CBS on August 31, 1958). Next, Richard Widmark stars in Bradbury's crime drama "Killer, Come Back to Me" from The Mollé Mystery Theatre (originally aired on NBC on May 17, 1946). Nelson Olmstead reads Bradbury's "The Night" (originally aired on NBC on August 20, 1947), and Radio City Playhouse presents "The Lake" (originally aired on NBC on October 16, 1949). Plus - after "The Lake," an adaptation of Roald Dahl's suspenseful classic "Man from the South" - presented on Radio City Playhouse as "Collector's Item."

Nov 2, 2023

Antony Ellis wrote and starred in episodes of Suspense before he became the show's director. From 1954 to 1958, Ellis had the reins of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" and steered the program into the realm of science fiction with adaptations of stories by Ray Bradbury as well as his own stories of fantasy and horror. We'll hear him starring in "Telling," the story of a man desperate to confess to murder (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1954). Then, he's writer, producer, and director of "I Saw Myself Running," a surreal thriller about a woman haunted by nightmares even when she's awake (originally aired on CBS on May 24, 1955). Finally, we'll hear an episode of Frontier Gentleman - Ellis' outstanding drama about an English newspaper reporter covering the wild west. John Dehner stars as J.B. Kendall in "Aces and Eights" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1958).

Oct 29, 2023

It's been a crazy month, and the Halloween Haunts countdown of bonus episodes suffered as a result. To make it up to you after a lengthy delay, I'm sharing a trilogy of terror - three scary old time radio shows to enjoy in the days before Halloween. First, Frank Lovejoy learns about the consequences of defying a voodoo curse in "Papa Benjamin," a Cornell Woolrich adapted for Escape (originally aired on CBS on January 24, 1948). Next, Peter Lorre stars in "The Black Cat," Edgar Allan Poe's tale of cruelty, rage, and a killer undone by the strangest of circumstances from Mystery in the Air (originally aired on NBC on September 18, 1947). Finally, Ida Lupino and Vincent Price co-star in Lucille Fletcher's Victorian era horror story "Fugue in C-Minor" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944).

Oct 12, 2023

Paula Winslowe, aka the long-suffering Mrs. Riley on The Life of Riley , returns to the podcast in two more radio thrillers. First, she's in a frantic race against the clock to find a woman in danger in "The Death Parade" (originally aired on CBS on May 15, 1956). Then, she's a florist who may be the only person who can identify a murderer in "The Twelfth Rose" (originally aired on CBS on June 5, 1956). Plus, we'll hear Ms. Winslowe and William Bendix in a baking contest on The Life of Riley (originally aired on NBC on October 27, 1950).

Oct 8, 2023

Our annual countdown to Halloween kicks off with one of the biggest names in Hollywood horror. Boris Karloff plays a scientist who thinks he can bring the dead back to life, and he wants to test his theories on his late wife. Lurene Tuttle co-stars in "Death Robbery," a chilling tale from Lights Out (originally aired on ABC on July 16, 1947).

Oct 7, 2023

British actor Ben Wright's natural voice made him a perfect fit for characters like Sherlock Holmes and Scotland Yard men, but his affinity for accents and dialects allowed him to play all sorts of parts - sometimes even multiple characters in the same radio episode. We'll hear him as a wounded man on the run in a radio adaptation of the classic film Odd Man Out (originally aired on CBS on December 30, 1954) and as a detective investigating a murder in a coal mine in "The Cave-In" (originally aired on CBS on July 5, 1955). Plus, Wright shows off his versatility by playing two roles in "The Englishman" from Have Gun, Will Travel (originally aired on CBS on January 11, 1959).

Sep 29, 2023

Big screen tough guy Sheldon Leonard went from cutting a menacing figure in To Have and Have Not and It's a Wonderful Life to producing classic TV sitcoms like The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show . In three old time radio thrillers, he'll show off his acting chops, first as a hired killer who's looking for a friend in "Feast of the Furies" (originally aired on CBS on July 11, 1946). We'll also hear him co-starring with Rosalind Russell in "When the Bough Breaks" (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1951) and Jack Benny in "The Face is Familiar" (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1954). Plus he shows off his lighter side as a proud papa of a safecracker in "Butch Minds the Baby" from The Damon Runyon Theatre .

Sep 21, 2023

Cathy and Elliott Lewis were two of the busiest - and best - performers of the radio era. Both could get laughs (Cathy on My Friend Irma and Elliott on The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show ) and could be heard on mysteries, including "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Cathy co-starred in several of the show's best episodes, and Elliott directed the program during some of its most innovative years. We'll hear the couple starring together in the story of a comedian who turns to murder in order to be taken seriously in "Joker Wild" (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1952) and in the tale of a man who picks up a hitch-hiker and ends up on a dangerous drive in "Run, Sheep, Run" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 13, 1954). Plus, the Lewises co-star in "Statement of Fact," a thriller from their own anthology show On Stage (originally aired on CBS on May 14, 1953).

Sep 14, 2023

His star in Hollywood didn't burn bright for long, but Zachary Scott made memorable impressions as mysterious villains in movies like Mildred Pierce . In his one and only appearance on Suspense , Scott plays a man accused of bumping off an annoying neighbor in "Murder Off Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 15, 1945). Plus, he stars as the infamous Dr. Samuel Mudd - the man who treated John Wilkes Booth when the assassin was on the lam and later stood trial as a co-conspirator - in "The Prisoner of Shark Island" from Encore Theatre (originally aired on CBS on August 13, 1946).

Sep 10, 2023

Joseph Kearns - the longtime voice of "The Man in Black" - makes his final starring appearance on Suspense as a trigger-happy store owner who learns a tragic lesson in vigilante justice in "Hold-Up" (originally aired on CBS on August 29, 1956). Then, he stars in a pair of thrillers from The Whistler - "Final Returns" (originally aired on CBS on October 29, 1945) and "Murder in Haste" (originally aired on CBS on February 25, 1946).

Sep 2, 2023

In this bonus show, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring Robert Young. Before he made rounds as kindly old Marcus Welby or showed how Father Knows Best , Young made several memorable appearances on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, he's tormented by dreams of one of history's most infamous duels in "A Friend to Alexander" (originally aired on CBS on August 3, 1943). Next, he's an arson investigator who finds a firebug close to home in "The Night Reveals" (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1943). Finally, he's on a frantic search for his missing wife in "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946).

Aug 31, 2023

Whitfield Connor broke out on the Broadway stage in the 1940s, and he returned to the theatre in the 1960s as a manager and producer. In between, he made two starring turns on Suspense . First, he's an editor who finds a perfect murder plot in a manuscript in "Sequel to Murder" (originally aired on CBS on June 22, 1954). Then he's a prosecutor investigating a death that could be a heart attack or murder in "The Thimble" (originally aired on CBS on November 22, 1959). Plus, we'll hear him face off with Jack Webb in "The Big Try" from Dragnet (originally aired on NBC on September 29, 1953).

Aug 24, 2023

Lucille Fletcher penned some of the best old time radio thrillers of all time - stories that can still keep listeners on the edge of their seats over eighty years later. She wrote "Sorry, Wrong Number," "The Hitch-hiker," and many more episodes that rank among the best of Suspense . We'll hear Mildred Natwick starring in a tale of a boarding house with a ghostly new tenant in "The Furnished Floor" (originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1945). Then, a woman is convinced her mother's killer has escaped prison and is out to kill her next in "The Night Man" (originally aired on CBS on October 23, 1960). Plus, we'll hear some of her non- Suspense shows: "Carmilla," an adaptation of a pre- Dracula vampire tale from The Columbia Workshop (originally aired on CBS on July 28, 1940), and "Bela Boczniak's Bad Dreams," a story of a man haunted by nightmares in his waking life from The Clock (originally aired on ABC on April 25, 1948).

Aug 23, 2023

It's our annual (belated) birthday tribute to the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. This year, it's a double feature of Hitchcock pictures recreated for radio. Joseph Cotten stars in adaptations of Foreign Correspondent and Shadow of a Doubt from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 24 and September 11, 1946).

Aug 10, 2023

For the 350th episode of Stars of Suspense, we'll hear a recreation of the film noir classic Crossfire for "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" with its original stars Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, and Robert Ryan. A man is murdered, and a homicide detective and an Army sergeant conduct parallel investigations to figure out whodunnit. This sixty-minute adaptation originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1948.

Aug 7, 2023

The "First Lady of Suspense " is back, and she becomes the inaugural member of our "ten-timer's club." We'll hear her as an artist haunted by the same gruesome image in "Death and Miss Turner" (originally aired on CBS on May 19, 1957). Then she's a woman plagued by a sinister unseen force in an adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" (originally aired on CBS on June 30, 1957). And finally, she selects the wrong recipient for a chain letter - with deadly results - in "The Chain" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1958).

Aug 4, 2023

NOTE: Due to some technical issues, this episode meant for July 28th isn't being uploaded until today. Sorry for the delay! In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring Academy Award-winner Charles Laughton. One of the most frequent guests on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," Laughton made ten visits to the program and his appearances rank among some of the series' best. First, he co-stars with his wife Elsa Lanchester in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's "The ABC Murders" (originally aired on CBS on May 18, 1943). Next, in "Wet Saturday," he's a wealthy patriarch whose weekend is ruined when his daughter bashes her ex-lover's head in (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1943). Laughton meets a man who may have invented a way to get away with murder in "The Man Who Knew How" (originally aired on CBS on August 10, 1944) and he plays one of history's most notorious killers in "Neil Cream, Doctor of Poison" (originally aired on CBS on September 17, 1951).

Jul 28, 2023

In this special bonus show, we salute the late, great Tony Bennett with one of the legendary crooner's old time radio appearances. In this May 9, 1954 episode of Guest Star , Bennett promotes savings bonds and sings "Cheek to Cheek" and Hank Williams' "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight."

Jul 28, 2023

Stage star, screen actor, and train imitator - no, really - Reginald Gardiner was an in-demand comedy star in the 1940s. He appeared alongside Charlie Chaplin and Barbara Stanwyck, and he memorably impersonated train engines for a royal audience at Buckingham Palace. We'll hear him in a murder mystery on an ocean liner with Olivia de Havilland in "Voyage Through Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on September 7, 1944). Then, he's haunted by music and plagued by deadly delusions of grandeur in "The Merry Widower" (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1944). Plus, Gardiner plays a debonair detective in the audition recording for the comedy-mystery The Gentleman .

Jul 20, 2023

Veteran radio actor and superb character actor John Dehner returns to the podcast to star in a pair of thrillers. First, he's a doctor who arrogantly believes he cannot be murdered and devises an experiment to put his theories to the ultimate test in "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on November 4, 1954). Then, Dehner is plagued by recurring dreams of Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, and their infamous duel in "A Friend to Alexander" (originally aired on CBS on August 15, 1956). Finally, we'll hear Dehner as Paladin in the radio version of the hit TV western Have Gun - Will Travel . He plays the cultured gunfighter in "A Matter of Ethics" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1959).

Jul 15, 2023

In this bonus episode, we're celebrating the return of one of the greatest heroes of the movies with a film that inspired his creation. Charlton Heston - who unfortunately never made it to Suspense - recreates his role as rogue adventurer Harry Steele (a direct inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones) in Secret of the Incas on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on NBC on December 14, 1954).

Jul 13, 2023

George Murphy went from singing and dancing in movie musicals to the floor of the US Senate. Murphy retired from Hollywood in 1952 and was elected to a single term as one of California's senators in 1964. We'll hear two of his pre-politics performances from Suspense ; first, he's a hit and run driver with an uncooperative eyewitness in "Death on Highway 99" (originally aired on CBS on October 4, 1945). Then, Murphy is a lumberjack who may be marked for death in the remote woods in "The Death of Me" (originally aired on CBS on May 26, 1952).

Jul 6, 2023

John Hodiak battles fire and ice in his final appearances on Suspense . First, he's battling the wind, the cold, and a rival climber in order to stay alive to reach the top of an unclimbed peak in "The Mountain" (originally aired on CBS on March 16, 1953). Then he's an oil driller fighting the flames that threaten to consume his well and his livelihood in "Hellfire" (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1953).

Jul 3, 2023

Some of the era's best comedians left the jokes at home when they stepped up to the Suspense microphone. In this bonus episode, we'll hear these funny men and women play effectively against type in five radio thrillers. First, Danny Kaye schemes to bump off a rival and steal his girl in "The Too-Perfect Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1949). Then, Fibber McGee and Molly take a car trip with an uninvited passenger in "Backseat Driver" (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1949) and Bob Hope tries to talk his way out of a date with a killer in "Death Has a Shadow" (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1949). Finally, Milton Berle tries method acting as a way to beat a murder rap in "Rave Notice" (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1950) and Eve Arden is a jilted woman with murder on her mind in "The Well-Dressed Corpse" (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1951).

Jul 1, 2023

For years on Suspense , Cathy Lewis delivered strong supporting performances alongside stars like Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Kirk Douglas. But in the late 1950s, she stepped into the spotlight and began to star in "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her in "A Statement of Fact" (AFRS rebroadcast from November 23, 1958) and "Everything Will Be Different" (AFRS rebroadcast from August 9, 1959). Plus, she co-stars with Marie Wilson in the comedy My Friend Irma (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1948).

Jun 22, 2023

Ray Noble composed beloved standards like "The Very Thought of You," and he led great jazz bands in his native England and in the United States. He also had a successful career on radio as a musical director and as a comedic foil for Charlie McCarthy. We'll hear him as a gentleman adventurer in "The Star of Thessaly" (AFRS rebroadcast from November 24, 1957) and as half of a murderous newlywed couple in "Just One Happy Little Family" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 6, 1958). Plus we'll hear him lead the band and woo Lucille Ball on The Charlie McCarthy Show (originally aired on NBC on January 11, 1948).

Jun 16, 2023

Self-described "Joe Average" Dane Clark plays criminals both amateur and professional in his final appearances on Suspense . First, he's an actor who tries to play a murderer in real life in "Spoils for Victor" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 23, 1946). Then, Clark kills his doppleganger in an armed robbery in "Till the Day I Die" (originally aired on CBS on September 19, 1946). Plus we'll hear him as a private eye in Crime and Peter Chambers (originally aired on NBC on April 6, 1954).

Jun 9, 2023

Miriam Hopkins jumped from the Broadway stage to the silver screen with well-received performances in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Trouble in Paradise . But her film roles began to decline in the 1940s, and she embraced the new medium of television. We'll hear her as a woman who incurs the wrath of a demented housemate in "The Rose Garden" (originally aired on CBS on October 5, 1950). Plus, she co-stars with William Powell in a Campbell Playhouse production of "It Happened One Night" (originally aired on CBS on January 28, 1940).

Jun 2, 2023

Silver-haired star Jeff Chandler takes his final bow on Suspense in "A Good Neighbor" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1957). Chandler stars as a thief who's trying to lay low after a heist, but a nosy neighbor may discover his secret. Plus we'll hear Chandler in his two signature radio roles. First he's the bashful biology teacher Mr. Boynton in Our Miss Brooks (originally aired on CBS on February 20, 1949), and then as private eye Michael Shayne he solves "The Case of the Model Murder."

May 29, 2023

In this month's bonus spotlight episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring Gregory Peck. The star of To Kill a Mockingbird , Gentleman's Agreement , and Roman Holiday plays a variety of characters - some good, some bad, but all starring in tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense . First, he's a man plotting to murder his wife so he can run away with a beautiful young woman in "The Lonely Road" (originally aired on CBS on March 21, 1946), and then he's a hitch-hiker who thumbs a ride with a demented killer in "Hitch-Hike Poker" (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1948). Peck plays a man who may have a murderous alternate personality in "Murder Through the Looking Glass" (originally aired on CBS on March 17, 1949), and finally he's out for revenge on a hit and run driver in "Nightmare" (originally aired on CBS on September 1, 1949).

May 25, 2023

Raymond Burr was a year into his iconic run as Perry Mason on television when he starred in his final episodes of Suspense . He's hunting for a pirate's loot in "The Treasure Chest of Don Jose" (AFRS rebroadcast from October 12, 1958); then he tries to survive the tortures of the Spanish Inquisition in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" (AFRS rebroadcast from June 7, 1959). We'll also hear Burr in the first episode of his western cavalry drama Fort Laramie (originally aired on CBS on January 22, 1956).

May 24, 2023

Eighty years ago this week - on May 25, 1943 - listeners first heard "Sorry, Wrong Number" on Suspense . The terrifying tale from Lucille Fletcher starred Agnes Moorehead as a woman who overhears a murder plot over crossed phone lines. It would be performed on Suspense seven more times over the next seventeen years - each time starring Ms. Moorehead - and it was adapted by Ms. Fletcher for a big screen adaptation starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster. We'll hear two of the productions of this classic radio drama from November 18, 1948 and October 20, 1957.

May 24, 2023

Though her screen career never quite took off, Ellen Drew turned in memorable performances in movies like Christmas in July , Johnny O'Clock , and Isle of the Dead . We'll hear her co-starring with Agnes Moorehead in "Uncle Henry's Rosebush" (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1943). Then, she stars in an adaptation of Charles Dickens' terrifying tale "The Signalman" (originally aired on CBS on February 15, 1959).

May 18, 2023

Edward Arnold put his frame and booming voice to good use as heavies in classic films. He was a go-to bad guy for Frank Capra in pictures like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Meet John Doe , where he played colorfully corrupt characters. We'll hear him as a long-suffering employee who's finally had enough of his abusive boss in "Account Payable" (originally aired on CBS on October 13, 1949). Then, he stars in a tale from the life of one of America's commanders-in-chief in Mr. President (originally aired on ABC on November 7, 1948).

May 8, 2023

Actress and activist Marsha Hunt returns to Suspense in a pair of radio thrillers. First, she's a racecar driver's wife on a collision course with death in "The Last Kilometer" (originally aired on CBS on June 22, 1958). Then, she's convinced a murderer has escaped from prison with revenge on his mind in "The Night Man," a tale of terror from Lucille Fletcher (AFRS rebroadcast from July 26, 1959). Finally, we'll hear Ms. Hunt in "Birthday Present," a story from the syndicated series The Unexpected . Click here for Marsha Hunt's previous appearances on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills."

Apr 28, 2023

For this month's bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring Oscar-nominee Richard Widmark. First, he's an innocent man on the run in his bare feet in "Too Hot to Live" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1950). Next, Widmark plays a pitchman who has to make his biggest sale yet in order to stay alive in "Tell You Why I Shouldn't Die" (originally aired on CBS on April 30, 1951). Then, Widmark stars in the bloody true story of a Texas feud - a tale set to song - in "The Hunting of Bob Lee" (originally aired on CBS on October 29, 1951). Finally, he's a demented radio writer who plans to record a killing in "A Murderous Revision" (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1951).

Apr 27, 2023

Master mystery writer John Dickson Carr was a key figure in the first year of Suspense . The creator of Dr. Gideon Fell and godfather of locked room puzzles penned nearly two dozen episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" between 1942 and 1943. We'll hear two of those thrillers - "The Devil in the Summer House" (originally aired on CBS on November 3, 1942) and "Will You Make a Bet with Death?" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1942). Plus, we'll hear "The Bride Vanishes," written by Carr for his own anthology series Cabin B-13 (originally aired on CBS on December 12, 1948).

Apr 25, 2023

John Lund returns to the podcast in a pair of radio thrillers. First, he's an ordinary man drawn into a dangerous adventure during Mardi Gras in "The Man Who Stole the Bible" (originally aired on CBS on November 25, 1956). Then, Lund narrates a Pacific wartime drama as soldiers prepare to hit the beachhead in "Tarawa was Tough" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 12, 1957). And as a bonus, we'll hear Lund as Johnny Dollar - America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator - in "The Kay Bellamy Matter" (originally aired on CBS on January 30, 1953).

Apr 14, 2023

Gene Lockhart wore many hats in his career: Oscar-nominee, stage star, acting teacher at Julliard, and songwriter. He played everyone from Bob Cratchit to villains to the judge trying to decide Kris Kringle's fate in Miracle on 34th Street . We'll hear him as an office worker who kills a workplace rival in "Statement of Employee Henry Wilson" (originally aired on CBS on November 2, 1943). Then, Lockhart stars in an adaptation of Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" from Family Theatre (originally aired on Mutual on April 22, 1953).

Apr 6, 2023

For his final appearance on the podcast, Cornel Wilde stars as C. Auguste Dupin - the master detective created by Edgar Allan Poe - in "The Mystery of Marie Roget" (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1953). Inspired by a real-life unsolved murder case, it finds Dupin investigating the killing of a beautiful young woman in Paris. Then, Wilde dons the famous mask and cape in a Hollywood Star Time adaptation of The Mark of Zorro (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1946).

Mar 31, 2023

The Cheshire Cat, Kaa the snake, and Winnie the Pooh. Sterling Holloway voiced them all and became a Disney legend for his years of work bringing beloved characters to life with his instantly recognizable voice. He lent that voice to one episode of Suspense as a mild-mannered cruise passenger who stumbles into an exotic adventure in "The Second Class Passenger" (AFRS rebroadcast from January 20, 1957). Plus, we'll hear him narrate the tale of a very special piece of currency in "The Story of Danny Dollar Bill" from Family Theater (originally aired on Mutual on November 7, 1951).

Mar 29, 2023

For this month's bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite episodes of Suspense starring Oscar-winner Claire Trevor. First, she's trapped in her home with a madman in "The Plan" (originally aired on CBS on May 16, 1946). Then, she's a dancer trying to solve her boyfriend's murder and find a priceless diamond he was hiding in "The Blue Hour" (originally aired on CBS on September 25, 1947). Finally, she cooks up an explosive revenge plan on her cheating husband in "The Light Switch" (originally aired on CBS on May 12, 1949).

Mar 23, 2023

Hitchockian heavy and Third Man hero Joseph Cotten returns for more "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense !" We'll hear him first as a corrupt prosecutor who plans a murder to keep his dirty dealings a secret in "A Watery Grave" (originally aired on CBS on March 10, 1952). Then, he stars as the titular murderer as the ballad of "Tom Dooley" comes to life on radio (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1953).

Mar 16, 2023

After achieving stardom in her native Australia, Ann Richards traveled to Hollywood. Unfortunately, studios never quite figured out what to do with her, and she retired after making just 12 movies in the States. But during her short stint in Hollywood, she co-starred with the likes of Brian Donlevy, Burt Lancaster, and Barbara Stanwyck. We'll hear her as a young woman who conspires to stay in high society by any means necessary in Marie Belloc Lowndes' "The Story of Ivy" (originally aired on CBS on June 21, 1945). Plus, she co-stars in a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of "Disputed Passage" (originally aired on CBS on March 5, 1945).

Mar 9, 2023

Lee Bowman enjoyed a brief run of success on the big screen during World War II, but when film roles dried up he turned to television and eventually to a second career as a corporate and political media consultant. We'll hear him as a man who comes home from his bachelor party to discover a murder mystery in "Five Canaries in the Room" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1943). Then, Bowman plays a man saved from death only to wind up framed for murder in "Sell Me Your Life" (originally aired on CBS on February 15, 1945).

Mar 2, 2023

Academy Award-nominated actress Joan Lorring returns in two more Suspense thrillers from the early 1960s. First, it's "The Luck of the Tiger Eye," a tale of greed and graverobbing set in a mansion on a dark and stormy night (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1961). Then, a pair of newlyweds might be parted by death sooner than anticipated in "Please Believe Me" (originally aired on CBS on January 28, 1962). Plus, we'll hear Joan Lorring as a woman who discovers a dead body in a taxi in "The Corpse Nobody Loved" from Inner Sanctum Mysteries (AFRS rebroadcast from September 21, 1952).

Feb 24, 2023

For this month's bonus show, I'm sharing my three favorite Suspense episodes starring Shane himself - Alan Ladd. First, he's an ex-con framed for murder in "The Defense Rests" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1944). Then, Ladd plays a detective facing his toughest case yet - his wife is accused of killing a man - in "Motive for Murder" (originally aired on CBS on March 16, 1950). Finally, he's in cowboy country for the western revenge drama "A Killing in Abeline" (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950).

Feb 23, 2023

Herbert Marshall returns to the podcast with two more old time radio thrillers. The star of Foreign Correspondent and The Man Called X is running for his life after he takes a shot at Hitler in "Rogue Male," an adaptation of Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel (originally aired on CBS on December 31, 1951). Then, he's the celebrated explorer Robert Scott in the harrowing tale of his doomed expedition to the South Pole in "The Diary of Captain Scott" (originally aired on CBS on April 21, 1952).

Feb 16, 2023

Sonny Tufts was the Hollywood discovery of 1943 and seemed primed for a huge career. Unfortunately, a battle with alcohol and some tawdry headlines soon overshadowed his screen performances. His dubious reputation in his later years also led to a rumor surrounding his one and only visit to Suspense. We'll hear him as a ham radio operator investigating something suspicious on the other end of the line in "Cat and Mouse" (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1944). And we'll hear him visit Duffy's Tavern , where Ms. Duffy has her eye on Sonny as a date for a Valentine's Day dance (originally aired on NBC on February 2, 1945). Click here to learn more about the legend of Sonny Tufts on Suspense !

Feb 9, 2023

Macdonald Carey starred on television for nearly 30 years in Days of Our Lives , and his voice still introduces each episode of the long-running soap opera. But before he was a daytime TV star, he played a detective in love in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt and was one of Hollywood's B-movie kings. We'll hear him as a reporter searching for "The Missing Person" (originally aired on CBS on May 12, 1952). Plus, Carey stars as a New Orleans bar owner and boat captain in the drama series Jason and the Golden Fleece (originally aired on NBC on January 11, 1953).

Feb 2, 2023

At the height of his career, Francis X. Bushman received over one thousand fan letters a week and was hailed as the "king of the movies." Bushman was a screen idol of the silent film era and he starred in hundreds of films in the earliest years of Hollywood. We'll hear him narrate a tale of romance and murder from classic Tinseltown in "The City That Was" (an AFRS rebroadcast from November 17, 1957). Plus, we'll hear him as Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe in the radio mystery "The Shakespeare Folio" (originally aired on Mutual on November 30, 1945).

Jan 27, 2023

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring the great Edward G. Robinson. Best known for his tough guy turns in movies like Little Caesar and Key Largo , Robinson played against type to great effect on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a man accused of his imaginary wife's murder in "My Wife, Geraldine" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1945). Then he plays both himself and a very starstruck fan in "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson" (originally aired on CBS on September 30, 1948). Finally, Robinson is a man coerced into an insurance fraud in "You Can't Die Twice" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1949).

Jan 26, 2023

Before Humphrey Bogart played tortured writer Dix Steele on the big screen in In a Lonely Place , Robert Montgomery played the man with a deadly secret in an adaptation of the novel on Suspense . The actor and director of Lady in the Lake and Ride the Pink Horse is star, producer, and host of this sixty-minute version of Dorothy B. Hughes' novel (originally aired on CBS on March 6, 1948).

Jan 19, 2023

Lurene Tuttle was the "first lady of radio" and one of the most-heard women in America during the 1940s and 50s. No matter where you turned your dial, you'd probably hear her on the air. She was Sam Spade's secretary, the Great Gildersleeve's niece, and the mom of Red Skelton's "mean widdle kid" Junior, just to mention a few. We'll hear her in a pair of radio thrillers - first as a woman held hostage by a gunman waiting to kill her husband in "The Tip" (originally aired on CBS on July 6, 1954). Then, she co-stars with Rosalind Russell in "The Sisters," a dark tale of sibling rivalry (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1948).

Jan 12, 2023

Agnes Moorehead contends with a shipwreck and armed robbers in two more old time radio thrillers starring "the first lady of Suspense ." First, she stars in a tale pulled from the history books as a sea captain's wife who is marooned along with her husband and his crew in "The Wreck of the Maid of Athens" (originally aired on CBS on November 30, 1952). Then, she's trapped in a closed grocery store with a pair of gun-toting thieves who want to rob the safe and eliminate any witnesses in "Weekend Special - Death" (originally aired on CBS on May 24, 1954).

Jan 5, 2023

We kick off 2023 with Frank Lovejoy, star of radio ( Night Bea t), screen ( I Was a Communist for the FBI , In a Lonely Place ), and television ( Meet McGraw ). He co-stars with his wife Joan Banks as a married pair of entertainers caught in the path of a hurricane in "The Storm" (originally aired on CBS on March 2, 1953). Then, he's trapped in a carnival fun house with a dead body in "The Giant of Thermopalye" (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1954). Plus we'll hear Lovejoy in "The Hangtree Affair" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1948).

Dec 23, 2022

In our annual holiday bonus episode, we'll hear the film's original cast reunite for a radio recreation of It Happened on 5th Avenue . Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore, Gale Storm, and Don DeFore reprise their roles in this Christmas comedy about a hobo who makes his winter home in the New York mansion of the second richest man in the world, the evicted ex-GI who moves in, and the wealthy man's daughter who falls in with these friendly trespassers. This is an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of a show that originally aired on CBS on May 19, 1947.

Dec 22, 2022

Before she was ten years old, Evelyn Rudie earned an Emmy nomination for her performance as Eloise in a TV adaptation of Kay Thompson's classic children's book. She also made two appearances on Suspense , including a holiday offering from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her as a little girl who wants a dog for Christmas in "Dog Star" (originally aired on CBS on December 22, 1957). Then, she's got a new imaginary friend and a new game in an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "Zero Hour" (originally aired on CBS on May 18, 1958). Plus, as a bonus, we'll hear "The Cave," another Suspense Christmas story about two boys who discover a world of adventure when they go exploring on Christmas Day (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1955).

Dec 16, 2022

The Oscar-winning star of The Lost Weekend takes center stage in this bonus episode as I share my favorite episodes of Suspense starring Hitchcock villain and Columbo killer Ray Milland. First, he's a cop who crosses the line in "Night Cry" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1948). Next, he lands in hot water when he leaves the house without so much as a nickel in "Chicken Feed" (originally aired on CBS on September 8, 1949). Then, Milland is a gumshoe in an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "Pearls are a Nuisance" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1950). And finally, he's a juror who discovers a plan to swing the verdict in "After the Movies" (originally aired on CBS on December 7, 1950).

Dec 15, 2022

At one time, Madeleine Carroll was the world's highest-paid actress, but she gave up Hollywood stardom to devote her life to helping children displaced by war and servicemen wounded on the battlefield. The English-born star appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and co-starred with the likes of Gary Cooper, Ronald Colman, and Bob Hope before she committed herself to her charitable works. We'll hear Ms. Carroll in her one and only Suspense show "The Morrison Affair" - a story of a woman who steals a baby and tries to pass the child off as her own (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1948). Plus, she co-stars with Charles Boyer in a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1947).

Dec 8, 2022

Radio legend, TV detective, and Rocky and Bullwinkle narrator William Conrad returns in a pair of thrillers well calculated to keep you in Suspense . First, he plays a man who confesses to murders he never committed. Charlotte Lawrence co-stars in "Case Study of a Murderer" (originally aired on CBS on January 20, 1955). Then, Conrad stars in an unusual - but excellent - episode of Suspense . It's an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's science fiction story "Kaleidoscope" (originally aired on CBS on July 12, 1955). Plus, we'll hear Conrad as a private eye long before Cannon hit the small screen. He plays Philip Marlowe in "The Anniversary Gift" (originally aired on CBS on April 11, 1950). And finally we'll hear him in his best-known radio role - US Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke (originally aired on CBS on November 21, 1953).

Dec 6, 2022

With a tough face, a gravelly voice, and a demeanor that meant business, Charles McGraw made memorable impressions on screen as both cops and criminals in movies like The Narrow Margin and The Killers . McGraw starred on the big and small screens as well as the stage over the course of his long career. We'll hear him in a pair of "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense " plus the audition recording for a hardboiled police procedural drama. First, he's trying to avert a disaster in the sky in "Two Hundred and Twenty Seven Minutes of Hate" (an AFRS rebroadcast from February 24, 1957). Then, he's fresh out of prison with a plan to get revenge on the prosecutor who sent him there in "The Silver Frame" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1958). Finally, McGraw stars as Lt. Lou Dana in the audition recording for The Man from Homicide (recorded on or around September 16, 1950). Coming up next: A bonus episode featuring the best of Ray Milland on Suspense and on Sunday, 12/11 William Conrad returns to the podcast!

Nov 23, 2022

Note: No intro; is cold season over yet? We say goodbye to Tony-winner and Oscar-nominee Nancy Kelly this week as the star of The Bad Seed and the Broadway production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? takes her final bow on the podcast. We'll hear her in a pair of thrillers from Suspense plus an episode of Escape for even more old time radio excitement. First, Ms. Kelly co-stars with Suspense MVP Cathy Lewis in "Dark Journey" - a script penned by the great Lucille Fletcher (originally aired on CBS on April 25, 1946). Then, she plays a lawyer who saves her client from conviction only to realize it may fall to her to make sure justice prevails in "Trial by Jury" (originally aired on CBS on June 16, 1957). Finally, we'll hear her in "The Rim of Terror," where she plays a woman helping her fiance on the lam from spies. This episode of Escape originally aired on CBS on May 12, 1950.

Nov 17, 2022

June Havoc wore many hats during her long showbiz career - actress, singer, playwright, director, and more. The sister of legendary burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee, Havoc found her biggest successes on Broadway with appearances on the big and small screens in between acclaimed stage runs. In 1948, she married William Spier - "the Hitchcock of the airwaves" and longtime producer and director of Suspense - and she starred in several episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her today in "Stand-In" as she plots to steal the spotlight from an aging movie star (originally aired on CBS on June 12, 1947) and "Subway," where she plans to dispose of a longtime rival on the way home from work (originally aired on CBS on October 30, 1947). Plus, we'll hear her opposite Howard Duff as Sam Spade's latest client in "The Hot Hundred Grand Caper" (originally aired on CBS on September 19, 1948).

Nov 16, 2022

For this bonus episode, we're celebrating "Noirvember" with five tales from crime fiction master Cornell Woolrich. His stories inspired movies like Rear Window and Phantom Lady and dozens of old time radio shows. First, Nancy Kelly is out to save her husband from a date with the executioner in "Eve" (an AFRS rebroadcast from October 19, 1944). Then, Lee Bowman stars in the search for a missing woman in "I Won't Take a Minute" (originally aired on CBS on December 6, 1945) and Robert Young hunts for his missing wife in "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946). Finally, Henry DeSilva and Jack Webb play cop and criminal in "You Take Ballistics" (originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1947) and Fredric March is an arson investigator whose latest case strikes close to home in "The Night Reveals" (originally aired on CBS on May 26, 1949).

Nov 13, 2022

Lloyd Nolan makes his final podcast visit in "Vial of Death" - the tale of a missing sample of cholera that threatens a city. This tense and timely thriller originally aired on CBS on May 18, 1953. We'll also hear the character actor in a radio adaptation of The House on 92nd Street . Nolan reprises his role as an FBI agent hunting Nazi spies in America in this broadcast from The Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on June 10, 1946).

Nov 6, 2022

**Note: Intros aren't back yet. Thanks for your patience! In his final appearance on the podcast, Charles Laughton menaces June Havoc and recreates one of his classic screen roles. First, he co-stars with Ms. Havoc in "Blind Date" (originally aired on CBS on September 29, 1949). Then, Laughton is back in the uniform of the infamous Captain Bligh. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Bligh in the 1935 big screen adaptation of Mutiny on the Bounty , and he returns to the role for the story of what happened after the captain was set adrift. We'll hear "The Revenge of Captain Bligh" (originally aired on CBS on May 17, 1954). And finally, we'll hear Laughton in another of his memorable screen performances as Academy Award presents Ruggles of Red Gap (originally aired on June 8, 1946).

Oct 28, 2022

We close out this Halloween season of bonus spooky shows with an encore production of "The Hitchhiker" - Lucille Fletcher's harrowing account of horror on the highway that was later adapted for television by Rod Serling as an episode of The Twilight Zone . We've heard Orson Welles in the 1942 Suspense production of the story; today, we'll hear Welles return to the role of cross-country driver Ronald Adams - the man who encounters the sinister stranger thumbing a ride on the side of the road - in this episode of The Mercury Summer Theatre of the Air (originally aired on CBS on June 21, 1946).

Oct 27, 2022

Note: No intro - 'tis the season for colds, congestion, and froggy voices. The name Edgar Allan Poe is synonymous with suspense and horror, and his tales of terror continue to give readers thrills and chills today. We'll hear a pair of Poe's stories adapted for "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, Henry Hull stars in the Inquisition-era tale of torture "The Pit and the Pendlum" (originally aired on CBS on January 12, 1943). Then, Poe's brilliant detective C. Auguste Dupin (played by Jackson Beck) solves "The Mystery of Marie Roget" (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1960). Finally, we'll close with a trilogy of Poe stories presented on The NBC University Theatre - "Nose-ology," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Fall of the House of Usher" (originally aired on NBC on March 6, 1949).

Oct 21, 2022

H.P. Lovecraft's classic chiller comes to life on radio in this week's bonus scary story. Ronald Colman stars in the Suspense adaptation of "The Dunwich Horror" (Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast from November 1, 1945).

Oct 20, 2022

On radio, Stacy Harris chased crooks as a G-man, menaced Jack Webb on Dragnet , and lent his voice to Batman. Harris was a great actor who could be heard all over the dial and - later - seen on the big and small screens. We'll hear him in three old time radio thrillers, beginning with a terrific radio adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1955). Then, he stars in a what-if drama about the first atomic submarine in "Report on the X-915" (originally aired on CBS on November 8, 1955). Finally, Harris is a jewel thief whose trouble really begins when he tries to dispose of the merchandise in "The End of the String" (originally aired on CBS on January 17, 1951).

Oct 14, 2022

In this week's bonus scary story, we catch a ride with The Mysterious Traveler as the sinister storyteller relates the tale of an archeological expedition gone horribly wrong. It's "Behind the Locked Door" (originally aired on Mutual on November 6, 1951).

Oct 13, 2022

The son of radio actor Frank Readick, Robert Readick made his first radio appearances when he was a child, and he'd racked up nearly 7,000 broadcasts by his early 20s. He starred in shows like 21st Precinct , The Cavalcade of America , and as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar . We'll hear Readick in four old time radio thrillers from the sixties Suspense era: "Two Came Back" (originally aired on CBS on June 5, 1960); "Bon Voyage" (originally aired on CBS on July 3, 1960); "The Green Lorelei" (originally aired on CBS on November 6, 1960); and "The Black Door" (originally aired on CBS on November 19, 1961).

Oct 7, 2022

Our annual countdown to Halloween begins with the great Peter Lorre as a man haunted by an unseen presence. Lorre stars in "The Horla," an adaptation of the short story by Guy de Maupassant from Mystery in the Air (originally aired on NBC on August 21, 1947).

Oct 6, 2022

We're digging into the classics with a two-part Suspense adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood , the novel left unfinished by Charles Dickens when he passed away in 1870. Herbert Marshall stars in this production (originally aired on CBS on January 5 and January 12, 1953) that presents a possible ending to Dickens' murder mystery. We'll also hear an adaptation of Dickens' eerie story "The Signal Man" presented on Lights Out (originally aired on NBC on August 24, 1946).

Sep 30, 2022

On September 30, 1962, Suspense aired its final episode and the golden age of radio drama came to an end. In honor of the 60th anniversary of that last broadcast, we'll hear four of the final episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - "Run Faster" (originally aired on CBS on August 5, 1962); "The Lost Ship" (originally aired on CBS on August 26, 1952), "The Death of Alexander Jordan" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1962); and "A Strange Day in May" (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1962). Click here to listen to Episode 100 - Beginnings and Endings , featuring "Devilstone," the final episode of Suspense .

Sep 29, 2022

A frequent collaborator of Orson Welles, Edgar Barrier appeared with the Mercury Theatre onstage and on radio and he played Banquo in Welles' film version of Macbeth . Elsewhere, Barrier hunted the Phantom of the Opera on the big screen and voiced Simon Templar on radio. We'll hear him as a scientist trying to prevent an outbreak of plague in "Black Death" (originally aired on CBS on August 2, 1955) and as a man hunting for his ancestor's pirate booty in "The Treasure Chest of Don Jose" (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1956). We'll also hear Barrier in "The Projective Mr. Drogan" from Lights Out (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1943) and as Julius Caesar in "Twenty-Three Knives Against Caesar" from Crime Classics (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1954).

Sep 22, 2022

Van Heflin bids goodbye to the podcast with his final three appearances on Suspense . First, he's a man who waits years to finish a duel in "The Shot" (AFRS rebroadcast from October 12, 1953). Then, Heflin plays the infamous Public Enemy #1 in "The Last Days of John Dillinger" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1954). Finally, he stars as a drifter who wanders into a town and a murder frame in "Too Hot to Live" (originally aired on CBS on April 12, 1959). And as a bonus, we'll hear him as Philip Marlowe in a radio adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "Red Wind" (originally aired on NBC on June 17, 1947).

Sep 21, 2022

Jack Benny sets down his violin and trades mirth for mystery in my three favorite Suspense episodes starring the legendary comedian. 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).

Sep 15, 2022

Geraldine Fitzgerald was an Oscar nominee and a rising star in Hollywood in the late 1930s, But battles with studio executives began to cost her roles and derailed her career just as it was taking off. She enjoyed a revival in the 1960s, and she continued to work on stage and screen in everything from Arthur to The Golden Girls . We'll hear her as a woman whose husband is obsessed with one of history's most infamous duels in "A Friend to Alexander" (originally aired on CBS on June 15, 1944). Then, she co-stars with Orson Welles in Agatha Christie's "Philomel Cottage" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1943). Finally, we'll hear Geraldine Fitzgerald in "Artist to the Wounded," a wartime romantic drama from The Cavalcade of America (originally aired on NBC on May 7, 1945).

Sep 1, 2022

Many's the time John Dehner was gunned down in a classic TV western. With his deep, smooth voice, he was a natural to play heavies on screen but on radio, the versatile Dehner could play almost anybody - from Scotland Yard inspectors to murderers, from refined reporters to gunslingers. We'll hear the radio legend and character actor in "The Man with the Steel Teeth" - a story he wrote (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1955). Then he stars in a Suspense show pulled from the history books - "The Mystery of the Mary Celeste " (originally aired on CBS on December 27, 1955). Finally, we'll hear Dehner as reporter J.B. Kendall - the Frontier Gentleman - in "The Powder River Kid" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1958).

Aug 26, 2022

Whether she was in a supporting role opposite Cary Grant or Gregory Peck or in the lead, Cathy Lewis' performances on Suspense were always top notch. We'll hear her on a desperate mission to save a man's life in "Dead Ernest" (originally aired on CBS on August 8, 1946). Then she's trapped in a car teetering on the edge of a cliff in "The Bridge" (originally aired on CBS on August 17, 1958). And as a bonus, we'll hear her with Marie Wilson in a comedy episode of My Friend Irma (originally aired on CBS on December 29, 1947).

Aug 18, 2022

One of the best heavies in Hollywood, Henry Daniell crossed swords with Errol Flynn and played Moriarty to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes. Appropriately, Daniell appeared as a pair of scoundrels when he visited the Suspense microphone. First, he's a professional blackmailer confronted by his victims in "The Dealings of Mr. Markham" (originally aired on CBS on June 28, 1945). Then, he's a scientist with some unusual theories about murder in "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on August 15, 1946).

Aug 14, 2022

We're saluting the master of big screen suspense for his birthday with one of Alfred Hitchcock's classic films recreated for radio. It's his 1946 romantic spy thriller Notorious , where a beautiful young woman is recruited by the government to seduce and spy on a Nazi in hiding. Ingrid Bergman reprises her screen role, and she's joined by Joseph Cotten in this Lux Radio Theatre presentation (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1948).

Aug 11, 2022

It's the 300th episode of Stars on Suspense! To celebrate, I'm going back to the first year of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" to share six of my favorite shows from that initial year of Suspense . First, Orson Welles takes a cross-country road trip in "The Hitch-hiker" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1943), followed by "The Kettler Method," a tale set in an insane asylum on a dark and stormy night (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1943). Then, Paul Stewart investigates a murder in Trinidad in "A Passage to Benares" (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1942) and a young man tries to stay alive to win big money in "Will You Make a Bet with Death?" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1942). Finally, Peter Lorre is a jealous husband with murder on his mind in "Till Death Do Us Part" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1942) and Bela Lugosi is a scientist with a plan to create murderers in "The Doctor Prescribed Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1943).

Aug 5, 2022

Our seventh season begins with Chester Morris, a star whose career spanned the silent and sound eras of Hollywood. But after a big run in the 20s and 30s (including an Oscar nomination), Morris found himself in B-movies by the 40s. His career got a shot in the arm when he was cast as reformed jewel thief turned detective Boston Blackie in a popular film series. Today, we'll hear him as a safecracker out for revenge on the partner who betrayed him in "The Strange Death of Gordon Fitzroy" (originally aired on CBS on November 28, 1946). Then, he reprises his signature role in the first episode of the Boston Blackie radio show (originally aired on NBC on June 23, 1944).

Jul 29, 2022

We say goodbye to Richard Widmark, as the star of Kiss of Death and Pickup on South Street stars in his final episodes of Suspense . First, he's a soldier on a secret mission to Cuba on the eve of the Spanish-American War in "A Message to Garcia" (originally aired on CBS on September 14, 1953). Then, Widmark plays a gambler who's about to lose it all at home but who can't help betting big on one last hand in "The Card Game" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1954). And as a bonus, we'll hear him as "The Man Who Couldn't Die" from Inner Sanctum Mysteries (originally aired on CBS on February 12, 1946).

Jul 21, 2022

Best known to radio listeners as Peg Riley, long-suffering wife of Chester A. on The Life of Riley - and to traumatized movie fans as the voice of Bambi's mother - Paula Winslowe was one of radio's busiest and best actresses. We'll hear her as an amnesia victim who may also be a murderer in "Lost" (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1954). Then, she co-stars with Virginia Gregg and Irene Tedrow in "Goodbye, Miss Lizzie Borden" (originally aired on CBS on October 4, 1955) - a story of what might have happened after the infamous forty whacks. Finally, we'll hear Paula Winslowe alongside William Bendix in The Life of Riley , where Riley and Peg are running against each other in a local election (originally aired on NBC on November 2, 1946).

Jul 15, 2022

To generations of classic movie fans, Richard Conte is instantly recognizable as Don Barzini, longtime rival of Don Corleone in The Godfather . But before that role Conte had spent years in war movies, noir dramas, and TV shows - co-starring with Jimmy Stewart, Victor Mature, and Frank Sinatra. We'll hear Conte as a boxer with Peter Lorre as his murderous manager in "Of Maestro and Man" (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1944). Then, Conte is a private eye hunting for the killer of a bookie in "Win, Place, and Murder" (originally aired on CBS on April 24, 1947). Finally, he plays Wyatt Earp in a western drama from the Hallmark Playhouse (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1949).

Jul 7, 2022

In a king-sized crossover, Sam Spade hopped from his weekly detective series to headline an hour-long episode of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." William Spier produced and directed both shows, and when the time came to relaunch Suspense as an hour-long show, Spier enlisted Dashiell Hammett's gumshoe to make an appearance. Howard Duff and Lurene Tuttle reprised their roles of Sam and his loyal secretary Effie in "The Kandy Tooth," an original radio sequel to The Maltese Falcon that first aired as a two-parter on The Adventures of Sam Spade and was recreated for Suspense (originally aired on CBS on January 10, 1948). But first, we'll hear The Maltese Falcon recreated for the Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 20, 1943) featuring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet.

Jul 2, 2022

Born into a family of performers, Joan Bennett enjoyed great success on stage and screen in her own right. She won acclaim from audiences and critics in everything from ingenue parts to roles as film noir temptresses and doting mothers. But her film career came to an abrupt end after her jealous husband attempted to murder a man he considered a romantic rival. We'll hear Joan Bennett as a woman falling for one of her husband's music students in "Overture in Two Keys" (originally aired on CBS on January 16, 1947). Then, she's accused of the murder of her boss's wife in "Statement of Mary Blake" (originally aired on CBS on May 4, 1950). Finally, we'll hear Joan Bennett recreate one of her best screen roles as The Woman in the Window is recreated for Hollywood Star Time (originally aired on CBS on November 23, 1946).

Jun 23, 2022

Leon Ames broke out with his portrayal of Judy Garland's dad in Meet Me in St. Louis , and he played several outwardly stuffy but inwardly sweet dads - and showed off a dry wit - in movies and TV shows through the 1980s. We'll hear him in his one and only visit to Suspense as a businessman who overhears a murder plot when he plays hooky from the office in "An Evening's Diversion" (originally aired on CBS on July 4, 1946). Then, Ames co-stars with Vanessa Brown in an adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel Main Street for The NBC University Theatre (originally aired on NBC on July 30, 1948).

Jun 16, 2022

The singing star of The Great Ziegfeld returns to the podcast as we listen to Virginia Bruce's final appearances on Suspense . First, she's afraid she's being stalked by a man who's supposedly still in prison in "The Night Man" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1946). Then, Ms. Bruce is a lonely housewife who falls for a handsome - and mysterious - new handyman in "Knight Comes Riding" (originally aired on CBS on May 22, 1947). Click here for two more of Virginia Bruce's Suspense shows. And click here to hear her opposite Robert Young in the Suspense drama "Celebration."

Jun 9, 2022

Nancy Coleman got her start in the casts of radio soap operas before she hit the Broadway stage and the big screen. We'll hear her as a young woman who may be losing her mind in "Fear Paints a Picture" (originally aired on CBS on April 13, 1943). Then, she co-stars with George Murphy in a tale of a couple who decide to kill to collect an early inheritance in "Too Little to Live On" (AFRS rebroadcast from February 7, 1946). Plus, Nancy Coleman stars in "The Second-Hand Pistol," a cautionary tale from the syndicated series Crime Does Not Pay .

Jun 4, 2022

George Coulouris arrived on the Broadway stage from London and soon struck up a friendship with a young Orson Welles. It led to a long professional relationship as Coulouris appeared in Welles' plays, his radio dramas, and his classic film Citizen Kane . Outside of his work with Welles, Coulouris found success on stage and both the big and small screens in the States and in England. We'll hear him as a professor caught in a murder plot in "The Last Detail" (originally aired on CBS on July 5, 1945). Then, he's a con man with his eye on an inheritance in "The Long Shot" (originally aired on CBS on January 31, 1946). We'll also hear him as debonair detective Bulldog Drummond in the 1941 audition recording that brought the character to radio.

May 27, 2022

In this bonus show, I'm sharing my four favorite episodes of Suspense starring the great Vincent Price. First, he co-stars with Ida Lupino in "Fugue in C Minor," a Victorian-era chiller from Lucille Fletcher (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944). Next, Price and Lloyd Nolan go on a "Hunting Trip," but only one man will come back alive (originally aired on CBS on September 12, 1946). Then, Claude Rains joins Vincent Price in the hunt for a serial strangler in "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948). Finally, Price stars in one of the scariest old time radio shows of all time - "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956).

May 26, 2022

In her final appearances on Suspense , singer Margaret Whiting found herself menaced by a pair of deranged villains. First, in "Never Follow a Banjo Act," she's a cabaret singer on tour with a knife-loving psychopath (originally aired on CBS on March 2, 1958). Then, as a carhop, she accepts a ride home from a dangerous stranger in "Drive-In" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1959).

May 19, 2022

Before he was one of seven castaways stranded on Gilligan's Island , Jim Backus showed off his dramatic chops in two episodes of Suspense . Backus leaves Mr. Magoo behind - first as a blind man marked for death by the mob in "See How He Runs" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1959). Then - co-starring with his wife Henny - he plays a man plunging deeper into mental illness in "Pages from a Diary" (originally aired on CBS on August 19, 1962). We'll also hear him as Alan Young's haughty romantic rival in an episode of The Alan Young Show (originally aired on NBC on May 16, 1947) and as a tailor with an unusual problem in Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on ABC on February 9, 1951).

May 12, 2022

Oscar-winner Paul Lukas takes his final bow on the podcast as a blind man who witnesses a murder in "A World of Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on January 20, 1944). Then, he recreates the performance that won him his Best Actor prize in "Watch on the Rhine" on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on August 7, 1946).

May 5, 2022

He made a name for himself in swashbuckling, sword and sandal movies, but Tyrone Power wanted to be more than a romantic hero. After his military service, he sought to leave the fencing of Zorro behind and embraced darker, more complex roles in movies like Nightmare Alley and Witness for the Prosecution . We'll hear him as a man accused of a murder he didn't commit in "The Guilty Always Run" (originally aired on CBS on March 29, 1954). Then, he joins Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone for an evening at a Paris nightclub in The Jack Benny Program (originally aired on CBS on December 4, 1949).

Apr 21, 2022

Robert Ryan was a classic big screen heavy, a memorable menace in Crossfire , Bad Day at Black Rock , and more. He was a terrific tough guy, but offscreen, he was a pacifist who supported the civil rights movement and opposed McCarthyism. We'll hear him opposite Ruth Warrick in the sixty-minute Suspense drama "Beyond Reason" (originally aired on CBS on February 21, 1948).

Apr 20, 2022

The worlds of Ray Bradbury jump from the page to the airwaves with four old time radio adaptations of his stories. First, a ventriloquist's dummy holds the key to a murder case in "Riabouchinska" (originally aired on CBS on November 13, 1947). Next, a little girl tries to save a woman in danger, but no one believes "The Screaming Woman" is real (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1955). Finally, we'll hear a pair of Bradbury's classic sci-fi tales adapted for the airwaves. First, his novel "The Martian Chronicles" is presented on Dimension X (originally aired on NBC on August 18, 1950). And a group of astronauts wonder if "Mars is Heaven" on X Minus One (originally aired on NBC on May 8, 1955).

Apr 7, 2022

Best known today as humanity's last hope in Invasion of the Body Snatchers , Kevin McCarthy lent his voice to a pair of Suspense thrillers in the later years of the program. First, he plays a juror whose wife has been kidnapped to sway his vote in "After the Movies" (AFRS rebroadcast from September 6, 1959). Then, he fights for his life in a sinking ship in "Dead Man's Story" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 15, 1960). Finally, we'll hear him in the dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a production of The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, part of the brief revival of network radio dramas (originally aired on CBS on June 18, 1974).

Apr 2, 2022

The wonderful character actor Everett Sloane steps back into the spotlight in three stories from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a highway patrol cop in a dangerous mountain chase in "Speed Trap" (AFRS rebroadcast from December 8, 1957). Then, Sloane is a scientist with doubts about working on a weapon of war in "The Voice of Company A" (originally aired on CBS on August 3, 1958). Finally, he plots a murder at sea and plans to disguise it as a boating accident in "Blood is Thicker" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 5, 1959).

Mar 24, 2022

Paul Douglas came out of the world of announcing and sportscasting to a successful career on the stage and screen. He went from announcing a World Series to starring in movies like It Happens Every Spring and Angels in the Outfield before his untimely passing. We'll hear him as a postmaster hunting for a mail bomb in "Fragile - Contents Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1951). Then, he's a newspaper columnist caught up in the middle of a spy hunt in "Man Alive" (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1952).

Mar 17, 2022

The "first lady of Suspense " returns to the podcast! We'll hear Agnes Moorehead in another production of the series' most famous drama "Sorry, Wrong Number" (originally aired on CBS on September 6, 1945). Then, she stars in an adaptation of Charles Dickens' eerie story "The Signalman" (originally aired on CBS on March 23, 1953).

Mar 11, 2022

Before he sang his way through 1776 as Benjamin Franklin, Howard Da Silva was a busy screen and stage actor earning raves for his villainous turns on Broadway and on the big screen. We'll hear him as a cop on the trail of a cocky killer in "You Take Ballistics" (originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1947). Then, he recreates his screen role as a tyrannical ship's captain as the Lux Radio Theatre presents Two Years Before the Mast (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1947).

Mar 4, 2022

Whether she's making us laugh or keeping us in Suspense , we love Lucille Ball. In this spotlight episode, we'll hear my three favorites from her six visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, she's a dance hall girl trying to stay out of the clutches of a serial killer in "Dime a Dance" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1944). Then, she's a hold-up artist who accidentally preys on a deadlier predator in "A Little Piece of Rope" (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1948). Finally, she co-stars with her then-husband Desi Arnaz in "The Red-Headed Woman" (originally aired on CBS on November 17, 1949).

Mar 3, 2022

In his final appearances on Suspense , Victor Mature played an infamous Mexican outlaw and an undercover cop who falls for a gangster's girlfriend. We'll hear the star of My Darling Clementine and Kiss of Death in "The Love and Death of Joaquin Murrieta" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1953). Then, he gets too close to a beautiful - and dangerous - woman in "The Girl in Car Thirty-Two" (originally aired on CBS on March 15, 1954).

Feb 24, 2022

June Duprez broke out as a star in her native England in films like The Four Feathers and The Thief of Bagdad . Unfortunately, when she crossed the pond to Hollywood, mismanagement by a producer and her agent kept her from landing big roles. We'll hear her recreate one of her screen performances in "The Brighton Strangler" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1944). Then, she's a reclusive actress sharing her life story in "A Thing of Beauty" (originally aired on CBS on December 28, 1944). Finally, she is a woman on a dangerous train trip with her unstable husband in "Your Devoted Wife" (originally aired on CBS on June 20, 1946).

Feb 10, 2022

Actor, Rat Packer, and one-time presidential brother-in-law Peter Lawford made his final visit to Suspense in an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' "A Terribly Strange Bed" (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1954) - the final episode of the show to be sponsored by Autolite. We'll also hear him co-star with Shirley Temple and Arthur Treacher in "First Love" from the Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on May 14, 1945). Click here to read the original Collins short story.

Feb 3, 2022

Marsha Hunt began her career in Hollywood in the 1930s, but she was blacklisted after she took a stand against McCarthyism and the Communist witch hunt in Hollywood. Though she continued to act in films and television, she rededicated her life to philanthropy and activisim, and she's still with us today. We'll hear her as a long-suffering niece who sees an opportunity to get rid of an abusive (and wealthy) aunt in "Pink Camellias" (originally aired on CBS on December 27, 1945). Then, she's a woman with no shortage of lovers, a husband she doesn't love, and a murder plan in "Self Defense" (originally aired on CBS on October 16, 1947).

Jan 27, 2022

Charles Ruggles was best known to audiences for his comedic roles in Bringing Up Baby and It Happened on Fifth Avenue , but he was also the guest star on the very first episode of Suspense . We'll hear the star in "The Burning Court" (originally aired on CBS on June 17, 1942), an adaptation of the mystery novel by John Dickson Carr. Then, he stars in Dorothy L. Sayers' "Suspicion" (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1944).

Jan 20, 2022

In his final Suspense appearance, big screen baddie Dan Duryea plays a hold-up man turned murderer who has to dispose of a very inconvenient eyewitness in "Remember Me?" (originally aired on CBS on April 7, 1952). We'll hear him in that old time radio thriller, plus an episode of his radio police procedural The Man from Homicide . Duryea stars as Lt. Lou Dana in a radio mystery originally aired on ABC on July 16, 1951.

Jan 13, 2022

Stage and screen John Hodiak returns to the podcast in two more old time radio thrillers. First, he's a fast-talking hustler who joins a group of bank robbers in "The Big Heist" (originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1952). Then, he's a deep sea diver on a treasure hunt for a lost Spanish galleon in "Gold of the Adomar" (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1953).

Jan 7, 2022

In this bonus episode, we're celebrating the life and career of the late, great Betty White. The legendary Emmy-winning actress started her showbusiness career in radio, and we'll hear one of her on-air performances. She co-stars with Fibber McGee and Molly in "Advice to the Lovelorn," a romantic comedy from Family Theatre (originally aired on Mutual on October 30, 1947).

Jan 6, 2022

In his only appearance on Suspense , sharp-tongued satirist Henry Morgan showed off his dramatic chops. He plays a man who suspects a neighbor is a murderer in "Dream Song" (originally aired on CBS on November 6, 1947). Then we'll hear his trademark comedy in The Henry Morgan Show (originally aired on ABC on February 19, 1947).

Dec 24, 2021

For our annual bonus holiday episode, we'll hear Robert Mitchum reprise his big screen role as The Lux Radio Theatre presents Holiday Affair (originally aired on CBS on December 18, 1950). Laraine Day co-stars in this romantic Christmas comedy about the sparks that fly when a department store clerk with big dreams meets a single mom and secret shopper.

Dec 23, 2021

For our final regular episode of 2021, we welcome Joseph Cotten back to "Stars on Suspense" for two old time radio thrillers, including a Christmas story from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, he's a sideshow performer who's grown tired of his boss's tyrannical behavior in "Carnival" (originally aired on CBS on January 28, 1952). Then, Cotten is first mate on a ship bound for the Canadian Arctic to find a pair of ships lost in the ice in "Arctic Rescue" (originally aired on CBS on December 22, 1952).

Dec 17, 2021

Note: No intro for this show; I'm still battling back from a cold and my voice isn't radio-ready. We're revisiting the performances of Peter Lorre in this bonus show, and I've selected my favorites of his six visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, he's a jealous husband with a devious plan for dealing with his young wife and the man she loves in "Till Death Do Us Part" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1942). Then - just in time for the holidays - Lorre plots a murder but a surprise gift from his victim may thwart his plans in "Back for Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 23, 1943).

Dec 16, 2021

Note: No intro for this episode, as I'm fighting a cold and a froggy throat. Mexican-American actress, dancer, and activist Margo returns to the podcast for her final visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." It's an episode where she shares the stage with Elsa Lanchester and Janet Beecher. They star in "Finishing School" (originally aired on CBS on December 30, 1943). Then, Margo takes Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on a tour of Mexico in an episode of the ventriloquist's NBC variety show (originally aired on NBC on March 16, 1947).

Dec 9, 2021

Fay Bainter made Hollywood history in 1938 when she became the first performer nominated for two acting Oscars in the same year - winning the Best Supporting Actress award for Jezebel. But before that, she was a Broadway star whose performances on the stage paved the way to her work on the big screen. We'll hear her in "The Lucky Lady" (originally aired on CBS on February 14, 1946) and "Life Ends at Midnight" (originally aired on CBS on May 8, 1948).

Dec 2, 2021

After he introduced stories on Suspense as the "Man in Black," Joseph Kearns moved into starring roles on radio's outstanding theater of thrills. We'll hear him in "The Case for Dr. Singer," a tale of atomic espionage ripped from the headlines (originally aired on CBS on June 28, 1951). Then, he's one of history's most notorious murderers in "A Story of Poison" (originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1955). And as a bonus, we'll hear him as an arrogant murderer who concocts a less than perfect alibi in "The Sheriff's Assistant" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on April 7, 1947).

Nov 24, 2021

During a wartime break in her acting career, Sarah Churchill worked on the planning of the British invasion of North Africa, and she served as an unofficial advisor to her father Winston - who just happened to be prime minister. After the war, she returned to the stage and screen, but struggles with alcoholism cut short what should have been a long career on both sides of the pond. We'll hear her in her one and only visit to Suspense - an adaptation of Charles Dickens' "The Signalman" (originally aired on CBS on November 4, 1956). Then, she saddles up and heads west with Jack Benny in an episode of his comedy program (originally aired on CBS on March 5, 1950). Finally, she leads us an audio tour of her home in "Portrait of London" from The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1956).

Nov 18, 2021

Over the course of his long career, character actor Jerome Cowan prosecuted Santa Claus and took a bullet to kick off The Maltese Falcon . We'll hear him in his only visit to Suspense as a crooked lawyer out to frame his law partner in "Mortmain" (originally aired on CBS on July 31, 1947). Then, he co-stars with Madeleine Carroll in Noel Coward's "Tonight at 8:30" from Best Plays (originally aired on NBC on August 30, 1953).

Nov 17, 2021

In this bonus episode, we're saying goodbye to Dean Stockwell, the Oscar-nominated star whose career stretched over seven decades in Hollywood who passed away on November 7th. From his earliest days as a child star in the 40s to his work with David Lynch, his Golden Globe-winning turn on Quantum Leap and his many memorable screen turns, Stockwell was always a compelling presence in a film or TV show. While he never made a visit to Suspense , Stockwell did appear on other radio anthologies, and we'll hear two of them: "Hans Brinker" from Family Theatre (originally aired on Mutual on November 8, 1950) and "Home's Not a Place" from Stars Over Hollywood (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1952).

Nov 11, 2021

Ann Sothern's career on the stage and screen stretched six decades from bit parts in the 20s to an Oscar nomination for her final performance in 1987. She was most famous for her ten B-picture comedies as brash but lovable showgirl Maisie and for a pair of TV sitcoms that earned her four Emmy nods. We'll hear her in her only Suspense appearance - "Beware the Quiet Man" (originally aired on CBS on August 12, 1948). Then, she recreates her signature screen role in Maisie Was a Lady on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1941).

Nov 4, 2021

Richard Widmark takes on the role of Iago, one of Shakespeare's most complex characters, in this ambitious two-part adaptation of Othello (originally aired on CBS on May 4th and 11th, 1953). Widmark is joined by Suspense director Elliott Lewis as Othello and Cathy Lewis as Desdemona in this production featuring Verdi operas and an all-star cast of radio character actors.

Oct 29, 2021

For this year's final bonus Halloween show, we're taking a trip to Transylvania. Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre On the Air present a spine-tingling adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (originally aired on CBS on July 11, 1938).

Oct 28, 2021

With Halloween right around the corner, we welcome Herbert Marshall back to the podcast in a pair of old time radio chillers. First, he has the title role in an adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" (originally aired on CBS on November 3, 1952). Then, Marshall stars in a one-man show - the tale of terror called "The Waxwork" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1959).

Oct 22, 2021

Late at night, Jeanette Nolan takes the long way home all by herself as a killer stalks her town. Ray Bradbury's terrifying short story becomes a classic radio horror tale in "The Whole Town's Sleeping" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1955).

Oct 21, 2021

Before he was a big screen character actor in Psycho and Cloak and Dagger and a steady hand on network TV dramas like Naked City and Wagon Train , John McIntire was a busy radio performer. We'll hear him co-starring with real-life wife Jeanette Nolan in a sixty-minute adaptation of Curt Siodmak's sci-fi horror classic "Donovan's Brain" (originally aired on CBS on February 7, 1948). For tickets to the livestream of my original Halloween old time radio comedy this Saturday, 10/23 at 7:00 pm, visit https://www.ashlandtheatre.org/event/terror-on-the-tracks

Oct 15, 2021

We head into the mountains with William Conrad in this week's Halloween bonus episode. Here, he's part of a hunting party searching the Himalayas for the mythical yeti. It's a terrifying tale from Escape - "The Abominable Snowman" (originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1953).

Oct 14, 2021

Frank Lovejoy returns to the podcast in two of the mot intense stories to ever air on Suspense . First, Lovejoy and real-life wife Joan Banks run out of gas right in the middle of a classic radio horror story - "On a Country Road" (originally aired on CBS on January 4, 1954). Then, he tries to talk an inexperienced pilot down to the ground safely in "The Long Night" (originally aired on CBS on November 18, 1956).

Oct 8, 2021

This week's bonus scary story comes from the mind of science fiction master Ray Bradbury. It stirred up controversy when it aired on CBS, and it still provides chills nearly 70 years later. It's "Zero Hour" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1955), a tale of a child's backyard game with catastrophic consequences.

Oct 7, 2021

Character actor and comedian Jack Carson closes out his run on Suspense with three old time radio thrillers. First, he's an ambitious circus employee with the gift of gab in "Death Pitch" (originally aired on CBS on March 29, 1951). Then, Carson narrates a tense tale of a malfunctioning atomic bomb at a test site in "Misfire" (originally aired on CBS on October 6, 1957). Finally, he arrives at his psychiatrist's office with some shocking news in "Analytical Hour" (originally aired on CBS on June 28, 1959).

Oct 1, 2021

Our countdown to Halloween kicks off with one of the scariest shows to air on Suspense ! The great William Conrad stars in "The Waxwork" (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1956) - a psychological horror story where he plays every role.

Sep 30, 2021

Suave and silver-haired, Otto Kruger made a name for himself as debonair villains on screen. He memorably ran a deadly domestic spy ring in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur , menaced Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet , and many more. We'll hear him in his only Suspense appearance - the Cornell Woolrich story "After Dinner Story" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1943). Then, he joins the cast of Laura in a recreation on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on February 5, 1945).

Sep 24, 2021

In this bonus episode, I'll share my picks for the best Suspense installments starring the legendary Orson Welles. We'll hear him first on a cross-country trip into a nightmare in "The Hitch-Hiker" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1942). Then, in a rare Suspense two-parter, Welles plays a scientist whose innovation could bring about the end of the world in "Donovan's Brain" (originally aired on CBS on May 18 and May 25, 1944).

Sep 23, 2021

Happy Birthday, Mickey Rooney (September 23, 1920 - April 6, 2014) Rooney was perhaps best known for his films of the 1930s and 1940s, including the Andy Hardy series and his collaborations with Judy Garland. Nearly all of Rooney's life was spent in show business. Laurence Olivier called him "the greatest actor of them all." He was nominated for four Academy Awards and five Emmys (winning one). After he passed away in 2014, Vanity Fair dubbed Rooney - married eight times with a career that went up and down after World War II - "the original Hollywood train wreck." While his personal travails may have overshadowed his work for much of his life, Mickey Rooney's performances are still celebrated. Rooney made three visits to Suspense , and I've featured all of them on Stars on Suspense: In "The Lie," Rooney plays a young man freshly expelled from another college who returns home to find his stepmother dead. He plans to take the fall to save his father, who he suspects to be the killer (4/28/1949). Then in "For Love or Murder," Mickey Rooney is a lovestruck pianist who conspires with his lover to bump off her husband (12/8/1949). Finally, he stars in "Alibi Me" as a small time hood who needs to work backwards to come up with an alibi after he impulsively murders a rival (¼/1951).

Sep 23, 2021

Though he was born into Hollywood fame - the son of one of the movies' first major stars - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. hadn't intended on becoming an actor. Ultimately, his screen successes were just one chapter in a rich and colorful life including wartime service in counterintelligence. We'll hear the star of Little Caesar and Gunga Din in "Deep Into Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on July 22, 1948). Plus, he stars in the espionage drama "The Big Kill" from The Silent Men (originally aired on February 3, 1952).

Sep 9, 2021

Stage and screen star Victor Jory makes his final appearances on Suspense in a pair of episodes that didn't belong on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear the actor from Gone With the Wind and A Midsummer Night's Dream in "Old Army Buddy" (originally aired on CBS on September 8, 1957) and "Death Notice" (originally aired on February 8, 1959). Plus, he stars as a dogged detective in "You Take Ballistics," a Cornell Woolrich story adapted for the audition recording of The Hunters (from November 29, 1948).

Sep 2, 2021

Dorothy McGuire jumped from the Broadway stage to the big screen with acclaimed performances in Claudia and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn . She earned an Oscar nod for her turn as a woman confronting her bigotry in Gentleman's Agreement and she'd later gain Disney fame as memorable moms in Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson . We'll hear her as a woman trying to reconstruct the night of a murder in "Last Confession" (originally aired on CBS on September 15, 1949). Then, she recreates her screen role in a radio adaptation of The Spiral Staircase on The Screen Directors' Playhouse (originally aired on NBC on November 25, 1949).

Aug 26, 2021

In his final visits to Suspense , Charles Boyer played two legendary lawmen from his native France. First, the four-time Oscar nominee plays Eugene Vidocq, the master thief who switched sides and became the head of the Sûreté. We'll hear "Vidocq's Final Case" (originally aired on CBS on September 29, 1952). Then, Boyer stars as Alphonse Bertillion, a policeman who used anthropology to develop a system of identifying criminal suspects. Boyer plays the innovative cop in "The Bertillion Method" (originally aired on CBS on April 26, 1954).

Aug 19, 2021

Stan Freberg was a master of satire and memorably sent up politics, history, and popular culture over his 70 years in show business. His spoofs of Dragnet , popular music, and history still hold up today, and he put his unique sense of humor to work as a successful advertising director. We'll hear the legendary performer in a rare dramatic radio turn as a murderer in "Alibi Me" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 20, 1958). Plus, we'll hear his signature wit in The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on August 31, 1956) and an episode of his classic radio comedy The Stan Freberg Show (originally aired on CBS on October 6, 1957).

Aug 13, 2021

Our annual birthday salute to Alfred Hitchcock isn't just a celebration of the legendary director and big screen master of suspense. It's also a tribute to his daughter, Patricia Alma O'Connell, who passed away on August 9th. We'll hear Patricia recreate her screen role in Strangers on a Train , recreated for the Lux Radio Theatre (rehearsal for the December 3, 1951 broadcast). Then, we'll hear Alfred Hitchcock as host and narrator in the audition recording of Once Upon a Midnight , a series that would have been a Hitchcock-led anthology series before his classic television show.

Aug 12, 2021

Actor and singer Robert Horton broke out with his stint on Wagon Train , where he spent several years on one of the top-rated TV shows in the country. But Horton left the show at the peak of its popularity to avoid typecasting and to pursue his singing career. During his years on the television frontier, Horton made two visits to Suspense . He played the titular condemned killer immortalized in song in "Tom Dooley" (originally aired on CBS on December 7, 1958) - featuring the ballad performed by the Kingston Trio! Then, he starred as an actor whose agent pressures him into taking on the real-life role of a murderer in "Spoils for Victor" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 24, 1959).

Aug 5, 2021

For the start of our sixth season, we're shining a spotlight on Suspense MVP Cathy Lewis. One of the busiest and most talented actresses of the era, Lewis was a standout supporting player on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in some of the program's greatest episodes. She proved just as strong when she stepped into starring roles. We'll hear her alongside husband Elliott in "Love, Honor, or Murder" (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1950). Then, she stars in "The Murderess" (originally aired on CBS on March 27, 1956).

Jul 29, 2021

Charles Laughton stars in a pair of stories pulled from the pages of two great English writers. These tales of murder have plenty of dark comedy mixed in along with the corpses and crimes. First, a garden party results in an accidental homicide in Dorothy L. Sayers' "The Fountain Plays" (originally aired on CBS on November 23, 1944). Then, a man discovers a new hobby - murder - in John Collier's "De Mortuis" (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1949).

Jul 22, 2021

Jackie Cooper began his career in Our Gang shorts and earned an Oscar nomination at the age of nine. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he continued acting on screen and embarked on a successful Emmy-winning career as a director. During his years in front of and behind the camera, he endeared himself to generations of movie fans as irascible editor Perry White in the Superman films. We'll hear him in three old time radio thrillers from Suspense : "The Clock and the Rope" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1947); "Remember Me?" (AFRS rebroadcast from August 24, 1958); and "The Amateur" (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1959).

Jul 16, 2021

After making her first visits to Suspense in 1945, Joan Lorring returned to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in 1960. By then, both the series and star had left Hollywood behind. The Oscar-nominee had transitioned to Broadway and television, and production of the show moved to CBS' New York studios. We'll hear Lorring in three 60s Suspense stories: "The Daisy Chain" (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1960); "The Man Who Knew How to Hate" (originally aired on CBS on June 16, 1961); and "Witness to Murder" (originally aired on CBS on October 22, 1961).

Jul 8, 2021

It was ironic that Helmut Dantine broke out in Hollywood playing Nazis in wartime dramas; he'd been part of the anti-Nazi resistance in his native Austria and was imprisoned in a concentration camp because of those efforts. Fortunately, he secured his release and escaped to California, where he pursued acting on the stage and screen. We'll hear him plotting an assassination in "Russian New Year" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1957). Then, he co-stars with Nina Foch in "Headshrinker" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1958).

Jul 7, 2021

Escape is often considered a "sister series" to CBS' Suspense , but where "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" had sponsorship dollars to attract the biggest names in Hollywood, Escape was a sustaining series without a sponsor. Since it couldn't rely on the likes of Cary Grant and Gregory Peck, Escape made great use of the stable of Hollywood radio players (Stacy Harris, John Dehner, Virginia Gregg, Betty Lou Gerson, Parley Baer, Frank Lovejoy, and more). Radio legends William Conrad and Paul Frees were regularly heard in dramatic roles, and - as "the voice of Escape" - they also lent their voices to the ominous opening lines of each week's show. Occasionally the show landed a big name and made the most of it. The best example of this may be Vincent Price starring in the chilling tale of ravenous rats "Three Skeleton Key." For much of the run, Escape was produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell, the man behind The Adventures of Philip Marlowe and Gunsmoke . Also at the helm was William N. Robson, who would go on to run Suspense in the late 1950s. In honor of the anniversary of its July 7, 1947 premiere broadcast, here are some of my favorite episodes of Escape - examples of its variety of stories and why it still holds up as a taut, exciting adventure series so many years later. "The Most Dangerous Game" - Richard Connell's short story of a deranged hunter who preys on men has been filmed and retold many times over the years, including several radio adaptations. This version casts two radio legends and iconic voices. Paul Frees is the narrator and quarry of Hans Conried's legendary - but bored - hunter and pits one man against the other in a deadly exotic jungle. (Originally aired on CBS on October 1, 1947) "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" - Another classic short story, this one by Ambrose Bierce, gets a memorable adaptation courtesy of Escape . A Confederate sympathizer tries to sabotage a bridge and ends up at the end of a Union noose. A twist of fate gives him a chance to escape…or does it? There are some problematic racial portrayals (a scene where the protagonist meets one of his slaves is particularly rough), but overall this is a great show with a cast of some of radio's best voices - Harry Bartell, Bill Johnstone, William Conrad, and Frank Lovejoy. (Originally aired on CBS on December 10, 1947) "Leiningen vs. the Ants" - A South American plantation owner refuses to run when an army of ravenous ants descends upon his homestead. The great William Conrad shines as the titular Leiningen - a man supremely confident in his dominance over nature. Lou Merrill is the government official who tries to persuade Leiningen to leave and later decides to stay and watch this titanic battle unfold. It's a great example of the power of radio - the horde of ants comes to vivid life with only the narration and sound patterns. (Originally aired on CBS on January 14, 1948) "Red Wine" - Jeff Chandler stars as a detective who travels to Borneo in search of a murderer. He finds several possible suspects working on a rubber plantation, and he'll have to get creative to unmask the killer. (Originally aired on CBS on February 26, 1949) "A Shipment of Mute Fate" - The passengers and crew of an ocean liner at sea have no place to hide when a deadly poisonous snake escapes from its case and stalks the ship. This classic thriller was performed several times on Escape ; all of the versions are worth a listen, but this one features John Lund - a rare example of a big name starring in the show. (Originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1949) "Three Skeleton Key" - One of the scariest old time radio dramas of all time, "Three Skeleton Key" features amazing performances and sound effects that will make your skin crawl. Vincent Price stars as a lighthouse keeper on a remote island. The daily bored existence of Price and his comrades is shattered when a derelict ship runs around and its passengers - thousands of carnivorous and very hungry rats - emerge with an appetite. Wine corks against glass create the illusion of gnawing rats, and your imagination does the rest to keep you on the edge of your seat. (Originally aired on CBS on March 17, 1950) "The Time Machine" - H.G. Wells' science fiction classic follows an inventor and his friend as they take a jaunt 100,000 years into the future. John Dehner and Larry Dobkin star in this adventure through time itself. (Originally aired on CBS on October 22, 1950) "Earth Abides" - This two-part drama is hailed by many as the best story Escape ever produced. Adapted from George Stewart's novel of the same name, it's the story of a post-apocalyptic world following the outbreak of a deadly plague. Stephen King cited the story as an inspiration for his own post-apocalyptic epic The Stand . ( Part One originally aired on CBS on November 5, 1950 ; Part 2 originally aired on CBS on November 12, 1950 ) "Wild Jack Rhett" - John Meston adapted Ernest Haycox's story of the old west, and it wound up being a test run for Gunsmoke for Meston and director Norman Macdonnell. John Dehner stars as an infamous gunfighter and "town tamer" hired to clean up the town of Red Mesa after its sheriff is gunned down. It's an atmospheric adult western with great performances, and its influence can be felt on Gunsmoke which would launch less than two years later. (Originally aired on CBS on December 17, 1950) "The Abominable Snowman" - William Conrad stars in this tale of adventurers who climb into the Himalayas to hunt for the legendary yeti. It's a chilling (no pun intended) story as the men fight to survive in the snow and the hellish storm - never knowing for sure if they're being stalked by their monstrous quarry. (Originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1953)

Jul 1, 2021

Michael O'Shea dropped out of school at the age of 12 and wound up on stages in the vaudeville circuit and in speakeasies before he arrived on Broadway. Hollywood came calling after an acclaimed stage performance and soon he was co-starring with Barbara Stanwyck. His film career waned in the early 1950s, but he continued to work on television and make headlines for his off-screen antics. We'll hear him in "Photo Finish" (originally aired on CBS on July 18, 1946) and "The Twist" (originally aired on CBS on September 11, 1947).

Jun 24, 2021

Actress and singer Virginia Bruce introduced a Cole Porter classic and starred as the quintessential showgirl in The Ziegfeld Follies , but studio politics hurt her career just as it was getting started. We'll hear her in an international manhunt for a missing heir in "The Cross-Eyed Bear" (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1943). Then, Virginia Bruce is an amateur sleuth looking into a baffling robbery and murder in "The Locked Room" from John Dickson Carr (originally aired on CBS on January 27, 1944).

Jun 17, 2021

Through the 40s and 50s, Margaret Whiting was one of America's most popular singing stars. She recorded and performed through the 90s, but she took on relatively few dramatic acting roles. Whiting did, however, lend her powerful voice to four episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her star (and sing) in the dramatic recreation of the popular ballad "Frankie and Johnny" (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1957). Then, she's a glamorous woman with murder on her mind in "The Well-Dressed Corpse" (originally aired on CBS on October 13, 1957).

Jun 10, 2021

Warren William, one of the kings of pre-Code Hollywood, won over audiences with his powerful portrayals of slightly unscrupulous characters. He was the first actor to play Perry Mason on screen, and he made nine films as The Lone Wolf, a reformed thief turned sleuth. For his one appearance on Suspense , William reprised the role of the Lone Wolf in "Murder Goes for a Swim" (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1943). Then we'll hear him as an attorney and investigator in "Midnight on the Moor" from the syndicated drama Strange Wills .

Jun 3, 2021

Character actor Keenan Wynn returns for his final appearances on Suspense in a pair of shows that show of the silly and serious sides of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, Wynn co-stars with Hume Cronyn in a comedic tale of embezzlement - "Double Entry" (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1945). Then, he stars in "The Night Reveals," Cornell Woolrich's tale of an arson investigator hunting a firebug (originally aired on CBS on April 18, 1946). Plus, Wynn and Anne Baxter visit Charlie McCarthy and friends (originally aired on NBC on September 23, 1945).

May 28, 2021

Phil Silvers broke out on Broadway before he became a household name as the scheming Sgt. Bilko on TV's The Phil Silvers Show . The funny man showed off another side of himself in "The Swift Rise of Eddie Albright" on Suspense (originally aired on CBS on April 3, 1947). Plus, we'll hear him welcome his buddy Frank Sinatra to an episode of radio's The Phil Silvers Show (originally aired on NBC on February 9, 1946).

May 20, 2021

When he appeared on Suspense , James Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) played against type very effectively. His characters on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" were miles away from George Bailey and Jefferson Smith. His turns were closer to his haunted protagonist of Hitchcock's Vertigo , and his episodes are highlights of the program's long run. As we remember the great leading man today for his birthday, here's a log of his old time radio thrillers. "Consequence" - Stewart starred in two productions of this Suspense story ( the first on February 21, 1946 and the second on May 19, 1949 ). He plays a doctor who is mistakenly declared dead, and he seizes the opportunity to escape his marriage and run away with his nurse. "Mission Completed" - In this one, James Stewart plays a former POW - now paralyzed in a veterans' hospital - spurred into action when he recognizes his old captor and torturer on the hospital grounds. The ending deflates this one a little bit, but for much of it, it's a nail-biting engrossing story anchored by Stewart's amazing performance. (Originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1949) **Side note - "Mission: Completed" will always have a special place in my heart. I transcribed it for a staged reading of WWII-related radio dramas, and I listened to it over and over to capture every line (and every trademark Stewart stammer!). "The Rescue" - For his final Suspense visit, Stewart played a man drawn into a life and death drama when he tries to save a young woman from jumping to her death from a hotel window ledge. What appears to be a simple case turns into a more complex conspiracy, and it's Stewart against several foes as he tries to save the girl's life.

May 20, 2021

The star of Shadow of a Doubt and The Third Man returns for more old time radio thrillers. Joseph Cotten stars in two tales of Suspense and plays three different characters. First, he plays a pair of twin brothers with a deadly case of sibling rivalry in "The Pasteboard Box" (originally aired on CBS on January 17, 1946). Then, Cotten may hold the key to the survival of an old enemy in Dorothy L. Sayers' "Blood Sacrifice" (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1950).

May 15, 2021

Nominated for three Academy Awards, James Mason (May 15, 1909 - July 27, 1984) had the marquee looks of a leading man but could convey a cool menace that made him a dastardly screen villain. Among his credits are Brutus in Julius Caesar , Captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , Humbert Humbert in Lolita , and Phillip Vandamm in Hitchcock's North by Northwest . His earliest successes came in British cinema before he made the move to Hollywood. Once he arrived in the States, he began to appear on radio. Mason made multiple appearances on Suspense , The Lux Radio Theatre , and more. In honor of his birthday, here's James Mason in his six starring turns in "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" - Suspense . "Where There's a Will" - In his first Suspense show, James Mason co-stars with his then-wife Pamela. He plays a gambler drowning in debt who decides to get a jump start on his inheritance by scaring his wealthy aunt to death. (2/24/49) "Banquo's Chair" - In this adaptation of Rupert Croft Cook's mystery, Mason plays a celebrated sleuth who goes to unusual - and unearthly - lengths to close his only unsolved case. (3/9/50) "The Greatest Thief in the World" - A "ripped from the headlines" story, this one stars Mason as a notorious jewel thief trying to keep his life of crime a secret from his social circle and from Scotland Yard. Pamela Mason co-stars with her husband again. (6/21/51) "Odd Man Out" - Mason reprised his screen role in this Suspense adaptation of Carol Reed's noir drama. Mason plays a wounded man left behind by his cohorts after a failed robbery. Injured and alone, he tries to make his way to safety and evade the police dogging his track. (2/11/52) "The Queen's Ring" - Suspense cracks the history books for a tale of Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex. Mason is the earl who plots to seize the throne for himself, with Jeanette Nolan as Elizabeth I. (12/28/53) "The Dealings of Mr. Markham" - For his final appearance, Mason starred in a tale from master of mystery John Dickson Carr. Mason plays an antique dealer with a lucrative side business - blackmail. (11/2/58)

May 13, 2021

With her powerful, belting voice and inimitable stage presence, Ethel Merman became one of the biggest stars on Broadway and the queen of musical comedy. Her performances were acclaimed, and the songs she introduced onstage became standards - tunes like "I Got Rhythm" and "There's No Business Like Show Business." She made one visit to Suspense as a singer paired with a homicidal partner in "Never Follow a Banjo Act" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1954). Then, she's the emcee for a November 1, 1944 broadcast of Command Performance.

May 7, 2021

Jeff Chandler returns to the podcast in another pair of old time radio thrillers. First, he stars in a story set to the lyrics of a haunting ballad in "My True Love's Hair" (originally aired on CBS on October 19, 1953). Then, Chandler is on trial for crimes committed to preserve the anti-Nazi underground in "Death at Skirkerud Pond" (originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1954). Then, he shows off his comedy chops in Our Miss Brooks as Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton join the Conklins for a weekend getaway (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1949).

Apr 29, 2021

Two-time Oscar nominee John Garfield broke out of the New York theatre scene, and his star burned brightly until he ran afoul of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Known for his intense performances and his battles with his studio to find stronger scripts, Garfield made memorable impressions in movies like The Postman Always Rings Twice and Body and Soul before his career - and his life - came to abrupt ends. We'll hear his two appearances on Suspense - "Reprieve" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 10, 1945) and "Death Sentence" (originally aired on CBS on November 4, 1948). Plus, George Burns writes him a bad check and Gracie Allen tries to fix it when Garfield visits their sitcom (originally aired on CBS on December 28, 1943).

Apr 22, 2021

In his final Suspense appearance, Brian Donlevy played a doctor coming to the aid of a man recently returned from the dead. The Oscar nominee stars in "Lazarus Walks" (originally aired on CBS on October 31, 1946). Then, we'll hear him recreate his role as a derelict who winds up in the governor's mansion from The Great McGinty on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1946).

Apr 17, 2021

The down-on-his-luck scriptwriter who enters into a doomed romance with a faded star; the cynical POW who reigns as king of a German camp; the aging television executive who watches his era fade away as he desperately tries to cling to his job - and a beautiful young woman: Oscar and Emmy-winner William Holden (April 17, 1918 - November 16, 1981) brought these roles and more to life over the course of his career. A handsome leading man who could play complicated characters and reluctant heroes, Holden was one of the best actors of old Hollywood. Holden made four starring turns on Suspense . He lent his voice to a murder mystery, a wartime drama, a "ripped from the headlines" cautionary tale, and a rare science fiction story. "Blood on the Trumpet" - In his first appearance, Holden stars as a New Orleans jazz musician who plans to run off with a beautiful woman he meets in a French Quarter nightclub. But soon his wife is dead, and Holden is being stalked by a mysterious stranger. (11/9/50) "Report on the Jolly Death Riders" - Holden plays a cop who presents the facts on (and dangers of) joy-riding hot rodders. He's on the case after one race claims the life of an innocent bystander. (8/27/51) "Needle in the Haystack" - In this Korean War drama, Holden and the crew of a Navy minesweeper attempt to clear a path into a harbor. He's put ashore on a mission to gather intelligence and ensure safe passage for the fleet. (11/9/53) "The Outer Limit" - A rare 50s sci-fi story from "Suspense," thiss tory from Graham Doar casts Holden as a test pilot whose experimental aircraft vanishes...only to return hours later. The pilot has a scary story of an alien encounter as well as a warning that may mean the survival of Earth. (2/15/54)

Apr 15, 2021

Irish-born actor Dan O'Herlihy broke out on the big screen when he earned an Oscar nod for the title role in Robinson Crusoe . Over the course of his career, he worked steadily on in films and on television, including his memorable role of "The Old Man" in Robocop and a recurring part on Twin Peaks . We'll hear him in two starring turns on Suspense - "Strange for a Killer" (originally aired on CBS on June 15, 1958) and Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" (originally aired on CBS on May 31, 1959). Plus, O'Herlihy plays a pair of roles opposite Vincent Price in "Greed Causes Murder," an adventure of The Saint (originally aired on Mutual on August 14, 1949).

Apr 8, 2021

Katina Paxinou came to the United States at the outset of World War II, unable to return to her native Greece. The theatre star made a big Hollywood debut with her Oscar and Golden Globe-winning performance in For Whom the Bell Tolls , but her film career was short-lived as she returned to her homeland to continue her work on the stage. We'll hear her in the wartime espionage drama "The Woman in Red" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1944). Then, she pays a visit to Bing Crosby and The Kraft Music Hall (originally aired on NBC on June 1, 1944).

Apr 1, 2021

Dane Clark prided himself on playing average joes on the big screen, and in the two episodes we'll hear this week he plays a pair of men caught up in murder. One falls into a trap, and the other plots the perfect crime, but both are in tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense . We'll hear Clark in "A Guy Gets Lonely" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1945) and "This Will Kill You" (originally aired on August 23, 1945).

Mar 28, 2021

Lucille Fletcher (March 28, 1912 - August 31, 2000) gave radio some of its all-time classic spine-tingling thrillers. Though she penned novels, plays, and even the libretto of an opera, Fletcher remains best known for her radio plays, a roster that includes some of the best episodes of Suspense . A graduate of Vassar College, Fletcher worked at CBS as a publicity writer and clerk. Fletcher met her future husband, Bernard Herrmann, when he was conducting the CBS orchestra. Fletcher's radio career took off when one of her short stories was adapted for a radio script by Norman Corwin. Her original plays were presented on The Columbia Workshop , The Orson Welles Show , and more. Fletcher's best-known work - indeed, one of the greatest radio plays of all time - is "Sorry, Wrong Number." The classic study in terror was presented seven times on Suspense, each time with Agnes Moorehead starring in the role of a bedridden woman who overhears a murder plot on the phone. The story was adapted into a 1948 film starring Barbara Stanwyck. According to her daughter Dorothy Hermann, Lucille Fletcher got the idea for her most famous play during a trip to the grocery store. In line to buy milk for one of her sick children, Fletcher asked a well-dressed woman if she could go ahead of the woman in line. "No, you cannot," the woman exclaimed. "How dare you?" For her revenge, Lucille Fletcher fashioned the haughty, wealthy woman into the ill-mannered invalid at the center of the story, brought to life perfectly by Agnes Moorehead. Her work was also adapted for the screen when Rod Serling presented Fletcher's classic Suspense script "The Hitch-Hiker" as a first season episode of The Twilight Zone . The original radio production had starred Orson Welles as a man on a cross-country car trip who is pursued by a seemingly supernatural stranger on the side of the road. A talented writer across multiple mediums, Lucille Fletcher seemed to be the most at home in the mystery genre. Describing mystery stories, she said "Writing suspense stories is like working on a puzzle. You bury the secret, lead the reader down the path, put in false leads and throughout the story remain completely logical. Each word must have meaning and be written in a fine literary style. Mysteries are a challenge, a double task for the writer, for the reader is aching to solve the puzzle before you do." When her radio plays were on the air, the audience was aching for the solution to the intricate, well-calculated tales weaved by Lucille Fletcher. In honor of her birthday, here are some of Lucille Fletcher's fantastic plays presented on Suspense . "The Hitch-Hiker" - This eerie story starring Orson Welles has a fantastic twist ending, but the uneasy feeling generated throughout the show will stick with you. (September 2, 1942) "The Diary of Saphronia Winters" - The first of many scripts by Lucille Fletcher to be performed multiple times on Suspense , this tale of music and madness stars Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins. (April 27, 1943) "Fugue in C Minor" - Vincent Price co-stars with Ida Lupino in another mystery surrounding music (a theme in her work) set at the dawn of the twentieth century. (June 1, 1944) "Dark Journey" - Nancy Kelly and Cathy Lewis are the only performers in this tale of the power of will, and one woman's desire for revenge. (April 25, 1946) "The Thing in the Window" - How can a dead body disappear, then reappear in an otherwise normal apartment? That's the mystery at the heart of this episode starring Joseph Cotten. (December 19, 1946)

Mar 25, 2021

When Suspense was revamped as an hour-long series, two-time Academy Award nominee and director Robert Montgomery was on hand as producer, host, and occasional star. He took the lead role in the program's first sixty-minute installment - an adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's "The Black Curtain" (originally aired on CBS on January 3, 1948).

Mar 18, 2021

Hitchcock leading man, sitcom star, wartime flight instructor, and godson of a Wright Brother - Robert Cummings wore many hats during his life and career. The Emmy-winning actor made a pair of visits to Suspense ten years apart playing both an innocent man caught up in a crime and its cover-up and a seasoned criminal trying to stay out of the clutches of the police. We'll hear him in "The Dead of the Night" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1944) and "Want Ad" (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1954).

Mar 11, 2021

For his final appearances on Suspense , Vincent Price starred in an encore production of one of the scariest shows of the series, as well as an adaptation of a classic short story. We'll hear him in "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on October 19, 1958) and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1959). Plus, Price stars in a terrifying tale of life and death in the jungle from Escape - "Blood Bath" (originally aired on CBS on June 30, 1950).

Mar 4, 2021

Hailed as the "Queen of the B-movies," Marie Windsor carved out a career playing tough femme fatale roles in noir dramas like The Narrow Margin and The Killing . Her brassy, sultry aura made her a natural fit for those characters, and she put her talents to work in her one visit to Suspense as a woman caught in a love triangle with deadly results. We'll hear her in "Script by Mark Brady" (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1959). Plus, we'll hear her alongside Frank Lovejoy and Ted de Corsia in an all-star production of Escape , "Danger at Matacumbe" (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1950).

Feb 25, 2021

Before his Oscar-nominated turn in The Defiant Ones and before he wore a dress and wooed Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot , Tony Curtis made his one and only visit to Suspense . Curtis starred as a college basketball player approached to throw a game in "The McKay College Basketball Scandal" (originally aired on CBS on September 24, 1951). Plus, Curtis clowns around with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in an episode of their comedy show (originally aired on NBC on February 29, 1952).

Feb 22, 2021

Happy Birthday, Robert Young (February 22, 1907 – July 21, 1998) To generations of television fans, Young is immortalized as both Jim Anderson in Father Knows Best and as the titular doctor Marcus Welby, M.D. Though he appeared in over 100 films, he found his greatest success on the small screen. Before he starred in Father Knows Best on television, Young headlined the radio series which ran from 1949 to 1954. In 1969, he scored his second television hit with Marcus Welby , which ran until 1976. Though he's best known as the saintly dad and wise doctor, Young was a versatile actor who could play a dastardly heel - as he often did on Suspense . Here are Young's seven appearances on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - shows that find him playing murderers and intended victims, innocent men and men hiding deadly secrets. Several of these are personal favorites from the series, and I hope you like them too. "A Friend to Alexander" - In his first appearance on Suspense , Robert Young plays a man plagued by dreams of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr night after night. Long before we were all singing along with Hamilton , Young's character couldn't get the infamous showdown out of his mind, and his wife (played by Geraldine Fitzgerald) is increasingly concerned over his obsessive behavior. (Originally aired on CBS on August 3, 1943) "The Night Reveals" - This terrific Cornell Woolrich tale was adapted several times for Suspense , but this production starring Robert Young may be the best. He plays an arson investigator who learns - to his horror - that his latest case of a firebug may have connections close to home - and to a secret kept by his nervous wife (played by Margo). (Originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1943) "The High Wall" - Robert Young wakes up in a strange bed in a room he doesn't recognize, and six months have passed without so much as a memory. That's how this intriguing thriller opens, and Young must figure out how he ended up in an asylum for the criminally insane...and how he can escape. (Originally aired on CBS on June 6, 1946) "You'll Never See Me Again" - Another Cornell Woolrich tale finds Robert Young as a new husband whose wife storms off to her mother's house after a fight. After he cools off, he phones to apologize but he learns she never arrived. Soon, he's suspected of foul play, and he must convince a cop that he's innocent and that his wife's odd stepfather may be involved in her disappearance. This is a fantastic episode, with a pair of eerie twists before the final curtain. (Originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946) "Crossfire" - In this sixty minute episode, Robert Young reprises his screen role, and reunites with co-stars Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan, in a radio recreation of the film noir drama Crossfire . Young plays a cop investigating a brutal murder, and he discovers the ugly, bigoted motive that may have fueled the killer's actions. (Originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1948) "Celebration" - Robert Young co-stars with Virginia Bruce in this story of a couple's anniversary that may be their last. Young picks up Bruce from a hospital where she's been recuperating from an accident. But instead of a dinner or dancing, he takes the couple out to a deserted location. And he didn't bring a gift, but he did pack a box of bullets. (Originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1948) "A Murder of Necessity" - A perfect crime is foiled by a witness on the other end of a phone call in Robert Young's final visit to Suspense . After killing his blackmailer, Young discovers the man was on the phone at the time of the murder, and the entire crime may have played out for the listening party. (Originally aired on March 24, 1952)

Feb 18, 2021

Burly character actor Alan Hale was a regular presence in films through the 30s and 40s, lending support to stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Basil Rathbone, Humphrey Bogart, and - in over a dozen films - Errol Flynn. Hale made one visit to Suspense as a colorful con man in "The Leading Citizen of Pratt County" (originally aired on CBS on May 30, 1946). Plus, we'll hear Hale and Flynn in "Allergic to Ladies," a presentation of the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre co-starring Jane Wyman (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1940).

Feb 11, 2021

B-movie leading man Dennis O'Keefe grew up in a vaudeville family and embarked on a screen career - both starring in films and writing them. We'll hear the star of T-Men , Brewster's Millions , and Cover Up in a pair of Suspense shows that find him playing both hero and heel: "The X-Ray Camera" (originally aired on CBS on October 13, 1947) and "Very Much Like a Nightmare" (originally aired on May 25, 1950).

Feb 4, 2021

For her final visit to Suspense , Dame May Whitty recreated a performance she'd memorably played on stage and screen. In this hour-long adaptation of Emlyn Williams' play Night Must Fall (originally aired on CBS on March 27, 1948), Whitty reprises her Oscar-nominated role opposite Robert Montgomery.

Jan 28, 2021

Bonita Granville's screen career was short, but she made the most of it. She earned an Oscar nomination at age 14, and she starred in four films as junior detective Nancy Drew before she switched gears to produce projects alongside her husband. We'll hear her only visit to Suspense - "Bank Holiday" (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1945). Then, she's plotting a murder for money in an episode of the syndicated anthology drama Obsession .

Jan 21, 2021

Old time radio fans may know J. Carrol Naish (January 21, 1896 – January 24, 1973) best as Luigi Basco, newly immigrated to America from his native Italy in the delightful sitcom Life with Luigi . But as good as he was getting laughs from the audiences in the studio and at home, Naish was equally adept in dramatic roles on the air and on screen. Though he was of Irish ancestry, Naish played almost every ethnicity except his own. His versatility with accents earned him the title "Hollywood's one-man U.N." Naish was nominated for two Academy Awards for performances in Sahara and A Medal for Benny . Naish found radio stardom in 1948 when he went on the air as Luigi, and he played the role on radio until 1953 along with a brief television stint in 1952. (The TV program, which co-starred other actors from the radio cast, was short-lived after it was met with resistance from the Italian-American community.) Elsewhere on radio, Naish appeared on the Lux Radio Theatre and he made four appearances on Suspense , shows that afforded him the chance to show off his knack for accents and dialects. In "The Most Dangerous Game" (2/1/1945), Naish played the deranged General Zaroff, a hunter who tracks human prey. Joseph Cotten co-starred in this great adaptation of Richard Connell's classic short story, but it's Naish who has the meatier part. Zaroff is insane in the tradition of the genre's best villains. When he taunts Cotten in the jungle, Naish conveys Zaroff's genuine excitement at finally finding an adversary worthy of the great hunter's talents. "Footfalls" (7/12/45) finds Naish playing a blind cobbler trying to keep his reckless son on the straight and narrow. When his son is killed, the cobbler relies on his heightened sense of hearing to find the murderer. Naish was back in villainous territory in "Commuter's Ticket" (8/1/46). He played a murderer who hoped to create an airtight alibi for his crime on the crowded train he took to work every day. In Naish's final Suspense show, "The Treasure Chest of Don Jose" (2/4/52), he was a treasure hunter out to capture a fortune left behind by his ancestor.

Jan 21, 2021

Lloyd Bridges' final appearances on Suspense took him from the gym to his Sea Hunt haunts on the ocean floor. But no matter where he went, murder was close at hand. We'll hear the star of High Noon and Airplane! in "Rub Down and Out" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 6, 1958) and "Deep, Deep is My Love" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 26, 1959).

Jan 18, 2021

"If I ever do any more radio work, I want to do it on Suspense ." Cary Grant (January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986) made five visits to radio's outstanding theater of thrills, and I think it's safe to say he was one of the best radio performers of the scores of stars who stepped up to the microphone. Grant's characters in his Suspense stories didn't always synch up with his screen persona, but he was always polished and assured in his performances. In honor of his birthday, here are his four surviving appearances on the program – a batch of shows that includes one of the scariest stories of the radio era. "The Black Curtain" – Cary Grant was the first actor to star on Suspense in its era of sponsorship by Roma Wines, and producer/director William Spier picked a terrific story to launch the new run of the show. It comes from the pen of master noir wordsmith Cornell Woolrich, and it stars Grant as a man who wakes up from an accident and realizes he's lost all memory of the last three years. But someone remembers, and they're hunting Cary with a gun. It was a story so nice, Cary Grant starred in it twice. The first production aired on December 2, 1943 and the second came on November 30, 1944 . "The Black Path of Fear" – In Cary Grant's third appearance on Suspense , he starred in another story from Cornell Woolrich. A couple is on the run in Havana; she left her gangster husband for his chauffeur, but her former beau isn't about to let her go without a fight. Soon, she's dead and her new man (Grant) is accused of her murder. This mystery originally aired on CBS on March 7, 1946 . "On a Country Road" – Unfortunately, Cary Grant's fourth visit to Suspense is lost, but his fifth and final show is one of the best – and most terrifying – that the series ever produced. Grant and Suspense MVP Cathy Lewis play a couple driving home from a night out only to run out of gas when they take a shortcut through the woods. Now, stuck in a heavy rainstorm, they hear a radio a bulletin that a psychotic woman has escaped from an asylum and killed a guard with a meat cleaver she's still carrying. When a scared woman appears outside of their car pleading to be let inside for safety, it's the start of a long and deadly night. Listen with the lights out – if you dare – to this show from November 16, 1950 .

Jan 14, 2021

Known to old time radio fans everywhere as Sam Spade, Howard Duff was one of the biggest names of the radio era. Not only was he a skilled dramatic and comedic actor in front of the microphone, he also worked in the Armed Forces Radio Service and - through his job - helped preserve hundreds of the shows we know and love today. The blacklist and Red Scare paranoia dinged his career, but he emerged and continued to work in film and television through the 1980s. We'll hear him in "A Murderous Revision," an unaired recording of a show that was scrapped when he was branded a Communist (recording dated October 13, 1951) and "Eyewitness" (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1956).

Jan 7, 2021

We'll kick off a new year with the "First Lady of Suspense !" Agnes Moorehead returns in a pair of old time radio thrillers, including her very first visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." She co-stars with Ray Collins in the first production of "The Diary of Saphronia Winters" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1943). Then, we'll hear her in "Death and Miss Turner" (originally aired on November 17, 1952).

Dec 31, 2020

For our final podcast episode of 2020, we welcome Frank Lovejoy back to the podcast for two more old time radio thrillers. He stars as one of the west's most infamous outlaws in "The Shooting of Billy the Kid" (originally aired on CBS on April 28, 1952). Then, he's on trial for a crime he didn't commit in "Public Defender" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1953). Plus, we've got the first episode of Lovejoy's radio drama series Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on February 6, 1950).

Dec 24, 2020

Christmas is almost here, and to celebrate here's a bonus episode light on suspense but heavy on the stars. We'll hear David Niven, Jane Greer, and Tyrone Power in the holiday favorite The Bishop's Wife , recreated for The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1949).

Dec 23, 2020

Raymond Burr was doing double duty when he starred in these installments of Suspense . He could be seen every week on television in the earliest seasons of Perry Mason , but he continued to lend his voice to radio dramas. We'll hear him in H.G. Wells' "The Country of the Blind" (originally aired on CBS on October 27, 1957). Plus, just in time for the holidays, Burr plays a gun-toting St. Nick looking for revenge in "Out for Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1958).

Dec 17, 2020

Paul Lukas started his career in his native Hungary, but he found more stage and screen stardom when he journeyed to Hollywood. Lukas won an Oscar for his portrayal of a German anti-fascist in Watch the Rhine , and he remained a regular presence on films and in television through the 1970s. We'll hear him in "Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1943) and "Mr. Markham, Antique Dealer" (originally aired on CBS on May 11, 1943).

Dec 11, 2020

Susan Hayward earned five Oscar nominations and one win for her dynamic performances in stories pulled from real life. Hayward took home her Academy Award for her work as a woman sentenced to die for murder in I Want to Live! and she brought that intensity to her two appearances on Suspense . We'll hear her in "The Dead Sleep Lightly," a mystery by John Dickson Carr (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1943). Then she plays a wealthy woman with a shady past and a plan to secure her own future in "Dame Fortune" (originally aired on CBS on October 24, 1946). Finally, Hayward pays a visit to Edgar, Charlie, Mortimer Snerd, and the rest of the gang at The Charlie McCarthy Show (AFRS rebroadcast from December 16, 1945).

Dec 4, 2020

Happy Birthday to writer Cornell Woolrich, born December 4, 1903. An early master of the art of noir fiction, Woolrich's earliest works were inspired by the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald before he turned to the pulp detective stories that made him famous. When he started writing for the pulps, he churned out stores at such a rate that he had to use a few pen names, including "William Irish." Woolrich's works have been adapted for the big screen (inspiring movies like Rear Window and The Bride Wore Black ), and many of his stories were presented on radio. Woolrich's stories were mined for The Mollé Mystery Theater , Escape , and in almost three dozen episodes of Suspense . Unfortunately, despite his success, Woolrich's life was marked by tragedy and suffering. He struggled with his homosexuality with and attempted to conceal it with a failed marriage. There was no respite for him at home; Woolrich moved from one decrepit hotel room to another, surrounded by the types of unsavory characters that populated his fiction. An untreated infection led the loss of his leg and alcoholism added to his decline. When he passed away in 1968 at the age of 64, Woolrich weighed only 89 pounds. In honor of his birthday, here are some old time radio adaptations of Woolrich's stories - brought to life by great stars and atmospheric productions. "Dime a Dance" – A serial killer is stalking taxi dancers, and one – well played by Lucille Ball before her on-screen antics with Ethel – starts to fall for the cop who's working undercover to nail the killer. But she soon starts to suspect that he may be the man who killed her friends and had one final dance with their corpses. This is one of the best episodes of Suspense with palpable tension throughout, a truly terrifying climax, and a haunting use of the song "Poor Butterfly." (Originally aired on CBS on Suspense on January 13, 1944) "You'll Never See Me Again" – Robert Young effectively plays against his Father Knows Best -type in this story of a feuding couple whose latest spat ends when the wife leaves for her mother's house. After a few days, her husband calls for her…only to discover she never made it. Soon, there's evidence piling up to suggest foul play, and the man partners with a skeptical detective to find his missing wife, or to find her body. (Originally aired on CBS on Suspense on September 5, 1946) "You Take Ballistics" – Unlike many of the shows on this list, "You Take Ballistics" puts us in the shoes of a policeman. Here, a hard-nosed cop is absolutely convinced that a small time crook committed a murder. Everything points in the man's direction, except for ballistic evidence. The cop dismisses it – he'll take human nature over ballistics any day – but he's got to find a way to make his case. Howard Da Silva is the cop, and a pre- Dragnet Jack Webb is the smug suspect. (Originally aired on CBS on Suspense on March 13, 1947) "Papa Benjamin" – The supernatural creeps into Woolrich's story about greed. A jazz musician steals a voodoo chant for a new arrangement, and it becomes the hit of New Orleans. To him, it's just a catchy tune that he can parlay into fame and fortune but he learns too late of the real consequences to dabbling with – and disrespecting – voodoo. Frank Lovejoy plays the bandleader recounting his terrifying tale. (Originally aired on CBS on Escape on January 21, 1948)

Dec 3, 2020

Before he spent four seasons on a Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea , Richard Basehart was a rising Hollywood star and made a visit to the Suspense microphone. His performance elevates "The Perfectionist," a far-fetched episode about a killer forced to improvise during his perfect crime (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1952). Then, Basehart stars as Joyce Kilmer, the poet and writer who met his end on a battlefield during World War I in Family Theater (originally aired on Mutual on August 17, 1949).

Nov 25, 2020

Leading man Robert Taylor made his Suspense debut as a reporter who stumbles into the story of the century in "The Argyle Album" (originally aired on CBS on December 13, 1945). Then we'll hear him join Mary, Phil, Dennis, and Don when he guest hosts The Jack Benny Program (originally aired on NBC on May 16, 1948).

Nov 19, 2020

Actress Lynn Bari enjoyed a long career on the big and small screens, and though she never really broke into the starring sphere she appeared in hundreds of films opposite some of the major stars of the era. Her specialty was playing "the other woman" - the man-hungry femme fatale who was always ready with a seductive look or a gun - and she won the admiration of GIs as one of the most popular pinup girls of World War II. We'll hear her in her only visit to Suspense - "Murder By an Expert" (originally aired on CBS on July 24, 1947). Then, she joins Bud and Lou in a wild west comedy on The Abbott and Costello Show (originally aired on NBC on December 16, 1943).

Nov 12, 2020

Before he solved TV crimes as Cannon , William Conrad was one of the titans of the golden age of radio. With his booming voice, Conrad gave life to the tough marshal of Dodge City Matt Dillon and hundreds of other characters - from historical figures like Nero, Blackbeard, and King Arthur to the ominous voice that introduced Escape . We'll hear him star in a pair of Suspense thrillers: "The Shot" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1954) and "A Study in Wax" (originally aired on CBS on August 16, 1955). Plus, we'll hear him in his signature role on Gunsmoke in "Matt Gets It" (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1954).

Nov 5, 2020

John Lund's big screen career started with a bang but faded by the mid-1950s. Still, he was able to display his versatility during his appearances on Suspense . We'll hear him as a writer who finds inspiration in a real-life crime in "The Man in the Room" (originally aired on CBS on May 11, 1950). Then, Lund plays a cop on the trail of a drug ring in "Melody in Dreams" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1952).

Oct 30, 2020

I've saved the best - and scariest - for last. In our final Halloween Haunts bonus episode, we'll hear my pick for the most terrifying tale to ever air on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Robert Taylor and Cathy Lewis receive the housewarming gift from hell in "The House in Cypress Canyon" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946).

Oct 29, 2020

Ray Bradbury brought science fiction into the mainstream with stories like The Martian Chronicles , and his works were adapted for some of the best radio anthologies of the era. Stories from the author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man inspired episodes of Escape , X Minus One , and Suspense . We'll hear two of his terrifying tales from radio's outstanding theater of thrills: "Zero Hour" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1955) and "The Whole Town's Sleeping" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1955). Plus, we'll hear "The Veldt," a story about addictive technology years before smart phones, from Dimension X (originally aired on NBC on August 9, 1951).

Oct 23, 2020

A car out of gas, a frightened couple, and a homicidal maniac on the loose - they all come together in "On a Country Road," still one of the most terrifying stories ever produced on Suspense seventy years after it first aired. Cary Grant stars in this radio play designed for listening with the lights out (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950).

Oct 22, 2020

Lee J. Cobb was still a rising star in Hollywood - years before his Oscar-nominated turns in On the Waterfront and The Brothers Karamazov and his powerful performances in 12 Angry Men and The Exorcist - when he made his only visit to Suspense . We'll hear him as an artist in a deadly love triangle in "The Bet" (originally aired on CBS on November 8, 1945). Then he recreates his big screen performance opposite Dick Powell in a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Johnny O'Clock (originally aired on CBS on May 12, 1947).

Oct 16, 2020

This week's scary story from Suspense was made to be enjoyed with the lights out. Join Ralph Edwards as a DJ who spends a night in a haunted house for a radio show stunt and gets more than he bargained for in "Ghost Hunt" (originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1949).

Oct 15, 2020

Hungarian-born actor and director Cornel Wilde displays his versatility at the microphone in a pair of old time radio thrillers. First, he's a pyromaniac fighting his fascination with fire in "The Flame" (originally aired on CBS on October 15, 1951). Then, he's a murderer who charms his victim into taking a fatal ride in "Somebody Help Me" (originally aired on CBS on March 29, 1954).

Oct 9, 2020

Our month-long Halloween celebration continues with another Friday bonus episode. We'll hear another one of my picks for the scariest Suspense episodes of all time. This week's installment pits Vincent Price, Ben Wright, and John Dehner against a horde of ravenous rats in "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956).

Oct 8, 2020

Ezio Pinza sang on the stages of the greatest opera houses in the world, and he played nearly 100 characters over the course of his long career. When he left the Metropolitan Opera after 22 seasons, he moved to the Broadway stage where he took home a Tony for his role in South Pacific . Sadly, he did very little dramatic radio acting, but he was terrific in his one and only visit to Suspense . We'll hear him as a singer who gives a murderous performance in "Aria From Murder" (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1951). Then, we'll hear him sing along with Al Jolson in an appearance on The Kraft Music Hall (originally aired on NBC on June 3, 1948).

Oct 2, 2020

With Halloween right around the corner, I've picked five of the most frightening episodes of Suspense for bonus shows that are sure to get you in the trick-or-treating mood. Up first is Orson Welles in Lucille Fletcher's terrifying tale of horror on the highway - "The Hitchhiker" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1942).

Oct 1, 2020

Tony-winning and Oscar-nominated actress Nancy Kelly returns in two more old time radio thrillers. Best known as the mother of The Bad Seed on stage and screen, Kelly lends her considerable talents and versatility to shows that find her playing a woman plotting to run off with her lover and another woman terrified by a nightmarish omen. We'll hear "The Taming of the Beast," co-starring Helmut Dantine (originally aired on CBS on March 29, 1945) and "A Week Ago Wednesday" (originally aired on CBS on November 29, 1945).

Sep 24, 2020

Frequently cast as characters from the Emerald Isle, Pat O'Brien was known as "Hollywood's Irishman in residence." Best known as the street tough turned priest in Angels with Dirty Faces and as Knute Rockne with his famous "Gipper" speech, O'Brien made two visits to Suspense where he played a pair of cops. First, he tells the story of a cataleptic's date with the embalmer's knife in "Dead Ernest" (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1949). Then, O'Brien is on the hunt for a hit and run killer, but the case may bring him right to his own home in "True Report" (originally aired on CBS on August 31, 1950).

Sep 17, 2020

In his final visit to Suspense , Eddie Bracken sheds his lovable and dopey screen persona honed in comedies from Preston Sturges. We'll hear him in "Nightmare," a sixty-minute story from Cornell Woolrich (originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1948). We'll also hear Bracken in the first episode of his radio sitcom The Eddie Bracken Show , where he plays a version of himself closer to his portrayals in The Miracle at Morgan Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero (originally aired on NBC on January 28, 1945).

Sep 10, 2020

Character actor Everett Sloane broke out in radio and onstage before he moved to movies like Citizen Kane and The Lady from Shanghai . His voice was perfect for radio, with a patrician air that could give a character sophistication or menace. We'll hear him as a man plotting the murder of his business partner in "Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on July 7, 1957). Then, he's a safari guide facing off against a dangerous lion in "Game Hunt" (originally aired on CBS on March 16, 1958).

Sep 3, 2020

For his final Suspense appearance, Edmond O'Brien starred in a grim tale of the frontier pulled from the history books. We'll hear him in "Ordeal in Donner Pass" (originally aired on November 2, 1953). Plus, he stars as "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator" Johnny Dollar in "The Queen Anne Pistols Matter" (originally aired on CBS on November 4, 1950).

Aug 27, 2020

Debonair British star David Niven lent a touch of class and charm to his roles during his long Hollywood career. Whether he was racing the globe in Around the World in 80 Days , carrying out a daring commando raid in The Guns of Navarone , or vexing Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther films, Niven was always poised, polished, and highly entertaining. We'll hear him as a con artist plotting an insurance swindle in "Grand Theft" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1954). Plus, we'll hear him visit Bob Hope in Reno on The Pepsodent Show (originally aired on NBC on March 5, 1946).

Aug 20, 2020

Best known for his physical presence in epics like The Robe and Samson and Delilah , Victor Mature starred on stage, screen, and television in musicals, westerns, and noir dramas. We'll hear him in a pair of thrillers, beginning with Cornell Woolrich's "Momentum" (originally aired on CBS on October 27, 1949). Then, he's a hitman on assignment in "Blackjack to Kill" (originally aired on CBS on December 10, 1951).

Aug 13, 2020

For our 200th episode, I'm sharing five of my favorite "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense ." We'll hear Dana Andrews in Ray Bradbury's "The Crowd" (originally aired on CBS on September 21, 1950); "Murder in G-Flat" starring Jack Benny (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1951); the Cold War spy drama "The Case for Dr. Singer" (originally aired on CBS on June 28, 1951); "first lady of Suspense " Agnes Moorehead in "The Evil of Adelaide Winters" (originally aired on CBS on September 10, 1951); and finally an encore of a classic Suspense show "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on November 4, 1954).

Aug 11, 2020

We're celebrating the birthday of Alfred Hitchcock with one of the big screen master of suspense's films adapted for radio. In this Screen Directors' Playhouse production, Mercedes McCambridge and Joseph Cotten star in "Spellbound," Hitchcock's thriller about psychoanalysis and murder (originally aired on NBC on January 25, 1951).

Aug 6, 2020

Peter Lawford broke out in Hollywood in British war stories at the outset of World War II, and the English-born actor appeared in The Picture of Dorian Gray , The Canterville Ghost , and The White Cliffs of Dover . But he may be better known for his years in Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack, and his relationship with his presidential brother-in-law John F. Kennedy. We'll hear Lawford in a two-part adaptation of Wilkie Collins' "The Moonstone" (originally aired on CBS on November 16 and November 23, 1953).

Jul 30, 2020

Dan Duryea was a big screen heavy - equally at home in urban noir dramas and westerns. His looks, combined with his knack for movie villainy, earned him the nickname "the heel with sex appeal." He put that talent for playing crooks and fiends to work when he visited Suspense . We'll hear Duryea plot a murder in "The Will to Power" (originally aired on CBS on January 9, 1947). Then, he's riding a wave of good luck to ill-gotten gains in "The Man Who Couldn't Lose" (originally aired on CBS on December 12, 1947).

Jul 23, 2020

Lloyd Nolan stars on opposite sides of the law in a pair of Suspense thrillers. First, he's a man driven to murder in "Double Ugly" (originally aired on CBS on August 28, 1947). Then, he plays a dogged detective chasing down leads on a cold case in "The Man With Two Faces" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1952).

Jul 16, 2020

Merle Oberon broke out on the big screen in England, and Hollywood producers were quick to bring her across the pond for their own films. She rose to stardom and picked up an Academy Award even as she kept her past a closely guarded secret and recovered from tragedy. We'll hear her in the only visit she made to Suspense - "The Bluebeard of Bellac," a murder mystery in Nazi-occupied France (originally aired on CBS on September 21, 1944). Then, she recreates the title role in Lydia from The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1941).

Jul 9, 2020

John Hodiak broke out in Hollywood when Alfred Hitchcock cast him in Lifeboat , but his subsequent screen career had ups and downs. A sensational turn on Broadway showed signs of a career resurgence, but he died tragically young before he could capitalize on his newfound acclaim. We'll hear the dynamic leading man in "Dateline Lisbon" (originally aired on CBS on October 5, 1944) and "The Case History of a Gambler" (originally aired on CBS on December 17, 1951).

Jul 2, 2020

Van Heflin returns to the podcast in two more old time radio thrillers, including a tale pulled from the history books. We'll hear the star of 3:10 to Yuma as a con man plotting a perfect crime in "Murder of Aunt Delia" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1949). Then, Suspense dramatizes an unsolved mystery of the sea when it presents "The Mystery of the Marie Celeste" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1953).

Jun 25, 2020

One of Hollywood's most popular and beloved child stars, Margaret O'Brien turned in performances on Suspense that outshone some of the adult performers of the era. We'll hear the star of Meet Me in St. Louis in a wartime drama with May Whitty in "Cricket" (originally aired on CBS on March 15, 1945). Then, she stars in Ray Bradbury's "The Screaming Woman" (originally aired on CBS on November 25, 1948).

Jun 18, 2020

Eddie Cantor was one of the most beloved showmen of the 20th century; he kept audiences entertained on stage, screen, and for nearly two decades on radio. The singer and comedian made one trip to Suspense for a lighthearted crime caper in "Double Entry" (originally aired on CBS on December 22, 1949). Then, we'll hear him welcome guest William Powell in an episode of The Eddie Cantor Show (originally aired on NBC on October 1, 1948).

Jun 11, 2020

In his final appearances on Suspense , James Mason starred in a tale of intrigue from the court of Elizabeth I and a mystery from genre master John Dickson Carr. Mason co-stars with his then-wife Pamela in "The Queen's Ring" (originally aired on CBS on December 28, 1953) and "The Dealings of Mr. Markham" (originally aired on CBS on November 2, 1958).

Jun 4, 2020

Actress, singer, and activist Lena Horne kept audiences entertained over her long screen and stage career, and she fought tirelessly for civil rights alongside some of the giants of the movement. We'll hear her as a singer battling Nazis in "You Were Wonderful" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1944). Then, we'll hear a compilation of her songs from Command Performance and an appearance on The Bill Stern Sports Newsreel (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1945).

May 28, 2020

For his final appearance on the podcast, Ray Milland stars in a Suspense story from Raymond Chandler. Milland plays a private eye in the comedic caper "Pearls are a Nuisance" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1950). Then, he recreates his big screen role in The Big Clock on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on November 22, 1948).

May 21, 2020

Nearly 80 years after it first aired, Lucille Fletcher's "Sorry, Wrong Number" remains a powerful masterpiece of suspense. It's one of the all-time great radio dramas and one of the very best episodes ever produced on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear the first and final performances of this legendary radio play, both starring "First Lady of Suspense " Agnes Moorehead (originally aired on CBS on May 25, 1943 and February 14, 1960).

May 14, 2020

Susan Peters was one of Hollywood's brightest rising dramatic stars before a tragic hunting accident paralyzed her. But she didn't stop acting, and she turned in a terrific performance in her one and only visit to Suspense . We'll hear her in "They Call Me Patrice" (originally aired on CBS on December 12, 1946). Then, she stars in "Johnny Eager," recreated for The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1946).

May 7, 2020

Oops! This week's episode contained the wrong version of "A Vision of Death," so here is the June 1, 1953 episode starring Ronald Colman, Mary Jane Croft, and Hy Averback. It's the correct tale well calculated to keep you in... Suspense !

May 7, 2020

In 1953, Ronald Colman took his final bows on Suspense with a pair of terrific thrillers. We'll hear him in an encore performance of "A Vision of Death" (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1953). Then, he's an amateur detective on the trail of a killer in "Trent's Last Case" (originally aired on CBS on December 7, 1953). Plus, we'll hear Colman and his wife Benita Hume in the premiere episode of their radio sitcom The Halls of Ivy (originally aired on NBC on January 6, 1950).

Apr 30, 2020

Dancing her way from the stage and on to the big screen, Margo won acclaim for her screen performances in the 1930s and 40s. The blacklist ultimately derailed her career, but before she left Hollywood she made several memorable visits to Suspense . We'll hear "Last Night" (originally aired on CBS on June 15, 1943) and "Cabin B-13" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1943).

Apr 23, 2020

In Singin' in the Rain , Donald O'Connor showed us how to "Make 'Em Laugh," but in his two visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" the actor, singer, and dancer kept audiences in Suspense . We'll hear him in "Smiley" (originally aired on CBS on august 14, 1947) and "The Visitor" (originally aired on CBS on September 18, 1947).

Apr 16, 2020

Actress and groundbreaking director Ida Lupino takes her final bow on the podcast in her first and last appearances on Suspense . We'll hear her co-starring with Agnes Moorehead in a story of deadly sibling rivalry - "The Sisters" (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1944). Then, she takes a shortcut through the woods in one of the scariest shows Suspense ever produced - "On a Country Road" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 10, 1959). Plus, Ida Lupino stars as poet Elizabeth Barrett in a production of The Hallmark Playhouse (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1950).

Apr 9, 2020

Herbert Marshall returns to the podcast in stories of prewar and postwar Suspense . First, he's a schoolmaster blackmailed by a delinquent student in "The Victoria Cross" (originally aired on CBS on November 2, 1950). Then, he's on the run to avert an international crisis in a radio adaptation of "The Thirty-Nine Steps" (originally aired on CBS on March 3, 1952).

Apr 2, 2020

Though he was rarely the star of the show, Joseph Kearns was one of the most frequently heard voices on Suspense . For years, he played supporting roles and introduced stories as the "Man in Black." He was one of radio's most versatile and talented character actors, but he also shined when he stepped into lead roles. We'll hear him in "Short Order" (originally aired on CBS on August 16, 1945) and "The Earth is Made of Glass" (originally aired on CBS on June 15, 1954).

Mar 26, 2020

John Lund plays a pair of villains - one reluctant and one cold and calculating - in two "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense ." Though he often played milquetoast characters on screen, Lund showed a knack for crime in his 13 visits to the program. We'll hear him in "Lunch Kit" (originally aired on CBS on June 9, 1949) and "Experiment 6-R" (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1949).

Mar 19, 2020

Jack Carson came out of the vaudeville comedy circuit and carved out a niche as an arrogant, but ignorant, know-it-all in films and on his own radio comedy show. But he could walk on the dramatic side of the street in movies like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Mildred Pierce and in his appearances on Suspense . We'll hear him as a husband with murder on his mind in "Easy Money" (originally aired on CBS on November 7, 1946) and as a PR man whose stunt may turn deadly in "The One Millionth Joe" (originally aired on CBS on June 22, 1950). Plus, we'll hear a comedy courtesy of The Jack Carson Show (originally aired on CBS on January 8, 1947).

Mar 12, 2020

One of the screen's most intense and engaging presences, Richard Widmark always turned in a terrific performance when he visited the Hollywood sound stage of Suspense . We'll hear the star of Kiss of Death as a sailor suspected of a high seas murder in "Mate Bram" (originally aired on CBS on April 14, 1952) and as a western outlaw trying to outrun a posse in "The Spencer Brothers" (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1953).

Mar 5, 2020

For her final appearance on the podcast, we're going back to Claire Trevor's first visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The Oscar-winning star of Key Largo co-stars with Nancy Kelly in "A Tale of Two Sisters" (originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1945). Then, she recreates her big screen role of Dallas in Stagecoach , presented on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on May 4, 1946).

Feb 27, 2020

A big screen tough guy who could also play comedic and sensitive, Brian Donlevy carved out an impressive career on the big screen in movies like Beau Geste , The Great McGinty , and The Glass Key . On radio, Donlevy starred as a two-fisted secret agent in Dangerous Assignment and he made several visits to Suspense . We'll hear him as a man falsely accused of murder in "The Black Path of Fear" (originally aired on CBS on August 31, 1944) and as a brilliant blind detective in "Out of Control" (AFRS rebroadcast from March 28, 1946).

Feb 21, 2020

As a sitcom dad, Robert Young always "knew best," but he was no slouch in the Suspense department during his visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear Young co-star with Virginia Bruce in "Celebration" (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1948). Then he plays a killer hunting for the witness to his crime in "A Murder of Necessity" (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1952).

Feb 13, 2020

For over twenty years on radio, Jim and Marian Jordan (better known as "Fibber McGee and Molly") kept audiences in stitches with their unique blend of wordplay, running gags, and colorful characters. But the Jordans could also shine in dramatic roles - including their visits to Suspense . We'll hear the couple recreate their roles in an encore production of "Backseat Driver" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast from February 22, 1951). Plus, we'll hear an episode of their classic radio sitcom (originally aired on NBC on June 4, 1946).

Feb 6, 2020

We're saluting the late Kirk Douglas with all three of the legendary actor's performances on Suspense . The star of Spartacus and Paths of Glory headlines "Community Property" (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1947); "The Story of Markham's Death" (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1947); and "The Butcher's Wife" (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1950).

Feb 6, 2020

Loretta Young won an Oscar and delighted audiences in comedies, dramas, and thrillers before she entered the new frontier of television. Her long-running anthology series was a critical and audience favorite, and as host and performer she took home three Emmy awards. We'll hear "Lady Killer," her only visit to Suspense (originally aired on CBS on March 2, 1950). Plus, she recreates her Academy Award-winning performance in The Farmer's Daughter on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 5, 1948).

Jan 30, 2020

For her memorable performances in classic thrillers like "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "The Diary of Saphronia Winters," Agnes Moorehead earned the title "First Lady of Suspense ." We'll hear the four-time Oscar nominee and queen of radio's outstanding theater of thrills in "The Chain" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1950) and as Lizzie Borden in "The Fall River Tragedy" (originally aired on CBS on January 14, 1952).

Jan 23, 2020

It was said Ginger Rogers could do everything her dancing partner Fred Astaire could do, but backwards and in high heels. Her dazzling dances won over audiences, and her acting won her an Academy Award as she became one of Hollywood's most popular and highest-paid performers. We'll hear her as a woman trying to solve her sister's murder in "Vamp Till Dead" (originally aired on CBS on January 11, 1951). Plus, she recreates her Oscar-winning performance in Kitty Foyle on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1946).

Jan 16, 2020

Van Johnson is back in the Suspense spotlight in his final three visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The star of Battleground and The Caine Mutiny (and a Batman TV villain) stars in "Salvage" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1950), "Strange for a Killer" (a rehearsal for a show broadcast on CBS on March 15, 1951), and "Around the World" (originally broadcast on CBS on April 6, 1953).

Jan 9, 2020

Dane Clark prided himself on playing regular guys and described himself as "Joe Average." But his wasn't an average story: he broke out on the big screen opposite Humphrey Bogart (who gave the young actor his stage name) and he went on to a long career as a character actor on the big and small screens. We'll hear Clark in "The Singing Walls" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1943) and "Life Ends at Midnight" (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1944).

Jan 2, 2020

Actor and director Robert Montgomery was part of the family on Suspense . During the show's era as a sixty-minute series, the star of Here Comes Mr. Jordan and Night Must Fall , he was the master of ceremonies for "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." But he also starred in installments, including the two shows we'll hear today. Montgomery is the narrator and titular character in "The Lodger" (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1944). Then we'll hear him in "The Thing in the Window" (originally aired on CBS on January 27, 1949).

Dec 26, 2019

We wrap up 2019 with one of the biggest movie stars of all time - Humphrey Bogart. We'll hear the legendary leading man in his one and only visit to Suspense - "Love's Lovely Counterfeit" (originally aired on CBS on March 8, 1945). Then, we'll hear him recreate a pair of his film roles: in The Maltese Falcon from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 3, 1946) and Across the Pacific from The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1943). Finally, Bogart and wife Lauren Bacall pay a visit to The Jack Benny Program (originally aired on NBC on January 1, 1947).

Dec 23, 2019

In a bonus episode just in time for Christmas, we'll hear past "Stars on Suspense" Maureen O'Hara and Edmund Gwenn recreate their film roles as The Lux Radio Theatre presents an adaptation of the big screen holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1948).

Dec 19, 2019

One of Hollywood's biggest box office draws during the World War II years, Greer Garson earned seven Oscar nominations and one win for her memorable performances. We'll hear the British-born star in a holiday offering from Suspense - "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1953). Plus, she recreates her role from Random Harvest on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 31, 1944) and stops by a Christmas installment of Guest Star (originally aired on December 21, 1947).

Dec 12, 2019

Clifton Webb's breakthrough role in Laura earned him an Oscar nomination and a place in film history as one of Hollywood's most colorful character actors. And though he was best known for playing effete and arrogant snobs, Webb could also play loving fathers and heroes. We'll hear him in "The Burning Court" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1945). Plus, he recreates his performance as Waldo Lydecker as The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre presents Laura (originally aired on CBS on August 20, 1945).

Dec 5, 2019

Character actor and occasional screenwriter Hume Cronyn ( Shadow of a Doubt , Cocoon ) returns to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in two stories of unhappy marriages that put the "death" in "till death do us part" - "The One Who Got Away" (originally aired on CBS on November 14, 1946) and "Make Mad the Guilty" (originally aired on CBS on June 5, 1947). Plus, we'll hear Cronyn and his real-life wife actress Jessica Tandy in the audition show for their own radio romantic comedy The Marriage .

Nov 27, 2019

Joseph Cotten - the charming serial killer of Shadow of a Doubt - returns for two more visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in tales of a missing wife and a deadly experiment. We'll hear "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on CBS on September 14, 1944) and "The Earth is Made of Glass" (originally aired on CBS on September 27, 1945).

Nov 21, 2019

For his final visit to the podcast, legendary screen gangster and tough guy Edward G. Robinson stars as himself and "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson" (originally aired on CBS on October 19, 1946). Then, we'll hear him as crusading newspaper editor Steve Wilson, always ready to wield the sword of the press, in the premiere broadcast of Big Town (originally aired on CBS on October 17, 1937).

Nov 14, 2019

Curly-haired character actor Sam Jaffe lent a memorable presence to everything from film noir ( The Asphalt Jungle ) to classic sci-fi ( The Day the Earth Stood Still ) to Disney musicals ( Bedknobs & Broomsticks ). The engineer and math teacher turned actor made only one visit to Suspense - an outstanding adaptation of Dorothy Sayers' "Suspicion" (originally aired on CBS on April 3, 1948).

Nov 7, 2019

Edmond O'Brien returns to the podcast in an hour-long installment of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The Oscar-winning character actor extraordinaire of The Barefoot Contessa and The Wild Bunch plays a man probing the strange death of a friend in "The Blind Spot" (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1948).

Oct 31, 2019

It's Halloween, and our star this week headlines one of the scariest shows Suspense ever aired. Ralph Edwards, best known as the jovial host of madcap game shows, stars as a radio DJ narrating his trip through a haunted house in "Ghost Hunt" (originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1949). Then, we'll hear him as host of Truth or Consequences in a Halloween-themed episode (originally aired on NBC on October 30, 1948). Finally, in the spirit of the season, we'll hear a bonus episode from the horror anthology Quiet Please - the classic radio chiller "The Thing on the Fourble Board" (originally aired on Mutual on August 9, 1949).

Oct 25, 2019

For their final visit to Suspense , Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard starred as themselves. The couple finds their plans for an anniversary date thwarted by the mysterious "Mr. Diogenes" (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1950). Then, we'll hear a haunted house Halloween episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (originally aired on NBC on October 31, 1948).

Oct 18, 2019

He was one of Hollywood's brightest stars - obsessively committed to bringing his characters to life and a master of make-up to transform himself on screen, and Paul Muni's devotion to his craft earned him five Oscar nominations and one win. We'll hear the star of Scarface as a composer haunted by a mysterious rival in "The Search for Henri Le Fevre" (originally aired on CBS on July 6, 1944). Plus, he recreates his Oscar-winning role as the Lux Radio Theatre presents "The Story of Louis Pasteur" (originally aired on CBS on November 22, 1936).

Oct 10, 2019

After she came to Hollywood and made her American movie debut at age 72, Dame May Whitty carved out a niche (and earned two Oscar nods) by playing outwardly cranky dowagers with hearts of gold. In two of her visits to Suspense , she played to and against that type. First, in "The Black Shawl," she's a woman seeking companionship from Maureen O'Sullivan while hiding a secret (originally aired on CBS on July 27, 1944). Then, a part-time job makes her a prisoner in her own home in "My Dear Niece" (originally aired on CBS on January 24, 1946).

Oct 3, 2019

In his final appearances on Suspense , William Powell played against type as characters far removed from debonair drunkard Nick Charles of The Thin Man . We'll hear him as a Soviet embassy clerk desperately trying to defect in "The Man Who Cried Wolf" (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1953) and as a doctor hunting a rabid dog on the loose in "The Barking Death" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1954).

Sep 26, 2019

Lloyd Bridges' name may conjure up memories of goofy comedy in Airplane! and Hot Shots! , but long before those films he was a busy dramatic actor on the big and small screens. We'll hear the father of actors Beau and Jeff in a pair of radio thrillers: "Chicken Feed" (originally aired on CBS on April 21, 1957) and "Pigeon in the Cage" (originally aired on CBS on August 11, 1957).

Sep 19, 2019

For the 150th episode of the podcast, we welcome another star to our "five-timer's club." Vincent Price is back in the Suspense spotlight in two more old time radio thrillers. We'll hear him as a psychic sleuth in "The Green and Gold String" (originally aired on CBS on June 9, 1957). Then, Price stars in an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's terrifying tale of torture "The Pit and the Pendulum" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1957).

Sep 12, 2019

One of Hollywood's greatest leading men takes his final bow on the podcast as James Stewart headlines two more old time radio thrillers. First, he's a doctor faking his own death in "Consequence" (originally aired on CBS on May 19, 1949). Then, Stewart comes to the aid of a young woman in desperate trouble in "The Rescue" (an AFRS rebroadcast from April 19, 1951). Plus, we'll hear him in the audition recording of his outstanding western radio drama The Six Shooter .

Sep 5, 2019

After she broke into Hollywood at the age of 15, Linda Darnell established herself as a leading lady opposite Tyrone Power and in films from Otto Preminger and John Ford. Her only appearance on Suspense wasn't the best "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" had to offer, but it boasts a great performance from Darnell. The star of Forever Amber headlines "A Killing in Las Vegas" (originally aired on CBS on February 25, 1952). Then, we'll hear Linda Darnell show off her comedy chops opposite Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in an episode of their comedy series (originally aired on NBC on February 22, 1952).

Aug 30, 2019

Oscar-winner William Holden stars in a wartime drama and a science fiction adventure in his final visits to Suspense . We'll hear the star of Stalag 17 and Sunset Boulevard in "Needle in the Haystack" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1953) and "The Outer Limit" (originally aired on CBS on February 15, 1954).

Aug 22, 2019

Before he starred on screen in The Hitch-Hiker and In a Lonely Place , Frank Lovejoy was a busy radio actor. He played the Blue Beetle, menaced the Shadow, and narrated adventures of the FBI. Lovejoy could also be heard in supporting roles on Suspense , but he moved into the starring role in 1951. We'll hear him in a pair of radio thrillers: first, a ballad brought to radio life in "The Wreck of the Old 97" (originally aired on CBS on March 17, 1952). Then, he plays a man searching for his brother-in-law's murderer in "The Frightened City" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1952).

Aug 15, 2019

Character actor Lloyd Nolan returns to the podcast for two more visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The big screen Michael Shayne plays a salesman who stumbles into a murder mystery in his new rooming house in "Nineteen Deacon Street" (originally aired on CBS on November 22, 1945). Then, he's a murderer who bumps off his wife to pave the way to a new life with his girlfriend in "Green-Eyed Monster" (originally aired on CBS on April 17, 1947).

Aug 13, 2019

The master of suspense was born 120 years ago today, and we're saluting Alfred Hitchcock with one of his classic films recreated for radio. Ray Milland and Frank Lovejoy star in the cautionary tale about talking to Strangers on a Train from the Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1951).

Aug 8, 2019

Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress," and it's easy to see why when you hear Mercedes McCambridge at the microphone. The Oscar-winning actress cut her teeth in radio before bringing home an Academy Award for her turn in All the King's Men , and years later she'd put her voice to work scaring generations of moviegoers in The Exorcist . We'll hear her in a pair of radio thrillers: "America's Boyfriend" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 21, 1957) and "The Diary of Saphronia Winters" (AFRS rebroadcast from August 10, 1958).

Aug 3, 2019

A classic big screen tough guy, Broderick Crawford took home an Oscar for his turn as a fiery corrupt politico in All the King's Men and he kept the streets safe on Highway Patrol. In his two Suspense appearances, Crawford delivered his powerful screen charisma in two tales of crooks facing the heat from their fellow rogues: "Dutch Schultz" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1953) and "Parole to Panic" (originally aired on CBS on April 12, 1954).

Jul 25, 2019

The first lady of Suspense is back! Agnes Moorehead returns to the podcast for a pair of old time radio thrillers, including a production of the most famous Suspense play of all time: "Sorry, Wrong Number" (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1943). Then she stars as a fake medium whose fraudulent games may turn deadly in "The Evil of Adelaide Winters" (originally aired on CBS on September 10, 1951).

Jul 18, 2019

J. Carrol Naish shows why he was "Hollywood's one-man U.N." in his first and last visits to Suspense . The two-time Oscar nominated actor could convincingly play characters from all over the world, and his knack for accents is put to great use in these radio thrillers. First, he co-stars with Joseph Cotten in an adaptation of "The Most Dangerous Game" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1945). Then, Naish stars in a story of pirate's booty in "The Treasure Chest of Don Jose" (originally aired on CBS on February 4, 1952). Plus, we'll hear Naish in an episode of his radio sitcom Life with Luigi (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1949).

Jul 11, 2019

Adept at both romantic leads and dastardly villainous roles, Victor Jory enjoyed a long career on stage, screen, and television. His jet black eyes and grim face worked to his advantage on screen, and his rich voice served him well on radio in his four visits to Suspense . We'll hear his first two: an adaptation of Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1956) and "Thou Shalt Not Commit" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 14, 1957).

Jul 3, 2019

Before he entered the small screen courtroom as Perry Mason, Raymond Burr was a big screen heavy and a busy radio actor. He played everything from killers to cops to cavalrymen, and he supported stars in their visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." In the late 1950s, he moved from the supporting cast to the lead role on Suspense , and we'll hear two old time radio thrillers that aired just months before he went on the air as Mason: "The Paralta Map" (originally aired on CBS on March 10, 1957) and "Murder on Mike" (originally aired on CBS on July 28, 1957).

Jun 27, 2019

In his final appearance on the podcast, Dana Andrews plays a man plotting a murder and a cop on the trail of a killer. The star of Laura and Where the Sidewalk Ends plays heel and hero in a pair of old time radio thrillers: "If the Dead Could Talk" (originally aired on CBS on January 20, 1949) and "The One-Man Crime Wave" (originally aired on CBS on January 11, 1954).

Jun 20, 2019

For Cary Grant's final visit to the podcast, we're going back to his first visit to Suspense - an adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's "The Black Curtain" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1943). Then, Grant recreates his big screen role of Jim Blandings in a radio spin-off of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House . Betsy Drake, the real-life Mrs. Cary Grant, co-stars as Mrs. Bladings in an AFRS rebroadcast of an episode originally aired on NBC on June 10, 1951.

Jun 13, 2019

Dinah Shore was one of the most popular singers of the 1940s, with nearly 100 chart-topping hits like "Blues in the Night" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside." For her one and only appearance on Suspense , she starred and sang in "Frankie and Johnny" (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1952) = a dramatic retelling of the classic ballad. We'll also hear her clowning around with Groucho Marx in an episode from her musical variety show (originally aired on NBC on March 15, 1945).

Jun 6, 2019

In movies like 3:10 to Yuma and Shane , Van Heflin shined as ordinary men standing up to evil. But in his visits to Suspense , Heflin usually shed his heroic trappings and kept audiences thrilled as villains. We'll hear him as a pair of heels in "Song of the Heart" (originally aired on CBS on August 26, 1948) and "Three O'Clock" (originally aired on CBS on March 10, 1949).

May 30, 2019

Though he's best known to old time radio fans as lovable lug Chester A. Riley, William Bendix made a name for himself as rough and tumble tough guys in movies like Lifeboat and The Blue Dahlia . He showed off that side of his persona when he made visits to Suspense . We'll bid goodbye to him this week as we wrap up his run of shows on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - "Pearls are a Nuisance" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1945) and "Break-Up" (originally aired on CBS on December 30, 1948).

May 23, 2019

Before he was an Oscar nominee, Jeff Chandler was a busy radio actor. He played a western lawyer, private eye Michael Shayne, and bashful biology teacher Mr. Boynton in Our Miss Brooks . He also played supporting roles on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." But after his breakout film role and his rise to leading man status, Chandler moved into starring roles on Suspense . We'll hear him in "The Steel River Prison Break" (originally aired on CBS on September 3, 1951) and "The Case Against Loo Doc" (originally aired on CBS on January 7, 1952).

May 16, 2019

For his final visit to Suspense , three-time Academy Award nominee Kirk Douglas starred as a man whose wandering eye lands him and his new love in danger. The star of Spartacus and Ace in the Hole brings his trademark explosive style of acting to "The Butcher's Wife" (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1950). Then, he recreates his role from William Wyler's Detective Story in an April 26, 1954 broadcast from The Lux Radio Theatre .

May 14, 2019

We take a break from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" to salute the late legend of Hollywood, Doris Day. The Oscar-nominee, box office star, recording sensation, and animal activist passed away at age 97. We'll hear a pair of episodes from The Doris Day Show , her musical radio program. Ms. Day sings along with special guests Danny Thomas (in an episode originally aired on CBS on March 28, 1952) and Gordon MacRae and Mary Wickes (originally aired on CBS on May 9, 1952).

May 9, 2019

Marie Wilson was best known for her radio, TV, and film work as the ditzy, scatterbrained sweetheart Irma Peterson in My Friend Irma . She played to her comedy strengths in her only appearance on Suspense – the lighthearted caper "Star Over Hong Kong" (originally aired on CBS on February 22, 1959). We'll also hear her in her signature role in an episode of My Friend Irma (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1948).

May 2, 2019

In Casablanca as resistance leader Victor Lazlo, Paul Henreid rallies a crowd to drown out the Nazis with a spirited rendition of "La Marseillaise." But in his two visits to Suspense , he played a pair of men with murder on their minds and diabolical plans. We'll hear him in "The Angel of Death" (originally aired on CBS on January 3, 1946) and "No More Alice" (originally aired on CBS on March 14, 1946).

Apr 25, 2019

Oscar-winning star and Batman villain Anne Baxter makes her final visit to the podcast in "The Thirteenth Sound," a Suspense story from April 26, 1951. We'll also hear her as she recreates her big screen, award-nominated performance from All About Eve on the Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on October 1, 1951).

Apr 18, 2019

Over the course of a nearly sixty-year career that spanned two continents, Charles Boyer was one of the screen's most popular stars. The French actor was acclaimed for his romantic leading roles, but he could also be a memorable villain – like when he played Ingrid Bergman's manipulative husband in Gaslight . We'll hear the four-time Oscar nominee in a pair of tales from Suspense : "The Case of Henri Vibard" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1950) and "Another Man's Poison" (originally aired on CBS on May 17, 1951).

Apr 11, 2019

Fred MacMurray leaves flying cars and Flubber behind for his third and final appearance on Suspense . We'll hear the star in "The Great Train Robbery" (originally aired on CBS on April 13, 1953) – a story that finds MacMurray more in Double Indemnity than Disney territory. Then, MacMurray co-stars with Irene Dunne in an episode from Bright Star , their syndicated newspaper comedy-drama series.

Apr 4, 2019

One of the earliest winners of the "Triple Crown" of acting, Thomas Mitchell was an always-welcome presence in some of the greatest movies of old Hollywood. Whether he was the bumbling but lovable Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life or the drunk Doc Boone in Stagecoach , Mitchell is always a treat to watch with an impish charm to his performances. He sheds that friendly nature for his two visits to Suspense : "Case History of Edgar Lowndes" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1944) and "John Barbie and Son" (originally aired on CBS on February 22, 1945).

Mar 28, 2019

For his third and fourth visits to Suspense , James Mason played two criminals who feel the pressure of the law closing in on them. In two different tales, the star of North by Northwest and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea proves once again that the wages of sin is death. First, he's "The Greatest Thief in the World" (originally aired on CBS on June 21, 1951). Then, he recreates his film role in an adaptation of Carol Reed's 1947 classic noir film Odd Man Out (originally aired on CBS on February 11, 1952).

Mar 21, 2019

Sometimes the stars who appeared on Suspense were up and comers in Hollywood, and they made their visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" before their big breaks or signature roles. Our leading men this week would go on to find big fame on the small screen in the 1960s. We'll hear Robert Wagner –before It Takes a Thief and long before Hart to Hart – in "Listen, Young Lovers" (originally aired on CBS on May 31, 1954). Then, DeForest Kelley – several years before he boarded the USS Enterprise – in "Flesh Peddler" (an AFRS rebroadcast of an episode from August 4, 1957).

Mar 14, 2019

Oscar-winner Ray Milland makes two more visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" as two men in two very different but equally desperate situations. First, the star of The Lost Weekend is a man whose wife has been kidnapped in "After the Movies" (originally aired on CBS on December 7, 1950). Then, he stars in a story pulled from the history books - a tense confrontation between the British and Chinese - in "The Log of the Marne" (originally aired on CBS on October 22, 1951).

Mar 7, 2019

Vincent Price delivers a pair of terrifically unhinged performances in two more tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense . The star of House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler plays an axe murderer reliving his crime in "Present Tense" (originally aired on CBS on March 3, 1957). Then, Price stars as an actor who hopes to give his best performance - and get away with murder - in "Rave Notice" (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1958).

Feb 28, 2019

Four-time Oscar nominee Barbara Stanwyck was one of the biggest stars of Hollywood, dazzling audiences with her dynamic turns in Double Indemnity , Stella Dallas , and more. We'll hear Stanwyck in her one and only Suspense appearance - "The Wages of Sin" (originally aired on CBS on October 19, 1950). Then, she stars in a radio recreation of a big screen adaptation of one of the most famous Suspense shows of all time - "Sorry, Wrong Number" (originally aired on The Lux Radio Theatre on January 9, 1950).

Feb 21, 2019

Oscar-winner Ronald Colman was a radio fixture as Jack Benny's long-suffering neighbor and a college president in The Halls of Ivy , but he could also be heard in tales of terror on Suspense . We'll hear Colman in an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" (an Armed Forces Radio rebroadcast of an episode from November 1, 1945) and in "The Noose of Coincidence" (originally aired on CBS on April 7, 1949).

Feb 17, 2019

Whether he was a thorn in the side of The Absent Minded Professor or reluctantly destroying Coke machines in Dr. Strangelove , Keenan Wynn was always a welcome presence on screen. We'll hear the character actor in two of his visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - "The Walls Came Tumbling Down" (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1944) and "I Had an Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on January 4, 1945).

Feb 7, 2019

Charles Laughton plays two very different - but equally disturbed - men in these installments of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The star of Witness for the Prosecution and Mutiny on the Bounty is "An Honest Man" (originally aired on CBS on August 5, 1948) and the infamous English executioner "Jack Ketch" (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1952).

Jan 31, 2019

After she worked on radio as a child actor, Joan Lorring broke out in movies at age 19 with an Oscar-nominated turn in The Corn is Green . It was one of many successes she'd have in a career that took her to the big and small screens as well as the Broadway stage. We'll hear her in two old time radio tales of Suspense : "A Man in the House" (originally aired on CBS on August 2, 1945) and "The Great Horrell" (originally aired on CBS on August 22, 1946).

Jan 24, 2019

Oscar-nominated actor Richard Widmark brings more of his unique intensity to Suspense as he stars in a pair of dramas pitting man against nature. We'll hear him in "The Track of the Cat" (originally aired on CBS on February 18, 1952) and "How Long is the Night?" (originally aired on CBS on October 13, 1952).

Jan 17, 2019

Oscar and Tony-winning actor Jose Ferrer came to Suspense before he made his Hollywood debut when he was the toast of the Great White Way for his performance as Cyrano. He brought his stage actor's intensity to his only performance on radio's outstanding theater of thrills - an adaptation of Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" (originally aired on CBS on November 28, 1947). We'll also hear the star as detective Philo Vance in "The Case of the Strange Music" (originally aired on NBC on August 9, 1945).

Jan 10, 2019

Feisty, fiercely independent Maureen O'Hara - the red-headed Irish-American leading lady of old Hollywood - made only one visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," but it's a great episode that finds her playing a strong woman stepping up to track down a killer. It's "The White Rose Murders" (originally aired on CBS on July 6, 1943). Then she recreates her screen role from How Green Was My Valley in a broadcast from the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1942).

Jan 3, 2019

Joseph Cotten - hero of The Third Man and heel of Shadow of a Doubt - is back for two more visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." He stars as a director caught up in a real-life mystery in "Sneak Preview" (originally aired on CBS on March 23, 1944) and as a convict who assumes the identity of a dead reverend in "Beyond Good and Evil" (originally aired on CBS on October 11, 1945).

Dec 27, 2018

We couldn't let 2018 end without one more Star On Suspense, and our final leading lady of the year is the great Judy Garland. She doesn't sing in her one and only visit to Suspense but she delivers a terrific dramatic performance in "Drive-In" (originally aired on CBS on November 21, 1946). Then, she recreates her iconic film role of Dorothy Gale as The Lux Radio Theatre presents "The Wizard of Oz" (originally aired on CBS on December 25, 1950).

Dec 20, 2018

Dapper British leading man Herbert Marshall returns to the Suspense microphone in two radio thrillers - including a chiller of a Christmas story. The star of Foreign Correspondent and The Little Foxes stars in "My Own Murderer" (originally aired on CBS on May 24, 1945) and in "Holiday Story" - an adaptation of John Collier's "Back for Christmas" - (originally aired on CBS on December 23, 1948).

Dec 13, 2018

Oscar-winning actress Mary Astor started in the silent era, transitioned to the talkies, and worked on stage, screen, and television even as she struggled with tragedies and trials off screen. We'll hear her in the only visit she made to Suspense - "In Fear and Trembling" (originally aired on February 16, 1943). Then, Mary Astor recreates her screen role of Brigid O'Shaughnessy in a Screen Guild Theatre production of "The Maltese Falcon" (originally aired on CBS on September 20, 1943).

Dec 6, 2018

For Gene Kelly's final performances on Suspense , he headlined two stories as a pair of dangerous, desperate men - characters who were miles from the men he played in musicals like Anchors Away and Singing in the Rain . Kelly trades song and dance for sinister scares in "The Man Who Couldn't Lose" (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1944) and "To Find Help" (originally aired on CBS on January 4, 1949).

Nov 29, 2018

Gregory Peck stars in a "ripped from the headlines" tale of teenage drug addiction in his fifth and final appearance on Suspense . Peck plays a juvenile investigator in "The Truth About Jerry Baxter" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1951). Then, he recreates his screen role in a radio adaptation of Yellow Sky from the Screen Director's Playhouse (originally aired on NBC on July 15, 1949).

Nov 21, 2018

Jane Wyman won as Oscar for her performance as a deaf-mute woman in Johnny Belinda , but this week we'll hear her put her voice to excellent use acting and singing. She stars in "Catch Me If You Can" (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1949) and visits Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in an episode of their comedy show from November 30, 1951.

Nov 16, 2018

Edmund Gwenn may be best known as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street , but in his two visits to Suspense no one would mistake him for Santa Claus. We'll hear the Oscar-winning English actor in Dorothy L. Sayers' "The Fountain Plays" (originally aired on CBS on August 10, 1943) and in "Murder in Black and White" (originally aired on CBS on April 14, 1949).

Nov 9, 2018

Gloria Swanson is ready for her close-up. The silent movie star and box office sensation ruled Hollywood in the 1920s and returned with a vengeance with a sensational turn in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard . We'll hear Swanson recreate her Oscar-nominated role of Norma Desmond in a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation (originally aired on CBS on September 17, 1951). We'll also hear her one and only visit to Suspense - "Murder by the Book" (originally aired on CBS on July 10, 1947).

Nov 2, 2018

Edward G. Robinson - one of the great big screen gangsters, begins and ends his run on Suspense with these two old time radio thrillers. We'll hear him as a man with an imaginary wife in "My Wife, Geraldine" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1945) and as a man who wants his actual wife to disappear in "A Case of Nerves" (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1950).

Oct 25, 2018

"The man with the perfect profile" enjoyed great success as a Hollywood leading man, but Robert Taylor explored darker, more complex roles as his career went on. We'll hear the star in a pair of radio thrillers - "Four Hours to Kill" (originally aired on CBS on January 12, 1950) and - just in time for Halloween - the classic chiller "The House in Cypress Canyon" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946).

Oct 18, 2018

It's the 100th episode of well-calculated tales from Stars On Suspense, and we're marking the occasion with the first and last episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - "The Burning Court" (originally aired on CBS on June 17, 1942) and "Devilstone" (originally aired on CBS on September 30, 1962). Plus - we'll hear "The Lodger," the Forecast episode that served as a sort of audition for the program (originally aired on CBS on July 22, 1940).

Oct 11, 2018

One of the screen's brightest stars, Myrna Loy broke out with her wry and sophisticated comedy turn as Nora Charles in The Thin Man and grew so popular she earned the nickname "Queen of the Movies." Her one and only appearance on Suspense played to her talents with both comedy and drama. It's a tale of a librarian on a quest to find a vandal in "Library Book" (originally aired on CBS on September 20, 1945). We'll also hear her recreate her big screen role in The Best Years of Our Lives from Screen Guild Players (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1947).

Oct 4, 2018

Equally effective as weary heroes and psychotic villains, Robert Mitchum had a screen presence that few actors could replicate. Best known for his turns in film noir and thrillers, Mitchum gave Hollywood some of its most iconic baddies and toughest antiheroes. We'll hear him as a man plotting a murder in "Death at Live Oak" (originally aired on CBS on May 15, 1947) and as Washington Irving in a biographical drama from The Cavalcade of America (originally aired on NBC on May 3, 1948).

Sep 27, 2018

The great William Conrad lends his booming voice to two outstanding "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense ." One of the all-time legends of the medium, Conrad was best known as US Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke , and he made these visits to Suspense during his run in one of radio's best westerns. We'll hear him in a terrifying one-man show in "The Waxwork" (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1956) and in an amazing radio tale of high adventure in "Leningen vs. the Ants" (originally aired on CBS August 25, 1957).

Sep 20, 2018

Actor, writer, and director Cornel Wilde was a gifted mimic with a talent for languages. It served him well in his screen career, and it especially helped in his five appearances on Suspense , where Wilde could play characters both good and bad from all corners of the world. He's a man plotting a dangerous insurance fraud in "A Ring for Marya" (originally aired on CBS on December 28, 1950), and then he's a southern lawyer in the Big Apple in "Allen in Wonderland" (originally aired on CBS on October 27, 1952).

Sep 13, 2018

In his second and final appearance on Suspense , Jimmy Cagney stars in "No Escape," a cautionary tale of distracted (and deadly) driving (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1948). Then we'll hear the star of Angels with Dirty Faces and Yankee Doodle Dandy in an adaptation of "Night Must Fall" from the Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater (originally aired on CBS on July 24, 1944).

Sep 6, 2018

Claire Trevor - the "queen of film noir" - returns to the Suspense microphone in two more old time radio thrillers. We'll hear Trevor as a woman scorned out for revenge against a cheating husband in "The Light Switch" (originally aired on CBS on May 12, 1949). Then, she stars in a story from Cornell Woolrich - the master of noir fiction - in "Angel Face" (originally aired on CBS on May 18, 1950).

Aug 30, 2018

Despite his long career in Hollywood (and his fantastic voice), Roddy McDowall made only one visit to Suspense . We'll hear the star of Planet of the Apes in "One Way Street" (originally aired on CBS on January 23, 1947). Then he's in lighter fare in an adaptation of Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper" from Family Theater (originally aired on the Mutual Network on March 8, 1950).

Aug 25, 2018

Oscar-nominated actress and singer Ava Gardner turned in sensational performances in The Killers , Seven Days in May , and more, and her off-screen romances with Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra made for memorable chapters in Hollywood history. We'll hear Ms. Gardner in her one and only Suspense appearance - "Lady in Distress" (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1947). Then we'll hear her as she makes a visit to Edwards Air Force Base with Bob Hope in an episode from the comedian's radio show from March 6, 1951.

Aug 17, 2018

The "First Lady of Suspense " is back! Agnes Moorehead stars in a pair of eerie thrillers that will keep you on the edge of your seat: "Uncle Henry's Rosebush" (originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1943) and an adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" (originally aired on CBS on July 29, 1948).

Aug 10, 2018

Hail to the Chief! Before he sat in the Oval Office, Ronald Reagan made a pair of visits to the Suspense microphone. Tune in and "hear one for the Gipper." Better yet, hear two as Reagan stars in "One and One's a Lonesome" (originally aired on CBS on March 23, 1950) and "Circumstantial Terror" (originally aired on CBS on March 8, 1954).

Aug 8, 2018

"Stars On Suspense" salutes the master of suspense – Alfred Hitchcock. We're celebrating the anniversary of the legendary director's birth with an old time radio adaptation of one of his big screen classics. Tallulah Bankhead recreates her role in Hitch's wartime drama set on the high seas – Lifeboat . Jeff Chandler and Sheldon Leonard join her aboard this production from the Screen Directors' Playhouse , originally aired on NBC on November 16, 1950.

Aug 3, 2018

We're back with more legends of Hollywood in tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense . This week, our star is John Lund, the boyishly good looking leading man who made thirteen visits to the program. He plays a man conspiring to bump off his wife's lover in "A Plane Case of Murder" (originally aired on CBS on October 10, 1946). Then, Lund is first mate on a ship with a killer among the crew in "Murder Aboard the Alphabet" (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1947).

May 25, 2018

Father may have known best, but when Robert Young starred on Suspense he played characters miles away from beloved radio and TV dad Jim Anderson. We'll hear Young co-star with Geraldine Fitzgerald in "A Friend to Alexander" (originally aired on CBS on August 3, 1943). Then, Young plays a patient in an insane asylum fighting to regain his memory in "The High Wall" (originally aired on CBS on June 6, 1946).

May 18, 2018

With his good looks and affable demeanor, Van Johnson was a matinee idol to the bobbysoxer crowd during the war years. He went on to success on the big and small screens in a career that stretched into the 1980s. We'll hear Johnson on Suspense in "The Singing Walls" (an AFRS rebroadcast of a show from November 2, 1944) and "The Defense Rests" (originally aired on CBS on October 6, 1949).

May 11, 2018

Best known as the mother of The Bad Seed , Nancy Kelly made eight visits to Suspense during her long Broadway and Hollywood career. We'll hear the Tony winner and Oscar nominee as a wife fighting for her husband's life in "Eve" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast) and as a carhop who gets a ride from the wrong stranger in "Drive-In" (originally aired on CBS on January 11, 1945).

May 4, 2018

Emmy winner Hume Cronyn was no stranger to thrills and chills. A frequent collaborator of Alfred Hitchcock, Cronyn played the scene stealing true crime buff in Shadow of a Doubt and helped with the story for Rope . He played many roles over his award-winning career, but his background with the master certainly must have helped prepare him for his work on Suspense . We'll hear him in "Too Many Smiths" (originally aired on CBS on June 13, 1946) and "Blue Eyes" (originally aired on CBS on August 29, 1946).

May 1, 2018

Best known for his strong, heroic performances on screen, Henry Fonda played presidents, farmers, cowboys, and killers with a quiet authority over a fifty year career. We'll hear the Oscar winner in "Summer Storm," his only appearance on Suspense (originally aired on CBS on October 18, 1945). Then, he creates the titular role in Young Mr. Lincoln on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 10, 1946).

Apr 19, 2018

Big and small screen legend Mickey Rooney plays two small-time hoods yearning to be big and facing the consequences of their actions in these old time radio thrillers: "Alibi Me" from Suspense - his final appearance on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - (originally aired on CBS on January 4, 1951) and "Knee High to a Corpse" from The Hollywood Star Playhouse (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1951).

Apr 12, 2018

To generations of radio, TV, and movie fans, Eve Arden lives in the halls of high school as Principal McGee of Grease or the titular Our Miss Brooks in one of radio's best comedies. But there was more to this talented comedienne than her sense of deadpan humor, as seen in performances in Mildred Pierce and Anatomy of a Murder . We'll hear Eve Arden get serious in "The Well-Dressed Corpse" (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1951). Then, she's Madison High's favorite English teacher in the March 6, 1949 episode of Our Miss Brooks - "Miss Brooks Gets the Works."

Apr 5, 2018

For his final visits to Suspense , the great Orson Welles starred in an epic two-part adaptation of Curt Siodmak's "Donovan's Brain." Welles plays a scientist whose experiments into the power of the brain take a sinister turn and gives rise to a monster. The story originally aired on CBS on May 18 and May 25, 1944.

Mar 29, 2018

Whether she was locked in a surfside embrace with Burt Lancaster or dancing with Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr turned in memorable performances on screen and earned six Oscar nominations over her long career. The star of An Affair to Remember and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allyson made only one appearance on Suspense as a beautiful thief in "The Lady Pamela" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1952). We'll also hear her in a thriller from the Hollywood Star Playhouse - "Haunt Me Not" (originally aired on NBC on August 17, 1952).

Mar 23, 2018

Singer, actor, director, producer - Dick Powell wore many hats during his career in Hollywood. Starting out in musical comedies, Powell reinvented himself as a tough guy film noir hero in the 1940s and he'd go on to a successful run as a director and producer on the big and small screens. We'll hear both of his Suspense appearances: "Slow Burn" (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1950); and "Overdrawn" (originally aired on CBS on May 31, 1951).

Mar 15, 2018

Actress, singer, and World War II pin-up legend Betty Grable brings her "million dollar legs" to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Ms. Grable stars in a twisting mystery about an invalid mother, a frustrated daughter, and poison - "The Copper Tea Strainer" (originally aired on CBS on April 21, 1949). Then, we'll hear her playing for laughs with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in "Altar Bound," originally aired on The Gulf Screen Guild Theatre on CBS on February 23, 1941.

Mar 8, 2018

Oscar-winner Charles Laughton is back in more "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense ." We'll hear him co-star with his wife Elsa Lanchester in a radio adaptation of Agatha Christie's "The ABC Murders" (originally aired on May 18, 1943). Then, Laughton plays one of history's most notorious murderers in "Neil Cream, Doctor of Poison" (originally aired on CBS on September 17, 1951).

Mar 1, 2018

Eddie Bracken endeared himself to audiences with winning turns as lovable losers in comedies like The Miracle oft Morgan's Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero , but on Suspense he turned his "aw shucks" persona on its head for a series of shows as mysterious characters with sinister sides. We'll hear him in "The Visitor" (originally aired on CBS on May 11, 1944) and in "Elwood" (originally aired on CBS on March 5, 1947).

Feb 22, 2018

Suspense regular Richard Widmark is back in the saddle for two more old time radio thrillers. In "Tell You Why I Shouldn't Die" (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1951), he's a pitchman trying to save his own life from an angry man with a gun. Then, Widmark stars in the story of an infamous and bloody Texas feud in "The Hunting of Bob Lee" (originally aired on CBS on October 29, 1951).

Feb 15, 2018

Oscar-winner Edmond O'Brien was one of Hollywood's most colorful character actors, making memorable appearances in The Killers , The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance , Seven Days in May , and more. He brought a tough, hard-boiled intensity to his Suspense appearances: as a reporter on the trail of a story worth killing for in "The Argyle Album" (originally aired on CBS on September 4, 1947) and as a gambler framed for murder in "Muddy Track" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1948).

Feb 8, 2018

Sophisticated and charming on screen, three-time Oscar nominee William Powell showed a different side in his performances on Suspense . His desperate characters - men on the run with greed and murder in their hearts - are miles away from his witty roles in The Thin Man films and My Man Godfrey . We'll hear Powell in "Give Me Liberty" (originally aired on CBS on October 21, 1948) and "The Escape of Lacey Abbott" (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1950).

Feb 1, 2018

In her third and final performance on Suspense , four-time Oscar nominee Rosalind Russell is new bride whose marriage falls in the shadow of her grandfather's murder. We'll hear her in "When the Bough Breaks" (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1951). Then, Russell reunites with Cary Grant in a radio recreation of His Girl Friday from The Gulf Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1941).

Jan 25, 2018

A comedian's ability to keep audiences in stitches didn't mean he couldn't deliver a strong dramatic performance, and our stars this week prove that to be the case in their appearances on Suspense . Ed "Archie" Gardner of Duffy's Tavern is a crook hiding out among the ranks of the Spanish Civil War in "The Palmer Method" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1944). Then, Red Skelton isn't clowning around - he's a man obsessed with a mystery woman in "The Search for Isabel" (originally aired on CBS on November 3, 1949).

Jan 18, 2018

Alan Ladd returns to the podcast for the end of his run on Suspense . Ladd's big break came in film noir classics like This Gun for Hire , and his characters in these two radio thrillers are cut from the same cloth as the hard-boiled residents of those movies. We'll hear "One Way Ride to Nowhere" (originally aired on CBS on January 6, 1944) and "Motive for Murder" (originally aired on CBS on March 17, 1950).

Jan 11, 2018

Oscar and Emmy winner William Holden was one of Hollywood's biggest stars for decades, with his performances as cynical, conflicted men winning acclaim and awards. Whether he was the washed up screenwriter of Sunset Boulevard or the reluctant hero of The Bridge on the River Kwai , Holden kept audiences engrossed. We'll hear two of his visits to Suspense , beginning with the New Orleans jazz murder mystery "Blood on the Trumpet" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1950). Then he stars in a cautionary tale about the hell on wheels that are hot rods in "Report on the Jolly Death Riders" (originally aired on CBS on August 27, 1951).

Jan 4, 2018

For her final appearances on Suspense , Lucille Ball was joined by her then-husband Desi Arnaz. But unlike I Love Lucy, where they played for laughs, Lucy and Desi were cast in radio thrillers: tales of greed and menace. We'll hear one of those shows – "The Red-Headed Woman," originally aired on CBS on November 17, 1949. Then, we'll hear an episode of My Favorite Husband , the Lucille Ball radio sitcom that led to the creation of I Love Lucy (originally aired on CBS on January 28, 1949).

Dec 21, 2017

Best known for crooning and comedy, Dennis Day shows off his dramatic side in a pair of thrillers from Suspense . The longtime cast member of The Jack Benny Program plays a beatnik who thinks a murder wrap is a gas in "Like, Man, Somebody Dig Me" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from August 16, 1959). Then, in a story just in time for the holidays, Day is a man who turns to crime for the money he desperately needs to care for his family in "Christmas for Carol" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1950). And as a special holiday bonus, we'll hear Dennis Day in his natural element in a Christmas episode of A Day in the Life of Dennis Day (originally aired on NBC on December 25, 1946).

Dec 14, 2017

Generations of viewers knew Lloyd Nolan from B-movies of the 1940s and later in television appearances through the 1980s. The Emmy winning star worked steadily in a fifty-six year career, always elevating material with his performances, whether he was playing heroes (like private eye Michael Shayne) or heavies. He had the opportunity to play bad guys of varying levels of villainy in his appearances on Suspense . We'll hear Nolan in "Heart's Desire" (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1945) and "Murder for Myra" (originally aired on CBS on August 9, 1945).

Dec 7, 2017

Horror icon Vincent Price is back on Suspense in two more old time radio thrillers - including one of the scariest the medium ever produced. We'll hear Price as an artist with a dangerous muse in "The Name of the Beast" (originally aired on CBS on April 11, 1946). Then, you'll want to leave the lights on for "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956). In this classic chiller, Price narrates the story of a lighthouse under siege from thousands of ravenous rats.

Dec 6, 2017

Actress Agnes Moorehead - the "first lady of Suspense " - was born December 6, 1900. The legendary star won an Emmy and two Golden Globes, and she was nominated for four Academy Awards. Her credits include Citizen Kane , Dar k Passage , Johnny Belinda , and Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte . But old time radio fans may know her best for two signature performances: she played "the lovely Margot Lane" opposite Orson Welles and Bill Johnstone on The Shadow and she starred in one of the most famous radio dramas of all time, "Sorry, Wrong Number." it was that show that helped to earn her the title of "first lady of Suspense " and she recreated the performance nearly ten times over the course of the series' long run. Moorehead found early success on radio, but it did not translate into film work until she met Orson Welles. She was soon a member of his Mercury Theatre, and that connection led to her casting opposite Welles in The Shadow. In addition to appearing in the company's memorable Broadway shows, Moorehead starred in broadcasts of The Mercury Theatre On the Air . One of her best turns came as Mina Harker in the program's outstanding adaptation of Dracula . When Welles took the Mercury Players to Hollywood in 1939, Agnes Moorehead came with him. She made her film debut as Charles Foster Kane's mother in Citizen Kane and she earned her first Oscar nomination for her turn in Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons . Moorehead's screen career took off like a rocket; she received a second Oscar nod and won a Golden Globe for Mrs. Parkington (1944) and got a third Academy Award nomination in 1948 for her supporting turn in Johnny Belinda . Throughout the 1940s, she continued to work on radio. Moorehead made her first appearance on Suspense on the April 27, 1943 broadcast of "The Diary of Saphronia Winters," a show that co-starred her Mercury comrade Ray Collins. It would be the first of 32 visits to the Suspense microphone, and her second - which came just one month later - was the first production of "Sorry, Wrong Number." Moorehead's portrayal of a bedridden woman who - thanks to some crossed phone lines - overhears a murder plot still stands as a pitch perfect study in terror, and she recreated the role seven times between that first production and 1960. "Sorry, Wrong Number" was certainly her best known production, Agnes Moorehead never failed to disappoint on Suspense. Some of this writer's favorite shows include "The Death Parade" (2-15-1951), a tale of a woman's frantic efforts to prevent a murder before time runs out; "The Trap" (6-16-1949), which finds Moorehead's character tormented by a phantom within her own house; and "The Evil of Adelaide Winters" (9-10-1951), the story of a dishonest spiritualist whose con proves to be a little too effective. Moorehead's most iconic role didn't come on radio, or on the big screen for that matter. In 1964, she was cast as Endora, the mother of Elizabeth Montgomery's Samantha on the long-running sitcom Bewitched . Though she bemoaned the quality of the scripts (or lack thereof), Moorehead stayed with the show for the duration of its run and she earned six Emmy nominations for the performance. She would ultimately win the prize for a guest spot on The Wild Wild West as a dastardly matchmaker targeting powerful men. Agnes Moorehead worked all the way up until her death in 1974, appearing in the earliest broadcasts of the radio revival The CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Nov 30, 2017

You'd never guess J. Carrol Naish hailed from New York. Celebrated as "Hollywood's one-man U.N.", Naish could convincingly play characters from all around the world. He played Italian immigrant Luigi Basco in the delightful radio comedy Life with Luigi , and he earned two Oscar nominations over his career. In his appearances on Suspense , Naish put his talents for accents and dialects to good use. We'll hear him in "Footfalls" (originally aired on July 12, 1945) and "Commuter's Ticket" (originally aired on CBS on August 1, 1946).

Nov 28, 2017

Gregory Hood, San Francisco importer and amateur detective. Frankie Remley, left-handed guitarist and incorrigible sidekick of Phil Harris. Detective Danny Clover, the cop with the soul of a poet. And Thomas Hyland, the droll "connaisseur of crime" who relayed true tales of murder. These are just some of the amazing radio creations of Elliott Lewis. The man dubbed "Mr. Radio" for his innovative work behind the scenes and his talent as an actor was born in New York City on November 28, 1917. After he considered law and engineering careers, Lewis got into acting in college. During World War II, Lewis oversaw productions for the Armed Forces Radio Service. In 1943, when he was on leave from the Army, he married actress Cathy Lewis. They shared the last name before they tied the knot, and Mr. and Mrs. Lewis would go on to be one of the biggest couples in radio. An in-demand actor, Lewis starred in The Casebook of Gregory Hood and he portrayed Captain Philip Kearney in the Mutual adventure drama The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen . He played Archie Goodwin to Francis X. Bushman's Nero Wolfe, and he almost landed the radio role of Sam Spade. But his most famous role was as Frankie Remley, the smooth-talking con man and affable partner of crime of Phil Harris on The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show . Lewis' shenanigans with Harris were a highlight of the program, and actress Jeanine Roose said the two men "had such good rapport and a genuine liking for each other." That relationship carried over into their performances, even after the Remley character was dropped and Lewis played the very similar role of "Elliott Lewis." Harris-Faye is one of the best comedies of the era, thanks in no small part to Lewis' zany presence as a comedic tornado. Lewis turned to directing as he worked on Harris-Faye . One of his biggest gigs was taking the reins of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." He directed hundreds of Suspense episodes between 1950 and 1954, and his tenure may be the best of the program's long run. Under Lewis, Suspense presented more adaptations of true stories and classic works of literature. The series performed cautionary tales about the dangers of reckless driving and substance abuse, and Lewis continued to work with Hollywood stars performing against type (including his co-stars Phil Harris and Alice Faye in a tense tale of accidental death and a lynch mob in "Death on My Hands"). Along with Suspense , Lewis directed the classic police procedural Broadway is My Beat and the darkly comedic anthology Crime Classics . In both of these productions - and in several episodes of Suspense - Lewis worked with the writing duo of Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Together, the trio delivered some of the best, most innovative radio drama of the later years of the era with lyrical dialogue, vivid sound patterns, and engrossing stories. He was closely involved with the short-lived radio drama revival of the 1970s, directing Mutual's The Zero Hour and the Sears Radio Theater (later the Mutual Radio Theater). In 1980, Lewis turned mystery writer, penning eight novels about ex-cop turned private eye Fred Bennett. The Los Angeles Times hailed his first book Two Heads are Better as "a striking novelistic debut." Lewis enjoyed the process, saying "the writer is the actor, director, producer, wardrobe person, weatherman, location director, stunt and second unit director, crowd handler, transportation gaffer and everything else I've ever been around, all rolled up into one person." Elliott Lewis passed away on May 23, 1990, survived by his second wife, radio actress Mary Jane Croft. (Elliott and Cathy divorced in 1958.) It's tough to imagine the radio era without Lewis. He was a key figure in evolving the medium and providing hours of entertainment that are just as riveting to hear today as they were more than a half century ago.

Nov 22, 2017

Tough big screen leading man Dana Andrews made four visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," and the star of Laura , Where the Sidewalk Ends , and The Best Years of Our Lives made memorable impressions as both heroes and villains. We'll hear him as a writer plotting the perfect murder in "Two Birds With One Stone" (originally aired on CBS on May 17, 1945) and as a cop pursuing a psychotic killer in an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Crowd" (originally aired on CBS on September 21, 1950).

Nov 16, 2017

With her glamorous looks and her mellifluous accent, Marlene Dietrich kept audiences captivated on stage and screen in her native Germany and later in Hollywood. She was one of the biggest stars of the World War II era, and she would go on to deliver indelible performances in Touch of Evil and Witness for the Prosecution . We'll hear Marlene Dietrich in her only Suspense appearance: "Murder Strikes Three Times" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1950). Then, she stars as a singer and spy in an episode of the international adventure drama Time for Love .

Nov 9, 2017

The "first lady of Suspense " returns to the podcast as Agnes Moorehead stars in two more old time radio thrillers. In these two shows - one a blend of comedy and crime and the other a tense psychological drama - Ms. Moorehead demonstrates why she made more appearances on the program than any other guest star. We'll hear "Post Mortem" (originally aired on CBS on April 4, 1946) and "The Thirteenth Sound" (originally aired on CBS on February 13, 1947).

Nov 2, 2017

Oscar winner Van Heflin made memorable appearances in Johnny Eager , 3:10 to Yuma and Shane , and he lent his powerful presence to the radio role of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. In nine visits to Suspense , he played complex heroes and despicable heels, and sometimes his characters were blends of both. We'll hear him in "Three Blind Mice" (originally aired on CBS on January 30, 1947) and "The Lady in the Red Hat" (originally aired on CBS on November 30, 1950).

Oct 26, 2017

Halloween is here again, and cable TV, streaming services, and the local movie theater are full of classic films with vampires, monsters, and other blood-thirsty killers out to scare the wits out of their audiences. But for me, even the scariest sights the big screen can conjure up could never compare with the thrills and chills doled out in the "theater of the mind." And few shows were better at conjuring up tension and terror than Suspense . In honor of October 31st, and to help get you in the right mood for tricks and treats, here are my picks for the scariest episodes from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The Hitch-Hiker – Orson Welles' first appearance on Suspense is one of his best, as well as one of the best spine-tinglers the series ever produced. Penned by Lucille Fletcher, radio's premiere author of chills and thrills, the story centers on a man making a cross-country drive as he is stalked by a stranger who always turns up on the side of the road looking for a lift. The driver's attitude towards the man grows from one of bemusement to one of terror, and it all culminates in a devastating surprise ending. The story was adapted years later by Rod Serling for a memorable first season episode of The Twilight Zone . (Originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1942; you can hear it in Episode 1 of Stars On Suspense ) The House in Cypress Canyon – The supernatural was rarely featured on Suspense , but there were a few memorable exceptions. The best of those may be "The House in Cypress Canyon," the story of a young couple plagued by a bizarre series of events once they move into a new house. Robert Taylor narrates the tale as a man struggling to accept the reality of his situation, and Cathy Lewis was rarely better than she was in the role of the man's wife – the real victim of the eerie effects of the house. It's a great example of the power of radio – particularly the use of sound effects – to create nail-biting terror throughout this episode. (Originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946) Ghost Hunt – In a terrific example of established personalities playing against type on Suspense , motor-mouthed game show host Ralph Edwards headlines "Ghost Hunt." In a pre- Blair Witch Project variation on a "found footage" story, Edwards' "Smiley Smith," a radio DJ, plans a stunt night to be spent in a haunted house. The owner of the house arrives the next morning to find Smith's tape recorder but no sign of the DJ. What will the owner hear when he plays the tape? (Originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1949) On a Country Road – I don't know how many times I've heard this show, but it still unnerves me with each listen. Cary Grant and Cathy Lewis (one of the true MVPs of Suspense ) star as a couple making their way home via shortcut (never a good idea on this show!) all while they listen to news of an escaped murderess on the loose with a meat cleaver. It's bad enough when their car breaks down on a dark road, but it gets even worse when a disheveled woman finds their car and begs for help. The tension stars almost immediately and never lets up – even through an ending that only means more trouble for the characters is on the way after the final music plays. (Originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950; you can hear it in Episode 6 of Stars On Suspense ) Zero Hour – As Suspense entered the 1950s, science fiction stories became more frequent on the program, and several were adapted from the writings of genre giant Ray Bradbury. In "Zero Hour," Bradbury's story comes to riveting radio life. This broadcast of Suspense opens with an unusual disclaimer. Months before, the story had been presented on Escape and resulted in a deluge of complaint letters to CBS. Once you hear this story of an angelic little girl and her unusual new imaginary friend, you can see why audiences in the 1950s might have been unnerved by the tale. But listen fast…Zero Hour is at five o'clock! (Originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1955) The Whole Town's Sleeping – Another story from Ray Bradbury, but the terror in "The Whole Town's Sleeping" is entirely human. William Conrad narrates the story of a woman's long walk home alone through her town – a town that is gripped with fear of a serial killer who has been preying on women. By this point in the Suspense run, big name Hollywood stars were making fewer appearances and the casts were populated almost entirely by the stalwart stable of west coast radio players. It proves that while the legends of Hollywood were great, they were not essential to creating thrilling tales. Here, Conrad and Jeanette Nolan as the protagonist use the power of their performances to keep the listener on the edge of their seat. Leave the lights on for this one. (Originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1955)

Oct 26, 2017

For Halloween, "Stars On Suspense" presents two of the biggest names in horror cinema – Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff starring in "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Lugosi plays a psychologist with a murderous theory he plans to test in "The Doctor Prescribed Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1943). Then, Karloff is a Scotland Yard man who's new case has strange ties to his own past in "Drury's Bones" (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1945).

Oct 19, 2017

Fredric March was one of the most celebrated stars of stage and screen, a man whose performances earned him a pair of Oscars and two Tony Awards. Equally at home in comedy and drama, March brought to life characters ranging from Dr. Henry Jekyll and his monstrous alter ego Mr. Hyde to a beleaguered president fighting for peace in Seven Days in May . We'll hear him in two appearances on Suspense : first as a thespian out to find his daughter's killer in "Actor's Blood" (originally aired on CBS on August 24, 1944) and then as a fire inspector whose latest case hits close to home in "The Night Reveals" (originally aired on CBS on May 26, 1949).

Oct 16, 2017

Angela Lansbury, five-time Tony Award winner and three time Oscar nominee, was born October 16, 1925. She has enjoyed a long and successful career on stage, screen, and television, and she's still going strong. Generations of fans know her from her celebrated stage work ( Sweeney Todd , Gypsy , Blithe Spirit , and so many more), her films (including what is arguably her best performance as the cold and calculating Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate - the performance that earned her a third Oscar nomination), and her voice, perhaps most memorably when she sang the title song of Disney's Beauty and the Beast . And to a child of the 80s and a mystery fan like yours truly, she will forever be best-selling author and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote . In honor of her birthday, here is "A Thing of Beauty," a May 29, 1947 episode of Suspense starring Angela Lansbury. This twisty tale features Hans Conried and Cathy Lewis in the supporting cast.

Oct 16, 2017

Actor Berry Kroeger, possessing one of the most distinctive and instantly recognizable voices of the radio era, was born October 16, 1912. Kroeger appeared on the big and small screens and the stage, but he got his start on radio. He announced for and appeared in supporting roles on Suspense and he played dastardly villains on The Shadow . This writer will forever associate Kroeger with a particularly chilling Shadow episode called "The Face." Kroeger played a handsome actor whose features were horribly and irreparably damaged in a plane crash. He began taking revenge on anyone who recoiled in horror upon seeing his new face, strangling and beating them beyond recognition. Kroeger could also be heard on Escape , Dimension X , and Murder at Midnight . He was one of the first voices of "the Man in Black" on Suspense , and he also made a number of memorable appearances in the series itself. One of my favorites finds Kroeger starring opposite Lucille Ball in "A Little Piece of Rope." Lucy plays a woman who uses her looks to lure men into robberies, but she discovers her latest mark (Kroeger) is a serial killer wanted by the police. She tries to set a new trap while Kroeger hunts for the one woman who can identify him.

Oct 12, 2017

With scintillating performances in Gilda and more, Rita Hayworth was a box office draw and a pin-up idol of the 1940s and 1950s. But there was more to Hayworth than her gorgeous looks and her status as a Hollywood "love goddess." She was an accomplished dancer and a terrific actress, and she had the chance to show off in her lone appearance on Suspense . We'll hear her as a murderess contending with a blackmailer in "Three Times Murder" (originally aired on October 3, 1946). Then we'll hear her playing for laughs opposite George Burns and Gracie Allen in an episode from March 21, 1944.

Oct 8, 2017

William N. Robson, radio's "master of mystery and adventure" was born October 8, 1906. Robson was one of the most talented "behind the scenes" figures of the Golden Age of Radio, serving as producer, director, and occasional writer of programs across nearly every genre and throughout the entire era. Robson won six Peabody awards for excellence in broadcasting. One of his first assignments in radio came on the series Calling All Cars , a presentation of true police cases dramatized for the airwaves. The success on that show led to a stint on The Columbia Workshop , one of the most celebrated and innovative dramatic programs of the day. (Years later, Robson would have a hand in the revival of the series in the final days of the radio era - The CBS Radio Workshop ). Robson directed big screen stars Edward G. Robinson and Claire Trevor in the early seasons of Big Town and he won his first Peabody for The Man Behind the Gun , a powerful series presenting stories of soldiers on the front lines in World War II. In 1947, Robson was the first producer and director of Escape , CBS' dramatic anthology "designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure." The series presented adaptations of classic stories like "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" along with original tales of adventure. Like other talented men and women of the era, his career was unfairly maligned and derailed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, but he was able to return to regular work in radio by the mid 1950s. From 1956 until 1959 - and during its final years as a west coast/Hollywood series, Robson was the producer and director of Suspense . During his tenure, Robson served as master of ceremonies in appearances at the top of the show. Robson would set the stage for the drama to follow, occasionally teasing elements of the story or introducing new performers to listeners. Much like Rod Serling on The Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock on his TV series, Robson's on-air appearances helped to establish a tone that prepared audiences for whatever spine-tingling stories would play out over the next thirty minutes.

Oct 5, 2017

We bid adieu to Peter Lorre as the star of Casablanca , The Maltese Falcon , and M makes his final appearances on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, he's a mysterious count who makes a dangerous offer to his niece's suitor in "The Devil's Saint" (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1943). Then, Lorre plays a demented killer recounting his life story to a room full of terrified hostages in "Nobody Loves Me" (originally aired on CBS on August 30, 1945).

Sep 28, 2017

When William Bendix visited Suspense , it was anything but a "revoltin' development." Best known as bumbling sitcom patriarch Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley , Bendix could show off the dramatic chops he displayed on the big screen when he appeared on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a job seeker who finds more than he bargained for in "Three Faces at Midnight" (originally aired on CBS on February 27, 1947) and as a safecracker trying to keep his son from a career in crime in "The Gift of Jumbo Brannigan" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1951).

Sep 21, 2017

Angela Lansbury is a three-time Oscar nominee and a five-time Tony winner, and she's still going strong. The legend of the stage and screen is known to generations of fans for her memorable film roles in The Manchurian Candidate , Bedknobs and Broomsticks , and Beauty and the Beast , her stage turns in Gypsy , Sweeney Todd , and Mame , and her twelve seasons as mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote . We'll hear her one and only appearance on Suspense – "A Thing of Beauty" (originally aired on CBS on May 29, 1947) – and we'll hear her in a dramatic performance from Stars Over Hollywood ("The Experiment," originally aired on CBS on May 24, 1952).

Sep 14, 2017

In a career that spanned five decades, Glenn Ford brought to tough, masculine characters on screen. Ford was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the 1950s with memorable performances in film noirs like Gilda and The Big Heat and westerns like 3:10 to Yuma . He continued to make impressions on screen through the 1970s with his turn as Jonathan Kent in Richard Donner's Superman . We'll hear Glenn Ford in two episodes of Suspense – "End of the Road" (originally aired on CBS on February 6, 1947) and "Murder and Aunt Delia" (an AFRTS rebroadcast of an episode from February 17, 1957).

Sep 7, 2017

Kirk Douglas played heroes, villains, and morally ambiguous characters in between in a career that spanned six decades. He earned three Oscar nominations and turned in intense and memorable performances in Spartacus , Gunfight at the OK Corral , Seven Days in May , and many more. But in 1947, Kirk Douglas was a rising Hollywood star when he made two visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a man plotting to keep a newfound fortune out of his wife's hands in "Community Property" (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1947) and as a washed-up writer who hopes to pass off a master's work as his own in "The Story of Markham's Death" (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1947).

Aug 31, 2017

In an extra-large edition for our 50th podcast episode, we welcome Orson Welles back to the show for three of his visits to Suspense . In the fall of 1943, Welles starred in several episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in a special engagement. He appeared in some of the best thrillers from literature by some of the best authors of the genre, and this week we'll hear three shows from that run: Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost Special" (an AFRS rebroadcast of an episode from September 30, 1943); Agatha Christie's "Philomel Cottage" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1943); and "Lazarus Walks" (an AFRS rebroadcast of an episode from October 19, 1943).

Aug 25, 2017

In a special bonus episode of Stars On Suspense, we salute the late, great Jerry Lewis. Though he never made any visits to "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills," Lewis was a radio star in a popular comedy series alongside his longtime partner Dean Martin. As a tribute to the legendary comedian, we'll hear a pair of programs from The Martin and Lewis Show featuring songs from Dean, madcap antics from Jerry, and special guests Boris Karloff and Jeff Chandler.

Aug 24, 2017

Fred MacMurray may be best known to generations of movie and TV fans for his family-friendly roles in classic Disney films and the long-running sitcom My Three Sons . But there was a darker side to his performances - a side MacMurray showed in fantastic performances in Double Indemnity , The Caine Mutiny , The Apartment , and more. We'll hear Fred MacMurray in two "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense ." First, he's a drummer in a Prohibition-era jazz band in "The Windy City Six," a tale of tommy guns and the roaring twenties (originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1951). Then he's in a crippled B-29 bomber over Korea in "The Flight of the Bumblebee" (originally aired on CBS on May 19, 1952).

Aug 17, 2017

After making a name for himself in the United Kingdom, James Mason came across the pond to Hollywood. With his silvery voice and leading man looks, Mason was a natural for polished character roles as heroes and villains in movies liike Lolita, A Star is Born, North by Northwest, and more. We'll hear him in two visits to Suspense, beginning with Agatha Christie's "Where There's a Will" (originally aired on CBS on February 24, 1949) and as a Scotland Yard man after a crafty killer in "Banquo's Chair" (originally aired on March 9, 1950).

Aug 10, 2017

Despite a tragically short career, Laird Cregar made his mark with several memorable big screen performances in films like This Gun for Hire and The Lodger . With his massive frame, Cregar was a natural fit as "heavies," but he appeared in a variety of roles in comedies, adventures, and historical dramas. But it was frustration with his size that led him to a dangerous crash diet - one that ultimately took his life. We'll hear Cregar in both of his visits to Suspense - "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on July 27, 1943) and "Narrative About Clarence" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1944).

Aug 3, 2017

Joan Fontaine earned acclaim for her performances in classic films like Rebecca and Suspicion , and she appeared on the stage and the big and small screens for nearly sixty years. Like her sister, fellow actress, and bitter rival Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine won an Academy Award but also picked up two additional nominations for her dynamic screen work throughout the 1940s. She made only one visit to Suspense - "Lovebirds" (originally aired on CBS on March 3, 1949) an engrossing mystery about a wife who plots to help her invalid husband on his way to the great beyond. We'll also hear her recreate her Oscar-nominated role in a radio version of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (originally aired on The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre on May 31, 1943).

Jul 27, 2017

Perennial Suspense favorite Joseph Cotten is back in two more "tales well calculated." The popular star of Shadow of a Doubt appears first as a man tormented by the sight of a corpse that no one else can see in "The Thing in the Window" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1946). Then, he's a lawyer who's presumed dead with a scheme to collect his own life insurance in "The Day I Died" (originally aired on CBS on June 30, 1949.

Jul 20, 2017

Ray Milland's screen career stretched from the 1930s to the 1970s, earning him an Oscar and leaving a series of memorable performances in The Lost Weekend , Dial 'M' for Murder , and more. A talented director as well as an actor, Milland continued to work on both sides of the camera for movies and television. In two of his five visits to Suspense , we'll hear him as a cop trying to cover up a murder in "Night Cry" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1948) and as a man whose empty pockets land him in jail in "Chicken Feed" (originally aired on CBS on September 8, 1949).

Jul 13, 2017

A real-life hero in Hollywood, Herbert Marshall lost a leg in World War I before he went on to a long career on the stage and screen. The handsome, debonair actor made a name for himself as a romantic lead and later as a character actor. In addition to twenty appearances on Suspense , Marshall starred on radio as a globetrotting secret agent in The Man Called X and made the rounds on radio comedies. We'll hear him as a writer out for revenge against his son's killer in "The Beast Must Die" (originally aired on CBS on July 13, 1944) and in a real-life story of a solider blackmailed into treason in "Betrayal in Vienna" (originally aired on CBS on October 8, 1951).

Jul 6, 2017

Olivia de Havilland won two Oscars during her six decade screen career, and she's still making news today. The star of Gone With the Wind and The Adventures of Robin Hood was a true legend of old Hollywood, but she only made one visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her in a shipboard thriller in "Voyage Through Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on September 7, 1944) and in a radio creation of one of her award-nominated roles in Hold Back the Dawn from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 31, 1946).

Jul 1, 2017

Academy Award winner Charles Laughton, a legend of stage and screen, was born July 1, 1899. From Shakespeare to Agatha Christie, from the high seas to the courtroom, Laughton turned in many memorable performances, usually as pompous, larger than life characters (both heroes and villains). He played the title role in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and worked with Alfred Hitchcock in the director's last film made in England, Jamaica Inn . Laughton was married to actress Elsa Lanchester; the two appeared in several films together including Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution . The classic courtroom mystery earned both Laughton and Lanchester nominations for Oscars. Today, Laughton is also fondly remembered for his one directorial outing - the engrossing, nightmarish noir The Night of the Hunter . Charles Laughton made the first of his ten appearances on Suspense within a year of the launch of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We've heard a pair of his shows in Episode 19 of the podcast , but today in honor of his birthday here are a few more old time radio thrillers starring the great Charles Laughton. "The ABC Murders" - Loosely adapted from the Agatha Christie story, this episode stars Laughton and his wife Elsa Lanchester in the tale of a mild-mannered man who may be a demented serial killer. (Originally aired May 18, 1943) "Blind Date" - Laughton plays a creepy admirer keeping a showgirl in her dressing room with a knife in this tense outing co-starring June Havoc. (Originally aired September 29, 1949) "Neil Cream, Doctor of Poison" - In this true crime tale from the pages of history, Laughton stars as one of the most infamous poisoners of all time. (Originally aired on September 17, 1951) For more old time radio thrillers and legends of Hollywood, click here to subscribe to the "Stars On Suspense" podcast in iTunes.

Jun 29, 2017

Ed Gardner was born June 29, 1901. The actor, writer, and director is best known as the creator and star of Duffy's Tavern . Gardner starred as Archie, the manager of the titular tavern (Duffy, as it was explained every week, was never found in his own place), and he found fame as the wisecracking bartender with a loose grasp of proper grammar. Duffy's Tavern aired on radio from 1941 to 1952. Though he found his greatest success in comedy, Gardner made one memorable appearance on Suspense in "The Palmer Method" (originally aired on April 20, 1944). Gardner stars as a small-time con who enlists to fight the fascists in Spain. When a twist of fate gives him the chance to take a new identity, he seizes the opportunity but soon finds himself in over his head.

Jun 29, 2017

Some of the twentieth century's best singers made visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" during the twenty year run of Suspense . This week, we'll hear two of them in uncharacteristic dark and dramatic roles. First, Frank Sinatra is a deranged madman tormenting Agnes Moorehead in "To Find Help" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from January 18, 1945). Then, Rosemary Clooney stars and sings in "St. James Infirmary Blues" (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1953), a tale of crime and love in the Roaring Twenties.

Jun 26, 2017

Actor Peter Lorre was born June 26, 1904. With his unique accent and large eyes, Lorre was frequently cast as shady foreign villains and left a legacy as one of Hollywood's legends. Lorre launched his acting career in Germany, where he appeared in Fritz Lang's landmark film M and several early films of Alfred Hitchcock. Upon moving to Hollywood, he starred in eight Fox films as the international detective Mr. Moto. Lorre famously played Joel Cairo in John Huston's adaptation of The Maltese Falcon , the first of several films he made with co-stars Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet. Lorre's screen credits include Casablanca , 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , and Arsenic and Old Lace . On radio, Lorre could be heard recreating his film roles on Screen Guild Players , making guest appearances Abbott & Costello , and headlining his own anthology series, Mystery in the Air . Lorre also served as master of ceremonies for the Mystery Playhouse for the Armed Forces Radio Service, a program that re-aired detective and suspense shows for the troops overseas. Lorre also made six appearances on Suspense in the early years of the program. We've heard four of those appearances on the podcast in Episode 2 and Episode 14 . Here are some more of the legendary actor's appearances on Suspense : "The Devil's Saint" - Peter Lorre stars as a wealthy man who invites his daughter's boyfriend to stay the night in a mysterious room. (Aired January 19, 1943) "Nobody Loves Me" - As a demented killer, Peter Lorre narrates this tale of a tragic life and a kidnapping. (Aired August 30, 1945)

Jun 22, 2017

With his leading man looks and his mellifluous voice, Ronald Colman was a star of both the silent and talking eras of Hollywood. His appearances on radio gave the Oscar winner a chance to put that voice to good use, whether he and his wife Benita Hume were clowning around with Jack Benny or whether Colman was making one of his six visits to Suspense . We'll hear him in "August Heat" (originally aired on May 31, 1945) and "A Vision of Death" (originally aired on March 8, 1951).