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Suspense |
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" This is The
Man in Black É here again to introduce Columbia's program: Suspense. Suspense is compounded of mystery and
suspicion and dangerous adventure. In this series of tales, calculated to
intrigue you, stir your nerves, to offer you a precarious situation and then withhold the solution until the last possible
moment" Suspense was quite simply the peak of dramatic radio: É genuine noir drama on the air É And it was all through the
incredible efforts of producer William Spier: he personally guided every aspect of the show,
moulding every story, voice, sound effects and music into audio masterpieces. Each week Spier, musical
director Bernard Herrmann and
sound effects man Berne Surrey conferred
and plotted an irresistible combination that seemed to almost transcend the
medium, deeply involving the listener in a well constructed tale. Suspense was radio's glamour showcase and Hollywood's
biggest stars lines up to perform on it because they knew they were
contributing to a superior product that would enhance their reputations.
Award winning actors and actresses appeared each week in stories that were
fined tuned to their talents. Spier became known "as the Hitchcock of
the airlanes" and he had a
great rapport with the stars, for whom he required little rehearsal - he
wanted them tense at the microphone and they rewarded him (and the listener)
with uniformly outstanding performances. Said screen legend Cary
Grant in 1943: "If ever I do anymore radio work, I want to do it on Suspense, where I get a good chance to act" Screen legends to appear on
Suspense included: Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart,
Fredric Marsh, Ronald Colman, James Stewart, Claire Trevor, Kirk Douglas,
Burt Lancaster, Edward G. Robinson, Ray Milland, James Cagney, Charles
Laughton, Joan Fontaine, Bette Davis, William Powell, William Holden, Myrna
Loy, Marlene Dietrich, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Tyrone Power,
Olivia de Havilland É.. Popular Noir performers
consisted of: Dana
Andrews, Glenn Ford, James Mason, Edmund O'Brien, Fred MacMurray, Cornel
Wilde, Alan Ladd, Dick Powell, Robert Taylor, Joseph Cotten, Van Heflin,
Victor Mature, John Garfield, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Robert Ryan, Vincent
Price, Peter Lorre, Paul Muni, Gene Kelly, Mary Astor É. Spier also featured comedy
performers in dramatic roles, garnering praise from the dramatic efforts of
stars who would normally not be associated with such gripping stories: Bob
Hope, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, Donald O'Connor, Red Skelton, Phil Silvers,
Danny Kaye, Mickey Rooney, Ginger Rogers, Dan Dailey, Jack Benny, Jack Carson É One
episode, The Red-Headed Woman
(1949-11-17) even combined the then husband & wife "I Love
Lucy" team of Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz! Some wonderful Suspense
shows even begat movies such as Lucille Fletcher's "Sorry, Wrong
Number" and Cornell
Woolrich's "The Black
Curtain" (as Street of
Chance) & "The Black
Path of Fear" (as The Chase). In fact both of these
authors contributed a number of "legendary" Suspense episodes: Whilst
Sorry, Wrong Number gained
notoriety for the scintillating radio performance of Agnes Moorehead, conventional wisdom suggests that it Moorehead's
performance in Lucille Fletcher's The Diary of Sophronia Winters (1944-08-17) was superior and resulted in a more
"suspenseful" result! Lucille Fletcher also contributed the disturbing Search for Henri Le Fevre (1944-07-06) starring Paul Muni, whilst
further Cornell Woolrich efforts
included The White Rose Murders (1943-07-06)
starring Maureen O'Hara, You'll
Never See Me Again (1944-09-14) starring Joseph Cotton & Three O'Clock (1949-03-10) starring Van Heflin. Interesting "sundry
guests" would also provide the freshness so important to this long
running program: The legendary screen-writer Ben
Hecht (he did psycho-dramas for
Alfred Hitchcock, including Spellbound & Notorious) wrote the radio-play
and appeared in person as the narrator on Actor's Blood (1944-08-24) starring Fredric March. Another
"guest" appearances occurred in Blood on the Trumpet (1950-11-09) starring William Holden where Ziggy Elman was heard on the trumpet. Several Suspense episodes
were associated with then-current films: The
episode Murder Goes for a Swim
(1943-07-20) tapped into the popularity of The Lone Wolf Movie Series by casting Warren William as Michael "The Lone Wolf" Lanyard & Eric Blore as Jamison - it was an excellent who-dun-it and William & Blore really had
a ball playing their screen roles on the air! Richard
Connell's The Most Dangerous Game
has been filmed many times (for the big screen and on TV in various forms).
Whilst it was the subject of several radio dramas (including Escape), the definitive version belongs to the Suspense
episode from 1943-09-23. Orson Welles was absolutely chilling as General Zaroff as he hunted the hapless Sanger Rainsford (Keenan Wynn) - riveting! John
Loder & June Duprez recreated their screen roles Reginald Parker /
Edward Grey and April Manby Carson respectively for Suspense's excellent take
on The Brighton Strangler (1944-12-21).
Marie
Belloc Lowndes' novel The Lodger and its film adaptation scared and enthralled
readers and film-goers alike in the mid 1940s - but listeners had to wait
until Robert Montgomery did an
hour long Suspense version on
1948-02-14. Chilling! Famous novels were also
dramatized by Suspense, with Herbert Marshall starring in two notable British spy stories: Geoffrey
Household's Rogue Male (1951-12-31) & John Buchan's The Thirty Nine Steps (1952-03-03). Agatha Christie's The
ABC Murders (1943-05-18) & Philomel
Cottage (1946-12-26) resulted in two
well-staged and intriguing plays. Charles Laughton & Elsa Lanchester starred in the former whilst Lili Palmer guested in the latter. America's top
"hard-boiled detective" writers also provided stories: Dashiell
"Sam Spade" Hammett's
Two Sharp Knives (1945-06-07)
starring John Payne; Brett
"Michael Shayne" Halliday's Big Shot (1948-09-09) starring Burt Lancaster; Raymond
"Philip Marlowe" Chandler's Pearls Are a Nuisance (1950-04-20) starring Ray Milland. The
Sam Spade character even turned
up in two Suspense programs, both times voiced by Howard Duff who was currently playing Sam Spade in his own regular weekly radio show: Spade was
heard briefly (and uncredited) at the start of The House in Cypress Canyon (1946-12-05) starring Robert Taylor and then in his own specially written mystery: The
Kandi Tooth (1948-01-10) - a
fabulous sequel to Hammett's The Maltese Falcon! This latter program was one of just a few one hour
presentations (most were a half hour). Now
to whats on oFFer here É. Assembled here in this
collection on 4 CDs are 126 episodes of which all but 4 are of 30 minutes
duration - there are 4 one hour entries and they occur sequentially on the
2nd CD: The
Kandi Tooth (1948-01-10), The
Lodger (1948-02-14), Beyond
Reason (1948-02-21) & The Blind
Spot (1948-05-01) All 126 episodes have been
carefully chosen for the strength of the story and the "star power"
of the performing cast. The collection leads off
with an edited 32 minute Documentary from The Golden Age of Radio series (November 1970) in which William Spier and actress wife June Havoc discuss the making of and performing on the
Suspense Radio program. Excepts from the following Suspense episodes are also
included (and discussed): August
Heat (1945-05-31) starring Ronald
Colman, Blind
Date (1949-09-29) starring Charles
Laughton & June Havoc The
House in Cypress Canyon
(1946-12-05) starring Robert Taylor A Note from Trev: In the course of this restoration project, the
commercials (for Roma Wines
& AutoLight) have been
removed - so too the "whats on next week" has been excised All 126 programs are of
excellent audio quality and have (each & all) been re-recorded for
maximum fidelity (and to allow enthusiasts to move programs onto 80 minute
audio CDs, if they require it, without loss of sound quality) Want to check out a few
Suspense programs? Why not download a few
these 30 minute productions? They can be freely
downloaded to your computer -
just right button click
on any link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to that effect). The file is on an
average about 40Mb - download time will depend on your (broadband) speed. Lucille Ball in: SUSP_1944-01-13
Dime a Dance.mp3 Loretta
Young in: SUSP_1950-03-02
The Lady Killer.mp3 Cary
Grant in: SUSP_1950-11-16
On a Country Road.mp3 These
4 MP3 CDs consist of 126 episodes of Suspense All
elements of this collection have been carefully restored - beautiful sound
with no hiss! A.
Documentary: 1. 1970-11-xx
Talking with William Spier & June Havoc B.
Suspense Episodes:
1.
1942-09-02 The
Hitchhiker - Orson Welles 2.
1942-12-15 Till
Death Do Us Part - Peter Lorre 3.
1943-02-02 The
Doctor Prescribed Death - Bela
Lugosi 4.
1943-02-16 In Fear
and Trembling - Mary Astor 5.
1943-04-20 A Moment
of Darkness - Peter Lorre 6.
1943-05-18 The ABC
Murders - Charles Laughton &
Elsa Lanchester 7.
1943-07-06 The
White Rose Murders - Maureen O'Hara
8.
1943-07-20 Murder
Goes for a Swim - Warren William
& Eric Blore 9.
1943-08-21 Sorry,
Wrong Number - Agnes Moorehead 10.
1943-09-23 The Most
Dangerous Game - Orson Welles &
Keenan Wynn 11.
1943-11-16 Thieves
Fall Out - Gene Kelly 12.
1943-12-02 The
Black Curtain - Cary Grant 13.
1944-01-06 One Way
Ride to Nowhere - Alan Ladd 14.
1944-01-13 Dime a
Dance - Lucille Ball 15.
1944-03-09 The
Defense Rests - Alan Ladd 16.
1944-04-27 Death
Went Along for the Ride - Gene
Kelly 17.
1944-06-22 The Ten
Grand - Lucille Ball 18.
1944-07-06 Search
for Henri Le Fevre - Paul Muni 19.
1944-07-13 The
Beast Must Die - Herbert Marshall 20.
1944-07-20 Of
Maestro and Man - Peter Lorre 21.
1944-08-17 The
Diary of Sophronia Winters - Agnes
Moorehead 22.
1944-08-24 Actor's
Blood - Fredric March (Ben Hecht as
narrator) 23.
1944-08-31 Black
Path of Fear - Brian Donlevy 24.
1944-09-07 Voyage
Through Darkness - Olivia de
Havilland 25.
1944-09-14 You'll
Never See Me Again - Joseph Cotten 26.
1944-12-21 The
Brighton Strangler - John Loder
& June Duprez 27.
1945-03-08 Love's
Lovely Counterfeit - Humphery
Bogart 28.
1945-05-24 My Own
Murderer - Herbert Marshall 29.
1945-05-31 August
Heat - Ronald Colman 30.
1945-06-07 Two
Sharp Knives - John Payne &
Frank McHugh 31.
1945-08-09 Murder
for Myra - Lloyd Nolan 32.
1945-08-30 Nobody
Loves Me - Peter Lorre 33.
1945-09-20 Library
Book - Myrna Loy 34.
1945-10-11 Beyond
Good and Evil - Joseph Cotten 35.
1945-10-25 A Shroud
for Sarah - Lucille Ball 36.
1946-01-17 The
Pasteboard Box - Joseph Cotten 37.
1946-02-21 Consequence - James Stewart 38.
1946-04-11 The Name
of the Beast - Vincent Price 39.
1946-05-16 The Plan - Claire Trevor 40.
1946-09-12 Hunting
Trip - Lloyd Nolan & Vincent
Price 41.
1946-10-31 Lazarus
Walks - Brian Donlevy 42.
1946-11-21 Drive-In - Judy Garland 43.
1946-12-05 The
House in Cypress Canyon - Robert
Taylor 44.
1946-12-26 Philomel
Cottage - Lili Palmer 45.
1947-02-06 End of
the Road - Glenn Ford 46.
1947-04-03 The
Swift Rise of Eddie Albright - Phil
Silvers 47.
1947-08-14 Smiley - Donald O'Connor 48.
1947-09-04 The
Argyle Album - Edmund O'Brien &
Ann Blyth 49.
1947-09-18 The
Visitor - Donald O'Connor 50.
1947-10-02 The
Story of Markham's Death - Kirk
Douglas 51.
1948-01-10 The
Kandi Tooth - Howard Duff (Note:
1 hour duration) 52.
1948-02-14 The
Lodger - Robert Montgomery (Note:
1 hour duration) 53.
1948-02-21 Beyond Reason - Robert Ryan (Note: 1 hour duration) 54.
1948-05-01 The
Blind Spot - Edmund O'Brien (Note:
1 hour duration) 55.
1948-07-22 Deep
into Darkness - Douglas Fairbanks
Jr. 56.
1948-09-09 Big Shot - Burt Lancaster 57.
1948-10-07 Night
Cry - Ray Milland 58.
1948-10-14 A Little
Piece of Rope - Lucille Ball 59.
1948-11-04 Death
Sentence - John Garfield 60.
1948-11-11 Muddy
Track - Edmund O'Brien & Ann
Blyth 61.
1948-12-16 No
Escape - James Cagney 62.
1948-12-30 Break-Up - William Bendix 63.
1949-01-13 The Too
Perfect Alibi - Danny Kaye 64.
1949-01-20 If the
Dead Could Talk - Dana Andrews 65.
1949-03-03 Lovebirds - Joan Fontaine 66.
1949-03-10 Three
O'Clock - Van Heflin 67.
1949-03-17 Murder
Through the Looking Glass - Gregory
Peck 68.
1949-03-31 You
Can't Die Twice - Edward G.
Robinson 69.
1949-04-07 Noose of
Coincidence - Ronald Colman 70.
1949-05-05 Death
Has a Shadow - Bob Hope 71.
1949-05-12 The
Light Switch - Claire Trevor 72.
1949-09-08 Chicken
Feed - Ray Milland 73.
1949-09-29 Blind
Date - Charles Laughton & June
Havoc 74.
1949-10-20 Good
Night Mrs Russell - Bette Davis 75.
1949-10-27 Momentum - Victor Mature 76.
1949-11-03 The
Search for Isabel - Red Skelton 77.
1949-11-17 The
Red-Headed Woman - Lucille Ball
& Desi Arnaz 78.
1949-11-24 The Long
Wait - Burt Lancaster 79.
1949-12-08 For Love
or Murder - Mickey Rooney 80.
1949-12-29 The
Bullet - Ida Lupino 81.
1950-01-12 Four
Hours to Kill - Robert Taylor 82.
1950-01-19 The
Escape of Lacey Abbott - William
Powell 83.
1950-02-16 Murder
Strikes Three Times - Marlene
Dietrich 84.
1950-02-23 Slow
Burn - Dick Powell 85.
1950-03-02 The Lady
Killer - Loretta Young 86.
1950-03-16 Motive
for Murder - Alan Ladd 87.
1950-03-23 One and
One's a Lonesome - Ronald Reagan 88.
1950-04-13 Six Feet
Under - Dan Dailey 89.
1950-04-20 Pearls
Are a Nuisance - Ray Milland 90.
1950-05-18 Angel
Face - Claire Trevor 91.
1950-09-21 The
Crowd - Dana Andrews 92.
1950-10-19 The
Wages of Sin - Barbara Stanwyck 93.
1950-11-09 Blood on
the Trumpet - William Holden (Ziggy
Elman on trumpet) 94.
1950-11-16 On a
Country Road - Cary Grant 95.
1950-12-07 After
the Movies - Ray Milland 96.
1950-12-14 A
Killing in Abilene - Alan Ladd 97.
1950-12-28 A Ring
for Marya - Cornel Wilde 98.
1951-01-11 Vamp
Till Dead - Ginger Rogers 99.
1951-03-22 Three
Lethal Words - Joan Crawford 100.
1951-03-29 Death
Pitch - Jack Carson 101.
1951-04-19 The
Rescue - James Stewart 102.
1951-05-17 Another
Man's Poison - Charles Boyer 103.
1951-05-31 Overdrawn - Dick Powell 104.
1951-06-07 Tell Ya
Why I Shouldn't Die - Richard
Widmark 105.
1951-06-21 The
Greatest Thief in the World - James
Mason 106.
1951-10-08 Betrayal
in Vienna - Herbert Marshall 107.
1951-10-22 The Log
of the Marne - Ray Milland 108.
1951-12-31 Rogue
Male - Herbert Marshall 109.
1952-02-18 The
Track of the Cat - Richard Widmark 110.
1952-03-03 The
Thirty Nine Steps - Herbert
Marshall 111.
1952-04-21 The
Diary of Captain Scott - Herbert
Marshall 112.
1952-05-19 The
Flight of the Bumble Bee - Fred
MacMurray 113.
1952-06-02 A Good
and Faithful Servant - Jack Benny 114.
1952-12-22 Arctic
Rescue - Joseph Cotten 115.
1953-02-02 Plan X - Jack Benny 116.
1953-04-13 The
Great Train Robbery - Fred
MacMurray 117.
1953-06-01 A Vision
of Death - Ronald Colman 118.
1953-11-02 Ordeal
in Donner Pass - Edmund O'Brien 119.
1953-12-28 The
Queen's Ring - James Mason 120.
1954-01-18 The Face
is Familiar - Jack Benny 121.
1954-03-01 The
Barking Death - William Powell 122.
1954-03-08 Circumstantial
Terror - Ronald Reagan 123.
1954-03-22 The
Guilty Always Run - Tyrone Power 124.
1954-04-12 Parole
to Panic - Broderick Crawford 125.
1956-11-11 Three
Skeleton Key - Vincent Price 126.
1956-12-16 Eyewitness - Howard Duff |