A thrilling collection of episodes from the classic radio show Suspense
Conceived as a potential radio vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock to direct, Suspense was a radio series of epic proportion. It aired on CBS from 1942 to 1962 and is considered by many to be the best mystery drama series of the golden age. Often referred to as "Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills," the show focused on suspenseful thrillers starring the biggest names in Hollywood. Early in the run, the episodes were hosted by the "Man in Black" who, from an omniscient perch, narrated stories of people thrown into dangerous or bizarre situations with plots that usually had an unseen twist or two at the very end. Hollywood's finest actors jumped at the chance to appear on Suspense, including Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Alan Ladd, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, and Orson Welles. Scripts were by John Dickson Carr, Lucille Fletcher, James Poe, Ray Bradbury, and many others.
Episodes include:
- In "The Cave of Ali Baba," Lord Whimsey infiltrates a secret crime society, only to be caught; can they eliminate Lord Whimsey without destroying the society?
- In "The Hitchhiker," a cross-country motorist sees the very same hitch-hiker all along his way!
- In "The Kettler Method," Dr. Kettler has been in an asylum since his "Kettler Method" killed his last patient; then Kettler finds a visiting girl with a headache a prime candidate for brain surgery.
- In "A Passage to Benares," the strange death of a recent bride in a Hindu temple prompts Henry Pajoli to investigate.
- In "One Hundred in the Dark," a group of men in a writer's club discuss the mystery story and how it is more compelling in the creation than in the resolution.
- In "The Lord of the Witch Doctors," the Germans seize control of parts of Africa by having one of their own pose as a witch doctor, frightening the natives into submission.
- In "Will You Make a Bet with Death?," a man matches his life against his evil stepfather for $25,000.
- In "Menace in Wax," a reporter discovers Nazi spies are using playing cards in the hands of wax dummies in Madame Trousseau's Wax Museum to relate coded messages.
- In "The Body Snatchers," a pair of "resurrection men" are paid by a doctor for a fresh corpse; when the attempted body snatching goes wrong, the grave robbers and an accomplice decide to make their own corpse.
- In "The Doctor Prescribed Death," a psychologist goes to extreme lengths to prove his theory that a suicidal individual can easily be convinced to commit murder instead.
- In "In Fear and Trembling," a hypochondriac is sure that her husband and his lover want to kill her, so she decides to act first.
- In "Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble," a famous actress is killed by a long blade through her eye while watching Macbeth.
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“Suspense was a dramatic anthology series, and one of the very best OTR programs, with many episodes still fresh and exciting to listen to today. It was produced by CBS and ran from 1942-1962. It drew upon the talents of many of the leading Hollywood stars of the day, such as Orson Welles, Cary Grant, Peter Lorre and Agnes Moorehead. As the name suggests, Suspense focused mainly on thrillers, but it also offered science-fiction, fantasy and horror tales. Indeed, one of the great strengths of the series was its range of subject matter: one week, the listener would be presented with a chilling ghost story, the next, a hardboiled detective tale. Episodes were adapted from the works of many of the greats of their respective genres, with stories by as diverse a range of writers as Edgar Allan Poe, Raymond Chandler, John Buchan and H. P. Lovecraft.”
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OldTimeRadioReview.com