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).
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4:35:46
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4:35:46
Episode 421 - Favorites from 1950
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).
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2:37:06
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2:37:06
Encore - Jack Benny: No Sillies, Just Suspense
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).
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1:37:19
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1:37:19
Episode 420 - Favorites from 1949
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).
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Episode 419 - Favorites from 1948
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).
Presenting the biggest legends of Hollywood starring in "Suspense," radio's outstanding theater of thrills! Each week, we'll hear two chillers from this old time radio classic featuring one of the all-time great stars of stage and screen.
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