Episode 421 - Favorites from 1950
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
We enter the 50s as our journey through the years of Suspense continues with my favorite episodes from 1950. First, Dana Andrews is a cop on the trail of a killer in a radio adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Crowd” (originally aired on CBS on September 21, 1950), and Milton Berle is an actor who hopes he can convincingly play a crazy man to escape a death sentence for murder in “Rave Notice” (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1950). Cary Grant picks the wrong time and place to run out of gas in the classic chiller “On a Country Road” (originally aired on CBS on November 16,...
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Encore - Jack Benny: No Sillies, Just Suspense
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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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Episode 420 - Favorites from 1949
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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...
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Episode 419 - Favorites from 1948
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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...
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Episode 418 - Favorites from 1947
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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...
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BONUS - More Favorites from '46
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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...
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Episode 417 - Favorites from 1946
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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...
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Episode 416 - Favorites from 1945
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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...
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Episode 415 - Favorites from 1944
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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...
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Episode 414 - Favorites from 1943
Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)
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...
info_outlineComedy 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).