Suspense Upgrades

Three episodes today as we are in our last few days of Suspense upgrades for this round. It is amazing how many programs we were able to upgrade because of our access to older reel collections. We still need volunteers for many other reels to be transferred of many other series.

This episode was last ugraded a few months ago. The script was also used on Theater Five 1965-01-21, episode 124.

Suspense_1961-11-12_TheImposters_wROsborn&CBauer UPGRADE-7.mp3
MEGA [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This episode was last upgraded 10 years ago.
Suspense_1961-11-19_TheBlackDoor_wRReadick&RCamargo UPGRADE-2.mp3
MEGA [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This episode was also last upgraded 10 years ago.
Suspense_1962-03-18_PerChanceToDream_wPaulMcGrath NETWORK COMPLETE UPG.mp3
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This WeTransfer file [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] has all three recordings, a different recording of The Imposters that starts with music interlude from the prior program.

Tomorrow, a copy Devilstone that is more complete than what is usually circulating. Then a few days of upgrades from earlier in the series for episodes that were included in the recent anniversary marathon.

Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

This is the final episode of Suspense, but we have a few more posts to make in the days to come.

On "the day that radio drama died," September 30, 1962, Jack Johnstone authored both episodes of YTJD and Suspense. This episode was under his pseudonym, "Jonathan Bundy" (or sometimes "Jack Bundy"). The idea was to keep the shows as separate and distinct in the ears of the listeners.

This particular recording of Devilstone has the WROW ID at the open with some instrumental guitar.

The cover sheet below indicates that the star, Broadway actor Christopher Cary, and radio veteran Gilbert Mack, were added late to the cast. Note that Ted Osborn (should be Osborne) is in the cast but announced as "Reynold Osborn." We still have no idea why he was using that name. He even used it in summer theater. Ted Osborne is the only actor to be in the casts of the first and the last Suspense. This was recorded on September 27, a Thursday. Frank Milano was a very successful animal imitator on radio.

Suspense_1962-09-30_Devilstone_wChrisCary&NeilFitzgerald NETWORK W COMMLS & WROW OPENING ID.mp3
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The cancellation of Suspense was announced a few weeks before, and was reported in the August 8, 1962 edition of Variety. Some newspapers picked up the story off the wire services. Unlike the cancellations of November 1960 soap operas, Suspense, and HGWT, there was no news coverage of the last day. Most of those 1960 stories treated the event like they were looking at a dying breed of zoo animal, and ridiculing the end of soap opera story lines. In 1962... nothing.

CBS kept feeding Suspense and YTJD re-runs to affiliates that wanted them. I can find some timetable listings to 1964 and some YTJD in 1966. Those numbers kept dwindling down to zero. It is interesting that there is no farewell message of any sort in Devilstone or in the YTJD episode. Did they not care? Did they want to make allowance for the re-runs? Did they think that Suspense might return like it did in 1961? We'll never know. The sentiment among top CBS executives was very clear: drama was better on TV. Well, of course. They put YTJD and Suspense on budget starvation and treating them like they were there to fill time that could be better used in some other way. In 1963, ABC saw an opportunity for bigger budget shows again, and that eventually became Theater Five. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The budgets were much better, the stories were more contemporary... it had all types of advantages in money and enthusiasm compared to the way CBS execs treated their two series... but station management strategy was changing, and drama interrupted their evolving specialty formats. At least Theater Five put up a fight and was part of ABC Radio syndication packages for another four years. Suspense left with barely a whimper and no "goodbye." We know Johnny is still out there behind the scenes grabbing two-martini lunches, and nabbing fraudsters, somewhere, because we know in our hearts that Johnny was a real person. How many YTJD listeners realized that The Tip-Off Matter had no invitation to "join us next week" and that future expense accounts would be submitted directly to some faceless bureaucrat without our personal review? Devilstone lacks a similar invitation. That's the only hint a listener got. Clean out your desk. Security will walk you out the rear door, you know, the one next to the dumpster.


It must be noted that "the day radio drama died" is an expression of sadness and resignation, similar to "the day the music died" was uttered about the February 3, 1959 plane tragedy that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Radio drama survived as an art, and many of today's classic radio fans were drawn to it by CBSRMT. "Scripted audio" is a successful niche in podcasting today. The best audio books have some aspects of radio drama with music and effects. It's not the same... but September 30, 1962 wasn't the end of a powerful genre. Rather than appointment listening we listen "on-demand." The nature of the art will keep changing. What we miss most are the actors who were so well-trained and disciplined in the subtle nature of voice performance. We can detect quite a difference between the broadcasts we work so hard to preserve (including CBSRMT!) to those of the current day.


Johnstone was a class act. He retired after the series went off the air. When Joe Hehn was working on his ill-fated book about juvenile series, he corresponded with many people, usually getting terse responses. But Johnstone had some kind and generous exchanges with him. They can be seen at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

The next few days are upgrades received recently. Some of them were in preparation for the 80th anniversary of the series last week.

These are not always found in the best sound, with scratchiness and disc noise in the background.

This western broadcast is the better sounding of the three versions we have, including east and AFRS. The latter is #37 and is drawn from this west broadcast. The original title was "The Locked Door." This recording has not been upgraded for 7 years.
Suspense_1944-01-31_TheLockedRoom_wVirginiaBruce UPGRADE-5 WC Monday.mp3
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This western broadcast was last upgraded almost 2 years ago. The east broadcast recording of this episode is much lesser quality. I'm told that the broadcasts of these episodes were not in the Pacific Pioneers holdings that most of the best-sounding Suspense are from and are from another source. It sounds like they were not stored well wherever that was. The AFRS version is known to exist, but we have not found a copy yet. It would be #38, and its network broadcast source, east or west, is not known.
Suspense_1944-02-07_TheSisters_wILupino&AMoorehead UPGRADE-4 WC Monday.mp3
MEGA [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This WeTransfer link [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] has the two shows above, the east broadcasts of them, and the AFRS version of The Locked Room.

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

Two upgrades today, and a small item.

This is an upgrade by re-processing a file to prep it for streaming during last week's 80th anniversary event. I hope the disc is "rediscovered" sometime so some better transfer can be made. The network version has never appeared. We know it existed, and perhaps because Sinatra's appearance was such a big deal there were airchecks made, too. This is the only recording we've ever had.
Suspense_1945-01-18_ToFindHelp_wAgnesMoorehead&FrankSinatra (orig 'The Man') AFRS#87 UPGRADE-3.mp3
MEGA [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


The Man had 92 performances on Broadway in 1950. Below is a positive review. The play was produced around the world in local, regional productions on stage and television in the next decade and more.


Playbill [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


This is a nice upgrade of a recording we posted about 18 months ago. Hardwicke was touring as part of the "quartet" that was directed and acted by Charles Laughton and included Agnes Moorehead, Charles Boyer.
Suspense_1952-10-06_DiaryOfDrPritchard_wSirCedricHardwicke UPGRADE-4.mp3
MEGA [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]



The Hitch-hiker has a pun in it? Orson Welles is in a field of mooing cows... does he say that he is "udder-ly alone"? I think he says "utter" quite clearly but the context seems like one of the inside jokes they all guffawed at during rehearsal and put in the script... of being "UDDER-ly alone." The same line and sound effect is in the 1941-11-14 Orson Welles Theater performance. If it is a pun, it was in the first performance of this script less than a year earlier. Welles... and Spier... were often playful in these kinds of inside jokes...
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When Welles used the script in 1946 for Mercury Summer Theater, the same scene has "utterly" but has no background mooing, and no amusing context.

The other Welles inside joke is 1947-05-01 where he has the unannounced role as a gas attendant helping guest star and girlfriend Ava Gardner in Lady in Distress. The part was written in that afternoon when Welles arrived with Gardner for pre-broadcast rehearsal.


CAN YOU HELP GET MORE FREE CLOUD SPACE?

I've been testing out Filen.io. They offer 20GB of space at no charge.
If you use this link [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
We each get an additional 10GB!
I think I am limited to 3 invites... Your help is greatly appreciated!

They only offer 10GB. I signed up using your link and got nothing more. Did you?

That's interesting -- nothing came in yet as of 1pm ET Fri

This episode is the end of the Suspense upgrades for now. It's amazing how long the upgrades from the various sources lasted us. The last 18 months have been a major step forward for many of the recordings.

Be sure to keep checking the Suspense 80th anniversary page [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] especially for the Radio Talking Book Service podcasts through July.

Upgrades of The Whistler begin tomorrow. I've already posted some show background links there as well as links to upgrades that are at the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection at archive.org.

Today's recording is one of my favorites, and what I consider the best of the three performances of James Poe's Rave Notice. This is a nice upgrade of Hans Conried's 1954 appearance along with much of the Gunsmoke supporting cast. You'll hear Larry Dobkin, Howard McNear, Jack Kruschen, Edgar Barrier, and also John Stephenson (Dr. Benton Quest in 5 episodes of Jonny Quest and Mr. Slate on The Flintstones!). Eleanor Tanin is in the cast to scream. Love those radio specialty players....

Suspense_1954-10-21_Rave_Notice_wHansConreid UPGRADE-2.mp3
MEGA [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This newspaper clipping is new...


See you at The Whistler starting tomorrow... If there's a Suspense post in these next weeks ahead I'll alert you there...

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

Just learned that Sole Twin Audio will be releasing their recreation of the missing episode Rope on Sunday, August 21, 2022. Further details when known.

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The Suspense Marathon from July 17, 2022 that played on Stay Tuned America is now up at the Internet Archive
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This may be a good site for new classic radio fans since Keith Scott and I explain the background of some of the episodes and have some fun in the process. If you know of some new fans, these are some of the best shows that ever ran on the series.

The page does not require you to listen to the entire marathon. You can pick and choose show intros and the shows as you wish. But if you start with any show, the playing will automatically continue to the next one.

ENJOY!

Thanks, greybelt. The introductions are great! I thought Keith's Orson Welles imitation was especially good!

The ones that were most fun for me were the Benny one for Face is Familiar and the Lovejoy one for Giant of Thermop Thermopy.. o gosh sakes...

The eight "Dusty Attic" programs celebrating the anniversary of Suspense on the Radio Talking Books Service are now at the Internet Archive
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July 26, 2022 is the 77th anniversary of the craziest Suspense ever, "Fury and Sound." Listeners had to be confused... it's full of inside jokes and is actually a roast of Suspense producer William Spier! The details of the program and how it came about are at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Thanks again to Jerry Haendiges and John Tefteller for making this episode available to classic radio fans a couple of years ago. If you've gone to the page before, I've made some updates and additions... it's worth going back. Enjoy this quirky piece of Suspense and golden age history.... that fooled the press and critics... but now... you know the secret!

A "missing" Suspense TV show was "hiding" at the University of Georgia archives

The Train from Czechoslovakia aired 1951-01-23
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A missing Suspense has been recreated! It's "Rope" from the Summer 1942 series (the it's likely July 1, but there are newspapers that also list in on July 8 ).

It is based on the Leopold-Loeb "thrill" murders of 1924, became a Broadway play by Patrick Hamilton in 1929 ("Rope's End"), and would become a Hitchcock production starring Jimmy Stewart in 1948. The Hamilton play was adapted for Suspense by Harold Medford. Sole Twin Audios, a project of Rachel Pulliam, who is one of the members of the OTRR FB page, produced this recreation with original music and a fine cast.

Since it's so early in the Suspense run, you can tell it's still Charles Vanda's vision for British-style mystery guiding the story selection and the production. The Vanda episodes have the feel of stage productions. Vanda would soon leave for military service where he played a key role in the creation of the Armed Forces Radio Service. William Spier would replace him, and would change the tone of Suspense to a first-person narrative (encouraged by Orson Welles).

Thank you Sole Twin Audios, for helping preserve Suspense history!

LISTEN HERE
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BACKGROUND

Leopold and Loeb murder case of 1924
Northwestern University has a web page devoted to the original incident [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

1929 play
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For more information about Sole Twin Audios productions and Rachel Pulliam, go to
Podcast   anchor.fm/soletwinaudios
YouTube Channel [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  
Her various progams can be heard at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms.

Rachel was interviewed recently [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Rachel's interest in classic radio began as a child.

While I can't recall which program or episode it was, the first time I heard a radio drama was in grade school music class. Years later, I discovered Suspense, The Whistler, and others from the library and in college. I purchased a lot of those "Radio Spirit" CD packs and would listen to them with a friend. It was just an accident, really, getting interested in old time radio. I was immersed in a story where I didn't have to use my eyes and I suppose this was appealing to someone with a visual impairment.

Sole Twin Audios is her "umbrella company" where she develops multiple genres of podcasts. "My intent is to keep the vintage tone...even with original stories produced."
This is her trailer [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


This means that there are only 6 truly missing episodes that have not been recreated or are not currently planned to be recreated...

1942-07-01 - Episode 3 - The Life of Nellie James (based on Lizzie Borden)
1942-07-15 - Episode 5 - Witness on the Westbound Limited
1943-03-09 - Episode 31 - The Phantom Archer
1948-07-08 - Episode 296 - The Last Chance (first Auto-Lite broadcast)
1951-11-12 - Episode 446 - The Mission of the Betta (portion drawn from a Man Behind the Gun script)
1956-08-01 - Episode 660 - Massacre at Little Big Horn

Deadline, which originally starred Broderick Crawford, will be recreated at REPS in October.

The Suspense Recreations page is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Radio Talking Book Service celebration of Suspense: LABOR DAY MARATHON begins 1pm US Eastern time, Monday, September 5, 2022, and ends at midnight!

The marathon will include the eight Dusty Attic programs of June and July 2022 and an additional three hours of Suspense. Details of those additional programs will be available soon.

Live streaming is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] RTBS recommends using the TuneIn app on phones and such.

Interesting new production of SWN
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There was a FB post on the OTRR page re SWN and the flub, and I thought I'd post my comment here:

I have dug into this pretty extensively. The lack of newspaper coverage of the "flub" is really stunning. The only real news was that they would repeat it "soon" and "soon" was postponed and then was done in August. There is some background on the SWN history here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Also, no news or other accounts of the episode really mention "you know, the show they screwed up and had to re-do" or something like that. In spite of the "flub" most everyone knew Mrs. Stevenson was dead, murdered, right before their very ears.
I have found it unfortunate that over the years the "flub" has been considered the main reason for SWN's notoriety. We have to put ourselves back into that time and as you delve into the history of the script, the original ending was to have the police rush in and save her. In that time, to have the listener hear a murder of that nature on the radio was shocking. Part of the shock is that Mrs Stevenson is really really annoying and it gets worse, and it can grate on you... and then it happens. This was a time of movie codes and good had to overcome evil. If SWN was sponsored, this ending could have been rejected by the sponsor -- Roma had an ending changed for an episode, and there's an episode that Auto-Lite refused to air because it was gruesome ("The Hand" by Mel Dinelli, and it was supposed to be Joan Crawford's big appearance). But Spier thought it was all compelling and they did it.
Another factor is that only about 35% of US homes had phones, and those who did were in the upper middle class or wealthy. So there was always an interest in about getting a phone and it had a streak of envy to it, too. (Business phones is a separate topic). There was a mysteriousness about phones in the home, and that's one of the reasons why the rare occurrence of "crossed lines" can work in the story, even though may phone owners did not experience it, and of course, non-phone owners never did.
While I have never been a big fan of the episode, I have come to see its careful construction, the repairs made to the original ideas (the original title was "She Overheard Death Speaking" -- now there's a catchy title!), and the performance to be incredible for its time. It was SWN that put Suspense on the map -- the series was faltering and could not find a sponsor -- and once people heard something so different and so well done, that's when Roma came around and put up the big bucks for Suspense's heyday.

SUSPENSE LABOR DAY MARATHON begins 11am US Eastern time, Monday, September 5, 2022, at the Radio Talking Book Service. NOTE: This is a time change from the previous announcement!

The marathon will include the eight Dusty Attic programs of June and July 2022 and an additional three hours of Suspense. The marathon ends at 10pm US Eastern time. Live streaming is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] RTBS recommends using the TuneIn app on phones and such. ENJOY!!

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH OTR FRIENDS:

Friday, September 30, 2022 is the 60th anniversary of “the day network radio drama died.” That’s how our hobby’s early collectors and fans pondered the meaning of this day, sixty years ago, when the final broadcasts of Suspense and Johnny Dollar were heard. How did this day arrive? Why did those collectors feel this way? And, the much less-discussed followup - what happened afterwards?

Visit this website [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to learn more about the day with some recordings and some history… and hear a special podcast with actor and radio drama advocate Craig Wichman and collector Joe Webb as they discuss the significance of what happened 60 years ago, what it meant - and the great deal that has happened since. The podcast is also available directly at Soundcloud [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Don Ramlow did an interview with Lucille Fletcher at one of the FOTR conventions. It's included in the Good Old Days of Radio podcast released today and is very good listening.

This link to the YouTube version of the podcast [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] starts at the point where the interview begins. It's a fascinating interview and highly recommended!