Suspense Upgrades

Today's Suspense is Voyage Through Darkness and is Olivia deHavilland’s only appearance on the series.

It's a Joel Malone script (best known for his Whistler ones) about a young American woman on a cruise home from England, bringing her deceased employer’s coffin on board for the burial-at-sea that was her final wish. A cruise, a beautiful young woman, a man after her attentions, a coffin, and a stowaway suspected of being “the Blackout Killer” of London. What could possibly go wrong?

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

It's notable that it is the last script performed with east and west performances on separate days. Finally, Suspense would have a single day for its broadcasts. That made it easier to attract guest stars and also made it easier to publicize the series. Enjoy!

Today's Suspense is You'll Never See Me Again and stars Joseph Cotten. The new Fall 1944 season schedule finally allowed the Roma sponsored Suspense to have its east and west broadcasts on the very same night. Cotten was one of producer William Spier’s favorite and most reliable performers. They worked together in the early 1930s on the groundbreaking series March of Time.

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

Cotten plays newlywed Ed Bliss who has an argument with his wife. She storms out of the house but does not return. He figures she’d cool off and come back after she stays at her mother’s home… but she’s not there. He starts looking for her… and the story is not what it seems.

Did Woolrich play a little joke on us with the character name? Perhaps, as in the phrase "weddED BLISS"!! Enjoy!

Today's Suspense is Bluebeard of Bellac and stars Merle Oberon in her only Suspense appearance. It's wartime France and she is a member of the French Underground with her husband. They're setting a trap for a Nazi colonel in their home with the ruse that her husband is the serial "bluebeard killer" who has been murdering Gestapo officials. Is it really a ruse? Or is he the actual killer?

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

Also in the cast is Ludwig Donath, who escaped the Nazis in 1940.  It was his second and final appearance in the series. He played many ethnic roles in movies of the era. Enjoy!

Today's Suspense is The Man Who Couldn't Lose with Gene Kelly. It's one of the more amusing episodes. Kelly plays a gambler who runs into the most unlikely favorable events after killing his nagging wife. (He deserved every little nag, and more). He is a most unlikable character and a dreadful husband. Part of the fun is you hate him more and more with each undeserved lucky break, and chuckle a bit as they compound. You know it's all going to fall apart, and then there's another break!

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

With a little bit of adjustment, this story could have easily been on the less sophisticated but creepier Inner Sanctum. There’s a good reason why: the author is Emil Tepperman who wrote many scripts for that series. The script is adapted by Robert Richards who keeps the crazy story well within Suspense style and standards, and probably laughed along the way, too. Enjoy!

Today's Suspense is Dateline Lisbon and stars John Hodiak. He portrays a wartime American news correspondent, stranded in Lisbon. He's unlikely to be welcomed back home because of his pre-WW2 beliefs and associations. Now, he's far away from home, sees the war first hand. His sentiments have changed in full support of the Allies. Not everyone is aware of that, however. A Nazi general still feels comfortable enough to seek his help to avoid an upcoming post-war trial for war crimes.

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

If the timing of storyline seems of sorts because it anticipates post-WW2 war crime trials, it's not. The UN established a war crimes commission in October 1943, months before these broadcasts. The topic was often in the news though the fighting had much more to go.

The Harold Medford script was used a few months earlier on The Whistler 1944-03-12 as Lisbon Adventure and is missing. Since The Whistler was a regional program, it was not a problem to reuse it on a national show. (Did some California listeners have an eerie deja vu moment?).

Hodiak was a fine character actor who had a lot of radio experience in Chicago before moving to Hollywood. In the 1930s, he starred in the short-lived Li'l Abner radio serial; some scripts of that series are in the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection. Hodiak's high blood pressure problems kept him out of the service, and led to his premature death at age 41, about 10 years after this broadcast.

Today's Suspense is The Merry Widower starring Reginald Gardiner. He plays a man with a delusion of fantasy about his importance and that he descends from royal blood. He does not. He is tormented by the melody of the Merry Widow Waltz which plays on a music box. Make the music stop! The man has an "earworm" of the worst kind!

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

This seems to be one of those stories that was "sanitized" by Roma and their ad agency. The baseline story is The Rubber Trumpet, by Roy Vickers. That story involves a child’s toy (the trumpet) and a child murder. It was a popular mystery story, but the subject of the murder may have been too grim for the audience. The trumpet was replaced with a music box and its song but general pattern of the story is mostly retained. "Rubber Trumpet" was already announced to the press, so it seems that the revised storyline was implemented a week or less before broadcast. Enjoy!

Today's Suspense is Eve, starring Nancy Kelly. It's yet another Cornell Woolrich story adapted by Robert L. Richards. (By this time you get the feeling they're walking the halls going "John Dickson... um... um... who?" since they're doing so many Woolrich stories).

Kelly portrays a woman whose husband was wrongly convicted of murder. Her frantic efforts to vindicate him take a wrong turn and make the circumstantial evidence against him stronger.

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

This is another case of Suspense production having to be flexible and fast on their feet as they adapted to movie set schedules and unavailability of guest stars. Lucille Ball was the intended star for this broadcast. Nancy Kelly was one of the performers whom Spier felt confident and comfortable casting, even with short notice. She was in the cast of the pivotal 1930s March of Time radio series that started so many amazing radio careers, including Spier’s and many Mercury Theater alumni like Kelly. Her vocal abilities were such that she could be imitating male roles on March of Time when necessary, as well as regular imitations of Eleanor Roosevelt and other women in the news. This was her first appearance on Suspense with more to follow.

Today's Suspense is The Night Man by Lucille Fletcher. The concept of an elevator operator is lost for recent generations, but the position in big city apartments was often well-paying, unionized, and of great responsibility (and the Christmas tips were great!). It was usually a uniformed position in posh apartment buildings, with suits and coats and hats, making them very recognizable. They knew the tenants, their schedules, and their habits, and often assisted bringing groceries and packages into their apartments. This is why there is such tension and suspense in the story, and likely for most urban listeners when this was broadcast. Elevator operators were carefully hired, and had to be trustworthy and reliable as well as knowledgeable about elevator operation. Our push-button elevators are so very different, making this historical context important to appreciating the story.

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

The plan to catch the killer is a bit implausible for all of the coordination and cooperation required, but ignore that and just enjoy the story and the dialogue. It's not the best Fletcher script, but even her best is often far better than most on radio, and even on Suspense. It's one of my favorites. Spier used the script again in his year of producing Philip Morris Playhouse, and it was produced twice more in the later years of Suspense. Enjoy!

Today's Suspense is The Singing Walls, the first appearance of Van Johnson on the series. This is a new performance of a Cornell Woolrich story that was produced 14 months earlier. A man, drugged by gangsters, who is being framed for a crime. All he can remember is that music seems to be coming out of the walls that surround him. It's worth listening to hear how the bigger Roma budget and the enthusiasm about the series come through to make a better performance.

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

One of the first voices you hear is the hoodlum “Froggy,” named for his annoying voice. Ken Christy played that role in the first broadcast, and he has it here, too. He seems to have toned down his portrayal for this broadcast. It’s still annoying, as it’s supposed to be, but it is easier to listen to and is less distracting. Enjoy!

NOTE: Yesterday's Singing Walls blogpost was flagged for a Google Blogger community violation. Of course, there is no detail offered as to what is the violation. It seems that describing Suspense plotlines might get something flagged. Will advise when it returns.

Today's Suspense episode is You Were Wonderful, a Robert Richards story of the murder of a night club singer in South America. A visiting American singer, played by Lena Horne, is booked to replaced the deceased singer, and she is intent on solving the crime. Spies set up a system with the club owner where song selection is actually a secret code that indicates upcoming cargo ship traffic in the town’s harbor and alerts enemy submarines in the area. Refusing to go along with the plan could end your career, and your life.

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

The episode has an amazing cultural and social history that is discussed at the blog page. Sam Irvin, biographer of Kay Thompson, says “This broadcast was one of the most daring half-hour dramas of its time.” The blogpost has a link to the endnotes of his book that offers illuminating details about this broadcast and are worth reading before listening to the episode.

Today's Suspense is The Dead of the Night. It's the first appearance of Robert Cummings as the star, and the first Mel Dinelli story produced on Suspense. A brother and sister suspect each other of having killed the young woman’s husband. Each of them had a motive: the husband was abusive and the brother wanted to protect her. When they are both discovered with the body, they are faced with the task of proving their innocence to the police.

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

Dinelli was involved in writing or adapting many memorable Suspense dramas such as August Heat, Drive-In, The Ten Years, and others. His theatrical play was still being developed when he used it as a basis for To Find Help. It would become a movie and a successful stage play. His first big screenplay hit was the 1946 The Spiral Staircase. If you like the sarcastic witticisms of the Gerald Mohr Philip Marlowe series, you're already familiar with Dinelli's work.

Today's Suspense is the second performance of The Fountain Plays, a Dorothy L. Sayers murder mystery. This lusher Roma Wines version is a better and more engaging production starring Charles Laughton.

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

This is the first of 29 weeks of Roma commercials featuring society figure and entertaining expert Elsa Maxwell. She offers her hard-earned wisdom about wine and other beverage selections. Elsa was not in the studio, but was portrayed by actress Lucille Meredith. She was a very successful supporting actor in Hollywood radio, uncredited in many of the roles she played.

Today's Suspense is another performance of the Cornell Woolrich story The Black Curtain and stars Cary Grant. An amnesiac must find his real identity and clear himself of being a murder suspect. It’s an anniversary performance noting the sponsorship by Roma Wines. What a difference having a sponsor makes in terms of better production values!

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

But it wasn't planned to be an anniversary performance. This date was the second time that the Mel Dinelli radio adaptation of his still-in-progress stage play “The Man” was going to be broadcast. We know it as "To Find Help" and starring Frank Sinatra. His schedule was in constant flux and he became unavailable. The planning of guests for Suspense often became a game of "whack a mole" as they dealt with disruptions on movie sets and movie location shootings, studio publicity demands, and the best matching of radio acting (or lack of) talent with "just the right" script. When there were problems, Spier would reach into the file cabinet and pick a prior script that the support players and production staff knew, and found a guest star who was fast on the uptake. This is why Grant was cast or sought as often as he was, and also Joseph Cotten, Gene Kelly, Lee Bowman, Nancy Kelly, and a few others. Magazines and newspapers often have listings of different stars for upcoming shows. That changed once Suspense started using tape recording, mostly under Elliott Lewis. This period under Spier, however, was calm on the surface and sometimes controlled (but confident) chaotic upheaval underneath. He always had a plan... and a file cabinet... and great flexible and adaptable talent at the ready.

Today's Suspense episode is the second attempt to bring The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes to the air. This presentation is much better and stars Robert Montgomery. The first was for the unsuccessful Suspense audition on CBS Forecast in 1940. That presentation confused and repelled potential agencies and sponsors. It took two years before a reformulated Suspense concept could get to the air.

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

Links to the history of the audition program and some new and curious background information is at the blogpost. This was Montgomery's first Suspense appearance. He has an important place in Suspense history with the failed hour-long format and the backroom tensions in CBS management at that time. No worries for him: Montgomery was an established very popular actor from the 1930s and remained so. He was head of the Screen Actors Guild twice. He became a very successful producer and director in early television.

Enjoy this much better presentation of this famous story!

Today's Suspense is The Brighton Strangler, and is one of the attempted tie-ins of a Suspense episode and a movie release. This episode stars the movie cast. A headlining stage actor suffered a concussion in the Nazi bombings of London and begins confusing reality with his role in the play and believes he is the real “Brighton Strangler.” There are some technical flaws in the production described at the blogpost, but stick with the story. It's not Suspense at its best, but even that is usually better than most shows in its category.

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

This broadcast was essentially a tease for the movie, but that release was not until 1945-05-10. The film was in production at the time of this broadcast. The original plan, according to some news items, was to have the Suspense production coincide with the movie’s release. It obviously did not work out.

Tomorrow's episode will be quite a surprise to many as to its authorship! Watch for it!

NOTE: THE SUSPENSE PROJECT DAILY POSTS WILL BE ON HIATUS FOR 10-14 DAYS. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Today's Suspense episode is A Thing of Beauty starring June Duprez. What’s more shocking in this story? The surprise ending or that it was written by the author of The Cinnamon Bear?!!!

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

The plotline is about a beautiful actress of years ago who has become a recluse. She accepts no visitors, except the Vicar. He arrives with his upcoming replacement to introduce him. She sits with them in her darkened parlor and tells her story about the murder of a rival actress and her involvement in it. The ending really has little to do with that murder, but reveals surprising circumstances and characteristics of the people involved. It's a good story and a bit Whistler-esque in its conclusion.

The author of the story was Elizabeth Hiestand, and it was adapted by Robert L. Richards. Her true name was Elisabeth A. Heisch, writer of The Cinnamon Bear with her husband Glanville Taft Heisch. She did a lot of radio script editing and some writing in Hollywood, credited and not, including shows like The Whistler. This story is a long distance from the innocence of The Cinnamon Bear, for sure!

This episode is another example of how Suspense had to adapt quickly to unexpected changes in the availability of an announced guest. Ida Lupino was announced as the star and June Duprez replaced her on short notice, even though she just starred in the prior week's show!

Miss the daily Suspense Project postings already? Jump on over to the Internet Archive for the Suspense 80th Anniversary Marathon that international voice artist and classic radio researcher Keith Scott and I did in June 2022 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] It's 24 of the best episodes of Suspense as introduced by Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra, Ronald Colman, Howard Duff, Joseph Cotten, Hans Conried, Dan Duryea, Van Heflin, Dana Andrews, Cary Grant, Alan Ladd, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Jack Benny, Ronald Reagan, Frank Lovejoy, and Vincent Price. You'll chuckle at some of our introductions for each episode, and some curious Suspense backstories are there to enrich the enjoyment.

The marathon was hosted by the streaming station Stay Tuned America on the anniversary day. We're delighted to report that Keith and I will be closing out the anniversary year with a mini-marathon on June 16, 2023 starting at 4pm Eastern Daylight US Time with 12 episodes and more celebrity visitors!

While The Suspense Project is on brief hiatus, enjoy the marathon archive!

greybelt wrote:wich2 has agreed to post the details about Friday evening's Project Audion recreation of Witness on the West-bound Train . It's a "truly missing" episode from the Summer 1942 season of Suspense. The best availability will be on YouTube. It's been suggested to listen to the recreation first, and then enjoy the full video with its cast and special animation as you listen a second time. Watch for wich2's post.

NOTE: If you downloaded the Summer 1942 set before 1pm Eastern US Time on May 18, 2023, you may be missing Wet Saturday. Click here to get access to that episode [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
If you downloaded after that time, the .zip file has been updated to include it.

Today's Suspense episode is I Had an Alibi. Keenan Wynn plays a newspaper reporter who marries an heiress with a severe heart condition to get her inheritance. When she fails to die as soon as he wants, he creates a complex murder plot which includes tricking her into writing her own suicide note! The story has a curious turn of the plot when he gets blamed for a murder he didn’t commit. It's a good one, but pay extra attention or you’ll miss some of the plot diversions.

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

Some folks were concerned about the brief hiatus in the posts -- after all, if it's a daily post, it should happen every day! It was a brief and happy time out from things, and we're back and refreshed. Sunday's post will be To Find Help with Frank Sinatra. It's got an interesting backstory, so don't miss it!

Today's Suspense episode is Drive-In starring Nancy Kelly. She plays a “car-hop” who discovers she's in the company of killer after accepting a ride home from the restaurant where she works. He won’t let her out of his car. Kelly was one of Suspense's best and most dependable actors. She started in the 1930s in March of Time as did producer William Spier and so many of the Suspense (and Mercury Theater) actors.

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

The Muriel Roy Bolton script was adapted by Mel Dinelli. Bolton was the screenwriter for many of the Henry Aldrich movies and played a key role in editing and writing the TV series The Millionaire. The most popular version of Drive-In was broadcast on 1946-11-21 and starred Judy Garland. Kelly offers the more polished presentation of the story but did not get the public attention that Garland's appearance received.

Tomorrow is another Dinelli story, To Find Help, with an interesting history and Frank Sinatra's only Suspense guest appearance.

Today's Suspense episode is To Find Help, and stars Frank Sinatra in his only appearance on the series. It took a lot of work and rearranging of schedules to get him there, scheduled three different times that fell through. The fourth time it finally worked. The story turns out to be one of Mel Dinelli's biggest and most enduring successes as a writer, script writer, playwright, and screenwriter. Agnes Moorehead co-stars.

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

A lonely middle-aged woman needs maintenance work done around the house. Because able-bodied men are in wartime service, such help is hard to find. She hires Sinatra’s character. It starts well but turns to an simmering undercurrent of danger.

Getting Sinatra onto Suspense was challenging and took big bucks: $200,000 in today's US dollars. The twists and turns of getting the play and him before the microphones is too detailed to summarize here. Read how a bad publicity incident sent Sinatra and MGM and Hollywood into a tizzy, and how newspaper reviewers misinterpreted Sinatra's portrayal, which he played exactly as directed. There are also links to other presentations of Dinelli's disturbing play. Enjoy? Yes! Once you know the story...