Re: Suspense Upgrades

by greybelt 8/11/2019, 7:05 am

Suspense_1952-03-03_TheThirtyNineSteps_wHerbertMarshall UPGRADE-3.mp3
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by artatoldotr 8/11/2019, 8:12 am

Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

by Larynxa 8/11/2019, 4:47 pm

I've been researching Elliott Lewis.

He had other aliases besides "Bruce Elliott" and "Raymond Lewis".(on "Drive In") and "Raymond E. Lewis" (on "Philomel Cottage")

On the "Dark Venture" episode "Eclipse", he was credited as "Charles Barrett" (probably a reference to Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Barrett, because Elliott was a voracious reader).

In the AFRS, he used the alias "T4Y" (short for "Think For Yourself"). I've heard this on some "AFRS Mystery Theatre" episodes. I presume he chose "T4Y" because Howard Duff got drafted first, and snagged the best alias ("Sgt. X").

Timewise, it seems he used the alias "Bruce Elliott" during 1944 to Sept. 1945, probably to fly under the radar and take civilian gigs while he was still in the AFRS, stationed in Hollywood. On "Arch Oboler's Plays", he was credited as "Bruce Elliott" until Sept. 1945, with a few uncredited episodes in the summer of 1945. He used "Bruce Elliott" on a few CP MacGregor transcribed shows, and on "The Whistler" in the same period. Yet, he used his real name on "Suspense", in the same period.

Curiouser and curiouser...

by greybelt 8/12/2019, 7:38 am

Suspense_1952-03-24_AMurderOfNecessity_wRobertYoung UPGRADE-3.mp3
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RadioGoldindex lists Lewis for 1,204 appearances/production roles.
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We know that the actual number may be 5x that... or even more! There's no way to count them, which would be from payroll records for each broadcast, since most all of those records are gone. It was a stunning career. The appearances probably exceed those of Virginia Payne (27 year run on Ma Perkins x 50 weeks [just to have a round number and for vacation] x 5 episodes per week = 6,750) because Lewis did not often have a starring role that would limit him in the number of programs he appeared on.

Just for comparison, Lurene Tuttle is in RadioGoldindex 820 times, Bob Bailey 710, Bill Conrad 1218, Bing Crosby 1128, Jim Jordan 1484. And we have to remember RGI is only for recordings that exist, but it is an indicator of how active performers were in relative terms compared to others.

BTW, RadioGoldindex was updated on August 9
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No changes other than text editing for the Suspense page.

by artatoldotr 8/12/2019, 9:32 am

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

by Crunklydunks 8/12/2019, 6:45 pm

Thank you, greybelt! Sorry for the delayed reply, I will check out the OTRR Facebook.

by greybelt 8/13/2019, 2:56 am

Suspense_1952-12-01_The_Big_Heist_wJohnHodiak UPGRADE-3.mp3
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by artatoldotr 8/13/2019, 9:06 am

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

by greybelt 8/14/2019, 3:53 am

Suspense_1952-12-15_TheManWith2Faces_wLloydNolan UPGRADE-2.mp3
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A few more newspaper clips than usual today because this episode had a different title before broadcast... and it was awful! First, the good ones...

1952-12-15 Decatur IL Daily Review

1952-12-15 Indianapolis IN Star

1952-12-15 Shreveport LA Times

1952-12-15 Tucson Arizona Daily Star

It seems like the original title was "The Man with Two Heads"! My first thought was that it sounded like a bad sci-fi movie, but those were 1960s and 1970s events (ugh! that awful movie with Ray Milland and Rosey Grier). I suspect they realized that it just seemed like a bad title, and changed it soon after the initial press releases went out. Ah, but they didn't go out soon enough to get the changes into these newspapers...

1952-12-15 Cincinnati OH Enquirer

1952-12-15 Des Moines IA Tribune

1952-12-15 Lancaster OH Eagle-Gazette

1952-12-15 Pittsburgh PA Press

1952-12-15 Tampa Bay FL Times

by artatoldotr 8/14/2019, 10:07 am

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

by greybelt 8/15/2019, 3:41 am

Suspense_1952-12-22_ArcticRescue_wJosephCotten UPGRADE.mp3
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by artatoldotr 8/15/2019, 9:49 am

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

by otrhead 8/15/2019, 6:39 pm

Thanks for sharing these greybelt

by greybelt 8/15/2019, 9:54 pm

Posting early since we'll be traveling for a few days... here are two episodes.

Suspense_1953-03-09_TheDeadAlive_wHerbertMarshall UPGRADE-3.mp3
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This episode would be the last time Suspense would be produced in New York until the show moved in 1959. There were three broadcasts in 1947 so Howard Duff could film Naked City and be with Spier for NYC broadcasts so the Sam Spade series would be uninterrupted. And Spier could visit with June Havoc while she was performing in Connecticut summer theater, and he could visit family. And... he and CBS were trying to get Roma to renew their contract or figure out what would happen if they didn't.

Today's broadcast recording was produced at a much less chaotic time in Suspense history. Auto-Lite used this 1953 broadcast to get more publicity for its participation and display at the New York Auto Show, and that's about it. Around the World is based on a true event. You'll hear New York actors Larry Haines and Ted Osborne, and others, in the performance.

Suspense_1953-04-06_Around_The_World_wVanJohnson (produced in NY) UPGRADE-2.mp3
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1953-04-04 Sunbury PA Daily Item

1953-04-06 Tampa FL Times

1953-04-26 Shreveport LA Times

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The Thomas Flyer was a real automobile. Below are ads for the company that give details of the race dramatized in this episode.

The ads can be better viewed by downloading them from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

1902-08-02 Buffalo NY Courier

1908-10-18 NY Times

by Larynxa 8/15/2019, 10:55 pm

I just got a PDF of the "Escape" script "Four Went Home" (Dec. 14, 1952). The outro has a promo for a "Suspense" episode under its original title. I don't know how far in advance "Escape" episodes were transcribed.

by Larynxa 8/15/2019, 11:01 pm

I found quite a few mistakes in the RadioGoldIndex entries for Elliott Lewis. There are quite a few shows he's not actually in, nor worked on. There's a "Sweeney & March" episode (Beach Rescue), that the Index says he's in, but I can hear that the character is actually played by Hy Averback.

I'm compiling my own listings of Elliott's radio work, and I've found many shows that aren't in the Index, primarily because the recordings are lost. I've been consulting newspaper listings and script PDFs, and I've managed to find brief synopses for almost all of the lost "On Stage" episodes. So, at least I've a vague idea of what the lost episodes were about.

by artatoldotr 8/16/2019, 11:34 am

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

by greybelt 8/19/2019, 9:00 am

Larynxa -- that's GREAT stuff!!
Thanks very much!
Shows could be recorded for the drama portions almost any time. But to look at it very generally, it was about three weeks before broadcast, and then the production work. The announcements could be on a closer-to-broadcast schedule if needed. The cover pages of the script usually had the details of when various personnel needed to report.

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And today's story... one of my favorites though not one of the series' best.

Suspense_1953-06-01_AVisionOfDeath_wRonaldColeman UPGRADE-4.mp3
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(sorry for the typo in the file name -- as I work over the next few months I will finally be cleaning up and harmonizing the file names they way they should be.)

1953-05-31 St Louis MO Post-Dispatch

1953-06-01 Battle Creek MI Enquirer

1953-06-01 Cincinnati OH Enquirer

by artatoldotr 8/19/2019, 9:02 am

Today's link says 9500 Internal server error

Best regards
Art

by greybelt 8/19/2019, 10:38 am

Should work now!

by artatoldotr 8/19/2019, 11:19 am

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

by greybelt 8/20/2019, 7:05 am

This is a major sound upgrade
Suspense_1954-03-08_CircumstantialTerror_wRonaldReagan UPGRADE-3.mp3
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This episode was written by Ross Murray, a sound effects artist for the series.

1954-03-08 Dayton OH Daily News - WHIO ad.PNG

1954-03-08 Des Moines IA Tribune - KRNT ad

1954-03-08 Latrobe PA Bulletin

1954-03-08 Syracuse NY Post-Standard

by artatoldotr 8/20/2019, 10:03 am

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

by greybelt 8/21/2019, 4:16 am

Suspense_1954-07-06_TheTip_wLureneTuttle UPGRADE-2.mp3
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by artatoldotr 8/21/2019, 8:34 am

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

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