Suspense Upgrades

Thanks again for the Suspense shows Greybelt. So many good things happening in the Cobalt Club my head is spinning with delight. I don't want to forget my appreciation for all the work being done here, so easy to do. - Tom

Thanks greybelt. I love the Thomas Flyer with full top on its as aerodynamic as a fully laden book case hurtling down the road.

I had a ride in a 1912 Kissel Fire Chiefs car and it was a four cylinder car with huge pistons. Got in that car and it nearly took my head off it accelerated so fast. This very car which was at a historic village. The guy in the driver seat drives it around for the owner who lends it to the site. He picks you up and gives you a ride. Handles amazing well for car of its age. But it was built like a steam train.

Suspense_1954-07-13_RunSheepRun_wCathy&ElliottLewis AFRS#495 UPGRADE-3.mp3
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I added newspaper clips for A Vision of Death to the posting of that episode. Click the link to jump back to that entry.
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Clips were also added for Circumstantial Terror
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Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

Thanks!

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Cathy Lewis sure had a knack for playing nasty, almost reptilian, characters, didn't she?

Larynxa wrote:Cathy Lewis sure had a knack for playing nasty, almost reptilian, characters, didn't she?

And yet also played Jane in My Friend Irma - seriously versatile...

Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

Suspense_1956-10-23_TheDoll_wPattyMcCormack_15thYear (1st tape, 1st Robson) UPGRADE-5.mp3
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THIS is curious...
Robson takes over the series and makes the big announcement that they have moved to production using recording tape. Did they really?

My suspicion is that it is more accurate to say they eliminated transcriptions from the process of final archive copies. They likely eliminated transcriptions used for sound effects and other applications as well. This was all more a "making it official" announcement that recognized what was already going on, and Robson was trying to puff up a small change into something that made this new version of Suspense and its reputation as more cutting edge.

I stumbled on this little item as I was reviewing the script for Sorry, Wrong Number for the September 15, 1952 broadcast. The drama portion was recorded on September 5, 1952 with some fanfare as a press event (if you have my book, the commentary about it starts on page 166).

It was common practice at CBS to pre-record the drama portions of Suspense and then play that back at broadcast time, but have announcers and musicians work live in the studio. Just yesterday, I realized that this was in the script to tell the live staff when to play the drama recording:


That line "Ampex - Cue - Tape" refers to "start playing the recording tape"!

The Robson announcement makes it sound like Suspense switched to recording tape on a "cold turkey" basis. It obviously did not.

As OTR collectors, we live with the downside of the tape decision because of missing programs and low quality sound for many series after 1957. A major benefit of tape was that it could be erased and re-used. While there may have been archive tape masters at the networks, we lost the one-use transcription discs recorded at local stations when they captured network feeds for delayed playback in their markets. Once they recorded the feeds and played them, they could reuse the tapes. In the past, they would have recorded transcriptions and shelved or otherwise stored them. Many transcriptions were being thrown out in the 1960s, and collectors saved them from the dumpsters. Collectors could not save programs that were erased, just by definition. This is why AFRS/AFRTS transcription discs play such a big role in saving Suspense after tape use became prevalent in local stations, not just at the networks. Without AFRS/AFRTS discs many of the Suspense we enjoy would be gone or we would be stuck with low quality home recordings with narrow range, hiss, and hum for some of the episodes.

This is not to say home recordings are not important. Without home recording, much of 1957+ Gunsmoke and YTJD would not have survived. It's amazing how intact those series are.

So, Bill Robson, you puffery-creating hyperbolean producer... you're making it seem like a watershed fish-or-cut-bait &%$%-or-get-off-the-pot event. But you've been sneaking iron oxide in a backroom all along

I hope some of the stuff I've posted about the Robson era has increased interest in it and respect for it. From the collector's perspective, we see Suspense in its entirety, all 20 years of it, and lots of repeats and re-used scripts. But Robson held Suspense together in a time of relentless budgetary attack and preserved its legacy, and catered to a new audience. Repeats of proven scripts were his first line of defense in production costs and ensured high quality content.

Note also the change in character of the audience relationship: Suspense was something "everybody" listened to, so all of the announcements were impersonal. Robson's Suspense opening dialogues spoke to the individual listener, not a family gathering around a furniture-encased radio. This may have been the biggest change in Robson's Suspense compared to its prior years: the acknowledgement that television, societal change, and technology had altered radio's character to an intensely personal experience.

Thanks greybelt for all the insight. Great work.
Best regards
Art

looking for AFRTS copy of

suspense 1953-02-02 plan x  w jack benny

thanks

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Here you go kdmarket

suspense 1953-02-02 plan x w jack benny

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Best regards
Art

thanks art for the show

Suspense_1956-12-02_RimOfTerror_wBarbaraWhiting UPGRADE-3.mp3
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This is a higher encode and a different AFRS version of Plan X. It was posted about two years ago. Note that the title is different from the network version via AFRS editing. Artatoldotr's posted version is an AFRTS release from the late 1970s/early 1980s. This one is from the late 1950s/early 1960s. I recently got script pages that show why the title is different. AFRS staff likely played the opening of the network program and assumed that was the assigned title. I don't believe it was practice to send scripts along with transcriptions to AFRS. This is the way little quirks and curiosities enter the show's history.

Suspense_1953-02-02_Plan_X_wJackBenny (AFRS announced as Strange Disappearance of XY272B) dropout at 12s.mp3
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Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

This program has been circulating without its proper opening and closing segments, just its drama. Somewhere along the way, incorrect show openings and closings were patched on in the attempt to "restore" the program. Those have been removed. The episode is not in the best sound, but this copy is better than previous.

Suspense_1957-01-13_Russian_New_Year_wHelmutDantine (REMOVED PATCHED OP & CL) UPGRADE-2.mp3
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This past Spring, when plans were underway for the visit to Thousand Oaks with Keith Scott, Cobaltian of note Chasedad asked if the episodes that were missing Robson's opening could be researched. If the scripts were there, perhaps we could capture his opening comments. For those who have the Companion, his words for this episode are on p. 193. Here's an image of his comments as they appeared in the script. Do your best Robson imitation in your head before you click the play button. At the beginning of his lines, there is some phonetic transliteration of the Russian greeting for the New Year. I took Russian in high school, and I can't figure out the first two "words" -- I can write it in Cyrillic, but it appears to be an idiom that I can't identify in Google Translate or other resources. "Words" 3 and 4 are specifically "new" and "year." Is there a Cobaltian who knows the literal translation as well as the practical one of what Robson says?


Helmut Dantine stars as Boris, Lili Valenty as Olga. The Prince is played by Charles Hradilak, Fritz Feld plays Lemm. The only Suspense regular is Jack Kruschen as the Guard.

Because the complete program has not been circulating, the cast members are not noted in the artist section of RadioGoldindex. Dantine was in two other Suspense episodes, The Taming of the Beast and Headshrinker. Between Dantine, Valenty, and Hradilak, there are less than 10 listings in total in RadioGoldindex. Feld has more than 40. Kruschen was generally omnipresent, listed more than 700 times in RGI. Who are these other actors? Why are they appearing on Suspense now?

Robson's cast selection is likely related to his deep interest in Cold War tensions and events. He could showcase actors who were not only good, but also had a personal connection to the turbulent times and places of the story.

Dantine was born in Austria, and was imprisoned when he was 19 for his anti-fascist and anti-Nazi activities. His parents found a physician who intervened for his release. They sent him to California, and he became an actor. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Valenty was born in a section of Poland that was part of the Russian Empire at the time. Her bio is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] She worked mainly in theater, and at the time of this broadcast was appearing on TV

Hradilak was born in Czechoslovakia [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] His last name often appears as "Radilak"

Feld was born in Germany. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] We've seen him in movies and on TV do his trademark slap his mouth to make a "pop" sound. His Wikipedia page is at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

Suspense_1957-02-03_Frankie&Johnny_wMargaretWhiting (USAFE course promo mid-show) AFRS UPGRADE-2.mp3
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A short while ago a different AFRS version of this episode was posted. Here is the link in case you missed it; I've since changed the file name.
Suspense_1957-02-03_Frankie&Johnny_wMWhiting AFRS UPGRADE-2 (Gunsmoke promo 13m31s) FROM DISC.mp3
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This was the one where the AFRS engineers left the mid-episode CBS promo in the recording! (If you guys don't get this straight next time, you'll be on KP duty peelin' puhtaytuhs!).