Suspense Upgrades

Today's episode with James and Pamela Mason was last upgraded three years ago. No AFRS recording has surfaced.

A couple of the newspaper clippings cite Pamela Kellino Mason's interest in writing and screenwriting. The Kellino name was from her first marriage. The Masons and the Spiers collaborated on a 1952 movie, Lady Possessed, when Bill Spier was trying to establish himself as a potential movie producer. He was already establishing himself in TV with the series Omnibus.

The Masons wrote the movie script (based on a 1943 story Pamela had written), got the Spiers involved, and hired Roy Kellino as director, collaborated by Bill Spier. Kellino and Pamela remained close. And in that spirit of post-divorce "we're still friends" collaboration, Kay Thompson appears in the movie. She is uncredited, as a nurse, while June Havoc had a top-billed role with James Mason. The film did not do well. The critics were not kind.
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Here's today's recording... from happier times for the Masons... before they lost that money being a major funder of the film...
Suspense_1949-02-24_WhereTheresAWill_wJamesMason UPGRADE-4.mp3
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Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

greybelt - thanks so much for your hard work in the otr realm. For this link back on page 5 the AFRS link is the same as the west coast link so there is no AFRS version posted.

greybelt wrote:
Suspense_1946-12-19_ThingInThe_Window_wJosephCotten WC (no mention FBIiP&W).mp3
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Suspense_1946-12-19_ThingInThe_Window_wJosephCotten EC (mentions FBIiP&W at end) UPGRADE-3.mp3
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Suspense_1946-12-19_ThingInThe_Window_wJosephCotten AFRS#187 FROM DISC.mp3
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Here is the correct link to the AFRS Thing in the Window
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Sorry for the confusion!


Today's episode has not been upgraded for four years. An aircheck of the program, posted 7 years ago is re-posted now. These are are marvelous recordings because they remind us about how difficult it was to get a clean recording of a broadcast, especially at home. They also help us appreciate how lucky we are to have studio recordings of most of the broadcasts, unencumbered by the variability of broadcast signals.

Suspense_1949-03-03_Lovebirds_wJoanFontaine UPGRADE-4.mp3
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Suspense_1949-03-03_Lovebirds_wJoanFontaine AIRCHECK CLIPPED OPEN & CLOSE FROM 78rpm DISCS.mp3
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This episode has not been upgraded for 8 years. This is a better sounding, clearer recording.

Murder in Black and White was originally scheduled for this date, first with Clifton Webb and then replaced by Edmund Gwenn. The production was delayed until the next week, and "Noose" with Colman was pushed up to this date instead. Colman was so accomplished and so natural on radio, unlike a lot of the movie stars, that he and the Suspense production team could work with shorter notice than with others.

Suspense_1949-04-07_NooseOfCoincidence_wRonaldColman UPGRADE-4.mp3
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Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Today's recording has not been upgraded in 9 years. The script is by John Q. Copeland, police reporter for the Pasadena CA Independent, his only radio script. The title may have originally been "Copper Tea Kettle." The hiring of Betty Grable was likely viewed with great skepticism. But it turns out well in the end. If critic John Crosby (for whom negativism is the happiest part of his day) says she was good, then she must have been...

Suspense_1949-04-21_TheCopperTeaStrainer_wBetteGrable UPGRADE-2.mp3
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The hiring of Grable was a perfect opportunity for more publicity about the casting strategy of Suspense. Note the fee of US$3,500. That's $40,000 in 2021$.

Thanks greybelt

Talk about information!

Best regards

Art

Today's recording has not been upgraded for 4 years.

Joan Crawford in The Hand, the Mel Dinelli script rejected by Auto-Lite for a variety of reasons, was originally scheduled for this date. It was never performed on Suspense or any other network broadcast program.

When the schedule is in trouble, you go for the files and grab one of Suspense's old standards. March starred in the March (how fitting!) 1943 broadcast that is still missing. This was a well-liked Woolrich script, and it was used again in the first month of Roma presentations in December 1943. The sponsorship gave the show a larger and different audience, so using a script from just 6 months earlier was easily justified.

Suspense_1949-05-26_TheNightReveals_wFredericMarch UPGRADE-3.mp3
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These are new clippings...

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Best regards
Art

Today's recording is an upgrade of the Ten Years starring Joan Crawford. A recording was posted four years ago. This was a repeat of 1945-02-08 Mel Dinelli's Tale of Two Sisters renamed as The Ten Years. Dinelli and Crawford were an item, and it seems he was always there when she was between marriages. But this is not a gossip column. Thank goodness. We just speculate at an intellectual level that provides an illusion of inside knowledge.

There were lots of things going on here: sponsor meddling, microphone fright, union rules, and likely other stuff that drove the staff crazy.

The Hand was originally submitted by Mel Dinelli specifically for Joan Crawford and rejected by Auto-Lite. It was a gruesome story that involved a big car accident (a no-no for a car parts supplier unless there was an ending encouraging driver safety) and drug addition that led to mental illness. But other than those issues, the story was okay. It was more fitting of Inner Sanctum than Suspense, it seems to me. Newspapers and ads had already promoted The Hand as part of a general multi-week tease about the big stars to appear in May 1949. The rejected script meant they have to juggle things around schedule-wise and ran Night Reveals one more time and delayed Crawford's appearance for a week while the preparations were made.

This led to some recording history. The Ten Years was the first Suspense episode with pre-recorded drama portions because Crawford refused to appear in a live radio performance. The recording session was on 1949-05-07, a Saturday. To deal with differences in union contracts for the orchestra, the surviving recording has gaps for commercials and some narration. The orchestra's union contracts had a premium for making recordings that would be used again and again. This was a way of compensating for future live performances that the orchestra would no longer have. So only incidental music was used in the recording, or perhaps that was recorded on a different day. Most recordings, including this one, close the silent gaps and is the reason why this is 3 minutes shorter than a full broadcast. On the scheduled broadcast day, the transcription would play, and anything missing from the original recording would be done live. The home audience would not know the difference. A full broadcast recording does not exist.

Dinelli had sold film rights to a screenplay of The Hand in 1946 to Charlie Chaplain for production as a "B" movie, but it was never made.

Details about The Hand can be found as part of the post at
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It includes a link to a recreation made by Wayback Theater.

Suspense_1949-06-02_TheTenYears_wJCrawford UPGRADE-3 SameScript450208 (transcribed portions - no ads).mp3
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These newspaper clippings are new...


Here are the clips for the actual broadcast.

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Best regards
Art

Thanks for the shows greybelt!

We jump ahead to the next season, 1949-1950, where Bill Spier is back as producer and Norman Macdonnell becomes the Suspense director. He gets a chance to learn from the best and Spier pulls some strings with his Hollywood friends to come on the show. The year that Tony Leader was in charge had Spier in a year of Philip Morris Playhouse where it was almost exactly like Suspense. Leader had a great year in terms of bringing Suspense back to its high stature, but he could not play the internal politics game very well, which he regretted, and what he thought was a secure job eroded from under him.

Bette Davis makes her Suspense appearance in a script by Ben S. Hunter. He became a very popular Los Angeles TV personality for his hosting of KTTV Movie Matinee and numerous other endeavors. Hunter also wrote a Whistler script, The Hermit.

This recording has not been upgraded for more than 9 years...

Suspense_1949-10-20_Goodnight_Mrs_Russell_wBetteDavis UPGRADE-3.mp3
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These newspaper clippings are new...

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Today's recording has not been updated for five years. It's one of those Woolrich stories where someone gets caught up in something not fully of their own making that just spirals out of control. Kind of like reel transfer projects and getting stuck trying to fix squealing reels at the least opportune time.

Christine Miller's blog has some background on the episode, the original story “Murder Always Gathers Momentum” from Detective Fiction Weekly of 1940-12-14, and the production on Alfred Hitchcock Presents
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Suspense_1949-10-27_Momentum_wVictorMature UPGRADE-3.mp3
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Thanks greybelt
Best regards

Art

Today's recording has not been upgraded for 5 years. It's an odd one -- Spier used this script TWICE before, but not on Suspense. The first time was when he was in hissy-fit mode when he was attempting to rescue The Clock over at ABC on 1948-04-22, and the second time was on 1949-01-21 when was running Philip Morris Playhouse as a Suspense clone. Neither recording exists.

The Clock used Elliott and Cathy Lewis extensively... and a lot of the regular acting and production crew of Spier's Suspense era.


Note the tagline in the clip below for Spier as "radio's master of suspense"
(yes, make that a lower case "s" so the lawyers from CBS don't have a cow... again...).
The tagline was used in the broadcast, too! Yeah, he rubbed their noses in it.


After The Clock went off the air, the Philip Morris Playhouse position was open for Spier to return to CBS because Tony Leader was still at Suspense. It would be the last year for Philip Morris sponsorship. They jumped over to Crime Photographer, a less expensive program, instead.

Note that it's called "CBS Playhouse" in the listings - newspapers often removed sponsor names of radio programs, even those with deep recognition like Lux Radio Theatre being listed as "Radio Theatre," so as not to annoy current and future advertisers. "If you want your brand name listed in the newspaper, sign an ad contract," seemed to be the sentiment.


The Suspense appearance of Skelton was heavily promoted as far back as October 15 in the newspapers. Skelton's propensity to ad lib gave them a reason to emphasize the "no ad lib" clause that was in the contract. This made it seem Skelton was doing a high wire act on the radio and it encouraged people to tune in to find out if he stumbled. (Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone: every contract had a clause that the exact directions of the show's director had to be followed in rehearsals and broadcast). If Spier was in charge of the show, the early rehearsals may have been hilarious - but Macdonnell was in charge as director, so it was possibly less so. A light mood helped the cast to know each other as they got down to serious work.

Suspense_1949-11-03_The_Search_For_Isabel_wRedSkelton UPGRADE-3.mp3
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These clippings are new...

NEW RE MACDONNELL REHEARSALS: Keith Scott reminds me that The New Hotel, the Gunsmoke episode that has a wild rehearsal recording, was under Macdonnell. Whether Macdonnell was loose in rehearsals like that, especially in his first directoral year on Suspense can't be really known. It is clear that with a cast who knows each other quite well and knows the difference between horseplay on Gunsmoke (Keith made that pun, don't blame me) and serious time, can create a fine broadcast.

Thanks greybelt
Best regards
Art

Today's episode has not been updated for 11 years. Originally, Love, Honor, and Murder was scheduled and promoted for the Nelsons on this date. For some reason, the script was changed to Mr. Diogenes and Love, Honor, and Murder was held for about 6 months and featured Cathy and Elliot Lewis when broadcast. Spier and Macdonnell could have decided the Diogenes script was a better fit for the Nelsons.

Suspense_1950-01-26_Mr_Diogenes_wOzzie&HarrietNelson UPGRADE-2.mp3
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Christine Miller's blog had a good summary of the episode...
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These newspaper clippings are new...

Thanks greybelt

Best regards

Art

Today's recording upgrades a file from last year.

Suspense_1950-02-02_Consideration_wRosalindRussell UPGRADE-3.mp3
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The "lost" AFRS version was posted recently -- it has been in little circulation because it is in LQ sound
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These clippings are new...



Radio critic Magee Adams liked the Nelsons in Mr. Diogenes



Scheduling Suspense was an adventure when it was performed live and had to match up with guest schedules and scripts had to match with guest talents. February 1950 is an indication. See what was planned in this ad, based on information sent to Auto-Lite dealers...


Today's episode came out fine in terms of its guest, but the title was changed from "In Consideration." Slow Burn, delayed from January with Robert Taylor, is scheduled for next week with Kirk Douglas. No, not right... they use Butcher's Wife instead. The following week comes off as planned. But the week after that is changed. Instead of Motive for Murder, they do Slow Burn with Dick Powell instead of Richard Widmark. That's three different stars over 8 weeks: Taylor, Douglas, and finally Powell. Then next month, Motive is done, not with Widmark, but with Alan Ladd!


There has been much progress on a Theater Five log these past weeks. Just look at this draft log... and how Ed Byron (developer of the Mr. DA franchise, Lee Bowman, and Warren Somerville gathered so many radio pros and attracted so many 1950s TV scripters and actors and theatrical performers before the microphones... The log is one of the most detailed I've been involved in.
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Please limit the distribution of the log -- it is a draft -- It will be made free to everyone when it is completed.

T5 has come to attention because of the many reel collections that are now being digitized... and a chance to improve the sound quality of the series. Because it is a post-golden age program, it does not fit into Cobalt's mission and guidelines (I have no disagreement with that). If you have interest in being involved in a T5 project evaluating audio and verifying data, please private message me.

Thanks greybelt

Best regards
Art

Today's recording was last upgraded almost 3 years ago. This is a repeat of Three Times Murder from 1946-10-03.

Suspense_1950-02-16_MurderStrikesThreeTimes_wMarleneDietrich UPGRADE-3.mp3
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These newspaper clippings are new...



John C. Alsedek's Blue Hours Productions Suspense revival is no longer on Soundcloud, but can now be found at Podchaser
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A new recording has not been posted in 2 years. I know he had a lot of programs where pieces had been recorded but needed music or needed final scenes done, etc. I checked what I had downloaded and all of the ones in podchaser are ones that I already had.